Despite U.S. Bombs and Napalm

workers.org Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! DECEMBER 23, 2004 VOL. 46, NO. 51 50¢

Despite U.S. bombs and napalm

Neoliberalismo y resistencia 12 IRAQ RESISTS

FREE By Leslie Feinberg

MUMIA Even in the face of overwhelming NOW Pentagon firepower and high tech- Black legislators nology, Iraqi resistance is raging. ANGER IN Even after the bloodiest battle of weigh in 2 the war, the siege of Falluja—in which THE RANKS the invaders had complete control of Bring the troops home 6 the air, enormous material supremacy, forced several hundred thou- sand people to flee their homes and reduced most of the city to rubble— the resistance goes on. As Pentagon ‘DON’T ASK, warplanes continued to pound the city with bombs and missiles on Dec. DON’T TELL’ 12, insurgents fought the Marines in Recruiters booted running battles. off campuses 7 The Pentagon’s resumed bombing Mosul, Iraq, of the city is an admission that tri- Dec.14 CALIF. NATIVE umphal boasts of imperial victory STRUGGLE were premature. Mall built on ancient That same weekend, eight Marines were killed in Anbar Elections a fig leaf province—where Falluja and Ramadi are located. Buried in the business news is a reminder of the stakes for U.S. burial site 3 And insurgents continue to combat U.S. occupation troops finance capital and its imperialist competitors in this war for and Iraqi puppet soldiers in the northwest city of Mosul. On Dec. empire. An International Advisory and Monitoring Board estab- 11, fighters attacked a U.S. military patrol with a car bomb, rifles, lished to oversee Iraq’s plundered wealth complained in a report BASEBALL’S grenade launchers and mortars. on Dec. 14 that a lack of measuring devices is making it difficult Mosul continues to be a locus of resistance. On Nov. 10, two to meter how much oil is being pumped from Iraqi wells. The BOTTOM LINE days after the Pentagon war machine had begun its major audit board is dominated by officials from the International onslaught in Falluja, the insurgency carried out a coordinated It’s not about steroids 5 Monetary Fund and the World Bank. offensive in Mosul. They overran the quisling police forces, forc- All the talk about Jan. 30 elections restoring “stability” ing them to flee, leaving control of the third-largest city in Iraq amounts to a fig leaf on the naked maneuvers to plunder Iraq’s briefly in the hands of the insurgency. wealth. Since then, military strikes against occupation forces in Mosul For example, when the ruling General Council of the World soared during November to about 140 a week, up from an ear- Trade Organization announced Dec. 13 that it would open “mem- TRANSJUSTICE lier high of 30 to 40. And 150 Iraqis who collaborated with the bership” talks, it had to accept an application from the U.S.- occupation have been killed there since Nov. 10. appointed regime of titular prime minister Ayad Allawi, a long- People of color In Baghdad province, two Marines were killed by the resist- time CIA operative. ance on Dec. 13 and at least three others were wounded. group forms 5 One group running in the slated January elections is the The same day a suicide car blast rocked an occupation Green Constitutional Monarchy Movement. Its slate is headed by Sharif Zone checkpoint in Baghdad. And resistance fighters ignited Ali, the cousin of Iraq’s last king, who was killed in the 1958 rev- a blaze near an oil pipeline in northern Iraq, 45 miles south- west of Kirkuk. Continued on page 6 JOBS DOWN, BUT Aerospace profits up 4

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ADDRESS TIJUANA PUERTO RICO

CITY/STATE/ZIP Shaking hands Who decides

EMAIL PHONE with Cuban workers election results? Workers World Newspaper 9 8 55 W. 17 St. NY, NY 10011 212-627-2994 www.workers.org read it online Gift shopping online? Check out www. Leftbooks. com for Pam Parker’s new CD 2 Page 2 Dec. 23, 2004 www.workers.org Black legislators support

Mumia’s release National Black legislators support Mumia's release ...... 2 By Monica Moorehead Native people struggle to save shellmounds...... 3 Quanell X case ends in people's victory ...... 3 On Dec. 3, the National Black Caucus of State Prisoner describes Abu Ghraib-type conditions here . . 4 Legislators (NBCSL) passed a resolution during its con- Aerospace profits soar as workers are cut ...... 4 ference in Philadelphia calling for the freedom of African Youth march against sweatshops ...... 4 American political prisoner and death-row inmate Mumia Baseball owners scapegoat players on steroid issue . . 5 Abu-Jamal. This comes on the heels of another important FIST organizes in West Virginia ...... 5 resolution passed at the NAACP national convention on July 15 that demanded a new trial for Abu-Jamal and con- Trans people of color form political group ...... 5 demned the racist application of the death penalty by the GI dissent shakes up the Pentagon ...... 6 criminal justice system. Military recruiters set back on campus...... 7 The NAACP convention also took place in Philadelphia, 'Stop the War Week' hits streets and malls ...... 7 the city where Abu-Jamal was shot and arrested on Dec. Antiwar professor speaks in U.S...... 8 9, 1981, charged with killing a white police officer. Both FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL NOW ! International resolutions were brought about by the efforts of members The state legislators’ resolution reads: and supporters of International Concerned Family and WHEREAS Mumia Abu-Jamal’s 1982 trial in Phila- Iraq resists ...... 1 Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal to help raise a broader delphia was characterized by illegal suppression of evi- Who will decide Puerto Rico's election results?...... 8 awareness of this case and its political significance. dence, police coercion, illegal exclusion of Black jurors, Cuban unionists meet with U.S. & Mexican workers . . 9 The sham of a trial that took place in 1982 led to a mur- and grotesquely unfair and unconstitutional rulings by Cuban education is world-class...... 9 der conviction and a death sentence for Abu-Jamal. At the judge; and Late 1980s East Germany gay/lesbian clubs...... 10 least 29 constitutional violations were carried out during WHEREAS the trial judge, Albert Sabo, has been Struggle vs. apartheid brings LGBT rights ...... 11 this trial, including the systematic exclusion of Black quoted in a sworn statement to have vowed at the time Philippine revolutionary speaks to the world...... 11 jurors by the prosecutor. Abu-Jamal was physically of the trial to help the prosecution ‘fry the n—’; and removed from some of the jury proceedings after being WHEREAS subsequent appellate rulings have bent Editorials denied his right to the legal counsel of his choice. the law out of shape to sustain the guilty verdict of that More than Pinochet...... 10 A worldwide movement in support of Abu-Jamal has trial; and What's killing children? ...... 10 kept him from being legally lynched by the powers that WHEREAS the appellate courts have also refused to be who want to silence his revolutionary voice. Abu- consider strong evidence of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s inno- Noticias En Español Jamal, a former Black Panther, writes eloquent columns cence, most notably a confession by Arnold Beverly to Neoliberalismo y resistencia en América Latina . . . . . 12 denouncing war, racism and oppression in his maximum the crime; and security cell in Waynesburg, Pa., while awaiting the out- WHEREAS Mumia Abu-Jamal still is incarcerated on come of state and federal court appeals in efforts to win a Death Row and still faces a death sentence; and new trial. Continued on page 3 WW CALENDAR

BALTIMORE. film producers Sally Marr and Peter Dudar. Also, presentations Every Sunday by Marcus Erikson of Vets for NEW PAM PARKER CD RELEASE Workers World Party weekly dis- Peace and John Parker of the cussion and classes on revolution- International Action Center. ary socialism. Presently we are Sponsored by IAC-LA. 7:30 p.m. • I Wish I knew how it discussing the "Communist At 5274 W Pico Blvd. For info would feel to be free Manifesto," its meaning for (323) 936-7266. today's struggle. Everyone wel- • Mother’s Day come. Join us for food and NEW YORK. • Bridge over troubled refreshments. 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. At 426 E. 31st Street, Baltimore. water Fri., Dec. 17 For info (410) 235-7040. Workers World Party meeting. • We speak louder than Hear Rebeca Toledo, a WWP machines LOS ANGELES. leader, report back on the Cuba/North America Labor • Truck driving woman Fri., Dec. 17 Conference held in Tijuana, • Hound Dog Film screening. "Arlington West" is Mexico, on Dec. 10-12. 7 p.m. a new documentary that chroni- (Dinner at 6:30) At 55 W. 17 St., • Congo Square cles the creation of the symbolic 5th Fl., Manhattan. For info (212) • Sophie’s Theme soldiers' cemetery erected every 627-2994. Sunday by the Veterans for Peace • What a wonderful world at beaches along the Southern • Bound for freedom California coastline. Hear from the Pam Parker • Masters of war • Imagine

