Why does America need Gabon?
In the African country of Gabon, located on the Atlantic coast of Equatorial Africa, on January 7, an attempt at a military coup was prevented. The insurgents from among the officers of the armed forces of the country planned to overthrow the incumbent President Ali Bongo, but most of the servicemen did not support them and the coup ended with the arrest of its leaders.
The events that took place at night and in the morning in the capital of Gabon, Libreville, developed as follows. Around 04: 30 local time, a group of armed soldiers broke into the building of the state radio company of Gabon. They demanded to broadcast the communique prepared by them.
Lieutenant Kelly Ondo Obiang, who served as the deputy commander of the Republican Guard of Gabon, led the rebels and read a brief address on behalf of the Patriotic Movement of the Armed Forces and Security of Gabon, which said that the National Restoration Council was set up to which the power in the country should have passed.
However, as it soon became known, the power structures of the country did not support the coup. Therefore, after a short time, military units loyal to President Ali Bongo were able to suppress the insurgency. Four of the five leaders of the military coup were detained. In the units of the Republican Guard, in which the main actors of the insurgency served, total checks are underway, and all the main strategic facilities are taken under enhanced protection of the army and security forces.
Interestingly, a military coup attempt occurred precisely on those days when President Ali Bongo Ondimba is being treated in Morocco. The fact is that in October 2018, 59-year-old Ali Bongo suffered a stroke. He was immediately taken by plane to Riyadh, where the president underwent a course of therapy, and then transported to rehabilitation in Morocco.
However, 31 December 2018, Ali Bongo addressed the New Year's message to the citizens of the country. It is this message, according to the official version, that outraged the servicemen who formed the core of the conspirators. Allegedly, Bongo could hardly talk, and his hand hung like a whip, but the president was talking about his well-being. Therefore, the conspirators decided to remove the sick president in order to “restore democracy” in Gabon.
Ali Bongo Ondimba heads Gabon with October 16 2009, that is, nine years. But in fact, his family has been in power much longer. Ali Bongo's father El Hadj Omar Bongo (1935-2009) came to power in Gabon in the distant 1967 year and led the country for forty-two years, until his death in the 2009 year.
Such a long term in office made El Hajj Omar Bongo one of the most famous African dictators. Moreover, he was distinguished by rather extravagant behavior. In his youth, this name was Albert Bernard Bongo. The son of the leader of the Bateke tribe, he graduated from a flight school, served for two years in the air force, and then transferred to public service. For four years, the former captain aviation made a dizzying career, taking first the post of deputy head of the presidential administration Leon Mb, then the post of head of the presidential administration, and in 1964 becoming the Minister of Defense of Gabon. In 1966, Bongo became vice-president of the country, and when Leon Mba died on November 28, 1967, he succeeded him as president and for more than forty years did not give up power, until his own death.
In 1973, Albert Bernard Bongo visited Libya, where he fell under the influence of Muammar Gaddafi and converted to Islam, renaming himself accordingly to El-Haj Omar Bongo. It was a very strange decision, considering that the overwhelming majority of the country's inhabitants profess Catholic Christianity, which was superimposed on the local traditional cults, and Muslims in Gabon even now have no more than 7% of the population.
However, despite good relations with Libya, in general, Gabon has always pursued a pro-Western policy and was considered one of the strongholds of French influence in Africa. French paratroopers more than once saved Bongo from protest speeches and attempted military coups. Bongo Sr. himself said:
In fact, close ties with France were explained by the fact that Gabon has enormous natural resources - oil, manganese, and wood. But for France, Gabonese uranium has always been of particular importance. Gabon ranks fifth in the world in terms of uranium reserves and has had exclusive agreements with France that it will supply uranium only to this country. Since Bongo (both father and son) pursued pro-Western policies, in the West they put up with their authoritarian regimes. Bongos seemed to be more profitable partners than possible new leaders of the country. Indeed, in the event of the overthrow of the Bongo clan, the country could also change the political course, reorienting to the Soviet Union (then Russia) or China.
Natural resources have made Gabon one of the richest countries on the African continent. The basis of Gabonese exports has always been oil and oil products, which are supplied to China, Japan, Australia, USA, India, South Korea and a number of other countries. Imports, on the contrary, are predominantly of French or Chinese origin. Although the standard of living of the population of Gabon is still significantly higher than in neighboring Congo or the Central African Republic, the lion’s share of funds from the sale of national resources still goes to the Bongo family.
