The Guardian of London ran a fascinating article on the incomparable lasting power of Omar Bongo, the president of Gabon. Since Castro’s step down, “Papa” Bongo now has the distinction of being the longest serving head of state that was not born into his position. Few people talk about visiting Gabon and its capitol city Libreville, but it’s an interesting place to see. The incredible cache of oil that the country enjoys has made Bongo somewhat like the Jed Clampett of Africa. Unlike the Clampetts, however, Bongo knows exactly how much he stands to gain from the nation’s riches and has deftly engineered a governmental system that enriches those around him and all but eliminates anyone not closely connected with the Bongo family or their close compatriots. But because he hasn’t done it violently, he’s only now getting the attention he deserves in the environment of an Africa on the upswing.

Kinda sounds like the last few years of the Bush Administration, doesn’t it?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 10:37 am and is filed under Africa, Global. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.