Colonialism: A cancer that must be eradicated in the 21st century (II and final)

By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein

Shanghai, November 12, 2024

Dear colleagues and friends,

We have been invited to this momentous event on “Decolonization and Global Cooperation” at a time when the world is struggling in a crisis apparently advancing in a transition to a better world.

Various manifestations point to this path, where the world will no longer be one of Western global hegemony. Those triumphalist speeches from the United States and Europe that traveled the world, signaling “the end of history” and an upcoming “war of civilizations” are being surpassed by the evolution of events in various latitudes and longitudes of the planet. This heralds the decline of colonialism as a phenomenon inherent to capitalism. In the new world that is dawning, no country will be able to subjugate others in the same way that first the European powers did and later the United States. The multipolar world that is emerging will only be viable if cooperation replaces competition, peace replaces war, and friendship replaces conflict.

Three recent events of global incidence, the COVID19 pandemic, Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and the Zionist genocide in Palestine, have produced substantial changes on the planet. The alliance of China and Russia, the emergence of other centers of regional and global power, the creation and strengthening of the BRICS and other regional and global multilateral bodies are a clear expression of the birth of a new world. The world economy is mutating at the same time that the axis of global geopolitics is moving from the North Atlantic to the greater Eurasian space where the conduct of world politics is increasingly taking shape.

The strategic project of the Silk Road manifests the certain possibility of building economic relations from the perspective of win-win, beneficial to all the nations of the planet. Neither the United States nor Europe can prevent it economically, politically or militarily. Their lates efforts manifest themselves in the financial and cultural fields. But they are the last throes of a beast that dies when it no longer has the capacity to continue exercising its dominion. The paradox is that this makes them more dangerous: They will resist, with all the instruments at their disposal, the decline and cessation of their economy.

Transition to a multipolar world

The crisis we are experiencing is civilizational and can only be understood, in its true magnitude, from a multidimensional perspective. Western countries and the global north seem not to have the capacity to overcome the crisis. On the contrary, all their recent steps aim to become more involved in it and deepen it. The multidimensional nature of the crisis is given, because it manifests itself in the fields of food, energy, ecology and the environment and culture, but also in the political, social, economic, financial and, what is worse, in the ethical and moral spheres. We do not have time or space on this occasion to expose in all its dimension how the global crisis manifests itself in each of these areas.

As the Bolivian philosopher Rafael Bautista says, the rise of emerging powers not only rebalances global power but also makes it possible to decentralize the global economy and politics. The center-periphery arrangement is what can no longer be maintained; with the rise of the BRICS, cultures and civilizations that the modern world considered archaic and completely outdated are reclaimed. India and China are once again gaining the global importance they had before modernity. That is why it is not surprising that a good part of American literature speaks of the “clash of civilizations”. The West feels threatened by the awakening of civilizations that it assumed to be backward, which only belies its alleged civilizational superiority.

In this context, the first world is no longer a civilizational model. And the economy it sponsored for five centuries is no longer sustainable. Energetically, the world can no longer follow the Western consumption model. The United States, with 6% of the world’s population, consumes 25% of the world’s energy. Since it does not have it, and above all since it will not have it, it goes out to look for it where it exists in abundance. In some countries, energy is accessible to them without qualms, but in others, a dignified government and people resist being mistreated, resist ceding their sovereignty and renouncing the usufruct of their own property. So, force is used. But more and more peoples and countries on the planet are resisting. To that extent, colonial imposition is becoming more difficult. As Bautista says, “Colonization would no longer be possible to be reissued in the twenty-first century.”

This struggle also entails a struggle in ideological frameworks, since those attempts at subjugation at this level manifest the evident intention of establishing universal patterns of behavior, also coerced so that, in conceptual terms, international relations justify this practice. The Eurocentric and Westernized idea of the social and human sciences aims to justify dependence by imposing a logic that exposes the one-sidedness of Western civilization, trying to hide the fact that our planet is multicivilizational and multicultural.

In this way, if we accept that the world is moving towards multipolarity, we must also accept that we have the obligation to construct different views from each of the potential poles of power (and I must say that Latin America and the Caribbean aspires to be one of them) so that we can see the world from what we were, what we are and what we want to be. In that dimension where we were colonized, we were partially liberated by achieving political independence and we do not want any person on the planet to have to suffer because of this calamity. Thus, we must propose to build our own theoretical and conceptual body that gives us our own perspective conducive to assuming a position that questions and combats the Western vision in a holistic sphere of society, the State and international relations.

It is already evident that Western philosophy and political science are in decline as instruments of global control and subjection to the thrust of civilizations hitherto marginalized and excluded. The West does not have the capacity to understand the world and offer correct answers that put the human being at the center of all concerns and attentions. The COVID19 pandemic and the genocide in Palestine are irrefutable evidence of this claim.

