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The Berber people The Berbers were the nomads of the Sahara desert.

These people
faced dust storms and drought, with their caravans to cross this territory, mak
ing trade. They used to sell various products such as objects of gold and copper
, salt, handicrafts, spices, glass, feathers, precious stones etc.. Used to stop
at the oasis for water, shade and rest. Used the camel as the main means of tra
nsport, thanks to resistance of this animal and its adaptation to the desert. Wh
ile traveling, the Berbers took and brought information and cultural aspects. So
on, they were of extreme importance to the cultural exchange that occurred in th
e north of the continent. That the Bantu people inhabiting the northwest of the
continent, where now are the countries Nigeria, Mali, Mauritania and Cameroon. U
nlike the Berbers, the Bantu were farmers. Also lived by hunting and fishing. Th
ey knew the metallurgy, a fact which gave great advantage to this people in the
conquest of neighboring peoples. They came to form a great kingdom (kingdom of t
he Congo) that dominated much of the northwestern continent. They lived in villa
ges which was commanded by a chief. King Bantu, also known as Manicongo, taxes l
evied in the form of goods and foods from all the tribes that made up his kingdo
m. The inhabitants of the kingdom believed maniconco had sacred powers and that
influenced the harvest, wars and people's health. Colonial empires: DECLINE At t
he end of World War II, there was the political climate in the world for preserv
ation of colonial empires. The war marked the defeat of Japan, Germany and Italy
, countries that had a decidedly colonialist project. The very creation of the U
nited Nations, the United Nations in June 1945, had formally as a premise, ensur
e equality among all countries of the world. In this context, the colonial empir
es still in existence were an anomaly, the remnant of a historical cycle has pas
sed. In fact, the structure of the UN has always reflected the distribution of p
ower in the Cold War. The composition of the Security Council is the best exampl
e. It began with 11 members, then expanded to 15, with five permanent and veto p
ower: the United States, Soviet Union, France, Britain and China. Despite the ve
to power, the colonial powers were in decline, hit by two world wars and economi
c crises. In 1947, Britain was forced to cede independence to India, under the i
mpact of a nationalist movement led by Mahatma Gandhi. In 1954, it was time for
France to be driven out by guerrillas in Indochina Ho Chi Minh Vietnam, encourag
ed by the Communist victory in China. Pan African signs of a weakening of coloni
al empires, added to the rhetorical support of the Soviet Union to the nationali
st struggle, have encouraged African leaders to seek the path of independence. O
ne of the first projects was the pan-Africanism, or the union of all African nat
ions, formulated by the black leader Jomo Kennyata, Kenya. The main obstacle to
pan-Africanism was the ethnic and cultural diversity of the continent. There wer
e, as there are still many "Africas" different (people in tribal organization an
d people organized into countries, etc.), preventing attempts by the alliance of
African countries. This lack of an "African identity" is due in large part to t
he fact that Africa has been dominated, exploited and divided by powers that hav
e never bothered with the cultural traits of those people. Slavery and EXPLOITAT
ION OF NATURAL PROPERTY
One of the deepest roots of the harsh reality is the market for African slaves,
exploited by Arabs and Europeans between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
At that time, more than eleven million human beings were captured by the Portug
uese, Dutch, English and French, and transported by force, especially for the pl
antations of the United States and the Portuguese possessions in America. Ended
the period of slavery in the nineteenth century, the colonial powers maintained
control over Africa, which became a source of minerals and raw materials for the
booming industry in Europe. In the process of colonization, many tribes and nat
ions eventually joined the enemy force by the settlers. Because of this, the bou
ndaries of states and regions reflected a lot more foreign interest than the sto
ry of local people. "The slave trade will somehow disrupt not only disrupt local
economies but the small kingdoms, small social formations on the coast of the c
ontinent, allowing the future possibility of colonization, domination of these p
eoples. This rule is a violent or establishing artificial borders, cutting, in m
ost cases,€segments and ethnic groups. This can be noted at the Berlin Conferen
ce (late nineteenth century), where the major European powers divided randomly a
ccording to their interests, the African continent. "(Prof. Dr. Carlos Serrano-D
epto. Anthropology USP) BANDUNG: ATTEMPT UNION OF THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES When
nationalist leader Jomo Kenyatta spoke of pan-Africanism, he had in view, proba
bly much more a geopolitical strategy than cultural or ethnic background. The go
al was to defend the common geopolitical interests of African countries. Da Simi
larly, and also in the early '50s, another nationalist leader, Gamal Abdel Nasse
r the Egyptian, ideal advocated a pan-Arabist, which centralize the interests of
Arab people. In both cases, the pan-Arabism and pan-Africanism, this unit would
cement the ideological and political interests against the imperialists. It was
with this purpose of uniting the Third World countries, held a conference in Ba
ndung, Indonesia in April 1955. The conference declared itself the representativ
e of the countries not aligned to either the Soviet bloc or the capitalist bloc,
but support for the creation of egalitarian societies. The conference sounded l
ike a warning signal to the colonial powers. Ten years earlier, Sukarno had led
the process of independence from Indonesia, a former colony Netherlands. Also in
1954, a year before Bandung, France had been expelled from Indochina. Another i
mportant initiative to accelerate the decolonization process was the completion
in 1958 of the 1st Conference of the Peoples of Africa in Accra, capital Ghana.
