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Showing posts with label authoritarianism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authoritarianism. Show all posts

Friday, August 22, 2025

The Neofascist Colonial Agenda

What's the Agenda of the Neofascists and Neocolonialists?


Deo Adjuvante, Non Timendum

“With God as My Helper, I Have Nothing to Fear”



Understanding the Neofascist Colonial Agenda: African Solidarity, Global Oppression, and the Struggle for Black Liberation


By Dr. Kevin J. Turnquest-Alcena
Nassau, NP, The Bahamas


Introduction


In today’s rapidly changing world, it is more important than ever for the people of Africa, the Caribbean, and the wider diaspora to understand the dangers of the neofascist colonial agenda.  Although classical colonialism officially ended in the twentieth century, its strategies have evolved into more subtle and sophisticated systems designed to control weaker nations through political marginalization, economic dependency, and cultural domination.


While slavery and direct colonial rule may belong to the past, new forms of oppression have emerged under the labels of progress, globalization, and development.  History has shown us repeatedly that when societies fail to learn from the struggles of the past, they are destined to repeat them.  Our ancestors fought courageously against slavery, colonization, and systemic injustice, believing they were securing freedom for future generations.  Yet today, many of the same forces that once divided and exploited humanity are resurfacing in modern forms.


As Malcolm X warned, “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  The manipulation of information has become one of the most powerful tools of modern domination.


African Solidarity and Pan-Africanism


Across Africa and the diaspora, the call for solidarity has always been central to the fight for liberation.  Pan-Africanism, pioneered by leaders such as Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, and W.E.B. Du Bois, taught that people of African descent across the globe share a common history and a shared destiny.  It called for unity between Africa, the Caribbean, and global Black communities as a strategy to resist oppression and reclaim sovereignty.


Modern institutions such as the African Union (AU) and CARICOM are building on this vision.  The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to increase intra-African trade, reduce dependency on foreign markets, and strengthen Africa’s bargaining power on the global stage.  At the same time, CARICOM has launched a Reparations Commission to demand accountability for centuries of exploitation.


In recent years, CARICOM and the AU have begun coordinating their diplomatic efforts at the United Nations to ensure that reparations, debt justice, and equitable development remain central to the global agenda.  Pan-African solidarity is not symbolic. It is a practical strategy for empowerment.  By pooling economic resources, harmonizing policies, and strengthening regional alliances, African and Caribbean nations can create collective bargaining power in a global system that is still stacked against them.


Neofascism and the Global Power Struggle


Neofascism represents a dangerous resurgence of authoritarianism, systemic control, and concentrated power.  It does not always resemble the fascism of the early twentieth century. Instead, it has adapted to modern contexts, embedding itself within global policies, financial systems, and cultural institutions.


Although many African and Caribbean countries are politically independent, their economies remain tied to powerful global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).  These institutions promote policies that often deepen dependency rather than strengthen self-reliance.  Unequal trade agreements, restrictive loans, and one-sided investment deals are now tools of control designed to maintain global hierarchies.


As Kwame Nkrumah warned, “Neocolonialism is the last stage of imperialism.” Many nations appear politically free but remain economically constrained, unable to shape their destinies without external approval.


The Resurgence of Neo-Colonialism and Neo-Classism


In recent decades, there has been a clear resurgence of neo-colonialism.  While direct colonial rule has ended, new systems of control now operate through debt dependency, exploitative trade agreements, privatization policies, and resource extraction that benefit external powers far more than local populations.


At the same time, neo-classism has become a growing internal challenge. A small elite, often aligned with foreign interests, gains wealth and political influence while the majority face limited access to opportunities, poverty, and systemic inequality.


This resurgence is dangerous because it creates a double oppression. Nations are pressured externally by neo-colonial systems and internally by widening class divides. Those in power are sometimes co-opted into maintaining these global hierarchies, weakening resistance movements and fragmenting solidarity.


Neo-classism also deepens existing social divides, including elitism, privilege, and exclusionary access to education and economic advancement. Without addressing these structural inequalities, the vision of Pan-Africanism and Caribbean integration will remain incomplete.


