Oiling the wheels of dictatorship
By Dara MacNeil
Two and a half years ago, governments the world over expressed
outrage at the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight Ogoni
activists, by the Nigerian regime.
The regime of General Sani Abacha, we were told, would be
isolated and treated as an international pariah. Abacha's bloody
grip on power would, we were told, be loosened and terminally
weakened by stiff international sanctions and behind the scenes
diplomatic muscle.
None of this happened of course, except in the fevered,
overworked imaginations of official spin-doctors and
spokespersons.
General Sani Abacha is still in power and the threatened
sanctions have conspicuously failed to materialise. Indeed,
apologists for the regime sought to play up the General's
supposed democratic credentials by pointing out that he had
pledged to organise elections for later this year. And it would
appear Abacha has been true to his promise - but it seems he will
also be the principal candidate.
The military junta came to power in 1993, following the annulment
of elections and the jailing of the winner, Moshood Abiola. The
latter is still in prison.
More recently, on 8 May, the regime arrested an opposition leader
as he arrived at Lagos airport. The current whereabouts of Olisa
Agbakoba are unknown, following his arrest by government agents.
Agbakoba is head of the United Action for Democracy Coalition, an
umbrella body representing some 26 opposition groupings.
The reason for the remarkably supine behaviour of the
international community is not too hard to fathom. Nigeria has
oil in vast quantities, and high grade oil at that. As long as
Abacha remains in power, the world's oil companies are guaranteed
access to that vital commodity. And as long as they are
guaranteed that access, they will continue to support the
military junta in Lagos.
While Shell Oil was rightly vilified for its role in events
surrounding the legal murder of Saro-Wiwa and the eight
activists, the role of some of their competitors in maintaining
the Abacha regime in power has passed almost unnoticed.
Indeed, Abacha's assiduous courting of the powerful oil lobby,
along with a judicious use of PR firms has been crucial to his
continued success. The Nigerian regime is believed to have spent
in excess of $10 million lobbying US lawmakers.
A Washington lobbying firm, CR International, signed a contract
shortly after Saro-Wiwa's execution with Base Petroleum, a
company reportedly owned by one of Abacha's sons. CR
International's brief was to prevent meaningful sanctions being
imposed on the regime.
Last September, Lagos signed up another company - Ruder Finn - to
help improve Nigeria's image in the US.
However, the military junta's efforts would not of themselves
have saved Lagos from what it feared most - an oil embargo, which
would have deprived them of just under $10 billion a year in
export earnings.
US oil giants Amoco, Chevron and Mobil have also been eager to
play their part in whitewashing the regime. Thus, Mobil is
currently circulating US lawmakers with a report stating US
companies have a ``substantial and long-term interest in the
stability'' of Nigeria. For `stability' read status quo.
The company also threatens that bad relations between Washington
and Lagos could cause serious damage to the US economy.
Nigeria is the source for approximately 9% of all oil imported by
the US annually. It also produces a much valued and highly sought
after crude known as Bonney Light.
What Mobil neglected to mention is the fact that the company
stands to lose more than half a billion dollars if relations
between Washington and Lagos were to sour.
Thus, the company's glossy brochure states: ``We do not believe
that cutting off relations or instituting trade sanctions or
boycotts will achieve the desired result.''
Of course, Mobil's interpretation of the term `desired result'
could well differ from that held by human rights activists and
many, many Nigerians.
The oil companies, and others, have also been working through a
body known as the Corporate Council on Africa. With financial
encouragement from US business, the Council established a Nigeria
Working Group.
d surprise, surprise, the latter body has come out in
opposition to policies that might prove detrimental to US
business interests in Nigeria. That includes sanctions and/or an
oil boycott.
Emphasising the value of continued links with the Lagos regime,
the Council also points out that US business stands to benefit
enormously from the proposed privatisation of Nigeria's
telecommunications and power industries.
Remarkably, they also predict dire consequences for the US
economy should moral, rather than profit considerations, prove to
be the driving force in shaping US policy on Nigeria.
All in all, an object lesson in how government's policies are
shaped in the modern era.
Observers expelled from Mexico
Mexico expelled 40 Italian human rights' observers who had formed
part of a delegation to the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
The Mexican government claimed the 40 had stayed in the country
longer than the time allotted to them on their visas.
The expulsions came after a number of the delegation had demanded
the EU suspend all commercial negotiations with Mexico, in
protest at continued human rights abuses in the state of Chiapas.
Meanwhile, a retired US airforce officer, Frank Houde, has
confirmed that the Mexican government has dispatched US-supplied
Huey helicopters to Chiapas. The use of the helicopters in
Chiapas is prohibited under the terms of the accord by which
Mexico received the helicopters from the US.
The helicopters, 73 in all, were dispatched specifically for use
in operations to counter drug-trafficking.
US ready to intervene in Colombia
The presence in Colombia of General Charles Wilhelm, chief of the
US Southern Command, has fuelled speculation of a possible US
military intervention in the country. Colombian press reports
have claimed that General Wilhelm has proposed the establishment
of a ``regional'' military task force, in order to combat
Colombia's powerful rebel army, the FARC.
The guerrilla group has of late inflicted some serious defeats on
the Colombian military.
It is suspected that any intervention might take place under the
pretext of stepping up the `war on drugs.'
The US is already heavily involved in Colombia, providing
training for army units and maintaining a force of some 200
`military assessors' in the country. An estimated 1000 Colombian
army officers also receive training in US military schools each
year.
Recently, no doubt in an attempt to soften public opinion, a
secret CIA report on the situation in Colombia was made public in
Washington. The report states that the 20,000 strong FARC pose a
strong threat to the Colombian government. The report says the
guerrillas are stronger now than ever before.
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