We have gathered here today to express our solidarity with the people of the United States of America, who have taken to the streets. The reason for these demonstrations is the brutal murder of George Floyd by the police. However, the causes that created the people’s outrage go much deeper. They stem from the enormous inequalities in American society, which not only remain to this day, but are in fact growing day by day. These inequalities are based on colour and on social class.
It is worth pointing out that the history of America was built on the slave trade of Afro-Americans. In fact, it was only during the 1960’s that Afro-Americans gained rights, but these too were formal. To this day, racial segregation is rooted in the US institutions themselves, where the life of a poor person of colour is worth less than that of a white man. The lower strata of American society are marginalized and driven into ghettos. The US government’s stance towards them is one of total disrespect and violence.
The fact that at the helm of the country is a man, who is reproducing racist rhetoric, has exacerbated the situation. Even now, he is making the situation even worse by demeaning the demonstrators and their intentions, while at the same time seeking to control the mass media. On his orders, the army and armoured vehicles are on the streets of Washington D.C. At the same time, he is threatening to deploy the military across the country to quell the protests. The National Guard is on the streets and a curfew has been imposed in various areas.
Nevertheless, the people remain on the streets and are demanding justice. Police violence is on the rise. Protesters are confronting violent repression and the use of plastic bullets and tear gas is a common practice. Journalists are also falling victims of this violence. The death toll from the anti-government protests is rising, thousands have been injured and thousands more arrested. These numbers as we are here today are increasing.
The self-proclaimed “country of democracy and freedom” has been completely disclosed for what it is. Those who, in the name of "democracy", are waging imperialist military interventions in various parts of the world, are the principal cause of the democratic deficit in their own country. Today, even the most naive person can see what we as EDON have repeated many times. That is to say, the very system of this country is rotting and feeds only on blood, even of its own people. In its filth and decay, it breeds so-called “white supremacy” and at the same time, through its institutions, sets hands free to arm and shoot people in the name of this nationalism. That is precisely why it is not enough to deliver justice for George Floyd alone. That's why justice is needed for all the murders that have been committed. A chain of murders, which in the end not only target Afro-American people, but also all the poor, all the lower strata of society, regardless of race, colour and origin.
Today in the United States, all those, who the system has condemned to misery have taken to the streets alongside Afro-American people. They now understand that inequalities are primarily based on class. Millions of unemployed, uninsured workers, without any health care, with high tuition fees, without a future, are marching on the streets and fighting for dignity and social justice.
The whole world, especially the youth, should stand against such phenomena and the system that gives birth to them as we are doing here in our own country with our struggles. How many phenomena, not just racist behaviour, but racism too that are rooted in the institutions of the Republic of Cyprus, have we experienced as a society in recent years? Each one of us can think of a number of such examples. We’ll just mention the most recent events at the Pournaras reception centre for migrants and refugees, where the Anastasiades-DISY government is depriving the people there of elementary dignified living conditions and treating them as second-class people. 700 people are stacked there, without being able to leave and without the bare necessities and hygiene and health conditions, resulting in an outbreak of various diseases.
Ultimately, today what has been manifestly revealed before us all these days, is the rotten nature of the capitalist system, which, as each one of us can understand, is not the supposedly "perfect economic system" as its advocates would like us to believe. It is now a historically outdated system; it can offer nothing but pain and misery to the people.
EDON considers that only through organized struggle against this socio-economic system will people be able to breathe and begin to truly write their history. Until then, we will not stop being filled with rage for every injustice that is taking place around the world.
We will not stop struggling for and defending the weak, struggling for all those who this system uses as cheap labour to maximise their profits.
We therefore stand in solidarity with the people of the United States and with all people who are fighting for their rights.
We denounce with all our strength, every repression that is directed against the just struggles of the peoples.
Only with the people in power, united, can we breathe!
Solidarity with the struggle of the peoples!
Long-live international solidarity!