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Soviet
Reaction to UDI Soviet
Government Statement: The Situation in Southern Rhodesia, November 15, 1965
Leonid
Brezhnev - Soviet Leader
The colonialists have
committed a new crime against the African peoples. On November 11 the racialist
régime of Ian Smith proclaimed the "independence" of Southern
Rhodesia. These actions are aimed at perpetuating in Southern Rhodesia a
colonial system based on inhuman oppression of the Zimbabwe people, four million
strong, by a handful of racialists and on ruthless suppression of the lust
struggle of this people for real independence, freedom and social justice. The South Rhodesian
racialists would not have dared to carry out their criminal plans without a deal
with the colonialists, who have permitted the racialist régime in Salisbury to
acquire economic and military strength and who have rendered it all-out support. Nor could this crime have
taken place without the blessing of the governments of other N.A.T.O. countries,
and in the first place the United States of America. The creation of yet another
centre of racialism-this time in Southern Rhodesia-is part of the overall plan
of imperialist circles to erect an obstacle in the way, of the national
liberation movement of the African peoples, the waves of which are drawing
nearer and nearer to the last bulwarks of colonialism. The Soviet government fully
shares the view of the independent African states, expressed in decisions of the
Organisation of African Unity, that the ruling circles of Britain will never be
able to escape responsibility for this crime against the African peoples, for
the national tragedy of the Zimbabwe people, who for many, years now have been
waging a stubborn struggle for their rights. At the present time the
government of Great Britain, in words, is condemning the actions of the South
Rhodesian authorities and is asking the Security Council to examine the question
of Southern Rhodesia. It is clear, however, that these statements of the British
government are at present only an attempt to whitewash its actual policy. As long ago as 1961, having
put into effect a "constitution" worked out by- the British government
itself which formalised the racialist system, Britain laid the foundations for
the present régime of the racialists' colonial rule over millions of Africans. Following that, she armed the
South Rhodesian racialists and helped them to consolidate their positions by
encouraging the colonial alliance of Southern Rhodesia with the racialist régime
in the Republic of South Africa and the Portuguese colonialists in Angola and
Mozambique. As a result, Southern Rhodesia turned into a police state, into a
land of jails, concentration camps and terror for the African population of the
country. The racialist régime in
Southern Rhodesia also constitutes a hotbed of danger for all other African
peoples, including those which have already freed themselves from colonial
oppression. It is a bayonet pointed at the heart of liberated Africa, a constant
threat to peace on the African continent and a threat to world peace. The Soviet government, guided
by its principled stand in questions of abolishing colonialism, strongly
condemns the new crime against the peoples of Africa and declares that it does
not recognise the racialist regime which has usurped power in Southern Rhodesia.
The Soviet Union fully supports the decisions adopted by the United Nations
Security Council and General Assembly on the situation in Southern Rhodesia and
will carry them out unswervingly. Loyal to its steadfast policy
of supporting the national liberation movement of the peoples, the Soviet
government declares its full solidarity with the Zimbabwe people and again
confirms its readiness to co-operate with the African countries in rendering
them all-out support in their just struggle for genuine national independence. Source: |
