July 15 – “How do you treat an entire nation’s depression?… You fight back. The only way out of this abyss is up. The only way through the darkness is forward.” – Sudanese activist, June 15, 2019
But what is the way up and forward?
It’s not a “democratic revolution.” That would give a new civilian face to the capitalist dictatorship without ending exploitation, war or misery.
Workers everywhere need a communist revolution to end the power of capitalism-imperialism. They need to re-organize society on communist principles. ‘From each according to ability and commitment, to each according to need!’
Sudanese Masses: More Angry Than Afraid
Tens of thousands of Sudanese workers, youth and professionals poured into the streets again on June 30. Seventy percent were women. They boldly defied the fascist terror, imposed by the ruling military council, that intensified with the June 3 massacre.
Days later, the opposition “Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change” and the military council announced an agreement. US diplomats had pressured both sides for “power-sharing” in exchange for amnesty for the fascist butchers.
With Sudanese internet restored, angry voices emerge: “Disgusting deal.” “The civilian leaders at the table should be ashamed of themselves.” “This revolution won’t be stolen.” “Burhan and Hemedti part of government? The revolution goes on to take the lot down.”
Thousands more marched on July 13, as negotiations continued. The struggle continues.
Negotiations or Communist Class Struggle?
The tentative agreement would set up a “sovereign council,” half military and half civilian, to rule until it organizes elections. The council would have a military head for the first 21 months and then a civilian head for 18 months. This is better for the military than a May agreement, which fell apart. It gives the military almost two years to consolidate its control, with civilians as window-dressing.
The US and Great Britain lobbied Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Egypt to pressure the Sudanese military to accept this proposal. It was floated by the African Union and Ethiopia. These rulers are terrified that the mass movement in Sudan could grow and spread.
They also threatened leaders of the opposition. They were ready to fracture this coalition by signing separate deals with different factions.
Imperialists of different stripes – US, European Union, China, Russia – were key to creating the Sudan crisis. Sudanese troops serve EU interests by blocking migration routes through the country. They fight for the Saudis in Yemen and secure the Saudi-Yemen border.
Port Sudan is on a critical Red Sea shipping route. This is especially important to Saudi rivals Turkey and Qatar. The US was instrumental in splitting Sudan and South Sudan. It hoped (in vain) to control oil-rich South Sudan. China buys Sudanese oil and is snapping up land leases there.
All these imperialists – and regional capitalist rulers, too – are enemies of the working class.
Class Conflict in Sudan Today
The ruling National Congress Party manages the interests of capitalists and landowners. It has some buy-in from pre-capitalist “tribal” rulers. Over 60% of the government budget goes to the military and “security.”
Sudanese generals are themselves big capitalists. For example, Hemedti’s murderous Rapid Support Forces (formerly Janjaweed) controls the gold mines in Darfur. Gold (mainly bought by the Emiratis) is Sudan’s largest export.
The opposition coalition is led by the relatively new Sudanese Professionals Association. They have built alliances with small businessmen. But they are isolated from the subsistence farmers, farmworkers and miners in large rural areas and from the urban masses. Their negotiations cannot end the intensifying misery resulting from Sudan’s capitalist crisis.
Only communism can unite and mobilize these masses. Communist industrial workers and rank-and-file soldiers must take the lead.
And not just in Sudan.
“The systems of oppression that allow for injustice to occur operate globally,” wrote a commentator on africascountry.com. “Ultimately we will have to use what we learn from Sudan to topple our own regimes.”
The systems of oppression operate globally. So does the International Communist Workers’ Party that is organizing to topple them.
And to build in their place one communist world, without nations or borders. Where workers’ cooperation replaces capitalist competition. Where the masses are organized to make all the decisions that affect our common lives, on the communist principles you read about in Red Flag.
We need your help – now!
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