Consider any information here as out-of-character. Use with care.
Porto Capital is not just a banana republic, although I initially wanted it to be one. I mean, it's Spanish-speaking, it's near the Equator and has a history of somewhat unstable governments - it had to be a stereotypical banana republic. This idea was quickly thrown on the trash, however, and the early PC became a mini-Brazil on Vex, as can be noticed after I renamed every single city to Portuguese names. The fact that my country was the core of a multinational Muslim empire was pretty much neglected by me back then.
As the months passed, I discovered just how interesting it would be to have more diversity on culture and languages. So, by mid-2002, PC went from mini-Brazil to a mix of Turkish-Algerian (Oran and the Mounist heartland of the Mauretanian Empire), Basque-esque (Extremo), Amazonian natives (the Mezapatani) and South American (Guetaso and Bajapez) peoples. It was around there that the Aro-Extreman language emerged.
As for now... The People's Republic is a very stable government, thank you very much. Yes, it has its problems - namely, a weak industrial base, poverty, high crime rates... - In these aspects (except for the industries), it's still very similar to Brazil. And there's also the Moun's Front... Yeah, they haven't bombed anything in years, but they're still alive, didn't you know?
But, all in all, the people of Porto Capital feels everything is getting better every day.
On Porto Capital Series
I - How it came to be | II - Not Just a Banana Republic | III - Commies or not?
IV - The many, many languages of Porto Capital | V - Etymologies
VI - The Weird History of Northern Melania