Guinea and the Military Coup Incubator, AFRICOM

Originally published in Black Agenda Report by Netfa Freeman, who represents BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action (PACA) on BAP’s Coordinating Committee, September 8, 2021

The recent coup in Guinea exemplifies the damage done by European colonizers and the U.S. Africa Command.

West Africa has just experienced its fourth attempted coup in just over a year, and seven coups over the last 13 years were carried out by African troops trained by the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). One was directly carried out by AFRICOM forces - Operation Odyssey Dawn against Libya in 2011, its first major military operation. 

On Sunday, September 5, 2021 soldiers detained Guinean President Alpha Condé and claimed control of the government. They suspended the constitution and closed all of the country’s borders. In a video recorded in the capital Conakry, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya of the Guinean Armed Forces (GAF) announced that the National Assembly had been dissolved.

Doumbouya, deemed the primary leader of the coup, was trained by the French military in France and, before turning against him, was called in 2018 by Condé to head a new Special Force Unit. Doumbouya and many others in the Guinean’s military also had AFRICOM training in Operation Flintlock 19. Operation Flintlock 19 occurred in early 2019 and, with participation from 34 African and other partner nations, was the largest annual exercise hosted by AFRICOM.

There should be no doubt that an indoctrination about the inherent goodness of the US-European role in Africa accompanies this military training with blindspots about the true legacy of colonialism. It is highly unlikely that a soldier could get through such brainwashing today and still have an anti-imperialist mindset intact.

Reminiscent of the coup in Mali that took place in May of this year, Guinea seems to validate AFRICOM as an incubator of military coups in Africa. Rather than embark on an agenda that addresses mass poverty and abolished austerity, comprador leadership seeks protection from the people through neo-colonial relationships with the Pan-European, capitalist patriarchy. Then their youthful and neo-colonial trained military personnel get it into their heads that, rather than serve an aged and widely unpopular dictator, they will take control themselves.

In Guinea, “the TV address featured nine unnamed soldiers, several draped in the red, gold and green national flag, who said they had taken over because of rampant corruption, mismanagement and poverty,” Yahoo News reported. Similar claims were made in Mali by Colonel turned Mali president, Assimi Goïta.

In and of itself a coup does not necessarily indicate that the action is against the people’s interest, whether the nature of the incoming government is revolutionary or neo-colonialist. Thomas Sankara, “The Upright Man ” and revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso, came to power through a coup. Hugo Chavez’s first attempt to power in Venezuela was via coup. The case of the Arab Pan-Africanist of the Libyan Jamahiriya, Muammar Gaddafi was the same.

A hugely significant factor with these leaders and those who followed them was that they were imbued with an anti-imperialist imperative. They understood that the primary contradiction was not the particular comprador leadership who held state offices. The primary contradiction is the capitalist, European imperialist global order. They knew that the only solution for the people of the Global South was to embark on a bottom up process of control over their land, resources, or economic systems.

The coup in Guinea has been widely condemned by the US, the UN, the AU, ECOWAS, and others. In contrast, news of the coup sparked celebrations in some parts of the capital, where hundreds of people applauded the soldiers.

African people face such dire circumstances at the hands of neocolonialism and neoliberalism that they welcome the remotest possibility of change. The outward faces of their oppression are the Black faces that only appear to be in charge. Too many African presidents don’t actually preside over their countries. They kowtow. 

An indication that AFRICOM incubated coups will likely not result in any fundamental change is that those leading the coups do not even make mention of the principles they are for, or that they are even against foreign domination. They make no attempts to create participatory programs of transformation that redistribute land, nationalize natural resources, or establish universal health care and education.

In our March 2021 article, Movements Not Saviors: Lessons from Bobi Wine’s Tweet for Juan Guaido, co-author Jemima Pierre and I explained that:

“The goals of African people must be more advanced than simply replacing a dictator. Imperialism is a global system that requires enforcement of certain conditions everywhere. This is precisely why autocratic leaders are supported by imperialism. These governments are the neocolonial political cover for the West’s control of the land, labor and markets of the colonized. A return to the oppressive conditions for the people will be inevitable if a dictator is removed but not the West’s ultimate control.”

A upgraded, popular Pan-Africanist movement must be rebuilt to demilitarize and depose imperialism from Africa. This will require constructing a mass based geostrategic vision that intensifies in Africa opposition to AFRICOM and other European military projects.

Netfa Freeman is an organizer in Pan-African Community Action (PACA) and on the Coordinating Committee of the Black Alliance for Peace. Netfa is also co-host/producer of the WPFW radio show and podcast Voices With Vision.

Banner photo: Members of the Seychellois Coast Guard board a patrol boat during training in Victoria, Seychelles on August 3, 2021. (Yeoman 1st Class Ann Geiman/AFRICOM)

Haiti: On Interventions and Occupations

Originally published in Black Agenda Report by BAP member Dr. Peter James Hudson and BAP Haiti/Americas Coordinator Dr. Jemima Pierre, August 4, 2021

U.S. and other foreign interventions are the cause of Haiti's ongoing crises.

The first calls for foreign intervention into Haiti came soon after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in Port-au-Prince on July 7th. Intervention was  justified by the claim that Moïse’s death had created a vacuum of political leadership and authority that would push Haiti into a maelstrom of chaos and anarchy -- into what the Guardian announced as a “violent new era.” Only intervention, led by the US and supported by its international partners, could save the troubled republic from an inevitable crisis.

By all accounts, the press projections of Haiti falling to barbarism after the assassination has not happened. But the calls for foreign intervention have continued. These calls have ignored two important and consequential facts. First, previous foreign interventions have been unmitigated disasters. They have led to long-term military occupations that destroyed the Haitian state and marginalized civil society while leaving tens of thousands of Haitians displaced or dead. Second, and most importantly, Haiti is already under occupation. Calls for “intervention” are not only disingenuous, but actually redundant.

The first US intervention and occupation of Haiti officially began with an echo of the present. In 1915, Haitian president Theodore Guillame Sam was murdered – dragged out of the French legation and killed in the streets – after he had imprisoned and then killed a number of his political opponents. Fearing political chaos, and with a desire to protect US interests, persons, and property, the US landed three hundred troops on July 28th, 1915, initiating a military occupation that lasted nineteen years, until 1934.

But the calls for intervention and the strategies for occupation had long preceded Sam’s murder. In the years leading up to the landing of US marines in 1915, the National City Bank of New York was becoming increasingly involved in Haiti’s financial affairs. They pushed for control of Haiti’s railroads, ports, the national bank, and the sovereign debt – and they were encouraged by the US State Department, who had adopted the well-known policy of “dollar diplomacy” throughout the Caribbean region . Bank managers served as shadow representatives of the State Department in Haiti.

CIty Bank officials had already called for US military intervention to protect their Haitian investments before 1914. In 1914, bank vice president Roger Leslie Farnham wrote a memorandum outlining a strategy for occupation, saturated with racial paternalism and ideas of Haitian inferiority, for US secretary of state William Jennings Bryan. The same year, City Bank officials sent a request for US Marines to land in Haiti to move the $500,000 gold reserve from the Banque National d’Haiti in Port-au-Prince to a Wall Street vault. They asserted the action was taken to protect their investments. Haiti’s politicians viewed it as theft, and a deliberate attack on the Republic’s sovereignty.

When intervention and occupation did occur in 1915, the bank consolidated its near-monopoly control of Haiti’s finances, banking, and industry. During the first occupation, the US rewrote the Haitian constitution and installed a puppet president, imposed press censorship and martial law, and brought Jim Crow policies and forced labor to the island. It also initiated a “pacification” campaign against those Haitian militants engaged in armed struggle to protect the republic’s sovereignty. The US military dropped bombs and burned villages, tortured and murdered peasants, and hunted rebel “bandits” for sport.

Of the stated aims of the occupation – building infrastructure, expanding education, and providing internal and regional stability – little was achieved. The longstanding result of the US occupation was the establishment and training of a local police force, the Gendarmerie d'Haïti. Years after the occupation, this police force was used to terrorize the Haitian people.

US troops withdrew in 1934 after a sustained period of protest, begun in 1929 by Haitian students and eventually joined by all classes of Haitians and Haitian allies in the international community.

The US would continue to intervene Haitian affairs, first supporting the brutal dictatorship of Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier and Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, and then again in 1991 as the CIA bankrolled a coup d’etat against the country’s first democratically elect president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The coup was not consolidated because of continuous resistance from the Haitian people. By 1994, US president Bill Clinton’s administration was forced to bring Aristide back to Haiti after 3 years in exile, with 20,000 troops brought in to quell Haitian resistance. But Aristide was now a hostage to US neoliberal policy. The US troops remained until 1999.

The second occupation of Haiti began in 2004 and was initiated after a coup d'etat sponsored by the U.S., France, and Canada that dethroned elected Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was kidnapped by US marines and sent to the Central African Republic. US President George W. Bush announced afterwards that he was sending US forces to Haiti to “help stabilize the country.” It is clear, as Glen Ford and Peter Gamble remind us, “George Bush didn’t invent U.S. aggression against Haiti; that’s been U.S. policy since 1804.”

The 2004 illegal coup d’état was both enforced and cleaned up with the sanction of the UN. The UN took over from US forces and established the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (or MINUSTAH) for the tasks of military occupation under the guise of establishing peace and security.

A multi-billion dollar operation, MINUSTAH had, at any given time, between 6000 and 12,000 military troops and police stationed in Haiti alongside thousands of civilian personnel. Like the first US occupation, the UN occupation under MINUSTAH was marked by its  brutality towards Haitian people. Civilians were brutally attacked and assassinated. “Peace-keepers” committed sexual crimes. UN soldiers dumped human waste into rivers used for drinking water, unleashing a cholera epidemic that killed between 10,000 and 50,000 people.

The Core Group -- an international coalition of self-proclaimed non-Black “friends” of Haiti -- emerged through the MINUSTAH occupation in 2004. Its stated goal was to oversee Haiti’s governance. Meanwhile, as with the first occupation, the US and MINUSTAH trained Haitian police forces, reintegrating many of the rogue members into these forces. The US, in collusion with MINUSTAH and the Core Group, also over-rode Haitian democracy, installing both neo-Duvalierist Michel Martelly and his PHTK party, alongside Martelly’s protege and successor, Jovenel Moïse. Moreover, it was under occupation that Haiti was devastated by the 2010 earthquake; all the pledges of humanitarian aid and assistance and the promises to “build back better” have amounted to nothing, the funds grifted by the Haitian oligarchy and comprador bourgeoisie, as well the international community.

While it is claimed that this occupation officially ended in 2017, with the dissolution of MINUSTAH, the UN has remained in Haiti through a new acronym: BINUH, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti. BINUH has had an outsized role in Haitian internal political affairs. For example, soon after Moïse was killed, its representative, Helen La Lime, asserted that Claude Joseph would be installed as Haiti’s leader. Later on, the “Core Group” switched gears and demanded that Ariel Henry should be president. And this is exactly what happened when a “new” Haitian government was announced on July 20, 2021, with Henry as leader. This without any say from the Haitian people.

It would seem that the goal, and perhaps success, of this occupation has been to not only permanently quell the last vestiges of the mass movement that emerged through the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship and culminated in the 1990 election of Jean Bertrand Aristide. The objective was to also completely and fatally destroy the Haitian state. And with that, the turning of Haiti into a permanent vassal state. In this, the self-hating comprador bourgeoisie, the poodles for white supremacy, have played a significant role. It is noteworthy that, in the wake of Moïse’s assassination, the comprador bourgeois lapdogs (such as Claude Joseph, Joseph Lambert, Ariel Henry) as well as the nonBlack oligarchs (such as Reginal Boulos) rushed first to get the blessings of their white overlords, representatives of the UN occupation force, the Core Group and the U.S. State Department.

For Haiti, both the first occupation, in 1915, and the second, in 2004, were unmitigated disasters. Both were premised on the idea that not only was Haiti falling into chaos and anarchy, but with the deeply racist notion that Haitians are unable to govern themselves. Be it under watch of US Marines, a multinational UN force, or an international cohort of technocratic experts in security and democracy, it seems likely that the ongoing second occupation will be intensified by a formal foreign military intervention.

The occupation will only end with the complete withdrawal of the imperial powers from Haiti.

Peter James Hudson is a writer, editor, and historian who teaches Black Studies at UCLA. He is the author of Bankers and Empire: How Wall Street Colonized the Caribbean.

Jemima Pierre is a contributor to Black Agenda Report, the Haiti/Americas Coordinator for the Black Alliance for Peace, and a Black Studies and anthropology professor at UCLA.

Banner photo: UN troops in Haiti. (Swoan Parker/Reuters)

BAP-Philly Member's Statement at July 26 Rally Commemorating Cuban Revolution

BAP-Philly member Deandra Jefferson read aloud the following statement at a July 26, 2021, rally held in Philadelphia to commemorate the start of the Cuban revolution on July 26, 1953.

BAP-Philly member Deandra Jefferson reading the following statement at the U.S. Hands off Cuba rally at Philadelphia City Hall. (Joe Piette/Workers World Party)

Good afternoon, my name is Deandra, and I am a member of the Philadelphia chapter of Black Alliance for Peace. We are a Black led African diaspora wide organization dedicated to advancing the anti imperial struggle throughout the world. BAP is here today standing in solidarity with the people of Cuba and the continued project of the Cuban Revolution. We demand that the U.S. end the embargo against Cuba immediately.

Cubans have made it clear; they are perfectly capable of deciding their own fate, with no intervention necessary from false friends such as the United States. The U.S. has a vested interest in seeing the Cuban Revolution fail, and has since the very beginning. Cuba continues to show the world, in spite of the embargo, that the struggle against capitalism is possible. The U.S. knows that given more resources, there would be no question to people around the world that capitalism is not viable, but socialism is. This is why they do their best through the embargo to keep these resources away, so they can continue to engineer scarcity and call it a failure of a socialist state, rather than a creation of capitalism fighting to preserve itself.

