U.S. suspends aid to Madagascar

[pepperbear]

Source: USA Today

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Friday suspended millions of dollars in aid to the Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar, saying the change of government there this week was unconstitutional.

The State Department said the Obama administration would cut all non-humanitarian assistance to the country because the ouster of President Marc Ravalomanana, who resigned after weeks of protests and handed power to the military, was "tantamount to a coup d'etat."

"The United States will not maintain our current assistance partnership with Madagascar," department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.

The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development could not provide the exact amount of aid to be suspended was not immediately clear, but Madagascar participates in several U.S. programs with several different agencies under which it receives significant development assistance.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-03-20-madagascar-aid-freeze_N.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno

[SidDithers]

1. Mada-who-ha?...nt

Sid

[peoli]

2. cool, can have some of that aid then?

[pitohui]

3. "tantamount" to coup detat -- it IS a coup de-tat

i don't know what else obama can do...south african union agrees

madagascar is desperately poor but there is no use pouring money into the country if it is only going to be stolen by the military and shipped to the very few rich french families....

the man tossed out on his ass was an elected president who was actually starting to show some results, i saw new roads (obv. new and built since his election), i saw people speaking english (he wants kids to learn english in the schools as well as french and malagasy), etc.

this country is in terrible need, there are people still living in mud huts, stone age conditions, no water, no electricity, it's just unbelievably primitive -- to blame a man because he can't bring people from the stone age to the 21st century in just a few short years is terribly unfair, and military rule under a frickin' DISC JOCKEY is not going to help the problem