Exploitation and Neocolonialism in Sudan

Yasmine Baldo interviews Suliman Baldo about his experience growing up in Sudan and his career in humanitarian aid. Baldo begins by explaining his path from academia to becoming a community organizer, volunteering with communities facing natural disasters and political unrest. As a director for Oxfam, Baldo describes aiding communities dealing with the fallout of natural resource exploitation. Baldo also reflects on his childhood in western Sudan, relying on charcoal for cooking and witnessing deforestation nearby, as a result of industrial logging operations exporting charcoal to other countries. He describes the problem of desertification, along with the displacement of traditional farming communities due to industrial agriculture. Baldo discusses how resource disputes contributed to unrest and civil war and describes the introduction of solar energy and natural gas in Sudan. He also reflects on his experience working with the United Nations and other global conflict resolution organizations, witnessing exploitative neocolonial dynamics. Baldo concludes by describing leaving Sudan due to fears of persecution and explains the power of boycotts and international campaigns to end exploitation.