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NEW
INTERNATIONALIST 167  |
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THIS
MONTH'S THEME |
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Exporting
illusion The Empire Strikes Back Get
rich quick Chewing the fat Western dreaming Revolting with style The Red threat Cast-off colonies NO KIDDING |
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THE NEW IMPERIALISM |
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FROM
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR |
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In South America imperialism cut down to the quick of the society and rendered it up to the Spanish conquerors. Talking to a Peruvian man I was surprised to hear him say 'I would love to visit Europe: particularly Spain. For in Spain we find our history'. The educated elite of South America think of themselves as Spanish. The Incas, the Mayas, the Aztecs and the Yaquis and the thousands of other Indian tribes that inhabited this continent before the Spanish are gone without trace. The Spanish imperialists have obliterated them from human memory. That is a robbery beyond price. Today Pepsi hoardings and adverts for US-owned banks dominate the skyline of most major cities. Tower-blocks bearing the names of US-owned multinational firms jostle in the capitals. For a few people - the sophisticated elite - these companies provide work and salaries that give them access to a better life. For the majority, these symbols of modern power and authority - the cathedrals of the twentieth century - serve as reminders that the god of the West has not smiled on them. I returned from South America wanting to do an issue of the NI on imperialism. I wanted to work out how imperialism manages to control the destinies of so many. But taking on the Number One impediment to world development is no easy task. Not only are there many different forms of imperialism but there are also many different ways of describing them. Explaining imperialism in economic terms is fine if these terms can make sense of something from a to z with nothing left out, no inconsistencies or fudging. But I happen to think the number of subjects that can be universally and comprehensively understood in purely economic terms can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Debt might be one. The next issue of the NI is about the world debt crisis, and I wouldn't presume to try stealing its thunder. Consequently, you won't find very much in this issue about the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank or their allies. I tried to have the best of all possible worlds (with the guidance of interminable but helpful editorial meetings). I hope to have steered this issue between the extremes of, on the one hand, trying to explain everything about imperialism by the translation of real events into abstract framework of economics. Or, on the other hand, merely offering vivid but shallow descriptions which would not provide a clear framework for understanding how imperialism is affecting the Third World. Whether or not this approach is successful - I leave you to judge. |
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Letters
COVER PHOTO: Bernard Gérard |
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Amanda Root
for the New Internationalist Co-operative |
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It was hard persuading Delmirio, a Colombian, of small (probably undernourished) stature, to talk about imperialism. Perhaps he thought I and my friend were the sort of gringa who could get him into trouble with the soldiers who roamed the streets looking for enemies of the government. But, once just once, he dared to trust us enough to open up. 'Listen' he said, stretching his eyes into wide open circles so that he looked startled and terrifying at once, 'There's coffee. Beef. Bananas. And emeralds. All of these go to the US'. He looked round the cafe where we were sitting conspiratorially. Satisfied that no-one was listening, he continued. 'Eight families own this country. They are friends with the Yankees. They sell them all our crops - these things really belong to the Colombian people'.
