UN Warns: 55 Million Face Hunger in Africa—Blames Climate, Ignores Centuries of Plunder
📰 THE STORY: The Independent reports that 55 million people in Central and West Africa are projected to face a hunger crisis this year, according to the UN. The article attributes this escalating crisis to 'climate-vulnerable, impoverished communities' and dwindling humanitarian aid budgets without abating. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The current 'impoverishment' in
Central and West Africa is not a natural state. For example, during King Leopold II's brutal rule of the Congo Free State from 1885-1908, an estimated 10 million Congolese were killed, exploited for rubber and minerals, creating a blueprint for resource extraction at immense human cost that continues today. Libya, once Africa's most prosperous nation under Gaddafi, was destabilized by a NATO
intervention in 2011, directly leading to today's burgeoning slave markets and widespread chaos that impacts regional stability and food security. The ongoing mineral extraction for Western tech and electric vehicles, particularly in the DRC, often fuels internal conflicts, displaces populations, and prevents local economic development—all legacies of colonial partitioning and current neocolonial
practices. Double Standard: When Western-backed 'rebels' created a humanitarian crisis in Syria, Western media focused on the Assad regime's culpability, while downplaying foreign intervention and sanctions. When the US froze $7 billion of Afghanistan's central bank assets after two decades of occupation in 2021, directly exacerbating widespread starvation, mainstream outlets rarely framed it as a