Iran’s Attack on Qatar Air Base Hit Geodesic Dome Used for US Communications, Satellite Photos Show

XXXXX in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. XXXXX. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

By JON GAMBRELL

5:48 PM EDT, July 11, 2025

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian attack on an air base in Qatar that’s key to the U.S. military hit a geodesic dome housing equipment used by the Americans for secure communications, satellite images analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show.

Hours after the publication of this AP report, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell acknowledged that an Iranian ballistic missile had hit the dome. Qatar did not respond to requests for comment about the damage.

The Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar’s capital, on June 23 came as a response to the American bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran — and provided the Islamic Republic a way to retaliate that quickly led to a ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump ending the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

The Iranian attack otherwise did little damage — likely because of the fact that the U.S. evacuated its aircraft from the base, which is home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command, before the attack.

Trump also has said that Iran signaled when and how it would retaliate, allowing American and Qatari air defense to be ready for the attack, which briefly disrupted air travel in the Middle East, but otherwise didn’t tip over into the regional war long feared by analysts.

Images show burn marks, dome gone after attack

Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show the geodesic dome visible at the Al Udeid Air Base on the morning of June 23, just hours before the attack.

The U.S. Air Force’s 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which operates out of the base, announced in 2016 the installation of the $15 million piece of equipment, known as a modernized enterprise terminal. Photos show a satellite dish inside of the dome, known as a radome.

Images taken June 25 and every day subsequently show the dome is gone, with some damage visible on a nearby building. The rest of the base appears largely untouched in the images.

In a statement, Parnell said the missile strike “did minimal damage to equipment and structures on the base.”

“Al Udeid Air Base remains fully operational and capable of conducting its mission, alongside our Qatari partners, to provide security and stability in the region,” he added.

The London based satellite news channel Iran International first reported on the damage, citing satellite photos taken by a different provider.

Trump downplayed attack while Iran boasted about it

In the U.S., Trump described the Iranian attack as a “very weak response.” He had said that Tehran fired 14 missiles, with 13 intercepted and one being “set free” as it was going in a “nonthreatening” direction.

“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” he wrote on his website Truth Social.

The White House had no immediate comment after Parnell’s acknowledgment Friday. Trump visited Al Udeid Air Base on May 15 as part of his Mideast tour.

After the attack, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted that the air base had been the “target of a destructive and powerful missile attack.” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council also said that the base had been “smashed,” without offering any specific damage assessments.

Potentially signaling that he knew the dome had been hit, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei separately said that the base’s communications had been disconnected by the attack.

“All equipment of the base was completely destroyed and now the U.S. command stream and connection from Al Udeid base to its other military bases have been completely cut,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, a hard-line cleric.

___

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.

British Return of Chagos Islands to Mauritius Maintains Imperialist Control Over Military Base

Sixty years of occupation of Diego Garcia will be preserved as the United States and the UK will continue to utilize this African-islands territory to attack oppressed nations

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 28, 2025

Geostrategic Analysis

Another legal maneuver by the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States will provide cover for the ongoing imperialist occupation of the largest territory within the Chagos Islands.

This territory fell under the colonial control of Mauritius by London for decades prior to the leasing of the largest island within the archipelago, Diego Garcia, to the U.S. during the escalation of the imperialist occupation of Vietnam.

In subsequent years, Diego Garcia has been utilized in U.S. imperialist wars against Iraq as well as Afghanistan. Since 2008, when the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) was formed, Washington has intensified its military interventions on the continent.

Destabilization against African governments has accelerated since the destruction of the North African state of Libya under Col. Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Over the last 14 years, jihadist rebel groupings have spread across the West Africa region resulting in internal displacements, the impeding of development projects and mass deaths.

Chagos Islanders have waged a decades-long campaign to win the right to return to their homeland and to receive reparations for the damage done since 1965. The leasing of the territory by Britain to the U.S. coincided with the escalation of the Pentagon occupation of Vietnam which lasted another decade until the total defeat of imperialism in southeast Asia in 1975.

The British High Court hearings held during late May were the result of the work of Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, two Chagossian women determined to win justice for their displaced people, many of whom live in the UK. Both expressed disappointment after a last-minute decision to bar the right of return for Chagossians even though Mauritius has been ostensibly given sovereignty over the territory with the exception of the Pentagon base which is also utilized by the British armed forces.

Dugasse in a statement related to her desire to return home said that:

“I was born on Diego Garcia and left at the age of 2 ½ when my father was expelled to the Seychelles. We didn’t feel at home in the Seychelles and were not fully part of the way of life or culture. These were tough years plagued by both unemployment and very long working hours. I came to the UK in 2005 but already knew the UK quite well and felt at home – I went to the court case with Olivier Bancoult and have worked with CRG, UK Chagos and Philippa Gregory in the past. I also worked with the Seychelles group ‘SCS’ alongside Janette Alexis.  In the UK I’ve tried to work with anyone who needed help and I’m a founder member of Chagossian Voices. I have been twice to Diego Garcia/Peros/Salamon – it was never enough days!” (https://chagossianvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Speech-Bernadette-Dugasse.pdf)

The Ongoing Struggle Against Colonial Occupation

Located off the coast of East Africa in the Indian Ocean, the Chagos Islands have been a source of political campaigns and legal challenges by the Indigenous people against the British government for more than a quarter-century. After the leasing deal between the UK and the U.S. to turn the area into a large-scale military base, thousands of people living on the Chagos Islands were forcefully removed for relocation to Mauritius, Seychelles and the UK.

After 1965, this area became known as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) despite the fact that the archipelago is located thousands of miles away from the United Kingdom.

It remains the objective of the Chagos Islanders to return to their homeland. Apparently, the British and the U.S. are opposed to this demand.

Yet this agreement does not address the right of return for the Chagos Islanders. The Pentagon will still occupy Diego Garcia like it has for nearly six decades.

An assessment of the deal by one source on international diplomacy notes:

“This agreement will not spell the end of American military presence on the islands, however. In fact, the only condition of the UK’s deal with Mauritius is that the U.S. must be allowed to continue its base’s operation on the Chagossian island of Diego Garcia for the next 99 years.

The White House released a statement on Oct. 3 lauding the renewed lease, writing that the outpost on Diego Garcia, one of the Americans’ estimated 750 bases across the world, ‘enables the United States to support operations that demonstrate our shared commitment to regional stability, provide rapid response to crises, and counter some of the most challenging security threats we face.’” (https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-military-base-diego-garcia/)

There was a similar response to the ruling of the British High Court by Prime Minister Keir Starmer who attempted to deflect criticism from the political right in the UK claiming that their armed forces will continue to have full access to the military base on Diego Garcia. Mauritius and the Chagos Islands represent the ongoing struggle against imperialist militarism in Africa and its island territories.

The agreement endorsed by the British High Court will have to be approved by both the parliaments of the UK and Mauritius. Lawyers representing the Chagossians said after the May 22 ruling that the struggle will now shift to the political debates surrounding the ruling to turn over the islands to Mauritius while denying the right of return for the displaced people.

The British Conservative Party and Reform UK have been highly critical of the agreement saying it will compromise the security and economic interests of the country. These arguments have refused to take into account the grave injustices of colonialism and neo-colonialism carried out by Britain over the centuries.

Despite attempts to extend its imperialist dominance within the Global South, the British economy remains in severe crisis. Even though the Labor Party ostensibly represents working and poor people in Britain, measures have been put forward to eliminate aspects of the social safety net in the country.

The foreign policy of the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump is requiring that the UK and European Union affiliates of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) spend larger percentages of their national budgets on defense. These demands by the White House along with the draconian tariffs imposed on the allies and adversaries of the U.S. has created uncertainty and the rise of international tensions.

