Oliver Tambo: Bitter Battles to Come

Oliver Tambo: Bitter Battles to Come

(Extracts from a Message of Support from Oliver Tambo, Acting President of the ANC, to the AAPSO – Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation – Council Meeting, January 1971)

“ … This Council meets at a time when, as never before, the strongholds of imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism and racism are being challenged, harassed and attacked in a global anti-imperialist offensive, which, even in the short space of time since the last meeting of the Council, has assumed a new intensity and a new ferocity, precisely because of the resolute determination of the peace-loving peoples of the world to seize, and retain, their dignity and independence – a determination which is matched by the equally resolute determination of the imperialists not only to retain what remains of their shrunken empires, but also to re-conquer and nullify the hard-won gains of the national liberation movement, the world Socialist System and the toiling workers and peasants of the world.”

“There is clear evidence that imperialism is losing ground, but it is also clear that the bitterest battles have yet to be fought in the course of Africa and Asia and for the complete defeat of imperialism.”

“It follows from what I have said that the Afro-Asian revolution which AAPSO – Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation – was formed to accelerate remains, and will yet remain, an unfinished revolution, especially if the mighty anti-imperialist forces continue in their present state of disunity, and if ‘massive’ or ‘increased’ material assistance to fighting peoples ends, where it begins, in speeches and resolutions.

“If therefore, I have any message for this Council Meeting, comprising militants and revolutionaries from the battlefronts of armed conflict, it is a simple one. Firstly, with the object of launching a decisive offensive to crush all resistance to the forces for peace and progress, let AAPSO initiate a new and powerful campaign to sink all differences and forge a solid united front to all anti-imperialist forces.”

“Secondly, let this Council adopt a resolution in which it deplores the fact that the tens of thousands of millions of the peoples of the world who support the national liberation movement cannot provide enough firearms, trucks, food, medicine and funds for even the handful of liberation movements fighting against colonialism and racism in Africa.”

“In conclusion, I wish to salute this Council Meeting in the name of the fighting people of South Africa and to acknowledge the valuable assistance and support given by AAPSO countries, and by our brother in the socialist countries in Europe. In particular, I salute the leaders of the new, dynamic and revolutionary Republic of Libya, which joined the vanguard of the anti-imperialist forces at a crucial moment in the history of the Middle East, and which has already played a historic role in its massive assistance to the struggle of the Palestinian people against Israeli domination.”

“And here it is appropriate to recall the tragic and ill-timed death of one of Africa’s political giants and an unequalled leader of his people, the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. He fell, like the great soldier he was, in the forefront of the fierce struggle for the rights of Man, for justice, for freedom, for peace. It is our historic task, as the Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation, to continue that struggle with added vigour until final victory is won.”

– Oliver Tambo –
(Afro-Asian Solidarity, January 1971)

Source:
Oliver Tambo, “Message of Support from Oliver Tambo, Acting President of the ANC, to the AAPSO Council Meeting”, Sechaba, Vol. 5, No. 2, February 1971, pp. 4 – 5).

Castro Khwela
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