The Canary Islands under Spanish colonialism
On 20 July 1968, at the 6th Meeting of Heads of State of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) held in Algiers (Algeria), a solemn declaration was adopted by which the OAU considers that the Canary Islands "Are an integral part of the African continent and its population has the right to self-determination and independence like all colonized peoples of Africa”, the solemn statement was read to the internation press by Mr. Diallo Telli as Secretary-General of the OAU. A Solemn Declarations do not prescribe.
In 1978 the OAU Conference of Foreign Ministers meeting in Tripoli (Libya) supported the demand for decolonization of the Canary Islands, with the exception of Morocco, whose monarchy was shamefully voted against, by the pressures of the Spanish Monarchy, and the abstention of Mauritania for the same reasons. The Conference decided that the Secretary-General of the OAU, Mr. Eteki, from Cameroon, would travel to New York, accompanied by Mr. Cubillo, Secretay General of the Movement for the Self-Determination and the Independence of the Canary Islands present to the General Assembly of the United Nations the issue of decolonization of Canary Islands.
To avoid the comparecence of Mr. Cubillo at the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Spanish State and Government perpetrated an execrable attack on Mr. Cubillo in Algiers on April 5, 1978, attack that forced him to move in a wheelchair for 34 years, having died on 10 December 2012 as a result of the indelible sequels of the act of terrorism of the Spanish State.
The Spanish colonialism has increased its pressure on the Canarian people through radio, television and the press, manipulating both history and geography, it is enough to see the news, to call them in some way, as the colonialism displace the location of the Canaries from aour situation to near the Balearic Islands and now unfortunately, next to Portugal, continually repeating the manipulation that the Canary Islands is the southern border of Europe, and the Canaries are European and Spanish (like before the Argentines, Chileans, Venezuelans, Bolivians, Peruvians, Cubans, Paraguayans, Uruguayans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, Filipinos, Guineans, Saharawis, and so on), also blatantly lying to the population with the false information that the the first settlers of the Canary Islands, the Guanches, were extinguished, when the scientific dates shows that more than seventy-five percent of the current Canarian population, without having into account in the statistical calculation the data corresponding to the canaries emigrated, more than two Millions, bacause in that case the percentage exceeds 85%, are descendants of the Guanches, as witness the numerous investigations, published in international journals with a high impact factor, based on analyzes of population genetics.
The Canary Islands was declared a Special Maritime Protection Zone by the United Nations International Maritime Organization in 2005. This means that there are only two routes for vessels carrying dangerous cargoes through the islands. Such vessels must also inform the authorities about what they are carrying, where they have come from, and where they are heading. "This measure has been an improvement, but we need to do more. The area's marine life must be protected," says Beatriz Ayala of the Lanzarote branch of the World Wildlife Fund. Six of the seven islands are biosphere reserves.
The Spanish government gave Repsol a three-year licence to drill for oil in three sites some 60 kilometres (37 miles) off the coast of the Canary Islands archipelago, which lies off the northwest coast of Africa.
The exploration work will take place around 60 kilometers off the islands, very near the border with Morocco, one of the five World upwelling zones (See the attached book). Upwelling generates some of the world’s most fertile ecosystems. Overall, coastal upwelling regions only cover 1 percent of the total area of the world’s oceans, but they provide about 50 percent of the fish harvest brought back to shore by the world’s fisheries.
Between 2006 and 2010 Repsol was responsible for more than 6,900 "incidents" worldwide involving not just exploration and drilling, but also land transport of crude oil.
Morocco, meanwhile, said Scottish oil company Cairn Energy planned to begin exploration work in blocks adyacent to those granted by the Spanish government to Repsol some 60 km off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
One of the main concerns about trying to control a spill in the archipelago is the currents, which would wash oil ashore not only on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, but would also carry it to the rest of the islands. "There are a great many currents that converge on the islands. One of them begins on the African coast and then cuts through the eastern islands toward the south of Gran Canaria where it meets several others," says Alonso Hernández, the director of the Institute of Oceanography and Climate Change at University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). "This is the dominant direction, but currents change, and there is a great deal of variability, which creates huge eddies," he adds. A spill's behavior depends in large part on how deep under the water it is. If it is on the surface, it will be moved around by the wind. But if it takes place at significant depths — Repsol expects to be producing at between 800 and 1,000 meters — then it will be dependent on the ocean's currents.
Scientists say the Canary Islands are not only at risk from oil exploration and drilling in their waters. "It's not just about deciding whether we want oil drilling in the Canary Islands, but about readying ourselves for a catastrophe that could take place somewhere else," says José Mangas, professor of geology at ULPGC. "A spill off the Moroccan coast could cause serious damage to the Canary Islands' ecosystem. We have to be prepared for this kind of eventuality," he says.
The defined Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSA) covers the sea area, limited externally by the polygonal line joining outer limits of the territorial sea (12 nautical miles) surrounding these islands (See the Marine Environment Protection Committee).
Spanish version: Las Islas Canarias bajo el colonialismo español
Movimiento por la Unidad del Pueblo Canario