Chagos Islands and Imperialist Militarism

The military base on Diego Garcia is representative of the many other outposts for U.S. imperialism globally. Trump during his presidential campaign in 2024 convinced some voters that his second non-consecutive administration would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours while scaling back on other Pentagon adventures.

However, since his assumption of office on January 20, Trump has threatened to seize Greenland, Canada, Panama and to establish a military presence in Somaliland and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Moreover, domestically the administration has engaged in large-scale detentions and deportations of foreign students, legal immigrants and economic migrants. These policies have increased the potential for domestic unrest along with an intensification of imperialist wars.  

Author David Vine in his book entitled “Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia”, says that Washington has the final say over the affairs taking place within the Chagos Islands. Their presence on this archipelago is by no means isolated since the U.S. has bases in at least 80 countries and territories internationally.

In the publication Responsible Statecraft, it emphasized in relation to the situation of the Chagos Islands:

“Further speculation surrounding U.S. activities on Diego Garcia has ranged from the storage of nuclear weapons to torturing captured suspected terrorists. Still, Vine said it’s impossible to know for sure the full extent of the military’s operations on the island…. Diego Garcia certainly stands out for its controversial origins and operative uses, but it is, again, a small node in the U.S. global military machine. In 2021, Vine and colleagues put together a dataset outlining every known U.S. military base, its financial and environmental costs, and the type of political regimes hosting such bases. Of the 80 countries and territories known to house U.S. military bases, 38 are non-democratic (authoritarian, semi-authoritarian, or colonial). The authors also found that U.S. bases contributed to both civilian protests and ‘significant environmental damage’ in about half of these countries and territories.” (https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-military-base-diego-garcia/)

These military bases cannot reverse the domestic and international crises of U.S. imperialism which are spreading exponentially. The emergence of alternative political and economic blocs such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa Plus Summit (BRICS), the New Development Bank (NDB), the G77 plus China, among others, are creating a framework for the eventual “Dedollarization” of the world system and the consequent weakening of the western grip over the vast majority of peoples internationally.

Africa Liberation Day Must Advance the Struggle for Continental Unity and a Liberated Palestine

Capitalism is in deep crisis and the only remedy is the organization and mobilization of the workers, oppressed and youth throughout the world

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Sunday May 25, 2025

Geostrategic Review

Note: These remarks were prepared for and delivered in part to the African Liberation Day (ALD) webinar held on Sunday May 25, 2025. The event was sponsored by the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (G-C) and featured speakers from numerous organizations including the Jackson Advocate, the Free Haiti Movement; African Awareness Association (AAA), the Pan-African Society Community Forum of the UK, the Universal Negro Improvement Association-African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) also of the UK, among others. In addition to recognizing the 67th year of African Freedom Day (1958) and ALD (1963), this webinar recognized the 77th anniversary of Nakba Day, commemorating the displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people from May 15, 1948 to the present.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sixty-two years ago, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was formed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 25, 1963, by 33 member-states from across the continent.

The formation of the OAU was part and parcel of a process of national liberation and Pan-Africanism which emerged in full force in the aftermath of the conclusion of World War II.

In May 1945, after the Soviet Red Army and Allied Forces victory over Nazi Germany, thousands of Algerians went into the streets of Setif, Guelma and other cities then controlled by France to celebrate the end of the war and at the same time calling for the independence of their country which had been under the occupation of Paris since 1830. The French colonial authorities, who had been assisted in their fight to end the German occupation of their territory by the Africans living under colonialism, opened fire on the masses of Algerians killing thousands.

This massacre illustrated clearly the character of imperialism in the 20th century. Despite the efforts to win independence through peaceful demonstrations and petitioning, it would be necessary in many of the territories under colonial occupation to take up arms to win their liberation.

In Algeria between 1954-1962, the National Liberation Front (FLN) fought a war of liberation against France losing an estimated one million people. Frantz Fanon, who was born in the Caribbean colony of Martinique served in the so-called Free French army during the second imperialist war. Later he worked on behalf of the French colonial administration in Algeria where he shifted his allegiance to the FLN during the liberation war.

In a compilation of his writing under the title of “A Dying Colonialism”, Fanon noted:

“1945 was to bring Algeria abruptly onto the international scene. For weeks, the 45,000 victims of Setif and of Guelma were matter for abundant comment in the newspapers and information bulletins of regions until then unaware of or indifferent to the fate of Algeria. The tragedy of their dead or mutilated brothers and the fervent sympathy conveyed to them by men and women in America, Europe, and Africa left a deep mark on the Algerians themselves, foreshadowing more fundamental changes. The awakening of the colonial world and the progressive liberation of peoples which reached beyond her and of which, at the same time, she became a part.” (https://files.libcom.org/files/A%20Dying%20Colonialism%20-%20Frantz%20Fanon.pdf)

Later that same year, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) was founded in early October 1945. The presence of African trade unionists in London assisted immensely in the mobilization of delegates which attended the Fifth Pan-African Congress held in Manchester from October 15-21, 1945.

The roles of Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore and Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois was critical in the formation of the Pan-African Federation and the holding of the Fifth PAC. After the Fifth Congress, the stage was set for the acceleration of the movement for national independence and Pan-Africanism.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah after returning to West Africa in 1947 as an organizer for the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) created the conditions for the formation of the Committee on Youth Organization (CYO) and the Convention People’s Party in 1948-49 respectively. The independence of Ghana, according to Nkrumah, was meaningless absent the total liberation of Africa. This axiom was pronounced on March 6, 1957, and holds true until today. Since the formation of the OAU in 1963, the continent has undergone monumental changes. From the movement towards national independence and Pan-Africanism to the intensified struggle against imperialist militarism and for total unification under scientific socialism.

Defend the AES and South Africa

In the West African Sahel region, the countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, where the people are backing a revolutionary transformative process aimed at recorrecting the decades-long French colonial and neo-colonial domination, imperialism is attempting to divide and weaken these governments. These landlocked states signed the Liptako-Gourma Charter in late 2023 and formally founded the AES in early 2024.

Due to their commitment to anti-imperialism and Pan-Africanism, the governments of the AES are under constant threat of destabilization and removal. France and the United States have claimed for years to be committed to the safety and security of the Sahel states in Africa. Nonetheless, since the establishment of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the ongoing interventions of the French Foreign Legions, the overall military and economic situations in the region have worsened.

Pan-Africanists and anti-imperialists must defend the AES administrations from the threats being levelled against them by Washington and Paris. AFRICOM head General Michael Langley made slanderous and threatening comments against Burkina Faso transitional leader Col. Ibrahim Traore before the U.S. Senate earlier this year. Such comments reveal clearly that the U.S. ruling class is committed to the liquidation of all revolutionary governments on the continent.

Niger is seeking to take control of the uranium mines inside the country which produce large-scale deposits of this strategic metal. The country is one of the world’s largest producers of this natural resource utilized for energy and military purposes.

President Cyril Ramaphosa of the African National Congress-led Government of National Unity (GNU) in the Republic of South Africa visited the U.S. last week in an effort to “normalize” diplomatic relations with the leading imperialist state in the world. The president was accused of carrying out genocide against the Boer population since the democratic breakthrough of three decades earlier which brought President Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) to power.

These lies are designed to cover-up the hostility on the part of the existing administration of President Donald Trump towards independent African states. With specific reference to South Africa, the government in late 2023 took the State of Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations charging the Zionist entity with violating the Genocide Convention of 1947.

In early 2024, the South African government did receive a positive ruling from ICJ which declared that the charges of genocide by Pretoria were plausible. The ICJ ordered the Israeli regime to halt their genocidal policies and to end the occupation of Gaza. Yet, after a year-and-a-half of this ruling, the Zionist government and its U.S. backers have failed to implement the ICJ findings.

