Dear Comrades,
We are pleased to be invited by you to this event.
In Vanguardia Española, we support the independence of every nation in the world, according to the article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations, that clearly says: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
Of course, many people will say that when Russia intervened in Ukraine on February 24th, it violated international law.
This may be true, but it is also a half-truth. You cannot understand the present if you erase the past.
When in the 80’s the USSR withdrew from Eastern Europe, the American imperialists promised the Soviets that they would not expand NATO further East, but they were deceived. The USA broke their promise and began a strategy of encirclement of Russia. And since 1990, NATO has absorbed nothing less than 14 countries.
Afterwards, when the USSR collapsed, western imperialism won a victory, but it wasn’t enough for the USA. Now they want to destabilize, weaken, and even destroy Russia for economic and geopolitical reasons.
Why are they doing that? In our opinion, there are three main reasons:
a) The first reason is an old British theory, which has now been revived by American imperialist bandits. The objective of this thesis is to avoid a united Europe, and for that they must avoid by all means a Paris-Berlin-Moscow axis, which was the dream of French President Charles de Gaulle in the 60’s. Since the Maidan revolution of 2014, by provoking the Russian bear for 8 years, they have caused a war in Ukraine that has further isolated Russia from the rest of Europe. They have forced the EU to take sanction measures, which in turn has allowed them to sell their shale gas, which is more expensive than Russian gas. Therefore, from this point of view, they may have achieved their goals.
b) This theory is complemented by the theories of the American geostrategist Zbigniew Brzezinski, who in his book The Grand Chessboard, explains that it is essential for the USA to cut off Ukraine from Russia. Also, from this point of view, they may have momentarily achieved their goals.
c) The second reason is another old British theory, also revived by the American imperialists, created by an English academic from the 19th century called Halford Mackinder. Basically, this theory defends that there is an area called the “pivot area” (also called “heartland”), which is the central part of Eurasia and Siberia. According to this theory, whoever controls the “pivot area” will control the world. Of course, if they defend this theory, it is also because they are interested in the immense natural resources that exist in Russia and especially in Siberia.
d) The third reason is that the real target of the USA is not Russia, but rather China. They think that by weakening or destabilizing Russia, they will be able to weaken the Russo-Chinese alliance so that they can later weaken China. We believe that they are fooling themselves here, and even some geostrategists in the USA believe that this is a wrong strategy.
e) This is in the Western front. Now, on the Eastern front, during the past decade, the USA has been increasingly encircling China. During the Obama administration, the American administration decided to adopt the “Pivot to Asia” doctrine. China is the biggest economical competitor they have ever faced. In July 2022, the UK and US intelligence services (FBI and MI5) held a joint press conference, calling China “the greatest long-term threat to our economic and national security”. That’s why they want to assert their power in the Asia-Pacific region and threaten with being able to cut off vital trade routes for China. Consequently, during Obama’s administration more than half of the US Navy has moved to the Pacific.
Now, Biden administration has taken up this line of action to pursue an aggressive and more effective policy towards China. How do they do that?
First, they strengthen previous strategic forums like the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, also known as QUAD, which includes Australia, India and Japan, and which was revived in 2017 specifically in order to counter China militarily and diplomatically in the Indo-Pacific region, and particularly in the South China Sea, where there are territorial disputes between China and other countries in the region. If they succeed in containing China in this region, they may difficult its access to Malacca Strait, which is strategic for maritime trade.
The QUAD is complemented by the AUKUS, a military strategic alliance between Australia, the UK and the USA, announced in September 2021 for the Indo-Pacific region.
Second, they try to expand NATO’s influence towards the Asia-Pacific region. In a report called “NATO 2030”, published in February 2021, NATO officially talks about “deepen consultation and cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region”. These partners are Japan, Australia, India and South Korea.
This is where the Korean peninsula issue comes into play. For some reason, the USA refuses to sign a peace treaty with North Korea, considered a “rogue state” by them. Obviously, they do not give up their project of reunifying Korea under the mandate of Seoul, in order to have troops on the border with China. However, it does not seem feasible that they will achieve it by military means, considering North Korea’s nuclear strength. Also, they would probably like to see China-South Korea relations deteriorate.
And they keep on escalating. In December 2021, after the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (which specifies the annual budget of the US Department of Defense), now they no longer speak of “containment” in relation to China, but of “encirclement”.
The new US administration has also conducted massive air and sea maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and has continued to sponsor provocative military exercises in the East and South China. To this must be added the interference of the USA in the province of Xinjiang, where there is a small separatist movement (remember that the World Uyghur Congress is located in Munich, Germany).
It is also possible that with Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022, even if it appears that she did not have the green light from President Biden, certain sectors of the US establishment want to provoke the Chinese tiger to cause a war with Taiwan, repeating the scenario of the “self-fulfilling prophecy” already used in the Ukrainian crisis, which would allow them to justify to the rest of the countries around China that it is a threat to their security. Yet we trust that the Chinese leadership will not make this mistake.
Comrades, these are dangerous times. History has shown that the imperialist bandits have no limits. They don’t mind playing with fire with nuclear powers, dragging us all towards a nuclear holocaust. Therefore, American imperialism and NATO are not only a threat for the countries threatened by them but are also a threat for the American people themselves.
Nonetheless, there is also room for hope. In November 2019, French President Macron said that NATO was in a state of “brain death”. Before that, President Donald Trump had said in January 2017 that NATO was “an obsolete organization”.
Take France, for example. Unfortunately, due to present circumstances, according to a YouGov poll, now 54% of French people believe that NATO is necessary, but in 2019 it was only 42%. In Italy, in 2022 it is also 54%, but in 2019 it was only 45%. So things can change if we act. We can alter the course of history.
Many of us Spaniards are also against NATO, which we entered in 1986 based on lies. But I don’t have more time to expand on that. So I would like to finish by quoting a 16th century Spanish historical figure named María Pita. She lived in the region of Galicia during an English attempt to invade Spain. She shouted once: “Whoever has honor, follow me!”. The imperialist bandits don’t have honor. So let’s expel them from our countries!
Thank you.
