[Speech by Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre at National Theater in Mogadiscio on 30 April on the occasion of May Day recorded]
Lately there have been crises in the Horn of Africa, as in many other parts of the world--between colonialists and the colonized, between a black colonialist government and the black people it colonizes. This is not a new phenomenon; it is an old one. Many countries which were under colonial domination not so many years ago have freed themselves, after a long struggle, from the colonial yoke--for instance, Somalia.
It is surprising and amazing that today, when it is shameful to talk about colonialism, let alone practice it, some countries boast: We shall always be colonialists. It is also unfortunate that some other countries support their colonialism. It is an even greater shame today for one people to colonize another. It is for this reason that, without hiding anything, we ask the Soviet Union and its allies: How long will this colonialism continue? If this is to continue, why did the other European colonialism end? Why did they have to give freedom to those who fought for it? Will they change history? Will the Soviet Union and its allies change colonialism into a new concept? Will socialism evolve into colonialism and change history?