So is the new regime open to western investment/exploitation or are we about to hear about the "troubling human rights situation in Gabon"?
TIL about Gabon.
fuck Bongo, I don't know how the coup government will be but it'll be hard to do any worse. Power to the people, if this coup is actually for them ✊
Military coups generally don't give power to the people.
That's fairly reductive and inaccurate. The 1983 Upper Voltan coup d'état, the Carnation Revolution, and the Guatemalan Revolution are all examples to the contrary, and they are far from isolated exceptions to a rule.
I’ll freely admit I forgot this country existed since they’re never in the news in my country, what did this Bongo person do that was so bad the military is willing to take over like this? Other than a potentially fixed election I assume there must have been some prior acts to cause people to doubt this election’s legitimacy
The extremely short version is that he accepted a life of luxury bankrolled by the French in exchange for inducing poverty on his nation with aggressively extractive economic policies to the primary benefit of the French petroleum (and previously nuclear) industries. He's also the son of a French-appointed dictator who is basically continuing his father's platform to a tee.
Here's a fun little one-off story about the Bongo family https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/member-gabons-ruling-family-pascaline-bongo-puts-la-mansion-sale-14m-1610426 very Trump-style stuffing of the cabinet with family and funneling government funds into property for them to hold onto and also use
here's a story about Ali Bongo himself https://web.archive.org/web/20171117004922/http://observers.france24.com/en/20141223-luxury-cars-gabon-presidency-bongo-ali
Don't forget that he was also in the process of selling out his country to China. Very telling company he keeps.
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202304/t20230422_11063752.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x6b7JFsuJo
Running for a third term is enough in my opinion. At no level do I vote for someone who has had two consecutive terms, they need to get out and see the real world outside of power.
Hell yeah cant wait for this coup to turn for the benefit of the people haha like that's ever happened ahahaha
Burkina Faso's Sankara comes to mind as an example where that actually happenned.
But yeah, usually it just means even more repression and inequality.
Carnation revolution also?
Potential. They said so on Gabon's national tv channel.
It's unwise to assume truth regarding breaking news, especially when it's continents away. We mustn't so quickly forget the "Russian bombing" of Poland that wound up being a Ukrainian misfire. Panic damn near caused WW3.
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