Viet~am: deadly effects of Agent Orange • • • 6 THE Nicaraguan rightists oppose election laws • . • 8 Interview with leader of British miners . 11

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 48/NO. 13 APRIL 13, 1984 75 CENTS Prove cops, U.S.-backed terrorists right wing attack Nicaragua ports murdered BY MICHAEL BAUMANN Cuban COR INTO, Nicaragua-U.S. -financed terrorists have turned the harbor here, Nic­ BY ROBERTO KOPEC aragua's largest port, into a battleground. A prominent Puerto Rican senator, a The more than ·half a dozen international right-wing exiled Cuban businessman, and cargo vessels berthed here, either unload­ a former police official conspired to kill ing or waiting to unload, have become the Carlos Muniz Varela, shot to death in San latest target in Washington's undeclared Juan, Puerto Rico, on April 28, 1979. war against Nicaragua. Muniz was a founder of the Antonio The Liberian freighter Inderchaser, ex­ Maceo Brigade, an organization of young porting molasses, was struck by a· CIA­ Cubans residing in the U.S., Puerto Rico, planted mine while leaving the harbor and other countries, committed to lifting March 28 . the U.S. blockade of Cuba and encourag­ The Panamanian freighter Homin, ing ties between the Cuban revolution and docked and loading sugar, was machine the Cuban community abroad. Muniz ran a gunned the same day by a "pirana" speed~ travel service to Cuba, and participated in boat - one of the 60-mile-an-hour the first of the Brigade's tours to the island launches the CIA has provided the counter­ in 1977. This earned him the hatred of revolutionary forces . . Cuban counterrevolutionary terrorist or­ On March 30, the Japanese freighter ganizations as well as their U.S. chiefs. Terushio Maru struck a ~ine one mile According to reports leaked to the Puerto from the docks as it tried to enter the harbor Rican press last week, a current FBI inves­ to deliver a cargo of auto parts and con­ tigation of widespread police corruption on struction materials. That same day, the Puerto Rico has uncovered links between Homin was attacked again, this time by high police officials and Cuban counterrev­ "piranas" and helicopters. olutionary terrorist organizations. The re­ This brings to a total of six the interna­ . Barricada International/Mateo Brack ports indicate that cops testifying in closed tional vessels that have been damaged by Nicaraguan fishing boat sunk by mines planted by CIA-backed terrorists. Counter­ meetings have accused a well-known · - Continued on Page 9 revolutionaries have stepped up attacks on Nicaraguan ports with mines, speedboats. member of the Puerto Rican Senate of rais­ ing funds from people in the Cuban com­ munities of Miami and New Jersey during 1978-79. With the money collected, a Coal miner fights for W.Va. ballot spot right~wing Cuban businessman hired a high police official to organize the assassi­ BY BRIAN WILLIAMS secution for signing SWP pet1t10ns and. explained Radin. "I, like miJlions of other nation of Mufiiz with the aid of other cops. CHARLESTON, W. Va.- West Vir­ then voting in the primaries. A grand jury people in this country, am the victim of and Other intended victims of the police-ter­ ginia Secretary of State A.J. Manchin was convened in Jackson County to hear feel the effects of an economic system that rorist connection, a San Juan newspaper launched a major slander campaign against evidence against petition signers. It refused puts profits before human needs. also revealed, have been Juan Mari Bras, the Socialist Workers Party March 27. to indict anyone. ~ "To say that because I am a coal miner, general secretary of the Puerto Rican Manchin announced to the media that he To answer Manchin's latest charges, the I'm well off and financially stable flies in Socialist Party, and another party leader, was requesting the prosecuting attorney to socialists called an emergency news con­ the face of reality. ·I, like many of my sister Pedro Baiges ChapeL Death squad activity investigate whether the SWP candidates ference . for March 29. Radin explained and brother coal miners, am trying to make is not new in Puerto Rico; Mari Bras' son, should be prosecuted for any false state­ how these filing fees are like a poll tax ends meet after months and months of un­ Santiago, was killed in 1976. And in 1978, ments on the financial forms they filed with against working people's right to run for employment forced on us· by the coal com­ two proindependence fighters were execu­ the state. office. Seven hundred dollars for the panies. Before being called back to work a ted by cops in what has become known as Manchin made this statement after the senatorial race means nothing to a mil­ few months ago, I was unemployed much the Cerro Maravilla scandaL SWP announced its plans to place its pres­ lionaire coal boss like John D. Rockefeller, ofthe time for over a year. The Antonio Maceo Brigade, as well as idential and vice-presidential candidates, IV, but it is a lot of money to a coal miner. "Manchin 's distortion of the actual fi­ prominent Puerto Rican organizations, Mel Mason and Andrea Gonzalez, on the "I, like thousands of other people in nancial situation of myself and, in fact, that have demanded that all the facts ofMufiiz's ballot here. The SWP also announced it West Virginia, was laid off from work of many other coal miners fits in with the assassination be revealed, and that those will run Dave Ferguson for governor and when the economic crisis hit this state," Continued on Page 4 responsible be arrested and tried. Joan Radin for U.S. Senate. At the time of filing their declaration to run, candidates are required to pay filing fees equal to I percent of the salary of that Socialist campaigners set 'Militant'-'PM' drive office. Fees for the four SWP candidates would come to more than $5,300. BY PEGGY BRUNDY other countries in favor of ruling-class ma­ but other articles on workers' and farmers' Saturday and Sunday, April 14 and 15, However, a 1980 court ruling struck neuvers to make big-business more profita­ struggles of interest to them. down filing fees for candidates who cannot supporters of the Socialist Workers Party ble. They are the newspapers of the Demo-. The Militant and PM's consistent stand presidential ticket will mobilize to kick off afford to pay them . The socialists submit­ cratic and Republican party candidates. in favor of working peoples' interests ex­ ted the appropriate financial forms as part an intensive eight-week effort of selling the In this election period the newspapers of plains why the papers support the socialist Militant and Perspectiva Mundial and of their request that the filing fees be other labor and radical organizations say candidates in this election. And the interest campaigning for Mel Mason and Andrea waived. Manchin agreed to waive the fees, that working people must "dump Reagan at in the campaign and the newspapers' ideas Gonzalez for president and vice-president. any cost." .This strategy Is based on seeing point to the timeliness of organizing an ag­ but used the occasion to slander the SWP. In particular, he singled out Radin, a coal The aim is to sell between 35-40,000 Reagan the individual as the problem, not gressive effort to reach out to new readers. miner, as someone he thought should have Militants and PMs during the eight weeks. the ruling-class offensive that Democratic Militant and PM supporters will be or­ The final cumulative total will be based on ganizing to sell the papers at election cam­ been forced to pay this fee. and Republican politicians have spear­ .sales goals accepted by branches of the headed since long before Reagan was paign meetings and candidates' debates; at Radin is a working coal miner and a SWP and by other distributors of the Mili­ elected. plant gates and in working-class com­ member of United Mine Workers of Amer­ tant and PM. This total .and a scoreboard The Militant and PM offer a radically munities; on high school and college cam­ ica (UMW A) Local 2271 . Her opponent in will be printed in an upcoming issue of the different, proworker source of news and puses; and wherever workers, farmers, the senatorial race is the state's current Militant. · analysis which is welcomed by workers Blacks, Latinos,. women and young people governor, Democrat John D. Rockefeller, The Young Socialist Alliance, which to­ thinking out how to fight back against war, are discussing what kind of a government IV. gether with its newspaper the Young union-busting, and attacks on our hard­ we need to protect ourselves from the boss­ Ferguson, a 28-year-old National Com­ Socialist is actively supporting the Mason won democratic rights. es' offensive. mittee member of the Young Socialist Al­ and Gonzalez campaign, has also decided When the United States invaded Gre­ A special focus of the drive will be the liance, will be challenging Republican to participate in the Militant and PM sales nadalast October, Militant readers through use of the· socialist press as part of the mas­ Arch Moore and Democrat Warren effort. We urge all readers of the Militant special 'efforts sold 12,000 copies of the sive petition drives that the Socialist Work­ McGraw. Ferguson is a laid-off member of to get involved in this campaign. issue protesting the invasion and explain­ ers Party must undertake to get its candi­ the UMW A and currently a member of the The drive comes at a time when working ing the gains and lessons of the Grenada dates on the ballot. Over the petitioning Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Work­ people in the United States are discussing revolution . . period we will meet thousands of people ers Uniori. out fundamental questions within the The special steps taken by our readers to who are hearing about the socialist alterna­ This public smear campaign from the framework of the 1984 elections. reach copper miners, steelworkers, and tive for the first time. Many of these people state government offices represents a con­ The big dailies support the capitalist sys­ auto workers brought unionists in those in­ will also want to read the campaign news­ tinuation of the harassment the SWP cam­ tem, so their news coverage is slanted to dustries not only articles on the copper papers. A lot of questions are on their paign faced during the 1982 senatorial portray workers' interests as identical to ·strike, the election in the Steelworkers minds as they sort through the claims of the race when supporters of the socialist cam­ the bosses' . Their editorial policy opposes union and the GM secret document outlin­ candidates. For example, is there any alter- paign were threatened with criminal pro- workers' struggles in the United States arid ing plans to attack the auto-workers union, Continued on Page 5 -SELLING OUR PRESS AT-THE PLANT GATE------BY LEE MARTINDALE spectiva Mundial, the Spanish­ attended and helped bring others give up seniority for job bidding, the Militant and PM is Naomi The working class in this "Eng­ language socialist magazine, an to a rally for Marroquin held in agree to a longer workweek, a no­ Bracey, a city bus driver and lish-speakiitg country" speaks not indispensable tool in reaching out Los Angeles. strike pledge and the end of union member of the UTU who is the only English, but French, Chi­ to and meeting Spanish-speaking dues check-off. Texaco wanted a Socialist Workers candidate for Workers at Manny's have ex­ nese, Arabic, Tagalog, and many workers, many of whom are lead­ two-tier wage system that would Board of Supervisors. She has is­ perience with union solidarity. other languages. A large minority ing participants in labor struggles pay new hires half the current sued a statement calling for sol­ of U.S. workers speak Spanish. in Los Angeles. ILGWU members at southern . wage rate and undermine solidar­ idarity with the Texaco strikers. California Davis Pleating and But­ Spanish-speaking workers are They have been selling at ity between them and other work­ Campaign supporters plan to ton Co., most of whom speak found in every basic industry and Manny's, for example, a garment ers. distribute . this statement along Spanish, have been waging a mili­ every big industrial union. shop of 350 workers organized The Davis Pleating workers ex­ with campaign material about the tant strike since last August Our class includes the organized into the International Ladies' Gar­ pressed their support and offered Mason-Gonzalez presidential tick­ against the company's demand for and .unorganized, better-paid ment Workers' Union (ILGWU) to help. When the Texaco workers et at all the plant gates where they a 40 percent pay cut. When the workers and workers in sub~mini­ . four years ago. Members of the were forced out on strike in Feb­ sell, including at Lockheed, or­ strikets called for a solidarity rally mum-wage sweatshops. Through Oil, Chemical and Atomic Work­ ruary, they appealed to the Davis ganized by the International As­ on March · 1, 65 workers at plant~gate sales, socialist workers ers (OCAW), and the United Pleating strikers, who agreed to sociation of Machinists (lAM) and Manny's took part in lunch-break are learning more about the diver­ Transportation Union (UTU) are come and walk the picket lines to at GM-Van Nuys, organized by meetings to discuss the importance sity of U.S. working class cul­ among the workers who sell at the show their solidarity. the United Auto Workers (UAW). of showing support for the Davis tures, experiences, and condi­ gate. Socialists working at The Texaco workers have re­ Through plant-gate sales, as Pleating strikers. Twenty-five tions, exchanging information Manny's sell the Militant and PM well as through work in their own Manny's workers · attended the ceived valuable solidarity from about the bosses' attacks in differ­ to their coworkers. Sales range other unions as well, including unions, socialist · workers like rally. ent industries, and discussing out from a few to 10 copies a week. other OCAW locals, the ILGWU, these are participating with other the tremendous potential power of One of the PM ' readers at Other unionists have walked the the Coalition of Labor Union union fighters building bridges of the working class when it unites. Manny's is a Nicaraguan, a sup­ piCket line with the Davis Pleating Women, and the International solidarity among workers fighting In Los Angeles, socialist work­ porter of the Sandinista revolu­ strikers, too. One of them is a Longshore Workers Union back against the bosses' offensive. ers sell regularly at the gates of tion, who was a central leader of socialist oil worker from Texaco (ILWU). The ILWU hiring hall These bridges of solidarity not plants organized by the garment, the organizing drive and is now a who went to express his solidarity, has agreed to dispatch striking only strengthen each struggle, but oil, auto, machinists, and rail respected activist in the union. He to learn about the issues in the Texaco workers to jobs on the enrich the discussion on what unions. Members and active sup­ supports the fight of Hector Mar­ strike, and to sell PM. He told the docks. strategy working people need to porters of the Socialist Workers roquin, a Mexican-born socialist, strikers about Texaco's attempt to For several years Los Angeles tum back the tide of union-bust­ Party and Young Socialist Al­ against the U.S. government's at­ bust his union, OCAW Local socialists have organized a regular ing. Militant and PM supporters liance work in many of these in­ tempts to deport him from this 1-128, Texaco unit. The company plant-gate sale at the ILWU hiring are proud to be part of this proc­ dustries as well. They find Per- country for his socialist views. He was demanding that the workers hall. One of the workers who sells ess. Roybal bill: a new attack on immigrant workers

BY HARRY RING Mazzoli in committee, at least until the end the Roybal bill as a "lesser evil." tutes, but for the very opposite reason- to Seven years ago, the Carter administra­ of that session. He said he was acting in re­ The Roybal measure purports to elimi­ discourage employers from hiring the un­ tion sought congressional approval for a sponse to .demands by the Congressional nate some of the worst features of documented! crackdown on undocumented workers. Hispanic Caucus. Simpson-Mazzoli. We have not yet re­ A' particularly shocking feature of the Fortunately, there was vigorous opposi­ But then, on the heels of O'Neill's ac­ ceived the full text, but according to MAL­ Roybal bill is a clause calling for added tion in the Chicano and Latino com­ tion, Rep. Robert Garda (D.~N . Y.) an­ DEF, the bill eliminates the Simpson-Maz­ congressional funding to expand the border munities. The Carter plan was opposed by nounced . that the Congressional Hispanic zoli proviso to impose penalties on em­ patrol -the reactionary, racist, and justly such organizations as the League of United Caucus would draft its own version of an ployers hiring the undocumented. It would hated la migra. Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the immigration "reform" bill. eliminate the worker ID requirement and MALDEF states: "To stop unauthorized Mexican American Legal Defense and . (Simpson-Mazzoli has passed the Senate would move up the amnesty date to Jan. 1, entries, the Roybal bill makes clear - as Education Fund (MALDEF), GI Forum, and is again pending before the House.) 1982. does Simpson-Mazzoli- the need to in­ and others. Now it's been announced that a substi­ It also omits the clause making it easier crease funding for the border patrol." Carter then referred his plan to a biparti­ tute for Simpson-Mazzoli has been intro- . for ranchers to import temporary "guest" With its declared intention of curbing san study commission - to report back duced by Rep. Edward Roybal (D.-Calif.). workers. immigration, the Roybal bill is bad enough after the 1980 elections. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is Usually lacking the protection of a as it is. But it can be flatly'predicted that if They did that, and the result was the divided on the Roybal bill. According to a union, "guest" workers have certainly suf­ it is not buried in the House, it will get now-pending Simpson-Mazzoli anti-immi­ March 19 announcement by MALDEF, the fered abuse at the hands of growers and worse as it goes along. A series of amend­ grant bill. measure is sponsored, not by the Congres­ labor contractors. But that's an argument to ments will be tacked on by its various Simpson-Mazzoli would beef up the sional Hispanic Caucus, but by the His­ unionize them, not keep them out. "sponsors" until it becomes indistinguisha­ Border Patrol to curb the entry of un­ panic Caucus of the Democratic National Opposition to expanding the importation ble from Simpson-Mazzoli. documented immigrants. Felony penalties Committee. of such workers is justified in a grossly The problem confronting working would be imposed on those aiding or "har­ Three of the nine voting members of the reactionary way by Joaquin Avila, presi­ people in this country is in no way that boring," undocumented workers. Employ­ Congressional Hispanic Caucus voted not dent and general counsel of MALDEF. there are "too many" undocumented work­ ers who "knowingly" hire workers without to cosponsor the Roybal bill. The MALDEF release quotes Avila as ers. The real problem is the deepening papers would be subject to modest fines. Twenty-four of Roybal's cosponsors are attacking the guest worker provision in crisis of capitalism. All U.s~ workers would have to carry ID non-Hispanics. Simpson-Mazzoli because it "blatantly During 1981- 83, this country went cards to prove their eligibility to hold a job. One of those refusing to cosponsor is E. contradicts Simpson-Mazzoli's stated goal through the deepest economic crisis since "Amnesty" would be granted undoc­ (Kika) de Ia Garza, a Texas Democrat from of reducing undocumented immigration." the '30s. It was caused by an irrational umented residents here for several years if the Rio Grande Valley. Avila is further quoted as declaring that capitalist system, not the undocumented. they meet some stiff requirements. The "My area," de Ia Garza said, "is basi­ many of the guest workers "will end up Now, we're told, there's a recovery be­ measure would also make it easier for cally opposed to any revision of the immi­ staying here illegally." cause big-_business profits are up. But the growers to import "guest" workers at har­ gration laws. · In our district, the same Hardly the kind of language, or political jobless rate still stands at nearly 8 percent. vest time. familiy lives on both sides of the river." reasoning, you would expect from the head Are the undocumented responsible? Initially, there was significant opposi­ Unfortunately, the Roybal bill does of an organization whose concerns include Certainly, large numbers of workers, de­ tion to Simpson-Mazzoli. (A notable, seem to have some support, including, ac­ defense of the undocumented. nied visas, fleeing desperate economic scandalous exception was the Executive cording to the MALDEF press release, Also, the Roybal bill calls for stricter en­ conditions and harsh political repression, Council of the AFL-CIO). MALDEF itself and LULAC. forcement of federal wage, hour, health, are trying to make their way into this coun­ Last October, House Speaker Tho­ And some Latino unionists opposed to and safety laws - not to ensure that the un­ try from Mexico, Central America, and mas O'Neill moved to bury Simpson- Simpson-Mazzoli are reported supporting documented gain the protection of such sta- Continued on Page 3

SPECIAL OFFER TO MILITANTSUBSCRIBERS The Militant "Maurice Bishop Speaks" Closing news date: April 4, 1984 This collection of interviews with and speeches by the slain prime minister of Grenada Editors: CINDY JAQUITH DOUG JENNESS also includes an introduction explaining the events that led to the overthrow of the Business Manager: revolution, Bishop's assassination, and the invasion by U.S. troops. LEE MARTINDALE We are offering the book to subscribers for a special price of $4 (a $2.95 discount!). Editorial Staff: Connie Allen, William Gottlieb, Arthur You can also partidpate in getting this important book out to others by ordering a Hughes, Margaret Jayko, Malik Miah, Geoff bundle of 3 or more copies for $3.50 each. Mirelowitz, Mohammed Oliver, Harry Ring, Larry ------·------~ ------~------c------Seigle, Mary-Alice Waters. Published weekly except two weeks in August, the last Please 0 begin 0 renew Oextend my subscription: week of December, and the first week of January by the 0 3 months/$6 · 0 I am enclosing an additional $4.00 Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 14 Charles Lane, New 0 6months/$15 · for a copy of Maurice Bishop Speaks York, N.Y. 1001 4. Telephone: Editorial Office, (212) 0 one year/$24 243-6392; Business Office, (212) 929-3486. Correspondence concerning subscriptions or changes of address should be addressed to The Mili­ Name ______~--- tant Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, New York, Address ______, N.Y. 10014. Second-class postage paid at New York , N.Y. POST­ City/State/Zip ------­ MASTER: Send address changes to The Militant, 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. 1001 4. Subscriptions: Telephone Union/Organization ---'------U.S. $24.00 a year, outside U.S. $30.00. By first-class 0 Enclosed is $ ______for a bundle of ____ copies of the book at $3.50 each to mail : U.S., Canada, and Mexico: $60.00. Write for air­ sell to friends and coworkers (minimum of 3 copies). . · mail rates to all other countries. Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily rep­ D Enclosed is $3 for a 12 week introductory subscription (book offer not available). resent the Militant' s views. These are expressed in edito­ Mail to: Militan~ 14 Charles Ln., New York, N.Y. 10014. rials. . .

