Joana Ramiro
The son of Muammar Gadaffi, Seif Gaddafi was forced to deny that Col. Gaddafi had fled Libya after days of unrest in several major Libyan cities which has seen protesters finally take the capital, Tripoli. Joana Ramiro writes about the potential fall of another dictator
Thousands of people took the streets of Tripoli today in what has been the most violent day of protests in Libya so far. Pro-government mercenaries opened fire on protesters raising the death toll to over 200 people, causing outrage throughout the world with several political figures, including British Secretary of State, William Hague, severely condemning the “horrifying” measures taken by Col. Gaddafi.
However, despite Muammar Gaddafi’s persistent iron fist, media worldwide reports the swift change of mood within the Libyan government itself. Not only has it come out that a superior military officer has now defected to the protestors’ side, but the Libyan representative to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, has today announced his resignation in order to “join the revolution”. Tribal chiefs, including the 500,000 strong Tuareg and a million-strong Warfala clan, have also communicated their allegiance to the opposition and apparently attacked several governmental buildings.
It is the general feeling that the Libyan revolution is gaining momentum, with major cities as Al-Bayda, Benghazi and Misurata being now under the control of revolutionary groups.
The incredibly fast developments in Libya have left Twitter ablaze in the last few hours, with rumours, now also reported by Al Jazeera, that Col. Gaddafi has fled to Venezuela leaving one of his sons in charge. Seif Gaddafi, the Colonels son, spoke late on Sunday night on Libya’s national television to deny that Col. Gaddafi had feld and warn of an impending civil war.
If Col. Gaddafi’s escape to Venezuela is true, then it is quite clear that the international working class and left must condemn Hugo Chavez for his support for a man who should be put on trial by popular committees in Libya after the revolution for crimes against the people. That a man who poses as a supposedly progressive socialist leader can even concede of providing shelter to a dictator like Muammar Gaddafi is a damning indictment of the kind of friends that Chavez keeps. Will Ahmadinejad also flee to Caracas whrn the Iranian revolution topples him?
No matter where the disgraced, exiled future of Muammar Gaddafi might be, the Libyan democratic revolution is clearly happening now. The fall of his corrupted government is on the agenda, its last desperate acts will be to try and slaughter as many people as possible using their reactionary thugs and hired mercenaries. But the anger of the Libyan people (many being “butchered by angry mobs” in Benghazi over the weekend) and their hope that they can change Libya for good are now powerful factors in Libyan politics, for the first time in almost two generations. Down with Gaddafi’s reign of terror, down with the whole regime and long live the Libayn revolution!