The World Anti-imperialist Joint Struggle organized by the World Anti-imperialist Platform was conducted in front of the Douta Seck in Dakar, Oct 25. The struggle was launched immediately after the African Parties’ “Pan-Africanism and Anti-Imperialism conference, which took place earlier in the day.
The rallies were attended by parties and organizations from across Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, and other regions around the world. Participants held banners in French reading, “Down with imperialism!”, “Oppose the imperialist drive to war”, “Victory to the anti-imperialist liberation struggle!”, “Disband NATO!”, and “Free Palestine!” They also fervently chanted slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”, “Free, Free, Palestine!”, and “Viva Africa!”.
Participants held placards with images of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and Amilcar Cabral high. They called for an end to the political repression of Abdallah, a steadfast communist revolutionary, who has been imprisoned for 40 years, while concurrently celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Cabral, the founder of Guinea-Bissau’s revolutionary party, PAIGC, and liberator of Guinea-Bissau.
Augusta Epanya, the General Coordinator of DUP, said, “Thanks for all the foreign delegations for being here and leading this fight in a united manner and joining with the African activists who are fighting in such difficult conditions,” adding, “We want to reaffirm our support for the Palestinian people and also denounce NATO, which continues its attempts to expand into all regions of the world.” She emphasized, “Let us strengthen the bonds we share with one another, for it is only in this way that we can undoubtedly bring down imperialism.”
Fodé Roland Diagne, Editor-in-Chief of Ferñent (Senegal), pointed out, “Today, humanity is faced with a foul new beast called the United States of America. This filthy hegemonic beast dominates the world with the dollar. It dominates the world with the hundreds of military bases all over the world. It dominates the world through a series of wars, but it also dominates the world through the imposition of a particular ideology—ultraliberalism.” Speaking forcefully, he stated, “The US is waging its war, but the people are resisting and will ultimately win. There is fierce resistance of martyrs and heroes against Israeli Zionism. Our hearts are suffering in pain today in the face of massacres, but in the end, it will be the triumph of the peoples, and the triumph of humanity.”
Miguel Ángel, the Representative of the Unión Proletariá, said, “All over the world, the imperialist system is in decadence—economically, politically, technologically, etc. Meanwhile the countries that liberated themselves by revolutionary means are emerging as powers ready to help the oppressed peoples who resist and seek to achieve their own sovereignty. U.S. and European imperialists respond by provoking color revolutions with fascist coups,” asserting, “Despite the ideological intoxication of the media, workers are aware that imperialism is leading humanity toward fascism and war. The experience and thought of Amilcar Cabral and all authentic Pan-Africanists—that is to say anti-imperialists—show us the way. It is by destroying imperialism that the peoples of Africa and the whole world will achieve independence and peace, and weave international anti-imperialist solidarity.”
Joti Brar, the Vice-chair of CPGB-ML, stated, “The national liberation consciousness, that came to the message of the world, is what we see everywhere, from the Sahel to Palestine to Korea. We see that the people can no longer be kept by imperialism, no matter how mighty their technologies are.”, adding, “We must not forget the word, “Pan-Africanism has been used by many people to mean many things. In particular, the imperialists have tried to turn it into an anti-communist weapon to tell the masses that they do not need socialism, and they just need to replace white exploiters with black exploiters. “For Platform, Our goal is to strengthen the communist forces, the socialist forces.”
She also emphasized, “Imperialists’ drive to war comes from its weakness, not the strength. Everywhere in the world, we see the balance of the forces is changing. The people are learning the lessons of their history, and taking inspiration from one and another struggle,” and concluded by chanting, “Death to imperialism! Victory to the liberation struggles everywhere in the world! The people united will never be defeated!”
Amzat Boukari Yabara from the International Departement of DUP pointed out, “In today’s world, where the UN has adopted a resolution recognizing the necessity of establishing a two-state solution with a Palestinian state and an Israeli state, it is incomprehensible that the sovereignty of the Palestinian people is being trampled upon. It is contradictory for a country that claims to be democratic to conquer territory, impose control, enforce laws, and challenge cultural identity. The Palestinian issue is the best example of the contradictions of this system.”
Paquette Sébastien from the Central Committee of the Action socialiste de libération nationale du Québec (ASLN) said, “In this great struggle, the nations of the world are running towards each other, towards their self-determination. Pan-Africanism is a force in the struggle for independence, for true freedom—the freedom of peoples,” and stressed, “Capitalism is being shaken; the earth is rising, the streets are filling with people demanding their right to exist. Quebec must stop pursuing the complacency of its masters and must, without hesitation, launch an all-out struggle to give our people dignity.”
He also affirmed, “Quebec will always have more in common with the people of Senegal, Africa, and the peoples of the five continents. The death of the exploiting class will offer the people of the world a new day—the day of freedom.” He concluded with the slogans: “Death to imperialism! Long live the total emancipation of the peoples! Long live a free Senegal!”
Finally, the Dakar Joint Statement by the World Anti-imperialist Platform, titled “The Imperialist Camp’s Aggression Threatens Palestine, Africa, the Oppressed Nations, and the World” was presented in English by Christopher J. Helali, the International Secretary of the ACP, and in French by Marie-Josée AYI, the President of New Power Gabon.
