Africa

Less than 24 hours after South African scientists announced the discovery of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, rich countries in Europe, as well as Canada and the United States, slapped highly damaging, blanket travel bans on a swathe of southern African countries. The imperialists are reacting in a haphazard fashion to the discovery of this new strain, whose emergence they facilitated to begin with through hoarding the world’s vaccine supply.

In recent days, cities and towns across Morocco have witnessed mass youth movements involving students and unemployed university graduates. Like all serious and deeply-rooted movements, it was marked by mass participation of young women, who stood at the forefront and brought with them high levels of militancy. The movement has been received with warm sympathy by all layers of the poor, not only because its demands are legitimate, but because the masses are angry and looking for a point of reference to rally around.

The Sudanese Revolution has taken a new turn. 28 days after the coup that removed him from power, Abdalla Hamdok was reinstated as Prime Minister by the military junta. The streets, which have fought and shed blood for a month to win civilian rule, have met this news, not with jubilation – but rage.

Yesterday was the bloodiest day of the Sudan coup so far. A nationwide march was met with the deadliest clampdown yet by the security forces. This massacre must be a final warning to the masses: only armed self defence by any means necessary can guarantee a victory for the Sudanese Revolution.

The heroic masses of Sudan are still taking to the streets to resist the military coup, in defiance of bullets, beatings and arrests at the hands of the security forces.

On Saturday 13 November, huge numbers of protestors mobilised for a second nationwide demonstration, after weeks of intense organisation efforts by the neighbourhood resistance committees – despite a total telecoms blackout and a campaign of terror by the counterrevolution.

Frederik Willem de Klerk, the last president of the Apartheid regime in South Africa, died on Thursday in Cape Town. He was president from 1989 to 1994. De Klerk presided over a monstrous counter-revolutionary regime that did everything possible to secure the interests of the ruling class against the revolutionary flood tide washing over the country in the 1990s. He was an unrepentant and committed Apartheid ideologue who defended the regime even after it was overthrown.

One year after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a war against the rebellious Tigray region, his army is on the verge of defeat and the Tigrayan forces are marching on the capital Addis Ababa. The federal government declared a national state of emergency on Tuesday.

In an important development, a fresh wave of strikes is currently rolling across the small Southern African state of eSwatini. This has become some of the most significant movements by the working class in the country’s history. Despite severe repression, new layers are entering the struggle, including transport workers, nurses and government workers, as well as other sections such as students. This entrance of the working class onto the scene in such an organised way could provide the necessary momentum to topple the absolute monarchy of Mswati III.

Four million people hit the streets of Sudan yesterday in a national demonstration against Monday’s military coup. At the same time, a general strike crippled the entire country, as dozens of trade unions and professional organisations came out in solidarity. This was met with ruthless violence by the counter revolution, resulting in heavy casualties and forcing the masses to retreat. We are now facing a decisive moment for the Sudanese revolution. Either it will go onto the offensive or it could face a bloody defeat. From here, no quarter can be asked or given.

The coup launched on Monday by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was supposed to be a swift and decisive seizure of power by the Transitional Military Council (TMC). But the coup plotters did not count on the strength of the revolutionary people, who have risen in their hundreds of thousands, launching protests and strikes all over the country to oppose any return to military rule. Lessons have been learned since Sudan’s 2019 uprising, which was never fully defeated. The seasoned masses have forced the military to a stalemate. Now, they must win victory.

Sudan’s transitional government has been toppled by a military coup. This long-threatened putsch was the inevitable consequence of attempted reconciliation between the leaders of the 2019 uprising and forces of counter-revolution. The enraged masses have returned to the streets in huge numbers, showing that the reserves of the Sudanese Revolution are not exhausted. What is required now is a relentless struggle to defeat the reactionary military leaders, once and for all. Read also our article from 2019, which predicted these events.

Turmoil has engulfed the impoverished west African country of Guinea since an army special operations unit announced that it had captured president Alpha Condé and dissolved his government on Sunday. The coup leader and head of the country’s special forces, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, announced on the state broadcaster on Sunday that the country’s constitution had been suspended and the borders closed. He also announced a 24-hour curfew in all areas except the mining areas.

On 2 August, the Liberia National Police (LNP) stormed the Capitol Hill campus of the University of Liberia (UL). They allegedly fired live ammunition and teargas to disperse hundreds of protesting students, leaving many severely injured. Many more were arrested. 

A decade after the 2010/11 revolution threw out the hated dictator Ben Ali, a wave of anti-government protest has rocked Tunisia. The government has been ousted in a palace coup, but there can be no faith in any bourgeois faction. The masses can trust only in their own strength. A new revolutionary upsurge by workers and youth is necessary to win a real future.