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Author: Black Alliance for Peace

  • Now is the Time for All Anti-Imperialists and All Justice-Loving People to Stand Unequivocally in Defense of Burkina Faso

    It is no surprise to the Black Alliance for Peace’s (BAP) Africa Team and U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) that aggression is stepping up against the countries in the anti-imperialist Alliance of Sahel States. This was reflected in the flagrantly baseless accusations against Burkina Faso’s leader Ibrahim Traoré. On April 3, 2025, U.S. AFRICOM Commander Michael Langley testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee and claimed without evidence that interim President Traoré is misusing the country’s gold mineral wealth in exchange for protection. Langley provided no details on how these supposed exchanges are carried out or from what Traoré needs protection.

    The imperialist modus operandi is at play here and starts with demonizing and criminalizing the leader of a country as the war propaganda pretext for more direct intervention. We have seen this script before. Commander-In-Chief of Economic Fighters League of Ghana and Steering Committee member of the USOAN,  Ernesto Yeboah refutes the liberal framing meant to arrest dissent against what is at stake:

    This is not about military vs. civilian rule. This is about imperialism vs. liberation. This is about Africans standing up — finally — and saying: Hands off Africa.

    The BAP Africa Team and USOAN are heeding the call emanating across Africa to unite in defense of Burkina Faso. And we further call on all anti-imperialist forces around the world, especially Black forces, to sound the alarm and publicly denounce these designs before this all too familiar strategy takes root. In 2011, Black anti-imperialist forces were unable to effectively counter the heinous plan of the U.S.-EU-NATO Axis of Domination to destroy the revolutionary Pan-Africanist nation of Libya. BAP’s USOAN refuses to allow this fatal mistake to be repeated.

    This time the complicity of silence by ECOWAS, the African Union, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the African (Black) comprador class around the world must be exposed.

    This is a pivotal time for the struggle against imperialism in Africa. The emergence of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and the revolutionary example of self-determination being set by the people of Burkina Faso represents a historic breakthrough for Pan-Africanism that the U.S. and NATO have been eager to eliminate. The U.S.-EU-NATO axis is desperate to re-colonize Burkina Faso and to halt any further influence across Africa set by the example of the Alliance of Sahel States. What the U.S is angling to undermine is a popular process of decolonization.

    Under President Traoré’s leadership, Burkina Faso has advanced toward food sovereignty, established a national gold refinery, and taken critical steps to reclaim its resources for the benefit of its people. The vague and opportunistic accusations issued by AFRICOM are designed to undermine these gains and set the stage for imperialist subversion. When U.S. officials speak of “strategic interests,” they mean the unfettered right to plunder Africa’s mineral wealth, dominate markets, and exploit African labor, all without the consent of African peoples. We must not allow the absurdity of the U.S. and NATO, currently complicit in the genocide of Palestinians, to pose as moral arbiters in Africa.

    BAP and USOAN call on all anti-imperialist forces to join in active defense of Burkina Faso, demand the expulsion of AFRICOM from the continent, and ensure that no African nation suffers the fate that befell Libya in 2011.

    The time to act is now!

    The post Now is the Time for All Anti-Imperialists and All Justice-Loving People to Stand Unequivocally in Defense of Burkina Faso first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • The Targeting and State Repression Against Musa Springer

    On Tuesday, April 8, our comrade and member of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), Musa Springer, was unlawfully detained and interrogated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Tampa airport for four hours after returning from a trip to Cuba. Musa details the circumstances of their detention and retaliatory targeting by the state in this statement. This included violations of human rights, unfounded accusations of criminal activity and terrorism, aggressive interrogation including invasive physical searches, and a seizing of their devices without justification.

    BAP denounces this escalation of state repression and the targeting of Musa by the state, CBP, and collaborating agencies. We call on all of our fellow revolutionary, radical, and progressive organizations and comrades to heighten our capabilities and our work to respond to the ongoing escalatory attacks of the U.S. state and its allies. We also understand that we must view this targeted attack in connection with the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, the repression of pro-Palestine advocacy and all forms of radical organization, the decades-long war on the Cuban people, and the abduction of immigrants from our communities and universities. We must connect the various forms of repression that are ongoing and focus our organizing on building the power and proactive strategies to oppose these attacks on our people, our communities, and our movements.

    As Musa recounts, this targeting was not random and is not unique, “[t]his experience is part of a broader pattern. Across administrations, CBP and DHS have operated as politically weaponized agencies to escalate surveillance, harassment, and criminalization of individuals involved in movements for justice. Now, we’re witnessing a dangerous heightening of this weaponization… While the repression of immigrants and foreign students is rightly drawing public attention, [Musa’s] experience reveals that U.S.-born citizens, especially Black and Muslim ones, are also targets.”

    As we have always said in BAP, there is a constant and brutal war being waged against Africans/Black people in the U.S. and globally, which is an extension of the war on all the colonized peoples, working classes, and oppressed masses of the globe through imperialism, colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and in this case specifically, state violence. In the U.S., the state, in obedience to the white supremacist capitalist ruling class, has long been at active war with radical organizers and activists, immigrants, and anyone who does not conform to the requirements of the empire. Under the current administration, the state is escalating its aggression against these groups and more to terrorize non-citizens, repress radical activism, and compel others into silence.

    In response to this ongoing escalation, we emphasize Musa’s words of caution to the radical movement:  “Be strategic, brave, and smart in equal measures. Protect one another, because no part of this system nor what is to come is designed to protect us.” In this time of escalating repression, our call is for principled unity against all forms of imperialism, state violence, and oppression domestically and globally.

    The post The Targeting and State Repression Against Musa Springer first appeared on Dissident Voice.

  • Reflection on Ecuadorian Elections

    The Black Alliance for Peace and Movimiento Afrodescendiente Nacional Ecuatoriano (MANE) reported back on the Ecuadorian presidential elections held on Sunday, April 13, 2025. Despite the fact the current president, Daniel Noboa, issued a last-minute decree (Decree 597) that sealed the northern and southern borders, intending to deny entry to international observers, the election team for the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) was able to enter and observe the elections on the ground.

    The National Electoral Council (Consejo Nacional Electoral) has declared Daniel Noboa the winner of the second round of elections, with over an 11-point lead. With this win, it is certain that Noboa’s declared “internal armed struggle” will continue to negatively and disproportionately impact Ecuador’s poor and AfroEcuadorian communities. While the election process ostensibly adhered to international standards, BAP observed several troubling elements, including an excessive military presence, particularly at polling stations located in predominantly AfroEcuadorian precincts. This is precisely why MANE invited an election observation delegation from the BAPs North South Project for People(s)- Centered Human Rights to monitor the situation in those majority African precincts in Guayaquil. It is also reflective of the ongoing human rights issues AfroEcuadorians continue to face since the illegal kidnapping and vicious murder of four AfroEcuadorian youth by Ecuadorian military officials nearly one month ago. These murders are indicative of the human rights crisis Ecuadorians, but particularly AfroEcuadorians, are facing due to the current government’s heavy-handed approach to the phony “War on Drugs.”

    BAP’s delegation met with the families of the latest egregious violations to, and systemic dehumanizing of AfroEcuadorians who police snipers shot during an apparent raid on a Black community in a Guayaquil barrio. One died from the attack, and another is now permanently disabled, while a third teenager remains hospitalized and permanently paralyzed. All of these victims’ main crimes are that they are Black and poor.

    These conditions directly connect to the situation in the region of Esmeraldas, which is more than 70% AfroEcuadorians, that was recently devastated by an oil spill after a pipeline operated by the state-owned petroleum company PetroEcuador ruptured and released approximately 25,000 barrels of oil.  Roughly 300,000 of the region’s 500,000 people and the livelihoods of fishermen, farmers, and others are facing dire conditions. The inadequate response to the devastation by the Ecuadorian government, as well as the global environmental community, showcases the environmental racism experienced by AfroEcuadorians in Esmeralda, which is endemic of environmental injustice shouldered by all oppressed Africans from Cancer Alley in the U.S. to Port Au Prince in the Revolutionary Republic of Haiti. BAP affirms the axiomatic nexus between increasing militarism and an increasing climate crisis that disproportionately impacts Africans and Indigenous peoples the world over.

    With Noboa’s win, these conditions will certainly deteriorate further. BAP’s concerns are highlighted by the very real danger of the fulfillment of ongoing efforts to expand the U.S. military’s presence in Ecuador as part of a larger conquest of South America’s Pacific coast. This, in turn, will exacerbate the existing militarized presence in Ecuador under the guise of security, already subjecting Afro, Indigenous, and poor Ecuadorians to daily human rights violations. The development of an independent, national AfroEcuadorian politics is even more urgent than before to not only counter U.S. and Ecuadorian reactionary right-wing forces but to ensure the human rights of AfroEcuadorians through the power of the people and popular mass movements.

    To this end, BAP will continue to support MANE in developing an independent national AfroEcuadorian formation that will be able to identify and defend the fundamental human rights of the AfroEcuadorian people. The last nine months of collaboration between BAP and MANE exemplify this development and commitment to a popular process.

    The post Reflection on Ecuadorian Elections first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • The Struggle for Western Sahara

    The struggle for Western Sahara stands as one of Africa’s longest-running battles against colonialism and neocolonial occupation. Since Spain’s withdrawal in 1975, the Sahrawi people have resisted Moroccan annexation, enduring forced displacement, repression, and the theft of their land and resources. Today, as Morocco consolidates its illegal occupation with U.S., French, and Israeli backing, including through AFRICOM-linked military exercises, the Polisario Front has reignited armed resistance, refusing to let Western Sahara remain the last colony in Africa.

    This fight is not isolated. It mirrors the broader contradictions of imperialism on the continent, where puppet regimes collaborate with foreign powers to suppress liberation movements while looting Africa’s wealth. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), recognized by the African Union, embodies Pan-African resistance, drawing solidarity from socialist and anti-imperialist forces worldwide. Yet, Western powers continue to prop up Morocco’s occupation, just as they back Israel’s genocide in Palestine, exposing the shared enemy faced by oppressed peoples globally.

    The Sahrawi struggle is a litmus test for anti-imperialists. As they reclaim their land through armed resistance, their fight echoes a universal truth: liberation is never given. It is taken.

    U.S. Out of Africa: Voices from the Struggle

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin spoke with India Pitts, who is an artist and organiser with the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and its women’s wing, All-African Women’s Revolutionary Union, based in occupied North Carolina.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: The Sahrawi people have been struggling politically for independence from first Spain and then subsequently Mauritania and Morocco since at least the late 1960s.   For those who are just coming to be aware of your fight, who are the Sahrawi people and what is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic’s (SADR) national liberation struggle?

    India Pitts: The Sahrawi people are made up of strong, beautiful, courageous, and determined Africans and Arabs who are waging a legitimate struggle for our land, in the Western Sahara territory. Being there on the ground, we identify politically as Africans, understanding the overall struggle for a United States of Africa.  Similarly to other African countries, the Sahawari people have defeated colonialism and now are struggling against neocolonialism and the puppets who take on traits of the enemy.  After the struggle for independence from Spain the Europeans, always choosing to be delusional,  gave Western Sahara to Mauritania and Morocco.  Like it was ever their legitimate land to give away!  In 1979 Mauritania withdrew, leaving France/Spain/US/Israel backed Morocco to illegitimately occupy 70% of the Western Sahara territory.  After showing three decades of patience waiting for Morocco to abide by the UN resolution to recognize Western Sahara’s sovereignty, the Sahrawi people were forced back into armed struggle in 2020. That brings us to the present day, where the armed struggle continues, as they gain more and more of our land back from western neocolonialist puppets and patriarchal governments like the Kingdom of Morocco.

    In 1976 The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was established by the Polisario Front as an independent state. The masses of Western Sahara chose the Polisario Front to represent us in the struggle for sovereignty in Western Sahara.

    In character, the SADR, the Polisario Front, and overall Western Sahara’s evolution is Pan-African. The Polisario Front was established in 1973, and three years later proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.  Between those years, in 1975, the honorable El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed and other revolutionaries from the Polisario Front gathered the leaders of the Sahawari Tribes to unite them in a national council and move them from a tribal bonding to national bonding.  The tribal leaders responded and declared that they chose national unity under the leadership of the Polisario Front with Kwame Nkrumah’s (the founder of the All African People’s Revolutionary Party) understanding that independence is meaningless without African Unity.

    At this time we would like to remind everyone that the Polisario Front is a revolutionary movement, a socialist national liberation movement, anti-colonial, anti-zionist, anti-capitalist, and pan-African in orientation. The Polisario Front is not a political party,

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: We were surprised on January 7 with the announced suspension of relations between the Republic of Ghana and the SADR.  Could you shed some light on this development please and also speak on the SADR’s relationship with other fresh political developments in the sub-region?

    India Pitts: Similarly to Palestine, the Western Sahara struggle is a litmus test where neo-colonist puppets can’t hide their true colors. Ghana’s decision did not surprise us at all given Nana Akufo-Addo’s legacy. This is the same person who saddled Ghana with loans from the IMF up to 1.92 billion dollars, and commended western puppet William Ruto for sending police officers into Haiti, one of Africa’s 1st republics.

    We are disappointed that many see this as representing the whole of Ghana. The masses of Ghana see this as a betrayal not only to the Pan-African movement, but to Kwame Nkrumah’s legacy of recognizing SADR since 1979 which reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to justice and decolonization. We know Ghana has historically held a torch for the causes of anti-colonialism and sovereignty, extending support to movements in Africa and beyond.  In the 2000s we saw this same trend of western puppets backing out on their support of SADR.  This political development in Ghana is no different.

    SADR in the present day continues to maintain relations with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Yemen, North Korea, occupied Azania, Iran, Mali, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Additionally Algeria has been a vital brother and sister to Western Sahara, providing aid, land and education to the Sahrawi people.  Even with the US blockade and the occupation of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba still manages to provide doctors, medical supplies, and education to the Sahawari people, and many have attended university in Cuba as well.

    Also we must mention that during the late 60’s, even before Algeria was backing Western Sahara, Pan-Africanist Gaddafi’s Libya supported our legitimate struggle in Western Sahara, including with tents which still stand today in our refugee camps in Algeria.  Support also came from Pan-African, socialist, and anti-imperialist movements like those of Cuba, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Venezuela, Columbia, Ghana, and Kenya.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: Can you please speak to the analogies between your struggles and those of the Palestinian people and discuss the impacts of Operation Al Aqsa Flood and the subsequent genocide in Palestine for your people?

    India Pitts: The relationship between the Sahrawi and Palestinian causes dates back to the last century when the Polisario Front began coordinating with liberation forces in the region and across the Global South.  Upon its establishment, the Polisario Front declared that the strength and continuity of the revolution depended on building relationships and establishing a joint struggle among peoples to confront imperialism and capitalist colonialism.

    The Polisario Front implemented this revolutionary methodology immediately after its formation. The leader and martyr El Wali Mustapha Sayed made sure to visit Libya, Vietnam, Algeria, and Cuba, and coordinated with African leaders from various liberation movements. He also visited Beirut where he met with the Palestinian leader George Habash, alongside leaders and members of the Palestinian Liberation Front. This meeting marked the beginning of a long-standing relationship that continues to this day between the Palestinian and Sahrawi causes.  George Habash visited Sahrawi refugee camps a year after the martyrdom of El Wali Mustapha Sayed in 1976.  During his visit, George Habash emphasized that the fate of the two peoples are interconnected not only in fighting imperialism, but also in combating puppet regimes that represent colonial interests and perpetuate colonialism in the region.  Of course foremost among them was the Moroccan regime.  During that visit George Habash praised the struggle of the Sahrawi people and thanked them for fighting the Moroccan regime which poses a threat to the Palestinian cause.  He also recalled the history of conspiracy and normalization initiated by Morocco with the Zionist entity against the Palestinian people. This relationship continues into the current phase where the Al-Aqsa Flood marks a new beginning for all struggling peoples living under the oppression of imperialism and colonialism.  This phase is not merely a legendary armed struggle against a deeply entrenched colonial entity fortified with technology and the generous support of the U.S. empire.  Rather it is a rewriting of revolutionary history and the decriminalization of armed resistance.

    Since the 1980s American and European imperialism have pursued a strategy of ideological warfare by controlling the media, spreading the toxins of liberalism, and portraying liberation as an internal issue with dictatorial regimes that can be resolved through concepts of human rights and democracy delivered on the back of U.S. tanks, World Bank and IMF loans, blockades, and sanctions.

    This approach contributed to the draining of the revolutionary spirit that accompanied national liberation wars.  By funding movements and social justice organizations in the Global South, as well as criminalizing armed struggle and linking it to terrorism, imperialism ended decades of revolutionary work, political organization, and education that clarified to people their true enemy and equipped them with the necessary tools to confront it.