At the end of his life, Bongo Sr. even became involved in a special investigation by French law enforcement agencies. It turned out that Bongo owned 33 real estate only in France - in Paris and on the Cote d'Azur. In Paris, Bongo had a residence on the Champs Elysees worth 18 million euros. Probably, this investigation was the reason for the placement of the ill Omar Bongo in a medical clinic not in France, but in Spain.
His eldest son Ali Bongo Ondimbe, who replaced Omar Bongo as a whole, continued his father’s policy, but Gabon’s relations with France deteriorated seriously. The main reason for this deterioration was the very anti-corruption investigation, which directly affected the financial interests of the Bongo clan. At one time, Ali Bongo even threatened France to change the country's language from French to English. Then Ali Bongo began to advocate for the intensification of the presence of China and Russia on the African continent. And here, it seems, it is worth looking for one of the main reasons for the attempted military coup in the country.
When Ali Bongo’s health deteriorated, the situation in Gabon was very much interested not only in France, but in the United States. And this is not by chance. Recently, the United States has sought to intensify its participation in the politics and economy of the “Black Continent”. This is due to two main factors. First, Washington is losing interest in the Middle East, since the US Middle East partners - Turkey, Saudi Arabia and even Israel - in every way show a desire to act solely in their own interests.
Secondly, Africa is rich in natural resources, and it is cheaper and simpler to organize revolutions and revolutions here than in the Middle East. Well, one should not forget that China and Russia are also increasing their presence in Africa, which Americans cannot like. Ali Bongo's meeting with Vladimir Putin, held in the summer of 2018, during the World Cup, also could not help but alert Washington.
2 January 2019, American troops were deployed to Gabon. Already on January 5, US President Donald Trump told the US Congress about sending troops to Africa. With the support of aviation, around 80 US troops were deployed to Gabon. The number seems to be small, but this is only a test raid, after which more impressive forces may arrive in Gabon.
Formally, the arrival of the American contingent is due to instability in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. But the civil war in the Congo has been going on for more than a decade and it is not very clear why the Americans did not send their soldiers to Gabon before, and now they were suddenly concerned about the events in the DRC and the safety of American citizens in this region.
It is also interesting that before France had a “monopoly” on force actions in its former colonies. If in the African countries that were once part of the French colonial empire, there were some military or political events that would threaten the interests of France and the West as a whole, then French troops were sent there. Actually, for this purpose, France still holds impressive military bases and units of the Foreign Legion in Africa. If you remember historythen the French military repeatedly intervened in political events in the Central African Republic, Mali, the Comoros, and in the same Gabon. But now France and Gabon are far from the best.
Apparently, Washington was seriously concerned about the future of the political system in Gabon. The fact is that if Ali Bongo dies or is overthrown, then it is very difficult to predict how the country's political course will develop. For example, the new authorities of Gabon may begin to focus on military-political cooperation with Russia, as the leadership of the neighboring Central African Republic. Since Gabon is a country with huge reserves of oil and other natural resources, the West cannot lose such a partner in Africa.
It is interesting that Trump, sending troops to Gabon, did not even bother to tell the dates of the stay of the American contingent in this country. He only limited himself to general phrases that the United States would maintain a military presence in the region as long as it would be necessary to protect American citizens. That is, in fact, the introduction of troops may be indefinite, depending on how Washington plans further developments.
There is a version that the coup attempt was provoked by the American side. First, the coup literally took place a few days after the appearance of American soldiers in Gabon. Secondly, the coup leaders spoke about the need to "restore democracy" in the country. It is not necessary that they were in touch with the Americans, but they could just hope that Washington would support their initiative to overthrow Ali Bongo. The presence of US troops may also warn the current president against too active cooperation with Russia and China.
In any case, it is obvious that in the very foreseeable future large-scale political changes may follow in this region of Africa. After all, the presence of American troops is not accidental. And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the events in which Washington and explains the deployment of troops in Gabon, the United States also has its own interests. President Joseph Kabila has not been satisfied with Washington for a long time, and in the United States they are only looking for ways to organize his overthrow. From the territory of Gabon, which, although it does not have a direct border with the DRC, is located very close and has a developed infrastructure, it is already easier to do this than without having a support base.
The DRC, by the way, is another African country with enormous reserves of natural resources, but because of its population and the ongoing civil war decades, it is, unlike Gabon, among the poorest countries of the continent and the world as a whole. In the Congo mined gold, diamonds, cobalt, molybdenum and, very importantly, tantalum, which is used in the manufacture of iPhone.