2 The Militant April 13, 1984 'U.S. close to sending troops tO Salvador' BY OLLIE BIVINS "saw a sense of the revolution by the LOS .ANGELES - Three thousand people and the fight to make progress." people marched through downtown here 'This," he said, "is different from the · March 24 to protest U.S. intervention in United States where unions are in re­ Central America and the Caribbean. treat. .. . The United States will never be The march was the culmination of Cen­ successful in Central America because the tral America· W ~ek here. A town meeting people have a spirit of revolution." of 3,000, two picket lines, a labor forum, a Earlier in the week 3,000 people packed candlelight vigil at MacArthur Park, and an open town meeting at Fairfax High several masses were held between March School to hear well-known personalities 18 and 24 in memory of Archbishop Oscar discuss "Central America: What the Devil Romero and to protest the fraudulent elec­ Is Going On?" tions in El Salvador. The event was sponsored by the newly The march was sponsored by the formed Committee of Concern for Central November 12 Coalition - an organization America, an organization based primarily of Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, and Guatema­ in the entertainment industry. Speakers in­ lan solidarity groups and other antiwar or­ cluded Argentine author Jacobo Timer­ ganizations. Endorsers of the action in­ man, actress Diane Ladd, and former U.S. cluded the Committee in Solidarity With Sen. George McGovern. the People of El Salvador; Southern Chris­ "The U.S. government is very close to tian Le~dership Conference; Southern sending U.S. troops to El Salvador," California American Civil Liberties Union McGovern told the crowd .. Several speak­ Sign on right: "They can kill me, but not the voice of justice" - Monsignor Oscar (ACLU); International Association · of ers referred to the Vietnam War and the Romero. Jim Cushing-Murray of Amalgamated Transit Union told Los Angeles Machinists (lAM) Lodge 1111; First Un­ need to build a public movement of protest march, "U.S. will never be successful in Central America because people have a spirit itarian Church of Los Angeles; Migual in the streets. of revolution." Machucha, organizational director of Western Region International Ladies' Gar­ ment Workers' Union; and Medical Aid for El Salvador. Jury selection in trial ofKathy Boudin Leading the spirited march was a continc gent of protesters bearing placards with the names of those killed or "disappeared" by BY BARBARA MUTNICK elaborate and intimidating system of secu­ immediate families. Judge David Ritter has the U.S.-backed Salvadoran regime. A WHITE PLAINS,· N.Y. -Jury selec­ rity measures. refused to exclude these jurors despite ef­ number of marchers sported union jackets tion in the trial here of Kathy Boudin is ex­ The latter include concrete barriers forts by Boudin's attorneys to eliminate or buttons, and members of lAM Lodge pected to go on for two more weeks before erected around the Westchester County them. · 1111 marched as a contingent. the evidentiary stage of the trial can get un­ courthouse; police dogs strategically One of the jurors who had been qualified A two-hour rally at La Placita on Olvera der way. placed, but now not in view of the public; earlier had been a stockholder in Pittston Street follow_ed. Speakers included Jim Boudin is charged with three counts of airport-style metal-detector tests, and a Co., a parent company of Brink's, at the Cushing-Murray, vice-president of the felony murder and several counts of theft sealed elevator, complete with an armed time of the robbery. Another, also already Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1222 stemming from the attempted robbery of a guard to the eighth-floor courtroom where qualified, is employed by a bank that is and a leader of the Greyhound workers Brink's armored truck in 1981 in Nyack, Boudin's trial is being held. held by the Irving Trust Co., a holding strike; Larry Frank, a representative of the New' York. Two policemen and an ar­ During the March 27 session in court, company of Nanuet National Trust, the Jobs With Peace Campaign; and Victor mored-car guard were killed. Defendants Boudin could not so much as tum her head bank against which the attempted robbery Rios of Casa El Salvador. The rally was in an earlier trial stemming from. the same to the back of the courtroom without a was committed. chaired by Ramona Ripston, executive reg­ incident received maximum sentences - young female guard, who was seated di­ In contrast, Weinglass said one juror ional director of the Southern California 75 years to life. rectly behind her forcing her to face for­ who had expressed agreement with some of ACLU. Boudin was arrested several miles from ward. Dr. Benjamin Spock's and Rev. Daniel Cushing-Murray recently returned from the attempted robbery and killings. She This treatment of Boudin is intended to Berrigan's views (two figures the defense a two-week trip to Nicaragua where he par­ was unarmed, and not one eyewitness re­ cast her in the mold of ·a barbaric criminal may call to the stand as witnesses) was dis­ ticipated in the agricultural harvest ports having seen her at the scene of the al­ e:ven before a jury has so much as heard the qualified. brigades along with hundreds of. other leged crimes. Yet she has been held with­ charges against her. The Brink's hold-up Once the pool of "qualified" jurors is North Americans. He told the crowd that out bail for more than two and a half years, trial is being used to slash away at chosen, the defense and prosecution will before his trip he was not interested in has been forced to endure miserable condi­ Boudin's constitutional rights as a defen­ each be allowed to exclude 20 jurors from events · in Central America. But this tions and harassment in prison, and has dant and prisoner. the final panel by means of pre-emptory changed, he said, because in Nicaragua he been both the object and the victim of an .Even more menacing is the likelihood challenges, that is, giving no reason . that the practices used against Boudin and Boudin's 20 pre-emptory challenges, the other Brink's defendants will be ex­ however, must be shared with Samuel tended to others facing charges, particu- Brown, who is on trial with her. The fact Meeting honors Wilfred Burchett larly political activists. · that the two are being tried together is another outrageous aspect of this trial. The process of jury selection has been Brown turned informer against the other BY SANDI SHERMAN Vessa Burchett with a scroll in tribute to going on since February 14. But Leonard NEW YORK - On March 31, some her husband. Brink's defendants to the tune of 12 inter­ Weinglass, Boudin's attorney, remarked views with the FBI, producing 60 pages of 150 people attended a meeting in New Delegations representing the Vietnam­ after the March 27 session in court that York City to pay tribute to Australian jour­ ese, Laotian, and Bulgarian missions to the "information." really it has been a "27-month search for 12 Boudin's lawyers had asked that her case nalist Wilfred Burchett. United Nations were introduced. Burchett people." He was referring to the fact that Burchett, who died Sept. 7, 1983, wrote was living in Bulgaria at the time of his be severed from Brown's because they Boudin's trial has been moved twice be­ hoped to call Brown as a witness, but Judge extensively on the liberation struggles in death. Rudolph Yussikov, of the Perma­ cause the atmosphere whipped up by the Ritter refused to allow the severance. Indochina and was one of the frrst jour­ nent Mission of the Peoples Republic of government prejudiced so many potential On March 27, Ritter ordered a p~ycholo­ nalists to report from Hiroshima after the Bulgaria, spoke and read a message from jurors. U.S. government dropped the atomic Todor Zhivkov, secretary general of the gical evaluation of Brown on the request of Weinglass and Jay Schulman, a member his court-appointed attorney, Robert Is­ bomb there on Aug. -6, 1945. Bulgarian Communist Party and president of the defense team concentrating on jury seks. Isseks said that his client has been in The meeting, chaired by journalist Abe of the State Council. research, explained that of 41 prospective Weisburd and Bill Ryan, editor of the a state of deep depression and has been un­ A short Vietnamese film showing Bur­ jurors who have been qualified by the able to participate in his own defense. "It's Guardian newspaper, received messages chett in a liberated area of Vietnam in 1964 White Plains court, 16 have relatives who from a number of individuals including because of the brutal beatings that Mr. was shown. are police. Five of the 16 have cops in their Raul Roa Kouri, Cuban ambassador to the Brown is in the state he's in, where he can't United Nations; Harrison Salisbury, a help himself or help his lawyer." former editor of the New York Times; au­ Brown's car crashed when he was ap­ thor Corliss Lamont; folksinger Pete New attack on-immigrant workers prehended by the police following the at­ Seeger; and journalist T.D. Allman. tempted robbery. X-rays taken at the time Madame Nguyen Ngoc Dung, former Continued from Page 2 · is under such heavy attack from employers showed no fractures, but after beatings by deputy ambassador to the United Nations many other countries exploited and op­ and government. Only a united labor guards in Rockland County Jail, X-rays from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and pressed by U.S. imperialism. movement can effectively fight back showed that Brown's neck was broken. Is­ current head of the Women's Division of Neither the Simpson-Mazzoli nor the against the drive to cripple the unions and seks complained that his client had been the Vietnam Fatherland Front, spoke on Roybal bill will end this flow of immigra­ drive down working conditions. falling asleep in court because "he. was af­ Burchett's contribution to the Vietnamese tion. They will simply make those who do And unity and solidarity won't be built raid to sleep in prison for fear of getting his liberation struggle. Dung explained she get through even more vulnerable to by being party to the scapegoating of un­ neck broken again." was one of the first members of the Na­ superexploitation. documented workers. Judge Ritter agreed to move Brown to an tional Liberation Front to work with Bur­ And it will make ·all Latino workers To its discredit, the top officialdom of inpatient psychiatric unit at Westchester chett. more vulnerable to scapegoatirig and dis­ the AFL-CIO is playing directly into the County jail while he is being examined, but. Antiwar activist and author David Dellin­ crimination. (The scapegoating only be­ hands of the employers on this issue. he refused to discontinue the trial during ger, who wrote the introduction to Bur­ gins with the undocumented. It never ends According to a legislative representa­ Brown's examination. chett's book, Vietnam Will Win, spoke and there.) tive of the AFL-CIO, that organization's noted that "the U.S. has never given up And that in tum strengthens the hand of officials give "conceptual support" to the being at war with Vietnam and that creates the employers who work overtime at their Simpson-Mazzoli bill. That is, while dis­ 'Militant' a tremendous responsibility for all of us." game of divide-and-rule. agreeing with particular provisions, like. Other speakers included Vessa Burchett, The only practical response to Simpson­ enlarging the guest worker program, they -Prisoner who flew in from Bulgaria to attend the Mazzoli is all-out opposition and .total sol­ do support strengthening the INS, institut­ meeting for her husband; James Aronson , idarity with the undocumented. ing employer sanctions, · and requiring ID Fund founding editor of the Guardian, who What's needed is a guarantee that all cards for workers. The 'Militant' special prisoner fund The union ranks should recognize this spoke and read a message from Guardian workers, with or without papers, enjoy full makes it possible to send reduced-rate can only undermine the fight against the cofounder Cedric Belfrage; Archie Sin­ citizens' rights - economically, socially, subscriptions to prisoners who can't and politically. employers and repudiate this reactionary gham, professor of Political Science at pay for them. Militant Prisoner Sub­ Most important, this must become the leadership position. · Brooklyn College; and author Sylvia scription Fund, 14 Charles Lane: New stand of organized labor. This is especially Both the· Simpsoil-Mazzoli and Roybal Crane. York. New York,10014. . Participants in the meeting presented so t9day, when the entire union movement bills should be opposed.

April 13, 1984 The Militant 3 Minneapolis forum discusses '84 elections Socialist Workers call for independent Black, labor party

BY MAGGIE PERRIER MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -On March 6 Ellie G~fa, Socialist Workers Party can­ didate for U.S. Senate, participated in a panel discussion called "Forum on ·the Left." The forum was sponsored by the Citizens Party. The panel discussion, attended by 85 people, also included representatives from several liberal and left groups. Garcia, a garment worker and member of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union Local 155, began by con~ demning the U.S. government's latest acts of war against the Lebanese people. She explained that there has been no· with­ drawal of marines but merely a redeploy­ ment of troops to the battleships off Leba­ non's coast. "My campaign calls for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all im­ perialist troops from Lebanon and the war­ ships offshore; a halt to U.S. military aid to the Israeli government; the right of Pales­ tinians to establish an independent Pales­ tine in their homeland." She rejected the notion that U.S. work­ "'""'"''"' L•u•~ Castro ers have any stake in Washington's wars Left, Mel Mason (in suit), SWP presidential candidate, talking with members of Laborers International Union in Liberty against worker~ and farmers abroad and ad­ City, Miami. Right, Andrea Gonz81ez, SWP vice-presidential candidate at Atlanta Martin Luther King Day march. Mason and vocated the formation of an independent, Gonzalez are only candidates offering clear alternative to bosses' parties. union-based labor party that could act as a · . political vehicle in the interests of all work­ ing people. Gulliver described the DSA as a "think was impossible to build a labor party by the sons from their experiences in fighting the Garcia encouraged the audience to sup­ tank" and said its membership was com­ November elections, so workers should bosses' takeback demands. She pointed to port the SWP presidential ticket of Mel posed mostly of elected officials and just concentrate on electing the ·best peace the struggles of- Arizona copper miners, Mason and Andrea Gonzalez. academics. candidate. auto and steel workers, and other industrial The Communist Party USA, represented The representative from the Farmer workers. by Helve Savoia, announced it has nomi­ Labor Association (FLA), which claims to Garcia was the only speaker who offered Garcia also explained that workers and nated Gus Hall and Angela Davis as its be independent, but acts as a caucus within a .clear and concrete alternative to voting farmers here have an inspiring example presidential and vice-presidential candi­ the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, said for Democrats and Republicans. She south of the border - revolutionary Nica­ dates in 1984. However, Savoia explained, that a labor party would be nice but "work­ explained that while there was no or­ ragua. There, she said, "the workers and organizing to defeat Reagan was the main ers are not educated enough to be aware of ganized motion in the working class for the farmers have taken governmental power task of socialists today. Savoia said this the problem.:;. formation of an independent labor party, and are running the country in their own in­ could be done only by a direct challenge on The Communist Party speaker said it many workers were drawing valuable les- terests." the basic issues and praised the Jesse Jack­ son campaign because "he's been putting the candidates of the two parties on alert." . John Gulliver of the Democratic S.F. socialist supports Irish struggle Socialists of America (I;>SA) spent most of his time explaining why his organization is involved in the Democratic Party. He ar­ BY CARRIE SLOAN Taylor is a garment worker and activist jailed in the San Francisco Hall of Justice gued that the Democratic Party is the party SAN FRANCISCO - "Oh good, a in the International Ladies' Garment for two and a half years while Britain tries of the masses. He admitted that this orien­ socialist. Someone I can finally vote for," a Workers' Union Local 101. Campaign to extradite him. His supporters arrived/at tation has its "disadvantages." One such young woman from Irish Northern Aid told supporters from Kar Kar, a local electronic the parade in a double decker bus with a disadvantage he cited was that part of the Marilee Taylor, Socialist Workers candi­ assembly plant, introduced her to John banner proclaiming "Peace In, Brits Out, Democratic Party's constituency is "reac­ date for California's 16th State Assembly Moran, the business agent of their union, Free Bill Quinn." tionary." He said this makes it "a constant District. Taylor was campaigning as con­ International Association of Machinists This was the first year that Central battle not to lose your identity, which is tingents gathered March 18 for San Fran­ Local 1327. Moran, who lives in Hunter's America solidarity activists were invited to why the DSA was formed." cisco's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Point, part of the 16th District, said he participate as a contingent in the parade, agreed with much of what Taylor had to marching with the Irish Northern Aid and say and would like to talk more about it. H Block/Armagh committees. Amid banners calling for "Free Ireland A young man from the Na Fianna Now," "Support Women Prisoners of War W.Va. socialist campaign Eireann contingent at first refused to take in Armagh Prison," "Stop Honduran one of the statements Taylor's campaign Continued from front page Troops Invasion in El Salvador," and Several expressed approval for the idea supporters were distributing, saying he of running working-class candidates. "It's "England Out of Ireland, U.S. Out of Cen­ arguments used by the coal companies that wasn't registered to vote. When Taylor It about time we had a say in things," is typ­ tral America- Mel Mason for President," miners are over paid and greedy. takes explained, "My campaign is about uniting ical of some of the responses petitioners the lively contingent chanted "No troops, place in the context of attacks being waged to struggle against U.S. foreign policy in against the UMW A by the bosses as the have gotten. no war, · from Ireland to El Salvador!" Central America and what Britain is doing contraCt discussions draw near." To help promote support for the socialist Thousands of people crowded the in Ireland," he took a flyer and wished her Radin insisted that the SWP campaign ballot fight, presidential candidate Mel sidewalks to watch the parade, and many good luck. will not be intimidated nor deterred. "We Mason will make a special stop in West cheered and raised clenched fists as the will wage a stepped up political fight for Virginia April 5-7. He will speak at a Taylor's statement called for releasing contingent of Salvadorans and those sup­ our right to be on the ballot and will bring major socialist campaign rally at the Uni­ Irish freedom fighter Bill Quinn, who was porting the Irish freedom struggle marched the socialist message to tens of thousands versity of Charleston on April .7. refused bail three days earlier after being by. of West Virginians throughout this state between now and November." The party will be bringing its socialist solutions to thousands of West Virginia Protests force end to racist frame-up of Geter workers in a massive statewide petitioning effort to gather well over the 7,500 signa­ tures necessary for ballot status. If success­ BY BEVERLY ANDALORA Last week another suspect was "found" the face of facts that proved Geter inno­ ful, this will mark the first time the SWP DALLAS - The racist frame-up of in a Houston jail. Four of the five eyewit­ cent, now maintains he did nothing wrong presidential ticket has ever appeared on the Lenell Geter has finally come to an end. nesses who testified at Geter's trial picked and owes no apology to Geter. ballot in this state. The 26 year old Black engineer was con­ Curtis Eugene Mason as the robber in a "I feel like I've done everything I can for Campaign supporters who began the victed in August 1982 of robbing a Ken­ new police photo lineup. Since the only him," he said. "Who else has done any­ three week petition drive have found work~ tucky Fried Chicken in Balch Springs, · evidence against Geter was the eyewitness thing for him? . .. He'd still be down there ers here to be open to socialist ideas. One Texas. He was sentenced by an all-white testimony, all charges against him were in the penitentiary if it hadn't been for me." thousand signatures were collected on the jury to life in prison, despite the fact that dropped. · The U.S. Department of Justice is con­ first day of the drive. Many of those sign­ nine coworkers testified that Geter was at Mason will now be charged with the hold­ ducting an. investigation to "determine ing the petitions are miners or relatives of work during the robbery. up. Many consider him a scapegoat in a whether there was a violation of federal miners who have stopped to talk with cam­ · There were other obvious contradictions case that had gotten -politically embarass­ civil rights laws." paign supporters. Most of what these as well, which raised serious questions ing. people talk about is their own experiences abput the handling of the case by cops and Geter himself is considering a lawsuit with the industry. Conversations range the courts. (By Any Means Ne

