Prime Minister Josephine Alvarez has hit out at rumours that Lauchenoiria and Huenya were planning to take control of the Intra-Xiomeran Canal Demilitarized Zone, which began spreading on Thursday. Alvarez has called the rumours “complete nonsense”, stating that Lauchenoiria has at no point even considered such an action, and that the rumours are clearly a “disinformation attempt” at smearing both the Lauchenoirian and Huenyan administrations.
The rumours, which first appeared in newspapers known to be friendly to the regime of Empress Calhualyana in Xiomera, allege that the Lauchenoirian and Huenyan governments have been conspiring to take control of the Canal Zone via a military invasion with the eventual goal of annexing the area on behalf of Huenya. So-called “evidence” to back up the plot was produced, including the testimony of a Lauchenoirian prisoner of war currently being held in Auria by CSSC, a Xiomeran mercenary corporation, alongside allegedly “suspicious” troop movements.
Alvarez condemned the use of “obviously forced” testimony from a prisoner war while denying the rumours. “The Xiomeran regime has been known to use torture to force confessions and other statements from their prisoners; and I am in no doubt that CSSC utilises the same tactics. It is mere months after Calhualyana brazenly admitted to kidnapping and torturing Lauchenoirian citizens from our soil; are we expected to believe she is not behind these rumours, and is not coercing any Lauchenoirian she can get her hands on to say whatever words she puts in their mouth?”
The Prime Minister further hit out at the Xiomeran regime for their harbouring of Gabriel Fleming, a former Lauchenoirian intelligence agent who was convicted of treason, mistreatment of prisoners, and attempted murder. Fleming escaped from prison in October 2020 and is believed to have resided in Xiomera either since then or shortly afterwards. Fleming was a known specialist in information warfare, and the government believes he is utilising disinformation tactics against Lauchenoiria.