Remembering Assassinated Moroccan Leader, Mahdi Ben Barka, and the Tricontinental Conference
Vijay Prashad was interviewed by Rosa Moussaoui, a journalist with L’Humanité. The interview was published in French on 27 October.
Ben Barka: A Commemoration
Mahdi Ben Barka was assassinated on 29 October 1965, marking sixty years since his death.
Origins of the Tricontinental Conference
Rosa: What motivated the Conference of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, known as the Tricontinental Conference, held in Havana in 1966? Was it a continuation of the earlier Bandung Conference?
Vijay: The Bandung Conference was convened by new post-colonial governments, including Indonesia (the host), India, and Egypt. Leaders met to navigate an escape from the neo-colonial system, which kept their economies dependent and their peoples marginalized. However, movements still striving for independence were excluded from Bandung and the follow-up Cairo meetings.
The absence of these liberation movements motivated the Cuban Revolution to invite both heads of state and representatives of national liberation movements to Havana for the Tricontinental Conference.
Significance of the Tricontinental Conference
This conference broadened the solidarity beyond governments to include active national liberation movements, marking a pivotal moment in the anti-colonial struggle.
Photograph Source: User:TCY – CC BY-SA 1.0
Author’s summary: The Tricontinental Conference, inspired by Bandung but more inclusive, united post-colonial states and liberation movements in the global fight against neo-colonialism.
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