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Former US President Barack Obama on Tuesday targeted the "strong man's policy" in his highest speech since his departure, urging Nelson Mandela in South Africa to respect human rights. Man and other endangered values.
While not mentioning his successor, President Donald Trump, by his name, Obama's speech in Johannesburg countered many of Trump's policies. He brought people together to keep alive the ideas that Mandela worked for, including democracy, diversity and tolerance.
"I believe in the vision of Nelson Mandela, I believe in a vision shared by Gandhi, King and Abraham Lincoln, I believe in a vision of equality, justice, freedom and multiracial democracy, based on the principle that everyone created equal. " – @BarackObama to #MandelaReading pic.twitter.com/pdXn6kTht6
Obama was speaking at the 16th annual conference of Nelson Mandela in front of Mandela Day of Wednesday, the anniversary of his birth in 1918.
Obama opened calling today's times "strange and uncertain". He said that "every day's news cycle brings more head spinning and worrisome headlines." Nowadays, "we see much of the world threatening to return to a more dangerous and brutal way of doing business. "
Obama has targeted politicians by pushing" the politics of fear, resentment, entrenchment, "saying that they are moving" at an unimaginable rate there is a few years. "
He attacked the" strong man's policy ", saying that" those in power seek to undermine every institution … which gives meaning to democracy. "19659002" I'm not alarmist, I'm just saying the facts. Look around you. "
Obama also spoke in favor of equality in all its forms, saying," I would have thought we understood that now. "
His words were greeted by a crowd of about 14,000 people gathered at a cricket stadium
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Graca Machel, widow of the anti-apartheid leader, introduced Obama to the conference
"Eloquent resume"
"Just standing on the stage in the honor of Nelson Mandela," said John Stremlau, professor of international relations at the University of California. University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, which described the opportune moment of "compromise" in the United States and elsewhere
. Barack Obama, on the right, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, on the left, stand behind the members of the Soweto Gospel choir singing the South African national anthem, while the l & # 39; former US president arrives at the Wanderers Stadium Tuesday in Johannesburg for the Mandela conference. (Themba Hadebe / Associated Press)
"Yesterday we had Trump and [Russian President] Putin standing together.Now we see the opposing team: Obama and Mandela."
C & # 39; Obama's first visit to Africa since his departure in early 2017. He stopped earlier this week in Kenya, where he visited the birthplace of his late father. 19659002] Obama's speech highlighted how the Nobel Peace Prize Mandela, jailed for 27 years, continued his campaign against what appeared to be insurmountable obstacles to ending apartheid, the hard system South African white minority
. released from prison in 1990 and became the first black president of South Africa four years later, died in 2013, leaving a powerful legacy of reconciliation and diversity with resistance to inequality, economic and other
away from public comments about Trump, whose administration overthrew or attacked what he would regard as notable achievements of his presidency.The United States under Trump withdrew from the 2015 Climate Accord Paris and the Iranian nuclear deal while trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare."
Instead of commenting on politics, Obama's speech inspired broader themes and his admiration for Mandela. black president saw as a mentor.
Obama speaks to the widow of Mandela Graca Machel at the memorial service of the former South African president at the FNB stadium in Soweto near Johannesburg on December 10, 2013. (Matt Dunham / Associated Press) [19659017] When Obama was an American senator, he took his picture with Mandela. After Obama became president, he sent a copy of the photo to Mandela, who kept him in his office. Obama also wanted to visit Mandela's cell and gave a moving eulogy to Mandela's memorial service in 2013, claiming that the life of the South African leader had inspired him.
Many South Africans view Obama as a successor to Mandela's role and support for racial equality in the United States and around the world.
Moses Moyo, a 32-year-old Uber driver, was among the thousands who were queuing up for Obama's speech. "I think he'll talk about how Mandela changed the system here in South Africa, how he ended Apartheid and gave hope to the poor and encouraged education," he said. he said. added, while the ruling African National Congress is fighting to maintain the legacy that Mandela and others have established.
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