Changes puppets Africa switch
Socialist Press1979 1979-09-26Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 1 →
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The overthrow of Bokassa by Giscard d'Estaing and the imperialist countries that have supported his vicious regime since 1966 is no surprise to anyone.
Negotiations have been going on in Paris throughout this year to construct another puppet government in order to head off the mass revolt that Bokassa was unable to contain.
The negotiations with former dictator David Dacko and the ex-servants of Bokassa, General Bangui of the FLO (Front for the Liberation of Obanguians) and Patasse leader of the Committee of National Union, were made urgent by the mass uprising that occurred in the south of the Central African Republic in January.
Mass murder
Bokassa's personal involvement in the murder of over one hundred school children later in the year served mainly to underline his unsuitability to head the neo-colonial regime and the necessity for his speedy removal.
The people of the CAR are amongst the most cruelly oppressed in the world. The income for peasant farmers averages at £50 per annum while the relatively privileged workers in the government sector earn less than £25 per month.
Only 8% of the population is literate; life expectancy is 41 years and infant mortality is amongst the highest in the world.
There is one doctor to every 29,000 persons.
Living conditions are further worsened by the effects of the capitalist recession and Bokassa's mismanagement.
The rate of inflation is 135% per annum; diamond production is down by 40% and cotton down by 50%.
The country nevertheless possesses large diamond and uranium reserves and recent sattelite surveys show a great potential for mineral extraction in the south-east.
Although the CAR is a small country with a population of under three million it is important in imperialism's strategy for the maintenance of political stability in West and equatorial Africa.
It shares borders with Zaire, Chad, Cameroons, Congo and Sudan.
Imperialist troops are now active in Chad and Zaire. In the Cameroons there have been several general strikes and Continued p.2, col. 4
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The rise to power of Afghanistan's new head of state Hafizullah Amin has