4 The Militant Apri113, 1984 'Utah miner runs for governor, hits new layoffs by coal bosses·

BY GEORGES SAY AD Socialist Workers campaign supporters lot status for Mason and Gonzalez. SALT LAKE CITY - March 23 the pledged to take the presidential and vice­ The Utah ballot requirement for inde­ Socialist Workers 1984 campaign commit­ presidential campaign of Mel Mason and pendent candidates consists of collecting tee announced the candidacy of Cecelia Andrea Gonzalez, and the gubernatorial 300 signatures. In one week of petitioning Moriarity for governor of Utah. Moriarity campaign of Cecelia Moriarity, to the coal socialist campaigners collected over 745 works for Emery Mines Corp. in Emery miners in Price who will be facing a con­ signatures. This drive marked an important County and is a member of United Mine tract showdown this fall; to the copper min­ gain for the Utah socialist movement since Workers Local 2176. She is a founding ers at Kennecott where over 300 Militants it was the first time socialists had member of the Utah Coalition of Labor have been sold in the last few months; and petitioned in Price. Union Women. to garment, oil, steel, and rail workers Campaigners explained that the response Moriarity announced her campaign at a throughout the Price and Salt Lake areas. in the streets had been the best ever. In well-attended press conference on the state · Some of these workers have already had Price, where close to 200 signatures were capitol steps. Both major dailies in the the opportunity to talk to socialist campaign­ collected, campaigners reported that over area, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret ers as the Socialist Workers '84 campaign 60 percent of those approached agreed to News, as well as the Sun Advocate in Price, wrapped up its petitioning drive to get bal~ sign. Cecel~a Moriarity Utah, carried coverage of her announce­ ment. Two TV stations and one radio sta­ tion also attended the conference. At campaign rallies March 23 in Salt Lake City and March 24 in Price, Moriarity Socialist campaign fund goes over top explained that working people in Utah are facing a continuing crisis affecting their musicians, bartenders, and culinary work­ lives. ers - would be going on strike against 50 Unemployment remains at depression hotel-casinos in the National Resort As­ levels for the state's industrial workers. sociation. (The strike began on April 2.) Thousands of steelworkers are laid-off at They are fighting for decent wages, bene­ Kennecott Copper, the world's single fits and hours. She wanted to know how largest copper mining operation, near Salt Mason and Gonzalez could help win sup­ Lake City and at U.S. Steel's Geneva port for their struggle. Works in Orem, Utah. The Salt Lake Valley with its copper This union activist explained that al­ mine, smelters, and basic steel plants has though there is not much organized work­ one of the highest concentrations of mem­ ing-class political activity in Las Vegas, bers of the United Steelworkers of Ameri-­ there Is a lot of interest in ideas like those of the socialist campaign. Many of her co­ ca. workers are Latinos, including a large In Price the coal industry has hundreds number"' of Salvadorans and Nicaraguans, on layoff - pushing the unemployment and efforts are being made to organize ac­ rate to nearly 20 percent in Carbon and tivity in solidarity with the Salvadoran Emery counties where the coal mines are people. She asked how she could help get located. out information on the Mason-Gonzalez The week of Moriarity's announcement, Emery Mines announced the shut-down of campaign and begin to win support for its Desbee Dove mine. Moriarity their program. explained, "The mine was shut down by a The recent national conference of the fire caused by negligence on the part of the Coalition of Labor Union Women bosses. Now the company is using this as (CLUW) was another example of the an excuse to streamline its operations and accomplishments of the socialist campaign throw 100 miners out ofwork,-Theminers in the first few months. The only people were not at fault, yet they have to pay." talking socialism at this confen:nce, ex­ -- Moriarity said that the crisis facing plaining the source of women's oppres­ workers, from the war in Central America, sion, and pointing the way forward for _ to unemployment and loss of livestock and women from a working-class point of land for farmers, results directly from the view, were Mel Mason, Andrea Gonzalez, economic and political system in this coun­ and their campaign supporters. try. "The main thing in fighting back," she Over 50 women heard the candidates ex­ said, is "identifying the root of the problem plain the socialist strategy for the fight for - capitalism. Understanding that leads us Striking hotel workers in Las Vegas. Mason and Gonzalez sent message: "We stand women's rights at a reception hosted by the in solidarity with you against hotel and casino operators. Your fight is example to aU to the source of the solutions. Mason-Gonzalez campaign. Lively discus­ those facing givf;!backs, union-busting, and police harassment. We pledge to use our "The capitalists, a tiny minority, own all sions took place among the unionists as­ campaign to spread the word about your strike and build solidarity among working the mines, factories, refineries and banks," sembled at the reception, including a dis­ she explained. "They are the ones who people." cussion - initiated by two members of the have control over how we're governed. Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Work­ They also maintain their power through the BY YVONNE ·HAYES thousands of working people have been in­ ers Union from the Milwaukee area - on capitalist parties, the Democrats and Re­ The $84,000 fund to launch the socialist troduced to socialist ideas for the first time. how democracy works in Cuba and the publicans, and the election process that is presidential campaign of Mel Mason and Many of them have begun to consider these prospects for workers and farmers gaining used to disenfranchise working people." Andrea Gonzalez is over the top: $85,495 ideas as they seek an explanation of the political power in the U.S. For example, Moriarity will not be elig­ has been donated by campaign supporters crisis we face and look for ways to fight The $84,000 fund has made it possible ible for ballot status because of a five-year and, as the campaign wins even broader back against the employers and their gov­ for there to be a socialist campaign in the residency requirement. This law effec­ support, contributions will continue to ernment. presidential election this year - a cam­ tively excludes tens of thousands of work­ come in. A waitress in Las Vegas, Nevada, con­ paign to inspire working people with the ers who came to the state from around the Since the launching of the Mason-Gon­ tacted the campaign this week to explain potential for reshaping society and running country in search of jobs. zalez campaign only three months ago, that she and her coworkers- stage hands, it in our own interests. No other canipaign is presenting this alternative. Instead, most people who identify themselves as socialists or progressives have mistakenly Socialist campaigners set 'Militant'-'PM' drive thrown their support to one of the capitalist campaigns of Mondale, Hart, or Jackson Continued from front page working class -that speaks and reads workers are going through as their lives are under the guise of dumpin~ Reaganism. native-to voting for the capitalist candidate Spanish is also debating out whether or not deeply affected by layoffs, plant closings, The contributions of hundreds of with the least antilabor sounding positions? the correct strategy in 1984 is to "dump and by the current recovery accompanied socialist campaign supporters - workers That's why selling the Militant and PM, Reagan at any cost." Spanish-speaking by vicious union-busting attacks. Some of in the big industrial centers, young people which take up these questions, is so impor­ workers are thinking about the lessons of these workers have been convinced of the inspired by the vision of a socialist future, tant in this election year. the Grenada revolution and those in Nica­ Militant and PM's working-class approach Blacks and Latinos fighting racist oppres­ ragua and Cuba. The socialist campaign and look ,to these papers regularly for infor­ sion, and women struggling for equality­ Ellen Haywood, a youth coordinator of can reach out and actively involve these mation and analysis of political events, and have helped to put Mason and Gonzalez on the Mason-Gonzalez campaign, partici­ workers through sales of PM. they play a valuable role in introducing the road, taking the socialist program to pated in the petitioning efforts. She reports The sales campaign will provide an op­ socialist ideas to others. workers and farmers around the country. that after signing someone up, she would portunity for socialists to expand their reg­ Through campaigning with the press The $84,000 fund has helped ensure that ask if they were interested in more litera­ .ular plant-gate sales and explore new around the presidential elections, more the working class has a voice in the corning ture on the campaign. If the answer was places to sell in their cities and regions. workers like these will be attracted to. the elections. · yes, she would show them the Militant or · While the union officialdom is endorsing Socialist Workers Party and the Young With $13,409 in pledges outstanding, PM: Using this approach, she sometimes Mondale as a "friend of labor," rank-and­ Socialist Alliance. They will want to dis­ we want to continue the effort to raise sold as many as 4-5 papers in an hour of file unionists are thinking through what po­ cuss more, and some will want to join the funds for the socialist campaign. This petitioning. Campaign supporters are ex­ litical positions they'd like to see their party or the youth group. / money will help the campaign reach out perimenting with other methods of intro­ unions take, arid how this could help their Militant readers can become involved in more broadly - to more workers like the ducing people to the socialist press while concrete day-to-day struggles on and off this effort by contacting the socialist cam­ waitress in Las Vegas and the women who petitioning. the job. Plant-gate sales are an essential paign headquarters nearest you (see direc­ participated in the important discussions at The election campaign and the sales part of introducing these workers to the tory, page 13) or by writing the Militant's the CLUW conference in Chicago. Col­ drive will be strengthened by stepping up socialist campaign. circulation office at 14 Charles Lane, New lecting the entire $98,904 pledged will our sales of Perspectiva Mundial, the Through these sales, supporters of the York, N.Y. 10014. make it possible to set our sights higher and Spanish-language newspaper of the Militant and PM have learned about and Help get out the socialist alternative in win more·support for the socialist program socialist campaign.· The section of the participated in the thinkin~-out process 1984! in '84.

April 13, 1984 The Militant s Effects of U.S. chemical war in Vietnam "Before liberation," she said, "only· indi­ tists from many countries examined the . gent women came here to have babies, be­ evidence and concluded that there is a rela­ cause the health care here was very bad. I tion between exposure to toxic chemicals admit that was the reality. The people who and the rate of obstetric and gynecological had money preferred to have their babies in abnormalities. "Because we do not cur­ the private maternjties, so that they could rently have equipment sophisticated receive more modem care. enough to detect dioxin levels in the blood "Since liberation, we have lacked many and other tissues we cannot yet prove the things, such as medicine and sometimes direct role of dioxin itself," Dr. Phuong even doctors. But the way of taking care of said. patients is improved. Really, I am proud of The Vietnamese scientists are rigorous this hospital and of its achievements," she in their research . They· are determined to told us. make as scientifically-documented a case Now the hospital serves 16 provinces. as possible to unmask U.S. lies that About 30 percent of its 16,000 deliveries minimize the consequences of chemical last year were difficult cases. It has 650 weapons. beds and ususally about 700 patients. With Lasting consequences M ang the shortage of beds, some babies have to share cribs. Yet despite these problems, in­ Tying off umbilical cord of newborn at To Do Hospital. To Do is researching effects Actually, U.S. assistance and collabora­ fant and maternal mortality rates have gone tion in researching these problems would of Agent Orange and other chemicals sprayed by U.S. military. Rate ofbirtb defects down. and miscarriages is much higher in villages heavily sprayed. help not only the Vietnamese, but also t~e The hospital also carries out research many U.S. veterans who returned from work, especially into the effects of Agent Vietnam contaminated by Agent Orange, BY STEVE CLARK country. Orange, its deadly ingredient dioxin, and as well as U.S. farmers, farm workers, and AND DIANE WANG At the hospital we also visited Due and other chemicals sprayed by the U.S. mili­ chemical workers who have been poisoned HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -The Viet, Siamese twins born to a victim of tary. by dioxin. young woman was breathing with diffi­ chemical spraying. Dr. Phuong later In one study the doctors compared the Dr. Phuong said that more than 2 million culty. She c1utched a pillow under her arm. showed us a specimen room, where for-· rate of birth defects, fetal-uterine death, Vietnamese were contaminated by Agent "This is Tran Thu Thuy ," the doctor maldehyde-filled jars preserve many more hydatidiform moles, and miscarriages in a Orange. Five to lO percent of the cultivated explained. "We operated for cancer of the Siamese twins stillborn at delivery, along village heavily sprayed with chemicals to land in southern Vietnam was sprayed. uterus a while ago, but now i.t has spread to with fetuses with no brains and missing or- the rate in a neighborhood of Ho Chi Minh While the poison has seeped deep enough her lungs." gans. · City (formerly Saigon), which had not into the land that rice ar;~d crops with short been sprayed. The people of the contami­ roots are no longer dangerous, the trees, "She's only 26 years old," a nurse U.S. chemical war nated village had a much higher rate of well water, and streams are still contami­ added. every problem. nated. Like most patients on the cancer ward Dr. Phuong has worked at Tu Du since Then the doctors compared women at Some 40 to 45 percent of south Viet­ here at Tu Du Maternity Hospital, Tran 1969, and before that she served as an in­ the hospital who had normal deliveries nam's forests were_destroyed by chemical Thu Thuy is young. And like most others, tern here for three years. She personally with those who suffered problems. Among spraying during the U.S. war. This has had saw the rate of miscarriages, hydatidiform the groups suffering miscarriages, long-term consequences for both Viet­ moles, birth defects, and cancers rise over hydatidiform moles, and babies with birth nam's agriculture and industry. Droughts Our correspondents Steve Clark and the last 18 years as a consequence of the defects, the rate of exposure to the chemi­ and floods were made worse, since treeless Diane Wang have just completed a sev­ U.S. chemical warfare. cals was much higher. lands could not retain water or soil. Indus­ eral-week visit to Vietnam and Kam­ Dr. Phuong has also witnessed the posi­ . At an International Symposium on the try, such as mining, has suffered from the puchea. This is one of a number of arti­ tive changes in Tu Du hospital since the Long-term Effects of Toxic Chemicals shortage of timber. cles by them that will appear in the next Vietnamese victory in 1975, however. held in Ho Chi Minh City _last year, scien- Continued on Page 7 several weeks. she comes from an area of southern Viet­ nam that was heavily sprayed with Agent 'Mter libe~ation, task is still great' <>range and other chemical poisons by the U.S. government during the war. "The director here, Nguyen Van Lot, is the French and liberating the northern half the river ferry, Nguyen Van Lot made an - In the next room, a 20-year-old woman one of the old 'Viet Cong' fighters," our of the country from imperialist domina­ appeal. "Please work, do everything you was sleeping. Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc guide told us when we arrived at the Ma Da tion. Lot joined others in the liberation can to stop another war," he said. "Another Phuong, director of the hospital, told us Forest Plantation. forces who withdrew to the North. war could escalate into a war in which I that the young woman's uterus is covered We were curious to meet such a man. But in 1960 he returned to the South as would die, and you, and all of us." Seven with a massive, sponge-like growth called Nguyen Van Lot is not the "faceless part of the National Liberation Front months ago the plantation held a demon­ a hydatidiform mole. In the United States communist" portrayed by the U.S. media (NLF). By that time, Ma Da Forest was stration for world peace. "The U.S. im­ such hydatidiform moles are uncommon. during the 1960s and 1970s. His face is owned by the notorious family of South perialists must stop their aggressive wars In southern Vietnam, however, 80 times as weather-worn, tough like leather. His · Vietnamese Premier Ngo Dinh Diem. against the world's people," he concluded. many women develop these growths as in . clothes hang loose on a wiry body. His They built a road through the forest, not The United States government couldn't the United States. In fact, Vietnam has the grey hair stands up a bit stiffly. just to get at the timber but, more impor­ win such a war against Vietnam. Nguyen highest incidence of this problem in the "I've lived most of my life in Ma Da tantly, to get at the NLF fighters. The U.S. Van Lot and the many like him show why. world, Dr. Phuong explained. Most vic­ Forest," the 61-year-old fighter told us. army built five outposts along the road and -S.C. and D.W. tims come from areas targeted by the U.S. Though he was born in Saigon, he went to sprayed the forest heavily with chemicals chemical warfare. work in the forest as a young man. to try to flush out the revolutionaries. But While in the United States only 3 percent In 1944, when he was 20 years old, Lot the freedom fighters held on. of the hydatidiform moles develop into joined the Viet Minh, the united front for Finally, having won the withdrawal of cancer, about 20-25 percent do in Viet­ Vietnamese independence. Three years U.S ground troops in 1973, the Vietnamese nam. This is largely because Vietnam lacks later he joined the liberation army to fight liberation forces launched an offensive to the necessary anticancer drugs. "We have French efforts to maintain Vietnam as a liberate the entire country in March and shortages of many things - modem equip­ colony following World War II. April 1975. Nguyen Van Lot took part in ment, anticancer drugs, antibiotics, di­ Soon he fell ill to malaria, a common the battle of Xuan Loc, about 45 miles gitalis," Dr. Phuong said. Washington, as problem for the liberation army. Through­ north of Saigon. The U.S.-backed South part of its campaign to sabotage the Viet­ out the years that followed he suffered Vietnamese regime declared its troops name~e revolution, has organized an eco­ many relapses. would make a big stand there to reverse the nomic embargo of this desperately poor In 1954 Vietnam succeeded in defeating tide of revolutionary victories. "But when we attacked, the puppet forces didn't want to fight," Lot recalled. "We just chased them to Bien Hoa and then south to Saigon. People stood alongside the road cheering and urging us on." April 30, 1975- the day the NLF en­ tered Saigon, and Vietnam· was finally free - is vivid in Lot's memory. "There had been so much suffering during the war," he said. "But that day the people were cheer­ ing, the enemy was running, and support­ ers were bringing food from their houses to feed the soldiers. I was very happy." It was only after the victory that Lot was married, in 1976, But he didn't "retire" from the revolution. "After liberation, the task is still very great," he said. "Now the task is to rebuild the country and raise the living standards of the people. Many ques­ tions are raised by the people about their living condi~ions , and these questions must be answered and their demands met." ~\)= · · ~ Lot has returned to Ma Da Forest to try Nguyen Van Lot fought as part of Viet­ Militant/Diane Wang to bring it back to life. He directs the plan­ namese liberation forces for three dec­ Examining chemical drum left from U.S. war against Vietnam. As much as 45 per­ tation project, a state farm with 800 work­ ades. Following liberation, Lot is coordi­ cent of southern Vietnam's forests were destroyed, and well-water and streams are ers. nating effort to reforest areas destroyed still contaminated. Sitting in the plantation's restaurant by by U.S. chemical warfare.

6 The Militant April 13, 1984 'We need to win the majority to peace' ACTWU discusses Central America war BY PETE SEIDMAN El Salvador's unions have not let the MILWAUKEE- "The real threat to the U.S. -staged elections there sidetrack their working people of this country is not from struggles against brutal working conditions freedom fighters in El Salvador or a vic­ and low wages. "The striking unions have torious revolution in Nicaragua. The real called on all their affiliates not to partici­ threat is from an economic system we were pate in the elections," reported Rodriguez. taught was our benefactor but which in fact "They told the Salvadoran government that ancy has become a beast out of control." the elections are not the manner to resolve Left to right: Fernando Rodriguez, El Salvadoran Trade Unionists in Exile; Bob Gif­ In these words, Noel Beasley, business the crisis. The solution instead is to form a ford, editor of La Crosse Union Herald; Daryl Holter, Wisconsin AFL-CIO staff rep­ manager of the Textile Division of the provisional government that will have the resentative; Charlie Dee, American Federation of Teachers Local 212. At podium, Chicago Joint Board of the Amalgamated participation of all the sectors of society. Noel Beasley, Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Clothing and Textile Workers Union This provisional government then could (ACTWU), summed up the major theme of call for genuine elections," Rodriguez a March 18 meeting here on "Labor, Runa­ stated. way Shops, and U.S. Policy in Central Bob Gifford, an unemployed member of Union leader explains why labor America." the International Association of Machinists The meeting was attended by 50 people and editor of the AFL-CIO's La Crosse from at least 15 different Milwaukee-area ljnion Herald, also spoke. He participated is concerned about El Salvador trade union locals. It was sponsored by the in a recent trade union delegation that spent Labor Outreach Committee of the Central a week in Nicaragua. BY DAVE PAPARELLO situation is similar today." America Solidarity Coalition here as well "Let me tell you," he began. "There ATLANTA - Over I 00 people filled an In his talk, Dyson described a labor as ACTWU Local 64. The event was aren't going to be any factories run.ning International Brotherhood of Electrical movement functioning under severe re­ hosted by District 10 of the International from this country to Nicaragua! Since Workers auditorium March 23 to hear pression by the Salvadoran dictatorship Association of Machinists. Somoza was overthrown·, the Nicaraguans Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Work­ and the right-wing death squads. Charlie Dee, an executive board mem­ have organized 1,000 unions. Eighty per­ ers Union (ACTWU) leader David Dyson. "We went down to find out what had ber of Local 212 of the American Federa­ cent of the workers there are in unions Dyson, ACTWU's Union Label director, happened to the labor movement in El Sal­ tion of Teachers, chaired the meeting. now, while our problem here is just hold- was part of a delegation of U.S. trade vador. We found a labor movement barely Dee explained that the issue of plant . ing on to what we've got." unionists that made a fact-finding tour of El alive and badly fragmented. Even the UPD closings and runaway shops is a burning Gifford read a call by Nicaraguan unions Salvador in June 1983. (People's Democratic Union), the pro re­ one in Wisconsin. Many major manufac­ to an international union conference on The delegation included national leaders form federation linked with the Christian turing firms in the state have moved plants peace to be held in Managua in April. He of ACTWU, American Federation of Democratic Party, fears the right, and their to Central America and Mexico, including cited the concern of Nicaraguan leaders State, County and Municipal Employees, members carry guns under their guaya­ Rexnord, A.O. Smith, Square D, Cutler­ that "although there are numerous big National Education Association, and the beras [shirts] for protection against the Hammer, and Kimberly-Clark. peace demonstrations around the world, United Auto Workers. The delegation's re­ death squads." Beasley explained why places like El the trade unions have not yet been heard of port was adopted by the National Labor He related an interview with a union Salvador have become such "a haven for as an international force for peace. Committee in Support of Democracy and leader named Santiago. They met at 1 a.m. free enterprise." "This conference is an example of what Human Rights in El Salvador and is avail­ in a textile union hall that had been bombed Since the 1950s, he said, El Salvador we all should be doing now," Gifford able in print. three times in the past. Santiago explained has rapidly become the most industrialized urged. He criticized the actions of the Dyson was introduced by Bruce Raynor, that the officers had to bum the member­ country in Central America. U.S. corpora­ AFL-CIO in Central America carried out in ACTWU international vice-president and ship list to keep it from the death squads. tions own 80 percent of the country's conjunction with the Central Intelligence southern regional director-textile division. Each person memorized five names and firms, which are concentrated heavily in Agency through the American Institute for In his introduction, Raynor offered some used only public telephones to contact food processing and textiles. Free Labor Development. These foreign answers to the question "why is ACTWU members for meetings. These operations are highly profitable. policies, he said, are not only wrong, but concerned about Central America?" In the late 1970s, when the labor move­ For example, "outside the capital city of make it impossible for labor to solve its Raynor cited the growing number of ment began to win some victories, the gov- . San Salvador," Beasley re}Jorted, "is a problems at home. emment r~sponded with antilabor decrees. We can't deal with runaway shops U.S. companies closing U.S. operations 'free-trade zone' where some 3,000 work­ and moving to locations in Central Ameri­ "Decree 296," said Dyson, "stated that ers earn an average of $2.40 per day. This through plant-closing legislation alone, government employees did not have the Gifford insisted, "the cancer is too great.'' ca and the Caribbean. Manhattan Shirts was, according to one study, only 40 per­ Co., for example, moved from South right to strike. Of course, we're familiar cent of the income needed to support a typ­ Among the new ways of defending and with that, too. transforming the labor movement, Gifford Carolina to El Salvador where the current ical family ," wage for sewing is 27 cents per hour. "Then there is Decree 507 that effec­ At the same time, "trade unions have said, is building the trade union conference tively established a state of siege. The been outlawed, labor leaders arrested, and in Nicaragua as well as working to get "Another reason," Raynor added, "is media often overlook the part of this decree the whole population subjected to bestial trade union audiences for Salvadoran that perhaps labor should have spoken out that states that confessions gained by tor­ unionists in the United States. earlier against the war in Vietnam. The slaughter. . / ture are admissible in court. "There is no need to import social unrest "Later they issued Decree 44, which dis­ to a country like that," Beasley explained solved the electrical workers union called - countering the Kissinger commission Effects of chemical war in Vietnam STECEL. Imagine, waking up one morn­ report's claim that the fundamental cause ing and reading in the papers that your Continued from Page 6 of El Salvador's troubles is Nicaraguan, the project is experimenting with other union was just declared illegal!" varieties to restore and prepare the soil. In Cuban, and Soviet subversion. Ma Da Forest, close to the former U.S. Dyson also detailed a visit by the delega­ · ' 'Also, government war spending has military base at Bien Hoa, suffered the addition, some land is planted with sugar tion to Mariona Prison where many trade contributed to union-busting indirectly be­ heaviest chemical spraying during the war. cane to raise money for the social fund at unionists, including the leadership of cause mflitary dollars are disporportion­ "When you step onto this land," a local this state-run forest plantation. STECEL, are incarcerated. ately spent in southern and southwestern guide told us, "you put your feet on the rev­ The delegation met with 44 unionists at states that are union-free havens," Beasley olutionary century" in Vietnam. For dec­ Production teams the prison. Dyson announced that a na­ argued. ades Vietnamese freedom fighters found . The work is done by about 800 workers tional network would be put together to refuge in this forest, which stretches from He explained that we need a policy of organized into four . production teams. work for the freeing of the trade unionists, "saving jobs without war." northern to southern Vietnam and west to Most workers are in their early 20s, and the such as the STECEL leaders. "We need to begin by demanding an end Kampuchea and Laos. Because it was so plantation gets significant help from the "The only freedom we're [the U.S. gov­ to U.S. aid to the junta in El Salvador. close to Bien Hoa and Saigon, the U.S. Dong Nai province youth association. ernment] fighting for in El Salvador is free­ "We need a policy that takes money military tried to defoliate the forest in the While some of these young workers dom for the oligarchy and the multination­ from the $1.6 trillion military budget for 1960s in order to detect and destroy the come from the forest area, most are from als to exploit the Salvadoran people," said revolutionaries. blowing up the planet and uses it to create nearby cities. It is not easy to attract young Dyson. jobs instead. Before the U.S. war, Ma Da was a lush volunteers from the city's unemployed to "When reporters asked me, 'why is labor "We need to reestablish our old union forest with giant trees one or two yards in this wilderness, so the plantation tries to interested in El Salvador,' I answered, 'be­ slogan, 'an injury to one is an injury to all,' diameter. It was home for monkeys, deer, offer benefits. Wages are above average, cause it's the right thing to do.' Many of the on an international level. and other wildlife. Today a few of the old and at the end of last year workers received people we met with are dead now." "Another slogan that must be resurrected trees stand here or there as a reminder of a bonus equal to three or four months' sal­ Dyson concluded with the appeal, "No is that 'no worker can be free while others the old glory. The rest of the land is ary for overfulfilling the plantation quota. more military aid to El Salvador, no more are in chains.' No worker can compete covered only by wild grasses or saplings We visited one of several new com­ runaway shops, no more young men sent to with slavery." planted since the war. munities set up in the forest. About 61 die in old men's warS." Using such arguments, Beasley con­ Nguyen Van Lot, director of the refores­ people live in small wooden houses. While The program, organized by the Atlanta cluded, "we need to win a majority of tation project, led us through the grasses to everyone helps with the plantation's col­ Labor Committee for Peace and Justice in people in our country to the side of peace." a dried-up riverbed. An old, rusty chemical lective work, each family also has a small Central America, also included the film Fernando Rodriguez, a representative of drum still had traces of its markings to plot to supplement their income. An infant Americas in Transition and live music. the Chicago office of the El Salvadoran show it was made in the United States. house, kindergartep, and school have been The Atlanta Labor Committee, com­ Trade Unionists in Exile, provided an ex­ The heavy spraying came in 1967 and built. The community center has not only a posed of union members and officials, re­ citing account of the strikes recently car­ 1968, Lot said. The forest was destroyed, blackboard for meetings and classes, but ceived broad labor endorsement for the ried out by Salvadoran working people. and the resulting change in the climate now also a ping pong table and a television for event, including United Auto Workers Re­ Before being forced to flee his country, makes it very difficult to replant. The land, recreation. A small generator provides gional Office; International Union . of Rodriguez was the first secretary of grie­ parched during the six-month dry season, electricity for the community. Elevator Constructors Local 32; Amalga­ vances for the Union of Food and Milk is quickly eroded when the rains do come. This looks like what it is -a small fron­ mated Transit Union Local 732; Clarence Production Industries in El Salvador. During our visit it was all very.dry, red dust tier town. Young forestry workers here, Atkins, Communications Workers of Rodriguez's story underscored the com­ settling on everything. like the doctors at Tu Du Hospital, are America Local 3204; and others. mon interests of North American and Sal­ In some areas the project has planted pioneers on the frontier of their country's vadoran workers in fighting U.S.-backed quick-growing banana trees to fight ero­ future. They are overcoming the wilder­ Dave Paparello works at the Arrow Shirt exploitation that is an incentive to runaway sion. The kind of tree that formerly domi­ ness left by the U.S. war to build a new Co. He's a member ofAmalgamated Cloth­ shops to El Salvador. nated the forest doesn't seem to do well, so Vietnam. ing and Textile Workers Union Local365.

