Junta (game)
Junta is a board game designed by Vincent Tsao originally published by Capri in 1975, and later published, as of 1985, by West End Games. Players compete as the corrupt power elite families of a fictional parody of a stereotypical banana republic (specifically Republica de los Bananas) trying to get as much money as possible into their Swiss bank accounts before the foreign aid money runs out. Fighting in the republic's capital during recurrent coup attempts encompasses most of the game's equipment, rules and playtime. This game-within-the-game is however actually tangential to the players' main goal.
The length of the game depends on how often coups are declared, but can often exceed six hours. Perhaps as a result of this, the game never achieved broad-based popularity, although it still retains a cult following of fans. Since West End Games filed for bankruptcy in 1998, copies of the game became hard to find until the 3rd edition was released in 2005.
The game's title is taken from the Spanish term "Junta" which originally referred to the executive bodies that frequently came to power after a military coup in 20th century Latin America (the Spanish version is called Golpe, which means coup d'état). In the game, the term refers to the players who declare "Rebel" at the beginning of the coup phase, and—if the coup is victorious—to the players who declare "pro-Junta" at the end of the coup phase to elect a new president.