Just as the U.S. fights to suppress self determination in Cuba, they do the same in other majority Black islands in the Caribbean. Another nation that the U.S. has relentlessly tormented is the island nation of Haiti. Haiti has faced repression from imperialist forces since their successful slave revolt. The United States has been a major part of that repression throughout history. Because of the abuse of the U.S. and other colonial powers, Haiti has long had issues of scarcity of resources, similar to Cuba. Most recently, the president of Haiti was assassinated by forces acting on behalf of U.S. interests, causing further turmoil within the country. But in the case of Haiti, the highlight of these issues would only serve to implicate capitalism and the intervention of the U.S. as the culprit. The times when the U.S. has turned their attention to the issues in Haiti, they have only done so to solidify their stranglehold on the island and their unwarranted involvement in Haitian politics. Nonetheless, Cuba understands the importance of standing in true solidarity with Haiti. They have demonstrated their support for years. They have consistently provided medical care in times of crisis, such as the earthquake of 2010, and even during the current pandemic. Cuba understands the power of help with no strings attached, and putting people before profit and conquest. We must answer that call for Haiti and for Cuba.

We know that when we support the self determination of the Caribbean and the Global South, we chip away at the stranglehold of colonialism and continue to gain ground in the fight against capitalism. In the case of Cuba, the Cuban people have been asking folks in the U.S. to stand in solidarity by ending the embargo. It is the very least we can do.

Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. Folks are out here today because we know that revolution is still alive and strong. We also know that the continued success of that revolution is crucial to the freedom and safety of those on the island, as well as the project to end capitalism and colonialism worldwide. Therefore, just as Cuba stands in solidarity with other nations facing the failings and exploitation of colonialism, we stand with them now. Viva Fidel, Viva La Revolucion!

Banner photo: Protesters gathered in solidarity with Cuba and commemorating the Cuban Revolution in front of City Hall in Philadelphia on July 26. (Joe Piette/Workers World Party)

Statement of the International Delegation to Nicaragua, July 18-25 2021

Netfa Freeman, who represents BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action (PACA) on BAP’s Coordinating Committee, represented BAP and PACA on an international delegation to Nicaragua July 18-25, 2021. Below is a statement the delegation released to the Nicaraguan press on July 23. Video of the press conference can be viewed here.

Below is English, español, français and portuguens.

The international delegation to Nicaragua at a press conference on July 23, 2021. Netfa Freeman, who represented the Black Alliance for Peace and Pan-African Community Action, is seated, third from left. (courtesy: TN8)

Statement of the International Delegation to Nicaragua, July 18-25 2021

We have come to Nicaragua this week to see for ourselves the lived reality of the Nicaraguan people. We are here from the United States, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. From July 18 to July 25 our delegation, organized by the Nicaragua Network, had the opportunity to visit Managua, Granada, Estelí and Masaya. We have seen the beauty of this country and its people—a people struggling mightily to live in peace and prosperity despite constant U.S. aggression and brutal sanctions.

We heard from health care providers, teachers and vocational instructors in Estelí who are working to make sure that working class people and campesinos have access to medical attention and education—in addition to access to housing, employment and income promotion programs also offered by the Sandinista government. As one teacher explained, the current system under Sandinista leadership is one of “inclusion” as opposed to the policies of “exclusion” of the neoliberal governments of 1991 to 2007.

In contrast to the countries of the global north, Nicaragua has managed to contain one of the most serious pandemics of the last decades with a free universal public health system, with personalized attention and follow-up for infected patients, and with a model that seeks to adjust to the particular characteristics of each region, including the needs of indigenous and Afro-Indigenous communities.

In Masaya, we heard from those who lived during the U.S.-backed terror of the coup attempt of 2018. We heard from city security forces who were kidnapped and tortured by opposition forces who took over the city. The U.S. mass media - aligned with U.S. political, economic and military interests—led the false, unsubstantiated narrative of a repressive government. We heard direct testimonies of victims of the 2018 violence and saw massive destruction of
infrastructure that the city has yet to fully recover from.

One individual lost his arm during the torture he suffered. The burning of the mayor’s offices; the destruction of the city works building along with sanitation and street-paving trucks; and the burning down of the historic Masaya market, was proof to us that the instigators engaged in outright terrorism. At the same time, we saw the heroic efforts of the security workers and government and people of Masaya to rebuild and to continue providing vital services to the
citizenry.

In Granada, we heard similar testimonies, including of the opposition’s torching of the centuries-old municipal building which William Walker did not manage to destroy during his burning down of that city in the 1850s. We also heard how the historic combatants who defeated Somoza came out during the 2018 coup attempt to confront the opposition violence and, along with the police, to restore order and peace.

What’s more, we witnessed the daily lives of the Nicaraguan people who get up early every morning to take a bus or walk long distances to work. These are the vast majority of the Nicaraguan people, and it is they, as we witnessed for ourselves, who came to the Plaza de Fe in huge numbers on July 19 to celebrate the Sandinista victory over the U.S.-backed dictator Somoza. The scenes we saw in the Plaza—of working class families regaling in their red and black of the FSLN—were not covered by the U.S. press, for they resoundingly contradict the U.S. narrative of a people being repressed by a tyrannical government.

The tyrannical government—that of Anastasio Somoza—is now gone despite the backing of the U.S., which tried to reinstall Somoza’s National Guard in the form of the Contras in the 1980’s. That the U.S. now claims to care about Nicaraguan democracy is a cruel joke.

The U.S.’s constant attempts to undermine the peace and prosperity of the Nicaraguan people; to sow divisions which exploded into violence in 2018; and to undermine the sovereignty of Nicaragua are unacceptable. We denounce these attempts as immoral and illegal, just as the International Court of Justice found these efforts to be unlawful in its 1986 decision in the case of Nicaragua versus the U.S.

We call upon the U.S. government and allied NGOs to halt their interference in and sanctions against this country and to let Nicaragua live in peace as a sovereign nation just as the UN Charter unequivocally requires. Recent polling by M&R Consulting demonstrates massive opposition to such foreign interference, 85%, amongst the Nicaraguan people.

We thank the Nicaraguan people for opening up their hearts to us during our trip to this country of lakes and volcanoes, and we stand with you against all U.S. meddling, sanctions and provocations.

In solidarity,
Nicaragua Network - Alliance for Global Justice / Answer Coalition / Black Alliance for Peace /
Jornalistas Livres / Comitê Antiimperialista General Abreu e Lima / TV Cidade Livre (TVComDF) / Jornal Brasil Popular / Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos / Pan-African Community Action (PACA) / Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) / “Voices with Vision” program of WPFW Radio

* In an effort to call on the U.S. to stop interfering in the lives and future of Nicaraguans, we invite individuals from all over the world to support the Hands Off Nicaragua sign on letter.

—

Declaración de la Delegación Internacional a Nicaragua, 18-25 de julio 2021

Hemos venido a Nicaragua esta semana para conocer la realidad vivida por el pueblo nicaragüense. Venimos de Estados Unidos, Brasil, Canadá y México. Del 18 al 25 de julio nuestra delegación, organizada por Nicaragua Network, ha tenido la oportunidad de visitar Managua, Granada, Estelí y Masaya. Hemos visto la belleza de este país y de su gente, un pueblo que lucha valientemente por vivir en paz y prosperidad a pesar de las constantes agresiones y brutales sanciones de los Estados Unidos.

Escuchamos a los proveedores de atención médica, profesores e instructores de formación profesional de Estelí, quienes trabajan para garantizar que la clase trabajadora y los campesinos tengan acceso a servicios de atención médica y a la educación, además del acceso a la vivienda, el empleo y los programas de promoción de ingresos también ofrecidos por el gobierno sandinista. Como explicó un profesor con el que conversamos, el sistema actual bajo el liderazgo sandinista es de "inclusión", en contraposición a las políticas de "exclusión" de los gobiernos neoliberales de 1991 a 2007.

A diferencia de los países del norte global, Nicaragua ha logrado contener una de las pandemias más graves de las últimas décadas con un sistema de salud público universal y gratuito, con atención y seguimiento personalizado a los pacientes infectados, y con un modelo que busca ajustarse a las características particulares de cada región, incluyendo las necesidades de las comunidades indígenas y afro-indígenas.

En Masaya, escuchamos a quienes vivieron el terror respaldado por los Estados Unidos durante el intento de golpe de estado de 2018. Escuchamos a agentes de las fuerzas de seguridad de la ciudad que fueron secuestrados y torturados por las fuerzas de la oposición que tomaron la ciudad. Los medios de comunicación estadounidenses -alineados con los intereses políticos, económicos y militares de Estados Unidos- dirigieron la narrativa falsa y sin fundamento de que en Nicaragua existe un gobierno represivo. Escuchamos testimonios directos de víctimas de la violencia de 2018 y vimos la destrucción masiva de infraestructuras de la que la ciudad aún no se ha recuperado del todo.

Un agente perdió su brazo como consecuencia de la tortura que sufrió. La quema de las oficinas de la alcaldía; la destrucción del edificio de obras de la ciudad junto con los camiones de saneamiento y pavimentación de calles; y la quema del histórico mercado de Masaya, fue para nosotros una prueba de que los instigadores se dedicaron al terrorismo descarado. Al mismo tiempo, vimos los heroicos esfuerzos de los trabajadores de seguridad y del gobierno y el pueblo de Masaya para reconstruir y seguir prestando servicios vitales a la ciudadanía.

En Granada escuchamos testimonios similares, incluso del incendio - por parte de la oposición - del centenario edificio municipal que William Walker no logró destruir durante su quema de esa ciudad en la década de 1850. También escuchamos cómo los combatientes históricos que derrotaron a Somoza salieron durante la intentona golpista de 2018 para enfrentar la violencia opositora y, junto con la policía desarmada, restablecer el orden y la paz.

Además, fuimos testigos de la vida cotidiana de los nicaragüenses que cada mañana se levantan temprano para tomar un autobús o caminar largas distancias para ir a trabajar. Son la inmensa mayoría del pueblo nicaragüense y son ellos, como pudimos comprobar, los que acudieron en masa a la Plaza de Fe el 19 de julio para celebrar la victoria sandinista sobre el dictador Somoza, apoyado por Estados Unidos. Las escenas que vimos en la Plaza -de las familias de la clase trabajadora que se vestían de rojo y negro con el FSLN- no fueron cubiertas por la prensa estadounidense ya que contradicen rotundamente la narrativa estadounidense de un pueblo reprimido por un gobierno tiránico.

El gobierno tiránico -el de Anastasio Somoza- ya no existe, a pesar del apoyo de Estados Unidos que intentó reinstalar la Guardia Nacional de Somoza en la forma de los Contras en la década de 1980. Que Estados Unidos diga ahora que se preocupa por la democracia nicaragüense es una broma cruel.

Los constantes intentos de Estados Unidos de socavar la paz y la prosperidad del pueblo nicaragüense; de sembrar divisiones que derivaron en violencia en 2018; y de socavar la soberanía de Nicaragua son inaceptables. Denunciamos estos intentos como inmorales e ilegales, al igual que la Corte Internacional de Justicia determinó que estos esfuerzos eran ilegales en su decisión de 1986 en el caso de Nicaragua contra los Estados Unidos. Hacemos un llamado al gobierno de Estados Unidos y a las ONGs aliadas con sus intereses para que cesen su injerencia y sanciones contra este país. Dejen que Nicaragua viva en paz comon una nación soberana, tal y como exige inequívocamente la Carta de la ONU. Recientes encuestas de M&R Consulting demuestran una oposición masiva: 85% del pueblo nicaragüense se opone a dicha injerencia.

Agradecemos al pueblo nicaragüense que nos haya abierto su corazón durante nuestro viaje a este país de lagos y volcanes, y nos posicionamos con ustedes en contra de todas las injerencias, sanciones y provocaciones de los Estados Unidos.

En solidaridad,

Nicaragua Network - Alliance for Global Justice / Answer Coalition / Black Alliance for Peace / Jornalistas Livres / Comitê Antiimperialista General Abreu e Lima / TV Cidade Livre (TVComDF) / Jornal Brasil Popular / Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos / Pan-African Community Action / PSL Party for socialism and liberation / Voices with vision, WPFW Radio

En un esfuerzo por pedir a Estados Unidos que deje de interferir en las vidas y el futuro de los nicaragüenses, invitamos a personas de todo el mundo a apoyar la campaña de firmas Manos Fuera de Nicaragua.

--

Déclaration de la délégation internationale au Nicaragua, 18-25 juillet 2021

Nous sommes venus au Nicaragua cette semaine pour découvrir la réalité vécue par le peuple nicaraguayen. Nous venons des États-Unis, du Brésil, du Canada, et du Mexique. Du 18 au 25 juillet, notre délégation, organisée par le réseau du Nicaragua, a eu l'occasion de visiter Managua, Granada, Esteli et Masaya. Nous avons vu la beauté de ce pays et de son peuple, un peuple qui lutte vaillamment pour vivre dans la paix et la prospérité malgré l'agression constante et les sanctions brutales des États-Unis.

Nous avons entendu des prestataires de soins de santé, des enseignants et des instructeurs de formation professionnelle à Estelí, qui s'efforcent de faire en sorte que la classe ouvrière et les paysans aient accès aux services de soins de santé et à l'éducation, en plus de l'accès aux programmes de logement, d'emploi et de promotion des revenus également proposés par le gouvernement sandiniste. Comme l'a expliqué un professeur à qui nous avons parlé, le système actuel sous la direction des Sandinistes est un système d'inclusion, par opposition aux politiques d'exclusion des gouvernements néolibéraux de 1991 à 2007.

Contrairement aux pays du Nord, le Nicaragua a réussi à contenir l'une des pandémies les plus graves de ces dernières décennies grâce à un système de santé publique universel et gratuit, à des soins et un suivi personnalisés des patients infectés, et à un modèle qui cherche à s'adapter aux caractéristiques particulières de chaque région, y compris aux besoins des communautés indigènes et afro-indigènes.

