WINDHOEK – Measures imposed on Venezuela, the economic embargo on Cuba and sanctions against Zimbabwe dominated President Hage Geingob’s speech at the two-day Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on Friday. The 18th forum of the 120-member group, covering 55 percent of the world’s population, discussed responses to contemporary challenges around the world at a time when the relevance of the NAM in the post-Cold War era is under question. Geingob, speaking at the summit, said the world is at a crossroads and the solidarity that has prevailed and provided an envelope of protection and avenue of cooperation between member states faces an existential threat. “Multilateralism is under attack, as the growing forces of unilateralism threaten to drive our world towards nationalism, unipolarism and eventual conflict,” he told fellow leaders. He said in Namibia, whose independence was made possible through Pan-African and international solidarity, “we view these principles as sacrosanct”. 

This view, he said, is accentuated by the late former president of Mozambique Samora Machel who, according to Geingob said, ‘International solidarity is not an act of charity: It is an act of unity between allies fighting on different terrains toward the same objectives. The foremost of these objectives is to aid the development of humanity to the highest level possible.’

With that in mind, Geingob said, Namibia reiterates its longstanding call for the lifting of the economic embargo on Cuba, which continues to prevent the Cuban people from realising their national potential and attaining economic prosperity. 

“We also wish to pledge our support for the people of Venezuela. In the spirit of the Bandung Principles, we condemn the measures imposed on them as they do not show a regard for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states,” he said. 

As member of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), Geingob said, he continues to witness the adverse effects of the economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe. 

“The sanctions have placed our Zimbabwean brothers and sisters under tremendous social and economic strain, jeopardising the developmental aspirations of a country that holds tremendous potential,” he said.
He said ramifications of these inhumane sanctions continue to reverberate across the entire Sadc landscape, as Zimbabweans are forced to pursue economic migration in search of survival opportunities.

“As a child of Pan-African and international solidarity, Namibia joins the Sadc fraternity in calling for the immediate lifting of the illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe,” he said. 

Held under the motto ‘Upholding Bandung Principles to ensure a concerted and adequate response to the challenges of the contemporary world’, the summit brought together heads of state and government of nearly 60 countries, as well as heads of international organisations.