Madagascar Upheaval Continues

When I went to Madagascar in the fall of 2007, it was politically stable, though the country's President was also the owner of the country's largest dairy and there were a number of things that were - shall we say - at least suspicious, if not indicative, of corruption or abuse of power. I went because I wanted to see lemurs and I knew their time was limited, and that deforestation continues in Madagascar at such a rate that waiting 5 or 10 years could be too long. I am very glad I went when I did, because in the last few months Madagascar has become politically unstable.

I like BBC World News and I have my blog reader set to give me the RSS feed on Africa stories, which is great, because every day I read the latest headlines from Africa. The news is rarely good though. For awhile it seemed trouble int he Congo had passed/simmered down, now it appears that it is back. The Madagascar stories are very interesting as well. There is a power struggle going on between the President of the country and the Mayor of the capital, Antananarivo. There have been deaths, looting, riots, and all sorts of things - and no doubt tourism - a huge source of income - will be impacted.

Here is the latest installment, and if you are at all interested, I suggest tracking the story through BBC World News.