Africa Is a Country

The coup against democracy in Mali

The coup against democracy in Mali

By
Sean Jacobs

From a writer friend:

Here’s video of the coup announcement in Mali. Ridiculous. The screen is dark at first — they were having technical difficulties — but the image appears after 30 seconds or so. See the scene. As for the speech, it’s the usual pompous nonsense, poorly delivered by a junior officer out of his depth.

From a Malian friend:

In the last couple of hours, power has been usurped for a second time in our history by the military. They have overthrown the democratically-elected incumbent president who had a month left in office on his second and last term. We were preparing to vote on scheduled presidential elections in April …it’s a crushing blow to the democracy we built since the 1991 revolution which was won with the blood of 300+ students, trade union leaders and citizens protesting the 23 years of military rule of General Moussa Traore.

And here’s the second declaration, a short time ago. This one is briefer and given by Capt Sanogo who is the head of the junta:

More later.

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