July 17, 2003

Sao Tome Update

The Voice of America is reporting the Bush administration "is working diplomatically to restore Sao Tome's elected government, which was ousted by officers in the country's military Wednesday."

The State Department says Washington is consulting other African countries and Portugal on how to resolve the crisis. Portugal is the former colonial ruler of Sao Tome and Principe. The American diplomatic effort is being led by the U.S. ambassador to Gabon, Kenneth Moorfield, who also has the responsibility for Sao Tome. The United States, as well as Nigeria, Mozambique, Portugal and France joined U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in condemning the coup.

Also Thursday, African Union (AU) officials hinted that military intervention may be considered to restore the government of ousted President Fradique de Menezes. A spokesman for AU chairman, Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, said this is one option under consideration. Mr. Chissano flew to Abuja, Nigeria, Thursday to consult with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Mr. De Menezes, who was in Nigeria when the coup took place. Mr. Chissano said Wednesday's coup is condemnable and unacceptable to the AU. Nigeria, Sao Tome's northern neighbor, has hinted at possible military intervention in the small country of 150,000 people. Sao Tome's deposed President de Menezes has ruled out a possible military intervention by Nigeria but says he may welcome such action by the African Union.

Other bloggers blogging about Sao Tome:

Andrew Apostolou at Apostablog, who favors intervention if that's what it takes to end the coup, and notes that, Of course, the "it's all about oil" brigade will soon start up. To be sure, the coup appears to be motivated by a desire to grab future oil revenues. If the Sao Tomese win back their freedom because of oil, then this natural resource will have been of some use to them.

Adam at Karmic Inquisition, who provides a very long and insightful post and comments, That the US (warts and all) endeavors to keep the world's oil supply in a diverse set of hands is a good thing for democracies around the world, IMO. Only 1 of the 6 companies trading Iraqi oil is US. Hardly a US grab. Just the same, the US should "take the sticks away" of her critics by simply insisting that public oil trusts be established for protectorates in cases where new oil wealth is found (Sao Tome) or where it had been nationalized prior (like in Iraq).

OxBlog. OxBlog is one of the finest blogs in the blogosphere and I'm honored by the link. Thanks for noticing! More importantly, thanks for caring about Sao Tome.

It's worth noting that many of those in the political arena who are calling for the U.S. to intervene in Liberia, which has no oil and is not of any real strategic interest to the United States, are not calling for U.S. intervention to restore democracy in Sao Tome.

What's the difference, Howard Dean?