In view of the current debt crisis grabbing the western hemisphere these days, and the floods of austerity measures brought in by the IMF/World Banks/European Central Banks/Federal Reserve, etc…, austerity measures which never solve a thing but make the situation worse than ever… I thought about showing you this great documentary entitled “Globalization: When the IMF manufactures Misery (Mondialisation: Quand le FMI fabrique la Misere).” It reminds me of all these austerity measures implemented on third world countries by the IMF/World Banks in the 1980s and 1990s, which totally crippled their economies, and created even greater poverty. Not a real solution… but a way for the big banks and corporations of the Western hemisphere to fill their pockets, and keep the other people of the world in chains. Watch and enjoy!
J’ai trouvé le discours du Président Gbagbo à l’occasion de la fête d’independance Ivoirienne très très pertinent, surtout face aux problemes actuels de l’Afrique (Côte d’Ivoire, Libye, Zimbabwe, …) dans le nouvel ordre mondial du gangsterisme! J’invite tout africain à le lire. L’intégralité du discours se trouve sur Revue de Presse CI ——
Ivoiriens, Ivoiriennes, peuples de CÔTE D’IVOIRE, très chers compatriotes, très chers habitants de la CÔTE D’IVOIRE.
Je voudrais, en ce jour solennel qui marque le 51ème anniversaire de l’Indépendance de notre pays, me joindre à chacun de vous pour rendre d’abord gloire à Dieu, notre Maître qui continue de manifester sa fidélité à notre pays, malgré les tribulations de ces derniers moments. […]
Cette réflexion est un exercice de prospection de nous-mêmes qui s’impose à chaque citoyen de ce pays, mais surtout aux dirigeants, et aux responsables politiques et administratifs qui ont la charge de conduire le destin de notre nation, surtout dans le contexte actuel de grands traumatismes causés à notre peuple, qui n’aspire qu’à vivre sa souveraineté en tant qu’acteur et sujet de l’humanité, et non pas comme simple objet ou simple spectateur de la construction de sa propre histoire.
L’Indépendance est une notion forte, qui renvoie à un mouvement de rupture. La rupture ici ne s’entend point d’un isolement ou d’un repli sur soi, position idéale des faibles, mais elle correspond plutôt à une métamorphose de la conscience, qui fait passer celui qui s’en prévaut, de la servitude à sa pleine responsabilisation dans le processus de construction de l’humanité. […]
Je mesure mieux de ma position, les grandes souffrances, mais en même temps le grand mérite de tous ces hommes qui, à travers l’Histoire, ont combattu pour la Liberté et l’Indépendance de leur peuple. Je pense notamment à Martin LUTHER KING, dont l’engagement politique jusqu’à la mort a permis, plus de quarante ans après, l’élection de Barack OBAMA comme Président des ETATS-UNIS d’Amérique; à GHANDI, dont l’ œuvre continue de nourrir l’âme de la grande INDE; au Général de GAULLE qui a refusé la fatalité de la défaite pour restaurer la grandeur perdue de la France; à Mao TSE TOUNG, qui a rompu les liens de la servitude au prix d’énormes sacrifices pour donner à la CHINE sa gloire d’aujourd’hui.
Je loue le courage de MANDELA, de Kwame NKRUMAH, de Patrice LUMUMBA et de tous les autres dignes combattants de l’Afrique, qui sont des exemples de don de soi pour la liberté et la fierté du peuple africain. Je salue plus particulièrement la mémoire de nos illustres pères qui ont combattu pour dessiner les contours de ce que nous appelons Indépendance. Leur mérite est tout à fait grand dans le contexte qui était le leur.
Mais nous devons avoir à l’esprit que leur combat serait vain si nous nous arrêtions à admirer seulement leurs acquis. Les symboles de l’Etat et les armoiries de la République nous rappellent chaque jour notre devoir et notre responsabilité devant notre propre destin. Chacun est appelé à leur donner un sens réel. C’est le combat permanent qui doit mobiliser toutes les énergies des filles et fils de notre pays. […] Continue reading “Le Président Gbagbo s’adresse aux Ivoiriens à L’occasion de la fête nationale”→
This article by Alexander Cockburn is on the Pambazuka website.
