Washington, D.C. - House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-ID) released the following statement on the recent coup in Gabon.
“The coup in Gabon after President Bongo’s disputed re-election is the ninth military takeover in Africa in three years. Meanwhile, the State Department has not formally declared last month’s ouster of Niger’s President Bazoum a coup, leaving our regional friends unsure how the Biden Administration will match its abundant rhetoric about democracy with corresponding action. The U.S. must act more decisively with our like-minded African partners to articulate and implement a clear strategy, appropriately resourced, that advances responsive democratic governance, reverses this trend of military-led coups, and challenges the predatory influence of autocratic Russia and China in Africa."