The embargo was imposed in July 1996 in reaction to a military coup that swept President Pierre Buyoya back into power three years after he was defeated in Burundi's first democratic elections. The unrest later developed into a Hutu rebellion, which the government failed to curb. But Burundi's neighbours, including Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda, condemned the coup and slapped a trade and transport embargo on the country within days of the overthrow. They demanded the reinstallation of a democratic government and, later, the liberation of detained ex-presidents Jean Baptiste Bagaza and Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, as well as the Speaker of the National Assembly, Leonce Ngendakumana. The embargo has stifled the import-dependent economy of the landlocked country, leading to predictions that Buyoya's government would fall.
Prices have kept rising, fuel is scarce and living conditions increasingly tough.
Factories have closed down because there are no raw materials and hospitals are short of drugs. In October last, Prime Minister Pascal Firmin Ndimira estimated that the country had lost 100 million dollars as a result of the embargo, which has been criticised by sections of the international community and humanitarian organisations. As part of a campaign organised by Buyoya and aimed at exposing the effects of the embargo, Burundian officials have been travelling to France and other parts of the world to explain that the sanctions are an impediment to the return of peace. The Burundi authorities maintain that they have fulfilled the conditions set by their neighbours so there is no reason to maintain the embargo. Buyoya is to hold talks with his adversaries while there is no restriction on the movements of Bagaza, Ntibantunganya or Ngendakumana.