Panic or Hype? Is It Over for Mali?
by Penny Arcos
The US Embassy in Bamako has ordered all nonessential American Embassy staff to evacuate Mali, citing escalating security concerns such as terrorist attacks on fuel convoys and interruptions to essential services. The French have followed suit. Schools and universities are closed for two weeks. Long queues form at fuel stations.
Western media paints a picture of chaos and failure as the military-led government that expelled French troops in 2022 grapples with this crisis. Is this the end for Mali or just hype from Western media to create panic?
To better understand this crisis, let's go back to 2011 when the US armed Algerian Tuareg minorities (a.k.a. “freedom fighters”) to overthrow Gaddafi. NATO bombed Libya’s irrigation pipeline and sent Libya back into the stone ages, turning it into an open-air slave market. These same Al-Qaeda-linked Tuaregs returned to West Africa to overthrow Mali’s government in 2012 while French troops occupied the country to “fight terrorism”. Mali and neighboring Algeria, historically allies and strategic trading partners, have recently cut diplomatic ties due to violations of Mali’s airspace. With Mali and its neighbor Algeria at odds, the Trans-African Sub Saharan gas pipeline from Nigeria to Algeria is now on hold.
Why is NATO always blocking or blowing up pipelines?
We could even go back as far as the Soviet-Afghan war of 1979 to 1989, when the United States recruited Arab and foreign Muslim insurgents to overthrow the Soviet-allied government and create conditions for the Soviet Union's own “Vietnam War”. After the Soviet withdrawal, Osama bin Laden, a member of Saudi Arabia’s royal family that owned the country’s construction monopoly, co-founded Al-Qaeda to launch a global jihad against “apostates”. This is the same Bin Laden who allegedly planned the 9/11 attack. Why is the United States so obsessed with weakening Russia?
Open and assumed support of terrorism
As the American government shutdown and the Ukraine Proxy War drag on, Americans and Europeans are bilked of billions of dollars for the Kiev regime. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians have died needlessly. Western media hails Zelensky as a defender of Democracy while Ukraine openly equips and trains Mexican Drug Cartels, Colombian criminal groups and Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in Africa.
Mali cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine in August of 2024 after Tuareg rebels ambushed Malian defense forces and Russian Wagner mercenaries and then held up a Ukrainian flag. Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency, bragged that Ukraine had provided intelligence to the rebels “which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals”. Western media frames this as a blow to Russian forces. Headlines state that the Russia Ukraine conflict is “spilling over” into Africa. What business does Ukraine have in Mali?
Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso petitioned the president of the UN Security Council in August 2024 to denounce the Ukrainian government's “open and assumed support for international terrorism”, especially in Africa’s Sahel region. Abdoulaye Maïga, Mali’s Prime Minister, in his address at the UN General Assembly Debate on September 26, reiterated that the Alliance of the Sahel States is fighting terrorism and making Africa safer. But the French regime, “nostalgic for the colonial era”, has been supporting Kiev regime. “The resources of the Sahel should benefit the people of the Sahel,” he added
With Ukraine suffering from heavy casualties, recruiters drag men into vans to use as cannon fodder. Ukraine’s International Legion relies heavily on Mexican cartels and former Colombian FARC criminal groups to fill their gaps, offering $3,000 a month to train them in FPV kamikaze drone warfare. Armed with this knowledge, they return to Central and South America to fight their own battles with other cartels, further destabilizing Latin America.
Liberals pat themselves on the back for defending the rights of immigrants and open borders. MAGA cheers as ICE terrorizes immigrant communities and Trump deports immigrants to third countries. Does anybody consider that the same Imperialists destabilizing these countries are cannibalizing the homeland as well? Who benefits from this?
Sudan’s foreign ministry states that Ukraine supports militants in Niger, LIbya, Somalia and Sudan. They supply drones at very low prices to organizations such as Boko-Haram and al-Shabab in Somalia, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. Kyiv is doing the West’s “dirty work”,” he stated
Mali stands strong
Economic warfare is one of Western Imperialists’ tools to destabilize countries and overthrow their governments. But Mali’s allies offer material support to defend its sovereignty.
In September 2025, Mali signed a contract with China’s Norinco to provide unspecified military equipment, training, and a transfer of technology.
Mali's armed forces (FAMA) displayed advanced Chinese weaponry during their Independence Day Parade on September 23rd. The NATO-backed terrorists, unable to win on the battlefield, have resorted to economic warfare, attacking fuel convoys and petrol stations for several weeks.
Due to shortages of fuel, speculation and stockpiling had increased the intensity of the crisis by stockpiling fuel. The media frenzy created panic. Long lines for fuel led to frustration. Schools and universities had to close..
To address this crisis and restore order, Moussa Alassane Diallo, the minister of Industry and Trade, held a meeting and called for national unity in solving the fuel crisis and to avoid inflation that strikes Malian citizens in their flesh. Security forces are now monitoring petrol stations and restoring order as citizens queue up to fill their gas tanks.
In a spirit of historic partnership, Russia has vowed to deliver 160,000 to 200,000 metric tons of fuel and agricultural products per month to help Mali restore energy sovereignty.
The citizens of Mali stand behind their transitional government and are grateful for Russia’s support during this difficult time. Mali has not fallen.
Imperialist Retaliation?
Mali, Africa’s second largest gold producer, recently nationalized two gold mines and cancelled more than 90 mining exploration permits for the exploration of gold, iron ore, bauxite, uranium, rare earths and other minerals, including several held by affiliates of international mining companies. At the same time, a new Russia-backed gold refinery is under construction in the country. This follows a trend in the Sahel States that are allied with Russia and China as they take control of their own resources to invest in their economic development.
Recently, the Trump administration had imposed a $15,000 visa bond on many African countries under the pretext that Africans tend to overstay their visas. Mali reciprocated with a $15,000 visa bond on Americans. On October 23, Trump quietly reversed his decision and dropped Mali from the visa pilot program.
The US closed its embassy in Burkina Faso on October 10, requiring Burkinabè citizens to travel to Togo for services. Now that the American embassy has called Americans to leave Mali, their embassy will not be staffed, either. Could this be retaliation on the Alliance of the Sahel States for asserting their independence from Imperialist domination?
The Imperialists/Globalists are desperate to maintain their irrational system that holds back development to eliminate competition. They are waging war against the multi-polar world that is emerging based on mutual respect and win-win trade relationships. The countries of BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation and Eurasian Economic Union and the Alliance of the Sahel States are rising. America must join them. The Center for Political Innovation stands with Mali and Russia. We are building an anti-monopoly coalition to demand a government of action that fights for working families.
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