Junta

1945– ?

In Spanish, the term Junta means “coming together.” In a Cold War context, it normally refers to the coming together of right wing military cliques to oust an existing government and replace it with a military dictatorship. Juntas were so common in Latin America throughout the period that they became a nearly ritualized affair. More frequently than not, military juntas enjoyed the tacit blessing of the U.S. government as they looked to check leftist elements in Central and South America. Notable juntas include the military dictatorships that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983 and Guatemala from 1954 to 1984.

Time: Mid War
Side: Neutral
Ops: 2
Removed after event: No

One of the Big Three Mid War neutral events, along with ABM Treaty and Brush War, and one of the strongest events in the game.  Junta’s primary drawbacks are that it is region-restricted, it doesn’t provide Mil Ops, and it is less likely than the others to flip a battleground directly (since your coup odds are much lower, and you can’t coup battlegrounds with it at DEFCON 2).  But it is the only one of the three that is guaranteed to give you influence in a region.  In addition, it does two things at once, so not only does it let you realign, it will also help you set up a good realign opportunity.

Junta is a more common headline than ABM Treaty / Brush War, mainly because it’s the only one of the three that can degrade DEFCON.  The choice of coup or realign gives Junta the best of both worlds: stealing the headline coup is a great option, but sometimes realignment is the safer play.  This is especially true for USSR, who can headline it, realign, and then coup on AR1 for Mil Ops and perhaps also a bigger coup.

After DEFCON drops to 2, Junta is almost exclusively used to set up a critical realign.  If you control Brazil and the US controls Venezuela, you can use Junta to drop 2 influence in Colombia and immediately start realigning, rather than giving the US an opportunity to coup Colombia to defend itself.  Common realigns include Costa Rica/Colombia realigning Panama, Colombia/Brazil realigning Venezuela, Venezuela/Uruguay realigning Brazil, Argentina/Peru realigning Chile, and for the US, realigning Mexico or Cuba with Guatemala or Nicaragua, respectively.

Because it guarantees influence placement, Junta is often a critical card to draw when neither side has made any inroads into South America.  Even if you are forced to waste the second half of the event, it may be worth it just to get into the region.

Some common rules questions:

• Do both influence have to go into the same country?
  • Yes.
• Does the country you realign/coup have to be the same country as the country you placed influence in?
  • No.  You also don’t have to realign the same country twice.
• Is Junta affected by Red Scare/Purge, Containment, and Brezhnev Doctrine?
  • Yes.
• Does a Junta battleground coup degrade DEFCON?
  • Yes.
• Then what does “free coup” mean?
  • It means it does not give Mil Ops, and more generally, is not subject to DEFCON geographical restrictions.  (Which doesn’t matter in the case of Junta, since DEFCON 2 does not geographically prevent a coup in Central or South America, but it does matter for Tear Down This Wall.)