Systemic Inequality and Global Dependence


Global economic systems continue to sustain dependency in developing regions.  International financial structures often favor large economies while limiting smaller nations’ ability to compete on equal terms.  Resource-rich regions still struggle with unfair contracts that undervalue exports, while illicit financial flows drain billions annually that could otherwise fund healthcare, education, and infrastructure.


As Marcus Garvey stated, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.”  Understanding the systemic nature of these challenges is the first step toward dismantling them.


The Caribbean Experience: Discrimination in Latin America


There is also a growing concern over how Caribbean citizens, especially Jamaicans, are treated when traveling to certain Latin American countries.  Many are initially welcomed through tourism campaigns and diplomatic agreements that appear friendly on the surface.  Yet, when they arrive, some face discrimination, hostility, or are even asked to leave despite following immigration rules.


This is not an isolated issue but part of a broader neocolonial pattern.  These nations create the appearance of openness and regional partnership, yet they engage in practices that exclude and marginalize Caribbean citizens.  It reflects deeper systemic biases disguised as immigration control.


CARICOM has a responsibility to act.  As a regional body, it must defend the dignity and rights of its citizens wherever they travel.  Stronger diplomatic negotiations, fairer travel agreements, and policies that ensure equal treatment across Latin America are necessary.


True Caribbean integration cannot exist if CARICOM members remain silent on these injustices.  Solidarity requires collective action to challenge discriminatory practices and ensure that Caribbean citizens are respected and protected.


External Destabilization and Regional Instability


African and Caribbean nations continue to face destabilization through geopolitical manipulation.  From economic sanctions and predatory loans to covert political interference, powerful actors often undermine independent leadership to secure strategic advantages. Conflicts are fueled, governments are destabilized, and economies are weakened in ways that make external intervention appear inevitable.


Modern strategies rarely rely on military invasion. Instead, influence spreads through financial dependency, trade manipulation, and security agreements. Achieving true sovereignty requires recognizing these patterns and creating regional strategies to resist them.


Self-Reflection: Internal Barriers to Progress


While external systems shape much of the struggle, internal challenges cannot be ignored.  Corruption, mismanagement, and weak governance in many African and Caribbean nations deepen poverty and inequality.  Transparency International’s 2024 data shows Sub-Saharan Africa scored lowest globally on the Corruption Perceptions Index, highlighting major accountability gaps in institutions.


Brain drain also weakens regional development.  Skilled professionals often leave in search of better wages and working conditions, depriving their home countries of vital talent.  While diaspora remittances are important, sustainable growth depends on creating conditions that encourage skilled workers to remain, return, and invest.


How Do We Fight Against These Things


The first step in fighting neocolonial and neofascist systems is awareness.  We must expose these structures and reveal the forces that continue to undermine sovereignty and development.  Many operate quietly, disguised behind trade policies, debt programs, and diplomatic partnerships.  By bringing these practices into the open, we weaken their influence and empower communities to act.


As Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand.  It never did and it never will.”  Progress requires confronting systems directly rather than accepting the narratives we are given.


Education must be prioritized.  Schools and communities across Africa, the Caribbean, and the diaspora need to teach accurate histories of colonization, exploitation, and resistance.  Without knowledge of the past, we cannot defend our future.


Economic independence is equally critical.  Initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and CARICOM integration strategies must be accelerated to strengthen intra-regional trade and reduce dependency on external markets.


CARICOM also needs to defend Caribbean citizens more forcefully, especially in cases of discrimination when traveling within Latin America.  Stronger diplomatic representation and legal protections are essential.


Externally, reforms are needed in global financial institutions and trade systems to ensure fairness.  Exposing exploitative contracts, restructuring unfair debt, and closing channels of illicit financial flows are critical to breaking cycles of dependency.


Internally, greater transparency, strong governance, and community-driven development are necessary.  Corruption, neo-classism, and elite capture must be addressed so that resources benefit populations rather than narrow interests.


Finally, regional unity is our most powerful defense.  A united Africa, Caribbean, and diaspora can speak with one voice, resist manipulation, and negotiate equitable partnerships on the global stage.


Conclusion


The neofascist colonial agenda threatens to reverse decades of progress by replacing open conquest with systemic dependency, financial manipulation, and cultural domination.  However, the power to resist lies within collective action, informed leadership, and regional solidarity.