We cannot ignore the unresolved land questions in South Africa and throughout the continent. The masses of people fought for independence and unity based upon the desire for the return of the land to the indigenous people. This is why the struggle for the liberation of Palestine is so closely tied to the freedom and unification of Africa. Historically, the liberation movements and revolutionary governments have maintained their alliances with the Palestinian struggle and that of the entire West Asia region including the revolutionary forces in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran.

Peace and Security Can Only Come from the African People Themselves

Although the current President Trump has said that he has never heard of the Kingdom of Lesotho or the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), his administration is working feverishly to undermine the right to self-determination and sovereignty of the African continent. In the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia, due to the legacy of colonialism, the people have been divided and balkanized.

The northeast region of Somalia, where the leadership of the breakaway territory of Somaliland has been working towards international recognition for more than three decades, the Trump White House is said to be negotiating for the U.S. recognition of Somaliland in exchange for the utilization of the Port of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden as a naval base. At the same time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with the foreign ministries of the DRC and Rwanda to sign an agreement to provide a purported “security framework” to end the fighting in North and South Kivu in exchange for primary access to critical minerals.

These schemes should be denounced by the African Union (AU) and all of the mass organizations and political parties throughout the continent. The history of U.S. interventions in Africa have never benefited the interests of the African people.

Therefore, the only assurance of peace, stability and security is the unity of the African people themselves. As Kwame Nkrumah emphasized in his book entitled “Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism” published in October 1965: “All these examples prove beyond doubt that neo-colonialism is not a sign of imperialism’s strength but rather of its last hideous gasp. It testifies to its inability to rule any longer by old methods. Independence is a luxury it can no longer afford to permit its subject peoples, so that even what it claims to have ‘given’ it now seeks to take away. This means that neo-colonialism can and will be defeated. How can this be done? Thus far, all the methods of neo-colonialists have pointed in one direction, the ancient, accepted one of all minority ruling classes throughout history — divide and rule. Quite obviously, therefore, unity is the first requisite for destroying neo-colonialism. Primary and basic is the need for an all-union government on the much-divided continent of Africa. Along with that, a strengthening of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Organization and the spirit of Bandung is already under way. To it, we must seek the adherence on an increasingly formal basis of our Latin American brothers. Furthermore, all these liberatory forces have, on all major issues and at every possible instance, the support of the growing socialist sector of the world.” (https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/nkrumah/neo-colonialism/ch18.htm)

Niger Uranium and Regional Security in the Sahel

French owned mines are being nationalized prompting an announced departure by Orano which has controlled the mining of this strategic metal from Paris

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 21, 2025

Geostrategic Analysis

On July 26, 2023, the military-led Committee to Safeguard the Homeland (CNSP) took power in the West African state of Niger.

Immediately the burgeoning anti-French sentiment inside the country erupted and a completely new political atmosphere was created.

French troops were asked to leave the country while the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) forces present in Niger along with their drone stations departed as well at the aegis of the CNSP leaders. A widespread discussion on reclaiming the national wealth of Niger took place.

Niger has large scale deposits of uranium being the world’s eighth largest producer. For years the uranium mining inside the country has been controlled by French multi-national corporations where the real benefits of the revenues from the sale of these resources disproportionately benefited Paris.

After making demands on the Orano corporation, the company has reportedly been searching for a buyer of its interests in Niger. The CNSP government has been involved in a dispute over funds owed to the country by the French-controlled firm.

For decades African states have routinely not received the proper remunerations from the sale of their natural resources on the international markets. This lack of total control over the revenues from agricultural products, minerals, metals, natural gas and petroleum has resulted in continuing mass poverty and its concomitant impacts of food deficits, healthcare crises, lack of housing and a rising national debt. In most cases the African states are forced to borrow on unfavorable terms making them susceptible to International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank restructuring programs which hamper genuine development.

Orano controls the majority stakes in the uranium mines located in the north of the arid country in West Africa. Niger has been demanding the restructuring of ownership of the mines giving the government majority interests.

In June 2024, the CNSP government took control of the output of one of the largest uranium mines in Niger. Subsequently, Orano suspended its work on other mines in which they control the majority interests.

Niger’s Minister of Mines, Col. Abarchi Ousmane, said that the hostility of the French government is a factor in the current disagreement over uranium resources. He said in an interview with the BBC that "The French state, through its head of state, has declared that it does not recognize the current authorities in Niger. Does it seem possible to you that we, the state of Niger, would allow French companies to continue extracting our natural resources?” (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7ve6y735djo)

The previous government headed by President Mohamed Bazoum was a pro-western regime which did the biddings of the multinational corporations and the imperialists based in Paris and Washington. After the ascendancy of the CNSP, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), then led by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, threatened to militarily intervene to reinstall Bazoum to power.  

This proposal for an invasion backed by the U.S. and France failed to gain any traction in the ECOWAS region. Later Niger along with Mali and Burkina Faso, known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), withdrew from ECOWAS to form their own separate regional grouping based upon anti-imperialism and Pan-Africanism.

Niger had been suspended along with Mali and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS. All three states signed the Liptako-Gourma Charter in late 2023 and have refused to rejoin ECOWAS.

The expulsion of French and U.S. military forces as well as the reconfiguration of economic control of natural resources have made the AES governments a threat to imperialism. If the process of emphasizing national and regional sovereignty along with taking control of strategic resources spreads across West Africa and other regions of the continent, the stage will be set for solidifying the already existing clauses within the AU charter which mandates greater self-reliance on the part of the individual member-states.

A report published by the Financial Times says of the situation in Niger:

“The withdrawal of Orano would be the latest confirmation of the loss of French influence in the region and the failure of its ‘Françafrique’ policy under which Paris sought to maintain influence in its former colonies. France has also withdrawn soldiers from Chad, Mali and Burkina Faso in recent years. The sales process risks being politically fraught for the French government, which owns 90 per cent of the business, with Russian and Chinese buyers said to be circling the assets. Orano in December said that it no longer controlled any of its subsidiaries in Niger and launched several international arbitration cases against the state. Orano also began legal proceedings against the junta after its offices were raided by Niger’s intelligence agency this month, leading to the arrest of a local company director.” (https://www.ft.com/content/e0d5c62f-3794-4148-95e2-31deecbc7717)

In this resource-rich state of approximately 26 million people where the population is classified as one of the poorest in the world, the need for radical reconstruction is essential. If Niger can reverse the current situation, it would portend much for the entire region of West Africa and the continent as a whole.

Security Challenges Remain Paramount

The process of reversing the neo-colonial course in Niger and throughout the AES area will undoubtedly prompt efforts to destabilize and overthrow these governments. Throughout the course of the national liberation struggles and post-colonial historical processes, the imperialist states sought to build alliances with reactionary domestic forces in order to hamper the forward trajectory of the national development.

In 1987, former revolutionary Burkina Faso leader, Capt. Thomas Sankara, was overthrown and assassinated in order to halt the revolutionary transformational process. More than two decades earlier in 1966, the government of President Kwame Nkrumah of the First Republic of Ghana was overthrown by lower-ranking military officers and the police being engineered by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

With the formation of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in early 2008, the stage has been set for even more effective means to remove governments which foster anti-imperialism and continental unity. Libya, which was led by the revolutionary Pan-Africanist leader and statesman Col. Muammar Gaddafi, was destroyed by AFRICOM and its NATO allies in 2011.

In the aftermath of the counter-revolution in Libya during 2011, destabilization and destruction has spread throughout the North and West Africa regions. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have been negatively impacted by the rise of so-called jihadists groupings which are said to be linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS.

