A brief history
Yemen's struggle against U.S.-British imperialism
By Andy Freeman and Jane Cutter
[Editor's note: U.S. troops and the FBI have intervened
in Yemen as part of the Bush administration's war against the
peoples of the Middle East. At the same time that U.S. ships
were sent to the Yemeni coast in September, Yemenis living in
Western New York were being charged with ill-defined links to
"terrorism." This article provides some background on this
small but strategic country that has been fighting foreign
domination for decades.]
Yemen is an Arab country located at the southern tip of the
Arabian Peninsula. The population as of the 1993 census was
approximately 20 million.
While clearly part of the Arab world, Yemen is strategically
located at the crossroads between Africa and Asia. And since it
is part of the Middle East, it is also part of the traditional
trade routes to Europe from Asia and Africa. Prior to 1967,
when Yemen's port city Aden was a British possession, it was
the busiest and most modern port in the world due to the ocean
traffic through the Suez Canal.
In ancient times, Yemen dominated the incense trade. For
about 100 years, Yemen held a monopoly on the world coffee
trade. Today, Yemen exports tuna, coffee and honey, and also
produces natural gas.
Petroleum is found in the desert regions adjacent to Saudi
Arabia; this resource has not been fully developed. Some places
where oil is found are in disputed areas claimed by both Yemen
and Saudi Arabia.
Yemen's other significant export is labor. Many Yemeni
workers travel to other countries to find work and send money
home to their families. In some places this has resulted in a
permanent Yemeni community in the new country, as in
Lackawanna, N.Y., or Dearborn, Mich.
More than a million "guest workers" were expelled from Saudi
Arabia in 1990 just before the U.S.-led war on Iraq. The Yemeni
economy has never recovered from the loss of hard currency from
the remittances from these workers.
In 1991, Yemen held a temporary seat on the Security Council
of the United Nations. Acting in a principled manner, the
Yemeni representative cast the lone vote against the U.S. war
on Iraq. Washington punished Yemen by cutting off all
development aid.
Before the Gulf War, the Yemeni riyal was worth about 10 to
the dollar. In 2001, the riyal was worth about 170 to the
dollar. This kind of inflation wipes out people's savings.
Per capita income in Yemen is under $1,000 per year. Life
expectancy is just under 55 years for both men and women. The
literacy rate is under 40 percent. In both urban and rural
areas, many children must work to support their families
instead of attend school. In many rural mountain villages,
there is no school. Not only is there no school, there are no
roads, phones or power lines.
Under the conditions of International Monetary Fund loans,
parents are now required to pay school fees for their
children.
Some recent events can help in better understanding what is
happening in Yemen today. In the North, until 1962, Yemenis
were ruled by a feudal Imam who maintained strict control of
society. Under this regime, the only schools were Koranic
schools, women were strictly kept in the home, and there was no
electricity, let alone telephones, television or radio.
The bourgeois nationalist revolution of 1962 changed many
aspects of Yemeni society in the North, leading to rapid social
changes, particularly in the urban areas. The 1962 revolution
was followed by a long and bloody civil war. The republicans
were supported by Egyptian military forces, while the royalists
got support from the U.S.-backed Saudi Arabia.
In the South, Britain colonized the area immediately around
the Port of Aden and had a complex "protectorate" arrangement
with the rest of the southern desert area extending to the
Sultanate of Oman.
While the racist British rulers had in mind the exploitation
of Yemen's resources and labor power, colonization laid the
ground for its own destruction by creating a layer of more
educated, less internationally isolated Yemeni workers and
students who led an anti-colonial struggle.
The anti-colonial struggle resulted in the establishment of
the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in 1967. While it
existed this was the Arab world's only Marxist state. The PDRY
attempted to develop a planned economy, make progressive social
change and give international solidarity.
For instance, in the PDRY, discrimination based on tribal or
caste groupings was banned. An affirmative action program was
instituted. Women also benefited from affirmative-action
programs and were encouraged to pursue education and careers.
However, given the difficult conditions that existed in the
more isolated rural villages, it is not clear to what extent
the socialist government was able to extend its influence into
those areas.
The PDRY, with the assistance of the Soviet Union, provided
significant solidarity to the Palestine Liberation
Organization, providing training camps and other material
aid.
On May 22, 1990, the two Yemens united. Though welcomed by
most Yemenis, the move toward unification must also be seen in
the context of the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern
European socialist bloc. Clearly, two social systems with
conflicting goals could not coexist in one government/state.
The Yemeni Civil War in 1994 signaled the conclusive defeat of
the organized socialist forces in Yemen.
Since that time, globalization and privatization under the
auspices of the IMF has continued full speed ahead. In June
1998, massive armed demonstrations broke out to protest price
increases mandated by the IMF as conditions for a loan package.
The elected bourgeois democratic government clamped down on
street protests, especially in the capital of Sana'a.
Globalization has exacerbated the gap between rich and poor
in Yemen. As a result there are many street beggars, which was
very rare 12 years ago, despite poverty. Due to its
well-watered agricultural regions, Yemen has always been
self-sufficient in food.
Yemen has a long history of successfully defending itself
against foreign domination, from Romans to the Ottoman Turks.
No one can predict the results of increased U.S. military
interference in Yemen, but nothing good can come of it.
Freeman has a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies and
Linguistics and conducted his dissertation research in Sana'a
for the entire year of 2001. Cutter lived and worked in Yemen
during the second half of 2001. This article is part of a
longer report.
Reprinted from the Oct. 17, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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