More imperialist intervention in Africa

Condemn the ongoing foreign military intervention in Mali

From the Portuguese Communist Party

The ongoing foreign military intervention in Mali, spearheaded by France and involving other imperialist powers, is inseparable from the militaristic and interventionist path of NATO, the European Union and its main powers which, in the context of the ever-deeper crisis of capitalism and through several processes of increasing foreign intervention, militarization of the continent – in which the US Military Command for Africa, AFRICON plays a prominent role   – and the destabilization of several countries, seeks to strengthen imperialism’s economic, political and geo-strategic domination of the that continent and jeopardize the sovereignty  and territorial integrity of several African States.

The military intervention  in Mali, unleashed once again under the pretext of “fighting Islamic terrorists” and namely of fighting groups which, as is well known, actively collaborated in the aggression and invasion of Libya, is inseparable from the plans of various imperialist powers, namely France, to reconstitute their web of colonial domination, that had been destroyed by decades of struggle of the African peoples, to control and exploit the region’s abundant natural resources and specifically those of Mali, namely its oil and other subsoil resources such as uranium.

The domestic situation in Mali is, like those of other countries in Africa or other regions of the globe, the concrete result of the imperialist strategy of instigating sectarian, religious and ethnic conflicts which are used as pretexts for aggression and military occupation and, in itself, strengthens religious radicalism and terrorism.

It is in this light that the domestic conflict in Mali must be seen. A conflict which, trough foreign intervention, may spread out to other countries of the region, namely Algeria.  The domestic situation in Mali will only be solved within the framework of respect for the country’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, free from interferences and foreign military interventions.

The PCP deplores the stance of the Portuguese government which, invoking the defense of Mali’s stability  and territorial integrity, has supported a military intervention which will only serve to introduce greater elements of instability in that country and region.