Poison Plot of Benin President Foiled

The small democracy of Benin in West Africa had a shock yesterday, when the state prosecutor announced that President Boni Yayi's medicine had been swapped with "something toxic" in a poisoning attempt. Pretty old-school method of killing someone in a region where guns are the usual offing method (when was someone last poisoned?!).

Oh look! Benin!

Benin is known to be a pretty good democracy, with a "Free" label from Freedom House. President Yayi came to power democratically in 2006 and was re-elected in 2011. He put in place some pretty good laws, though there was a corruption case at one point. The poisoners were his niece and doctor, who had supposedly been offered a ton of money to do this by a businessman of some kind. The President has a doctorate in economics and is a businessman himself. Oh, and did I mention he's the President of the African Union?

Boni Yayi. Doesn't he look like he's made of clay?

Random Kate Thoughts: Being a President of an African country is really freakin' hard. Someone is always trying to kill you. It's uncertain who exactly was responsible for this, but it's good he or she was caught. Nonetheless, it's a real concern. Security in these countries is just not the same as in the US. Getting to Obama is WAY harder than getting to these guys.