Vol. 52, No. 49, Dec. 16, 2010

Victor Toro exige asilo político 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Dec. 16, 2010 Vol. 52, No. 49 50¢ Wall Street tells Washington: ‘ Keep our tax cuts or no benefits for jobless’

By Jerry Goldberg to be added each month just to keep the unemployment rate from rising. (New York Times, Dec. 4) WIKILEAKS Some 2 million long-term jobless workers face As President Barack Obama’s stimulus funds dry & media spin 3 & Africa 8 having their checks cut off in December, unless Con- up, the prospect is likely of even greater job losses in gress renews the federal extension of unemployment the public sector. For example, in 2009, $31 billion benefits that expired on Nov. 30. of the states’ $110 billion in budget shortfalls were $3.3 TRILLION GONE The number could grow to 4 million by the end of offset by federal stimulus funds. This year, $68 bil- Where the money went 5 February. Eventually 7 million jobless — including lion of the states’ $191 billion in deficits are being off- workers whose state unemployment benefits have set by federal stimulus funds. Next year, some $59 not yet run out — may lose their benefits. (National billion of the states’ $160 billion in budget shortfalls JOBLESS VS. BANKS Centerfold Unemployment Law Project, Dec. 4) will be similarly offset. It is projected that in 2012, • People before banks! There are also another 4 million, called “99ers,” however, only $6 billion of the states’ estimated $140 who have already lost or are scheduled to lose their billion in deficits will be offset by stimulus funds. • Vacant homes, homeless people benefits even if a federal extension is passed, asit (New York Times, Dec. 5) • ‘Sorry, no blood money’ does not go beyond 99 weeks of unemployment. Local budget deficits are likely to increase even (Huffington Post, Dec. 3) more dramatically as declining home property values As of Dec. 7, the media are reporting that the manifest themselves in declining tax bases, just as the UNIONISTS OF AMERICAS Obama administration and the Republicans have federal stimulus funds dry up. This will inevitably lead Meet in Tijuana 9 reached a rotten compromise — a possible extension to even greater public sector layoffs and service cuts. of benefits in return for keeping the Bush tax cuts for the very rich for at least two more years. There is no Tax cuts for the very rich HAITI ‘SELECTION’ guarantee this compromise will be passed, however. The same day that federal extended un- Protests follow fraud 11 And if it does, there will be even more screaming from employment benefits expired, the right that Social Security and Medicare have to be President Barack Obama met “reformed” because of the huge deficits in the federal with congressional leaders. This budget — deficits that could be eliminated by taxing critical issue was not even dis- the rich and cutting the Pentagon budget. cussed. Instead, the meeting re- Even as extended benefits are in risk of being cut sulted in setting up a committee off, unemployment in the U.S. is rising. On Dec. 3, to continue discussing Republi- the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statis- can demands that the Bush tax tics reported that the “official” unemployment rate cuts be extended for the very Protest in Baltimore was one had risen to 9.8 percent, the highest since April. This rich, those making more than of many in U.S. as jobless translates into 15 million workers officially jobless $250,000 per year. (New York benefits were set to expire. See article, page 6. and looking for work. The “official” unemployment Continued on page 6 Photo:_Bill_hughES rate is 16 percent for African Americans and 13.2 percent for Latinos/as. Of these 15 million people out of work, 6.3 million — more than a third — have been jobless for six months or longer. The BLS reported that an additional 9 million are working part-time but want full- time work, while another 5.8 million are considered “discouraged workers” and aren’t counted. That brings the jobless rate to 19.2 percent. If you then add in the 9 million workers with part-time jobs who want full-time work, the figure becomes an astound- ing 24.6 percent. Meanwhile, corporate profits rose from an annu- alized rate of $995 billion to $1.66 trillion this last quarter. (Huffington Post, Nov. 23) Corporations had already been sitting on their profits and refusing to hire. The current rise in unemployment is largely a result of a decline in public sector jobs. For example, in November, while private sector jobs increased by 50,000, local governments, facing growing deficits, cut 14,000 jobs. Analysts generally estimate that 100,000 to 125,000 jobs need ‘ Jobs or Subscribe to Workers World income Eight weeks trial $4 www.workers.org One year subscription $25 212.627.2994 now!’ Name______

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WORKERS WORLD Protests hit FBI/grand jury this week ... harassment  In the U.S. Wall Street: ‘Keep our tax cuts or no benefits for jobless’ ..... 1 By the staff of FightBack! News Minneapolis Protests hit FBI/grand jury harassment...... 2 Media try to minimize impact of WikiLeaks...... 3 About 100 protesters came together out- Teach-in slams attacks on Muslims...... 3 side U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office CUNY students: ‘No tuition hikes! No budget cuts!’ ...... 4 here Dec. 2, in response to news that three Packed meeting hears report on women’s conference...... 4 Twin Cities anti-war and social justice ac- The $3.3 trillion cover-up ...... 5 tivists will be getting new orders to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago. The Dockworkers march for Del Monte boycott ...... 5 orders to appear carry the possibility of the Protests over jobs become more desperate ...... 6 activists facing jail time for contempt if they Coalition targets Chase banks ...... 6 refuse to participate in the politically moti- Millions of homeless, millions of empty homes...... 7 vated grand jury proceedings. Those pro- ‘Sorry, no blood money today’...... 7 ceedings could put them and their political WW forum hits war ‘games’ in Korea...... 11 allies throughout the United States and in other countries at risk of further governmen- Praise for analysis of ‘Low-Wage Capitalism’ ...... 11 tal harassment and violence. Photo:FightBACk_NEwS!/StAFF Milwaukee Activist Defense Network and Students for a Democratic  Around the world This protest is one of many happening this Society protest on Dec. 3. week, which the Committee to Stop FBI Re- WikiLeaks and Africa ...... 8 pression has designated as a week of action in solidarity that they would plead the Fifth Amendment and refuse Max Watts...... 8 with the targeted social justice activists. to testify. The original subpoenas were put on hold after Militant unionists from the Americas meet in Tijuana...... 9 Speaking to the crowd, Deb Konechne of the Minne- the activists refused to cooperate with the witch-hunt, The media and Gaza, part 5...... 10 sota Committee Against FBI Repression reported on a but the federal attorney running the investigation is now Haitians protest imposed ‘elections’...... 11 meeting held with Klobuchar’s staff before the protest: saying that Martin, Molm and Pham will have to appear “We went to Senator Klobuchar’s office to demand that in front of the grand jury. The FBI claimed the raids and she pressure President Obama and U.S. Attorney Gen- subpoenas are part of an investigation into groups alleg-  Editorials eral Holder to stop the witch-hunt against anti-war ac- edly providing “material support to terrorists.” tivists and they are refusing to do anything. We are going “The use of these subpoenas represents a new stage Exposing imperialist diplomacy...... 10 to turn up the heat.” of the FBI campaign of interference and harassment The three activists who will be receiving new orders against the anti-war movement. This investigation is a  Noticias En Español to appear before the grand jury in Chicago are Sarah direct threat against civil liberties and can only take away Victor Toro exige asilo político ...... 12 Martin, a member of Women Against Military Madness; our right to speak out against U.S. wars and interven- Tracy Molm, an organizer with Students for a Democrat- tions around the world,” said Steff Yorek. ic Society; and Anh Pham, an anti-war and immigrant Mick Kelly noted, “The FBI and grand jury investiga- rights activist. tion of anti-war activists is a major threat to anyone who Those three are among 14 people who received sub- opposes the policies of the U.S. government.” poenas in September during FBI raids on homes and offices in several cities, mostly in the Midwest. Thanks to FightBack! News (fightbacknews.org) Workers World All those who received subpoenas in September stated for permission to reprint this article. 55 West 17 Street New York, N.Y. 10011 Phone: (212) 627-2994 Fax: (212) 675-7869 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Vol. 52, No. 49 • Dec. 16, 2010 Closing date: Dec. 7, 2010 Editor: Deirdre Griswold Technical Editor: Lal Roohk Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Leslie Feinberg, Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Gary Wilson West Coast Editor: John Parker Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, Greg Butterfield, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel, Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash, Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac Technical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger, Bob McCubbin, Maggie Vascassenno Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez, Carlos Vargas Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator Protest in New York on Dec. 2 during national week of action to stop FBI repression. ww_Photo:_JohN_CAtAliNotto Copyright © 2010 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium National Office Buffalo, N.Y. Durham, N.C. Pittsburgh without royalty provided this notice is preserved. join us 55 W. 17 St. 367 Delaware Ave. 331 W. Main St., Ste. 408 [email protected] Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly New York, NY 10011 Buffalo, NY 14202 Durham, NC 27701 Rochester, N.Y. except the first week of January by WW Publishers, Workers World Party 212-627-2994 716-883-2534 [email protected] 585-436-6458 55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: (212) 627-2994. 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Box 34249 Washington, D.C. 617-522-6626 Detroit, MI 48202 Philadelphia, PA 19101 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to contact the branch P.O. Box 57300 Fax 617-983-3836 313-459-0777 610-931-2615 Washington, DC 20037 Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor, nearest you. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org Dec. 16, 2010 Page 3 Spinning exposure of imperialist lies and secrets Media try to minimize impact of WikiLeaks By John Catalinotto to purportedly show the following: China lomatic corps to spy on both allied and full set of WikiLeaks cables gave them had sharp differences with north Korea other governments and U.N. officials. their own spin, not always aimed at de- Imperialist diplomacy is constructed on and would put pressure on Pyongyang; This is unsurprising news, but now it is fending Washington’s particular interests, lies and secrets. No one is surprised by the the kings and other undemocratic lead- official. but always loyal to imperialism. El País, secrets. Few are surprised by the lies. Still, ers of some Arab states were aggressively • At the December 2009 climate talks in for example, which has waged a relentless a sudden exposure of the lies and secrets pushing the U.S. to bomb Iran; and Rus- Copenhagen, according to the Guardian, propaganda war against socialist Cuba, can arouse a strong political reaction. sia agreed that Iran had obtained rockets “Embassy dispatches show [the United Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and other pro- WikiLeaks is a group dedicated simply capable of reaching Europe. States of] America used spying, threats gressive Latin American leaders, used in- to releasing state and corporate secrets. A closer look shows that the Times of- and promises of aid to get support for formation in cables from U.S. diplomats Last spring it released a dramatic video ten disregarded the facts and used a false Copenhagen accord.” This accord, which to continue to demonize these leaders. exposing some of the daily murderous interpretation of the cables to promote wasn’t reached, would have protected the U.S. war against WikiLeaks activity of U.S. helicopters in Iraq. In No- U.S. policies. interests of the big U.S.-based energy vember WikiLeaks released 251,287 U.S. monopolies. On Dec. 7 the founder and main spokes- diplomatic cables to four major corporate Some key exposures person for WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, media in four imperialist countries. It has Whatever crimes might or might not Exposing the spin weavers turned himself in to British authorities to also released about a thousand of these be exposed, it is immediately apparent Regarding how the Times spun its cov- answer charges stemming from an alleged cables to the public via the Internet. that the leaks are an enormous embar- erage of WikiLeaks stories on Iran, the sexual incident in Sweden. These same Spain’s El País, Germany’s Der Spie- rassment to the U.S. government and Arab states and Russia, Inter Press Ser- charges, which were made only after As- gel, Britain’s Guardian and France’s Le especially its diplomats. Allegedly secret, vice reporter Gareth Porter, with help sange became a high-profile critic able to Monde set up teams to search the cables. U.S. data are insecure. This was central to from Jim Lobe, wrote an article Dec. 6 embarrass the U.S. government, had ear- The Guardian shared the data with the Der Spiegel’s coverage on its website on showing that the alleged quotes from Arab lier been dropped. However, they reap- New York Times, which in turn passed it Dec. 6. A large photo showed a concerned kings about the U.S. bombing Iran were peared in a European warrant. Assange back to the U.S. government. