the trappings of modern civilization
Togo, Feb. 19 - With thundering drumbeats and chants of "Togo must be
free," about 15,000 protesters streamed into the streets of this
seaside capital on Saturday to express their anger at the military's
installation of the son of the nation's longtime ruler as president.
A speech on Friday night by the new president, Faure Gnassingbé,
was aimed at ending the two-week-old crisis by promising elections
within 60 days to replace his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma,
who died of a heart attack on Feb. 5. But the announcement failed to
quell demands that Mr. Gnassingbé step down.
If anything, it appeared to help opposition parties draw a crowd far
larger than those of earlier demonstrations, a river of people that
swelled as hesitant bystanders joined the throng that eventually
rallied at a square near the center of town.
"We are tired of this dictatorial regime," shouted Geraldine Nie, 42
and unemployed, as she held a tree branch aloft and marched on the
city's main boulevard. "We are no longer afraid. It is either life or
death, and what we have now is worse than death."
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