At about this moment, many of my readers are asking themselves, “where the hell is Guinea-Bissau and why should I care?”
It is another one of those historically corrupt former colonial territories that the Portuguese left a mess and is undecided about which alliances will help their citizens out of abject poverty which it has endured since it’s so-called independence in 1973.
Yet in the United States news coverage about all of these nations experiencing political disruption, be they violent and or peaceful, is nil. And why bother covering them? It just scares grandma and grandpa about their meager 401K investments and start the rest of the nation into asking hard questions as to why this is all happening now.
So why has this little nation suddenly become part of the global commodity trade war and interest from China and Europe creating more internal disorder?
Here’s a hint:
Bauxite
Gold
Diamonds
Zirconium
Titanium
Phosphates
and oh, yes, oil discoveries off of its coastline which China is helping to extract.
Thus when the military overturned the elections a few weeks ago that should have not come as a surprise:
Guinea-Bissau Coup: President Embaló Flees to Senegal as Army Suspends Election Results
Needless to say, that led to this not so shocking outcome:
Guinea-Bissau’s electoral commission says coup destroyed election results
Obviously the people of this impoverished nation are blaming the current who was soon to become former President for staging this fake coup to retain power. Naturally, that resulted in protests beginning in earnest.
Protesters march in Guinea-Bissau to denounce coup
Anti-Coup Protests Erupt in Guinea-Bissau Capital, Clashes with Security Forces
Why do these pages report on the constant global instability in nations that are somewhat used to this?
This is the type of activity, as the United States and European colonial power waned in the 1970’s, that caused nations to tumble to unfriendly foreign influence and or course increase global instability. Over the remainder of this week, I will introduce my readers to nations around Africa and the world where it’s all falling apart to illustrate this.
Primarily this series of articles is to remind my readers that the late 1970’s wasn’t a global paradise and until the idea of stability was a mirage during an era where a persistent state of terrorism and war existed around the world.
Buckle up, as we are all about to enter the most turbulent five years in modern American and global history as uni-polarity becomes a distant memory.