À Masaya, nous avons entendu ceux qui ont vécu la terreur soutenue par les États-Unis lors de la tentative de coup d'État de 2018. Nous avons entendu des agents des forces de sécurité de la ville qui ont été enlevés et torturés par les forces d'opposition qui ont pris le contrôle de la ville. Les médias américains - alignés sur les intérêts politiques, économiques et militaires des États-Unis - ont diffusé un récit faux et sans fondement selon lequel un gouvernement répressif existe au Nicaragua. Nous avons entendu des témoignages de première main de victimes des violences de 2018 et vu la destruction massive des infrastructures dont la ville ne s'est pas encore totalement remise.

Un officier a perdu son bras à la suite des tortures qu'il a subies. L'incendie des bureaux du maire, la destruction du bâtiment des travaux publics de la ville, ainsi que des camions d'assainissement et de pavage des rues, et l'incendie du marché historique de Masaya, ont été pour nous la preuve que les instigateurs se livraient à un terrorisme pur et simple. Dans le même temps, nous avons vu les efforts héroïques des agents de sécurité, du gouvernement et de la population de Masaya pour reconstruire et continuer à fournir des services vitaux aux citoyens.

À Grenade, nous avons entendu des témoignages similaires, notamment celui de l'incendie - par l'opposition - du bâtiment municipal centenaire que William Walker n'avait pas réussi à détruire lors de l'incendie de cette ville dans les années 1850. Nous avons également entendu comment les combattants historiques qui ont vaincu Somoza sont sortis lors de la tentative de coup d'État de 2018 pour faire face à la violence de l'opposition et, avec la police non armée, rétablir 'ordre et la paix.

En outre, nous avons été témoins de la vie quotidienne des Nicaraguayens qui se lèvent tôt chaque matin pour prendre un bus ou parcourir de longues distances à pied pour aller travailler. Ils constituent la grande majorité du peuple nicaraguayen et ce sont eux, comme nous l'avons vu, qui ont afflué sur la Plaza de Fe le 19 juillet pour célébrer la victoire des sandinistes sur le dictateur Somoza soutenu par les États-Unis. Les scènes que nous avons vues sur la Plaza - des familles de la classe ouvrière portant le rouge et le noir avec le FSLN - n'ont pas été couvertes par la presse américaine car elles contredisaient totalement le récit américain d'un peuple réprimé par un gouvernement tyrannique.

Le gouvernement tyrannique - celui d'Anastasio Somoza - n'existe plus, malgré le soutien américain qui a tenté de rétablir la garde nationale de Somoza sous la forme des Contras dans les années 1980. Le fait que les États-Unis prétendent maintenant se soucier de la démocratie nicaraguayenne est une blague cruelle. Les tentatives continues des États-Unis de saper la paix et la prospérité du peuple nicaraguayen, de semer les divisions qui ont conduit à la violence en 2018 et de porter atteinte à la souveraineté du Nicaragua sont inacceptables. Nous dénonçons ces tentatives comme immorales et illégales, tout comme la Cour internationale de justice les a jugées illégales dans sa décision de 1986 dans l'affaire Nicaragua contre États-Unis.

Nous demandons au gouvernement américain et aux ONG alliées à ses intérêts de cesser leur ingérence et leurs sanctions contre ce pays. Laissez le Nicaragua vivre en paix en tant que nation souveraine, comme l'exige sans équivoque la Charte des Nations unies. Des sondages récents réalisés par M&R Consulting montrent une opposition massive : 85% du peuple nicaraguayen s'oppose à cette ingérence.

Nous remercions le peuple nicaraguayen de nous avoir ouvert son cœur lors de notre voyage dans ce pays de lacs et de volcans, et nous sommes à vos côtés contre toutes les ingérences, sanctions et provocations des États-Unis.

En solidarité,

Nicaragua Network - Alliance for Global Justice / Answer Coalition / Black Alliance for Peace / Jornalistas Livres / Comitê Antiimperialista General Abreu e Lima / TV Cidade Livre (TVComDF) / Jornal Brasil Popular / Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos / Pan-African Community Action / PSL Party for socialism and liberation / Voices with vision, WPFW Radio

Afin de demander aux États-Unis de cesser de s'ingérer dans la vie et l'avenir des Nicaraguayens, nous invitons les personnes du monde entier à soutenir la campagne de signature Hands Off Nicaragua.

--

Declaração da Delegação Internacional na Nicarágua, 18 a 25 de julho de 2021

Viemos à Nicarágua esta semana para ver por nós mesmos a realidade vivida pelo povo nicaraguense. Estamos aqui vindos dos Estados Unidos, Brasil, Canadá e México. De 18 a 25 de julho nossa delegação, organizada pela Nicaragua Network, teve a oportunidade de visitar Manágua, Granada, Estelí e Masaya. Vimos a beleza deste país e de seu povo - um povo que luta fortemente para viver em paz e prosperidade, apesar das constantes agressões dos EUA e de sanções brutais.

Ouvimos profissionais de saúde, professores e instrutores vocacionais em Estelí que estão trabalhando para garantir que as pessoas da classe trabalhadora e camponeses tenham acesso a atendimento médico e educação - além do acesso a programas de moradia, emprego e promoção de renda também oferecidos pelo governo sandinista. Como explicou um professor, o sistema atual sob a liderança sandinista é de “inclusão” em oposição às políticas de “exclusão” dos governos neoliberais de 1991 a 2007.

Ao contrário dos países do norte global, a Nicarágua conseguiu conter uma das pandemias mais graves das últimas décadas com um sistema público de saúde universal gratuito, com atendimento personalizado e acompanhamento de pacientes infectados, e com um modelo que busca adequar-se às particularidades de cada região, incluindo as necessidades de comunidades indígenas e afro-indígenas.

Em Masaya, ouvimos aqueles que viveram o terror apoiado pelos EUA na tentativa de golpe de 2018. Ouvimos das forças de segurança da cidade que foram sequestradas e torturadas por forças da oposição que tomaram a cidade. Os meios de comunicação de massa dos EUA - alinhados com os interesses políticos, econômicos e militares dos EUA - lideraram a narrativa falsa e infundada de um governo repressivo. Ouvimos depoimentos diretos de vítimas da violência de 2018 e vimos a destruição massiva da infraestrutura da qual a cidade ainda não se recuperou totalmente.

Um indivíduo perdeu o braço durante a tortura que sofreu. O incêndio dos escritórios da prefeitura; a destruição do prédio e depósito de obras da cidade junto com caminhões de saneamento e pavimentação de ruas; e o incêndio do histórico mercado de Masaya é a prova de que os instigadores se envolveram em terrorismo absoluto. Ao mesmo tempo, vimos os esforços heróicos dos trabalhadores de segurança, do governo e do povo de Masaya para reconstruir e continuar a fornecer serviços vitais aos cidadãos.

Em Granada, ouvimos testemunhos semelhantes, incluindo o incêndio da oposição ao edifício municipal centenário que William Walker não conseguiu destruir durante o incêndio daquela cidade na década de 1850. Também ouvimos como os combatentes históricos que derrotaram Somoza saíram durante a tentativa de golpe de 2018 para enfrentar a violência da oposição e, junto com a polícia, restaurar a ordem e a paz.

Além disso, testemunhamos o cotidiano do povo nicaraguense que se levanta cedo todas as manhãs para pegar um ônibus ou caminhar longas distâncias para o trabalho. Esta é a grande maioria do povo nicaraguense, e foram eles, como testemunhamos por nós mesmos, que vieram à Plaza de Fe em grande número em 19 de julho para celebrar a vitória sandinista sobre o ditador Somoza, apoiado pelos EUA. As cenas que vimos na Plaza - de famílias da classe trabalhadora vestidas com o tradicional vermelho e preto do FSLN - não foram cobertas pela imprensa dos EUA, já que elas contradizem retumbantemente a narrativa dos EUA de um povo sendo reprimido por um governo tirânico.

O governo tirânico - o de Anastasio Somoza - se foi, apesar do apoio dos EUA, que tentou reinstalar a Guarda Nacional de Somoza na forma dos Contras na década de 1980. Que os EUA agora afirmem se preocupar com a democracia da Nicarágua é uma piada cruel. As constantes tentativas dos EUA de minar a paz e a prosperidade do povo da Nicarágua; para semear divisões que explodiram na violência de 2018; e minar a soberania da Nicarágua são inaceitáveis. Denunciamos essas tentativas como imorais e ilegais, assim como a Corte Internacional de Justiça considerou esses esforços como totalmente ilegais em sua decisão de 1986 no caso ‘Nicarágua versus EUA’.

Apelamos ao governo dos Estados Unidos e ONGs aliadas a interromper sua interferência e sanções contra este país e a deixar que a Nicarágua viva em paz como uma nação soberana, assim como a Carta das Nações Unidas inequivocamente exige. Uma pesquisa recente da M&R Consulting demonstra uma oposição massiva a tal interferência estrangeira, 85%, entre o povo da Nicarágua.

Agradecemos ao povo da Nicarágua por abrir o coração para nós durante nossa viagem e a este país de lagos e vulcões, e estamos com vocês contra todas as intromissões, sanções e provocações dos EUA.

Em solidariedade,

Nicaragua Network - Alliance for Global Justice / Answer Coalition / Black Alliance for Peace / Jornalistas Livres / Comitê Antiimperialista General Abreu e Lima / TV Cidade Livre (TVComDF) / Jornal Brasil Popular / Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos / Pan-African Community Action / PSL Party for socialism and liberation / Voices with Vision, WPFW Radio

* Em um esforço para pedir aos EUA que parem de interferir na vida e no futuro dos nicaraguenses, convidamos pessoas de todo o mundo a apoiar a carta de adesão do Hands Off Nicarágua.

Banner photo: The international delegation to Nicaragua at a press conference on July 23, 2021. (courtesy: TN8)

Report to IACHR on Human Rights Violations Against Afro-Colombians During the National Strike

An update on Colombia from Charo Mina Rojas of BAP affiliate organization Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN, or Black Communities’ Process):

We would like to share the report presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) delegation by several organizations during its working visit to Colombia, to collect information on the human rights abuses by state forces during the repression of the National Strike that initiated on April, 28th, 2021. Although there have been some agreements and national and international pressure brought the Commission to Colombia, repression hasn't stopped. During the delegation, police and ESMAD the anti-riot force continued attacking the demonstrators. Yesterday two other people were killed and apparently several police injured.

The immediate step to follow up the IACHR visit is to make this report to reach the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and encourage the Commissioner to include the information in the report she has to present to the UN HR Council in the context of the Resolución A/HRC/RES/43/1 this month. We expect to count with your support.

Thank you.

You can read the report here.

Banner photo: Afro-Colombians meeting with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) delegation which arrived in Cali. Acts of gender-based violence, racism & repression by the Colombian state during the National Strike were denounced. (Proceso de Comunidades Negras - PCN, or Black Communities’ Process)

Talks to end protests and uprisings in Colombia suspended

Originally published in Colombia Reports by Adriaan Alsema, May 31, 2021

Talks to end protests and uprisings against Colombia’s far-right president Ivan Duque were suspended on Sunday after the government backed out of previously made agreement.

The suspension of the talks further deepen the crisis and increase the risk of more violence that has killed dozens of protesters, two policemen and one prosecution official since April 28.

The National Strike Committee, which has organized peaceful protests, said the government refused to sign off on a previous draft agreement to end the violent repression of protest.

The social organizations reiterated they will continue to be available for talks to end the protests and uprisings that have expanded and become more chaotic in response to extreme police brutality.

The government said in a press release that it wanted the National Strike Committee to lift roadblocks that have been spontaneously been put up by people throughout the country without the knowledge of the social leaders.

Ahead of the talks, Duque ordered the militarization of eight Colombia’s 32 provinces where these often illegal roadblocks are seriously affecting the transport of food supplies or the free movement of ambulances.

In its statement, the social organizations demanded the withdrawal of the presidential decree ordering to expand the militarization contrary to the previously made agreement.

The National Strike Committee called for “huge peaceful demonstrations in the entire country” for Wednesday in another attempt to break the latest deadlock.

According to analyst Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group, “nascent trust” between the protest organizers and the government was “shattered” after the breakdown of talks.

The social organizations said they agreed to resume talks on Tuesday. Contrary to evidence, the government said it “has been and will be fully motivated to sit down and seek agreements,” but didn’t confirm whether it would resume talks on Tuesday.

Instead, the government said “we hope that the community leaders accept out invitation to… talk, but without strike or blockages.”

Banner photo: Leaders of the National Strike Committee (Twitter)

Review of BAP Webinar on Afro-Colombians' Role During National Strike

Write-up by Sarah Soanirina Ohmer, Lehman Envision Anti-Racism Collective, CUNY Lehman College, Bronx, New York. 

Luchar por la vida: Voces Afro-Colombianas sobre el Paro Nacional

“Death is the only space that we are given in this country. The state defends paramilitaries, it’s very clear who has a right to live in this nation. We are fighting for a life of joy! Much more than the “reforms” proposed! This is about the blood running in our veins. This is about the joy beating in our hearts.”   

Vicenta Moreno, Casa Cultural del Chontaduro 

Event description: “Colombia is a country striving to reach peace for more than 50 years. Despite the signing of the Peace Accord with FARC-EP in 2016, during the last three years, under right-wing president Ivan Duque, hundreds of social leaders and human rights defenders have been killed, violence against women has increased 20%, massacres and armed confrontations in ancestral territories are generating new internal displacement. Social and economic disparities have exacerbated. Since April 28 Black people have mobilized in the National Strike demanding social and economic change, peace and respect for their collective rights. The Colombian government met the strike with brutal violence killing 47 people, 35 from the city of Cali, in neighborhoods that were primarily Black, poor, and working class. While the strike is not completely called off and now armed civilians supporting Duque’s government are also shooting the protesters, how is this affecting and will affect Black/Afrodescendant people?”

