May 2013

LIBYA

 

The exploited, with their weapons, need to build up their organs together with the militias to coordinate themselves and expel the Gadafists in the government
This way, we will take the revolution up to the end, as the only way of being able to get jobs for all with a wage at the same level of the typical basket and a decent life

Last April 28th, in Libya, hundreds of militia members protested at the doors of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. Its offices were completely closed. A few days later, the Ministry of Justice was also blocked. The protests were expanded to the whole Libya, with demonstrations in the main cities. The demand was loud and clear: after fighting and seeing his friends and family die in the fight against Gadafi, and after suffering for more than 40 years a brutal and bloody dictatorship, no Libyan exploited is willing to keep on tolerating starvation, unemployment, the increase in the cost of living, a low quality health and education, and overall, no one is willing to accept that the same officials of Gadafi’s regime remain in power, selling out all the Libyan wealth to imperialism, keeping some change for themselves.
They won’t accept that after all the fights, after the blood spelt, after killing Gadafi and putting an end to his regime, thousands of workers remain unemployed, with an increasing cost of living that makes the wages and the money not enough for subsistence, when they are standing over one of the biggest oil reserves in Africa and the world. Meanwhile, the “former Gadafists” remain in power, selling out all the wealth to the imperialist pirates from USA, Italy, France, i.e. the invaders of Iraq and Mali.
In the General National Congress (Libyan national government) hundreds of officials that worked under Gadafi’s regime are gathered together. Also, the Gadafists keep occupying offices and charges in the ministries and in the diplomatic missions. In fact, the very president of the GNC, Mohammad Magarief is one of them, as well as the current Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.
The Libyan masses identified that the current Libyan government is made of Gadafists that sell out all the oil to the imperialist owners, and they keep a small share, while they deprive the Libyan people of a decent life, which is actually the reason for which they made the revolution.

This fight started two months ago, when the Libyan exploited and their militias marched over the GNC, occupying its office and aiming to make justice upon its president. At that time, they wanted the parliament to vote for a law banning the officials that served in charges and offices in the Libyan state and security while the times of Gadafi from taking any public charge now. The Libyan government negotiated to end the meeting with a promise of approving the law afterwards. But they had to suspend their functions before voting it. When they returned to the meetings, the protests began once again.

Ali Zeidan came out to answer to the protest of the Libyan exploited. He called “the people” to “mobilize” in support of the government against the “armed groups that want to destabilize the country”. He was appealing to the reactionary middle classes which had become the social base of the government that came out to the streets to ask for the disarming of the militias a year ago.
In the beginning he found no support. Nobody came out to defend the government, because the demand of “out with the Gadafist from the government” and “decent jobs for all with wages equal to the typical basket” is what every worker and exploited in Libya want.
On the other hand, the protests grew. So, on May 5th, the GNC ended up approving the “law of political isolation”, that is to say, the law that bans the Gadafist officials from the current public charges. However the GNC put a trap: this law will be applied with a “committee” that will investigate to whom and how the law will be applied, saving beforehand those Gadafist that the so-called “committee” considers that “the law does not apply to them” for some excuse. And if the law applies, they will be judged by a Gadafist court according to pre-established penalties and their own judge. That is to say, the Gadafists will determine who the ones that should not be in the state are, if they are to be judged, and how.

A sector of the militias did not fall in this trap. That’s why it continued with the blockades at the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Relations. But they were alone, because their protests were not together with every sector of the exploited (which are armed, but do not count with factory committees or organisms of militant students to get organized), as it happened in the beginning. They were just a few hundreds, because the majority of those who participated in the previous protests were deceived by the government, which claimed “the law was voted, it will be implemented, now leave the protests so everything can get back to its course”. On the contrary, the militias that were still occupying the ministries realized that the law was a scam, because the main Gadafists from the government would be saved, mainly Ali Zeidan, of which they immediately asked for its resignation.
The government of the GNC answered. It mounted over the illusions created by the deceit of “law of political isolation”. It re-launched its campaign against the “armed groups that destabilize the government and do not allow the country progress”. It says “the law has already been voted, so the demand is fulfilled”, therefore called to “the Libyan people” to march against the armed groups to ask for only one police, only one army, and to “respect” the institutions of the bourgeois Libyan state. This time, it managed to gather 200 people coming from the middle classes of Tripoli. They marched on Friday May 10th under the banner “the demand of the law is fulfilled, now respect democracy in order to make it true”, as if the “respect for democracy” were to trust in that law of political isolation, which is a true scam and a rip-off to the downtrodden masses.
Even if this demonstration had no big repercussions in itself, it was clear that the argument of the government about the law being voted and with that everything will be alright (which is not, because all the Gadafists are still in the government and with that law and its “application committee” they intend to save themselves) started to penetrate in the middle classes, who are now falling for the argument of “do not cause destabilization so the law can be applied and the country can go forward”. This was mostly seen in Benghazi, where after several explosions in police stations and hospitals, the government was able to group a reduced amount of people of the middle classes of that city under the demand of “militias and armed groups are responsible for this lack of security, they have to give up their weapons so we can move forward”. At the same time, they demanded the government and the security forces of the state to “take their responsibilities firmly or quit”.
Even so, the vanguard of the militias was still occupying the ministries until Sunday May 12th. Being isolated, once again alone, they sat with Ali Zeidan for negotiations. They agreed to end the protests that day, in exchange of a promise of driving out all the Gadafists from the government and also that Ali Zeidan shuffles his cabinet.