The African Center for Strategic Studies in a recent report analyzed the security crisis in Niger by outlining the actions of two of the major rebel groupings, the Islamic State of the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate:

“Fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence in western Niger have increased 66 percent from 793 in 2023 to 1,318 in 2024. These fatalities represent a marked increase in lethality as the number of violent events increased only marginally from 230 to 243 over the same period. Niger’s Tillaberi Region, which borders both Burkina Faso and Mali, recorded 92 percent of the fatalities (1,212) linked to militant Islamist groups (primarily ISGS and Ansaroul Islam) in western Niger in 2024. Long focused on Ménaka in northern Mali, ISGS is now linked to roughly the same number of violent events in western Niger (145) as in northern Mali (149). By stretching its influence southward both west and east of Niamey, ISGS militants may be seeking to encircle the Nigerien capital while also gaining control over supply routes to northwest Nigeria. JNIM (likely Ansaroul Islam), meanwhile, has been expanding its violent activity in western and southwestern Niger. It was linked to 598 fatalities in 2024, a 237-percent increase over the previous year.” (https://www.defenceweb.co.za/african-news/the-shifting-front-of-militant-islamist-violence-in-the-sahel/)

These incidents of violence inside Niger are objectively assisting the imperialist efforts to reimpose western-oriented regimes in Niamey along with Burkina Faso and Mali. Niger has sought military and security assistance from the Russian Federation and Turkey.

As an independent sovereign state, the CNSP government has the right to seek intelligence and military support from Moscow and any other state which respects the rights of the people in Niger to live in peace. The security of Niger and the other AES governments are indispensable in order to rebuild this region for the benefit of the majority of the people.  

Burkina Faso Gains International Recognition for Revolutionary Stance Against Imperialism

A day of Pan-African solidarity and the visit to Moscow for the VE 80th anniversary raises the level of awareness of the development process now unfolding in the Sahel region of West Africa

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 14, 2025

Geopolitical Analysis

On April 30, 2025, millions of people across Africa and the world held mass demonstrations in defense of the revolutionary leadership in the West African state of Burkina Faso under the leadership of the charismatic 37-year-old Capt. Ibrahim Traore.

Since 2022 with the ascendancy of Traore to power, he has become a focal point for the emerging anti-imperialist and Pan-Africanist revival taking place on the African continent and throughout the Diaspora. 

Traore’s speeches and interviews are often quoted for their fierce denunciation of imperialism and 21st century neo-colonialism. The withdrawal of Burkina Faso along with Mali and Niger from the western-backed Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has provided incentives for other political parties and mass organizations to think about the necessity to build a genuinely independent existence outside the framework of French and United States’ spheres of influence. 

The formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) during 2024 in the aftermath of the signing of the Liptako-Gourma Charter in late 2023, illustrates clearly the imperatives of the masses of workers, farmers and youth. These three landlocked states are paving the way for greater cooperation and unity on the African continent. (https://maliembassy.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LIPTAKO-GOURMA-Engl___-2.pdf)

All of the AES governments are former French colonies which maintained close ties with the Paris for decades. The spread of jihadist rebel groupings in the West and North Africa regions took place in the aftermath of the Pentagon-NATO destruction of the Jamahiriya administration in Libya and its revolutionary leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Since 2011, Libya has become a base for large-scale human trafficking from North Africa across the Mediterranean to Europe. 

Since the ascendancy of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (PMSR) in January 2022 under the initial leader Lt.-Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the emphasis of the Burkinabe government has been on defeating the rebels who have carried out massacres of civilians. With the failure of Damiba to make significant progress in the anti-insurgency campaign, he was replaced in late September 2022 by Capt. Traore. 

Since taking power, Traore has accelerated the movement against the rebels and for the delinking from the neo-colonial system. The PMSR has also formed a working alliance with the Russian Federation which is assisting Ouagadougou with its efforts to strengthen its internal security against several plots to overthrow the revolutionary government.

The April 30 manifestation sought to demonstrate the support for the Traore administration both inside the country and internationally. The efforts of the PMSR are a threat to the economic and military interests of France and the U.S. in Africa. With rising consciousness related to the detrimental role of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the French Foreign Legions, several other governments, including Chad, Ivory Coast and Senegal, have requested the removal of military forces deployed by Paris.

In a report published by the Associated Press on April 30, it said that:

“Thousands of people rallied in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Wednesday in support of the military junta after an alleged coup attempt and comments by an American official criticizing junta leader Ibrahim Traore. Last week, the West African country’s military government said it foiled a ‘major plot’ to overthrow junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore, with the army alleging the plotters were based in neighboring Ivory Coast. Earlier this month, Gen. Michael Langley, the head of U.S. military in Africa, accused Traore during a U.S. Senate committee hearing of using Burkina Faso’s gold reserves to benefit the junta at the expense of the population. Crowds of protesters gathered at the Place de la Revolution in Ouagadougou on Wednesday, chanting ‘Long live Captain Traore!’ with some holding banners showing a photo of Gen. Langley with the word ‘slave’ written on his head with red marker. Others waved Burkina Faso and Russia’s flag, a close ally of the West African country.” (https://apnews.com/article/burkina-faso-protest-ibrahim-traore-coup-attempt-langley-9c2b167d2516c1fcbe5a3acd558bcc9f)

Demonstrations were held in other African states and cities around the world including Dakar, Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, and Johannesburg as well as in Paris, New York, and London. Traore is admired among youth, workers and farmers in Africa and the Diaspora. 

Visit to Moscow for VE Day 80th Anniversary

May 2025 represents the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. It was the Soviet Red Army which defeated the Third Reich when it invaded the country beginning in June 1941. 

Battles on Soviet territory between 1941-1943 leveled tremendous damage on the Nazi military forcing a retreat from the eastern front. By May 1945, the Hitlerite military units were defeated with the Red Army arriving in Berlin first and later followed by the western allied forces. 

Capt. Traore was one of the heads-of-state invited to participate in the commemorations held in Moscow. This visit continues the enhancement of relations between Ouagadougou and Moscow. 

One source on the visit by Traore to Moscow for VE Day emphasized:

“Russia has faced severe sanctions since launching its offensive in Ukraine in 2022 and has undertaken a significant foreign policy shift, including by strengthening ties with Africa.

Traore said he would not ask for military aid from Moscow at a time when Russian forces are engaged in Ukraine. But he said Russia could share its ‘knowledge’, help Burkina Faso ‘educate its young population’ and end conflict in the country where security forces are battling a jihadist uprising. Putin said Russia would ‘continue to assist’ Burkina Faso, suppressing ‘radical groups’ and training officials. ‘We are united by the common goal of combating terrorism,’ Putin said, also advocating stronger economic cooperation.” (https://www.newarab.com/news/burkina-leader-traore-seeks-stronger-military-ties-russia)

Burkina Faso relations with Russia are indicative of the entire continent. African Union (AU) member-states have lobbied for a diplomatic resolution to the Russian Special Military Operations in Ukraine. The war has raged for more than three years and efforts by the administration of United States President Donald Trump to bring the conflagration to a close has not been successful. 

The failure of the draconian sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and the western imperialist countries has provided encouragement for other states such as Burkina Faso and the AES in their efforts to stave off the imperialist pressure. Statements such as those made by AFRICOM Gen. Michael Langley condemning the PMSR are a reflection of the frustrations of the imperialists in their ongoing attempts to maintain global hegemony.

With the acceptance of invitations to attend the Moscow ceremonies by nearly 30 heads-of-state exposed the false narrative by the U.S. that the Russian Federation is isolated internationally due to its intervention in Ukraine. Chinese President Xi Jinping was in attendance at the VE Day parade showing the close ties between Beijing and Moscow. 

Trump, who was not in attendance at the Moscow celebrations, has attempted to make it appear that he is bringing the U.S. out of its isolation by the enactment of tariffs on countries throughout the world. The Trump-Musk economic program domestically has resulted in tremendous uncertainty while on the international scale China has reiterated its political and economic stability. 

Security Situation Remains Concerning

On May 11 insurgents surrounded and attacked the northern town of Djibo where civilians were killed. The rebels claiming to be Islamic jihadists, entered Djibo on motorcycles and in vehicles which resulted in the deaths of several dozen people including soldiers.

