By Gerry Scoppettuolo
Recently the U.S. State Department has been trying to force African countries to trade weapons-grade rare earth minerals and other raw materials for the very lives of their citizens currently living with HIV. The collapse of US AID and billions of dollars of funding has likely already killed thousands of people already living with HIV since the interruption of assistance last year decreed by Marco Rubio.
Millions of Africans had suppressed their HIV virus and were living relatively healthy lives because of life-sustaining anti-retroviral drugs which lowered their HIV to undetectable levels. To recklessly make these drugs suddenly unavailable renders a person once again susceptible to deadly opportunistic infections as well as making them potentially infectious to others who do not use protection.
Those at risk for HIV have also been endangered by the curtailment of PreP medications drug known for their pre- exposure prophylaxis properties which can block HIV transmission for up to a year with just two doses. PreP is not a vaccine but confers vaccine-level protection. Thus, this new trade program endangers those not yet infected as well as those already living with the infection. This bloody program comes from Secretary of State Mario Rubio who acts as procurer for the defense industries and their stockholders guaranteeing their wealth and powers, setting in motion the role of the state as the supposed mediator between the working class and their true oppressor – capital.
So far, Zambia, Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe have said “no” to the extortion, rebuking western imperialism, and instead choosing the path of self-reliance and self-determination. These four countries have robust trade with the People Republic of China doubtless upsetting Washington’s global hegemony. Consequently the U.S. State Department is now threatening, in their word, to use “sticks” against non-compliant African nations who refuse Rubio’s deal.
These countries, and others are forsaking trade in U.S. dollars, and instead are choosing to deal in Chinese yuan currency. For instance, one of Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria, manages a multi-billion-dollar bilateral currency swap agreement (worth 15 billion yuan) with the People’s Bank of China. This agreement allows Nigerian and Chinese businesses to bypass the U.S. dollar entirely when trading goods, utilizing a direct Naira-to-Yuan pipeline.
Kenya has integrated the yuan deeply into its trade and infrastructure systems. Kenyan commercial banks offer direct RMB accounts, allowing local merchants importing machinery and electronics from China to settle payments without converting to U.S. dollars first. Kenya also restructured a massive portion of its dollar-denominated infrastructure debt (including its Standard Gauge Railway loans) into yuan to save on interest and currency conversion costs.
Zimbabwe explicitly added the Chinese yuan to its official multi-currency basket of currencies used in international trade,. with the yuan serving as a prominent fixture due to heavy Chinese investment in its tobacco and mineral sectors.
So called rare earth minerals are needed for the production of drones, F-35 jets, precision-guided missiles, laser systems, electric motors, stealth coatings, lasers, and even nuclear subs. China has these minerals in abundance and has trading partners who no longer use the U.S. dollar for international trade. According to Reuters , China has a near-monopoly over processing of heavy rare earths, and imports 25-30 thousand tons of rare earth minerals from Myanmar for refining annually.
The U.S. State Dept (under the Defense Production Act) is retaliating by offering to subsidize U.S. production of rare earth products by ensuring a floor price of $110/kg, roughly double the current Chinese market price. China stopped its trade in these minerals last year after Trump placed a 145% tariff on its exports.
The global crisis of HIV/AIDS reveals the danger of the dependence on the soft imperialism of U.S. financial assistance that can be turned on and off by corporate capital via state-level action. The U.S. has purchased billions of dollars in HIV medications since passage of the Pepfar program in 2003, guaranteeing market share and vast unearned wealth to pharmaceutical giants like Gilead Science. Gilead in turn paid earnings of $1.61 per share on each to its 1,25 billion outstanding shares in the first quarter 2026 alone.
The global HIV drug market size is expected to grow from $40.57 billion in 2026 to $66.09 billion by 2034. North American capital dominates the HIV drugs market with a market share of 70.71% in 2025.
According to UN AIDS, 630 000 [490 000–820 000] people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2024. AIDS is a totally preventable disease. It is only due to the conscious withholding of resources and lack of direct state economic planning that it has spread unchecked for the past 45 years.