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By Stephanie Hedgecoke activist and organizer Corrina Gould says: West Berkeley “We do this the day after Unthanksgiving Shellmound site, also Indigenous people of the California Bay even though the Shellmound, the land, has a focus of struggle. PHOTO: AMERICAN MUSEUM OF Area recently held three events focused on been desecrated by this strip mall. We give NATURAL HISTORY the struggle to preserve their ancient bur- out educational material because it’s a ial grounds, the shellmounds, from real cemetery and ask people not to shop at estate development. The events, called by the mall.” day for 10 weeks in Indian People Organizing for Change The history of the shellmound struggle 2001 and incinerated (IPOC) and the Vallejo Inter-Tribal Coun- encompasses the survival of Pacific at a toxic waste dump. cil’s Indigenous Sacred Sites Preservation Coastal peoples who have been twice col- The remaining oldest Committee, were held over a two-day onized. Spain’s conquistador army and layer contains uncounted human remains mound to the Vallejo Waterfront Park. period. priests built the mission system by forcibly as much as 2,500 years old. The procession included representa- The events followed the Unthanks- rounding up and enslaving tens of thou- During the pile-driving stage of the tives of many of the area’s Indigenous giving Sunrise Ceremony at Alcatraz in the sands. Later, during the Gold Rush, the mall’s construction, hundreds of burials Nations. The Tule River Reservation, just San Francisco Bay. The Sunrise Cere- U.S. moved in to enforce its proclamation were exposed all over the 19-acre site and south of Sequoia National Park in the mony, held by the International Indian of Manifest Destiny, that it had a right to confirmed by archaeologists, but that did Sierra Nevada mountains, sent an entire Treaty Council (IITC), is a long-running take the continent, from the Atlantic not stop the profit-hungry developers and bus full of Yokuts, who explained that the annual event commemorating the historic Ocean to the Pacific. their backers in local government from Glen Cove site was a transitional area his- takeover of Alcatraz by the American The shellmounds in the San Francisco proceeding with construction. torically for at least seven Native Nations Indian Movement (AIM) and traditionally Bay Area represent cemeteries and After the demonstration in Emeryville, and that their own kin were among “this brings together hundreds of Native people ancient monuments of First Nations, an open forum regarding the Glen Cove living shellmound.” AIM representative and their supporters. including the Ohlones, Coast Miwok, Bay burial site was held at Calvary Commu- Carole Standing Elk helped lead the pro- On Friday, Nov. 26, IPOC called an all- Miwok, Plains Miwok, Yokuts, Wappo, nity Church in Benicia by leaders of the cession with a joint IPOC/IITC banner day demonstration at the site of the Bay Patwin and several others. Vallejo Inter-Tribal Council (VITC) and reading: “Save the Shellmounds, Respect Street Mall, recently built atop the Emeryville Shellmound’s topmost layer Native elders. All Sacred Sites” and “You Can’t Respect Emeryville Shellmound over the objec- of burial sites was razed to build a dance On Saturday morning, VITC called on the Living Until You Respect the Dead.” tions of Muwekma Ohlone people and pavilion by European settlers in the 1800s. the Indigenous community, peace and jus- For updates on future events write to their supporters. That shellmound was Its second layer was destroyed in 1924; the tice groups, and progressive religious IPOC, POB 796, Alameda, CA 94501; call once 60 feet high and up to 600+ feet in 900- to 1,300-year-old remains of some organizations to attend a Citizen’s Assem- the VITC at (707) 558-8776; or email the diameter; it is older than the pyramids in 700 people were taken by University of bly to preserve the Glen Cove Shellmound, Shellmounder News at Egypt and formerly held at least four his- California Berkeley’s Anthropology which faces potential destruction from [email protected]. torical levels of burial sites. Department. real estate development. Sacred Sites Information was gathered Some 100 demonstrators gathered and From 1924 to 1984 toxic wastes were Protection & Rights of Indigenous Tribes for this report by activists with the leafleted cars to ask people not to shop at dumped on the third layer. This layer was led the gathering on a 5-1/2 mile proces- Shellmounder News and supporters the “Dead Mall.” Muwekma Ohlone hauled away in hundreds of truckloads a sion from the site of the Glen Cove Shell- of the Muwekma Ohlone Nation. Quanell X case ends in people’s victory

By Gloria Rubac court to use concert-type roping to keep people have experienced for Houston the crowd in a line. Overt racism and hos- over 400 years, this country will tility dripped from both district attorneys be destroyed not from without It was a people’s victory on Nov. 15 in and also the judge. DA Denise Nassar but from within. My case was a the racist state district court in Houston compared Brother Quanell to O.J. small part of bringing about a when the district attorney failed to convict Simpson. Nassar’s husband is a police realization of the corrupt crim- New Black Panther Party activist Brother homicide detective who had been looking inal justice system. Quanell X of felony evading-arrest for the suspect. The judge’s father is the “I wasn’t afraid of going to charges. sheriff of Houston. There was only one jail. I would have gone in and Last June Brother Quanell was taking a African American on the jury. organized the brothers and the young African American man accused of After the victory, Minister Robert Hispanics and even the whites shooting a police officer to the police sta- Muhammed of the Nation of Islam in that jail. The system is now tion. The youth had been the subject of a Mosque #45 said, “Everyone in Houston angry and frustrated. They 2-day manhunt and terror campaign knew that Quanell was innocent and this want to get rid of brothers who against the Black community. He was trial lasting over a week was a waste of tax- are leaders and who stand up to afraid to turn himself in, so Brother payers’ money.” the system. We’re upsetting Quanell offered to take him to the station After the trial, Brother Quanell, who their world order. Two white and had worked out an arrangement with was prohibited from talking to the media jurors have called me and told the police chief, who is African American. during the 6-month ordeal, invited the me they knew I was innocent Some white cops got wind of what was community and the media to a celebration but there were two others that happening and entrapped Brother X as he at the New Black Panther Party office. wouldn’t listen to reason so was on his way to the police station. Quanell spoke for the first time. that’s why they compromised A broad citywide coalition, People for “This case was bigger than just me. They and convicted me of a misde- Justice, was formed to support Brother wanted to teach other leaders and me a meanor one step above a traffic WW PHOTO: GLORIA RUBAC Quanell. The courtroom was packed each lesson. Many Blacks and also white peo- ticket. Quanell X gives award to Rena Simon, an day of the trial. Hundreds and hundreds ple knew that this was wrong. When the “I thank all of you for your organizer of People for Justice. In rear are turned out on the first day, forcing the common whites see in the system what our support and this is our victory.” Minister Robert Muhammed and Kofi Taharka. We want freedom Support Mumia’s release Mumia Abu-Jamal Continued from page 2 Legislators demands that the courts con- THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER provides the WHEREAS Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case sider the evidence of innocence of RESOLVED that the NCBSL will com- world with an is now on appeal before the federal Third Mumia Abu-Jamal and that he be municate its views on this matter to important history Circuit and the state court system; and released from prison; and Gov. Rendell, 225 Main Capitol Bldg., of the founding Harrisburg, PA 17120, and to the appro- of the WHEREAS Mumia Abu-Jamal has for THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER Philadelphia decades as a journalist fought courage- RESOLVED that the NCBSL demands priate courts in consultation with the Black Panther ously against racism and for the human that Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell legal defense team of Mumia Abu- Party rights of all people; and instruct his Attorney General to take Jamal; and $13.99 WHEREAS the continued unjust over the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal from THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER Order from www.Leftbooks.com incarceration of Mumia Abu-Jamal rep- the Philadelphia County District RESOLVED that the NCBSL will work Guaranteed Holiday Delivery!! Make your resents a threat to the civil rights of all Attorney’s office and actually pursue with the legal defense team of Mumia order by Dec. 20th using express shipping and people, justice; namely, go to court, make a legal Abu-Jamal to petition the courts to file your order will arrive before Dec. 25th any necessary friend of the court brief on (continental U.S. delivery only). THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that confession of error, and stipulate that the National Caucus of Black State the conviction be vacated; behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Page 4 Dec. 23, 2004 www.workers.org Prisoner describes Abu Ghraib-type conditions here Following is a somewhat abridged letter abuse they [taunt] the inmates, saying, used to create an image of the inmate that inmate with the electrical shield, beat and from Eric “Man Shareef” Riddick, who “Go ahead and file a grievance. We don’t would justify long-term isolation. Also to hogtie [him/her] with leg irons and wrist is currently incarcerated at the State care.” Or “Go ahead and write to the prison beat the inmate or to use an electrical irons and then remove [him/her] from the Correctional Institution at S.C.I. Regional Director.” shock shield and pepper spray. cell. The record will show that over 90 per- Greene. This is the prison that trained Why isn’t anyone pushing for a Senate Solitary confinement is where the cent of these cell extractions don’t require Charles A. Grainer Jr., who has been hearing and/or resolution condemning majority of the abuse and torture occur. such force. However, when there is no unofficially identified as the ring leader the everyday terroristic torture inside There is a light in each cell that stays on monitoring of people in authority, this is of the goon squad charged in the Abu American prisons? 24 hours! All day, every day with no pur- what happens. Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq. The accusations I make are true. There pose other than to punitively deprive the This is a subject that goes much deeper Riddick says he was transferred from are thousands of men and women that inmate of substantial amounts of sleep. If than what I have written. However, I hope S.C.I. Graterford to S.C.I. Greene on have been methodically driven insane. an inmate manages to survive the light, he that this brief writing will touch your Oct. 24, 2001, where he was arbitrarily The record will confirm that 85 to 90 per- or she is systematically [tortured] by an air humanity in a way that will compel you to put in solitary confinement without cent of inmates that now suffer from psy- vent. The same guards control over the investigate these various issues that are a being charged or convicted of any chological problems, and are on all types lights control the air vent, which blasts major concern to the inmates. The people institutional infraction. He was told this of medications, were not in this condition very cold air that comes out full force. must get involved and seek authentic was because he is an activist and organ- when they entered prison. The ultimate weapon of psychological information outside of the governmental izer. Except for 27 days, Riddick has The record will also reveal thousands torture in solitary confinement is the use propaganda that is designed to sabotage been in solitary confinement since upon thousands of ignored complaints of of inmate against inmate. This is menda- real democratic thoughts. Oct. 24, 2001, without being charged beatings, racial and religious profiling ciously done by putting the inmates that I have been unjustly incarcerated for with any misconduct. and discrimination, unjustified long term have already been driven insane on the over a decade illegally, lynched by the solitary confinement, which is one of the same cell block with inmates that are still notorious Pennsylvania judicial system The terror that I write about is happen- most effective methods of systematically trying to maintain their sanity. The for a crime that I did not commit. My sit- ing every day in the prisons of America! [destroying] an inmate’s sanity, as well as inmates that have been driven insane bang uation is not the exception, but rather a From beatings to psychological torture, parole discrimination, just to name a few. on the doors and scream all day and all norm among Black males in America. That from daily dehumanization, to the mur- There have been many murders of night long. The perpetual terrifying is the worst form of torture, being in ders! This is common practice in U.S. pris- inmates committed by staff abuse in the screams of broken souls are sounds that prison for a crime that you didn’t commit. ons. The policy makers as well as their U.S. prisons. The grievance outlets avail- can’t be explained. For those who desire to get involved, henchmen/women, the guards, have able to the inmates are a joke! They are In solitary confinement humiliating write to the Human Rights Coalition at developed highly sophisticated methods designed to be defective and are an essen- strip searches, where inmates are stripped P.O. Box 9235, Philadelphia, PA 19129 of torture, humiliation and even murder. tial cohort in the cover-up. naked, is an everyday thing. The medical or call (215) 578-7474. HRC is a move- This corroded mentality of administra- Inmates are forced into situations service provided is highly unsafe. Then ment that is dedicated to Human Rights. tive misconduct is not limited to person- where he or she has no choice but to you have the barbaric cell extractions, The movement is at its embryonic nel inside the prisons. They carry out the defend himself or herself, physically where five large guards are dressed in full stage of development, but is gaining policies of abuse on a daily basis, free of and/or verbally. The administration then body armor equipped with sticks, high- righteous momentum. HRC welcomes all worry because they know that their supe- buries the inmate with institutional mis- power pepper spray, gas masks and one suggestions. riors are the source [and support] of the conduct reports. The majority of these large electric shield that shoots 50 thou- Power to the people. longstanding infamy. This is why on many reports of misconduct are saturated with sand plus volts of electricity. They run into Your brother in struggle, occasions after the [guards] inflict their fallacies and half truths. This process is the cell, use pepper spray, then shock the Brother Man Shareef Aerospace profits soar as workers are cut

