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> To spoil the story a bit, the Ivory Coast descended into an ethnic/religious civil war that killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands in less than
by thriftwy 3y ago
> To spoil the story a bit, the Ivory Coast descended into an ethnic/religious civil war that killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands in less than a decade after FHB’s death. An incredible amount of the contemporary accounts attribute the prior ethnic/religious peace of the Ivory Coast to FHB personally
Sounds like Yugoslavia to me. Minus the balkanization and the tidal forces of EU.
> he was massively corrupt and likely looted billions of dollars from the Ivory Coast.
Funnily enough, we never seem to see any track of these money over and over again (and such stories are aplenty), and especially not in the hands of that dictator's children, clan or followers. Leading to suspicion that it is not "looting" but maybe the old colonial power using the local quasi-independent government to siphon money out of their former properties. This way, these dictators have to send money back to the mother ship, "or else"; themselves getting peanuts - but at least after hedonistically partying in Paris.
You know that specific game mechanic if you ever played the original Dune from 1992.
An counterexample to this rule (that confirms its existence) is Dos Santos' daughter who exists, owns significant capital, and is a target of boring stuff such as lawsuits. This is opposed to when these billions simply disappear for good.
- thriftwy 3y agoFrom the same dude's another article > The Balkan country was “liberated” by communists, either by the Soviet army (which didn’t give a shit about them) This is measured, I presuppose, in comparsion with the Old Europe with its uncanny taste for all countries outside the Old Europe, though, sometimes they do devour each other as well.
- Georgelemental 3y ago> Leading to suspicion that it is not "looting" but maybe the old colonial power using the local quasi-independent government to siphon money out of their former properties. France has many other investment options with much better expected returns, especially once you account for the cost of maintaining a military presence. There is much to criticize about recent French policy in Africa, but charges that the French government is cynically enriching itself by exploiting these countries just don't match observable reality; talking with people who have spent time working there will quickly confirm. Additional evidence comes from China's attempts to enrich itself in Africa, which have mostly failed to produce the desired riches in the expected amounts.
- abenga 3y agoSo it's just malicious incompetence, not even greed? There has to be a reason it seems former french colonies are never allowed to become stable. Just coup after coup, with French forces usually directly involved.
- Georgelemental 3y agoSome of it is that these countries are stuck with borders that don't make sense, some of it is cultures not suited to modernity. And some former French colonies are relatively stable, for example Morocco and Vietnam.
- marxisttemp 3y agoFrance literally made Haiti pay them reparations for…revolting against their slave colony. There seems to be no low they won’t stoop to for extra bucks!
- thecopy 3y agoThis is a disingenious comment, imo. The payment you are referring to payed in the early 1800:s. >France demanded payment from Haiti for recognition of its independence in the early 19th century. The demand for reparations was made shortly after Haiti declared independence in 1804 following a successful revolt against French colonial rule. The negotiations and the subsequent agreement for reparations occurred between 1825 and 1838.
- marxisttemp 3y agoAll water under the bridge now, right? I mean, France never gave that money back to Haiti, but let’s let bygones be bygones right?
- Georgelemental 3y agoFrance has given Haiti hundreds of millions of euros in aid.