26/06/2013
We as South Africans in the form of the South African Communist Party (SACP), the Young Communist League of South Africa (YCL), the South African Students Congress (SASCO), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Friend of Cuba Society (FOCUS), Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel in South Africa (BDS South African), and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), declare our utmost rejection of the criminal visit of the United States of America President, Barak Obama to our country.
Our rejection is based the USA's arrogant, selfish and oppressive foreign policies, treatment of workers and international trade relations that are rooted in war mongering, super-exploitation, colonial racism and the disregard and destruction of the environment, making the realisation of a just and peaceful world impossible.
The coming of President Barak Obama to South Africa is the first ever since he was eleected head of state. The USA under his leadership has escalated its assault on human rights, militarisation of international relations and continuing guzzling of world resources at the absolute expense of the environment and oppressed peoples.
The USA is deeply implicated in the oppression of the people of Western Sahara, the only remaining colonised country on the African continent, colonised by Morocco. And to this day, the release of the Cuban Five and a continuing baseless embargo against the country and peoples of Cuba still seem unmovable issues of commitment for the USA. The criminal occupation of Palestine by the Apartheid State of Israel, it is a well known fact, has only been made possible by the USA’s financial and political support for the Israeli regime. This is expressed in the main, through both its open support and military donations that come to billions of dollars every year – with USA aid to Israel being more than that of Africa, Latin America and Asia combined.
On the issue of Palestine, the USA has for years been blocking any progress and is totally divorced and isolated from the consensus of the international community. In fact, the US is the most frequent user of the UN veto: it has used its veto power over 40 times to defend Israel. As South Africans, we painfully recall how the US used its veto power to defend Apartheid South Africa, particularly from UN resolutions imposing economic and military sanctions.
The USA, under Regan and others, suported Apartheid South Africa and was on the wrong side of history. Why does the USA not learn from its history, and be on the right side of history this time?
Finally, the United States' policies on the environment, specifically the fact that it is one of the largest contributors to global warming, yet to this day continues to refuse the observing and singing of the Kyoto protocol, is simply unacceptable.
For a long time the progressive forces in South African society have been raising these issues and many others regarding the role of the USA in the global community and now have an opportunity to make his visit on our shores register these frustrations.
We therefore call on all South Africans to join in a mass movement to make the visit of the USA president taste the absolute commendation of its oppressive, aggressive and bossy policies.
The call is to identify and highlight the following issues around the coming of President Barak Obama:
1. The championing and maintenance, by the USA, in the militarisation of international relations and co-operation. It is a well-known fact that the USA approaches a lot of conflicts on the world through inciting, encouraging as well and championing war, primarily driven by its business interests often masqueraded in the language of defence of human rights. The militarisation of international relations is in the main exemplified by institutions like the Africom, NATO, and the continuing double standards around nuclear disarmament that the USA preaches when it comes to countries in the South, whilst continues to supply nuclear heads to Israel.
2. The continued greed in the guzzling of world resources by the USA epitomised by its encouragement and support of its multinational companies that have no regard for the environment, human rights like progressive labour laws e.g.
3. The USA’s active support and defence of colonial and oppressive regimes. As mentioned earlier, this is the one aspect of USA that most exposes its hypocritical character where regimes that support its interest are never opposed; instead not they are not only supported but maintained through amongst other things war machinery. Chief amongst these is Israel, which continues to serve as the USA’s frontline state in the Middle-East whilst suppressing and maintaining its racist apartheid policies on Palestinian people. Other states continue to be Morrocco, whose oppression and colonial occupation of Western Sahrawian people is reaching deaf ears in the world, and increasingly the support of oppressive regimes like the ones in Colombia.
4. The USA’s role maintaining the underdevelopment of the African continent.
5. Finally, and as noted earlier, the United States of America is the single largest contributor to global warming, which increasingly condemns the world into catastrophic environmental disasters.
Programs and Campaigns
Members of the public are invited in a Big Day of Action – A march from Caledonia Stadium to the United States of America Embassy in Pretoria:
Date: 28 June, 2013 – 10h00 —
