{"id":54566,"date":"2021-11-18T04:31:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T23:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/intractable-african-crises-flare-as-bidens-top-diplomat-visits-kenya\/"},"modified":"2021-11-18T04:31:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T23:01:21","slug":"intractable-african-crises-flare-as-bidens-top-diplomat-visits-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/intractable-african-crises-flare-as-bidens-top-diplomat-visits-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Intractable African Crises Flare as Biden\u2019s Top Diplomat Visits Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014 Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken\u2019s first visit to sub-Saharan Africa was intended to be a grand gesture of American support for the continent. But his first day also illustrated the frustrating limits of American influence<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>in a region undergoing deep turmoil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">As Mr. Blinken met with officials in Nairobi, Kenya, security forces in the capital of neighboring Sudan shot and killed at least 15 pro-democracy protesters and wounded many others in the deadliest violence since a military coup on Oct. 25 set back hopes for the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">At the same time, a civil war continued to rage in Ethiopia, where the beleaguered prime minister Abiy Ahmed, once a darling of the West, lashed out at international critics, even as Mr. Blinken renewed his appeal for an end to the fighting \u2014 another jarring juxtaposition that raised new doubts about Washington\u2019s<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>powers of persuasion in a turbulent region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">It is an unhappy context for Mr. Blinken\u2019s visit to Africa, where he plans to give a speech on Friday in Nigeria outlining the Biden administration\u2019s vision for a continent that President Donald J. Trump often treated with a mixture of indifference and contempt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Mr. Blinken\u2019s team has poured much diplomatic energy into East Africa over the past year, hoping to stop the atrocity-laden war in Ethiopia and protect Sudan\u2019s fragile transition to democracy. But as he landed in Nairobi, those efforts seemed to have achieved little.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Speaking to reporters alongside his Kenyan counterpart, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Raychelle Omamo, Mr. Blinken said the war in Ethiopia \u201cneeds to stop,\u201d calling on both sides to enter talks without preconditions. For more than a year Mr. Abiy has been battling rebels from Ethiopia\u2019s northern region of Tigray in an expanding war that many fear could tear apart Africa\u2019s second most populous nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Events in both Ethiopia and Sudan on Wednesday seemed to defy Mr. Blinken\u2019s admonitions. The Ethiopian prime minister launched a <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AbiyAhmedAli\/status\/1460934925897633803\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">thinly-veiled broadside<\/a> against Western efforts to resolve the war with a Twitter message that blamed woes on a \u201csophisticated narrative war\u201d led by unnamed enemies, a reference to more than just his Tigrayan antagonists. These forces, he said, were \u201cusing disinformation as a pathway for their sinister move.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">On Sudan, Mr. Blinken renewed his call for the reinstatement of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was deposed in last month\u2019s coup and held under house arrest, and pointed to his diplomatic efforts to pressure the Sudanese military leaders who ousted Mr. Hamdok.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019ve been working the phones,\u201d Mr. Blinken said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">But in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and other areas, security forces opened fire during the latest day of mass protest against the coup, killing at least 15 people and wounding many more, medics said. It was the highest daily toll since protests began.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Many had been shot \u201cin the head, neck or torso,\u201d the main doctor\u2019s association said in a statement. It brought the number of reported deaths during recent protests to at least 39.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">There was even turmoil in neighboring Uganda, where residents of the capital, Kampala, where still reeling from suicide bombings by militants from a group that claims to be affiliated with the Islamic State. Four people were killed in the bombings on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Mr. Blinken mentioned that attack, but his main focus was the crises in Sudan and Ethiopia. Even as some call for a more aggressive U.S. approach, Mr. Blinken did not detail what further steps the United States might take to influence events in either country. But he did warn that there would be consequences for what he called \u201catrocities\u201d in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cThere needs to be accountability, and we are determined there will be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Mr. Blinken\u2019s visit to East Africa came after months of intensive engagement by his regional envoy, Jeffrey D. Feltman, who has been shuttling between capitals in recent weeks in a frantic scramble for diplomatic solutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">In Sudan, American officials are pressing for the immediate reinstatement of a transitional government that took power in 2019, following a wave of popular protest that ousted the country\u2019s longtime dictator, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. If Sudan\u2019s generals rolled back their coup, the country would be rewarded with renewed financial aid from the United States and other nations, Mr. Blinken said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">For now, though, his offers appear to be falling on deaf ears.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">In Ethiopia, the Biden administration has turned to increasingly coercive means to pressure both sides to stop fighting, including visa restrictions on Ethiopian officials linked to alleged atrocities and threats of sanctions against leaders on both sides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">At the United Nations, American officials have issued impassioned appeals for international unity. \u201cDo African lives not matter?\u201d a <a class=\"css-1g7m0tk\" href=\"https:\/\/allafrica.com\/stories\/202106110089.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">visibly exasperated<\/a> Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in July.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Those efforts have failed to halt Ethiopia\u2019s slide. Two million people have been forced from their homes; seven million urgently need humanitarian assistance; and human rights abuses continue unabated, according to aid organizations and international observers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Mr. Abiy, who is facing off against ethnic Tigrayan rebels pressing toward the capital, has spurned repeated American appeals to negotiate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Some critics blame the Biden administration for reacting too slowly to the various crises in East Africa, and in particular for not taking firm action sooner against Mr. Abiy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\"> The United States is also contending with a growing field of foreign countries with competing interests in the Horn of Africa \u2014 including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar and Russia \u2014 that have sometimes frustrated American diplomacy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">China\u2019s influence in Africa is also a growing concern to U.S. officials who consider competition with Beijing as their top priority. On Wednesday, the hotel where Mr. Blinken stayed was also hosting a meeting of a China-Kenya business group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">The defense of democracy has become a defining feature of President Biden\u2019s foreign policy, especially as the United States competes for influence with authoritarian China in Africa and around the globe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Mr. Blinken also had cautionary words about Kenya\u2019s political system, which human rights groups say has shown authoritarian tendencies in recent years. He began his day by meeting with Kenyan civil society leaders, who warned of threats to the country\u2019s democratic progress as Kenya heads toward national elections in August.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">\u201cNot just in Kenya, but around the world, you\u2019ve seen over the last decade or so what some have called a democratic recession,\u201d Mr. Blinken said. \u201cEven vibrant democracies like Kenya are experiencing these pressures, especially around election time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Such talk failed to prevent Mr. Blinken from receiving an effusive public welcome from his counterpart, Ms. Omamo. She said that Mr. Blinken\u2019s visit showed that \u201cthe U.S. is indeed back and interested in the advancement of our continent,\u201d an apparent implicit contrast to President Donald J. Trump, who never visited the continent and disparaged some of its nations with a vulgar epithet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-axufdj evys1bk0\">Ms. Omamo even echoed one of President Biden\u2019s signature slogans, saying that Kenya and the United States would be \u201cbuilding back better\u201d together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014 Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken\u2019s first visit to sub-Saharan Africa was intended to be a grand gesture of American support for the continent. But his first day also illustrated the frustrating limits of American influence in a region undergoing deep turmoil. As Mr. Blinken met with officials in Nairobi, Kenya, security [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":54567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,3266],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Intractable-African-Crises-Flare-as-Bidens-Top-Diplomat-Visits-Kenya.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54566"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}