There’s an African dictator that enjoys total anonymity thanks to the small size of his country and the fact Djibouti is the only French speaking country in East Africa. Ismaïl Omar Guelleh has recently re-elected himself for a 5th term.

Guelleh replaced his uncle Hassan Gouled Aptidon in 1999. aptidon was the first president of Djibouti after it obtained independence from #France in 1977. Guelleh and his uncle have been the only presidents Djibouti has known since independence exactly like Equatorial Guinea.

Omar Guelleh has ruled Djibouti with an iron fist. In #Djibouti the arrest and killing of opposition leaders and activists are quite frequent but despite his horrific Human rights records, he enjoys the full support of France, the United States and western allies.

Almost all western powers have a military base in #Djibouti thanks its strategic location in the Horn of Africa bothering African giant Ethiopia which is landlocked.

Djibouti is home to the largest U.S military base AFRICOM in #Africa which aids their operations in part of the Middle East and neighboring Somalia.
France also holds a large military base COMFOR in Djibouti which took part in French military operations all over #Africa.

Activists from Djibouti have been resisting the authoritarian rule of Guelleh for decades but their efforts are crushed in silence and their dictator has nothing to worry about from the international community for as long as he rents his country to the West as a military base.