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton with a made in the context of constant pressure was refused bail and Sweden is asking for A quarter of a million cables is an ava- story entitled, “Washington fights to re- from the George W. Bush administration extradition. lanche of data. To do its reporting, Der build shattered reputation.” to condemn Iran. This followed a week of government Spiegel created a team of 50 people, half Regarding information useful to pro- The cables showed that the “Gulf Arab and media demonizing WikiLeaks and As- researchers and half document experts. gressive or anti-imperialist forces, the regimes — including Saudi Arabia itself — sange, including actual threats of assassi- Similar teams worked for the other four leaks revealed the following: have been seriously concerned about the nation from government officials in Cana- media, searching for key words and then • The U.S. Embassy in Honduras was fully consequences of a strike against Iran for da and completely unfounded charges in reading the cables. Most popular organi- aware that the June 28, 2009, removal their own security, in sharp contrast to Is- the U.S. that WikiLeaks was a “terrorist” zations not only don’t have access to the of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya rael’s open advocacy of such a strike.” organization. complete files, they don’t have the forces was a military coup, even though the Regarding Russia and Iran, Porter wrote During that week, a cyber attack on the to quickly evaluate all the documents. Obama administration refused to define Nov. 30 that the cables showed that “Rus- WikiLeaks website made it unusable. The These five corporate media outlets are it as such. The false definition allowed the sian specialists on the Iranian ballistic mis- U.S. also pressured Amazon.com and Pay- all loyal to imperialism in general and U.S. to continue sending aid to the coup sile program refuted the U.S. suggestion Pal to stop doing business with WikiLeaks even more loyal to their own ruling class- regime and recognize the rigged Hondu- that Iran has missiles that could target Eu- and got the governments of Iceland, Swit- es, which own them and pay their edi- ran election. ropean capitals or intends to develop such zerland and Sweden to join in persecuting tors. Like the Times, the four in Europe • NATO last January agreed to defend the a capability.” This completely contradicts Assange and his organization. can and do spin the interpretation of the Baltic states and Poland against Russia. the way the Times spun the story. By Dec. 7, in response and solidarity — raw cables so as to minimize the damage “Nine NATO divisions — U.S., British, Regarding China and the Democratic and this is still possible under the current to the strategic interests of the European German and Polish — have been identi- People’s Republic of Korea, regardless of use of the Internet — more than 700 web- Union countries and the U.S. and to harm fied for combat operations” should there what U.S. informants claimed, China has site owners had “mirrored” the WikiLeaks the interests of states and movements be war in that region. (Guardian, Dec. continued to criticize the aggressive ma- site, meaning they now have sites with the that oppose these imperialist powers. 6) But in public NATO called Russia a neuvers of the U.S. military with its Japa- same content as WikiLeaks and are linked Thus some of the Times’ earliest report- “partner.” nese and south Korean allies in the region. to a full file of diplomatic cables. This sto- ing twisted the information in an attempt • The cables show the U.S. using its dip- All the media outlets that received the ry is far from over. Teach-in slams attacks on Muslims Demands end to U.S. wars, occupations

By Judy Greenspan and local attempts to win support for for Palestine was voted on at the UNAC naed before the grand jury. He likened Berkeley, Calif. BDS on campus. founding meeting in Albany, N.Y., and this recent government repression to the Hatem Bazian, a UC Berkeley profes- remains an important tenet of the up- 1941 internment of the Japanese people More than 200 students and com- sor and member of American Muslims coming national demonstration. and the use of Cointelpro to attempt to munity supporters attended a Bay Area for Palestine, exposed the dual role of The second panel of the evening, intimidate and destroy Black, Latino/a teach-in on Palestine, U.S. wars and Is- both the U.S. and Israel in whipping up “America’s wars, Islamophobia and the and Native leaders and organizations in lamophobia on Nov. 30, sponsored by the Islamophobia against the people of the right to resist,” focused on local and in- the 1960s and 1970s. United National Anti-war Committee, Middle East. ternational actions in support of Pales- Blanca Missé, a member of the UC Cal Students for Justice in Palestine, the Jeff Mackler, a local leader of UNAC, tine. Dr. Masao Suzuki, a professor and Berkeley Student Workers Action Team, Muslim Student Alliance at the Universi- called the “war on terror” another form member of the Committee to Stop FBI linked the fight against budget cuts and ty of California-Berkeley and the Middle of Islamophobia and anti-communism. Repression, talked about the FBI raids for accessible public education with the East Children’s Alliance. Held on the UC He urged people to get involved in local and grand jury witch-hunt of anti-war anti-war struggle. “We have been doing a Berkeley campus, the teach-in was one organizing for the April 9 anti-war mobi- activists in Minneapolis and Chicago. lot of talking tonight,” Missé stated at the of several anticipated events building to- lizations that will be held on both coasts. Suzuki himself was visited by the FBI, end of the evening, “but now it’s time to ward national anti-war actions called by Mackler reminded everyone that support refused to talk, and has not been subpoe- build the fightback.” UNAC for April 9, 2011. The teach-in was divided into two dy- “In this period of economic uncertainty, Fred Goldstein’s Low-Wage Capitalism namic, information-packed panels fea- could not be better timed. Beautifully written, deeply considered and backed High Tech, Low Pay turing primarily student activists. Mem- by impressive research, this is essential reading for Twenty years ago bers of Students for Justice in Palestine anyone wishing to understand the true nature of Sam Marcy wrote that chaired both panels. The first session, the world we live in and the factors that have led the scientific-tech- “Palestine: the struggle for liberation,” to so much turmoil. . . . Urgently recommended.” nological revolution gave an historical overview of the divi- Gregory Elich, is accelerating a shift to lower-paying jobs sion of the Middle East following World Author of Strange Liberators and to more women, War I, the birth of Zionism, and the geno- Black and Latino/a cide and displacement of the Palestinian Low-Wage Capitalism workers. Using Marx- people. An easy-to-read analysis of the roots of the ism as a living tool he Ziad Abbas, associate director of the current global economic crisis, its implications analyzes the trends Middle East Children’s Alliance, put this for workers and oppressed peoples, and the and offers strategies history into perspective when he noted, strategy needed for future struggle. for labor including the occupation of plants. “The right of return is the key to peace in Paperback, 336 pages. Includes graphs, charts, A new introduction by Fred Goldstein explains the Middle East.” Nuha Masri from the bibliography, endnotes and index. the roots of the current economic crisis, with its Music Students Association spoke about The author is available for lectures disastrous unemployment, that has height- the international campaign for Boycott, and interviews. ened the need for a working-class resurgence. Divestment and Sanctions against Israel www.LowWagecapitalism.com Books available at Leftbooks.com and bookstores across the country. Page_4_ Dec._16,_2010_ workers.org CUNY students demand: ‘No tuition hikes! No budget cuts!’

By Larry Hales locking all exits. Only Baruch students New York with valid Baruch identification were allowed to enter through one opening. Students and faculty at the A final speak-out was held outside be- City University of New York, fore the night ended. Someone who stayed in opposition to another tu- inside for the vote said the BOT voted ition increase, held two dis- unanimously for the tuition increase. ruptions at meetings of the However, the tuition increase was Board of Trustees in Novem- amended before the final vote. A 2 per- ber. The board had proposed cent increase was added for the fall, and a 5 percent tuition increase, the chancellor introduced another 3 per- which would amount to cent increase to be added at his discre- $125 more per semester, to tion. Normally the New York state legis- begin in the spring of 2011. CUNY students disrupt lature would have to vote on a proposed On top of that, the BOT pro- Board of Trustees’ meeting that tuition increase, but the board was given posed an additional increase voted for tuition increases the go-ahead to impose a tuition increase of $500 per semester for the on Nov. 22. when the last state budget was passed. Hunter College School of So- Photo: City CollEgE_ACtiviSt The increases represent another attack cial Work. CUNY tuition had already been school? Our school!” and “No tuition and many security guards working for the against working people and their families. raised by 15 percent in 2009. Since 2003, hikes, no budget cuts!” In the middle of New York Police Department. The fact that the board is made up of multi- tuition has increased 44 percent. the meeting, CUNY Chancellor Mat- Once inside, students and faculty sat millionaires like Kathleen Pesile — former The first disruption took place at a thew Goldstein walked out and refused through the BOT procedure, but after the vice president for J.P. Morgan — shows board public hearing on Nov. 5. The hear- to return. His walkout drew scorn; many Chancellor’s address, many began chant- clearly that these attacks are class warfare. ings are obligatory, but students don’t shouted at the board and refused to settle ing, “They say cut back, we say fight back!” Chancellor Goldstein makes more than generally attend in large numbers. Stu- down when so instructed by security and “Sham board, sham vote” and other mili- $500,000 a year and received a $45,000 dents and faculty organized a press con- board members. tant chants. As many as 50 students par- raise last year. The average adjunct faculty ference and protest outside the hearing to A student from the CUNY Graduate ticipated in the disruption, which con- member makes $15,000 a year. express their anger. Many noted that the Center pointed out that the unelected tinued as security began forcibly ejecting The CUNY system was once deemed information about the hearing had only BOT is a board of multimillionaires who participants from the room. necessary to educate workers, but with been released a few days prior because the attended CUNY when it was free. Once many of the students and faculty the scientific technological revolution, im- BOT had no interest in inviting criticism. On Nov. 22 the BOT had a public meet- were in the hall, the remaining protest- perialist globalization and pitting workers There was much security, and protesting at Baruch College to hear Chancellor ers led a walkout to show that the BOT around the world to compete for jobs, the ers were let into the hearing a few at a Goldstein remark on the state of CUNY had already made its decision and that, ruling class doesn’t need as educated a time. After many BOT policy supporters and to hold a vote on the items discussed because the board is unelected, the BOT workforce here as before. The social wage were let in, a CUNY security guard told at the public hearing. processes are not legitimate. — of which education is a part — is being the protesters that the room was filled to Organizers had put out a call for a pro- As security forced protesters into el- eroded as the wealthy and super-wealthy capacity. However, a student inside the test both outside and inside the meeting. evators, the disruption continued in the seek to steal public money to line their hearing sent information that the room Students and faculty came from all over hall with chants that drew students out pockets. Cutting public funding for higher was not filled, that maximum occupancy the CUNY system to protest, representing of classrooms. Two people were detained education and replacing it with tuition in- was more than double the number of peo- Hostos, Bronx, Lehman, City College of and given summonses to appear in court. creases is a part of this erosion. ple in the room. New York, Hunter, Baruch, Brooklyn, When the protesters got downstairs, The actions of students and workers Once inside, the students and faculty Borough of Manhattan, John Jay, Queens another protest was held in the lobby of in education, not just in New York but cheered the testimony of people pointing and LaGuardia. the vertical campus. As many as 70 peo- throughout the country, are crucial. Going out the hardships that another increase A speak-out outside the college lasted ple took over the lobby. Baruch students into next year, when the cuts are expected would cause. A faculty member noted for 30 minutes before participants en- participated from a balcony, cheering to be even sharper, determined action is that CUNY was free from 1847 to 1976. tered Baruch, having to go through turn- and chanting. Security surrounded the needed to stop the attacks on public edu- There was jeering at tuition supporters; stiles and a metal detector just to enter protesters, encircled them and violently cation and to fight attacks on the public the room erupted in chants of, “Whose the building. There were police outside pushed them out of the building before sector in general. Packed meeting hears report on women’s conference

The New York chapter of the Women’s Fightback Network hosted a reportback meeting Dec. 4 on the Montreal Inter- national Women’s Conference that took place Aug. 13-16 in Canada. The meeting, held at the Solidarity Center in Manhat- tan, was standing room only as women activists of many nationalities, ages and political backgrounds saw video footage and a power point presentation about the conference. One of the most important achieve- ments of the Montreal conference was establishing an International Women’s Alliance, based on a global anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist perspective. A Basis of Unity statement will be debated and rati- fied at the first general assembly meeting of the IWA to be held in the Philippines in July 2011. For further information, go to www.micw2010.org. The WFN helped to organize a U.S. delegation to the conference. Other delegations came from countries in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Canada. Photo:_womEN’S_FightBACk_NEtwork The Dec. 4 meeting heard a number A few of the women who participated in Dec. 4 meeting. of talks on issues and struggles at home ness, layoffs, unemployment, incarcera- was also a report motivating a mobiliza- the WFN. The next meeting of the WFN and abroad impacting the lives of women, tion, education, anti-LGBTQ oppression, tion for International Working Women’s will be held Jan. 8. For more information, their children and their communities. immigrant rights, Philippines, Korea, Pal- Day 2011. Following the meeting, a din- email [email protected]. Some of these issues included homeless- estine, Haiti, Honduras and more. There ner was prepared by male supporters of — Monica Moorehead workers.org Dec. 16, 2010 Page 5 The $3.3 trillion cover-up

