WikiLeaks cables paint bleak picture of Tajikistan, central Asia's poorest state

[Joanne98]

Source: The Guardian

Tajikistan is losing the battle against the flow of drugs from neighbouring Afghanistan and is characterised by "cronyism and corruption" emanating from the president downwards.

A series of leaked US diplomatic dispatches released by WikiLeaks paint a bleak picture of Central Asia's poorest state. They note that it suffers from "earthquakes, floods, droughts, locusts and extreme weather" and is situated next to "obstructive Uzbekistan", "unstable Afghanistan" and the "rough, remote" Pamir mountains next to western China.

But Tajikistan's worst obstacle is the country's venal president Emomali Rahmon, diplomats say. A secret cable dated 16 February 2010, from the US embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, describes how Rahmon runs the ex-Soviet republic's economy for his own personal profit: "From the president down to the policeman on the street, government is characterized by cronyism and corruption."

"Rahmon and his family control the country's major businesses, including the largest bank, and they play hardball to protect their business interests, no matter the cost to the economy writ large. As one foreign ambassador summed up, President Rahmon prefers to control 90% of a ten-dollar pie, rather than 30% of a hundred-dollar pie."



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/12/wikileaks-bleak-picture-tajikistan

[Mz Pip]

1. Honestly

nothing that has been revealed has been of any huge surprise. Now we learn that things suck in Tajikistan. Duh.

[DCKit]

3. The Devil is in the details, and the fact that the information is being confirmed ...

with the bad actors being named along with their specific crimes.

[BobTheSubgenius]

2. I'd be willing to bet...

...that things in any of the 'stan countries aren't so great.