French military bases in Africa will now self-identify as schools

Emmanuel Macron wants to rebrand Paris’ presence in its former colonies as cultural and economic projects

French military bases in Africa will now self-identify as schools

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Macron: ‘New era’ in economic, military strategy in Africa

Monday’s speech came at a time when France’s influence on the continent is facing its biggest challenges in decades. Growing anti-French sentiment has led to street protests in several West and North African countries.

In addition, historical economic ties that France had with the region are under pressure from the growing commercial presence of Russia, China and Turkey.

Macron acknowledged that Africa now is a “field of competition” and urged French businesses to “wake up” and get involved in the fight.

In the past year, French troops had to withdraw from Mali, which turned instead to private Russian military contractors of the Wagner group, and most recently from Burkina Faso, which also appears to increasingly look towards Moscow.

The tedious China scare in Latin America

In a January article for Foreign Affairs, former Peruvian presidential candidate Julio Armando Guzmán depicts increased Chinese investment in Latin America as an existential threat to the region’s democracies.

The tedious China scare in Latin America

Related:

NED: FALL 2022 REAGAN-FASCELL DEMOCRACY FELLOWS

NED/CIA’s candidate lost the 2021 Peruvian general election and is calling for regime change in Peru, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and El Salvador!? 🧐💭

The specter of socialism haunts US Congress

*Trigger Warning*: this talks about socialism, which seems to trigger some of those who follow my blog. If you don’t like something, that I post, either scroll on by or unfollow me!

A specter is haunting Congress: the specter of socialism.

Last week, as the US Congress discussed approving billions more dollars in weapons for the war against Russia and began negotiating cuts to social programs in advance of the debt ceiling expiration, the House spent three days discussing and adopting a resolution denouncing socialism and pledging to reverse all the social gains made by the working class on a global scale in the century since the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Before the resolution was brought to a vote Thursday, the Republican-controlled House Rules Committee rejected a proposed amendment introduced by Democrats that would have clarified “that opposition to the implementation of socialist policies in the US does not include federal programs like Medicare and Social Security,” according to the Hill.

The specter of socialism haunts US Congress

The CIA in Angola

The American military industrial complex was stunned and embarrassed by the rapid fall of its puppet government in Saigon in 1975. The CIA faced budget cuts and sought a new conflict to justify its size and spending. Portugal had just freed its colonies so there were power struggles in nations such as Angola. The American public was not told that the CIA had begun shipping arms to Angola and hiring mercenaries to fight there. Once news reports about CIA involvement appeared, the effort was spun as a fight against evil communists.

The CIA in Angola via Tales of the American Empire

Manufacturing Consent: How the United States Has Penetrated South African Media

The CIA has played a role in controlling South African media from the days of apartheid to the present.

In recent weeks, South African public discourse has been focused on concerns about alleged Chinese influence in the country’s media landscape. However, these conversations have tended to overlook the already existing spheres of influence within South African media. Politically motivated sponsorship of prominent South African media outlets by the United States dates back decades to the apartheid era. According to internal U.S. government documents, the aim of these operations was “to counter the strong Marxist campaigns” in the country. This funding was circulated by the National Endowment for Democracy, an organization created by the Reagan administration in order to re-brand U.S. covert operations that were previously carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency. Today, as Washington becomes fixated on combating Beijing’s influence around the world, the National Endowment for Democracy and its private sector partners continue to penetrate large swathes of the South African media ecosystem. This web of influence has caught major publications, including Mail & Guardian newspaper and amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Manufacturing Consent: How the United States Has Penetrated South African Media