    The Al-Aqsa Flood operation removed this veil and contributed to strengthening and enhancing the resistance of entire peoples, including the Sahrawi people who had resumed armed struggle against the Moroccan monarchy, a puppet of colonialism, on November 13, 2020.  The Al-Aqsa Flood reinforced this path and marked the end of a phase in which our peoples were enslaved under the ideology of colonialism.  The Zionist genocide in Gaza also exposed colonial conspiracies and the hypocrisy of the slogans they raised, revealing that the only lives that matter are those of the colonizers.  The masks have been removed from the international community, the United Nations, and humanitarian organizations.  It has become a firm conviction among the Sahrawi people, the Palestinian people, and oppressed peoples across Africa and the world, that the path to liberation lies in adhering to the option of armed resistance, allying with the peoples of the Global South, and strengthening revolutionary ties among all movements fighting against the U.S. empire of colonialism and European imperialism.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: There have been sporadic bursts of support for SADR positions from unlikely voices such as Condoleeza Rice or Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  What do you make of these oscillations and how do they impact your assessment of what to expect from a new administration that contains both tendencies?

    India Pitts: This question is closely related to a point mentioned in the previous question regarding the colonial conspiracy carried out by imperialism since the 1980s.  When imperialism failed to defeat the revolutions against colonialism in the Global South and when oppressed peoples organized themselves under a socialist and revolutionary ideology that raised arms, theory, and practice, to repel capitalist imperialism (gaining popular support and engagement from all segments of society,) and when it failed to break the resolve of these peoples, it resorted to the most cunning forms of circumvention.  It spread the toxins of liberalism and wielded the weapon of terrorism accusations and sanctions.  It attempted to resurrect clownish figures and agents representing the U.S. system to deceive struggling peoples and movements into believing that it had changed its nature and was now concerned with their problems—problems that the U.S. itself had created.  However it became clear to everyone that what the U.S. had changed was merely the snake’s skin, while its venom, fangs, and tail remained intact, waiting for the right moment to strike.

    Approaching the Sahrawi cause was a malicious U.S. strategy after the United Nations falsely promised the Sahrawi people a self-determination referendum once they laid down their arms against the Moroccan occupation and signed a ceasefire agreement.

    The aim of this agreement was to exhaust the liberation movement, cut off its fighters’ breath, corner it, and prevent it from liberating the remaining parts of its land.  To achieve this strategy the U.S. beast oversaw the negotiations and played the role of a concerned party seeking to end this conflict, which it had created, making Morocco the occupying proxy on behalf of imperialism to retaliate against the Sahrawi revolution.

    The revolution had declared war on Spain and France and announced itself as an anti-colonial, socialist revolution with a unifying orientation toward the peoples of the continent, which was a declaration of war on the U.S.

    The U.S. intervened in 1975 through Henry Kissinger to engineer the Madrid Accords which divided the Western Sahara between Morocco and Mauritania as retaliation against this revolution.  Subsequently the U.S. armed Morocco, its loyal ally in North Africa, and has continued to support it with weapons and political backing to this day.  Therefore we always say that the truth of the Moroccan occupation is revealed by who supports it.  Morocco is supported by France, the U.S., the Zionist entity, Spain, and European imperialism, while the Sahrawi people are supported by liberation movements in Africa, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, and all oppressed peoples and revolutionary consciences worldwide.

    What these malicious U.S. figures did to the Sahrawi cause, they also did to the Palestinian cause.  The U.S. consistently attempted, through the faces of its puppets, to project an image of neutrality while simultaneously arming and supporting Israel.  The same applies to its limited stances on the Sahrawi issue.

    As for the Sahrawi people and the Polisario Front, they were never deceived regarding the U.S.’s true nature. There was always a sense of wariness towards these maneuvers even though some individuals associated with the movement engaged in relationships with U.S. organizations as is the case in most African countries.

    The decisive response to the reality of the conflict with the U.S. came in 2020 when Donald Trump, before the end of his term, recognized the sovereignty of the Moroccan occupation over Western Sahara through a Twitter post.  Subsequently the Biden administration continued to silently support Morocco as had been the case before.  Therefore the Sahrawi people expect no good from the U.S. colonial system, neither from the face that wears a mask to hide its true nature nor from the current fascist face led by Trump.  The Sahrawi people have always known their friends and allies:  the revolutionaries against colonialism, the free, and all those who fight against the U.S., Europe, and their agents.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: From a popular uprising standpoint, the Sahrawi self-determination struggle has been widely regarded as not only legitimate but inspiring.  Also it is worth noting that the Black Alliance for Peace has a Shutdown AFRICOM campaign that is ironically implicated as both the United States and Morocco have used the Moroccan location of the annual African Lion Exercise (the largest AFRICOM exercise) as a bargaining chip to attempt to strongarm concessions in one direction or another.  While we are clear in our U.S. Out of Africa perspective, do you have any thoughts on these relativities and any message or requests to the grassroots?

    India Pitts: We encourage everyone to educate themselves on international affairs.  There you will see the interconnectedness of our enemies.  Not only is Morocco allowing the U.S. to host the annual African Lion Exercise but Morocco has Israel drone companies in the Western Sahara occupied territory.

    Each company and government cooperating with Morocco, including in the integrated waters off the coast of Western Sahara that Morocco put into its maritime territory, have not tried to obtain permission to do so from the people of the Western Sahara.  Instead they make agreements with these illegitimate settlers.  This violates our right to self-determination in the Western Sahara occupied region.

    Our enemies work together, historically and in the present day, similar to the US backing Israel in occupied Palestine.  We saw this with our own eyes when we were commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the National Union of Sahrawi Women in the refugee camps. There we saw the army resources that Spain, the US, and France had provided for Morocco to continue to occupy the Western Sahara territory that the Polisario Front captured during our armed struggle.

    We want the grassroots including the organizers everywhere to understand their responsibility to the international struggle against imperialism because our enemies and the enemies of nature, organize together to destroy humanity.   Africans, everywhere, must understand our responsibility to Africa because our destiny is tied to Africa.  We cannot continue to commemorate these flag independence days with Western Sahara occupied and Africa’s islands still being colonized.  It is imperative that we organize against neocolonialism governments, all occupations, and European settlers! 

    The post The Struggle for Western Sahara first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Celebrate International Working Women’s Day by Joining the Struggle Against Imperialism!

    International Women’s Day (IWD) was founded by working-class women who staunchly opposed war and fought for labor rights, peace, and equality. Rooted in the anti-war and socialist movements of the early 20th century, IWD emerged as a day to challenge oppression and demand justice. However, IWD has been co-opted by intersectional imperialists—women of diverse cultural backgrounds who unite under the banner of the U.S. empire, perpetuating violence and destabilization across the globe. This betrayal of its radical origins demands a reckoning.

    The U.S. empire, draped in the language of feminism and empowerment, has weaponized IWD to justify its gangsterism. In Gaza, U.S.-backed Israeli forces have killed and displaced thousands of women and children, destroying homes, hospitals, and schools under the guise of “security.” In Sudan, U.S.-aligned forces and foreign interventions have fueled a devastating civil war, displacing millions and leaving women vulnerable to sexual violence and starvation. In Haiti, U.S. imperialism has propped up corrupt regimes and destabilized the nation, leaving women to bear the brunt of poverty, violence, and systemic collapse. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Black women in cities like Chicago and rural areas like the Mississippi Delta face systemic neglect, police violence, and economic exploitation. These are not isolated incidents but the direct consequences of Western imperialism, which prioritizes profit and power over human lives.

    The celebration of IWD by those complicit in these atrocities is a grotesque distortion of its founding principles. True solidarity with women worldwide means opposing the systems that exploit and destroy their lives. It means standing against the U.S. empire’s wars, sanctions, and interventions that disproportionately harm women in the Global South. It means reclaiming IWD as a day of resistance against imperialism, capitalism, and patriarchy.

    For the Black Alliance for Peace, the task is reclaiming International Women’s Day as a day of struggle, not of celebration—a day to dismantle Western imperialism and fight for a world where all women can live in freedom and dignity.

    No Compromise.

    No Retreat!

    The post Celebrate International Working Women’s Day by Joining the Struggle Against Imperialism! first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • The Eurocentric U.S. “Left” Carries Water for Neoliberal Right, Again

    The supporters of the Ukraine Solidarity Network (USN) inhabit the same contradictory moral and political space as the European leaders who met with Volodymyr Zelensky, their frontman from Ukraine, to reaffirm their collective commitment to the proxy war in Ukraine. The language of self-determination and rights easily flowed from their lips but not one of them had a word to say about the self-determination of Palestinians who are now facing another illegal siege by Israel in occupied Gaza.

    This is the terrain of white privilege that must be confronted. The power to define who is human and who has rights. A power that is assumed by the supporters of the Ukraine Solidarity Network and a significant segment of the “whitish” left that attempts to obscure its Eurocentric class collaboration in left rhetoric.

    As the proxy war in Ukraine is seemingly coming to an end, it is more glaring than ever that the last three years have exposed a profound failure within large sectors of the U.S. left, particularly their inability to ground their analysis in objective materialist principles rather than subjective moral posturing. This failure is not new; it echoes the left’s misguided alignment with U.S. imperialism in Libya, Syria, Nicaragua, Tigray/Ethiopia, and beyond. By uncritically adopting the narratives of the U.S. State Department and NATO, these leftists have betrayed the anti-imperialist principles they claim to uphold, instead siding with the very forces that perpetuate global oppression and exploitation.

    This failure is exemplified by the USN’s statement, which is steeped in eurocentrism and pro-U.S. nationalism, that not only delegitimizes its own narrative but also exposes a broader pattern of collaboration with U.S.-led Western imperialism.

    The USN states, “Anyone with an ounce of compassion wants this war to end as soon as possible, but it is morally unacceptable for outsiders to demand that Ukraine surrender. USN continues to support the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination and to decide for themselves what are acceptable terms for a peace deal.” In making an appeal to compassion and morality for the right of self-determination for Ukrainians, the USN has exposed its dismal understanding of the facts that led to the conflict. Their positioning of Ukraine as a hapless victim of Russia’s unprovoked and evil aggression completely blankets the reality that the U.S.-backed coup government, which ousted democratically-elected president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, legitimized a dangerous fascist element already present in the country now installed in the police, military and government. The Kyiv government used those fascist forces to lead the assault on the largely ethnic Russian regions in Donbas, Donetsk, Lugansk, and other cities in the east; and the Minsk II agreement signed by presidents of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany was intentionally violated and was only signed by EU members to give Ukraine time to amass weapons to attack Russia on NATO’s behalf, as former German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted in late 2022.

    The USN completely dismisses the geostrategic goal of some sectors of U.S. capital to disarticulate the Russian and German economies in order to strengthen U.S. leverage over all of Europe as a fantasy. Instead, providing ideological cover for this goal as U.S. support for Ukrainian “self-determination.” But their analysis of self-determination does not include NATO’s strategy of aggression to weaken Russia and provoke regime change through the deployment of troops, weapons, and carrying out war games on the border of Russia in Ukraine. These points were laid out in front of the EU Parliament last week by none other than the former neoliberal golden-boy economist Jeffrey Sachs [at 28:00 mark].

    The left’s failure to recognize this pattern in Ukraine—where NATO expansion and U.S. militarization have exacerbated tensions globally—reveals a deep-seated arrogance and a troubling detachment from the material realities of Western imperialism. Imperialism is the highest stage of development of capitalism and signifies a global structure of exploitation, domination, and oppression of the non-imperialist countries and peoples of the Global South.  At this moment in history, there are no competing imperialisms that can remotely compare to the U.S.-led imperialism’s global impact and its delusional quest for continued planetary dominance. U.S.-led imperialism represents the primary contradiction and primary enemy.

    But instead of challenging the U.S. empire, the chauvinistic social imperialist left parrots the simplistic and rightist framing of global class and national struggle as a battle between democracy and authoritarianism, ignoring the complex historical and geopolitical factors at play.

    This failure is not merely intellectual; it is political. By siding with NATO and the U.S. State Department, these leftists have effectively aligned themselves with the forces that are waging war against colonized Black and Brown people worldwide, not understanding, or caring, that a victory for NATO and the West would be a disaster for the Global South.

    Yet, we are supposed to be more concerned about some clown named Alexander Dugin supposedly pulling the strings of fascism in Europe through Russia than the strategic defeat of the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination that threatens the world. You cannot be more eurocentric than this.

    Opposing the continued eurocentric, pro-U.S. nationalism, collaborationist elements of the U.S. “left” is essential if we are to build the unity and power needed to oppose imperialist domination. By refusing to take on the difficult work of remaining in principled opposition to U.S.-led imperialism and white supremacy, these elements of the anti anti-Western imperialist left help to sow confusion about the nature of Western imperialism and the reality that there is a common enemy that oppresses the non-European majority of the globe.

    The U.S. left must reckon with these failures and recommit to the principles of anti-imperialism. This requires an abandonment of liberal idealism,  a rejection of subjective moral positions that align with state propaganda, and a return to the objective materialist analysis that has always been the foundation of genuine leftist politics. Anything less strengthens the forces of imperialist domination and betrays the struggle for popular power and collective liberation.

    The post The Eurocentric U.S. “Left” Carries Water for Neoliberal Right, Again first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • The Struggle for a Zone of Peace Continues


    Today, the US/NATO Out of Our Americas Network officially launches, marking a bold and action-oriented next phase in the Zone of Peace campaign. This date, commemorating the assassinations of Malcolm X and Augusto C. Sandino, serves as a powerful reminder of the enduring struggle for sovereignty, self-determination, and liberation from colonialism, imperialism and all nefarious forces that impede peace. The Network is dedicated to building a coordinated, internationalist struggle to expel the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination from the Americas and beyond.

    The Zone of Peace campaign has been building and coordinating resistance against militarism, imperialism, and colonialism. Now, the US/NATO Out of Our Americas Network takes this struggle to the next level by emphasizing strategic, grassroots-led action to dismantle the structures of oppression that threaten the sovereignty and dignity of peoples across the hemisphere.

    The Masses Will Lead the Way

    The success of this historic task lies in the power of the people. It is the masses—workers, farmers, African and Indigenous communities, students, activists, and all those who believe in justice and people(s)-centered human rights—who will drive the expulsion of the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination. Through concerted and unified anti-militarist, anti-imperialist, and internationalist actions, we will challenge the economic, political, and military interventions that perpetuate violence in our region.

    The Network calls for principled unity across borders, recognizing that the fight against imperialism is a global struggle. From Guantanamo to Port au Prince, the southside of Chicago to the palenques in Guayaquil, and beyond, we stand in solidarity with all movements working to build a Nuestra América free from domination and exploitation.

    A Call to Action

    The launch of the US/NATO Out of Our Americas Network is not just a declaration of principles—it is a call to action. We invite individuals, organizations, and movements to join us in this critical effort. Together, we will:

    • Organize grassroots campaigns to resist U.S./NATO military bases and interventions

    • Build international solidarity to expose and oppose imperialist agendas.

    • Advocate for policies that prioritize peace, sovereignty, and people(s)-centered human rights over war by any of its names (sanctions, lawfare, etc)

    • Educate and mobilize communities to take collective action against forces that oppose the sovereignty of our region

    Honoring the Legacy of Malcolm X and Sandino

    On this historic day, we honor the legacies of Malcolm X and Sandino, whose unwavering commitment to justice and liberation continues to inspire us. Their sacrifices remind us that the struggle for a better world is ongoing, and it is our responsibility to carry their work forward.

    The US/NATO Out of Our Americas Network is committed to building a future where the Americas are truly a Zone of Peace—a region free from foreign domination, where the rights and dignity of all peoples are respected.

    Join us in this vital struggle. The time is now.

    For more information, visit zoneofpeace.org.

    The post The Struggle for a Zone of Peace Continues first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • U.S.-led Imperialism Is Directly Responsible for Turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    The Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team (BAP) and U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) stands in unwavering solidarity with the Congolese People as they endure yet another chapter of violence, exploitation, and masked imperialist aggression in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The ongoing conflict, fueled by Rwanda’s role as an imperialist foot soldier, is not merely a regional dispute but a manifestation of global capitalism’s insatiable desire for Africa’s resources. As the transnational capitalist class fight for dominance in the global clean energy, artificial intelligence, and technology markets, the Congo has been and stands to remain the battleground as a cornerstone of systemic plunder for over a century.

    Rwanda, backed by Western powers such as the United States, the European Union (EU), Canada, Israel, etc, has consistently acted as a destabilizing force in the region, providing material support to proxy militias like the M23 to undermine Congolese sovereignty and facilitate the extraction of resources. Much like the sub-imperialist relationship between the United Arab Emirates and Sudan, Rwanda has no significant mineral reserves of its own yet has become one of the world’s leading exporters of critical minerals like coltan. The recent escalation in Goma, where Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) and M23 have seized strategic areas, is a direct result of this imperialist agenda.

