Aboubakar Alassane | West Africa Peoples Organization (WAPO, Niger)
Comrades, brothers and sisters of the resistance,
We are gathered here at the International Anti-Imperialist Conference, not by chance but by historical necessity. From the four corners of the globe—Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America—we stand united by the truth that burns on our lips: imperialism is the enemy of humanity and threatens to plunge us into a third world war at any cost—if it has not already done so. Its thirst for blood is unquenchable.
Today, our hearts beat in unison with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which has been martyred for decades, ever since Comrade Hugo Chávez responded to the legitimate aspirations of his people. We have listened to the clear words of President Nicolás Maduro during his interview with former President and Comrade Rafael Correa of Ecuador on RT television. We heard words that tear away the veil of imperial propaganda to reveal the horror of their cynicism.
What is the American Empire seeking at the gates of Caracas? They speak of “drug trafficking” and “democracy”—a story as thin as a Hollywood script, as Comrade Maduro so aptly put it. Lies!
What they truly seek is what the Bolivarian Revolution has taken from them: total control over Venezuela’s wealth, just as they do in Africa—in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, united within the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
They are after oil, gas, and the world’s largest reserves, which have now been re-evaluated upwards. They covet the world’s richest gold deposits, the thirty million hectares of arable land, and the gigantic aquifer that lies beneath Venezuelan soil—a source of life for the future.
But more than resources, they want to destroy the Bolivarian project—Chavismo—this democratic and liberating socialism of the 21st century, this model of independence for the entire Great Homeland! It is also this fundamental geostrategic position, this beacon of resistance in the north of South America, that they want to extinguish.
They are mobilizing warships, destroyers, and nuclear submarines, and they seek to turn Puerto Rico into a base of aggression. But we know that the people of Puerto Rico will oppose this. They will not accept their country being turned into a military base to attack their brothers in South America and the Caribbean.
This is not a fight against drug trafficking—it is an act of economic and military warfare, a cowardly act of intimidation to defend their far-right puppets, defeated at the polls and rejected by the people!
We cry out: shame on those who sully the honor of a people by slandering their president to justify their aggression! The Venezuelan people have voted, renewed their governors and mayors, and chosen peaceful coexistence and tolerance. It is this real democracy—this economy being rebuilt step by step—that they want to strangle.
Venezuela is the front line! And we are all Venezuelans! That is the price of sovereignty.
Comrades, we cannot denounce the aggression against Venezuela without also looking at the other great theater of imperial hypocrisy: Africa, and more specifically, the Sahel.
The same empire, the same predatory hand, the same methods of intimidation and chaos are being deployed on the other side of the Atlantic.
What is the parallel? In Venezuela, the pretext is the fight against drugs. In the Sahel, the pretext is the fight against terrorism.
But who sowed chaos in the Sahel? Who destabilized Libya, created a vacuum, and allowed armed groups to proliferate in order to justify an eternal military presence—intended, in reality, to plunder minerals, uranium, oil, and gold? These imperial powers have not only failed in their duty to provide security but, through their inaction and their murky arrangements, have paved the way for terrorism!
Today, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—the states of the AES—have said NO! They have said “enough!” to colonial tutelage, plunder, and interference. They have asserted their will and their absolute right to total sovereignty.
And what has been the response of the Empire and its regional vassals? Sanctions!
We denounce here, before the world, these inhuman, unjust, and immoral sanctions that have struck the innocent peoples of the AES. These sanctions are not aimed at leaders; they are aimed at starving farmers, depriving children of medicine, and strangling the economy—all to break legitimate political will. It is collective punishment, violence worthy of the darkest hours of colonialism.
The spirit of resistance that animates the Venezuelan people is the same spirit stirring the peoples of the Sahel! They are not attacking Maduro for mismanagement; they are attacking him for his economic and social success and for his Bolivarianism. They are not attacking the AES for terrorism; they are attacking it for its sovereignty!
Comrades, the Empire is playing a dangerous game with the fate of the world. Whether in Palestine, the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or the war in Sudan—it seeks only to destroy. It seeks to divide, isolate, and create climates of war and far-right domination.
But in the face of this global threat, our response must be one: unity.
Let the governor of Puerto Rico know that he will find no accomplices in the Caribbean or Latin America to attack his brothers. Let the powers suffocating Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger know that their actions are now being watched by the international tribunal of conscious peoples.
We support Venezuela against military threats and economic warfare.
We stand in solidarity with the peoples of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger in their struggle for total independence and sovereignty.
We are committed to building multipolarity, where mutual respect among peoples replaces the law of the strongest.
From Caracas to Ouagadougou, from Bamako to Niamey, the front line is the same!
Bolivarianism is the ideal of the Great Homeland. The Sahelian Sovereignty Revolution is the ideal of African Dignity. These struggles are ours!
Today, we are not leaving here with mere resolutions. We are leaving with an oath: the oath never to give in, never to betray, and to see the triumph of the Bolivarian Revolution and the aspiration for total sovereignty of the African peoples!
Long live free and sovereign Venezuela!
Long live the Bolivarian Revolution!
Long live the Confederation of Sahel States!
Long live the peoples in struggle throughout the world!
Down with imperialism!
Fatherland or Death! We shall overcome!