Chad: change of dictators?

We have drama today in the African nation of Chad, where apparently, rebel forces were able to make it into the capital of N'Djamena and all the way to the presidential palace. It seems that President Idriss Déby is still in control of at least part of the capital, and he's not gone, but everything is far from certain. This echoes a rebel strike in 2006 where they made it to the National Assembly building but were repulsed.

Chad is one of those countries where things like this are possible because, outside the capital (and key presidential properties oil fields), there really isn't too much of a government. One of the terms for such places is "failed states," though there is certainly some question as to whether Chad ever enrolled in the course to begin with. Anyway, these rebels are backed by Sudan, and Chad backs rebels in Darfur, so this does have some international relevance as well.

President Déby is certainly no democrat. Technically, he's "elected" against "opponents," but he did have the minor incumbency advantage of coming to power in a rebellion in 1990 which ousted his former boss, Hissène Habré, who ruled from 1982-1990. Chad has a long and storied history of aides and deputies deposing their previous employers, which also appears to be the case with our current rebel, Mahamat Nouri, who apparently has been a top gun for both presidents. (While I'm not a Chad expert, I do get the sense that a large number of people in the narrative change sides frequently in an opportunistic fashion). Nouri heads the "Union of Forces for Democracy and Development." This name is undoubtedly accurate insofar as it is (maybe) a union of some type of forces.

Déby, by the way, is hated by most people after changing the constitution to allow himself yet another term in office in 2006--not that he was Mr. Popular before then, having stuffed the army with members of his small Zaghawa group. He's also the one who gave the finger to the World Bank, taking the money out of that account which was supposed to be for "long-term development" use and spending it (surprise!) on the military.

Now, there is no reason to believe that Nouri would be any different than Déby, at least that I can figure out. This makes reason #1 that the French continue to back Déby. Better the devil you know, right? Reason #2 would be the Sudanese support for the rebels; no need to make Sudan feel more secure what with everything going on in Darfur. Reason #3 would be the danger of creating more instability, not just in Sudan but also in the neighboring Central African Republic, which, if it were a pigs' house, would definitively be of straw. It will be interesting to see what develops in the next 48-72 hours with regard to the situation.

Friday anthem - La Marcha Real

I'm late on what is only the second Friday anthem... not a good start, I know.

Today's national anthem is the anthem of Spain, La Marcha Real (The Royal March), sometimes referred to as the Marcha Granadera (March of the Grenadiers). It's been Spain's national anthem since sometime in the 18th century, with only a quick interruption from 1931-39 when the Second Republic introduced the Himno de Riego instead (that anthem celebrates General del Riego's installation of the liberal First Republic). Franco then restored the Marcha Real.

Spain's national anthem has been in the news recently (as I noted in a recent post); the Spanish Olympic Committee was intending to submit a petition to parliament to adopt a new set of lyrics. However, it appears that today in Spain, there are no lyrics which would be acceptable to everyone, given the separatism, regionalism and left-right schisms that persist. Therefore, the anthem remains wordless.

Many on the Right still sing the lyrics written by the nationalist José María Pemán during the Franco era, which you can see by heading to the Wiki article.

Quote of the night

"Our jobs are being sought by foreign countries, like Asia and India." --Mitt Romney in his concession speech

State of the Union

#1 line: "...the Constitution means what it says."

Russian presidential election: not quite as close

Dmitry Medvedev is probably not quite so tense as Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton these days. Results from a recent poll (January 18-21) show Putin's chosen heir with 82%, though to be fair, that is just a 73% margin over his closest rival, Gennady Zyuganov.

Just to make sure that the margin doesn't close, though, the electoral commission has disqualified the only man close to being regarded as an "opposition candidate," ex-PM Mikhail Kasyanov, who had a solid 1% in the poll (but it's a committed 1%). Also, undoubtedly, Medvedev can count on 99% turnout and 99% of the votes from Chechnya and Ingushetia, just like in the parliamentary elections. The Chechens love Vladimir Putin!