BRZEZINSKI Y AFGANISTÁN 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 59, No. 24 June 15, 2017 $1 Across U.S. Solidarity drowns out anti-Muslim bigots By Minnie Bruce Pratt Anti-Muslim demonstrations were held on June Oscar López Rivera 10 in more than 20 U.S. cities, sponsored by “ACT for America,” an organization characterized by the South- ern Poverty Law Center as a hate group that advances greeted as hero ­anti-Muslim legislation while “flooding the American public with wild hate speech demonizing Muslims.” ­(tinyurl.com/j6nhd45) But at counterprotests from upstate New York and Freed political New York City, to Lansing, Mich., to Oregon and Wash- ington state, opponents far outnumbered the bigots and ­prisoner marches in affirmed support for both their Muslim neighbors and the basic right to religious freedom. Puerto Rican parade ACT for America cloaked its bigotry in a call for “hu- man rights,” defending attacks on Muslims with the in New York City. distorted claim that Islam, which they called “Sharia,” is anti-woman and anti-gay. Sharia is not “Islamic law,” but a Koran-based tradition directing Muslims in how to live an Islamic life. National Public Radio ran interviews with right-wing participants who alleged they were anti-Islam because they were for “women’s rights.” This phony far-right argument was an eerie echo of U.S. imperialist propa- Continued on page 6

Comey’s testimony and the Big Lie: Elections, democracy and the FBI

By Fred Goldstein ald Trump. The best way to unravel what took place last week is to begin with the

June 12 — Marxism can shed light on concept of the antagonisms within the rul- WW PHOTO: RACHEL DUELL the June 8 testimony by ex-FBI Director ing class, the meaning of “democracy” and James Comey to the Senate Intelligence the role of the state. PRIDE MARCHES Committee about his meetings with Don- The so-called “Russia investigation” is 3 Continued on page 5 Detroit, Boston

Support for Bolivarian Venezuela 8 Trump’s powderkeg: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran 9 PHOTO: TELESUR Subscribe to Workers World China-Africa cooperation 11 4 weeks trial $4 1 year subscription $30 Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/articles/donate/supporters_/ Name ______Youth upset British elections 10 Email______Phone ______

Street______City / State / Zip______Workers World 212.627.2994 Editorial: 10 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl, NY, NY 10011 workers.org Stop blockade of Cuba! Page 2 June 15, 2017 workers.org In 1972 WWP leader took on anti-gay oppression The following is part of a document called “From a Tendency to a Party” written in 1972 (45 years ago!) by Sam Marcy, the founder and theoretical leader of Workers World Party. This section was entitled “Gay oppression.” The term “gay people” reflects the language of the movement in those early days, before its evolution into a struggle ex- plicitly against the oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, trans and gender-nonconforming people.  In the U.S. Solidarity drowns out anti-Muslim bigots ...... 1 The oppression of national minorities is not the only reactionary theory concerning the inferiority of wom- Comey’s testimony and the Big Lie: oppression meted out by a divisive ruling class. There is en might still be the prevailing conception. Without the Elections, Democracy and the Big Lie ...... 1 also the extra oppression of women, of youth and of gay momentous liberation struggles launched in the 1960s, In 1972: WWP leader took on anti-gay oppression . . . . .2 people. the racist ideology of Oswald Spengler [German author of The degeneration of monopoly capitalism into state “The Decline of the West”] and his [U.S.] American dis- Detroit: Socialists demand ‘Liberation, not assimilation!’ .3 monopoly capitalism carries to an extreme all the forms ciples would still be taught openly, unabashedly and un- Anti-racist, anti-capitalist: Boston Pride in protest . . . . 3 of oppression which the capitalist system, in the previous ashamedly. Without the struggle launched by gay people, On the picket line ...... 4 epoch, had engendered and developed. the prejudices which have been ground into the conscious- Two scoundrels ...... 4 As the crisis of the social system becomes more and ness of the masses by indoctrination would not even have The cynical abuse of ‘women’s rights’ ...... 6 more apparent, the need of the ruling class to unload its been challenged, let alone shaken to their foundations. UNAC conference aims to build movement ...... 6 burden on the most oppressed sections of the society be- An important influence in the progressive movement, comes more evident. insofar as the gay struggle is concerned, dates back to the Rallies demand U.S. hands off Venezuela ...... 8 Only by dividing, fragmenting and continually pitting victory of the [1917] October Revolution in Russia. The Stop deportation of Mosa Hamadeese! ...... 8 different elements of the oppressed masses against each Soviet government annulled all laws that restricted the  Around the world other can the capitalist establishment maintain its sway rights of homosexuals. It also annulled all the reaction- over all society and hope to survive. ary laws pertaining to divorce as well as the feudal family Struggle in Morocco’s Rif shakes U.S. ally ...... 8 It is, however, the same sharpening of the persecution relations. Saudi attack on Qatar; U.S. threat to Iran ...... 9 and oppression, the same divisiveness and fragmentation For the first time in history, a workers’ government es- Tories trashed in British elections of the specially oppressed in society, that have awakened tablished equality in law, and to a measurable degree also What does it mean for class struggle? ...... 10 them to struggle and brought about a genuinely progres- in fact, between men and women, for heterosexuals and The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation ...... 11 sive militancy and resurgence of Black and Brown peo- homosexuals. Unfortunately, this period of very progres- ple, women, youth and gay people. sive development was short lived, and was succeeded by a  Editorial There is a striking difference in the character of the period of reaction with the rise of Stalin to power. It’s still there: End the blockade! ...... 10 support which has been given by the progressive move- Our Party, which bases itself on Marxism-Leninism,  ment generally to the oppressed nationalities, women looks to the early model of the Soviet Union as the em- Noticias en Español and youth, as contrasted with the limited support to gay bodiment of what our own political position should be in Zbigniew Brzezinski y las mentiras sobre Afganistán . . 12 people. A great deal of this can be explained by the fact relation to the struggle of gay people. that the prejudice may be even more deep seated and Our first, most elementary and fundamental duty on profound than in the other cases. Much of it emanated this question is to completely eliminate and abolish all from the religious bigotry of the Middle Ages, and little forms of persecution and oppression of gay people. We has been done to combat it. On the contrary, it has been must also fight against all ideological, political and social reinforced by the entire course of capitalist development. manifestations of gay oppression that may be reflected in Some explain the limited measure of support and sym- our own ranks. pathy to gay people by saying they constitute a numeri- Ending oppression is really an elementary democrat- cally small segment of the population. This, however, is ic demand that a bourgeois democracy should be able highly disputed by such an authoritative figure as Kinsey to grant, along with all other democratic demands. But [Alfred Kinsey, an author of the Kinsey Reports]. imperialist democracy tends to restrict the elementa- It is particularly significant that the public change in ry rights of all people — not only gays, women, youth, Workers World attitude — such as it is — comes on the heels of a very for- Brown and Black. It is only the struggle that can wrest 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. midable wave of struggle by gay people, a veritable “com- concessions. New York, NY 10011 ing out” in a most demonstrative way. Gay Pride took a In the long run, only the abolition of the capitalist sys- Phone: 212.627.2994 cue from Black Pride. tem can produce a lasting free and equal treatment of all E-mail: [email protected] Without the launching of the women’s struggle, Freud’s peoples. Web: www.workers.org Vol. 59, No. 24 • June 15, 2017 Closing date: June 13, 2017 Join us in the fight Editor: Deirdre Griswold Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, for socialism! Kris Balderas Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Pratt; Web Editor Gary Wilson Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Le- Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with Production & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk; ninist party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even make Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBash are a multinational, multigenerational and multigen- it to college. Black and Brown youth and trans people are dered organization that not only aims to abolish capital- gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular basis. Copyediting and Proofreading: Sue Davis, ism, but to build a socialist society because it’s the only WWP fights for socialism because the working class Bob McCubbin way forward! produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should re- Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of main in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capital- Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, the world and the planet itself in the never-ending quest ist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially Fred Goldstein, Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, for ever-greater profits. Capitalism means war and aus- owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guar- Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, Cheryl LaBash, terity, racism and repression, joblessness and lack of antee basic human needs. Milt Neidenberg, John Parker, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Betsey Piette, Gloria Rubac hope for the future. No social problems can be solved un- Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the der capitalism. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Andrea Bañuelos, Ramiro Fúnez, Teresa Gutierrez, has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP Carlos Vargas education or anything else — unless they can pay for it. branch near you. Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis Copyright © 2017 Workers World. Verbatim copying Contact a Workers World Party branch near you: workers.org/wwp and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. National Office Boston Detroit Los Angeles Rockford, Ill. 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. 284 Amory St. 5920 Second Ave. 5278 W Pico Blvd. [email protected] Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly except the first week of January by WW Publishers, New York, NY 10011 Boston, MA 02130 Detroit, MI 48202 Los Angeles, CA 90019 Salt Lake City 212.627.2994 617.286.6574 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: 313.459.0777 [email protected] 801.750.0248 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 323.306.6240 [email protected] 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institu- Atlanta Buffalo, N.Y. Durham, N.C. Milwaukee tions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and San Diego PO Box 18123 712 Main St #113B 804 Old Fayetteville St. [email protected] edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Atlanta, GA 30316 P.O. Box 33447 Buffalo, NY 14202 Durham, NC 27701 Philadelphia Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 404.627.0185 San Diego, CA 92163 716.883.2534 919.322.9970 P.O. Box 34249 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Philadelphia, PA 19101 on microfilm and/or photocopy from NA Publishing, Baltimore Chicago Houston 610.931.2615 Tucson, Ariz. Inc, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998. A c/o Solidarity Center 312.630.2305 P.O. Box 3454 [email protected] [email protected] searchable archive is ­available on the Web at 2011 N. Charles St. [email protected] Houston, TX 77253-3454 Virginia Baltimore, MD 21218 Pittsburgh www.workers.org. Cleveland 713.503.2633 [email protected] 443.221.3775 [email protected] A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. P.O. 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By Jamie Smedley can’t live on fast food wages!” and “De- Detroit troit, we’re queer, immigrants are wel- come here!” were met enthusiastically by Motor City Pride was held at Hart Pla- people gathered on the sidewalk, who of- za in downtown Detroit on Saturday and ten clapped and joined in the chorus. Sunday, June 10-11. Some of the event’s Pride-goers were very receptive to activities included live performances, an the WWP booth and took interest in our underground dance hall, vendor booths, June 17 forum on “Queer Liberation and food trucks and the Pride parade, which Socialism.” In fact, the majority of peo- started off the day on Sunday. ple who approached the table expressed Workers World Party’s Queer Libera- an interest in socialism. People filled at tion Contingent included activists from least six or seven pages signing up for the WWP, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition, WWP email list. the Michigan Peoples Defense Network Additionally, we sold a variety of and the Detroit Active and Retired Em- LGBTQ literature, such as “The Roots ployees Association. of Lesbian and Gay Oppression” by Bob As we marched in the parade behind McCubbin and various works by Leslie Bank of America workers, our signage Feinberg, the WWP leader who helped As the only Marxist organization pres- WW PHOTO: JAMIE SMEDLEY and chants reflected an anti-capitalist trailblaze the political understanding of ent, Workers World Party brought revo- Motor City Pride parade, June 11. stance. One popular banner read “Queer the origins of transgender oppression lutionary ideas to an event that otherwise Liberation, Not Assimilation! No Rain- and how to fight back. Books like “The would not have had this important politi- bow Capitalism.” Chants like “Queers Communist Manifesto” were also sold. cal commentary. Anti-racist, anti-capitalist: Boston Pride in protest By WW Boston Bureau the historic Stonewall Rebellion of June got the power!” and 1969 in New York City. “Donald Trump, we Mesha Caldwell, 41 years old. Jamie say No! Union bust- Orlando, Fla. Pulse survivors in Boston. Lee Wounded Arrow, 28. JoJo Striker, 23. ‘The riot that made the parade’ ings got to go!” PHOTO: RACHEL DUELL Keke ­Collier, 24. Chyna Gibson, 31. Ciara The Stonewall Rebellion was a fight- Armed with militant determination McElveen, 21. Jaquarrius Holland, 18. back against daily police repression of to return Pride to its roots as a political Alphonza Watson, 38. Chay Reed, 29. drag queens and trans and queer people, force for advancing struggles of the most Mx. Bostick, 59. Sherrell Faulkner, 46. mostly people of color. The Stonewall marginalized, Williams and others led Kenne McFadden, 27. Presente! Rebellion is the single event most widely the crowd in chants calling for an end Bigger-than-life photos of the 12 trans seen as having ushered in a mass struggle to solitary confinement for incarcerated people of color reported murdered so far movement across the U.S. and around the trans people, housing for LGBTQ youth in the U.S. in 2017 were hoisted as their world for “gay liberation.” and an end to both the deportations of names were shouted out to a crowd of Out of that uprising, trans leaders immigrant Black and Brown people and thousands during a coordinated disrup- Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson the murders of trans women of color. tion of the Boston Pride Parade on June 10. (whose pictures were carried along with As the train of protest wound its way “Marsha P. Johnson has a big puppet those murdered in 2017) created living through Boston streets, the marchers en- here honoring her,” legal observer Jas- connections to other historic liberation couraged spectators to consider that the mine Gomez reported over social media movements of the time: the Black Power logo-branded trinkets handed out by the as she filmed the disruption. “She was struggle, the Puerto Rican anti-colonial banks and corporations represented oil the first Black trans woman ever asked movement, the Native peoples’ uprising, money, violations of Native sovereignty WW PHOTO: GERY ARMSBY to lead a Pride parade, and she is taking the women’s movement and the upsurge and prisons for profit — not Pride. Making its final turn onto Government over now and just got in front of [Boston against the Vietnam War. “Put it in the trash!” marchers urged Plaza, the loud, proud contingent boomed Mayor] Marty Walsh!” In the spirit of the example set by Ri- spectators. Cheers erupted when a pa- a hearty, sustained chorus of “The people, The disruption was planned by groups vera and Johnson, Stonewall Warriors’ rade-watcher threw her Bank of America united, will never be defeated!” and “Long that included the Network/La Red, four demands called for official 2017 plastic fan in a garbage can. live the spirit of the Stonewall Rebellion!” Stonewall Warriors, Workers World Par- Pride events to stop sidelining radical ty, National Lawyers Guild and others. and revolutionary Black community par- Activists at the front of the march ticipation; for Pride to officially speak out risked arrest to confront spectators with against the rash of recent trans murders; Come out for Pride! reminders of the staggering rate of vi- for an end to Pride’s lucrative sponsor- olence that trans women of color face. ships from companies that profit off pris- Come out for Workers World! Stonewall Warriors and WWP organizers ons, colonial debt and desecration of Na- also created space, under the umbrella tive land; and for a ban on all police and June is Pride month, with rallies and But after the development of surpluses of a “QTPoC Liberation/Anti-Capitalist Immigration and Customs Enforcement marches all over the world commemorat- and then male supremacy, rigid rules Contingent,” for broad multinational, agents at Pride events. ing the 48th anniversary of the histor- governing gender and sexuality became multigenerational participation in the Hundreds of people of trans, queer, ic Stonewall Rebellion. Workers World the norm. That’s what we’re fighting to Boston Pride Parade. enby, intersex, two-spirit, pansexual, dis- has a proud history of reporting on and end today. The outspoken revolutionary youth abled, ace, bisexual and other identities participating in the living struggle for That analysis drives Workers World’s who joined Stonewall Warriors to help answered that call and turned out ready LGBTQ justice and equality. In the fore- view that the LGBTQ struggle is a vital organize the contingent drafted a call for to take to the streets on June 10. front these days is fighting for trans and component in the overall struggle to end an anti-racist, anti-capitalist protest at gender nonconforming people, like mak- capitalist oppression. So if you want to the 2017 Boston Pride Parade. Their leaf- Pride in protest ing sure youth and adults can use the fight for the liberation of LGBTQ people, let identified four demands designed to Everywhere along the sidewalks as they public bathrooms of their choice and end- it’s time to join the struggle against capi- honor “the riot that made the parade” — assembled, the group encountered an old- ing the increased violent attacks on and talist exploitation and help build Workers er generation of parade-goers who wel- murders of transwomen of color. World newspaper. comed them with the same sentiment: “It’s Workers World made an early and vital We invite you to join the WW Support- about time that Pride was a protest again!” theoretical contribution to the LGBTQ er Program, set up 40 years ago to help Diva T. Williams, one of the group’s key struggle with publication of WW con- us publish anti-racist, anti-sexist, pro- organizers, emceed a spirited and com- tributor and staff member Bob McCub- LGBTQ, working-class truth, and to build bative march that delivered on the prom- bin’s 1976 book, “Roots of Lesbian and the many campaigns needed to crush ise of a genuine alternative to the increas- Gay Oppression: A Marxist View” (World capitalism and usher in socialism. Write ingly corporate annual Pride event. View Forum, third ed., 1993). Drawing checks to Workers World and mail them, Recognizing the union locals of health on Frederick Engels and Dorothy Ballan with your name and address, to 147 W. care workers and teachers marching di- to provide a dialectical materialist expla- 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011. rectly in front of the group, the contin- nation of LGBTQ oppression, McCubbin Or donate online at workers.org/donate/. gent stepped off with union solidarity, shows how early communal societies ac- We are grateful for your help in building chanting “Who’s got the power? Workers cepted all forms of human interrelations. the revolutionary press in the U.S. WW PHOTO: STEVEWW PHOTO: KIRSCHBAUM Page 4 June 15, 2017 workers.org