April 13, 1984 The Militant 7 Nicaraguan rightists oppose election laws 16 year olds, all military personnel given right to vote

BY JANE HARRIS and national assembly elections simultane­ MANAGUA, Nicaragua - An election ously is undemocratic, the right-wing's code of 163 articles is now on the books beef is much more deep-rooted. here after three weeks of heated debate in the Council of State. The final article was List preconditions approved March 15. As a whole, the law bends the stick in This was made clear by the right's "pre­ favor of the smaller political parties, thus conditions" spelled out for the umteenth trying to ensure the political pluralism that time on the eve of the election date an­ exists here. For example: nouncement. In essence, they are as fol­ • No signatures are required for ballot lows: status (a change from the original draft • A "national 'dialogue" and "general law, which required 5,000 signatures). amnesty" for "all Nicaraguans" including • Each political party that runs a full those leading the armed counterrevolution. slate of candidates will receive $600,000 in • Complete separation between the government financing. In addition, all par­ Sandinista National Liberation Front ties have the right to solicit additional cam­ (FSLN) and the government. paign funds both in Nicaragua and abroad. • Dismantling of the mass organiza­ • Each party is guaranteed an equal tions, especially the Sandinista Defense share in 15 minutes of television time Committees (CDS). daily, and in 15 minutes daily on each of 16 • Repeal of decrees authorizing confis­ state-owned radio stations. As well, during cation of absentee owners and owners the course of the campaign each party may caught participating in the economic sabo­ purchase up to 30 minutes of broadcast tage. time on privately owned radio stations. • Immediate suspension of the State of • To ensure the best representation of Emergency. political parties in the new assembly, los­ • No vote for members of the army or ing presidential candidates, should they re­ militia. ceive enough votes to win a representa­ • Minimum voting age of 18, not 16. Young soldiers celebrating 4th anniversary of Nicaraguan revolution. Right wing is tive's seat, will automatically be seated as These demands gave rise to a suffrage · demanding that 16 and 17 year olds and those who are defending revolution.arms in hand be denied the right to vote. Rightists also demand that counterrevolutionary such. movement to ensure the 16-year-old vote • The residency requirement for candi­ as well as a movement to demand interna­ leaders who terrorize workers and peasants be permitted to participate in elections. dates stipulated in the original draft has tional law be used to extradite and sentence been dropped, thus allowing an opposition counterrevolutionary leaders. vadoran people." presidential candidate. Godoy has served figure such as former junta member Arturo Sixteen-year-olds as well as army and These forces "are searching for a way to as the revolutionary government's minister Cruz (who's currently living outside of militia members are now guaranteed voting discredit the revolution imd the election ·· of labor for four and a half years. Nicaragua) to participate should he choose rights under the new law. process and are accusing us of making the When he resigned his government post to. A television spot explains that nothing elections a big trap," Tellez said. "The in mid-March in order to devote all his • All parties may have observers at each could be more natural than the army vot­ FSLN doesn't need to make a trap to win." energies to his party, La Prensa ran giant of some 5,000 polling booths. ing: In Mexico, Cuba, Spain, USSR, Por­ The only trap the FSLN will need to make headlines across its front page insinuating tugal, Sweden, France, the United States, is one to ensure votes for the parties that that he was rejecting working inside the Right wing says elections 'too soon' Costa Rica, and now in Nicaragua, "the won't get 30,000 votes, she said. revolutionary government. armed citizens have equal rights." Thirty thousand votes is the minimum The next day, Barricada ran statements Still, those who cried the loudest for the A big complaint of the right wirig has elections are terribly unhappy. The elec­ needed to gain a representative in the na­ of both Godoy and government coordinator been the fact that after the 1979 insurrec­ ·tional assembly. Parties that don't manage Daniel Ortega, expressing mutual under­ tions, which they previously claimed were tion the Sandinista National Liberation scheduled too far off in the future, are now to elect at least one representative may lose standing about Godoy's resignation and the Front took over ex-dictator Anastasio their legal standing. reasons for it. being held "too soon." Somoza's two and only existing television· By -contrast, many of these right-wing Tellez jo~ed that in the end the FSLN. stations. A new decree, issued February Right wing' attacks Contactora group ' ..' . .. forces, including the Managua . daily La may wind up asking people to "please vote 10, made these stations the property of the for such-and-such a party, just so the par­ Prensa, have hailed the U.S.-orchestrated The "Democratic Coordinating Commit­ Nicaraguan government. ties don't dissappear and political elections in El Salvador as a "triumph for tee," an umbrella organization made up of democracy." pluralism is maintained." No legitimate complaints A final complaint of the right wing is three right-wing political parties, two Some of the right-wing parties walked rightist union federations,'and a number of that the campaign will not last long out of the Council of State midway through The truth is the right wing is in a bind be­ big-business groups, has been busy cam­ enough. (It is scheduled to officially begin the discussion on the election law because cause they have no legitimate complaints. paigning outside Nicaragua but not doing in May and end November 4.) of "a disagreement over the election of a Commader Dora Maria Tellez explained that well there either. The March 2 editorial in the FSLN daily presidential regime the Sandinista govern­ the situation this way to a group of students For example, their president, millionaire Barricada explains that "a prolonged cam­ ment is seeking to impose in the upcoming here March 19. The right wing "said the businessman Ramiro Gurgian attacked the paign - rather than favoring pluralism and November elections, violating the judicial elections would be .like honey, but now Contadora group "because they are only in­ the ideological struggle - can be voluntar­ norms established in the original govern­ they are running away as if it were a purga­ terested in the external situation and not the ily or involuntarily turned into a maneuver ment program." tive" and, she added, "they are going to internal." (The Contadora group, compris­ distracting people's attention from central That's how La Prensa explained the de­ have to drink it." ing Mexico, Colombia, Panama, and Ven­ tasks." parture of the Social Democratic Party · Reminding the students that these forces ezeula, is trying to negotiate a peace settle­ On the other hand, "a campaign of (PSD), followed by the Council on Trade have nothing to offer but their miserable ment in Central America.) reasonable length will contribute to the dis­ Union Unification's (CUS) delegate, and history of abandonment of popular strug­ Speaking in Caracas, Venezuela, Gur­ cussion and to widening of Nicaraguan de­ later on the Social Christian (PSC), Llberal gles, she pointed out "that's why they're gian then went on to attack Mexico's am­ mocracy without affecting its stability, Constitutionalist (PLC), and Conservative happy and applauding the electoral process bassador in Managua, whom he referred to something that all political currents should Democrat (PCD) representatives. in El Salvador, which is nothing more than as the "lOth commander." (The top FSLN agree on." · While claiming that holding presidential a bayonet rammed in the backs of the Sal- leadership consists of the Directorate of nine commanders.) Ideological struggle advancing The Coordinating Committee is particu­ As Barricada predicted, the ideological larly worried because leaders of the Second 13 sentenced for attacks on peasants struggle is advancing - between and with­ International such as Spanish Prime Minis­ in political parties and among the popula­ ter Felipe Gonzalez, Swedish Prime Minis­ BY JANE HARRIS these crimes are "outside the concept of the tion as a whole. ter Olof Palme, and former West German MANAGUA, Nicaragua - The revolu­ revolution." Divisions such as those in the. Indepen­ Chancellor Willi Brandt have spoken fa­ tionary government here has taken firm While stating that ~ ' these are isolated in­ dent Liberal, Liberal Constitutionalist, and vorably of the elections here and urged full measures to make clear it will not tolerate cidents," Ubeda said that citizens should Conservative parties, are surfacing more participation in them. abuses of the peasant population by sol­ have confidence that the revolutionary au­ publicly. Minorities in those parties are The Coordinating Committee's chief diers or civilians. thorities will take severe action concerning considered to be too pro-FSLN. For exam­ ally besides businessmen is the Catholic Thirteen people, including four mem­ "all crimes committed against the people." ple, La Prensa often refers to Conservative church hierarchy, which has already de­ bers of the Sandinista Army, were sen­ A more general problem, a militia leader Party leader Rafael Cordova Rivas, who is clared it will not be "impartial" about the tenced March II for crimes including mur­ who had just returned from the mountains a member of the three-person government elections. The seven members of the der, rape, robbery, physical abuse, and told the Militant, is the Jack of understand­ junta, as a "watermelon" - green (the Bishop's Conference are expected'to issue - death threats against residents of the ag­ ing some urban militia recruits have of life color of the Conservative Party) on the out­ a statement concerning the elections ricultural village of Pantasma. in the countryside. side, red on the inside. shortly. · "Some peasants," he said, "can be on the The Independent Liberal Party (PLI), As if a democratic election code was Sentences ranged as high as 14 years for _ knife edge between the revolution and the one of the four parties that make up the nonexistent , Managua's Archbishop a sergeant convicted of rape, and 24 years counterrevolution. What might seem like a Revolutionary Patriotic Front (FPR-), has Miguel Obando y Bravo told reporters for a civilian convicted of murder. little thing, like a militia member taking a announced it will run separately, as op­ shortly after its approval, "for there to be a Pantasma, located in the northern prov­ pig and 'forgetting' to pay for it, can some­ posed to the possibility of running in a bloc just and honest election, it's necessary to ince of Jinotega, was the site of a counter­ times make the difference in pushing a with other parties of the FPR. have a climate of complete freedom of ex­ revolutionary attack October 18 in which peasant over to the side of the counterrevo­ (The other parties in the FPR are the pression, so that the parties can make their 42 peasants were massacred and the town lution." FSLN, the Socialist Party, and the People's programs known." was thoroughly ransacked. Coverage of the sentencing was featured Social Christian Party. It has not yet been Apparently, the archbishop felt freer to The crimes committed were carried out on the front page of the Sandinista Front announced whether these three parties will express himself in the capital of U.S. -oc­ only a few days prior to the attack. Several daily Barricada as well as on national tele­ run separately or as a joint slate. Nor has cupied Honduras - Tegucigalpa - than of the acts of physical abuse were carried vision preceding and following the event. any party yet named its candidate for pres­ he did in Managua. Not surprising, given out by individuals who had themselyes lost Referring to the three-hour public meet­ ident or vice-president.) · that Tegucigalpa is a major center for so­ relatives to counterrevolutionary attacks. ing where the sentences were both read and At the recent convention, 70 percent of called undercover actions to the tune of Nevertheless, said Commander Juan explained, Commander Ubeda said, "this the PLI delegates reelected Virgilio Godoy tens of millions of dollars against his own Jose Ubeda, who read out the sentences, is an act of revolutionary justice." as head of their party and, de facto, as their country, Nicaragua.

8 The Militant April 13, 1984 New terrorist attack on Nicaraguan ports Continued from front page explosions or shelling in Nicaraguan ports since early March. In one of the most seri­ ous incidents, five crew members of a Soviet oil tanker were injured when their vessel hit a mine March 20. All three of Nicaragua's major ports have been repeatedly mined in what the government has denounced as the "begin­ ning of a military blockade." ''The United States is trying to paralyze the country," Commander Daniel Ortega, coordinator of the revolutionary govern­ ment, charged March 31 . At a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council held April 2 to hear Nicaragua's charges, France, Mexico, China, Zim­ babwe, Syria, India, and Guyana joined in the protest. Economically, the attack on Nicaragua's foreign trade comes just as the country is preparing to export its most important ag­ ricultural products - cotton, coffee, and sugar. Militarily, it comes as more than I ,000 U.S. troops begin a new series of military "maneuvers" in Honduras. The maneuvers began April l , and the Nicaraguan Foreign Funeral for Sandinista killed by U.S.-backed counterrevolutionaries. U.S. has escalated attacks on Nicaragua with each set 1 Ministry estimates that the new arrivals of ''war games" with Honduras. Right, counterrevolutionaries on Honduran border. : bring to a total of more than 4,000 the number of U.S. forces in Honduras. These latest U.S. troop movements, "games" provide a convenient cover for the There are indications that the first stages This includes, says Vice-foreign Minis­ says Humberto Ortega, Commander in shipment of large quantities of arms and of a major military operation may have al­ ter Victor Tinoco, 700 left over from the Chief of the Sandinista Armed Forces, equipment to the U.S.-organized contra ready begun. last maneuvers, 600 operating two radar mean that the United States "now has in forces . Since the first week of March, contras stations, the l ,000 just sent in, and an "un­ place [everything needed for] an interven­ based in Honduras have been carrying out known number sent to the border with El tion that could break out at any moment. A second factor confirming the likeli­ stepped up incursions deep into Nicara­ Salvador." Their ships are off our coasts. Their forces hood of greatly increased attacks is the re­ guan territory. Fighting is taking place on a Despite the recent shake-up in the Hon­ are in Honduras. Their paratroopers are cent escalation of U.S . spy flights . More daily basis along much of the northern bor­ duran army's high command, the maneu­ ready to attack." than 70 U.S . aircraft were spotted carrying der. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, small vers are going ahead as planned. Whatever out reconnaissance flights over northern towns have been hit, civilians have been the internal rifts in the military, the appar­ In the past, each stage of the U.S.-Hon­ Nicaragua in the last weeks of March. The massacred, cooperatives burned to the ent new strong man, Air Force chief Gen. duran "war games" has been the prelude to aim of such flights is to pinpoint the loca­ ground. Walter Lopez, is described as just as "pro­ a significant increase in contra (counter­ tion of Sandinista forces so as- to facilitate Outside the larger cities, travel and com­ U.S." as dismissed Gen. Gustavo Alvarez. revolutionary) activity. That's because the the entry of contra squads. merce have been hit hard by the increase in terror attacks. In the bustling northern bor­ der city of Ocotal , for example, life con­ tinues more or less as normal. INS attacks Salvadoran sanctuary program Yet during a recent visit there this repor­ ter and a photographer from U.S. News and BY ELSA BLUM stay outside all day- it's too much trouble placed the center under quarantine due to a World Report could not find a single driver SAN ANTONIO - A nun and a reli­ to let them in and out - and there are no · measles outbreak. willing to make a trip into the mountains to gious social worker could be sentenced to bathrooms for their use while outside. Health department officials and BARCA the south - even for a sum equivalenHo 15-yearjail sentences and hit with fines to­ Activists in the Border Associatiqn for members confirmed that several cases of two months pay. taling $14,000. They were indicted by a fed­ Refugees from Central America (BARCA) measles had been discovered. To the local One contra squad was as close as the eral grand jury in Brownsville, Texas, on provide paper and envelopes, cash checks, solidarity activists it came as no surprise. outskirts of the town. They had murdered March 15 for conspiracy and illegal trans­ and help handle mail and telephone calls Los Fresnos camp doctors reluctantly an unarmed civilian that morning. And it portation of two Salvadoran refugees. for detainees, who sometimes stay at Los provide medical care, in some cases allow­ was rumored that some of the back roads The February 19 predawn arrest of Sister Fresnos as long as eight months while the ing weeks to go by before examining de­ had been planted with land mines. Dianne Muhlenkamp and layworker Stacey INS reviews their cases or before they can tainees. The mining of Nicaragua's harbors is a Merkt by border patrol agents on a rural raise the $2,500-$5,000 bond. Elder welcomes the growing interest in new element in the United States' rapidly road in Texas' Rio Grande Valley made Lawyers with Proyecto Libertad have and support for Casa Oscar Romero, but expandingwar. The obvious aim is to per­ front-page headlines here. filed suit against the INS for routinely re­ explains that compared to the magnitude of suade ship owners to cancel contracts that fusing to advise Central American refugees the problem "what we're doing is insig­ require entering the country's ports. Also arrested, but not indicted pending of their rights to a hearing and to apply for nificant in terms of actually assisting refu­ To prevent tl!is, Nicaraguan fishermen further investigation, was Jack Fischer, a political asylum. gees. have volunteered to risk their lives and Dallas Times-Herald reporter. He was on The camp averages 60-75 deportations a "Whether or not the house is here, the livelihoods to assure the safe passage of assignment covering the informal network week. Salvadoran security forces and refugees will come so long as violence in commercial vessels. Each ship, as it enters of religious people, churches, and organi­ right-wing death squads view the returning El Salvador, which the Reagan administra­ a Nicaraguan port, is now preceded by two zations known as the Sanctuary Move­ young men with suspicion, and many, tion supports, continues." small fishing boats, dragging a net weigh­ ment, which aids Salvadorans fleeing from perhaps most, face torture and death upon The legal fight developing between the ted with chains between them. If there is a their war-torn homeland. their return to El Salvador. INS and the Sanctuary Movement prom­ mine in the channel, they will strike it first. In 1982 there were 15 churches of vari­ INS Deputy Director Dave Turner ises to focus more public attention on the Three of the 18 fishing boats that have ous denominations around the U.S. pub­ agreed to allow Socialist Workers Party inhumane treatment Salvadoran refugees been converted into homemade "mine licly defying the Immigration and Naturali­ vice-presidential candidate Andrea Gon­ face at the hands of Ia migra, and also on sweepers" have so far been sunk on these zation Service (INS) to provide sanctuary. zalez and four·supporters to tour the camp. U.S. complicity in the fate awaiting those missions. But 27 mines have been deacti­ Today there are approximately 110 such Permission was rescinded when the INS who are deported. vated. And Nicaragua's ports remain open. churches in 60 cities. This case may be "the political trial of 1984," said Jack Elder, director of Casa Oscar Romero, a refugee center in San Be­ nito, where the arrested Salvadorans had 300 at Seattle Central America teach-in been staying. BY DEAN PEOJ1LES E. Randel Osburn, vice-president of the Osburn recalled a conversation he had Casa Oscar Romero, named for the Sal­ AND FRANCINE BARR Southern Christian Leadership Confer­ with a Black woman while visiting the At­ vadorim archbishop slain by a government SEATTLE - Several events in solidar­ ence, who recently visited Nicaragua. lantic Coast of Nicaragua. She told him death squad, is a small, single-story white ity with struggles in Central America were Rev. Osburn said he is occasionally they would welcome Blacks who come in building that provides a refuge for 25-30 recently held in Seattle. asked by the media why he is involved in friendship to visit Nicaragua, as he did, but Salvadorans. On March 22 some 30 people attended a. the solidarity movement. He said that be­ that those who crossed their borders in uni­ This sanctuary provides an alternative to slide show and presentation by Jose Col­ hind this question was an attitude that forms , carrying guns, would be killed. what lies in store for refugees apprehended ato, hosted by the Seattle Committee of Blacks should not be getting involved in Also on March 24, Manuel Arana, inter­ by Ia migra - the INS - and sent to the Teachers in Solidarity with ANDES, the foreign policy questions. But, he said, national affairs representative from Nicara­ Los Fresnos detention camp known as "El Salvadoran teachers onion. Black people have every right to express gua, spoke to about 100 people at a recep­ Corral6n." Colato, a former member of the faculty their opinions on foreign policy. He said tion at the Bush Hotel. Arana detailed how When this concentration camp opened of the National University of El Salvador one good reason is because Blacks are al­ the U.S . military presence in Honduras is two years ago it could hold 175 people. It and a member of ANDES, explained how ways sent to the front lines to fight Wash­ aiding the Salvadoran regime in its battle now holds 700 in overcrowded conditions. ANDES has been conducting a literacy ington's wars, where they die in higher against the popular forces: monitoring Recent visitors described the orange campaign in El Salvador inside the "zones numbers to their proportion in society. He rebel troop movements at night with in­ jumpsuits detainees must wear, the triple of control," and in the refugee camps in said "old white men in Washington are vot­ frared sensors, mapping the entire country doors, and the dollar-a-day pay for those countries outside El Salvador. He pointed ing for wars" that we have to fight, unlike in detail with reconnaissance flights, and who decide that kitchen, yard, or janitorial out that both in Cuba and Nicaragua, liter­ in Nicaragua where "the people are making organizing a military strike force involving work is at least a way to pass time. acy campaigns were undertaken im­ the decisions." Honduran, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran mediately after the victory, but the Sal­ Rev . Osburn said he feared that many troops. There is no radio, and TV is only in Eng­ vadoran teachers were organizing their lit­ U.S. soldiers would die if the United States March 25, the same day that so-called lish. The INS confiscates pens and pencils eracy campaign even before the triumph. carries out an invasion of Nicaragua. He democratic elections were being conducted and the refugees must go to the office to On March 24 a Central America Teach­ said, "Nicaragua is prepared at every level in El Salvador, about 500 people marched write their letters there. In was held, which was attended by about to fight an invasion - it would not be in a procession in memory of slain Sal­ In "good weather" the young men must 300 people. One of the speakers was Rev. another Grenada." vadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

