The Society for International Relations Awareness (SIRA) conference held on August 12 and 13 in Abuja, Nigeria, was a powerful demonstration of solidarity and commitment to peoples struggling for self-determination. The theme was “The Forgotten Peoples: International Conference on Decolonizing the World.”
The current most dangerous phase of the efforts of Western imperialism – led by US imperialism, which also leads NATO – to bring about a third world war can only succeed with the participation and obedience of the formerly colonized and neo-colonized governments and peoples.
However, this conference makes it clear that anti-imperialist organizations, activists and youth in the colonized environment are more likely to become the gravediggers of the imperialists.
Owei Lakemfa, the current President of SIRA with a long history of struggle in trade union leadership and human rights reporting, welcomed the conference, saying:
We believe that the United Nations has not acted quickly enough, despite promising to decolonize countries since 1960. Therefore, we have decided to bring together the populations of the colonies and the populations of the colonizers to agree on a possible timeframe, framework or plan of action. …
Since there are about 61 non-self-governing territories in the world and the UN classifies about 17 to 18 of them as such, we would like to see how many of them can be decolonized within the next four to six years.
Occupation of Western Sahara
Western imperialism has fostered and continues to foster divisions between colonized and neo-colonized nations. Morocco’s long-standing occupation of Western Sahara, facilitated by Spain, is one of these contradictions that result from the colonized becoming colonizers. Morocco was also a victim of French and British colonialism.
Lakemfa explained that the root of the problem lies deep within the population and goes back to Spain’s controversial decision to hand over Western Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania as part of the decolonization process.
While Mauritania eventually withdrew, Morocco retained its control over the area, leaving the Sahrawi people scattered across occupied territories and refugee camps in Algeria.
The keynote speech was given by Oubi Bachir, Ambassador of Western Sahara and representative of the liberation movement POLISARIO to the United Nations and in Geneva:
“I assume you all know that Western Sahara is considered the last colony in Africa,” Bachir said, “because it is still on the UN list of countries to be decolonized,” but Morocco’s “Plan A was to militarily occupy the area and exterminate the population.”
However, according to Bachir, Saharan military resistance forced Morocco to accept the UN plan for a referendum on self-determination in 1991. But Morocco again resorted to military attacks against Western Sahara. Bachir pointed out that the responsibility of the European Union, the United States and the African Union is to support Western Saharan self-determination. “The people of Western Sahara are the only ones who have the right to decide the final fate of the territory of Western Sahara,” Bachir said.
Solidarity with Cuba
The Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, Miriam Morales Palmero, was well received. She spoke of solidarity with Nigeria and their shared interest in ending the US blockade against Cuba and the US designation of Cuba as a state that supports terrorism. Palmero was greeted with cries of solidarity from the conference participants and was honored on Fidel Castro’s birthday on August 13, the day of her speech.
The day before, the chairman of the conference, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, former UNICEF President, former Foreign Minister of Nigeria and former Chairman of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid and Special Envoy for Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar, gave an opening speech: “As long as many people are unfree under colonialism, none of us can consider ourselves free,” said Gambari.
“The freedom of all oppressed and colonized peoples is a top priority. Without it, international peace and security are truly at risk,” he continued.
There are enough joint resolutions supporting an end to colonialism, but they are not self-implementing. So we really need to organize ourselves to make sure that the territories that are under colonial rule or are not self-governing become independent as soon as possible.
Jihad Abdul Mumit, a former political prisoner and member of the Jericho Movement in the US, echoed this view in his statement at the conference:
This is about continuing to build better and stronger networks to educate, uplift and represent the people. It is our duty to develop a plan. It is our duty to fight against genocide, colonialism and all forms of oppression. It is our duty to respect one another. It is our duty to fight to win.
Maggie Vascassenno, co-coordinator of Women in Struggle/Mujeres en Lucha, USA, referred to today’s struggles in Nigeria:
Women In Struggle is inspired by and stands in solidarity with the young people and workers here in Abuja and cities across Nigeria who are fighting against rising inflation, hunger and poverty. We demand an end to the brutal repression that includes not only the deaths of those fighting against capitalist price gouging but also the mass incarceration in Nigeria. We support the demands of the mass movement #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria.
Stop the colonization of Puerto Rico
The struggle to end the colonization of Puerto Rico within the United States was a major theme of this conference. Edwin Cortes, a former Puerto Rican political prisoner who spent 14 years in prison and also spoke on behalf of former political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera, expressed how this sparked the desire for a struggle.