How two scoundrels got rich

By Stephen Millies seum of Art at his death. The works, including some by Picasso, Cézanne, Monet, Magritte and By Alex Bolchi and Sue Davis I like reading newspaper obituaries. They oc- Degas, were valued at $500 million.” casionally offer some class truth, even if the edi- These paintings represent the wealth stolen tors don’t realize it. from thousands of Joe Fraziers. Immigrant kale pickers win in N.C. Here are two examples from the May 29 New Taking workers to the cleaners When bosses at Teachey Produce in Rose Hill, N.C., started York Times. abusing the immigrant pickers in the kale fields, the mostly Mexi- Hollywood mogul Jerry Perenchio has gone In the same issue of the Times, there was an can workers fought back. In early 2016, the bosses started cruelly to that great, big drive-in in the sky. Among his obituary for Ronald D. Croatti, whose family withholding ice from water the workers need to stay hydrated in the business triumphs was the March 8, 1971, “Fight owns UniFirst, a chain of laundries. According to hot sun. Then they stopped supplying the water. That brought the of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and the Times, “He turned it into the second-largest workers to the point of exhaustion, and sent one worker to the hospi- Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden. supplier and cleaner of uniforms and garments tal with heat stroke. With no insurance, he was stuck with an $8,000 According to the Times, Perenchio “raised the in the United States, with about $1.5 billion in bill, the equivalent of earnings during one picking season. The bosses $5 million purse from Jack Kent Cooke, then the annual revenues.” refused to help. owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. Not really. Just as Jerry Perenchio didn’t climb Then the Teacheys began withholding $25 per barrel from the “It was a rousing business success for Mr. Pe- into the ring to fight Muhammad Ali, Ronald workers’ paychecks. Why? The workers were told they weren’t picking renchio and Mr. Cooke, who split an estimated Croatti didn’t spend his life in a very hot, very the kale properly! That’s when they began attending monthly com- $10 million in profits from the fight’s closed-cir- humid, low-paying commercial laundry. munity meetings of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, a Latinx, cuit telecast — a precursor to the mega-size, pay- An army of laundry workers produced every immigrant-run organization defending farm workers in the South per-view, boxing cards that would come later.” nickel of Croatti’s fortune. since 1967. Not only has FLOC won a union contract with the North Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier got $2.5 mil- A few months ago this writer walked around Carolina Growers Association, it now represents more than 10,000 lion each for pummeling each other. That’s a to- the far northern Bronx, at the end of New York H-2A guest workers in the state. tal of $5 million. But Cooke and Perenchio, who City’s No. 2 train. Stapled on utility poles in this When FLOC approached Teachey with the workers’ grievances, the never got their faces scratched, got $10 million Black neighborhood were job notices for a laun- bosses ignored them. When FLOC hired a lawyer, the workers filed a — or twice as much. dry a few blocks away in Mount Vernon. class-action lawsuit alleging violations of wage and hour protections, Karl Marx would have called that a 200 per- The plant is owned by Unitex, which is a small safety laws and retaliation for speaking out. In mid-May, the workers cent rate of surplus value. The value produced rival of UniFirst. But Unitex still operates nine won $60,000 in payback for their medical expenses, stolen wages, by workers, including boxers, that’s not paid in laundries in the Northeast. retaliation claims and safety issues. (paydayreport.com, May 25) wages by capitalists, is surplus value. A four-day workweek of 10-hour days at $9 That proves, even during the Trump era, when Mexican farm workers Profit, interest and the obscene pay of CEOs per hour was the deal. Forget about the eight- organize, they can beat back the bosses! are all derived from surplus value stolen from hour day. The labor movement needs to demand the multinational working class and poor. The that overtime pay starts after eight hours a day, actual rate of surplus value may have been less in not after forty hours in a week. Support immigrant farm workers’ rights! this case because there were other expenses and According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics The Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2017, introduced in other exploited workers, like the arena’s ushers inflation calculator, a wage of $11.44 per hour Congress in May by California lawmakers, is supported by the United and cleaners. is needed to match the miserable 1968 federal Farm Workers. A study by the University of California, Davis, shows It was still a fantastic pile of unearned loot for minimum wage of $1.60. So every week, wage that about 70 percent of all U.S. farm workers are undocumented. If Perenchio and Cooke. theft of $97.60 is stolen from these workers. they are deported, based on Trump’s directives to Homeland Security Racketeers ripping off boxers is old news. I doubt that workers at any of Croatti’s 240 Uni- and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that would totally dis- That was the theme of Humphrey Bogart’s last First laundries earn more than that. Croatti made rupt agricultural production in the U.S., causing shortages and price movie, “The Harder They Fall.” sure he wasn’t taken to the cleaners. Last year his hikes to the public. The stated goal of the AWPA is to protect farm That doesn’t happen in socialist Cuba, which estimated “pay package” was $17.69 million. workers from deportation, put them on a pathway to legalization and has some of the world’s best boxers, but forbids That’s almost a thousand times what these citizenship, and help ensure a stable, legal agricultural workforce to capitalist prizefights. The late Teófilo Stevenson, laundry workers in Mount Vernon are making. benefit farm workers, employers and the public. (ufw.org, May 25) who won three Olympic gold medals in boxing, Yet there were probably several seekers for While aspects of the bill are deeply flawed, it exposes how integral was an electrical engineer in Cuba, who turned each one of these jobs. At least some people undocumented immigrant workers are to the U.S. economy and life- down $5 million to fight Muhammad Ali in the could walk to work. With NYC subway and bus style. These workers should be respected and protected, not scape- U.S. fares climbing to $2.75 — they were a nickel be- goated. Sign UFW petition supporting bill at tinyurl.com/ybxnvyl8/. Stevenson stated in 1978, “I would rather have fore 1948 — that’s something. the love of eight million Cubans than all the Back in 1845, Karl Marx’s co-worker and Telecom workers secure contracts money in the world.” (remezcla.com) friend Frederick Engels called his first book, The world’s greatest athlete — Muhammad Ali “The Condition of the Working Class in En- from coast to coast — suffered for years from Parkinson’s disease, gland.” These laundry workers in Mount Vernon Members of the Communication Workers won decent contracts probably from being hit in the head thousands of show the condition of the working class in the in the West and the East in early June. Their three-day strike in 36 times. Smokin’ Joe Frazier ended up penniless U.S. today. states in mid-May definitely helped! In CWA’s District 9, DIRECTV in his hometown of Philadelphia, asking people UNITE HERE tried to launch an organizing West workers won their first-ever contract! Those 2,200 workers to buy him breakfast. drive at Cintas, the industry’s leader, but the and 17,000 AT&T West workers won a four-year settlement, now up Meanwhile, the Times reported, “Mr. Per- industry is a tough nut to crack. The Laundry for ratification by members, which includes pay raises and improve- enchio lived in the Bel Air mansion that was Workers Center, which is now leading a heroic ments in job security, retirement benefits, affordable health care and known, from its exterior, as the home of the struggle at New York’s B&H photo store, has also more. Clampett family on the long-running sitcom tried to organize this industry. The CWA District 1 bargaining team also scored a four-year ‘The Beverly Hillbillies.’ There he built an art Despite all difficulties, the upcoming, inevi- agreement with AT&T East covering 200 workers in Connecticut collection, much of which he agreed three years table, working-class upsurge will sweep through Local 1298. The union’s bargaining committee noted that AT&T, like ago to donate to the Los Angeles County Mu- these laundries — if it doesn’t originate in them. all bosses, demanded concessions in health care and benefits at the workers’ expense. (cwa-union.org, June 8) We say not only should good health care and benefits be the norm for unionized workers, but MARXISM, REPARATIONS they should be the right of every worker! & the Black Freedom Struggle An anthology of writings from Workers World newspaper. NYC retail workers win demands Edited by Monica Moorehead. While retail workers are facing layoffs all across the country Racism, National Oppression & Self-Determination Larry Holmes (Workers World, April 25), 2,000 members of Local 3 of the Depart- Black Labor from Chattel Slavery to Wage Slavery Sam Marcy ment Store Union (RWDSU-UFCW), who sell high-priced merchan- Black Youth: Repression & Resistance LeiLani Dowell dise at Bloomingdale’s flagship store in New York City, won a land- mark contract on May 1. It was immediately ratified by 88 percent of The Struggle for Socialism Is Key Monica Moorehead the voting membership. Domestic Workers United Demand Passage of a Bill of Rights The four-year contract recognized that most sales workers paid Imani Henry solely based on in-store sales commissions have been struggling Black & Brown Unity: A Pillar of Struggle for Human Rights financially since 2012 (wages cut by 20 percent to 30 percent) when & Global Justice! Saladin Muhammad they were required to do nonsales online tasks with no extra pay. Harriet Tubman, Woman Warrior Mumia Abu-Jamal Now workers will no longer be required to handle order fulfillments Racism & Poverty in the Delta Larry Hales GRAPHIC: SAHU BARRON SAHU GRAPHIC: or other nonsales duties or to leave their departments when there is a Haiti Needs Reparations, Not Sanctions Pat Chin potential sales opportunity. The workers also won general wage hikes Alabama’s Black Belt: Legacy of Slavery, Sharecropping & Segregation Consuela Lee and bonus payments, increased company funding for medical and sick day benefits, and protections for immigrant and worker safety Are Conditions Ripe Again Today? Anniversary of the 1965 Watts Rebellion John Parker and security. (rwdsu.org, May 1) Available at online booksellers. workers.org June 15, 2017 Page 5

