In response to the Xiomeran Protests against Zamastanian businesses across metropolitan areas in the nation, Secretary of Transportation Madeline Essy announced free flights out of Xiomera for any Zamastanian citizens wanting to return to the mainland. This is the first such action by the Zamastanian government since the 1991 Bjeorg Crisis prompted evacuations.
“We want our people to remain safe, and currently, the deteriorating situation in Xiomera has prompted us to act,” Essy stated during her announcement. “The government of Xiomera, in our rare defense, is providing security forces to protect Zamastanian businesses. However, we would point out the instigation of the protesters that led to this chaos in the first place.”
The cities of Tlālacuetztla, Mizcayotl, and Ixxiuitl saw sporadic violence against Zamastanian-owned stores on Sunday, forcing the occupants of the stores to take shelter and close the businesses. Xiomeran authorities created a cordoned-off area to drive protesters away. There were several instances of effigies of President Bishop being burned in the crowds. President Bishop has not held a press briefing due to her being on a trip abroad in Sanctaria, though she did release a statement through her Press Official stating that she “was thinking of the Zamastanians caught in the middle of the chaos” and that she “strongly condemned the protests.” A 24-hour mandatory curfew was set in place in many urban areas.
In other parts of the nation, specifically the loading ports in Huizitaca and Aclan, workers stepped off from their positions and went on a strike, refusing to unload any cargo from Zamastanian registered ships. Xiomeran and Zamastanian cargo vessels frequent each other’s ports, making up roughly 12% of total economic trade coming in and out of the two Xiomeran port cities and Zamastan’s own Tofino and Jade Harbor ports.
In addition to the introduction of free-flights out of Xiomera, Secretary of Trade and Commerce Trista Demore also threatened to devalue the Zamastanian dollar to further impact Xiomeran business, though the move would likely cause global markets to decline in every nation involved in Zamastanian trade, with some nations feeling the impact more than others.
“We have not devalued our currency since the 1870’s. The reason being that we see free trade and an open market for all our fellow nations as beneficial for the whole world. If a trade war ensues because of the hostile Xiomeran government, their human rights violations, and their failure to conform to a more accepting society, then it will have disastrous repercussions for not only Xiomera, but the global economy as well.”
Xiomeran politicians were quick to throw insult at Zamastan over the introduction of sanctions on luxury goods and food items. Most of the sanctioning involved hiked prices, though there are several examples of items being withheld from the Xiomeran markets entirely, including cell phones, computers, and tablets made with Zamastanian-extracted copper, watches and eyewear made in Zamastan, and 17 types of non-perishable food items.