On occasion, countries reached an agreement of mutual assistance against Britain
, France, Belgium and Portugal. By that time, the decolonization of the continen
t was already underway. INDEPENDENCE: DOMINO EFFECT In Algeria, where the libera
tion struggle had begun in 54, the process was more painful. The French settlers
, or black legs, refused to hand over land to the Algerians and attacked the nat
ives with violence. The independence of Algeria by France would be recognized on
ly in 1962 during the government General Charles de Gaulle. In Kenya, the nation
alist revolt gained momentum in 1952 when members of the Kikuyu tribe, more nume
rous in the country, formed an underground organization, the Mau-Mau, against th
e British colonizers. Kenya gained independence in 63 and elected its first pres
ident as the leader Jomo Kenyatta. BELGIAN CONGO: INDEPENDENCE X DICTATORSHIP
One of the most bloody of independence took place in the Belgian Congo, then cal
led Zaire. Former Congo had been a gift of the Berlin Conference to King Leopold
II of Belgium in 1885. This one and both: a vast territory rich in cobalt, iron
, potassium e. .. diamonds. The struggle for independence in the Belgian Congo g
ained intensity in the mid 50s. In 1958, the Pan-African nationalist leader Patr
ice Lumumba would make an anti-colonialist discourse that would give him prestig
e and strengthen the cause of his country. Conflicts between the new government
and separatist provinces, however, did Lumumba, already in the office of prime m
inister, asking for military intervention by the UN and the Soviet Union. On Sep
tember 60, Lumumba was ousted from office and arrested by order of President Jos
eph Kasavubu. On February 61, the government officially announced his death. Pat
rice Lumumba received honors from the Soviet Union, who gave his name to a Mosco
w university for foreign students. Such initiatives were part of the ideological
struggle of the Cold War. In 1971, under the government of Joseph Mobutu, the B
elgian Congo was renamed Zaire. All Zairean European names were forced to adopt
African names. The president himself went to Mobutu Sese Seko. In 1997, after th
e fall of dictator Seko, Zaire would be called the Democratic Republic of Congo.
THE PORTUGUESE COLONIES: INDEPENDENCE LATE One by one, all the African countrie
s gained independence, with the exception of the Portuguese colonies Angola, Moz
ambique and Guinea-Bissau. South Africa has also constituted a special case, dep
ending on the system of racial segregation, apartheid, which prevailed in the co
untry. The Portuguese possessions were among the oldest in Africa and were also
the ones that lasted longer. The only three states came to independence in 70 ye
ars after the death of dictator Antonio Salazar, who ruled Portugal between 1932
and 1970. Mozambique: Mozambique independence in 1975, one of the poorest natio
ns on earth, was the one that stayed longer under colonial rule: in 1505, when t
he Portuguese took possession of its coastline by 1975. The nationalist movement
emerged in the 50s and gained momentum in 1962 with the creation of the Mozambi
que Liberation Front, Frelimo, the Marxist line.€After the death of Salazar in
1970, the defeat of Portugal in the African colonies have grown discontent among
the Portuguese military. The political process in London resulted in the Carnat
ion Revolution, in April 1974 that restored democracy in the country. The new ru
lers fulfilled the promise of ending the Portuguese colonial empire in 1975. Moz
ambique was ruled by the leader of FRELIMO, Samora Machel, who implemented a soc
ialist model inspired by Eastern Europe and China of Mao Zedong. Besides economi
c difficulties, Machel had to face the actions of the Mozambican National Resist
ance, Renamo, a group backed by anti-South Africa in 1990 under the impact of th
e fall of the Berlin Wall, Frelimo abandoned Marxism. Angola: A total of about t
hree million Angolans have been sold, mostly to Brazil. Only in the twentieth ce
ntury is that Portugal became a colony of Angola to consider settlement. When th
e country gained independence in 1975 there were 350,000 Portuguese settlers in
Angola, or 6% of the population. The rivalry between the groups resulted in arme
d struggle after the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. The foreign support to ea
ch faction fighting clearly mirrored the Cold War in Africa. On October 75, Sout
h Africa sent troops to fight in Angola, the UNITA side (anti-communist group).