Comey’s testimony and the Big Lie Elections, democracy and the FBI

Continued from page 1 pressed are allowed once every few years a diversion from the fundamental issues Assuming that the FBI is ‘nonpolitical’ to decide which particular representa- that concern the mass of the people. They tives of the oppressing class shall repre- care about jobs, wages, health care, social with respect to the capitalist political sent and repress them in parliament!” security and so on. This Russia debate is This of course does not mean that the a way to sideline all these vital issues. parties, all its neutrality goes out the working class should not use capitalist The Comey testimony, and all the pub- elections as a platform to promote their licity surrounding it, can best be under- window when it comes to the masses. own interests, as long as they see elec- stood in terms of the antagonisms within toral intervention as a stepping stone to the ruling class. The majority of the boss- overthrowing capitalism. es and bankers were opposed to Trump Democracy is a political form; it has a — until he won the election. openly contradicted him. radicals of any sort. (See May 18 Work- class content. The Greeks, who initiated Big business quickly shifted gears. Trump and the Republicans have pre- ers World, “The FBI is a racist sewer,” at the term “democracy,” held democrat- They backed this racist, sexist real estate pared a health care bill that would strike workers.org.) ic assemblies of Greek citizens to debate mogul who is an authoritarian bigot. The at broad sections of the masses, leaving The FBI was behind the Palmer Raids policy. But the Greek citizens who partici- ruling class was anxiously awaiting his 23 million now covered without health- and deportation of thousands of radicals pated in these assemblies were slave hold- tax cuts for the rich, his deregulation of care coverage as it guts Medicaid and during the 1920s. It was key to the 1927 ers. Ancient Greece was a slave society. industry and banking, and other give- threatens nursing homes, drug clinics execution of anarchist workers Sacco and In the same way, capitalist democra- aways to the millionaires and billionaires. and rural hospitals, among other vital Vanzetti, despite worldwide protests. The cy is a society dominated by exploiters, But soon his policies began to unfold. medical institutions. This comes at a FBI hounded and harassed communists a society of bankers and corporate mil- time when health care is the single most and anyone suspected of any connections lionaires and billionaires who live as par- Muslim travel ban hurt U.S. business important issue among the population, with the Communist Party during the asites off the labor of the masses. These His Muslim travel ban provoked na- including Trump supporters. Cold War. FBI persecution resulted in the bankers and bosses dominate the capi- tional and international protest. In ad- In short, the Comey testimony must be imprisonment of the top leaders of the talist political parties. They call the shots dition, it has made tens of thousands of seen in light of growing concern in large CP and the execution of Julius and Ethel behind the scenes. people from the Middle East, Asia, Africa sections of the capitalist political estab- Rosenberg. and Latin America decide not to come to lishment, as well as the military and sec- The FBI infiltrated progressive trade Lenin on capitalist democracy the U.S. Tourism has declined, and ap- tions of big business, that Trump is doing unions, the teachers’ unions, Hollywood, V.I. Lenin, leader of the Russian Rev- plications for U.S. colleges and univer- damage to U.S. imperialist interests at all progressive cultural organizations, olution, in 1918 wrote a polemic against sities have dropped, with many foreign home and around the world. the television industry, and in general Karl Kautsky, a leader of the German students going to Canada. Corporations blanketed the country with a layer of fear Social Democratic Party, entitled “The are having trouble getting talent from Time to strike at the roots of capitalism and intimidation in an attempt to wipe Proletarian Revolution and the Rene- overseas. The differences within the ruling class out all progressive thought and activity gade Kautsky.” Kautsky had denounced In short, Trump’s travel ban hurt U.S. over Trump are important. Trump, with during the 1950s and early 1960s. the Bolshevik Revolution, making the big business. the backing of his Republican flunkies, is With the rise of the Civil Rights Move- axis of his polemic the failure of the Bol- Trump then struck a blow at the dangerous. But the Democratic Party lead- ment and the Black Liberation Struggle, sheviks to establish “pure democracy.” long-standing NATO alliance, between ers, including both the Clinton wing and FBI head J. Edgar Hoover turned his Lenin gave the Marxist position on de- U.S. imperialism and European imperial- the Sanders wing, are fighting to revive attention to defaming and hounding Dr. mocracy: ism, by going to Brussels and calling the the Democratic Party as a capitalist party Martin Luther King Jr., whom Hoover “Bourgeois democracy, although a European countries deadbeats who don’t that defends exploitation, a party that is regarded as the “most dangerous” Black great historical advance in comparison pay their “fair share” of military spending. supported by big business. Nevertheless, leader in the U.S. with medievalism, always remains, and Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate they want to regain office by promising to The FBI initiated COINTELPRO, the under capitalism is bound to remain, re- Accords, defying Europe, China and the ease the hardships of the masses. murderous operation designed to break stricted, truncated, false and hypocriti- entire world. By doing so, he tried to put Marxists are for easing the hardships up the Black Panther Party. The FBI’s cal, a paradise for the rich and a snare an end to these completely insufficient of the masses, but in a substantial way, tactics included the outright murder of and deception for the exploited, for the and nonbinding accords. This removed first and foremost by struggle, by push- Fred Hampton and other Panther lead- poor. It is this truth, which forms a most the cover under which U.S. big busi- ing the bosses and their political machine ers. The FBI sent fake letters to differ- essential part of Marx’s teaching. …” ness had expected to bask in the light of back. The way forward is in the streets, ent parts of the organization designed to “Take the fundamental laws of mod- seeming “environmentally correct” while the factories, the offices, on the campus- create splits and antagonisms. It spied ern states, take their administration, being free to continue getting rich off es and in the fields to threaten the prof- on the anti-war movement, the revolu- take freedom of assembly, freedom of the oil and natural gas. Trump also put the its and hence power of the rich. Marxists tionary youth movement and the Native press, or ‘equality of all citizens before U.S. ruling class at a disadvantage in the need to take advantage of the current movement, particularly the American the law,’ and you will see at every turn growing global race for markets in re- contradictions among the bosses, when Indian Movement, and was behind the evidence of the hypocrisy of bourgeois newable technology, such as solar panels the establishment is becoming more and frame-up of Indigenous leader Leonard democracy with which every honest and and wind power. more discredited, to strike at the roots of Peltier. class-conscious worker is familiar. There capitalism and ultimately dispossess the There should be little doubt that FBI is not a single state, however democrat- Trump lashed out at Seoul rich of their property. spying includes the Occupy Wall Street ic, which has no loopholes or reserva- during Korean crisis movement, the Black Lives Matter move- tions in its constitution guaranteeing the Along the way, in the midst of a mil- FBI not neutral when it ment and the immigrant rights move- bourgeoisie the possibility of dispatching itary-political crisis caused by U.S. ag- comes to the people ment. That is their stock in trade. They troops against the workers, of proclaim- gression against the Democratic People’s The state, according to Marxism, is an are a vital part of the enforcement arm of ing martial law, and so forth, in case of a Republic of Korea, Trump told the south instrument of compulsion, of force, cre- the capitalist state. ‘violation of public order,’ and actually in Korean government, Washington’s major ated by the ruling class to keep the op- Together with the cops, the courts, the case the exploited class ‘violates’ its po- ally in the struggle against the DPRK, pressed classes down. Comey was head of prison-industrial complex, Immigration sition of slavery and tries to behave in a that Seoul would have to pay a billion the FBI, which is an essential part of that and Customs Enforcement and its parent non-slavish manner.” dollars for the Pentagon’s THAAD an- oppressive state apparatus. Department of Homeland Security, and Just as in the days of Lenin and ti-missile system, which Washington had The premise of the hearings on Com- other institutions, the FBI is a key part Kautsky, “democracy” in the abstract is earlier agreed to pay for. ey’s conversations with Trump is that of the instruments of compulsion that a deception. It must have a class charac- Trump’s latest policy disaster, from the FBI director is supposed to be non- work for the ruling class at all times, in terization. In the U.S. it is the democracy the imperialist point of view, has been to political and neutral, to carry out investi- every venue where the masses organize of monopoly capitalists. In Cuba, on the attack Qatar during its struggle against gations and let the facts lead where they resistance to capitalist oppression and other hand, it is workers’ democracy. Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Trump had may. Furthermore, the FBI director is not exploitation. So when the mouthpieces of Goldman gone to Riyadh to cement a Gulf State, supposed to be partisan to any political They are anything but the “essence of Sachs, Citibank, ExxonMobil, GE, GM, anti-Iranian alliance, headed by Saudi party, Republicans or Democrats. honesty and integrity,” as Comey is being Aetna, Johnson & Johnson, etc., start Arabia. The Saudis and Egypt broke with Comey was praised by the media as a widely described. moaning about interference in “our Qatar, mainly because of its support for man of honor who would not lie and who For months now, and especially during democracy,” the “our” stands for their the Muslim Brotherhood during the Arab had remained neutral. He attacked Hil- the Comey testimony, senator after sen- corporate paymasters. That is whose de- Spring. lary Clinton just as much as he attacked ator talked about the Russians allegedly mocracy it is, the democracy of the rich, Once part of the Gulf State alliance, Trump. “interfering with our democracy” or “in- who pull the political strings and get Qatar is home to a large U.S. military Assuming that the FBI really is terfering with our elections.” their legislation passed, while the mass- base in the Middle East, with 11,000 “non-political” with respect to the capi- es are supposed to stand on the sidelines U.S. troops. The Pentagon flies numer- talist political parties, all the neutrality ‘Our democracy’ equals and let these corporate masters run the ous missions from Qatar to carry out ag- goes out the window when it comes to democracy of big business show. gression in the region. Rex Tillerson, the the masses. The FBI has a long and in- Lenin, in “State and Revolution,” quot- It is high time to get off the sidelines secretary of state from ExxonMobil, was glorious history of racism, persecution ed Karl Marx, who really gave the last and confront the billionaires in the class trying to calm the dispute when Trump of communists, liberation fighters and word on capitalist elections: “The op- struggle. Page 6 June 15, 2017 workers.org

This article, originally published in 2007 in Workers World’s “Lavender & Red series, exposes an Islamophobic argument hidden under the cloak of “human rights” and “women’s rights” as propaganda used by imperialists to justify military aggression. Solidarity drowns out anti-Muslim bigots across U.S. The same false argument was recently deployed by neo-Nazi, white supremacist organizers of June 10 anti-Muslim rallies in the U.S. See Feinberg’s entire historic series Continued from page 1 on the deep interconnections between socialism and LGBTQ liberation at workers.org/ lavender-red/. ganda justifying the 2001 invasion of Af- ghanistan on the grounds of “defending women” against the Taliban, when the CIA U.S. and Afghanistan: had been funding the rise of the Taliban and other reactionary forces. A New York Times article dated March 7, 2011, by Laurie Goodstein, described ACT The cynical abuse of ‘women’s rights’ for America as drawing on three “religious and partisan streams in American politics: evangelical Christian conservatives, hard- By Leslie Feinberg groups, many of them members of line defenders of Israel (both Jews and militias loyal to local landowners. Christians) and Tea Party Republicans.” The U.S. did not unleash war Democrats and Republicans Ultra-right militias and other organi- on Afghanistan in 2001 to “lib- had approved at least $8 bil- zations, at times coordinating with local erate” women. But pro-war spin lion for this counterrevolution- police, were vocally and visibly present doctors ­— embedded with the ary effort that hired, armed and at the anti-Muslim rallies, emphasizing corporate media — went into trained the Taliban, Osama bin their extreme-right character. Racist, overdrive to create that impres- Laden and other forces. neo-Nazi, anti-woman and anti-LGBTQ sion after 9/11. Public relations CIA historian John Ranelagh groups represented at the ACT for Amer- campaigns “sold” as liberation a recalls that then President Jim- ica rallies included Blue Lives Matter, high-tech imperialist war against my Carter OK’d “more secret op- Identity Europa, the Oath Keepers, the an impoverished country with no erations than Reagan later did.” Three Percent Security Force, Storm- air force. Carter later admitted in his mem- front/Shieldwall Network and several

