The United States of America (US) is able to both project itself in the shape of its unrivaled democratic experiment and as the world’s police, doing everything possible to protect its vested interests abroad including helping dictators stay in power or removing them from office. But it has increasingly been called out, particularly for its role in shielding some African dictators. In response, efforts have been made at the highest levels of government to revisit American foreign policy in Africa. Challenges do not only come from competition from rivals like China and Russia that seek to fill any space left behind but also from infra-state actors within the US itself. Some US lobby firms and/or their employees have actively been enabling dictatorships in Africa. This article published by Exposed by CMD is written by David Armiak. Here is an excerpt:

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has a history of defending controversial and harmful legislation, but the man behind ALEC’s public relations machine, Bill Meierling, has defended actions far worse than anything done by ALEC.

Two of Africa’s most notorious dictators hired Meierling to downplay their abuses of power and build political support for their authoritarian regimes: Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Democratic Republic of Congo’s Joseph Kabila.

Meierling helped set up the information ministry of Equatorial Guinea for the country’s tyrant, Obiang, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo he advocated for Joseph Kabila’s illegal attempt at a third term as president.

Read the full article here.