    The Congolese People, however, continue to resist valiantly, with the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and Wazalendo self-defense groups reclaiming critical infrastructure like the Congolese National Radio and Television station (RTNC). The responsibility of those outside of the DRC is to heed the acts of the People reflecting the unheard, to unconditionally support their path toward self-determination and right to defend their land and sovereignty. This is the only way to sustainable peace in the Congo.

    The conflict in the DRC is not an isolated event but a direct consequence of the global capitalist system in crisis. The so-called “Green Corridor” initiative, promoted by President Felix Tshisekedi at the World Economic Forum in Davos, is a stark example of how imperialist powers and their local compradors, seek to legitimize their pillaging under the guise of development. This initiative, funded primarily by the United States and EU, aims to secure access to the Congo’s cobalt, copper, and lithium — resources essential for the global transition to renewable energy and digital technologies. Yet, this so-called “development” comes at the direct expense of the Congolese People, who continue to suffer from violence, displacement, and poverty.

    The recent attacks on the embassies of Belgium, France, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the United States, chanting “down with imperialism” and widespread protests across the DRC, from Goma to Kinshasa, make clear the frustration of the Congolese with a government that has failed to protect them, and a global system that exploits them. The uprising reflects a growing consciousness among the Congolese masses, who are demanding accountability, liberation, and an end to decades of suffering. The Black Alliance for Peace recognizes these protests as part of a broader struggle across the African continent. As Che Guevara said, “all free people of the world be prepared to avenge the crime of the Congo.”

    We understand that the liberation of the Congo is inseparable from the liberation of Africa as a whole. The Congo’s land, energy, and resources have fueled the wealth of imperialist powers for generations, while its people have been subjected to unimaginable violence and exploitation. The current crisis is a stark reminder that the struggle for African sovereignty is a struggle against the global capitalist system. We must reject the false narratives that frame this conflict as a regional or ethnic issue and instead recognize it as a fight against imperialism and for self-determination.

    The Black Alliance for Peace calls on all progressive forces, both within the African continent and around the world, to stand in solidarity with the Congolese People. Demand an immediate end to Rwanda’s aggression and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the DRC. We call for Congo’s resources to be under the democratic control of its People. We call on all anti-imperialist forces across the world to expose the puppeteer role of the U.S.-EU-NATO Asix of Domination in fueling this crisis and to support the Congolese People’s right to life.

    The struggle of the Congolese People is our struggle. Their victory is our victory . Let us unite in solidarity to end the centuries-long suffering in the Congo and to build a world free from imperialism, capitalism, and exploitation. The Congo is not for sale—it belongs to its People.

    Free the Congo! 
    Patrice Lumumba Lives!
    Unite Africa under Socialism!
    No Compromise!No Retreat!

    The post U.S.-led Imperialism Is Directly Responsible for Turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • No Matter Who Sits in the White Peoples’ House the War Being Waged by the U.S. Colonial/Capitalist Class Against the Black Colonized Working Class and All Oppressed Peoples and Nations Will Continue

    Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories…

    — Amilcar Cabral (Revolution in Guinea, stage 1, London, 1974, p 70-72)

    It was under the Democrats and the first “Black” president that the Department of Defense 1033 program that militarizes local police forces was expanded by 2,400%; the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) expanded by 1,900%; Libya, the most prosperous African  and Pan African nation was attacked and destroyed; the war on Yemen began; the Occupy Wall Street Movement was smashed; the FBI created the “Black Identity Extremist” label; the banks were bailed out from the economic collapse that they created, but not the working class; Black people lost more wealth  than was lost at the end of Reconstruction in 1870s; and, despite police killings across the country, including Mike Brown in Ferguson, the Obama administration only brought Federal charges against one killer-cop.  Yet, with the return of Trump, opportunists in our communities and beyond are telling us that the real culprits in our oppression and the targets for opposition are Trump and republicans.

    The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) rejects this kind of ahistorical opportunism.

    We are clear. The anti-democratic duopoly is made up of  representatives of the capitalist class and provides cover for what is, in reality, the dictatorship of capital. In this, the duopoly reveals the class nature of the state. This dictatorship, the true enemy of the people, is the target of our agitation and organizing.

    Focusing attention on the Trumpian wing of the capitalist class as the primary or principal contradiction facing the people in the U.S. or in the world, obscures the reality that the dominant wing of capital, finance capital, along with the U.S. based transnational corporations, have captured and are operating through both parties. However, it is the democratic party wing of the dictatorship of capital that has championed what is popularly referred to as neoliberalism. Neoliberalism, first given coherence under Ronald Reagan, eventually migrated to the democratic party under Bill Clinton and the Democratic Leadership Council, whose “third way politics” aligned with both neoliberals and neoconservatives (neocons). Trumpism is the particular (national) manifestation of the global crisis of neoliberal capitalism. The republican party’s capture of the executive and all branches of government will not resolve the structural contradictions of neoliberal capital. What we can expect, then, is the strengthening of the repressive state apparatus and more targeted repression. To be clear, this process would have continued under a Harris administration because Harris promised to maintain the same trajectory of state repression in the name of capital. Because of the bipartisan jettisoning of liberal democratic and human rights in favor of the capitalist order, it does not matter which individual is sitting in the white peoples’ house. Therefore, the correct approach for opposition forces is one that grounds the people’s understanding of the objective structural contradictions of the capitalist order and that builds their capacity to struggle against that order  – regardless of which wing of the duopoly represents it. Focusing on only one part of the duopoly is akin to focusing on only one faction of the capitalist class.

    Despite any rhetoric to the contrary, BAP expects Trump will govern as a neoliberal. That is why certain elements of the ruling class turned to him again. Continued austerity, especially at the state and local levels, will persist, as well as privatization of public assets, tax breaks for the capitalist class, the suppression and repression of labor, fiscal and monetary policies that prop-up capitalist profits and undermine human rights and, of course, the targeted use of military power to advance the interests of the capitalist dictatorship. We believe, however, that Trump will make as his main mission the primary concern of the neoliberal elite:  smashing the movement toward de-dollarization.

    We cannot afford to have any illusions or harbor any sentimentality about the nature of this system. As we organize in political spaces controlled by Black democrats, it would be suicidal if we did not understand the role these neocolonial puppets play – primarily against any organized opposition – in the war that capital is waging against the people. Under Biden-Harris, we saw  police, judicial, and media suppression of mobilizations in solidarity with the Palestinian people, the student intifada, the Uhuru 3, African Stream media, and many others. And it is no coincidence that so-called “cop cities” are being constructed across the country in those urban areas being managed by Black democrat party functionaries or, what Black Agenda Report refers to as the “Black Misleadership Class.”

    This corrupted Black petit-bourgeois professional/managerial class, positioned in government, corporate and non-profit sectors, provides the buffer and role models for individual material advancement at the expense of the Black working class.

    And while we are dealing with cop cities, we also understand what is coming with the mass deportations of non-white migrants and the violent law and order rhetoric that is already emanating from the Trumpian forces. But let us not forget that, under the Biden-Harris regime, mass deportations rose by 250 percent, of which Harris campaigned on being “tough” on the border. Anti-immigrant rhetoric is also bipartisan.

    Like all people, we want to live decent, prosperous lives in peace and in harmony with all humanity and nature. But we are going to have to fight for peace. And for that struggle BAP is guided by the principles of the Black radical peace tradition that states clearly:

    Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the achievement by popular struggle and self-defense of a world liberated from the interlocking issues of global conflict, nuclear armament and proliferation, unjust war, and subversion through the defeat of global systems of oppression that include colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.

    That is the task and the responsibility that we take on. We are not afraid of any individual or oppressive system. We gladly take on this fight with the certainty that one day we will defeat the Pan European white supremacist colonial/capitalist patriarchy that is the enemy of collective humanity.

    The struggles and sacrifices being made by the Palestinian peoples to defend their dignity and popular sovereignty is the example we embrace. This is why we say that, no matter the circumstances, no matter the challenge, no matter the intensity of the repression, we are building on the sacrifices of our people and guided by revolutionary principles. Our call will always be:

    No Compromise, No Retreat!

    The post No Matter Who Sits in the White Peoples’ House the War Being Waged by the U.S. Colonial/Capitalist Class Against the Black Colonized Working Class and All Oppressed Peoples and Nations Will Continue first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • Who Control’s Afghanistan’s Stolen Assets: A Factsheet

    In August 2021, following the withdrawal of major U.S./NATO military forces from Afghanistan after two decades of occupation, Taliban forces took effective control over the country. In response, the United States seized the assets of Afghanistan’s central bank totaling around $7 billion. Half of that amount was transferred to the misleadingly named “Afghan Fund” in September 2022, a Swiss-based “charitable foundation” whose only role thus far has been to privately conceal and invest the funds without any concrete plans to return them, as confirmed by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West. This runs contrary to popular demands by experts and humanitarian organizations who argue that a return of the funds is desperately needed now more than ever to help everyday Afghans.

    Afghan women do not have any representation on the board of the “Afghan Fund,” nor do they have any official say over whether the assets should be returned. The board of trustees includes: two men selected by the U.S. State Department, Anwar ul-Haq Ahady and Shah Mehrabi, the U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh, and Swiss government official Ambassador Alexandra Baumann.

    According to a July 2024 press statement from the board of the “Afghan Fund,” some of the stolen assets may also be disbursed to the Asian Development Bank, an institution controlled by the United States, Japan, and Australia via majority shareholder status. While the funds are not returning to the Afghan people, this move shows that a process to return the funds to Afghanistan can begin immediately if the board members agree to do so. Regardless of whether the funds are in fact disbursed elsewhere over time, board members Ahady, Mehrabi, Shambaugh, and Baumann are all culpable in the forced starvation and impoverishment of tens of millions of Afghans – tantamount to the collective punishment of the Afghan people.

    According to a January 2024 written testimony by the U.S. Congress-established Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the remaining $3.5 billion in sovereign funds held in the United States may eventually be transferred to the “Afghan Fund” depending on litigation filed by the families of 9/11 victims and other plaintiffs, while other funds held in Europe and the United Arab Emirates may also be added to the “Afghan Fund.” SIGAR found that none of the funds in the “Afghan Fund” as of early 2024 have been spent, are planned to be spent, or will ever be used to provide humanitarian or development assistance. Notably, while no disbursements have been made for the benefit of the Afghan people, portions of the over $340 million in interest that have been accrued from the stolen assets are being used to pay for the “Afghan Funds” operational and administrative costs.

    The sudden deprivation of access to its sovereign assets led to a sharp economic and financial crisis in Afghanistan in 2021, which a recent United Nations Development Program (UNDP) study found is disproportionately affecting women and children. The seizure of assets combined with both U.S. and UN sanctions – ostensibly only targeting the Taliban – have hurt ordinary Afghans and aid organizations, affirmed by US-aligned rights groups and media outlets. The same UNDP report found that 69% of Afghans “do not have adequate resources for basic subsistence living,” while an estimated 15.8 million Afghans – including nearly 8 million children – are expected to experience “acute food insecurity” throughout 2024.

    Clearly, the “Afghan Fund” – controlled by Western officials and Afghan compradors – has deliberately withheld billions from the suffering Afghan populace. It should be reiterated that a process to return these stolen funds, and in turn mitigate the U.S.-enabled humanitarian and economic crises plaguing Afghanistan, can and must begin right away. The following individuals have full power or influence over the release of the illegally stolen assets back to its rightful owners: the Afghan people.

    Jay Shambaugh

    Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs

    • Visiting Associate Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University
    • Former Consultant to the International Monetary Fund (2005, 2008, 2011-2013)
    • Former Director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution (2017-2020)
    • Former Member of the White House Council of Economic Advisors (2015-2017)
    • Former Chief Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (2009-2011)

    Alexandra Baumann

    Head of the Prosperity and Sustainability Division at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

    • Former Diplomatic Advisor of the Head of the Swiss Federal
    • Department of Finance
    • Previously worked in the Swiss Embassies in Chile and
    • Germany, and the Swiss Mission to the UN in New York

    Anwar ul-Haq Ahady

    Former government official, economic advisor and central banker to the U.S./NATO occupied Afghanistan

    • Former Minister of Commerce and Industry (2010-2013) and Minister of Agriculture (2020-2021)
    • Former Minister of Finance and Advisor of National Economy to the U.S./NATO-backed President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai (2004-2009)
    • Previously responsible for overseeing Afghanistan’s central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (2002-2004)

    Shah Mehrabi

    Member of the Supreme Council of Da Afghanistan Bank

    • Professor of Economics at Montgomery College in Maryland
    • Former Senior Economic Advisor to previous Ministers of Finance under U.S./NATO occupied Afghanistan

    Thomas West

    U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Deputy Assistant Secretary

    • Former Vice President at a private global strategic advisory firm, the Cohen Group (2016-2021)
    • Former Special Advisor at the UN National Security Council to the U.S. Vice President for South Asia and the U.S. Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2012-2015)
    • Former U.S. State Department senior diplomat in Kunar Province, Afghanistan (2011-2012)
    • Former Special Assistant for South and Central Asia to the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2008-2010)
    The post Who Control’s Afghanistan’s Stolen Assets: A Factsheet first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • MOLEGHAF: Armed Attacks in Port-au-Prince

    On October 20th, 2024, the National Movement for Liberty and Equality of Haitians for Fraternity (Mouvement National pour la Liberté et L’égalité des Haïtiens pour la Fraternité, MOLEGHAF), a member organization of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), issued a statement on the increasing violence perpetrated by the paramilitary group “Viv Ansanm” (or “Live Together”) in Solino, Fò Nasyonal, Nazon, Kriswa and other nearby popular neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince.

    MOLEGHAF asserts that this escalation in paramilitary violence is rooted in the neocolonial Haitian state’s collaboration with the United States and other colonial powers, all working to maintain their criminal political agenda and keep Haiti under occupation:

    “The sellout Haitian bourgeoisie, at the service of U.S. imperialism, controls our country. This is Full Spectrum Dominance. The ruling class seeks to break the back of all forms of Haitian resistance. By burning our neighborhoods down, they exterminate our very ability to resist. While the United Nations is allegedly sanctioning and embargoing weapons and bullets, the murderous group “LIVE TOGETHER” magically has access to hundreds of thousands of U.S. weapons.”

    MOLEGHAF stresses that “US and Western imperialism” have targeted their neighborhoods since “at least our national uprising in 2021.” The attacks on their communities continue “even though hundreds of Kenyan troops now occupy us”. As the Haitian elite uses paramilitaries to crush popular Haitian resistance, MOLEGHAF describes the deteriorating situation:

    “None of us are free to leave our homes. We don’t know which way to go. The bloodthirsty death squads kill the poor and unfortunate inside their shacks. They burn through homes and memories. We, the population of Solino, have resisted this barbarism for 1 year and 7 months. Stand with us, We need help! The neocolonial Haitian state lays the basis of these massacres. We cannot continue in this situation. Solidarity is our only hope.”

    The Black Alliance for Peace calls on the masses, especially those within the heart of the empire, to stand in solidarity with MOLEGHAF. We reiterate that if there is no peace, justice, and popular sovereignty for the Haitian masses, there can be no Zone of Peace in the Americas. We support MOLEGHAF’s efforts to provide the correct, radical analysis of its current predicament: that the ruling classes in Haiti, under the supervision of Western imperialists, “are seeking to break the back of the popular social movements.” We say NO to US-sponsored violence and repression in Haiti and YES to self-determination and freedom!!

    Until the last rock is thrown
    Until the last poem is written
    Until the last voudou is sung
    MOLEGHAF will resist alongside the heroic Haitian people!

    The post MOLEGHAF: Armed Attacks in Port-au-Prince first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • Denouncing the Renewal of the U.S.-Kenya Mission to Haiti

    The Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace strongly denounces the UN Security Council’s vote to extend the U.S. funded, Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti. We assert that any U.S./UN-led armed intervention in Haiti is not only unjustifiable but also unlawful. We stand with the Haitian people and civil society groups who have consistently opposed foreign armed intervention, arguing that Haiti’s issues stem from ongoing and long-standing interference by the U.S., the UN, and the Core Group.

    On Monday, September 30, the UN Security Council unanimously  adopted  a  resolution extending for one year the authorization for the MSS mission to Haiti, which claims to help quell rampant gang violence. Yet, the mission will only be the latest in a line of failed interventions aimed at denying the popular sovereignty of the Haitian people. Prior to this vote, members of the Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti/Americas Team delivered letters to the permanent UN Missions and Embassies of several countries represented on the UN Security Council, asking them to support the Haitian masses and oppose ongoing U.S.-orchestrated armed intervention. A public version of this letter appears here. While our letters were unsuccessful, we will continue to mobilize against this expanding intervention, which lacks legitimacy: the MSS was authorized under an illegitimate U.S.-installed Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, and deployed through the nine-member “Presidential Council” and Prime Minister, neither of which has any legal status or legitimacy in Haiti.