On Wednesday April 12 2021, 7:30pm, I logged onto Zoom to catch up and check in with comrades in Cali, Colombia. Black Communities Process in Colombia (PCN), Afroresistance, and Black Alliance for Peace. 

Colombian rap came on as we all entered the online conference room, bobbing our heads as we expressed gratitude in the chat - we were clearly grateful for the opportunity to commune, gather, touch base, virtually, as a global Black community. #elpueblonoserindecarajo, Props to BAP, and a family vibe came through the chat to everyone, as familiar faces got ready to address us from the webinar stage. 

As the second song ended, Executive Director Janvieve welcomed the community with a reminder of the importance of language justice. For Black Alliance for Peace, linguistic access to all participants of African descent is central to building international solidarity and global equity. The entire event offered live interpreting from Spanish to English, by Flor and Argelis. 

As I sit here reflecting on the event, I find that the panelists left us with three crucial points:

1. we need to educate our Black masses quickly on the current situation in Colombia from intersectional perspectives, 

2. in order to present facts on our siblings in Colombia, our comrades have to create their own collection of data, reframe all of the articles and reports from the perspective of Black Colombians, and hunt down missing pieces of information, since everything related to Black Colombians is either silenced, filtered through white supremacist media, or absent. 

3. The comprehensive presentations also zoomed into the most consequential impacts of the police repression onto Black Colombians and specific needs for solidarity and international support: the brutal repression, the hundreds of disappeareds, and the absolute invisibility of the victimization of Black mothers and their resistance. 

Each speaker made it very clear that the most vital participants in the strike were young Black Colombians, and they were the hardest affected by the violence. We also learned that the violence came from police and military out of uniform, working as militia, targeting specific individuals of African descent in the peaceful protests, committing homicides and assassinations.

Before introducing the first speaker, Charo Mina Rojas spoke from the locus of enunciation of African Diasporic religions, anchoring the gathering to the spiritual activism of our ancestors, the strengths of our orixás, especially Obatalá. A moment of reflection and prayer connected us with our foremothers and forefathers, to our loved ones who have disappeared, asking our orixás for help that they return to us, and recognition to all of the young people who have been fighting in the streets for our freedoms. 165 people were in the room, plus more on Facebook live, from Canada, Colombia, Brazil, the United States, and other parts of the world, listening to the Yoruba Nigerian language of resistance and Candomblé from Bahia, communing with the orixás offering us strength so that we may continue to resist, and live, engaging so that the orí of our young brothers and sisters be protected, asking Obatalá that we may have peace and land that is ours, not a capitalist land. 

Out of 47 people who had died already, 35 were from Cali (Indepez), the majority of whom were young adults and 4 of whom were minors.

Of 1,876 acts of violence, there had been 12 cases of sexual violence, and 28 eye injuries reported by Wednesday, along with 963 arbitrary detentions, 548 forced disappearances, 7 Indigenous injured by paramilitary in Cali, and 7 Afro-Colombians killed in Cali.

Harrinson Cuero presented the context of the national strike for people of African descent in Colombia. The explosive cocktail, he explained, made it so that the streets and the government became more dangerous than the virus: structural racism and social alienation, extractivism and inequality, pandemic and death, unemployment, poverty, along with the tax reform. The order of the items on the list, with structural racism at the top, underlined the explosive contents of the cocktail from the most impactful and urgent need to address, to the least. He went on to present each ingredient in the cocktail, to offer the Black Alliance for Peace audience a clear image of the factors that have led to the social unrest of Afro-Colombians from May 5 through the current day. 

Cuero listed the facts and the statistics to counter the stigmatized disinformation in mainstream media in Colombia and international news outlets. First, the Black population on the census is about 10% of the population who actually identifies as Black - he showed a map of the census representation in contrast to the actual presence of Black Colombians. Later in the event, Esther Ojulari presented a parallel between the concentration of Black Colombians in Cali, and the points of highest occurrences of police brutality in the past week. Both highlighted the racialization at work over the course of the 20th and 21st century, including in the dire state of affairs in Colombia.

To offer further examples of systemic racism in Colombia, Cuero presented the data of the Black population in Colombia in terms of the age of the Black population from 2005 to 2018 (major decrease in the 0-14 age), the unequal levels of education between Black Colombians and national averages (considerable difference in upper school), and poverty (considerable difference between Black Colombians versus national). He showed us, in numbers, the ingredients of the explosive cocktail.

Esther Ojulari’s presentation focused on the localization of the national statistics: the racialization of Cali and how racial segregation instructed police bruality during the strike in Cali. She traced the segregation back to the nineteenth century forced displacement of “free Blacks” to Cali, followed by the forced displacements during the civil war and the “peace treaty.” The connections to the previous centuries also showed the consistent use of stigmatizing discourse to justify the dehumanization and deaths of young Black people, and to displace the blame of the government and authorities towards young Black people. 

The protests and repression, she showed, were happening in the Black neighborhoods of East Cali. “The use of force occurs based on the racialization of the city and on the ethnicity of the protesters,” she noted. Piecing together photos taken by civilians and shared on social media, newspapers, reports, and the cover of the Q’Hubo newspaper which showed the faces of the victims, Ojulari confirmed that out of 36 people who died in the past week, 11 were visibly Black, 1 Indigenous, 6 Mestizo, and 17 were unidentified. “This,” she emphasized, “is an issue. We cannot report the state of affairs and the extent to which it actually affects our people, because no one is tracking the ethnoracial data.” There is an absolute lack of access of data across institutions which needs to be addressed immediately. 

Equally indispensable and urgent: an immediate report and follow-up on the inordinate amount of civilians who have disappeared, and an immediate stop to the unjustified kidnappings: 187 as reported from Buscarles hasta encontrarles. More than half of the disappeared from come from areas of Cali that are half to majority Black neighborhoods. 

Arleison focused on the police brutality in Cali. He underlined that the police was directly involved in the assassinations of young Black people, children, and women in Cali. 35 out of 47 who have died in the strike, died in Cali. “Two students from our school were injured while making art in their neighborhood.” He went on to list the names of the eight young Black men murdered by the police and their accomplices. The mayor shows no consideration or concern to address the deaths and disorder. The “Primera Línea” and the students are not the ones creating the disorder. The right-wing is directly related to the vandalisms. The dialogues are not effective, as there is no assembly to engage the community’s voices. Arleison underlined the sexual torture as a weapon used against civilians of African descent: “Women are raped in our streets,” Arleison emphasized: “This is the worst human rights crisis in Santiago de Cali.” 

Vicenta Moreno, founding member of the Cultural House of Chontaduro in the district of Aguablanca, Cali, spoke on the impact of police repression in 2020 through May 2021 on the lives of Black women. “400 of our children have died this past year! Why haven’t we talked about this?? Tell me. We marched yesterday to demand to bring our children home, and to stop killing them in the streets, when all they are doing are protecting our basic rights. Have you heard about this? Do you know why not? Us, Black mothers of East Cali, we are tired of seeing our children’s blood in the streets.” 

70% of the Black population in Cali lives around the Cultural House of Chontaduro. Of the thirty five years that Vicenta has lived in this district, this past year is by far, and remember, she is referencing three decades of known violence in the history of Colombia, this past year is by far the worst in the history of Aguablanca. The district of 23 neighborhoods in East Cali is witnessing excessive numbers of premature death and massive deaths in the area. More so than they have ever witnessed. 407 assassinations of young people in one year.

“Why such silence? No one talks about this genocide?! Just us, hugging each other and embracing each other. We march, we strike, against the tax reform, health reform, pension reform, that we live from a state of precarity. We have already died, for centuries we die due to these policies and to the precarity, the neglect, and the militarization. We are witnessing this on the daily in Aguablanca. Premature death is permanent in our existence. So we march.” 

Moreno echoes Cuero and Ojulari on the absolute lack of a focused analysis in Colombia. She adds that the lack of focus is systematically keeping Black women out of he picture: “we march and it’s not seen - as if we aren’t a part of this? Our reality is much deeper, and so we march.” And, she adds, they analyzing the situation for themselves, as a situation lived daily, a state of permanent social death: “Death is the only space that we are given in this country. The state defends paramilitaries, it’s very clear who has a right to live in this nation. We are fighting for a life of joy! Much more than the “reforms” proposed! This is about the blood running in our veins. This is about the joy beating in our hearts.”   

For more information on femicide and global accumulation: https://abyayala.org.ec/producto/feminicidio-y-acumulacion-global/

Towards the end of the question and answer, we concluded that alliances across ethnicities have always existed, that we share experiences and have many moments of working together, and that the establishment knows this, which is why they make sure to divide us and hide our solidarities, for example with Cauca and land rights, and by negating one ethnic group’s rights over the other. But we understand this. We have examples of alliances in our own version of history, we can remember this and continue this. Harrison Cuero offered the last words: Political control, economics, and education. These are the three axes we can develop in order to strengthen and empower people of color. Boycotts won’t resolve this - let’s strengthen ourselves. 

To support current efforts of solidarity and help young Black people and Black women, send your contributions to the following: 

CASA CULTURAL EL CHONTADURO

Account #82900011573

Type: “ahorros” or checking –

Bank: BANCOLOMBIA.

Swift code: COLOCOMBCL1

Bank ID: COLOCOBMXXX

ESTUDENTS UNIVERSIDAD DEL VALLE - FOOD SUPPORT –

make your donation here:

https://vaki.co/es/vaki/q3GE4kJDrxTZz8ZA0Tl9?skip=true#summary

BLACK AFRO-COLOMBIAN COMMUNITIES SOS
– solidarity with community assemblies and Guardia
Cimarrona – make your donation here:

https://gofund.me/b07ffc78

Colombia’s Military Allegedly Aiding Armed Civilians and Vandals

Originally published in Colombia Reports by Adriaan Alsema, May 19, 2021

Evidence indicating that Colombia’s military is taking part in violence and vandalism to justify violent crackdowns on anti-government protests is further isolating President Ivan Duque.

A video showing soldiers with armed civilians in the city of Yumbo, where protests turned violent on Sunday, was met with indignation from Valle del Cauca Governor Clara Luz Roldan.

Yumbo Mayor John Jairo Santamaria expressed fury with the government of President Ivan Duque on Sunday after he was forced to flee his own city.

The violence in Yumbo left at least one person dead and dozens injured, and incinerated the city hall, a local petrol plant and at least two gas stations.

Embattled Defense Minister Diego Molano said anti-government protesters were behind the deadly violence, but was contradicted by locals who said police were responsible for incinerating the plant.

The video of the military colluding with rioters adds credibility to the locals’ claim and further eroded the credibility of Molano, who was already facing a motion of no confidence.

Tengo mucha, pero mucha indignación al ver este video

¿Por qué hay hombres armados al lado de miembros de @Col_Ejercito en #Yumbo?

!!Por qué razón estos soldados no protegen a los ciudadanos y a la Alcaldía de Yumbo!! pic.twitter.com/Cq24WG3spa

— Clara Luz Roldán González (@ClaraLuzRoldan) May 18, 2021

According to the opposition, the defense minister is responsible for more than 2,000 alleged cases of police brutality and the deaths of more than 50 people during three weeks of protests.

The police chief of Cali resigned on Monday after evidence that police aided armed civilians who opened fire on native Colombians protesters who were on their way to the capital of Valle del Cauca.

The president has come under international criticism over his response to national strikes and the subsequent protests that have largely been peaceful.

Duque, Molano and the commanders of the National Police and the National Army were charged with crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court last week.

Ignoring calls for talks, the president ordered the “maximum deployment” of the security forces, claiming that “criminal interests” were behind roadblocks that have been set up throughout Colombia.

Strike leaders called for a new national strike for Wednesday, a week after protesters virtually took control over all Colombia’s major cities in rejection of police brutality.

Photo credit: Twitter

Ajamu Baraka + Charo Mina Rojas on Colombia Struggle

Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) National Organizer Ajamu Baraka and Afro-Colombian human-rights defender Charo Mina Rojas, a leader in BAP affiliate organization Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN, or Black Communities Process), lay the background for and discuss the contradictions in the Colombia struggle, how the corporate media covers it, and how Global North leftists should relate to it.

Learn more about BAP's work on Colombia.

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) organized this webinar on May 8, 2021. Watch the whole webinar here.

AfroResistance Stands in Solidarity with the Black Community of Colombia

For Immediate Release
Para publicación inmediata
Para divulgação imediata

Contact/Contacto/Contato
Elida De Aquino (Coordinadora de Comunicaciones)
elida@afroresistance.org

AfroResistance Stands in Solidarity with the Black Community of Colombia
AfroResistance se solidariza con la Comunidad Negra de Colombia
AfroResistance se solidariza com a Comunidade Negra da Colômbia

May 4, 2021—After a mass strike and mass mobilizations that began on April 28th due to a proposed tax reform, the Colombian government has lashed out with a military styled repression against the millions of protestors currently in the streets. The intention of the repression is simple, to drown and silence the collective demands. This criminal action has led to at least 37 murdered people by armed forces, over one thousand injured including life-altering eye injuries, and at least 10 reported gender based violence, including sexual violence. It also included over 500 detained and multiple aggressions against human rights defenders and observers and journalists. According to reports from Campaña Defender la Libertad Asunto de Todas.

“These manifestations are a just and collective response that many groups including Black groups throughout Colombia have been for decades organizing around, including structural racism, economic injustice, gender inequality, and environmental racism to name a few issues. These issues did not start on April 28th, or during the still existing COVID-19 pandemic. These issues are historical and have been exacerbated due to the pandemic” Says Janvieve Williams Comrie, Executive Director of AfroResistance.

The government has been militarizing several cities in the country, turning the main streets, where women, children and families frequent, into highly dangerous war zones. The deployment of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD), which is the riot control unit of the Colombian National Police specialized in preventing and/or controlling riots, has resulted in a series of deaths, injuries and disappearances. The Colombian military mechanism has publicly received the support of state officials, where, in the name of defending their integrity and material goods, they use their weapons against protesters, thereby justifying the abuse of force. For this reason, we urge the international community and other human rights organizations to take immediate action to defend the human rights of the people in Colombia and prevent the number of victims from continuing to increase; We also demand that the respective investigations of the various cases that have been presented be carried out in a transparent and immediate manner, avoiding impunity and demanding guarantees for the exercise of social protest in a peaceful and safe manner.

