Thursday, May 14, 2015

Burundi Coup Fails; the Settling of Scores May Now Begin

Bujumbura (BBC)












The BBC reports that Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza says he has returned to the country and his troops are in control of key points, a day after a coup attempt.

That news reminded me of this exchange in the otherwise unmemorable 1995 movie Congo, based on a Michael Crichton novel:
How bad is this news for us?
Well, whenever the leadership of one of these little Central African counties comes into question, they tend to just murder everybody.
Oh, my God!
Not really. They live for the opportunity to settle scores. And they've got a lot of scores to settle.

The coup attempt may have failed, but the danger and disruption go on for the duration. The U.S. Embassy in Bujumbura announced that its personnel will shelter in place for the moment. Not much else they can do, as long as the airport remains shut down and the land borders are closed.


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