By Stephen Millies ters and merchants, the U.S. government The vast sums of money thrown around other poor people to slow and painful has been giving handouts to the wealthy. by the Federal Reserve shows it’s possible deaths. Even though it’s been economi- Just one day after 2 million people Chicago’s Continental Illinois Bank was to establish a massive jobs program, like cally blockaded by the U.S. for 50 years, were cut off from extended unemploy- given a $4.5 billion transfusion in 1984. the Works Progress Administration in the socialist Cuba provides free medical care ment benefits, the Federal Reserve Bank But when Harlem’s Freedom National 1930s. for everyone. was finally forced on Dec. 1 to reveal who Bank was failing in 1990, Federal Reserve The WPA employed 8 million people. In 2008 General Electric got a $16.1 bil- had received $3.3 trillion from its “emer- Chair Alan Greenspan didn’t lift a finger As a percentage of the country’s popula- lion loan, while $3 billion was bestowed gency lending” programs. to save it. Jackie Robinson, who broke the tion at the time, that’s equal to hiring 19 on JPMorgan Chase. The rub was that GE Not a single penny of this “emergency color line in baseball, had helped estab- million people today. CEO Jeffery Immelt and JPMorgan CEO lending” has gone to the unemployed — lish Freedom National in 1964. A mere $6 President Franklin Roosevelt only Jamie Dimon were on the nine-member even though $3.3 trillion is enough to million could have rescued it, but Jackie started the WPA because there was an up- board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New lend $10,645 to every person in the Unit- Robinson’s bank was forced to close on surge of the working class. This U.S. jobs York. (New York Times, Dec. 5) ed States. No one facing eviction or fore- Nov. 9, 1990. program was established against the po- That’s a no-no, even according to the closure was bailed out. litical backdrop of the five-year economic capitalists’ own laws. Don’t bet on Con- Workers need a new WPA Instead, this money was lent to the big- plans begun in the Soviet Union that had gress investigating this scandal. It’s too gest banks in the world. That’s capitalism Current Federal Reserve Chair Ben Ber- eliminated unemployment by 1930. busy witch-hunting Charles Rangel, Max- for you. nanke only disclosed these 21,000 trans- ine Waters and other Black members of Citibank reached into the Federal Re- actions on Dec. 1 because of a law spon- Investigate the Fed Congress. serve’s cookie jar at least 174 times. (New sored by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Federal Reserve’s bail-out-the-rich Different descriptions have been given York Times, Dec. 2) Citibank deserved Why had the Fed kept these trillions a program remains murky and complex. of the amounts provided by the Fed. The nothing. This $2 trillion octopus has been secret? Initials like PDCF, TAF, TSLF, AMLF Wall Street Journal mentions “$3.3 tril- draining Latin America of its wealth for Every cent of this loot was produced and TALF are used to denote the various lion in loans made to financial firms, com- over a century. Mexico had to pay $1 bil- by the working class. Much of it had been schemes. For poor and working people, panies and foreign central banks.” (Dec. 1) lion in interest every month to foreign stolen from super-exploited workers in all these programs are spelled RIP-OFF, But according to the New York Times, banks during the late 1980s. Africa, Asia and Latin America. STEAL or ROBBERY. “the Fed extended a cumulative total of Barclays Bank and Barclays Capital got Bernanke and other capitalist econo- The entire record of the Federal Re- nearly $9 trillion in short-term loans to 188 loans totaling $829 billion. (See who mists claim the Federal Reserve’s give- serve during this crisis is outrageous. 18 financial institutions.” (Dec. 2) Morgan got what at graphicsweb.wsj.com/php/ away program “prevented another Great Speculators who run hedge funds got $71 Stanley got a one-night loan of $61 billion. Federal-Loan-Data-Disclosure.html.) Depression.” billion. Some investors made profits as Poor and working people need short- According to “Capitalism and Slavery” by Well, for the 30 million people who still high as 48 percent. (Wall Street Journal, term loans, too. Payday lenders who offer Eric Williams — the first prime minister of don’t have a job — or who can only get Dec. 2) two-week loans charge at least 15 percent independent Trinidad and Tobago — Bar- part-time work but need full-time — it’s Yet there isn’t any money for Francisco interest. That’s a minimum annual rate of clays was jumpstarted by the slave trade. already a “Great Depression.” Felix, a 32-year-old father of four, to get 390 percent. This kind of loan sharking Barclays ought to be paying reparations, According to the Bureau of Labor Sta- a liver transplant. The state of Arizona, has been made illegal in Maryland, New not collecting easy loans with interest rates tistics, 46.5 percent of Black teenagers which passed the racist immigration Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Penn- as low as one-tenth of a percentage point. were jobless in November. The real figure law SB 1070, now refuses to pay for or- sylvania and seven other states. But it goes From the day it was set up by slave mas- was far higher. gan transplants, condemning Felix and on full-steam in the rest of the country. Dockworkers march for Del Monte boycott By Joseph Piette and loads them into waiting trucks. “It’ll cal 1291 Business Manager Boise Butler as a result major anti-union actions have Philadelphia start small and then grow, and what hap- replied: “Dock Workers Local 1 is a sham been carried out by companies while gov- pened in Philly can happen here and all union. They pay their unqualified workers ernments remain complicit.” Led by the 3-year-old daughter of a our jobs could go somewhere else.” (As- slave wages and little or no benefits. … The The report continues: “The abuses can laid-off longshore worker whose sign sociated Press, Sept. 29) Gloucester Terminal is operated by the also be attributed to more systematic fac- read “Del Monte ruined my Christmas,” Local 1291 was further supported in Holts, who provide office space to Local tors surrounding the international ag- more than 400 dockworkers and commu- Baltimore, where 1,000 members closed 1.” (Philadelphia Public Record, Sept. 29) ricultural supply chains. Multinational nity and labor allies marched in the busy their port Nov. 29. According to John Del Monte advertised for supervisory companies that buy and distribute pine- noontime streets around City Hall here on Blom, an ILA Local 333 member, “People jobs at its facility in Gloucester, N.J., on apples are pressured into reducing costs Nov. 22. They were protesting the layoffs are using their conscience. If we don’t Craigslist.org in September, offering sala- to be able to compete for a place on the of more than 200 members of the Inter- stick together, we’ll fall together.” ries ranging from $8.50 to $10 per hour. supermarket shelf. national Longshoremen’s Association Philadelphia ILA members tossed Del At the ILA port, union members make “Since input costs such as fertilizers Local 1291 due to the decision by Fresh Monte pineapples into the Delaware River anywhere from $17 to $24.50 per hour. and gas are often fixed or rising, supplier Del Monte Products to dock its incom- during the Labor Day Parade in Septem- In a 2008 report entitled “The Sour companies such as Dole and Del Monte ing ships at a below-union-wage pier in ber, announcing the boycott campaign Taste of Pineapple,” the International La- will often seek to maximize profits by Gloucester City, N.J. against Del Monte, one of the world’s bor Rights Forum investigated conditions minimizing their labor costs. Labor costs The workers also entered and took over largest food brands. for Del Monte’s workers. Its findings con- only account for a small percentage of the a Wawa supermarket, dramatizing the cluded that “freedom of association and total selling price of the pineapples. Nev- union’s call for a boycott of Del Monte, Del Monte anti-union worldwide right to collective bargaining have been ertheless, these companies consistently a major supplier of fresh fruit to super- In a document calling for the boycott, blatantly violated in [Del Monte’s plan- take advantage of high unemployment, market chains around the U.S. Wawa is a the ILA writes: “On July 22, Del Monte tations in] Costa Rica. … Union leaders migrant workers and weak labor stan- major seller of Del Monte fruit in the Dela- issued an outrageous demand that $5 have been systematically fired and laid off dards in impoverished regions like Cen- ware Valley area. Fresh Del Monte Pro- million in labor cost reductions and $25 to obliterate any union presence in pine- tral America and Southeast Asia.” duce is not affiliated with Del Monte Foods million in infrastructure improvements apple production. Del Monte’s aggressive action at Phila- Co., which sells packaged food products. be met by the State of New Jersey in just “This is particularly true in Costa Rica, delphia’s port is a continuation of its anti- Support actions on the National Day four days! The ILA agreed to meet these where companies install ‘Permanent labor policies worldwide, brought home of Action also took place as far away as shocking demands, conceding to wage Committees,’ or company-selected work- to the U.S. during the most serious reces- Galveston, Texas, and Coral Gables, Fla. cuts and benefit reductions regardless of er representatives to replace union lead- sion since the 1930s. Denver City Councilmember Paul Lopez the fact that they had not received a wage ers. … Less than 2 percent of workers in The fightback answer, of course, is soli- met a union delegation outside city hall increase for almost 20 years, hoping that Costa Rica are currently unionized and darity. Boycott Del Monte! in 28-degree weather and stated: “It’s a if they did, Del Monte’s imports would cold day and a cold night, but this is an continue to arrive at the ILA’s pier. action of solidarity. We are here because “Despite the ILA’s willingness to work MarxisM, reparations what Del Monte is doing is undermining with Del Monte, the company still elected and the Black Freedom Struggle the fundamental pillars of the work force to move its business on Oct. 1 away from An anthology of writings from Workers World newspaper. in America. They are taking us back to the the unionized pier, notwithstanding the Edited by Monica Moorehead. 1920s.” (ilwu46.com, Dec. 4) fact that Del Monte’s net profit for 2009 • Racism, National Oppression & Self-Determination larry_holmes__• At the New York and New Jersey ports, was $144 million. Needless to say, the Black Labor from Chattel Slavery to Wage Slavery Sam_marcy • Black 3,600 workers refused to allow the un- economy is not hurting this giant corpo- Youth: Repression & Resistance leilani_Dowell__• The Struggle for loading of at least two dozen ships in late ration and there is no financial need for Socialism Is Key monica_moorehead • Black & Brown Unity: A Pillar of September, the first strike there since the company to resort to lower wages for Struggle for Human Rights & Global Justice! Saladin_muhammad 1977. Trucks filled with goods to be exits workers.” • Alabama’s Black Belt: Legacy of Slavery, Sharecropping & Segrega- ported were left standing at the gates. Dionysios Christou, a spokesperson tion Consuela_lee___Harriet Tubman, Woman Warrior mumia_Abu-Jamal “We’re worried that it’ll be like a can- for Coral Gables, Fla.-based Del Monte • Are Conditions Ripe Again Today? 40th Anniversary of the 1965 Watts cer,” said Anthony Velardo, a union mem- Fresh Produce, argued on Sept. 28 that Rebellion John_Parker • Racism and Poverty in the Delta larry_hales ber at Port Newark who operates machin- the “Gloucester Terminals LLC is fully • Haiti Needs Reparations, Not Sanctions Pat_Chin ery that takes the containers off the ships unionized.” (ABC News, Sept. 29) ILA Lo- Available at www.Leftbooks.com Page_6_ Dec._16,_2010_ workers.org Protests over jobs become more desperate

