By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) has condemned the attempts of the US to interfere in the conflicts in the Libya and in the Middle East, saying that the US and its allies “are hell-bent on tightening their control over all the major sources of oil and gas.”
“They cannot tolerate the degree of national independence or anti-imperialism that Iraq and Libya exercised in extended periods in the past and that Iran is striving hard to maintain. The US is now flagrantly seeking to grab and tighten its control over the oil resources of Libya as in Iraq. It is taking the lead in applying sanctions and threatening to unleash the aggression and atrocities that it used to take over the oil resources of Iraq,” said ILPS chairman Jose Ma. Sison.
The ILPS is an international formation of more than 350 organizations from 40 countries promoting, supporting and developing the anti-imperialist struggles of the peoples of the world. It has a broad mass character and not subordinate to any political party, government or religion and affords equality to all participating organizations.
It strives to realize the unity, cooperation and coordination of anti-imperialist and democratic struggles throughout the world.
Sison said that the ILPS steadfastly stands in solidarity with and supports the peoples of the North African and Middle East countries in their mass uprisings and struggles for national liberation and democracy.
He clarified, however, that the overthrow of a dictator by a rapid spontaneous surge of the masses does not necessarily result in the revolutionary overthrow of the ruling system. He warned that in the absence of a strong revolutionary party of the proletariat and revolutionary mass organizations, the imperialist powers and its puppets among the competing political and military factions of the local exploiting classes can arrange a new regime that pretends to be better than the previous one
Sison slammed the attempts of the US and its allies to appear savior and democrats by by trying to forge new constitutions and instituting periodic elections and term limits for elective officials. He said that the US and it allies were doing this even as variable balances of political and military factions continue to make the ruling system apparently stable but really more unstable, remaining ripe for the next corrupt autocratic regime or servile to monarchies most favored by the US as in Saudi Arabia and the emirates.
“The big prize for the US and its imperialist allies and its biggest local puppets in North Africa and the Middle East is the stepped-up superprofit-taking from the cheap labor of the working people, exploitation of oil and other natural resources, the huge sales of armaments to the oil producing countries and many other kinds of businesses,” he said.
Foreign Interference
In a speech delivered before the High Level Segment of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Switzerland, Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez said that Cuba wants a peaceful and sovereign solution in Libya but without foreign interference.
“Cuba fully shares the worldwide concern for the loss of civilian lives in Libya and hopes that its people are able to reach a peaceful and sovereign solution to the civil war occurring there, with no foreign interference, and can guarantee the integrity of that nation,” said Rodriguez.
The Cuban official said that his country rejects all attempts to take advantage of the conflict and to occupy Libya and control its oil.
According to him, it was the “voracity for oil” that was behind the motivation of political forces now speaking on the Libyan conflict. He made a swipe against said political forces which he said are primarily conservative in the United States and European who are calling for military intervention in Libyan territory.
“Given the magnitude of what is taking place in Libya and the Arab world, in the context of a global economic crisis, responsibility and a long-term vision should prevail on the part of governments in the developed countries. Although the goodwill of some could be exploited, it is clear that a military intervention would lead to a war with serious consequences for human lives, especially the millions of poor who comprise four fifths of humanity,” he said.
The Cuban prime minister expressed strong criticism against the United States and its allies in NATO, as well their mainstream media institutions for supposedly exploiting the situation and distorting the truth regarding the developments in Libya and the rest of the Middle East and North Africa.
In the meantime, international human rights groups are campaigning on behalf of civilians in Libya, calling for an immediate end to the conflict.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance has already declared a proposal to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya, but the move requires a new United Nations Security Council resolution.
According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, a no-fly zone (or no-flight zone) is a territory over which aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in a military context, somewhat like a demilitarized zone in the sky.
NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that NATO planners were examining “all eventualities” including the imposition of a no-fly zone. He said that NATO “has no intention to intervene if not requested.”
US President Barack Obama has announced that a no-fly zone is “one option” under consideration. Imposing a no-fly zone, military officials said require a pre-emptive strike on Libyan air defenses. Human rights groups all over the world have sounded the alarm against the mounting human rights violations in Libya, and expressed caution that the interference of the US and NATO might well result to more violations and deaths of civilians including children.
The Cuban foreign minister Rodriguez in his speech at the UN said that the concept of “collateral damage,” has been accepted in the military doctrine of NATO and the 28 very powerful nations which are allied under it. 