April 13, 1984 The Militant 9 U.S. steps up intervention in North Africa Sends warplanes to Sudan, warns Libya of 'serious_consequences'

I . BY ERNEST HARSCH force men? Was it the prelude to a planned In a further escalation of U.S. interven­ coup? The leader of one of the southern tion in North Africa, Washington has Sudanese opposition movements promptly rushed new military aid to the Sudanese accused Mr Numeiri of ordering the bomb­ government of Pres. Gaafar al-Nimeiry. ing of Omdurman in order to whip up It has done so to bolster N1meiry's local, and Egyptian, support." proimperialist regime against domestic op­ Whatever the case, the bombing came at position forces - including a resurgence a convenient time for Nimeiry. Just two of rebel actions in the south - as well as to weeks earlier, Gen. Omar Mohammed el­ threaten the government of Col. Muammar Tayeb, his first vice-president, was in el-Qaddafi in neighboring Libya. Washington to request new U.S. arms. He The pretext for this move was the March met with Vice-pres. George Bush, Defense 16 bombing of several buildings in Omdur­ Secretary Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of man (part of the Khartoum metropolitan State George Shultz, and National Security area) by an unidentified aircraft, in which Adviser Robert McFarlane. five people were killed. Nimeiry quickly Following Tayeb's visit, Vernon Wal­ blamed Qaddafi for the raid, as did the ters, a retired general who serves as a top Reagan administration in Washington. The aide to Shultz, flew to Khartoum to discuss Libyan government has denied the charge. the details of further U.S. military assist­ Two U.S. AWACS surveillance planes ance. were dispatched to Egypt, supposedly to strengthen the Sudan's air defenses, but in Even before Washington's latest move fact as a provocation against Libya. Wash­ to shore up Nimeiry, the Sudanese regime ington sent a note to Libya warning of was slated to receive $166.5 million in "serious consequences" if anything hap­ U.S. military aid this year and $190.7 mil­ pened to the two planes. lion the next. Part of a squadron of F-5 jet .Throughout the week after the bombing, fighters has already been delivered . giant U.S. C-141 transport planes flew into The Sudan plays a strategic role in a military airfield north of Khartoum with Washington's interventionist plans in the government in the Muslim, Arabic­ March 2 speech, Qaddafi explained that radar equipment, missiles, and Egyptian North Africa and the Middle East. Besides speaking north to impose its domination Libya was "allied with the popular revolu­ troops. The Egyptian regime, another close taking a provocative stance toward Libya, over the south. tion in the southern Sudan." The Ethiopian ally ofWashington's in the region, has pro­ the Nimeiry regime played a key role in Several thousand fighters are now active government is also reported to be backing vided considerable military assistance to backing the CIA-financed army of Hissene in the south, many of them former govern­ the guerrillas. Nimeiry over the past few years. 1-{abre in Chad and has made threats against ment soldiers from garrisons in three south­ General Tayeb has accused the outlawed This stepped-up imperialist involvement neighboring Ethiopia. Several massive ern towns that mutinied in May 1983. They Communist Party, which is based in the in the Sudan fits in with a broader pattern U.S. military exercises have been con­ have shot down military aircraft, attacked north, of coordinating its-activities with the of U.S. threats, provocations, and direct ducted in the Sudan, and the country is oil installations, and shelled towns. SPLM, claiming "the conspiracy is aimed acts of aggression against Libya in recent considered a possible staging area for Thousands have been killed on both sides at both southern and northern Sudan." years. Washington hates the Qaddafi gov­ Washington's Rapid Deployment Force. in the fighting. ernment, which has defied U.S; dictates in This reflects the regime's concern that Given this role, the U.S. imperialists There are two main rebel groups. The organized-opposition could also spread to the region and provided backing to anti-im­ have been especially concerned about the Anyanya IT traces its roots back to the sec­ perialist fighters in numerous countries, in­ the more populo~s Arabic-speaking north. growing political and social unrest within essionist Anyanya movement that waged a Outbursts of popular discontent have cluding Chad, the Western Sahara, and the the Sudan. civil war against the northern regime from Sudan itself. sporadically broken out in Khartoum and Since 1983, there has been a sharp rise 1955 to 1972. But the larger group today is elsewhere. In 1982, for example, austerity The March 16. bombing in Omdurman in guerrilla actions in the impoverished the Sudan People's Liberation Movement has all the earmarks of a set-up designed to measures imposed by the International south, which is populated by various Nilo­ (SPLM), which portrays its fight against justify this U.S. aggression. The official Monetary Fund led to food riots in the cap­ tic and other peoples, who are largely the Nimeiry regime as a "national struggle" account ofthe bombing leaves many ques­ ital. Christians or adherents of tribal beliefs. involving all Sudanese:· tions unanswered. Nimeiry's effort to use thesi>ecter of Li­ Southerners have long suffered discrimina­ The Libyan government has made no byan "aggression" to rally support for his How was it possible for a plane to fly tion and have repeatedly resisted efforts by secret of its support for the rebels. In a from the Kufra airbase in Libya to Omdur­ regime has not been particularly success­ man and back - a distance of more than ful. Following the March 16 bombing, the 1 ,600 miles - without being challenged government appealed for mass solidarity by Sudanese air defenses? Minn. forum on Grenada anniversary demonstrations in Khartoum. Only 500 people turned out. Was the plane really a Soviet-made BY MAGGIE McCRAW From Intercontinental Press Tupolev bQmber (Libya is the only country workers in the United States. ST. PAUL, Minn. ~ On March 17 over in the region known to have them), as the Janice Payne Dorliae spoke for NBIPP. 50 people attended a meeting to discuss the Sudanese and U.S. authorities claim? She called ori those at the meeting to "think lessons of the Grenada revolution and its Some eyewitnesses insist it was not. about the events in Grenada in relation to overthrow. The videotape "Truth Crushed all the other things happening in the world. Blacks, others discuss And why was the home of Sadiq al­ to the Earth Will Rise Again," an interview Our understanding of the events in Grenada lessons of Grenada Mahdi, an imprisoned opponent of with Don Rojas, former press secretary to is crucial to our conduct as it relates to lib­ Nimeiry's, a target of the bombing? This murdered Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, eration struggles around the world and Continued from back pag~ · fact was omitted from the official account. was shown. even to our ability to build support net­ the subsequent U.S. invasion. According to a report from Khartoum in The meeting, held at the Martin Luther works and liberation struggles in this coun­ · A ·significant number of people at the the March 24 London Economist, "Not a King Center in St. Paul's Black communi­ try. New York City Grenada solftlarity meet­ few Sudanese find the official version of ty, was cosponsored by the National Black "Reagan," she continued, "said he ings either bought or already had copies of the attack hard to swallow. Mr Numeiri Independent Political Party (NBIPP) and wouldn't tolerate Grenada in this hemi­ this book. The book came up in some of the often cries wolf and blames Colonel Qad­ the Socialist Workers Party. sphere. I had no reason to doubt him. The discussions as well. At the Hunter meeting, dafi when things go wrong. So several con- - Jay Ressler, who spoke for the SWP, only question was where he would get his for example, one activist from the Commit­ spiracy theories are circulating in Khar­ opened the meeting by explaining some of opening. Coard gave him an opening." tee for a Free Grenada (CFG) explained toum. Was it not a Tupolev at all but a the accomplishments of the Grenada revo­ A serious discussion followed the pre­ that she thought the introduction to Sudanese aircraft flown by dissident air lution and its appeal to Blacks and other sentations and the videotape. One partici­ Maurice Bishop Speaks objectively aided pant asked, "What about the Grenadians the U.S. ruling class' aims in Grenada. The who welcomed the U.S. troops?" introduction, she said, is full of lies and "They were confused," Dorliae re­ distortions about the role of Coard in the 'Learn from Grenada's tragic reality' sponded. "But they're not now. All the in­ overthrow of the PRG. stitutions set up by the New Jewel Move­ This introduction is written by Steve The following statement was released immense waveof international protest gen­ ment are being dismantled. People are Clark, who is the editor of Intercontinen­ recently by the Executive Secretariat of erated by the imperialist aggression, today being bossed around and shoved around. tal Press and a frequent contributor to the t,he Havana-based Organization of the considers it to be the responsibility of every The people who welcomed the U.S. troops Militant. Clark argues that the PRG was Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, progressive, democratic, peace, and jus­ were not procapitalist as the U.S. govern- overthrown in a counterrevolutionary coup and Latin America (OSPAAAL). This tice-loving person in the world to step up . ment made them out. They were confused led by Coard, and that this opened the way organization publishes the magazine their condemnation of the military occupa­ and traumatized by their leader being mur­ for the U.S. invasion. Tricontinental as part of its solidarity tion of Grenada by the United States. U.S. dered. A broader layer than simply supporters activity. troops - despite pretenses to the contrary "We can't separate these people from of the Militant's views agree with this po­ - exercise the real power on that island. other Grenadians. Otherwise there would litical analysis. This was shown in the Following the shameful and inadmissi­ We also call on people to increase their de­ be no way that today the revolutionary Hunter conference when other participants ble events that destroyed the leadership of nunciations of the repressive regimen that forces within Grenada would be able to disagreed with the CFG activist about the the revolutionary process in Grenada, these imperialist forces, cloaked in rhetoric begin organizing from the ground up. The truthfulness of Clark's position. It's also which reached an extreme with the assassi­ of "freedom," have imposed on the Grena­ revolution is not dead." shown by the fact that groups such as nation of its unquestionable leader, dian population. Among the many questions discussed NBUF are distributing Maurice Bishop Maurice Bishop, and the later unjustifiable The Organization of the Solidarity of the were the role of Cuba and the Soviet Speaks themselves. advantage that was taken of these events by Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America Union; how the U.S. government uses the That NBUF and other groups see the United States as it used them to unleash stresses the gravity of these events, and supposed threat of Soviet and Cuban pre­ Maurice Bishop Speaks as an important its bloodly military intervention on the is­ exhorts the world's progressive and revolu­ sence to justify war against El Salvador and tool in the Grenada solidarity work opens land, the Grenadian people, who were in tionary movements to learn from the tragic Nicaragua; how supporters of the revolu­ up possibilities for organizing special no way responsible for these events, are reality of Grenada's experiences. These · tion in Grenada can get out the truth; how events centered around this book. Recep­ today suffering the reality of imperialist forces should not see it as an unsalvageable to organize among youth facing the draft; tions, rallies, and other events to launch the military occupation of their homeland. defeat, and should close ranks and and how to foster a movement within the book can win the endorsement and partici­ Our organization of tricontinental sol­ strengthen the struggle against the greatest ranks of the military to oppose the U.S. pation of widet layers of Blacks and other idarjty, which some months ago joined the enemy of humanity: yankee imperialism. government's war in Central America. activists.

10 The Militant April 13, 1984 Interview with leader of striking British coal miners·union In early March British coal miners in­ ically. In trade union terms we have been itiated a strike against the government's involved in major strikes throughout this plans to close dozens of mines. The Na­ century and indeed even before the tum of Militant tional Union of Mineworkers (NUM) esti­ the century. There were substantial miners' Peter Heathfield (left), general secretary of the National Union of Miileworkers, with mates 20,000 jobs will be lost in the next strikes in 1911 and 1921 , and of course the Militant correspondent and coal miner, Bruce Kimball. Heathfield concludes: ''Our year alone. important 1926 general strike was led by ability to resolve working people's problems depends on solidarity we develop with Since the strike began in Yorkshire, the British miners. The general strike began working people throughout the world." · union's most militant area, it has been ex­ when a Conservative-style government re­ tended to 85 percent of the mines. The gov­ duced wages of mine workers. ernment, which owns the mines, has But more important for the present working people's interests. But we are desperately trying to over­ mobilized more than 20,000 cops to protect generation of miners were the strikes of come the difficulties imposed on us by Q. In light of these government attacks those laws. the mines and those minority of miners still 1972 and 1974, when we took on the Con­ and efforts to reduce the importance of the working. servative government and won. unions, it is interesting that in this current Q. Many railroad workers, some trade Despite this government union-busting, So we have played an important role in strike some big differences have emerged the strike is expanding and winning support the development of working-class thinking union councils, ship workers, transport within the miners union, which have prob­ workers, and so on have either indicated in the labor movement. The dockworkers' and working-class activity here in Britain. ably been around for a long time. The Not­ union, rail unions, and the Transport and solidarity verbally or have taken certain tinghamshire miners, for example, do not acts of solidarity. How important is sol­ General Workers' Union - the largest want to go out at this point. Could you Q. Could you explain some of the ideals idarity within the union movement in Brit­ union in Britain - have all backed the comment on how deep the differences are and goals that the National Union ofMine­ ain and internationally? strike. This includes a pledge not to trans­ and the union's approach to the fact that workers is fighting for? port any coal, particularly coal from there is this unevenness? A. From a domestic point of view, it is abroad. A. Britain is, in our view, still very necessary to say that the two major vic­ A. In many ways the present divisions As well, the Trades Union Congress­ much a class-ridden society. We have al­ tories of the miners in 1972 and 1974 were Britain's equivalent of the AFL-CIO- has ways maintained that the politics of British within the NUM are a repeat of the prob­ not won through their exclusive efforts. lems our predecessors had in the 1920s. come out in support of the miners and governments have done very little to re­ The strikes in 1972 and 1974 were won be­ The Nottinghamshire coalfields are the against the government's massive use of duce the divisions among classes. cause of the solidarity of other workers in police force. I think that there is now a recognition newest in Britain and are highly successful . Britain. The stakes in this strike are high. A de­ that the present government in Britain is Perhaps the miners there see their future in We were able to paralyze the movement feat for the miners, Britain's most powerful pursuing class policies, and it's important a more selfish way than miners in other of coal because of the support of seamen, union, will have repercussions throughout for all trade unionists, particularly the in­ coalfields. railway men, and transport drivers. We had In the 1920s, for example, the Nottin­ Europe and the United States. It will em­ dustrial trade unionists, to recognize that some support in both strikes from po~er bolden the antiunion drive of the employ­ the problems facing the British people right ghamshire miners broke away from the workers - which made our task easier. miners federation of Great Britain. They ers. On the other hand, a miners' victory now are of a class origin. Clearly, that solidarity helped British min­ will give encouragement to all those stand­ In the past, politicians from both sides of were earning considerably more than min­ ers to achieve important victories. ing up for their rights and defending their the House of Commons have told us that ers in other coalfields and did not want to In international terms, in 1972 and 1974 wages and working conditions. the class war·is over, that the welfare state be part of the whole. we had the support of many European sea­ That's why British miners deserve the helped to remove that division. There is That attitude, in my view, is unfortu­ men, who refused to bring in British coal support of U.S. workers in this historic ample evidence at this morrient in time that nately reemerging in the present struggles: or to load and unload coal from the conti­ confrontation. And, it's why the Militant the welfare state as envisaged by such im­ Many Nottinghamshire miners see a rel­ nent of Europe. That also helped our cause. atively secure future for themselves, and sent a correspondent to Britain's coal­ portant figures as Nye Bevan 1 is being de­ In the present situation we have had they do not shate the concern of miners in fields. stroyed. clear declarations of support from the same Bruce Kimball, a working miner from We are returning to a full class situation, other coalfields, where jobs and whole groups of people. Obviously we are con­ mining communities are being threatened southern Illinois and a member of United and working people are the victim of those cerned that we cannot call on transport Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Local policies. The sort of laws passed in recent by the acts of one of your countrymen, Ian workers nationally and internationally to MacGregor. 2 2295 , just completed a one-week stay in years by the present government are indica­ lose wages when some of our own mem­ Britain. He was able to talk to scor.es of tive of the government's intention to re­ bers are still at work. That is something we striking miners and their supporters. duce the influence of trade unions in Brit­ Q. What do you feel are some ofthe best are working on. tactics or strategies for overcoming the dif­ The following interview with Peter ish affairs. In general terms, British miners are truly ferences within the period of the current Heathfield, newly elected general secretary In 1981 and 1982 antiunion legislation internationalists. We recognize that our strike? of the National Union of Mineworkers, was. passed that in many ways turned the ability to resolve working people's prob­ was· given to Kimball on March 23 in Shef­ clock back 100 years. Restrictions were A. If we could tum the clock back I 0 lems depends to a large extent on the sol­ field, England. placed on activities of trade unionists. Sec­ years, I am quite sure that as a trade union idarity we are able to develop with our ondary picketing is illegal. Trade unionists we could have dealt with the problems in counterparts in the mines in other nations, * * * can be imprisoned. Union funds and prop­ Nottinghamshire more than adequately. but more importantly with working people Question . As I travel around, I see erties can be confiscated. But there are now the constraints im­ throughout the world. That is fundamental police all over, especially in the Midlands. The Conservative Party recognizes that posed on usby the new antiunion laws. We to success of any trade union movement. As I understand it, this has been the biggest trade unions have an important influence in as a trade union don't accept these laws, mobilization of police since the 1926 gen­ the affairs of state. They recognize that in and the trade union movement in Britain as eral strike. C /early the government consid­ order to succeed in establishing a subser­ a whole does not accept them. But there are Maceo Brigade ers this strike to be a very major threat. vient work force, they have got to under­ those within our ranks who ~ave preferred · What are the stakes in this strike as far as mine and destroy trade unions that protect to conform to those laws. announces July the National Union of Mineworkers is con­ cerned? I. Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) was a coal 2. In 1980, the British government named Ian trip to Cuba miner who became a Labor Party member of MacGregor, then a partner in the New York in- Answer. Most British miners now recog­ The Antonio Maceo Brigade, a Cuban­ nize that the fight being conducted by the Parliament and a leader of the party's left wing. . vestment banking firm of Lazard Freres & Co., As minister of health in the Labor Party govern­ to head the nationalized British Steel Corpora­ American group favoring improved U.S. trade union is for the survival of the British ment elected in 1945, Bevan was responsible tion . After making sharp cuts in British Steel's relations with Cuba, is organizing Cuban mining industry. The coal mining industry for the establishment of the National Health output and jobs, MacGregor was named head of youth from the United States and Puerto has traditionally played an important role Service and for government housing programs. the National Coal Board in March 1983. Rico to visit Cuba this July. within the British labor movement and, of This is the seventh trip to Cuba or­ course, it has made an important contrib­ ganized by the brigade. The first contin~ ution to the economic "success" of the Brit- gent visited the revolutionary island in ish economy. . Intercontinental Press A biweekly forum for news and views in the international workers movement 1977. It is one of the few basic industries re­ According to a press release from the maining · since Mrs . Thatcher came to The current issue includes: brigade, "The VII Contingent will be com- · power. She intends to effectively reduce posed of Cuban youth ... who have been the influence of British coal within the • Grenada: Interview with George Louison: New Jewel Leader Describes Rev- olution's Overthrow united by their desire to experience present British economy and to r~duce the influ­ Cuban reality, and who recognize the ir­ ence of the British mine workers within the Louison, who was a member of the NJM Political Bureau and Central Commit­ reversibility of the Cuban Revolution .... British trade union movement. tee, gives a chronological description of the unfolding crisis in Grenada from "This year's contingent is dedicated to August to October 1983. The most authoritative account of the tragedy in Gre­ the efforts for maintaining world peace. Q. What influence do the miners have in The Antonio Maceo Brigade is against the the British union movement? nada from a key supporter of Maurice Bishop. interventionist policies of the Reagan ad­ A. Traditionally the miners have played • 'Vietnam's Struggle to Break Isolation"- an exclusive interview with Vo ministration, the increase in military aid to an important role in the labor movement. Dong Giang of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Vietnam Central America, and the policies of nu­ Historically, one factor has been the num­ This interview is the first -of a series of reports filed from Vietnam and Kam­ clear rearmament." erical size of the mine-workers union. In Participation in the trip is open to all the early post-World War II period, there puchea by IP correspondents Steve Clark and Diane Wang. Cuban youth who left the island before the were three-quarters of a million coal min­ Receive this issue FREE with a $6.25 three-month intt:oductory subscription or age of 18 or were born outside Cuba. For ers in Britain, all unionized. By now we one year for $25. To order this issue alone, send $1.25 plus 25 cents handling. more information, write Brigada Antonio are down to 200,000 mine workers. Intercontinental Press, 410 West St., Room 4M, N.Y., N.Y. 10014 Maceo, GPO Box 1321, New York, N.Y. We have played an important role histor- 10116.

