Sudanese Defense Minister and Vice President Awad Ibn Auf just announced that the Sudanese military had removed President Omar al-Bashir from power. This action resulted from the mass protests that have rocked the country for the last few months. For those of us concerned about Africa’s political reality, these protests are a welcome sight. They represent the people of Africa taking the future of our national homeland into their own hands, claiming their own power. This reality also negates the rhetoric from those who claim mass action cannot overcome the resources of the power structures in place. For those people, it should be restated that the Sudanese military was forced to take action to respond to the people’s demand that Bashir be removed.
Still, it is critically important that we have analysis from a revolutionary Pan-African perspective on anything that happens in Africa and throughout the African world. Imperialist dominated media outlets are linking the military usurping of power in Sudan to the recent removal of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as a rekindling of the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings from 2010 and 2011. When those occurrences happened in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, etc., we said then that those so-called “uprisings” were not revolutionary movements and we warned that how a cake looks on the outside has nothing to do with what the cake tastes like. This is not to say that mass uprisings that have not matured into revolutionary struggles are reactionary. The mass uprisings are critical elements in the struggle to advance towards revolutionary change. Our point back in 2011 was that those so-called uprisings, because they were focused on the removal of individuals in power, were ultimately not going to be mass movements steered by the masses of people in those countries. The present reality in Egypt and Tunisia confirms we were correct. The conditions of oppression remain. And, in Libya, the concerted effort to connect the Libyan Arab Jamihiriya government of Muammar Qaddafi to the reactionary puppet regimes in Egypt and Tunisia was simply a ploy to convince the international community that the Libyan government, like the other two countries, had limited to no mass support. We said then that imperialism was targeting Qaddafi for reasons having nothing to do with democracy. It took the release of that imperialist Hillary Clinton’s emails (when she was Secretary of State targeting Libya for Obama’s criminal regime) to finally convince many of you that we were right.
We have also said many times that neo-colonialism is the dominant problem in Africa today. By neo-colonialism we mean a system where European capitalist interests, developed and firmly entrenched in exploiting Africa after 500+ years of colonialism and the trans-Atlantic slave trade, are now institutionalized throughout Africa despite the fact the Europeans may not be physically present. The mechanisms of capitalist corporations and exploitation are operational. Corporations like Cargill International, Voltec, Bangote, Debeers, etc., function with fully trained staff (trained by and for European capitalism e.g. the values of profit over people) and full access to all resources available where they exist. This is how neo-colonialism looks and there is no space on the African continent today where this system isn’t dominant. Under neo-colonialism, African heads of states serve as the gatekeepers for imperialism. Their job is simply to keep anything from conflicting with capitalist interests. Therefore, no protests, no uprisings, and certainly, no revolutions. For their loyal service to the enemies of humanity, they receive riches and comfort. Bashir, Paul Kagame in Rwanda, Mobutu Sese Seto in the Congo, Buhari in Nigeria, Addo in Ghana, etc. These are the faces of neo-colonialism in Africa. In the case of Sudan, the people of that country decided they are finished with al-Bashir because of Sudan’s declining economy. Inflation in that country is up into the low 70s (percentage wise). The price of bread and other basic goods in Sudan today is high enough to raise eye brows even in the capitalist countries. Also, people justly place much of the blame for the Darfur trauma of a few years ago at Bashir’s feet. Approximately 300,000 people were killed and several hundred thousands have disappeared since 2003 in Sudan. The source of this problem was the Bashir government seeing the people of the Darfur region as wanting to overthrow his government. The truth is the Darfur region housed oil reserves that oil analysts predicted had the most profitable potential of any reserves on Earth. The Darfur conflict fueled the eventual succession of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011. And when South Sudan left it took with it about 70% of Sudan’s oil wealth which has contributed to the drastic economic situation Sudan finds itself in today. Sudan today has a non-existent credit rating to borrow on the international market and this reality has crippled the country’s ability to negotiate for goods which has contributed to the devastating problems with the economy. Meanwhile, Western imperialism can play like its appalled by events in Darfur and other human issues in Sudan when in reality if they decided they are opposed to the Bashir government, that is only because that government is no longer willing or able to serve their imperialist interests the way they desire.
