President of the Confederate States of Latin America

The Executive Branch is headed by the President (currently Michelle Bachelet).

The name of the office in Spanish is normally "El Presidente de los Estados Confederados de America Latina", however for the current term (with a female President) the title changes to "La Presidenta de los Estados Confederados de America Latina"

Presidents serve in five-year terms. The maximum number of terms is five, which must be consecutive. Non-consecutive terms are not allowed. If a President is not re-elected, he/she cannot stand for election in the future.

A President must:

• Be a citizen of the ECAL for at least 14 years
• Be at least 35 years of age
• Have no felony convictions
• Not be serving in the armed forces
• Not be a serving member of Congress
• Not be a serving member of any State executive, or legislative branch
• Not be a sitting judge in any jurisdiction

Presidential Powers

Executive Powers

• Day to day management of the Federal Government
• Issuing rules and regulations persuant to statutes.
• Command-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
• Nomination of officials (subject to the consent of the Senate)

Legislative Powers

Though the President is not part of the legislature, the President can send bills to Congress (normally through the President's Party's most senior Representative). The President must address Congress annually to outline the state of the Confederate States, and outline a specific policy agenda.

Judicial Powers

The President can pardon, or suspend the sentence of anyone convicted in a Federal Court, except in the case of the impeachment of a public official.

Foreign Affairs

The President is responsible for the Confederate States' relations with the world. The President nominates all Ambassadors, Ministers, and Consuls.

Cabinet

The Cabinet, though not formally constituted, is the centre of the executive branch. It consists of the President, Vice-President, and the heads of Federal Government Departments.

The Cabinet of the Bachelet Administration.

Department	Head Position	Minister
-none-	Vice-President	Alberto Fujimori
Ministry of Finance	Minister of Finance	José Piñera
Ministry of Foriegn Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs	Jose Ruiz
Ministry of Defence	Minister of Defence	Ramon Diaz
Attorney-General's Department	Attorney-General	Rita Lopez
Ministry of Transport	Minister of Transport	Francesca Torres
Ministry of Health	Minister of Health	Alvaro Erazo
Ministry of Public Works	Minister of Public Works	Eduardo Bitran
Ministry of Social Affairs	Minister of Social Affairs	Elvira Montores
Ministry of State	Minister of State	Jorge Fernandez

Election of the President

Between 1950 and 1965, the President is elected by an Electoral College. The Electors were chosen by State Legislatures, and each state had a number of electors which corresponds to the number of Deputies it sends to the House of Deputies, plus 8 (corresponding to the number of Senators). The manner of choosing Electors is up to the State Legislatures in question. Most use General Ticket Voting (that is the entire adult population). Argentina, Peru, and Chile held elections inside the legislature.

Elections (of all types) were suspended between 1965 and 1990. Post-1990 Presidential Elections have been direct elections. A candidate must achieve a majority of the national vote, plus majorities in at least five states to be elected.

Inauguration of the President

The Inauguration Ceremony takes place outside the Houses of Congress. The oath of office is administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The President-elect repeats the oath, holding her right hand up, and resting her left hand on The Bible. The Bible is held by the First Lady.

The Oath of Office is as follows:

I, (name), having been elected President of the Confederate States of Latin America, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge my duties as such to the best of my ability without fear or favor, affection or ill-will, and without regard to any previous affiliation with any political party, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Confederate States, and that I will preserve, protect, and defend its Constitution.

Badges of office

The President's badges of office include a red, white, and blue sash, and a distinctive flag. Sashes are handed from outgoing President to the new incumbent in the inauguration ceremony, however each new President has a new sash made to their own size.

The Presidential Sash

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk56/Sheriff__001/PresidentialSash.png

Presidential Flag

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk56/Sheriff__001/Sun%20flags/ECALPresidentialFlag.png

Presidential Residence

The Palacio de La Moneda (Spanish for "Mint Palace"), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the President of the ECAL. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secretariat of the Government. It occupies a whole block in downtown Santiago, in the area known as Civic District.

List of Presidents

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	State of Origin	First Lady	Notes
Laureano Gómez	1950	1955	Partido de la Democracia Cristiana	Colombia	Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro	President of the Confederate States of Latin America
Manuel Prado Ugarteche	1955	1963	Partido Socialista Democratico	Peru	Enriqueta Ugarteche	Only PSD President, dismissed by the Senate
Fernando Belaunde Terry	1963	1965	Partido de la Democracia Cristiana	Peru	Violeta Correa de Belayunde	Shortest serving President
Juan Carlos Onganía	1965	1973	None, Military Junta	Argentina	Graciela Onganía	Chief of the Government Junta
Alfredo Stroessner	1973	1983	None, Military Junta	Paraguay	Eligia Mora	Chief of the Government Junta until 1977, then President of the Confederate States of Latin America
Augusto Pinochet	1983	1990	None, Military Junta	Chile	Lucía Hiriart de Pinochet	Last military leader of the ECAL,
Carlos Menem	1990	1995	Partido Republicano Constitucional	Argentina	Cecilia Bolocco	First PRC President, first elected President since 1965
Jorge Batlle Ibanez	1995	2000	Partido Laborista Socialista	Uruguay	Mercedes Menafra	President of the Confederate States of Latin America
Ricardo Lagos	2000	2003	Partido Republicano Constitucional	Chile	Luisa Durán	Resigned in 2003 for Health reasons
Gustavo Adolfo Bell Lemus	2003	2005	Partido Republicano Constitucional	Colombia	Maria Mercedes De La Espriella	Vice-President under Lagos, saw out his term, but lost nomination in 2004
Michelle Bachelet	2005	Present	Partido Republicano Constitucional	Chile	Maria Bachelet1	First female President, first consequtive same-party President

¹Maria Bachelet is the daughter of Michelle Bachelet. President Bachelet is not married, her daughter peforms the duties of First Lady. President Bachelet has said that she will not marry while in office.