By Heather Cottin of that growth coming from military sales 50 percent of its work, meaning many jobs senting the heavyweights in aerospace, and demand for missiles and other not automated are going abroad. including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, War is good for the economy if you are weapon systems. (American Economic Alert, Oct. 8, 2003) Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics a capitalist. If you are a worker, you face As the war in Iraq deepens and U.S. mil- Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Raytheon. unemployment. The annual report by the itary adventurism burgeons from Latin in 2003 personally engineered a deal On Long Island, in California, in Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) America to Africa, Europe to the Middle allowing the defense industry to drop the Washington State and other regions of the on Dec. 8 shows that aerospace employ- East and Asia, the aerospace and requirement that military production be United States, workers who counted on ment is at its lowest level in 50 years. “defense” industries are raking in the con- done with U.S.-made machine tools. the military industry to generate jobs are But profits are booming—at their high- tracts. Military aircraft sales increased 15 Aerospace sales to the Pentagon are out of luck. Local economies are stagnat- est levels in 85 years. Total sales this year percent, and missile sales jumped 10 per- expected to rise 7 percent to $76 billion ing or worse, and corporate moguls have surged by $12 billion to $161 billion, with cent, the AIA report said. next year from $71 billion this year, and left the workers behind. It is just like the profits running to $10.1 billion. (Seattle Meanwhile, the number of aerospace financing for research and development auto industry, just like the steel industry. Post Intelligencer, Dec. 9) Virtually all this and defense industry jobs has declined will approach $80 billion. The old factories are empty, and only Wal- growth is in military orders. just as rapidly as jobs in all industrial sec- “This is the second-best year in the Mart is hiring. The industry is salivating at the tors. The mantra of “free trade” is echoed industry both for absolute profits and for The war in Iraq has already cost $150 prospect that sales will increase even throughout the military industry. Cheaper profits as a percentage of sales,” AIA billion. (costofwar.com) Much of that has more in 2005. AIA analysts predict a 7.5- labor means bigger profits. The U.S. President and CEO John Douglass said. gone to profit an industry “headed in the percent increase to $173 billion, with most defense industry now outsources at least AIA is an influential trade group repre- right direction,” according to Douglass. This industry is generating few jobs but many weapons of mass destruction, the death of tens of thousands, and at least one major scandal—a corrupt $23-billion deal Youth between the Air Force and Boeing. The Air Force’s former top weapons march buyer, Darleen Druyun, faces a 9-month prison term. Michael Sears, Boeing’s former chief financial officer, has pleaded against guilty in federal court to conflict of interest charges. Air Force Secretary James sweatshops Roche and other administration officials About 100 people, mostly remain under investigation. young women, marched from Still Douglass crows, “This industry is the Washington Square Arch one of the very brightest spots in the to the former site of the American economy.” Triangle Shirtwaist factory on Bright for those profiting from death, Dec. 9. They were protesting not for workers. Not for soldiers either. sweatshop conditions at Wal- WWW.ILR.CORNELL.EDU/TRIANGLEFIRE With all the billions poured into military Mart and other low-wage LEFT, WW PHOTO: ANNE PRUDEN industry coffers, U.S. soldiers in Iraq are corporations. In 1911, 146 workers, most of prodigiously poorly protected. It’s not them women immigrants, died profitable to protect the cannon fodder, it in a fire at the Triangle is only profitable to build expensive factory because the bosses weapons systems. had locked the exit doors. www.workers.org Dec. 23, 2004 Page 5 Baseball owners scapegoat players on steroid issue By Mike Gimbel steroid use. This threat is completely hol- Sports under capitalism = profits able New York Yankees, has more money low. McCain, a Republican, and Democra- Sports, “amateur” or professional, is available to sign the best players because Sports is supposedly the one place tic Sen. Joe Lieberman co-chaired the just as much an industry as auto, steel or the Yankees dominate the baseball market. where two individuals or two teams can Committee for the Liberation of Iraq to Hollywood films. The players are used as Competition among compete on a “level playing field.” build support within Congress for the commodities to increase the bottom line— baseball owners This contrived misperception is now invasion of Iraq. profits. Every year he virtually outbids his being utilized by the big business media to With tens of thousands of dead Iraqi Good sportsmanship is supposedly opponents—other wealthy baseball own- attack individual sports performers, inclu- civilians and thousands of U.S. soldiers taught in college. But the colleges compete ers of less marketable teams. Thus, when ding top Black performers like Barry Bonds, dead or maimed in a war and occupation furiously to recruit—bribe—the best high a player becomes too “expensive” for the who either have used or are charged with based on lies that McCain helped to pro- school sports talent available. The compe- other teams, Steinbrenner can offer a using “performance-enhancing” drugs. mote, can anyone believe his “outrage” tition for television money and for “dona- more lucrative contract, knowing that Victor Conte Jr., owner of Bharat Alu- over this truly minor issue of steroid use? tions” from wealthy alumni among “ama- he’ll more than make up for this expense minium (BALCO) and a steroid drug George W. Bush is former owner of the teur” collegiate programs is as vicious as due to the Yankees’ storied reputation. dealer facing a criminal indictment, went Texas Rangers baseball team and one of any in private sector industries—but they Baseball, perhaps more than any other on ABC-TV’s “20/20” on Dec. 3 to “con- McCain’s strongest supporters. The own- pay not a penny in salary to these college professional sport, has even celebrated fess” his sins. He is attempting to “cop a ers of the MLB teams are some of the performers. those who have successfully cheated. plea” and get a lesser sentence by becom- world’s wealthiest people and Bush’s In order for many of these “amateur” Famed baseball manager Leo Durocher ing a government witness against players staunchest supporters. McCain isn’t about performers to actually make a living in a bragged openly about how he and his team he claims he entrapped into taking drugs to attack his wealthy buddies by removing team sport, they must be more than good cheated. Yet he is almost canonized for BALCO was dispensing, undoubtedly at a the antitrust exemption. This was simply enough to be signed to a contract by a pro- these acts. very good profit. ABC was willing to give a threat to the baseball players’ union that fessional team. The pressures on the Long after the “spitball” was banned, it Conte the airtime to name names and this rightwing-dominated Congress would player to get an edge, so as to be “a star” continues to be used by desperate pitch- boost the network’s ratings. take measures to try to weaken or even or just make the pro team, are enormous. ers trying to “hang on” to their declining Sen. John McCain has threatened to bust the union by fully backing the own- Even within the MLB owner cartel there careers, as well as many other methods to yank the antitrust exemption of major ers, utilizing the steroid issue as their bat- is no “even playing field.” George Stein- league baseball (MLB) over the issue of tering ram. brenner, owner of the fabulously profit- Continued on page 8 As Democrats fail the state FIST organizes in West Virginia