This was designed to obscure PHOTO: MARILYN HUMPHRIES oirs that his administration actu- state branches of the Light Foot Militia, the fact that imperialism had Leslie Feinberg in Boston 2005. ally considered the use of tactical a re-arming of 1980s’ right-wing militias. no right to violate Afghanistan’s nuclear weapons against the pro- Reports of the neofascist rallies and an- self-determination and sovereignty. Afghan women and girls. gressive developments in Afghanistan. ti-racist counterprotests were published The New York Times offered a more Women were organized in the Demo- June 10 on the Southern Poverty Law candid geopolitical view as early as Jan. 18, cratic Women’s Organization of Afghani- U.S. set women’s rights back centuries Center website. (tinyurl.com/ybsenfoc) 1996, in an article entitled “The New Great stan. The national group had been found- By 1992 the Soviet Union was over- Below are highlights of some of the many Game in Asia” — referring to the 19th- cen- ed in 1965 by Dr. Anahita Ratebzada. Her turned and the progressive government protests against Islamophobia that day. tury struggle among capitalist powers to companion Babrak Karmal, who founded in Afghanistan was defeated by imperial- In Syracuse, N.Y., almost 150 oppo- control the Eurasian landmass and the the People’s Democratic Party of Afghan- ism. After four years of internecine strug- nents far outnumbered the 30-person warm-water ports of the Persian Gulf. istan the same year, later became the gle among different Afghan factions, the ACT for America crowd and drowned The Times explained, “While few have country’s president. Taliban came to power. the bigots out with shouts of “No Trump, noticed, Central Asia has again emerged One of the first actions of the revolution Michael Meacher, a senior Labor Par- no KKK, no fascist USA!” and “Muslims as a murky battleground among big pow- was to end “bride-price” and allow women ty member of Parliament who had been are welcome here.” The crowd, including ers engaged in an old and rough geopo- to make marriage choices. Punishment of a member of British Prime Minister Tony members of the New York Antifa Alliance, litical game. Western experts believe that women who had sex outside of marriage Blair’s cabinet, observed in a Sept. 6, an anti-fascist group, also thundered, the largely untapped oil and natural gas was prohibited. Women could choose 2003, article in the Guardian of London: “Shame, shame, shame!” riches of the Caspian Sea countries could to wear or not to wear the veil, travel in “Until July 2001 the U.S. government saw As the racists in ACT for America were make that region the Persian Gulf of the public, get an education and work at a job. the Taliban regime as a source of stability next century. The object of the revived Women of all classes — not just the well- in Central Asia that would enable the con- game is to befriend leaders of the former to-do — were trained as doctors, teachers struction of hydrocarbon pipelines from Syracuse, N.Y. Soviet republics controlling the oil, while and lawyers. the oil and gas fields in Turkmenistan, Uz- neutralizing Russian suspicions and de- Brigades of women and other young bekistan, Kazakhstan, through Afghan- vising secure alternative pipeline routes Afghans brought medical care to rural istan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean. to world markets.” peasants. “But confronted with the Taliban’s re- After overturning the bloc of workers’ The revolution impacted the life of fusal to accept U.S. conditions, the U.S. states in the Soviet Union and Eastern one-third of the rural population — land- representatives told them ‘either you ac- Europe, U.S. finance capital schemed to less peasants, sharecroppers and tenants cept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we secure ownership of trillions of dollars held in virtual bondage to landlords and bury you under a carpet of bombs.’” worth of buried oil and gas treasure in moneylenders. Washington took advantage of the at- the Caspian Sea region, which had for Before the revolution, 5 percent of the tacks on Sept. 11, 2001, to launch an inva- decades been collectively owned by the landlords claimed ownership of more sion of Afghanistan. workers and peoples of the region. than 45 percent of the country’s arable U.S. occupiers appointed former Uno- Transnational energy giants like Un- land. “When the PDPA took power,” the cal advisors to be both the titular presi- ocal and Enron saw Afghanistan as the Pentagon report noted, “it quickly moved dent of Afghanistan and the U.S. ambas- best path to pipe oil and gas from Central to remove both landownership inequal- sador to the country. Asia to the world market. ities and usury.” One of the revolution- The continuing imperialist blitzkrieg The Bush neo-cons, Pentagon brass ary land reforms was the cancellation of has destroyed the infrastructure — in- and the military-industrial complex mortgage debt for agricultural laborers, cluding potable water, sewage and elec- worked overtime to frame this as a cam- tenants and small landowners. tricity — worsening hunger and disease. paign for women’s rights. On the eve of the revolution, 96.3 per- Soviet-built public urban housing com- Laura Bush delivered the presidential cent of the women of Afghanistan were plexes and schools lie in ruins. radio address on Nov. 16, 2001 — a month illiterate; rural illiteracy for all the sexes These conditions create suffering for all after the Pentagon assault began. Her was 90.5 percent. The progressive gov- sexes, genders and sexualities in Afghan- speech focused on women’s rights in Af- ernment created massive literacy pro- istan, particularly for women. In 2004, ghanistan: “The fight against terrorism is grams and printed textbooks in Dari, some provinces reported 593 maternal By John Steffin also a fight for the rights and dignity of Pashtu, Uzbek, Turkic and Baluchi. deaths for every 100,000 live births. New York women.” It was a total lie. The 1986 Pentagon report stated, “The Pentagon Special Forces commandos government trained many more teachers, can kick in the door of a home at any hour As the United States bombs Syria and Afghan Revolution advanced built additional schools and kindergar- of the day or night, body search Afghan funds organizing for a right-wing coup women’s rights tens, and instituted nurseries for orphans.” women and their loved ones, and drag in Venezuela, the racist police and white An article in Workers World on Oct. 10, The Washington Post admitted that Af- them all off in hoods to torture chambers. supremacist forces are consolidating 1996, by Deirdre Griswold showed how ghan women were the strongest support- That’s imperialist-style “liberation.” power and mobilizing violence against a progressive revolution in Afghanistan ers of the 1978 revolution. Research by Minnie Bruce Pratt contrib- Black and Brown people in this country. in 1978 had taken measures to liberate But this revolution was crushed by a uted to the original article. How can anti-war and other progressive women and challenge centuries of land- well-funded, well-armed counterrevo- The late Leslie Feinberg was a man- forces fight this intensifying war at home lordism. In response, the U.S. pulled to- lution in which U.S. imperialism made aging editor of Workers World news- and link it to wars abroad? That question gether an army of pro-feudal elements common cause with feudal patriarchs. paper and the first theorist to advance will be discussed on the weekend of June to crush that revolutionary government, Women were then bought and sold as a Marxist concept of “trans liberation” 16-18 in Richmond, Va., when members forcing it to call on the USSR for support. property once again. in the groundbreaking “Transgender of over 100 organizations from across the The WW article quoted from a 1986 National Security Adviser Zbigniew Warriors: Making History” (Beacon U.S. gather to discuss, debate and build Department of Defense publication titled Brzezinski and former CIA Director Robert Press, 1996). Feinberg also authored the solidarity at the annual United National “Afghanistan — a Country Study.” Even M. Gates later publicly bragged that, begin- now-classic novel, “Stone Butch Blues” Antiwar Coalition conference. this Pentagon book had to admit that the ning in early 1979, the CIA had funneled (1993), available as free digital down- This will be the first year the conference 1978 revolution brought many gains to money and arms to counterrevolutionary load at www.lesliefeinberg.net is held in the South. Attending will be the workers.org June 15, 2017 Page 7 Solidarity drowns out anti-Muslim bigots across U.S.

trying to pull people into Buffalo, N.Y. New York City hate marches against Mus- lims in many cities, the Buf- falo AntiRacism Coalition in New York state called activists together at a busy shopping area to say “NO! to racism, Islamophobia, xeno- phobia, hate and fear — the many weapons used to di- vide us, while the 1% exploits us all!” Several new activists joined the demonstration. Participating groups includ- WW PHOTO: ELLIE DORRITIE ed Workers World Party and the Interna- left forces provided water to those at the tional Action Center. counterprotest. Meanwhile, a leader of the WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN right-wing Oath Keepers militia, Frank right Nazis and armed Michigan Militia bing of two men by a neo-Nazi white su- ‘Muslims welcome, racists out!’ Morganthaler, suffered a heart attack in types, to fairly common, confused and premacist. The slain men had defended In New York City, Islamophobic forc- the 90-degree heat. racist middle-aged white folks. The last two teenage women, one wearing a hijab, es, rallying at Foley Square in Manhattan At the rally’s conclusion, the progres- appeared more driven by ignorance and from threats by the fascist who threat- on June 10, were met by a massive coun- sive forces marched to City Hall Park. Fas- fear of the unknown than the racist ha- ened the young women and spewed racist terprotest, easily three times the size of cists attempted to attack the dispersing tred driving the first two. However, one slurs at them. their rally. The anti-fascist action was protesters, but were quickly run out of the individual’s sign used a slogan popular on Federal officials denied Wheeler’s re- attended by a wide range of left forces, park. Police used the skirmishes as a pre- online fascist forums, which was vicious- quest to stop the neo-Nazi rallies because including the People’s Power Assembly, text to arrest two more leftist protesters. ly anti-Jewish as well as anti-Muslim and they asserted the right-wingers’ permits Workers World Party, the Metropolitan As anti-racist protesters banged pots racist. were “lawfully obtained.” Anarchist Coordinating Council, NYC and blew air horns, organizer Tony Mur- The Michigan People’s Defense Net- Nevertheless, the June 4 white suprem- Shut It Down, Hoods 4 Justice, Refuse phy of the People’s Power Assembly em- work, along with other anti-fascist groups acist rally was held in Portland, but was Fascism, the Internationalist Group, the phasized: “The theme of today is drown- and individuals, organized a counter- resisted 15 to 1 by a stalwart mobilization International Socialist Organization, the ing out racism. The more racists get a demonstration of about 140 people. They of progressive community and anti-fas- Spartacist League, the Revolutionary platform, the more people get attacked.” entirely overwhelmed the few attending cist groups. (See June 8 Workers World.) Abolitionist Movement and others. New York City sent a strong message that the racist rally. Meanwhile, on June 10 in Portland, In their role as agents of the state, the right-wing, Islamophobic hate groups As the anti-fascists militantly ap- the victory against bigotry was celebrated police dutifully protected the fascists don’t belong there: “Muslims welcome, proached the reactionaries, chanting in a March Against White Supremacy. On and attacked the assembled left forces, racists out!” loudly, there was little-to-no police pres- Facebook, organizers wrote: “This is a huge arresting two people under an archaic ence, which is an oddity for situations like victory for us. These neo-Nazis and nation- People’s power ruled the day New York state law prohibiting people that. Riding bicycles, a few police officers alists are starting to realize that Portland with covered faces from congregating in While the ultra-rightists called a racist finally arrived after the two crowds were won’t accept their racist terrorism and public. Courageous and coordinated re- demonstration on June 10 in Lansing, at arm’s length from each other. The cops bigotry and especially not while the whole sistance against the police prevented the Mich., the state capital, they were only erected a minor barrier of police tape be- country is in mourning. We will show up arrest of additional protesters. able to muster about 30 demonstrators. tween them. to stand in solidarity with the women who In broiling weather, WWP and other These reactionaries ranged from out- Before that, however, perhaps due to the were victimized and to honor the men that greater numbers of one side over stood up against terrorism and bigotry.” Lansing, Mich. the other, coupled with the disuni- As for the neo-Nazis moving their hate Syracuse, N.Y. ty of the far-right rally, anti-fascists to Seattle in search of a welcome, they were able to cross the line with little were outnumbered by hundreds of coun- threat of violence directed at them. terprotesters who marched there on June The united power of the people in 10. They confronted the few dozen bigots the face of racism and hatred, igno- who claimed Islam is “incompatible with rance and white supremacy, ruled Western freedoms.” the day. Holding a sign proclaiming, “Seattle On the West Coast, the June stands with our Muslim neighbors,” dem- 10 anti-Muslim demonstration in onstrators chanted, “No hate, no fear, ­Portland, Ore., was moved to Se- Muslims are welcome here!” on their way attle by the ultra-right organizers. to City Hall. Police used tear gas on pro- This came after Portland Mayor testers and made several arrests. (Guard- Ted Wheeler asked the federal ian, June 10) government to revoke permits for Contributing to this report were Ellie PHOTO: MARK RUPERT two “alt-right,” pro-Trump rallies Dorritie, Tom Michalak, Tony Murphy,

PHOTO: COLETTE WEDDING following the May 27 fatal stab- Lyn Neeley and Nathaniel Peters.

