France is facing an existential crisis in the African world. There is much discussion about how horrible French colonialism is from Haiti to West Africa.
On one front, there is the severe crisis of colonial capitalism in Haiti where our people have been catching hell in every unimaginable way to produce life for white people in France.
When we look at the state of Haiti, we are looking at the direct consequence of 600 years of colonial violence against African people and the theft of our resources and labor by white colonizers that built and fueled the world capitalist economy and created the wealth enjoyed by France, the U.S. and the rest of the white nation.
The great Haitian revolution was also attacked not only by France, but by the whole white bourgeoisie to maintain the colonial status in Haiti despite the revolution’s success.
One way of doing that was to enforce the isolation of Haiti through an economic blockade along with the imposition of a brutal indirect colonial rule.
It is worth remembering the crimes of France against African people in Haiti.
There are many, but one example is what was described by Nicolas Geffrard, one of the African revolutionaries in Dessalines’ army.
Geffrard described in a letter how Donatien Rochambeau— the French general who was given the mission to defeat the anticolonial African rebellion in Haiti—had trained dogs to eat humans.
He said that the French fed living Africans to the dogs every day to be torn to pieces.
The colonial aggression against the Taino and African people in Haiti must be understood before we can understand what the issue is in Haiti and what needs to be done.
We knew very well before the assassination of Jovenel Moise who were the primary criminals in Haiti and who were the secondary criminals.
The French and the North Americans in the U.S. and Canada are the primary criminals responsible for the chaos in Haiti and the African petty bourgeoisie in Haiti is the secondary force responsible for the poverty of the African people in Haiti.
France rule and prestige are being fast eroded in Africa
Increasingly Africans are associating backwardness in Africa with France’s dominance of Africa.
The African continent has a youth population that was born and has grown into adulthood under corrupted regimes propped by France, and they are resentful of France’s control over so many African countries.
In January 1994, French colonizers devalued the CFA franc overnight without even a slight consultation with its neocolonial African puppets.
France is responsible for the assassination of the late great Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso who played a big role in the mobilization of African youth against French imperialism when no one was talking about revolution in West Africa.
Africans blame France for the existence of tyrannical, corrupted and anti-African regimes throughout so-called francophone Africa.
Denis Sassou-Nguesso, has been president of the Republic of the Congo- Brazzaville from 1979 to 1992 and again from 1997 up to now with the support of France.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, who has stolen elections in Gabon after succeeding his father, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who himself came to power in 2005 replacing his deceased father, the murderous Etienne Gnassingbé Eyadema.
Etienne Gnassingbé Eyadema served as a soldier in the French colonial army in Vietnam and Algeria, and as France’s protege, he overthrew the legally elected leader of Togo, staying in power for 38 years.
With French support, Alassane Ouattara came to power in Ivory Coast with a combination of war and theft of elections against Laurent Gbagbo. Ouattara has violated his own promise that he wouldn’t run for a third mandate as he came back from a retirement to hold neocolonial power for a third time.
Pan-Africanists are calling for an alliance with Russia vs. France
The battle between Russia and France for the Central Africa Republic (CAR) has caught the imagination of African people, particularly Pan-Africanists around the world.
Faustin-Archange Touadéra is still in power in CAR despite being in opposition to France’s rulers.
The fact that he has survived France’s attempt to overthrow his government with the help of the Russians has convinced certain Pan-Africanists, who are now militantly demanding an alliance between Africa and Russia to expel and uproot the French colonizers out of Africa.
Many Africans think that the lack of development of Africa is due to the fact that they are colonized by France and that the so-called anglophone Africa is doing better because they are dominated by the U.S. and Britain.
They consider Nigeria, Botswana and South Africa to be developed as compared to Guinea, Congo Brazzaville, Central Africa Republic and other territories.
However, Haiti is a glaring example of U.S. colonialism with the U.S. having repeatedly assaulted, occupied and ravaged Haiti.
No one wants their country to be like how Haiti is forced to exist.
Also, Australia and New Zealand are black people’s land—black people who have nearly been eradicated by the British.
There are so many more examples.
They considered Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa etc to be developed compared to Guinea, Congo Brazzaville, Central Africa Republic, etc.
France arrogantly considered its former colonies as its “Pre carre,” meaning its back yard exclusively under its sphere of influence.
French finance minister Pierre Moscovici was quoted in December 2013 saying, “We have to speak the language of truth: [Africa] pulls us along. Its dynamism supports us and its vitality is stimulating for us… we need Africa.”
France, like the U.S., Britain and other colonizer countries, are parasites on the body of Africa. It is a new day as their hold on Africa is being challenged.
However, for there to be a future for Africa—and there must be a future for Africa—the African working class must take that future in our own hands and lead the work to win power in our own hands.
We must build the African Socialist International and build a united liberated Africa.
Build the African People’s Socialist Party!
Africa for Africans: Those at home and those abroad!