By David Hoskins Republicans are likely to exacerbate the Stand Together—took place on Dec. 7. harassed key activists and vandalized Charleston, W. Va. problem by pursuing a program of tax cuts Students rallied around an agenda that FIST fliers. As in any struggle, the fight- for wealthy out-of-state corporations incorporated the struggles at home and back shifted the consciousness of those West Virginians are switching political combined with cuts in social welfare abroad into a single rallying cry against involved, as student organizers worked parties in increasing numbers. What used spending for the state’s residents. U.S. imperialism. Student speakers dis- overtime to deal with a flood of interest to be a stronghold for the Democratic This is no solution for the dispossessed cussed the anti-war struggle, the struggles on the campus. Party has now gone twice for George W. of Appalachia. The answer for the work- in Haiti and Palestine, and the fight of coal What may seem like a small victory has Bush. In the 2004 election, Bush trumped ing class of West Virginia is a social revo- miners and the United Mine Workers at had real repercussions on the WVSU cam- his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, by lution that overthrows capitalist property the Cannelton mines. Two coal miners pus. Student activists are not satisfied, 13 percentage points. In addition, Repub- relations and replaces the corporate state attended the meeting and discussed their either. They have made a commitment to licans picked up two statewide offices and with a revolutionary workers’ democracy. struggle and ways in which students can return next semester ready to fight both made inroads in the State Senate. With this goal in mind, students at West participate. for themselves and for the workers and The Democrats are in crisis mode. State Virginia State University have taken the Word spread and the organization poor children of Appalachia. This is only party chair Nick Casey has decided that, first concrete step toward mobilizing this began to grow even before the first meet- the first step in the struggle for justice in instead of standing up for working people, state’s youth and working people. The first ing as students were forced to fight back West Virginia. the electoral solution for Democrats lies in meeting of FIST—Fight Imperialism, against a school administration that mimicking the reactionary social policies of the Republican Party. Democrats have dominated the state legislature, the governorship and state- Trans people of color wide offices for decades. Yet during that time the Democrats oversaw decades of human suffering, with high unemploy- form political group ment and poverty and poor educational opportunities and healthcare for the By LeiLani Dowell every trans-led initiative that has gone state’s workers. New York before us.” organization—said there are no housing A quick perusal of any search engine The event featured speakers—all trans services for female-to-male seniors, will turn up the failures of Democratic A historic celebration Dec. 9 launched or gender non-conforming people of color, adding, “If you think you have problems rule. West Virginia ranks close to the bot- the first project by and for trans and gen- all activists—discussing their work and the with housing now, wait until you’re 63.” tom of child poverty ratings, with almost der non-conforming people of color in continued struggle for trans people with Bran Fenner of Fabulous Independent 27 percent of its children living below the New York. TransJustice, a project of the regard to immigration, housing and jobs, Educated Radicals for Community poverty line. When this number is broken Audre Lorde Project (ALP), was launched and youth issues. Empowerment discussed how FIERCE down by county, the disparity becomes at a standing-room-only event at ALP’s Debanuj Dasgupta of the Queer Im- was formed to fill a void around struggle even more obvious. Eleven counties have offices in Brooklyn. migrants Rights Project (QIR) discussed for trans and queer youth of color. One of child poverty rates above 30 percent. TransJustice describes itself as “a polit- the myriad challenges LGBT people face FIERCE’s longest-standing campaigns is A few counties’ rates approximate those ical group created by and for trans and towards immigration, including a 12- to against the so-called “quality of life” cam- in underdeveloped capitalist nations. gender non-conforming people of color. 14-year waiting list for green cards for asy- paigns in New York City that are really a McDowell County has a child poverty rate We work to mobilize our communities and lum. Dasgupta said, “As immigrants, we way of pushing queer youth of color off the of over 52 percent and Webster County’s allies to action on the pressing political are displaced, we’re used for cheap labor, piers and out of the Lower East Side. rate exceeds 45 percent. The healthcare issues we face. These issues include gain- and we’re not even given housing. ... In the Other speakers included Kris Hayashi, and education sectors fare no better. Over ing access to jobs, housing and education; long term, QIR wants a complete overhaul executive director of the Audre Lorde 70 percent of fourth graders perform the need for trans-sensitive healthcare, of the INS.” Dasgupta described the Project; Kim Watson, associate coordina- below average math and reading levels HIV-related services and job-training pro- assault on immigrants as another facet of tor of the Trans Program at Bronx’s and 43,000 children in West Virginia lack grams; resisting police, government and U.S. imperialism. Community Health Care Network; Gael health insurance. anti-immigration violence.” Barbara Cassis of Housing Works Guevara of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project West Virginians are right to reject the Imani Henry, director of the Trans- stressed the need for more services for and Queers for Peace and Justice; and Democratic Party and its years of broken Justice project, told the group, “This meet- homeless trans people. Cassis works with Adam Okoye, a student at Harvey Milk promises. Democrats offer no solutions ing is a demonstration about the living and an 18-month transitional housing pro- High School and an organizer with the Gay for the poor children of McDowell and breathing and struggle-oriented nature of gram that has successfully kept all its Lesbian Straight Education Network. Webster counties. The answer to their trans people of color, from Stonewall to clients off the street. Regina Shavers, The event closed with a number of stun- legitimate grievances, however, is not to our sisters who founded STAR [Street executive director of the Griot Circle—a ning performances in celebration of the be found in the Republican Party. In fact, Transvestite Action Revolutionaries] to lesbian, gay, bi and transgender senior project and the community. Page 6 Dec. 23, 2004 www.workers.org GI dissent shakes up the Pentagon By John Catalinotto Hinzman had said on CBS’ “60 Min- there are over 30,000 former U.S. citizens New York utes” program, “I was told in basic train- who took asylum in Canada during the ing that if I’m given an illegal or immoral Vietnam War who side with Hinzman, A series of events in early December sig- order, it is my duty to disobey it, and I feel including Hinzman’s attorney, Jeffry naled a major shift in political conscious- that invading and occupying Iraq is an ille- House. (SoldierSayNo.org) ness within the U.S. Armed Forces. gal and immoral thing to do.” Together they struck fear in the hearts of Hinzman is in Toronto with his Viet- ‘Shock and awe’ for Rumsfeld the general staff. namese-born wife and 2-year-old son. He Spec. Thomas Wilson is with the 278th A sailor, a soldier, a Marine, and two is the first in court of three U.S. troops now Regimental Combat Team, composed National Guard soldiers committed acts of in Canada who are publicly appealing for mainly of members of the Tennessee Army courage. They killed no Iraqis, nor did they official asylum. The Canadian govern- National Guard. Secretary of Defense rescue wounded comrades under fire. ment, which has refused to join the “coali- Donald Rumsfeld spoke to 2,300 of these This kind of courage took a different form tion of the willing” in Iraq, is under pres- Guard members in a hangar in Kuwait for each GI, from refusing to kill to con- sure from Washington to reject U.S. mili- before television cameras. fronting the unpopular secretary of tary resisters. Rumsfeld asked the troops to pose defense. Presiding IRB member Brian Goodman some “tough questions.” He must have says the legality or illegality of the war will expected them to remain humble before Just say ‘no’ WW PHOTO: JOHN CATALINOTTO not be an issue in his ruling, to be made by his authority. Instead of being held in awe, Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes Victor Paredes, brother of Seaman February 2005. It will be based, said Rumsfeld got shocked. had received orders to ship out on the USS Pablo Paredes, who is refusing to Goodman, only on whether Hinzman has Wilson brought up the unarmored Bonhomme Richard and carry 3,000 report to Iraq. a reasonable fear of persecution for his Humvees that the resistance regularly Marines to Iraq. On a pier in San Diego on of his brother’s determination to refuse to religious or political beliefs, or faces the blows up in Iraq. He asked Rumsfeld why Dec. 6, Paredes said “no” to these orders. go to Iraq on Dec. 11 at an anti-war meet- risk of cruel and unusual punishment if he do “we soldiers have to dig through local Paredes, who grew up in the Bronx bor- ing of veterans’ groups and military fami- returns to the U.S. landfills for pieces of scrap metal and com- ough of New York City, knew he would be lies in New York. The Navy backed off promised ballistic glass to up-armor our Confession of war crimes pretty safe stationed on the ship. He knew from arresting Paredes on Dec.6 with vehicles?” he would probably go to prison for refus- media present. Now, charged with deser- Despite Goodman’s statement, Hinz- The 2,300 troops applauded and ing. But he also knew at least 100 of the tion, he is arranging his legal defense to man made a strong political case. Marine cheered him. Rumsfeld looked stunned. 3,000 Marines wouldn’t come back. And prepare for turning himself in. Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey, a 12-year vet- His quick answer failed to hide his indif- he objected to the unjustified loss of eran, was at the Toronto hearing Dec. 8 ference toward the fate of the ordinary human life in Iraq. Asylum in Canada testifying on Hinzman’s behalf. Massey, GIs: “You go to war with the Army you In 2000, Paredes had signed up at age Army Pfc. Jeremy Hinzman faced who spent three months in Iraq, told how have,” blustered the Pentagon boss. 17 for a six-year stint in the Navy. Now, as Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board his unit—the 7th Marines weapons com- “They’re not the Army you might want or he refused his orders, he said, “I’d rather (IRB) in Toronto for an asylum hearing pany— killed more than 30 Iraqi civilians wish to have at a later time.” do military prison time than 6 months of the same week. He had left Ft. Bragg, N.C., in one 48-hour period at a checkpoint in He looked like he wished he had an dirty work for a war that I and many oth- months before when his paratrooper unit the Rashid neighborhood in southern army of robots. Rumsfeld hustled off to ers do not support. War should be an in the 82nd Airborne Division was ordered Baghdad. his armored car and left. His answer to absolute last resort and even then must be to Iraq. For Hinzman, the war in Iraq is “I know in my heart that these vehicles the troops became the butt of late-night considered thoroughly.” illegal, and if he participates he will be a that came up, that they were civilians,” he comedy routines. It was another nail in His immigrant family and his wife are war criminal. said. “But I had to act on my orders. It’s a the coffin of the Rumsfeld Doctrine that 100-percent behind him. Paredes has his The young paratrooper believes he struggle within my heart.” He said that planned for a cost-effective, high-tech own web site where readers can find his deserves no punishment for taking this Hinzman would likely be forced to com- world conquest. position in full. stand. “Serving even one day in prison for mit atrocities that violate the Geneva Con- The defense secretary was the archi- (SwiftSmartVeterans.com) refusing to comply with an illegal order is ventions if he goes to Iraq. tect of the war. He had rushed into it Three hundred people cheered and too long.” A large majority of Canadians and Que- prepared only for a quick, brutal victory applauded Victor Paredes when he spoke becois oppose the war on Iraq. In addition, over Iraq. Along with the neocons in the