Finally, next door to Gabon is the Central African Republic, which is now very actively cooperating with Russia, including in the military sphere. It is possible that the American presence in Gabon is also due to the desire to create a counterweight to the further Russian military-political advancement in Equatorial Africa.
The events that took place at night and in the morning in the capital of Gabon, Libreville, developed as follows. Around 04: 30 local time, a group of armed soldiers broke into the building of the state radio company of Gabon. They demanded to broadcast the communique prepared by them.
Lieutenant Kelly Ondo Obiang, who served as the deputy commander of the Republican Guard of Gabon, led the rebels and read a brief address on behalf of the Patriotic Movement of the Armed Forces and Security of Gabon, which said that the National Restoration Council was set up to which the power in the country should have passed.
However, as it soon became known, the power structures of the country did not support the coup. Therefore, after a short time, military units loyal to President Ali Bongo were able to suppress the insurgency. Four of the five leaders of the military coup were detained. In the units of the Republican Guard, in which the main actors of the insurgency served, total checks are underway, and all the main strategic facilities are taken under enhanced protection of the army and security forces.
Interestingly, a military coup attempt occurred precisely on those days when President Ali Bongo Ondimba is being treated in Morocco. The fact is that in October 2018, 59-year-old Ali Bongo suffered a stroke. He was immediately taken by plane to Riyadh, where the president underwent a course of therapy, and then transported to rehabilitation in Morocco.
However, 31 December 2018, Ali Bongo addressed the New Year's message to the citizens of the country. It is this message, according to the official version, that outraged the servicemen who formed the core of the conspirators. Allegedly, Bongo could hardly talk, and his hand hung like a whip, but the president was talking about his well-being. Therefore, the conspirators decided to remove the sick president in order to “restore democracy” in Gabon.
Ali Bongo Ondimba heads Gabon with October 16 2009, that is, nine years. But in fact, his family has been in power much longer. Ali Bongo's father El Hadj Omar Bongo (1935-2009) came to power in Gabon in the distant 1967 year and led the country for forty-two years, until his death in the 2009 year.
Such a long term in office made El Hajj Omar Bongo one of the most famous African dictators. Moreover, he was distinguished by rather extravagant behavior. In his youth, this name was Albert Bernard Bongo. The son of the leader of the Bateke tribe, he graduated from a flight school, served for two years in the air force, and then transferred to public service. For four years, the former captain aviation made a dizzying career, taking first the post of deputy head of the presidential administration Leon Mb, then the post of head of the presidential administration, and in 1964 becoming the Minister of Defense of Gabon. In 1966, Bongo became vice-president of the country, and when Leon Mba died on November 28, 1967, he succeeded him as president and for more than forty years did not give up power, until his own death.
In 1973, Albert Bernard Bongo visited Libya, where he fell under the influence of Muammar Gaddafi and converted to Islam, renaming himself accordingly to El-Haj Omar Bongo. It was a very strange decision, considering that the overwhelming majority of the country's inhabitants profess Catholic Christianity, which was superimposed on the local traditional cults, and Muslims in Gabon even now have no more than 7% of the population. However, despite good relations with Libya, in general, Gabon has always pursued a pro-Western policy and was considered one of the strongholds of French influence in Africa. French paratroopers more than once saved Bongo from protest speeches and attempted military coups. Bongo Sr. himself said:
Gabon without France is like a car without a driver. France without Gabon is like a car without fuel.
In fact, close ties with France were explained by the fact that Gabon has enormous natural resources - oil, manganese, and wood. But for France, Gabonese uranium has always been of particular importance. Gabon ranks fifth in the world in terms of uranium reserves and has had exclusive agreements with France that it will supply uranium only to this country. Since Bongo (both father and son) pursued pro-Western policies, in the West they put up with their authoritarian regimes. Bongos seemed to be more profitable partners than possible new leaders of the country. Indeed, in the event of the overthrow of the Bongo clan, the country could also change the political course, reorienting to the Soviet Union (then Russia) or China.
Natural resources have made Gabon one of the richest countries on the African continent. The basis of Gabonese exports has always been oil and oil products, which are supplied to China, Japan, Australia, USA, India, South Korea and a number of other countries. Imports, on the contrary, are predominantly of French or Chinese origin. Although the standard of living of the population of Gabon is still significantly higher than in neighboring Congo or the Central African Republic, the lion’s share of funds from the sale of national resources still goes to the Bongo family.
At the end of his life, Bongo Sr. even became involved in a special investigation by French law enforcement agencies. It turned out that Bongo owned 33 real estate only in France - in Paris and on the Cote d'Azur. In Paris, Bongo had a residence on the Champs Elysees worth 18 million euros. Probably, this investigation was the reason for the placement of the ill Omar Bongo in a medical clinic not in France, but in Spain.
