While the people of the western world occupy themselves wearing masks, pointing fingers and using so much hand sanitizer it literally kills them, the big world of Geo-Politics still ticks along, following the same tired old patterns with only slight variations in method. A modern twist, if you will.
Here’s a little summary of Burundi’s recent history:
- The president of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, dismissed covid19 as nonsense.
- The president of Burundi was vilified in the Western press.
- The president of Burundi expelled the World Health Organization from his country.
- The president of Burundi died suddenly of a “heart attack”.
- The NEW president of Burundi immediately reversed his predecessor’s Covid19 policies.
And now for the long version…
6th May 2020
The Council on Foreign Relations blog posts an article titled “COVID-19 is Coinciding with Dangerous Trends in Burundi’s Democracy”.
At that time Burundi was listed as having 7 ‘active cases’ of COVID-19.
President Pierre Nukurunziza’s reluctance to impose policies aimed at stopping the virus from spreading is converging with his enthusiasm for democratic authoritarianism, putting not only Burundi, but Burundi’s neighbors at risk.
[…]
Burundi’s trajectory has been apparent for some time. But the pandemic now raises the stakes for neighboring states whose attempts to control the virus are threatened by Burundi’s insistence on moving ahead with electoral theater regardless of the public health risks involved.
[…]
Just as the EAC’s attempts to advance dialogue in Burundi did nothing to stave off the closing of political space, today the organization seems helpless at best as Burundi and neighboring Tanzania refuse to take COVID-19 seriously.
*
14th May 2020
Reuters reports that Burundi’s government expels the WHO:
Burundi is expelling the national head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and three members of his team as it prepares for a presidential election that is being held next week despite concern about health risks during the coronavirus pandemic.
The government confirmed on Thursday that a May 12 letter from the foreign ministry was sent to WHO country head Walter Kazadi Mulombo and three others of the U.N. body’s health experts, ordering them out by Friday. Bernard Ntahiraja, the foreign affairs assistant minister, said the officials had been declared “persona non grata” but did not give reasons.
[…]
Burundi has so far reported relatively few cases of the COVID-19 disease: 27 infections and one death. But testing remains very low: the nation of 11 million people has carried out only 527 tests, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[…]
Large crowds have been gathering during the election campaign in Burundi, which has no lockdown measures in place at all, unlike many other African nations.
[…]
Some Burundians say privately they believe COVID-19 infections are higher than officially stated but they say they fear to say so publicly because they could be targeted and punished. Léonce Ngendakumana, a presidential candidate for the opposition FRODEBU party, called the expulsion regrettable. “The country alone won’t be able to contain the pandemic,” he told Reuters.
*
10th June 2020
The Guardian reports the death of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza of “suspected Covid19” [our emphasis]:
Read the rest here: https://off-guardian.org/2020/07/14/coronavirus-and-regime-change-burundis-covid-coup/