Introduction
There were several military coups in West Africa lately. Mostly in former French colonies, and in many ways “neo-colonies” of France, that do arguably more harm to the Sahel countries than the more than 300 years of French “on-the-ground” colonies, or enslavement. Though, this latter crime is not to be discarded at all. It has been an across-Africa genocide of unimaginable proportions, that, so far went unpunished.
But the new crime, the financial and military strategic econo-political colonization, needs to be brought to the fore now.
Among the coup countries are Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, but also Nigeria – a former British colony.
Of all these “coups”, Niger gets by far the most attention, and seems to be at the center of the controversy.
At the outset it looked like the military staged a coup to get the France-friendly President Mohamed Bazoum (image right with President Macron), out of the way and to move away from French monetary hegemony, the Franc CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine, or African Financial Community). See also this and this.
On second thought, however, another image emerged, especially after Madame Victoria Nuland’s, US Deputy Secretary of State (August 7, 2023) personal visit to Niamey, Niger, where she was purportedly denied access to the deposed President, and was apparently snubbed by the new military leader,General Abdourahmane Tchiani.
The latter is not very plausible, but is once more a “media coup” against the truth. Ever more evidence emerges that Niger’s coup was supported by the US. Washington has two military bases in Niger and at least between 3,000 and 4,000 military personnel stationed in Niger.
One of the US bases is a strategically important drone base, in the Agadez region, known as Niger Air Base 201. Following its permanent base in Djibouti, Niger Air Base 201 (image left ) stands as the second-largest US base in Africa. See this.
The 201 Air Base is owned by the Nigerien military, built and financed for by the United States. It is operated by the U.S. military as a drone base.
France still has at least 1,500 military stationed in Niger. This, even though French President Macron had promised to withdraw them, as soon as General Tchiani “requested” him to do so. Everything must be questioned now. Did Tchiani really request a withdrawal of French troops?
What appears (almost) sure is that the US were supporting the military coup, if not helping General Tchiani – who served as the chief of the Nigerien presidential guard (2011-2023) – to the military take-over. See also this important analysis by Professor Chossudovsky.
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