(TALKZIMBABWE) AU and US Congressional Black Caucus coalition needed

AU and US Congressional Black Caucus coalition needed
Lloyd Whitefield BUTLER, Jr.
Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:27:00 +0000

“People may ask how we, who have been opponents for so long, can possibly work together in government. On this I ask all Zimbabweans to hear these words. I have signed this agreement because I believe it represents the best opportunity for us to build a peaceful, prosperous, democratic Zimbabwe.

I have signed this agreement because my belief in Zimbabwe and its peoples runs deeper than the scars I bear from the struggle. I have signed this agreement because my hope for the future is stronger than the grief I feel for the needless suffering of the past years.” Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai

“Hundreds of Pan-Africanists came out to the National Black Theatre on Sunday, February 8 to hear a historic panel on scholars and activists declare total solidarity with Zimbabwe and the leadership of President Robert G. Mugabe. The powerful gathering demanded an “end to the illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe”. The rally was sponsored by The December 12th Movement and the Friends of Zimbabwe whose rally theme was “Pan Africanism or Imperialism”. The New York Amsterdam News (2/12-18/09)

THE African Union and US Congressional Black Caucus must form a coalition based on historical and mutual interest; it appears both institutions are fast asleep at the switch of big business and history. However, western busy-bodies and snoopers are actively burning the midnight oil in tracing African oil and mineral profits for undeclared intentions.

The NY Amsterdam News also reported how a “U.S. Senator Urges Buildup of Military Presence In Africa” and that ‘AFRICOM is widely unpopular among African leaders, who are skeptical of a U.S. led professionalization of their armies”.

The theme Pan Africanism or Imperialism may sound far fetched to some but its colonial head is rearing itself in the U.S. Senate in 2009.

US Congressional statements by U.S. Senator Russ Feingold on “Africa and U.S. AFRICOM” at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, D.C., 01/28/09 are revealing and poorly informed. Senator Feingold has yet to commend the All Inclusive government of Zimbabwe and the brotherly love shown between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Senator Feingold’s committee’s heard testimony from one of their key all-white lobbyist Global Witness (GW). The testimony “Resource Curse or Blessing: Africa’s Extractive Industries in a Time of Record Oil and Mineral Prices” by Simon Taylor, Director and Co-Founder Global Witness only demonstrates Anglo America’s true foreign policy interest: mechanisms of neo-colonial control and containment. It is amazing how there policies do not apply to the EU and US.

Global Witness reported with distaste how ‘Africa exported $249 billion in oil and minerals in 2006, nearly six times the value of international aid to the continent,’ and how ‘A lack of transparency has meant that billions of dollars cannot be accounted for, from Angola to Equatorial Guinea.’

‘Although few people realize it, more oil from Africa now goes into gasoline in the U.S. than from the Persian Gulf. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 23% of U.S. oil imports currently come from Africa – more than the combined U.S. imports from the Persian Gulf, which are 18%.

The largest oil producing nation in Africa is now Angola, which now ranks as the seventh largest oil exporter to the U.S. – ahead of Kuwait, Russia, and Colombia combined. So nearly one-quarter of American gasoline comes from Africa, and Angola is Africa’s largest oil producing country.

GW also made subtle suggestions on ‘The Supply chain and how we can influence it. So what exactly is the supply chain for African oil coming to the U.S., and how can we influence it to help reverse the resource curse?’

Why does GW find trade with Africa a “resource curse?” Is it because black Africans are profiting?

One Global Witness press release promoted “Conflict diamond scheme must suspend Zimbabwe” after the Zimbabwe government re-established law and order and a business setting for investors in the diamond fields - 12/12/2008.

‘Members of the Kimberley Process (KP) Civil Society Coalition are calling upon the KP to suspend Zimbabwe from the rough diamond certification scheme, in light of recent violence used by the government to take control of the Chiadzwa diamond fields.”

As a 16-year member and Chairman of the all-white Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs Russ Feingold committee’s imperial beliefs are as follows:

* ... we in Congress should work across the spectrum of agencies here in Washington as well as with AFRICOM's leadership to help craft a combatant command that is doing the right job, for the right reasons and can thus be adequately resourced.

