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The Hidden Truth Behind AFRICOM – US Africa Command

The U.S. military’s incredibly secretive African Command, or AFRICOM, has been steadily growing over the past 15 years – and with almost no media coverage. The Pentagon keeps a lot of the details about AFRICOM secret. What we do know comes from leaked documents and fragmentary evidence, like the dozens of secret killer drone bases, the many murdered civilians, or the bring-your-mistress-to-work parties the AFRICOM commanders have on Thursdays (complete with giraffe liver-pâté hors d’oeuvres). Here’s how the military explains AFRICOM: “U.S. Africa Command, with partners, counters transnational threats and malign actors, strengthens security forces and responds to crises in order to advance U.S. national interests and promote regional security, stability and prosperity.”

Biden ‘Brings’ Selected African Leaders To US To Expand Neocolonialism

President Biden "brought" leaders of selected African nations to the United States for a summit to “demonstrate the United States’ enduring commitment to Africa," the White House claims. But just days before the meeting, the Biden administration imposed more economic sanctions on members of some excluded nations, a likely attempt to send a warning of what happens to those who do not comply with the US' imperialist demands. The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) organized a week of actions to coincide with Biden's summit. Clearing the FOG speaks with Rose Brewer of BAP's Africa Team about the long history of US intervention to exploit Africans, steal resources, and suppress liberation movements and how this comes home to impact people and social movements in the US.

If The US Told Rwanda And Uganda To Get Out Of Congo, The War Would End

The European Union has sanctioned five members of different armed groups operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including the spokesman for the M23 militia. It did not, however, sanction Rwanda, Uganda or the Rwandan and Ugandan presidents, despite decades of UN Group of Experts reports that the militias operating in the eastern DRC are largely Rwandan and Ugandan, though they typically claim to be Congolese. I spoke to Nixon Katembo, Congolese journalist and executive producer with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, about the history of the conflict and the situation on the ground today.

After Two Decades Of War, The Congolese People Say Enough Is Enough

On Monday, December 12, a meeting was held between the M23 rebel group, the Congolese armed forces (FARDC), the commander of the joint East African Community (EAC) force, the Joint Expanded Verification Mechanism (JMWE), the Ad-Hoc Verification Mechanism, and the UN peacekeeping force, MONUSCO, in Kibumba in the Nyiragongo territory in the North Kivu province located in the eastern part of the DRC. The meeting was held in the wake of reports of fighting between M23 and the FARDC, just days after the rebel group had pledged to “maintain a ceasefire” in the mineral-rich region. M23 is widely acknowledged to be a proxy force of neighboring Rwanda. On Tuesday, December 6, M23 announced that it was ready to “start disengagement and withdraw” from occupied territory, and that it supported “regional efforts to bring long-lasting peace to the DRC.”

Another ‘Political Framework’ Signed In Sudan

On December 5 yet another transitional political framework was signed in the Republic of Sudan by the military regime and the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), the broad-based democracy organization inside the country. The agreement is designed to break the stalemate which has been in existence since a military coup removed former President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in April 2019. This new accord was met with much skepticism and angry protests from various political tendencies throughout Sudan. The Resistance Committees which have organized street demonstrations over the last four years have categorically rejected the new agreement saying it does not bring about the removal of the military as the dominant political and economic force inside the country.

US-Based Africans Organize Events To Counter Biden’s US-Africa Summit

Hundreds of people of African descent convened this past weekend at two events that aimed to be the people’s opposition to the Biden administration’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, which is taking place this week amid a military buildup  to enforce the summit’s security in Washington, D.C. The summit  is described as a four-day event (Dec. 12-15) that is designed to foster economic opportunities and reinforce the United States’ alleged commitment to human rights and democracy. It is the first summit  of its kind since 2014. “I look forward to working with African governments, civil society, diaspora communities across the United States, and the private sector to continue strengthening our shared vision for the future of U.S.-Africa relations,” U.S. President Joe Biden is quoted as saying on the summit’s website .

Biden Is Bringing Africa’s Leaders To Washington, Hoping To Impress

The Biden administration is holding a summit with some 40 leaders of African countries. The New York Times headline of its reporting on the summit is revealing: Biden Is Bringing Africa’s Leaders to Washington, Hoping to Impress "Bringing Africa's Leaders to Washington"? Why not "invited African leaders to Washington"? Isn't this reminiscent to the millions of Africans who had been "brought to America" in past centuries? The U.S. is late in fostering better relations with Africa: NAIROBI, Kenya — In Russia, Africa’s leaders were feted at a seaside resort where military aircraft for sale were parked outside the summit hall. In China, they dined with President Xi Jinping, some of them one-on-one, and received promises of investments worth $60 billion. In Turkey, they won support for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.Now they are headed to Washington for a major summit hosted by President Biden — the latest diplomatic drive by a major foreign power seeking to strengthen its ties to Africa, a continent whose geopolitical clout has grown greatly in the past decade.