April 13, 1984 The Militant 11 -·THE GREAT SOCIETY------Truly needy - What with pos­ because the food is free and that's dry-cleaned fat?rics, etc. Added tomers that a particular coffin will for the consumer. "With tougher sible legal fees relating to the easier than paying for it." Check it insulation intended to cope with preserve the body longer, or drunk-driving laws, people are af­ probe of his swapping jobs for out, Ed. soaring energy costs helps to trap falsely suggesting there's a legal raid to have that beer for the road," loans, presidential aide ·Edwin these and other carcinogens more obligation to buy a coffin for cre­ a Schmidt spokesperson advised. effectively. mation. Responding to these vicis­ "With this low-alcohol beer, you Where are they now dep't - situdes, the industry is beefing up can have a few drinks and still pass Timothy Leary, 1960s advocate of Doesn't it make you proud? its sales force and adding more the Breathalyzer test." revolution via LSD, is now offer­ - A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ad decorative moldings to the prod­ ing a computer "brain game" that for people to deliver the paper uct. F~hion tip-The Montecristo will assertedly revqlutionize the boasts that route earnings are Custom Hat Works of Santa Fe way you think and live. Harry higher than the individual incomes And the other 99 percent get provides top quality Panama hats of 50 percent of the world's popu­ robbed - "Utilities Say 1% of at prices ranging up to $6,000. Ring Home sweei home - Air pol­ lation. Users Are Stealing Power" - Hatman Milton Johnson explains lution may be 10 times greater in­ News headline. that a truly fine Panama (they ac­ side U.S. liomes than outdoors, Deadly challenge -What with tually come from Ecuador) can Meese may go bankrupt, worries according to a recent federal people living longer, and more Try root beer - Major brew­ only be worked on in the dead of the Wall Street Journal. (He's re­ study. Formaldehyde in plywood choosing cremation, coffin sales ers are planning to peddle beer night because the straw is sensitive ported down to his last $300,000.) and particle board is one factor. have slumped. An added obstacle with a 2 percent alcohol content to atmospheric conditions there. A few months ago, Meese opined Others include the chemicals in is a new federal regulation barring instead of 4 percent. A cost-cut­ He didn't· say how much the hat­ that "people go to soup kitchens aerosol sprays, cleaning products, funeral homes from advising cus- ting measure? Nonsense. Concern makers get. -CALENDAR------ALABAMA Forum. For more information call (313) 862- 1979 Iranian revolution. Sat., April 14, 7:30 Brigade; Sue Mitchell and Harvey Tottin, Cana­ 7755. p.m. 2744 Germantown Ave. Donation: $2. dian eyewitnesses to U.S. invasion of Grenada. Birmingham. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ Sat., April 7. Reception, 7 p.m. ; forum, 7:30 Challenges Facing Working Women Today LOUISIANA mation call (215) 225-0213. p.m. Langston Hughes Community Center, - Report Back From Participant in Coali­ 17th St. and Yesler. Ausp: Ad Hoc Committee tion of Labor Union Women Convention. New Orleans Rally to Stop the Deportation of Hector Mar­ TEXAS in Solidarity With Grenada. For more informa­ Speaker: Sonja Franeta, Birmingham Socialist tion call (206) 725-3246. Workers Party, member of United Auto Work­ roquin and All Other Refugees. Speakers: Dallas ers and delegate to CLUW convention. Sat., Hector Marroquin, Mexican-born socialist Stop the Deportation of Hector Marroquin! Eyewitness Reports From Nicaragua. Seattle April 7, 7:30p.m. 205 18 St. S. Donation re­ fighting deportation; Rev. S. L. Harvey, presi­ Speakers: Hector Marroquin, socialist fighting antiwar activists return from helping with cotton que~ted. Ausp: Militant Forum Series. For more dent, Louisiana Southern Christian Leadership deportation; Jill Nations, president, Dallas and coffee harvests. Speakers: Paula Gooding, information call (205) 323-3079. Conference; Ron Chisom, community or­ County National Organization for Women; Fr. participant in Maura Clark Brigade; Tom ganizer. Sat., Aprill4, 7 p.m. St. Mark's Com­ Justin Lucio, member, Migration and Refugee Leahey, participant in coffee harvest; Dean El Salvador-Phony Elections and Growing munity Center, 1130 N Ramparts. Ausp: Services; Larry L6pez, member, American Fed­ Peoples, participant in Maura Clark Brigade, U.S. War. Speaker: Andy Rose, Birmingham Louisiana Hector Marroquin Defense Commit­ eration ·of State, County and Municipal Em­ member of Socialist Workers Party; slide show. Socialist Workers Party. Sat., April 14, 7:30 tee. For more information call (504) 891-5956. ployees Local 2444; Bernie Nauta, Dallas chair­ Sat., Aprill4, 7:30 p.m. 5517 Rainier Ave. S. p.m. 205 18 St. S. Donation requested. Ausp: man, Amalgamated Transit Union Local1313. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For Militant Forum Series. For more information (Organizations listed for identification only.) more information call (206) 725-3246. call (205) 323-3079. MISSOURI St. Louis Translation to Spanish. Sun. , April 8. Recep­ CALIFORNIA What Is Socialism and Why You Should tion; 6:30 p.m.; rally, 7 p.m. Martin Luther WEST VIRGINIA Back Socialists in 1984. Speaker: Andrea Gon­ King Center, Library Learning Center, 2922 Charleston San Diego zatez, Socialist Workers Party candidate for Martin Luther King Blvd. Ausp: Political Socialist Campaign Rally. Speakers: Mel How "Buy American" Campaigns Hurt U.S. U.S. vice-president. Fri., April 13, noon to l Rights Defense Fund. For more information call Mason, Socialist Workers candidate for U.S. Workers. Speakers to be announced. Transla­ p.m. Private Dining Room, Webster Univer­ (214) 826-4711 or 821-7469. president; Joan Radin, SWP candidate for Sen­ tion to Spanish. Sat., April14, 7:30_p.m. 1053 sity. Ausp: Webster University Social Action ·San Antonio ate; Dave Ferguson, SWP candidate for gover­ 15 St. Donation: $2. Ausp: Socialist Workers Collective. For more information call (314) Rally in Defense of Political Refugees. Speak­ nor; representative of Minority Open Forum. Campaign. For more information call (619) 772-4410. ers: Hector Marroquin, Mexican-born socialist Sat., April 7. Reception, 7:30 p.m.; rally, 8 234-4630. Bi-state Rally for Socialist Workers Cam­ fighting deportation; Dr. Jose Martinez, Com­ p.m. University of Charleston, Geary Student INDIANA paign. Speakers: Andrea Gonzatez, Socialist mittee for Justice in Central America; Fr. Tim Union Bldg., Maroon and Gold Room. Ausp: Workers Party candidate for U.S. vice-presi­ McCluskey, St. Timothy Church; Juan Mireles, 1984 SWP Campaign Committee. For more in­ Indianapolis dent; Nelson Gonzalez, SWP candidate for state vice-chairperson, Texas GI Forum; John formation call (304) 345-3040, Congressman Andy Jacobs: Is He Really A U.S. Senate from Illinois; announcing SWP Sanders, Organizations United for East Side Friend of Peace, Equal Rights, and Labor? A candidate for governor of Missouri. Sat., April Development. (Organizations for identification WISCONSIN Look At His Voting Record. Speaker: Dave 14. Dinner, 6:30-7:30 p.m.; rally, 8 p.m. Salad only.) Translation to Spanish. Sat., April 7, 8 Milwaukee Ellis, Socialist Workers Party candidate for Bowl Restaurant, 3949 Lindell Blvd. Donation: · p.m. Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 1321 El We Are Driven. PBS "Front Line ~ · documen­ Congress. Sat., April 7, 7 p.m. 4850 N College Dinner and rally, $7; rally only;, $2. Ausp: SWP Paso. Donation: $2.50. Ausp: Political Rights tary on Japanese union-busting tactics that GM Ave. Ausp: Socialist Workers '84 Campaign Campaign '84. For more information call (314) Defense Fund. For more information call (512) wants to introduce in U.S. Speaker: Sue Hagen, Committee. For more information call (317) 772-4410. - 432-7394. member, United Aoto Workers Local 1816, 283-6149. - Socialist Workers Party; Melody Bodanske, U.S. War Drive in Central America. Will NEW JERSEY WASHINGTON member UAW Local 438. Translation to Dumping Reagan in '84 Lead to Peace? Newark seattle Spanish. Sat., April 7, 7:30p.m. 4707 W Lis­ Speakers: Dave Ellis, Socialist Workers .Party Reagan's Economic Recovery: For Real or U.S. Hands Off Grenada! Videotape with bon Ave. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor candidate for Congress; Dave Young, toured for the Rich? Speaker: Priscilla Schenk, New Jewel Movement leader Don Rojas. Forum. for more information call (414) 445- Nicaragua in 1983 as member of U.S. antiwar Socialist Workers Party candidate forU.S. Sen­ Speakers: Katalina Montero, Venceremos 2076. delegation. Sat. , April 14, 7 p.m. 4850 N Col­ ate; others. Translation to Spanish. Fri., April lege Ave. Ausp: Socialist Workers '84 Cam­ 13. Dinner, 6:30 p.m.; forum, 7:30 p.m. 141 paign Committee. For more information call Halsey St. (cor. Raymond, one block from Texas farm workers hail SWP campaign (213) 283-6149. Broad). Donation: Dinner, $3; forum, $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ Continued from back page · added. "We know the rich don't like being IOWA mation call (201) 643-3341. During her tour of the Rio Grande Val­ politically opposed by workers." Waterloo NEW YORK ley, Gonzalez also visited a refuge center Gonzalez told her campaign supporters The Socialist Alternative in '84. Hear Joe for Salvadoran refugees. This center, and that through her campaign 'she would be Swanson, spokesperson for Mason-Gonzatez Albany others like it, are currently under attack working to build solidarity between indus­ campaign, member of United Transportation The Irish Freedom Struggle Today. Speakers: from the INS (see article page 9). trial workers in the north and farm workers Union Local 305 and 1982 Socialist Workers Paul Murray, coordinator, Capital District Irish · Gonzalez was interviewed by two valley in the Rio Grande Valley - both victims Northern Aid; Chris Miller, member Noraid and candidate for governor of Nebraska. Sat., April newspapers, which carried articles an­ of the rulers' drive for profits. visited Northern Ireland in 1982; David Wall, 7, 7:30 p.m. UNI-CUE, 715 E 4th. Ausp: nouncing her visit and party platform. She Iowans for Mason and Gonzalez. For more in­ Young Socialist Alliance and member of Gonzalez and her supporters also v isited was interviewed, as well , by two network formation call (319) 277-8644. Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks Pan American University (PAU), where Lodge 861. Translation to Spanish. Thurs., TV affiliates and did a to-minute Spanish the SWP candidate spoke before two meet-, April 19, 8 p.m. 23 Central Ave. Donation: $2. radio spot. ings. PAU is overwhelmingly Chicano. KENTUCKY Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ Before leaving the valley Gonzalez The first was a public meeting organized Louisville mation call (518) 434-3247. again met with campaign supporters from An Eyewitness Report: Life in Nicaragua and hosted by the student American Civil El Comite de Campesinos at a barbecue Today. Speaker: Dave Welters, Socialist omo Liberties Union (ACLU). The second was Workers Party candidate for U.S. Senate, re­ hosted by friends of the Socialist Workers a political science class. Cincinnati Party. cently returned from Nicaragua. Slide show Of the 65 students and teachers who at­ presentation. Sun., April 15, 7 p.m. 809 E Campaign Open House. How to Win Jobs, The Chicano leaders proposed setting up tended the public meeting, 45 signed up for Broadway. Ausp: Militant Forum. For more in­ Peace, and Freedom. A Socialist View. an SWP campaign committee in the valley. · Speaker: Andrea Gonzatez, Socialist Workers formation call (502) 587-8418. They felt Gonzalez's campaign, which more information on the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. vice-president. Sun. , campaign. April 8. Reception and buffet, 5:30p.m.; pro­ speaks on behalf of workers and calls for The Pan American, newspaper of the MARYLAND gram, 7 p.m. 4945 Paddock Rd. Donation: $3. independent political action, is what is Baltimore Ausp: 1984 Socialist Workers Campaign Com­ needed in the valley. school, had carried a front page article an­ Nicaragua: U.S. Trade Unionists Report on mittee. For more information call (513) 242- Gonzalez agreed to have Texas cam­ nouncing Gonzalez's appearance. One of Cotton Harvest. Speakers to be announced. 7161 . paign representatives come to the valley the reporters for the paper notified the cam­ Sun., April 8, 7:30 p.m. 2913 Greenmount Cleveland once a month and work with the campaign paign team that threats had been made to Ave. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor How Working People Can Fight ·for Jobs, committee in getting out the socialist cam­ disrupt the meeting with egg throwing. The Forum. For more information call (301) 235- Peace, and Freedom. Campaign rally. paign to small farmers, farm workers, and overwhelming interest and support from 0013. Speaker: Andrea Gonzatez, Socialist Workers other workers; the audience, however, squelched any such candidate for U.S. vice-president. Translation "The spirit and lessons of the RUP are thought. MICIDGAN to Spanish. Sat., April 7. Dinner, 6:30p.m.; very much alive here," said Gonzalez. After the meeting students rushed the rally, 8 p.m. 15105 St. Clair Ave. Donation: Detroit One activist in the farm workers move­ campaign table, buying mostly buttons and $5; rally only, $2. Ausp: Cleveland 1984 SWP Nicaragua Veocera! Slide show and presenta­ ment and RUP said it had become obvious $26 worth of literature. tions. Speakers: Helen Meyers, Socialist Work­ Campaign Committee. For more information call (216) 451-6150. to them at the height of the R UP in the mid- In addition, three students who helped in ers candidate for U.S. Senate, member- of 1970s that the government didn't like inde­ organizing and building the meeting asked United Auto Workers Locall200; Morrie Diet­ rich, member Amalgamated Clothing and Tex­ pendent political action. The U .S . govern­ if tfiey could build a Young Socialist Al­ tile Workers Union Local365. Both recently re­ PENNSYLVANIA ment and cops would do just about any­ liance chapter at PAU. Gonzalez , a na­ turned from Nicaragua cotton brigade. Transla­ Philadelphia thing to disrupt and destroy the Raza Unida tional leader of the Young Socialist Al­ tion to Spanish. Sat., April 7, 8 p.m. 7146 W Iraqi War Against Iran.· Speaker: Cindy Party. liance, welcomed these young fighters to McNichols. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Jaquith, editor of Militant and eyewitness to "So this is nothing new to us," she her organization.

