Coup in Eritrea?! Nope.

What do you know about North Korea?

What do you know about Eritrea?

Probably, what you know about one is extremely similar to the other. If there was an attempted coup in North Korea, the western world would go crazy. Coup in Eritrea? Somewhat less interested. But interesting nonetheless, for you, reader of this blog!

Known as the "North Korea" of East Africa, Eritrea has been ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since its independence from Ethiopia in 1991. While the country was said to be peaceful and a bastion against Soviet-back Ethiopia, the country has taken a sharp right turn towards authoritarianism. It is North Korea not just in the authoritarian sense, however. It's also NK because no one knows what the heck is happening there. People don't go in and people can't get out. The youth of the country have forced military service, followed by required service to the government, often until they are as old as 40. Some get full scholarships to US universities and are then thrown back into military service, forbidden from leaving the country. The government's argument is that the country has a highly militarized situation with Ethiopia on the border. Eritrea has also been suspected of supporting militants in Somalia.

Eritrean President Afwerki

The supposed coup reportedly consisted of ~100 military members storming the Ministry of Information, taking over EriTV, the state-run television station, and forcing the director to read a statement calling for the release of political prisoners. There are tons of political prisoners in the prisons of Eritrea, as President Afwerki threw most dissidents in jail upon taking power. An Eritrean diplomat told the African Union that no coup happened. He acknowledged some "terrorist acts" but no coup.

Random Kate Thoughts: What a mess! What a crazy, crazy mess. "The west" is calling this purported coup a warning bell for the end of Afwerki's reign. Of course, Afwerki's people will deny any weakness in the government. That, of course is if all of this is true. I found an interesting article on counterpunch that basically says this is all a conspiracy--the coup, all of it. It reads like conspiracy-talk, which I inherently doubt, but you never know. Could it all be a CIA conspiracy? A Western one? Who knows. Eritrea is so shrouded in mystery, it's hard to tell what on earth is happening there. It is another one of those tiny African countries led by a dictator who manages to control all information in the country, and therefore all of his citizens. If the "west" cared, maybe they could do something about it. But see my article on Guinea-Bissau about its coup and the cocaine trade, and then decide what the west will do about a country under oppressive rule. Not much, sadly.