Word: tolbert
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...been nearly five months since 17 Liberian soldiers burst into Monrovia's executive mansion and assassinated President William R. Tolbert Jr. That bloody coup abruptly ended more than a century of rule by descendants of the freed American slaves who founded the country in 1847. The seizure of power was shortly followed by gory public executions of 13 former officials and associates of the slain President. The new head of state, Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe, 28, has since faced a host of problems as head of the 28-member People's Redemption Council (P.R.C.). But there...
...African States in Togo last May. He subsequently refused to attend the July meeting of the Organization of African Unity in Sierra Leone after rejecting the precondition set by some of the O.A.U.'s most influential members: the immediate release of the late President's son, A.B. Tolbert, who had been snatched from asylum in Monrovia's French embassy by a gang of unruly soldiers. The embassy invasion touched off an angry row with Paris, one of Liberia's major European aid donors...
...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 for the 140 prisoners who remain in the stockade at Monrovia's Barclay Training Center. But Tolbert's son is still behind...
...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. The country's foreign-dominated retail trade, meanwhile, has been crippled by a flight of capital and a severe...
...back off from some of its grandiose early 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...