Manka @dmanka_ - Twitter Profile

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7 days ago

Thomas Sankara’s famous address on foreign debt was delivered on July 29, 1987, at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is widely considered one of the most powerful anti-imperialist speeches in history. Excerpts... On the Origins of the Debt "We think that debt has to be seen from the perspective of its origins. Debt's origins come from colonialism's origins. Those who lend us money are those who colonized us. They are the same ones who used to manage our states and economies. These are the colonizers who indebted Africa through their brothers and cousins, who were the lenders. We had no connections with this debt. Therefore we cannot pay for it. Debt is neo-colonialism, in which colonizers have transformed themselves into 'technical assistants.' We should rather say 'technical assassins.' Under its current form, controlled and dominated by imperialism, debt is a skillfully managed reconquest of Africa, intended to subjugate its growth and development through foreign rules." On the Impossibility of Repayment "The debt cannot be repaid, first of all, because, if we don't pay, the lenders won't die. Of that you can be sure. On the other hand, if we do pay, we are the ones who will die. Of that you can be equally sure. Those who led us into debt were gambling, as if they were in a casino. As long as they were winning, there was no problem. Now that they're losing their bets, they demand repayment. There is talk of a crisis. No, Mr. President. They gambled. They lost. Those are the rules of the game. Life goes on. We cannot repay because we don't have any means to do so. We cannot pay because we are not responsible for this debt. We cannot repay but the others owe us what the greatest wealth could never repay, that is a debt of blood. Our blood had flowed." On the Moral Argument "When we say the debt cannot be paid we are in no way against morality, dignity, or respect for one's word. It's our view that we don't have the same morals as the other side. The rich and the poor don't share the same morals. The Bible and the Koran can't serve in the same way those who exploit the people and those who are exploited. There will have to be two editions of the Bible and two editions of the Koran." The Call for a United Front "It is our duty to create an Addis Ababa united front against debt. That is the only way to assert that the refusal to repay is not an aggressive move on our part, but a fraternal move to speak the truth. Furthermore, the popular masses of Europe are not opposed to the popular masses of Africa. Those who want to exploit Africa are those who exploit Europe, too. We have a common enemy. So our Addis Ababa Club will have to explain to each and all that debt shall not be repaid." Sankara famously closed the speech by noting that if Burkina Faso stood alone in refusing to pay, he would not survive the next summit—a chillingly prophetic statement, as he was assassinated just three months later in October 1987. #ThisIsAfrica