Uganda's 'Democratic' Election Gets U.S. Green Light, Again
The Guardian dutifully reports that Yoweri Museveni, an 81-year-old president who seized power in 1986, is leading Uganda’s election amidst 'violence reported after the vote.' This framing of a 'veteran leader' holding off a 'challenger' against a backdrop of 'marred by violence at opposition rallies' is the classic media maneuver to sanitize decades of autocratic rule. It's the same soft-pedaling
we saw when Egypt's Sisi 'won' with 97% of the vote after jailing dissenters, or when Rwanda's Kagame extended his 'mandate' indefinitely. The US State Department, ever a champion of 'democracy,' routinely offers muted condemnations, despite funneling aid to these 'strategic partners.' Instead of probing why such 'contested' elections perpetually favor the incumbent, the discourse centers on
isolated 'incidents' rather than the systemic oppression. It raises the question: on how many continents must 'allies' suppress dissent, jail opponents, and rig elections for their 'stability' to become more important than their hypocrisy?