The Free

Imperial disintegration in Africa / Falling dominoes of Western Neo Colonial Scam

from thefreeonline on August 6, 2023 by Matthew Hunter at Peoples World.

With the headquarters of the ruling party burning behind them, supporters of mutinous soldiers demonstrate in Niamey, Niger, Thursday, July 27, 2023. Governing bodies in Africa condemned the coup against Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, but not everyone is joining in the hostility. Neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali have said any foreign intervention in Niger will be deemed an act of war against them as well. | Fatahoulaye Hassane Midou / AP

What’s happening in West Africa?

_{Originally published in the People’s World on August 2, 2023}

News of a military coup in the West African country of Niger has reignited condemnations of the colonial West, and marks at least the 10th coup in the Sahel region since 2008: Burkina Faso (2014, 2015, 2022), Mali (2012, 2020, 2021), Mauritania (2008), Gambia (2014), and Guinea (2021)—and all have some connection to U.S. military training via United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).

However, these coups have occurred specifically in Francophone African countries and have led to an intense backlash against that old colonial empire. So, is this a case of U.S. neocolonial aggression blowing back in the face of Western imperialism, creating a resurgence of the revolutionary potential of the region? Or is it a long-game maneuver between imperialist powers? Or is it something else entirely?

NATO and Africa: A Relationship of Colonial Violence and Structural White Supremacy / by Djibo SobukweFebruary 25, 2022In “INTERNATIONAL NEWS”

In order to begin understanding past and current developments in Africa, it is important to understand neocolonialism as a phase in the development of imperialism. The latter was briefly defined by one of its most well-known critics; V.I. Lenin called imperialism the “monopoly stage of capitalism.”

As for neocolonialism, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah famously said that its essence consisted of “a state which is…, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty,” but which has, in reality, an “economic system and thus…political policy…directed from outside.”

For centuries, the people of Africa suffered under slavery, oppression, and exploitation by European colonialism. The European imperialist powers in 1885 at the Berlin Conference formally split the continent amongst themselves. They stole political and economic sovereignty away from the people of the continent without any voice in the matter. Through such colonial exploitation, the surplus value derived from the continent was exported to the colonizing nations.

_{^{A string of coups: People cheer in celebration as security forces drive through the streets of the capital Bamako, Mali, Aug. 19, 2020, a day after armed soldiers fired into the air outside President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s home and took him into their custody. The Sahel’s latest wave of coups kicked off in Mali in August 2020 when the democratically-elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was overthrown by soldiers led by Col. Assimi Goita. |}}

Nigeria’s Senate refuses to support ECOWAS plan for West-backed military intervention

from thefreeonline on August 05, 2023 by Pavan Kulkarni at Peoples Dispatch shared with thanks

A day after ECOWAS chiefs of staffs finalized plans for a military intervention, Nigeria’s Senate refused support President Bola Tinubu’s proposal to deploy soldiers. Tinubu is the current chair of ECOWAS. Meanwhile, Niger has seen multiple demonstrations in support of the coup that overthrew Mohamed BazoumAugust 05, 2023 by Pavan Kulkarni

Fears Of French and US Attacks as Uranium exports stopped in Niger Coup

The regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has drawn up a plan for a military invasion of Niger to restore the ousted Mohamed Bazoum to presidency. However, in Nigeria, whose president Bola Tinubu is the current chair of ECOWAS, the Senate has refused to support the military intervention.

World African War’ threat as West mobilizes to keep Uranium and Gold looting from Niger

On Saturday, August 5, at a closed-door executive session to deliberate on Tinubu’s letter seeking the Senate’s support for “military buildup and deployment of personnel for military intervention,” “almost all senators… totally ruled out the military options,” an unnamed senator told Premium Times.

Pointing out that “our military is highly ill-equipped and not prepared to fight any war,” the Senators argued that “the Federal Government should focus on solving the Boko Haram, banditry, and ESN/IPOB menaces… instead of contemplating going to war in a foreign country.”

The war plans were prepared at a meeting of the chiefs of staff of ECOWAS member countries which ended on Friday, August 4. “All the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out here, including the resources needed, the how and when we are going to deploy the force,” said Abdel Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political affairs, Peace and Security.

Burkina Faso and Mali say Western ‘intervention’ in Niger will be Declaration of War.