I turn again to Rafael Bautista who, quoting the renowned historian from Yale University, Paul Kennedy, recalls that he maintains that international affairs are not going well in the political and social world and that they are even beginning to crumble, both institutionally and discursively. But he sees this collapse as an attack on the “free world”, being incapable, according to Bautista, of seeing that it is the cultural-civilizational collapse of Western hegemony itself, that is, of the so-called “free world”.

The Western world and its philosophical and political underpinnings emerged in the first instance from Athenian democracy, which were based on Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, among others. These developed over time, with the French Revolution, the industrial revolution in England in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, powerful institutional impulses that consolidated first after the end of the Second World War and later, with the disappearance of the bipolar world and the Soviet Union. All this has allowed them to construct a geopolitical “truth” in accordance with their interests and values, which have hegemony and a universal vision of culture as their main pillars. Colonialism is part of those values, of those principles as an instrument of domination and control. To that extent, fighting against colonialism is fighting for the construction of a more just, equitable and democratic world that enshrines the legal equality of all peoples and countries on the planet. That is why, as Bautista says, “it makes sense to talk about a decolonization of geopolitics.”

But this struggle and this transition entails a structural transformation of the planet in terms of institutions, culture, democracy and international relations. It must be done from the perspective of all. It cannot be like the UN Charter that was drafted by only 51 countries, keeping the vast majority marginalized and excluded from the debate, including almost all of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Today the world is made up of 194 countries. We cannot continue to be governed by a minority that assumes itself as the “international community”. The struggle against colonialism in the 21st century is to give voice to those peoples and territories that do not yet have one.

If the majority of the planet manages to impose itself and be up to the task of assuming the leadership of the civilizational transition, another world is possible. But this must be done on a new deal, that is, another organization should be founded to order international relations on the planet because the United Nations Organization (UN) is obviously not capable of that.

But accepting that we have been invited to this event under the current logic, we cannot forget that, as the call for this meeting says: “On December 14, 1960, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) adopted Resolution 1514 (XV), “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples”,  in which the need to end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations was unequivocally declared in a speedy and unconditional manner. Yet, to this day, nearly 2 million people still live in the shadow of colonialism, and the aftermath of colonialism continues to affect former colonial countries through power politics, cultural infiltration, and discourse construction. Meanwhile, colonization in its economic, financial, technological, and ideological forms, as well as other forms of neocolonialism, poses challenges for all countries in the global South.” This is and must be our north.

However, although the UN work has led to the decolonization of more than 80 countries since its founding, at this time it only recognizes the existence of only 17 colonies, but according to organizations specialized in the matter, the list should include more than 60 colonies around the world.

Unfortunately, today we are meeting because, although it may seem incredible, when we are already well into the twenty-first century, this issue that should have been part of history and of an issue remembered as something nefarious that should not continue to happen, continues to spread across our planet like a black spot in the history of humanity. It is our duty to know, denounce, and fight against this scourge until it is definitively exterminated from the face of the earth.

Colonialism in Latin America: The current situation

Dear colleagues and friends. I come from Venezuela, Latin America and the Caribbean – a region that has lived and is living the colonial affront in its full expression.  We hold this event in a year in which our region commemorates some events that set the tone for the anti-colonial struggle, for the independence and self-determination of our peoples. 

For Latin Americans and in particular for South Americans, 2024 is the year of the bicentennial of the battles of Junín and Ayacucho, fought by patriot armies against Spanish colonialism in the territory of Peru, extirpating colonialism from formerly Spanish South America forever. It was still necessary to continue fighting for almost 75 more years so that after the defeat of the Spanish army in Cuba, this sister country and Puerto Rico acceded to their independence, although mediated by the military intervention of the United States that was definitively defeated in Cuba in 1959, while still keeping Puerto Ricans in a situation of colonial subordination.

Today, two hundred years later, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and the United States continue to possess territories in our region, under colonial administration. The United Kingdom controls Anguilla, Bermuda, Montserrat, and the Cayman Islands, the Falklands, the British Virgin Islands, as well as the Turks and Caicos. France, under legal subterfuge, administers Cayenne, Guadeloupe and Martinique. The United States occupies the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, while Netherlands controls Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten.

Puerto Rico has been a classic colony of the United States since 1898. Between 1952 and 1953, Washington made a simulation before the UN in which it appeared to be the beginning of a decolonization process. Later its executive, legislative and judicial powers denied that theater, especially through the Law of Promise and the fiscal control board. The colonial state has plunged Puerto Rico into a situation of poverty, social inequality, deterioration of the economy and quality of life. After 126 years of colonialism, the people of Puerto Rico continue to struggle. It is time for the decolonization of Puerto Rico.

The Malvinas Islands are located in the Argentine Sea approximately 600 km from the Patagonian coast. They have an area of 11,718 square kilometers. They include two main islands, Soledad and Gran Malvina, and approximately 200 smaller islets.

From 1765 on, they were occupied by the Spanish authorities of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and in 1816 assumed as an integral territory of Argentine sovereignty. The Argentine authorities based in Buenos Aires took possession of the islands on June 10, 1829. On January 3, 1833, the Falkland Islands were forcibly usurped by Great Britain, which expelled Argentine residents and began a systematic colonial occupation that extends to this day.