* By expanding our diplomatic presence in Africa, including outside the capitals, we increase our ability to learn about the continent -- its governments, its people and its cultures. Right now, we do not have the necessary human resources or expertise on the African continent to gather this information and anticipate emerging crises or fully understand existing ones.

* Diplomatic reporting and open source collection in Africa are a critical complement to the clandestine work of the Intelligence Community, and I have long called for more resources for both.

* At present, there are several devastating crises that we cannot ignore, including in Congo, Nigeria, the Sahel, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

While Senator Russ Feingold’s all White subcommittee on African Affairs, and soon to be all white American Senate, plans neo-colonial policies for Africa with US taxpayer funds the borders of the United States are crying out for an AMERICOM.

African leaders should be aware that the same foreign policy that set up impoverished and corrupt governments in post-colonial Africa and Latin America are now reformatting its details on the African Union. US Senator Feingold should direct his attention to massive corruption on the borders of America and stop meddling in the affairs of duly elected African governments.

Senator Russ Feingold appears to be completely unaware of fugitive convict Roy Bennett’s legal status and Zimbabwe constitutional law by advocating the release of a fugitive before trial.

According to The Zimbabwe Guardian: “Three years ago in March, Roy Bennett left Zimbabwe under cover of darkness, after he was accused of plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe. He was wanted by police in connection with the discovery of an arms cache at Peter Hitschmann’s house in Mutare. Hitschmann was immediately arrested, charged and later convicted.

‘In 2004 Bennett spent eight months in jail for punching Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa in parliament. Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi said Bennett was a “fugitive” who escaped after being granted bail in a bid to avoid justice while his alleged partner in crime, Peter Hitschmann has since been convicted.

“There was a warrant of arrest issued against Bennett by the courts. We are merely upholding the law and putting the court order into effect . . . that is our constitutional mandate. No one is above the law and he (Bennett) sought asylum knowing full well that he was being charged with a crime,” Mohadi said.

“We had been looking for him for one and a half weeks prior to catching him at the airport where he was planning to leave the country. So we apprehended him immediately because his case is pending,” explained Mohadi.

White farmer, Roy Bennett will go on trial commencing March 4 after a magistrate found reasonable grounds for him to stand trial.

Bennett, who is the MDC Treasurer General and a former legislator, was designated for the deputy minister of agriculture post, briefly appeared at Mutare magistrate's court on Wednesday.

Feingold’s recent press release stating: "I am deeply concerned by the arrest of Roy Bennett. This appears to have been a deliberate attempt to keep him from being sworn in with other cabinet members last week and to undermine the newly formed unity government. If so, this is calls into question Robert Mugabe and his allies’ commitment to genuinely share power and implement democratic reforms. I will continue to monitor the situation in Zimbabwe and Mr. Mugabe's actions closely. I urge the Obama administration to do all it can to ensure that Mr. Bennett is not tortured and to press for his immediate release” demonstrates political naiveté.

Monitoring needed on US Mexican border & Latin America

According to the Council of Hemispheric Affairs, CHA, America’s foreign policy is politically and economically devastating on Latin America. Senator Feingold’s committee on Africa should concern itself with America’s backyard immediately. The report states:

“The Rock in the Sun”: Haiti’s [Rene] Préval Pleads For the U.S. and Rest of the World to End Global Negligence Towards Latin America’s Poorest Country. ‘Haitian President Préval’s dilemma may continue as he makes his case before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and international lending agencies. The failed state continues to suffer in spite of it being led by a worthy president. Visit lacking high visibility.’

The CHA’s report covered such topics as Haitian Food Shortage, World Intervention: A Failed Attempt at Stabilization; and The Tactics of a Drug Strategy: Mexico.

The CHA’s report mentions West Point Adjunct professor of International Affairs, Retired US General Barry R. McCaffrey who is quoted from an After Action Report after visiting Mexico 5-7 December 2008. ‘An Afghanistanization of Mexico and Central America becomes a strong possibility, if not a near certainty, claims a report written by ex-Drug Czar [US] General McCaffrey, referring to the specific areas within Mexican territory being wrested from the government’s de facto control by powerful drug lords who would then not hesitate to set up their own shadow authority.’