It is important to highlight the role that Black Colombian women have historically played in the struggle against oppression, death and extermination in Colombia. In Colombia, gender violence, is one of the most visible and least heard problems by the government. The rights of Women and Girls have been violated both inside and outside the protests, in urban areas, but also in peripheral (rural) areas where many cases have remained anonymous or have simply become a number. In Colombia, according to the organization, Somos Defensores, during the first quarter of the current year, 26% of the attacks by the security forces occurred against women, many of these cases have not yet been clarified. From AfroResistance, we reiterate once again our support for all Black Women and Girls and the call to respect and preserve their rights.

AfroResistance stands in solidarity with Colombian Black, Women, Trans, Youth, Indigenous, Human Rights and all Social Justice organizations in their call for international organizations and International Human Rights Mechanisms to accompany their demand to mobilize, to protect their lives and preserve their rights and dignity.

It is important to also add that 2012, Colombia signed a bilateral agreement with Haiti to help train and professionalize Haitian police officers.

The mission statement for AfroResistance, is to educate and organize for human rights, democracy and racial justice throughout the Americas. www.afroresistance.org

AfroResistance is a Black Alliance for Peace member organization.

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ESPAÑOL

AfroResistencia se solidariza con la comunidad negra en Colombia

4 de Mayo 2021. Luego de las movilizaciones masivas que comenzaron el pasado 28 de abril en Colombia, debido a una propuesta de reforma tributaria, el gobierno colombiano ha arremetido con una represión de estilo militar contra los millones de manifestantes que se concentran actualmente en las calles. La intención de la represión es clara, ahogar, atemorizar y silenciar las demandas colectivas. Esta acción criminal ha provocado al menos 37 personas asesinadas por las fuerzas armadas, más de mil heridos, incluidas lesiones oculares con alteraciones de por vida, y al menos 10 denunciados de violencia de género, incluida la violencia sexual. También incluye más de 500 detenidos y múltiples agresiones contra defensores y observadores de derechos humanos y periodistas. Según informes de la Campaña Defender la Libertad Asunto de Todas.

“Estas manifestaciones son una respuesta justa y colectiva en torno a la cual muchos grupos en Colombia, incluidos los negros, se han estado organizando durante décadas visibilizando problematicas incluido el racismo estructural, la injusticia económica, la desigualdad de género y el racismo ambiental, por nombrar algunas. Estos problemas no comenzaron el 28 de abril ni durante la pandemia de COVID-19 aún existente; son históricos y se han agravado debido a la pandemia ”, dice Janvieve Williams Comrie, directora ejecutiva de AfroResistance.

El gobierno ha venido militarizando varias ciudades del país, convirtiendo las principales calles, donde las mujeres, los niños y las familias frecuentan, en zonas de guerra de alta peligrosidad.

El despliegue del Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios (ESMAD), que es la unidad de control de disturbios de la Policía Nacional de Colombia especializada en prevenir y / o controlar disturbios, ha dejado como resultado una serie de muertes, personas heridas y desapariciones.

El mecanismo militar ha recibido públicamente el apoyo de funcionarios del estado, donde en nombre de la defensa de su integridad y los bienes materiales, hagan uso de sus armas contra manifestantes justificando con esto el abuso de la fuerza. Por esto instamos a la comunidad internacional y demás organismos de derechos humanos a tomar acciones inmediatas para defender los derechos humanos de la gente en Colombia y evitar que las cifras de víctimas continúen en aumento; así como también exigimos se adelanten de manera transparente e inmediata las respectivas investigaciones de los diversos casos que se han presentado, evitando la impunidad y exigiendo garantías para el ejercicio de la protesta social de manera pacífica y segura.

Es importante destacar el papel que históricamente ha venido desempeñando la mujer de manera activa, en sus luchas contra las fuerzas de la opresión, la muerte y el exterminio, siendo esta, otra de las razones de la marcha, ya que la violencia de género, es uno de los problemas más visibles y menos escuchados por parte del gobierno. Los derechos Mujeres y niñas vienen siendo vulnerados dentro y fuera de las protestas, en áreas urbanas pero también en áreas periféricas (rurales) donde muchos casos han quedado en el anonimato o simplemente pasan a ser una cifra más. De acuerdo con la organización, Somos Defensores, en Colombia durante el primer trimestre del año en curso, el 26% de las agresiones por parte de la fuerza pública ocurrió contra mujeres, y muchos de esos casos aún no han sido esclarecidos. Desde AfroResistencia, reiteramos una vez más nuestro apoyo a nuestras hermanas y el llamado a respetar y preservar sus derechos.

AfroResistance se solidariza con las organizaciones Negras, organizaciones de Mujeres, organizaciones Trans, organizaciones juveniles, Indígenas, organizaciones de Derechos Humanos y de justicia social Colombianas en su llamado a que las organizaciones internacionales y de Mecanismos Internacionales de Derechos Humanos acompañen su demanda de movilizarse, proteger sus vidas y preservar sus derechos y dignidad.

Es importante agregar también que en 2012 Colombia firmó un acuerdo bilateral con Haití para ayudar a capacitar y profesionalizar a los policías haitianos.

La misión de AfroResistance es educar y organizar por los derechos humanos, la democracia y la justicia racial en las Américas. www.afroresistance.org

———

PORTUGUÊS

AfroResistencia se solidariza com a comunidade negra da Colômbia

4 de maio. Após as massivas mobilizações iniciadas devido a uma proposta de reforma tributária em 28 de abril na Colômbia, o governo colombiano atacou com repressão militar milhões de manifestantes que atualmente estão concentrados nas ruas. A intenção da repressão é clara: afogar, amedrontar e silenciar as demandas coletivas. Esta ação criminal já causou pelo menos 37 pessoas mortas pelas forças armadas, mais de mil feridos, incluindo ferimentos nos olhos com impactos para o resto da vida e pelo menos 10 denúncias de violência de gênero, incluindo violência sexual. Também inclui mais de 500 detidos e vários ataques contra defensores de direitos humanos, observadores e jornalistas. De acordo com relatórios da Campaign Defend Liberty Affair of All.

“Essas manifestações são uma resposta justa e coletiva em torno do qual muitos grupos, incluindo pessoas negras na Colômbia, vem se organizando durante décadas, incluindo o racismo estrutural, a injustiça econômica, a desigualdade de gênero e o racismo ambiental, para mencionar alguns problemas. Esses problemas não começaram no dia 28 de abril ou durante a pandemia de COVID-19 ainda existente. Esses problemas são históricos e foram agravados pela pandemia”, disse Janvieve Williams Comrie, Diretora Executiva da AfroResistance.

O governo tem militarizado várias cidades do país, transformando as principais ruas, frequentadas por mulheres, crianças e famílias, em zonas de guerra altamente perigosas. A implantação do Esquadrão Móvel Antimotim (ESMAD), unidade de controle de distúrbios da Polícia Nacional da Colômbia especializada na prevenção e/ou controle de rebeliões, resultou em uma série de mortes, feridos e desaparecimentos.

O mecanismo militar recebeu publicamente o apoio de funcionários do Estado, onde em nome da defesa de sua integridade e bens materiais, usam suas armas contra os manifestantes, justificando o uso excessivo da força. Por isso, pedimos à comunidade internacional e outras organizações de direitos humanos que tomem medidas imediatas para defender os direitos humanos do povo na Colômbia e evitar que o número de vítimas continue a aumentar. Exigimos também que as respectivas investigações dos diversos casos apresentados sejam efetuadas de forma transparente e imediata, evitando a impunidade e exigindo garantias para o exercício do protesto social de forma pacífica e segura.

É importante destacar o papel que as mulheres historicamente vêm desempenhando ativamente em suas lutas contra as forças de opressão, morte e extermínio, sendo este mais um motivo da marcha, já que a violência de gênero é um dos problemas mais visíveis e menos ouvidos pelo governo. Os direitos de nossas mulheres e meninas foram violados dentro e fora dos protestos, em áreas urbanas, mas também em áreas periféricas (rurais) onde muitos casos permaneceram anônimos ou simplesmente se tornaram mais uma estatística. Segundo a organização Somos Defensores, na Colômbia durante o primeiro trimestre deste ano, 26% dos ataques das forças de segurança ocorreram contra mulheres e muitos desses casos ainda não foram esclarecidos. Nos da AfroResistencia, reiteramos mais uma vez nosso apoio a todas as mulheres e meninas negras e nosso apelo ao respeito e preservação de seus direitos.

AfroResistance se solidariza com organizações negras, organizações femininas, organizações trans, organizações juvenis, povos indígenas e organizações colombianas de direitos humanos e justiça social em seu apelo para que as organizações internacionais e os mecanismos internacionais de direitos humanos acompanhem sua demanda de mobilização, proteção e preservação seus direitos e dignidade.

Também é importante acrescentar que em 2012 a Colômbia assinou um acordo bilateral com o Haiti para ajudar a treinar e profissionalizar os policiais haitianos.

A missão do AfroResistance é educar e organizar os direitos humanos, a democracia e a justiça racial em todos os países das Américas. www.afroresistance.org

Banner photo: Proceso Comunidades de Negras (PCN or Black Communities Process, an African organization in Colombia)

Joint Press Release: Demand the Biden Administration End Its Support for the Brutal Moïse Regime in Haiti

For immediate release

Contacts:

Ajamu Baraka – Black Alliance for Peace, 202-643-1136.

Margaret Flowers – Popular Resistance, info@PopularResistance.org, 410-591-0892.

Photo: Click here for photos by Professor Danny Shaw who is currently in Haiti.

Nearly 800 Organizations and Individuals in the United States Demand the Biden Administration End Its Support for the Brutal Moïse Regime in Haiti.

United States - Today, February 24, 72 organizations and 700 individuals published an open letter calling for the Biden administration to end its illegal and destructive intervention in Haiti. While Joe Biden and the Democrats condemned the Trump forces for not respecting the results of the U.S. election, they are supporting Jovenel Moïse’s refusal to leave office after his term as president ended on February 7, 2021. Moïse has unleashed violent gangs, the police and the military against protesters who are demanding that he respect the Constitution and step down.

“President Biden claims to care about racial equity but his actions in Haiti show the emptiness of that rhetoric,” said Ajamu Baraka of the Black Alliance for Peace. “For centuries now, the United States has employed force to dominate Haiti, the first Black Republic that was established in 1804 after the defeat of French and Spanish colonizers. President Biden has an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment to democracy and Black self-determination by ending support for the Moïse regime and denouncing the current violence.”

The past two presidents of Haiti, Michel Martelly and Jovenel Moïse, were hand-picked and forced into office by the United States during the Obama administration against the will of the Haitian people. Moïse is currently ruling by decree after dismissing most of the legislators and refusing to hold elections. With the backing of the Core Group, composed of the United States, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, the European Union and the United Nations, Moïse is trying to push a new constitution through using a referendum in April. The new constitution being written by members of the Core Group and without any real participation of the Haitian people would grant greater power to the executive office.

Since February 7, the rogue Moïse government has launched a brutal crackdown on all dissent resulting in home invasions, arrests, the firing of Supreme Court judges and a police inspector general, attacks on the media and the use of chemical agents and live ammunition to disperse protests, as documented by the U. S. Human Rights Clinics.

"The current situation in Haiti is critical," stated Marleine Bastien, the Executive Director of FANM In Action and a leading voice in South Florida's Haitian community. "The Superior Council of Haiti's Judiciary, The Haitian Bar Federation, and credible civil society organizations inside Haiti and their diaspora allies agree that President Moise’s term has in fact ended.  It is time for President Biden to keep his promise and respect the democratic rights and  self-determination of the Haitian people."

Here is the open letter:

On February 7, 2021, Jovenel Moïse’s term as president of Haiti ended - but with the support of the Biden administration he is refusing to leave office. This has created an urgent crisis in the country. A mass movement, reminiscent of the 1986 popular movement that overthrew the brutal U.S.-sponsored dictatorship of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, is demanding Moïse step down. We are alarmed by the abundance of evidence of severe human rights violations by the Moïse regime to quell the protests.

One of the main calls from the mobilizations of hundreds of thousands in the streets of Port-au-Prince and across Haiti has been for the United States, United Nations and the Organization of American States to stop their interference. These bodies, as part of the “Core Group” of imperialist nations and institutions targeting Haiti, are currently pushing their rewrite of the Haitian Constitution through a referendum on April 25.

These organizations have a long history of neocolonial intervention in Haiti and the region. Ever since the democratically elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide was overthrown for a second time by a U.S.-sponsored coup in 2004, Haiti has been occupied by a United Nations force that, at its height, deployed 14,000 troops and personnel. This occupation has changed form over the years (from MINUSTAH to BINUH), but it is ongoing.

The U.S. government has consistently stood as a barrier to popular democracy in the Americas. The 2009 coup in Honduras; the 2019 coup in Bolivia; and the ongoing blockades of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela are but several examples of the U.S.’s poor record on human rights and lack of respect for sovereignty in the region. By its own admission, the State Department “works closely with the OAS, UN, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and individual countries to advance its policy goals in Haiti.” Under the guise of fighting drug trafficking, the U.S. continues to train and fund the Haitian National Police.

The U.S. establishment spin doctors seemingly live in an alternate universe, claiming, "The remarkable lack of popular response to calls for mass protests in recent weeks indicates that Haitian people are tired of endless lockdowns and squabbling over power." The reality is quite the opposite: the Haitian people are united in their call for a peaceful transition to democracy.

We express our solidarity with the Haitian people and our support for their rights to democracy and self-determination. We join our voices to the demands of the Haitian people who are calling for the following:

We demand that Jovenel Moïse

• Immediately step down.