His eldest son Ali Bongo Ondimbe, who replaced Omar Bongo as a whole, continued his father’s policy, but Gabon’s relations with France deteriorated seriously. The main reason for this deterioration was the very anti-corruption investigation, which directly affected the financial interests of the Bongo clan. At one time, Ali Bongo even threatened France to change the country's language from French to English. Then Ali Bongo began to advocate for the intensification of the presence of China and Russia on the African continent. And here, it seems, it is worth looking for one of the main reasons for the attempted military coup in the country.
When Ali Bongo’s health deteriorated, the situation in Gabon was very much interested not only in France, but in the United States. And this is not by chance. Recently, the United States has sought to intensify its participation in the politics and economy of the “Black Continent”. This is due to two main factors. First, Washington is losing interest in the Middle East, since the US Middle East partners - Turkey, Saudi Arabia and even Israel - in every way show a desire to act solely in their own interests.
Secondly, Africa is rich in natural resources, and it is cheaper and simpler to organize revolutions and revolutions here than in the Middle East. Well, one should not forget that China and Russia are also increasing their presence in Africa, which Americans cannot like. Ali Bongo's meeting with Vladimir Putin, held in the summer of 2018, during the World Cup, also could not help but alert Washington.
2 January 2019, American troops were deployed to Gabon. Already on January 5, US President Donald Trump told the US Congress about sending troops to Africa. With the support of aviation, around 80 US troops were deployed to Gabon. The number seems to be small, but this is only a test raid, after which more impressive forces may arrive in Gabon.
Formally, the arrival of the American contingent is due to instability in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. But the civil war in the Congo has been going on for more than a decade and it is not very clear why the Americans did not send their soldiers to Gabon before, and now they were suddenly concerned about the events in the DRC and the safety of American citizens in this region.
It is also interesting that before France had a “monopoly” on force actions in its former colonies. If in the African countries that were once part of the French colonial empire, there were some military or political events that would threaten the interests of France and the West as a whole, then French troops were sent there. Actually, for this purpose, France still holds impressive military bases and units of the Foreign Legion in Africa. If you remember historythen the French military repeatedly intervened in political events in the Central African Republic, Mali, the Comoros, and in the same Gabon. But now France and Gabon are far from the best.
Apparently, Washington was seriously concerned about the future of the political system in Gabon. The fact is that if Ali Bongo dies or is overthrown, then it is very difficult to predict how the country's political course will develop. For example, the new authorities of Gabon may begin to focus on military-political cooperation with Russia, as the leadership of the neighboring Central African Republic. Since Gabon is a country with huge reserves of oil and other natural resources, the West cannot lose such a partner in Africa.
It is interesting that Trump, sending troops to Gabon, did not even bother to tell the dates of the stay of the American contingent in this country. He only limited himself to general phrases that the United States would maintain a military presence in the region as long as it would be necessary to protect American citizens. That is, in fact, the introduction of troops may be indefinite, depending on how Washington plans further developments.
There is a version that the coup attempt was provoked by the American side. First, the coup literally took place a few days after the appearance of American soldiers in Gabon. Secondly, the coup leaders spoke about the need to "restore democracy" in the country. It is not necessary that they were in touch with the Americans, but they could just hope that Washington would support their initiative to overthrow Ali Bongo. The presence of US troops may also warn the current president against too active cooperation with Russia and China.
In any case, it is obvious that in the very foreseeable future large-scale political changes may follow in this region of Africa. After all, the presence of American troops is not accidental. And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the events in which Washington and explains the deployment of troops in Gabon, the United States also has its own interests. President Joseph Kabila has not been satisfied with Washington for a long time, and in the United States they are only looking for ways to organize his overthrow. From the territory of Gabon, which, although it does not have a direct border with the DRC, is located very close and has a developed infrastructure, it is already easier to do this than without having a support base.
The DRC, by the way, is another African country with enormous reserves of natural resources, but because of its population and the ongoing civil war decades, it is, unlike Gabon, among the poorest countries of the continent and the world as a whole. In the Congo mined gold, diamonds, cobalt, molybdenum and, very importantly, tantalum, which is used in the manufacture of iPhone.
Finally, next door to Gabon is the Central African Republic, which is now very actively cooperating with Russia, including in the military sphere. It is possible that the American presence in Gabon is also due to the desire to create a counterweight to the further Russian military-political advancement in Equatorial Africa.
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