‘For well over a century, the Monroe doctrine dictated U.S. policy towards the rest of the Americas. …the past eight years have seen U.S. influence in Latin America badly erode and progressively usurped by powers from outside the hemisphere. Russia and China in particular have been active in the region, as well as Iran and the European Union…’

‘Assisting the Mexican government with military aid and intelligence will have little effect if the DTOs (Drug Trafficking Organization) continue to arm themselves with US-secured weaponry from cross-border sources. The importance of acknowledging the price that the war on drugs has cost the region, which has been fueled by high levels of US consumption and eager DTOs doing the supplying, must be of more than cosmetic note to the Obama administration.

‘A failure by the Mexican political system to curtail lawlessness and violence could result [in] a surge of millions of refugees crossing the US border to escape the domestic misery of violence, failed economic policy, poverty, hunger, joblessness, and the mindless cruelty and injustice of a criminal state. Mexico is not confronting dangerous criminality--- it is fighting for survival against narco-terrorism.”

Black American input in US African foreign policy wanted

To assist African development in technology, agriculture, and venture capital the US Congressional Black Caucus should continue to initiate a pro-active Africa Policy whereby no legislation or executive orders, directly or indirectly affecting Africa, be passed without their approval. Presently, all white American committees, NGO’s, research groups, lobbyist, and non-Africans are forging African policy. This must stop.

Some of Africa’s most urgent needs have been acknowledged by the US Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health; and reported in historical context the following:

* International donors started to cut back on international agricultural assistance in the 1980s. In 1980 the US was a leading international advocate for agricultural development assistance, with nearly 25% of official development assistance (ODA) going to this sector. A decade later the share had fallen to about six per cent of the total. By 2003 it stood at one per cent. Although this drop occurred at a time when overall US foreign assistance was rising in constant dollar terms, the net effect is still a dramatic decrease: between 1980 and 2003 total bilateral ODA increased by 69%, but agricultural aid dropped by 98%.

* The cutting of agricultural development assistance in the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been so thorough that the term ‘‘agriculture’’ is hardly used. The agency still has an agriculture office, but its total budget had dropped to just $27 million. The total US development assistance to agriculture from all USAID offices now stands at a mere $169 million, or 1% of the total ODA.

* This has significantly undercut the capacity of the US to be a serious diplomatic player in Africa where agriculture still remains a core economic activity.

* Africa has lagged behind other regions of the world in agricultural development for two main reasons. First, its institutions of higher learning hardly played their role as promoters of agricultural innovation. They focused on producing functionaries for the civil service. Second, reductions in foreign agricultural assistance undermined the local research efforts as well as international university partnership.

* The challenge now is to forge a new partnership between the US and Africa that will bring new financial resources to enable US universities to team up with their African counterparts.

* One of the main challenges in African higher education is the isolation of campuses and training facilities. University textbooks are often decades out of date and students have little access to more recent information: road travel is difficult and slow, air travel expensive; and Internet connections are prohibitively expensive. It is not possible to spread information about available agricultural practices when it can cost a day’s wages for an African student to log on at an Internet cafe´ to download a paper or brochure. Most students have no Internet access at all through their universities. African universities of the size of the University of California Berkeley or the University of Texas at Austin have the Internet capability of a single US household. They do not buy more capacity because even this limited connection can cost up to $15,000 per month. A digitally-isolated Africa cannot effectively educate its students or provide adequate post-graduate training.

* In much of Africa, communications prices are far higher than the cost of infrastructure warrants. Africa (other than South Africa) is currently linked to the developed world by a single fiber-optic cable down the West Africa coast. It is the most digitally-isolated region on the globe. Even so, that single cable is still underutilized.

* That cable is operated as a monopoly, and the owners (a consortium of Africa and foreign, including US companies) have set bandwidth prices so high that most users connect via satellite instead. Bandwidth in much of Africa is sold for prices 40–100 times higher than in the US although operating expenses are not significantly different.

* Monopoly firms have adopted a ‘‘high cost, low volume’’ business strategy. The curbing of the monopolies in Africa is a necessary step in its economic development.