UNAC conference aims to build movement TO FIGHT WARS AT HOME AND ABROAD

largest number of African-American mil- which countries are imperialist, and how The second workshop is called “Skills ists can defend themselves and the mul- itants in UNAC’s history. It is especially anti-imperialists can shape the anti-war and strategies for being in the streets: tinational working class against state re- important that UNAC, one of the largest movement and take their politics to the Tactics and organizing defense and secu- pression and paramilitary violence, while progressive coalitions in the U.S., gathers streets. Also discussed will be the eco- rity against Trump forces.” This discus- mounting an effective fightback against its forces in the South this year. This is not nomic forces behind the big business me- sion will look at the changing conditions racism, xenophobia, sexism, anti-LGBTQ only because the South is a hotbed of rac- dia and why critical coverage of U.S. wars for organizing protests under Trump’s bigotry and war. ist violence — historically and today — but is increasingly disappearing. administration. It will take up how activ- Onward to Richmond! also because anti-racist forces in the South have been waging successful campaigns against bigotry and white supremacy in WAR Without Victory NEW the enemy’s stronghold. Workers World by Sara Flounders Party delegates look forward to greeting ‘By revealing the underbelly of the empire, TURN THE GUNS them and celebrating their victories. Flounders sheds insight on how to stand Workers World Party is organizing up to the imperialist war machine and, in AROUND two workshops to contribute to the dis- so doing, save ourselves and humanity.’ Mutinies, Soldier Revolts and Revolutions cussion. The first is titled “Even Bernie – Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, wants to bomb Syria: Challenges to an- President, U.N. General Assembly, 2008-2009; by John Catalinotto ti-imperialist and anti-war organizing Foreign Minister of Nicaragua’s Sandinista government. today.” It will examine the theoretical basis of what imperialism actually is, PentagonAchillesHeel.com Books available at online booksellers Page 8 June 15, 2017 workers.org Rallies demand U.S. hands off Venezuela

By Kris Balderas Hamel rived and began harassing the demonstra­ tors. They were prepared to attack, armed Emergency events in solidarity with with large wooden poles and small Vene- Bolivarian Venezuela and against U.S. zuelan flags taped on the side. At one point interference and intervention took place the reactionary group surrounded a wom- in a number of cities around the United an comrade in the street, creating a push- States in early June. Called by the Inter- ing-and-shoving confrontation. The police national Action Center, demonstrations intervened and then contained the two were organized to show support for and demonstrations to either side of the street. solidarity with the besieged Venezuelan The counterrevolutionaries angrily government and the revolutionary pro- chanted, “USA, we need your help!” cess that U.S. imperialism is trying to That made it very clear they wanted the sabotage and destroy. Here are reports Philadelphia U.S. to stage a so-called “humanitarian intervention.” Such intervention by the from several of these actions. WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE A small but determined crowd picket- U.S. and NATO in Syria, Libya and other ed on June 2 at the Ron Dellums Federal Cruz County & Sonoma County Peace countries across the globe has soon led to Building in Oakland, Calif., to demand and Freedom Party; Task Force on the bombs dropped on the people, along with “U.S. hands off Venezuela!” Activists held Americas; United National Anti-war Co- Chicago financial and other destabilization. alition; and Workers World Party. After about an hour, WWP activists be- signs in defense of the Bolivarian Revolu- WW PHOTO: ANDY KATZ A small but visible “U.S. Hands off gan marching toward City Hall, handing tion and against threats by the U.S. and the Workers World Party’s Durham, N.C., Venezuela” demonstration was held in out leaflets along the way. The counter- Organization of American States to force branch hosted a film screening of “The Portland, Ore., on June 5. The IAC pro- demonstrators scrambled to follow, their regime change in the South American Revolution Will Not Be Televised” in sol- test received honks, cheers and thumbs- favorite chant still on their lips. At City country. The picketers faced jeering chants idarity with the Bolivarian Revolution in up from four lanes of after-work com- Hall the chanting of both sides echoed to- from a small but vocal group of right-wing Venezuela on June 4 at the Durham Soli- muter traffic. gether until street musicians began to play Venezuelans. The forces supporting Boli- darity Center. Despite a steady rain on June 6, a small behind chants of “Up with Maduro! Down varian leader and Venezuelan President The day before in New York City, a large crowd of determined supporters of the with Trump!” That silenced the right-wing Nicolás Maduro chanted “Not U.S. land, audience, including a delegation of Ven- Bolivarian Revolution converged on CNN Venezuelans and providing a beautifully not U.S. oil, hands off Venezuelan soil!” ezuelans, attended a viewing of the same Headquarters in Atlanta. They exposed melodious exit for our comrades. and “USA makes endless war, Venezuela movie sponsored by the IAC and WWP. A the role of U.S. corporations, government In Detroit on June 7, rush-hour motor- feeds the poor!” among other slogans. protest in solidarity with the Venezuelan agencies and the big-business-owned me- ists and passersby in downtown’s Cam- The Bay Area demonstration was initi- Revolution was held in Times Square on dia in promoting regime change in Vene- pus Martius area were met by a solidarity ated by the International Action Center; June 6. the International Committee for Peace, zuela. Initiated by the IAC and supported demonstration called by WWP and the Justice and Dignity; and the Haiti Action by the Georgia Peace and Justice Coali- ‘Up with Maduro! Down with Trump!’ Michigan Emergency Committee Against Committee. Endorsing organizations in- tion, the message of the signs and banner Organizers in the Philadelphia branch War & Injustice. cluded the Answer Coalition; Arab Re- brought numerous approving honks and of WWP joined cities across the country Chicago activists from Workers World source and Organizing Center; Bay Area waves from drivers in the busy downtown to support the Venezuelan people and Party, Chicago ALBA Solidarity, March CISPES; Bay Area Latin America Soli- intersection. The protest followed the their government on June 9. U.S. main- 19th Anti-War Coalition and Partido So- darity Coalition; International League of broadcast of “What Every Worker Should stream media outlets have falsely paint- cialista Ecuatoriano demonstrated on People’s Struggle-U.S.; Marcha Patriotica Know about the Venezuelan Revolution” ed the Venezuelan struggle as a people’s June 11 in solidarity with Venezuela, de- de Colombia/California Chapter; Social- on The Labor Forum program on WRFG revolution against an oppressive govern- manding an end to U.S. interference. ist Action; San Francisco County, Santa 89.3 FM a day earlier. ment. It is just the opposite. Other actions were planned or held WWP members held their midtown in Boston; Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y.; demonstration at the corner of 6th and Huntington, W. Va.; Houston; Salt Lake Market Street in solidarity with the Vene- City; and Los Angeles. Stop deportation zuelan people and to counter the misinfor- Philip Gregory, Terri Kay, Dianne mation of the corporate-owned media. A Mathiowetz and Lyn Neeley contributed of Mosa Hamadeese! group of right-wing Venezuelans soon ar- to this article. Struggle in Morocco’s Rif shakes U.S. ally

By G. Dunkel trary, brutal disdain of the state authori- ties for the people of Morocco, which can Ever since Mouhcine Fikri, a 31-year- be seen in the death inflicted on Mouh- old fish seller, was killed by police — cine Fikri. Hirak became very active in br­ utally crushed to death in a garbage May, with large nightly demonstrations truck last October — people in the Rif that flew the flag of the Rif Republic and area of northeast Morocco have been drew men, women and whole families out protesting. Fikri was killed in Al-Hocei- into the streets. ma, a coastal city where many jobs rely The Rif Republic was an attempt by on the fishing industry. Abdelkrim Al-Khattabi and the forces The protests flow from deep feelings he led to establish an independent, in- of injustice. Even though the Moroccan ternationally recognized state in the Rif PHOTO: WW DURHAM BUREAU state has recognized that the Rif area from 1921 to 1927. The uprising directly By Workers World Durham, N.C., Bureau el, and could likely be arrested or even needs hospitals, universities and jobs, es- confronted the Spanish colonialists, who killed. He has not committed any crimes pecially after a devastating earthquake in at that time controlled northern Moroc- Mosa Hamadeesa is a stateless worker, inside the U.S. This case represents the 2004, it has not followed through on its co. This was one of the first anti-colonial originally from Palestine’s West Bank. He Trump regime’s further escalation of an- promises for restoration. struggles in Africa in the 20th century. was arrested by Immigration and Customs ti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, racist attacks The majority living in the Rif are Ama- Enforcement on June 1 while at his home and increasing deportation orders. zigh people, often pejoratively called Ber- Protests followed by repression in Raleigh, N.C. He has resided there for Hamadeesa’s family, friends and al- bers. The area was historically the center Two weeks of protests began after If- 10 years without incident. Now Hamadee- lies held a press conference and rally on of struggle against France and Spain, the tar, the breaking of the Ramadan fast, sa is being held in federal detention. June 7 in front of the Wake County Jus- former colonial occupiers of Morocco, as and kept growing larger and more mil- Currently, Hamadeesa has an asylum tice Center in downtown Raleigh. There, well as against Hassan II and Moham- itant. Then, on May 29, the Moroccan case pending. This father of four children they demanded that ICE release him. The med VI, Morocco’s feudal rulers who took state arrested Nasser Zefzafi, the leader is the sole income earner for his family. rally was organized by Muslims for Social over after direct colonialism ended. The of Hirak, and about 70 of his associates, His 9-year-old daughter, Nadine, has a Justice. Also participating were mem- Amazighen, the name the people use for taking Zefzafi and some others to Casa- rare form of cancer and is being treated bers of the Triangle People’s Assembly, their nationality, make up about 40 per- blanca, Morocco’s largest city. at Duke University Hospital. Hamadeesa the Movement to End Racism and Islam- cent of the Moroccan people. The attack on its leadership didn’t is an auto mechanic and serves the com- ophobia, the Southeast Immigrant Rights But it is not just concrete, practical de- stop the movement. It grew and its tone munity through his hard work. Network, the Muslim America Public Af- mands that moved thousands of people to became sharper as thousands of people ICE has filled out paperwork and plans fairs Committee, the Muslim American join Hirak, the group that has been lead- gathered every night in the city of Al-Ho- to deport Hamadeesa back to Israel, Society-Raleigh, Workers World Party ing the protests in Hoceima province and ceima and surrounding communities. where he has no authority to live or trav- and other organizations. the Rif. It is also “la hogra” — the arbi- Continued on the next page workers.org June 15, 2017 Page 9 Saudi attack on Qatar; U.S. threat to Iran

