All This Drama

Many of you are familiar with the events in Egypt and now Libya and I have talked about what has been going on in Tunisia, which sparked a lot of the happenings in the Middle East. This drama seems to be lurking south of the Sahara, too. I will try to give a run down of my thoughts all this drama.

Ivory Coast

Oooo...this is irritating. CNN International reported that "President" Laurent Gbagbo nationalized cocoa and coffee - the countries two main cash crops. Ivory Coast is the world's largest exporter of cocoa. Apart from the fact that this man went ahead and nationalized two very important parts of this country's economy, he also should have stepped down as president a while ago, since an electoral commission declared his opponent Alassane Outtara the president (and is backed by United Nations). Since Gbagbo refuses to step down, all this chaos runs amidst a country that has been relatively peaceful. Maybe if he steps down, some of the recent violence can subside.

Sudan

Sudan is on it's way to turning into two separate nations, but meanwhile, there's some drama in Southern Sudan. A rebel army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, and Southern Sudan's militia have been going head-to-head and an estimated 40 people have been killed, according to CNN International. What I am trying to understand is...since there is a clear path for being separated from the North, why is this rebel army still around? I thought the armies were going to join forces and be the new military for Southern Sudan. More on this later...

Djibouti

A planned protest against the president was curtailed on Friday by the government and security forces, according to the Canadian Press. This sounds eerily similar to some of the things that have been going on the in the Middle East, all these "preventative" measures. If people are really passionate about something, not even guns can stop them...

Let's hope based on how things have been going on in North Africa/Southwest Asia that leaders make their judgement without greed and with fairness to hopefully give the people what they want.