Cote d'Ivoire
Close ties to France since independence in 1960, the
development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment
made Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the tropical
African states, but did not protect it from political turmoil. On 25
December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's
history - overthrew the government led by President Henri Konan
BEDIE. Junta leader Robert GUEI held elections in late 2000, but
excluded prominent opposition leader Alassane OUATTARA, blatantly
rigged the polling results, and declared himself winner. Popular
protest forced GUEI to step aside and brought runner-up Laurent
GBAGBO into power. GBAGBO spent his first two years in office trying
to consolidate power to strengthen his weak mandate, but he was
unable to appease his opponents, who launched a failed coup attempt
in September 2002. Rebel forces claimed the northern half of the
country and in January 2003 were granted ministerial positions in a
unity government. However, the central government has yet to exert
control over the northern regions and tension remains high between
GBAGBO and rebel leaders. Several thousand French and West African
troops remain in Cote d'Ivoire to maintain peace and help implement
the peace accords.
Croatia
In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom
known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia
became a federal independent Communist state under the strong hand
of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from
Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often
bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared
from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held
enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.
Cuba
Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule
has held the country together since then. Cuba's Communist
revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin
America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country
is now slowly recovering from a severe economic recession in 1990,
following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4
billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba portrays its difficulties as
the result of the US embargo in place since 1961. Illicit migration
to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, or falsified
visas - is a continuing problem. Some 2,500 Cubans attempted the
crossing of the Straits of Florida in 2002; the US Coast Guard
apprehended about 60% of the individuals.
Cyprus
Independence from the UK was approved in 1960, with
constitutional guarantees by the Greek Cypriot majority to the
Turkish Cypriot minority. In 1974, a Greek-sponsored attempt to
seize the government was met by military intervention from Turkey,
which soon controlled almost 40% of the island. In 1983, the
Turkish-held area declared itself the "Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus," but it is recognized only by Turkey. UN-led direct talks
between the two sides to reach a comprehensive settlement to the
division of the island began in January 2002.
Czech Republic
Following the First World War, the closely related
Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to
form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's
leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of
other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the
Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II,
a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of
influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the
efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule
and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations
the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the
collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its
freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993,
the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national
components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Now a member of NATO,
the Czech Republic has moved toward integration in world markets, a
development that poses both opportunities and risks. In December
2002, the Czech Republic was invited to join the European Union
(EU). It is expected that the Czech Republic will accede to the EU
in 2004.
Denmark
Once the seat of Viking raiders and later a major north
European power, Denmark has evolved into a modern, prosperous nation
that is participating in the general political and economic
integration of Europe. It joined NATO in 1949 and the EEC (now the
EU) in 1973. However, the country has opted out of certain elements
of the European Union's Maastricht Treaty, including the European
Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and issues concerning certain
justice and home affairs.
Djibouti
The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became
Djibouti in 1977. Hassan Gouled APTIDON installed an authoritarian
one-party state and proceeded to serve three consecutive six-year
terms as president. Unrest among the Afars minority during the
1990's led to multi-party elections resulting in President Ismail
Omar GUELLEH attaining office in May 1999. A peace accord in 2001
ended the final phases of a ten-year uprising by Afar rebels.
Djibouti occupies a very strategic geographic location at the mouth
of the Red Sea and serves as an important transshipment location for
goods entering and leaving the east African highlands. GUELLEH
favors close ties to France, which maintains a significant military
presence in the country.
Dominica
Dominica was the last of the Caribbean islands to be
colonized by Europeans, due chiefly to the fierce resistance of the
native Caribs. France ceded possession to Great Britain in 1763,
which made the island a colony in 1805. In 1980, two years after
independence, Dominica's fortunes improved when a corrupt and
tyrannical administration was replaced by that of Mary Eugenia
CHARLES, the first female prime minister in the Caribbean, who
remained in office for 15 years. Some 3,000 Carib Indians still
living on Dominica are the only pre-Columbian population remaining
in the eastern Caribbean.
Dominican Republic
Explored and claimed by Columbus on his first
voyage in 1492, the island of Hispaniola became a springboard for
Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In
1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the
island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by
then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in
1821, but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it
finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. A
legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative, rule for much of its
subsequent history was brought to an end in 1966 when Joaquin
BALAGUER became president. He maintained a tight grip on power for
most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed
elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then,
regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition
candidates have won the presidency. The Dominican economy has had
one of the fastest growth rates in the hemisphere over the past
decade.
East Timor
The Portuguese colony of Timor declared itself
independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975 and was invaded and
occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later. It was incorporated
into Indonesia in July 1976 as the province of East Timor. A
campaign of pacification followed over the next two decades, during
which an estimated 100,000 to 250,000 individuals lost their lives.
On 30 August 1999, in a UN-supervised popular referendum, the people
of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia. During
1999-2001, pro-integrationist militias - supported by Indonesia -
conducted indiscriminate violence. On 20 May 2002, East Timor was
internationally recognized as an independent state and the world's
newest democracy.