    Though the Biden administration has halted its efforts to convert the MSS into an official United Nations Peacekeeping operation, we understand that a full, long-term foreign military occupation of Haiti is the eventual goal of the U.S. and its neocolonial proxies. We warn that the U.S. aims to use Haiti as a staging ground for a permanent military base in the region to, as articulated in its foreign policy documents, secure “U.S. national security and interests” and manage rival powers, presumably Russia and China.

    In a time of global upheaval, marked by a live-streamed genocide in Gaza and violent clashes between cartels and police in Mexico, it is perplexing that the U.S., France, and Canada continue to call for the foreign occupation of Haiti — a country that, while facing internal conflicts, does not threaten regional or global security. We once again call on the international community to respect Haitian sovereignty and support the Haitian masses in their ongoing struggle against the relentless occupation by foreign powers. Allowing continuous U.S. and Western control over Haiti’s political apparatus not only threatens to extinguish the nation’s hard-won sovereignty, but also weakens the sovereignty and self-determination of every other nation in the Caribbean, and Central and South America. There can be no “Zone of Peace” in the Americas if there is no peace and freedom for the people of Haiti.

    U.S. out of Haiti!

    Kenya out of Haiti!

    No to Another Occupation!

    Free Haiti!

    The post Denouncing the Renewal of the U.S.-Kenya Mission to Haiti first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • The Meaning of October 7: An Oppressed People Will Always Find a Way to Resist Oppression

    Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the achievement by popular struggle of … the defeat of global systems of oppression that include colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.
    — (BAP Principle of Unity)

    Today, October 7, 2024, the world commemorates – some in horror, others in celebration – a full year of a genocidal war, prosecuted in real time in occupied Palestine. In spite of the commonly accepted lie that the Al Aqsa Flood on October 7 was the beginning, this “war” actually began on November 29, 1947, with the passing of the UN resolution that led to the creation of the Israeli settler colonial state. For the next seventy-six years, with the backing of Western governments the state of Israel would lead a war of conquest, ethnically cleansing and massacring hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, displacing and maiming millions, and establishing an apartheid state. Therefore, the Black Alliance for Peace views the Al-Aqsa Flood as a legitimate resistance operation by the besieged Palestinians – the only party with an internationally recognized right of resistance. We support Palestinian resistance against the violent military domination by white supremacist imperialism and colonialism that began, first in the form of British colonialism, and continues in the form of zionism.

    In response to the prison breakout of October 7, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IDF) unleashed a horrific wave of state terror with indiscriminate bombing, targeting of civilian infrastructure, rape, torture and starvation with an obvious and specific target – the non-combatant civilian population. The result – a second Nakba – another catastrophe for the Palestinian people, with tens of thousands slaughtered with impunity. This systematic state terrorism has now engulfed Lebanon, with Israel replicating its depraved, anti-human tactics from Gaza. It began with an attempt to terrorize the resistance group Hezbollah including the killing of the group’s revered leader and anti-colonial fighter, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah. This terrorism has continued with the indiscriminate massacre of civilians in an attempt to force the Lebanese people into submission.

    Over the last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) along with all the other Western-run international bodies that claim to defend human rights have proven themselves complicit, acting as mere puppets of U.S. imperialism. As global protests erupt in fury, Israel continues its slaughter, understanding clearly that the U.S. settler-state and the white West will continue to provide it protection.

    What the last year has reconfirmed for BAP is that the violence we have witnessed is part of a global system of white supremacism dependent on unrestrained state terror in order to continue the extraction of value from still colonized and oppressed non-European peoples, working classes and nations.  The militarization of police, from the Israeli Occupation Force in Gaza to the deadly exchange programs in domestic colonized communities, is the extension of fascist settler colonialism. If we understand the U.S. as a settler project, then its global expansion can only result in one thing – replicating systems of dominance and repression everywhere. Here, we must also recognize that the attacks on Gaza and Lebanon mirror the looming assault on Haiti. Both represent the deep-rooted racist violence that has always been at the core of the Pan-European colonial/capitalist white supremacist patriarchy since this system of oppression emerged in 1492.

    Speaking out against this system of global white supremacy, whether here or abroad, is met with criminalization. From resisting austerity and Cop Cities in the U.S., to the prosecution of the “Uhuru 3” as agents of Russia, to curtailing speech and protest in hopes of dismantling the ‘student intifada’ across campuses, to the Palestinians and Lebanese fighting occupation, the message is clear: dissent is dangerous. But we must stand firm in truth. The real terrorists are those upholding the illegal zionist settler-colonial apartheid regime. The Black Alliance for Peace condemns Israel’s decades-long barbarism and fully supports the Palestinian people’s right to resist occupation. Decolonization and self-determination are not simply demands – they are central to the realization of human rights. And since there is no real justice for Palestinians in Western-controlled international laws, we stand by their right to fight for their humanity. Collective resistance is a central principle of the People(s)-Centered Human Rights framework that guides BAP’s approach to the human rights issue.

    Fifty years into the future, the zionist massacre of Palestinians and invasion of Lebanon will be widely recognized for the war crimes that they are. But in the same way that it takes little courage today to oppose the segregation of the 1950s, the time to stand up against genocide and colonialism is right now – today. And we do not have the luxury of waiting for history to vindicate the Palestinians’ just struggle; we must act to help end the zionists’ ever-expanding genocidal war now, once and for all.

    Our struggles are intertwined: we are bound by the shared reality of living under white supremacist, settler-colonial states. When one of us suffers, we all do. And together, we will resist. Long live the resistance. Glory to the martyrs. Palestine will be free – and so will the world once our peoples unite to defeat the U.S./EU/NATO Axis Domination.

    Resist the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination

    Defeat the war in the U.S. being waged against the resisters

    Smash the Duopoly

    No Compromise! No Retreat!

    The post The Meaning of October 7: An Oppressed People Will Always Find a Way to Resist Oppression first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • No to Foreign Military Intervention in Haiti!

    The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) urges the leaders of the nations of the Americas to oppose the upcoming United Nations’ decision to renew the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti for another 12 months. Additionally, we call on these regional leaders to challenge the United States’ proposal to convert this MSS into a full-fledged UN Peacekeeping mission by 2025.

    On October 16, 2022, the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) sent a letter urging the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation to “respect Haitian sovereignty and support the Haitian masses in their stand against the ongoing occupation of their country by foreign powers” by using their veto power and voting against another armed intervention and occupation into Haiti. In this letter, we outlined why the Haitian people perceive the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) as a foreign occupation that has undermined their independence and sovereignty since 2004. On October 3, 2023, we and over 100 social and civic movements and organizations throughout the Americas, including in Haiti and the diaspora, issued a joint statement denouncing the UN Security Council’s approval of the U.S.-orchestrated, Kenya-led MSS to Haiti. In these, we laid out demands in line with those of Haitian civic and social organizations. The Haitian people are resolute in their opposition to foreign intervention and remain steadfast in their commitment to self-determination.

    As we articulated in our previous letter and statement, Haiti has endured a long history of U.S. intervention and occupation. The Haitian people recognize that their current challenges stem directly from the persistent meddling of the United States, the United Nations, and the Core Group. They are unequivocal in their belief that all U.S.-led foreign interventions over the past decades have been illegal and illegitimate. Notably, the current Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) lacks legitimacy, having been authorized under the auspices of an illegitimate and U.S.-installed Prime Minister, Ariel Henry. Subsequently, the U.S., with the support of CARICOM, established a nine-member “Presidential Council” and Prime Minister, neither of which has any legal status or legitimacy in Haiti, all without the backing of the Haitian populace or the opportunity for a democratic selection process. Importantly, the U.S. demanded that those permitted on the “Presidential Council” consent to foreign intervention (the MSS). Thus, the entire process that led to the imposition of a foreign force in Haiti is fundamentally fraudulent.

    We find it extremely worrisome that the U.S. has enlisted foreign proxies—such as police and military forces from Kenya, Jamaica, and Belize—to implement its foreign policy objectives in the region. It is equally alarming that these foreign forces, as part of the MSS, enjoy effective immunity for their actions in Haiti. Given the traumatic legacy of the last UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH, 2004-2017), which was marred by violence, sexual exploitation, and a cholera epidemic, we view the MSS as a threat not only to Haiti’s sovereignty but also to the health and wellbeing of its people, particularly its children.

    The Black Alliance for Peace also challenges the U.S. claim of addressing “gang violence” in Haiti. We assert that the U.S. and the so-called “international community” (including France and Canada) are fully aware that the current “gang violence” is funded and supported by Haiti’s oligarchs and the U.S.-backed political elite. This group imports weapons into the country and pays young men to instigate chaos, which is then used to manufacture consent for further invasion and occupation of Haiti. This is similar to the way the U.S. and France have increased the problem of “terrorism” in West and East Africa as a ruse to create U.S. military forces in that region, which we see in the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). The awareness of these underlying dynamics is underscored by the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Canada on several members of Haiti’s economic and political elite, including former Haitian president Michel Martelly, who was installed by the U.S.

    In a time of global upheaval, marked by a live-streamed genocide in Gaza and violent clashes between cartels and police in Mexico, it is perplexing that the U.S., France, and Canada are advocating for foreign occupation of Haiti—a country facing internal conflicts that do not threaten regional or global security. We must question the U.S. insistence on maintaining a military presence in Haiti at this juncture.

    As an anti-war and anti-imperialist organization, the Black Alliance for Peace warns that the U.S. aims to use Haiti as a staging ground for a permanent military base in the region to, as articulated in its foreign policy documents, secure “U.S. national security and interests” and manage rival powers, presumably Russia and China.

    We once again call on your countries to respect Haitian sovereignty and support the Haitian masses in their ongoing struggle against the relentless occupation by foreign powers. Only the Haitian people can determine their own solutions. Their leaders must not be selected by the U.S. or any other foreign entity. Allowing continuous U.S. and Western control over Haiti’s political apparatus not only threatens to extinguish the nation’s hard-won sovereignty, but also weakens the sovereignty and self-determinative capacities of every other nation in the Caribbean, Central, and South America.

    As we know, Haiti is a laboratory for U.S. and Western imperialist policies and practices of domination and intervention. What is visited upon Haiti will inevitably be visited upon other nations in the hemisphere. We have seen this in Honduras as the U.S. ambassador acts like a government representative in a foreign land, against the sovereignty of that nation and its President, Xiomara Castro. This is a strategy that was fine-tuned in Haiti under the Obama-Clinton foreign policy apparatus and continues to this day.

    We ask that you, leaders throughout the Americas, reject the old colonial divisions that have made the region more susceptible to U.S. intervention, sabotage and neocolonial rule, and use regional mechanisms like CELAC to support Haitian sovereignty. As nations have stood in solidarity with Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua against imperialist assaults, sanctions, and subterfuge aimed at undermining their sovereignty, so should you oppose the interventionist crimes and colonial impositions visited upon Haiti and its people by the U.S., UN and Core Group. As the overwhelming majority of nations and people of the Americas have decried the zionist genocide in Gaza and the ongoing violation of the sovereignty of Palestine and Lebanon, so should you fight against the imperialist actions that have resulted in instability, violence, and mass death in Haiti. There can be no “Zone of Peace” in the Americas if there is no peace and freedom for the people of Haiti.

    The Black Alliance for Peace, in alignment with the wishes of the Haitian masses and their supporters, unequivocally opposes continued foreign armed intervention in Haiti. We stand firm in our demand for an end to the relentless meddling by the United States and Western powers in Haitian affairs. We urge your governments and nations to stand in solidarity with the Haitian people in their fight for liberation by opposing the extension of the MSS and any future plans to convert this mission into a UN peacekeeping operation.

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  • The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns U.S. Convictions of Uhuru 3 As A Fascist Farce

    After being forced to acquit Omali Yeshitela, Jesse Nevel, and Penny Hess – the “Uhuru 3” – on being agents of Russia, a U.S. federal court jury resorted to the sham conviction of “conspiracy,” in what amounted to them being guilty of internationalism and the work of liberating African people. The state’s claim is that the defendants are guilty of “planning to sow discord and inflame American political tensions at the behest of Russia,” a charge carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

    Although the conspiracy charge is being regarded as the less serious of the two changes, it presents a threat to all anti-imperialists and internationalists working in the bowels of the capitalist, U.S. settler state. “Conspiracy” is a U.S. legal fiction that can mean almost anything. From the definition, it is clear that determining what counts as conspiracy is often left up to the creativity of prosecution. In other words, “conspiracy” should be understood as the state deploying anything vague and circumstantial to use against our movement when it cannot get a conviction on anything else.

    The Black Alliance for Peace sounds the alarm about the danger this particular ruling represents – the severe undermining of the human right to free speech and the free flow of information. It is the creation of Orwellian, totalitarian legal precedence in support of “thoughtcrimes,” the offense of thinking in ways not approved by the U.S. settler state.

    The trial of the “Uhuru 3,” members and supporters of the African People’s Socialist Party, is “proving to be one of the most important First Amendment cases thus far in the 21st century,” according to the group’s attorney Jenipher Jones. The case also exposes the fact that the U.S. has no regard for human rights. It violates Articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which protects the right to freedom of expression and opinion and freedom of association, as does Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

    It is also significant that a small Pan-Africanist group is the first to face legal charges and other overt repression for speaking out against the racist and imperialist policies of the U.S. regime.

    After the verdict Omali Yeshitela said:

    The most important thing is that they were unable to convict us for working for anybody except Black people, that’s the most important thing. They could not convict us for working for anybody except black people. They had to say we were not working for the Russians and I am willing to be charged and found guilty of working for black people.

    But BAP suspects that this is a test case for what is to come from the racist U.S. settler state. All activists and anti-imperialists should be concerned about what has happened to the “Uhuru 3.”

    As we declared in our September 10th statement:

    BAP and our movement will not be intimated. We recognize that the complete abandonment of constitutional and human rights by the U.S. and other Western states represents an irreversible crisis of legitimacy. We will continue to stand in support of the right to resist as a core human right.

    No Compromise!
    No Retreat!

    BAP Coordinating Committee

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  • BAP Condemns U.S. Plans for Yet Another UN Military Occupation of Haiti

    Once again, the Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) strongly denounces the latest attempts by the U.S. to push for yet another UN military occupation of Haiti. We condemn this action and the relentless assaults on Haitian self-determination by the US and its criminal allies. We also urge Caribbean and Latin American governments to stand in solidarity with Haiti – just as they have stood with one another against violations of national sovereignty in Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, etc. – as the Haitian people continue to bear the brunt of U.S. imperial policies and actions in the region.

    On September 5th and 6th, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In Haiti, Blinken met with members of the US- and CARICOM-imposed “presidential council” and the illegitimate Prime Minister of Haiti to discuss support for the Kenyan and U.S. occupation forces currently present in the country.

    On September 5, 2024, a group of Haitian and Dominican organizations released a statement denouncing Blinken’s visit to the island (English translation here). The statement titled, “Repudiation of the Presence of the Representative of Yankee Imperialism in Haiti and the Dominican Republic,” declared:

    “This interventionist visit will bring no good to the Haitian people, nor to the Dominican people. Rather, it will seek to consolidate the neocolonial domination imposed on Haiti since the first U.S. military occupation (1915-1934) and on the Dominican Republic (1916-1924). In fact, Blinken’s only mission is to protect the interests of imperialism in Haiti and those of Haiti’s small, repugnant elite class. He will do the same in the Dominican Republic.”

    Soon after Blinken’s departure from the island, Western media revealed the true U.S. objective of his visit: transforming the illegal, unpopular, and inept U.S.-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission of 400 Kenyan police officers into a full-scale UN occupation (cynically referred to as a “peacekeeping operation.”). This was further confirmed by reports that the UN Security Council is considering a resolution to deploy a military force to Haiti.

    BAP’s position has been consistent and unwavering: we support Haitian self-determination. We will continue to struggle against foreign invasion and occupation of the country. Since 2021, we have advocated against U.S. imperial machinations in Haiti, including the continuing renewal of the mandate of the UN office in Haiti (BINUH), which Haitian people see as an occupation force, and the establishment of the MSS. BAP challenged the narrative of “gang violence” as a pretext for occupation and argued that it is the U.S.’s own puppets and Haitian oligarchs that are arming young men in Haiti. We warned that the MSS was a temporary cover for a more permanent military occupation of Haiti through proxies, and with the blessing of the UN. And we continue to remind people of the brutal repercussions of the two decades-long 2004 UN intervention and occupation of Haiti.

    In solidarity with Haitian and Dominican organizations opposing U.S. imperialism, and in defense of Haitian self-determination and sovereignty, the Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace demands an end to the current occupation of Haiti, calling for the closure of the BINUH office in Haiti, and the removal of Kenyan and U.S. militarized police from the country. We also demand that the UNSC cease its interference in Haitian affairs on behalf of the U.S.

