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In today's edition:

Facebook removed Covid-related posts due to pressure from the Biden administration, per emails seen by the Wall Street Journal

A West African economic organization threatened military action against Niger’s coup leaders

Prosecutors brought 3 more charges against former President Trump related to the classified documents case

Colombia’s president’s son was arrested on Saturday for allegedly accepting money from cartels in exchange for facilitating peace deals

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The Sahel – a strip of dry land where the Sahara desert meets the savannah – is the poorest region of the world. Mostly Muslim and French-speaking, it contains parts of 14 countries that are all among the world’s poorest. One of them is Niger, pronounced knee-zher, which the UN ranks the third least-developed country on Earth.

Niger’s average annual income is well below $600, although up to 80% of the population lives outside cities in places where money is rarely used. 35% of the country is literate and 65% of children don’t attend school. 25%+ of girls marry before age 15, and 75% before 18.

Niger is home to 25M people. The average Nigerien woman has 7 kids – more than anywhere else in the world – which is causing the population to grow 4% a year. It’s projected there will be 70M Nigeriens by 2050.

Yet despite the country’s challenges, it had emerged as a bright spot in the region. Since 2011, when nearby Libya fell into civil war, weapons have come pouring through the Sahel and terrorist and rebel groups have spread throughout neighboring countries.

The resulting chaos has displaced millions and killed tens of thousands. Fears that conflicts in the area – many of which involve Islamist extremists – could spread have drawn in American and French troops, as well as billions of foreign aid.

Complicating matters is international politics.

Many of the region’s countries were once French colonies and have maintained close ties with France, which oversees a currency used by several West African countries. In recent years, though, tides have turned against France and the West more broadly.

Since 2020, coups in two other poor and violent Sahelian countries – Mali and Burkina Faso – put pro-Russia and anti-France governments in power. As those companies became less accessible to the West, Niger became increasingly important.

By earlier this year, Niger was the region’s most stable country. The US and France had both opened bases in the country and stationed over 1,000 troops there. Last year, one Western general said the West had to “help Niger survive in a neighborhood that is crumbling”. Niger was also the only country with a democratically-elected leader.

When that leader – Mohamed Bazoum – was elected in 2021, it was the first time in the country’s history that two democratically-elected leaders peacefully passed power.

A former teacher, Bazoum developed close ties with the West and said his priorities were to improve education, make the government function, and fight terrorism.

By this summer, the US had 1,100 soldiers in Niger and was conducting all surveillance of the Sahel from the country. The country – despite its poverty – had become vitally important.

But on Wednesday, the head of Niger’s presidential guard – a military unit tasked with defending the president – ordered Bazoum into the basement of the presidential residence and warned the military that the president and his family would be killed if anyone fired a shot.

Bazoum kept his phone, though, and was able to tweet that, “hard-won achievements will be safeguarded.” The army swore allegiance to Bazoum, raising the prospect of war between the pro- and anti-Bazoum factions.

By the end of the day, though, a group of special forces went on TV to declare that they were taking power and suspending the constitution. A day later, the army’s chief of staff said the army would join the coup “to avoid a deadly confrontation between the various forces and a consequent potential bloodbath threatening the security of the population.”

By Thursday night, the army had used gunfire to disperse protesters and declare the country’s borders sealed. On Friday, a Nigerian general appeared on state TV and identified himself as Niger’s new leader. A TV banner called him “President of the national council for the preservation of the homeland.”

The deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, remains under arrest. The leader of Niger’s presidential guard, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, has since suspended Niger’s constitution and declared himself its ruler.

This weekend, ECOWAS – an organization of 15 nations including Niger that seeks to create an EU-esque African trade bloc – threatened to take “all measures necessary” to “restore constitutional order” if Niger's military leaders don't step down within a week.

Niger's military rejected that, setting up a standoff with ECOWAS.

Has the US already lost its key partner in the Sahel?

If you have thoughts, let us know at [email protected]!

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We hope you all had better weekends than Niger's president. Hopefully you found that Wrap interesting and learned something new. That's our goal!

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Max and Max