Fears of Coup Attempt Swirl in Niger

By Christina Lu

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at attempted coup fears in Niger, Russia’s moves to boost its military, and Ecuador’s efforts to crack down on prison violence.

President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger was reportedly blockaded inside the presidential palace by members of his presidential guard on Wednesday, fueling fears of an attempted coup and sparking fierce condemnation from African leaders and regional organizations.

Although details are still emerging, Wednesday’s tumult has stoked concerns of political instability in a country that has endured numerous coups since its independence in 1960. Bazoum’s election in 2021 marked Niger’s first democratic transfer of power since independence. Before that, Niger had experienced four coups and multiple thwarted attempted ones, with the most recent attempt occurring just days before Bazoum took office in 2021.

As of Wednesday afternoon, it remained unclear what triggered the presidential guard’s actions and exactly how the situation had unfolded. On social media, the Niger president’s office said that Bazoum and his family “are well” and characterized the presidential guard’s actions as a failed bid to seize power. “Elements of the Presidential Guard engaged in an anti-Republican move and tried in vain to obtain the support of the National Armed Forces and the National Guard,” it said in a now-deleted tweet.

Late Wednesday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the national parliament chanting “Free Bazoum” before marching to the presidential palace; a short time later, journalists at the scene reported hearing gunfire, apparently coming from the presidential guards and directed toward the demonstrators.

The guards’ actions prompted sharp criticism from the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, which referred to Wednesday’s events as an “attempted coup” and urged “the coup plotters” to immediately free Bazoum. Regional leaders as well as the United States, France, and the United Nations have also condemned the presidential guard’s actions. Bazoum has been a close partner of Western nations in the fight against Islamist terrorist groups active in the region such as al Qaeda and Boko Haram.

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Cambodia’s ruler steps down. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that he will step down and cede power to his son in August, bringing an end to a nearly four-decade rule that made him Asia’s longest-serving nonhereditary leader. (The Sultan of Brunei, who inherited his throne, is the longest-ruling leader overall.) Since taking power in 1985, the longtime leader has systematically sidelined critics and dissent, even excluding the main opposition party from participating in the country’s most recent elections on Sunday.

Don’t expect many changes, though: Hun Sen is set to lead the Cambodian People’s Party and will retain significant authority. “Even if I am no longer a prime minister,” he said in June, “I will still control politics as the head of the ruling party.”

Russia’s military boost. To bolster Moscow’s war effort, Russian lawmakers have voted to widen the age bracket for military conscription by three years and bar conscripted men from leaving Russia. Russian men aged 18 to 27 are currently eligible for conscription; the proposed measure would increase the maximum age to 30. For the bill to ultimately take effect, it still needs to be approved by the upper house of the Russian parliament and President Vladimir Putin.

Ecuador’s prison violence. After facing violent prison clashes that resulted in 31 deaths and around 100 guards being taken hostage, Ecuador is taking sweeping measures to regain control of its penitentiary system. This week, President Guillermo Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency across its jails and deployed the country’s armed forces to crack down on the violence and impose order.

Earlier this week, Lasso also instituted a state of emergency and set night curfews in two provinces and the city of Duran after a shooting killed two people, including the mayor of one of the province’s cities. “We cannot deny that organized crime has permeated the state, political organizations and society itself, it is a problem that has been brewing for more than a decade,” he said.

As China’s youth struggle to find jobs—more than one in five young Chinese adults are unemployed—some are sticking to what they know: being children. Some Chinese parents are hiring their kids as “full-time children,” NBC News reported, which can entail anything from doing household chores to grocery shopping in exchange for a salary. “I like cooking, and I cook lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday for my family,” one full-time daughter wrote online. “My parents give me money without interfering with my life. I am extremely happy every day.”

Update, July 26, 2023: This piece has been updated to clarify the nature of Hun Sen’s comparative tenure in Asia.