On the global war that is now breaking out in Ukraine. A vision of the South and the people who are victims of colonial wars
We, united as inhabitants and citizens of the Earth, work for the peaceful and fraternal cooperation of all peoples. We believe in the possibility of resolving conflicts through dialogue and loving reason, which is the basis of the ancestral cultures of humanity, and not by force of arms, whether financial, such as economic blockades or propaganda wars, armed conflicts, paramilitary or declared occupations. war, as the world has seen in Ukraine since February 2022.
1 – In Latin America and the Caribbean, we are victims of more than a century of wars by the United States government, which attacks in several ways and has countless times occupied our territories, arming and financing coups and dictatorships, and provoking genocide. against our populations. It is from this revolting reality that we watch the same US imperial government breaking the international agreements it itself signed, as it did against indigenous peoples during the occupation of their territories. It is no longer concerned with masking the unequal conditions and injustices sanctioned by its treaties and economic agreements imposed on other countries. What is the legitimacy of the confiscation of 640 billion dollars of Russian reserves, as well as the gold reserves of Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries? The United States government enforces sanctions around the world, so today the countries hit by these blockades represent a large part of the world economy (source?). This has serious consequences for the entire population of the planet and especially for the poor countries of our continent. It is a permanent war of the rich against the oppressed classes, but also a constant manifestation of hatred against the poor (aporophobia).
2 – Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe, highly industrialized, with 40 million inhabitants, a fertile territory rich in minerals and energy resources. We know it has been marked by tension, conflict and violence. We understand that Ukraine is the cultural boundary between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Western Christendom. We see as an act of war the coup sponsored by the United States in 2014 and the attempt by the US and the European Union to establish NATO bases on the territory of Ukraine, an initiative contrary to the signed international agreements.
Current events make us question once again whether NATO’s existence still makes sense, as it is an oppressive alliance, with its ideological, geopolitical, economic and arms industry increasingly strengthening the power games with which the dominant countries of the North use to oppress. countries of the South, especially the poor peoples of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
3 – We agree that the war in Ukraine is part of the global war that Pope Francis has called “the third world war carried out in pieces.” We condemn the Russian military occupation of Ukraine as well as the NATO actions that served as a pretext for it. We know that in a war like this, there are no innocent parties and no one is completely blameless. Our pacifist position means advocating a diplomatically negotiated settlement. Russia’s military offensive must pave the way for the mobilization of all nations that defend Peace with Justice. We are part of the social forces that put pressure on both sides for a peaceful solution to this conflict.
However, we consider it important to denounce the decisive responsibility of the governments of the United States and the European Union in this war. The direct participation of the United States government in funding and overthrowing the legitimate government of Ukraine in 2014 may have been unprecedented in Europe, but on our continent, it is an experience repeated several times in different countries this century alone and dozens of others of the last century. .
4 – We express our solidarity with the civilian population directly affected by this war, especially with the youth, children and women who see their lives affected by a conflict initiated by the interests of rulers, large financial corporations and producers of armaments and fuels fossil.
5 – International data from FAO say that only in the first months of this year, the world has recorded an increase of 500 thousand victims of hunger. Apparently, this reality is much more cruel in poor countries like us in Latin America and the Caribbean, which are rich in common natural goods, diverse cultures and accumulated knowledge and technology, but which have impoverished the population thanks to domination and exploitation by rich countries, corporations and local elites.
One of the first consequences of the war – the increase in the price of fossil fuels – immediately affected the prices of basic foods and caused a drop in labor income as well as an increase in informal work. This shows us how urgent it is to cancel the subsidies to the big oil companies, break the price parity between national and imported hydrocarbons and finally, break our dependence on fossil fuels and restructure our energy matrix in a way sovereign and stable.
The war also increases the political articulation of the extreme right and new forms of fascism around the world, and this also has the most dramatic consequences in our own countries, whose democratic institutions are already structurally weakened by the new forms of colonialism to which we we continue to be. subjected.
6 – In the Agora of Earthlings, we have always maintained that all humanity should have a voice and space in international bodies of justice and law.
The context of the war in Ukraine has almost succeeded in removing the news of 28 other wars [source?] We especially want to join the peoples of Syria, Myanmar, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia, Palestine and others, as well as on our continent, the peoples of Cuba and Venezuela, a country constantly threatened and attacked by the paramilitary groups that occupy it from Colombia to ensure the interests of world capital in our continent.
Its urgent that peoples, social organizations and communities become aware that Peace and Justice are too important issues to be left to the discretion of rulers who behave as leaders of large economic corporations, owners of wars and cultivators of conflicts between peoples. It is important that our communities and people’s organizations understand that the ecological destruction caused by today’s weapons and the world’s prevailing way of life far outweighs any gains either side can make in these wars.
Capitalist society today is at war with Mother Earth, the waters, the land, the air and all living things. We must stand not only against wars in their current ferocity, but also against the factors that provoke them, as well as against the geopolitical, economic, advertising and cultural expressions that these wars take.
We invite communities and grassroots organizations of international civil society in the practice of Active Non-Violence in defense of human rights, the rights of the Earth and Mother Nature and against transnational and neo-colonialist corporations, their products and their way of consumption and production.
As men and women seeking peace with justice, we call upon all humanity to learn from the original peoples the paradigm of living well. We call on humanity to practice dialogue as an expression of the brotherhood of life and of the hope that another way of organizing human life in the world is possible, necessary and urgent.
AHT – Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth is a global network aiming at a progressive presence of organized civil society – empowered in voice and space – in international, regional and national forums. He focuses his research and action on the transformation of the world system on the basis of solidarity, cooperation, unity of diversity and the recognition of Nature as a subject of rights.
Co-authors: Marcelo Barros, Maíra Melo, Luiz Rena, Moema Viezzer, Anibal Facentinni, Don Lúis Infanti, Riccardo Petrella and Marcos Arruda.
On behalf of AHT-LAC (Agora of the inhabitants of the earth – Latin America and the Caribbean
