The Wire - March 18, 2024

this is the wire for 2100 zillu March 18th 2024 precedence is routine information cut off is 2000 bottom line up front protests begin in Cuba violence continues in Haiti beginning with international events in Haiti the situation on the ground remains tenuous as violence continues and the geopolitical situation remains challenging to describe many low-level gangs have taken advantage of the chaos in order to settle scores many reports have surfaced of pil of bodies being found in the street the reason for which is not often discernible analysts comment many people appear to be killed for any number of reasons and perhaps most dangerously for no reason at all this unfortunately is not new for Haiti and has been a tragic reality for those living in the baguer nation for years in Cuba growing dissatisfaction among the populace has become more palpable following demonstrations throughout the country many of the demonstrations are in response to recent food shortages which have increasingly become more serious over the years a recent spike in blackouts and food shortages has resulted in localized demonstrations in many cities and towns throughout the nation in Niger the ruling military Council has terminated the defense agreement that had previously allowed us Personnel to remain in the country analyst comment as a reminder Niger is technically in a state of military coup following the outing of president bazoom in July of 2023 on the home front in Massachusetts six children have been criminally charged for speech crimes following the revelation of allegedly racist group chat messages the district attorney has charged all six juveniles with intent to commit a crime two of the children will be charged for interfering with civil rights and another child will be charged with interfering with a witness the charges come directly after the local NAACP Branch sent a letter to the local school district demanding an investigation analyst comments for this wire in Niger the ruling military Council has mandated the immediate removal of all us Personnel from the territory of Niger however the timeline for such removal has not been clearly outlined as it will take some time for the United States to draw down forces in the region what comes next is not certain additionally it is not clear as to if the United States will be leaving Niger immediately following the coup last year similar demands were made as the military leadership sought to consolidate power currently the US military presence in Niger is largely focused at base 2011 a secret drone base from which the US conducted many operations against Isis in the region as well as at the US Embassy and the international airport in naami at the time of the initial coup it is likely that the American response was to sit tight and wait for an echoed intervention Force to restore order to the capital a force that never came almost a year after tensions began eoas is not in a position to even guarantee their own internal security much less launch an invasion into Niger consequently it is possible that the United States will face the loss of yet another strategic military foothold in Africa if an agreement with the ruling government of Niger cannot be established this concludes the wire for 2100 Zulu March 18 2024