———-
After three and a half months of bombing and arms supply to various rebel factions, NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) failure in its efforts to promote ‘regime change’ in Libya is now glaring. Obviously NATO’s commanders are still hoping that a lucky bomb may kill Gaddafi, but to date the staying power has been with the Libyan leader, whereas it is the relevant NATO powers who are fighting among themselves.
The reports from Istanbul of the deliberations of NATO’s contact group have a surreal quality as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Minister William Hague gravely re-emphasise their commitment to regime change and the strengthening of ties to the Transitional Council in Benghazi, while the humiliation of the entire NATO expedition is entering the history books as an advertisement of the dangers of political fantasy in the service of ‘humanitarian interventionism’, appalling intelligence work, illusions about bombing and air power and some of the worst press coverage in living memory.
[….] Cameron, like Sarkozy, Clinton and Barack Obama presumably had intelligence assessments of the situation in Libya. Did any of them say that Gaddafi might be a tougher nut to crack than the presidents of Tunisia or Egypt, might even command some popular support in Tripoli and western Libya, historically at odds with Benghazi and the eastern region? If they did, did they pay any attention?
The Western press, along with al-Jazeera, was no help. The early charges of Gaddafi committing ‘genocide’ against his own people or ordering mass rapes were based on unverified rumour or propaganda bulletins from Benghazi and have now been decisively discredited by reputable organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Any pretensions the International Criminal Court (ICC) might have had to judicial impartiality have been undermined by the ICC’s role as NATO’s creature, rushing out indictments of Gaddafi and his closest associates whenever NATO’s propaganda agenda has demanded it. […]
All history shows that the dropping of thousands of bombs and missiles, with whatever supposed standards of ‘pin point accuracy’, never elicits the enthusiastic support of civilians on the receiving end, even if a certificate of humanitarian assistance and merciful intent is stamped on every projectile. Recent pro-government rallies in Tripoli have been vast. Libya has a population of about 6 million, with 4 million in Tripoli. Gaddafi barrels around the city in an open jeep. Large amounts of AK-47s have been distributed to civilian defence committees. Were they all compelled to demonstrate by Gaddafi’s enforcers? It seems unlikely. […]
In early March, Sarkozy, languishing in the polls, believed the counsel of ‘new philosopher’ Bernard-Henri Lévy, after the latter’s 6 March excursion to Benghazi, that Libya and its oil were up for grabs. On 11 March Sarkozy took the precipitate step of recognising the Benghazi gang as the legitimate government of Libya and awaited Gaddafi’s collapse with a confident heart. In a hilarious inside account of the NATO debacle, Vincent Jauvert of Le Nouvel Observateur has recently disclosed that French intelligence services assured Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Alain Juppé ‘from the first [air] strike, thousands of soldiers would defect from Gaddafi’. They also predicted that the rebels would move quickly to Sirte, the hometown of Gaddafi and force him to flee the country. This was triumphantly and erroneously trumpeted by the NATO powers, which even proclaimed that he had flown to Venezuela. By all means opt for the ‘big lie’ as a propaganda ploy, but not if it is inevitably going to be discredited 24 hours later.
‘We underestimated al-Gaddafi,’ one French officer told Jauvert. ‘He was preparing for forty-one years for an invasion. We did not imagine he would adapt as quickly. No one expects, for example, to transport its troops and missile batteries, Gaddafi will go out and buy hundreds of Toyota pick-up in Niger and Mali. It is a stroke of genius: the trucks are identical to those used by the rebels. NATO is paralysed. It delays its strikes. Before bombing the vehicles, drivers need to be sure they are whose forces are Gaddafi’s. “We asked the rebels to a particular signal on the roof of their pick-up truck,” said a soldier, “but we were never sure. They are so disorganised…?”’