12 Tbe Militant April 13, 1984 Chicano mayor defends support to U.S. war policy

BY CHRIS BRANDLON follows these recommendations by proposing "other Napoleon Duarte was president of El Salvador from 1980 SAN ·ANTONIO - Democratic Mayor Henry Cis­ . forms of pressure against the Sandinistas" and massive to 1982, during which time the activities of the death · neros has been putting in some overtime lately. The first increases in aid to the El Salvador dictatorship. squads reached record proportions . . Chicano elected mayor of a major U.S. city, Cisneros is Speaking before 75 people at a League of Women Vot­ Cisneros' support for the Salvadoran dictatorship was going all out to sell working people here on the bipartisan ers forum February 26, Cisneros made his perspective made even more explicit when he welcomed Pres. Alvaro Kissinger commission report on Central America. very clear. He expressed the hope that the commission Magana to San Antonic on March 2. At the time of his appointment, Cisneros pledged to report could "replace and update the Mon,roe Doctrine." Nor does Cisneros limit his proimperialist drum-beat­ file a minority report if the commission's findings were The Monroe Doctrine declared that interference in Latin ing to Central America. He recently told a Jewish-His­ America by European powers would not be tolerated by panic conference meeting in San Antonio that Israeli the United States. · technology could help "ensure democracy" in Central In his talk, Cisneros repeated many of the lies that America and offered the possibility of Latino support for AS I SEE IT form the backbone of the report. He blamed the Soviet Israel in exchange for Jewish backing for Chicano issues. Union and Cuba for many of the region's problems and Cisneros' aspirations to higher office are generally ac­ accused the Nicaraguans of conducting an "Eastern Euro­ knowledged, and.he is sparing no effort to prove his relia­ unsatisfactory. He had presented himself as a critic of pean-:-style military buildup." These charges were re­ bility to the ruling class. Many workers still have illu­ Reagan's policies. But when the report came out, the peated on a "60-Minutes" segment that featured Cis­ sions in Cisneros as well as in other Black and Latino mayor's name was on it right beside the others. neros. The show aired the same night as the talk. capitalist politicians. But many others are beginning to Cisneros has tried to play up the fact that he filed "dis­ The mayor also accused the Sandinista government of see through their E:ynical lies. and are looking around for senting notes" on two issues. By calling for a one year "totalitarianism" and threatening aggressions against an alternative. suspension of aid to Nicaraguan counterrevolutionaries their neighbors. At the same time, he praised the "center" and urging rebel participation in the Salvadoran elec­ forces in El Salvador, represented by Jose Napoleon Chris Brand/on is the Socialist Workers Party candidate tions, he has tried to present a moderate image. But he Duarte, and defended the upcoming elections there. in the 23rd Congressional District in Texas . Minnesota socialists reach out to workers, farmers . . BY ROGER JAMES moves against the people of Central Amer­ capitalists step up their broadside attack on dustry and important indu.strial unions. . ST. PAUL, Minn. - Members and ica . the rights and living standards of U.S. Since the founding state convention in July friends attended the second state conven­ "We need a labor party based on a fight­ working people, and workers and peasants 1983, when I 0 percent of the membership tion of the Minnesota Socialist Workers ing trade union movement to challenge the . in Central America. was unemployed, all members have found Party February 25-26. At the center of the political parties of the nonproducing class John Gaige, Minnesota state organizer jobs. reports and discussions of the delegates -the bosses, bankers, grain merchants, . for the SWP, said that while the upturn in The delegates also heard and discussed were plans to bring the Socialist Workers and landlords." the capitalist business cycle offered no sol­ reports on "Deepening the tum through election campaign of Mel Mason for presi­ He added, "The workers and farmers, ution to unemployment, it did provide a selling at plant gates," "Organizing active dent and Andrea Gonzalez for vice-presi­ the producers, are the majority and we chance for socialists to get jobs and supporters and studying Lenin," and "Fi­ dent to industrial workers, Blacks, Indians, need our own government. This profit sys­ strengthen the influence of socialists in in- nances." and family farmers in Minnesota. tem is outmoded and we should do with it Susan Apstein reported that Minnesota what I saw, as a boy on the farm, my father ~ SWP members will be petitioning July 3- do with worn out farm machinery-drag it 17 to put Mason and Gonzalez on the ballot down by the cottonwood trees." ~RA member fights extradition here. Thi~ will be part of the effort to get One of the major topics of discussion at Mason and Gonzalez on the ballot in · 27 the convention was the impact of mergers, BY WILL REISSNER in jail pending a British appeal . states and the District of Columbia, includ­ layoffs, and plant closings by the owners of NEW YORK - Irish Republican Army The defense has called expert witnesses ing the surrounding states of North Dakota, the steel corporations on steelworkers. On volunteer Joseph Doherty, who ·escaped from Ireland to testify on the history of the South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Wis­ the Iron Range in Minnesota, where taco­ from a British prison in Northern Ireland struggle against British rule in Ireland, the consin. nite is mined and supplied for steel produc­ with seven other IRA members, is fighting discrimination against the nationalist popu­ tion, 12,000 out of 14,000 members of the This region will be the focus of a tour by in federal court here to prevent his extradi­ lation in the British-ruled north, and how Joe Swanson, United Transportation Union United Steel Workers of America (USW A) tion to Northern Ireland. If returned to Brit­ the present phase . of the armed struggle member and 1982 SWP candidate for gov­ have been thrown out of work over the last ish control, the 29-year-old IRA member grew out of the civil rights movement. three years. would face lik.imprisonment in the H­ A~ong ernor of Nebraska, speaking for. - the those taking the stand were Mason-Gonzalez alternative. · Dave Salner, reporting on "Iron Range Biocks ·of Long Kesh jail. Nobel peace prize winner Sean MacBride, party building perspectives," said these Following his. June 1981 escape, a spe­ activist Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Delegates discussed the special opportu­ layoffs were caused by the overproduction cial juryless court found Doherty guilty in journalist Tim Pat Coogan who authored a nity this tour offered to reach the rural of taconite, the recession and stagnation in absentia of killing a British army officer definitive book on the history of the IRA, workers and family farmers in the Midwest the economy, and the increased use of and membership in the JRA. Elis Kelly, and Belfast priest Fr. Desmond region who have been hard hit by the scrap steel in making steel products. Doherty made his way to the United Wilson. Doherty also took the stand on capitalist crisis. Salner explained the steel bosses are de­ States in February 1982 and was arrested April 2 to describe his capture by Britisl1 Delegates pointed ·out that while the termined to streamline the industry for pro­ last June in New York. He has been held soldiers, his escape, and his flight to the bipartisan U.S. government has denied fitability - weakening the union and de­ · without bail ever since. United States. federal loans and assistance to family farm­ stroying the jobs and wages of steelwork­ In the hearing that opened before Judge U.S. assistant attorney Ira H. Block is ers, it has sided with its rich friends who ers. The reactionary anti-import campaign John Sprizzo on March 26, defense attor­ flanked by two representatives of the Brit­ own the meatpacking industry. These boss­ promoted by the owners and the top union neys Mary Pike and Steven Somerstein are ish consulate throughout the hearing. es have used bankruptcy ploys to aid their officialdom, Salner added, came down to seeking to prove that Doherty's activities in Block is presenting the British govern­ efforts to break unionized meatpacking. one more reason why steelworkers are told Ireland were politically motivated and took ment's argument that Doherty was con­ At a campaign rally held as part of the they can't take action. "But we can and place during a period of political in­ victed of criminal offenses. convention, Swanson spoke to over 60 must take action," Salner said. surgency. A person cannot be extradited In a courtroom packed with Doherty people about that socialist message. He Under the "Tasks and perspectives" re­ for such offenses under the U.S.-British supporters, the irony of the fact that the said, "We need to forge a workers and port, delegates discussed deepening the po­ extradition treaty. . government prosecutor has the same name farmers ·alliance independent of the Repub­ litical orientation of socialists in Minnesota A similar defense was successful in the as the IRA and the notorious H-Block licans and Democrats to repel the capitalist to industrial workers, the oppressed cases of IRA members Desmond Mackin prison wards was the subject of much offensive and the escalated U.S. war nationalities, and family farmers as the and Liam Quinn, although Quinn remains mirthful comment. -IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP------Where to find the Socialist Workers Party, Michigan Ave . Zip: 60616. Tel: (312) 326- #22. Zip: 63118. Tel: (314) 772-4410. Box 261, Annex Station. Zip: 02901. Young Socialist Alliance, and socialist books 5853 or 326-5453. NEBRASKA: Lincoln: YSA, P.O. Box TEXAS: Austin: YSA, c/o Mike Rose, 7409 and pamphlets INDI~NA: Bloomington~ YSA, Activities 80238 . Zip: 68501. Tel: (402) 464-8933. Berkman Dr. Zip: 78752. Tel. (512) 452-3923. ALABAMA: Birmingham: SWP, YSA, Desk, Indiana Memorial Union. Zip: 47405. NEW JERSEY~ Newark: SWP, YSA, 141 Dallas: SWP, YSA, 2817 Live Oak. Zip: 205 18th St. S. Zip: 35233. Tel: (205) 323- Indianapolis: SWP, YSA, 4850 N. College. Halsey. Zip: 07102. Tel: (201) 643-3341. 75204. Tel: (214) 826-4711. Houston: SWP, 3079. Zip: 46205 . Tel: (317) 283-6149. NEW MEXICO: Albuquerque: SWP, YSA, 4806 Almeda. Zip: 77004. Tel: (713) . ARIZONA: Phoenix: SWP, Y~A, 17 E. IOWA: Des Moines: YSA, P.O. Box 1165 , YSA, 1417Central Ave . NE. Zip: 87106. Tel: 522-8054. San Antonio: SWP, YSA, 2811 Southern Ave. (Central and Southern). Zip: Zip: 50311. (505) 842-0954. Guadalupe, #100. Zip: 78207. Tel: (512) 432- 85040. Tel: (602) 268-3369. Tucson: SWP, KENTUCKY: Louisville: SWP, YSA, 809 NEW YORK: Capital District (Albany): 7394. YSA, 2960 W. St. Tropaz. Zip: 85713. Tel: E. Broadway. Zip: 40204. Tel: (502) 587-8418. SWP, YSA, 23 Central Ave·. Zip: 12210. Tel: UTAH: Price: SWP, YSA, 23 S. Carbon (602) 622-3880. LOUISIANA: New Orleans: SWP, YSA, (518) 434-3247. New York: SWP, YSA, 79 Ave ., Suite 19, P.O. Box 758. Zip: 84501. Tel: CALIFORNIA: Bay Area District:··3808 3207 Dublin St. Zip: 70118 . Tel: (504) 486- Leonard. Zip: 10013. Tel : (212) 226-8445 or (801) 637-6294. Salt Lake City: SWP, YSA, E 14th St., Oakland. Zip: 94601. Tel: (415) 8048. 925-1668 . 677 S. 7th East, 2nd Floor. Zip: 84102. Tel: 534-1242. Los Angeles: SWP, YSA, 2546 MARYLAND: Baltimore: SWP, YSA, NORTH CAROLINA: Piedmont: SWP, (801) 355-1124. W. Pico Blvd. Zip: 90006. Tel: (2U) 380- 2913 Greenmount Ave. Zip: 21218. Tel: (301) YSA, 301 S. Elm St., Suite 522. Greensboro. VIRGINIA: Tidewater Area (Newport 9460. Oakland: SWP, YSA, 3808 E 14th St. 235-0013. Baltimore-Washington District: Zip: 27401. Tel: (919) 272-5996. News): SWP, YSA, 5412 Jefferson Ave., Zip Zip: 94601. Tel: (415) 261-3014. San i>iego: 2913 Greenmount Ave. Zip: 21218. Tel: (301) OHIO: Cincinnati: SWP, YSA, 4945 Pad­ 23605. Tel: (804) 380-0133. SWP, YSA, 1053 15th St. Zip: 92101. Tel: 235-0013. dock Rd. Zip: 45237. Tel: (513) 242-7161. WASIDNGTON, D.C.: SWP, YSA, 3106 (619) 234-4630. San Francisco: SWP, YSA, MASSACHUSETTS: Boston: SWP, YSA, Cleveland: SWP, YSA, 15105 St. Clair Ave . Mt. Pleasant St. NW. Zip: 20010. Tel: (202) 3284 23rd St. Zip: 94110. Tel: (415) 282-6255. 510 Commonwealth Ave., 4th Floor. Zip: Zip: 44110. Tel: (216) 451-6150. Toledo: 797-7699. Baltimore-Washington District: San Jose: SWP, YSA, 46lfz Race St. Zip: 02215. Tel: (617) 262-4621. SWP, YSA, 2120 Dorr St. Zip: 43607. Tel: 2913 Greenmount Ave., Baltimore, Md. Zip: 95126. Tel: (408) 998-4007. Seaside: SWP, MICIDGAN: Detroit: SWP, YSA, 7146 (419) 536-0383. 21218. Tel: .(301) 235-0013. · YSA, 1184 Broadway. Zip: 93955. Tel: (408) W. McNichols. Zip: 48221. Tel: (313) 862- OREGON: Portland: SWP, YSA, 711 NW WASIDNGTON: Seattle: SWP, YSA, 394-1855. 7755. Everett. Zip: 97209. Tel: (503) 222-7225 . 5517 Rainier Ave . South. Zip: 98Il8. Tel: COLORADO: Denver: SWP, YSA, 126 MINNESOTA: Mesabi Iron Range: SWP, PENNSYLVANIA: Edinboro: YSA, Edin­ (206) 723-5330. W. 12th Ave. Zip: 80204. Tel: (303) 534-8954. YSA, 112 Chestnut St., Virginia, Minn. 55792. boro State College. Zip: 16444. Tel: (814) 734- WEST VIRGINIA: Charleston: SWP, FLORIDA: Miami: SWP, YSA, 663 Martin Send mail to P.O. Box 1287. Zip: 55792. Tel: 4415. Philadelphia: SwP, YSA, 2744 Ger­ YSA, 1584 A Washington St. East. Zip: 25311. Luther King Blvd. (NW 62nd St.) Zip: 33150. (218) 749-6327. Twin Cities: SWP, YSA, 508 mantown Ave. Zip: 19133. Tel: (215) 225- Tcl: (304) 345-3040. Morgantown: SWP, Tel: (305) 756-1020. N. Snelling Ave:, St. Paul. Zip: 55104. Tel: 0213. Pittsburgh: SWP, YSA, 141 S. High­ YSA, 957 S. University Ave. Zip: 26505 . Tel: GEORGIA: Adanta: SWP, YSA, 504 Flat (612) 644-6325. land Ave. Zip: 15206. Tel: (412) 362-6767. (304) 296-0055. Shoals Ave. SE. Zip: 30316. Tel: (404) 577- MISSOURI: Kansas City: SWP, YSA, State College: YSA, P.O. Box 464, Bel­ WISCONSIN: Milwaukee: SWP, YSA, 4065. . 4715A Troost. , Zip: 64110. Tel: (816) 753- lefonte. Zip: 16823. Tel : (814)238-3296. 4707 W. Lisbon Ave. Zip: 53208. Tel: (414) ILLINOIS: Chicago: SWP, YSA, 3455 S 0404. St. Louis: SWP, YSA, 3109 S. Grand, RHODE ISLAND: Providence: YSA, P.O. 445-2076.

April 13, 1984 The Militant 13 -EDITORIALS------The 'vital link' in Nicaragua's Behind ·salvador elections revolutionary chain The recent presidential election in El Salvador did not and a runoff election will be held within ~e next month. move that country one inch closer to democracy. Nor was Writing in the N.ew York Times, Hedrick Smith spelled BY GEOFF MIRELOWITZ On March· 3 a plane from Havana, Cuba, brought a it intended to. The U.S. government insisted on the elec­ out what Washington hopes to accomplish in all of this. tion (and pressured its Salvadoran puppets to move up the Smith called the aim of the election "to earn greater coffin to Nicaragua. voting date) to create the illusion of democracy and to try legitimacy for the American-backed government and to­ The coffin contained the body of Colonel Jos¢ Santos to bring to power a more stable and legitimate regime in install a leader who could break out of the stalemate with Lopez considered to be the "vital link" - what San­ El Salvador. the revolutionary left." . dinista Commander Tomas Borge described as the "link between wisdom and determination" in the Nicaraguan The social revolution led by the Farabundo Marti Na­ Washington was clearly pleased that Duarte was the tional Liberation Front (FMLN), which threatens to tear revolution. front runner receiving-about 40 percent of the vote. This, Santos LOpez joined the revolutionary army of Gen. El Salvador out of the grip of imperialist exploitation and according to Smith, "eased what one [Reagan administra­ secure real freedom and progress for El Salvador's work­ Augusto Cesar Sandino when he was 12 years old. At the tion] official called the 'nightmare' of victory by Roberto age of 18 he was a colonel among Sandino's fighters. By ers and peasants, continues to move forward. Washing­ D 'Aubuisson." ton is determined to stop it. It needs a freer hand to make the military and political moves it feels are necessary to The problem the U.S. government has with D' Aubuis­ do so. This is what lay behind the election. son is not that he is an ultraright murderer - the CIA The electoral fraud was hailed by President Reagan as helps him to organize the death squad killings. Washing­ OUR "another victory for freedom over tyranny, of liberty over ton's problem is that it will be harder to win support from repression, and courage over intimidation." U.S. working people and among international public REVOLUTIONARY But one Salvadoran voter put it more accurately when opinion for sending stepped-up military aid to a regime he told a reporter, "This has been a farce . ... The gov­ headed by D' Aubuisson. Washington hopes a candidate HERITAGE ernment made fools of us." The U.S. press reported like Duarte would be a more acceptable recipient for the missing ballot boxes, closed polling stations, and all sorts massive military firepower it will have to send in its ef­ of bureaucratic obstacles and mix-ups. In short there was fort to crush the FMLN. the age of 22 he had fought in 216 battles for freedom and much more chaos than democracy. The election farce also provides a justification for independence. for Nicaragua and had been wounded Nevertheless many Salvadorans voted. This is hardly more open discussion of the direct introduction of U.S. seven times. Following Sandino's assassination by the surprising. The majority of the country not yet controlled combat troops as soon as Washington deems it necessary U.S.-backed National Guard on Feb. 21, 1934, Santos by the FMLN forces is run by a brutal dictatorship that is · alld advisable. Lopez continued to organize resistance to the brutal fighting a civil war. Voting is compulsory. Those who In Congress itself "a solid bipartisan majority," as Somoza dictatorship. In 1961 he was one of the founders decided not to vote did so at their own peril, in the face of Smith put it, "voted 72 to 23 against imposing restric­ of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). gqvernment sanctioned death squads. Others voted in the tions on President Reagan's possible use of American Thus Santos Lopez was a human expression of the rev­ hopes that one of the candidates would be able to find forces in combat in Central America." olutionary continuity of the struggle of the Nicaraguan some way to end the years of warfare and bloodshed. This action, supported by many liberal Democrats, working people against U.S. imperialism and the tyranni­ Under such conditions of repression, the FMLN and was taken in the face of new revelations concerning the cal Somoza regime. This explains the hero's welcome ac­ the organizations that support it chose not to participate role U.S. forces are alreiul.y playing in directly waging corded his body when it was returned from revolutionary in the election. Prior to the election the FMLN and the the war against the FMLN. Moreover, many liberals Cuba where he had been buried 19 years ago. Revolutionary Democractic Front (FOR) made it clear made it clear that now that the elections have been staged. Commander Victor Tirado, a member of the FSLN's that they "politically oppose the election, but we do not they are more willing to vote for increased U.S. military National Directorate, was one of those young revolution­ consider the electoral process a military target." aid. ists who was trained by Santos LOpez when the FSLN In those areas under the control of the liberation Maryland Democrat Michael Barnes, one of the chief was founded. Santos LOpez "only half knew how to read forces, they recommended that people not vote. But in congressional liberals wbo has often disagreed with the and write," Tirado explained. • those areas under government control, the FMLN urged White House on how best to prevent an FMLN victory in But Santos LOpez was never discouraged by his lack of people to vote if they felt it was necessary to avoid repris­ El Salvador, commented that if Duarte is elected "it formal education. He insisted, said Tirado, that only "a als against them by the armed forces or death squads. would change the atmosphere here; if he came lip to Con­ clear mind and sensitive heart were necessary .to under­ Those who did vote found little to choose from among gress and asked for more aid, that would influence stand what was happening to Nicaragua due to U.S. in­ the eight candidates. The top three candidates were Jose people." tervention." Napole6n Duarte, the Christian Democrat who served as This is ultimately what the election was all about: the Santos LOpez was one of five children born into a peas­ president from 1980 to 1982 while the death squads ran trappings of democracy to prepare the way for an esca­ ant family in Yalaguina, located in what is today the de­ rampant; Roberto D' Aubuisson, candidate of the ul­ lated war to stop the freedom struggle in El Salvador. partment of Nueva Segovia. He ran into some of San­ trarightist Nationalist Republican Alliance - and the U.S. working people will have to rely on our own dino' s troops as he was helping his mother one day in chief organizer of the death squads; and Francisco Jose power to stop the new Vietnam that Washington is carry­ 1926. He asked them if they let children join and from Guerrero, candidate of the National Conciliation Party, ing out in Central America. It is among the workers and that moment on "behind my mother;s back" became part the traditional political instrument of the military during farmers of the United States that Salvadoran working of the squadron. · most of the 1960s and 1970s. people will find reliable allies in their battle for self-de­ He was part of a group called the "Choir of Angels," so Duarte and D' Aubuisson were the two top vote getters, termination and freedom. named because they were teenagers who accompanied the rebels on ambushes and attacks in order to shout and make noise so the marines would think there were more Sandinista fighters than there really were, or that rein­ forcements were on the way. Santos Lopez grew up in the rebel army and became a leader of the fight against U.S. intervention. No to U.S. chauvinism in unions In 1960 he was contacted by Carlos Fonseca, a student It appears that Steelworker International Secretary movement and it should be rooted out. who became the . central leader of the FSLN. It was "a Lynn Williams is the winner in the special election held There can·be no effective fightback against plant clos­ mutual discovery," said Tomas Borge. Fonseca asked March 29 for the presidency of the United Steelworkers ings, layoffs, or any other kind of employer attack that Santos LOpez to join the FSLN, which he did without of America (USWA). Although the official tellers' report does not begin with the idea of labor solidarity. Without hesitation. _ is not yet out, Williams asserts he won 161 ,063 votes to a return to the principles of solidarity there can be no Victor Tirado explained. what this meant to the young 107,137 for his opponent, International Treasurer Frank union movement that defends workers' interests. fighters of the FSLN as they were beginning their historic McKee. Working-class solidarity cannot stop at the borders of · struggle against Somoza and his U.S. backers: Some one million union members ·were eligible to ' the United States. The employers have an international "The colonel assimilated all of Sandino's guerrilla tac­ vote. That only 30 percent chose to do so is an indication outlook - they strive to make profits wherever they can tics; he was a genius in tactics and taught us how to take of how most saw the election: as a power struggle involv­ and they exploit workers all over the world in the proc­ care, stand watch, do guard duty, attack, and make incur­ ing top officials far removed from the real problems of ess. U.S. workers cannot defend ourselves from this in­ sions." the union ranks. ternational drive for profit by retreating to reactionary But Santos LOpez added something else to the fighting Neither Williams nor McKee put forward an effective U.S. nationalism that implies we have more in common capacities of the new revolutionary organization. program or strategy to meet the devastating employer of­ with U.S. employers - because they too are "Ameri­ "Beyond military discipline," explained the FSLN news­ fensive that has resulted in the loss of hundreds of cans"- than with fellow workers in Canada, or Japan, paper Barricada, "Santos LOpez imposed a political dis­ thousands of steelworker jobs. While both candidates or El Salvador. Cipline which helped temper the FSLN." claimed to be opponents of any further concessions to the The truth is that U.S. workers have a lot to Learn from Borge related how Santos LOpez placed himself at the big steel companies, most steelworkers knew that both fellow workers in other countries. Unlike procapitalist front of the first group of fighters, put them in contact Williams and McKee helped negotiate the March 1983 union officials like McKee or Williams many workers in with other veterans of Sandino's army and fought in bat­ giveback contract. USW A officialdom helped the steel other lands are mobilizing a fightback against the profit tles. barons impose this contract on workers in basic steel. drive. In doing this, Santos LOpez helped to reknit the revo­ Many steelworkers recognized that neither Williams nor French steelworkers are setting a .good example by lutionary continuity between the young people, primarily McKee offered the slightest resistance to U.S. Steel's their militant struggle against steel-mill closings. British student youth, who were initially attracted to the FSLN ma-ssive plant shutdowns last December. miners have been doing the same for weeks in their and the heritage and lessons of the worker and peasant The campaign was stamped by one feature that signal­ heroic strike. It was Canadian auto workers who led the cadres who had maintained Sandino' s legacy under the led a major danger in the labor movement. McKee sought fight against Chrysler's wages cuts by launching a mili­ conditions of Somoza's dictatorship. to win the election by directing all of his fire against Wil­ tant strike in November 1982. In 1964 Santos LOpez was struck by lung cancer. He liams over the issue of nationality. Williams is Canadian. Every one of these battles sets an example and aids the traveled to Cuba where he died in 1965. McKee's campaign committees -,- including one call­ struggle against the employers here. McKee's backward The FSLN cadres trained by Santos LOpez wrote a ing itself "Americans for McKee" - appealed to steel­ appeal - like appeals to racism and sexism in the unions glorious new chapter in the continuing history of the wor~ers: "Don't import an unqualified president." '- undercuts our struggles. The steel barons must have struggle for the socialist revolution in the Americas when McKee said he was fighting against "Canadian in­ enjoyed the show. they overthrew Somoza and established a workers and terests taking over" the union. A unionwide McKee mail­ With the election over, militant fighters in the USW A farmers government in Nicaragua in July 1979. ing sent out with address labels bearing an uncanny re- still face the challenge of mounting an effective fight As the remains of· Santos Lopez were interred . semblance to those used for official union business- an­ against the proemployer policies that both Williams and alongside the mausoleum of Carlos Fonseca, Tomas nounced "240 PERCENT" on the envelope - the alleged McKee agree on. It is not for nothing that the anthem of Borge continued the eulogy: . . rate of increase of Canadian steel imports from the time the union movement when it is engaged in battle is "Sol­ "Colonel Jose Santos LOpez: you have not come to rest Williams became acting USW A president last idarity Forever." The bureaucrats like to dust it off for in peace. You have come to continue fighting for peace November. McKee portrayed this as the main isssue. use at Labor Day rallies. But it must become the real and the dignity of this land. You, a man who fought since McKee's backward appeal to U.S. chauvinism and watchword of the union movement if an effective fight­ childhood, continue fighting now, even after your anti-Canadian attitudes is a potential cancer in the labor back is to be organized by the USW A and other unions. death."