Despite U.S. bombs and napalm, Iraq resists

Continued from page 1 GIs at a U.S. base in Kuwait a week earlier. contact their client, nor to represent him Information Link—blink.org.uk) olution when Iraqis liberated their nation Childs explains that, “[T]hese latest at his July 1 Baghdad preliminary arraign- But it is not just the violations of inter- and resources from British imperialism. political rumblings reflect renewed wor- ment. national law that constitute U.S. war ries in Washington about the effectiveness The U.S. is determined to impose a lit- crimes— it is imperialist war for empire Easier said than done of the overall U.S. policy in Iraq.” eral gag order to keep Saddam Hussein itself that is a crime. But while today’s U.S. imperialists may and Baathist deputies from being able to Washington warlords manufactured hope that phony elections and faux sover- Who’s calling who a war criminal? do what former Yugoslav President blatant pretexts for their invasion of eignty will facilitate “business-as-usual” Allawi has announced that senior Slobodan Milosevic has done at The Iraq. A CIA official of Middle Eastern neocolonial exploitation, Pentagon mili- members of the former government— Hague: turn the tribunals into a political descent who worked as an agent for 23 tary officials admit they need more troops. who, unlike him, were elected to office in indictment of the real war criminals. years is suing the agency for firing him The brass has announced they will a sovereign nation—may soon face “war after he resisted pressure by senior offi- boost the number of GIs from 138,000 to crimes” trials. Charges U.S. used napalm cials to falsify intelligence that Iraq had about 150,000 by mid-July. That’s more Several of these prisoners of war have Eyewitnesses in Falluja charge that an arsenal of weapons of mass destruc- U.S. boots than hit the ground at the time reportedly carried out a hunger strike to U.S. forces illegally dropped napalm in tion. (AFP, Dec. 10) of the U.S. invasion in 2003. The troop protest their illegal detention and lack of and around Falluja during their recent The occupation is a crime. It has increase will be manipulated by extending legal representation and to demand a visit siege. Napalm is a weapon of mass destroyed schools and homes, ushered in the tours of duty of more than 10,000 GIs by the International Committee of the destruction banned by the UN in 1980. widespread unemployment and a cata- set to go home in January. Red Cross. (aljazeera.net, Nov. 21) strophic health care crisis. And since the In an hour-long interview with the Arif Badia, attorney for former deputy According to a British source, “Reports 2003 invasion, an estimated 100,000 Associated Press on Dec. 13, U.S. Sen. prime minister Tariq Aziz, said he has of ‘melted’ dead bodies are emerging from Iraqis have been killed, many while resist- John McCain declared he has “no confi- received information that most of the 55 Falluja, prompting Labour MP Alice ing this terrible crime. dence” in Secretary of Defense Donald imprisoned Baath Party officials were Mahon to demand a Commons statement It’s also a crime that cities in the U.S. Rumsfeld—because McCain thinks he refusing food. Badia added, “They heard from Tony Blair clarifying the position are being starved to feed the war hasn’t sent enough troops. that they are going to be handed over regarding napalm and unconventional machine. Both parties in Congress voted McCain argued for an additional deploy- after the elections to an Iraqi govern- weapons. ... for the $151.1 billion war chest for Iraq. ment of at least 80,000 more Army ment they will not recognize.” “Pentagon officials have tried to avoid That amount could provide health care personnel and 20,000 to 30,000 more (aljazeera.net, Dec. 14) describing the bombs used in Iraq as for 82 million children in the U.S. or for Marines. He is a senior member of the From Jordan, attorneys for captured napalm. They claim the technology has more than 27 million uninsured adults. Senate Armed Services Committee, the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein been refined to cause less environmental According to a report by the Institute powerful body that oversees military oper- argued that he is being held illegally by damage. ... John Pike, director of the mil- for Policy Studies, it also “could have cut ations and has influence over the occupation forces. “It was more of a forced itary studies group GlobalSecurity.Org, world hunger in half and covered Pentagon budget. abduction that later became compulsory said: ‘You can call it something other than HIV/AIDS medicine, childhood immu- Nick Childs, BBC correspondent at the concealment and solitary confinement, napalm but it is still napalm. It has been nization and clean water and sanitation Pentagon, notes that this latest political acts rejected by all international conven- reformulated in the sense that they now needs of the developing world for more broadside against Rumsfeld has rekindled tions,” the legal team argued in a state- use a different petroleum distillate, but than two years.” the controversy ignited when Rumsfeld ment released Dec. 12. that is it. The U.S. is the only country that faced decidedly unfriendly verbal fire from The lawyers have not been allowed to has used napalm for a long time.’” (Black www.workers.org Dec. 23, 2004 Page 7 Military recruiters set back

Bush administration and the bulk of the U.S. ruling class, Rumsfeld had com- on campus pletely underestimated the courage and By LeiLani Dowell research funding. Because of these threats, strength of the appeals court ruling to determination of the Iraqi people to fight many schools—including Harvard, Yale force school administrations to kick for their sovereignty. On Nov. 29, an appeals court in Phila- and Boston College—dropped their previ- recruiters and ROTC programs off their The Bush administration tried to spin delphia ruled that a federal law denying ous bans on military recruiting. campuses once and for all. Rumsfeld’s televised disaster to show that funding to schools that hinder military While the struggle against military One has only to look at the dispropor- the troops were pro-war but wanted the recruitment efforts on campus is a violation recruiters and ROTC programs has been tionate numbers of people of color on the best weapons. Bush said he agreed with of the schools’ First Amendment rights. waged on campuses all across the country front lines of war, the staggering amount the troops’ desire for armor. The Solomon Amendment, passed in by students, teachers and activists, the of sexual abuse committed with impunity Yet the clash was in an imperialist army, 1996, denies funding to schools that pro- lawsuit focused on law schools because all within the ranks of the military, and the not a debating society. Troops are forbid- hibit or prevent military recruiting, oper- accredited law schools are required by the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to see the overt den to sass their lieutenant, let alone ation of Reserve Office Training Corps group that accredits them to have a racism, sexism and bigotry of the U.S. mil- embarrass the Pentagon CEO. The Kuwait (ROTC) programs on campus, or access by nondiscrimination policy that includes itary. These issues within the military are meeting with Rumsfeld was supposed to military recruiters to students’ records sexual orientation. The lawsuit chal- endemic to an entity that brings nothing be a pro-war public relations ploy. It and contact information. lenged the Solomon Amendment because but violence, death and destruction the turned instead into an exercise in insub- In 2003 the Forum for Academic and the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy world over, for nothing other than the ordination in a war zone. Institutional Rights (FAIR), a group that that bars lesbians and gays from serving profits of big business and corporations. Sue the *#%@*&@$ includes 25 law schools and law faculties, openly in the military directly refutes While the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is filed the lawsuit that was just ruled on. these schools’ nondiscrimination policies. horribly bigoted, and masks the violence National Guard Spec. David Qualls FAIR includes the Society of American This victory for antiwar as well as LGBT that many gays and lesbians face in the from Arkansas went beyond questioning Law Teachers, a group representing some activists is a step up in the strug- military even before being sent off to war, the Pentagon brass. On Dec. 6, Qualls and 900 law professors. gle to stop the recruiting of it is the military in its entirety that needs seven still unnamed U.S. soldiers sued the According to the Boston Globe, the youth into the military to go, not just the policy. Youth are fight- government to challenge its “stop loss” Solomon Amendment was only loosely machine by lies and flashy ing in their schools, in the court- policy that has forced thousands of sol- enforced until 2002, when the Pentagon campaigns. Activists in room and on the streets so diers to remain in the military beyond told at least 12 schools they would have to schools across the that nobody will have to their scheduled retirement. “give military recruiters equal treatment” country will no doubt take part in imperi- Qualls had been in Iraq since last or face losing much of their federal use the added alist plunder. March, in a combat zone north of Baghdad. After five years of active duty, Qualls had signed up for a one-year stint in the Guard. His year was up, but the military forced an extension on him. The court ruled against Qualls’ request for a restraining order to stop him from being sent back. As of Dec. 14, Qualls was in a hospital in Arkansas, suffering from distress. According to media reports, he fears retribution from the military in Iraq. The Pentagon generals can still intimi- date the troops, but they have shown signs In of their own fear. They recently decided to Philadelphia, use only non-judicial Article 15s to punish protesters the 23 members of the 343rd blamed the Quartermaster Company who refused to war for soaring utility costs. drive their unarmored trucks on what they WW PHOTO: BERTA considered a “suicide mission” across Iraq JOUBERT-CECI last October. The punishments for Article 15s are loss of rank and pay, but no jail time and no loss of honorable discharge. If the Penta- gon brass wanted to avoid court-martial- ing these troops, it’s because they feared a