Such attacks over the last decade have reportedly killed more than 20,000 people. The objectives of the rebels which are affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIS are not clear and only result in the deaths of civilians and the destruction of the national infrastructure. 

These operations by the rebels have been met with offensive operations by the Burkinabe military and the volunteer militia grouping supported by the PMSR government. Human Rights Watch (HRW) claims that over 100 civilians from the Fulani people of West Africa were killed by Burkinabe soldiers and pro-government fighters in the western town of Solenzo in March. The PMSR administration has denied the allegations by HRW and denounced the organization for what it described as fake videos utilized to support its claims. (https://apnews.com/article/burkina-faso-jnim-attack-junta-solenzo-vdp-40ad6f3fa27abf42aed1669cc067444c)

Although Radio France International (RFI), citing a report by the Conflict Armament Research (CAR), asserts that the weapons being utilized by the rebel groupings of the JNIM (Group for the Support of Muslims and Islam) and the ISGS (Islamic State of Greater Sahara) are not being supplied by other countries including France, the reality is that the rebels, Paris and Washington all are seeking the overthrow of the AES governments. Ukraine has already been exposed for providing training and weapons to rebels in neighboring Mali prompting the severing of diplomatic relations between the AES states and Kyiv. (https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20250511-where-do-jihadist-groups-in-the-sahel-get-their-weapons) 

Consequently, the people of Burkina Faso and their allies in Africa and around the world must continue their solidarity actions in defense of the PMSR administration. More countries could very well follow the examples of the AES governments in efforts to build continental unity based on anti-imperialism and Pan-Africanism.

Jury Acquits Memphis Cops on Murder Charges in the Killing of Tyre Nichols

Jurors were handpicked from faraway Chattanooga to reach a not-guilty verdict after millions witnessed the brutal beating and lack of medical attention leading to the death of the 29-year-old African American father

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 14, 2025

Race Relations 

Yet another group of violent police officers have been acquitted in the death of an African American this time in the city of Memphis.

Although the police officers involved in the brutal beating and eventual death of Tyre Nichols were also Black, they were operating from the same mindset as their white counterparts who routinely brutalize and murder African Americans and other oppressed people. 

This case gained international attention when video of the horrendous beating suffered by Nichols on January 7, 2023, after he sensed the brutal intention of the law-enforcement agents. Nichols, 29, was a recent resident of Memphis having moved there to join his mother and stepfather from California. 

After beating Nichols and subduing him on the street, officers were seen in the surveillance video kicking the victim in the head. When the paramedics finally arrived, one was viewed on the same video standing around and not administering any emergency care. Nichols died several days later in the hospital. 

When informing Nichols’ family about his condition in the hospital, the police misrepresented what occurred by falsely claiming that the victim was intoxicated. All five police officers involved in the incident were terminated from the Memphis police department. Three of these same officers exonerated by the Tennessee jury have already been found guilty of federal civil rights charges while remaining to be sentenced. 

The sentencing date on the federal convictions has been set for June 16. It remains to be seen what impact the acquittals of three of these officers on state murder charges will have on the sentencing.

What is striking about this situation is that the victim and the police officers are all African Americans. These incidents reinforce the well proven notion that the institution of policing in the United States, having its origins in the system of African enslavement, remains true to its mission. In many cases irrespective of national origin and race, the imbued assumptions about the social character of African Americans results in outcomes that could be dangerous to the point of deadly. 

Changing the Venue to Obtain an All-White Jury

Defense lawyers for the police officers made an argument to the courts that the enormous publicity surrounding the beating death of Nichols made it impossible for the cops to receive a fair trial. Therefore, African Americans in Memphis who have come of age in ongoing eras of multi-generational police misconduct and brutality were denied the ability to sit in judgement on whether what was done to Nichols constituted murder under the laws of the State of Tennessee. 

A report on the jury selection process and the outcome of the verdict noted:

“Hamilton County, Tennessee, is 358 miles from Memphis. Attorneys traveled there to find a jury for the three ex-Memphis police officers on state trial in the Tyre Nichols beating death.

Defense attorneys wanted the change of venue over concerns that an impartial jury couldn’t be found near Shelby County because of so much publicity about the Tyre Nichols case. ‘There was a motion filed by the defense to change venue, and there was a study done on the amount of publicity in the very large cities in Tennessee and it was found that Chattanooga had the lowest amount of pre-trial publicity with regard to this case. And so that’s why it was chosen,’ said Paul Hagerman, prosecutor in the Tyre Nichols case.” (https://wreg.com/news/local/how-chattanooga-jury-impacted-verdict-in-tyre-nichols-case/)

Memphis is a city of 618,000 people with approximately 65% of them being African Americans. Within the broader Shelby County there are 910,000 people with 52.6% being African Americans. Shelby County has the highest concentration of African Americans than any other area of the state. 

Two years ago, it was published in various sources that Memphis was the largest municipality with a majority African American population in the U.S. Detroit had for years held this status yet the decline in population in the city has resulted in Memphis filling this category. 

Understanding this demographic reality, the defense strategy for the police was to select a jury from another region of the state which had a much lower percentage of African Americans such as Hamilton County. The same above-quoted article goes on to say:

“Hamilton County has a population of around 380,000; 76% are white and 20% are Black. While we are not sure about the demographics of the full jury pool that was called for the Tyre Nichols case, the final 12 jurors that decided it were all white. ‘They did not look like Mr. Nichols. They did not look like the officers that were charged, and we are supposed to be judged by what? People that are our own peers,’ said a friend of the Nichols’ family. ‘But this jury was not reflective of the city of Memphis, and I think that was a big win for the defense, because I think the jurors tend to be more conservative from places like Chattanooga and East Tennessee, other parts of East Tennessee, Knoxville, which they’re going to be more friendly to the police, and I think that’s what you saw here this week,’ said Art Horne, a Memphis Attorney.” 

Consequently, the manipulation of the judicial system has denied justice once again to the family of an African American killed after an interaction with the police. This demonstrates the failure of the legal apparatus operating in various states throughout the country to guarantee justice and fair treatment in their engagements with law-enforcement agents along with the courts. 

Over the last five years the social mood related to law-enforcement misconduct has gone from public outrage characterized by mass demonstrations, urban rebellions and ideological offenses against institutions of racism and national oppression to the political suppression of any mention of the need for massive reforms, the defunding and abolition of the police. This refusal to confront the actual historical legacy of policing in the U.S. has been carried on by successive administrations from both the Republican and Democratic Parties. 

Police Brutality Remains a Major Concern in the U.S.

Violence inflicted by law-enforcement agents is continuing to rise throughout the U.S. During 2025, so far by the end of April, 413 people are estimated to have been killed by police. 

These figures supplied by Mapping Police Violence are gathered through the research done by the organization itself. On the website of this data collecting group, it says that the law-enforcement agencies refuse to cooperate with their work and therefore they have no other choice than providing the data themselves. (https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/)

African Americans are far more likely to fall victim to police violence through racial profiling and media stereotypes related to criminality. The police, courts and penal institutions are coercive mechanisms of social control which reinforce national oppression and class exploitation. 

Mapping Police Violence says on its website: 

“When examining data around police violence outcomes of police killings, we show that Blacks are approximately three times more likely to be killed in comparison to their White counterparts (Mapping Police Violence, 2022). Additionally, it is worth noting that 97% of the killings in our database occurred while a police officer was acting in a law enforcement capacity. This dataset does not include killings by vigilantes or security guards who are not off-duty police officers. Recent studies employing Mapping Police Violence data have found that the threshold for police killings of Whites are much higher than those of Blacks (DeAngelis, 2021). Similarly, other research using Fatal Encounters data finds that Blacks are two times more likely to be killed by police ‘...even when there are no other obvious circumstances during the encounter that would make the use of deadly force reasonable.”

