Monday, February 28, 2011
by S. da Silva and M. Cook
As people all around the world look upon the revolts spreading throughout the Middle East and northern Africa with hope and enthusiasm, the imperialist powers are positioning themselves to make the best of the situation.
London-area Imam Munir El-Kassem speaking to a rally to support the people's struggles in Libya (Victoria Park, London - 26 Feb '11)
On Saturday, February 26, rallies were held all across Canada in support of the Libyan people – Montreal, Toronto, London, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton.
“We’re here because we’re denouncing Gadafi’s brutality against the Libyan people”, Khaoula Bengezi, A student organizer of the rally, told BASICS.
One of the rally’s speakers from the Canadian Arab Federation told the crowd that they want “real democracy, not a democracy imposed by foreign armies.”
“The Arab world has been under neo-colonial domination for the past 60 years, ruled by corrupt dictators and monarchs who only serve foreign interests and their own personal interests… Today the Arab people have regained their pride and dignity and they are freeing and reclaiming their country from dictators and foreign powers” said the speaker.
In Libya over this past weekend, the strategically significant city of Zawiyah (only 50 kilometres from Tripoli) fell to rebels. The cities of Musrata and Benghazi to the east are reportedly out of the government’s control.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi remained holed up in his Tripoli stronghold behind a wall of armed supporters and mercenaries, while the popular opposition advanced against loyalist militias and other pro-Gaddafi forces.
As the anti-Gaddafi movement continues its advance, the imperialist powers have been looking upon the crude-oil rich African country with a mixture of interest and concern.
The large oil multinationals working out of Libya included U.S.’s Exxon Mobil, BP PLC, Spain’s Repsol, Italy’s Eni, and Austria’s OMV. As for the interests of Canadian imperialism, companies such as Calgary-based Suncor and Quebec’s SNC-Lavalin have billions of dollars in contracts between them in Libya. Suncor with its oil-drilling projects and SNC-Lavalin with its three large engineering projects: the Benghazi airport, the Great Man Made River, and the yet to be constructed prison in Tripoli.
As of Monday, the port at the eastern city of Tobruk was said to be operating at full capacity, while the eastern oil fields of Sarir and Misla were said to be working at 50% of their normal levels.
None of the imperialist powers behind these companies want to see Libya fall into the hands of any popular forces that would be hostile to their interests; all would love to see a regime willing to allow for greater exploitation and a greater share of revenues, as with post-occupation Iraq.
On February 25, NATO’s General Secretary reported after a meeting of the North Atlantic Council that it “will continue to monitor the situation closely in coordination with the other international organisations, and will continue to consult in order to be prepared for any eventuality.”
The E.U., the U.N. Security Council, Canada, and the U.S. have all imposed sanctions against the regime in the past few days – measures that the imperialist countries were not so quick to impose on their puppet regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, or Yemen.
While the support for the Libyan people against Gaddafi was universal at the rallies here in Ontario, there was no unity on the question of Canada’s role.
Some forces have been calling for Canada to take action against Libya, including the New Democratic Party, which called on the Canadian government to “to bring the issue to the UN Security Council”, whereas many at Toronto’s rally expressed their concern and opposition sanctions and foreign intervention.
“We don’t want military intervention nor economic sanctions. As we saw in Iraq in the 1990s and then with the Iraq invasion, those two methods have not worked. The people want to free themselves,” Khaoula Bengezi told BASICS.
Khaled Elghul, a father who attended the rally, also expressed his concern about sanctions: “If you impose a sanction, you’re not imposing it on Gadafi, you’re imposing it on the people.”
The world may stand overwhelmingly unified against Gaddafi; but it remains divided between those who seek genuine liberation for the Libyan people versus those who seek to exploit the rebellion in order to make Libya into a new Iraq.
Related posts:
