Sao Tome and Principe
The islands of Sao Tome and Principe, situated in the equatorial
Atlantic about 300 and 250 kilometers (200 mi. and 150 mi.),
respectively, off the northwest coast of Gabon, constitute Africa's
smallest country. Both are part of an extinct volcanic mountain
range, which also includes the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea
to the north and Mount Cameroon on the African west coast. Sao Tome
is 50 kilometers (31 mi.) long and 32 kilometers (20 mi.) wide and
the more mountainous of the two islands. Its peaks reach 2,024
meters (6,640 ft.). Principe is about 30 kilometers (19 mi.) long
and 6 kilometers (4 mi.) wide. Swift streams radiating down the
mountains through lush forest and cropland to the sea cross both
islands.
At sea level, the climate is tropical--hot and humid with average
yearly temperatures of about 27oC (80oF) and little daily variation.
At the interior's higher altitudes, the average yearly temperature
is 20oC (68oF), and nights are generally cool. Annual rainfall
varies from 500 centimeters (200 in.) on the southwestern slopes to
100 centimeters (40 in.) in the northern lowlands. The rainy season
runs from October to May.
Of Sao Tome and Principe's total population, about 137,500 live on
Sao Tome and 6,000 on Principe. All are descended from various
ethnic groups that have migrated to the islands since 1485. Six
groups are identifiable:
Mestico, or mixed-blood, descendants of African slaves brought to
the islands during the early years of settlement from Benin, Gabon,
and Congo (these people also are known as filhos da terra or "sons
of the land");
Angolares, reputedly descendants of Angolan slaves who survived a
1540 shipwreck and now earn their livelihood fishing;
Forros, descendants of freed slaves when slavery was abolished;
Servicais, contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cape
Verde, living temporarily on the islands;
Tongas, children of servicais born on the islands; and
Europeans, primarily Portuguese.
In the 1970s, there were two significant population movements--the
exodus of most of the 4,000 Portuguese residents and the influx of
several hundred Sao Tomean refugees from Angola. The islanders have
been absorbed largely into a common Luso-African culture. Almost all
belong to the Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, or Seventh-day
Adventist Churches, which in turn retain close ties with churches in
Portugal. |
|
The islands were first discovered by Portuguese navigators between
1469 and 1472. The first successful settlement of Sao Tome was
established in 1493 by Alvaro Caminha, who received the land as a
grant from the Portuguese crown. Principe was settled in 1500 under
a similar arrangement. By the mid-1500s, with the help of slave
labor, the Portuguese settlers had turned the islands into Africa's
foremost exporter of sugar. Sao Tome and Principe were taken over
and administered by the Portuguese crown in 1522 and 1573,
respectively.
Sugar cultivation declined over the next 100 years, and by the
mid-1600s, Sao Tome was little more than a port of call for
bunkering ships. In the early 1800s, two new cash crops, coffee and
cocoa, were introduced. The rich volcanic soils proved well suited
to the new cash crop industry and soon extensive plantations (rocas),
owned by Portuguese companies or absentee landlords, occupied almost
all of the good farmland. By 1908, Sao Tome had become the world's
largest producer of cocoa, still the country's most important crop.
The rocas system, which gave the plantation managers a high degree
of authority, led to abuses against the African farm workers.
Although Portugal officially abolished slavery in 1876, the practice
of forced paid labor continued. In the early 1900s, an
internationally publicized controversy arose over charges that
Angolan contract workers were being subjected to forced labor and
unsatisfactory working conditions. Sporadic labor unrest and
dissatisfaction continued well into the 20th century, culminating in
an outbreak of riots in 1953 in which several hundred African
laborers were killed in a clash with their Portuguese rulers. This "Batepa
Massacre" remains a major event in the colonial history of the
islands, and the government officially observes its anniversary.
By the late 1950s, when other emerging nations across the African
Continent were demanding independence, a small group of Sao Tomeans
had formed the Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe
(MLSTP), which eventually established its base in nearby Gabon.