As Malcolm X stated, “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”  Through education, exposure, economic cooperation, and unity, African and Caribbean nations can reclaim sovereignty and chart their own path toward development and dignity.


The future depends on vigilance, collaboration, and a refusal to accept systems that exploit, divide, and silence us.


August 21, 2025

Source / Comment

Monday, November 15, 2010

What does the emergence of a unified, anti-American, Europe-oriented trade bloc mean?

By Rebecca Theodore


If argument persists that a state cannot be fully understood if it is isolated from its historical development, then the transition from democracy to authoritarianism for Latin American countries implies that there must be a constant rewriting of the social contract based on new social and economic relations that are continually emerging in Latin America. Paradoxically, the return of democracy from authoritarianism not only demonstrates that ‘a government is legitimate if and only if no better feasible policy exists’ but also exhibits the fact that it is possible for democracies to be authoritarian as well.

Rebecca Theodore was born on the north coast of the Caribbean island of Dominica and resides in Toronto, Canada. A national security and political columnist, she holds a BA and MA in Philosophy. She can be reached at rebethd@aim.comOpponents have argued that Latin American state formation is more closely aligned with European state patterns due to colonial influences from the fifteenth century and it is to Western Europe that one needs to turn in order to uncover the roots of the embryonic parallel. However, it must be remembered that the US has also been deeply ingrained in Latin American affairs since 1823, when President James Monroe created the Monroe Doctrine to keep European powers out of the New World. In light of this, America’s reputation as the great superpower of the Andes and the savior of protectionism and liberalism is now viewed in Latin America as a policy of imperialism and a sign of utter weakness.

While China’s ideological connection of communism and socialism weakens US power in Latin America, it is evident that the European trade bloc is now Latin America’s primary trade partner. Latin American trade group Mercosur is the only multinational continent in the world to be united by a common linguistic background, a common culture, and a common religion factor making South America’s path to assimilation a lot smoother into the congregation of the European States of Europe. The legal structure of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) not only unites South America’s two major trade blocs -- Mercosur and the Andean Community -- but has now launched a South American Defense Council, unlike a NATO alliance to mediate regional conflicts and defense from foreign intervention and excludes the US from military planning in the region.

Moreover, Latin America is far more important to Europe as an industrial base than as a simple trade partner. The giant storehouse of timber, natural gas, crude oil, minerals, precious metals, and iron in the region from the Rio Grande to Terra del Fuego are resources that Europe needs in its ascension to world supremacy. The completion of the largest steel-producing complex in Brazil by ThyssenKrupp means steel products will be actively churned out to be sold to Germany and South American countries, with Venezuela as the principal buyer. This also means that the US-backed Área de Libre Comercio de las Américas (FTAA) is dead. Estados de América Latina ha creado su propio barrio, y los Estados Unidos de América no es parte de ella. (Latin American states have created their own neighborhood and the US is not a part of it.)

It is clear that anti-Americanism is now the common premise across every political party in Latin and South America. While Evo Morales is rapidly following Chavez’s lead by nationalizing Bolivia’s oil and gas in a move that reverberates that of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe’s land for grab deals, the newly elected president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff is just a hand-chosen puppet of wildly popular President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s policies. With huge oil reserves recently discovered off Brazil’s coast, and with a rare earth debate gaining momentum between China and Germany that excludes American interest, Rousseff inherits an economy that is among the world's hottest emerging markets and this means that it will need more than a party shift in the US House of Representatives to advance bilateral relationship.

Hugo Chávez on the other hand has, without doubt, polarized Venezuela’s society and intellectual debate by undermining civil liberties, threatening the continuity of democratic governance, hence his accompaniment of a repulsive episode of an ALBA alliance that provided Honduran president Manuel Zelaya and Ecuadoran Rafael Correa with a foretaste of how to rewrite the constitution and establish authoritarian rule in Honduras, leaving a Honduran legislature buried in turmoil and controversy over US intelligence officials bribing Ecuadoran police, and recruiting informants among them. Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, and Chile are all offering radical transformation and presenting different alternatives to deal with the consequences of economic reforms.