Aujourd’hui, nous allons faire un rappel mémoire, et regardé ce très beau documentaire qui discute des enjeux géopolitiques et économiques de la Côte d’Ivoire, et les liens avec la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC). Une chose très importante à retenir c’est que les enjeux du 21 ème siècle se jouent en Afrique, et que la survie des Etats-Unis et de l’Europe face à l’avancée du géant chinois se jouera en Afrique. Alors, il est primordial pour les américains et européens d’éliminer tous ceux qui voudraient ouvrir leurs frontières aux Chinois, ou qui voudraient pour une fois négocier des contrats justes et la dignité de leurs peuples tels Gbagbo. Attention, les élections en RDC auront lieu en Novembre, et nous prions de tous nos coeurs pour la paix et la survie de notre continent. Nous, Africains, devons rester dignes et exiger d’ être traités comme des egaux et non des subalternes. Nos sous-sols regorgent de richesses, et nous rêvons de les partager avec tous, mais nous sommes désireux d’être traités comme des partenaires économiques et non des colonies. Continuons nos prières pour la Côte d’Ivoire, pour Laurent et Simone Gbagbo et tous leurs collaborateurs qui se sont battus pour la dignité de leur pays, pour la Libye et le Guide Kadhafi qui fait face à la plus grande armée mondiale transformée en gangster, et prions également pour la RDC et pour toute l’Afrique. Ce n’est pas parce que certains pays qui nous avaient colonisés hier, sont ruinés financièrement aujourd’hui, que nous devons continuer d’être leur chasse gardée. Arrêtons de nous faire piétiner. Faisons preuve de lucidité, de vision, de courage, d’unité, et surtout de force. N’Krumah rêvait d’une Afrique unie… Le Guide Libyen rêve d’une Afrique unie… rallumons cette flamme… arrêtons de nous diviser, et levons-nous comme un seul homme! (Les Etats-Unis avec 50 états forment un seul pays).
Today, we will do a Memory recall… Please enjoy this great independence speech delivered by Patrice Lumumba in 1960 to the people of Congo, few months before his assassination. It is a pure jewel! The French version is here →LUMUMBA discours. Don’t forget to watch the video!!!
——————-
Men and women of the Congo,
Victorious fighters for independence, today victorious, I greet you in the name of the Congolese Government. All of you, my friends, who have fought tirelessly at our sides, I ask you to make this June 30, 1960, an illustrious date that you will keep indelibly engraved in your hearts, a date of significance of which you will teach to your children, so that they will make known to their sons and to their grandchildren the glorious history of our fight for liberty.
For this independence of the Congo, even as it is celebrated today with Belgium, a friendly country with whom we deal as equal to equal, no Congolese worthy of the name will ever be able to forget that is was by fighting that it has been won, a day-to-day fight, an ardent and idealistic fight, a fight in which we were spared neither privation nor suffering, and for which we gave our strength and our blood.
We are proud of this struggle, of tears, of fire, and of blood, to the depths of our being, for it was a noble and just struggle, and indispensable to put an end to the humiliating slavery which was imposed upon us by force.
This was our fate for eighty years of a colonial regime; our wounds are too fresh and too painful still for us to drive them from our memory. We have known harassing work, exacted in exchange for salaries which did not permit us to eat enough to drive away hunger, or to clothe ourselves, or to house ourselves decently, or to raise our children as creatures dear to us.
We have known ironies, insults, blows that we endured morning, noon, and evening, because we are Negroes. Who will forget that to a black one said “tu“, certainly not as to a friend, but because the more honorable “vous” was reserved for whites alone?Read the full speech here →Patrice Lumumba Independence speech
DAY ONE:On Libyan–Tunisian border, it’s back to the future with refugees 3–4 June 2011 – Djerba, Tunisia
During the last air sanctions against Libya, imposed by the United Nations in 1992 over alleged Libyan involvement in the bombings of PanAm 103 and UTA 772, many Libyans travelling to and from Tripoli were forced to fly through Tunisia, travelling overland to and from the Tunisian border to their homes in Libya. With European Union sanctions now imposed on Libya, the old travel regime is back in force.
However, there is a new dimension to the air embargo on Libya. Attracted to the Libyan–Tunisian border by refugees, most African guest workers from sub-Sahara and pan-Sahel African nations, fleeing the fighting in their country, find that scores of international aid workers now occupy the tourist hotels of Djerba, the once popular Tunisian resort that has fallen on hard times after tour operators cancelled excursions following the Tunisian revolution earlier this year.
Today, prior to crossing into Libya, this reporter is witnessing representatives of the ‘misery industry’, young international aid workers with groups like the International Committee of the Red Cross, EU and International Organisation for Migration, lounging around the tourist hotels mingling with German and French pensioners eager to take advantage of the special travel packages being offered by a depressed Tunisian tourist industry.