These statistics are often hidden from the general public due to the complicity of the corporate and government-controlled media outlets. These entities which pass for objective journalistic institutions are owned by the same class interests which have collaborated with the present administration of President Donald Trump. 

The issuing of executive orders which call for the militarization of the streets to implement a neo-fascist agenda must be resisted by broad elements within U.S. society. The role of the police, courts and military forces, including the national guard, will prove critical to the unfolding struggle to reverse the current rightward trajectory. 

DRC-Rwanda Agreement Could Prove Disastrous for African Great Lakes

United States role in Central Africa has resulted in regional war and mass casualties

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 7, 2025

Geostrategic Analysis

United States President Donald Trump during a White House meeting on April 18 with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made several comments about the detentions and deportations of migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.

During his comments about what he described as “illegal immigration”, he claimed that people were entering the U.S. from various geopolitical regions of the world.

He then went on to mention Congo as a source of migration into the U.S. noting that he does not know what that county is even though it is a problem for his administration. However, the reality is that the Secretary of State in the Trump administration, Marco Rubio, has met with the foreign ministers of both the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its eastern neighbor of Rwanda in a purported effort to end the war now ravaging the provinces of North and South Kivu.

War has erupted again between the M23 rebels and the DRC national army over control of the eastern region of the resource-rich state. The rebels backed by the Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame have taken control of the major cities in North and South Kivu, Goma and Bukavu respectively. Reports indicate that approximately 3,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the year.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has announced the withdrawal of its peacekeeping troops from Eastern DRC. A number of South African and Malawian troops were killed in the fighting prompting the decision to pull troops out of the country. Ironically enough, despite the membership of the DRC within SADC, it is the Rwandan military forces which are escorting the peacekeeping troops out of the country.

In his desperation to maintain control of the government based in Kinshasa, the DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, is endangering the future of his country and the entire region of the African Great Lakes. The history of U.S. involvement in post-colonial events in the DRC has resulted in persistent instability, underdevelopment and internecine conflict.

In the current period the same U.S. administration which has denied knowing what and where the DRC is, has no good intentions for the country or the entire Great Lakes region. The inability of the African Union (AU) and other regional organizations to end the war has opened the way for further imperialist intervention and enrichment.

Intervention Through “Diplomacy”

Secretary of State Rubio in a recent meeting with the foreign ministers of the DRC and Rwanda suggested that the agreement to supply critical minerals in exchange for Washington’s security guarantees, was in line with Trump’s plans to foster prosperity throughout the globe. Despite these claims, the international financial markets have experienced turmoil since January 20. Things have worsened even further with the announcement of a “liberation day” formula on April 2 where tariffs were placed on countries throughout the world.

Trump predicted that governments would be flocking to Washington to make deals with the new administration. This has not happened while the main strategic adversary of the U.S., the People’s Republic of China, is repeatedly denying that any serious discussions over trade policy has occurred with Washington.

In the strategic African Great Lakes region where important resources exist, the Trump administration’s foreign policy will only foster tensions between various states in their quest for greater profits. With the failure of the United Nations and SADC peacekeeping forces to bring stability in the Eastern DRC, the U.S. intervention can only create more hostility towards Washington as its diplomatic incapacity to negotiate sustainable agreements becomes more obvious.

In a report published on May 5 by the Associated Press related to the State Department’s efforts in the African Great Lakes says that:

“Congo is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones. The country also has substantial gold, diamond and copper reserves. Monday’s draft peace proposal comes after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month oversaw the signing by Congo and Rwanda of a pledge to work toward a peace deal. Rwanda’s foreign minister, Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe, told the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency on Monday that he would meet Congo’s foreign minister in the third week of May to negotiate a final peace agreement. He said he hoped the presidents of Rwanda and Congo would sign the agreement by mid-June at the White House in the presence of Trump and heads of state from the region.” (https://apnews.com/article/congo-rwanda-goma-peace-agreement-trump-minerals-3f027958dfcfdb50717d9a5174839e32)

Yet the prospects for the realization of a genuine peace agreement which is negotiated by the leading imperialist state in the world at this stage are quite remote. This would not be the first time that Washington has intervened in the DRC ostensibly to stabilize the country and the region.

During the 1960s, in order to stifle the potential for the left-leaning government of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba in the former Belgian Congo, who sought to realize sustainable development and unity, was undermined by the then President Dwight D. Eisenhower administration. Lumumba and his Congolese National Movement (MNC) was overthrown leading to the kidnapping and execution of Lumumba and many of his leading comrades.

After the liquidation of the Lumumba administration, the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko was propped-up for another three-and-a-half decades with the assistance of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). So therefore, where is the precedent for U.S. imperialist interventions which worked towards the benefit of the African people?

Between 1998-2003, a regional war erupted which was instigated by the State Department under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during the administration of former President Bill Clinton. The Rwandan-Ugandan invasion of the DRC was designed to maintain firm imperialist control over the region.  

Although the Washington-backed intervention from 1998-2003 failed, millions were displaced while an underdetermined number were killed. Instability continued leading to the rise of other rebel groupings including in recent years the M23 organization. The vast natural resource wealth of the DRC has yet to benefit the majority of the workers, farmers and youth of the country.

Fighting Intensifies in the Eastern DRC

The State Department project in the DRC has not resulted in a lessening of the fighting in the eastern region. Reports indicate that the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels are continuing their offensive and seizing control of other towns and villages.

Several months ago, the M23 rebels had supposedly declared a ceasefire after taking control of the two largest cities in North and South Kivu.  Nonetheless, instability and violence continued unabated.

Critical Threats website which monitors events throughout the DRC said of the current situation:

“M23 captured several villages on Lake Edward in North Kivu. M23 militants reportedly crossed Lake Edward on boat and came by land from two villages on the southern edge of Lake Edward and attacked Congolese army (FARDC) positions in Lunyasenge and another village on April 28. M23 captured Lunyasenge village on May 2 after another clash with FARDC and pro-government Wazalendo militias that inflicted heavy casualties on both sides. Lunyasenge is 30 miles west of the Lake Edward coastline and roughly 20 miles south of Lubero town. The FARDC denounced the attack as an ‘intentional and flagrant violation’ of the Qatari-brokered preliminary truce and threatened to retaliate on May 2.” (https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/congo-war-security-review/congo-war-security-review-may-5-2025)

These developments do not bode well for the future of reclaiming some semblance of stability in the Eastern DRC. The Trump administration in its first iteration described states within the African continent in very disparaging terms.

A key element in the Republican Party’s political base is centered within its domestic anti-immigrant policies. Trump has pledged to deport millions of people from the U.S. Since coming to office for the second time, the administration has deported migrants without due process to a draconian prison in El Salvador. These migrants being targeted by the administration are not just from Mexico, Central America and South America. African and West Asian migrants are also being picked up off the streets for purely racist reasons aimed at lowering the number of people of color in the U.S.

Interestingly, a program to deport migrants from the United Kingdom to Rwanda which failed due to challenges within the British and European Union (EU) courts, is now being suggested for the U.S. In the same Critical Threats report cited above, it emphasized:

“The Rwandan foreign minister confirmed previous reporting that Rwanda is in early-stage talks with the United States over a migrant deal. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on May 4 that Rwanda is in ongoing talks with the United States to accept deported migrants from the United States. Nduhungirehe said that the talks were ‘still in the early stages.’  The Washington Post cited a Rwandan official on April 30 who said the two countries have been discussing the arrangement since late January. The Washington Post cited a former U.S. official who speculated that Rwanda views the deal as an opportunity to reset relations with the United States within the context of a broader peace deal after the United States sanctioned Rwandan and M23 officials in late February.”