    We urge people of conscience around the world to help stop another UN invasion of Haiti and, we also warn leaders of the Caribbean and Latin America – who have either remained silent or are actively participating in the U.S. usurpation of Haitian sovereignty  – that if Haiti is not free from U.S. bullying and imperial control, no other country in the region will be free.

    DEFEND HAITIAN SOVEREIGNTY!

    U.S. OUT OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!

    END THE U.S./EU/NATO AXIS OF DOMINATION!

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  • NATO Imperialist Insistence Will Continue to be Met with Global South Resistance

    This July, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its annual summit in Washington, DC, where they celebrated themselves for continuing to exist for 75 years, despite the growing opposition around the world to Western hegemony that the US, EU, and their military gang of thugs NATO carry out.

    Even after months of massive and consistent protests against the genocide in Gaza, it seems inconceivable that NATO would still gather to plan the next phase in maintaining Western imperialist hegemony over the world, but this is logical and necessary for their purposes because imperialism cannot continue to rule the world without the military might of the Western powers to enforce it.

    So, they had to meet to discuss the fire sale and privatization of a war-decimated Ukraine, as well as their next aggressive actions toward China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, the Sahel States in Africa, as well as their ability to meddle in Sudan, Chad, Congo, and other states on the Continent that have been resource-extraction and labor-exploitation playgrounds for global capitalists, protected by NATO and AFRICOM forces to keep the people opposed to them under control.

    But there is always a radical response to this deadly status quo. Several counter-summits were organized, and members of BAP participated at every level, in planning, delivering speeches, and participating in mobilizations as part of them. Our focus has for years been to recognize NATO not as a singular entity, but as part of the US/EU/NATO AXIS OF DOMINATION that must be opposed by all liberation- and peace-minded people, and we shared that focus with the people in these events. Our resistance work continues to hold to and advance this line, as we also continue to organize with oppressed people in our communities and around the world against the deadly manifestation of NATO and its US and EU imperialist masters.

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  • Responsibility for the Kenya Crisis Lies At the Feet of US Neo-Colonialism  

    The excessive support and public adoration the U.S. government has given to Kenya’s President William Ruto represents the racist contempt this settler state has for all of Africa and the domestic population of descendants from the continent. Two days before African Liberation Day on May 25th and one month before the Kenyan police’s brutal crackdown on protests against the US-IMF backed Finance Act that increases taxes up to 35% on essential goods, U.S. President Biden rolled out a red carpet for Ruto at a White House state dinner.

    The debt this bill is supposed to address only exists because of the incessant and indiscriminate borrowing by the previous government of Kenya, for which Ruto was vice president. Ruto is a Grade A lackey for U.S. interests reminiscent of the dictator Mobutu of the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) who U.S. imperialism supported for 32 years in order to plunder the Congo.

    U.S. neo-colonialism praised as an “endearing” and “enduring” democracy, the Ruto presidency, a puppet government that unleashed its notoriously vicious police to reportedly arrest more than 300, kill as many as 23 and injure dozens of Kenyan citizens in the demonstrations over the past week. These police are the same force U.S. imperialism has maneuvered into being dispatched to Haiti to contain the people’s resistance against imperialism in that Caribbean nation.

    An elevation in the parlance of U.S. statecraft is the paternalistic promise of granting Kenya the status of a “Major Non-NATO Ally,” a role granted to the African Union’s African Standby Force. This designation is in sharp contrast to the Alliance of Sahel States newly formed confederation, a declaration of African self-determination.

    The Africa Team of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and the organizing arm U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) stand in uncompromising solidarity with the masses of Kenyans fighting against the proposed Finance Bill 2024. We denounce in the strongest terms the complicity of the U.S., especially its Black misleaders in Congress, in passing this legislation. In fact, on the day the bill was introduced in the Kenyan parliament, members of the U.S. Congress including Barbara Lee.

    Ruto must go! U.S. Out of Africa! BAP and USOAN salute the courage and determination of the masses of youth throughout Kenya “Gen Z”! The blood spilled will not be in vain. Our martyrs are alive alongside the living. We stand unwaveringly with the Gen Z Movement, our people of Kenya!

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  • What is the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM)?

    Today, the United States is leading the world’s largest multinational maritime war exercise from occupied Honolulu, Hawai’i. 25,000 personnel from 29 nations, including NATO allies and other strategic partners, are participating in the Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, under the command of the US Pacific Fleet, a major component of the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).

    With RIMPAC now underway, the lands and waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands are being intensively bombed and shelled as participating forces practice amphibious landings and urban combat training, and the Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) find their sovereignty once again violated after more than 130 years of colonization by the US.

    RIMPAC aims to fortify the colonization and militarization of the Pacific, ensuring the security of the West’s imperialist agenda against the rise of China and other threats to the US-led capitalist system.

    In the interest of advancing a political education around the history and purpose of INDOPACOM as part of U.S. militarism, the Solidarity Network for the Black Alliance for Peace has published this comprehensive Fact Sheet on INDOPACOM.

    WHAT IS INDOPACOM?

    U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, or INDOPACOM, is one of the U.S. Department of Defense’s eleven unified combatant commands that together span the globe. INDOPACOM’s area of responsibility (AOR) covers half of the earth’s surface, stretching from California to India’s western border, and from Antarctica to the North Pole. INDOPACOM claims 38 nations within its AOR, which together comprise over half of the world’s population. Its AOR includes the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, while also encompassing small island nations, such as Diego Garcia, Guam, Palau, and Samoa, all of which are under some form of U.S. colonial occupation. INDOPACOM comprises multiple components and sub-unified commands. They include U.S. Forces Korea, U.S. Forces Japan, U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific, U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. Marine Forces Pacific, U.S. Pacific Air Forces, and U.S. Army Pacific.

    According to INDOPACOM, this large and diverse area is optimal terrain to implement its “combat credible deterrence strategy.” This includes an estimated 366 bases and installations across 16 nations–more than any other command structure due to large concentrations in Guam, Hawai’i, Japan, Korea, and Okinawa. Many of the military installations strategically surround China and major trade routes.

    Headquartered at Camp H.M. Smith of occupied Honolulu, Hawai’i, INDOPACOM claims to enhance stability and ensure “a free and open Indo-Pacific” through military and economic partnerships with countries in the region. Nonetheless, it also claims to advance “U.S. national security objectives while protecting national interests.” INDOPACOM states its mission is to build a combat-ready force “capable of denying its adversaries sustained air and sea dominance.”

    THE HISTORY OF INDOPACOM

    INDOPACOM is the U.S. military’s oldest and largest combatant command. It is the result of a merger between three commands–Far East Command, Pacific Command and Alaskan Command–which were established after World War II in 1947. The first commander of the Far East Command, General Douglas MacArthur, was tasked with “carrying out occupation duties of Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, the Bonin Islands, the Philippines and the Mariana Islands.” From the end of WWII to 1958, the U.S. military conducted 67 nuclear tests throughout the Marshall Islands under “Operation Crossroads.” It conducted another 36 nuclear detonations at Christmas Island and Johnston Atoll in 1962 under “Operation Dominic,” which permanently destroyed the natural biomes.

    Against the backdrop of the Korean War, the key predecessor to INDOPACOM, Pacific Command, was primarily oriented toward combat operations in Korea and later, the Philippines. The ongoing Korean War has resulted in millions of casualties as well as the demarcation of North and South Korea since 1953. By 1957, Pacific Command saw a major expansion and strategic reorientation of its AOR, absorbing the Far East Command and most of the Alaskan Command. Camp H.M. Smith of occupied Honolulu, Hawai’i was selected as the new headquarters because the U.S. Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, the largest maritime invasion force in the world, was already located there.

    Throughout the U.S. war on Vietnam, Pacific Command controlled all U.S. military forces, including South Vietnamese assets, and operations within the country. Leading both the U.S. Pacific Air Forces and Pacific Fleet, Pacific Command’s brutal campaigns resulted in some of the most egregious atrocities, such as the My Lai massacre in 1968. Pacific Command’s operations also included some of the heaviest aerial bombardments, like “Operation Rolling Thunder.” In its numerous campaigns, which also included “Operation Bolo,” “Linebacker I and II”, “Ranch Hand,” and “Arc Lightdropping,” Pacific Command dropped over 5 million tons of bombs and at least 11 million gallons of the highly corrosive herbicide known as “Agent Orange” on Southeast Asia. Pacific Command was also responsible for covert bombing operations targeting Cambodia and Laos during the war, dropping over 2.5 million tons of bombs through “Operation Menu.”

    Pacific Command saw subsequent alterations to its AOR after U.S. forces fled Vietnam in 1973. Responsibility for Afghanistan and Pakistan was delegated to US Central Command after its inauguration in 1983, while Pacific Command assumed new responsibility for China and North Korea that same year. U.S. Secretaries of Defense Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfield respectively oversaw territorial expansions to Pacific Command’s AOR in 1989 and 2002, into INDOPACOM’s current formation.

    INDOPACOM NOW

    The United States continues to view the Asia-Pacific region as pivotal to the pursuit of its material interests, emphasizing that the region is home to some of the largest and fastest-growing economies and militaries. The Obama administration’s 2011 “Pivot to Asia” marked a stronger push by Pacific Command for confrontation not only with China but any nation or movement that poses a threat to U.S. hegemony in the region.

    In 2018, Pacific Command was rebranded to Indo-Pacific Command, or INDOPACOM, as it is known today. This move was meant to recognize the strategic importance of India, following heightened aggression toward China during the Obama and Trump presidencies. INDOPACOM regularly conducts joint naval training exercises in the South China Sea with countries like Japan and Australia in clear violation of international law and even secretly stationed U.S. special-operations and support forces in Taiwan since 2021.

    Massive military exercises like the largest international maritime warfare training, the “Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC),” and others like “Cape North” and Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center trainings occur frequently in occupied Hawai’i and Guam, without the consent of the Indigenous populations. In 2023, INDOPACOM carried out new iterations of its“Talisman Sabre” exercise in Australia and its “Super Garuda Shield” exercise in Indonesia. These exercises involved tens of thousands of military personnel from 13 and 19 nations, respectively, including the Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Tonga for the first time.

    INDOPACOM’s major military partners in the Asia-Pacific region include Japan and South Korea. The U.S. military holds significant leverage over each nation’s armed forces via agreements undergirding the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ), essentially commanding additional joint military structures with their own distinct mission, vision, and objectives in support of INDOPACOM. USFK continues to prevent reunification in Korea as part of its mission to “defend the Republic of Korea,” while USFJ remains committed to the colonial occupation of Okinawa as part of its mission of “provid[ing] a ready and lethal capability…in support of the U.S.-Japan Alliance.”

    BAP AGAINST INDOPACOM

    INDOPACOM works to extend U.S. military influence throughout the Asia-Pacific region and to promote the militarism and violence required to fulfill the material interests of the U.S. ruling class. By portraying China as a global bogeyman, INDOPACOM serves to obfuscate the indigeneity and legitimacy of liberation movements like those occurring on the occupied islands of Guam, Hawai’i, Okinawa, and Samoa, as well as nearly every other nation across the region from Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines. INDOPACOM’s aggressive role in the region serves to create the very instability it uses to justify its own existence and mask the responsibility of U.S. officials provoking new wars.

    The Black Alliance for Peace stands against the influence and power of INDOPACOM, and the ever-increasing militarization of the region. Informed by the Black Radical Peace Tradition, we understand that peace is not the absence of conflict, but the achievement, by popular struggle and self-defense, of a world liberated from nuclear armament and proliferation, unjust war, and global white supremacy. As referenced in our Principles of Unity, BAP takes a resolute anti-colonial, anti-imperialist position that links the international role of the U.S. empire–one based on war, aggression and exploitation–to the domestic war against poor and working-class African/Black people in the United States.

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  • U.S. Out of Africa: Voices from the Struggle

    As anti-imperialist sentiment gains momentum in Africa, the Alliance of Sahelian States has demonstrated a clear resolve to reclaim sovereignty from foreign powers. The backlash against Western presence, and French presence in particular, has ignited a broader conversation about the future of foreign intervention and the true path to self-determination for African nations. Yet, while AFRICOM and Western military forces are being pushed out of the Sahel by people’s movements, we see a much different relationship elsewhere on the continent taking note, in particular, of the ongoing close coordination between the US and Botswana Defense Forces as well as the US and Kenya Defense forces even as they are illegitimately deployed against their own civil society.

    With Kenya as a current poster child, we observe that in Africa, there are hundreds of political parties that do not serve the interests of African people. These parties serve as middlemen between imperialism and the masses of the people.  But even in more convoluted or reactionary political environments, there is always pushback. In tandem with the events in the Sahel, Kenya is witnessing its own wave of resistance against neocolonialism, particularly in the form of protests against President William Ruto and his collusion with the IMF to further immiserate the Kenyan people on behalf of Western interests. Ruto has also sent Kenyan police to Haiti, ostensibly to serve Western imperialist agendas under the guise of peacekeeping, in a plan crafted in large part by Meg Whitman, U.S. ambassador to Kenya. These moves have been met with significant opposition within Kenya, highlighting a broader continental struggle against foreign domination and exploitation. The ongoing events signal a rising Pan-African consciousness that seeks to dismantle the remnants of colonialism and resist new forms of imperialist control.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin spoke with Salifu Mack who is a high school English and History teacher, music lover, and sparkling water connoisseur. He is also a member of the Black Alliance for Peace and the All African People’s Revolutionary Party and an organizer with the Lowcountry Action Committee in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: You recently spent time on the ground in Burkina Faso during or shortly after the uprisings that led to the backlash against the French colonialists. Did you feel that this was just another military coup in Africa or that this was different and why?

    Salifu Mack: Even before arriving in Burkina Faso, it was quite clear to me that the character of this coup was different from what is commonly associated with coups in Africa. My comrades on the ground at the Thomas Sankara Center for African Liberation and Unity had been reporting for months prior about the sentiment that had been emanating from the masses.

    During my time in Burkina Faso, it was quite clear to me that the movements of the Traore administration have been in direct response to, and many cases, in lock-step with the demands of the people of Burkina Faso. While many coups in Africa are a top-down imposition of the will of a few “strong-men”, moves in Burkina Faso such as the ejection of the French military, embassies, and certain NGO and media properties, were demands originally spurring from the grassroots. The military coup led by Captain Ibrahim Traore just provided the muscle to move those demands into reality.

    This is quite different from the January 2022 coup that preceded Traore, led by Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. That coup administration was deeply unpopular with the masses and lasted only 8 months. Often in Western circles, it is easy to discuss the African masses as people who lack discernment, but the reaction to Damiba contrasted against the positive reaction to Traore should be enough proof to demonstrate that people in Burkina Faso are using sound reasoning and discernment skills to determine what is in their best interests.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: Clearly, France was the primary target among foreign interests. What signs, if any, did you see that the focus would then shift to US AFRICOM next or in the future?

    Salifu Mack: On February 2, 2024, I attended a rally outside of the U.S. Embassy in Burkina Faso, organized by an organization called the Black African Defence League. The group was there to deliver a letter to the US ambassador to Burkina Faso, demanding US military bases withdraw from the country immediately.

    They also denounced US imperialist policy, stating that U.S. interference in the affairs of the Alliance of Sahel States would not be tolerated by the popular administrations and that consequences for such interference would be backed by the masses of the country. I remember being so blown away not just by this action, but by the very clear analysis that members of the organization displayed regarding imperialism.

    They understood quite clearly the essence of the idea that imperialism is the primary contradiction in the world today, and they situated the U.S. at the center of that. They were declaring that while France has been the most visible hand in the oppression they’ve experienced, France would never have such abilities without the backing of the U.S. and NATO more explicitly. They pointed directly to the 2011 NATO-led invasion of Libya as a material starting point for the issue of terrorism plaguing the Sahel today. Two months later, the U.S. was dismissed by Niger, and the action was widely celebrated across Burkina Faso.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: With the exit of the French, a power vacuum has been created in the Sahel. Some suspect that the US will fill that vacuum. Others think that Russia via its Wagner group or China might fill that void. In your view, how best can Africans fill that void?

    Salifu Mack: This question comes up quite commonly in western Pan-Africanist spaces and I just want to point out that it goes back to what I mentioned in my first response, but unfortunately it’s going to be a little long-winded. Africans in the Sahel are not being lulled into compliance by the scent of some fancy Russian perfume or the promise of sweet words. The Sahel is a region of Africa that has been absolutely ravaged by the results of years of Western meddling in African affairs, direct and indirect. The Sahel has also, up to the point of establishing a relationship with Russia, received close to no real material support from any outside forces to help tackle that problem.

    The Sahel is surrounded by countries that at best are hollowed-out shells of nations due to years of neocolonial leadership, and at worst, are treacherous lackeys of Western imperialism who willingly engage in acts of sabotage against nations who won’t comply with it. This question and criticism are also often raised by the Western diaspora, who must be mindful of our inability to materially change anything about our situations abroad, and who should be honest about the fact that our powerlessness has led to a passive complicity with U.S. imperialism. With that context in mind, I think we must discuss Sahelian partnerships with Russia, or whoever else they may engage with in the future, with a bit of humility.

