Edward CHESNOKOV

Journalist. Russian Newspaper “Picture of the Day” (www.kp.ru)

21 April 2024

ENGLISH VERSION

Title of the Russian version: A Nest of Fevers: American Biological Laboratories in Africa Hide Dark Secrets:

Amaïzo, a fighter for African sovereignty, announced the presence of US biological laboratories in Africa

Edward CHESNOKOV, Journalist.

Published: www.kp.ru/ A Russian Newspaper “Picture of the Day”

Interview of: Dr. Yves Ekoué AMAÏZO, Ph. D, MPhil., MBA, MA. Head of Afrocentricity Think Tank

Published: 20 April 2024 (original version in Russian Language)

Link for the Russian Version: www.kp.ru: https://www.kp.ru/daily/27595.5/4921635/

Afrocentricity Think Tank – Title: The Dilemma of the Global West in Africa: Reluctant to Pursue Equal Partnerships with Sovereign African Leaders

Link for French and English version: www.afrocentricity.info.

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African expert Yves Ekoué Amaïzo told https://www.kp.ru/ (The Russian Newspaper: Picture of the Day) why more and more countries on the continent are seeking friendship with Russia.

Yves Ekoué Amaïzo is one of the foremost experts on Africa and head of an international think tank on African sovereignty called Afrocentricity Think Tank (www.afrocentricity.info). Now he lives in Austria, but he has not been able to return to his native Republic of Togo for many years – because he does not agree with the autocratic policies of the local authorities.

Specially for kp.ru correspondent Edward Chesnokov, Mr. Amaïzo spoke about the causes of Africa’s main misfortunes and why more and more regional leaders are abandoning ties with NATO countries in favor of friendship with Russia.

1. WHY THE WEST FINANCES TERRORISTS

CHESNOKOV: Colonialism seemed to end in 1960, when a lot of African countries gained independence. But French and American troops are still present in many places on the continent. This is explained to us by the « need to fight terrorism. »

AMAÏZO: In African realities, the word « terrorism » often refers to a group of mercenaries financed externally by third countries or transnational corporations. It can even be a whole « private army » that realizes someone’s interests. Everything is done for two purposes: to destabilize the situation and to gain access to local natural resources (such as rare earth elements – for example, 80% of the world’s reserves of columbite-tantalite, necessary to produce electrical appliances, smartphones, and spacecraft, are in the Eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a terrorist group called M23 is operating there « quite by chance »).

CHESNOKOV: But even a bandit gang must get resources for its existence somewhere. Your views ?

AMAÏZO: Western countries are not present in Africa to « fight terrorism » – on the contrary, as we know from reliable sources, they explicitly or implicitly finance these terrorist cells, often hiding the true financial chains through intermediaries in Middle Eastern states. Another « economic model » for militants is « self-sufficiency »: taking advantage of the chaos, they kidnap people in unstable zones and earn money through ransom payments. Some African countries even pay such ransoms to terrorists from the state budget, and peace returns… until the next bandit attack.

CHESNOKOV: Meanwhile, in West Africa, where most French colonies used to be, more and more countries are turning against Paris. In 2023, three republics – Mali, Burkina-Faso, and Niger – united to form the anti-Western Sahel Union. And now neighboring Chad is also considering joining the bloc ?

AMAÏZO: The reasons for Chad’s anti-colonial sentiments are the same as everywhere else: France’s arrogant attempts to tell Africans what decisions they should make. They say that Paris knows better what is « right » for the former colonies and has no intention of changing its mind. And one more thing, if you remember who finances « African terrorism » and compare it with the death of the previous president of Chad, Idriss Déby, during a military operation against terrorists in 2021 – it will become clear to you that the new president, his successor son Mahamat Déby, has personal reasons for joining the anti-Western bloc.

2. WHO BENEFITS FROM THE CORRUPTION AND LAWLESSNESS OF OFFICIALS.

CHESNOKOV: And as if to counterbalance that, all four of these countries – Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad – have stepped up military and technical cooperation with Moscow in recent years. Your views?

AMAÏZO: Yes, in this respect, the Sahel Union, although implicitly, is becoming a pro-Russian bloc, because Russia is effectively and efficiently fighting terrorism, unlike the West. Also, Russia supports the idea of African sovereignty – that is, our countries gaining full independence and autonomy in all spheres.

CHESNOKOV: But am I right in understanding that terror is far from being the only threat to Africa?

