Very real practical problems face the islands, starting with the corruption, despotism and illegal activities of Presidents Pinto da Costa, Miguel Trovoada and Fradique de Menezes, and including the failure to properly exploit the islands' natural resources; issues of insularity in every sense); economic instability and political illiteracy, which combine to make this natural paradise a complete human misfortune. The authors resort to the symbolic image of “evil souls” to underscore the seemingly all-powerful force and all-encompassing harm of those who run governments for the benefit of an elite few rather than the good of all. The authors propose steps that could help establish the social conditions necessary for this defunct state to revive and flourish as a democracy. Gerhard Seibert’s doctoral research work Comrades, Clients and Cousins. Colonialism, Socialism and Democratization in Sao Tome and Principe for the first time exposed and critically appraised the socio-economic and political development of the country. For its part, Exorcising Devils from the Throne focuses in the current development status of the country, providing facts and views in a contemporary philosophical perspective. Therefore, these two books can be seen as complementary to each other. There is very little other information available about this dazzling yet bedeviled part of the world which exemplifies in a nutshell the problems of the post-colonial world, including nations hit with democracy before they could prepare for it.
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