Continued on page 8 Demonstration at New York's Rockefeller Center. WW PHOTO: G. DUNKEL ‘Stop the War Week’ hits streets & malls

PHILADELPHIA, DEC. 10 son Nicholas was killed in Iraq last May. garbage collection and fire fighting. After the picket line ended, many mar- Chanting “SEPTA, PGW, City Hall— Protesters then marched to SEPTA Marchers arrived at City Hall as a snow- ched over to a demonstration at the United Stop the war and fund them all,” protest- (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transport- boarding exhibition was taking place, fea- Nations called by the Jericho Movement ers marched through rainy rush-hour ation Authority). Philadelphia’s bus, trol- turing a U.S. Army recruiting tent. demanding the liberation of all political streets, receiving cheers from workers and ley and train services are being drastically Demonstrators chanted, “Money for jobs prisoners. shoppers. Organized by the Philadelphia curtailed, resulting in 1,400 layoffs plus a and education, not war and occupation!” —G. Dunkel Million Worker March Committee, the 50-percent increase in fares to $3, the —Joe Piette International Human Rights Day protest highest in the country. Officials blame emphasized how the war in Iraq also inadequate federal and state subsidies. NEW YORK, DEC. 11 CLEVELAND, DEC. 11 impacts communities in the U.S. SEIU Local 668 President Ray Martinez On Saturdays in December, Rockefeller Despite wind, cold and snow, anti-war The demonstration started at Phila- explained, “Most of the people using Center in midtown Manhattan is packed activists protested in Cleveland. The delphia Gas Works (PGW), where heating SEPTA are working-class people; people with shoppers and tourists. That’s why the Northeast Ohio Antiwar Coalition called bills have increased 75 percent over the who earn very little; people who are unem- International Action Center held a picket- the march and rally. last four years. Families who cannot pay ployed, employed or are students. Phila- line and speak-out just down 5th Avenue The rally featured a moving talk by are in danger of freezing to death. The delphia even charges students to get to from that citadel of U.S. capitalism. Chad Saloman, who just returned from state will now allow utility companies to school.” Speakers pointed out that mini- Anti-war activists picketed, demand- Iraq and is already a member of Iraq shut off services, no matter how cold it mum-wage workers will need to work ing “Bring the troops home now!” The Veterans Against the War. gets. The MWM Committee announced almost two hours just to pay for getting to most common chant was “End the war, After the march, demonstrators moved that an Emergency Shutoff Prevention work and back home. Several speakers end the occupation, money for jobs and inside the downtown Tower City shopping Team is being formed, and a number of called for some form of fare strike, draw- education.” mall. They wore large anti-war stickers on people signed up as volunteers. ing much applause. Some passersby were heartened to see their clothing to counter the “no signs” “All the resources of the country are The last stop was City Hall, where the antiwar demonstrators after Bush’s elec- rule. They reached hundreds of shoppers being put into this war and are not being city administration plans to eliminate up toral victory. They signed up for more with messages like “No war for empire!” put into our cities. It’s the poor people who to 2,600 jobs, impacting services from information and made donations for before being escorted out of the premises. are suffering,” said Michael Berg, whose snow removal, healthcare and libraries to upcoming demonstrations. —Martha Grevatt Page 8 Dec. 23, 2004 www.workers.org Who will decide Puerto Rico’s election results?

By Tom Soto contender, Pedro Roselló of the pro-state- But the election of November was par- kets in Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, San Juan, P.R. hood New Progressive Party, received ticularly sharp and divided, especially due Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and 48.18 percent of the vote. to the participation of Pedro Roselló of the elsewhere. A month after elections were held in this The difference between the two bour- New Progressive Party. As two-term gov- Beyond a doubt, capital will flow to the island nation of 4 million—which has been geois candidates was about 3,800 votes. ernor from 1993 to 2000, he led the most areas where the rate of profit is highest. a U.S. colony since 1898—there is still no So the crossover independentista vote corrupt administration in the history of How this emerging economic situation official winner in the gubernatorial race. has become crucial. Thirty percent of the Puerto Rico, emptying the coffers of the affects the Puerto Rican economy, which The reason: A federal judge, Daniel eligible voters in Puerto Rico did not treasury. He now is pushing ahead with a is U.S.-owned, remains to be seen, but it Dominguez, has taken over control of the participate. new plan to impose statehood. is certain that many U.S. corporations will electoral process and overruled a decision The Popular Democratic Party and the At issue in the current electoral crisis is pick up and leave for more profitable areas by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico New Progressive Party are the two bour- whether, within the context of a colonial if these so-called free trade agreements are which had instructed the Elections geois parties that have historically admin- capitalist democracy, the independentista consummated. Commission to “count and adjudicate” all istered the colonial government of Puerto vote will be counted and adjudicated or As of the beginning of 2004, total the votes in this past November’s elec- Rico on behalf of U.S. interests. disenfranchised altogether, thus allowing Puerto Rican government debt, including tion—including thousands of contested A third electoral force is the Puerto the colonial governor to be literally hand- municipalities and so-called public corpo- crossover votes made by “independentis- Rican Independence Party (PIP). As a picked by a federal judge. However, the rations, was $32.3 billion—in a small tas” (supporters of the independence) result of thousands of its supporters cross- political crisis also seems to reflect new island nation where 53 percent of the pop- who voted for Anibal Acevedo Vilá of the ing over and voting for the gubernatorial emerging economic relations between the ulation lives below the established U.S. Popular Democratic Party. candidate of the Popular Democratic U.S. and other countries in Latin America. poverty level, 77 percent of the women are The action of Federal Judge Dominguez Party, the PIP did not receive the 5 percent In an earlier historical period Puerto heads of households, and an average 50 in assuming jurisdiction of the electoral of the vote required to maintain its official Rico was a center of continuing U.S. percent of all salaries are committed to pay process, after the opposing New Progres- electoral status, though PIP members investment, which stimulated economic for personal debt. sive Party challenged the independentista were elected to the House and Senate of growth on the island, though distorted and During moments of election rhetoric, ballots and initiated a suit in the local fed- the Puerto Rican Legislature. owned by foreigners. the candidate of the Popular Democratic eral court, is broadly viewed by large sec- Usually capitalist political factions who But in recent years the United States has Party spoke of the “need for more auton- tions of Puerto Rican society as an open administer the government concede to made a number of so-called free trade omy and the right of Puerto Rico to carry colonial insult. one another after an election result, even agreements—the Latin American Free out its own economic agreements,” but he On Nov. 3 the Election Commission had if the outcome is close. They are keenly Trade Area (ALCA) and the Central Amer- was simply electioneering. preliminarily certified Anibal Acevedo aware that no matter which bourgeois ican Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)— While the Popular Democratic Party Vilá as the winner in the gubernatorial party gets to administer the state, capital- that allow U.S. economic penetration and has appealed the decision of Judge race, with 48.38 percent of the vote. His ism and private property go on as usual. exploitation of so-called cheap labor mar- Dominguez to the Federal Appeals Court in Boston, many workers, students, inde- pendentistas and socialists have taken to the streets. Antiwar professor speaks in U.S. The current political crisis could become a clarion call to struggle. On Monday, Nov. By Arturo J. Pérez Saad units, including complete lockouts at three Columbia University in 2003 and prior to 29, at 10 in the morning during working campuses of the UPR system, his suspen- that was an instructor at City College. He hours, a demonstration of 5,000 was held Audiences in New York and Philadel- sion was reduced to 4 months. He ended was also a high school teacher in Man- near the Federal Courthouse in San Juan. phia have had the opportunity to hear his hunger strike on Oct. 8, 15 pounds hattan for two years. Demonstrators demanded that the federal about the antiwar struggles of Dr. Héctor thinner, after a group of friends, family In the year 2000, while still a graduate court respect the supremacy of the Rosario Rivera, assistant professor in the members and comrades wrote him a let- student, he participated in civil disobedi- Supreme Court of Puerto Rico regarding Department of Mathematics at the Uni- ter asking him to change tactics. Rosario ence at a baseball game at Yankee Stadium counting and adjudicating all the votes. versity of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. is currently on his third month of suspen- in May; a hunger strike in front of the On Friday, Dec. 10, youth organizations Rosario was suspended by the univer- sion. White House in June; and in the symbolic of the Socialist Front—which during the sity administration for six months, begin- Rosario is a leader of the Socialist Front takeover of the statue of liberty with “Tito election had advocated that “No candidate ning Sept. 2, because of his activism in Mayagüez and has worked with the Kayak” in November. All these actions deserves your vote”—clashed with police against the ROTC and the wars in Iraq and Anti-Militarist Initiative and the Uni- demanded the immediate withdrawal of in front of the Federal Court under the slo- Afghanistan. He then declared a hunger versity Front for Demilitarization and the U.S. Navy from Vieques, a small island gan: “No to colonialism, Federal courts strike on Sept. 27 in front of the Capitol in Education (FUDE), which last year res- in Puerto Rico. out of Puerto Rico!” San Juan. He demanded justice for his cued a university structure from the students by being reinstated to his post ROTC. Those actions led Mother Jones and justice for those who fight against the magazine to rank the UPR in Mayagüez as military machine. the most activist campus in the U.S. and Because of public support and student its territories. GI dissent shakes up solidarity actions at several university Rosario had received his Ph.D. from the Pentagon

