By Global News Service

Credit Line: from the Peoples Dispatch / Globetrotter News Service

• Mass Rally in Niamey Backs Niger’s Military Leaders as ECOWAS-led Intervention Looms
• Colombia Achieves Milestone in Peace Process as Right-Wing Intensifies Destabilization Campaign
• Can a Movement Leader Solve Argentina’s Problems?
• Israeli Forces and Illegal Settlers Killed Four Palestinians in 24 Hours in the Occupied West Bank

Mass Rally in Niamey Backs Niger’s Military Leaders as ECOWAS-led Intervention Looms

Approximately 30,000 people gathered in Niger’s capital Niamey on August 6, as the country faced a threat of military intervention led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). As the deadline set by ECOWAS expired on August 6, the regional bloc held an emergency virtual meeting with the African Union to discuss the situation in Niger.

The bloc did not publicly comment on the expiration of its ultimatum, but on August 7 issued a brief statement, announcing that ECOWAS chair, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, had convened a second Extraordinary Summit of the Authority which would take place in Abuja on August 10, to discuss “the political situation and recent developments in Niger.”

The bloc had first convened an Extraordinary Summit in Abuja on July 30, following which it had warned Niger’s military leaders, or the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), that it would take “all measures necessary,” including the use of force, if ousted president Mohamed Bazoum was not reinstated by August 6.

Plans for a possible military intervention were finalized in a three-day meeting of ECOWAS defense chiefs of staff which concluded in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on August 4.

Lawmakers in Nigeria rejected a proposal by President Bola Tinubu to deploy troops on August 5. ECOWAS members Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire have declared their intentions to deploy troops. Meanwhile, Niger’s other regional neighbors, Chad and Algeria (which is not a member of ECOWAS) have rejected military action.

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Colombia Achieves Milestone in Peace Process as Right-Wing Intensifies Destabilization Campaign

The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the country’s largest left-wing guerrilla group, began a 180-day bilateral ceasefire on August 3. The truce will remain in force until January 29, 2024. The historic step was agreed upon on June 9 during the third round of peace negotiations between the two sides in Havana, Cuba.

The development marked the most concrete progress to date for leftist president Gustavo Petro and his government’s plan to bring “total peace” to the country and end over 60 years of internal armed conflict, during which more than 450,000 people have been killed.

During an event held in Corferias, Bogotá, the National Participation Committee, made up of 81 delegates from 30 different social movements, trade unions, human rights organizations, victims’ movements, and business organizations, among other sectors from all over the country, was established.

Above all the committee seeks to help achieve a successful peace process that is accompanied by transformations in society.

The event was attended by President Gustavo Petro, the head of government delegation Otty Patiño, the head of the ELN delegation Pablo Beltrán, the high commissioner for peace Danilo Rueda, Senator Iván Cepeda, and other members of the peace delegations. The event was also attended by a number of government ministers and officials, representatives of the UN, the Catholic Church, and guarantor countries, and around 2,000 citizens from regions across the country, who have historically suffered the most from the conflict.

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Can a Movement Leader Solve Argentina’s Problems?

The primaries for the Unión por la Patria coalition on August 13 will see a contest between the current Minister of Economy Sergio Massa, Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers Agustín Rossi, and Juan Grabois whose running mate is social activist Paula Abal Medina.

Grabois was 18 when he was first arrested for participating in a protest. It was 2002. Over 50 percent of the population of Argentina was living below the poverty line and the value of the Argentine peso had plummeted. The most marginalized of the working class, who had been forced into the informal sector, fired from their full-time jobs, or were unable to find any work, organized the famous pickets, “corte de ruta” (cutting the street), on major highways and bridges. They were known as the “excluded” workers.

The mass movements which exist in Argentina today were forged in this period. The young social activist and student Juan Grabois, along with workers in the informal sector such as street vendors and cartoneros,founded the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE).

For the movement leader Grabois, winning the Unión por la Patria ticket is clearly an uphill battle, especially since the Massa-Rossi ticket has already been endorsed by current Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. However, Grabois has stated that the primary elections serve as an opportunity to bring the agenda of the popular sectors to the table and gain mass support for these proposals.

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Israeli Forces and Illegal Settlers Killed Four Palestinians in 24 Hours in the Occupied West Bank

At least four Palestinians, including two teenagers, were killed by the Israeli occupation forces and illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank in two different incidents on August 6.

Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a vehicle in the village of Arraba near Jenin, killing three Palestinians. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli soldiers also prevented a medical team from reaching the targeted vehicle to help the wounded. They later seized the vehicle and the bodies of those killed and withdrew from the area.

Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in Jenin after news of the killings broke.

Two of the Palestinians killed were identified as Naif Abu Tsuik, 26, and Bara Ahmed Fayez al-Qerm, 16. The third victim is yet to be identified.

According to reports, there were 100 bullet marks on the vehicle carrying the Palestinians. A video of the incident shows Israeli forces indiscriminately firing on the vehicle from behind.

Israeli security forces and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the three Palestinians killed were planning to carry out an attack against Israelis.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Mustafa Barghouti, the founder of the National Initiative party in Palestine, labeled the incident yet another extrajudicial killing of Palestinians by Israel.

In a separate incident, a 17-year-old Palestinian succumbed to bullet wounds sustained a few days ago during an attack by illegal settlers who opened fire on his car in Silwad, near Ramallah. The deceased was identified as Ramzi Fathi Hamed.