Picking up momentum in the 1960s, events moved quickly after the
overthrow of the Salazar and Caetano dictatorship in Portugal in
April 1974. The new Portuguese regime was committed to the
dissolution of its overseas colonies; in November 1974, their
representatives met with the MLSTP in Algiers and worked out an
agreement for the transfer of sovereignty. After a period of
transitional government, Sao Tome and Principe achieved independence
on July 12, 1975, choosing as its first President the MLSTP
Secretary General, Manuel Pinto da Costa.
In 1990, Sao Tome became one of the first African countries to
embrace democratic reform. Changes to the constitution, including
the legalization of opposition political parties, led to nonviolent,
free, and transparent elections in 1991. Miguel Trovoada, a former
Prime Minister who had been in exile since 1986, returned as an
independent candidate and was elected President. Trovoada was
re-elected in Sao Tome's second multiparty presidential election in
1996. The Party of Democratic Convergence (PCD) toppled the MLSTP to
take a majority of seats in the National Assembly, with the MLSTP
becoming an important and vocal minority party. Municipal elections
followed in late 1992, in which the MLSTP came back to win a
majority of seats on five of seven regional councils. In early
legislative elections in October 1994, the MLSTP won a plurality of
seats in the Assembly. It regained an outright majority of seats in
the November 1998 elections.
The Government of Sao Tome fully functions under a multiparty
system. Presidential elections were held in July 2001. The candidate
backed by the Independent Democratic Action Party, Fradique de
Menezes, was elected in the first round and inaugurated on September
3. Parliamentary elections held in March 2002 led to a coalition
government after no party gained a majority of seats. An attempted
coup d'etat in July 2003 by a few members of the military and the
Christian Democratic Front (mostly representative of former Sao
Tomean volunteers from the apartheid-era Republic of South African
Army) was reversed by international, including American, mediation
without bloodshed. In September 2004, President de Menezes dismissed
the Prime Minister and appointed a new cabinet, which was accepted
by the majority party. In June 2005, following public discontent
with oil exploration licenses granted in the Joint Development Zone
(JDZ) with Nigeria, the MLSTP, the party with the largest number of
seats in the National Assembly, and its coalition partners
threatened to resign from government and force early parliamentary
elections. After several days of negotiations, the President and the
MLSTP agreed to form a new government and to avoid early elections.
The new government included Maria Silveira, the well-respected head
of the Central Bank, who served concurrently as Prime Minister and
Finance Minister.
The March 2006 legislative elections went forward without a hitch,
with President Menezes' party, the Movement for the Democratic Force
of Change (MDFM), winning 23 seats and taking an unexpected lead
ahead of MLSTP. MLSTP came in second with 19 seats, and the
Independent Democratic Alliance (ADI) came in third with 12 seats.
Amidst negotiations to form a new coalition government, President
Menezes nominated a new prime minister and cabinet.
July 30, 2006 marked Sao Tome and Principe's fourth democratic,
multiparty presidential elections. The elections were regarded by
both local and international observers as being free and fair.
Incumbent Fradique de Menezes won the election with approximately
60% of the vote. Voter turnout was relatively high with 63% of the
91,000 registered voters casting ballots.
In November 2007, President de Menezes dismissed and replaced
several ministers in his government following significant public
criticism of souring economic conditions and the government's
handling of recurring mutinies by dissident police officers. The
changes took place peacefully and without incident. During another
government shakeup in February 2008, President de Menezes appointed
Patrice Trovoada as Prime Minister.
On May 20, 2008 the government collapsed after losing a
parliamentary vote of confidence. The opposition Movement for the
Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe-Social Democratic Party
(MLSTP-PSD), with the support of Party of Democratic Convergence
(PCD), asserted that Prime Minister Trovoada had failed to deliver
on reforms that he promised when he entered office. Joachim Rafael
Branco became Prime Minister in June 2008. |
|