Continued from page 7 GIs and anti-war veterans. Owners scapegoat players massive rush of support for what under On Dec. 11 a similar sized but somewhat different circumstances the officers might older gathering pulled together by Continued from page 5 ity of a “level playing field” by taking away call “mutiny.” Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans “scuff the ball” to get an advantage. the profit motive. Professional sports, like Against the War, Military Families Speak Even in college softball, every team all other entertainment industries, will Support from anti-war Out and others spent over three hours on seeks an advantage by using scientifically still exist. Sports performers, after all, are movement the problems and conflicts of anti-war GIs tested and produced bats that can drive workers in a valuable entertainment People active in GI organizing in 1968 and veterans during the current occupa- the ball further. industry. would probably agree that the mood tion of Iraq. The same is true in golf, a sport mainly Under socialism there will be no pri- among the troops now is even more anti- Master Sgt. Stan Goff, a Special Ops vet- for business people and the upper middle vate owners skimming the profits pro- war than it was then. All the symptoms of eran and anti-war activist, told the Dec. 11 class. New, scientifically created golf clubs duced by workers or dangling huge con- big problems in the military are there. crowd that it was time to “delegitimize, are just too expensive for many middle tracts to “star players” in order to improve The Pentagon reports 5,500 deserters. disobey and disrupt” the military. class golfers’ pocketbooks. These golf their business’ competitive edge vs. their Only 50 percent of troops are re-enlisting. (BringThemHomeNow.org) clubs can drive the ball further and with rivals’ owners. As many as one-third of the Inactive Tom Barton, who has been publishing more accuracy, placing the less wealthy Under socialism you won’t have corpo- Reserve, called now to unexpected duty, the web newsletter GI Special for over a golfers at an immediate disadvantage. rate interests coercing entire city govern- are failing to show up. Even the news that year, read aloud letters from troops in Iraq ments into building stadiums instead of Iraqi war veterans are already beginning who have been pasting up anti-war stick- Socialism and sports building schools or hospitals, under the to show up among the homeless, many ers on battle ruins. (militaryproject.org) The real problem in U.S. sports is cap- threat of taking their teams elsewhere. suffering from post-traumatic stress dis- Dustin Langley of SNAFU reported his italism, not steroids. As long as sports are Under socialism there won’t be para- order, is a reminder of the Vietnam days. group’s web site had recently doubled its big business, cheating will not only be sitic businesses like BALCO that make The International Action Center (IAC), “hits,” and repeated his message to resist- present, it will be encouraged by team profits by offering “magic bullets” to with the youth group FIST and the GI sup- ing GIs and civilian supporters: “We’ve got owners, who want success on the field to make athletes run faster, jump higher or port group SNAFU, on Dec. 4 devoted an to show the troops we have their back.” make profits. If a player is exposed for get bigger and stronger. afternoon session to GI organizing and (join-snafu.org) cheating, it will be the player who “takes Let’s put sports on a “level playing support work. The 300 mostly young peo- Catalinotto was an organizer the fall,” not the wealthy team owner. field” in the only way it can be done—by ple present were enthusiastic both about with the American Servicemen’s Union Only socialism can create the possibil- making a socialist revolution! stopping any draft and about supporting from 1967-1970. www.workers.org Dec. 23, 2004 Page 9

Oppose NAFTA, immigrant bashing and war Cuban unionists meet with U.S. & Mexican workers By Sako Sefiani in the struggle against neoliberal policies. Tijuana, Mexico Jose Antonio Almazan Gonzalez of Mexico’s Electrical Workers Union (SME) After repeatedly being denied U.S. summed up the results of the North visas, five leaders of the Confederation of American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Cuban Workers (CTC) traveled to after 10 years: poverty for 50 percent of the Tijuana, Mexico, just south of California, people in Latin America, with 25 percent to meet with trade unionists from the in extreme poverty and 90 percent living U.S. and Mexico on Dec. 10-12. They dis- on less than $8 a day. Farming, he said, cussed issues affecting workers of all the has been ruined. Mexico’s foreign debt Americas, such as immigration, the Free stands at $276 billion; the yearly interest Trade Agreement of the Americas alone is $28 billion. The SME is central to (FTAA) and U.S.-Cuba relations. the current fight to stop the privatization U.S. and Mexican trade unionists and of electricity and oil and dangerous revi- community activists heard first-hand sions of the Mexican labor law proposed WW PHOTO: GLORIA VERDIEU John Parker, second from left, of the IAC addresses plenary in Tijuana. from Cuban labor leaders and were able to by the Vicente Fox government. discuss issues affecting workers on both “This is imperialism,” he said. “We must Cuba and Venezuela. Miami gathering information for the pur- side of the U.S.-Mexican border, such as talk about an alternative for Latin America He reminded the audience that although pose of stopping the terrorist acts of right- the maquiladora factories and immigra- to counter this devastation. We must President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has wing Cuban groups there. tion policies. accomplish what the Venezuelans have held seven elections, U.S. policy makers still Rene Gonzalez, one of the Cuban Five, Leonel Gonzalez Gonzalez, head of the accomplished.” talk of lack of democracy in Venezuela. sent a letter to the conference that con- Cuban delegation, provided data on how Manuel Montero Bistilleiro, director of They are targeting Venezuela because it is trasted two worlds: one based on greed the FTAA and neoliberal policies have the Department of Foreign Relations of the the fifth-largest producer of oil in the world and profiteering, the other based on meet- contributed to poverty throughout Latin CTC, told how the U.S. economic embargo and is located in the strategically important ing human needs. Gloria La Riva of the America while accelerating the transfer of and naval blockade have affected the Amazonian region, and also because it National Committee to Free the Five wealth from the South to the North—$29 Cuban economy and people. Cuba cannot refuses to comply with Washington’s praised their courage and discipline in billion in 2003 alone. Four billionaires in get raw materials for its industries, med- orders. The Chavez government is using pretending to be defectors in the interest the U.S. now have a fortune equal to the ical supplies, any of the new generation of the oil revenue to address poverty and of defending the Cuban Revolution. She annual budget of 42 nations combined, antibiotics, leukemia medication, pace- homelessness. It has enacted laws guaran- also alerted the assembly that a decision with an aggregate population of 600 mil- makers, spare parts for dialysis for chil- teeing living wages, education and afford- is expected very soon on their appeal and lion people, he said. dren, or cancer treatment medicine pro- able housing and is proposing new laws announced plans for a national speaking While 70 percent of Coca-Cola sales and duced in the U.S. In 1980, Montero added, defending the right of women to abortion tour. Cards and letters supporting the Five more than 50 percent of the 23,000 the CIA, as part of biological warfare and the defense of the rights of gay people and demanding visas for their family McDonalds restaurants are outside the against Cuba, spread the dengue virus and and Venezuelans of African heritage. members circulated in the crowd. U.S., U.S. corporations still need more then prevented Cuba from getting medica- Andres Gomez, leader of the Antonio markets for their products. Mexico, to use tion for it. As a result, 150 people died. Support for Cuban Five Maceo Brigade in the U.S., discussed just one example, has turned from an In 2003, said Montero, the U.S. dedi- The conference unanimously called for Washington’s immigration policies exporter of corn to an importer of corn cated $59 million to destabilizing the gov- freedom for the Five Cuban heroes held in towards Cuba. A new law allows Cubans from the U.S. Does anyone really believe, ernment of Cuba. Another $23 million was U.S. prisons. Maria Del Carmen Machado, living in the U.S. to visit only their imme- Gonzalez asked, that the U.S. will open its given to nongovernmental organizations head of the Department of Education, diate family members back home and then doors to Latin American products? for the same purpose. But when Cuba Communication and Culture of the CTC, only once every three years. He also talked But neoliberal policies hurt U.S. work- reacted by arresting these mercenaries, explained the Five were not trying to about the Cuban Adjustment Act, which ers, too, he cautioned. When U.S. transna- the U.S. cried foul. destabilize the U.S. government for a for- gives Cuban immigrants special treat- tional corporations set up maquiladoras in Montero admonished labor leaders in eign imperialist power, as the mercenar- ment, encouraging them to risk their lives special zones on the border to take advan- the U.S., specifically the AFL-CIO, not to ies in Cuba were trying to do, nor engag- to get to the U.S. tage of cheap labor, U.S. workers lose jobs. align themselves with the profiteers of ing in acts of terrorism, as CIA-backed Clarence Thomas, co-chair of the Cuba, he added, has been playing a key role finance capital against the workers of mercenaries have done. They were in Continued on page 11 UNESCO report: Cuban education is world-class By Arturo J. Pérez Saad The study calls Cuba’s educational feats children behind, but also teachers. The deems militarizing young minds more “impressive.” Less than 10 years after the ratio of students per teacher has increased important than elevating the standards of The United Nations Education, Scien- revolution, it had reduced illiteracy by 40 in many schools to over 40 students per education for all, especially nationally tific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) percent, achieving a 96.9 percent literacy instructor. Furthermore, this act has oppressed and low-income children. on Nov. 8 released its Education For All rate. Its pupils-to-teacher ratio is now 13.5 exposed the discrepancy in the educa- According to the American Council on (EFA) Global Monitoring Report for in primary school and 15 for all levels of tional system here, where low-income Education, in the $388-billion omnibus 2005. This report specifically focuses on education. children, especially from oppressed appropriations bill for fiscal year 2005 the elevating the quality education of all chil- The EFA report refers to the first inter- groups, will never receive the same qual- Department of Education is underfunded dren, especially the most vulnerable and national comparative study conducted by ity of education as children in high-wealth by between $780 million and $2.3 billion. disadvantaged, by the year 2015. the Latin American Laboratory for districts. The discrepancy is up to $2,000 More than 84,000 college students are Cuba, Canada, Finland and Korea are Assessment of Quality in Education per year per student. expected to lose Pell Grant eligibility and signaled out in the report as high-per- (1999). This study measured the levels of The act has paved the way to the mili- another 1.2 million will see smaller Pell formance countries and role models to fol- achievement in the fields of language, tarization of low-income schools, which Grant awards. Those students affected low in quality of education. mathematics and associated factors for were given two options: either have mili- will be from low-income families earning Cuba, a relatively underdeveloped coun- students in the third and fourth years of tary recruiters on their grounds to obtain less than $40,000 a year. try of 11.2 million people, spends 10 to 11 primary school in 13 Latin American and federal funding or risk school closure. Yet The Bush camp is trying to strengthen percent of its GDP on education, by far the Caribbean countries. the federal government is stonewalling the immoral and illegal blockade of Cuba. highest ratio of any country in the world. The major findings of this report are any progress in improving and elevating Through its Commission for Assistance to Finland, the next closest, spends 6 percent. that “Cuban students achieved the high- the quality of education of the most vul- a Free Cuba, the U.S. government has Cuba’s educational system is manda- est scores in Language and Mathematics, nerable and disadvantaged by underfund- drafted a blueprint on privatizing all sec- tory through the ninth grade, free to all at and take less time to complete a grade ing the act by $7.5 billion, according to the tors of the Cuban economy that were all levels including higher education and (Advancement Rate). This is the case in all American Federation of Teachers. nationalized after the 1959 revolution. “promotes the whole individual (including of their schools. Differences in achieve- The excuse given is the cost of the Iraq The nationalization of these sectors physical education, sports, recreation and ment for this country, in terms of gender War and the funding of Homeland provided the revolution with the material artistic education) while explicitly linking and socio-cultural levels, are also Security, but in reality it is due to the foundations to set an example for the education with life, work and production.” reduced.” inherent contradictions in class society. world in education and health care. The This is done through what Cubans call President George W. Bush’s program Unlike socialist Cuba, where the revolu- broad people’s movement must stop the emulation, a form of competition where the titled the “No Child Left Behind Act” has tion considers education and healthcare to Bush administration from trying to undo group works together to win as a collective. had the opposite result. It has left not only be fundamental, the U.S. government these great advances. Page 10 Dec. 23, 2004 www.workers.org Late 1980s East Germany Gay/lesbian clubs More than Pinochet