Open Veins Of Africa Bleeding Heavily

The ongoing plunder of Africa’s natural resources drained by capital flight is holding it back yet again. More African nations face protracted recessions amid mounting debt distress, rubbing salt into deep wounds from the past. With much less foreign exchange, tax revenue, and policy space to face external shocks, many African governments believe they have little choice but to spend less, or borrow more in foreign currencies Most Africans are struggling to cope with food and energy crises, inflation, higher interest rates, adverse climate events, less health and social provisioning. Unrest is mounting due to deteriorating conditions despite some commodity price increases.

Unity And Resistance To Imperialism Drive West African Conference

150 people from political parties, trade unions, community-based organizations, women’s groups, and other social movements across West Africa are gathering in Winneba, Ghana from December 8-10 to chart a joint strategy for struggle at a crucial time for the region. The West African People for a New World Conference seeks to be a forum to share the demands and aspirations of the people in struggle in the region. The conference is being held at a time when there has been an upsurge of anti-imperialist sentiments across the region, as well as severe economic crises due to neoliberal policies. The bulk of the delegates hail from the 16 member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) but there are also participants from organizations from other parts of the continent.

A Seat At The US-Africa Leaders Summit Table Should Be Rejected

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) recognizes the “U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit'' — scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. December 13-15th — as nothing more than collusion between neo-colonial powers and U.S. attempts to advance and maintain dominance over the continent. Liberal elements of U.S. civil society will preoccupy themselves with the issues they think should be addressed at the Summit, claiming to act in the best interest of Africa or, as with the Summit of the Americas held earlier this year, attack those who they say do not deserve to be invited. Such dispositions presume the U.S. has honest intentions for Africa and legitimizes/obscures its real interests and role. Convened on the heels of Human Rights Day which is held every December 10, the Black Radical Human Rights and Peace Traditions must center the historical record of the U.S. in Africa and the geo-strategic interests it is committed to upholding.

Kenya Is Rapidly Emerging As Africa’s Renewable Energy Superpower

When William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth president in September 2022, he used his inauguration speech to demand an end to humanity’s “addiction to fossil fuels” and reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to reach 100% clean energy by 2030. Kenya is not far off this target today. In 2021, 81% of Kenya’s electricity generation came from the low carbon sources of geothermal, hydro, wind, and solar power. Over half of this low carbon electricity came from geothermal energy, which Kenya has in abundance. So much in fact, that excess geothermal energy is released during the night when electricity demand is low. Installed geothermal capacity in Kenya could be increased by at least eightfold, which could open opportunities for scaling up green manufacturing capacity or exporting excess electricity to neighbouring countries.

Liberating Africa Requires Changing Power Relations With The West 

Soon after arriving in Oslo, my taxi zigzagged through the city’s well-organized streets and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Large billboards advertised the world’s leading brands in fashion, cars, and perfumes. Yet, amid all the expressions of wealth and plenty, an electronic sign by a bus stop flashed the images of poor-looking African children needing help. Over the years, Norway has served as a relatively good model of meaningful humanitarian and medical aid. This is especially true compared to other self-serving western countries, where aid is often linked to direct political and military interests. Still, the public humiliation of poor, hungry and diseased Africa is still disquieting. The same images and TV ads are omnipresent everywhere in the West.

West’s Militaristic Agenda Has Hijacked G20

Independent journalist Siddharthya Roy, who is reporting from Bali, talks to NewsClick’s Prabir Purkayastha about the upcoming two-day summit of the G20. They discuss the communications breakdown that characterizes the meeting and how the Ukraine war has become the sole agenda item. They point out that these developments cast doubts on the very relevance of the G20 and mark a return of the G7 calling the shots. They also discuss how vital issues such as the African Union’s claim to a seat at the table have been cast aside in the mission to isolate Russia.

Africa Does Not Want To Be A Breeding Ground For The New Cold War

On 17 October, the head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM), US Marine Corps General Michael Langley visited Morocco. Langley met with senior Moroccan military leaders, including Inspector General of the Moroccan Armed Forces Belkhir El Farouk. Since 2004, AFRICOM has held its ‘largest and premier annual exercise’, African Lion, partly on Moroccan soil. This past June, ten countries participated in the African Lion 2022, with observers from Israel (for the first time) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Langley’s visit is part of a broader US push onto the African continent, which we documented in our dossier no. 42 (July 2021), Defending Our Sovereignty: US Military Bases in Africa and the Future of African Unity, a joint publication with The Socialist Movement of Ghana’s Research Group.

Glaring Western Hypocrisy On Human Rights In Africa

On October 31st, thousands of Congolese in Goma, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu Province, protested the war of aggression waged by Rwanda and Uganda’s M23 militia, which has reportedly tightened its grip on surrounding countryside. One sign read “Rwanda and Ouganda Is Killing in DR Congo,” and Congolese activists are using the hashtag #RwandaIsKilling. Mambo Kawaya, a civil society representative, told AFP, “We denounce the hypocrisy of the international community in the face of Rwanda’s aggression.”  Nowhere is this hypocrisy more vivid than in the contrast between the US/Canadian/EU engagement in the Ethiopian and Congolese conflicts. As Ethiopia nears victory in its war with the US-backed, insurrectionist Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), huge crowds of Ethiopians have taken to the streets to protest US intervention and demand respect for Ethiopian sovereignty.
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