Large-scale combat between ethnic Xiomeran terrorists and Huenyan government forces ended after Huenyan forces defeated a major uprising at the end of 2023. Actual fighting has dwindled down to minor clashes between government forces and remaining bands of insurgents, or the occasional skirmish between Huenyan soldiers and those of the Xiomeran Empire. The cold war emerging on the ground, however, still has one front that is very much hot – the propaganda front.
Both Huenya and Xiomera have waged a constant propaganda war against each other almost as soon as the ink dried on the Jinyu Agreement in January of 2021. Up until now, that propaganda war was mostly waged online. The chief combatants have been the Ministry of Information and Imperial Intelligence, along with the cybersecurity firm Information Security Technology Corporation (ISTC), on the Xiomeran side. For Huenya, the Federal Intelligence Service and a shadowy, quasi-governmental intervention program have been the ones in the ring.
In just the past month, however, the propaganda war between the two rivals on the Huenyan subcontinent has escalated sharply. It began when the Xiomeran Ministry of Information amped up its efforts to block the “Voice of Cozamalotl”, the broadcasting service operated by DTNS and Huenya’s State Department. There were also several attacks on the massive broadcasting tower operated by VoC in the city of Xiuhcapan in eastern Huenya during the Golden Blade insurgency. Huenya’s government blamed those attacks on Imperial Intelligence.
President Xiadani of Huenya ordered the Huenyan army to set up massive loudspeakers and electronic billboards on July 1st. These were placed along the frontlines of the Tihanang and Xonacatlán territories, which Xiomera seized from Huenya. The loudspeakers and billboards have been sending out pro-Huenyan propaganda and news virtually nonstop since their placement. The Huenyan government stated that the measures were in response to the targeting of VoC by Xiomera.
It is believed, however, that President Xiadani also ordered the response as retaliation for recent rumors. The rumors emerged on Huenyan websites, and claim that Xiadani and former Great Speaker Texōccoatl ordered the assassination of Vice-Speaker Tiacihitli on August 26th, 2023. The rumors allege that this was done to remove Tiacihitli from power and install Xiadani as Texōccoatl’s preferred choice to run the country. The rumors also allege that the attack on Texōccoatl that occurred at the same time was faked by Texōccoatl and his mother, Yauhmi, to lend credibility to Xiadani’s ascension. Federal Intelligence director Cuetlancaona has openly accused Imperial Intelligence of planting the rumors to discredit the Huenyan government and attempt to destabilize the country.
Xiomeran forces in Tihanang and Xonacatlán retaliated on July 9th by setting up their own loudspeakers and billboards to push out anti-Huenyan propaganda. In another tit-for-tat measure, the Huenyans then retaliated by launching giant helium balloons into the Xiomeran-occupied territories starting on July 13th. The balloons have carried anti-Imperial leaflets and USB sticks with pro-Huenyan news and messages. Huenya also began launching similar balloons across the Gulf of Epeloc into Xiomera proper.
On July 19th, Xiomeran forces began launching their own retaliatory balloons into Huenya carrying anti-Huenyan propaganda and their own USB sticks with pro-Xiomeran information. But Xiomera being Xiomera, Imperial authorities chose to turn the knob labeled “escalate” to 11. A different set of balloons has been launched from Xiomera’s occupied territories since July 20th, aimed at major Huenyan centers such as Chuaztlapoc and Ixtenco. The balloons have been dumping trash and waste material onto Huenyan cities. One balloon even landed on the grounds of the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli, the official residence of the Huenyan President. Prime Minister Toquihu of Xiomera, in an online video, mocked President Xiadani after the balloon hit her residence. “If the Huenyans want to spew trash at us, naturally we will respond in kind,” he said.
It is unclear how Huenya may respond to the latest escalation by Xiomera. Huenya’s Office of the President issued a statement calling the trash-deploying balloons “a typical action of the arrogant and vulgar Imperial regime.”
