As the U.S. and France move to interfere in the Sahel region of West Africa, Niger, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali have spoken up to defend their sovereign rights and declare their determination to be free from western hegemony.
Revolution in Sahel? Military Coups in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger
On July 26, 2023 in a military coup d’etat, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) ousted Niger president Mohamed Bazoum and took control of the country. This followed recent coups in Burkina Faso, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, and Chad. These countries are bound together by the Sahel, a semi-arid region on the edge of the Sahara desert that stretches from the Atlantic ocean in the west and to the Red Sea in the east. The Sahel region suffers from a number of complex factors resulting from French political and economic domination designed to exploit the region’s vast natural and human resources, while subordinating the region’s sovereignty to France. The U.S. and European powers have collaborated to promote an imperialist agenda. Consider the NATO led invasion of Libya, which led to the murder and overthrow of Pan-Africanist leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Libya then became a breeding ground for Western armed terrorist groups that destabilize the region. Because of these ongoing conflicts instigated and perpetuated by Western imperialist powers, life in the Sahel has been, and remains, hellish….
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Banner photo: Crowds express support for the new Nigerien government. "France must go. Long live Niger." (Courtesy AFP via Getty Images)