[lbo-talk] The significance of Sao Tome

[Michael Pollak]

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003, AllAfrica.com was cited on the short lived Sao Tome
coup:


> http://allafrica.com/stories/200307290336.html

about how the coup didn't even cause a burp in relations with
multinational oil companies.  The article goes on to generalize that fact
to make a point that bears (negatively) on the oil conspiracy theory of
African intervention in Liberia:

<quote>

"Look, a day after soldiers seized power [in Sao Tome], one of the biggest
oil majors put down $25,000 to purchase bid papers," said Hassan Tukur,
Deputy Director of the JDA [the Joint Development Agency, i.e. of Sao Tome
and Nigeria] and one of the mediators in town to help defuse the crisis.
"If you look at Angola or Nigeria, political strife didn't prevent anyone
from getting involved in oil opportunities."

<unquote>

Michael