Below is the full text.
Dakar Platform Joint Statement: The Imperialist Camp’s Aggression Threatens Palestine, Africa, the Oppressed Nations, and the World
Today, Africa’s situation mirrors the global political landscape. Amid the imperialist camp’s schemes for division, manipulation, and aggression, the revolutionary advance of anti-imperialist forces, pushing forward, is leading the African people through a period of upheaval and transformation.
The popular forces in Mali (2020), Burkina Faso (2022), and Niger (2023) have achieved critical victories in their anti-imperialist resistance wars, resulting in the expulsion of French and U.S. imperialist forces. This has set the stage for further anti-imperialist liberation. In response to sanctions imposed by ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and the threat of military intervention in Niger, the three nations jointly declared their withdrawal from ECOWAS in January 2024 through a joint statement by the newly-formed Alliance of Sahel States. Strengthening military ties with Russia, these countries are resisting imperialist sanctions and pressures, drawing closer to the anti-imperialist resistance. Meanwhile, in Senegal, the people’s uprising has overthrown the fascist neo-colonial regime which ruled the country for 12 years, imprisoning opposition leaders, torturing and killing thousands of prisoners of conscience, dissolving political parties, and postponing the elections in February 2024, all of which brought forth the fierce resistance of the people. These anti-imperialist revolutionary changes in West Africa reaffirm the truth that only the people’s struggle can transform the world.
The collision between anti-imperialist forces and pro-imperialist reactionaries is intensifying. In May 2024, the U.S.A. for the first time designated an African country, Kenya, as a “Major Non-NATO Ally”, revealing its blatant plans to use Kenya as a lever for the imperialist agenda across Africa. In response, the Kenyan people have risen up in protest against their pro-U.S., war-mongering, livelihood-devastating, and corrupt government. Widespread anti-government protests have escalated since mid-2024, leading to extreme political instability.
Since 2024, the intensifying anti-government popular mobilizations have led to plunging Kenya into deep political turmoil and have created favourable conditions for the seizure of political power in Kenya by the people including workers.
Imperialist schemes are also evident in the armed conflicts that have been stoked in Nigeria’s Plateau State, and in the tribal clashes in disputed areas between South Sudan and Sudan. The African masses are bearing the brunt of all this turmoil, which leaves them perpetually at risk of the looming threat of massacre.
Across Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe, the U.S.A and its imperialist allies continue to orchestrate “color revolutions,” to wage economic warfare through sanctions, and to spread propaganda via Western media. Notably, the U.S. imperialists have imposed sanctions on Venezuela, falsely framing the country’s recent election as ‘illegitimate’ and ‘unfair’ while inciting far-right coup attempts to undermine the people’s popular government.
It is noteworthy that the upheavals in Africa and U.S. imperialist attempts to overthrow anti-imperialist regimes worldwide are coming within the situation of a Third World War. The imperialist system, led by the bloodthirsty U.S. aggressors, is the root cause of a Third World War. The war in Ukraine, which erupted in February 2022 and marked the onset of a Third World War, has its roots in the 2014 ‘Euromaidan’ fascist coup—a product of the ‘color revolution’—and has escalated through eight years of the war between the fascist forces and the revolutionary forces in Donbass. This illustrates the devastating consequences of the imperialist camp’s instigation of so-called ‘color revolutions’ and of their schemes to suppress all opposition to their domination.
Moreover, this Third World War, which is in essence a war between the anti-imperialist and imperialist camps, poses a grave threat not only to the people of Africa, Asia, and Latin America but also to the dignity and lives of the people within the imperialist countries themselves. The just struggle of Palestinian resistance in the face of a fascist war of genocidal extermination by the Israeli Zionists is accelerating global awareness that “imperialism is fascism and war”. Therefore, the masses all over the world must unite with the anti-imperialist camp to overcome the hardships and adversities imposed by the imperialist economic and political system.
This year marks the centennial anniversary of the birth of the great Amílcar Cabral, and reminds us of the achievements of the African communists who fought for national and social liberation in Africa. Through the establishment of the PAIGC and the waging of an armed struggle, Cabral secured the independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde while working tirelessly for the realization of combative pan-Africanism. Tragically, he lost his life to neo-colonial reactionary violence after striving to build social emancipation. The spirit of anti-imperialism and the will for national and social liberation, as embodied by Cabral and other African communists, are reflected in combative pan-Africanism, which serves as a banner of unity and struggle that unites the African people. True pan-Africanism, untainted by pro-imperialists and neo-colonial opportunists, unites the African peoples in the common pursuit of anti-imperialism, true sovereignty, socialism and independence for all humanity.
Kwame Nkrumah’s statement, ‘We Must Unite or Perish,’ is not only relevant to Africa. Only through the united anti-imperialist revolutionary struggles of the oppressed and exploited working masses can we overthrow the root cause of a Third World War—imperialism—and advance towards global independence, true peace, and a genuine democracy where the people become the master of political and economic power.
More than ever, “proletarians and oppressed peoples, unite!
Defeat U.S. Imperialism! Smash the Imperialist Camp!
Victory to the Anti-Imperialist Liberation Struggle!
Victory to the Forces of Anti-Imperialism and independence!
