Africa 2011: Year of Mass Upheaval, Imperialist Interventions, Part II

Abayomi Azikiwe, the editor of the Pan-African News Wire, speaking on Press TV on the humanitarian and political crisis in the Horn of Africa. 11 million people are facing famine in the region., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Africa 2011: Year of Mass Upheaval, Imperialist Interventions, Part II

World capitalist crisis at root of growing social unrest

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Although the United States and its NATO allies have intensified their military operations on the African continent, the unequal distribution of wealth and economic power between the imperialist states and the oppressed post-colonial nations has continued to spark mass demonstrations and rebellions in various geo-political regions on the continent. The war against Libya represented the first major operation of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) which was formed in 2008.

However, this intervention was met by formidable resistance on the part of the people of this oil-producing North African state. It took six months for the war to drive the Libyan government from the capital of Tripoli and another two months to take the Jamahiriya strongholds of Sirte and Bani Walid.

Rebel forces patched together under the banner of the National Transitional Council (NTC) could not have toppled the Libyan government of Col. Muammar Gaddafi if it had not been for the combined airstrikes, naval blockades, economic sanctions and the deployments of intelligence operatives and special forces from the Western countries and their allies in the region. Nonetheless, this massive bombing of Libya, the murder of thousands of its citizens and the seizure of its national wealth cannot ensure its stability for imperialism as resistance to these neo-colonial designs continues.

Camp Lemonier: The US-French Military Base in the Horn of Africa

In the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, a former French colony, the United States and France maintains a military base with at least 6,500 troops being stationed there. Both the U.S. and France are operating in neighboring Somalia as leading forces in a combined effort to liquidate the Al-Shabaab Islamic resistance movement that has been designated as “terrorist” and an affiliate of al-Qaeda. The Kenyan Defense Forces have sent ground troops into Somalia and they are being supported by Ethiopia, the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) troops, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) soldiers that are financed by the U.S. with these African troops being supported from the air and sea by the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency, the French military and drones deployed by the State of Israel.

Despite the strong presence of French and U.S. troops in Djibouti, the country erupted in February with widespread social unrest. Reports of mass demonstrations and rebellions resulted in government repression leaving several people dead and injured.

The military alliance between Djibouti’s government and the U.S. and France has not brought economic benefits to this country of less than one million people with a gross domestic product of only $982 million. The country’s strategic interest for imperialist states lies in its location on the Red Sea which is one of the world’s most lucrative shipping lanes.

According to Bloomberg, “Inflation in Djibouti accelerated to 6.5 percent in October as health costs and the prices of some foods increased….The inflation rate climbed from 4 percent in September, the Djibouti City-based agency said in an e-mailed statement on December 5. Prices rose 0.5 percent in the month, it said. Health costs advanced 2.7 percent, as prices of vegetable jumped 7.3 percent from September….” (Bloomberg, Dec. 5)

In November it was announced that Djibouti will become more directly involved in the current war against Somalia with the possible deployment of so-called peacekeeping troops to join AMISOM in Mogadishu. The country has also been the location for the training of the U.S.-backed Somalia TFG military forces as well as hosting “reconciliation” talks for the country that has not had an internationally-recognized government in over two decades.

Defense Professional website says that “Djibouti is seeking to play a stabilizing role in the frequently tense regional politics of the Horn of Africa.” (defpro.com, Nov. 8) However, objectively the government is being utilized in the imperialist aims of establishing broader political and military influence in Africa.

Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast: The Legacy of French Imperialism

In two other former French colonies in West Africa, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, the impact of the world economic crisis and increased militarism has been clearly illustrated. In Burkina Faso between February and April, the western-allied regime of President Blaise Compaore was forced to place the country under curfew after a mutiny within the armed forces and the police accompanied nationwide protests in response to the rising cost of living.

The French Press Agency (AFP) reported on April 28 that “Koudougou, located 100km west of Ouagadougou (the capital), was the birthplace of a wave of protests in the country two months ago, placing growing pressure on Compaore, who has been in power for 24 years. The first protest in Koudougou took place on February 22 when students took to the streets, saying a school pupil said to have died of meningitis was in fact tortured and killed in police custody.” (AFP, April 28)

This same AFP article also pointed out that “Allegations of police impunity, torture and cover-ups and the high cost of living have fuelled mounting protests by all sectors of the population against Compaore’s regime…. The country is also beset by woeful social conditions, with much of the 16 million-strong population living on barely $1 a day, while prices of basic goods continue to rise.”

