Word: liberia
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Since then, the badly shaken new rulers of Liberia have worked hard to restore the confidence of foreign governments and investors. Doe made a two-day visit to Tanzania and a four-day tour of Ethiopia as part of a fence-mending campaign among his African neighbors. He has pledged that there will be no more executions of political figures associated with the old regime. The widow of the President, Victoria Tolbert, was released from house arrest, and 38 political prisoners who had been rounded up during the early days of the revolution were freed. Conditions have improved...
There has been less progress on the economic front. The P.R.C. inherited a country on the verge of bankruptcy. Says a U.S. banker in Monrovia: "If this were a company, Liberia would be in liquidation." Only $5 million was left in the national bank-not enough to cover Liberia's immediate debt payments. The country faced abnormally high costs for imports that had been negotiated by the Tolbert government. The council broke some of these contracts, but has failed to renegotiate a long-term oil-shipment deal that costs the nation 30% more than the current going rate...
...promises. Though the pay of army privates has been tripled, to $250 a month, only the lowest-paid government employees have received raises. The price of rice remains high at $22 for a 110-lb. bag, exactly what it was under Tolbert. To rebuild the confidence of foreign investors, Liberia's new rulers have accepted stringent economic measures laid down by the International Monetary Fund in exchange for $85 million in credit. In particular, public spending will be drastically cut to reduce a $20 million-a-month deficit...
...Kennedy Memorial Medical Center shortly after the coup and pistol-whipped a doctor in the middle of an operation. Pennue was subsequently imprisoned for a week and demoted to "co-member" of the council. In July, P.R.C. Co-Chairman Thomas Weh Syen went on a rampage in eastern Liberia, demolishing a century-old monument to the country's founders and ordering the discharge of hundreds of government employees. Doe-who has kept his master sergeant stripes-dispatched his commanding general to collar Weh Syen. Doe, a member of the Krahn tribe, then toured the eastern provinces and personally assured...
That is unlikely to happen. Erratic as it has been at times, the new government enjoys wide support among those who feel that only decisive military rule can get Liberia out of its rut. Says James Tarpah, vice president of the University of Liberia: "The issue is not whether they go back to the barracks, but whether they can provide the leadership for much-needed change. That is a shock treatment that may be easier to accomplish by decree than by voting." It seems for now a sentiment that most Liberians endorse...