By Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores – Colombia
In November, when Trump’s election victory was announced, we said that “the triumph of Donald Trump in the U.S. elections is a manifestation of the lack of a revolutionary alternative for the working class and people of all countries. Faced with this situation, there is a political tendency to change from ‘liberal’ (known as moderate right or even centre-left) or ‘progressive’ governments to conservative, more ‘right-wing’ or supremacist ones[1]. This lack of direction is exacerbated by the fact that workers on all continents are rising up against the manifestations of the ever-deepening crisis of capitalism. And while they are seeking solutions and profound changes, they are unfortunately being led by their leaderships into the electoral arena in order to divert the struggle for social revolution.
We also warned of the dangers that this would bring to Colombia, including divestment, diplomatic tensions with Petro, changes in migration policy and anti-drug policy. In addition, we warned that uribismo would take advantage of its new ally in the north to strengthen itself. The current situation is part of this process, and if a programme of mass deportations is implemented, the percentage of GDP corresponding to remittances could be affected (close to 3% in 2024).
The crisis of the deportees
The raids, the campaign against immigrants on U.S. soil and the subsequent mass deportations carried out by the Trump administration have sparked outrage as people have been treated as criminals, handcuffed and shackled simply because they are undocumented. Several governments, including Petro’s, have spoken out to the U.S. government, demanding that their citizens be treated with dignity and as human beings. The President of Honduras has said that if this continues she will consider closing the U.S. military base in her country, and the Presidents of Mexico and Brazil have denounced the criminal treatment of deportees sent back to those countries.
We must not forget that democratic governments have deported as many or more immigrants, but without making such a fuss, and that both Republicans and Democrats defend the interests of the North American imperialist bourgeoisie, which invades and murders just as it does in Palestine. Therefore, our struggle is not against the far right and for the Democrats. It is for the rights of the exploited and oppressed workers, and against all exploiters and oppressors, be they liberal, conservative or fascist.
That is why, first of all, we want to express our solidarity with the deported workers and their families, and that we are in favour of any measure that guarantees their rights.
For the vast majority of Latin Americans, the xenophobic and degrading treatment of immigrants by the U.S. government has been clear. These are workers who have decided to go north because of the high rates of unemployment in their countries of origin. Added to this are the miserable wages and precarious jobs that do not even guarantee survival in decent conditions. Paradoxically, it is these conditions of exploitation that we suffer in our countries that make possible the high standard of living in the imperialist countries to which the waves of migrants are eagerly heading. The semi-colonial countries are invaded and plundered and become unbearable hells for millions of people who prefer to risk death in search of a better opportunity for their families.
The open diplomatic crisis between the governments of Colombia and the United States and the angry reaction of the latter reveals the nature of the relations of the semi-colonial countries with the imperialist countries. It highlights that these are relations of domination and the imposition of military, economic and social policies, which are exercised through various mechanisms such as World Bank and IMF loans with exorbitant interest rates, in addition to measures such as the privatisation of public services and the plundering of natural resources by transnational corporations. We can also add to this list the Free Trade Agreements, FTAs, OECD plans, which benefit imperialism and a minority sector of the Colombian bourgeoisie and harm the workers and other oppressed sectors of the class. This is because in the economy, whoever does best is whoever controls the market, and in the world, the market is controlled by imperialist corporations.
Anti-imperialist discourse but no action
Petro’s refusal to allow the first planes to land and his subsequent response to Trump’s threats was correct but insufficient. This is because it was not accompanied by truly consistent actions in defence of national sovereignty. Petro’s gesture was democratic and in defence of human rights, but it is far from anti-imperialist. A process of negotiation followed, in which Trump ensured that the Colombian government apologised, and Petro acknowledged that relations were bad but that he was willing to talk.
It is no secret that the vast majority of governments in Latin America, whether progressive or right-wing, have been subservient to the interests of imperialist governments, and Petro is no exception. He has demonstrated this with his handling of the island of Gorgona. The island is considered to be a marine sanctuary because of its biodiversity, and which will now be handed over to the U.S. government so that it can install a radar and military personnel to control maritime traffic in this region of the Pacific, under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking. Nor has it broken with military aid and financial assistance agreements, such as Plan Colombia, which was signed in 2000 under the same pretext of fighting drug trafficking and terrorism. The agreement allows for the presence of large numbers of U.S. Defence Department personnel and military contractors. Within the long-standing framework that is the Monroe Doctrine, there is also the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR). Signed with almost all Latin American countries, it has remained in force since 1947 and is in reality a kind of Latin Amweican NATO. This agreement is also for the benefit of U.S. imperialism, of course.