We demand that the Biden Administration:

• Withdraw financial support for the illegal constitutional referendum and Moïse dictatorship;

• Respect the will of the vast majority of the people demanding democracy and Haitian self-determination

• Reaffirm support for the right to peaceful protest;

• Immediately cease all U.S. financial and military support to Haiti's security forces

• Condemn the recent violence against protesters and journalists; and

• Demand the immediate dismantlement of all paramilitary forces in Haiti and the disarmament of gangs carrying out wanton violence against the popular movement.

The whole world is watching!

Signatories

Organizations:

Black Alliance for Peace
Popular Resistance
Alliance for Global Justice
Anticonquista
Black Alliance for Peace Solidarity Network
CODEPINK
Council on Hemispheric Affairs
International Action Center
National Lawyers Guild
United National Antiwar Coalition

US Peace Council
Veterans For Peace
World Beyond War
Acción Afro-Dominicana
Agenda Solidaridad, Repùblica Dominicana
Australia Solidarity with Latin America
Baltimore Peace Action
Big Apple Coffee Party
Chicago ALBA Solidarity
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
coasap
Diáspora en Acción
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
Ekta Collective
Environmentalists Against War
Forum of Sao Paulo DC/MD/VA
Friends of Latin America
FURIE - Feminist Uprising to Resist Inequality and Exploitation
Global Coalition for Peace
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Hilton Head for Peace
International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity
Latin America Solidarity Coalition of Western Massachusetts
LynneStewart.org
Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center
MLK Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Micronesian Political Journal
Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights
New Abolitionist Movement
#NJAntiWarAgenda
NJ State Industrial Union Council
New Progressive Alliance
Nodutdol
Northern Virginians for Peace and Justice
NYC Jericho Movement
Occupy Bergen County
Ode to Earth/Echoes of Silence
Pacifica Peace People
Pan Left Productions
PARC | Politics Art Roots Culture
Peace Task Force
Priority Africa Network
Protect Our Activists
Pueblo Sin Fronteras
Roots Action
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Seattle Anti-War Coalition
Show Up! America
Troika Collective
US Hands Off Cuba and Venezuela South Florida
Veterans For Peace Chapter 92 Seattle, President
Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
White Rabbit Grove RDNA
Women Against Military Madness
Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press
Yoga For Peace, Justice, Harmony With the Planet
Broome Tioga Green Party
Democratic World Federalists
Green Party of Monmouth County, NJ
Green Party of New Jersey
MOLHA
Workers World Party - Bay Area
Young Ecosocialists of the Green Party of the United State

Individuals

Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer, Black Alliance for Peace
Margaret Flowers, MD, Director, Popular Resistance
Bahman Azad, General Secretary, US Peace Council

Leah Bolger, World Beyond War
Renate Bridenthal, Professor
Layla Brown, Professor
Charisse Burden-Stelly, Black Alliance for Peace
Brian E. Concannon, Human Rights Lawyer
Gerry Condon, Veterans For Peace
Dr. Edwin E. Daniel, Professor Emeritus
Nicolas J S Davies, Journalist
Jackie DiSalvo, Professor
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Author
Yves Engler, Journalist
Eunice Mina Escobar, Alliance for Global Justice
Leonardo Flores, CODEPINK Latin America Campaign Coordinator
Al Glatkowski, Peace and anti-imperialist activist
Anthony Gronowicz, Professor
Chris Hedges, Author
Madelyn Hoffman, former candidate for US Senate (NJ)
Nicholas J. S. Davies, Journalist
Rev. John Long
Abby Martin, The Empire Files
Patrick McCann, Veterans For Peace
Nan McCurdy, United Methodist Missionary
Tom Neilson, Ed D
Rael Nidess, MD
Anthony O’Brien, Professor (retired)
Eve Ottenberg, Writer
George L. Pauk, MD
David Paul, Embassy Protector
Mike Prysner, The Empire Files
Victor M. Rodriguez, Emeritus Professor
Sr. Claudette Schiratti, RSM
Danny Shaw, Professor
Cindy Sheehan, Peace and Social Justice Activist
Maj. (ret.) Danny Sjursen
David Swanson, World Beyond War
Rev. James L. Swarts
Roger Waters, Musician/Activist
Colonel Ann Wright, Veterans For Peace

Alainka
Alex
Ángel
Annie
NK A.
Sarah A.
Usama Abbas
Judith anne Ackerman
L. Adams
Liz Aaronsohn
Fran Aguirre
Elizabeth Ahrens
Nia Aisha
Diane Ake
Phyllis T. Albritton
Peter Alexeas
Claire Alexander
Ellan Allen
Matthew Almonte
Wes Alvarez
Luci Amani
Louise Amyot
Ashley Anderson
Glen Anderson
Joshua Angelus
JL Angell
Tina Ann
Merriam Ansara
Ikenna Anumba
Cary Appenzeller
Phyllis Arist
B. Ross Ashley
Mohammad Amir Askari
Nzingha Assata
Kevin Atkins
Vichina Austin
Bob
Art B.
Stephen Bailey
Jean Bails
Kirk Bails
Rhamier Shaka Balagoon
Zeke Baker
Lon H Ball
Enzo Bard
Mara Bard
Karyn Barry
SandraKanela Barton
Michael Bass
Sue Bastian
MJ Baumann
Keith Bavin
Patricia Becker
Jim Becklund
Gerhard Bedding
JoAnne Beemon
Petros Bein
Lily Benavides
Christian Benjamin
Bara Berg
Steven Berge
Sister Deanna Rose von Bargen RSCJ
Nancy Bernstein
Brianna Berry
Michael Betz
J. Beverly
Barbara Biira
Jonah Blaustein
Diana Block
Elizabeth Block
Joy Bo
Pamela Bond
Michael Boone
Patrick D Bosold
Raquel Brac
Joe Nathan Bradley
Joshua Bradley
Chris Brentlinger
Tomas Bribriesco
Edward Briody
Yolanda Stern Broad, PhD
Wolfgang Bronner
David Brookbank
Francine Brown
Layla Brown
Ronald and Deidre Brown
B. Keith Brumley
John Burnett
Martha W D Bushnell
Charles Byrne
C. A.
Chris
Cora
C. S.
Gloria A Caballero
Robert Cable
Erica Caines
Chico Callman
Benita J. Campbell
Mark Cappetta
Michael Carano
Suzanne Carlson
Marilyn Carlisle
Mike Casey
Mary Cato
Yhamir Chabur
Susan Chakmakian
Stacie Charlebois
Lela Charney
Claudia Chaufan
Erica Chavez
Courtney Childs
Aimi Chinen
Jane Chischilly
Saheli Chowdhury
Jordan Cisneros
Celeste Clamage
Craig Clark
Joan Clark
Robert Clark
Jill Clark-Gollub
Joseph Clifford
David Coe
Rosemary K Coffey
Merrill Cole
Henry Cooper
Anneke Corbett
Ralph Corbo
Françoise Corgier
Megan Cornish
Gérard Couchoud
Nancy L Cowger
Caryn Cowin
Paul Cox
Michael Craig
Rose Crayton
Nellie Crick
Lauren Croom
Lawrence Crowley
Connie Curtis
Lawrence Cwik
Darian
Denise
Toni Dang
Dr. Edwin E. Daniel
Linda Day
Gwendolyn Debrow
Klef de Gregorio
Buddy Delegal
Jean Delma
Karen Deora
Marie DesJarlais
Susan Detato
Marylyn F Devlin
Carol Devoss
Maude Dews
Dorothea DiCecco
Grace Diehl
Eric Dietrich
Jackie DiSalvo
Steve Ditore
Paul Dix
Nancy Dollard
John & Sara L Donnelly
Ada Donno
Howard Druan
Lucy Duff
Helen Duffy
Luce Duguay
Joseph Dumas
Neil Dunaetz
Greg Dunkel
Chelsey Dyer
Wendy Ebersberger
Elisabeth Ecker
Ashley Edgette
Iris Edinger
Neo Ekwueme
Yoav Elinevsky
Vincent Emanuele
Ingvar Enghardt
Jared Eno
Gary Edward Erb
William Erickson
Phill Esdaille
Bernadette Evangelist
Michael W Evans
Scott T Eversole
Claudia Eyzaguirre
Michael Leslie Falk
Donald B. Fanning
Ka’ila Farrell-Smith
Mark Farris
Anjolaoluwa Fashanu
Wendy Fast
Lisa B. Feldberg
Tracy S Feldman
Priscilla Felia
Helga I. Fellay
Corey Ferguson
Linda Ferland
Doug Ferrari
Matthew Flannery
Anna Louise Fontaine
MarayAnna Foskett
Stephen Fournier
Maryann Fox
Travis Frampton
Parlo Francois
Hannah Franz
Beth Jane Freeman
Sunil Freeman
Deb Friedman
Pat Fry
Andrew Funaro
Sherrill Futrell
Lois Gagnon
Wesson Gaige
Dáigo Galvez
Joan Gannon
Elijah Gardner
Penelope Gardner
Robert Gardiner
Brendhan Garland
Jose Garza II
Ira Gerard-DiBenedetto
Mark M Giese
Laurent Gilbert, Sr.
S. Gilbertsen
Daniel Gilman
Robert Gilman
Jill Godmilow
Frances A Goff
Donald Goldhamer
Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt
Adrian Gonzalez
Guadalupe Gonzalez
Marcy Gordon
Bob Gorringe
Mark Gotvald
Jeannette Graulau
Caryn Graves
Michael Green
Linda Greene
David Greenberg
Sarah Grey
Gustavus D Griffin
Pablo Grigera
Michael Grish
Dirk Groenenberg
William Grosh
Gloria Guillo
Maya Guttman-Slater
Helgaleena H
Nolan H.
Chase Halsne
Dee Halzack
James E. Hamilton
H. Hardouf
Aliya Harris
Ian Harris
Sue Harris
Laura Hart
Nancy Hatfield
Savannah Hawkins
Ken Hayes
Navjot Heer
Maxwell Hellmann
Louis R Hellwig
Jay Henderson
Gene B. Herman
Suzanne Hesh
Elaine Hickman
Arlene Hickory
Hollis Higgins
Monica Hill
Lauri Hoagland
Sally Hobson
Virginia Hollins-Davidson
Bill Holt
Alana Horowitz Friedman
Carl A Howard
Cynthia Howard
John Huber
Lois L. Guthrie
Johnathan Huddleston
Barbara Humphrey
Gui In de Betouw
Linda Geier Ingersoll
Ital Kofi Ital
JP
Jacob
Joshua
Carolyn Jackson
Bill Jacobson
Monica James
KE Jarvis
Patrick Jean-Pierre
Stephanie Jed
Tim Jeffries
Dominic Jermano
Mauricio Jimenez
Arnold Melvin Johnson
Charles Johnson
David Johnson
Gretchen Johnson
Lorraine D. Johnson
Stephen G Johnson
Gregory Jones
Jordan Jones
Lois Jordan
Mary Lou Jorgensen-Bacher
Nakita Joseph
Robert Curtis Joy
Ana Juarbe
M. Adaline Jyurovat
Karyn
Kayla
Chris Kaihatsu
Michael Kaufman
Seymour Kellerman
John Kilcher
Harold Kimpel
Glenn Kissack
Cathy Klein
Jacqueline Knable
Susan Knotek
Chris Koston
Michael Kowalchuk
Cheryl Kozanitas
Dawn Kramer
Stefan Kreft
Gwen Krueget
Julie Kuberski
Ausra Kubilius
Miriam Kurland
Danielle Kwon
Raymond Lambert
Laura Lance
Linette Landa
Bill Lankford
Elisa Larson
Sarina Larson
Tori Lassman
Philip Latka
Kaye Lattimore
Barbara Laxon
Nydia Leaf
Stephen Leberstein
Jaci Leavitt
Kenneth Lederman
Lennon Lederman
Peter Leeftink
Kiki Legrand
Gil Leib
Dorothea Leicher
Albert Lerner
Mary Lester
Claudia Leung
Elana Levy
Loren Lewandowski
Rena Lewis
Judith Lienhard
Tami Linder
Jennifer Lipka
Christopher Lish
Stephen Liss
Guy Liston
Jonothan Logan
Dave Logsdon
Kristin Loken
Leslie Singer Lomas
Ned Long
Mark Looney
Stephanie Losse
Josephine Lowrey
Thomas Luce
Martha Lujan
Marta Lulewicz
Nancy Lyles
Priscilla Lynch
Denise Lytle
Margo
Mary
Maure
Melissa
Yvonnre M.
Calli Madrone
Marc J Mancini
Melissa Mandel
Lisa Manon
Sarah Curtis Martin
Gabriel Martinez Saldivar
Ant Massaro
Max Mastellone
Rik Masterson
Ursula Mathern
Milo Matthews
Camilo Maya
Mark Mayer
Natasha Mayers
Elise McCaffrey
Madeline B McClure
Joshua Ezra McCoy
Tynesha McCullers
Sam McFadzean
Steven McGiffen
Jo Ann McGreevy
Laura McHenry
Kevin McKaig
Alan McThredder
John Mejia
Ms. Kathryn Melton
Bob Meola
Nancy Meredith
Fran Merker
Maya Messinger
Jill Michels
James Miller
Kerby Miller
Larry Miller
Michael Miller
Gerry Milliken
Eric Mills
Virginia Mills
Mirna Miranda
Kurt Miron
Susan Mirsky
Jonathan Mitchell
Kristin Mitchell
Feroze Mithiborwala
Zabrina Mohamed
David Monsees
Jean Mont-Eton
Hugh Moore
Eileen Moran
Kent Mori
Gilda Morkert
Samuel Morningstar
Ulises Moscoso
Gail S. Mott
Michael J. Motta
Dr. Thomas Muhr
Harriet Mullaney
Lauren Murdock
Luci Murphy
Margaret Murphy
Randolph Murray
Nas
Nate
Nicholas
Jonathan T. Nack
Russell Nadel
Adam Nation
Wayne Nealis
Nancy Wallace Nelson
Victor Nepomnyashchy
Immanuel Ness
John Nettleton
Steve Neubeck
Jesse Neumann
Elizabeth Neuse
Marcia Newfield
David Nichols
Joan Nicholson
Kathy Nickodemus
Kris Niznik
June Noble
Adam P Nolan
Brian Noyes Pulling, M.Div.
Maribel Núñez
Sheena O.
David Oberweiser Jr
Sinéad O'Brien
Meaveen O'Connor
Stefan Olhede
Corey E. Olsen
Jon D. Olsen
Cyril Joseph O'Reilly
Elizabeth Orem
Edward O'Rourke, Jr
Tunde Osazua
Paige
PJ
Lucy Pagoada
Lorna Paisley
Timothea Papas
Alan Papscun
Rashid Patch
Shirley Pate
Richard Pathak
Lesley Patton
Jill Paulus
Sven Erik Pedersen
Andrea Perdue
Mary Anne Perrone
JoAnn Peters
Annie Petrokubi
Terry Phelan
Letty Phillips
Barbara Phinney
Felton Pierre
Joe Piette
Mike Pincus Paige
Cecile Pineda
Catherine Podojil
Mary Prophet
George Prudent
Pete Puma
Luis I. Quiñones
Rachel
Aliyah R
Kamal Rajapakse
Peter Ranis
Keegan Rasmussen
Jim Rauner
Linda Ray
John Re
Robert Ream
Judith Reed
Joseph Reilly
Oscar Revilla
Brian Reynolds
Maxim K. Rice
Hilda Richey
Kyle Riness
Cyndi Roberts
Norma V Rodriguez
Victor M. Rodriguez
Gordon Rogoff
David Rohrlich
Jelica Roland
Denise Romesburg
Marianne Roncoli
David Rose
Sean G Rosenstock
Cathy Rowan
Ellen Rubin
Kenneth Ruby
Kathleen Ruff
Ko Ruijter
Phil Runkel
Raymond Ruthenberg
SH
Bert Sacks
Malcolm Sacks
Andrew Saladino
Joe Salazar
Libre XAssata Sankara
Michael-David Sasson
Rosemarie G Sawdon
Sr. Claudette Schiratti, RSM
Einar Schlereth
John Schmittauer
Pete Schoonmaker
Eli Schotz
Leslie Schultz
Arlene Schutz
Diana Scott
Tyler Scott
Maro Sevastopoulos
Nancy Sharp
Maureen Sheahan
Nadia Shebaro
Susan Sheinfeld
Charles Sherrouse
Audrey Shipp
Heide Shrouder
Robert Siegel
Anna Siftar
Carmen Agoyo Silva
Dana Silvernale
Leslie Singer
Julie Skelton
William and Ursula Slavick
Harry Smaller
Adia Smith
Brandon Smith
Brandy Smith
Brenda Lee Smith
J.T. Smith
Mark Smith
Mark Smith
Newland F Smith
William Snavely
Nicole Sohn
Lomas Lisa Sparaco
Alexa Spiegel
Lana Spilsbury
Mari Stachenfeld
Bill Stansbery
Barrie Stebbings
Burton Steck
Mele Stokesberry
Roger Stoll
Connie Stomper
Jack Strasburg
Anne Streeter
Lucinda Stroud
Stevie Sugarman
Meryl Sundove
Selina Sweet
Christian Sweningsen
Cynthia Sypher-Lopez
Daniel Tagbo
Linda Tate
Gary Thaler
Leslie Thatcher
Alan Thomas
Jan Thompson
Brian Tierney
Ann Tiffany
Carol Tileston
Konstantinos Tillis
Fern Tishman
Alexandra Topping
Amanda Torres
Eleanor Toth
Erline Towner =
Grace Trapnell
Con Trowbridge
Chris Tuch
Paul Turner
Ralph Tuscher
Gene Ulmer
Valentina
Vanessa
Natalie Van Leekwijck
Marcelo Vazquez
Kenny Vieth
Gerardo Veliz Carrillo
Dr. Bethy Victorin
Pierre-Paul Villafafila
Dana Visalli
Peter von Christierson
Mary Vorpahl
Siamak Vossoughi
Wangeci
Ronald Waddell
Raymond Wager
Trudi Wallace
James M Wallrabenstein
Terrence Ward
Rev Ruby Warren
Joseph Wasserman
Elizabeth Watts
Stephen E. Weil
Vivian Weinstein
Allan Widmeyer
Paki Wieland
Lois Wilcken
William Williams
Susan Willis
Thomas J Windberg
Dallas Windham
Doug Wingeier
Steve Wise
Lisa Witham
Tom Wojcik
Nancy Woolley
Nancy Wright
Randall Wyatt
Yan
Jim Yarbrough
Jane A Yater
Sahand Yazdanyar
Nancy York
Zhun Xu
Carlos Zepeda
Denise Zwahlen

