Gathering in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt

Non-Aligned Movement calls for ‘new economic order’

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

The 15th Non-Aligned Movement summit was held July 15-16 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, with the theme of “International Solidarity for Peace and Development.” The NAM, founded in 1961, has a membership of 118 nations throughout the developing world.

The meeting emphasized the role of the Western industrialized states in creating the economic crisis that has rendered tens of millions of people unemployed and impoverished throughout the world.

Cuban President Raul Castro

Cuban President Raul Castro, outgoing chair of the NAM, delivered the keynote address to nearly 60 heads of state and 8,000 delegates from various countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Other leaders, such as President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, also spoke to the NAM summit and stressed the necessity that the organization provide an effective alternative to the international financial institutions as well as the United Nations.

Mugabe, whose southern African nation has been subjected to intense sanctions and vilification by the imperialist states over the last decade, has recently overseen the implementation of an inclusive coalition government encompassing the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front and the two main opposition parties of the Movement for Democratic Change. Yet the country is still subjected to sanctions by the U.S., Britain and the European Union.

In his address, Mugabe said: “The Movement cannot afford a business-as-usual approach. ... Our clear and present challenge is ... delivering a just, peaceful and equitable world order. The Non-Aligned Movement faces renewed attempts by some Western countries to interfere in the internal affairs of NAM member countries. This ‘big brother is watching’ state of affairs is a grave danger to international peace and security.

“The severity of the machinations by the Western world has often manifested itself in a number of ways, including the use of surreptitious and illegal attempts by some Western countries to abuse the U.N. Security Council to unjustly punish developing countries through the imposition of illegal and unilateral sanctions.” (Zimbabwe Herald, July 16)

Zimbabwe “was a target of these abhorrent machinations,” continued Mugabe. “We need to recognize that as long as the U.N. retains its present form, it will continue to be abused by the mighty, haughty and militarily powerful [who] victimize the smaller and weaker nations. The international financial system ... is similarly in dire need of reform.”

Mugabe also noted that although the present global economic meltdown started in the Western imperialist states, the impact of the crisis is having a devastating impact on the developing countries where there is less demand for their products, the closure of plants and businesses, and deepening poverty.

The Zimbabwe leader expressed his support for the G192 summit held by the General Assembly in June at the U.N. headquarters in New York. He endorsed the recommendations of the G192 to place the International Monetary Fund and World Bank under the control of the General Assembly.

Mugabe also called for greater South-South collaboration, although he did not rule out cooperation between all states. He emphasized that although the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the NAM have provided tremendous support to Zimbabwe, the existing sanctions imposed by the imperialist states continue to hamper the country’s progress.

“They [the West] are still bent on their goal of effecting regime change in my country. We count on your continued solidarity and support in our endeavor to improve the quality of life of our people,” Mugabe said.

‘New world economic order’ needed

In his keynote address, Cuban President Raul Castro renewed the call for a new economic division of labor and financial power. “We demand the establishment of a new international financial and economic structure that relies on the participation of all countries,” said Castro. (Granma International, July 16)

“There must be a new framework that doesn’t depend solely on the economic stability and the political decision of only one country,” stated Castro in apparent reference to the United States. “This crisis ... emanated from the advanced industrial economies, but the developing economies, the members of our movement, have been the hardest hit.”

Castro reported on the work of the NAM over the last three years since Cuba began serving as chair. “The common challenges for the non-aligned countries are serious and numerous. Never before has the world been so unequal and its inequities so profound. But, along with the challenges, our Movement’s capacity for resistance and its strength have also grown.

“We have faced threats and aggression, condemned unjust treaties in international trade and finance, and demanded our full participation in the highest authorities of world governance,” continued the Cuban leader. “A decisive part of Cuba’s presidency coincided with one of the most aggressive and hegemonic governments, one of the greatest violators of international law, that has ever existed in the United States.”

International solidarity

Castro stated that the NAM has continued to express solidarity with the just cause of the Palestinian and Arab peoples: “We have not hesitated to condemn the aggression and crimes of Israel, the occupying power. We will not rest until we see the implementation of the demands of the Palestinian and Arab brothers and sisters.

“There is no path other than dialogue and negotiation for achieving a just and lasting peace in the entire Middle East region, which inevitably involves the founding of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Castro also condemned the June 28 military coup in Honduras and demanded that President Jose Manuel Zelaya be restored to office. The coup has been denounced by governments and mass organizations throughout Latin America and the world.

The outgoing NAM chair stressed that despite the economic blockade against Cuba, the country has continued to engage in international solidarity efforts, especially in providing medical care. “Even in these difficult circumstances, our people have modestly demonstrated how much can be done, when political will exists, in terms of international solidarity and cooperation, particularly in the area of health.

“Almost 15,000 Cuban medical collaborators are working in 98 countries to save lives and prevent disease. More than 32,000 young people from 118 states, principally in the Third World, are studying free of charge at our educational centers, 78 percent of them in the specialties of medicine.”

From Bandung to Sharm El-Sheikh

The Non-Aligned Movement originated in the Bandung Conference held in Indonesia in April 1955, with 29 countries from Asia and Africa attending. Socialist states such as China and Vietnam have been involved with the movement since its inception, even though the Bandung Conference and NAM have been described as an effort to chart a course independent of both the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War period.

In 1961, the formal organization of the Non-Aligned Movement took place with its founding summit in Yugoslavia. Some of the leading figures in the formation of the NAM were Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Josep Broz Tito of Yugoslavia.

At the 1979 NAM Summit in Havana, Cuba, a declaration stated that the purpose of the organization was to “ensure the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries” in their “struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics.”

NAM represents two-thirds of the United Nations’ membership and approximately 55 percent of the world’s population. The chair of the organization has now been handed over to Egypt.

This year’s summit produced declarations related to the need for global food security, climate change, solidarity with the Palestinian people, and a resolution honoring the 91st birthday of former African National Congress leader and South African president Nelson Mandela.

---