‘World African War’ threat as West mobilizes to keep Uranium and Gold looting from Niger

from thefreeonline on Aug 4th, 2023 by Franklin Nyamsi at Home Africa

Response to Niger coup may escalate – Nyamsi. Western colonial sanctions and regional crackdowns on the new military government could trigger Libya type chaos

Fears Of French and US Attacks as Uranium exports stopped in Niger Coup threatening French electricity and US Nuclear Weapons supplies

A Western-driven campaign to force Niger’s acting government to restore former President Mohamed Bazoum to power following last week’s military coup could bubble up into a wider conflict pitting NATO powers against Russia and China, an activist has told RT.

Response to Niger coup may escalate into ‘world African war’ – expert

“We are now at the door of a world African war,” African Freedom Institute President Franklin Nyamsi said on Thursday in an RT interview.

He added that should the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) take military action, as threatened, to remove Niger’s new government, such allies as Burkina Faso and Mali will likely come to the country’s defense.

ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) imposed sanctions on the new Nigerien government last week, suspending all financial transactions and freezing the country’s assets in ECOWAS-member states.

Regional development banks cut off all assistance, as did the EU and France. The US and the African Union also threatened to follow suit. ECOWAS demanded that the junta restore Bazoum, who has been under house arrest since the coup, by August 6 or face military action by the regional bloc.

Niger coup sparks concerns about French, EU uranium dependency – POLITICO

Nyamsi argued that ECOWAS was acting on behalf of US and NATO interests, as did Bazoum, and had no authority in its charter to attack one of its members. The ECOWAS heads of state who back the bloc’s response to the Niger coup are dictators who have been responsible for government overthrows in their own countries, Nyamsi claimed.

“They’re working for foreign interests, imperialist neocolonialist interests,” he said. “And the organization is permanently following the decisions of French political powers, of European political powers, of American political powers.”

‘Tortured’ US/Chilean journalist Gonzalo Lira re-arrested after attempt to flee Ukraine

from thefreeonline on 3 Aug, 2023 by Liberty Beacon and Home Russia

Gonzalo Lira was detained at the border, a source has confirmed to RT

Chilean-American reporter Gonzalo Lira, who claimed he would attempt to flee Ukraine after being subjected to physical abuse and extortion in custody, has gone missing, a source has confirmed to RT.

US-Chilean journalist describes torture in Ukrainian prison

Lira, a vocal critic of the Ukrainian government, resurfaced this week, months after being arrested by the nation’s security service, the SBU. In a series of posts on Twitter and YouTube, he stated his intention to cross the border into Hungary and apply for political asylum.

In a series of tweets yesterday he claimed he had been kept incommunicado in pre-trial detention since early May. He also claimed he had been deprived of sleep, beaten and tortured by other inmates, on instructions from prison authorities.

Lira apparently never made it across the border. Mark Sleboda, a political analyst and frequent guest on RT, confirmed to the channel that Lira was stopped by Ukrainian border guards and has not been heard from since.

Lira had previously claimed that he had been released on bail after months in detention and ordered not to leave the city of Kharkov. However he added that he had his passport and was not wearing an electronic shackle, contrary to the terms of his release.

(Video removed? Click here…)

In late March, Lira posted a list of the names of Ukrainian opposition figures who have died or been detained since the outbreak of the conflict, on his Twitter page, insisting that “if you haven’t heard from me in 12 hours or more, put my name on this list.”

“Maybe I’m being set up by them so they can justify putting me away in a labor camp – so no one will ever know about their sordid extortion scheme,” he said. “I simply don’t know.”

In the event that he would cross the border in to Hungary, Lira expected Ukraine to issue an international arrest warrant for him for skipping bail. He added that he hoped Hungary would be willing to defy Kiev and not hand him over, unlike other EU nations.

“If you don’t hear from me in the next 12 hours—whelp! I’m on my way to a labor camp!” he concluded. There have been no further updates on his social media since.

Lira has been accused by Ukraine of “publicly justifying” the Russian military operation and “disseminating fakes [false stories] about the war in Ukraine”. He claims the charges were bogus and that he did nothing but explain his opinions about Kiev’s policies and report what was happening in the country. Since then, Ukraine has enacted laws criminalizing dissent and allowing President Vladimir Zelensky to ban opposition political parties, nationalize the media and even persecute the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for being in canonical communion with Moscow.