Solís

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Solís
Flag of Solís.
Nation in Just Cause 4
Official government type	Unknown
Economic model	Some sort of plutocracy and corrupt capitalism
Formal title of the head of state	King/Queen (centuries ago) ??? (current)
Known heads of state	Otorongo (centuries ago) Diego Espinosa (centuries ago) Leon Espinosa (previous) Oscar Espinosa (most of the game) Rico Rodriguez (as of the end of the game, though de facto)
Administrative units	41 regions
Location in the world	Just west of South America
Area (sea included)	1024 km2
Climate zones	Jungle / Desert / Grassland / Snowy mountains
Top 3 industries	Military industry (weapon and vehicle manufacturing and international sale), Civilian vehicle companies, Agriculture
Currency	Peso (according to NPC dialogue)
Population	Unknown
Allies and partners	Anyone who hires the Black Hand could be seen this way.
Opposition	Army of Chaos

Solís (pronounced "So - leese", often misspelled Solis) is the fictional country in which Just Cause 4 takes place.

Info summary

This country is known as the home of the Black Hand.

The map has been officially stated to be 1024 km², which makes it the same size as San Esperito, however it's said to be the biggest JC map so far by having more usable dry land than the previous maps.

The nation is ruled by Oscar Espinosa, who owns all the major companies in the country. He has replaced the former military of the nation with his private security company, the Black Hand. The Black Hand are used in the duties of the military and the police. The nation doesn't seem to have any court system either, as it's mentioned in the mission Mazmorra Rescue that the Black Hand can imprison people with out any oversight.

The capital is Nueva Voz, a city on the southern coast. There is also a city called Quya on the east coast. Quya is described as "Home to the free-spirited, free-thinking people of Solís."

The game's demonym for the people of Solís is the theoretical Spanish one, "Solinos", rather than the Anglicized "Solisians" (although an easter egg says otherwise).

Government

It is mentioned by Javi Huerta that the Espinosa Dynasty has maintained power through rigged elections, however outside of this mention, there is no indication of anything resembling democracy. Instead, the nation seems to be a dictatorship with a strong military-industrial complex.

The ruler of the nation is Oscar Espinosa, whose only claim to power seems to be the fact that he owns the Espinosa Companies, a conglomeration of corporate bodies such as Grupo Prospero that control most of the nation's economy and employ a majority of Solinos. He is also the son of the previous leader, Leon Espinosa, who was the previous head of all the major companies. They are both descended from Diego Espinosa, a Spanish conquistador who conquered Solís 500 years ago and set up a military dictatorship. Therefore, the nation is, in essence, under a hereditary autocracy with a monopolized plutocracy. It is, however, never mentioned what the head of state's formal title is.

According to one of the game's loading screens: "Over 60% of Solís is employed by an Espinosa company or subsidiary -- this includes the Black Hand and every single politician in elected office." This establishes that elections are being held and there are politicians, though they are on the ruler's payroll. It either means that the politicians are puppets who are controlled through corruption, or that Solís has a system of government where the autocrat employs the lower-level elected officials. In the case of the first one, the Espinosa Dynasty are oligarchs who have complete control of the economy by having used their systemic power in the nation's capitalist system to out-compete everyone and have bribed every democratically elected figure. In the case of the second, they are actual monarchs, similar to pre-revolution France, where there was no meaningful difference between the state treasury and the king or queen's personal wallet.

Leon Espinosa may have held power through rigged elections, but as explained by the Solís Hoy radio, it was Oscar who turned the Black Hand from "a bunch of local badasses" into the world's most advanced private military. Santiago, one of the radio hosts, reveals that the Black Hand used to have popular support of the people, but in more recent times, they've started wearing masks even when serving domestically and that the nation has become disturbingly authoritarian with dissent being punished with nighttime arrests and imprisonment at La Mazmorra. Examples of arrests and assassinations being carried out without question on dictatorial command are spoken of in the missions Agency Distress Beacon, Mazmorra Rescue and Meeting Lanza Moralez. As mentioned by Diago, one of the radio hosts, the nation does have a system of laws and nobody who obeys those should worry about the Black Hand.

Initially the people (callers on the radio) seem to be approving of and initially even happy to live in what they believe to be the "best country on Earth." However, as the storyline progresses, they become more comfortable with outward expression of their discontent with the authoritarian rule. However, even when they do question the government and support resistance to Espinosa and the Black Hand (Army of Chaos), they agree that it would be suicide because of the Black Hand's reputation and power.

To avoid spoilers, see the Solís Hoy article for reports of what happens after the missions.

History

As discovered by Javi Huerta, the indigenous people of Solís were more technologically advanced than was previously believed. They constructed many sets of machinery that have remained functional, even in modern times. These machines power the moving parts of large stone statues. Also, the necropolis at Isla De Los Annilos has large moving parts.

