«Human Rights»

Translated "Avante!"article by Luis Carapinha, Member of the International Department

US imperialism persists in using the vexed human rights issue as a pretext for interference, destabilization and regime-change operations worldwide, in accordance with its strategic agenda and the compulsion to maintain its hegemony. This ambition is inseparable from the interests of large monopolies built on the (private) property regime and the dominance of big financial capital. These are the elements that shape the power system with its headquarters in Washington. But if instead of pointing the finger at the countries whose development and internal order they try to to subvert the USA were to look at themselves they would find a scenery of desolation.

The abasement of human rights is taking place along two axes. On the one hand, (bourgeois) representative democracy is becoming increasingly hollow in the capitalist world. In the USA, it shows more and more its true nature: a formal democracy deprived of real substance. The worn-out fable of freedom can no longer hide the truth. On the other hand, contempt for and the absence of basic economic and social rights are on the rise, as if they were not an inherent part of human dignity as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Declaration proclaimed by the UN. In this regard, the US are at the forefront. At international level, dismantling social and economic rights has become one of great hobbyhorses of capitalism over the last decades with the enforcement of neoliberal models and policies.

A report on human rights violations in the USA that was recently released by China draws attention to facts that back this state of affairs but are generally ignored by mainstream media. A few quotes from the report: [in the beacon of democracy] elections have become “a money game” conducted by the richest – in the 2018 midterm elections for Congress, 5700 million dollars were spent; a “comprehensive surveillance system encompassing the whole of society” is being created and the current Administration has mounted the “largest direct attack on the freedom of the press in American history”; mass shootings reached record heights in 2018; most terrorist acts are related to racism and white supremacism; the Gini index (which measures the level of inequality) was at 0.485 in 2018, the highest score in the last 50 years; polarization has become structural in American society and the US display the greatest gap between rich and poor among developed countries; 40 million North-Americans live in poverty and millions go hungry; levels of childhood poverty are obscene; the USA do not have an universal health service and 65 million adult citizens do not seek medical assistance for lack of resources; the right to health, education and social security is being jeopardized; violence against women is widespread across the country. And adding to this: “the USA are the most warmongering nation in history, having spent $6.4 billion dollars in the wars that they have started since 2001”. There is a ruthless logic behind all this that is currently expressed in heightened sanctions as the pandemic spreads.

To this one ought to add the anti-trade union offensive, generalized job insecurity and unemployment, which are back in force as a result of the stock market crash and the virtual recession, both catalyzed by the COVID-19 emergency.

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