Such negotiations around the deportation of migrants from the U.S. must not only be challenged in the U.S. federal courts, it should be denounced by all progressive and freedom-loving people domestically and internationally. There can be no collaboration with racism and neo-fascism. 

Attempted Coup Thwarted in Burkina Faso

Amid efforts aimed at nationalization and economic development, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) slanders a leading member of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday April 30, 2025

Geostrategic Analysis

Another plot to destabilize Burkina Faso was reported last week over the national television network in the West African state. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SjQ6wtMNDA)

Minister of Security Mahamadu Sana made the announcement to great dismay and outrage among the people inside the country.

Sana noted that the culprits involved in the plot were receiving support from French-aligned interests operating from Ivory Coast. A number of military officers along with former government officials were named in the conspiracy to remove the current government under Capt. Ibrahim Traore. Several people have been arrested in the aftermath of the coup attempt which was scheduled to take place on April 16. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HBWTK6opt4)

Since the rise of Capt. Ibrahim Traore to power on September 30, 2022, the country embarked upon a process of reclaiming the natural resources and national sovereignty of its territory and residents. Traore heads the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (PMSR) which was established in early 2022 under the former leader Lt.-Col. Paul-Henri Damiba. The PMSR was established after the removal of civilian President Roch Christian Kabore.

Kabore and Damiba were overthrown due to the failure of their administrations to curb the rebel insurgencies which under the guise of Islamism, have killed civilians, military personnel and created lawlessness across approximately 40 percent of the country. The failure of French and U.S. military soldiers and advisors, ostensibly in the Sahel region to enhance the security capacity of African states, have proved an abysmal failure.

Burkina Faso has united with neighboring landlocked states of Mali and Niger to sign the Liptako-Gourma Charter in late 2023. Later the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) was formed in 2024 breaking away from the western-oriented Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The AES has drawn the ire of France, the former colonial and neo-colonial power, along with the United States. In neighboring Niger, the French and U.S. forces have been forced to withdraw while a Pentagon drone station was dismantled at the aegis of the current ruling Committee for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP). These events have upended the plans of two leading imperialist states to maintain their dominance in the resource-rich Sahel region of West Africa.

In regard to the situation in Burkina Faso, the military leader of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) engaged in a verbal attack on Capt. Ibrahim Traore in a hearing before the Senate. General Michael Langley slandered Traore claiming that the resources from the sale of gold were being misused by the head-of-state.

These comments by Langley have been condemned throughout the African continent. In a report published by the Zimbabwe Mail, it says of the provocation:

“A firestorm of criticism has erupted across Africa following remarks by U.S. General Michael Langley, head of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), accusing Burkina Faso’s President, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, of misusing the country’s gold reserves for personal protection rather than national benefit. The comments were made during a recent U.S. Senate hearing, where General Langley alleged that Traoré had diverted vital national resources for his own security interests. The statement, swiftly picked up by African media and social platforms, has drawn sharp backlash from citizens, activists, and commentators across the continent. Many Africans took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their outrage, accusing the U.S. of meddling in the sovereign affairs of African nations and displaying double standards in its foreign policy.” (https://www.thezimbabwemail.com/world-news/us-general-wild-accusations-against-captain-ibrahim-traore-spark-outrage-across-africa/)

These false allegations by Langley must be viewed within the context of the recent destabilization campaign against Burkina Faso and its revolutionary government. Historically, the U.S. has been hostile towards any anti-imperialist and socialist-oriented states on the African continent.

Nationalization of Gold Industry

During 2024, the government of Burkina Faso revised its mining code creating a new state-owned firm called Société de Participation Minière du Burkina (SOPAMIB). Through this public entity, the PMSR administration has been nationalizing mines owned by foreign corporations.

In a speech delivered over national television on April 28, Prime Minister Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo announced that additional mines will be nationalized in the days ahead to generate more revenue for the government. These new policies have caused consternation among the mining firms which dominate the Burkina Faso extractive industries. (https://www.mining.com/web/burkina-faso-to-nationalise-more-industrial-mines-pm-says/)

Two mines were taken over by SOPAMIB last year and additional seizures are designed to provide the necessary monetary resources to modernize the country. This same pattern of nationalization is being replicated within other AES partners.

A report published by mining.com says of the current situation in Burkina Faso:

“Gold prices have risen by over 25% this year, fueled by geopolitical instability and U.S. President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies. Burkina Faso, which has been fighting Islamist militants since 2015, produced over 57 tons in 2023. Mining companies operating there include Canada’s IAMGOLD and Australia’s West African Resources Ltd. The new mining code prioritizes national expertise and local suppliers, part of what the government calls a revolution in how its mineral wealth is managed. Burkina Faso’s relations with traditional Western allies have deteriorated since the military seized power in two coups in 2022, and it has pivoted toward Russia for security and economic cooperation. Last week, it granted an industrial mining license to Russian miner Nordgold for a gold project in the Kourweogo province of Burkina’s Plateau-Central region. Ouédraogo said existing state-controlled mining initiatives have been successful, with the National Precious Substances Company collecting over eight tons of gold in 2024 and more than 11 tons in the first quarter of this year, primarily from artisanal sources.” (https://www.mining.com/web/burkina-faso-to-nationalise-more-industrial-mines-pm-says/)

Prime Minister Ouedraogo said in his April 28 address that for the first time in its history the country has set up a gold reserve. These measures are already enhancing the economy, which has been crippled by the insurgent attacks and the hostility directed towards the PMSR administration.

AES-Algeria Dispute over Downing of Surveillance Drone

On April 1, a Malian surveillance drone was downed by the neighboring Algerian military which accused the equipment of violating its airspace. Mali denied that the drone crossed over into Algerian territory.

The incident has created an unfortunate diplomatic row between Algiers and the AES saying that its neighboring country should be cooperating more closely with their efforts to crush the insurgencies. Relations between Mali and Algeria have fluctuated since the early 1960s when the National Liberation Front (FLN) was waging their independence war from France.

Mali under the newly independent government of President Modibo Keita played a critical role in providing a rear base for the FLN fighters. Algeria became independent from France in 1962.

In subsequent years, the presence of insurgents on the border between Mali and Algeria has resulted in tensions. The Tuarag people in the north of Mali have periodically engaged in violent efforts against the central government located in the southern capital of Bamako. Tuarags are spread out across several North and West African states as a result of the divisive character of the legacy of colonialism which broke up nations and city-states in the interests of imperialism. In recent years their Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA) has been involved in military clashes with the Malian government.

Other rebel groupings operating in northern Mali which are jihadist in their orientation has created a security crisis since early 2012. These developments are direct result of the Pentagon-NATO destruction of Libya in 2011 which was pivotal in the destabilization of various areas within North and West Africa.

An article published by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says that the 55-member African Union (AU) must immediately work towards a diplomatic resolution of this recent incident:

“The AU must use the appropriate channels to rapidly re-establish dialogue and pave the way for a return to constructive relations between Algeria and the AES countries. Its Peace and Security Council should focus on the northern Mali issue, which is at the root of the dispute between Algiers and Bamako. Mali has accused Algeria in recent months of serving as a rear base for the separatist Front de Liberation de l’Azawad (FLA), after hostilities between the group and Bamako resumed when the government recaptured Kidal in November 2023.” (https://issafrica.org/iss-today/algeria-aes-diplomatic-crisis-calls-for-swift-african-union-mediation)

In other diplomatic events in the region, the Kingdom of Morocco has offered to allow the landlocked AES countries access to its ports on the Atlantic Ocean. Discussions took place on April 28 between Morocco and the foreign ministers of the AES countries.

