The Group of Seven (G7) "Leaders' Summit" June 11-13, brings
together Heads of State from the seven countries that comprise it --
the U.S., Britain, Canada,
France, Germany, Italy and Japan. It will be held in the small town of
Carbis Bay in Cornwall, England. Carbis Bay has a population of just
3,500. To defend the G7 "partnership based on
shared interests and values" more than 5,000 police from across England
are mobilized at the summit. There will also be police boats, drones,
150 police dogs, and special police forces in
riot gear. Hundreds of Armed Forces personnel will also be present.
Actions
by the peoples of Britain and Europe and virtual meetings worldwide are
taking place to denounce both the G7 Summit and the NATO Summit to be
held on June 14 in
Brussels, Belgium. These actions are raising the peoples' demands as
concerns providing vaccines free of charge to the peoples of the entire
world, demands related to the climate crisis, poverty, the demand for
equality and reparations for the crimes of slavery and genocide and
many others. Actions are opposing the warmongering activities of the
U.S.-led NATO and denouncing the imperialist stand in defense of the
Zionist attacks on the Palestinian people and occupation of the
Palestinian homeland. The demands include dismantling these
imperialist alliances and organizing for anti-war governments. Most
importantly, they underscore the fight taking place worldwide for
people's empowerment against the system which concentrates
decision-making in ruling elites of seven countries neither of which
represent the interests of the peoples of the world.
Protests have already taken place at finance and health minsters'
meetings in advance of the "leaders'" summit and more actions are
planned.
Two representatives of the European Union will also attend the Summit. Britain
holds the rotating presidency this year and acts as the host country.
It has invited representatives from non-member
countries Australia, India, South Africa and South Korea.
The host of this year's G7, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson,
says the G7 summit "aims to unite leading democracies to help the world
build back better from the COVID-19
pandemic and create a greener, more prosperous future." This is to be
done by:
"- leading the global recovery from the coronavirus while strengthening resilience against future pandemics;
- promoting future prosperity by championing free and fair trade;
-
tackling climate change and preserving the planet's biodiversity; and
- championing global shared values."
The G7 Summit also features meetings of ministers and
representatives of what are called the G7 Engagement Groups: Women 7,
Youth 7, Business 7, Civil Society 7, Labour 7 and
Science 7. Their intention is to be spokespersons for G7 propaganda
about "shared values" which covers up the state-organized violence and
efforts made to divide the people on the basis of
imperialist conceptions of rights and to funnel money to undermine the
resistance of the peoples of both member countries and the world to the
neo-liberal anti-social offensive.
The NATO meeting immediately after the G7 underscores that the way
to enforce the so-called shared values, and demonstrate "solidarity" is
by use of the military. As part of
imperialist war preparations, NATO forces are being used to surround
Russia, including bases, armaments and about 40,000 troops at present.
U.S. and NATO troops continue to threaten
the peoples of all of Europe, West and East Asia all in the name of
protecting "shared interests and values."
Hidden behind claims about the alleged success of vaccination
programs in the U.S., Britain, Germany and France are the real
countenance of increasing poverty, inequality, harm to the
natural environment, violence and abuse. Indicative of the "shared
values" is the fact that people living in G7 countries are said to be
77 times more likely to be offered a vaccine than those
living in the world's poorest countries. At the current rate, it would
take the countries kept under the thumb of the "shared values" of the
G7, some 57 years for everyone to be fully
vaccinated. For the G7 countries to "share" their vaccines with the
rest of the world is supposed to be on the agenda of the G7. What is
hidden however is how Big Pharma benefits through pay-the-rich schemes.
Protesters at the pre-summit meeting of health ministers called on the
G7 to "stop making empty promises and protecting the interests of
pharmaceutical companies." This goes to the heart of the matter.
Another "shared value" is the high level of legal corruption which
makes the most powerful corporations ever richer and the ever larger
numbers of poor ever poorer. A recent study
shows that the average CEO compensation of the largest U.S.
corporations rose 29 per cent to $15.3 million in 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic, while typical worker pay dropped by
two per cent to $28,187. The compensation at the top is some 490 times
greater than that of an average worker. Maintaining this status quo
goes to the heart of what the "shared value"
equated with "freedom, democracy and equal opportunity" is all about.
The CEOs have "equal opportunity" to scam so as to triple their
fortunes under the most adverse circumstances.
It is certain the G7 and NATO summits will not resolve any conflicts
as the intensifying contending interests among the global oligopolies
and their coalitions and cartels means war
governments and more war plans as each narrow private interest strives
for dominance. Even within the G7 itself, members like France and
Germany remain in contention with the U.S.,
including over relations with Russia. Nord Stream 2, for example, a
natural gas pipeline running from Russia to Germany, is being built
despite U.S. objections. So too, the very presence of
NATO troops means the presence of U.S. bases, troops and firepower and
threatens the very countries whose soil they occupy. It shows that the
mantra about "shared values" is a threat. Countries are told to either
sort out the contradictions which abound on every front in a manner
which favours U.S. imperialist interests, or refusal to do so will be
met with defamation, sanctions, death and destruction. These
contradictions include those over the nuclear deal with Iran and many
others where the contention over control of markets, investment
capital, resources and zones of influence and financial gain lead to
policy clashes which means clashes between police powers. Massive
disinformation on matters related to human rights, Belarus and Ukraine
are all of this nature. The G-7 has long since trampled in the
mud with impunity the right of the peoples of the world to have
conflicts resolved without the use of force.
The "rules" which the U.S. imperialists make up as they go along,
repeated slavishly by the likes of Canada, are no guide to action to
sorting out these contradictions within the G7 or
NATO, any more than they can sort out the contradictions within the
U.S. and within Canada. These contradictions are the result of obsolete
colonial and modern-day power structures
designed to keep the people under control so that they cannot use their
own agency to effect changes favourable to their interests.
It is the countries which form the G7 and their obsolete democracies
which deprive the peoples of political power that are creating
unbearable conditions for the peoples worldwide. The G7 has adopted the
slogan to make their countries "Great Again" as well as the
imperialist slogan of the U.S. administration, echoed by Canada, to
"Build Back Better." The content of these slogans looks to the
past for purposes of bringing it back to the future. In the present it
takes the form of threats when the times are demanding political
renewal so as to bring forms into being whereby the peoples can speak
in their own names. Human agency is essential to change the
present so that the path to progress serves
humanity in the present. The watchword of the peoples is One Humanity,
One Struggle for the Rights of All!
Youth Climate Strike March and Sound the Alarm Actions
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 13 - June 11, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/MS51131.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