    While navigating desperate conditions, leaders of the AES have still managed to initiate quite meaningful security partnerships with the Russian state. Russian flags stand tall beside flags of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger at roundabouts in all three countries. And it is not because Burkinabe are engaged in a delusion of “friendship” but because they understand the utility of strategic alliances.

    In an ideal world for most people I encountered, Africa solves its own problems. However, the Sahel is forced to deal very acutely with the reality that Africa at this very moment has been conquered. They are also more honest about the reality that Africa does not exist in a world apart from the rest of this planet. Sahelian partnerships with Russia have assisted in the longstanding fight against terrorism, creating space and opportunity for meaningful attempts at development. The need for development in the Sahel states is an ill-understood aspect of the struggle there.

    The concern moving forward, in my opinion, needs to be less about filling a void, and more about building upon the achievements of the current struggle. This phase in the AES is just a building block, and each of us has a role to play in building new ones. Africans in the West need to turn our attention towards AFRICOM (through organizations like the Black Alliance for Peace) because its meddling against the region is only going to escalate from here. I also think that we need to be engaged in moving resources to organizations in the Sahel, like the Thomas Sankara Center so that they can continue to facilitate opportunities for in-person work with the masses throughout the region. There are quite energetic anti-imperialist and socialist organizations in the Sahel. Organizations are attempting to do a lot at this moment with very limited resources. The defense of our liberated territories has to be a priority because as these nations increase their capacity, they can increase the power of their material contributions toward the struggle for Pan-Africanism, which is also a very clear motivation of the masses in these countries. I have never encountered Africans with a more serious commitment to pan-African unity than I did in Burkina Faso.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: What evidence of structural or policy changes can you identify on the ground that has directly and positively impacted the material reality of the masses since the uprisings and coup?

    Salifu Mack: The Traorè administration has received a lot of positive attention for kicking out the French military, NGOs, and enemy media, and rightfully so. I think many people living in the deluded realities of Western states that commit and fund terrorism but do not have to bear the brunt of terrorists running around unchecked, can not appreciate how meaningful it is to Burkinabè to see their anxieties about security being dealt with effectively for the first time in years. But in my opinion, more attention should be paid to the administration’s intense focus on development.

    Captain Ibrahim Traoré has demonstrated that he is wholly invested in the process of nationalizing Burkina Faso’s resources. In 2023, the administration announced it would be nationalizing the sugar sector. The SN SOSUCO sugar company, which was once privatized during the term of the counterrevolutionary president, Blaise Compaoré, is now state-owned.

    This administration has also positioned Burkina Faso, one of Africa’s foremost gold-producing states, to develop technology to process gold mine residues on-site. Construction on the factory began in November, and it was opened this January. In his formal announcement, Captain Ibrahim Traoré noted that the facility is 40% owned by the state.

    In addition, Burkina Faso has long implemented land reform policies limiting the amount of land that can be privately possessed to 5 hectares. To boost production, the current administration is subsidizing the cost of agricultural equipment for farmers and has set a goal to increase the productivity of irrigated areas by at least 50%.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: Many African people in the United States question why we should care about what goes on in the Sahel. How would you respond to this and how can those who do care get involved?

    Salifu Mack: In chapter 19 of Africa Must Unite, Kwame Nkrumah states that “… any effort at association between the states of Africa, however limited its immediate horizons, is to be welcomed as a step in the right direction: the eventual political unification of Africa.” In my observation, the average, everyday African in Burkina Faso is extremely concerned with the total unity of not just the Sahelian states, but all of Africa. It’s my most sincere hope that the AES can model something that will be the envy of Africans across the continent. The AES states have taken on a huge responsibility which must be delivered on by any means necessary. And this means that Africans everywhere — we are around the world — have a responsibility to defend it.

    This defense, however, can not be actualized as passionate individuals reposting content on social media. We have to be members of political formations with clear principles, and goals, that have an emphasis on political education and action. We need to develop an analysis that helps to draw very succinct connections between what is going on in places like the Sahel and Haiti, and places like Baltimore and Los Angeles. Places where concepts like “terrorists” and “gangs” are being weaponized against the African masses to manufacture consent for police brutality and imperialist invasion.

    There is no cure for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, no way to “free” Sudan, no end to settler colonialism in Western Sahara, or true liberation for Africans in the United States without this unity. No confrontation of violent client states, or our ruthless petit bourgeoisie. No path to true development— not a single road or hospital built truly to our advantage. There is no way forward for our individual states in this modern era that does not involve political and economic unity, and unity presupposes organization. Word to Nkrumah!

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    This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Black Alliance for Peace.

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  • Condemning US Black (Mis)Leaders for their Support of US Military Intervention and Occupation of Haiti

    The Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace rebukes the US Black “misleadership” class for its support of the latest US invasion and occupation of Haiti. We condemn the participation of this class in discussions with the US security state and its promotion of imperialist foreign policy objectives aimed at undermining Haitian sovereignty and dignity.

    On March 29, 2024, US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer led a meeting on Haiti policy with a selected group of “leaders of U.S.-based Black civil rights groups.” The White House’s Readout lists the participants as Reverend Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, Ron Daniels of the Institute of the Black World (IBW21), Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League, Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP, and Jocelyn McCalla, Senior Policy Advisor for the Haitian-American Foundation for Democracy. Why would the U.S. National Security office sponsor a meeting about Haiti with these groups? The readout claims the U.S. is committed to “ensuring a better future for Haiti.” But the most significant aspect of the meeting was the need, according to the White House, to rally support for “the UN-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti and lifting up Haitian-led solutions to the political impasse.”

    It seems that these Black misleaders huddling around the latrine of white power were given their marching orders to manufacture Black consent for continued US occupation and oppression of Haiti. Since that meeting, there has been a ramping up of US Black voices supposedly speaking on behalf of Haiti and Haitians. From Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton, the main goal seems to be to rally the US Black community to support US foreign policy objectives, using Haiti as staging ground.

    Ron Daniels of IBW21 has been the most egregious, using the crisis in Haiti to raise funds for his organization, while propagating vile stereotypes about Haitian society and supporting US imperialism. In his recent “Haiti on Fire” articles, Daniels describes the country as a “virtual failed state” and a “narco-state” controlled by “vicious gangs,” calling for the Core Group to take the lead in Haiti, and claiming that only a US-ordered, Kenya-led mercenary mission can solve Haiti’s problems.

    By intent or ignorance, Daniels does not once mention the role of the US, France, and Canada in fomenting the crisis in Haiti, portraying it instead as a recent, self-inflicted problem caused by gangs and a few elites. Daniels does not acknowledge that this latest racist western media fascination with “gangs” only began in 2022 as the US was trying to keep its puppet Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, in power. What is most disturbing is that Daniels accepts that the Core Group, the foreign occupying force in Haiti, has legitimacy and has the right to take rule over Haiti. Never mind that Haitian people see the Core Group as a criminal, colonial entity. Daniels also celebrates the US-installed “Presidential Council” in Haiti, stating that this will lead to a “people-based democracy.” Someone should remind Daniels that there is no democracy under occupation.

    But we know that it was the US and Core Group – under the cover of pliant misleaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) – that handpicked the Haitian participants in the Presidential Council. We also know that all participants in this Council had to first agree to this illegal foreign military invasion of Haiti. In effect, Daniels is not only calling on the same white supremacist arsonists to put out the fire that they themselves lit in Haiti, he also supports another US-led military invasion and occupation of Haiti!

    BAP calls on those who support Haiti to not fall for the language of “solidarity” with Haiti when these Black hucksters of western hegemony are using their platform and the language of “brotherhood” and “sisterhood, and a cynical co-optation of “Pan-Africanism” to help US imperialism snuff out Haitian sovereignty. We must remember that the crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism.

    Ron Daniels and the IBW21, as well as these other Black misleaders, should be condemned for supporting US imperial policy against the First Black Republic in the modern world. These selected “Leaders of Civil Rights Groups” would do well to know that they are just the third group of Black faces that the US is instrumentalizing, to invade Haiti, following the pattern set by the CARICOM countries and Kenya (which the U.S. is bribing with $300 million to pretend to lead this disastrous mission). Are they wondering why the US, France, or Canada are refusing to lead the mission, or why they are only now involving them in the discussion? As we have said of the Kenyan government and the CARICOM governments providing armed mercenaries to kill Haitian people, this is Blackface imperialism.

    We would also like to point out to these Black “leaders” that this planned invasion of Haiti, though heralded as a “UN” mission, is actually not. It has the sanction of the UN Security Council, but the UN did not want to take responsibility for the mission because it would need to apply too much “robust use of force” on Haitian people.

    The Black Alliance for Peace continues to denounce US imperialism. But we especially condemn the Black faces of imperialism. We call on all those committed to a world without colonies to reject the Black faces of empire and their lies. Disband the Core Group! End the BINUH occupation! Stop all efforts to impose a new invasion on Haiti!

    Dump the Imperialists in Blackface! Solidarity with the resistance! Long live a free Haiti!

    The post Condemning US Black (Mis)Leaders for their Support of US Military Intervention and Occupation of Haiti first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Black Alliance for Peace Condemns US Black (Mis)Leaders for their Support of US Military Intervention and Occupation of Haiti

    The Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace rebukes the US Black “misleadership” class for its support of the latest US invasion and occupation of Haiti. We condemn the participation of this class in discussions with the US security state and its promotion of imperialist foreign policy objectives aimed at undermining Haitian sovereignty and dignity.

    On March 29, 2024, US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer led a meeting on Haiti policy with a selected group of “leaders of U.S.-based Black civil rights groups.” The White House’s Readout lists the participants as Reverend Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, Ron Daniels of the Institute of the Black World (IBW21), Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League, Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP, and Jocelyn McCalla, Senior Policy Advisor for the Haitian-American Foundation for Democracy. Why would the U.S. National Security office sponsor a meeting about Haiti with these groups? The readout claims the U.S. is committed to “ensuring a better future for Haiti.” But the most significant aspect of the meeting was the need, according to the White House, to rally support for “the UN-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti and lifting up Haitian-led solutions to the political impasse.”

    It seems that these Black misleaders huddling around the latrine of white power were given their marching orders to manufacture Black consent for continued US occupation and oppression of Haiti. Since that meeting, there has been a ramping up of US Black voices supposedly speaking on behalf of Haiti and Haitians. From Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton, the main goal seems to be to rally the US Black community to support US foreign policy objectives, using Haiti as staging ground.

    Ron Daniels of IBW21 has been the most egregious, using the crisis in Haiti to raise funds for his organization, while propagating vile stereotypes about Haitian society and supporting US imperialism. In his recent “Haiti on Fire” articles, Daniels describes the country as a “virtual failed state” and a “narco-state” controlled by “vicious gangs,” calling for the Core Group to take the lead in Haiti, and claiming that only a US-ordered, Kenya-led mercenary mission can solve Haiti’s problems.

    By intent or ignorance, Daniels does not once mention the role of the US, France, and Canada in fomenting the crisis in Haiti, portraying it instead as a recent, self-inflicted problem caused by gangs and a few elites. Daniels does not acknowledge that this latest racist western media fascination with “gangs” only began in 2022 as the US was trying to keep its puppet Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, in power. What is most disturbing is that Daniels accepts that the Core Group, the foreign occupying force in Haiti, has legitimacy and has the right to take rule over Haiti. Never mind that Haitian people see the Core Group as a criminal, colonial entity. Daniels also celebrates the US-installed “Presidential Council” in Haiti, stating that this will lead to a “people-based democracy.” Someone should remind Daniels that there is no democracy under occupation.

    But we know that it was the US and Core Group – under the cover of pliant misleaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) – that handpicked the Haitian participants in the Presidential Council. We also know that all participants in this Council had to first agree to this illegal foreign military invasion of Haiti. In effect, Daniels is not only calling on the same white supremacist arsonists to put out the fire that they themselves lit in Haiti, he also supports another US-led military invasion and occupation of Haiti!

    BAP calls on those who support Haiti to not fall for the language of “solidarity” with Haiti when these Black hucksters of hegemony are using their platform and the language of “brotherhood” and “sisterhood, and a cynical co-optation of “Pan-Africanism” to help US imperialism snuff out Haitian sovereignty. We must remember that the crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism.

    Ron Daniels and the IBW21, as well as these other Black misleaders, should be condemned for supporting US imperial policy against the First Black Republic in the modern world. These selected “Leaders of Civil Rights Groups” would do well to know that they are just the third group of Black faces that the US is instrumentalizing,  to invade Haiti, following the pattern set by the CARICOM countries and Kenya (which the U.S. is bribing with $300,000 to pretend to lead this disastrous mission). Are they wondering why the US, France, or Canada are refusing to lead the mission, or why they are only now involving them in the discussion? As we have said of the Kenyan government and the CARICOM governments providing armed mercenaries to kill Haitian people, this is Blackface imperialism.

    We would also like to point out to these Black “leaders” that this planned invasion of Haiti, though heralded as a “UN” mission, is actually not. It has the sanction of the UN Security Council, but the UN did not want to take responsibility for the mission because it would need to apply too much “robust use of force” on Haitian people.

    The Black Alliance for Peace continues to denounce US imperialism. But we especially condemn the Black faces of imperialism. We call on all those committed to a world without colonies to reject the Black faces of empire and their lies. Disband the Core Group! End the BINUH occupation! Stop all efforts to impose a new invasion on Haiti!

    Dump the Imperialists in Blackface! Solidarity with the resistance! Long live a free Haiti!

    The post Black Alliance for Peace Condemns US Black (Mis)Leaders for their Support of US Military Intervention and Occupation of Haiti first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Applauding Niger’s Move to Expel AFRICOM

    The Black Alliance for Peace’s (BAP) Africa Team and U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) commend Niger for its decision to expel the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). We urge all African nations to reject U.S. neo-colonialism and remove AFRICOM from their territories. AFRICOM’s presence has led to an exponential increase in terrorism, with more civilian casualties resulting from AFRICOM strikes.

    Niger’s National Council for the Safeguarding of Our Homeland (CNSP) has declared the U.S. presence in their territory illegal, highlighting the erosion of Niger’s sovereignty since the establishment of U.S. military bases in 2014. Despite Niger’s declaration, the U.S. refuses to leave, dismissing Niger’s position as Russian influence. Local organizations in Niger have openly denounced U.S. interference in the country’s ongoing transition process and the people have demonstrated in front of the U.S. embassy in Niamey to demand the immediate departure of AFRICOM.

    BAP and the USOAN emphasize the need for African people to control their continent’s destiny and we oppose all foreign military and all forms of imperialist intervention in Africa. BAP also expresses concern over AFRICOM’s plans to expand to Benin, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. We denounce such expansions and call for an end to all military agreements between African nations and the U.S.

    BAP’s Africa Team and USOAN will closely monitor the unfolding situation in Niger.

    The post Applauding Niger’s Move to Expel AFRICOM first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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  • What’s Going on in Haiti?

    Haiti is in the headlines again and, as usual, the headlines on Haiti are mostly negative. They are also largely false. Haiti, they tell us, is overrun by “gang violence.” Haiti is “a failed state,” standing on the verge of “anarchy” and teetering on the edge of “collapse.” Haiti, they tell us, can only be stabilized and saved through foreign military invasion and occupation. We have seen these stories before. We know their purpose. They serve to cover up the true origins of the “crisis” in Haiti while justifying foreign military intervention and setting up an attack on Haiti’s sovereignty.

    What is the reality behind the headlines? The reality is that the crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism. Those countries calling for military intervention – the US, France, Canada – have created the conditions making military intervention appear necessary and inevitable. The same countries calling for intervention are the same countries that will benefit from intervention, not the Haitian people. And for twenty years, those countries that cast Haiti as a failed state actively worked to destroy Haiti’s government while imposing foreign colonial rule.

    On Haiti, the position of the Black Alliance for Peace has been consistent and clear. We reject the sensationalist headlines in the Western media with their racist assumptions that Haiti is ungovernable, and the Haitian people cannot govern themselves. We support the efforts of the Haitian people to assert their sovereignty and reclaim their country. We denounce the ongoing imperialist onslaught on Haiti and demand the removal of Haiti’s foreign, colonial rulers.

    What’s Going on in Haiti?

