Middle East & Africa | Fighting talk

Repression is worsening in Cameroon amid an uprising over language

The president shows little interest in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis

|YAOUNDE

THE parade featured singing schoolchildren and goose-stepping soldiers. A giant presidential portrait was wheeled along the boulevard. To some observers it must have looked like a comic sketch about an event staged by an African dictator. But no one dared snigger. The celebration of Cameroon’s national day on May 20th was lorded over by President Paul Biya, who at 85 is Africa’s oldest head of state.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Fighting talk”

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