That means fuck ECOWAS as a tool of the oppressors also. Critical support for every coup in Africa, and for the rights of Africans to demand the French and US militaries leave their country.
Critical Readings:
- Neocolonialism by Kwame Nkrumah.
- How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney.
- Rethinking Ownership of Development in Africa by T.D. Harper-Shipman.
Recommended readings:
- Unsustainable Empire: Alternative Histories of Hawaii Statehood by Dean Itsugi Saranillio.
- Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society by Eric A. Posner and E. Glen Weyl.
I’ve read the Walter Rodney book. He brings up many good points on the issues Africa currently faces. However, the idea of supporting “every coup in Africa” is not only a bad take but very dangerous.
Ignoring the French government because I know little of their policies, but for America specifically, the legitimate, democratically elected government invited the US military ss a joint program to train the Niger army and develop closer relations. Through thick and thin, the US has remained committed to training them and building more friendly relations. Remember, the US was invited by Niger, like they were invited by many other countries. The Niger coup overthrew the democratically elected legitimate president to replace him with a warlord. In no way should this action be condoned or supported. Coup’s happen, and when the coup overthrows a tyrant to replace them with democracy it should be supported. People led revolutions in these countries are the only way to truly end the many violent warlords and rebels happening across the continent. In this case, however, such actions are harmful to the development and freedom of the region, and will only lead to more people suffering under a dictator.
I appreciate this perspective, and I don’t suppose I actually support every coup in Africa, for example I definitely didn’t support the counter-coup by Blaise Compaoré against Thomas Sankara. I hesitate to wash off crimes of governments against which coups have been performed due to being elected, however, knowing that democratic processes are often and have been, even within Africa, manipulated in ways to prevent popular parties or factions from participating, or in ways as to ensure a particular outcome is more likely, and still upheld by international watchdog organizations as democratic. The popular support for the coup domestically in Niger would also suggest that despite being elected through a democratic process, that process was not representative of the will of the mass. I could be wrong though, Niger has had so many coups in the last 40 years, maybe the people are just used to it by now and prefer it to democratic methods of grievance redress.
Have we seen warmongering from the junta in Niger? Or is it that the people within the coup were warlords prior to takeover? All of the statements I have seen from the junta, while strong, have suggested the opposite, that they intend to try to hold power without bloodshed if possible. They’ve not closed down the foreign uranium mines in their countries, I haven’t heard about mass civilian deaths, but I could be out of date. They at least claim to be holding a public trial against the ousted government, instead of just shooting them like you’d expect a warmonger to do. They’ve asked foreign militaries to leave, and those militaries have refused, but I haven’t heard about them attacking those bases or even threatening to. I feel like we’ve seen separate juntas, because I just don’t see the warlord angle from what I’ve seen or heard.