    • The crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism – but what does this mean? It means that the failure of governance in Haiti is not something internal to Haiti, but it is a result of the concerted effort on the part of the west to gut the Haitian state and destroy popular democracy in Haiti.
    • Haiti is currently under occupation by the US/UN and Core Group, a self-appointed cabal of foreign entities who effectively rule this country.
    • The occupation of Haiti began in 2004 with the US/France/Canada-sponsored coup d’état against Haiti’s democratically elected president. The coup d’etat was approved by the UN Security Council. It established an occupying military force (euphemistically called a “peacekeeping” mission), with the acronym MINUSTAH. Though the MINUSTAH mission officially ended in 2017, the UN office in Haiti was reconstituted as BIHUH. BINUH, along with the Core Group, continues to have a powerful role in Haitian affairs.
    • Over the past four years, the Haitian masses have mobilized and protested against an illegal government, imperial meddling, the removal of fuel subsidies leading to rising costs of living, and insecurity by elite-funded armed groups. However, these protests have been snuffed out by the US-installed puppet government.
    • Since 2021, attempts to control Haiti by the US have intensified. In that year, Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moïse was assassinated and Ariel Henry was installed by the US and UN Core Group as the de facto prime minister. In the wake of the assassination of Moïse and the installation of Henry, the U.S. has sought to build a coalition of foreign states willing to send military forces to occupy Haiti, and to deal with Haiti’s ostensible “gang” problem.
    • The armed groups (the so-called “gangs”) mainly in the capital city of Haiti should be understood as “paramilitary” forces, as they are made up of former (and current) Haitian police and military elements.  These paramilitary forces are known to work for some of Haiti’s elite, including, some say, Ariel Henry (Haiti’s former de facto prime minister). It should also be noted that Haiti does not manufacture guns; the guns and ammunition come primarily from the US and the Dominican Republic; and the US has consistently rejected calls for an arms embargo.
    • Moreover, as Haitian organizations have demonstrated, it is the UN and Core Group occupation that has enabled the “gangsterization” of the country. When we speak of “gangs,” we must recognize that the real and most powerful gangs in the country are the US, the Core Group, and the illegal UN office in Haiti – all of whom helped to create the current crisis.
    • Most recently, Ariel Henry traveled to Kenya to sign an agreement with Kenya prime minister William Ruto authorizing the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers as the head of a multinational military force whose ostensible purpose was to combat Haiti’s gang violence. But the US strategy for Haiti appears to have collapsed as Henry has been unable to return to Haiti and there is renewed challenge to the constitutionality of that deployment.
    • The US is now scrambling for control, seeking to force Henry’s resignation while looking for a new puppet to serve as a figurehead for foreign rule of Haiti. While Haiti currently does not have a government, it has not descended into chaos or anarchy. The paramilitaries, it seems, are waiting for their orders to act, while the US strategy for Haiti is in crisis.

    Why Haiti?

    For BAP, the historic struggles of the Haitian people to combat slavery, colonialism, and imperialism have been crucial to the struggles of African people throughout the globe. The attacks on Black sovereignty in Haiti are replicated in the attacks on Black people throughout the Americas. Today, Haiti is  important for U.S. geopolitical and economic viability. Haiti is in a key location in the Caribbean for US military and security strategy in the region, especially in light of the coming US confrontation with China and in the context of the strategic implementation of the Global Fragilities Act. Haiti’s economic importance stems from what western corporations perceive as a vast pool of cheap labor, and its unexploited land and mineral wealth.

    BAP’S Position on the Current Situation in Haiti

    • BAP, as with many Haitian and other organizations, have consistently argued against a renewed foreign military intervention.
    • We have persistently demanded the end of the foreign occupation of Haiti. This includes the dissolution of the Core Group, the UN office in Haiti (BINHU), and the end of the constant meddling of the US, along with its junior partners, CARICOM, and Brazil’s Lula.
    • We have denounced the governments of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) (with the exception of Venezuela and Cuba), for supporting US plans for armed intervention in Haiti and the denial of Haitian sovereignty.
    • We have denounced CARICOM leaders, and especially Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, for not only supporting US planned armed intervention in Haiti and offering their police and soldiers for the mission, but for also following US and Core Group dictates on the way forward in Haiti. Haiti’s solutions should come from Haitian people through broad consensus. CARICOM leaders cannot claim to be helping Haiti when they are acting as neo-colonial stooges of the US and the Core Group.
    • We have denounced the role of Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, for not only continuing Brazil’s role in the Core Group, but for also leading the charge, along with the criminal US government, for foreign armed military invasion of Haiti. We remind everyone that it was Lula’s government that led the military wing of the 2004 violent UN occupation of Haiti. Brazil’s soldiers led the mission for 13 years (until 2017).
    • In solidarity with Haitian groups, we have denounced the UN approved, US-funded, Kenyan-led foreign armed invasion and occupation of Haiti. We are adamant that a U.S./UN-led armed foreign intervention in Haiti is not only illegitimate, but illegal. We support Haitian people and civil society organizations who have been consistent in their opposition to foreign armed military intervention – and who have argued that the problems of Haiti are a direct result of the persistent and long-term meddling of the United States, the United Nations, and the Core Group.
    • We demand US accountability for flooding Haiti with military grade weapons. We demand that the US enforce the UN-stated arms embargo against the Haitian and U.S. elite who import guns into the country.
    • We will continue to support our comrades as they fight for a free and sovereign Haiti.

    Long live Haiti! 

    • First published in The Black Alliance for Peace

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  • Deplorable: Plans to Expand US Drone Atrocities in West Africa

    The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and the U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) opposes in the strongest terms the U.S. plans, in collusion with West Africa’s comprador class, to further violate Africa’s sovereignty and right to self determination in the form of three new military drone bases in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Benin. Further, we condemn the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for not publicly renouncing this proposal in particular, and the existence of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in general. Their silence around this development confirms their complicity and betrayal of Pan-Africanism and the interests of the African masses struggling against the ravages of neo-colonialism.

    More U.S. drone bases in Africa spell more violence, vicious anonymity, and “collateral damage” from drone assassinations. It spells enhanced surveillance capabilities for imperialism to use against any threat to the neocolonial order. U.S. maneuvering to expand its already massive military drone operations is consistent with the U.S. incessant drive to wage war globally and its militarization of the planet. U.S. drone and air strikes in Africa have primarily been in Libya and Somalia with the numbers of confirmed civilian deaths from drones as high as 3,200 in these two countries, and studies have shown these conditions “have inadvertently aided the growth of terrorist groups in the region.” This is what the U.S. proposes now for West Africa.

    There are clear and disturbing geostrategic implications regarding the countries they have chosen for these U.S. drone bases. The bases will form a border along the three countries of the Alliance of Sahel States – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – countries which have been adopting an anti-imperialist disposition. In fact, Burkina Faso’s entire southern flank would be surrounded by these U.S. drone bases. The last two administrations as well as members of Congress have clearly stated in policy declarations and legislation that the U.S.’ primary objective in Africa is to counteract the presence and influence of China and Russia in order to maintain its full spectrum dominance of all regions of the world. This is also consistent with the Global Fragility Act that states the Biden administration’s first sites of focus would be Haiti, Libya, and “West African coastal states,” where the U.S. seeks to place the drone bases.

    The bases will not be there to end so-called terrorism of extremists in Africa; they will be there for the U.S. to terrorize the region. It is folly to believe that the settler criminals who rule the U.S. state, who can justify the genocidal assault on Gaza, and who systematically murder, sanction, and attack nations globally to maintain white supremacy and global capitalism, are spending hundreds of millions to “fight terrorism” in Africa.

    Rather than “an urgent effort to stop the spread of al Qaeda and Islamic State in the region,” according to American and African officials, the USOAN contends that this is more likely a contingency plan to preserve drone capabilities in the event of losing their $110 million U.S. drone base in Agadez, Niger. Niger has also recently temporarily suspended the granting of new mining licenses and ordered an audit of the sector, a move that would invariably raise the eyebrows of the U.S.-EU-NATO axis of domination, concerned over the future of exploitative access to the mineral resources there, such as uranium. Resource sovereignty runs counter to the true colonialist objectives of U.S. foreign policy.

    BAP and the USOAN call on all who support African sovereignty to denounce the U.S.’ latest imperialist moves in Western Africa as well as the neocolonial African governments and collaborators like the Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo who, face-to-face with U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken, openly begged for the U.S. to violate the sovereignty of the countries in the Alliance of Sahel States.

    BAP and the USOAN will continue to expose the puppets of neocolonialism in Africa and the misleaders masquerading as Black representatives in the legislative branches of the U.S. setter state. We maintain that the U.S. and its Western Europe progenitors are the root cause and primary sustenance for the poverty, displacement, despair, and violence in Africa, born from decades of colonialist plunder.

    #ShutDownAFRICOM!

    #USOutofAfrica!

    The post Deplorable: Plans to Expand US Drone Atrocities in West Africa first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Deplorable: Plans to Expand US Drone Atrocities in West Africa

    The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and the U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) opposes in the strongest terms the U.S. plans, in collusion with West Africa’s comprador class, to further violate Africa’s sovereignty and right to self determination in the form of three new military drone bases in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Benin. Further, we condemn the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for not publicly renouncing this proposal in particular, and the existence of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in general. Their silence around this development confirms their complicity and betrayal of Pan-Africanism and the interests of the African masses struggling against the ravages of neo-colonialism.

    More U.S. drone bases in Africa spell more violence, vicious anonymity, and “collateral damage” from drone assassinations. It spells enhanced surveillance capabilities for imperialism to use against any threat to the neocolonial order. U.S. maneuvering to expand its already massive military drone operations is consistent with the U.S. incessant drive to wage war globally and its militarization of the planet. U.S. drone and air strikes in Africa have primarily been in Libya and Somalia with the numbers of confirmed civilian deaths from drones as high as 3,200 in these two countries, and studies have shown these conditions “have inadvertently aided the growth of terrorist groups in the region.” This is what the U.S. proposes now for West Africa.

    There are clear and disturbing geostrategic implications regarding the countries they have chosen for these U.S. drone bases. The bases will form a border along the three countries of the Alliance of Sahel States – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – countries which have been adopting an anti-imperialist disposition. In fact, Burkina Faso’s entire southern flank would be surrounded by these U.S. drone bases. The last two administrations as well as members of Congress have clearly stated in policy declarations and legislation that the U.S.’ primary objective in Africa is to counteract the presence and influence of China and Russia in order to maintain its full spectrum dominance of all regions of the world. This is also consistent with the Global Fragility Act that states the Biden administration’s first sites of focus would be Haiti, Libya, and “West African coastal states,” where the U.S. seeks to place the drone bases.

    The bases will not be there to end so-called terrorism of extremists in Africa; they will be there for the U.S. to terrorize the region. It is folly to believe that the settler criminals who rule the U.S. state, who can justify the genocidal assault on Gaza, and who systematically murder, sanction, and attack nations globally to maintain white supremacy and global capitalism, are spending hundreds of millions to “fight terrorism” in Africa.

    Rather than “an urgent effort to stop the spread of al Qaeda and Islamic State in the region,” according to American and African officials, the USOAN contends that this is more likely a contingency plan to preserve drone capabilities in the event of losing their $110 million U.S. drone base in Agadez, Niger. Niger has also recently temporarily suspended the granting of new mining licenses and ordered an audit of the sector, a move that would invariably raise the eyebrows of the U.S.-EU-NATO axis of domination, concerned over the future of exploitative access to the mineral resources there, such as uranium. Resource sovereignty runs counter to the true colonialist objectives of U.S. foreign policy.

    BAP and the USOAN call on all who support African sovereignty to denounce the U.S.’ latest imperialist moves in Western Africa as well as the neocolonial African governments and collaborators like the Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo who, face-to-face with U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken, openly begged for the U.S. to violate the sovereignty of the countries in the Alliance of Sahel States.

    BAP and the USOAN will continue to expose the puppets of neocolonialism in Africa and the misleaders masquerading as Black representatives in the legislative branches of the U.S. setter state. We maintain that the U.S. and its Western Europe progenitors are the root cause and primary sustenance for the poverty, displacement, despair, and violence in Africa, born from decades of colonialist plunder.

    #ShutDownAFRICOM!

    #USOutofAfrica!

    The post Deplorable: Plans to Expand US Drone Atrocities in West Africa first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine Welcomes Today’s ICJ Order; Demands its Implementation

    In its provisional ruling issued today on the South African Genocide Convention case against Israel, the International Court of Justice (ICJ—also known as the World Court) demanded Israel stop killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure and medical facilities; prevent and punish incitement to genocide by its top officials; and permit the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP) applauds the Court’s Order as a crucial first step toward forcing Israel and its primary sponsor and strongest political ally—the United States—to end the months-long brutal assault on Gaza, and the decades-long denial to Palestinians of their rights to self-determination and return.

    However, the ICSGP also recognizes that Israeli and U.S. government officials have made repeated official declarations in the past week making clear their plan to ignore the ICJ’s legally binding ruling and rejecting the Court’s process as illegitimate, and that the U.S. has been threatening world governments with sanctions and war—a promise it is making good on already by bombing Yemen—for opposing the ongoing genocide. The ICSGP also recognizes that numerous powerful state allies of the U.S. and Israel, including Germany and Canada, have already made clear their intent to back Israel against an ICJ finding of genocide. The dangerous rejection by the United States, Israel and their allies of this process—which was set up through the United Nations precisely to prevent genocide—undermines the legitimacy of that institution and in particular the U.N. Security Council, where the U.S. has long used its veto power as a tool to promote war and genocide. The ICSGP calls upon social movements to demand that world governments uphold international law and protect the integrity of the United Nations by ensuring that the ICJ’s provisional measures are immediately enforced, and to hold Israeli war criminals and their powerful U.S. accomplices accountable for genocide.

    The ICSGP stands in full solidarity with its Palestinian coalition members, who have emphasized in their own statements today the need for governments and social movements around the world to double down in their efforts to bring the ongoing genocide in Gaza to an end. Dr. Luqa AbuFarah, North America Coordinator for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), an ICSGP member organization, states:

    “It’s clear we have a moral obligation to take action and end our government’s complicity with Israel’s Gaza genocide. We must have the courage to speak out and take action to advance the struggle for justice. We must end US military funding to Israel which at $3.8 billion USD a year could instead provide more than 450,000 households with public housing for a year or pay for 41,490 elementary school teachers. I also hope that every person outraged with the blatant disregard for Palestinian life will join and escalate our BDS Campaigns and make sure companies know that complicity with Israeli apartheid and genocide is unacceptable. We must take action now more than ever!”

    ICSGP, together with numerous legal and human rights organizations including coalition members The PAL Commission on War Crimes and The Global Legal Alliance for Palestine, held press conferences in New York and Chicago following the Court’s Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures this morning, expressing gratitude to South Africa for its steadfast support, and calling on all organizations and countries to support South Africa’s legal actions against the Israeli military campaign.

    Lamis Deek, cofounder the PAL Commission on War Crimes and convener of the Global Legal Alliance for Palestine, states:

    “This historic decision changes international and domestic approaches—military, legal, and political—to stopping the genocide in Palestine. This verdict profoundly reshapes the geopolitical and legal topography, regardless of whether Israel complies or not. Following the Court’s decision we must issue calls on state parties to the ICJ and the Genocide Convention as regards their compliance obligations, and address our legal colleagues and our communities regarding the next steps we think will be most critical on the heels of this decision.

    The brutal Israeli genocide and torture in Gaza, alongside the targeted assassinations, destruction of civilian infrastructure including all of Gaza’s hospitals and universities, blocking of aid, and use of starvation and spread of disease as a war tactic, constitute a grotesque series of the highest war crimes. We commend the Court’s positive decision. The question now is how to deal with the anticipated US-Israeli obstruction of that decision.”

    Monisha Rios, president of SOLI PR, an international network of Puerto Ricans focused on growing solidarity with the Puerto Rican struggle for independence and ICSGP member organization, states:

    As Puerto Ricans directly involved in the struggle against U.S.-led settler colonial violence, land grabs and the ongoing neoliberal assault, we have a special obligation to stand in firm, unwavering solidarity with our Palestinian cousins. Not only does the Zionist entity’s genocidal regime in Palestine owe its existence as such to U.S. financial and political backing since its inception, Israel has also directly contributed with military technologies, weapons and police training to the violent repression of peoples fighting for self-determination against the U.S. and its puppet regimes around the world, and of Indigenous Peoples and descendants of enslaved African Peoples subject to structural apartheid within the continental United States. Israeli Zionists themselves have recognized the parallels between Palestine and Puerto Rico, for example with the Minister of Heritage—who publicly called for using a nuclear bomb in Gaza—recently calling for a “Puerto Rican” solution to Palestine. The South African Case at the World Court, and the Court’s decision this morning provide Puerto Ricans and colonized peoples around the world a unique opportunity—in recognizing our common struggle and joining together to fight against Zionist fascism, we have tremendous power to both stop the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, and to contribute to our own liberation by shifting the balance of global power away from the U.S. and toward the Global South.

    The ICSGP calls upon the over 2,000 organizational signatories to its original letter, and to social movements everywhere, to hold the profiteers and promoters of the Zionist genocide to account through concrete actions of boycott, divestment, and sanctions; to mobilize to demand the immediate enforcement of the ICJ’s Order of Provisional Measures and denounce accomplices to the genocide; and to continue to pressure all state parties to the Genocide Convention to issue Declarations of Intervention in support of the South African case at the ICJ.

