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AfricaFocus Bulletin
Country-focused Bulletins
Jan 17, 2008 Liberia: Firestone Challenge Advances
Workers at the Firestone Rubber Plantation in Liberia have for the
first time won representation under a free union vote, throwing out
the officials of a company-controlled union. The vote took place in
July last year, but it took two court decisions and an unauthorized
strike before officials finally agreed to negotiate with the new
union and hand over their company-collected union dues. The union
recognition is only a first step, however, in changing a system of
brutal exploitation of child labor and virtual bondage for the
rubber tappers.
Aug 1, 2007 USA/Africa: Questioning AFRICOM, 1
With the nomination in July of General William E. Ward as the first
chief of the new U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), the long-discussed
new command took another step toward full operation, now scheduled
for October 2008. But the controversy about what this military
reorganization means for U.S. military involvement in Africa is
just beginning.
Feb 9, 2007 Liberia: Debt Cancellation Overdue
Demonstrators delivered over 10,000 Valentine cards to the U.S.
Treasury this week asking the U.S. Treasury Secretary to "have a
heart" and cancel Liberia's debt. With the Liberia Partners' Forum
in Washington scheduled for next week, even the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that the debt is unsustainable. But
more than a year after President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took office,
Liberia is still being asked to repay arrears on accumulated debt.
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