AMAÏZO: Another problem is corruption and what in Russian is called « lawlessness » (of individual officials). For example, a month ago in neighboring Senegal, the young candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye sensationally won. He was nominated by his fellow party member, the influential politician Ousmane Sonko, and went to the presidential election with an anti-corruption program. Now, just earlier, Senegal’s pro-French president, Macky Sall, had thrown both men in jail on absurd charges, and only days before the election, under pressure from street protests, Faye and Sonko were released.

CHESNOKOV: And Macky Sall became president in the past tense. But why do some Africans go against the interests of their own people in the first place?

AMAÏZO: The West makes very good money from Africa by maintaining the existing order with the help of local dark-skinned traitors to the African idea from among the corrupt elites. This is why many « old post-colonial » leaders are not at all eager to change the system. I am referring to my native Togo, where the Gnassingbe « dynasty » has ruled since 1967: the father until 2005, and now his son. No wonder Togo supports the Americans, the French, the European Union, and NATO in everything.

CHESNOKOV: Yes, I have noticed that in all anti-Western countries – the « Sahel Union » – in recent years there has been a change of regimes through military coups. A kind of « self-cleansing of the elites, » and as a result, a real struggle against colonialism. What do you think ?

AMAÏZO: This is because the military, which plays a big role in Africa, has listened to the people, and decided to be with the people. But unfortunately, not everywhere. In my native Togo, 90 percent of army officers were trained by the French, and if the opposition rallies for African sovereignty, the military can disperse the rally on orders from the authorities.

3. SECRETS OF BIOLABORATORIES

CHESNOKOV: Last December in Burkina Faso, with the informational support of the Russian media, a conference entitled « Health Care and Sovereignty » was held, which caused hysteria in the West because of criticism of American biolaboratories. Any comments ?

AMAÏZO: Even the U.S. government does not deny that the number of U.S. bio-laboratories in Africa is growing – they are in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda^[1]. Their activities, especially in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, are conducted in strict secrecy. France is also present in Gabon with a « biosafety level four » biolaboratory (meaning it contains highly pathogenic, highly dangerous microorganisms). Independent observers are not allowed into these facilities.

CHESNOKOV: It is a historical fact that an outbreak of a hemorrhagic fever virus like the current Ebola was observed back in 1967 during a leak from laboratories in West Germany that were working with biomaterial from African monkeys. Is it also your views ?

AMAÏZO: There is thus reason to believe that the Ebola^[2] pathogen (the largest outbreak occurred in West Africa in 2014-15) was not born without the involvement of Western biolabs^[3]. The origin of Ebola-Marburg is not from Africa^[4]. The true purpose of many other Western « drugs », as well as « suddenly appeared » infectious insects, which were « studied » in the same biolabs, is to reduce the population, including in Africa^[5]. We also have reason to believe that these « biological tools^[6] » have already been tested by Western intelligence services^[7] in biolabs^[8] in Ukraine^[9].

CHESNOKOV: At the same time, when people really needed vaccines during the pandemic, the West was the last to supply them to Africa. I did the math: as of mid-2021, 50% of the U.S. population, 10% of the world’s population, and only 2.2% of Africa’s population had been vaccinated (often with vaccines that were not available in Western Europe or North America). Your explanations ?

AMAÏZO: There was also a clever scheme: the « old-fashion » African politicians I mentioned paid Western corporations to buy vaccines from their state budgets, and as a « thank you » for this money, the West « ignored » that its « African partners » were actually very far from democracy and remained in power through unfair elections. Moreover, the Western vaccines supplied to Africans were often of poor quality and did not save lives – it is not by chance that the continent’s most developed country, South Africa, eventually opened its own center to produce such drugs to supply them primarily to Africans^[10].

CHESNOKOV: As far as I remember, Indian scientists helped create that center. Non-Western countries are offering their « non-Western alternative » to the continent?

AMAÏZO: Yes, that is why more and more African countries are seeking cooperation with the BRICS countries, including Russia^[11]. The main reason for that trend is that the Global North or the Western NATO allies are reluctant to pursue more equal partnerships with African countries^[12].