    Previous ICSGP press statements are available from January 17, January 8 and January 3, 2024.

    The post International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine Welcomes Today’s ICJ Order; Demands its Implementation first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • On this Human Rights Day, Let Us Remember that the U.S. is the Greatest Violator of Human Rights in the World

    As the international community celebrates December 10th as International Human Rights Day, it is imperative that the world also affirm that violators of the fundamental human rights of peoples and nations will be held accountable.

    From the war in Ukraine to mass incarceration of Black, Latino and Native Peoples in the U.S. to Obama’s ongoing war in Yemen to murderous economic sanctions, coups, assassinations, war and abandonment of Afghanistan, international arms sales, commodification of COVID vaccines, illegal military occupations in Syria and Iraq, the pending invasion of Haiti and the resource wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that have cost over six million lives. The one force behind all of this death and destruction is the United States’ culture of death. This culture is the same one that allowed millions – disproportionately working class, African, and racialized peoples – to die from COVID-19 with little support, and that fuels the wider U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination globally, fundamentally opposed to the fulfillment of true democracy and human rights.

    The current genocide in Gaza and the destruction of Palestinian society and culture perpetuated by the Zionist state of Israel – in full view of the world – with the full support of the United States of America, demonstrates once again what Dr. Martin Luther King pointed out more than fifty years ago:  the U.S. continues to be the greatest purveyor of violence on the planet. The racist right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu could not carry out its genocidal policies in Gaza without the material and political support from the U.S.

    Therefore, the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) calls on the international community to demonstrate that it will not allow the normalization of fascist genocidal violence that systematically destroys the credibility of the human rights idea, as well as the structures that are, theoretically, supposed to protect fundamental human rights.

    The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1674 on April 28, 2006 that “reaffirmed” decisions from the World Summit of the previous year, where the concept of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity was adopted. This resolution was framed as a strengthening of international mechanisms for ensuring that the interlinking principles of the United Nations Charter, peace, security, international development – but especially human rights – would be protected.

    The resolution commits the Security Council to act when civilian populations are being subjected to acts that constitute genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

    The U.S. veto of the December 8, 2023 UNSC resolution calling for a ceasefire in order to address the humanitarian crisis impacting the occupied Palestinian population being subjected to ethnic cleansing and genocide, placed the U.S. in opposition to the very principles of the UN Charter and the international consensus on human rights.

    The people of the world are asking: where is the “humanitarian intervention” and “responsibility to protect” for Palestinians? The sacrifice of the people of Gaza dramatically exposes the cynicism, opportunism, and vacuousness of the Western human rights rhetoric. It is now absolutely clear that so-called humanitarian intervention to protect human rights only occurs when it is in the interests of white Western imperialism.

    The egregious crimes in Gaza should result in the U.S. and Israel being expelled from the United Nations at minimum. But beyond that, charges should be brought against the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister and U.S. President Joe Biden along with his Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with immediate sanctions imposed on other Israeli and U.S. officials involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza. As a peace and human rights organization, we further call on all states to exercise the concept of Universal Jurisdiction to arrest and prosecute those named individuals.

    Yet, we do not see that kind of definitive action being executed by the states that make up the United Nations.

    This is also why on this Human Rights Day, the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) reasserts its commitment to the Black radical People(s)-Centered Human Rights (PCHRs) framework as an alternative to the individualistic, legalistic, conservative and state-centered liberal framework. For BAP, human rights are political, emanating from the demands of the people, collectively committed to social justice, authentic democracy, and self-determination.

    As Ajamu Baraka, BAP’s Coordinating Committee Chairperson and leading theorist on PCHRs points out:

    The idea that Western colonial/capitalist states were defenders of human rights struck many in the colonized South as either delusional or an affirmation that in the eyes of the West they were not human. For the colonized and racialized who were burned alive, tortured, and murdered by these champions of human rights, it was understood that whatever human rights were supposed to be they did not include the racialized and colonized peoples of the world.

    And what are People(s)-Centered Human Rights?

    PCHRs proceeds from the assumption that the genesis of the assaults on human dignity at the core of human-rights violations is located in the ongoing structural relationships of colonial-capitalist oppression. Therefore, the PCHRs framework does not pretend to be non-political. It is a political project in the service of Africans, as well as the colonized working classes, peasants, and socially oppressed. It names the enemies of freedom: the Western white-supremacist, colonial-capitalist patriarchy.

    This conception and practice of human rights is the only way for the human rights idea to have any relevance to oppressed nations, peoples, and even states victimized by the globalized colonial/capitalist world order.

    From this approach, human rights becomes a weapon for the oppressed and provides a vision of the new societies that must be constructed in order for fundamental human rights – the right to food, housing, health, education, the means to earn a living, leisure, and the rights of mother-earth – to be realized.

    A fundamental right within the People(s)-Centered Human Rights framework is the collective right of the oppressed to fight their oppressor. This is the right being exercised by the Palestinian resistance against the illegitimate Israeli fascist apartheid occupation state.

    Peace is also a fundamental PCHR. BAP’s call to support the demand to make the “Americas” a Zone of Peace was launched with this in mind. On this Human Rights Day, we say that the right of peoples and nations to self-determination in our region must be absolute to counter the hegemonic plans of the human rights monstrosity to the North – the United States of America where one of its military leaders, SOUTHCOM commander, Laura Richardson argues with a straight face why the racist, imperialist Monroe Doctrine is still applicable.

    As a strategic priority, BAP will launch its “North-South Project for People(s)-Centered Human Rights” under the direction of Ajamu Baraka on the commemoration of the assassination  of Malcolm X on February 21, 2024. The objective of the project is to liberate and decolonize human rights, grounding its creation, protections and implementation within the peoples of the world struggling for radical social change. In the meantime, BAP will continue to demand that the state-centered human rights regime take seriously its own mechanisms and principles and end the impunity for outlaw states like the U.S. and Israel.

    The post On this Human Rights Day, Let Us Remember that the U.S. is the Greatest Violator of Human Rights in the World first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • U.S. out of Africa: Voices from the Struggle

    Is the West losing their grip on Africa? Africans around the world are rising against neocolonialism and asserting their right to sovereignty and self-determination. Across the Sahel, the African masses have taken to the streets, calling for French troops to leave their lands. BAP not only emphasizes the importance of the liberation of “Francophone Africa” but advocates for the U.S. and NATO to exit Africa.

    From the highly militarized U.S. presence through AFRICOM and CIA bases in Niger and throughout other Sahelian states such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, etc, we cannot forget to include them as the hegemonic head of neocolonialism in Africa.

    Through this International Month of Action Against AFRICOM, we aim to express our support for the aspirations of the people in the streets and call for the ejection of all Western forces, including AFRICOM and NATO, from the African Continent.

    There is a great deal of both excitement and uncertainty about the anti-imperialist sentiment spreading in the Sahel region of Africa which includes mostly former French colonies of Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The anti-imperialist element is exciting for many of us while the direction of those military leaders is uncertain. Since 2008, 15 U.S.-trained officers have had a hand in 12 West African coups.

    *****

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin speaks with Rafiki Morris, an organizer and Central Committee Member of the All African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) about these issues. The A-APRP also recently helped to organize a rally outside of the French Embassy to protest the proposed military intervention in Niger.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: As the A-APRP noted, of 106 coup d’etats in Africa since 1950, 103 have been of a reactionary nature with only exceptions being Naser in Egypt, Gaddafi in Libya and Sankara in Burkina Faso. Do you think this current wave will be closer to what has been the exception or the rule, and on what basis?

    Rafiki Morris: First we would like to thank you for this opportunity to look more closely at what is happening to African People both at home and abroad. When we do this we get a chance to see the true dimension of imperialism and its assault upon African People and humanity in general.

    We look into the happenings in West Africa in the context of the worldwide struggle being waged by African People to be free of capitalism and imperialism.  For us the movement must advance. Revolutionary coups in Africa advances the African Revolution. To have three, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso in this short period of time would be a miracle with far reaching implications. But if even one of these coups turns out to be of the caliber of the revolution led by Nassar, Gaddafi or Sankara, we will mark it as a major victory of the masses of the people over imperialism and for Pan-Africanism.

    In the case of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, their progressive contribution is cemented by their common commitment to get the French Out of Africa. This uncompromising stand taken by the People themselves ensures that these militaries move in a positive direction..

    The Soldiers assumed power during a time when emerging Pan-African sentiments were sweeping around the globe. This wave of Pan-African consciousness has a dual nature. First it is the introduction of Pan-African Thought to a new generation of people. It is also an opportunity for potential misleaders to carve out a place for themselves in the fast approaching new dispensation. We must look upon this new pan-Africanist awareness with a critical eye. History teaches that wolves often dress as lambs, charlatans dress as saviors and monsters present as messiahs.

    AWB: Can the role of ECOWAS, and even Kenya in Haiti, help advance the political education of the masses around neo-colonialism or as some say, “imperialism in Black Face”?

    RM: Yes we can use these events as examples to explain neo-colonialism. However, our political education must go further.  We have to teach the truth. Every place on earth that has an African population and is not liberated is neo-colonialist. Neo-colonialism unites our external enemy with the internal enemy. In a particular way we define the enemy as a single entity with internal and external aspects. Capitalism and imperialism cannot survive without their junior partners with “Black Faces.” The reactionary Black puppets that rule us worldwide cannot survive without their capitalist imperialist senior partners.

    One aspect which we should not overlook is the fact that these internal enemies have always been among the people. They are the unique creation of African culture and existed among us, causing mischief, long before the imperialist came to Africa’s shores. Failure to understand this reality leads to serious error of thinking the enemy is only the external invaders. During the struggle to end colonialism many Africans thought that all they had to do was get rid of the French, English, Portuguese or Belgians. After the Europeans were gone we found out that we had traded a white exploiter for black exploiter, who were in fact in league with the white we had thought to break away from. Understanding that the enemy sometimes looks just like you is a sign of political maturity.

    But examples and explanations are only part of the process of political education. The other part, the most important part, is practice. Practice is the active involvement in the struggle against neo-colonialism. Without this action there is no real understanding. We were taught by our brother Kwame Ture that if you want to know something you have to get involved in it. Take swimming as an  example. You can have all the explanations and examples of swimming in the world, you can know the name of every stroke, every type of kick and all the techniques involved in floating. But you will never know how to swim if you do not get in the water. You will have a theory but no real knowledge. Real knowledge comes from applying the theory in practice. Fighting imperialism is an active resistance. Without this resistance you cannot really know neo-colonialism. Without practice you cannot defeat neo-colonialism.

    AWB: How would you explain to Africans in Haiti or Southeast DC why they should care about the Sahel and how they can and should get involved?

    RM: The struggle in Sahel, Haiti, the USA etc., are all frontlines of a worldwide conflict between African People and capitalist imperialism. The strategy is to fight the enemy wherever we find them. Everywhere they use their military/police to kill, incarcerate and destabilize African People and the movement we have built to pursue our liberation. The only solution to the ongoing assault is the unification of our fighting forces. We must develop coordinated political and military action. We tell our people that the struggle in Sahel, Haiti and the USA is one struggle against a common enemy. We must unite, not to live happily ever after or to fulfill some long held dream. We must unite to defeat our imperialist, neocolonialist, white supremacist, patriarchal enemy. We understand clearly, AFRICANS UNITED CAN NEVER BE DEFEATED.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • U.S. out of Africa: Voices from the Struggle

    Is the West losing their grip on Africa? Africans around the world are rising against neocolonialism and asserting their right to sovereignty and self-determination. Across the Sahel, the African masses have taken to the streets, calling for French troops to leave their lands. BAP not only emphasizes the importance of the liberation of “Francophone Africa” but advocates for the U.S. and NATO to exit Africa.

    From the highly militarized U.S. presence through AFRICOM and CIA bases in Niger and throughout other Sahelian states such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, etc, we cannot forget to include them as the hegemonic head of neocolonialism in Africa.

    Through this International Month of Action Against AFRICOM, we aim to express our support for the aspirations of the people in the streets and call for the ejection of all Western forces, including AFRICOM and NATO, from the African Continent.

    There is a great deal of both excitement and uncertainty about the anti-imperialist sentiment spreading in the Sahel region of Africa which includes mostly former French colonies of Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The anti-imperialist element is exciting for many of us while the direction of those military leaders is uncertain. Since 2008, 15 U.S.-trained officers have had a hand in 12 West African coups.

    *****

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin speaks with Rafiki Morris, an organizer and Central Committee Member of the All African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) about these issues. The A-APRP also recently helped to organize a rally outside of the French Embassy to protest the proposed military intervention in Niger.

    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin: As the A-APRP noted, of 106 coup d’etats in Africa since 1950, 103 have been of a reactionary nature with only exceptions being Naser in Egypt, Gaddafi in Libya and Sankara in Burkina Faso. Do you think this current wave will be closer to what has been the exception or the rule, and on what basis?

    Rafiki Morris: First we would like to thank you for this opportunity to look more closely at what is happening to African People both at home and abroad. When we do this we get a chance to see the true dimension of imperialism and its assault upon African People and humanity in general.

    We look into the happenings in West Africa in the context of the worldwide struggle being waged by African People to be free of capitalism and imperialism.  For us the movement must advance. Revolutionary coups in Africa advances the African Revolution. To have three, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso in this short period of time would be a miracle with far reaching implications. But if even one of these coups turns out to be of the caliber of the revolution led by Nassar, Gaddafi or Sankara, we will mark it as a major victory of the masses of the people over imperialism and for Pan-Africanism.

    In the case of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, their progressive contribution is cemented by their common commitment to get the French Out of Africa. This uncompromising stand taken by the People themselves ensures that these militaries move in a positive direction..

    The Soldiers assumed power during a time when emerging Pan-African sentiments were sweeping around the globe. This wave of Pan-African consciousness has a dual nature. First it is the introduction of Pan-African Thought to a new generation of people. It is also an opportunity for potential misleaders to carve out a place for themselves in the fast approaching new dispensation. We must look upon this new pan-Africanist awareness with a critical eye. History teaches that wolves often dress as lambs, charlatans dress as saviors and monsters present as messiahs.

    AWB: Can the role of ECOWAS, and even Kenya in Haiti, help advance the political education of the masses around neo-colonialism or as some say, “imperialism in Black Face”?

    RM: Yes we can use these events as examples to explain neo-colonialism. However, our political education must go further.  We have to teach the truth. Every place on earth that has an African population and is not liberated is neo-colonialist. Neo-colonialism unites our external enemy with the internal enemy. In a particular way we define the enemy as a single entity with internal and external aspects. Capitalism and imperialism cannot survive without their junior partners with “Black Faces.” The reactionary Black puppets that rule us worldwide cannot survive without their capitalist imperialist senior partners.

    One aspect which we should not overlook is the fact that these internal enemies have always been among the people. They are the unique creation of African culture and existed among us, causing mischief, long before the imperialist came to Africa’s shores. Failure to understand this reality leads to serious error of thinking the enemy is only the external invaders. During the struggle to end colonialism many Africans thought that all they had to do was get rid of the French, English, Portuguese or Belgians. After the Europeans were gone we found out that we had traded a white exploiter for black exploiter, who were in fact in league with the white we had thought to break away from. Understanding that the enemy sometimes looks just like you is a sign of political maturity.

    But examples and explanations are only part of the process of political education. The other part, the most important part, is practice. Practice is the active involvement in the struggle against neo-colonialism. Without this action there is no real understanding. We were taught by our brother Kwame Ture that if you want to know something you have to get involved in it. Take swimming as an  example. You can have all the explanations and examples of swimming in the world, you can know the name of every stroke, every type of kick and all the techniques involved in floating. But you will never know how to swim if you do not get in the water. You will have a theory but no real knowledge. Real knowledge comes from applying the theory in practice. Fighting imperialism is an active resistance. Without this resistance you cannot really know neo-colonialism. Without practice you cannot defeat neo-colonialism.

    AWB: How would you explain to Africans in Haiti or Southeast DC why they should care about the Sahel and how they can and should get involved?

    RM: The struggle in Sahel, Haiti, the USA etc., are all frontlines of a worldwide conflict between African People and capitalist imperialism. The strategy is to fight the enemy wherever we find them. Everywhere they use their military/police to kill, incarcerate and destabilize African People and the movement we have built to pursue our liberation. The only solution to the ongoing assault is the unification of our fighting forces. We must develop coordinated political and military action. We tell our people that the struggle in Sahel, Haiti and the USA is one struggle against a common enemy. We must unite, not to live happily ever after or to fulfill some long held dream. We must unite to defeat our imperialist, neocolonialist, white supremacist, patriarchal enemy. We understand clearly, AFRICANS UNITED CAN NEVER BE DEFEATED.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.