Niger: The French army must leave, no direct or indirect interference by French imperialism – PCOF

 Niger  

The French army must leave  

No direct or indirect interference by French imperialism  

In Niger, a military coup overthrew President Bazoum. Senior members of the armed forces, including General Tchiani, head of the Presidential Guard, suspended the constitution, closed the borders, and set up a National Committee for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP). 

Much of the opposition to the regimes of Issoufou (2011-2021) and his successor Bazoum, rallied to the CNSP. Demonstrations of support have taken place in the capital, Niamey and other cities, but the great mass of the population is "waiting to see".  

The population is exhausted: it can no longer stand misery, in a country rich in minerals of all kinds, plundered by multinationals, including Orano, (formerly Areva) which have been mining uranium for decades. It can no longer support the presence of French military troops from the Barkhane withdrawn to Niger, following the forced departure of French troops from Mali, then Burkina Faso. The "security situation", in other words, the presence and abuses of jihadist groups, remains significant, despite the 1500 French soldiers and bases, that of US special units with their drones and German and Italian instructors... This is why one of the slogans of the demonstrations is "Out with the French military, out with Barkhane".  

French imperialism and its EU allies do not accept to see their Niger "ally", "privileged partner of the EU in the Sahel", distancing itself: they demand the restoration of the dismissed head of state and are organizing an economic, financial and commercial blockade of this landlocked country, to "put pressure" on the junta, but the first and main victims of this blockade are the people,  both urban and rural.  

Macron said he "will not tolerate any attack on France and its interests and that it will respond immediately and intractably." But he knows that direct military intervention would provoke a popular response in Niger, increase opposition to the presence of French imperialism in other countries of the region and would also risk opposition in France itself. That is why he mobilized the heads of state and governments of the ECOWAS countries, at least those who remain allies of French imperialism, not only to organize the criminal blockade of Niger, but also to prepare a joint military intervention, the principle of which was discussed in early July at an ECOWAS summit, currently chaired by Nigeria, to "put an end to coups" in this area of Africa.  

As in Mali and Burkina Faso, Russian flags were waved in demonstrations. For French leaders and those of EU countries engaged in the Sahel (Germany, Italy), this is proof that the demonstrators are instrumentalized by Russia. It is obvious that Russia is trying to take advantage of the difficulties of French imperialism to expand its influence and take control of Niger's wealth, as it does in other African countries. This is the concrete manifestation of the imperialist war of redivision that the imperialist powers are waging, particularly in Africa. The peoples have nothing to gain by lining up behind one or other of these imperialist powers and, for us, this means denouncing "our" imperialism and demanding the withdrawal of its troops.  

No to the criminal blockade that threatens the Nigerien people  

Withdrawal of French troops from Niger  

No to imperialist interference in Niger  

Paris, 31 July 2023  

Communist Party of the Workers of France

www.pcof.net, pcof [at] pcof [period net], facebook.com/PartiCommunistedesOuvriersdeFrance/ 

 

[Original post at:  www.pcof.net/niger-larmee-francaise-doit-partir-pas-dingerence-directe-ou-indirecte-de-limperialisme-francais/ , with a few photos and a map.  There are also some articles on the events  in Niger at:  robertjprince.net/  Russia probably feared that it would lose its long-standing naval base in Crimea following the 2014 coup in Ukraine, and now maybe France and other countries fear that they will lose their bases and holdings in Niger, and want ECOWAS to invade on their behalf.  The mainstream media ignored the obvious question of whether an ECOWAS invasion of Niger would violate international law, which has been such a concern, suddenly, regarding "the Russian invasion of Ukraine" (unlike in the US and company's invasion of Iraq, conquest of Libya, and partial invasion of Syria).]

[Also:  peoplesdispatch.org/2023/08/05/oppenheimer-film-should-remind-us-who-is-the-real-enemy-of-the-people/ ; apparently there are 2,500 US and French soldiers in Niger, etc.]