The unrest in Burkina Faso led to President Compaore dismissing his government’s cabinet. Nevertheless, without a major restructuring of the political and economic relations with France and the imperialist states in general, there will be no real progress for the majority of workers, farmers and unemployed inside the country.

Developments in Ivory Coast exposed the escalating French military aggression on the African continent. Taking advantage of a months-long dispute over the results of a run-off presidential election between Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo, the French and the U.S. sided with Ouattara and sought to remove Gbago, the incumbent, from office under the guise of international law.

After Gbagbo was overthrown and captured by French paratroopers in April, he has subsequently been kidnapped and transported to a detention facility in Ivory Coast and eventually to The Hague, where he is slated to be tried for supposed war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC has exclusively focused on the harassment, persecution and indictment of African leaders such as President Omar Hussein al-Bashir of Sudan and the martyred Col. Muammar Gaddafi and members of his family and government.

Ironically after the massive bombing of Libya and the overthrowing of its government, the ICC has suddenly abandoned its plans to place on trial Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Muammar Gaddafi and his heir apparent. Seif was captured by the western-backed rebel forces in November and a recent visit by the ICC chief prosecutor to Libya resulted in an announcement that the imperialist-installed rebels would be allowed to prosecute Seif and to also seek the death penalty in the event that he is found guilty of purported “war crimes.”

The ICC has been widely condemned by various governmental and mass organizations in Africa for its targeting of continental leaders and organizations and the refusal by the Netherlands-based entity to hold the imperialists accountable for numerous war crimes in Africa and throughout the world. Over the last year the U.S., France, Britain and Israel along with other NATO states, have been responsible for the killing of thousands of Africans in Libya, Somalia, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Sudan.

Malawi and South Africa: The Sub-Continent on the Brink

Two countries in Southern Africa, Malawi and South Africa, have experienced escalating labor and popular upheavals over the last year. The two states have very different economic relations of production but both are still heavily integrated into the world capitalist system.

Malawi is considered one of the least developed countries in Africa while South Africa has the largest economy on the continent and is the most industrialized with the strongest organized working class. Both states have a history of British colonialism and U.S. economic involvement since the 19th century.

In Malawi during late July, 18 people were reported killed in two days of mass unrest stemming from the impact of the capitalist crisis. The initial protests were in response to fuel shortages, the escalation of prices for basic food stuffs and other commodities as well as extremely high unemployment.

In the northern cities of Karongo and Mzuzu where 10 people were killed, protesters ransacked the offices of President Bingu wa Mutharika’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). In the capital of Lilongwe and the southern commercial center of Blantyre, police and army troops fired teargas into the crowds to break up demonstrations.

Part of the unrest in Malawi can be attributed to its strained relations with Britain that resulted in the expulsion of London’s ambassador after revelations surfaced of involvement of the former colonial power in the country’s internal affairs. Britain later expelled the Malawian ambassador to the UK and suspended $550 million in foreign aid over a period of four years.

In South Africa, trade unions engaged in massive strikes that brought hundreds of thousands of workers into the streets during August. Various industries were hit by the work stoppages including the public sector, mining, electricity, fuel, postal services, telecommunications and platinum.

The militancy of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and other labor federations were reflected in the demands for wage increases of up to 18 percent. South Africa ended the racist apartheid system in 1994 after centuries of struggle against settler colonialism, yet the economy is still largely-controlled by European capitalists allied with western-based transnational corporations.

Strikes and other industrial unrest resulted in the loss of $200 million in production output by the middle of 2011. The ANC government’s political base is rooted in the trade union movement and therefore the ruling party is under tremendous pressure to both maintain popular support as well as keep foreign capitalist investors interested in continuing their involvement in the country.

The Globe & Mail noted in August that “Partly because of the frequent labor unrest, South Africa’s mining industry is widely seen as more unstable and more expensive than others in the developing world, and the latest strikes will add to that perception. Strike settlements in the mining sector have provided wage increases of 7 to 10 percent.

These developments in various regions of the continent indicate that there are close connections between the rising economic crisis in Europe and North America with instability and increasing poverty in the post-colonial states. Consequently, the nations of Africa will be forced to seek solutions outside the world capitalist system which provides no models for genuine development in Africa.

(To Be Continued)