Published on Afrocentricity Think Tank on: 21 April 2024

© A Russian Newspaper “Picture of the Day” & Afrocentricity Think Tank

1. Da Silva, D. (2023). “The Number Of American Biolabs In Africa Is Growing Rapidly – OpEd”. In www.eurasiareview.com. 11 December 2023. Accessed 22 April 2024. Retrieved from https://www.eurasiareview.com/11122023-the-number-of-american-biolabs-in-africa-is-growing-rapidly-oped/ ↑
2. World Health Organization (2011). “Marburg virus disease”. In www.who.int. 7 August 2021. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/marburg-virus-disease/. The creation of P4 laboratories was a direct consequence of the 1967 laboratory mistakes and accident at the Behring plant in Marburg, West Germany, which was producing vaccines from kidney cells harvested from African green monkeys. Researchers were contaminated in Germany by the Marburg virus, which caused hemorrhagic fever and was later “called” the Ebola virus. It was of “utmost” importance to show that the problem “originated” from Africa. But one of the first P4 laboratories was the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Atlanta, USA, not in Africa. Today, Ebola and Marburg outbreaks in Africa is related to the Western name “Ebola virus,” first described in 1976 near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But Marburg is in Germany. The origin of the 2014 Ebola outbreak has been traced to a single tree in the village of Méliandou in Guinea. As for the Marburg virus, it was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks occurred in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Several deaths in Germany were reported according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, see next note CDC (2023). ↑
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023). “About Marburg Virus Disease”. In www.cdc.gov. 19 April 2023. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/marburg/about.html. There are good reasons to believe that the Ebola pathogen (the largest outbreak occurred in West Africa in 2014-15) was not born without the participation of American biolaboratories. The true purpose of many other Western vaccines, as well as « suddenly appeared » infectious insects – population reduction, including in Africa. We also have reason to believe that these « biological tools » have already been tested by Western intelligence services in Ukraine. ↑
4. Amaïzo, Y. E. (2014). “The Ebola virus does not come from Africa”. In afrocentricity.info. 29 September 2014. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://afrocentricity.info/2014/09/29/virus-ebola-vient-pas-dafrique/2716/ ↑
5. Alovor, G. & Amaïzo, Y. E. (2014). “Marburg versus Ebola: a random mutant virus”. 8 November 2014. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://afrocentricity.info/2014/11/07/marburg-alias-ebola-virus-mutant-aleatoire/2802/ ↑
6. U.S. Department of Defense (2022). “The Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program – Biological Threat Reduction Program Activities in Ukraine”. In media.defense.gov. 11 March 2022. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://media.defense.gov/2022/Mar/11/2002954612/-1/-1/0/FACT-SHEET-THE-DEPARTMENT-OF-DEFENSE%27S-COOPERATIVE-THREAT-REDUCTION-PROGRAM-BIOLOGICAL-THREAT-REDUCTION-PROGRAM-ACTIVITIES-IN-UKRAINE.PDF. ↑
7. U.S. Department of Defense (2022). “FACT SHEET. The Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP), part of the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program, is implemented by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). Since 2005, BTRP has partnered with the Government of Ukraine to support peaceful and safe biological detection and diagnostic capabilities and to reduce the threats posed by pathogens”. In media.defense.gov. 11 March 2022. Accessed 17 March 2024. Retrieved from https://media.defense.gov/2022/Mar/11/2002954612/-1/-1/0/FACT-SHEET-THE-DEPARTMENT-OF-DEFENSE%27S-COOPERATIVE-THREAT-REDUCTION-PROGRAM-BIOLOGICAL-THREAT-REDUCTION-PROGRAM-ACTIVITIES-IN-UKRAINE.PDF. There no secret that the U.S./Ukraine Partnership is a reality through the Pentagon’s Biological Threat Reduction Program since 2005. ↑
8. Hoft, J. (2022). “US Department of Defense Finally Comes Clean – Admits in Public Document that There Are 46 US Military-Funded Biolabs in Ukraine”. In www.thegatewaypundit.com. 12 June 2022. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/06/us-department-defense-finally-comes-clean-admits-public-document-46-us-funded-biolabs-ukraine/ ↑
9. Putterman, S. (2022). “Fact-check: Are there 46 U.S. military-funded biolabs in Ukraine?”. In eu.statesman.com. PolitiFact.com. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://eu.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2022/06/18/fact-check-pentagon-military-funded-labs-ukraine-russia-invasion/7646221001/. Although, the American Administration did not admit to the existence of U.S. military-funded biolabs in Ukraine, it is nonetheless known that the facilities referenced are owned and operated by Ukraine, mainly along Russia’s border and information about their existence has been made publicly available by the Pentagon for some time. ↑
10. Nature Editorial (2022). “Africa is bringing vaccine manufacturing home”. In 9 February 2022. In Nature Vol. 602, No. 184 (2022). doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00335-9. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00335-9 ↑
11. Russia Presidential Office (2023). Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan 2023–2026. 28 July 2023. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from http://en.kremlin.ru/supplement/5971 ↑
12. Faragamo, M. (2023). “Russia’s Growing Footprint in Africa”. In www.cfr.org. Council on Foreign Relations. 28 December 2023. Accessed 17 April 2024. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/russias-growing-footprint-africa ↑