Anyway, the government keeps on intensifying its campaign against the militias. They intend to recruit reactionary forces and a social base to conquer the conditions to be able to disarm the masses.
Imperialism is aware of this situation of armament of the masses. A report of the Security Council of the UN says that the propagation of weapons to the entire Libya, even the distribution of them to the whole region, “has grown at an alarming rhythm”. At the same time, they see the weakness of the government and its repressive forces in comparison to the militias and the exploited that fought against Gadafi. Therefore, USA and UK decided to reduce their diplomatic personnel in Libya, because they fear for their security.
It’s a matter of life or death for the bourgeoisie to disarm the masses, because they permanently destabilize the government when they come out to fight for their unfinished demands for which they started the revolution, even when the protests are to “put pressure” on the government so it “gives” them, and even if they have ahead a leadership that collaborates with the GNC that consciously leaves the power in the hands of the bourgeoisie.
The Libyan masses have understood that they never have to give up their guns, so never again a dictator can step on them and subjugate them to the worst sufferings.

The Libyan exploiteds do not leave their guns! Confront any demonstration or campaign made by the government, the Libyan bosses and imperialism that want to disarm the masses! Do not surrender the weapons! With them, we can guarantee to conquer all the unfinished demands for which we started the revolution.
For a decent living! Work for all, with a wage that covers the typical basket, mainly for the immigrants that do the worst jobs! Stop the increase in the cost of living! Free good-quality health and education!
There are enough funds to get these demands. Under our feet there’s a sea of “black gold”. Expropriation of the entire oil industry, without compensation, and place it under workers control!

Gadafists out of the government! They sell out the oil to the imperialist pirates and keep filling their pockets at the expense of the starvation and unemployment of the Libyan subjugated people. The Libyan exploiteds are the ones that can solve their own demands, if they take the solution in theirr own hands. For that, they need their own organs.
From each factory, school, university, oil well and every workplace, from the exploited with their guns, we need to build up committees of the unemployed, of factories, of immigrants, of supplying and price control, in order to get organized and coordinated together with the militias to be able to fight for these demands. These armed organs of the exploited masses must be coordinated and centralized at local, regional and national level.
For a national congress of delegates with rank and file mandate, coming from these organs! This congress will be an organ of all the exploited of Libya, which would be able to democratically discuss and resolve how to get the demands for which the revolution was fought and Gadafi was overthrown.
But not only will this congress mean this for the Libyan subjugated people. In it, the immigrant workers from Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and the whole region would be represented. The fire of the way forward of confronting the governments that expropriate the revolution will be quickly spread, and the revolution could light up again. This congress would be a referent for the revolutionary struggle of all the exploited of the region, to conquer work for all, a wage equal to the typical basket and a decent life.
These demands can only be guaranteed by a government of the workers and the ruined middle classes of the city and the farms, backed in their organs of direct democracy and armament. It will be a government of the true majority of the Libyan people, the ones that gave their lives for the revolution, the ones that truly suffer the emptiness of the wealth of their nation and its sell-out to imperialism and are not their partners.
To take this revolution to victory, seizing power, we must build up a revolutionary party of the working class of the region, to give it the leadership it deserves!

The reformist left of the World Social Forum said that the Libyan masses were “NATO ground troops” and “CIA armed rebels”. But it is now clear that the Libyan masses are the ones that confront imperialism and its plundering, even setting on fire the embassies of France and USA, while Gadafi and his continuity today (in the government of the GNC) only sell out the Libyan oil to their senior partners.
The Libyan oppressed crossed and are still crossing the borders to fight in Syria, to defeat the jackal Bashar al-Assad that is killing the Syrian masses on behalf of imperialism, while the entire left of the WSF pays tribute to Chavez (Assad’s partner) and isolates the fight in Syria so they are smashed.
The Libyan exploited seek ways to go to Ghaza and to fight for the destruction of the Zionist-fascist state of Israel, while the WSF is defending the policy of “two states” to subordinate the Palestinian masses to concentration camps and to support the imperialist enclave Israel.
It is thus clear that the true anti-imperialist fighters are the Libyan masses, slandered and isolated by the true servants of imperialism of the WSF.

Break the siege to the Syrian revolution and to the revolution of Northern Africa and the Middle East, imposed by the reformist left of the WSF! In the Middle East, one single revolution! For workers brigades from all the organizations of the exploited, to go to fight in Syria for the victory of the revolution! Complete the revolution in Libya, taking the oppressed into power! Defeat the military dictatorship of Egypt! Confront the government expropriator of the revolution in Tunisia! Destroy the Zionist-fascist state of Israel, so the Palestinian masses can enter again into the scene, liberating their prisoners, fighting for a free, democratic, secular, non-racist Palestine, which only can be guaranteed under a workers and peasants government, based on the armed and struggle organizations of the masses!
For the Socialist United States of the North of Africa and the Middle East!

From Tripoli, Libya:
Movement of Revolutionary Internationalist Workers Volunteers