Last Spring, the small country of Guinea Bissau experienced a military coup in which the president was ousted just months before his term was set to expire. Since then drug trafficking has been ignored if condoned by the military brass leading the country.
“They are probably the worst narco-state that’s out there on the continent,” said a senior Drug Enforcement Administration official in Washington
Since the military takeover Guinea Bissau has been a hot spot for drug smuggling. Due to the countries location on Africa's western shore, it provides a convenient refueling spot a refuge for small drug running planes as they fly their route between Latin America and Europe. Since taking over the army has instituted a figure head to retain the appearance of stability, but it is the military that is calling the shots. The instability was intensified when several army officers defected and tried to launch a counter-coup, but it was squashed. Some experts suspect that the coup was a cover up for a flurry of drug smuggling activity that took place while the attention was on the government.
“There has clearly been an increase in Guinea-Bissau in the last several months,” said Pierre Lapaque, head of the regional United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for West and Central Africa. “We are seeing more and more drugs regularly arriving in this country.”
Some have implicated that leaders in the military are behind the drug running activities. A senior D.E.A. official said, “People at the highest levels of the military are involved in the facilitation” of trafficking, and added: “In other African countries government officials are part of the problem. In Guinea-Bissau, it is the government itself that is the problem.” Even those within the country recognize the problem. “A lot of the traffickers have direct relationships with the military." Said Octávio Inocêncio Alves, the country;s former prosecutor general. What this means for Guinea Bissau is uncertain, but the country is clearly not headed in a positive direction. With the government itself sanctioning the drug lords it will be very hard to quell the problem without regime change. As the Military brass continues to cement it's hold on leadership this grows increasing unlikely.
Sources
Nossiter, Adam. New York Times. 11/1/12. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/world/africa/guinea-bissau-after-coup-is-drug-trafficking-haven.html?hp
Is Guinea Bissau simply a gateway for Europe and Latin America to support the drug trade? or is Guinea Bissau and the rest of Africa also a consumer? Does Africa have much of a drug problem or is it just a source of income for officials and cartels? It seems like the bigger picture here is government corruption rather than the drug trade. With the corruption and recent coup, i would also assume that Guinea Bissau has many other problems and the drug problem is just a small example.
ReplyDeleteWith the current circumstances it does seem that Guinea Bissau will have trouble regaining a stable economy. When countries rely on criminal activity for national funding the entire country suffers. There are no incentives for the government to educate their people because they are already receiving enough funds to keep themselves afloat. This makes it so that the country has no long term investment because they don't have any skilled workers to build the infrastructure that is required for long term stability. The government of Guinea Bissau will not be able to help themselves in the long term unless they are willing to stop their illegal practices.
ReplyDeleteit sounds like, Guinea Bissau is fueling the drug trade for latin america and Europe. the same as mexico and central america supplies American drug trade. Africans have figured out a way to exploit the higher priced of drugs in Europe. The military got wind of this and wanted its own piece of the pie.
ReplyDelete-Otham, i dont believe that Africa has a drug problem considering that a large portion of the population lives in poverty and dont have the money for drugs. but Europe does consume a lot of drugs, and the Guinea Bissau's military is supplying and profiting from it.