"Ay, Dios Mio," Maribel's vocabulary seemed to have shrunk to three words.
"The point is," I tried to regain control of the conversation, "We have incredible technologies that allow us to do many things."
Rafael interrupted me, "I think the point is that Earth is being extorted and its value stolen by foreign powers who are cooperating with each other, if loosely, to exploit us." He looked at me squarely, "The people of Guatemala are familiar with this kind of scenario. Give me access to the technologies and I will take care of this problem." He said flatly.
A momentary fear ran through me, not for myself, but for the alien powers that stood in Rafael's way… "Absolutely not, Rafael. I made a mistake with the Chiapas incursion. I will not let that happen again."
