No to military intervention in Mali !

No to military intervention in Mali !
Those who lit the fire are not well placed to extinguish it !

Since Friday, January 11, the French army intervenes with air- and groundforces to block the advance of jihadists to Bamako. We know and condemn the crimes committed the latter against the men and women of Mali in the regions they control. We also understand that much of the Mali people and amongst them immigrant workers in France approve this action which they see as the only immediat way out.

However, as communists and anti-imperialist, we condemn this military intervention, because we know that the arsonists pretending to be firefighters are the problem, the cause, not the solution of crises in many African countries.

Destabilization of Mali originated immediate after the destruction of Libya in which France played a major role. It allowed various Islamist groups to equip themselves with powerful military equipment with which they routed the Malian army. But the inability of Mali to defend itself, to ensure the safety of foreigners (French) who live there is not a fatality. Mali is called "poor" but its economy is looted and stifled by the demands of the imperialists who organize world trade. Its gold is exploited for the benefit of foreign companies. Its cotton challenged by U.S. cotton subsidies. Creditors are pumping its financial resources. Its main businesses are controlled by foreign companies, many of whom are French. Its irrigable land is leased to foreign states. That’s the weakness of Mali, worsened still by the corruption of its bourgeoisie ready to sell off the resources of their at discount prices to their own benefit. The strength of Mali is the energy of its workers, its peasants, its immigrants trying to overcome the shortcomings of the state.

Plundering of its resources and labor of the people : this is why Mali is not able to defend itself, to ensure its national independence and why it must rely on a "imperialist protector." That is why France can not provide a solution to the crisis, because it defends the economic system (IMF, World Bank, privatization) which impoverishes the country. The imperialists have no friends, only interests. And the French, right or supposedly left act in order to protect their interests.

France in intervening enhances its role and position in a region where it’s economic presence has decreased in favor of other countries, including China. In addition, the reconquest of the north of the country, which will be much more difficult than recent intercepting armed convoys, will assert a presence in a region rich in oil and various rare metals. Finally the stability of the Sahel is strategic for France, which, in Niger t, extracts uranium that fuels their powerstations and gives it a so-called "energy independence", sitting on the dependence of Niger. Finally, the destabilization of Mali lead to a new immigration of men and women in France. "Generous Leftist France" continuing the policy os Sarkozy is the "friend of Mali", provided that they bear their misery at home.

The French army helped stop the advance of jihadists, but foreign intervention is not the solution, and remains the problem.

As communists, we declare our solidarity with the people of Mali and our immigrant comrades. We support the struggle for the development of a truly independent and fair Mali, which can not be but if of the workers and farmers of Mali :
– Control the wealth they create through their work and in order to do so chase the the corrupt bourgeois imperialist from power
– Expropriate foreign companies exploiting the resources of their country,
– Renounce the bloodsucking debt
– Receive the support of workers in other countries, especially their classcomrades here, which involves supporting the legalization of all undocumented workers (of Mali or elsewhere) and total political and social rights between French and immigrant workers.

MLCO Proletarian Way