Monday, 17 August 2020

Some thoughts on Belarus.

 I visited Belarus in April 2018 for an international conference in solidarity with the DPRK organised by the Korean Committee For Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and the Belarus-DPRK Friendship Association.

At the moment is sad to watch a bunch of hipsters backed by US imperialism wreck a peaceful country .


Belarus is certainly an independent state and very patriotic . It is also very anti-fascist , always remembering that the nazis killed 80 per cent of its population during World War Two. It has not tried to blot out the legacy of the Soviet Union , in fact some people seem quite proud of it . What would freak out liberals (as well as Trots and revisionists ) is that favourable references are made to J V Stalin .


However I personally would not go as far as some people have in describing Belarus as the last Soviet state or a socialist country . In fact the trappings of the evil empire can be seen . US imperialist fast food monopolies such as McDonalds, KFC , Burger King and Dominoes have found their way into the country . Also in evidence was a Harley Davison store and there are two US style shopping malls with shops like Pull and Bear .

I was shocked to see that a former Party or trade union building or hall of culture had been turned into a KFC !

I would say that Belarus operates a form of social democracy rather than socialism . Lukashenko appears to believe a phased and controlled transition to capitalism rather than "shock therapy" . No doubt this earnt him the hatred of capitalist fanatics and neo-liberals in the imperialist countries who love the sight of lines of the unemployed , people begging on the streets and foodbanks! We should not be telling people that "Belarus is socialist but the same time we must reject neo-liberal regime change in Belarus and support Belarus 's right to independence . The protests in Belarus are organised by those who want to make Belarus a member of NATO and the EU. Belarus must not become a NATO or EU colony !

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