Obama to drop Burundi from trade benefits program

Obama to drop Burundi from trade benefits program

President Barack Obama notified the United States Congress on Friday that he plans to drop Burundi from the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade benefits program as from January 1 next year because of violence related to a political crisis in the country.
“In particular, the continuing crackdown on opposition members, which has included assassinations, extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture, have worsened significantly during the election campaign that returned President (Pierre) Nkurunziza to power earlier this year,” Reuters quoted Obama as saying in a letter to Congress.