History has always witnessed the struggle of the world’s freedom-seekers against oppressive powers, but in some regions, the images of people’s heroic acts against oppression and colonialism are still alive. Latin America is one of those regions that has always been fighting against different colonialists, from Spain and Portugal to France, Britain, and the US. Great men like José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar, heroes like Emiliano Zapata, and guerrillas like Ernesto Che Guevara are familiar names in the struggle against oppression and tyranny in Latin America. After the historical endeavors of these great men, the time for stability and freedom in the era of independence finally came, and development and progress began. But the US interests never allowed them to reach those ideals. Throughout these years, the US and the Western powers have continuously been trying to overthrow governments and loot nations for their own interests, and the poverty and misery of the people never stopped these interferences. This has once again prompted freedom fighters to stand against the imperialist powers and demand their denied rights.
Simultaneously with these developments, nations on the other side of the globe also stood up against the terrorist-colonial policies of oppressive powers and created different fronts against bullying. The Islamic Revolution of Iran was one of the most important movements that came to fruition and became a role model for other nations in the region and even the world. The Arab revolutions once again signified the awakening of the nations and their perseverance against oppression. The Resistance Front is another manifestation of these movements that have been formed in recent years to deal with terrorism, which is the offspring of imperialism.
All these efforts pivoted around one point which is not bowing down against the bullying and propaganda machine of the hegemonic powers; a pivotal point that continues to invite the world’s justice-seekers to make sacrifices in this direction and has representatives in all parts of the world; a pivotal point that challenges the so-called new world order centered on the United States of America and claims a fresh order. Perhaps this is why we hear the call for unity from the leaders of these anti-oppression countries today, from Brazilian President Lula da Silva to late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez. Many years ago, Ernesto Che Guevara longed for such a coalition: “And if we were all capable of uniting to make our blows stronger and infallible and so increase the effectiveness of all kinds of support given to the struggling people, how great and close would that future be.”
The historical endeavors of all freedom fighters have reached a point today where the formation of an alliance and a coalition against the bullying of the Americans and the Westerners is more possible than ever before. Any nation and government that has the revolutionary sincerity, perseverance, and seriousness to confront oppression can now play a role in this coalition so that the divided efforts of nations against oppression find one direction and disrupt the current oppression-based order. The fruit of this alliance would be the elimination of the Arrogant Powers’ pressures and the formation of the possibility of free development and progress. It is for this reason that the Global Arrogance will do its best to secure its interests in the world by preventing this unity and maintaining its unjust order. The ideal and pivotal point of this coalition is the annihilation of this unjust world order.
In reality, this alliance needs a foundation so that it becomes continuous. It is for this reason that Leader of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khamenei, during a meeting with Cuba’s President Mr. Miguel Díaz-Canel, pointed to the great political and economic capacities of the two countries and emphasized: “These capacities should be used to form an alliance and a coalition between countries that have the same stance against the coercive behaviors of the US and Western countries.” In the same meeting, he made another important point: “By focusing on economic cooperation, this coalition can take a common and effective position on important global issues such as the Palestinian issue.”
Nowadays, even when we are in academic meetings, a question is raised about our relationship with a certain country, and it must be acknowledged that this question is an important issue in the minds of the people of Iran and other countries. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution clearly illuminates this connection and introduces political and economic capacities as a means to create this anti-bullying coalition. In 2020, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei, pointed out that the main policy of the country is to become strong. He said: “So what should we do now …? I want to say it in a word: the dear Iranian nation should become strong!” This is also a basic concept for forming an anti-arrogance alliance, and the countries that have the same position toward the American and Western bullying should help each other so that this power is formed in all of them. The first step in this path is to get to know each other and identify different cultural, economic, political, and social commonalities for cooperation so that development and progress can be achieved in all these cases. In order to achieve this goal, various capacities such as young talents can be used for scientific-research cooperation.
We can see successful examples of this cooperation with some Latin American countries in recent years. The cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Cuba in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals has led to invaluable outcomes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries succeeded in developing a joint Iranian-Cuban vaccine. Iran and Venezuela’s assistance to each other during gasoline crises and the repetition of this exchange of help was another example of this cooperation that prevented economic and even political problems in both countries. This cooperation led to bringing the two nations closer together. Other examples of cooperation between these two countries include the development in the industry sector, infrastructures, refineries, and the issue of extraterritorial cultivation. All of these collaborations have ultimately led to the formation of a solid bond and relationship between the two parties.
It is abundantly clear that the formation of this coalition will allow the member states to step on the path of economic independence. Multilateral cooperation will help them bolster their economies, while negotiations with arrogant superpowers to remove sanctions and imperialist pressures are no longer the only solution for countries during economic crises. This also causes countries to grow and boost their power. Admittedly, economic independence is the first step toward political independence, and it is through this path that countries can get rid of the pressures of the United States and Europe and prevent their political interference in their affairs. We have seen many times how the West, by exploiting other countries’ economic problems, has taken advantage of them or created problems for them. But this coalition has the potential to change the situation for the benefit of its member states, in a way that the possibility of Western interference and sabotage in these countries is reduced to a significant extent, and it causes the expansion of the international activities of this coalition in order to realize justice-seeking causes.
Naturally, such a coalition can challenge the oppressive world order and make its justice-seeking voice heard by the world on various issues. With such cooperation, they have been able to achieve real independence and freedom of vote and action while not fearing the world powers anymore. It is through this joint power and with the credit of this coalition that the Zionist regime can be condemned and the loss of the rights of the people of Palestine and Gaza can be prevented. Today, anti-Arrogance countries from all over the world condemn Israel’s crimes and declare their support for the people of Gaza in different ways, yet until a strong, well-organized coalition is behind these supports and gives its political and economic support to the Palestinian people’s historical right, these supports will continue to be scattered and unsuccessful.
Witness to this claim is the support of Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president of Colombia, for the Palestinian people. According to Gustavo Petro, the Palestinian people experience one of the worst injustices in the contemporary world. He also described Netanyahu as “crazy” and announced that he would contribute to the Algerian lawsuit filed before the International Criminal Court against Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and the massacre of Palestinian children. But there are also countries in the Latin American region that, despite the high capacity of their people, have not reacted positively to the massacre of Palestinians due to the pressure of the Zionist lobbies. This example shows clearly how much the absence of an anti-Arrogance coalition in freedom-seeking countries can cause them to act in the opposite direction of their causes and take positions that are against their true desires. What makes the formation of a global anti-Arrogance coalition necessary is the independence in the votes and actions of the freedom-seeking countries that are not at all willing to abandon human values and bow to the excessive demands of imperialism.
Comment