The Board

The map of the island is only required during a Coup d'État. The neighborhoods, army bases, police precincts, embassies, and the five Important Power Centers are clearly demarcated locations.

At the top of the board is a row of squares listing the phases of the political (card) game, indicating which phase is currently in play.

The Deck of Politics Cards

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  Assassins enable an assassination attempt in Phase 6.

  
  
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  Bribes enable the control of Units or hinder an assassination. In order to play these cards, one needs cash in hand.

  Money spent on Bribes is placed face-up at the bottom of the Development Aid deck on the game board.

  
  
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  Events often allow something to happen that's not otherwise allowed under the rules.

  
  
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  Influence cards give one's faction votes for elections. Some of them also help the family in conducting assassinations or bribes.

  Once played, an influence card remains in play until the jefe of the family is killed or a circumstance explicitly requires the player to discard it.

  Each counts as one card in the player's hand, and they cannot be exchanged.

  
  
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  Secret Party Donation cards are discarded in exchange for the top bill in the Development Aid deck.

  
  
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  Votes can be played during an election. After the conclusion of the election, they are discarded.

  
  

Players may exchange cards in their hands with each other, except during the Assassination Attempts and Coup Consequences phases.

If a player is the target of an assassination attempt or is facing a firing squad, he may not play any cards unless the card in question explicitly permits it. All cards are only used once and then discarded-with the exception of Influence cards and any other cards which state otherwise.

When a player places a card face-up in front of him, it counts as having been played. If the requirements of the card can't be met at that moment, then it's discarded without effect.

Development Aid

The deck of Development Aid consists of 96 banknotes of 1, 2, and 3 million Pesos, which are placed on the space marked on the game board.

In general, only the current Presidente may draw from this deck. Otherwise, some Politics cards do allow access to the funds. no one is ever allowed to count the number of notes remaining in this deck.

Players keep their own banknotes face-down in front of them. No other player may count or look at them. They can be discarded or given away or made part of a deal between players-except when the possessor is the target of an assassination attempt or in front of a firing squad.

Swiss Bank Account

The banknotes that the player has deposited in his Swiss bank account (see Phase 7: Banking) are placed face-down under the Swiss Bank Account card. Only the player himself may count them-the other players may only estimate their number by sight.

The Development Aid deck and one's Swiss Bank Account may never be used to make change. Excess money spent is lost. Money played is always placed face up at the bottom of the Development Aid deck.

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