Anxiety over the possibility of los- Detroit: 100 people sat in the unemployment of- while the government is figuring out how ing their unemployment benefits and fice waiting room. Security officials made to ensure the survival of hundreds of anger over companies refusing to hire ‘Fight, don’t starve’ the protesters leave, but their message of thousands of Michiganders. even as they make record profits are Unemployed workers about to lose their fightback was still heard loud and clear by Even with just a few weeks remaining in driving more and more workers into meager income were among those who the unemployed workers there. her last term, however, Granholm still re- the streets. demonstrated here on Dec. 2 outside the Some 162,000 workers in Michigan fuses to display the political courage nec- exhausted their jobless benefits from essary to help the people. Across the country, demonstrations State of Michigan building to demand an — Kris Hamel extension of unemployment benefits and January through November of this year, were held the last week of November other relief. The protest was called by the according to a and early December demanding no Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Fore- Nov. 22 state- New York: cuts in benefits plus government ac- closures, Evictions and Utility Shutoffs. ment issued by tion to create jobs. Below are reports “Extend unemployment benefits! Fight, the Michigan Un- from three of these protests, in Balti- don’t starve!” chanted the noisy protest- employment In- more, Detroit and New York. ers, who marched in a picket line despite surance Agency. wind and cold weather. Unless Congress Coalition spokesperson Derek Grigsby, approves an ex- Baltimore: a laid-off City of Detroit worker, talked tension of fed- to the news media about the impending eral benefits soon, ‘Jobs, not evictions cutoff of his own unemployment benefits. 181,500 more “It’s tough,” said Grigsby. “We want an ex- workers in Michi- and utility shutoffs’ tension of benefits, yes, but we also think gan will be cut off Angry unemployed workers and their workers should be guaranteed an income from December supporters gathered in front of the down- as long as unemployment remains high through April town Baltimore unemployment office on and they need a job. It’s time for a federal 2011. Extended Nov. 29 to demand an extension of un- public jobs program to get people back to benefits expired employment benefits and a jobs program. work.” on Nov. 30. ww Photo: JohN_CAtAliNotto Unemployment is very high in this city Demonstrators marched inside the A coalition leaflet stated: “The cutoff of New York: — officially more than 14 percent with al- building chanting loudly as more than unemployment benefits is already lead- most half of young Black ing to massive foreclosures, evictions ‘Ho, ho, ho – Jobs, not war’ workers jobless. Detroit: and utility shutoffs as winter is upon us. As a crew at Rockefeller Center pre- The protesters were While the state has received $500 mil- pared for the annual tree-lighting cer- also asking for emergency lion in federal funds to keep the unem- emony there by decorating an 84-foot-tall action to keep people from ployed in their homes, the major banks Norway spruce on Nov. 30, a group of being thrown out on the have refused to participate in the Helping about 40 people brought a different mes- streets or left to freeze in Hardest Hit Homeowners Program, and sage to the holiday season in New York: their apartments without the state has failed to develop a plan for “Keep the lights on for the unemployed,” heat, hot water or lights. implementation despite announcing the read their banner. Their demands included program last July. Fewer than 200 unem- The protest was reminding New York- a moratorium on foreclo- ployed workers have received the aid they ers that about 95,000 city dwellers and sures, evictions and util- were promised. With the cutoff of unem- 200,000 people statewide were in danger ity shutoffs. The protest ployment benefits, those in the most dire of losing their long-term unemployment was called by the A Job Is need of help will become ineligible.” benefits, some starting the next day. The a Right Campaign and the Protesters demanded lame-duck Gov. demonstration also included signs read- Ujima Peoples Progress Jennifer Granholm declare a state of ing “Jobs not war!” and “We need jobs, Party. economic emergency in Michigan and not another Korean War.” The protest — Sharon Black use her executive authority to impose was sponsored by Flashmobs4jobs and ww_Photo:__ABAyomi_AZikiwE_ an immediate moratorium to halt fore- the International Action Center. Baltimore: closures, evictions and utility shutoffs — John Catalinotto Jobs crisis grows even as benefits expire Continued from page 1 these transnational banks had their bad Times, Nov. 30) loans taken over by the taxpayers. Even if a deal is struck to extend federal unemployment benefits in exchange for ‘Fight, don’t starve!’ continuing the property tax cuts for the The one-sided class war being waged rich, a deal that President Obama appar- by the capitalists, which totally disregards ently has already agreed to, Republican the well-being of the workers and poor leaders are insisting that the approxi- while funneling more and more of our mately $60 billion one-year cost of ex- funds to the corporations and rich, must tended unemployment benefits be paid for be answered. As demonstrators chanted by cutting other desperately needed social at a demonstration in Detroit on Dec. 2, programs. But they don’t insist on similar it’s time for the workers to “Fight, don’t Coalition targets Chase banks cuts to offset the $700 billion 10-year cost starve.” of extending tax cuts for the rich. (Huff- The working class must hit the streets By Workers World Detroit Bureau People Before Banks is asking people ington Post, Dec. 4) with its own program. A job or income to sign a pledge to remove all their money The workers and poor will be forced now is every worker’s right. Tte govern- Members of the People Before Banks from Chase and/or cancel their Chase to pay for their benefits (if the extension ment must bail out the people, not the Coalition here simultaneously targeted credit or debit cards. is passed), while the rich get a free ride. banks. We need a political struggle to de- dozens of Chase Bank branches on Dec. The coalition is organizing a mass leaf- Rationing of basic services — such as the mand a massive WPA-type jobs program 3. Fanning out throughout metro Detroit, leting campaign demanding that Chase state of Arizona’s recent decision to elimi- to rebuild our communities. a diverse assemblage of union members, Bank impose a two-year moratorium on nate Medicaid funding for life-saving The government must order the cor- community people, students and oth- home foreclosures and that the financial liver, lung, heart, pancreas and bone mar- porations to spend their $1.66 trillion in er activists gathered at targeted Chase institution stop bankrolling R.J. Reynolds row transplants — will become the rule. profits stolen from the labor of the work- branches during lunchtime to leaflet and Co., which is denying rights and decent The Federal Reserve has distributed ing class to put people to work through a petition. working conditions to migrant farmwork- $3.3 trillion in relief to huge corporations shorter workweek, 30 hours work for 40 According to William Bryce, a staff or- ers in North Carolina’s tobacco fields. The and financial institutions since Janu- hours pay, and an executive order imple- ganizer with Southeastern Michigan Jobs Dec. 3 actions were part of this campaign. ary 2009. Included in that amount was menting a moratorium on foreclosures, with Justice and a central organizer of the The coalition grew out of the U.S. Social $1.1 trillion in mortgage securities on at- evictions and utility shutoffs so people People Before Banks Coalition, those leaf- Forum held in June when more than 1,000 risk mortgages held by Morgan Stanley, can survive the current crisis. leting reported a tremendously support- people marched on Chase Bank in Detroit. Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, We need to revive the fight for social- ive response from Chase Bank customers For more information, phone 734-652- Deutsche Bank, Barclays and other major ism to replace the capitalist system, whose and the general community. Those leaf- 6382 or 402-689-8878; email peoplebe- financial institutions. Significantly, that decadence and decay is manifesting itself leting and petitioning were encouraged to [email protected]; or visit www.sup- $1.1 trillion was only on mortgages backed daily with every new attack on the work- continue the Chase campaign. portfloc.org or www.moratorium-mi.org. up by the federal government, meaning ers and oppressed. workers.org Dec. 16, 2010 Page 7 There’s an answer to Millions of homeless, millions of empty homes

By Jaimeson Champion rising homelessness in the middle of 18.9 action. Two generations later, Karl Marx million vacant homes be explained? laid bare the inner workings of this sys- As the cold winter chill sets in across the tem in his monumental work “Capital.” The paradox of plenty U.S., homelessness is at an all-time high. Under capitalism, each capitalist firm Dallas, Texas, street sign. Over the past few years, millions of peo- The barrier between the homeless and is compelled, by competition with rival ple have been forced from their homes by the millions of empty homes is capital- firms, to produce the maximum amount The ensuing financial meltdown led to foreclosures and evictions and into over- ism and capitalist property relations. In of goods by exploiting the maximum more layoffs, foreclosures and evictions, crowded shelters and transitional hous- capitalist society, property rights are pro- amount of labor so as to gain the maxi- and the downward spiral intensified. As ing. The number of homeless families rose tected by law while human rights — like mum amount of power and profit and 2010 draws to a close, millions of workers by close to 30 percent between 2007 and the right to food, shelter and a job — are thus avoid being overtaken by competi- and their families are unemployed and 2009. (hud.gov) not. During a capitalist economic crisis, tors. Because there is no coordination be- homeless — while millions of homes and With layoffs continuing in nearly all when millions can’t find jobs, are losing tween rival firms regarding the limits of apartments sit vacant and the bankers industries, tens of millions more families their homes and are going hungry, the ab- the market, there inevitably comes a point and bosses sit back and count their bail- and individuals are living with oppres- surdity and cruelty of this system become when the amount of goods produced ex- out money. sive anxiety caused by not knowing if they glaringly obvious. ceeds the amount the workers can afford The socialist solution will be able to make next month’s rent or Throughout most of human history the to buy. mortgage payment. chief economic problems have been root- When supply outpaces demand in this Simply put, capitalism is the root cause Recently, the U.S. Interagency Council ed in scarcity and the hoarding of scarce manner, markets become glutted and of unemployment and rising homeless- on Homelessness, which includes a mul- resources by one segment of society at the capitalists’ profits fall. Workers are laid ness in recent years. And capitalist prop- titude of government agencies, ranging expense of another. off in large numbers as the glut lessens erty relations are the sole reason why mil- from the Department of Housing and Ur- The rise of capitalism and the dawn the capitalists’ need for their labor power. lions of perfectly good homes sit vacant ban Development to the Department of of the industrial revolution, however, Unemployed workers are less able to con- while working class families crowd into Defense, unveiled a plan called Opening which enormously expanded productiv- sume, thus exacerbating the general crisis already packed shelters and tent cities or Doors. It has been billed as the “first ever ity, brought about an absurd new type of overproduction freeze out on the street or in their cars. federal strategic plan to prevent and end of economic problem. In the early 1800s A look back at the U.S. housing market The solution to the growing homeless- homelessness” and claims to be “centered the French philosopher Charles Fourier over the past decade reveals this process. ness epidemic will not be found in govern- on the belief that no one should experi- was perhaps the first to describe this new From 2000 to 2006, home construction ment-produced charts and graphs. The ence homelessness — no one should be problem when he reported on commer- surged to record highs as firms in all areas solution can only be achieved through the without a safe, stable place to call home.” cial markets becoming glutted with more of the housing sector, from construction struggle of the workers themselves. Nice words. The federal strategic plan products than could be afforded by the companies to appliance makers, upped Workers can, through militant action, to end homelessness is more than 70 pages populace. He termed this phenomenon production and profited handsomely. But force some reforms to ease their plight, of charts, graphs and statistics. (usich.gov) a “crise plethorique,” or a crisis of abun- there eventually came a point when the like a government jobs plan and a mora- But noticeably absent from all the analysis dance. surge in home construction outpaced the torium on foreclosures and evictions. But is the one economic statistic that shows What Fourier was seeing was the in- ability of workers in general to afford the ultimately, the struggle must be to abolish there can be an immediate, common- herent law of capitalist overproduction in housing units being produced. capitalism and replace it with socialism. sense solution: the housing vacancy rate. By late 2006 the hous- Under socialism, when the working According to the Census Department, ing market was glutted with class takes over the vast means of pro- there are more than 18.9 million vacant more units than could be duction it has created and liberates the housing units in the U.S. (census.gov) sold at a profit and layoffs factories, the mines, and so on to be used That’s enough perfectly usable housing began across all areas of the for the good of all, the anarchy of capital- units to put a roof over the head of every housing trades. Housing ist production for profit will be abolished. single homeless person in the U.S., with prices fell as the glut set in, Production will be planned and the “bot- millions of homes to spare. If it is true that exposing the big banks and tom line” will be to satisfy human needs. “it is simply unacceptable for individuals, institutional investors to Through the development of socialism, children, families and our veterans to be massive losses on the proj- the absurd calamity of rising homeless- faced with homelessness in this country,” ects they had bankrolled ness amidst a sea of empty homes will be as President Barack Obama writes in the through a host of securities a thing of the past and the doors to human preface to Opening Doors, then how can Sacramento, calif. and loans. progress can truly be opened. ‘Sorry, no blood money today’

