Contribution to the International Communist Seminar, Brussels, 2-4 May 1999
www.icsbrussels.org , ics[at]icsbrussels.org
The current Imperialist Wars in Central Africa
Combo Rovuma, Panafrican Movement of Zimbabwe
I will begin by quoting Comrade Samir Amin, who when addressing the Zimbabwe chapter of the African Political Science Association, at a meeting held in Harare a few weeks ago, made the following concluding remarks :
"The struggle for Social Justice in the Third World is the struggle against US imperialist hegemony", in other words, the two are inextricably tied together.
Comrades, that, in a nutshell, sums up the predicament of small and vulnerable countries such as Zimbabwe, Congo, Yugoslavia, Cuba, etc, which have found themselves on opposite sides of the divide against the vested interests of capital.
Zimbabwe, along with Angola, Chad and Namibia, is heavily involved in the Congo conflict, on the side of Laurent Kabila, against, nominally, Rwanda and Uganda, but in reality against US imperialism and its local satellite levies, personified by Kagamé and Museveni and of course the petit bourgeois elements of the Congo who hope to regain the privileged position they occupied under the discredited regime of Mobutu.
People in Zimbabwe, ranging from the naïve, ignorant but essentially well-meaning, proverbial man in the street, to sophisticated elements of the so-called "civil society", which are funded by such organisations as Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Friedrich Neumann Foundation, USAID, USIS, George Soros, the billionaire "who broke the bank of England" in 1992, and various other agencies of Imperialism, both "ouvert" and "couvert", have questioned the justification of Zimbabwe's involvement in the Congo. They have contended that the country has enough problems of its own and that it has no strategic, economic or political imperatives or interests in the Congo. Even the counter-argument that our own independence was won at the cost of countless lives of people in Mozambique, Zambia and Angola, where we had bases during the struggle, as well as the moral and material support of the then Socialist bloc has scarcely availed to dampen such criticisms.
But of course for us on the left it is enough to justify our presence in the Congo on the grounds of proletarian internationalism. In fact, our only criticism is that we are not doing enough.
Zimbabwe, even though beleaguered, and reeling under the exactions caused by the IMF and World Bank imposed prescriptions, cannot afford the luxury of isolating itself from events in the Congo, or for that matter anywhere where the fifth horseman of imperialism has reared its ugly head, because, next time, it will be its turn.
Yesterday (May 2), Comrade Ludo Martens alluded to the arrest two months ago of three American nationals, who were arrested at Harare International Airport, with enough weapons and ammunition to arm two platoons. The first reaction of the US Embassy was to express concern at the likelihood of their being tortured by the Zimbabwean police whilst under interrogation. This from a country where a celebrated millionaire athlete can kill his wife, and thanks to clever, and expensive lawyers, be acquitted. Or, where Mafia gangsters, who are on first name terms with members of the ruling class establishment, are assured never to see the inside of a jail. But of course, for poor felons, American prisons are not the Club Med. When the American government brazenly offered the services of the FBI, the Zimbabwean governement, to its credit, rejected the offer with the contempt it deserved. These three desperadoes had in their possession papers indicating addresses in Kinshasa, as well as, significantly, a sketch map of the residence of the Zimbabwean President. They had also been issued fresh passports by the US Embassy in Harare, in circumstances which remain shrouded in mystery.
Can Zimbabwe then afford to be neutral in the Congo, or for that matter wherever the oppressed resist tyranny? Let us bear in mind that it was the resounding victory of the Cuban forces at the Battle of Cuito Carnavale which marked the turning point in the history of Southern Africa, and ensured independence for Namibia, as well as the end of apartheid in South Africa. Zimbabwe has a duty, nay a moral imperative to identify with people wherever they may be, who are struggling against tyranny and imperialism.
The struggle in the Congo is further made harder because Angola, one of the allies, is now fighting a resurgent UNITA, which has, predictably, reneged on the Lusaka Peace Accords.
It is our submission that only an uncompromising and unequivocal adherence to Socialist ideology, untainted by the presence of counter-revolutionary arguments, can guarantee the attainment.of a just society.
Contribution to the International Communist Seminar, Brussels, 2-4 May 1999
Theme: Imperialism means War