Democratic Palestine : 16 (ص 5)
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- Democratic Palestine : 16 (ص 5)
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people with what the immensely wealthy Saudi regime does
with its $ 30 billion annual income: Thousands of under-
nourished, poverty-stricken, illiterate beggars line up along the
streets of Mecca every year to testify to how the Saudi regime
distributes its wealth.
Economic crisis or wishful thinking?
Like most countries, Libya has suffered an economic
slump due to the world recession and the nosedive taken by oil
prices. Yet, however blunted Libya’s oil weapon may become,
Libyan crude (light and low sulphur) is among the best quality
oil in the world. No matter how much oil prices rise or fall,
Libyan oil remains at the top of the chart. Moreover, transport
costs are lower because of Libya’s proximity to Europe (its
biggest customer). More important still, Libyan oil costs about
$ 5 a barrel to produce. Thus, despite drastic dips in oil prices,
Libya can still make more than 100% profit on oil sales.
Even though there are economic problems, these are not
particular to Libya or related to the way Qaddafi has handled
the internal situation. Long before the leaders of many other
oil-producing states, Libya imposed austerity measures to
keep spending in line with revenues, in a way that even the IMF
found commendable ‘in a confidential 1985 report. Implemen-
tation of the austerity program, designed to urge indepen-
dence from foreign goods and labor, began with a decision to
reduce the one million strong labor force to 600,000. Thirty-
three military projects, costing $ 700 million, were cancelled.
Imports were cut by 25% in 1986, including consumer goods
and machinery, mostly from European countries. The third
reduction of foreign labor in 1985, following reductions in 1976
and 1980, was another factor which alleviated Libya’s
economic problems.
Much commotion accompanied Libya’s laying off of
foreign labor. The western media tried to capitalize on these
events to feed into their anti-Qaddafi campaign, despite the
fact that many a Gulf country has embarked on similar mea-
sures to relieve economic pressures. Thousands have been
sent home by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in particular, to cut the
expatriate work force, but reactionary and western media have
not chosen to dance up a storm about those countries. The
commotion raised about Libya’s «inhumanity», as Mubarak
putit, rises not from concern over the plight of the unemployed,
but from fear of the exacerbation of the already deteriorating
economic situation, especially in Tunisia and Egypt. Mubarak
conveniently overlooks the fact that Egyptians are humiliated
and strip-searched in Iraqi airports. Worse still, many have
been coerced into serving in the Iraqi army to fight Iran.
The anti-imperialist network
Libya has provided more than just moral support to many
anti-imperialist forces all over the world. Qaddafi’s relations
with Iran, Syria, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and the socialist coun-
tries, especially the Soviet Union, are weli known. Libya's sup-
port for progressive groups in the Philippines, New Caledonia,
Pakistan, Zaire, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile, Columbia, the
Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, St. Lucia and Lebanon is
only to mention a few on a much longer list. This is not to men-
tion the support Qaddafi extends to anti-imperialist groups in
Europe itself. More important still is Qaddafi’s principled stand
of support of the Palestinian cause, and his hard-line policy
against Zionism and its allies. Indeed, it is because of his
declared commitment to fight imperialism on all levels that
Qaddafi has become a major target of CIA schemes.
Qaddafi has also been bold enough to throw his influence
in the US's own territory. In a forty minute speech transmitted
live by satellite from Tripoli to Chicago, Qaddafi promised sup-
port to black US servicemen (totalling about 400,000) if they
would mutiny. Another sensitive nerve is the US's fear of Qad-
dafi coming too near to Nicaragua, a hot spot for the White
House these days. Over the last four years, Libya has given
Nicaragua $ 400 million in economic aid and $ 15 million in pet-
roleum. It is not surprising that the US considers Libya a threat
to its interests.
Unmixable business and politics
It is not the purpose of this article to delve into Libya’s
international business ties, but we will cite some examples of
how extensive they are. A great many countries, especially in
western Europe, are linked to Libya not only by dependence on
oil, but through multiple business interests as well. Consider-
ing how sizeable these are, it is no wonder that these
imperialist countries have resisted US pressures to impose
drastic sanctions on Libya. Libya has links with countries span-
ning from Surinam in South America to China.
Libya's ties with western Europe give a clear idea of how
Qaddafi can deal with these capitalist countries economically
without becoming vulnerable to political pressures. Greece is
to supply Libya with military equipment worth $ 1 billion over
the next five years. Denmark and Sweden have won contracts
for development projects worth millions of dollars. lretand has
recently negotiated a $ 89 million cattle deal with Qaddafi,
ignoring a US call for trade sanctions. France supplies spare
parts for Libya’s fleet of more than 100 Mirage jet fighters. (Al-
though the US has confronted France with this, France con-
tinues to deny it.). Malta has flourishing ties with Libya. In 1984,
it signed a friendship and defense accord. According to this,
Libyans and Maltese can travel between the two countries
without visas; they can work and buy property without special
permits. Many Maltese seek job opportunities in Libya.
Although Britain has broken relations with Qaddafi, 8000
British are living in Libya. For many British, Libya constitutes a
well of untapped potential for trade. Thatcher, however, has
opted for loyalty to Reagan’s policy rather than for national
interest. Libyan institutions have for nine years been the
biggest single shareholders in Fiat after the owning Agnelli
family, and have two members on the company’s board. Fiat
also has a controlling interest in Italy's largest rocket and mun-
itions company, Snia BPD, which is involved in US contracts.
Fiat is also working with Rolls-Royce on the RB 199 engine for
the new Tornado jet. Italian companies won a contract worth
£ 136 million to manage a steel plant being built by the Libyan
government at Misurata. Libya is also deeply involved in Italy's
booming textile and hotel industry. The group also has
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