African states are one-by-one falling outside the shackles of neocolonialism. They are saying “non” to France’s longtime domination of African financial, political, economic and security affairs.
The ouster of the hopelessly corrupt Ali Bongo represents a particularly sharp rebuke of Obama, who groomed the Gabonese autocrat as one of his closest allies on the continent, writes Max Blumenthal.
Elections in the country during the dynasty’s decades in power were followed by protests, then security force crackdowns and ultimately silence, writes Douglas Yates. Until Wednesday, when the Bongo regime was finally overthrown.
Military officers in Gabon on Wednesday overthrew and arrested the country’s president, whose family ruled since 1967. It is the fourth coup in a former French African colony in the past three years as pressure mounts on Paris.
The seemingly unbridgeable gap between the major powers was on full display at the Security Council as they sparred over Ukraine and Russia’s security concerns, reports Joe Lauria.
The U.S. has called for a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday at 10 am in order for Russia to “explain itself” over U.S. allegations that Moscow will “imminently” invade Ukraine, a charge even Kiev has denied. Watch it here.