Forum for the Total Liberation of Africa
The Forum for the Total Liberation of Africa (FTLA) is a Marxist-Leninist-Zhouist, anti-imperialist political organization that emerged in 1951 with the aim of promoting socialist ideology and advocating for the liberation of African nations from colonial rule and capitalist exploitation. The FTLA's principles are grounded in Marxist theory, emphasizing class struggle, anti-imperialism, and the pursuit of social equality and self-determination for the African people. It is an affiliate of the Fifth International.
The FTLA was founded in the midst of the African (or Colonial) Wars, part of the general African against imperialism and colonialism. Deeply inspired by Zhou Thought, the FTLA initially focused on mobilizing anti-colonial resistance movements and supporting national liberation struggles across Africa, such as those of the Liberian Bush War and the Portuguese Colonial War. Its activities involved organizing strikes, protests, riots, and resistance against colonial authorities and capitalist interests, seeing them as intrinsically interlinked. African Communist guerrillas received training and armament from Chinese and Sumatran revolutionaries, aiding them in their armed struggles for independence.
One of the FTLA's most notable achievements was its role in the toppling of the Malian monarchy in 1956, as it was seen as the FTLA as a "willing agent of European capital and empire". This resulted in the establishment of the Plurinational West African Republic (PWAR), although its success was short-lived, given its collapse twelve years later due to ethnic infighting, foreign influence, and differing Communist sectarian ideologies. Regardless, the FTLA's influence has extended to other African nations, where it supported various liberation movements and socialist revolutions.
According to the FTLA, imperialism in Africa is not solely restricted to Europeans. It recognizes Egypt and Nubia as native African colonial powers, especially since the Kingdom of Nubia is "illegally occupying" the region of Uganda. It is also vehemently opposed to the "Freedmen States", the states of Liberia, Kamerun, Gabon-Bethléheem, and Barocelia, since they go against the FTLA's principles of liberation and self-determination, viewing them as neo-colonial attempts to maintain Western domination in Africa. The FTLA advocates for the dismantling of these states and the redistribution of their territories to the indigenous African populations. As such, it is strongly pitted against other pan-Africanist movements, such as Garveyism, and Négritude, as they are the guiding ideologies of Liberia and Gabon-Bethléheem, respectively.
The FTLA is also opposed to Powellite-style ethno-pluralism, seeing it as a dangerous ideology that promotes ethnic separatism and perpetuates division among nations that native Africans should fully control. According to the FTLA, ethno-pluralism serves as a tool for maintaining colonial power structures and inhibiting the solidarity necessary for true liberation and progress in Africa. Kamara Sonko, the current chairman of the FTLA, says that "to accept ethnopluralism is to accept perpetual domination under a facade of cultural self-preservation".
Today, the activities of the FTLA are primarily restricted to Western Africa. Due to the defeat of Communist guerillas in the British and Portuguese colonial wars, these states have increased vigilance, labeling the FTLA as a terrorist organization. It engages in propaganda campaigns against Western and Eastern corporate groups, vehemently opposes European immigration to Africa and the resettlement of Asian refugees, and advocates for a continental nationalization of industry and resources under native African control. The FTLA continues to call for the complete expulsion of foreign, unaffiliated military forces from the continent and demands reparations for the historical injustices inflicted upon Africa by foreign powers. The FTLA has also been repressed by native, pro-Western African governments who view its activities as a threat to their stability and external relations.
Names in other languages
- Spanish: Foro para la Liberación Total de África
- French: Forum pour la Libération Totale de l'Afrique
- German: Forum für die Gesamtbefreiung Afrikas
- Greek: Φόρουμ για την Συνολική Απελευθέρωση της Αφρικής, rom.: Phóroum gia tēn Synolikḗ Apeleuthérōsē tēs Aphrikḗs
- Turkish: Αφριγκα-νην Ταμ Κουρτουλουσ' Ενδζουμεν or ܐܦܪܝܓܐܢܝܢ ܬܡ ܟܘܪܛܘܠܘܫ ܐܢܓܘܡܢ, rom. Afriğa'nın Tam Ḳurṭuluş Encümen
- Persian: ܐܢܓ'ܘܡܢ ܒܪܐܝܐ ܟܐܡܝܠ ܐܙܐܕܝ ܐܦܪܝܓܐ, rom. Anjoman barâye Kâmel Âzâdi Âfriğâ