Russia and African countries agree to resist political dictates

Below is our translation of an article from RIA Novosti with commentary by Vince Dhimos. Leaders from 54 African countries came to the Sochi Olympic Park Main Media Centre for a summit and economic forum. Over 50 agreements were signed with a total value of 800 billion roubles. It is noteworthy that the writer of this article did not deign to translate this value into dollars. The Russian Federation has indeed cut itself off from the US-dominated monetary system, having sold off the lion’s share of its US Treasury notes. The multipolar world is here.
 
Further, the declaration signed jointly by Russia and the other members of the summit cum forum is a frank in-your-face declaration of independence from the former colonial masters.
 
Let’s analyse the wording of this declaration. My italicized comments are in brackets:
 
“[we agree] Together, to counteract political dictates [for example, the unilateral US dictate to refrain from trading with Venezuela and Iran, and for Europe to buy expensive US LNG instead of cheap Russian pipeline-delivered gas, as demanded by the US ambassador to Germany] and currency blackmail during international trade and economic cooperation [eg, US sanctions imposed on competitor countries under penalty of severance from the SWIFT messaging system on which international dollar-denominated transactions depend], to suppress the desire of individual countries to appropriate the exclusive right to determine the feasibility and acceptable parameters of legal interaction between other countries [eg, the US attempt to ban trade with Huawei and to force Canada to extradite Huawei finance chief Meng Wanzhou for an imaginary crime, as well as the US attempt to ban trade with Syria even though such trade is not an international crime], and to avoid manipulating the requirements of the global non-proliferation regime in order to put pressure on disfavoured countries [US campaign to prevent Iran from developing certain weapons that the US approves for Israel, for example], as well as unfair competition [eg, attempt by the US and allies such as Denmark and Ukraine to block to construction of Russian pipeline project Nord Stream II with a view to selling overpriced US LNG to Europe, under the absurd pretence that allowing construction of the Russian pipeline would threaten European “energy security”].”
 
Note that Egyptian president Al-Sisi, who has been cooperating liberally with Russia for years, was feted as a guest of honour at the Sochi event. Does anyone really believe that the current protests in Egypt have nothing to do with US efforts to topple this Russia-friendly leader?
 
You will also note that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who has had excellent relations with Putin, was also recently forced to resign by crowds of violent protesters. The Lebanese violence echoes the US-instigated and -backed Ukrainian coup on the Maidan. Hariri is not the only motive the US and Israel have to attempt this now-successful coup. One of the most popular political parties in Lebanon is Hezbollah, which the US has tried desperately to paint as a terrorist organization. They want the world to forget that it was Hezbollah that helped Lebanon resist the merciless Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006.  And for the sake of completeness, let us remember that Iraq is now undergoing violent upheavals against a government that is asking the US to remove its troops from its soil.
 
BEGIN TRANSLATION
 
Russia – Africa Summit and Economic Forum
 
Russia and African countries agree to resist political dictates
 
October 24, 2019
 
MOSCOW, October 24 - RIA News. Russia and the countries of Africa agreed to jointly counteract political dictatorship and currency blackmail, the declaration adopted at the summit in Sochi said.
 
“[we agree] Together, to counteract political dictates and currency blackmail during international trade and economic cooperation, suppress the desire of individual countries to appropriate the exclusive right to determine the feasibility and acceptable parameters of legal interaction between other countries, and to avoid manipulating the requirements of the global non-proliferation regime in order to put pressure on disfavoured countries, as well as unfair competition,” reads the final report of the summit published on the Kremlin’s website.
 
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