On May 23-24, 110 individuals representing 28 proletarian-socialist parties, anti-imperialist formations, research organizations, and progressive people’s movements from 20 countries across five continents gathered in Nairobi, Kenya in Africa for a theoretical conference. Led by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Communist Party Marxist Kenya (CPMK), the conference successfully held discussions on bureaucratic and comprador capitalism in neocolonies.

The International Theoretical Conference on Comprador and Bureaucrat Capitalism in the Neocolonies is the fourth in a series of conferences launched by the NDFP addressing important theoretical issues. This was the first conference held in Africa. The conference discussed 21 articles authored by communist and proletarian-socialist parties, and anti-imperialist organizations leading liberation movements in Congo, Cyprus, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Kenya, Kurdistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sudan, South Sudan, Turkey, Uganda, and Zambia.

The two-day conference provided an opportunity to present Marxist-Leninist analysis of the prevailing mode of production in various countries. It particularly examined the historical development of neocolonial societies under imperialist control.

The conference delegates analyzed the material roots of bureaucrat capitalism and comprador capitalism, based on the writings of Lenin and Mao on semicolonial and semifeudal rule, as well as the imperialist US’ schemes and maneuvers to maintain control over the neocolonies.

It also studied the role of various classes in the neocolonies as local agents of economic plunder, and their political and military subservience in the name of imperialist interests. The delegates engaged in focused discussions to further deepen and exchange analyses of the conditions that bred semicolonial and semifeudal social structures in their respective countries.

It also discussed practical issues related to revolutionary work and advancing people’s movements, especially in the context of bureaucrat capitalism. The participants examined strategies for organizing specific social classes, such as the semiproletariat, and studied how the worsening global crisis and intensifying imperialist aggression shape the development of revolutionary forces and the broader Left movement in their countries and regions.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines authored the article shared from the Philippines. The article traced the history of the emergence of comprador and bureaucrat capitalism in the country as a result of US imperialist rule through its economic and political agents. It also explained the role of comprador and bureaucrat capitalists in maintaining the semicolonial and semifeudal Philippine society.

At the conclusion of the conference, the delegates expressed solidarity with the celebration of African Liberation Day on May 25 in commemoration of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which later evolved into the African Union. The OAU was established to promote unity and cooperation among anti-colonial liberation movements and newly emerging independent governments in 30 African countries in the 1960s.

They consider this as part of the common struggle of oppressed peoples against imperialism and all reaction. The conference affirmed the solidarity of anti-imperialist and proletarian-socialist forces with the continuing importance of liberation movements in Africa within the broader struggles for self-determination and socialism.