By Sara Flounders tens of thousands of U.S. troops, have wreaked havoc. Two weeks after the grand pomp of Saudi Arabia has assisted these U.S. President Trump’s visit, Saudi Arabia wars by funding, arming and training announced the complete blockade of fanatical religious groups since the small neighboring state Qatar on June 1980s war in Afghanistan. 5. The blockade is an act of war. Qatar is also guilty of funding groups Emboldened by Trump’s visit, Sau- and sending troops to aid in the de- di Arabia quickly gathered eight other struction of Libya and continually countries to participate in the block- funding forces in the war against Syria. ade. The action includes cutting all food At the time of the Saudi decision, Qatar shipment and all land, sea and air travel; was aiding Saudi Arabia’s war against severing all diplomatic relations; freez- a popular people’s movement in Yemen, nel; and ending “interference” in the af- form. They are predators, always on the ing Qatari bank accounts; and expelling the poorest country in the Gulf region. fairs of foreign countries. search for hostile takeovers and mergers. all Qatari citizens, within 48 hours, Both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and These add up to an attempt to put a Seizures of assets are the order of the day. from nine countries in the region. the State of Qatar are repressive absolute brake on Iran’s growing political and Glut and overproduction as well as loss of These are devastating acts, as the monarchies. Almost all the vast oil and economic influence in the region. This is profit are their greatest fears. War is al- Doha International Airport in Qatar is gas wealth in each country is owned by what is motivating both the U.S. and Sau- ways on the table. a transit point for 37 million people a one family or extended clan, the House di Arabia to attack Qatar. year. Qatar imports almost all its food of Saud and the Al Thani family in Qatar. Since the massive upheaval of the 1979 Dislocation across region, in NATO and basic supplies, with 600 to 800 Unions and political parties are banned Iranian revolution broke with financial The Trump-Saudi scheme to force trucks a day rolling into Qatar from in both countries. domination of U.S. banks and oil cor- Qatar to capitulate to their demands or Saudi Arabia. Almost 90 percent of the 2.5 million porations, Iran’s very existence, despite face an internal coup may not succeed so population in Qatar and over one-third decades of sanctions, remains a threat easily. It is instead fracturing alliances Source of terror: U.S. wars of the Saudi population of 31 million are to the corrupt Gulf monarchies where all in a highly unstable and volatile region, Hardly any political commentator migrant workers barred from citizen- power and privilege is inherited. where no U.S. war has succeeded as yet from left to right, or any media from ma- ship. They have no rights to education, When suicide bombers attacked the and U.S. domination is already waning. jor corporate to alternative, believes Sau- health care and all social services. Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Kho- So far the Saudi action has not only di Arabia’s official reason for the block- These conditions are true for each of meini’s mausoleum in Tehran on June 7, split the six-nation Gulf Coordinating ade of Qatar. the six oil-rich Sunni Arab monarchies when at least 13 people died, Iran’s Rev- Council. Given German and Turkish op- The pretext is that Saudi Arabia is car- of the Persian Gulf bound together in the olutionary Guards blamed Saudi Arabia. position to the Saudi move, it also seems rying out President Trump’s demand to Gulf Coordinating Council. The terror attack was also tied to Trump’s to have split NATO, the U.S.-dominated end the funding of terrorists in the re- Is the Saudi-Qatar conflict just a fall- Saudi visit. military alliance. gion. Trump has projected the notion of a ing out among thieves and reactionary While threats against Iran seem to be From the GCC, Saudi Arabia has grand Arab-NATO military alliance sup- forces? Or is there a wider significance? the primary motivation behind the joint pulled in Bahrain and the United Arab posedly to fight the Islamic State group U.S.-Saudi attack on Qatar, there are oth- Emirates behind its anti-Qatar moves. and Iran. Trump immediately took cred- Ordered to cut ties with Iran er immediate financial motivations for Other countries dependent on Saudi Ara- it, in a tweet, for the Saudi action against Besides announcing the blockade of this move. bia dutifully signed on to the blockade, Qatar. Qatar on June 5, Saudi Arabia issued a including Mauritius, Mauritania, the Of course, U.S. imperialism’s wars in list of 10 demands that Qatar must im- Gas, oil and currency competition Maldives, the Saudi-backed government the region are the greatest act of terror mediately meet. These included cutting Qatar has become, in 25 years, the of Yemen and Libya’s eastern-based gov- there. Millions of people have been dislo- off all links with Iran; expelling resident world’s largest exporter of liquefied natu- ernment. But Kuwait and Oman have re- cated as refugees. Whole countries lie in members of the Palestinian militant ral gas. The country now has 30 LNG ter- sisted ­participation. ruins due to U.S. bombs. Sectarian mi- group Hamas and the Muslim Brother- minals, with six more under construction. Of NATO members, Germany’s For- litias and mercenary armies, along with hood; closing the Al-Jazeera news chan- Qatar has diplomatic relations with eign Minister Sigmar Gabriel blasted Iran, not because the Qatari monarchy the Trump-Saudi policy as “completely is forward thinking, but because Qatar wrong, and it is certainly not Germa- shares with Iran the gas field that has ny’s policy.” He warned it could “lead to made the Al Thani family fabulously war.” (Reuters, June 7) The Turkish Par- wealthy. The South Pars/North Dome liament has approved a plan to deploy Field is offshore from Qatar and Iran in troops to Qatar and to provide immedi- the Persian Gulf, so the two countries ate food and water. share exploration rights. Iran immediately sent aircraft and It is impossible for Qatar to cut off all ships with hundreds of tons of food to relations with Iran and survive. The Sau- Qatar. Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey dis understand this all too well. opened their airspace to Qatari flights Qatar has attempted with its new now blocked from flying over Saudi Ara- wealth to chart a more independent for- bia and Egypt. eign policy. It is often a go-between and The U.S. is well situated militari- negotiator in the region. It is a host to ly to enforce demands on Qatar, as the Arab forces connected to Hamas in Pal- country hosts the biggest concentration estine and to the Muslim Brotherhood in of U.S. military personnel in the Mid- Egypt. dle East at the Al Udeid Air Base. With Qatar is also the first country in the 11,000 U.S. troops stationed there, the region to open a clearinghouse that al- base is the center of U.S. command and lows gas and oil to be traded in yuan, the control of air power over Iraq, Syria, Af- Chinese currency. This financial hub im- ghanistan and 17 other countries. mediately undercuts the position of the But contradictions in this situation Nawal Ben Elissa speaking at rally in Rabat, Morocco. dollar and puts banks in Doha, the capi- were on full display in two June 9 press tal of Qatar, ahead of other Gulf financial briefings in Washington. Secretary Continued from page 8 eral thousand people gathered for the centers. of State Rex Tillerson, former CEO of fifth consecutive night in the Sidi Abed Meanwhile, the Saudis are desperately ExxonMobil, knows better than Trump (Le Monde, June 6) neighborhood in Al Hoceima. ‘I call on concerned with chronically low oil pric- what’s at stake in the long term. He urged Nawal Ben Alissa, a 36-year-old moth- all Moroccans: The Rif bleeds! The State es. They are spending billions in a losing de-escalation and negotiation. Ninety er of four and spouse of a taxi driver, took oppresses us. All the rights of the Ri- war in neighboring Yemen, a war that minutes later, Trump took the opposite over the spokesperson role for Hirak. fians are violated.’ After applause, she seeps back into Saudi Arabia. view, again applauding Saudi Arabia. She had been drawn to the organization continued: ‘But we will not stop the fight The second largest exporter of LNG President Trump’s visit to the King- by her work with cancer victims who against this injustice. They can arrest as gas is the U.S., so U.S. companies would dom of Saudi Arabia two weeks before couldn’t pay for basic screenings, which many activists, young people and women benefit from a blockade of Qatar. the blockade resulted in a $110 billion costs about $10. as they want. We will not give up.’” So the immediate economic beneficia- sale of weapons to ramp up military Wearing a T-shirt with an image of June 11 saw a solidarity march of ries of a shutdown in Qatar are U.S. and threats against Iran, although this mon- Abdelkrim Al-Khattabi, she spoke at a 12,000 to 15,000 people in Rabat, Moroc- Saudi Arabian oil and financial interests. strous weapons sale is facing fierce con- rally in Al-Hoceima. Le Monde on June co’s capital, in support of the Rif struggle Trump, the big corporations and the gressional opposition. 8 described her speech: “With her hair and demanding freedom for its arrested absolute monarchs of the oil-rich Gulf It is when old alliances fracture — and undone, holding the microphone, she leaders. The parents of Nasser Zefzafi led States are products of capitalism in its glut and overproduction prevail — that vehemently addressed the crowd of sev- the march. (telquel.ma) most vicious, competitive, cutthroat the danger of war moves to red alert. Page 10 June 15, 2017 workers.org It’s still there End the blockade!

Last fall, as they have done every year schedule for what must be nonvacation May 20, the date chosen because that was New Orleans because of Hurricane Ka- since 1992, the member countries in the activities in Cuba. the infamous day in 1901 when the U.S. trina, nearly 2,000 Cuban medical pro- U.N. General Assembly voted for a reso- The capitalist ruling establishment imposed the Platt Amendment on Cuba. fessionals were mobilized, ready to help lution calling on the U.S. government to of the U.S. has had to acknowledge that After winning their hard-fought war for them. But they were denied U.S. clear- end its economic, financial and commer- its many decades of economic warfare independence from Spain, the Cubans ance. Cubans then fought cholera in Haiti cial blockade of Cuba. The vote was 191 against Cuba failed to destroy the rev- were forced by the Platt Amendment to and were on the front lines against Ebola. to 0. The U.S. and its sidekick Israel for olution. The “opening” to Cuba by the accept continued U.S. military occupa- For that, they were just awarded the 2017 the first time abstained, instead of voting Obama administration was seen as a new tion of the naval base at Guantanamo Public Health award by the World Health against the resolution. approach with the same goal — this time Bay. The White House made no Cuba Organization. Did this mean Washington was ready to undermine the solidarity of the Cuban announcement on May 20, but the word It is long past time to end the blockade to lift the cruel blockade? No. people with capitalist consumerism that now is that it will announce new restric- and regime-change programs funded Last year the Obama administration could undo its socialist construction. tions on trade and travel to Cuba soon. with U.S. tax dollars. It is long past time finally relaxed U.S. restrictions on travel Despite the establishment of diplomat- But that’s not the end of the story. Peo- to end the illegal occupation of Guanta- to Cuba, leading to a 118 percent rise in ic relations, the blockade would go on. ple in the U.S. are pushing back. City namo by the U.S. Naval Station Guan- U.S. visitors to the island this year, com- The U.S. Treasury Department an- council resolutions against the blockade tanamo Bay and its despicable torture pared to the number in 2016. nounced on June 8 that the Honda Fi- are piling up. Sacramento has joined the prison. Does this mean we are now free to nance Corp., headquartered in Califor- California cities of Richmond, Berkeley In Cuba this year on May Day, the travel to Cuba? No. nia, had agreed to remit $87,255 to settle and Oakland plus Brookline, Mass. and largest foreign contingent came from the Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida, re- some 13 apparent violations of the Cuban Hartford, Conn. Similar resolutions in U.S. People are already signing up for the mains the only destination on the planet Assets Control Regulation. What was this San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, “Paths of Che” brigade, which will visit to which travel is restricted by U.S. law. about? Between 2011 and 2014, Honda Calif., Pittsburgh, Detroit, Newark and Cuba Oct. 1-15 to commemorate the 50th A law enacted by Congress in 2000 made Finance’s wholly owned Canadian sub- Helena, Mont., are in the works. anniversary of the legendary guerrilla it a crime for U.S. citizens to vacation in sidiary had “approved and financed 13 The administration has to deal with fighter’s assassination. Cuba. It still stands. lease agreements … in connection with the fact that airlines and other business- In July the two oldest and most con- Since August 2016, regularly scheduled the [Canadian] Cuban Embassy’s leasing es with commercial stakes in Cuba don’t sistent Cuba solidarity organizations will direct flights from many U.S. airports to of several Honda vehicles.” want the total blockade renewed. be traveling there without self-licensing. various Cuban destinations have created Yes, the blockade is in full force and ef- While this autocratic government slan- The Venceremos Brigade will go from the illusion of normal relations. The trav- fect, right down to barring minor trans- ders Cuba with ridiculous charges of vi- July 21 to Aug. 4, and the Interreligious el restrictions don’t seem too onerous: a actions in third countries, like the Cuban olating “human rights,” it can’t hide the Foundation for Community Organiza- check-off box, a signature or even just a Embassy in Canada leasing vehicles from fact that people in Cuba are healthier tion/Pastors for Peace will travel from question from the ticket agent handing a subsidiary of a California company. than those in the U.S. because they have July 11 to 27. over the boarding pass. But travelers who What about Trump’s Cuba policy? Can universal health care. They will exercise their absolute right read the fine print see they’re required it get much worse? Cuban medical professionals are world to travel and associate with the people of to collect and keep records of their full It was supposed to be rolled out on renowned. When people were dying in the world, including those in Cuba. Tories trashed in British elections What does it mean for class struggle?

