The UN has intervened in civil war-stricken Ivory Coast as Laurent Gbagbo continues his attempt to cling onto power.
In an election which the UN oversaw, Gbagbo was defeated by Alsanne Outtara but has refused to step down. As we went to press, forces loyal to Outtara were claiming to have overrun Gbagbo’s residence in Abidjan. UN and French helicopters had previously conducted airstrikes against Gbagbo’s arsenals.
Nearly 500 people have been killed since the disputed election in November, with more than one million fleeing the country. Both Gbagbo and Outtara have historically whipped up ethnic and sectarian bigotry against their political rivals, and both have a record of attempting to mobilise working-class support despite both being entirely pro-market in their politics. Civil strife between Christians and Muslims, a key feature of political life in other African countries such as Nigeria, has been a factor for many years.
Some have analysed the situation as European imperialism, particularly France, attempting to re-establish a colonial foothold in the country, which is the world’s biggest cocoa producer. Whatever the impact of this particular imperialist intervention, no socialist should fall into supporting Gbagbo as a progressive “anti-imperialist” against the UN.
Outtara is the formally “legitimate” president of the country but that cannot resolved democratic questions here. In the long-term Ivory Coast’s workers and urban poor — both Muslim and Christian — have to unite against all factions of the ruling class, rather than putting their faith in one section against another.
