(1960) - The demands of the liberation movements in Africa - Mehdi Ben Barka

Mehdi Ben Barka, a Moroccan revolutionary politician, presented this report as the II Conference of African Peoples in 1960. He states that the lasting negative impacts of western capitalism can be seen everywhere, particularly focusing on the first colonizers, the Portuguese, and their attempts to imperialize Morocco, and shortly after, the partition of Africa as a whole. Due to the strong hold on colonial powers, it has forced countries to engage in precarious methods of moving towards self-liberation. Barka goes on to warn African countries that upon independence, there will be lasting impacts of neocolonialism. The efforts of foreign bases to extrapolate resources due to their economic power will be difficult to combat. As such, radical reform is required for change to occur. Political independence, although it is not an end in itself, it can be a starting point.