BAP Member Jemima Pierre Discusses U.S./UN Intervention Fueling the Haiti Crisis

This week's episode of WPFW’s “Voices With Vision” features a discussion on Haiti. The Haitian people are showing that they are sick and tired of being sick and tired. So “Voices With Vision”’s Netfa Freeman, who represents Pan-African Community Action on BAP’s Coordinating Committee, and co-host Craig Hall, interviewed BAP member Dr. Jemima Pierre, a Haitian-born Associate Professor of Black Studies at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Pierre tells it like it really is in a way you won't hear in the U.S. capitalist press. Anchored by the background beat, “Midnight” by Tribe Called Quest, she explains how the United States has overseen Haiti’s politics and economy, while Haiti’s sovereignty has been supplanted by brutal United Nations (UN) “peace-keeping missions” and “stabilization forces.” After political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal's commentary on the Trump impeachment verdict, they open the show with a clip of comedian Paul Mooney.

Podcasts:
WPFW
Player FM
iTunes

ENJOY!

WARNING: This show is not for the politically faint of heart 😎

Graphic credit: Netfa Freeman

The Left Lens: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and American Empire, with Ajamu Baraka

Danny Haiphong and Margaret Kimberley | Black Agenda Report

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is often celebrated without any regard for his radical political legacy. Black Alliance for Peace national organizer Ajamu Baraka joins Danny Haiphong and Margaret Kimberley to assess the ongoing relevance of MLK’s work and worldview. WATCH HERE

Pandemic Reveals Crisis of U.S. Imperialism

Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford | Black Agenda Radio

“I think what we are looking at is a severely wounded, crippled U.S. imperialism as the chief hegemon of world capitalism,” said Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations. The coronavirus epidemic “brought the crisis of this economy into bold relief,” said Yeshitela, while China continued its rise “as a major contending force that was rapidly overtaking the US economy – and most of Europe,” as well. LISTEN HERE

Lynchings By Law

By: Aaron Greene, member of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) & a coordinator for the JLS Right2Vote Movement.

Contact: info@blackallianceforpeace.com

The U.S.  death penalty has always been a symbol of white supremacy and a violation of human rights law.  Having already executed 11 people this year, the Trump administration plans to execute five people (four of them Black) during a lame-duck session. This would be the first time a president has carried out executions during a lame-duck session since the Cleveland administration carried out the execution of an Indigenous man in 1890.

The profound anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells once said: “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” She and many others advocated tirelessly to stop the lynching of Black children, women, and men. She was moved to this work after the People’s Grocery Lynching in 1892 when three Black men (Thomas Moss, Will Stewart, and Calvin McDowell) were lynched by a white mob while in police custody. This lit a fire in Ida as she could not sit idle while Black Blood was dripping from leaves across the country.

Ida B. Wells has been on my mind this week after learning that the Trump administration plans to execute five people before there is a change of power. Trump is the first president in 17 years to reinstate federal executions.  Since executions were permitted in July of 2020, 11 people have been put to death. This is more than any previous year in the 20th or 21st centuries.  Only three people had been executed by the federal government from 1970 to 2019.

The Trump administration is planning to continue this lynching by law. Below are five people that are scheduled to be executed:

• Brandon Bernard (Black Man) – Currently incarcerated in Terre Haute, Indiana. Brandon was 18 years old when first incarcerated and now is 40 years old. Brandon was only an accomplice to the alleged crime and five of the nine surviving jurors for his case no longer view the death penalty as a necessary punishment. Brandon would be the youngest executed in 70 years and his scheduled date of execution is December 10, 2020 (Human Rights Day).

  • Learn more about Brandon’s Case: https://www.helpsavebrandon.com

• Dustin Higgs (Black Man) – Currently incarcerated in Terre Haute, Indiana. Dustin was sentenced to death on January 3, 2001. Dustin was convicted as an accomplice to three murders in 1996, even though he actually did not pull the trigger, but was guilty by association under the so-called law of parties theory. He is scheduled to be executed on January 15, 2021, which would be the last federal execution carried out by the Trump Administration. January 15, 2020, is the birth date of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr.

  • Learn more about Dustin’s Case here: http://www.savedustinjhiggs.com

• Lisa Montgomery (White Woman) – Currently incarcerated in Forth Worth, Texas. Lisa was sentenced to death on October 22, 2007. Lisa suffers from severe mental illness and experienced relentless physical, emotional, and sexual abuse including being trafficked by her own mother. She is the only woman under a federal death sentence and would be the first woman executed in 70 years. Execution date of January 12, 2021.

  • Learn more about Lisa’s case here: https://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/project/savelisa/

• Cory Johnson (Black Man) – Currently incarcerated in Terre Haute, Indiana. Cory was sentenced to death in 1993. His lawyers have continuously argued that he suffers from an intellectual disability, which should prohibit him from being executed under federal law. Cory is one of the longest serving people now on federal death row. His execution date is January 14, 2020.

  • Learn more about Cory’s case here.

• Alfred Bourgeois (Black Man) – Currently incarcerated in Terre Haute, Indiana. Alfred was convicted and sentenced to death in 2002. Alfred is intellectually disabled and should be constitutionally ineligible for the death penalty. He is scheduled to be executed on December 11, 2020.

  • On December 2, 2020, Alfred Bourgeois attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of Dec. 11 scheduled federal execution and review of intellectual disability claim. Read the press release, cert petition, stay motion here.

If these five executions are carried out, the Trump administration will have executed 16 people in 6 months.  This reality should serve as a reminder that the Ku Klux Klan not only wears white robes, masks, and carries shotguns but also wears fake smiles, tailored suits, and utilizes a legislative pens. With this terror of violence weighing on our communities, one must ask the same question Ida B. Wells asked some decades ago: “Where are our “leaders” when the race is being burnt, shot, and hanged? Holding good fat offices and saying not a word.”  Where are our leaders when Brandon Bernard is scheduled to be executed on Human Rights Day?  Where are our leaders when this administration plans to execute the youngest person in 70 years and the first women in 70 years?  Where are our leaders when five nooses have been positioned once again on the United States Bloody Oak Tree? Where are our leaders to declare and exemplify that Black Lives in Prison Matter? Where are our leaders to affirm that all life is precious and that a civilized state should not engage in ritualized murder posing as justice?

Organizations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the United Nations must not remain mostly silent but instead should urgently resist all five executions and also highlight the contradiction of Brandon Bernard being scheduled to be executed on International Human Rights Day. As Attorney Jaribu Hill has stated: “The death penalty is the ultimate human rights violation.”  Organizations like the NAACP should stop practicing leadership by avoidance but instead should walk in the prophetic tradition of its’ cofounder Ida B. Wells by shining light on this grave injustice and organizing urgent actions. Leaders should stop begging President elect Joe Biden for highchairs in his administration, but instead should pressure him to take an aggressive stance to prevent these five executions. Joe Biden is not an innocent bystander, he is the author of the 1994 Crime Bill which included, the Death Penalty Act, this created 60 new federal death penalty crimes.

The execution of five people is on the docket, but we still have time to resist these scheduled lynchings by law. We have a responsibility to respond with resounding action whenever we see the Blood on the Leaves. The Lynching Tree and Execution by law are all interconnected as weapons of terror used in an attempt to silence the oppressed. We cannot be silent but must stand with our backs straight demanding that these lives be saved.

 What can you do to help? Below are actions you can take to raise awareness:

• Take Action here to help Brandon Bernard.

• Take Action here to help Dustin Higgs.

• Take Action here to help Lisa Montgomery.

• Take Action here to help Cory Johnson.

• Take Action here to help Alfred Bourgeois.

Photo credit: Pat Sullivan/AP

AFRICOM: Deadly Deception

AFRICOM: Deadly Deception

By Friends of Congo

Published Oct. 7, 2020 in Black Agenda Report

AFRICOM's real aim was never peace nor stability but rather, strategic US interests.

“With the election of Barack Obama in 2008, the resistance to AFRICOM became exceedingly difficult.”

On October 1, 2007, the United States under the presidency of George W. Bush and the military leadership of the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, launched the Africa Command (AFRICOM). The command was based in Stuttgart, Germany. In the same vein as the 1884/85 Berlin Conference, AFRICOM was a wholly external concoction to be imposed on Africans without their input or consent. In fact, when African leaders first heard of the establishment of an African command, they overwhelmingly rejected its intent to expand U.S. military presence on the African continent. Even during President Bush's trip to the continent in 2008, African leaders roundly rejected US military expansion  on the continent. The only country that was amenable to the presence of AFRICOM on African soil was Liberia under the leadership of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 

Although Bush appointed Morgan State University graduate, Kip Ward, an African American four-star general to head up AFRICOM and continued to claim that the intent of AFRICOM was not to establish US military bases in Africa, he still faced stiff resistance. Kip Ward waxed eloquently  about AFRICOM being established to support humanitarian assistance efforts in Africa, build wells and prevent conflict.

“African leaders first overwhelmingly rejected an expanded U.S. military presence on the African continent.”