This offer by Morocco has regional implications due to the strain relations between Rabat and Algiers over the status of the Western Sahara, which remains under the control of the Kingdom. Although since 1991 the United Nations has mandated that a referendum on Western Saharan independence be held, Morocco has not allowed this to happen. The issue remains a major source of disagreement within the AU with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) states being in firm alliance with the Polisario Front, the liberation movement seeking independence for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

These disputes and conflicts illustrate the need to reinforce the diplomatic and military capacity of the AU. African problems require solutions which enhance the genuine independence and sovereignty of the continent and its people.

African American Farmers Facing Complete Annihilation Under Trump Tariffs

A more than a century-long legacy of land loss and repression are worsening under the current regime

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday April 23, 2025

Race Relations Review

In a recent interview with the Cable News Network (CNN), the Founder and President of the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA), John Boyd, Jr., says that the agricultural policies of the administration of Donald Trump are proving to be a devastating blow to his constituency.

Boyd, a fourth-generation farmer and producer of soybeans, wheat and corn, said to CNN that they have not been included in the discussions surrounding the administration’s tariffs regime which is making it impossible for him and other agriculturalists to remain in business.

He described the tariffs imposed by Trump as being tantamount to a 135% tax on soybean producers making it impossible for farmers such as himself to obtain credit from financial institutions to purchase agricultural inputs during planting season. Although the Trump White House claims that the enactment of huge tariffs through executive orders would improve the United States economy while in reality the opposite is taking place. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZvoCNvSUD0)

The key word in the opening months of the Trump administration is “uncertainty.” Stock markets in the U.S., Western Europe and Asia have dropped precipitously. In the U.S., reports indicate that approximately 7-11 trillion dollars were lost between February and April.

Many of the agricultural products grown by U.S.-based farmers will not have export markets if Trump continues the current trajectory. The decline in markets, the layoffs in the federal government, steel and automotive industries, does not portend well for the plight of the working class.

African American farmers, having suffered tremendously over the decades, know that the present crisis will result in more people losing their land and capacity to remain in the agricultural industry. During the first Trump administration due to his previously failed tariffs program, the government announced a partial bailout of famers in 2018.

However, Boyd said during the CNN interview that there are always difficulties for African American farmers to collect on financial commitments made by the federal government. Boyd noted that the Department of Agriculture has a history of finding ways to not pay African American farmers over the course of decades. Although there have been “settlements” agreed upon by the federal courts related to discriminatory class-action lawsuits, there were denials and delays related to the eligibility of African Americans to receive compensation mandated by the judiciary.

A Transformative Life as an Advocate for African American Farmers

Boyd said in another interview in the journal Farm Progress in late February that he never set out to become an advocate for the African American people in the rural areas of the South. His farming experience began with his sharecropping family in Boydton, Virginia, located near the border with North Carolina. The area he grew up in was a former plantation where the slave owners bossed his ancestors.

Born during the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the mid-1960s, Boyd, now 59-years-old, said the social situation of his family during this period was representative of the legacy of African enslavement. He said that when the white family living in the former slave plantation house wanted something done, his family had to respond.

Eventually, he was able to buy land owned by an African American family which was ending their lives as farmers. This occurred after he visited the White House under then President Jimmy Carter as a high school student. He spoke with Carter during the visit, being surprised as the only African American students participating in the class trip to Washington, D.C.

After a failed attempt to become a professional athlete, Boyd returned to Virginia to farm, acquiring his first piece of land. Boyd noted that things only went downhill after becoming an agriculturalist.

The local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) office in Boyd’s area routinely refused to extend credit to African American farmers. He personally witnessed the openly racially discriminatory practices of the USDA.

In subsequent years, he spoke at a state National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) conference where he described the horrendous circumstances surrounding African American farmers. Eventually during the 1990s, other Black farmers would join the struggle resulting in the formation of the NBFA. Boyd appeared on several television news programs including 60 Minutes. This exposure would lead to a national movement to save African American land and farmers.

The Farm Progress article said of the situation during the 1990s under the administration of President Bill Clinton that:

“The continued protests had caught the attention of then President Bill Clinton. He offered to meet with Boyd and other Black farmer advocates. That half-hour meeting, which included other government officials, turned into a three-hour marathon. At its conclusion, Clinton agreed to speed up investigations into discrimination at USDA. He also enacted a moratorium on farm foreclosures pending an investigation into civil rights violations. That moratorium applied not just to Black famers, but white ones as well. ‘That’s the day that changed my life,’ Boyd says. ‘The moratorium saved them from selling my farm. That was the only thing to save me’.” (https://www.farmprogress.com/names-in-the-news/reluctant-farm-warrior-still-fights-for-justice)

A class-action lawsuit by tens of thousands of African American farmers resulted in a federal consent judgment awarding monetary damages to impacted families. Nonetheless, problems persisted as the flawed process for settlement payments led to further delays and denials.

The Pigford Settlement of the 2000s did not address many of the concerns of African American farmers. There was a time period put in place to apply for compensation and a cap on the amount allocated by the U.S. Congress to pay out settlement to farmers. (https://www.npr.org/2023/02/19/1156851675/in-2022-black-farmers-were-persistently-left-behind-from-the-usdas-loan-system)

Thousands of African American farmers were left out of the Pigford Settlement and continued to lose their land. Then Senator Barack Obama sponsored a bill that would address these concerns. This bill helped his campaign by making him known in the rural South.

NBFA President John Boyd was even interviewed for a cabinet position as Secretary of Agriculture as the Obama administration prepared to take office in 2008. However, the position went to Tom Vilsack, who in 2010 fired veteran Civil Rights Movement activist Shirley Sherrod from a position in the Agricultural Department. Shirley Sherrod, the wife of activist Charles Sherrod of Southwest Georgia, was well known throughout the U.S.

Sherrod was terminated because she addressed the plight of African American farmers as a by-product of the institutionally racist system in the U.S. Sherrod’s father had been killed when she was a girl due to a conflict with a neighboring white farmer over cattle grazing on their land.

After the public uproar over her termination, she was offered another job in the administration which she declined. These developments were a reflection of the unwillingness of the federal government under both Democrats and Republicans to compensate African American farmers and their communities in the South.

When former President Joe Biden ran for office against Trump in 2020, he made enormous promises to African Americans related to police misconduct, voting rights along with improving economic opportunities. However, legislation such as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and a renewed Voting Rights bill to restore its enforcement provisions struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013, were never passed despite the Democratic Party dominance in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the first two years of the Biden administration.

Conditions Continue to Decline for African American Farmers

By the time Biden and later Vice President Kamala Harris ran for re-election in 2024, the lack of enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket along with voter suppression tactics, resulted in the second ascendancy of Trump. Boyd spoke out about the lack of progress for African American farmers under the Biden-Harris administration.

According to the same above-mentioned report from Farm Progress in regard to Boyd’s views on Biden and Trump:

“In 2023, he announced he would not support President Biden’s re-election bid. He felt the president had failed to adequately protect farmers from foreclosures. He condemned Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for not including sufficient debt relief for Black and minority farmers. He also blasted Biden for allocating billions to help Ukraine while, in his estimation, not doing enough to help Black farmers. Recent events have brought even greater concerns. In February, Boyd declared a ‘state of emergency’ for Black farmers and ranchers. He believes President Trump’s decision to shutter USAID will threaten millions of farmers. He also worries cuts to various diversity initiatives at USDA could undo progress Black farmers have made over the past few decades.”

Consequently, the African American people must build their own independent movement aimed at security their long-advocated demands for full equality and self-determination. Since the early 20th century, African Americans have lost an estimated 15 million acres of land. (https://landtrustalliance.org/resources/learn/explore/how-southern-black-farmers-were-forced-from-their-land-and-their-heritage)

This massive land theft is due to numerous factors including outright forced removals, legal seizures resulting from delinquent taxes and other debts and the overall atmosphere of institutional racism and national oppression in the South and other regions of the U.S. Efforts to reclaim land and housing for African Americans will in all likelihood require a revolution against the system of capitalism.