Sudan’s economic woes are a critical component in Bashir’s loss of power. The history in Darfur is also a critical component. In fact, Bashir was indicted for committing crimes against humanity for his brutality in the Darfur situation, but as heinous as these things actually are, they do not get to the root of the problem in Sudan. And that root has little to do with ethnic and/or religious differences. In Sudan, before 2011 when the country split into two, there were plenty of Christians who sided with Bashir’s government and there were Muslims who supported the claims of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement, the voice of Southern Sudan. There were Nubians (Black), Zaahawa, Copts (many also Black), Beja, etc., on all sides of these issues.
Its great to see Bashir go, but like the change in individual “leaders” in Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, etc., that alone isn’t going to change much in Sudan. The problem is a systemic problem. Neo-colonialism is the last stage of imperialism and imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism. Since neo-colonialism is the end of the road for what imperialism has in its toolkit, what all of this signals is its just a matter of time before the tricks run out. The people of Sudan, just like the people of South Sudan, and all of the rest of Africa, the African world, and humanity in general, all need an end of imperialist exploitation and the maintenance of the neo-colonial system that ensures imperialism stays in place and capitalism can function business as usual. Capitalism/imperialism thrive on exploiting cheap African human and material resources. This is the problem that must be corrected. This is the real issue that the people of Sudan are protesting. The fact Ibn Auf (Sudanese Defense Minister and Vice President) already announced that the military will hold power for at least two years indicates clearly that just removing Bashir isn’t the solution. Its actually ironic, but Bashir himself came to power in a military supported coup, 30 years ago. So, his removal isn’t the solution and despite imperialism’s efforts to convince you that it is, you should not be confused, especially since you have seen this movie many times before. Not only the man, but the entire system must go. And, despite the fact most people in the so-called industrial world know very little about what happens in Africa on a daily basis, these types of mass uprisings are happening everywhere. Our work is to support them and ensure they are not side tracked with limited agendas (like replacing one despot with another one). Our work is to be on the ground, organizing to unite the true revolutionary Pan-African forces so that the people’s actual voice can not only be heard in token ways, but can be supported and actualized in ways that build and bring true power to Africa and her children. Our people have been led by false hope for to long. There is no solution as long as imperialism remains intact. If we don’t accept that reality, we will be having similar conversations about Sudan and other places for years to come with no real relief in sight.
Still, it is critically important that we have analysis from a revolutionary Pan-African perspective on anything that happens in Africa and throughout the African world. Imperialist dominated media outlets are linking the military usurping of power in Sudan to the recent removal of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as a rekindling of the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings from 2010 and 2011. When those occurrences happened in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, etc., we said then that those so-called “uprisings” were not revolutionary movements and we warned that how a cake looks on the outside has nothing to do with what the cake tastes like. This is not to say that mass uprisings that have not matured into revolutionary struggles are reactionary. The mass uprisings are critical elements in the struggle to advance towards revolutionary change. Our point back in 2011 was that those so-called uprisings, because they were focused on the removal of individuals in power, were ultimately not going to be mass movements steered by the masses of people in those countries. The present reality in Egypt and Tunisia confirms we were correct. The conditions of oppression remain. And, in Libya, the concerted effort to connect the Libyan Arab Jamihiriya government of Muammar Qaddafi to the reactionary puppet regimes in Egypt and Tunisia was simply a ploy to convince the international community that the Libyan government, like the other two countries, had limited to no mass support. We said then that imperialism was targeting Qaddafi for reasons having nothing to do with democracy. It took the release of that imperialist Hillary Clinton’s emails (when she was Secretary of State targeting Libya for Obama’s criminal regime) to finally convince many of you that we were right.
