Colonialism - History

Colonialism is one of the darkest pages of history. For almost five hundreds years many countries have been occupied, enslaved, robbed of raw materials and of their dignity.

In the last decades of the past century, most of the countries which had been colonized in previous centuries have had access to an independence that in many cases proved to be formal and, in substance, an economic neocolonialism.

This situation has created enormous pain and suffering on a human level and an extremely negative precedent in terms of international relations, by confirming the "law of force" rather than the "force of law".

The theme of reparations at the 2018 World Social Forum in Salvador de Bahia was treated in the workshop Repairs to Colonialism, in the World Assembly of Resistance Peoples, Movements and Territories and in the Agora of futures. In these activities participated some hundred people, many of whom representatives of other organizations. It was made a point of the situation on the reparations in recent years trying to identify actions most promising for the future.

Latin America is the subject of this The end of the Empire with the articles “China’s ‘New Silk Roads’ reach Latin America” by Pepe Escobar

“...China is already the top trading partner of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. Others will inevitably follow. This is not only because China’s imports of commodities, such as iron ore, soy and corn tend to rise, but also because the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank will increase lending...”

and “La integración de América Latina y el Caribe: ¿Atrapada entre la soberbia imperialista y el pragmatismo neodesarrollista?” by Javier Tolcachier

“...En relación a América Latina, el documento de la CEPAL indica que “La Iniciativa de la Franja y la Ruta podría beneficiar a la región mediante una dinamización del comercio entre Asia, Europa y África y la demanda resultante de productos de la región”, aunque sus características no diversificadas “sean difícilmente modificables en plazos breves”. América Latina podría convertirse en abastecedor principal de China de “alimentos nutritivos, inocuos y de alta calidad...”.