Mohammed Yunus, often called the “father of microcredit” in Bangladesh, is known for his work with Grameen Bank, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Recently, he gave an interview suggesting he wants to return to politics and even lead Bangladesh. Two months later, his dream came true. However, what was not reported by Reuters was the direct involvement of influential figures like Hunter Biden and Hillary Clinton in destabilizing Bangladesh and paving the way for their golden boy to take the throne.
The interview, which has gained attention worldwide and in Bangladesh, criticizes the now-toppled government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accusing it of authoritarianism and turning the country into a one-party state. Yunus also claimed that the January 7 elections were controversial because the main opposition party boycotted them, with many of their leaders either jailed or in exile.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), linked to Al Qaeda, boycotted the election hoping to return to power unconstitutionally with support from the Biden administration. US courts have labeled BNP a “tier-3 terrorist organization.” The Biden administration’s maneuvers in Bangladesh helped destabilize the country and create an environment for extremists to gain power.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has been lobbying for BNP for years.
On May 24, 2023, the US Department of State released a statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He announced a new visa policy under the Immigration and Nationality Act to help Bangladesh hold fair and peaceful national elections. This policy lets the US restrict visas for anyone in Bangladesh believed to be messing with the election process. This includes current and former officials, political party members, law enforcement, judiciary, and security services. The US informed Bangladesh about this decision on May 3, 2023.
Interestingly, this announcement came just five weeks after BNP finalized their deal with Hunter Biden. BNP promised Hunter Biden $100 million, besides the lobbyist fees, if they return to power with US help. They also assured him of priority in business deals related to Bangladesh’s oil and gas sector.
Now, here is what Hunter Biden lobbied the US administration for.
On 21 August 2004, Hunter backed BNP perpetrated a grenade attack aiming to wipe out the entire leadership of the Awami League. The attack also aimed to assassinate the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who barely escaped the attempt. The attack killed 24 people, many of them instantly.
The leader of BNP, Khaleda Zia, is in prison for fund misappropriation, and her son, Tarique Rahman, lives in exile in the UK, facing life sentences for terrorism-related activities including the attack.
In this backdrop, Reuters highlighted Yunus’s achievements in microcredit, saying he helped millions escape poverty with small loans. However, since receiving the Nobel Prize, many of his borrowers in Bangladesh have struggled with poverty due to high-interest rates on loans from Grameen Bank. Investigative journalist Tom Heinemann revealed that Yunus transferred $100 million in grants from various countries to a family-owned company to avoid taxes and charged poor women high-interest rates of 21-37%.
A case involving Sufia Begum, a symbol of Grameen Bank’s success, showed how the bank’s high-interest loans pushed many borrowers deeper into poverty. Yunus’s project, “Hillary Model Village,” promised better lives for villagers but instead left them in extreme poverty and despair, with many turning to child marriage and brothels.
Yunus has been a major donor to the Clinton Foundation, and Hillary Clinton used her influence to secure millions in grants and loans for him despite his ouster from Grameen Bank in 2011. Clinton even threatened the Bangladeshi government to protect Yunus from corruption investigations, leveraging her power with the World Bank to cancel a $1.2 billion loan for the Padma Bridge project.
Emails from Clinton’s private server revealed that she closely monitored Bangladesh’s investigation of Yunus. David Bossie of Citizens United called for an FBI investigation into the potential conflicts of interest between the State Department and Clinton Foundation donors.
In 2007, an army-backed interim government came to power in Bangladesh. Clinton tried to promote Yunus as the new leader by pushing the “minus-two formula,” which aimed to retire and exile both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia.
Yunus’s interview with Reuters was part of a broader strategy involving the Bidens and the Clintons to potentially create a political upheaval in Bangladesh. A couple months later, the strategy seems to have worked.