Servir al Pueblo: The Crime in Ceuta Was Committed by Spanish Imperialism
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article from Servir al Pueblo published on August 2nd.
On Thursday, July 31st, more than 60,000 people crossed the border between Spain and Morocco along the Tarajal breakwater. At least 72 people (confirmed) drowned, because to reach the breakwater, one must first wade out into the sea. Shortly after their arrival on Spanish soil, the imperialist State sent in the army, which, together with the National Police and the Civil Guard, set out to hunt down the migrants. With the rapid militarization of Ceuta, more than 95% of the migrants were deported to Morocco in less than 24 hours. At this moment, the State’s repressive forces are searching for the few migrants who managed to escape the military operation.
It is urgent to set the record straight. It is false that the crisis in Ceuta was provoked by Morocco. This is not a “geopolitical maneuver” to “ exert pressure” on Spain. Nor is it a punishment by Morocco against Spain for its “recent agreements with Algeria.” Any claim that the crisis was unilaterally orchestrated by Morocco against Spain is false.
Morocco is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, a country where bureaucratic capitalism thrives and which is oppressed by imperialism—mainly by Yankee imperialism, followed very closely by Spanish imperialism.
Although formally independent, Morocco is not a sovereign nation. It is politically and economically bound to imperialists. Its entire economy belongs, directly or indirectly, to Yankee and Spanish monopolies, with nothing resembling a national industry. All its political decisions (domestic, but also in foreign policy) serve foreign imperialists. All decisions regarding Morocco’s foreign policy are made in the offices of Washington and Madrid, not in Rabat. The country’s owners are foreign monopolies, which collaborate with the reactionary classes of society (the monarchy, the big landlords, and the bureaucratic big bourgeoisie) to control the country.
This is why we previously stated that all explanations based on an alleged Moroccan maneuver are false. Morocco cannot maneuver against Spain because it is a lackey of Spain! Morocco is not a sovereign country. No oppressed country can negotiate on equal terms with its imperialist oppressor.
In situations like this, the moral depravity and intellectual poverty of revisionism become painfully clear. Faced with a genocidal crime such as the one that has occurred in recent days—which is fundamentally the same as the crime perpetrated at the Melilla border fence on June 24th, 2022—it is obvious that what’s correct is to denounce Spanish imperialism. Thanks to the Spanish State’s immigration policy, at least 72 people have died and nearly 50,000 have been identified and returned to Morocco like dogs.
For the revisionists, it’s not so obvious. What have they done? They’ve closed ranks with the imperialist State and blamed Morocco. All sorts of parties, organizations, and groups within the mass movement, even some that call themselves communists, have aligned with the narrative that the crime was perpetrated by Morocco. This, in addition to being an example of rampant imperialist chauvinism (they’re passing the buck), amounts to a denial of the very basics of Marxism. By claiming that Morocco has the capacity to maneuver in this way, they are denying its external dependence. They deny that it is a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, and therefore, they also deny Spain’s role as an imperialist power. And they have the nerve to call themselves anti-imperialists!
We must be firm and clear. The so-called “crisis in Ceuta” is a crime of Spanish imperialism. It is not a diplomatic or geopolitical maneuver—It’s cheap charlatanism from the monopolistic press. Anyone who defends that is collaborating with Spanish chauvinism and anti-Moroccan racism. The crime in Ceuta is part of the war waged by European imperialist powers against the poorest people in Africa. The crime in Ceuta is, in essence, the same as the crime in Melilla on June 24th, 2022. The only differences are the numbers and the graphic nature of the images.
We may publish a new article on the subject in the coming days, as more information becomes available about the murdered migrants and the actions of the army.
Our stance, as a revolutionary newspaper, is clear: to mobilize the proletariat alongside the entire people against the criminal immigration policy of Spanish imperialism. The war against the poorest people in Africa must end.
