Strike, Khartoum, Sudan, May 28, 2019
June 5 – “My friend in Sudan asked me what the published death toll is currently (he has no access to internet due to the blackout),” posted an overseas Sudanese translator. “When I said 40 people he sighed and said, ‘That’s not even a quarter of the number of people killed.’”
Two days ago, militias of Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) opened fire on a months-long sit-in in front of Army headquarters in the capital, Khartoum. They burned tents, raped female doctors in the medical area, and dumped bodies into the Nile River.
Since then, troops have besieged Khartoum. The TMC shut down the Internet, trying to hide its crimes. Sudanese expats and supporters have held or planned solidarity rallies in Germany, Great Britain, Canada and elsewhere.
As we go to press, Sudanese trade unionists have announced that a general strike has brought Khartoum and all major cities and ports in Sudan to a standstill.
A millions-strong pro-democracy movement has rocked Sudan since December. It’s too soon to say whether the military crackdown will end it. What we do know is that nothing short of communist revolution can enable the masses to exercise real power over our lives.
Negotiations between Sudan’s liberal leaders and its military rulers broke down in May. A general strike on May 28-29 demanded a new majority-civilian ruling council.
General al-Burhan, head of the TMC, visited the capitalist dictators of neighboring Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. These butchers fear a resurgence of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. They green-lighted the military assault that started a few days later.
The Rapid Support Forces that led the murderous attack were formed out of the Janjaweed militias. They have carried out the genocide in Darfur. They have fought in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Yet they get material support from the European Union.
These same European leaders went to the UN Security Council on June 4. They wanted a resolution calling for an immediate end to the violent crackdown.
China and Russia blocked that resolution. Along with Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia, they are among Sudan’s leading trade partners.
The UN confrontation exposes the inter-imperialist conflict that lies just beneath the surface of the Sudan crisis.
Leading US imperialist voices – including the Washington Post and the New York Times – are calling for a “democratic transformation” of Sudan. They really want its transformation from a Chinese stronghold to a western one. That’s pretty unlikely.
Sharpening confrontation between competing imperialists creates a “real risk,” as the Soufan Group (international security consultancy) warns, that Sudan “could spiral into full-blown civil war, which would significantly affect the region.”
“We need urgently a return to the negotiating table,” said German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen yesterday. “Legitimacy cannot come from the barrel of a gun.”
But that’s always where real power – if not “legitimacy” – comes from. That’s why workers and soldiers in Sudan and everywhere must lead masses in armed struggle. We must destroy this bloody capitalist system. Democratic elections and civilian rule are not the answer.
Communism is.
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