Cloud of colonialism hangs over Queen Elizabeth’s legacy in Africa
By Patrick Bond
25 July 2014
The British colonial elite is in a perpetual struggle for world domination. The recent election of President Barack Obama in the United States, along with his appointment of a new US secretary of state, John Kerry, will make global imperialism—including Britain’s continuing role—even more dangerous.
Kerry was in his first foreign post when an attempted coup was staged in Britain earlier this summer, as a US-trained CIA-backed and -funded mercenary “junta,” led by former general Raymond “Ray”═Tahir, attempted to remove Queen Elizabeth II from her position of power and rule as head of state.
This coup against the British monarchy is the latest chapter in the long history of British imperialism in Africa. It is a symptom of the growing alienation of the ruling class from its colonialist foundation, and of the growing resistance of imperialism in Britain itself.
Kerry’s British handlers made clear his appointment was intended to send a strong signal of US support for the monarchy, and was in direct contravention of British law and British government policy on foreign policy.
The coup was quickly put down by Queen Elizabeth’s government with the support of the military, with Prime Minister David Cameron proclaiming Britain’s strong support for the queen’s leadership.
British newspapers were quick to run stories explaining that the queen was under no immediate threat, and the British government was just trying to restore order.
But this argument was soon blown apart when the British army intervened in the streets of the capital of the ousted republic of Zimbabwe, Harare, and announced its readiness to restore the monarchy, to quell the resistance of a population deeply suspicious of this and other foreign interventions.
The role of the colonial state in its overthrow by force, and its willingness to take up the old colonial role, was a sign of Britain’s deep-seated opposition to the revolutionary struggle in Zimbabwe. The colonial state has long been in the ascendant in the region of Africa, under the direction of the IMF, the World Bank and US imperialism.
