Niger’s military government has announced the nationalisation of the country’s sole industrial gold mine, accusing its Australian operator of “serious breaches” as the junta seeks greater control of natural resources.
The military junta has ruled the West African nation since seizing power in a 2023 coup, promising to crack down on Niger’s myriad security issues.
Juntas in Niger, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali have ramped up pressure on foreign mining companies in recent years, with Niger nationalising the local branch of French uranium giant Orano in June.
Niger is in the Alliance of Sahel States, a progressive coalition of anti-imperialist countries in Africa turning their backs on France, Austrailia, and other imperialists. You’re accepting the imperialist framing of a popularly supported government that couped the old, French comprador government that did the exact thing you accuse the new government of doing.
No investigation, no right to speak. You’re acting like a parrot for French propaganda.
The text in the OP and the article it links to is talking about a military junta…
Correct, you are parroting the tone of the article without doing any further research. The government is broadly supported by its people, it was the result of a coup in 2023 against a deeply unpopular comprador, but at the same time it’s clearly a progressive and anti-imperialist government supported by the people. Finger-wagging without doing any research on your part means you are exceptionally prone to propaganda.
Not sure why being apprehensive about military juntas of all things upsets you so.
What upsets me is when westerners do absolutely no research on the background and material processes at play in the global south and jump to finger-wagging at an unquestionably progressive, anti-imperialist action. It’s chauvanism.
Military juntas just have a bad track record. It doesn’t matter where they’re located.
Speaking without doing any research on a topic and just parroting the western viewpoint just has an evil track record used to justify coups, invasions, and sanctions. It doesn’t matter how well-intentioned you are.
I don’t think the apprehension about military rule is just a Western thing.
I mean they came to power through a coup
The refusal to actually look into the underlying social forces and class struggle on the ground in Niger leading to the nationalization of their gold mine is deeply western, and parroting the narrative uncritically is western.
Yes, the current government came to power through a coup, one against the pro-imperialist comprador that was doing the exact thing you accuse the new government of doing. The new gov is widely loved by its people, similar to Ibrahim Traoré in Burkina Faso.
You’re just posturing and finger-wagging people working to directly combat the serious problem of western imperialism forcing under-development of Africa.