A US COLONY

In geopolitical terms, Liberia was a client state – one might say a colony of the US. There is some irony in this because the United States was very late in recognising its offspring; in the first decades it offered little but neglect to its repatriate slaves. In this century, however, the US forged such close links with Liberia that their relationship was almost symbiotic. Firestone and other US firms made great investments in Liberia. The US built up strategic interests. Robertsfield International Airport outside Monrovia was built by the US as a military airfield, and the US had landing and refuelling rights for military planes on 24-hours' notice. Monrovia's port, too, was a US military project. The US had in Liberia its VOA transmitters for Africa and the Middle East, the CIA intelligence relay system for the whole continent, and the Omega tracking station, one of only a handful around the world that monitor the movement of all ships and aeroplanes. Besides protecting these commercial and strategic interests, as Africa's colonies moved to independence, many of them committed to socialism, the US needed a proxy among these black nations that could promote the American viewpoint (‘a voice of moderation’). For all these reasons, the US wanted a stable government, of unwavering loyalty. In return for this, the US was prepared to ignore the rampant corruption, mismanagement and injustice, and the neglect if not oppression of the majority of the population.