The offensive against the capital Luanda was arrested by the arrival of Cuban tr
oops, at the request of the MPLA (communist group). The South African government
has justified the attack saying that Angola is supplying weapons to the guerril
las in neighboring Namibia, a small country but rich in gold and other minerals.
Indeed,
South Africa wanted to stop the advance of leftist movements in the continent, p
rogress that could boost the fight against apartheid South Africa. On November 7
5, Lisbon officially renounced control of the colony and the MPLA proclaimed the
People's Republic of Angola. But it was a difficult start for the new republic:
the Portuguese settlers left the country, and with that Angola lost practically
all their skilled labor. SOUTH AFRICA This tangle of ethnic and geopolitical co
nflict is well represented by the history of South Africa, begun in the seventee
nth century, time of arrival of the Dutch to the region. The Europeans arrived i
n the southern African region in 1487, when the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu
Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope. From the seventeenth century the Dutch immig
rants, initially interested in exploring the trade route to India, came to regar
d the region as their homeland. In 1806, the British seized the Cape Town and se
ttled in place, fighting against the native blacks and the descendants of Dutch,
known as Boers. The shocks went through the entire nineteenth century, causing
migration of the Boers to the northeast, where they founded two republics, the T
ransvaal and Orange Free State. In the transition to the twentieth century, the
Boer War resulted in the victory of the English. The Boer states were annexed by
the British Crown. In 1910, he joined the Cape colony and Natal to form the Uni
on of South Africa. Blacks, however, were the overwhelming majority and a threat
to the area of white minority. The policy of apartheid: the British and Afrikan
ers, to minimize the numerical inferiority, closed in 1911 the first agreement f
or the approval of segregation laws against black people, the campaign using the
word apartheid, which in Afrikaans means separation. Apartheid prevented the ac
cess of blacks to land ownership, political participation and better paid profes
sions. Also blacks confined in separate areas. Were prohibited marriages and sex
ual relations between people of different races. Throughout the Cold War period,
South Africa was treated by the superpowers in the condition of most industrial
ized country in Africa. In 1961, South Africa gained its full independence and w
ithdrew from the Commonwealth. The policy of apartheid was radicalized. From 71,
blacks were confined to Bantustans, tribal nations located in an area correspon
ding to 13% of South African territory. The goal of the Bantustans was to divide
the black population, emphasizing the historical and cultural differences betwe
en tribes. Moreover, the rulers of the black homelands came to support the apart
heid system that assured them the privilege of local government. Opposition to t
he apartheid regime took shape in the 60s, when the ANC, African National Congre
ss, a black organization founded in 1912, launched a campaign of civil disobedie
nce. There was born the seed of a long struggle that culminated at the end of ap
artheid in the 90s. The struggle in South Africa began to alert international pu
blic opinion even in 1960.€The ANC was outlawed. Its main leader, Nelson Mandel
a's lawyer, was arrested on 62 and later sentenced to life imprisonment. For the
United States in the early 80s the situation of South Africa was uncomfortable.
On one hand, Washington had the support of the South African army in fighting t
he Communists throughout the region. On the other hand, apartheid provoked outra
ge growing in the world, making it difficult to maintain support for the racist
regime. From the viewpoint of the capitalists, the apartheid regime was not inte
resting because
limited the access of blacks to the consumer market. In addition, the South Afri
can Communist Party also fought against racism, which could lead to a rapprochem
ent between the party and the African National Congress. A RELEASE OF MANDELA: T
he release of Mandela became one of the main banners of the movement against apa
rtheid. The tentative changes promoted by then-President Pieter Botha in 1986, w
ere followed by more fundamental reforms, articulated from 89 by his successor,
Frederik de Klerk. De Klerk repealed, one by one, the racist laws of apartheid a
nd began making arrangements with the ANC. In February 1990, Mandela was set fre
e after 28 years in prison. The reforms of Frederik de Klerk was supported by a
national referendum held in 1992. It was the last referendum restricted to white
s. Two years later, in April 1994, were the first multiracial elections in the h
istory of South Africa elections won by Nelson Mandela. With the end of the Cold
War, Africa has lost its relative importance. In the '90s, the continent was ag
ain handed over to oblivion. African states, artificially divided, are still the
scene of civil wars caused by tribal hatreds. Many dictatorships are maintained
through weapons, and disease, famine and drought are still claiming the lives o
f millions of people. The poverty of Africa is not natural causes. It is a legac
y of slavery and colonial domination in the second half of the twentieth century
, the game between the superpowers during the Cold War. The world owes a debt to
Africa. An infinite debt.

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