Although it was important to preserve the dignity of the deportees by preventing them from arriving in chains, it is also important to guarantee their rights and those of their families, who have certainly lost their livelihoods through remittances. These people need decent and formal employment and not indebtedness and speeches about “entrepreneurship”, which Petro announced as “aid”.
What is to be done?
The Colombian bourgeoisie, who has always been a lackey of U.S. dictates, came out to challenge the government. Led by the Liberal Party, with César Gaviria at its head, it declared itself in opposition to the government. Later, it was made clear that Uribe’s intervention helped resolve the conflict, while the Colombian government has not denied the role it played in smoothing over diplomatic relations with the U.S. In fact, Laura Sarabia defended Petro’s decision to call on the former president’s assistance by declaring that asking former presidents for help is the most natural thing to do. Beyond the role that Uribe may have played, what is most questionable is that Petro (or his official Sarabia) called on bourgeois ex-presidents to help resolve the crisis with the Trump administration instead of calling on the workers and peoples of Latin America to mobilise. We can only condemn this act, which is natural for any bourgeois government, but despicable for a government elected by the workers and popular sectors in rejection of, above all, uribismo.
Today, some ‘progressive’ governments claim dignity in the face of the Trump administration, but this dignity requires demanding respect and conditions of equality, because no human being on this planet is illegal. National borders are artificial, designed to divide and subjugate workers and peoples. As the song says: “Between your people and my people there is only a dot and a line.” And it is we, the workers and poor of the planet, who must unite against imperialism. Our task is even more urgent today since it threatens to destroy the planet because of capitalist greed and is only interested in its profits at the cost of destroying water, natural resources and humanity.
An anti-imperialist discourse is of little use if real anti-imperialist measures are not taken, accompanied by the mobilisation of workers, popular sectors and indigenous peoples. This short diplomatic crisis and the arrival of Trump for a second term puts the region’s anti-imperialist struggle at the top of the agenda.
We, the workers, peasants, indigenous peoples and other oppressed sectors, are the ones who have to put things right in this country and in the world. The imperialist masters only want us to submit to their dictates and only if we rebel and fight for a second independence will we be able to move forward.
In this sense, we call on workers’ organisations, trade union federations, social organisations, indigenous peoples and all organisations that claim to defend the country to demand that Petro lead the following actions:
- A regional campaign calling on the governments of Latin America to defend the sovereignty of the peoples of the region through mobilisation.
- In the face of the U.S. offensive, appeal to the workers and the people and not to bourgeois ex-presidents, least of all genocidal ones.
- Reject deportations, no one is illegal.
- Break the economic pacts of submission to the OECD and the IMF, break completely relations with Israel.
- Break Colombia’s ties with NATO, of which Colombia is a global member.
- Break with the Free Trade Agreements with the United States, which are nothing more than unequal trade that benefits the U.S. bourgeoisie and a small sector of the local bourgeoisie, while impoverishing the majority.
- Non-payment of the external debt.
- Break with imperialism’s anti-drug policy, legalisation and regulation!
- Break with the military pacts and close the U.S. military bases in the countries where they are installed. Break with the TIAR, Plan Colombia and any treaty that violates national sovereignty and independence.
- Immediate withdrawal of U.S. military personnel, advisers and mercenaries in Colombia, whatever their ‘mission’.
- Immediate suspension of the Gorgona base project, disguised as a ‘Coast Guard station’, and of the plan to bring NATO members or foreign troops into the Amazon. We want the U.S. out of the Colombian Pacific and our natural resources.
- Decent and formal employment for deportees, no debt and no entrepreneurship.
- Expropriation of U.S. multinationals and expulsion of Yankee businessmen.
- Latin American unity of workers and peoples in the face of the imperialist offensive.
- For a second national and social independence!
Signed, Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party
1 February 2024
Source:
[1] U.S. elections: The meaning of Trump’s re-election for Colombia https://www.magazine.pstcolombia.org/2024/11/elecciones-en-estados-unidos-el-significado-de-la-reeleccion-de-trump-para-colombia/