Not only is war good for the weapons industry but refugee crises brought about by Western-implemented wars, fattening the wallets of NGOs anxious to cash in on the human misery created by Pentagon and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) overt and covert military operations. Meanwhile, here in Djerba, near the Libyan frontier, it’s pool-side and cold Heinekens for the NGO community here to ‘save’ the Libyan refugees.
DAY TWO:Western Libya portrait is not what is being painted by the Western media 4–5 June 2011 – Tripoli, Libya
Western media reports continue to indicate that Libyan rebels trying to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from power, backed by daily NATO airstrikes, are gaining ground in western Libya. During a six-hour drive from the Tunisian border to Tripoli, the Libyan capital, this reporter saw no signs of Libyan rebel successes in western Libya. In fact, I witnessed a spontaneous pro-Gaddafi demonstration on the main Tunisia–Tripoli highway in a town about one and a half hours west of Tripoli.
The green flag of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya not only adorn flag poles in towns from Tripoli to the Tunisian border, but a number of private residences are flying the green flag from their rooftops, on flag poles and even from outside of top-floor windows in medium-size and small towns alike along the main highway.
There are some telltale signs of previous fighting in the western part of the country – bullet holes in the walls of some buildings and even some more extensive structural damage – but there are no signs that the rebels, backed by the United States, NATO and the European Union, have any substantial support in western Libya. …..
As I see so many wars in Africa today: the war in Libya against an entire people for oil and money (let’s be frank on this), and the genocide perpetrated against Ivorian people… I read last week, that they were already numbering 28,000 – 30,000 deaths in the city of Abidjan only. I don’t even dare thinking about how many died in the whole country, for Ouattara to be president! Now I understand why President Gbagbo always said that “Ouattara was the candidate of foreign powers”… and that is true: his entire security is done by French forces, French policemen are regulating traffic in Abidjan, sources say that there will be 1,000 French and Americans brought in to control Ivorian government officers and affairs… Am I dreaming or what? It’s like back in colonization time! As I cry for my friends in Libya on whom bombs are being dropped everyday in the name of ‘the protection of civilians’… I had to take you down memory lane, to talk about a neighboring country of Libya: Algeria, and the wars waged by France on Algeria which is exactly what we are seeing today in Cote d’Ivoire, and Libya. Such a brutal force shown by France and its allies on African soil is staggering… but it is not new! It was done earlier in Algeria, Madagascar, Cameroon and many other countries in Africa… except it was perpetrated over 50 years ago, and we thought that … well… we thought that that time was long gone. It is said that at least 150,000 people died in Algeria in 1954, and over 400,000 were killed in Cameroon in the 1960s… I warn those with frail hearts. Today, the page of imperialism has been re-opened, and it ain’t pretty!
Aujourd’hui je vois tant de guerres en Afrique: la guerre en Libye contre tout un peuple pour le pétrole et l’argent (soyons franc à ce sujet), et le génocide perpétré contre le peuple de Côte d’Ivoire pour son pétrole, cacao, café, diamants… Juste la semaine derniere on denombrait déjà 28.000–30.000 morts dans la ville d’Abidjan seulement! Je n’ose meme pas pensé au nombre de morts qu’il y a eu dans tout le pays afin que Ouattara soit président! A présent je comprends pourquoi le President Gbagbo disait toujours que “Ouattara est le candidat de l’étranger.” Et c’est vrai: sa sécurité est assurée par les forces françaises, des gendarmes français réglementent la circulation à Abidjan; selon certaines sources d’ici peu, il y aura 1000 français et Américains pour s’assurer du contrôle des fonctionnaires ivoiriens et des affaires … Je rêve ou quoi? On se croirait au temps de la colonisation! Je pleure pour mes amis libyens sur qui on largue des bombes au nom de la “protection des civils“. Aujourd’hui, je vais faire un rappel de mémoire, et je vais parler d’un pays limitrophe à la Libye: l’Algérie et les guerres menées par la France en Algérie qui sont exactement ce qui se passe aujourd’hui en Côte d’Ivoire et en Libye. Une force d’une telle brutalité montrée par la France et ses alliés en Afrique est horrible… mais pas nouvelle! Cela a eu lieu plus tôt en Algérie, Madagascar, Cameroun et d’autres nations africaines…. mais c’était il y a plus de 50 ans, et nous avions cru que cette époque-la était révolue! Il est dit qu’au moins 150.000 personnes sont mortes en Algérie en 1954, et plus de 400.000 ont été tuées au Cameroun dans les années 1960… Je mets en garde les âmes sensibles. Aujourd’hui, la page de l’impérialisme a été ré-ouverte, et ce n’est pas joli!
