Africa has had eight coup attempts in recent months. What’s behind the ‘coup epidemic’?
Last week, soldiers in Guinea Bissau surrounded the government palace, attacking President Umaro Sissoco Embaló during a cabinet meeting. Although the coup attempt ultimately failed, the firefight resulted in numerous fatalities. Only a week earlier, widespread mutinies in Burkina Faso prompted army officers to depose another competitively elected African president.
These two latest military moves only add to what U.N. Secretary General António Guterres in October called an “epidemic of coups d’état.” From 2000 to 2020, the average was about two coup attempts per year in Africa. But in the past 12 months, eight coup attempts occurred — in Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Sudan (twice), Burkina Faso and Guinea Bissau.… Seguir leyendo »