Action Socialiste de Libération Nationale (Québec)
Comrades, allow us to begin our intervention with a quotation from the great African revolutionary Amilcar Cabral, whose life and work we highlight for the 100th anniversary of his birth on this year 2024. The following quotation is taken from the First Tricontinental Conference, held in Havana in 1966, but it is as relevant today as it was then.
“Our presence is a cry of condemnation of imperialism and a demonstration of solidarity with all peoples who wish to banish the imperialist yoke from their homelands. But we firmly believe that the best proof we can give of our anti-imperialist stance, and of our active solidarity with our comrades in this common struggle, is to return to our countries, to develop the struggle still further, and to remain faithful to the principles and aims of national liberation.”
Comrades, we of the Action socialiste de libération nationale du Québec consider that the destiny of the Quebec people, in its struggle for national independence, must be in solidarity with all peoples in struggle. We believe that the destinies of Quebec and Africa are closely linked. Indeed, we share a common enemy: Canadian imperialism. Canada, which was founded on the colonization of the country by the British, and which developed by exploiting and dispossessing the Quebecois, Acadian and Aboriginal peoples, denying them the right to self-determination, has for several years now been extending its claws into the African continent. Canadian imperialism is particularly present through its mining companies. Just as they once exploited Quebec, its working classes and cheap natural resources, Canadian imperialists are now exploiting Africa and its rich mineral resources. Canadian imperialism is directly involved in the maintenance of neo-colonialism, the denial of concrete (not formal) national independence and popular sovereignty. Canada is as guilty as France or the United States of the state of dependence and over-exploitation in which Africa and its populations currently find themselves. Indeed, in 2022, Canadian assets in the mining sector amounted to C$13.921 billion for 39 companies in West Africa, and C$37.04 billion for 98 companies in Africa as a whole (1). This gargantuan transfer of value is orchestrated by the following Canadian imperialist rapacious companies: Tenke Mining Corporation (Vancouver), Melkior Resources Inc (Ottawa), Banro Corporation and Barrick Gold Corporation (Toronto) (2). to name but a few. Most of the time, this is done without any regard for the fundamental human rights of the exploited: health, safety and dignity (3). Resources that should be used to develop national economies and improve the material living conditions of Africans are appropriated by a handful of foreign mining companies.
As independence fighters and Marxist-Leninists, we don’t see our struggle for national liberation from a narrow nationalist point of view. Of course, we fight for our people and their working class. But our struggle is part of a revolution on a global scale, embodied in a mosaic of national struggles by people the world over. Each victory won by a people strengthens our conviction and our will to fight to the bitter end. The popular victories in Burkina Faso, led by Captain Traoré, in Mali, in Niger, and right here in Senegal, are deeply inspiring examples for us: they show us that imperialism and neo-colonialism are not invincible, that peoples must not cease their struggle, because victory is possible. Imperialism is weakening, a sign that we must redouble our efforts. The heroic Palestinian people, who are resisting a genocidal war by the Zionist entity, and the people of Yemen and Lebanon, who are fighting alongside them, are equally inspiring, heralding the renewed unity of the great Arab nation for its liberation. The tendency of Russia and China to increasingly support the resistance is also very encouraging. We who live in the heart of an imperialist country see our own struggle as a second front to the African, Arab, Latin American and Asian struggles. Our own victory will be a terrible blow to North American imperialism, which will see its foundations shake and explode. As Canadian imperialism loses strength on its own territory, the peoples of Africa will be all the stronger in the face of an enemy weakened by the instability and crisis of capitalism and colonialism that Quebec’s independence will create. The fight for independence in our country will have to be increasingly directed in an anti-imperialist direction, leading us to break free from the imperialist chain and the capitalist economic system, and to join the majority camp of Humanity, which, from the contradictions of the old world, based on servile submission and exploitation, is bringing about the emergence of a new world, based on sovereignty and cooperation. Our African brothers have shown us that purely formal independence does not liberate the nation, that colonialism becomes neo-colonialism and continues to dominate the people through its indigenous agents. The people of Quebec, like the people of Africa, must win their political AND economic independence if they are to achieve genuine national liberation.
Let us live by the teachings of comrade Amilcar Cabral! Long live the struggle for African unity!
Long live free Québec!
Down with imperialism! Down with neo-colonialism!
Homeland or death! We shall overcome!
