# Anti-Government Riots in Madagascar **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257 "2009-01-27T18:29:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/1 "2009-01-27T18:29:22Z")
> **[UPDATE 1-At least two die in stormy Madagascar protests](https://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSCAW66215520090126)** > > Tens of thousands of angry anti-government protesters took to the streets of the Malagasy capital on Monday, burning the state-owned TV and radio station, and a security source said at least two people were killed. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/2 "2009-01-27T19:23:52Z")
Would it be mean to say that finally everybody _else_ can close their ports? ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/3 "2009-01-27T21:23:22Z")
Not to belittle the deaths or the issue, but this is really bad timing for me. Fingers crossed that this gets resolved VERY quickly, for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/4 "2009-01-27T22:14:03Z")
> [@hawksgirl](#): > > Not to belittle the deaths or the issue, but this is really bad timing for me. Fingers crossed that this gets resolved VERY quickly, for everyone. What’s personal about it for you? ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/5 "2009-01-27T22:51:47Z")
I’m going there in two weeks. If this continues, the Peace Corps will likely cancel the assignment. It has taken me a year and a half to get this close to finally serving. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/6 "2009-01-27T22:52:56Z")
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope it settles down for your sake and theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Snifit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5fc32e/32.png) [@Snifit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snifit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/7 "2009-01-28T00:36:09Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Would it be mean to say that finally everybody _else_ can close their ports? Alas; I arrived far too late to make a similar joke. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/8 "2009-01-28T00:56:31Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Would it be mean to say that finally everybody _else_ can close their ports? Huh? ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/9 "2009-01-28T05:43:26Z")
Sounds like things are escalating. The capital is a mess and Tamatave (the main port city) is headed the same way. The body count is up to 30-something, mostly from torched buildings and human stampedes. And to think I spent the last 6 months convincing my mom how stable this country was… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/10 "2009-01-28T05:52:15Z")
> [@hawksgirl](#): > > Sounds like things are escalating. The capital is a mess and Tamatave (the main port city) is headed the same way. The body count is up to 30-something, mostly from torched buildings and human stampedes. > > And to think I spent the last 6 months convincing my mom how stable this country was… Yah, this is a real shame. Back in 2005, Madagascar was the very first country to get a grant under the Bush Administration’s new Millennium Challenge Accounts program, meant to provide grants to successfully democratizing states (along with other criteria). [http://www.mcc.gov/](http://www.mcc.gov/) Would have been nice to see a success here. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/11 "2009-01-28T11:01:29Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Huh? it’s a refrence to [pandemic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=476613&highlight=pandemic), a java game that was doper hit last year Madagascar was very hard to Infect because they only had one sea port and would close it at the first sign of trouble world wide ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-government-riots-in-madagascar/483257/12 "2009-01-28T23:30:18Z")
There has been surprisingly little international coverage of this. I guess another African country going to pot doesn’t bring in ratings anymore.