By Caleb T. Maupin breathed and coughed on each other. We my time, they still find a way to get “sur- we have to keep blood in the freezer.” Cleveland were packed in tight. We waited until they plus value” from my blood. We pour out of the lobby into the cold. said our name over the loudspeaker. Then When they changed the policy to giving We’re all frustrated for the same reason. It was early Friday afternoon. I went they extract our blood plasma and give us cards instead of cash, they pretended it was Between our angry thoughts, we’re recal- down to the west side of Cleveland to sell “compensation” for our “donation.” a good thing. “Now you can order books or culating how to eat dinner tonight, pay my blood plasma like I often do. Because Suddenly, a woman who works at DVDs online from your donations,” the our rent, put gas in our cars and deal with winter is gradually setting in and the holi- the clinic appeared in the middle of the poster said. I had to laugh. None of us in other basic things. days are approaching, there was a bigger crowded waiting room. She was distin- the waiting room was there because we We pour out to the bus stop, and the crowd than usual. guished by her long white coat. “If you al- wanted a new copy of Harry Potter. bus fills up. There are hundreds of us — Each corner of the waiting room was ready signed up, it’s going to be two more We seemed to have just gotten over way too many for one city bus. Another full of people. It was standing room only, hours,” she announced. There are groans. having to wait another two hours when bus comes in 15 minutes and takes anoth- as we waited one by one to stick our We were all there because we need the the woman came back. This time she had er load. Then another bus, then another. thumbs in a computer scanner. As usual, money. The first five times, they reward a cop with her. We, the human cattle, are transported we each filled out a questionnaire on the you with $50. After that, it’s $20, and an- away. computer screen, clicking “yes” and “no” other $35 if you provide plasma later in ‘How will we eat tonight?’ Soon the parking lot is closed, and the to health questions. Just a few months the same week. She looked at the cop, who opened his cop is locking the door. Just a few people ago, someone got paid to ask us these The compensation you receive for your jacket and revealed his uniform and gun stand outside the door smoking cigarettes. questions. Not anymore, though; com- donation no longer comes in cash. In- holster underneath his winter coat. As I waited for my ride, I thought about puters are much cheaper. stead, it gets put on a debit card. For every “The freezer is broken,” he announced. things. I wondered if the reason they There were probably several hundred transaction on the debit card, the credit “This place is closed for the day. You all stopped handing out cash and have an of us packed into the little facility. We card company gets 25 cents. It’s a fee for need to leave.” armed cop around is for days like this. I were Black and white, young and old. the credit card company for performing a There was anger, expressed as swear- wonder if they realize some day people There were moms taking turns watching service we do not want. ing and fuming. might not go home when the place is each other’s children while they had their I sometimes think about the executives “You could at least compensate us for “closed.” We might refuse to leave until veins pumped. who own the credit card company. They our time!” somebody shouted. we get the money that not just us but so We sat in the waiting room, some of get at least 25 cents for my plasma. But “We don’t buy time; we buy plasma,” many others bleed for. us leaning against the walls, others just they don’t bleed for it. They just scrape the woman in the white coat said, seem- Will one armed cop be enough? standing. Somebody’s cell phone rang it off the top, from the money I bled for. ingly frustrated to have to argue the point. Maupin is an unemployed youth or vibrated practically every minute. We Even though I’m not selling my labor or “It’s not our fault. The government says activist. Page_8_ Dec._16,_2010_ workers.org WikiLeaks and Africa U.S. frustrated with allies & adversaries

By Abayomi Azikiwe with allies in the Palestine Liberation Or- ence and redirect developments in states in so-called peacekeeping operations in Editor, Pan-African News Wire ganization, Libya, Cuba and other revolu- like Zimbabwe and within the African Senegal and Niger. tionary states and liberation movements. National Congress, which it viewed as These leaked cables substantiate long- Documents released by the WikiLeaks communist-influenced national libera- held beliefs that Morocco, a former French website under the direction of Australian U.S. frustrated in Zimbabwe tion movements and governments, also protectorate, has moved closer to the U.S. national Julian Assange provide insight In Zimbabwe, which gained indepen- disparaged long-time allies. Thus, the re- Afrol News notes, “Ties with the U.S. have into U.S. political maneuvers on the Af- dence from Britain in 1980, the ruling gimes in Kenya did not escape scathing continued to deepen, although Washing- rican continent. Although more attention ZANU-PF party embarked upon a radical attacks by the world’s leading imperialist ton is also improving its relations with was paid to diplomatic cables on events land redistribution program in 2000. The country. WikiLeaks released 1,821 dip- Morocco’s arch-rival Algeria.” (Dec. 1) in Saudi Arabia, Britain, Iran, etc., there program prompted the U.S., Britain, the lomatic cables on Kenyan relations be- Regarding U.S. relations with Algeria, are significant leaks related to the frustra- European Union and its allies to impose tween 1996 and 2010, indicating clearly another former French colony that won tions of the U.S. State Department in in- still-existing sanctions against the gov- that the U.S. did not have high opinions its independence through a protracted fluencing developments in South Africa, ernment of President Robert Mugabe. of one of its closest collaborators in East armed struggle from 1954 to 1961, For- Zimbabwe, Kenya, Morocco and Algeria. The U.S. and its allies provided po- Africa. eign Minister Mourad Medelci objected Going back 20 years, the U.S. Embassy litical and economic support to the West- After the eruption of intraparty vio- strongly to placing its nationals on a list in Pretoria, under the former racist mi- ern-oriented Movement for Democratic lence in Kenya in late 2007 and early of those requiring special screening to nority apartheid regime, sought to make Change, trying to topple the ZANU-PF 2008, stemming from a disputed elec- enter the U.S. Afrol News reported that direct contact with African National Con- government. However, former U.S. Am- tion, several leading states and political according to leaked documents, “The gress leader Nelson Mandela upon his re- bassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell leaders on behalf of the African Union Foreign Minister said that Algeria is a lease from prison in 1990. Mandela was expressed frustration at the incapacity of worked for months to end the violence leader in the fight against terrorism and let out of prison after 27 years in response MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to carry and establish a unity government. None- the measures taken by the United States to a worldwide movement in support of out the imperialist agenda inside this theless, according to the Kenya Broad- are arbitrary and enshrine the principle the South African masses’ struggle for na- southern African state. casting Corporation, “almost every single of discrimination.” (Dec. 1) tional liberation. Within documents related to the MDC, sentence from the U.S. Embassy in Nai- Medelci added, “These measures are According to leaked cables published Dell claimed there was no competent op- robi speaks with disdain of the coalition contrary to Obama’s speech in Cairo, and in the South African Mail & Guardian on position to the Mugabe government. In a government.” (Dec. 1) the desire of his administration to work Nov. 29, “It took seven weeks of steady cable entitled “The End is Nigh,” written In the North African kingdom of Mo- with Muslims.” Yet 14 Muslim countries hounding to obtain an appointment for July 13, 2007, Dell stated that “Zimba- rocco, another close U.S. ally in the so- were placed on a watch list after a purport- [U.S.] ambassador [William Lacy] Swing bwe’s opposition is far from ideal and I called “war on terrorism,” leaked dip- ed plot to blow up a plane bound for De- with Mandela.” In addition to the slow leave convinced that had we had different lomatic cables show little trust in the troit from Amsterdam on Dec. 25, 2009. pace of scheduling a U.S. meeting with partners, we could have achieved more al- armed forces of this country. The U.S. as- the world-renowned South African for- ready.” (Zimbabwe Herald, Nov. 30) sessment was that the Moroccan military State Department engages mer political prisoner, there were also Dell stated regime change would have was plagued by corruption “at the highest in damage control leading elements in the African National been possible with more “talent” among levels.” (Afrol News, Dec. 3) Since the release of the embassy cables Congress at the time who believed “Man- the opposition forces. He claimed, “You One cable told Washington that Gen. by WikiLeaks in November, Secretary of dela should refrain from meeting UK have to play the hand you’re dealt.” Abdelaziz Bennani, commander of the State Hillary Clinton and other diplomats Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.” The U.S. ambassador, extremely un- Moroccan armed forces, used his position have apologized to U.S. allies around the The U.S. had been instrumental in the popular in Zimbabwe during his tenure, “to skim money from military contracts world, including those on the African capture and imprisonment of Nelson which ended in 2007, also noted Tsvan- and influence business decisions.” U.S. continent. Yet what these documents re- Mandela in 1962, when he sought to or- girai was a “flawed figure and not read- Ambassador Thomas Riley also claimed veal is that it is just as dangerous, if not ganize both mass and armed struggles ily open to advice, indecisive and with that he discovered credible rumors that more so, for African states to be friendly aimed at toppling the racist political sys- questionable judgment in selecting those Bennani “owns large parts of the fisheries to the U.S. as it is to be considered inde- tem in South Africa. Only after millions around him. in Western Sahara.” pendent of Washington’s foreign policy within South Africa and around the world “He is the indispensable element for The Western Sahara, a former Span- aims in the region. rallied to the ANC banner was the U.S. opposition success, but possibly an alba- ish colony controlled by Morocco since Overall U.S. foreign policy toward Af- forced to recognize this leading national tross around their necks once in power. In 1976, has waged a national independence rica is designed to maintain and enhance liberation movement. short, he is a kind of Lech Walesa charac- struggle since the early 1970s. Riley not- imperialist control over resources integral After visiting neighboring African ter: Zimbabwe needs him, but should not ed that to win countries over to opposing to the profit-making capacity of transna- states and other fraternal countries in rely on his executive abilities to lead the the independence of the Western Sahara, tional corporations. African leaders will the immediate aftermath of his release, country’s recovery.” whose liberation movement, the Polisario undoubtedly take these revelations seri- Mandela toured the U.S. in June 1990. Front, had won the right to hold a yet-to- ously in their future plans aimed at se- U.S. attitude toward ‘friendly states’ During the visit he repeatedly refused to be-realized national referendum on inde- curing independence and sovereignty of renounce the ANC’s longtime friendship The U.S., while attempting to influ- pendence, Morocco willingly participated their land, resources and waterways. MAx WATTS 1928 -2010 He built resistance inside imperialist war machine By John Catalinotto RITA: Resistance inside the army for forming the American Servicemen’s Union in December 1967. One of the Fort Following 82 years of a life filled with By 1967, with a half-million U.S. troops Sill GIs, Dick Perrin, had wound up in adventure and intimately entwined with in Vietnam and militant youth and Black Paris, making the first contact with Watts. tumultuous events concerning humanity, liberation movements stirring at home, Perrin was responsible for the term, “Re- Max Watts died in his bed on Nov. 23 in some of the hundreds of thousands of GIs sistance inside the army,” or RITA, which Sydney, Australia, surrounded by friends stationed in Europe began to slip away Watts used as a general term for the wave and comrades. from the U.S. Armed Forces. A few found of GI opposition within many imperialist Watts’ contributions were numerous, their way to Paris. And they found Watts. armies in the 1960s and 1970s. Perrin went but his life’s central focus was on organiz- One was Terry Klug, who wrote in a into exile in Canada and Klug returned to ing resistance within the military. This fo- message to Watts’ funeral about how Max the U.S., where he faced imprisonment for cus he shared with many of us in Workers had helped these young soldiers cope: “desertion.” He and his fellow GI prisoners World Party. We worked together an ocean “It’s no exaggeration to say that without in the Fort Dix, N.J., stockade carried out a apart to help GIs break the chain of com- him, as well as [Watts’ partner] June, life rebellion against conditions there. mand within the imperialist U.S. military. Max Watts, at right. Photo:_olivE_PorABou would have been unbearable for scores The increase in rank-and-file aware- of us during that period. They helped us Tales of resistance ness in the 1960s and 1970s of their own In 1950, wanting no part of shooting at with places to stay, to find work, with The post-De Gaulle French govern- interests and power helped make a mass Koreans, he left the U.S. He wound up in our permits to stay in the country and so ment expelled Watts from Paris to Cor- conscription army unreliable for impos- Paris after a stay in Israel, where he also much more. sica in the early 1970s. After evading his ing U.S. rule on Vietnam and intervening would not serve in the army. As a geo- “They introduced us to politics really watchers, Watts wound up living in Dils- elsewhere. physicist he worked in Algeria, where he and helped us give voice to what we were berg, West Germany, near Heidelberg. Born Tomi Schwaetzer in Vienna in did his best to aid the movement of na- feeling and even doing at the time. A tire- This put him closer to the 220,000 U.S. 1928, Watts and his parents had to flee Na- tional liberation against French rule, and less organizer, Max gave us the tools to GIs stationed in that country. Watts con- zi-controlled Austria. He