THE OSLO CONFERENCE:
A MAJOR VICTORY
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The Oslo Conference on colonialism and
apartheid in Southern Africa constituted
a remarkable gathering of the forces of
world wide public opinion in support of
the liberation struggle in Africa. Assembled together were the representatives of
54 countries; the nine liberation movements recognised by the OAU; senior
officials and functionaries of the UN and
OAU; the UN specialised agencies (ILO,
WHO, FAO, UNESCO, etc.), and a number of individual experts chosen especially
from solidarity organisations in western
countries. The Conference discussions
lasted five days and culminated in the
unanimous adoption of a detailed and
comprehensive list of proposals for future
action required for the liquidation of
colonialism and apartheid. These proposals, together with a general declaration
have been submitted to the UN General
Assembly for discussion at its forthcoming session.
For many reasons the Oslo Conference
should be seen as an important event,
and a major victory for the movements
engaged in the armed struggle for their
peoples' liberation.
In the first place, the liberation movements attended the Conference on a
basis of full equality with the representatives of independent states. In its
general declaration the Conference affirmed that the liberation movements
which lead the struggle are the authentic
representatives of their peoples and should
receive full international recognition.))
The President of MPLA, Dr. Agostinho
Neto, and the Vice-President of FRELIMO
Marcelino dos Santos, were elected respectively Vice-President and Rapporteur
of the conference, and will as a result have
the right to be present when the Conference proposals are discussed in the UN
General Assembly. More and more our
people are winning the right, so long
refused to them by the colonialists, to be
heard and representated in the forums of
the world community.
Secondly, the conference resulted in a
new and better understanding by our
friends of the political requirements of
our struggle. Above all, the importance
of armed struggle, the principal and
necessary means of securing the independence of our peoples was recognised
and given proper emphasis. Although
the participants were in theory «experts»
and not government representatives, in
practice most were people who held high
positions in the service of their national
governments.
The commitment of those governments
to support our struggle has been (we expect) intensified.
The results of the Conference reflected
this new understanding. The General
Assembly now has before it not generalised resolutions, but a series of concrete
proposals (numbering 20 paragraphs on
the subject of the Portuguese-occupied
territories alone). The Conference exposed and attacked the role played by
NATO powers in supplying Portuguese
colonialism with the military and economic support without which it could
not continue to wage war against our
people. Of these powers, the United
States, Great Britain and France were invited to send experts to the Conference.
They refused. They knew that they could
not answer the charges of collaboration
with colonialism and apartheid which
would be made against them.
But not all NATO members boycotted
the Conference. Some showed themselves ready to reaffirm publicly their
support for the liberation struggle. Of
these, the contribution of Norway, hosts
to the Conference, was of prime importance. The fact that the conservative
government of a NATO cotintry can express, in the words of its Foreign Mini
ster, <(its full support for the peoples of
Southern Africa struggling for their liberation and against apartheid)), exposes
more starkly the hypocrisy and self-
interest of those who continue to support
the colonialists in the exploitation of our
people.
The Oslo proposals will now be discussed
by the General Assembly; and the true
success of the Conference can only be
measured by the extent to which they
are adopted by the Assembly and - more
important still - implemented by the
member states of the United Nations.
There are many states whose actions do
not match their words. For example,
the Social Democratic Party of West Germany sent a message to the Oslo Conference pledging its solidarity with the
national liberation movements. Yet the
Social Democratic Government of that
country continues to give massive military and economic support to the Portuguese colonialists. West Germany is
about to be elected a member of the UN.
If its Government seriously carries out
the policy of the Social Democratic
Party, another decisive step will have been
taken towards the total isolation - and
the total collapse of colonialism and
apartheid.
Our two principal objectives in the
international field are, first, winning
maximum support for our struggle,
secondly the withdrawal of support given
to Portugal by her NATO allies. These
objectives will be won only by constant
pressure and activity. We can say of the
Oslo conference that it lays down, more
clearly and more authoritively than ever
before, the duty of the international
community. Many states will carry out
their duty to the full. Some will move a
little further towards a correct position.
Some will not be moved at all. But the
trend of increasing solidarity with our
struggle  is  now  clear  and  irreversible.
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