US
imperialism out of Greenland
It
made the headlines when the US government called off its official
state visit to Denmark on the 2nd and 3rd of September. And even more
because of the reason given – that US imperialism could not and
cannot simply buy Greenland at a fixed price, as the US president and
the White House wished.
This
outrageous proposal of course created an outcry of disbelief and
anger among the people of Greenland as well as among the Danish
people. The president of the United States of America spoke as a true
imperialist superpower and ruler of the world – Greenland is of
strategic interest, so we simply buy the whole shit – and no more
fuss. Without any political sweet-talk to cover it up. This situation
forced the social-democratic government, the politicians in the
Danish parliament and the politicians in Greenland to state in an
open reply that Greenland is not up for sale.
The
people of Greenland do not want to exchange their Danish citizenship
for a US citizenship. Their aim and goal is to see Greenland as a
free and sovereign nation. It is only ten years ago that Greenland
gained status as a self-governing part of the Danish Kingdom and as
an independent people after centuries as a Danish colony. Greenland
is still a semi-colony, where the Danish state and government has the
power over the foreign and security policy and the power to decide
what that means.
Today’s
reality has put Greenland and the Arctic right in center of the
struggle between the two superpowers US and China for world
domination. The rights to the many minerals, gas and oil to which
climate change has eased the access has become a security question.
The development of the infrastructure such as airports and new ship
lanes becomes a security question as US imperialism by itself and
through NATO demands full control, requiring exclusion of Chinese
investments.
In
order to secure control over Greenland the Danish Government must
play two agendas – that of being a loyal servant (ally) of US
imperialism and at the same time not appear as the old colonial power
in the eyes of the people in Greenland. That is why the Danish Prime
Minister Mette Frederiksen in her official reply in the Danish media
very carefully stated that Greenland had said no to the sale and that
the Danish government agreed.
At
the same time the prime minister stated that Denmark and the US share
the same strategic security interest in the Arctic, the Middle East
and elsewhere where the Danish military operates as a part of the US
NATO war coalition.
Just
a few days ago the Danish Foreign Minister Trine Bramsen stated that
Danish military investments in Greenland will be raised significantly
– in accordance with the demands of the US and NATO. The
militarization of Greenland and the arctic has a long and cruel
history dating back to the Second World War [Colonial metropole Denmark was defeated by Germany in April 1940, and the US immediately took over Greenland; in May 1940 the UK invaded Iceland and was later replaced by the US.] Both at that time and
during the Cold War US imperialism acted as if it already owned the
country, and placed military bases, nuclear weapons that are strictly
forbidden by Danish law, missile plants, radars etc. Even huge secret
military plants and cities fully armed under the arctic ice, which
are now coming for a day with the climate change together with dumped
nuclear waste.
Another
question in the rivalry to secure control over Greenland is the role
of the European Union, EU. Denmark is a member state and the only
country in the EU with borders and land in the Arctic, now with
Norway and Greenland out of the EU. Greenland left the EU in 1985
after a popular referendum in 1982 and now has what is called an OCT
(Overseas Countries and Territories) status as do a number of former
French, Dutch and British colonies in the Caribbean and the Pacific
Ocean, and has the status of a geopolitical important partnership.
Only a few weeks ago the Danish Government put up the first Schengen
border control in North East Greenland.
Whether
or not President Trump has cancelled his visit to Copenhagen this
time, he is not welcome as he is a representative of US imperialism.
A variety of organizations – antiwar, students, women’s, trade
unions, solidarity and anti-imperialist, have been organizing
protests and demonstrations, and they will still take place though in
a smaller scale.
These
are not anti-Trump demonstrations simply opposing Trump as a ‘mad
man’. They are against US imperialism, its wars and crimes against
the peoples, its military build-up and hegemony. It is against NATO
as the military arm of imperialism and of Danish imperialism. Being
targeted as a battlefield of the imperialist superpower is a big
concern to all the peoples in this region of the world. It is against
the militarization of the Arctic and a call for US and NATO bases to
get out of Greenland.
It
is in solidarity with all the people who fight imperialism – at
this moment for instance the people of Venezuela– and in
solidarity with the right of the people of Greenland to their own
independent state and to make their own decisions about their future.
The
social-democratic government in Denmark has given Trump the promises
he wanted. It even turned the butt just to be kicked by an arrogant
imperialist superpower.
August
21, 2019
APK,
Workers Communist Party of Denmark
[English website: apk2000.dk/en/welcome-page-for-the-workers-communist-party-of-Denmark/ ]
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