By Taren Fivek ed that she has no intention to resign as PHOTO: REVOLUTION NEWS prime minister, and that she will serve Students celebrate Faced with the double barrels of out her five-year term. The Tories are May 2017 Labour Party belt-tightening brought by Britain’s ex- expected to form a coalition govern- demand to abolish iting the European Union and the Con- ment with the hyper-racist, sexist and university tuition fees servative Party’s attack on social pro- anti-LGBTQ Democratic Unionist Party, by fall 2018. grams, the voters in Britain decided to based in the British-occupied counties in upset the political landscape. They cost the north of Ireland. the Conservatives their majority in Par- On June 9, hundreds of people arrived wing joined U.S. aggression against Yu- the ruling class can and will be brought liament, increased Labour’s position and at Downing Street to protest May’s insis- goslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan. to bear to ensure that a bourgeois democ- strengthened Momentum, a pro-socialist tence to stay and the possibility of mak- Even the leftist Jeremy Corbyn, in the racy does not — somehow — magically formation within the Labour Party com- ing an alliance with a party that mobi- same speech that said British aggression transform into a working-class democra- prised mainly of young people, as led by lized to support South African apartheid. was to blame for the attack in Manches- cy or reflect the will of the working class Jeremy Corbyn. They held signs that said: “Defy Tory ter in May, also blamed police cutbacks over the bourgeoise. Turnout was the highest it had been in Rule,” “Stand Up to Racism” and “Corbyn and looked to the imperialist state appa- A famous miniseries that aired across 25 years, resulting in 13 seats lost for the In, Tories Out.” ratus to solve the problem. He said that Britain in 1988 was called “A Very British Conservatives (Tories) and a stunning 30 Indeed, the most critical result of this under a Labour government, there would Coup.” In it, a character based on 1980’s additional seats won by Labour. In terms most recent election is that the elector- be thousands more police added to the left-wing politician Tony Benn becomes of voter share, it was a gain for Labour ate, and especially the youth, seems to streets. This is the same state apparatus prime minister after Labour achieves a not seen since 1945. The Tories still have be becoming more politically active in — police and military — that keeps the landslide victory. The government sets out the most seats of any party in Parliament, defense of working-class programs. La- British bankers and capitalists in power. to do exactly what it said it would in terms but will need to form a coalition govern- bour’s message promoting free education This approach is the opposite of a real of social programs, as well as attempting ment. The opposition to Tory racism, war and continued free health care, national- working-class solution. It ignores the to evict the United States and NATO. and austerity has grown stronger, as was ization of industries, greater control on fact that Black, Brown, migrant and poor As a result, the U.S. government reflected on June 8. the job, universal housing and an end to people are the ones who suffer from po- schemes with the British capitalist and In an arrogant and ill-fated move, austerity resonated deeply with the pop- lice brutality. landed elite to overthrow the government Prime Minister Theresa May had decid- ulation. What resulted was a gain for La- Historically, reformism based on so- via manipulating labor leaders into reac- ed this spring to call snap elections to bour not seen since the 1990s. cial democracy was able to secure more tionary work stoppages, currency specu- build towards a majority in Britain’s par- The Momentum organization stated rights for the working class and op- lation and shortages, all of which culmi- liamentary government. Had the Tories that Corbyn’s Labour Party would mean pressed. This happened in a time of capi- nate in a military coup. succeeded, this would have cleared the “decent homes for all in both the public talist expansion post World War II. In the It was a story that reflected a reality. path for the mass seizure of public bene- and private sector” and “a society free last 30-40 years most of those victories Britain’s parliamentary system exists as fits via brutal austerity measures domes- from all types of discrimination,” as well have been whittled away. By failing to ad- part of a world imperialist system. Brit- tically, while the military would be free to as nationalizing critical sectors and a dress the underlying demon in society — ain is a member of NATO. The media pursue its arms deals and wars overseas. class-based redistribution of wealth. capitalism and imperialism — reform at mogul who enjoys the largest share of To say that the June 8 elections “back- best is simply beating back the inevitable. private media — Rupert Murdoch — is a fired” on May would be a grave under- Reform vs. open class struggle A Labour government now, even with U.S. citizen. Its banking interests are in- statement. As Corbyn himself said to However, social democracy has its a leftist prime minister, would face the ternational in scope. Bloomberg News, “The arguments the limitations built in, as the history of the entirety of the global imperialist class, Besides the imperialist EU, its second Conservative party put forward in this Labour Party has proved. This party which is dead set against the social dem- biggest trading partner is the United election have lost.” (bloomberg.com, supported all the imperialist claims of ocratic program that Labour presented to States. The working class and oppressed June 9) Britain to its former colonial empire fol- the population. As other social democra- living in the United Kingdom will not Despite this, Theresa May has stat- lowing World War II, and its Tony Blair cies have discovered, the entire weight of Continued on page 11 workers.org June 15, 2017 Page 11

Mutual interests and solidarity The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation

This slightly edited paper by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News of trade and nation building were locat- completed the first phase of action and Wire, was prepared for and presented in part at a panel during the Left Forum ed in the Indian Ocean basin, extending ordinary Africans will be feeling the dif- during the weekend of June 2-4 at John Jay College of the City University of New west and north in Africa, and across the ference made by the partnerships.” York. The session, sponsored by Workers World newspaper, included presentations areas now considered the Middle East to Minister Mahamat drew the link from by Taryn Fivek, of the International Action Center; Andrew Mayton, of the Balti- the Asia-Pacific regions. FOCAC’s Johannesburg summit, the co- more Antifascist Community Defense; and John Steffin, of the New York Branch of China was also subjected to attempts ordinators’ meeting and the ambitious Workers World Party. at colonial domination and enslavement. Africa 2063 plan adopted at the Jubilee Both Britain and Japan sought to utilize gathering of the AU in 2013. This event A series of con- outlets for its products.The African conti- China for their own benefit. Characteris- commemorated the 50th anniversary of ferences involv- nent must find states and other entities to tic of imperialism, wars of conquest were the founding of the OAU. Although the ing African Union provide investments for infrastructural, waged against China in the 19th and 20th events of May 24-25, 1963, constituted member-states technological, scientific, health care, edu- centuries. a compromise in the political context of and the People’s cational and services development. China and Africa fought national liber- postcolonial interstate African relations, Republic of Chi- Today China is the second-largest ation struggles against imperialism. Be- the OAU at least provided a rudimentary na has highlight- economy in the world. Since the revolu- ginning in the years after the conclusion framework for enhanced cooperation. ed the dynamic, tion of 1949, the country has been trans- of World War II, the potential for socialist The establishment of the OAU Liber- Abayomi Azikiwe evolving political formed from a semi-colonial, underdevel- transformation through national libera- ation Committee provided a mechanism and economic character of relations be- oped state to a power to be reckoned with tion movements emerged. These phenom- for channeling aid from African states tween the two geopolitical regions. by the imperialist powers of the United ena were manifested in Vietnam after the and other collegial governments into Known as the Forum on China-Africa States, European Union and Japan. August Revolution of 1945 led by Ho Chi national liberation movement organi- Cooperation (FOCAC), the organization Africa has far more land mass than Minh and the Communist Party. In Ko- zations for the procurement of political was formed in 2000 in Beijing. Over the China and fewer people. Nonetheless, the rea, the Communist Party led by Kim Il training and the establishment of armed last 17 years the volume of trade and in- continent is rich in mineral and natural Sung spearheaded tremendous victories revolutionary structures, which effec- vestment taking place has accelerated. resources, which, if properly harnessed in the anti-Japanese liberation war, in al- tively fought the existing colonial and Both the PRC and AU member-states and utilized for development purposes, liance with the Communist Party of Chi- settler-colonial regimes. have forged stronger links since the begin- could place AU member-states as a lead- na headed by Mao Tse-tung as well as the ning of the 21st century due to the needs ing force in economic growth and conse- Soviet Union under Joseph V. Stalin. Historical background of both areas. China requires energy re- quently world politics. The historic development of slavery and future prospects sources, agricultural commodities and The recently constructed AU head- and colonialism in Africa had fragmented In the 1960s, China under Chairman quarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was the continent. Although China, Korea and Mao and Premier Chou En-lai expressed built by Chinese architects and workers. Vietnam were divided, the emergence of maximum solidarity with the African This is a state-of-the-art facility that po- strong communist-led movements was Revolution. A 1963 gathering of African sitions Africa for achieving unprecedent- essential in fostering their social trajec- freedom movement representatives in ed heights in the present period. tories. African liberation movements in China served as the backdrop for issuing British elections Chinese government investment and some areas of the continent also produced the PRC’s first comprehensive declara- assistance to AU member-states is based socialist-oriented independence fronts tions of support for the African-Amer- Continued from page 10 upon respect and refrains from interfer- and states. However, the magnitude of ican struggle against racism, national find liberation simply by voting Labour. ence in the internal affairs of all govern- the African land mass divided by impe- oppression and repression. Karl Marx himself could be elected ments. This represents a sharp departure rialism posed monumental challenges in Mao’s statement, which was published U.S. president or British prime minister, from the legacy of Western domination constructing socialism. Consequently, AU in the Peking Review on Aug. 12, 1963, but it wouldn’t change the fundamental through the periods of the Atlantic Slave member-states can learn from the history read in part: “The speedy development oppressive nature of society, because Trade to colonialism and neocolonialism. of China over the last century. of the struggle of American Negroes [Af- the state as it stands serves the rich and rican Americans] is a manifestation of Struggle against slavery and colonialism powerful at the expense of the world’s op- FOCAC meeting in South Africa in 2015 sharpening class struggle and sharpen- pressed majority. Only a revolution that Slavery and colonialism sought to di- A second full summit of FOCAC was ing national struggle within the United starts in the workplaces and streets, not vide African people for the sole purpose of held in Johannesburg, Republic of South States; it has been causing increasing in the halls of power, will achieve actually exploitation and national oppression. The Africa, on Dec. 8-9, 2015. At this import- anxiety among U.S. ruling circles. The existing socialism. false notions of benevolent intent aimed ant gathering, commitments were made Kennedy administration is using dual It is only by organizing the working at bringing Christianity, European values to initiate joint projects in 10 sectors of tactics. On the one hand, it continues to class and oppressed independently of the and trade have long been debunked as a economic activity. PRC President Xi Jin- connive and take part in discrimination Labour party that real, lasting socialism result of the research of progressive Afri- ping announced $60 billion (U.S.) in fi- against Negroes and their persecution can be built. can historians and social scientists. nancial projects on the African continent. and even send troops to suppress them. At the beginning of the contact be- The disbursements of these funds in- “On the other hand, in the attempt A positive development tween Western Europe and Africa in the clude $5 billion of direct, interest-free to numb the fighting will of the Negro The June 8 election, however, signaled a 15th century, there was no significant gap loans. Another $35 billion is allocated for people and deceive the masses of the positive development within the workers’ in development. In fact, prior to the 15th what are described as preferential loans country, the Kennedy administration is political consciousness. It opens a space for century, the center of the world economic and export credit on favorable terms. An parading as an advocate of ‘the defense the working-class movement to organize, system was not in Europe. The key areas additional $5 billion in capital is slated to of human rights’ and ‘the protection of to learn how to operate, to gather itself to- replenish the China-Africa development the civil rights of Negroes,’ calling upon gether and reach out to more workers. fund. Some $5 billion more in initial cap- the Negro people to exercise ‘restraint’ Real power comes from the streets. It ital will go for special loans to a number of and proposing the civil rights legislation is doubtful that Labour would have seen small and medium-sized enterprises each. to Congress. The fascist atrocities of the these gains without the militant student Finally, $10 billion was allocated to en- U.S. imperialists against the Negro peo- protest movement in 2011, after the Brit- hance the China-Africa production capac- ple have exposed the true nature of so- ish government decided to triple the cost ity cooperation fund. (AU.int, Aug. 2, 2016) called American democracy and freedom of tuition across the university system. To ensure the implementation of these and revealed the inner link between the As a result, a great majority of Britain’s projects, a coordinators’ meeting was reactionary policies pursued by the U.S. youth turned against the Tory govern- Afganistán held July 28-29, 2016, in Beijing. The government at home and its policies of ment and got politically active. The meeting was co-chaired by South Africa aggression abroad.” movement for housing rights and against Continúa de página 12 and the PRC. Mao then makes a significant appeal to police murders of Black and Brown peo- The AU Commission was represented the international community, writing, “I ple has also pushed the mainstream po- afectado no sólo al pueblo afgano, sino by H.E. Fatima Haram Acyl, who is the call on the workers, peasants, revolution- litical discourse to the left. también a las personas que simplemente commissioner of Trade and Industry. ary intellectuals, enlightened persons of Something like a million people un- caminan por las calles de las ciudades oc- Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki all colors in the world, whether white, der 25 years old registered to vote, and cidentales, que son obligadas a pagar por Mahamat represented the AU, since the black, yellow, or brown, to unite to op- the percentage of youth actually voting los crímenes de la clase dominante. Esta Central African state was the chair of the pose the racial discrimination practiced grew from about 43 percent to close to 70 guerra ha afectado a los jóvenes soldados regional body at the time. Over 300 min- by U.S. imperialism and support the percent. The great majority of their votes que no se les dice nada sobre la historia isterial and senior-level officials partici- American Negroes in their struggle. In went to Labour. de Afganistán y que, si sobreviven al de- pated in the deliberations in Beijing. the final analysis, national struggle is a As the limitations of Labour’s leverage spliegue en esa zona de guerra, tendrán South African Minister of Internation- matter of class struggle.” within the electoral system become more que luchar por atención médica en EUA. al Cooperation Maite Nkoana Masha- No such statement was ever made by and more apparent in the coming weeks, Esta guerra no está en los titulares, bane stated: “In a matter of months since imperialism, both inside and outside the the best result will be further mass orga- incluso cuando se sienten sus repercu- the summit in Johannesburg we are busy U.S. Therefore, the Chinese Revolution nization outside the Labour Party elec- siones. Continuará para siempre – a with implementation, unlike past part- has made a profound contribution to the toral structure for struggle in the offices, menos de que la gente la detenga. ¡EUA, nerships whose implementation would quest for liberation and social justice for factories, schools and the streets. Fuera de Afganistán! take a long time. By 2018 we shall have the African people on a global scale. Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected]

¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 59 Núm. 24 15 de junio 2017 $1 Zbigniew Brzezinski, mirando hacia Afganistán.