J’ai décidé de créer cette série intitulée “Devoir de Mémoire”… Nous n’avons pas le droit d’oublier les victimes du génocide et bombardements francais en Côte d’Ivoire. Nous ne devons pas oublier Laurent et Simone, Affi N’Guessan et Blé Goudé, Jean-Jacques et Geneviève, … C’est notre devoir! La presse internationale peut oublier (c’est d’ailleurs ce qu’elle fait) alors que des massacres de proches du President Gbagbo continuent d’être perpétrer en Côte d’Ivoire, alors qu’une épuration ethnique est en cours… en bref, un génocide est en cours en Côte d’Ivoire, et ce n’est pas parce que les occidentaux n’en parlent pas que nous africains avont le droit d’oublier. Ce sont nos frères, soeurs, pères, mères, et enfants qui sont tués pour leurs ideaux… juste parce qu’ils ont osés rever d’autre chose, à cause de leur appartenance ethnique, ou tout simplement pour avoir exercé leur droit de vote et d’expression! Je vous laisse donc avec une vidéo musicale réalisée en 2008 par de grandes stars ivoiriennes en support au President Gbagbo! Love it!
This is a great article by Frantz Fanon, which I published earlier in French. (You will find the original here). In view of all the events occurring in Africa (bombing of Cote d’Ivoire and Libya) with the UN approval, I thought that this article, published in 1964, was so important that I had to translate it into english for all to read! Enjoy…
—————————————————
The great success of the enemies of Africa is to have corrupted the Africans themselves. It is true that these Africans had vested interest in the murder of Lumumba. Heads of puppet governments, in a fake independence, faced everyday by massive opposition from their peoples, it did not take long to convince themselves that the real independence of the Congo would put them personally at risk. And there were other Africans, a little less puppet, but who get frightened when it comes to disengaging Africa from the West. It seems as if these African Heads of State are still afraid to face Africa. These, also, though less actively, but consciously, contributed to the deterioration of the situation in Congo. Little by little, we were reaching the agreement in the West that there was a need to intervene in Congo, we could not let things evolve at this pace.
Gradually, the idea of a UN intervention was taking shape. So we can say today that two simultaneous errors were committed by Africans.
Patrice Lumumba
And first by Lumumba when he sought the intervention of the UN. He should have never called on the United Nations.The UN has never been able to properly solve problems brought to man’s consciousness by colonialism, and whenever it has intervened, it was to actually come to the aid of the colonial power to the oppressed country. Look at Cameroon. What kind of peace do the subjects of Mr. Ahidjo kept in check by a French expeditionary force, which most of the time, made its debut in Algeria, enjoy? The UN, however, controlled the autodetermination of Cameroon and the French government has set up a “Provisional Executive” there.
Look at Viet-Nam. Look at Laos.
It is not true to say that the UN fail because the causes are too difficult.
In reality the UN is the legal card used by imperialist interests when brute force has failed. The sharing, the mixed controlled joint committees, under guardianship are international means of torture to break the will of the people, cultivating anarchy, banditry and misery.
Today being the World press freedom day, I thought about the freedom of Press in Côte d’Ivoire which is being muzzled by the ADO-rebellion, and the series of media-lies I have heard from the big Western media. I chose to share with you, the different blogs, and newspapers, which present the other side of the story… the side of the people of Côte d’Ivoire who are currently being oppressed, traumatized, raped, attacked, and whose country is being invaded by external forces, and rebels. If you know of other good ones, please let me know.
Aujourd’hui étant la journée de la liberté de presse, j’ai pensé à la liberté de la presse en Côte d’Ivoire qui est muselée par le pouvoir ADO, et toute la série de média-mensonges que j’ai suivi sur les grandes chaînes occidentales. J’ai donc choisi de partager avec vous les différents blogs, et journaux, qui présentent l’autre côté de l’histoire… celle du peuple ivoirien qui est en ce moment opprimé, traumatisé, violé, attaqué et dont le pays est envahi par des forces étrangères et des rebelles. Si vous connaissez d’autres sites importants, partagez…
African Heritage 