14 The Militant April13, 1984 Cops on Lenell Geter case: any nigger will do

Lenell Geter, a young Black engineer from Greenville, no criminal record in Greenville, the cops circulated I know it doesn't, and I'm a prime example. There are Texas, had no idea that reading books and feeding ducks Geter's photograph to other towns- perhaps he commit­ other Lenell Geters out there." could land him in jail. But it did, and if it hadn't been for ted his crime outside of Greenville. We don't know how many, but Geter is right. Thera­ his friends and coworkers, Geter would've spent the rest Several witnesses in Balch Springs, the town where cist system of capitalist justice has railroaded thousands of his life in the pen. \ the fried chicken joint got clipped, picked out Geter from of Blacks and other workers to prison for crimes they In 1982 cops arrested Geter for the armed robbery of a photos. The witnesses had previously given different de­ didn't commit. Unjustly picked up and charged, tried be­ fast-food restaurant in a Dallas suburb. He was tried, scriptions of the robber, but the Dallas County District fore all-white juries, and thrown into prisop in dispropor­ convicted by an all-white jury, and sentenced to life im- Attorney, Henry Wade, took the photo identification as a tionate numbers, Blacks, and other oppressed positive one. There was no physical evidence linking nationalities; are the most victimized by the police and Geter to the robbery . courts. The prosecution portrayed Geter as a hardened crimi­ Blacks make up 41 percent of the inmates in city and .BY ANY MEANS nal who had been involved in several armed robberies. county jails, and 37 percent of those in federal prisons are Wade presented two ·witnesses who identified Geter as nonwhite. There are no statistics available on the racial the robber in two other holdups. Geter was never charged composition of the 394,141 inmates in state prisons. NECESSARY for these robberies. The racist nature of the capitalist courts is also shown Geter's coworkers and friends organized support for in the use of the death penalty. Forty-two percent of the Mohammed Oliver him. The NAACP also carne to Geter's aid. With their prisoners on death row in 1981 were nonwhite. Between help, Geter's case received widespread publicity, includ­ 1930 and 1981, 3,862 people were executed by civil au­ ing a segment on the popular TV news program "60 Min­ thorities; 2,066- or 53 percent- of those were Black. prisonment for a crime he didn't commit. Coworkers tes­ utes." The percentage is even higher if C-hicanos and other op­ tified that Geter was at work at E·Systems, Inc., in pressed nationalities are included. Greenville - 50 miles away from Dallas - when the This public pressure forced the Dallas County prosecu­ The Geter case helps to expose the racist, anti-work­ Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant was robbed. tion to grant a new trial last December. The trial was ing class nature of the employers' "law and order" cam­ But being Black in racist America is a criminal of­ scheduled to being on April 9. paign. As Geter's supervisor, Charles Hartford, pointed fense. Geter became a suspect in the robbery case after a But on March 21 District Attorney Wade announced out, "The law enforcement people and the District Attor­ white woman in Greenville complained to police about that his office had another suspect . in the case and ney didn't try to find the truth, they just tried to get a con­ Geter's habit of reading and feeding ducks in a park near dropped all charges against Geter. The new suspect, Cur­ viction. My feeling about law and order has kind of her home. She sugg~sted that Geter may have been in­ tis Mason, is also Black. changed after watching this. You keep wondering how volved in a robbery. Geter, who spent 14 months in prison, was ecstatic many other times something like this happens." So, the Greenville cops put a tail on Geter and began about his victory, but warned that "People· expect our All too often, when the cops are looking for someone surveillance of his home. When they discovered he had judicial system to work in a 100 percent efficiency mode. to pin a crime on, they'll say: Any nigger will do. -LETTERS------

Steelworker election for work. (Since July 1983, much TH£ AIR ~oRCE During the last weeks before the of the work force is still out of STOPPED SPRAYING work out of respect for the picket Steelworkers' election, I saw TH~T STUJ=F VEAI\S K:P- many materials supporting Frank line at the Phelps Dodge gate mak­ McKee's bid for international ing the labor dispute the longest TlUS IS ~Ul!WASU president. running strike in our nation International? today.) A brochure compares the "qual­ In October of 1983, hundreds of ifications" of the two candidates homes belonging to our brothers on facing pages. and sisters were destroyed by McKee: "AMERICAN CITI­ Arizona's worst flooding forcing ZEN, registered U.S. Voter, U.S. many homeless, and into bank­ military infantryman wounded in ruptcy. Federal and state aid is World War II." slow in coming and many families Lynn Williams: "CANADIAN need immediate help. CITIZEN, Not eligible to vote in To. be perfectly candid, ~e ~t U.S., One year ln Royal Canadian the Food Bank are in desperate Navy." There's an American flag need of help in order to continue in the corner of McKee's page; a the service so many depend on for Canadian flag for Williams. survival. Our funds are low and A sticker .urges members to our store of food is dwindling to "Vote to keep our union Ameri­ dangerous levels. can." If you can find it in your hearts A flyer mailed to the member­ to give just a little, the burden of ship says Canadian steel imports these trials would be lightened. (made, I imagine, by members of Please send your tax-deductible our union in Canada) have in­ donations to: creased 240 percent since Wil­ Clifton Morenci Food Bank biggest labor protests in Everett's Blacks and labor ing up the work of 600 persons. liams became acting president. It P.O. Box 186 history were held in solidarity with In 1968 the Militant took a The Blacks were withdrawn, and asks: "Who's he trying to protect? Morenci, Ariz. 85540 the strikers." forthright position in defense of for the next six months the govern­ His pals in Canada?" Your generosity will be sin­ She did not elaborate as to what Black rights in the case of a strug­ ment, the Executive Committee of A 3 X 5 card manages to fit all cerely appreciated: activities had actually taken place gle by Blacks to gain some meas­ the U AW, and the Packard Com­ of the following: "Be American­ Yours in Brotherhood, but it is unlikely that the protests ure of influence and control over pany were involved in a battle Vote American," "Support The Nancy Cervantez, Director were larger than the reaction to the · education in the Ocean-Hill with white auto workers to bring Qualified American Candidate," Travis Flannagan, President 1916 massacre of members of the Brownsville community in New about the transfer of the two "Don't Import an Unqualified Morenci, Ariz. Industrial Workers of the World York City. Blacks. Finally, the racist ele­ (Wobblies). ments were told to work or to President," "Vote American­ The American Federation of Vote McKee," "Support the Qual­ Striker likes paper In his book, Milltown, Norman leave the plant, and the blacks Teachers (AFT) led a racist strike were transferred." ified American Candidate" At this time I would like to com~ Clark gives a history of Everett against the Black community's de­ (again), "Stop Imports - Buy pliment you on your superb news­ from its founding in the late 19th mands. Prominent in this strike At Ocean Hill-Brownsville the American- Vote American." It's paper. It gets to the point, it is very century to its rise as a lumber town was AFT Pres. and AFL-CIO AFT pitted itself against an op­ signed "Americans for McKee." up to date, and of course very pre­ where the boom and bust cycle of Vice-president Albert Shanker. pressed nationality seeking to I received anot}Jer piece of ma­ capitalism radicalized the work­ cise. We should have more news­ The Militant's position oppos­ eliminate racism in the school sys­ terial in the mail earlier this·year : ers . In 1916 Wobblies flocked to papers like yours around circulat­ ing the strike and advocating sup­ tem .which serves only to per­ my 1984 union card. The Steel­ Everett to support an ongoing ing to open up America's eyes to port to Blacks who crossed the ra­ petuate divisions in the working workers' oath is printed on the strike by the millworkers. The what's happening and going on in cist picket line created quite a dis­ class along race lines which to­ back. local authorities drove them from our complicated world. cussion in the radical movement at gether with sexism undermine the "I do sincerely promise, of my town with kidnappings and beat­ solidarity we need to take on the For the moment I would like to th~t time. own free will, to abide by the laws stop my subscription due to the ings. corporate giants who today are as­ of this union; . . . never to dis­ fact that I'm planning on moving The Wobblies responded by I recently came across two in­ saulting working people. criminate against a fellow worker from Morenci on account of our chartering ships to carry free teresting precedents for the Mili­ Jim Kendrick on account of creed, color, sex, or labor dispute here with Phelps speech protesters from Seattle, 30 tant's position in PhilipS. Foner's Dallas, Texas nationality .... " Dodge. miles to the south. As one of the book, Organized Labor and the The oath is printed there every Thank you very much again for ferries approached the dock the Black Worker, page 255. year. I guess not everyone reads it. a most informative newspaper. sheriff and his deputized gang of "In late 1941, 500 white work­ Steven Fuchs Albert Luna strikebreakers opened fire from ers at the Curtis-Wright aircraft Correction Baltimore, Md. Morenci, Ariz. the dock. A number of people plant in Columbus, Ohio, struck were killed either by the bullets or when a Negro was promoted to the A caption in last week's Mili­ Appeal for help by being drowned after they were tool and die department. Thomas tant gave an incorrect title for Labor history pushed off the ship in the ensuing (then president of the UA W) im­ Kong Korm. He is Kampuchea's This appeal comes to you with a deputy foreign minister. deep sense of social obligation and The March 23, 1984, issue of panic. mediately removed the local union concern. the Militant contained an article by Unfortunately, my copy of official who had endorsed the For two years now, Greenlee Lisa Hickler on a Coalition of Milltown is packed in preparation strike-and ordered the men back to The letters column is an open County has suffered the worse un­ Labor Union Women-sponsored for a move and I am unable to work. forum for all viewpoints on sub­ foreseeable events and misfortune . rally in Seattle. Part of the article check exactly how many people "When Packard shifted t.wo ex­ jects of general interest to our in 100 years. dealt with the nine-month-old were killed. Perhaps this massacre pert Negro metal finishers from readers. Please keep your letters In April 1982, hundreds of strike by the Lumber and Produc­ could be the subject of a future work on automobiles to the polish­ brief. Where necessary they will workers were laid off from Phelps tion Industrial Workers union in Militant article. ing department of a new tank plant be abridged. Please indicate if Dodge Corp., our prime source of Everett, Washington, and in­ Ron Richards in 1943, 250 CIO members staged you prefer that your initials be livelihood. Many are still waiting cluded the statement that "the Harrisburg, Pa. a 40-minute sit-down strike, hold- used rather than your full· name.

April 13, 1984 The Militant 15 THE MILITANT Blacks, others discuss Grenada defeat

BY MOHAMMED OLIVER More people than ever are discussing the Grenada revolution. Sparked by the U.S. invasion of the island last fall, this discus­ sion centers on drawing the lessons of the overthrow of the People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) headed by slain Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. - This discussion continued on March 13, which marked the fifth anniversary of the Grenada revolution. In several cities events took place around this date to commemo­ rate the revolution and discuss its defeat. In New York City, for example, the Committee for a Free Grenada organized an ali-day conference on March 17, which was held at Hunter College. The gathering was cosponsored by Hunter's Central American Solidarity Committee and Day Session Student Government. The confer­ ence, which drew around 100 people, heard leaders of the Caribbean community and activists from Grenada solidarity or­ ganizations. In a workshop on U.S. foreign policy in the Caribbean and Central Amer- , ica, conference participants heard Daisy Moncada, a represen.tative of the Nicara­ Leonor Kusor guan Mission to the United Nations. Grenada Beach Club, the U.S. military headquarters and base camp,-surrounded by barbed wire and 24-hour guard. U.S. occu­ The next day, March 18, the National Black United Front (NBUF) and Medgar pation forces bolster proimperialist regime that is dismantling programs of Grenada revolution. Vanguard layer of U.S. working class is discussing lessons of Grenada revolution's achievements and overthrow. Evers College Center for Women's De­ velopment sponsored an afternoon forum on Grenada at Medgar Evers. The featured people attended a forum on Grenada held at ment functionaries and military officers led and farmers winning political power in speaker at this event was Adeyemi Ban­ Cas a de las Americas. Speakers at this by Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard. Grenada - an island with an overwhelm­ dele, who is the chair of NBUF's lnterna- event were Haywood Bums, cochair of the Some people at the meetings felt it was ingly Black population - and the striving . tional Affairs committee and recently National Conference of Black Lawyers; necessary to concentrate ,on building op­ for Black political power in the United . headed a fact-finding tour to Grenada. The Johnnetta Cole, executive board of U.S.­ position to U.S. imperialism's domination States. Many felt that this power could be NBUF investigating team was in Grenada Grenada Friendship Society; and Dr. Ste­ of Grenada rather than discussing the achieved through the campaign of Jesse the week of March 8 through 16. ven Robinson, a medical eyewitness of events leading up to the October 25 U.S. Jackson for the Democratic Party's nomi­ Bandele gave a report on the current post-invasion Grenada. invasion. ' nation for president. situation in Grenada and the activities of In addition to these meetings, several Many others, however, felt that discus­ Others argued that one of the essential the "Maurice Bishop and Oct. 19, 1983, other smaller gatherings were held during sion of the events from October 12. when lessons of the Grenada revolution was the Martyrs Foundation" to the 75 people at­ the w~ek of March 13. Forums on Grenada Bishop was placed under house arrest by need for working people to break with the tending the forum. were held in San Francisco, Philadelphia, the Coard faction, to October 19, when capitalist parties and struggle to put politi­ The NBUF delegation also presented a Milwauket<, and other cities as well. Bishop and other central leaders of the cal power in their own hands. videotaped interview with Alimenta and All of the gatherings discussed the big NJM were murdered by Coard' s followers, An invaluable contribution to this dis­ Ann Bishop, the mother and sister of achievements of the Grenada revolution. is essential to drawing the correct lessons cussion is the book Maurice Bishop Speaks Maurice Bishop. The interview was a small Under the four and a half years of PRG from the Grenada revolution. (published by Pathfinder Press). The book portion of the more than 20 hou.rs of video rule, workers and farmers made major ad­ Another crucial aspect of the ongoing contains all the major speeches by Bishop tape the NBUF team filmed, including an vances in eliminating unemployment, pro­ discussion is assessing the role of the between 1979- 1983. It also has the Oc­ interview with George Louison. Louison viding health care and education, and fur­ Cuban government and leadership in aid­ tober 20 and 25 statements of the Cuban was the minister of agriculture under thering Grenada's economic development. ing the Grenada revolution and telling the government and Communist Party, and the Bishop and a founding member of Bishop's But some of the most important discus­ truth about its overthrow. November 14 speech of Fidel Castro on the party, the New Jewel Movement (NJM). sion at the meetings dealt with the over­ In many of the gatherings participants execution of Bishop and his supporters and On the· evening of March 18 about 250 throw of the PRG by a clique of govern- also drew the connection between workers Continued on Page 10 Texas farm workers in Valley hail SWP campaign

BY JOSE ALVARADO low-wage, nonunion, 80 percent female That afternoon Gonzalez drove to the cember free.ze. HOUSTON - Andrea Gonzalez, vice­ labor provided by Mexico's Border Indus­ colonia Santa Maria in Texas to meet with The committee spearheaded a class ac­ presidential candidate for the Socialist trialization Program. The product is usu­ a leader of El Comite de Campesinos tion suit through Texas Rural Legal Aid, Workers Party, arrived here in the Rio ally returned to the United States for com­ (Farm Workers Committee), Maria Silva. claiming unequal distribution of the Grande Valley March 6, opening her tour pletion and sale. A colonia is an unincorporated community emergency disaster aid. of Texas with a press conference in El Puente lnternacional, newspaper of without city services - usually occupied "The one-million dollar emergency aid," Matamoros, Mexico. the International Union of Agricultural and by farm workers. said Silva, "was divided among four coun­ "We are not all Reagans and Mondales Industrial Workers, reported that in ties and most of it was used by agency ad­ in the United States," she said. "My cam­ Mexico 75 percent of the 600 maquiladora Support among farm workers ministrators to expand their departments. paign and supporters clearly understand plants are located along the Rio Grande in They opened new jobs and hired their per­ that it is not - contrary to what the U.S. Silva explained El Comite de Cam­ the cities of Reynosa, Matamoros, Juarez, pesinos is "an organization to defend and sonal friends." government would like to have workers be­ Laredo, Mexicali, and others. organize people around civil and human The one big victory by farm workers of lieve - the Mexican or Salvadoran work­ The rank and file · of the maquiladora rights." forcing the state to ban the use of el cortito ers who are responsible for the economic workers' union in Reynosa is demanding a "Through the Comite," she said, "we are (the short handled hoe, which intensifies recession and unemployment in the U.S. wage increase of 50 percent, reduction of able to fight for the type of education we the work and forces workers to stoop as ' "It is simply inconceivable," she con­ the 48-hour work week to 40 hours, and the they work) is now being circumvented by tinued, "that Mexican or Salvadoran work­ want our children to have. We fight with right to elect their own union h~adershi p . law suits, demonstrations, or whatever it the big growers forcing weeding and thin­ ers held a meeting and decided to shut The maquiladora worker earns at best takes to get results. ning crews to either pull weeds by hand or down the steel plants and lay off workers. I about $3:35 a day; some in Reynosa earn "Right now we are suing the Texas Edu­ use a knife. call for the opening of the border with the as little as $1.65 a day. cational Agency. We are suing for the The ruling class politicians, Democrats full understanding that o.nly the corporate Some of the North American-owned funds that are supposed to be used for the and Republicans, know well that the condi­ bosses are responsible for the decisions that companies paralyzed by the militant strike children of migrant farm workers. . tions in which these farm workers work shut down plants and bring unemploy­ in Reynosa, reported El Puente, are and live make for an explosive political ment." "These funds are ours, we have paid the Zenith, Tideland Energy S.A., Genesco de taxes, the monies come to the state and situation, especially considering the fight­ Mexico, Domestic Motors, Rey-Mex Bra schools but our children never see it. These back history of the Rio Grande Valley farm 10,000 maquiladora workers on strike (Sears), and Hamil de Mexico. funds are supposed to be used not only for workers and the Texas Raza Unida Party. The socialist's press conference in Last November maquila workers in lunch programs, but for shoes; hats; and in RUP was an independent Chicano party Mexico took place with the backdrop of a Matamoros went out on strike and won an the winter time for pants, coats, and sweat­ that actually held governmental power in strike of 10,000 maquiladora. workers in increase in wages, from 42 cents an hour to ers, which our children very much need." some south Texas areas during the mid­ '70s. Reynosa, Mexico. 60 cents. El Comite de Campesinos was part of a c Maquiladora plants are shops that com­ Gonzalez's Matamoros press conference 300-strong farm workers' march on What we need, said Silva, "is our own plete only part of the assembly of an item was attended by five Mexican newspapers Hidalgo t ounty Courthouse January 26 de­ representatives." She and a friend later and are mostly runaway U.S. electronic and one U.S. paper, the Brownsville manding help with utility bills, shelter, and hosted a dinner: for Gonzalez. - and gar.ment factories profiteering from the Herald. food in the wake of the devastating De- Continued on Page 12

16 The Militant April 13, 1984