traveled through later in revolutionary Cuba. fight back against the U.S. military and tinued to offer aid and assistance to the Paris and London before reuniting with He was at the Oct. 17, 1961, demonstra- helped us understand it was part of a ever-more-successful and numerous GI his mother in New York. His father had al- tion of 30,000 Algerians in Paris, when broader struggle as well.” organizers throughout the 1970s. ready died. Watts trained as a geophysicist riot police, under orders to shoot at will, At that same time, WWP’s young ac- He also kept an historical record of in a New York area college and was active killed hundreds of pro-liberation Algeri- tivists helped rebellious GIs at Fort Sill, those struggles with his “tales of resis- there with the Young Communist League. an-origin demonstrators. Okla., to organize and eventually call Continued on page 10 workers.org Dec. 16, 2010 Page 9 Militant unionists from the Americas meet in Tijuana By Bob McCubbin and Mike Eilenfeldt An eye-catching wall display premiered Tijuana, Mexico Hernández’s political cartoons. Alicia Jrapko, coordinator of the International For the seventh consecutive year, union Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban leaders, social movement activists and so- Five, introduced Silvia García Tabío, rep- cialists from many countries in the West- resenting the Cuban National Assembly ern Hemisphere came together in this of People’s Power, who discussed legal as- ww_PhotoS: ChEryl_lABASh dynamic border city on the first weekend pects of the cases of the Five in detail. Gar- Mike Martinez, Daniel Montes, Ignacio Meneses, Benjamin Prado and Teresa Gutierrez. in December for intense discussions. They cía urged labor organizations to follow the focused on the global crisis of the imperial- example of several large Canadian unions capitalist crisis. The near collapse of the ebrated at its 16th congress next year in ist system, its increasing belligerence and that have sent letters to President Barack economic system two years ago, he said, Greece. The WFTU is part of ESNA, an its devastating attacks on the living condi- Obama demanding freedom for the Five. ushered in a new reality on a worldwide annual international gathering promot- tions of the international working class. In a media breakthrough, Telemundo basis. Although incredibly productive, ing unity of action of workers throughout In the face of this unprecedented crisis, interviewed Labañino Cardoso, who also the present system is no longer sustain- the Americas. conference speakers discussed fightback participated in a special lunchtime youth able. Part of our job is to break through Clarence Thomas, a third-generation strategies, emphasizing the role of labor meeting on Saturday. the ideological wall that prevents work- longshore worker, organizer of the 2004 unions, the building of the Bolivarian Al- ers from demanding a new system, a sys- Million Worker March and a leader of liance for the Americas (ALBA) and unity Global crisis of imperialism: tem that works in their interests, Holmes Local 10 of the International Longshore as important factors in the global struggle effects and responses urged. Whatever differences groups on and Warehouse Union, presented two for workers’ power. Ermela García Santiago focused on Cu- the left had in the past, they are probably examples of the inherent power of the The delegation from Cuba was made up ba’s revolutionary approach to the prob- not important enough to prevent coming U.S. working class. Local 10 protested of five women, who detailed the process lems caused by the present global eco- together now. The only question should the Israeli slaughter of activists trying to now underway to realign the Cuban work- nomic crisis. Cuba is now in the process be: Are you ready to fight the system? The break the genocidal siege of Gaza by join- force while maintaining the gains of social- of making adjustments, beginning with workers must come before capital! ing dockworkers internationally in refus- ism. They also raised projects to increase a popular debate on what changes are ing to unload an Israeli ship. The union the unity of workers in the Americas. necessary. The issues are being discussed ALBA as a growing alternative also closed down five West Coast ports for Special panels elaborated on the con- openly and are displayed on the Internet Fredy José Franco, general secretary eight hours to protest the cold-blooded ditions leading to workers’ struggle in for anyone interested in the details. of the Nicaraguan Federation of Teachers police killing of Oscar Grant in Oakland. Mexico, as well as the urgent fight for im- The need for change is prompted by the of Higher Education, spoke of the funda- Other U.S. union panelists and delega- migrant rights and May Day demonstra- global economic crisis. Even Cuba is not mental difference between ALBA and the tions included Rosie Martínez of the SEIU tions in the U.S. immune from its negative effects. Cubans so-called “free trade agreements” pushed 721 Latino Caucus; Cristina Vásquez, in- The conference adopted an action pro- know that wealth comes from human la- by the U.S. ternational vice president and regional gram that incorporated the Caracas Mani- bor and growth comes from good plan- ALBA is based on solidarity among its manager of Workers United; and Martha festo of the third Labor Meeting of Our ning. Some sectors of the Cuban economy nation members. Each nation’s particu- Grevatt, a Chrysler autoworker. America (ESNA), a proposal for a spring have excessive government subsidies and lar strengths are used to complement the New York May 1 Coalition for Worker tour in the U.S. of Mexican union leaders other sectors harbor excessive numbers deficiencies of other member nations. He and Immigrant Rights organizer Teresa and a workers’ school in Mexico. It sup- of workers. The readjustments are being expressed confidence that, following the Gutierrez highlighted the case of Victor ported the 16th Congress of the World made over extended periods of time by November 2011 elections, the Sandinista Toro, detained and arrested for lack of doc- Federation of Trade Unions, to be held in the workers themselves. government will be able to deepen the so- umentation and now charged with terror- Greece, and the fourth ESNA, to be held in What is indisputable is the support cialist revolution there. ism for leading opposition to the 1973 fas- Nicaragua next July 17-19. It also endorsed and involvement of the Cuban workers. Magaly Batista Enríquez, a representa- cist coup in Chile orchestrated by the CIA. May Day actions and concrete support to They understand that these changes will tive of the Department of International She pointed out that although the pro- the struggle in Colombia, including a Co- strengthen the revolution and guarantee Relations of the Cuban Workers Central posed DREAM Act legislation would of- ca-Cola boycott. Program chairs included the basic social security of free education, Union (CTC), affirmed that the spirit of fer citizenship to undocumented youth, it Ignacio Meneses and Cheryl LaBash from health care and retirement. ALBA is to share fuel, hydroelectricity would also force many of them into U.S. the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange and Benja- José Humberto Montes de Oca Luna, and other energy sources, cattle raising, military service. min Prado from Union del Barrio. representing the Mexican Electrical Work- biodiversity, pharmaceuticals, knowledge Daniel Montes, an organizer for Unión ers union (SME), characterized the pres- of pre-Columbian cultures, minerals, help del Barrio in Los Angeles, described the Conference dedicated to freedom ent capitalist crisis as generalized and for disabled people, potable water, and so U.S. Southwest as Mexican territory occu- for the Cuban Five global. In stark contrast to Cuba, he de- on. Concrete programs have so far includ- pied by the U.S. He noted that in the last Martín López Ortiz, representing the scribed the capitalist offensive unleashed ed free eye care, literacy campaigns and 30 years, even more Mexicans have mi- Broad Left Social Front of Michoacán, against the workers in Mexico and else- the training of technicians, doctors and grated to these lands. Today, the Obama Mexico, welcomed conference attendees where. The government has responded to nurses. The popular governments in Latin administration is deporting more work- to Mexico and affirmed that the peoples of the crisis with increasing efforts to priva- America are also expanding the use of the ers than Bush. Unión del Barrio has chal- the world reject the injustices of the U.S. tize state enterprises. Montes de Oca de- sucre as an exchange currency. lenged the Democrats’ slogan of “Today empire, such as the jailing of the Cuban scribed in detail the SME struggle against Lucy Pagoada, representing the Popu- we march, tomorrow we vote!” with “To- Five, as confirmed at a recent interna- Mexican oligarchic efforts to destroy the lar National Resistance Front of Hon- day we march, tomorrow we organize!” tional gathering in Holguín, Cuba. These union, including legislative and judicial duras, denounced the recent coup there, Benjamin Prado of Unión del Barrio in five Cuban revolutionaries, who have been attacks and the jailing of union leaders. citing the connivance of the U.S., the Hon- San Diego pointed out that the capitalists held prisoners in U.S. penitentiaries since The basic fightback strategy must be the duran military and the Catholic Church have never recognized the rights of the 1998, are hailed worldwide for their ef- class struggle, he emphasized, saying, “We as well as the national oligarchy. She de- workers. Capitalism turns everything, in- forts to expose anti-Cuban terrorist plots need political independence. We have on scribed it as a coup against ALBA since, in cluding people, into merchandise. It’s im- hatched in Miami. our side thousands of retirees, our families fact, the coup government has withdrawn portant, he stressed, to unmask the truth Ailí Labañino Cardoso, the oldest and the rally of 70,000 in Aztec Stadium.” Honduras from ALBA membership. She that the U.S. is the biggest violator of hu- daughter of Cuban Five prisoner Ramón He urged conference attendees to write pointed out that the biggest military base man rights. We need to learn from the ex- Labañino, described in measured, but letters of support for the SME leadership in Central America is in Honduras and is ample of ALBA. The problems of immigra- emotionally painful terms, the suffering to the Mexican president and to Mexican controlled by the U.S. But the coup, she tion have no solution within the context of of the Five and their families caused by legislators. Finally, he called for a Mexican concluded, has awakened the people to capitalism. their isolation and their separation from peoples’ assembly to demand that Mexico political struggle. In addition to alternative media who one another. Olga Salanueva and Adriana join ALBA. Gilda Chacón Bravo, an international covered the conference, several Tijuana Pérez have been denied entry visas by the Bail Out the People Movement leader relations representative of the CTC, noted media representatives, including Tele- U.S. to visit their spouses, René González Larry Holmes received a standing ovation that the 70th anniversary of the World media 33 and Radio La Republica, were and Gerardo Hernández. following his presentation analyzing the Federation of Trade Unions will be cel- present. Page_10_ Dec._16,_2010_ workers.org

WORKERS WORLD editorial The media and Gaza Exposing imperialist ‘No profits in peace’ WW presents the fifth and last tic target missile, with the Israeli weap- install ment of “The media and Gaza,” ons-maker Rafael. Raytheon’s program diplomacy a chapter from an upcoming book on manager for this project, Adam Cherrill, the heroic struggle of the Palestinian actually advocates further expansion of he quarter-million U.S. diplomatic bankers who rule capitalist society. This people of Gaza who are fighting for “Greater Israel” and believes Israel has “a cables that are now no longer secret same lesson holds today. self-determination. far stronger claim to Judea and Samaria, undoubtedly contain enough Another major exposure occurred in T which is considered the West Bank, than information to expose the machinery of June 1971. The U.S. had been bombing Lockheed Martin, with sales in 2008 the Arabs.” (Counterpunch, Feb. 11, 2003) imperialist foreign policy as a combina- Vietnam since August 1964. That’s when of $42.7 billion, is the world’s largest This might seem like Cherrill has been tion of lies, coercion, extortion and war. President Lyndon Johnson bludgeoned weapons contractor. It makes the Hellfire “unduly influenced” by Israel. The wars Other such exposures have occurred his- all but two of the 100 U.S. senators into precision-guided missile system, report- against Arabs that follow from this view, torically, some in more favorable circum- backing the Tonkin Gulf resolution, using edly used in Gaza. Israel also has 350 however, would bring billions in profits stances for progressive and working-class the pretext that North Vietnamese patrol F-16 jets, some purchased from Lockheed to Raytheon. After all, weapons are made organizations. boats had fired on U.S. destroyers. That Martin. The F-16 is considered the most to be destroyed and then to be ordered One of the first things done by the Bol- resolution had authorized the funding of sought-after fighter plane. Israel’s fleet is again. For weapons makers, there are no shevik Party, once it took power through a much wider war. the largest outside the U.S. (Indymedia profits to be made in peace. a successful workers’ revolution in Russia But by 1971, a determined Vietnamese Corporate Watch, 2009) Raytheon has an interlocking director in November 1917, was to publish the resistance and a strong popular opposi- Lockheed Martin has a $4 billion deal with the New York Times. secret treaties that the Tsarist regime had tion at home and within the U.S. military to co-produce with the Israeli military a The media have developed selective signed with its imperialist allies, Britain convinced many in the U.S. ruling class version of the F-16 fighter plane called amnesia when it comes to the Palestinian and France. These treaties showed why that continuing the war might lead to an the Sufa (meaning “storm” in Hebrew). people because, like all corporations, they the Russian ruling classes were ready to