In order for otherwise reasonable and critical people to buy the deception of the US military having as its main aim humanitarian assistance support and peace and stability in Africa, they have to already subscribe to certain preconceived notions about Africa and Africans. In essence, the US military has traded in the notion that Africa is a poor continent in need of charity. The opposite is true -- Africa is a rich continent, in fact the richest continent on the planet in natural resources that has been plundered for the past 500 years, starting with the trafficking in African bodies and today with the super exploitation of oil, copper, cobalt, coltan, diamonds, gold, bauxite, timber and myriad other natural riches. The charity propaganda combined with the command being led by a Black man and then to be championed by a Black president with the election of Barack Obama in 2008, the resistance to AFRICOM became exceedingly difficult. The path was cleared under the Obama presidency to the point where the US military presence on the African continent expanded nearly 2,000 percent  under his presidency. In addition, under the Obama administration with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and Susan Rice as US Ambassador to the United Nations, AFRICOM led the bombing of Libya in cahoots with NATO to effect "regime change" in Libya by removing Muammar Gaddafi from power. Hillary Clinton infamously stated on her visit to Libya after the murder of Gaddafi, “We came, we saw, he died.”

Today, Libya and the surrounding countries in the Sahel, particularly Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali are a living hell due to the fall out from the Nato/AFRICOM bombing campaign and subsequent government overthrow in Libya. 

“AFRICOM led the bombing of Libya in cahoots with NATO.”

Should one make an objective assessment of one of AFRICOM's signature claims at its inception –- “to bring stability and assist in advancing peace and stability in Africa” -- one would have to conclude that AFRICOM has been an abject failure. However, knowledgeable people know that AFRICOM's real aim was never peace nor stability but rather, strategic interests. The United States uses its military throughout the globe to bring about full spectrum domination and Africa is no exception. A case in point is the United States' recent push to acquire permission from Kenya to conduct drone strikes  in its territory. Should Somalia serve as an example or model where US drone strikes have killed civilians, Kenyans would be forewarned to categorically reject this request from the US.

This article previously appeared in the Friends of Congo blogspot.

Why We Focus on Africa

Why We Focus on Africa

By the Black Alliance for Peace

Published Sept. 30, 2020 in Black Agenda Report

With reports each week of yet another Black victim of police violence, there is for many an ever-growing desperation. As activists search for a way forward, Africa’s plight does not find its way on to the movement agenda. But there is good reason to be concerned about what goes on in Africa. The problems there and the problems here are related.

Africa has long been the focus of foreign exploitation of the continent’s land, resources, and people. As everyone knows, Africans find themselves in the Western Hemisphere because of slavery and its exploitation of the labor of those who were enslaved. But the interest in Africa of those foreign to that continent was not limited to human trafficking. There was an even greater interest in Africa’s gold, diamonds, cobalt, oil, and other natural resources too numerous to list.

Because Africa was colonized by western capitalist interests and robbed of its wealth, Africans resisted and drove the colonizers from the continent, or so they thought. In the years since independence came to Africa, it has become painfully clear that European colonizers have managed to retain their grip on the continent by various means, including the manipulation of corrupt African public officials.

The United States always had its hand in the exploitation of Africa, but it has never been widely regarded as a colonizer. The U.S. likes it that way because it is helpful to its global image as a benevolent justice-loving democratic nation. However, under cover of darkness the U.S. has played a leading role in maintaining an iron western grip on Africa.

Observers note that in 2019, U.S. Special Operations Forces were deployed in 22 African countries, and in recent years these troops engaged in active combat in at least 13. In addition to direct combat, U.S. military forces conduct joint training operations with the military forces of most of the countries on the African continent. These operations are carefully designed to serve U.S. interests. If the interests of the host African countries are also served, it is coincidental. All of this military activity is sponsored and coordinated by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The public statements made by AFRICOM about its work are crafted to portray the command as an armed Peace Corps that digs wells, delivers medicine, and builds hospitals while simultaneously protecting African villages from international terrorists. The reality is that the mission is to advance and protect the operations of western corporations. When it comes to that job the U.S. is eclipsed only by the French.

France has maintained an active and aggressive military presence in Africa for years, and the U.S. has been an enthusiastic supporter. AFRICOM makes no secret of this fact. Its commander said, “France is the United States’ oldest ally, and a leader in the counterterrorism fight in Africa. We share common threats, mutual concerns, and a commitment to fighting violent extremist organizations.” That comment translated means the U.S. teams with France to protect western corporate interests and brands anyone who gets in their way a terrorist. This can sometimes have fatal consequences.

In 2017, four U.S. soldiers were killed in Niger. The reason for their presence in that country was not clearly explained by the Pentagon, but it is likely that their mission was related to the fact that for decades the French company Areva has mined uranium in Niger for French consumption and established extensive operations in the Nigerien town of Arlit. In 2013, France began to fear attacks on these facilities, and they deployed troops to protect them. The U.S. had troops in the region too, probably to assist the French. Four soldiers paid the price with their lives.

Libya, too, was the site of French and U.S. military meddling that ultimately plunged the country into total violent chaos. The objective was to frustrate the late Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi’s efforts to establish a Pan-African currency (that would devalue the French franc); and, to gain control of Libya’s oil fields.

Western domination of Africa’s wealth by military force hurts Africa, but it also hurts African people in the U.S. Although many harbor stale beliefs that the people of Africa care nothing about their stolen African family members in the United States, the contrary was proven dramatically by Africa’s outpouring of support and solidarity in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder. Imagine the changes that would have occurred if those demonstrations of support had been accompanied by financial support to the movement, diplomatic arm-twisting and economic pressure. Africa cannot demonstrate that type of independence and power because the entire continent has a giant U.S. military boot on its neck. It falls to those of us who are up-close and personal to AFRICOM to untie the laces of that boot and cause the U.S. military operations in Africa to trip and crash.

This is what we intend with the International Day of Action on AFRICOM and our ongoing campaign to shut down AFRICOM.

The International Day of Action on AFRICOM (October 1, 2020) aims to raise the public's awareness about the U.S. military's existence in Africa, and how the presence of U.S. forces exacerbates violence and instability throughout the continent. The Black Alliance for Peace calls on our friends to endorse this day as an individual or organization and to organize an educational event, for which we have provided materials on our webpage: https:/.blackallianceforpeace.com/DayOfActionOnAFRICOM

Porqué Nos Centramos en África

Porqué Nos Centramos en África

Escrito por la Alianza Negra Por La Paz

Publicado el 30 de septiembre de 2020 en Black Agenda Report

https://www.blackagendareport.com/why-we-focus-africa

África no puede manifestar su independencia y poder porque todo el continente tiene una gigantesca bota militar estadounidense en el cuello.

"La presencia de las fuerzas estadounidenses exacerba la violencia y la inestabilidad en todo el continente"

Las noticias de una nueva víctima Negra de la violencia policial cada semana, desatan una desesperación para muchas personas que aumenta sin cesar. Mientras los activistas buscan un camino para avanzar, la difícil situación de África no encuentra su camino en la agenda de este movimiento. Sin embargo, hay motivo suficiente para preocuparse por lo que sucede en África. Los problemas de allí y los de aquí están relacionados.

El continente africano ha sido durante mucho tiempo el centro de la explotación extranjera de su tierra, sus recursos y su gente. Como es bien conocido, los africanos se encuentran en el Hemisferio Occidental debido a la esclavitud y la explotación del trabajo de aquellos que fueron esclavizados. Pero el interés por África de los extranjeros al continente no se limitó a la trata de personas. Hubo un interés aún mayor en su oro, su diamantes, su cobalto, su petróleo y otros recursos naturales demasiado numerosos para enumerarlos.

Debido a que África fue colonizada por intereses capitalistas occidentales y la despojaron de su riqueza, los africanos resistieron y expulsaron a los colonizadores del continente, o eso creyeron. En los años transcurridos desde que África alcanzó la independencia, ha quedado claro lamentablemente que los colonizadores europeos han logrado mantener su control sobre el continente por diversos medios, incluida la manipulación de funcionarios públicos africanos corruptos.

"Los africanos resistieron y expulsaron a los colonizadores del continente, o eso creyeron"

Estados Unidos siempre ha extendido sus garras para la explotación de África, pero nunca se le ha considerado generalmente como un colonizador. Los EE. UU. han estado encantados con esta percepción porque es útil para su imagen global como una nación democrática benevolente y amante de la justicia. Sin embargo, cobijados en la oscuridad, los Estados Unidos han desempeñado un papel de liderazgo en el mantenimiento de un férreo control occidental sobre África.

Algunos observadores señalan que en 2019, se desplegaron las Fuerzas de Operaciones Especiales de EE. UU en 22 países africanos, y en los últimos años estas tropas participaron en combate activo en al menos 13 países. Además del combate directo, las fuerzas militares de EE. UU realizan operaciones de entrenamiento conjuntas con las fuerzas militares de la mayoría de los países del continente africano. Estas operaciones están cuidadosamente diseñadas para servir a los intereses estadounidenses. Si sirven al mismo tiempo a los intereses de los países africanos anfitriones, es pura coincidencia.

Toda esta actividad militar está patrocinada y coordinada por el Comando para África de Estados Unidos (AFRICOM).

Las declaraciones públicas difundidas por AFRICOM sobre sus funciones están diseñadas para ofrecer un perfil del este Comando como un Cuerpo de Paz armado que cava pozos, distribuye medicinas y construye hospitales al mismo tiempo que protege a las aldeas africanas de los terroristas internacionales. La realidad es que su misión es promover y proteger las operaciones de las corporaciones occidentales. Cuando se trata de ese trabajo, Estados Unidos solo está eclipsado por los franceses.

"Su misión es promover y proteger las operaciones de las corporaciones occidentales"

Francia ha mantenido una presencia militar activa y agresiva en África durante años, entre tanto, Estados Unidos ha sido un adepto entusiasta. AFRICOM no oculta este hecho. Su comandante dijo: “Francia es el aliado más antiguo de Estados Unidos y un líder en la lucha antiterrorista en África. Compartimos amenazas comunes, preocupaciones mutuas y el compromiso de luchar contra las organizaciones extremistas violentas”. Ese comentario traducido significa que Estados Unidos se asocia a Francia para proteger los intereses corporativos occidentales y tildar a cualquiera que se interponga en su camino como terrorista. A veces, esto tiene consecuencias fatales.

“Estados Unidos se asocia a Francia para proteger los intereses corporativos occidentales”

En 2017, cuatro soldados estadounidenses fueron asesinados en Níger. El Pentágono no explicó claramente el motivo de su presencia en ese país, pero es probable que su misión estuviera relacionada con el hecho de que durante décadas la empresa francesa Areva ha extraído uranio en Níger para consumo francés y ha establecido amplias operaciones en la nigeriana ciudad de Arlit. En 2013, Francia comenzó a temer ataques a estas instalaciones y desplegó tropas para protegerlas. Estados Unidos también tenía tropas en la región, probablemente para ayudar a los franceses. Cuatro soldados pagaron el precio con sus vidas.

Libia también fue el escenario de la intromisión militar francesa y estadounidense que finalmente sumió al país en un caos total y violento. El objetivo era frustrar los esfuerzos del fallecido líder libio Muammar Gadhafi por establecer una moneda panafricana (que devaluaría el franco francés); y hacerse con el control de los campos petroleros de Libia. 

La dominación occidental sobre la riqueza de África impuesta por la fuerza militar perjudica a África, pero también a los africanos de los EE. UU. Aunque muchos albergan viejas creencias de que a la gente de África no le importan los miembros de su familia africana expoliados en los Estados Unidos, los africanos demostraron lo contrario radicalmente a juzgar por la efusión de apoyo y solidaridad tras el asesinato de George Floyd. Imagínemos los cambios que se hubieran producido, si esas manifestaciones de apoyo hubieran estado acompañadas de apoyo financiero al movimiento, y de presiones diplomáticas y económicas. África no puede hacer alarde de ese tipo de independencia y poder porque todo el continente tiene una gigantesca bota militar estadounidense en el cuello. Nos corresponde a aquellos de nosotros que estamos frente a frente con el AFRICOM desatar los cordones de esa bota y hacer que las operaciones militares de Estados Unidos en África tropiecen y se estrellen.

Esto es lo que pretendemos con el Día Internacional de Acción sobre AFRICOM y nuestra campaña en curso para acabar con AFRICOM.

El Día Internacional de Acción sobre AFRICOM (1 de octubre de 2020) tiene como objetivo concienciar al público sobre la existencia de un ejército estadounidense en África y cómo esta presencia de fuerzas estadounidenses agudiza la violencia y la inestabilidad en todo el continente. Hacemos un llamamiento a nuestros amigos para que apoyen este día individualmente o como organización a fin de que se prepare un evento educativo, para lo cual hemos proporcionado materiales en nuestra página web: blackallianceforpeace.com/dayofactiononafricom

Traducido para UMOYA por Nuria Blanco de Andres, Madrid 30 Septiembre 2020

Expanding Monstrous US Drone War to Kenya is Bi-Partisan Madness

By Netfa Freeman | Black Agenda Report

The absence of a domestic backlash against US Africa policy is testament to the blind spots of our movement.

Instead of being a remnant of its past, US genocidal repression, labor exploitation and resource plundering against Indigenous and African (Black) people now extends to peoples across the planet. The tyranny of US racial capitalism over Black people stretches to the African motherland, without the bat of an eye by Black misleaders. READ MORE

Freedom Rider: Losers, Suckers and War

By Margaret Kimberley | Black Agenda Report

Democrats are up in arms over Trump’s latest mouth-burst, but the truth is that both corporate parties have made the people suckers for endless, “bipartisan” wars.

Americans certainly love war. Most will deny having those feelings, they will instead talk about warfare as a means of protecting freedom, spreading democracy or fighting tyrants. The end result of course is mass death, mostly of people in far away and non-white lands, but also of significant numbers of Americans. The carnage is usually downplayed in favor of worshipping those who go to kill and perhaps be killed themselves. This twisted dynamic is most visible when anyone dares to question the narrative of exceptionalism and benevolent warriors. READ MORE