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One of the richest continents on earth for its natural resources, and yet the one where
the masses of the population suffer most because of imperialist exploitation. The crisis
in Zaire-Congo, Rwuanda-Burundi, Sierra Leone, Angloa, the movement of the workers against
the ANC government in South Africa, and so on, show us that the only way forward is a
socialist program to end poverty and exploitation. The only other alternative under
capitalism is barbarism. See also the section dedicated to Nigeria.
Sierra Leone
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Imperialist interests behind barbarism in Sierra Leone
It is important that we view the situation in Sierra Leone from its roots, i.e. from neo-colonial independence. The current civil war is a confirmation of the impasse capitalism has landed the country in. It is a reflection of the total failure of neo-colonial capitalism. All it can guarantee in the long run, unless the workers take power, is barbarism. Leke Absioye, from the Nigerian Marxist paper Workers Alternative, Lagos, Nigeria. (May 23, 2000)
South Africa
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South African Communist Party campaign against the banking sector
On Saturday October 21st, nearly 40,000 people participated in 14 marches and 5 pickets all over South Africa to protest against racist and discriminatory banking practices. The day of action, called the 'Red Saturday', was organised by the South African Communist Party as part of their Red October Campaign. This article looks at the way South African banks discriminate against working class and poor people and argues that the SACP should have raised the issue of nationalization of the banks.
- General
strike against capitalist policies in South Africa
As much as half of South Africa's workforce participated in a 24-hour nation-wide general
strike called by the 1.8 million strong Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) on
May 10th. The main reason for the strike was the jobs crisis but it did reflect a wider
discontent with the pro-capitalist policies of the ANC government. The article argues that
talking about socialism is not enough and that the leaders of the SA Communist Pary and
COSATU should break with the capitalist wing of the ANC and put forward a clear socialist
alternative. By Jordi Martorell. (May 17, 2000)
- ANC
Victory: Masses Expect Action
On June 2nd the ANC won, as was expected, a landslide victory in South Africa's second
democratic election. With 66.35% of the votes they got 266 seats, just one short of the
two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution, but still 4% more than in the 1994
general election. This article analyses the record of the first ANC government, the
debates within the labour movement and the South African Communist Party, the perspectives
for the new ANC government and argues the case for genuine socialist policies. (June 16,
1999)
- SASCO
Congress Debates South African Revolution
"Victory is certain! The struggle continues! Amandla!" With these slogans, Jacob
Mamabolo, president of the South African Students Congress, closed his political report to
the organisationīs 7th Annual Congress. The Congress, which took place at the Vaal
Triangle Technikon from December 1st to December 5th, with the participation of 600
delegates and visitors, did not discuss just purely student issues, but dealt with the
main debates and challenges facing the South African revolutionary movement at present.
(January 1999)
Morocco
- Interview with
Mehdi Ben Barka's Son Bachir
This interview was originally published in the French Marxist magazine La Riposte.
In it, the son of assasinated Moroccan socialist leader Mehdi Ben Barka explains the
reasons why his father was kidnapped and assasinated with the help of the French
government. We are launching an international solidarity appeal to force the authorities
to re-open this case and make public all the secret documents being witheld from Ben
Barka's family.
Zimbabwe
- Mugabe's
desperate throw - The land question and the Zimbabwean revolution
All the world media have turned their attention to Zimbabwe in recent months since
landless peasants started occupying white-owned big commercial farms. The press has
unleashed a hysterical campaign against those land occupations which they depict as
illegal and violent. They completely ignore the responsibility of capitalism and
imperialism for robbing the land of the black peasants and pushing them into utter
poverty. How do the white settlers dare to say those lands are theirs! When they robbed
the lands of the blacks peasants they used all the violent means of repression possible.
By Jean Duval. (April 20, 2000)
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Zimbabwe Perspectives 1986
This document was written by Zimbabwean socialists in 1985 and deals in
detail with the history of the struggle against colonialism, the
character of the Mugabe regime and the tasks facing socialists in
Zimbabwe at that time. We have decided to republish it here to give
revolutionary activists in Southern Africa and in the rest of the world a
better understanding of the background to the current crisis. Includes
the following sections: 1986 preface, Introduction, Zimbabwe and the
World, The Independence Struggle, The Economy, Leadership or
Bureaucracy?, The Labour Movement, Prospects for the Future.
Mozambique
- Mozambique
Floods - Price of World's Inaction
Capitalism can't be blamed for the weather, but the disaster which hit this impoverished
country has been made a thousand times worse by their inability to do anything that isn't
profit motivated. The price of lives is weighed up against what they can buy and how they
can be used. By Sue Norris. (March 2000)
Zaire/Democratic Republic of Congo
- Capitalism, Imperialism and the
Wars in Africa. The Meaning of the Conflict in Congo
In May 1997 Kabila came to power in the former Zaire (which he renamed the Democratic
Republic of Congo), ousting dictator Mobutu. The US diplomacy was euphoric. They now had a
string of "client" regimes which included Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Rwanda, the
DR of Congo and also a great deal of South Africa's foreign policy in the region was
dictated by Washington. But many things have happened since. At least nine African
countries have become involved in the Congo conflict which broke out on August 2. What is
the meaning of the conflict in the DR of Congo? (October, 9, 1998)
Sudan
- US Attacks on Sudan and
Afghanistan
The brutal air strikes on Sudan and Afghanistan constitute a further sample of the
bullying tactics of US imperialism and will be condemned by activists in the labour
movement everywhere. By such means Washington uses its powerful airforce in order to throw
its weight around and intimidate and blackmail all the peoples of the third world. This
latest escapade is clearly intended for US public opinion, to show that "something
has been done" in relation to the terrorist bombings in Kenya. (August 1998)
Congo Brazzaville
- Congo Brazzaville, the Reasons Behind
the Civil War
On October 16, 1997, the troops of the former president of Congo Brazzaville, M. Sassou
Nguesso, took control of the capital Brazzaville, thus ousting the current president
Pascal Lissouba, after a five month long civil war. It would be very difficult to
understand the reasons for this conflict without taking into account the background
struggle for influence between French and US imperialism in Africa, and the interests of
the different oil companies in the rich oil fields in Congo Brazzaville's Atlantic coast.
(October 1997)
Belgian Congo
- New
revelations on the assassination of Patrice Lumumba
The night of January 17th 1961 Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba, was shot
dead in Katanga. Forty years later a new book by Belgian sociologist Ludo De Witte
uncovers proof of what everyone already knew: the complicity of the Belgian government and
the United Nations in this crime. Pierre Dorremans looks at the political background of
this case and explains the politics of Lumumba. (April 2000)
The Colonial Question and
Imperialism
- Marxism and the
Struggle Against Imperialism
It is nearly seven years since George Bush, the then president of the US, made his famous
"New World Order" speech. This was in 1991. In the build-up to the Gulf War the
main imperialist power on earth promised a world without wars, without dictatorships and,
of course, a world firmly under the control of a single all-powerful world policeman - the
US. After the fall of Stalinism, US imperialism really thought that the world would be
firmly under their command and they would be able to dictate the destiny of each and every
country. Now all these dreams have been reduced to rubble. In this document Ted Grant and
Alan Woods make an in-depth analysis of the history of the imperialist domination of the
Third World and the way. (June 1998)
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