I don't know what happened, readers. I was reading my Boston Globe and everything went dark.
"Defeated Ivory Coast leader to seize banks" by New York Times / January 27, 2011
DAKAR, Senegal — Openly defying its West African neighbors, the government of Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivory Coast strongman who is increasingly strapped for cash in the face of international sanctions, says it will seize local branches of the region’s central bank....
The Ivory Coast criminal.
That's an unpardonable sin to the upper echelons of power.
Of course, it's only African peoples' money.
For weeks, Ivorian government troops and armored vehicles have been posted outside the Abidjan branch — a show of force meant to demonstrate Gbagbo’s authority over funds inside. It is unclear how West African leaders, who have threatened to remove Gbagbo by force, would respond to branches of their collective bank being seized....
Them's fighting words!
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And then the lights went out:
"Ivory Coast ruler seizes electric company" by Associated Press / January 28, 2011
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — The country’s incumbent leader seized the nation’s electric company and its distribution center yesterday in his latest effort to maintain control of the Ivory Coast nearly two months after the international community said he lost the election.
Laurent Gbagbo’s allies took over the West African regional central bank’s offices in Ivory Coast on Wednesday in an attempt to keep their access to millions of dollars in state coffers. Those funds are needed so Gbagbo can continue paying civil servants and soldiers.
Yeah, that's a worse sin than cutting power.
The national electricity company issued a statement yesterday saying that its central distribution center also had been seized by Gbagbo’s government, which cited reasons of national security.
The bank and the international community recognize Gbagbo’s rival, Alassane Ouattara, as the winner of the presidential runoff election held two months ago.
Notice who came first?
Some say Gbagbo has been able to withdraw tens of millions of dollars in recent weeks to keep his government functioning even though he was supposed to be cut off.
Think of it as a "bailout."
In a statement released yesterday, the Central Bank of West African States, protested Gbagbo’s decision to take over its operations in Ivory Coast, calling the move “a flagrant violation of international agreements.’’
So when do the tanks roll?
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Globe must be suffering the same blackout.
Related: U.N. U-Turn in Ivory Coast