Since the nineteenth century, national and international resolutions have been added to demand that the United Kingdom returns the islands. On April 2, 1982, the Rosario Military Operation began, which recovered the islands, a situation that allowed the Argentine flag to fly until June 14, 1982.

The Argentine National Constitution, as amended in 1994, states in its First Transitory Provision that “the Argentine Nation ratifies its legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the corresponding maritime and insular areas, as they are an integral part of the national territory. The recovery of these territories and the full exercise of sovereignty, respecting the way of life of their inhabitants and in accordance with the principles of international law, constitute a permanent and inalienable objective of the Argentine people.”

Some of these territories maintain their colonial status under the guise of deception under the undaunted gaze of the UN, which, in the case of colonialism as in many others, has shown total ineffectiveness, inability and lack of will to decide on the total disappearance of this scourge.

For us Latin Americans, the victory of Ayacucho on December 9, 1824, and the capitulation signed by the Spanish general Canterac on behalf of the Spanish crown meant – in fact – the recognition of the independence of Peru and of all South America in terms of international law. It was also the culmination of a long period of almost 15 years of mobilizations, pronouncements, declarations, battles and victories in favor of the freedom of the American republics before Spain. Ayacucho was the consummation of a joint effort aimed at defeating monarchy, absolutism, and foreign domination in South America.

The participation in Ayacucho of officers and soldiers of an army composed of Venezuelans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Chileans, River Plate and Upper Peruvians, gathered around the same ideals, showed the superior strength of a unit that was able to overcome numerical inferiority to impose itself based on the superior quality of its combatants, leaders, officers and generals.

For our Liberator Simón Bolívar it meant the fulfilled commitment made in his oath of Monte Sacro, Italy in 1803, the realization of ideals outlined in the Charter of Jamaica in 1815 and the certain possibility of concretizing the institutional precepts outlined in his speech at the Congress of Angostura in 1819. The effort for independence was over. Then, a no less important battle began to defeat petty interests of class, sector or group and in favor of the defense of national sovereignty and the consolidation of the unity of the nations of Our America. That’s what we’re still working on.

The magnanimity of the event cannot hide the fact that knowing of the imminent victory, two days before the battle, fully immersed in the problems of Peru, aware of the decisive event that was about to occur in the war, informed of the resistance that some conservative sectors of the American republics were making to prevent the necessary unity and after verifying that in Bogotá (after his dismissal as head of the army),  steps were taken without his knowledge and/or approval, Bolívar understood that he had to hasten the march that would lead to the realization of the great Assembly that would pave the way for the unity of the Spanish-American republics.

On December 7, 1824, almost on the eve of the decisive combat, from Lima, Bolívar issued a circular addressed from the highest magistracy of Peru to the heads of government of the American republics formerly Spanish (Colombia, Mexico, Río de la Plata, Chile and Guatemala) summoning them to a great continental event to be held in Panama. In Ayacucho, independence was consolidated and in Panama, two years later, the path of Latin America and the Caribbean towards integration began.

China and anti-colonialism

Dear colleagues and friends, China has historically suffered greatly from colonialism and unequal treaties. Since its establishment, the People’s Republic of China has maintained a firm stance in support of the decolonization efforts undertaken by countries and peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America, while vehemently opposing all forms of colonialism.

As far back as October 1960, during a visit to China by Ferhat Abbas, president of the provisional government of the Republic of Algeria (when it was not yet independent and was fighting for its freedom that finally took place on July 5, 1962), he met with the Chinese leader Mao Zedong and President Lui Chao Chi. At the end of the stay of several days, Abbas signed a joint statement signed by the Chinese side by Prime Minister Chou En Lai, which in some parts reads that: “…They recognize that the struggle of national liberation movements in colonized and semi-colonized countries, the action of the peoples of the world for democracy and social progress, make an important contribution. The two sides are pleased to note that the movement of the peoples of the world against imperialism continues to develop with breadth and depth.”

Further on he adds that: “Both sides have the firm conviction that as long as they persist in the struggle and form a broad anti-imperialist united front, they will be able to strike and defeat imperialism and colonialism, conquer and safeguard their national independence, ensuring world peace.”

Dear colleagues and friends, as the call for this event says: “In the new era, China has also proposed concepts such as “A Community of Shared Future for Mankind”, “Three Global Initiatives” and “A New Form of Human Civilization” that transcend and overcome the pitfalls and influences of colonial discourse.”

That is why we are here, to debate and define new alternatives and proposals that, on the one hand, denounce the injustices of colonialism, and on the other, urge the world to take much more effective measures to eliminate this scourge that affects the decency of humanity and harms civilizational coexistence on the planet.

I hope that these two days will be fruitful work and that we will leave here with new energy to enforce resolution 1514 (XV), which unequivocally states the “need to put an end to colonialism in all its forms and manifestations in a speedy and unconditional manner”.

Thanks a lot.