The summit for democracy or the joke of the year?

By Elias Jabbour

We Brazilians have the healthy habit of using a good sense of humor to deal with great inconsistency. I might say that in view of the event led by the United States, called the "Summit for Democracy," the first reaction one can have is to believe that we are facing a bad joke.

But once the perplexing moment fades, we are forced to deal with the facts: yes, U.S. imperialism, the greatest murderous and corrupting power in history, has decided to organize an event in favor of... democracy. The matter becomes more serious as we come to understand not only the hypocrisy behind the event, but the interests that surround it. Dark interests.

First, let's talk a bit about "democracy" in the U.S. It is interesting to notice that a country that promotes its right to define the concepts and lead the defense of democracy and human rights has the popularity of its presidents determined by war decisions. In other words, the two most popular presidents in recent U.S. history, Bush senior and Bush junior, reached almost 90 percent popularity after the decisions to unleash two attacks on Iraq (1991 and 2003). Such aggressions are part of what I have called an attempt to impose a "global military dictatorship" using fuzzy concepts to deceive international public opinion. American democracy is the greatest lie factory in history.

This means that this summit is part of a political architecture of a neocolonial character. Since the 1990s, U.S. imperialism has promoted, in the name of democracy, major military interventions and widespread semiotic warfare with the clear intention of dividing, subjugating and/or destroying entire societies. Sponsoring "color revolutions," promoting coups d'état disguised of legality in Latin America and the economic strangulation of countries like Iran, Venezuela and Democratic People's Republic of Korea are crimes against humanity that must be remembered every day by the real defenders of democracy, peace and the right of nations to self-determination. 

Internally, human rights violations, racism and science denial is the tonic. A country that murders leaders like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X is the same country that supported South African apartheid until its end. The United States has the largest prison population in the world (two million prisoners), among them 80 percent are Black.

Let's not forget as well that the first 10 U.S. presidents were slave owners and that it is no secret that racial segregation in the U.S. was a great source of inspiration for Nazi leaders like Goebbels and Himmler. It is well known that a large portion of the American population flirts with far-right ideas. True democracies promote a culture of tolerance and coexistence with differences. To be Black or Latino in the U.S. is to have your life at risk all the time.

U.S. democracy is a big hoax. 91 percent of the U.S. Congress belongs to the capitalist class. The last elections for president and Congress cost $14 billion. Noam Chomsky pointed out that 70 percent of the population in the U.S. has no ability to change the course of U.S. policy. Some billionaire families control the media and the formation of so-called public opinion, and the president with the highest number of votes is not necessarily declared the winner.

Moreover, the U.S. electoral system is based on a great deal between the civil war winners and the slaveholders. The slave masters' requirement to have states with greater or lesser electoral weight and the creation of the senate was met and remains in full force. There are many cases in which the votes of Blacks and Latinos are not even counted. 

Finally, apart from the discussion on the concept of democracy, there is a very dangerous process going on that directly affects the People's Republic of China. The moral decay of the West finds its greatest expression in war. In fact, this "Summit for Democracy" is not just a joke. It's way more serious. Imperialism seeks to create an internal environment to deepen the encirclement of the Chinese socialist experience. Imperialist aggression against China, direct or indirectly, is at the top of Biden's agenda.

The author is a professor at the School of Economic Sciences at State University of Rio de Janeiro.