even greater U.S. defeat. Production begins near Tel Aviv and is are drawn to greater profits like a moth to drag the worker and peasant masses into This split in the ruling class led some finished in Ft. Worth, Texas. (Frida Ber- the flame. U.S. companies make the prof- the bloodiest conflict yet: World War I. intellectuals — including Defense Depart- rigan) its when Israel makes the kill. The treaties said that, in the event of vic- ment analyst Daniel Ellsberg, who form- Lockheed Martin has interlocking di- The corporate media are in on the kill- tory, Russia would get the Dardanelles erly had supported the war — to photo- rectors with the Washington Post and ing. They use their vast communication and Constantinople, that is, a warm-water copy the Pentagon Papers, a high-level Gannett. fleets to bombard the population here port. The equally imperialist German- assessment of the war on Vietnam. Ells- with fiction that confuses people and dis- Austro-Hungarian-Ottoman alliance had, berg and others released the documents Caterpillar: delivered bulldozer that arms them politically. By finding ways to of course, made its own secret deals with to the New York Times and Washington killed Rachel Corrie justify Israeli aggression, they help pave others. Post. Those newspapers — by then in tune With more than $30 billion in assets, the way politically for the next Israeli at- These high-level documents revealed with the faction in the ruling class that Caterpillar is the world’s largest maker tack on Palestinians. that the massive slaughter of 20 million questioned continuing the war — pub- of construction equipment. It is one of people in the war arose from imperialist lished the revelations, exposing that the scores of U.S. companies that are tech- Media-industrial-military behemoth has economic and strategic interests. It had Johnson administration had contrived the nically not weapons makers but whose soft underbelly nothing to do with fighting for democracy. entire pretext for the escalation. products are links in the chain that makes But this corporate media empire can- Spreading the truth about the cynicism Exposing this big lie became part of the Israeli aggression possible or especially not fool all the people all the time. Its of the rulers led to mutinies among the argument for getting U.S. troops out of devastating. weak underbelly is that it underestimates soldiers of both sides and helped bring the Vietnam, which happened in 1973. Viet- Caterpillar makes the D9 military bull- the power of a people united and deter- war to an end. The truth also strengthened nam finally fully liberated itself in 1975. dozer, designed for use in invasions of mined to resist. All the weapons in the the hand of the new workers’ government The WikiLeaks documents, on top of built-up areas. Since 1967, Israel has used U.S. arsenal couldn’t bomb Gaza into wherever the Bolsheviks and their allies earlier revelations about how the govern- these bulldozers to destroy tens of thou- submission. Gaza still stands strong, and were capable of getting it published. This ment, from the president on down, lied sands of Palestinian homes and uproot its resistance has inspired solidarity from included in Britain, where the Manchester to take the U.S. to war against Iraq and hundreds of thousands of trees. Caterpil- millions of people. Many of these people Guardian published the documents on Afghanistan, are further proof that 21st- lar has profited from the construction of are also fighting for their own rights, often Dec. 12, 1917, and in the United States, century U.S. diplomacy, like the U.S. war the West Bank apartheid separation wall. against the very same corporations that which had entered the war on the British- against Vietnam and imperialist World The D9 bulldozer was extensively used profit from Gaza’s anguish. French-Russian side that prior April. War I, is still based on lies and coercion. by Israel in its 2001-2002 Operation De- Another weakness of the corporate me- The Bolsheviks’ exposure of secret It’s up to the progressive, working-class fensive Shield attack, particularly during dia is that the World Wide Web and other diplomacy was a historical lesson for the and anti-racist movement to take this one the invasion of the West Bank town of forms of instant communication they workers’ movement: The lies imperialist step further and expose the class interests Jenin, where countless homes were de- dominate can be used by the Palestinian politicians use to justify their wars are of the tiny few who benefit from war while stroyed by bulldozers and a disabled man people and those in solidarity with their intended to obscure the strategic and the masses of people pay the ultimate was crushed to death. struggle. Through online blogs, posting economic interests of the billionaires and price. U.S. activist Rachel Corrie was run over photos and YouTube videos, Facebook, and murdered by an Israeli soldier driv- Twitter, e-mails and texting, activists ing a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer in 2003 as have provided instant coverage of their she tried to stop it from destroying a Pal- solidarity trips, their reception in differ- The compelling story of how Gazans with- estinian home in the Rafah refugee camp ent countries and the conditions in Gaza. stood blockade and bombardment only in Gaza. Palestinians from the Occupied Terri- to stand tall, refusing to give up the right Caterpillar interlocks with the Tribune tories have spoken directly to U.S. dem- to determine their own lives and to choose Company, owner of the Chicago Tribune onstrations via satellite cell phones. Free- their own government; how Gaza’s courage and the Los Angeles Times. dom Flotilla videographers have posted inspired a worldwide solidarity movement their footage of the Israeli commando determined to break the blockade and Raytheon: No profits in peace raid on the web. deliver aid; exposes the forces behind the punishment of Gaza, and how a growing Raytheon, with annual revenues of $20 There is a people’s media that is break- people’s media is breaking the mainstream billion, supplies electronic equipment for ing the ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX blockade media’s information blockade on this event. the West Bank apartheid wall. Since 1998 of the truth. They will not be stopped. This book will be published in December. Raytheon has sold Israel more than 200 Every aspect of production — writing, edit- AIM-120 advanced, medium-range, air- ing, proofreading, cover and book design — to-air missiles at a total cost of more than Max Watts were done by voluntary labor. $100 million, as well as 14 Beech King edited by Continued from page 8 However, the high cost of printing and B200 fixed-wing aircraft for $125 million Joyce chediac tance days,” which he called “TORDS.” In binding the book cause us to turn to you for and a Patriot missile system for $73 mil- financial support. lion, according to the Federation of Amer- collaboration with ex-GI David Cortright, he wrote a retrospective on the GI organiz- Help to publish— ican Scientists. Raytheon made the 100 bunker-buster ing experience in the book “Left Face.” GAzA: Symbol of Resistance bombs flown by the U.S. to Israel at the Watts resettled in Australia in 1981 and height of the bombardment of Lebanon actively supported many struggles of In- WW compilations, edited by Joyce chediac. in 2006. (Counterpunch, May 28, 2008) digenous peoples in that area of the world Whatever contribution you can make to print this important book will make a difference. These weapons were also used in Gaza. — in Australia, East Timor, Papua New Everyone who donates $20 or more will receive a copy of this book. This company makes the Tomahawk Guinea and especially Bougainville, where Yes! I want to help with publishing costs. Here is my donation: $250 $100 missile, the Sidewinder and other high- a local 10-year uprising kept the mining monopoly Rio Tinto from pillaging the en- $50 $35 $20 $_____Other. Write checks to World View Forum. tech missiles that Israel has in its arsenal. These missiles have very sophisticated, vironment. Watts insisted the Bougainville Name______Email______heat-seeking targeting components that story was the basis for the movie “Avatar.” interface with GPS. (Frida Berrigan) A few weeks before he died, Watts wrote Address______City/State/Zip______Phone______Raytheon is jointly marketing one of the following solidarity statement to the Return to: World View Forum, 55 W. 17th St., 5th floor, New York, NY 10011. these missiles, the Black Sparrow ballis- Continued on page 11 workers.org Dec. 16, 2010 Page 11 With most popular party excluded Haitians protest imposed ‘elections’ By G. Dunkel On the afternoon of election day, 12 not just supporting one or another bour- lieve it was introduced in mid-October presidential candidates held a joint news geois candidate. They are demanding true by Minustah troops, since, despite poor Hundreds of thousands of Haitians conference to demand that the elections elections, “not selections.” They are pro- sanitation, there had been no cholera in still live under tarps and tents because be annulled because of massive and testing the undemocratic structure of the Haiti for generations. Because these same their houses were destroyed in the Jan. pervasive fraud and misconduct. Two elections themselves, not just the undem- armed forces protected the fraudulent 12 earthquake. Hundreds are dying every of them, Mirlande Manigat and Michel ocratic way in which they were conducted. election apparatus, a very popular slogan week from an epidemic of cholera caused “Sweet Mickey” Martelly, backed off from They demand the opportunity to vote has been “U.N. and cholera out of Haiti.” by lack of access to clean water. Haiti is this demand a day later, both having been for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Columnist Robert Buddan pointed out still occupied by Minustah, the U.N.’s told by the U.N. that they were leading in Fanmi Lavalas party, which the CEP in a Jamaican newspaper: “One great armed force for the “stabilization” of this the “count.” (Al Jazeera TV, Dec. 2) The ruled off the ballot. It was the U.S. that irony is that Cuba, criticized for not hav- impoverished country. other 10 took part in massive street dem- forced Aristide, Haiti’s first democrati- ing ‘competitive’ elections, has really been So the “international community” — onstrations and denounced the elections cally elected president, into exile in 2004. putting people first in Haiti. At the end of mostly the United States and its very ju- as “tricks, filled with shenanigans, not Every time his party has been allowed to the day, that is what the people of Haiti nior partner France — decided this was a expressing the will of the people.” (video, run in elections since then, it has won. A want right now. Almost 40 percent of the good time to hold elections for president, Haiti Press Network, hpnhaiti.com.) successful Lavalas candidate would lead a sick have been looked after by the Cuban Haiti’s lower house and about a third of One very telling criticism of the elec- popular resistance to the U.S. neocolonial medical brigade. At their rate of treat- its Senate. tion came from Jacques Edouard Alexis, policies imposed on Haiti. ment, only 700 persons would have died, But the most popular party in Haiti, a presidential candidate who had served Aristide explained in an interview with not 2,000, and as many as 70,000 would Fanmi Lavalas, was barred from running twice as President René Préval’s prime filmmaker Nicolas Rossier, which- ap not have been infected. While the United candidates. minister. He said, “The election is ruined. peared in the newspaper Haïti-Liberté in States was the top funder of elections, The U.N.’s chief political officer in It needs to be canceled.” early November: “They are not planning Cuba is the top savior for cholera-stricken Haiti, Edmund Mulet, said the “elections to have free and fair democratic elections. Haitians.” (The Gleaner, Dec. 5) were peaceable” with some “minor inci- Thousands demonstrate They are planning to have a selection. Cuba has just sent 300 additional medi- dents,” and threatened to call out Minus- against ‘selections’ They excluded the Lavalas party, which is cal personnel to Haiti from its Henry Reeve tah if protests continued. The New York Thousands of people have come out the party of the majority.” Brigade. It appears that the threat from Times said on Dec. 1 that the “elections into the streets every day since the elec- cholera has increased dramatically, given in Haiti were sullied” but “fundamentally tion, overturning garbage dumpsters and Cuban medics vs. cholera that clean water and latrines are available sound.” The general consensus in the U.S. setting up blockades of burning tires, Along with the elections and their for only a small minority of the Haitian State Department, the United Nations, making it difficult for Minustah to use manipulations, the cholera epidemic is people, certainly not for the 1.5 million still the Organization of American States and its armored personnel carriers. They are another major issue. Most Haitians be- living under tarps or in tents. CARICOM (Caribbean states) followed Mulet and the New York Times. The Haitian people had a completely different reaction and held massive pro- WW forum hits war ‘games’ in Korea tests. They were outraged at the way the New York — Hyun Lee, an or- DPRK’s biggest “crime” is that elections were held, especially the exclu- ganizer from Nodutdol for Ko- it has chosen a socialist path of sion of parties by the Provisional Elector- rean Community Development development that keeps trans- al Council (CEP). and the National Campaign to national corporations from “Frauds, Lies, Challenges and Betray- End the Korean War, was a guest super-exploiting the workers als” read the headline in one Haitian speaker at a Workers World Party there. She also spoke on her weekly. “A National Farce” read another forum here on Dec. 3. She provid- own experiences of visiting Ko- headline, over a picture of a ballot box ed facts and analysis on the latest rea, north and south. To hear dumped in an open sewer. (Closed sewers crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Lee’s and Griswold’s remarks, don’t exist in Haiti.) Lee spoke on the provocative go to workers.tv. Voters couldn’t find their precinct or war “games” carried out by tens The forum followed a street their names weren’t on the voting list. Even of thousands of U.S. and south rally near busy Herald Square, Deirdre Griswold Hyun Lee presidential candidates had to cast provi- Korean troops that targeted the organized by the International sional ballots because they weren’t listed. