US Aid: 'Democracy' to Tunisia, 'Stability' to Dictatorship
The New Arab reports that jailed Tunisian opposition leader Jaouhar Ben Mbarek is in a 'bad state' on hunger strike, protesting his detention since February 2023. This comes years after Tunisian President Kais Saied systematically dismantled democratic institutions, seizing power in 2021 and consolidating control. The US State Department, ever vigilant, has issued 'deep concerns' about Tunisia's
democracy and human rights record. Yet, for years, the US continued aid to Tunisia, including substantial security assistance. According to records compiled by the Security Assistance Monitor, the US provided over $250 million in security aid to Tunisia since 2011, continuing even as Saied dissolved parliament and rewrote the constitution. One might wonder if official 'concern' is merely
performative, a fig leaf covering years of enabling the very crackdown now lamented. How many American tax dollars, funneled through dubious channels, fertilized the ground for the autocratic harvest we now observe?