AFRICA IS NOT POOR!

What have Africa, Philippines, Mexico and Brazil got in common? They are rich! Only the people are poor. That famous line was used by American political scientist Michael Parenti while describing Africa’s exploitation over the last 400 years.

And his speech on Third World poverty resonates today. Niger’s latest coup has again spotlighted exploitative relationships with France. Paris gets rich extracting resources from the West African state whose people get little in return. It’s gone on for centuries and is the source of conflict.

Parenti could have delivered this speech this week, never mind decades ago.