Zbigniew Brzezinski y las mentiras sobre Afganistán Por Deirdre Griswold La reciente película titulada “War Ma- opinión esta ayuda iba a provocar una de Afganistán se formó en 1965. Su pro- cipales prioridades de Washington es la chine” (Máquina de guerra), producida intervención militar soviética”. grama era anti feudal e incluyó la refor- defensa de los derechos de las mujeres. por Brad Pitt y lanzada por Netflix, se Preguntado por el entrevistador si ma agraria, cancelando las deudas de los Pero en 1978, cuando Brzezinski y el centra alrededor de un general ególatra ahora se arrepentía de algo, Brzezinski campesinos, reconociendo los derechos régimen de Carter lanzaron la guerra que comandaba las fuerzas estadoun- respondió: “¿arrepentirme de qué? Esa democráticos de la mujer, incluyendo el contra la revolución afgana, sabían que idenses en Afganistán. Su mensaje se re- operación secreta fue una idea excelente. fin de la dote y el establecimiento de edu- era un régimen progresista que intenta- duce a esta verdad: si invades al país de Tuvo el efecto de atraer a los rusos a la cación y salud abierta para todas las mu- ba sacar a este muy subdesarrollado país, alguien, ese alguien te va a disparar y a trampa afgana y quieres que me arrepi- jeres y los hombres. de la opresión feudal. Eso no les impidió decirte que te vayas. enta? “(Le Nouvel Observateur, 15-21 de En la década de 1970, el gobierno afga- armar y financiar una contrarrevolución. Toda una generación ha crecido desde enero de 1998) no de Mohammad Daoud se movía hacia Al cabo de unos años, los contras arma- que la CIA estadounidense comenzó a en- El director de la CIA Robert M. Gates la derecha en su política interna y hacia dos, entrenados y financiados por la CIA trenar y armar a una fuerza de oposición ya había revelado el momento de la op- la OTAN en su política exterior. El vasto estaban asesinando a maestros jóvenes encubierta en Afganistán en 1979. Las eración encubierta de la CIA en su libro y montañoso campo estaba bajo el férreo idealistas, mujeres y hombres, que habían primeras fuerzas armadas regulares es- “From the Shadows” (Desde las sombras), control de terratenientes feudales. Sin ido al campo a alfabetizar al pueblo. tadounidenses fueron enviadas allá en el publicado por Simon & Schuster en 1996. embargo, en Kabul y algunas otras ciu- Uno de estos contras era Osama bin 2001. Desde entonces, cientos de miles Gates escribió: “La administración Carter dades, el PDPA había desarrollado mucho Laden. Bajo la excusa de que defendía de soldados estadounidenses han sido comenzó a estudiar la posibilidad de una apoyo entre las/os estudiantes, especial- la “libertad de religión”, EUA socavó el enviados a Afganistán, presuntamente ayuda encubierta a los insurgentes que mente las mujeres jóvenes, así como entre gobierno secular del PDPA creando un para “ayudar” a una sucesión de gobier- se oponían al gobierno marxista pro-so- funcionarios y soldados mal pagados. ejército que se opuso a las reformas pro- nos afganos que fueron instalados por los viético del presidente Taraki a principios El 26 de abril de 1978, mientras el ul- gresistas del PDPA en nombre de la lucha ocupantes. de 1979. El 5 de marzo de 1979, la CIA tra imperialista y multimillonario Nelson por un estado islámico. Esta guerra comenzó bajo Jimmy Car- envió varias opciones de acción encubi- Rockefeller se dirigía a Kabul para visitar Al mismo tiempo, sin embargo, el impe- ter, un demócrata, y ha continuado a lo erta relacionadas con Afganistán, al SCC a Daoud, el gobierno lanzó una agresión rialismo estadounidense estaba tratando largo de los términos de Ronald Reagan, [Comité de Coordinación Especial por las contra el PDPA, deteniendo a casi todo su de socavar la república islámica en Irán, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George siglas en inglés]. Una reunión del SCC se liderazgo. Esto sucedió justo después de un que tomó el poder en 1979 después de una W. Bush y Barack Obama. Ahora Donald celebró finalmente el 3 de julio de 1979, y funeral masivo para miembros del PDPA gran revolución allí contra el Shah, un Trump está considerando un aumento casi seis meses antes de que los soviéti- que habían sido asesinados por la policía títere que había sido puesto en poder por en el número de tropas estadounidens- cos invadieran Afganistán, Jimmy Carter de Daoud. Evidentemente, Daoud quería las compañías petroleras estadounidens- es en Afganistán de 8.400 a 50.000. firmó el primer documento para ayudar asegurar a EUA que su régimen podía rep- es y británicas. Esa revolución también (Bloomberg.com, 17 de mayo) encubiertamente a los Muyahidín”. rimir cualquier oposición que pudiera sur- abarcó a muchos luchadores progresis- Sin embargo, a pesar de estas admis- gir a su pivote hacia el imperialismo. tas y seculares, pero los líderes islámicos Es la guerra estadounidense más larga iones de altos funcionarios del gobierno, En un día, sin embargo, las unidades tenían la organización más fuerte entre de la historia. ¿Por qué? la narrativa en los medios estadoun- del ejército se habían amotinado y libera- las masas y demostraron ser capaces de Hoy se supone que es una guerra con- idenses sigue siendo que EUA instaló, do a los líderes del PDPA. En un caso, los expulsar al Shah y su agrupación. tra los talibanes, ISIS y Al Qaeda. Pero armó y entrenó a los “Muyahidín” para soldados usaron un tanque para derribar Religión no es la verdadera cuestión estos grupos son descendientes de los contrarrestar una “invasión” soviética. las paredes de la cárcel donde estaba de- “militares” que la CIA convirtió por pri- ¿Cuáles fueron las verdaderas razones tenido el líder del PDPA, Nur Mohammad Claramente, la cuestión de la religión mera vez en unidades de combate con- para que EUA gastara miles de millones Taraki. Taraki se convirtió en jefe de lo que no es lo que motiva a los imperialistas. tra un gobierno liderado por el Partido de dólares y destruyera la mitad del país se conoció como la Revolución de Saur. Tampoco se preocupan por los derechos Democrático Progresista de Afganistán, en un esfuerzo por derrocar al gobierno de las mujeres. Ellos usarán cualqui- que había tomado el poder en 1978. de Afganistán? 1978: Revolución comienza reforma er excusa y harán alianzas temporales Zbigniew Brzezinski, quien murió el Para responder a esa pregunta, ayuda a agraria, termina dotes de novia mientras tratan de reafirmar su dominio mes pasado a la madura edad de 89 años, conocer un poco sobre la historia de Af- El Departamento de Defensa de EUA económico en la región. Lo que los moti- fue el principal arquitecto de esa guerra ganistán y cómo se había mantenido inde- ha publicado libros de “Estudios de País” va es su necesidad de saquear el mundo, viciada como asesor de seguridad nacio- pendiente durante más de un siglo, incluso sobre países de todo el mundo. Contienen especialmente las áreas ricas en petróleo, nal de Carter. Una vez que se supo que la cuando las potencias imperialistas euro- información útil para los funcionarios de para el beneficio de la clase multimil- CIA había creado un ejército encubierto peas y estadounidenses se apoderaron de EUA enviados al exterior y pueden ser lonaria dominante estadounidense. en Afganistán, la historia dada por el go- gran parte de Asia, África y América Lati- más veraces que la propaganda de otros Pero cuando invades un país, la gente bierno de Estados Unidos fue que esta- na como colonias o neocolonias. organismos gubernamentales, porque las te disparará y te dirá que salgas. ba ayudando al pueblo afgano a resistir personas que usan estos libros necesitan Eso es lo que ha sucedido en Afgan- una invasión soviética. Esto se convirtió 1839-1919: Tres invasiones británicas no saber las verdaderas condiciones de los istán. Una vez que las fuerzas progresis- en la razón de una guerra cada vez más logran conquistar Afganistán países a los que van. tas fueron destruidas, hubo un vacío de sangrienta y costosa que eventualmente Bretaña, que controlaba la India vecina, La versión de “Afganistán – un estu- liderazgo para resistir a los imperialistas, derrocó al gobierno progresista de Af- invadió Afganistán tres veces - en 1839, dio” publicada en 1986, contiene admi- que todavía ocupan el país y escogen a ganistán. 1879 y 1919 - pero no pudo mantener en el siones sorprendentes que van en contra los funcionarios de gobierno. La resis- Pero el propio Brzezinski se jactó poder a un régimen colonial títere. Cada de la narrativa establecida por el gobier- tencia armada, por ahora, se ha reunido después de que la operación de la CIA vez, levantamientos populares expulsaron no sobre Afganistán. Por ejemplo, dice alrededor de fuerzas organizadas sobre había comenzado seis meses antes de a las tropas británicas. Sin embargo, Lon- que “cuando el PDPA tomó el poder, una base religiosa, algunas de las cuales que la Unión Soviética enviara tropas a dres obligó al gobierno afgano a aceptar la rápidamente se movió para eliminar las adoptan una agenda extremadamente Afganistán. De hecho, la intervención so- influencia británica sobre su política exte- desigualdades de propiedad de la tierra reaccionaria. Sin embargo, han ganado viética no fue una “invasión”. El gobierno rior, y en 1893 los británicos redactaron y la usura”. Agregó que el PDPA también muchos reclutas que incluso están dis- afgano le había pedido que lo defendiera la línea Durand. Esta división supuesta- canceló las deudas hipotecarias de los puestos a sacrificar sus propias vidas contra la guerra encubierta de la CIA. mente temporal se convirtió en la frontera trabajadores agrícolas, los inquilinos y para sacar a EUA. entre Afganistán y la India británica - la los pequeños granjeros. Estableció am- Ninguna cantidad de escalada de la Brzezinski se jactó de la verdad parte que hoy es Pakistán. plios programas de alfabetización, es- supuesta “guerra contra el terror” puede Brzezinski reveló esa verdad al periódi- La última invasión, en 1919, provocó pecialmente para mujeres, y libros im- borrar esta terrible situación. A lo con- co francés Le Nouvel Observateur en un levantamiento que derrocó al gobier- presos en muchas lenguas habladas en trario. Cada bomba que cae sobre aldeas 1998: “Según la versión oficial de la his- no de Habibollah, que había capitulado diferentes partes de Afganistán. en Afganistán sólo intensifica el odio al toria, la ayuda de la CIA a los Muyahidín ante los británicos. Inspirado por el éxito Dijo el libro del Pentágono: “El gobi- imperialismo, sin importar la forma que comenzó en 1980, es decir, después de de la Revolución Rusa, el nuevo régimen erno entrenó a muchos maestros, con- adopte. Cualquier ataque político contra que el ejército soviético invadiera Afgan- de Amanollah firmó entonces un tratado struyó escuelas y jardines de infancia, y musulmanes por parte de Trump o sus istán el 24 de diciembre de 1979. Pero la de amistad con el gobierno bolchevique, estableció guarderías para huérfanos”. homólogos en Europa sólo profundiza la realidad, guardada secretamente hasta siendo uno de los primeros países en ha- Entre los primeros decretos de la revolu- ira de las/os oprimidos. ahora, es completamente diferente. De cerlo. Desde entonces hasta los años 70, ción se prohibió el dote de la novia y se En cualquier tipo de guerra, es la gente hecho, fue el 3 de julio de 1979, que el Afganistán no se uniría a ninguna alian- otorgó a las mujeres la libertad de elec- común, ya sea soldados o civiles, quienes presidente Carter firmó la primera di- za militar contra la URSS. ción en el matrimonio. sufren. Son los ricos quienes tienen los rectiva de ayuda secreta a los opositores Esto se debe recordar hoy, cuando la medios para protegerse a sí mismos al régimen pro-soviético en Kabul. Y ese 1965: PDPA para finalizar feudalismo, máquina de propaganda intenta embel- mientras se benefician de una victoria. mismo día, le escribí una nota al presi- ganar derechos de la mujer lecer esta larga guerra imperialista en La “guerra contra el terrorismo” ha dente en la que le expliqué que en mi El Partido Democrático Progresista Afganistán como una en donde las prin- Continúa a página 11