Solís has lots of ancient tombs and other structures. One of them, featured in one of the earlier missions, is an at least 600 year old aqueduct.

Solís has at least 2 different unique cultures. These were the Qacha and the Allpa (or Aipa). These people had a common monarch. The last ancient ruler was called Otorongo.

Solís was then invaded by the Spanish conquistadors, lead by Diego Espinosa de Málaga. Solís is now ruled by Oscar Espinosa, a descendant of the conquistador.

The members of the Otorongo royal family had been executed by Espinosa and his conquistadors for "countless murders", but Javi believes that the truth is more complicated. In fact, there was a civil war between the local people, where the Spanish backed the Qacha people. Eventually it's revealed that the war had been purposely started by Diego, who used it to eliminate the existing government and then set himself up as a ruler of Solís, thus starting the Espinosa Dynasty.

At some point in modern times, the Espinosa regime created the Black Hand as the military of Solís. The distinction however is that the Black Hand are directly owned by Oscar Espinosa, who finances them.

To avoid needless spoilers here (a location page), see the mission articles and Solís Hoy (radio channel) for info about the present and future.

The Downloadable content for Just Cause 4 adds missions and content that focuses on racing and gangs (Dare Devils of Destruction, something to do with demon (Los Demonios) and finally about the Agency (Danger Rising). Some of these events are set during the storyline, while some seem to make more sense after the storyline missions. They are unlocked at different points early in the story:

• Some Trouble, the first mission of Dare Devils of Destruction, can be after The Illapa Project mission has been completed.
• The Artifact, the first mission of Los Demonios, is unlocked after completing Garland King's New Star and The Secret History of Solís.
• Old Friends and New Enemies, the first mission of Danger Rising, is only avaliable after completing Agency Distress Beacon.

Culture and religion

The old Otorongo-era religion seems to have been all about ancestor worship, because all the ruins from that era are tombs. Some sites look like they could have been small towns, but really they are all tombs.

Because Solís was taken over by conquistadors from Spain (lead by Diego el Santo), it's reasonable to assume that they made Catholicism the main religion, but the stone churches have no recognizable religious symbols on them and there are no religious civilians (such as priests) anywhere.

Cuisine

Main article: Solino cuisine.

Solino cuisine is very similar to other South American and Latino countries, with some local additions and unique dishes. Corn and pork seem to be staples in Solís, again similar to other South and Latin American countries and cultures.

Economy and industry

It was stated in one of the game's earlier promotional videos (which one?) that if you live in Solís, you are either training to become a soldier, or you are working at a factory. This would obviously be a bit of an exaggeration, but it suggests that Solís is heavily industrialized and has a "military first"-policy, similar to North Korea.

Much (if not most) of the nation's economy is built on militarized factories that produce military equipment for the Black Hand. These might be paid for/funded by dictators and organizations like The Agency who hire the Black Hand. Prospero Balística is said to export weapons to "over 100 nations".

More domestically, the Black Hand are mentioned by Sargento to have taken over formerly civilian industrial locations like the Muro Fortaleza hydro-electrical power plant to provide more power and resources to Project Illapa. This project is Solís' priority #1 during the events of Just Cause 4. Officially (as told to the civilians), the project is meant to construct a weather controlling machine that would end all extreme weather, such as tornadoes, sandstorms, lightning storms and snow storms, thus preventing natural disasters. However, Illapa is meant to create, control and weaponize these storms.

The radio Solís Hoy reveals more about the economy. All major companies apparently belong to Oscar Espinosa. A female caller explains that she's proud to work 70 hours per week to live in the best country on Earth. The radio hosts also mentions that they can buy whatever they want for an honest day's work.

In reality, a 70 hour work week can cause great stress and exhaustion, as one would have to work nearly twice as much as most workers in the United States, who have 8 hour work days and 40 hour work weeks. Assuming it's 14 hours per day, Monday through Friday, it could go from as early as 5 in the morning to 7 in the evening.

According to one of the game's loading screens: "Over 60% of Solís is employed by an Espinosa company or subsidiary -- this includes the Black Hand and every single politician in elected office."

Some civilian women may talk to each other and complain that there's only 2 clothing companies available (both belonging to Oscar), which has lead to a limited selection of clothing.

Transportation

Having few lakes and rivers, Solís relies more on its roads and railroads than any of the previously featured nations. Solís is also known to have a few airports, with two large international airports. There are also major highways spanning the grasslands, the southern edge of the rainforest, and some portions of the desert.

Geography and climate zones

Map of Solís with out DLC expansions. See Maps for more maps.

Main article: Climate of Solís.

Solís has 4 climate zones (jungle, desert, grassland & mountains), similar to Panau and each of those is said to have 2 to 4 distinct sub-areas that define the cross-overs zones between the main areas.

According to a development video, the highest natural point in Solís is 2,461 meters above sea level.

