The African Socialist International (ASI) under the leadership of Chairman Omali Yeshitela is calling on African revolutionaries and progressive forces and all freedom loving peoples of the world to unite with the just struggles of African people on the Pa cific island of New Caledonia. Africans are fighting for self-determination and repossession of their land, occupied by French colonial settlers.
The island of New Caledonia has been occupied by French imperialism since 1853. In 1871, 7,000 members of the Paris Com mune were exiled to New Cale donia after the defeat of this two-month takeover of Paris in the 19th century. Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin and others have written extensively on the Paris Commune as the pre cursor to a socialist government.
However, the Paris Commune never denounced the enslave ment of African people and colo nial genocide being imposed on the majority of the world by Euro pean and U.S. imperialist powers. The commune demanded white workers’ rights at the expense of African and colonized peoples around the world.
After the exile of the members of the commune to New Caledo nia they became the new colonial rulers of the indigenous African people on the island. Today, it is the descendants of the commune who are being struggled against by the Africans of New Caledo nia.
The African Socialist Interna tional firmly condemns the colonial violence imposed on African peo ple by the French National Police Intervention Group (GIPN), a bru tal French counterinsurgent force unleashed against the Kanak in dependence movement, led by African people on the island.
The independence movement was attacked by the French mili tary forces after the movement protested the visit of Madame Penchard, the French Secretary of Overseas (meaning colonial) Territories, to Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia.
Independence forces were using the visit as an occasion to demand the release of all political prisoners, especially those arrest ed on May 28, 2009 and given jail sentences on June 29.
The African Socialist Inter national is demanding the im mediate release of all members and leaders of the Kanak Social ist Party, the Free United Action Union (SLUA), The Caledonian Union and all other organizations involved in defense of Kanak po litical prisoners, particularly mili tant trade unionists.
We are demanding the uncon ditional and immediate release of Gerard Jodar, leader of USTKE (Trade Union of Exploited and Kanak Workers). Along with five comrades, Jodar has been jailed since June 29 by the French im perialist government.
These comrades were brutally arrested when police attacked their protest with tear gas as they were demonstrating against the firing of their comrades by Air Caledonia. Jodar and others took refuge inside an airplane, where they were arrested and charged by the colonial police for obstructing the circulation of the plane.
As African Internationalists, we believe that the role of any op pressed people is to fight and defeat the oppressors by any means necessary.
The African Socialist International’s mission is to unite all anti-imperialist and revolutionary fronts of African people’s struggles around the world into a single, worldwide revolutionary, capable of releasing the power of the one-billion-strong black people around the world.
The African Socialist Interna tional has the objective of uniting the African nation under a social ist United States of Africa. This will be the most dynamic social move ment the world has ever seen, a movement capable of bringing European and U.S. imperialism to its knees.
All power to the people!
Self-determination the highest expression of democracy!