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Deirdre Griswold, Workers World edi- Action Center, where thousands of shop- Voting offices opened late or closed early. the north. She also spoke on the historic tor, spoke on how this ongoing imperi- pers got to hear and see slogans like “Jobs, Some had 50 ballots for 5,000 voters. In role of the U.S. military in this region since alist aggression against the sovereignty not war in Korea” and “Sign the peace some balloting offices, only President René the 1950-1953 Korean War. To this day, of the DPRK impacts workers in both treaty NOW!” Préval’s ruling party was allowed to ob- the U.S. has refused to sign a peace treaty Korea and the United States. In this era —Report & photos by serve the vote and count; in others, the bal- with the DPRK. of the global capitalist labor market, the Monica Moorehead lot boxes were filled before voting began. The general impression of election ob- servers was that voter turnout was less than 20 percent. The preliminary vote to- Praise for analysis of ‘Low-Wage Capitalism’ tals won’t be reported until Dec. 7. By Deirdre Griswold job wage competition with workers in be particularly unique. But what is quite poor, underdeveloped, low-wage coun- special about this book is having all of He built resistance inside Fred Goldstein’s book “Low-Wage tries on an ever-widening scale.’” this material in a single source, so well imperialist war machine Capitalism — What the new globalized Further summarizing Goldstein’s work, analyzed and integrated, sharply ana- high-tech imperialism means for the class Elich says: “With the demise of the Soviet lyzed, backed by extensive research and WWP national conference: struggle in the U.S.” is getting more atten- Union and East European socialism, the written in an engaging style. I know of no “We — of the then-just-born Paris-based tion the deeper the capitalist crisis bites. opening of China to foreign capital and the other book that covers our current eco- group RITA ACT — far from the USA — had Published more than a year ago, the ceding by India of control over its economy nomic predicament so well and in such never heard of the Workers World Party — book describes and analyzes the processes to the dictates of the IMF and World Bank, an interesting manner.” until Private Dick Perrin arrived from the that today are even more rapidly forcing global capitalism has vastly increased the Goldstein’s work has recently won U.S. Army in Germany and told us of the, down the workers’ standard of living and global pool of labor. Technological devel- great praise in another quarter. The Por- yes, the correct word is “heroic” assistance creating political crises around the globe. opments over that same period of time tuguese online daily odiario.info trans- he and the other resister GIs received from A review of the book by author and his- have made the exploitation of this expand- lated and published a document he wrote your members, in the first attempts at or- torian Greg Elich appeared in the October ed labor force feasible.” So that in a his- for the recent National Conference of ganizing inside Fort Sill, Okla. issue of Science and Society magazine. torically short period of time, from 1985 to Workers World Party analyzing the cur- “The WWP was the first, and for a while Elich finds that while the economic cri- 2000, “the number of workers worldwide rent stage of the economic crisis. Miguel the only, U.S. organization able and will- sis has produced “a spate of articles and available to the transnational corporations Urbano, who edited the mass daily O Dia- ing to help these GIs take on the Green books” that attempt to explain it, “few for exploitation more than doubled.” rio for a decade, wrote: “Fred Goldstein’s Machine, most effectively, and eventually have done so from an explicitly Marxist He adds that the last section of the article, which we are publishing today in build the American Servicemen’s Union. perspective. ‘Low-Wage Capitalism’ does book not only reviews labor stratagems Odiario, is an essay of the highest level. We shall never forget!” more than merely fill that gap, it provides of the past but points to ways the struggle The best that I know of about the crisis.” We in WWP will remember Watts’ con- a deeply considered analysis written with can go forward. Urbano was editor of the Portuguese tribution to the GI movement and his in- verve and clarity.” There is much more of interest in the Communist Party’s weekly, Avante in sistence on working cooperatively with all Elich summarizes some of the book’s review. He sums the book up this way: 1974-75, after being earlier exiled to Bra- forces that contributed to that struggle. main points: “The first section of the “The product of years of research, ‘Low- zil during the years of the Salazar dicta- Catalinotto communicated regularly book addresses economic globalization, Wage Capitalism’ addresses far too many torship in Portugal. with Watts by phone, mail, email and a in which ‘transnational corporations are topics to mention in a brief review. Taken For more information about Gold- few face-to-face meetings between 1967 able to pit workers in the rich, developed on their own, any one of the themes cov- stein’s book, see lowwagecapitalism.com. and a final phone call on Nov. 21. imperialist countries in a direct job-for- ered in ‘Low-Wage Capitalism’ may not Copies can be ordered at leftbooks.com. Mndo obrero ¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los países, uníos! Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected] Revolucionario chileno exige asilo político

Por Teresa Gutierrez de las mujeres y de los mineros son ejem- plos de un creciente fervor revolucionario La lucha para exigir el asilo político en Chile. para el revolucionario chileno Víctor Toro “Todas las fuerzas de clase están en continúa. Toro, que es indocumentado, movimiento: estudiantes, mujeres, traba- fue perfilado racialmente en julio de 2007 jadores, campesinos, indígenas, están or- por agentes de inmigración en un tren de ganizándose y movilizándose” dijo Toro. Amtrak en el estado de Nueva York. Su Recientemente 33 mujeres ocuparon juicio estaba pautado para el 6 de diciem- la mina de Chiftón del Diablo para exigir bre en la Corte Federal en la Ciudad de el restablecimiento de un programa de Nueva York. emergencia de trabajos que había sido Luego del juicio, el Movimiento de la lanzado después del terremoto de febrero. Peña del Bronx envió un comunicado Más de 8.000 trabajadores/as quedaron donde decía: “Después de una larga ses- desempleados/as, lo que ocurrió luego de ión y preguntas al doctor que fue testigo la eliminación de otras 9.500 posiciones de Víctor Toro, la jueza dio por termi- temporales. nado el proceso y comunicó que: el abo- Otra lucha que está surgiendo en otra gado Carlos Moreno tendrá 30 días para mina en Chile, la mina de Collahuasi, es Foto:_lA_CoAliCióN_PrimEro_DE_mAyo escribir las razones por las cuales Víctor Victor Toro otro ejemplo de la amenaza que los/as Toro debiera ser favorecido con el asilo trabajadores/as chilenos/as representan político; el fiscal y abogados del gobierno razón del porqué Toro no se está enjuician- Bronx; ella es una veterana activista co- para los intereses capitalistas. también deberán en un plazo de 30 días, do solamente por su estado inmigratorio. munitaria e importante representante de WW/MO le preguntó a Toro acerca del escribir las razones por las cuales Víctor El departamento de justicia decidió la Coalición Primero de Mayo pro dere- MIR en la actualidad. Él dijo que desgra- Toro no debe ser favorecido por el asilo hace meses convertir este caso en uno chos de los trabajadores e inmigrantes. ciadamente el MIR tiene muchas faccio- político; que este juicio llegó a su fin y que contra el movimiento chileno, y por ex- Ella también fue víctima de tortura fas- nes pero que él apoya todos. Toro tiene la la Jueza en el mes de abril del 2011 comu- tensión, contra el movimiento latino- cista durante el régimen de Pinochet. confianza de que el MIR evolucionará y nicará por escrito su decisión final”. americano. El gobierno estadounidense Toro dijo a Workers World/Mundo se convertirá en la organización principal Víctor Toro fue líder y fundador del siniestramente trajo a colación la afili- Obrero el 23 de noviembre que en la au- que ayudará a conducir la clase obrera a la MIR, Movimiento de Izquierda Revolu- ación política de Toro con el MIR, decidi- diencia del 6 de diciembre su abogado victoria final en Chile. cionaria en Chile. El MIR es muy cono- endo someter a juicio tanto al MIR como defensor continuará trayendo a colación Una declaración en el 45to aniversario cido y respetado por los/as revoluciona- a Toro. procesos políticos tales como la Oper- de la fundación del MIR en agosto de este rios/as de todo el mundo pues condujo Toro sin embargo, tomó esto no como ación Cóndor. Esta era una red de agen- año titulada “Con experiencia, con la ju- una extraordinaria lucha revolucionaria un revés sino como una oportunidad para tes de policía secreta aterrorizantes pa- ventud, con fuerza y con unidad,” dice en en Chile, particularmente a principios de exponer al imperialismo estadounidense trocinada por los EEUU que funcionaba parte: “A los trabajadores y al pueblo de los años 70. y su papel en el golpe sangriento de 1973. en el cono sur latinoamericano en los Chile … a los presos políticos Mapuche en Durante ese tiempo, un golpe fascista El gobierno de EEUU sometió docu- años 70 y coordinaba ataques espanto- huelga de hambre … Nuestra historia no orquestado por EEUU masacró millares mentos a la corte donde se nombraba sos contra las fuerzas de izquierda y de la es más que la historia de un pueblo que de chilenos/as. Generales derechistas repetidamente a Toro como líder princi- clase obrera. aún lucha por su liberación. Nuestra or- derrocaron el gobierno pro-socialista pal del MIR difamándolo como un “ex- La audiencia también incluía testimo- ganización al igual que nuestro pueblo, del presidente Salvador Allende. Días tremista peligroso”. Al aseverar que el nios de prominentes académicos tales ha pasado por grandes etapas de lucha y después del derrocamiento de Allende, MIR es una organización terrorista, el como el profesor Peter Winn, profesor resistencia, ha sido golpeada en lo más EEUU instaló un régimen marioneta di- caso de Toro se sale del plano de la ley de historia de la Universidad Tufts, es- alto de su estructura y en lo más amplio rigido por el general Augusto Pinochet. de inmigración para llevarlo a la llamada pecializado en América Latina y en Chile de su organización. Nuestro MIR ha teñi- El 11 de septiembre de 1973, Allende fue “guerra contra el terror”. en particular. Según el abogado de Toro, do de sangre joven y valiente las calles de asesinado. Carlos Moreno, abogado de Toro, ar- el testimonio de Winn es significativo nuestros pueblos en la lucha por la eman- Este tiempo sangriento será recor- gumenta que gran parte del régimen de porque él ha viajado extensamente por cipación de los desposeídos, la construc- dado por siempre no sólo por el pueblo Pinochet todavía permanece en Chile y la Chile y es autor de varios libros sobre ese ción del poder popular y la lucha por el chileno sino también por todos/as los/as deportación podría conducir al asesinato país. Él se esperaba que atestiguara sobre socialismo, lucha que aún no acaba y que antiimperialistas y revolucionarios/as de de su cliente. Él dice que será difícil que cómo las alegaciones de que el MIR es hoy llena nuestros corazones de sueños al todo el mundo. Decenas de miles fueron un juez de inmigración contradiga los una organización terrorista están lejos de igual que ayer”. golpeados/as, torturados/as, mutilados/ cargos de “terrorismo” y conceda a Toro la verdad. Toro y Ayres están en lo correcto en as y asesinados/as durante el régimen de el asilo político. convertir el juicio de Toro en uno sobre el Pinochet. Toro continúa poniendo énfasis en que Chile hoy imperialismo de EEUU. Es otro valiente Fue también una época de lucha heroica su caso no es sobre él individualmente El caso de Toro es tan relevante a los acto de resistencia por revolucionarios cuando los/as trabajadores/as chilenos/ sino que es un caso para documentar el procesos en el Chile de hoy como lo fue en chilenos/as que han hecho frente al brazo as, campesinos/as, mujeres y todos los papel de EEUU en Chile y la presencia de los años 70. represivo del imperialismo y no han ce- sectores de la clase obrera pusieron una 14 millones de inmigrantes indocumen- El movimiento y las condiciones en jado ni retrocedido. resistencia militante y audaz, resistencia tados/as en los EEUU. Chile han ascendido y han llegado a las El movimiento progresista en los EEUU que no ha desaparecido hasta estos días. En la audiencia de Toro en octubre, noticias internacionales este año. El terre- debe continuar exigiendo el asilo político su esposa Nieves Ayres y su hija Rosita, moto en febrero; el caso de los 33 mineros para Víctor Toro y el cese de la agresión Un caso contra el imperialismo atestiguaron. Ayres es también líder, or- de cobre atrapados; la lucha de los/as Ma- imperialista contra el MIR. ¡Viva la lucha La continua resistencia en Chile es la ganizadora y cofundadora de la Peña del puches y las huelgas de hambre actuales en Chile! LIBERTAD PARA LOS CINCO CUBANOS ¿Quiénes son los Cinco Cubanos? Los Cinco Cubanos están cumpliendo largas e injustas sentencias en prisiones de EEUU por defender a su patria – Cuba – de grupos terroristas del exilio Cubano en Miami. Los Cinco Cubanos fueron arrestados en 1998 por monitorear las actividades de esos grupos vio- lentos e informar a Cuba sobre sus planes. Por casi 12 años, estos cinco hom- bres han permanecido en prisiones de EEUU y como un castigo adicional, a dos de ellos se les ha negado el derecho humano básico de recibir visitas de sus esposas. Únase a personas de todas partes del mundo – parlamentarios, Premios Nobel, sindicalistas, activistas comunitarios – que se han pronun- ciado contra el injusto encarcelamiento de los Cinco Cubanos y continúan demandado su libertad. Para más información visite: www.thecuban5.org Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Rene González Sehwerert, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez & Fernando González Llort.