Solís has several large natural wonders:

• Pachakawri, a giant smoking crater. It was caused by some type of large space rock that fall there long ago.
• Cueva de la Ñusta, a system of caves that is said to contain an ancient tomb.
• Weird cave near Puerto Diego, a cave unlike any other.
• There's somehow a miniature moon inside of a mountain, and another one above the ocean.

Jungle

• Altoyaku
• Delta Río Wanay
• Hamparas
• Hanasacha
• Islas Kaupyes
• Islas Machaqwayes
• Kunka
• Phuyu-Kuni
• Tierra del Qhapaq
• Umiña
• Wachikuni

Desert

• Acantilados
• Arena
• Cerros Empolvados
• Chasca
• Laderas Rojas
• Las Tormentas
• Maravillas
• Páramos
• Riscos Altos

Grassland

• Abundancia
• Cantos
• Cresta
• Distrito Capital
• Gran Batalla
• Islas Intichayes
• Paso Ventoso
• Recalada
• Tierras Bajas
• Vaivenes
• Valle Río

Mountains

• Hirkas
• Picos Helados
• Picos Nevados
• Qachas
• Yanacagua

Other

• Frontera - forest/grasslands
• Hatun Ukucha - desert/mountains
• Laderas Sur - grassland/mountains
• Tallada - grassland/desert/mountains
• Isla Santuario - DLC region.
• Isla de los Annilos - DLC region.

Weather

Main article: Weather in JC4.

The Black Hand have control of the weather, as they are known to create controlled tornadoes that rip through the grasslands, sandstorms that afflict the desert, and a severe rainstorm in the Kunka region of the rainforest. The dynamic weather also has other types of storms for other biomes. The grasslands biome has tornadoes; the alpine biome has blizzards; the rain forest biome has thunderstorms; and the desert biome will have sandstorms.

Natural weather is completely functional for the first time, not just in the different storms. Rivers have currents and the atmosphere has winds. These affect the handling of boats, the wingsuit, and aircraft.

Trivia

• In the mission The Heist Begins for Just Cause 3's Bavarium Sea Heist DLC, a fleet of Black Hand ships attempts to intercept Rico, Tom Sheldon, Annika Svennson and Looch, as they are making their escape from the Stingray facility. As soon as the ships come into sight, Annika immediately blames Sheldon for providing the team with "bad" intel on the Black Hand's forces. Sheldon is surprised too, because he believed the ships were supposed to be on their way to South America.
  • It is likely that Sheldon referred to Solís.
• Solís appears to be the first country in the Just Cause game series to lack an official standing military. The Black Hand are a privately owned company, who are used in the duties of the military and police.
  • In reality, China has a similar system, where the military officially belongs to the Communist Party, so the military of China is actually the military of the Communist Party of China.
• Sol means sun in various languages, including Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, and Norwegian. The name Solís may also have derived from the Spanish word for 'alone,' 'solo.'
• There are no regions which start with B, E, J, N, O, S, X, Y, and Z.

Gallery

Artworks

Desert artwork.

A jungle with a settlement with modern high rise buildings and a waterfall.

Grasslands artwork.

Mssive waterfall and some Mayan-style ruins.

Early "Bridge Favela" artwork.

El Abismo - village on a bridge.

Trailer screenshots

Tumba de los Tres Niños, ancient ruins.

A town in the grasslands.

Village along with a Whaleshark-like boat.

A sandstorm in the desert.

A tornado is destroying a settlement.

First shot of the game world in the first trailer.

A town being devastated by a tornado.

Snowy mountains.

The city of Nueva Voz, the capital of Solís.

City of Quya. The picture was initially (possibly by mistake) associated with Nueva Voz, the capital of Solís.

Quya from the coastal side.

A Tapir, see Animals.

An ancient temple.

The giant crater in the desert.

Similarly to Medici, that has several small football fields with an interactable ball, Solísians are also into football and have a stadium for it.

As seen in the "Eye of the storm" trailer.

Another bridge settlement in the "Eye of the storm" trailer.

Rico admires nature in the 25 minute no HUD gameplay video.

Sandstorms are common in the deserts here.

Maps and other info

Straight, but lower resolution version of the flag.

Another version of the flag file. The tricolor has been painted over with editing software.

A pre-order bonus map.

According to a developer video, this map was purposely made to lack many settlements and other possible spoilers.

Noticias newspaper.

Locations of San Esperito and Solís. The location of Solís was revealed in the mission Rogue Agent.

A promotional image showing the environmental effects.

Watasumag, a city on the east coast.

One of the ancient tombs with an Uma, a large stone ball with a carved face.

Testing during development

Solís during the early stages of JC4 development. Notice the JC3-style of Rico and the HUD.

Early version of Solís, still rendered in the style of JC3.

Another view of JC3-style early Solís.

Videos