Since the 1970s, we have been and continue to be moved by many liberation struggles, including in Algeria, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, as well as the Tupamaros in Uruguay, the FMLN in El Salvador, the 26th of July Movement in Cuba, Nicolás Maduro and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Palestine, to name just a few. …
Oscar Lopez Rivera was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the United States as part of a forced colonial migration in the 1950s. He was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces and sent to Vietnam, where he became aware of the anti-colonial struggle of the Vietnamese people. Oscar returned to the streets of Chicago with an anti-colonial vision to improve the lives of our community strugglers and to develop new campaigns for Puerto Rican self-determination and independence.
The author of these lines, a member of the Socialist Unity Party, spoke about the denial of the right of self-determination to developing countries by the US-dominated World Bank and the IMF. Their role in denying infrastructure only leads to poverty and inflation – fuelled by the US wars, proxy wars and military terrorism in Africa.
Kandis AN Sebro, Continental Assembly of Caribbean Peoples of the Alba Movements, also spoke about the underdevelopment of infrastructure revealed in 1968:
As Guyanese intellectual Walter Rodney pointed out, colonial expansion was aimed at exploiting our resources. The Caribbean was therefore structurally oriented to promote the development of industrialised countries, mainly in Europe or on the mainland.
In addition, Sebro stated:
Social dominance also involved self-denial in various ways, such as through language and culture. This phenomenon is addressed by Frantz Fanon in his book Black Skin, White Mask, in which people in the Caribbean are constantly taught that elements of their culture are primitive and worthless.
The violence of the imperialist countries of the West is clearly visible today through technology and the unprecedented killing of children and Palestinians in Gaza by Israel’s most heinous and monstrous genocide – armed and financed by the US. And the genocide against the African peoples on the continent and in the diaspora continues to grow in violence.
Kazi Toure, former political prisoner and member of the National Jericho Movement, USA, witnessed the state executions against the black liberation movement:
When a child goes to school, he or she must put his or her hand over his or her heart, face the flag, and pledge allegiance to the United States flag – the same thing happens at every major sporting event. …
I stopped joining when I was 13. Medgar Evers was murdered when I was 14. Brother Malcolm was murdered when I was 15. The Black Panther Party was founded when I was 16, and Martin Luther King was murdered when I was 18. … The FBI’s counterintelligence program, known as Cointelpro, infiltrated and destroyed every Black, brown, and Indigenous organization working to improve their communities and nations. By 1974, 28 young people from the Black Panther Party had been murdered, leading to the party’s demise.
Berta Joubert-Ceci, a member of the Women’s International Democratic Federation and regular contributor to Struggle-La Lucha, gave a very informative talk at the conference highlighting the economic violence against Puerto Rico:
In 2015, the Krueger Report was published, a neoliberal prescription from the IMF: “Puerto Rico – a way forward”. The 30-page report offers a detailed study of the colony’s economy and its practices. Some of the measures of this five-year plan are:
- Abolition of the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which is allegedly too high
- Reduction in the number of teachers and consolidation (closure) of schools, cutting funding for the University of Puerto Rico, etc.
This includes the privatization of public institutions such as the PUR Electric Power Authority and other government entities that efficiently generate revenue such as the State Insurance Fund. These facts point to the urgency of decolonization now.
Estelí Capote, General Coordinator of the Instituto Puertorriqueño de Relaciones Internacionales, spoke about how organizations working in the UN committees could also promote Puerto Rico’s independence and self-determination.
For example, in the early 2000s, Puerto Rico had great difficulty removing the US military from Vieques, which was heavily bombing the island, causing contamination, displacement, illness and death of soldiers. Such problems are something the 4th Commission can address. It is important that Puerto Rico is represented in this 4th Commission, especially by our sister country Cuba. Despite all the economic blockades and political restrictions by the US, they remain very committed to fulfilling the commitment of José Martí and Fidel Castro and promoting Puerto Rico’s independence.
Owei Lakemfa and Estelí Capote – the main organizers – organized a highly successful conference that ended with the alignment of the work and the recognition of a significant and inspiring birthday. Capote said:
This is the first of a series of consecutive, successive events that must be celebrated until the goal of this body is achieved. The participants paid tribute today, August 13, the birthday of Fidel Castro, to the vital and inspiring energy of the great world revolutionary that supports and guides the process of common debate and agreement on the goals and purposes of this Conference.
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