We have also said many times that neo-colonialism is the dominant problem in Africa today. By neo-colonialism we mean a system where European capitalist interests, developed and firmly entrenched in exploiting Africa after 500+ years of colonialism and the trans-Atlantic slave trade, are now institutionalized throughout Africa despite the fact the Europeans may not be physically present. The mechanisms of capitalist corporations and exploitation are operational. Corporations like Cargill International, Voltec, Bangote, Debeers, etc., function with fully trained staff (trained by and for European capitalism e.g. the values of profit over people) and full access to all resources available where they exist. This is how neo-colonialism looks and there is no space on the African continent today where this system isn’t dominant. Under neo-colonialism, African heads of states serve as the gatekeepers for imperialism. Their job is simply to keep anything from conflicting with capitalist interests. Therefore, no protests, no uprisings, and certainly, no revolutions. For their loyal service to the enemies of humanity, they receive riches and comfort. Bashir, Paul Kagame in Rwanda, Mobutu Sese Seto in the Congo, Buhari in Nigeria, Addo in Ghana, etc. These are the faces of neo-colonialism in Africa. In the case of Sudan, the people of that country decided they are finished with al-Bashir because of Sudan’s declining economy. Inflation in that country is up into the low 70s (percentage wise). The price of bread and other basic goods in Sudan today is high enough to raise eye brows even in the capitalist countries. Also, people justly place much of the blame for the Darfur trauma of a few years ago at Bashir’s feet. Approximately 300,000 people were killed and several hundred thousands have disappeared since 2003 in Sudan. The source of this problem was the Bashir government seeing the people of the Darfur region as wanting to overthrow his government. The truth is the Darfur region housed oil reserves that oil analysts predicted had the most profitable potential of any reserves on Earth. The Darfur conflict fueled the eventual succession of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011. And when South Sudan left it took with it about 70% of Sudan’s oil wealth which has contributed to the drastic economic situation Sudan finds itself in today. Sudan today has a non-existent credit rating to borrow on the international market and this reality has crippled the country’s ability to negotiate for goods which has contributed to the devastating problems with the economy. Meanwhile, Western imperialism can play like its appalled by events in Darfur and other human issues in Sudan when in reality if they decided they are opposed to the Bashir government, that is only because that government is no longer willing or able to serve their imperialist interests the way they desire.
Sudan’s economic woes are a critical component in Bashir’s loss of power. The history in Darfur is also a critical component. In fact, Bashir was indicted for committing crimes against humanity for his brutality in the Darfur situation, but as heinous as these things actually are, they do not get to the root of the problem in Sudan. And that root has little to do with ethnic and/or religious differences. In Sudan, before 2011 when the country split into two, there were plenty of Christians who sided with Bashir’s government and there were Muslims who supported the claims of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement, the voice of Southern Sudan. There were Nubians (Black), Zaahawa, Copts (many also Black), Beja, etc., on all sides of these issues.
Its great to see Bashir go, but like the change in individual “leaders” in Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, etc., that alone isn’t going to change much in Sudan. The problem is a systemic problem. Neo-colonialism is the last stage of imperialism and imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism. Since neo-colonialism is the end of the road for what imperialism has in its toolkit, what all of this signals is its just a matter of time before the tricks run out. The people of Sudan, just like the people of South Sudan, and all of the rest of Africa, the African world, and humanity in general, all need an end of imperialist exploitation and the maintenance of the neo-colonial system that ensures imperialism stays in place and capitalism can function business as usual. Capitalism/imperialism thrive on exploiting cheap African human and material resources. This is the problem that must be corrected. This is the real issue that the people of Sudan are protesting. The fact Ibn Auf (Sudanese Defense Minister and Vice President) already announced that the military will hold power for at least two years indicates clearly that just removing Bashir isn’t the solution. Its actually ironic, but Bashir himself came to power in a military supported coup, 30 years ago. So, his removal isn’t the solution and despite imperialism’s efforts to convince you that it is, you should not be confused, especially since you have seen this movie many times before. Not only the man, but the entire system must go. And, despite the fact most people in the so-called industrial world know very little about what happens in Africa on a daily basis, these types of mass uprisings are happening everywhere. Our work is to support them and ensure they are not side tracked with limited agendas (like replacing one despot with another one). Our work is to be on the ground, organizing to unite the true revolutionary Pan-African forces so that the people’s actual voice can not only be heard in token ways, but can be supported and actualized in ways that build and bring true power to Africa and her children. Our people have been led by false hope for to long. There is no solution as long as imperialism remains intact. If we don’t accept that reality, we will be having similar conversations about Sudan and other places for years to come with no real relief in sight.
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