* Energy is another area that stalls Africa’s agricultural development and economic growth. The continent has abundant new and renewable energy resources—hydropower, geothermal, biomass, solar, and in some countries, wind potential. Africa accounts for only about 5% of world primary energy demand and this is unevenly distributed.

* Only about 36% of the population has access to electricity and most of this is in urban areas. Nearly 80% of the continent’s rural population has no access to electricity. The majority of these people rely on traditional biomass such as wood and agricultural residues as their main energy source with far-reaching ecological implications.

* Much of the discussion about Africa’s energy situation focuses on trends in supply and demand and their environmental implications. What is often ignored is the importance of technological innovation associated with energy use which can be a springboard for technology used to tackle wider conservation challenges. Discussions should be placed in the context of using technological innovation to boost the transition to sustainability.

* Geothermal energy is a good example. Using existing technology, Eastern Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) has the potential to generate over 2,500 MW of electricity from geothermal energy (out of the current global output of 8,100 MW). Geothermal energy production involves building capacity in a wide range of fields including ecology, chemistry, geology, engineering and electronics. The expertise needed is similar to that needed for natural resource management. Building geothermal energy capacity can therefore go hand in hand with efforts to meet longer term sustainable development as well as sustainable energy targets.

* The 8th Summit of the African Union adopted far-reaching decisions on science and technology at its January 2007 session in Addis Ababa. The presidents committed themselves to ‘‘Encourage more African youth to take up studies in science, technology and engineering, and invite Member States to pay special attention to the teaching of science and technology,’’ African Union. 2007. Addis Ababa Declaration on Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development.

* The development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been an integral part of the development of all industrialized economies. This holds true in Africa. Building these enterprises requires development of pools of capital for investment, of local operational, repair and maintenance expertise, and of a regulatory environment that allows small business to flourish. Africa must review its incentive structures to promote these objectives, and the international community must promote investment in African businesses.

* They need to support agribusiness and technology incubators, export processing zones and production networks as well as sharpening the associated skills through agribusiness education. The US can help in all these avenues.

* Banks and financial institutions also play key roles in fostering technological innovation and supporting investment in homegrown domestic businesses. Unfortunately, their record in promoting technological innovation in Africa has been poor.

* Capital markets have played a critical role in creating SMEs in other developed countries. Venture capitalists not only bring money to the table, they also help groom small and medium-sized start-ups into successful enterprises. Venture capital in Africa, however, barely exists outside of South Africa and needs to be introduced and nurtured.

* Industrialized countries have supported, funded and promoted institutions of higher technical learning, as well as academies of engineering and technology, professional engineering and technological associations, and industrial and trade associations.

* Higher technical education is increasingly (and belatedly) being recognized as critical for development. While primary education has been the focus of the donor community for decades, secondary and higher education and research are now beginning to gain policy attention.

* BUILDING CAPABILITIES FOR INNOVATION: The role of universities as vehicles of community development is exemplified by the US land-grant system, which led to the founding of 106 universities, including Colorado State, Rutgers, Texas A&M, and the entire University of California system. The system not only played a key role in transforming rural America, but also offered the world a new model for bringing knowledge to support development. While the model largely is associated with agriculture, its adaptation to industry also occurred. Universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and parts of Stanford University owe their heritage to the land grant system.

* Arguments against the model tend to focus on the claim that universities that devote their time to practical work are not academic enough. As a result a hierarchy exists that places such institutions either off or at the lower end of the academic ladder.

* EARTH University emerged in a context that mirrors today’s Africa: economic stagnation, high unemployment, ecological decay, armed conflict. Inspired by the need for new attitudes and paradigms, EARTH University was created in 1990 as a non-profit, private, international university dedicated to sustainable agricultural education in the tropics.

If western international business and its American-EU military surrogacy is to survive as a civilized society it better get over its racist attitude and behavior toward Africans and deal with them equitably.

The African Union and the Congressional Black Caucus must establish a coalition to monitor African American continental relations in international security terms. If, not Africa and America can expect war, an economic collapse, loss of trade, and the complete downfall of the American dollar.