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‘A viper’s nest of imperialists’
USAid, which Trump and Musk are moving to abolish, may provide essential aid. But it is also a front for meddling in foreign sovereignty, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
An Ethiopian woman scoops up portions of wheat to be allocated to each waiting family after it was distributed by the Relief Society of Tigray in the town of Agula, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, May 8, 2021

THERE is an understandable outcry here about the potential termination of much-needed medical and humanitarian support to Third World countries as the Trump administration moves to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAid). 

For all intents and purposes, USAid appears to be — and to some extent is — a dispenser of essential aid to countries in need. Its termination is an ominous move in a likely trend. 

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump’s unelected henchman, Elon Musk, threatened to throw USAid “into a wood chipper.” At a hastily called rally at the US Capitol on Wednesday, Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts asked: “What else is going into that wood chipper? Healthcare, democracy, fighting for the rights of those who are most desperate around the world.” 

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