Now that the US has lost Latin America to Europe and China as primary trade partners also means that the Republicans’ tsunami win in the House of Representatives will prove that Barack Obama is not suffering the blunders of a political double standard on the economy as has been so widely anticipated. As Republicans embrace their ambitious legislative agenda they will in time notice that the U.S. economy is starving to death and reducing the deficit or the current unemployment rate of 9.6% and fighting the Great Recession is no magic but a sign of the times.

Trade with Latin America, coupled with other economic factors, has already started reading the eulogy of the US dollar, thereby exposing the grave danger of the economic reverberations that are just now beginning to shake the nucleus of the world’s financial systems. Regardless of what anyone says, this is not an Obama problem, it is a global problem -- “blame it on the economy stupid”. The only self-sustaining economic bloc is the establishment of an EU-style government and for this reason EU status must be fortified in the UN because Latin and South American states, Caribbean states and even Africa have no option other than complete reliance on the economic ties of a German-led EU, or cling to the apron strings of a Russo-China alliance in their quest for economic reforms.

Whether it means that economic reformers in the US need to employ authoritarian tactics to defend democratic processes or risk total failure or that democratic governments in Latin America are not authoritarian enough to defend positive economic reforms; it is clear that the new trend in Latin America is… Buenos dias Europe, Adios America, pero quando o povo esta morrendo de fome, a democracia e’ so uma palavra.” Good morning Europe, Goodbye America, because when the people are starving democracy is just a word.

November 15, 2010

caribbeannewsnow

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Populism in Venezuela





It's a familiar tale. A new leader emerges in a poor country that has lots of wealth but a highly unequal division of income. He pledges to transform the society with generous social programmes, and by using the state to take much of the economy out of the hands of private capitalists, orienting it to the people's needs. But within a few years, the economy stutters, shortages spread, and those goods which can be obtained sell at inflated prices. Poor people suffer. Disappointed by the revolution, they turn against it.

This time, it's Hugo Chávez's Venezuela. But the story has played out countless times before elsewhere, and no doubt will play out countless more times in other lands. Indeed, some readers might even have read the narrative of Jamaica in the 1970s in this story.

Venezuela is a country rich in oil, riding the commodity boom. But try telling that to residents of Caracas, where water is now rationed and power cuts are common. President Chávez is telling his compatriots just to be snappy in showers, saying he can do it in only three minutes. He blames the water and electricity shortage - Venezuela has the world's third-largest hydroelectric dam - on El Nino. That seems a bit rich in a country with such a large river system.

There are probably more banal forces at work. As I once argued in one of my books, stable political systems are founded on two overlapping regimes: an accumulation regime, and a distribution regime. The first refers to how an economy's output is generated, the second to how it is distributed.

Citizens expect to get their fair share out of the system - distribution. But that means the system must deliver a growing economy, to satisfy a growing population's rising demands - accumulation.

Balance




Chavez

Too much investment means too little spending and vice versa. A balance has to be struck. When it breaks down, a political crisis develops.

One could argue that Venezuela was ripe for the Bolivarian revolution because years of rising oil prices hadn't translated into popular gains. The regime was too focused on accumulation. But Mr Chávez has arguably bent the stick too far in the other direction. By distributing oil-price windfalls in the early years of his revolution, he certainly made himself popular. But the resultant under-investment in capacity and infrastructure (previously, profits were being reinvested) has created a situation in which supply can't keep up with rising demand. There results inflation, and shortages.

Defenders of such revolutions will often blame capitalist scheming for undermining a socialist revolution. That's often too crude an analysis. Socialism concerns itself primarily not with the management of distribution, but with the management of accumulation itself. At its heart lies the belief in some form of common ownership.

Noble though the intentions may be, rushing to distribute the profits of a capitalist economy arguably does not amount to socialism, but populism. It is inherently unstable as a political strategy. Ultimately, it fails the very people it is intended to benefit. Not surprisingly, Mr Chávez's approval ratings are falling.

With legislative elections due next year, Mr Chávez may face a dilemma. Should voters turn against his party, he could accept their verdict. Or, as is often the temptation for populist leaders in these circumstances, he could stiffen his resolve and harden the revolutionary stance of his government. The last stage of a doomed revolution is all too often authoritarianism.

One can only hope that if, and when, that moment comes, Mr Chávez will prove to be as good a democrat as Michael Manley was when his electorate terminated his revolution.

jamaica-gleaner