This one first came to our attention because of one of the "early warning systems" we use.
From a January 2016 post, "Will the West Create its Next Failed State in Burundi?":
Then the U.N and assorted NGO's started making noise about violence in Burundi and people fleeing; we caught up with that in April 2016's "International Criminal Court Opens Early Probe Into Chicago Violence":There's something big going on across the globe that I've been debating posting on for the last four years.If you are interested, here is one loose thread in a small corner of the tapestry to pick at, that, if followed, might lead on to the rest.
Further, your affiant sayeth naught....
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary probe into atrocities in Chicago over the last year, saying violence in the city has reportedly left more than 430 people dead and forced 230,000 to flee their homes.-ABCOh wait.
The ICC isn't looking into Chicago, those figures are for Burundi.
The numbers are very close though.
Chicago's murder stats for 2015 were Shot & Killed: 445 with 507 total homicides. Also something like 200,000 fleeing the city:
From a population of 2,896,016 in 2000 to 2,722,389 at the start of last year.
Of course Burundi's population is around 9 million so Chicago's percentages are higher.
Here's the latest on Burundi via the Financial Times:
Burundi faces ICC probe as political violence escalates...This all followed something really weird, in this case Presidential Executive Order 13712 of November 2015, which begins, in part:
I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, find that the situation in Burundi, which has been marked by the killing of and violence against civilians, unrest, the incitement of imminent violence, and significant political repression, and which threatens the peace, security, and stability of Burundi, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I hereby order:...
Bet you didn't know about that one huh?So, to sum up, we had a violence level one-third Chicago's and a President (Nkurunziza) who has been in office for a shorter period than, say, U.S. and European BFF Rwanda's Kagame (since 2000) or Zimbabwe's Mugabe (since 1987) being used as a pretext to change the government.
And then Burundi dropped off the radar.
Nothing.
The herd of international NGO's and their media and the transnationals moved on.
And so should I. Except for one little thing, all this leads up to a short little note in the Financial Times:
December 5, 2017And Now the Financial Times' Natural Resources Editor tweets:
Henry Sanderson
London-listed Rainbow Rare Earths said it has exported its first shipment of rare earths from its project in Burundi. The company said it shipped 25 tonnes of high grade rare earths from the east African country by road to Mombasa in Kenya. It will then be shipped to steel maker Thyssenkrupp.
The project is one of the few sources of rare earths outside of China. After a spectacular price bust in 2012 prices for rare earths have started to rise this year, as demand increases for magnets in electric car motors and wind turbines....
Next up, What's going on in Mali?Burundi rare earths mine targets 20-fold output boost https://t.co/PVgD8gmGd5 via @financialtimes— Neil Hume (@humenm) September 9, 2019
I mean beyond the Mansa Musa richest person who ever lived angle.
And the artisanal miners finding 1-kilogram+ gold nuggets.
As noted in a June post where our little Burundi story appeared:
Something's up but we don't know what.
Oftentimes what appears to be factional fighting, such as that in Nigeria or Kashmir is just that, factional fighting. But sometimes there is opportunity behind the headlines.
And if it matters the U.S. Establishment's paper of choice (and favorite of CIA story spinners) the Washington Post is telling their version of what's up, fairly aggressively"
What's behind the escalating ethnic violence in Mali? Here's what you need to know.These little mining companies are not to be invested in but they sure do offer an interesting shadow-view of geopolitics.
Mali has been struck by ethnic violence the scope of which it's never before seen: On March 23, the predominately ethnic Fulani villages of Ogossagou and Welingara in central Mali were destroyed
Analysis | Mali's government collapsed. Here's what that tells us about parliamentary coalitions in Africa.
In March, armed men attacked a village in central Mali, killing at least 130 people and burning their homes, part of a cycle of escalating violence between ethnic groups. Soon after, a retaliatory...