ews of the Dec. 14 indictment of between Pinochet and Kissinger were in Party, state the butcher of Chile, Gen. released. “My evaluation,” Kissinger By Leslie Feinberg momentum, even while encircled and Augusto Pinochet, on charges of said, “is that you are a victim of all left- N undermined by the capitalist West, living murder and kidnapping was certainly wing groups around the world, and that In a landmark ruling on Aug. 11, 1987, standards rose for all in the GDR—includ- welcomed by workers and peasants from your greatest sin was that you overthrew the Supreme Court of East Germany set ing gays and lesbians. And as the eco- Arica to Punta Arenas, as well as around a government that was going the minimum age of consent for all sexual nomic struggle for survival eased, so did the globe. During the 17 years of iron- Communist.” relations at 14. social relations. fisted rule by this military dictator, some Kissinger concluded, “You did a great This addressed an important legal An extensive article in the Winter 1989 30,000 workers, students and progres- service to the West in overthrowing inequity. In 1968, when the 19th-century Slavic Review by researcher Raelynn J. sive organizers were massacred and tens Allende. Otherwise Chile would have Prussian anti-gay laws had been abol- Hillhouse was not particularly sympa- of thousands more subjected to torture followed Cuba.” ished, paragraph 151 was established thetic to the Communist Party and the or exile from their homeland. Kissinger himself was a willing tool of which set 18 years old as the minimum age state, which were shouldering the task of The charges are based on just nine war criminals even higher up. The of consent for same-sex relations. The building socialism in the GDR. victims of this “dirty war.” Rockefellers—Kissinger’s bosses— minimum age for heterosexual relations But Hillhouse made this pithy observa- In the last few years, Pinochet could should be put on trial for their role. And remained 14. tion: “When a socialist state satisfies basic not travel outside of Chile without fear the owners of International Telephone The 1987 court decision overturned the material needs and provides its citizens he would face arrest for these crimes. On and Telegraph and Anaconda Copper. conviction of a man who had sex with a with a sense of material security, its citi- Dec. 14, Chilean Judge Juan Guzman These major corporations worked youth. The judges found that the minor zens may gradually shift their political Tapia ordered Pinochet held under hand-in-hand with the Chilean ruling was openly gay, had visited gay clubs and interests to moral matters, gender issues, house arrest—mansion arrest, actually— class to drown the people’s aspirations parties and had environmental after it was determined he was compe- in blood. The U.S. government secretly sought sexual con- • • concerns, and tent to stand trial. Attorneys for the backed the fascist generals to prevent tact. The only basis Lesbian gay bi similar issues. ... The hated dictator are already trying to the Allende regime from carrying out for conviction, they and trans relatively and reliable quash the indictment. even limited social and economic ruled, would have been if levels of satisfaction of Pinochet—then and now—has friends reforms. the sex had not been con- PRIDE basic material require- in high places. Those friends, who Pinochet, Somoza, Trujillo, Batista. sensual or the youth had been SERIES ments in the GDR makes such helped plan, fund and back the counter- These tyrants took their orders from harmed. PART transitions there probable and revolutionary military coup, are right Washington and Wall Street. The written ruling created a 23 East German values concerning here in the imperialist citadel. There is But a new tide of struggle is rising in legal milestone. The justices wrote, marriage, gender roles, and sexuality no justice until they are in the dock, too. Latin America and the Caribbean—from “[T]he starting point for a judgment indeed have been liberalizing.” In a people’s court. Venezuela to Colombia, Haiti to Cuba. about the sexual relations between per- These important advances in social Start with Richard Nixon’s national With NAFTA and other imperialist sons of the same sex must be the principle progress were made possible by commu- security advisor, Henry Kissinger, who neoliberal schemes impoverishing work- that homosexuals just as much as hetero- nist political campaigns to raise con- engineered the coup that carried out the ers everywhere, including in the U.S., sexuals are members of the socialist soci- sciousness and in turn resulted in raising Sept. 11, 1973, fascist “regime change” and class and anti-imperialist conscious- ety and are guaranteed the same rights of mass consciousness even higher. against the elected president, Salvador ness growing, the prospects for interna- citizenship.” One important indication of this politi- Allende, a socialist. tional solidarity and struggle against And, the court continued, “ ... homosex- cal commitment to change was the cre- Last December, excerpts from tran- today’s Pinochets and Kissingers are ual relations between an adult and a per- ation of gay and lesbian clubs within party scripts of June 1976 conversations looking brighter. son between the ages of 16 and 18 do not and state institutions. And gay and lesbian necessarily lead to an abnormal develop- organizations won official recognition ment and do not have any other harmful from state officials and moved into the consequences than homosexual relations public arena. What’s killing between two youths or heterosexual rela- The most significant of these was the tions between an adult and a youth.” Berlin “Sunday Club” (Sonntags-Club). The justices concluded, “ ... discrimina- The group emerged from private discus- children? tion against homosexuals and bigotry is sion circles in the late 1970s. In the early therefore to be opposed. Homosexuals are 1980s, the group became more semi-offi- to be protected by legal regulations and cial when officers of a neighborhood youth he imperialist system is killing world. It’s an investment they refuse to judicial punishment against attacks on club worked with gays and lesbians to millions of children each year make. In Bolivia, an imperialist corpora- their integrity—for example by slander or organize Sunday discussions, cultural around the world. tion based in the U.S., Bechtel, even tried T physical violence or rowdiness—through events and trips. A UNICEF report, while it didn’t say it to privatize the water supply for profit, civil as well as criminal proceedings.” The club’s application for a “Cultural in those terms, recently admitted that until a mass protest drove them out. (OUT/LOOK, Summer 1989) and Consultation Center” for gays and les- the lives of 1 billion children are at risk, The Swiss-based monopoly, Nestle, In 1988, the government in East Berlin bians was denied in 1983 and 1984 by the and earlier gains in child mortality have once campaigned to urge women in declared all discrimination based on sex- city. But the applications, in part, helped been stalled. oppressed countries to replace breast- ual orientation illegal. propel the Berlin administration to Poverty, war, HIV/AIDS and other feeding with Nestle’s powdered milk for- And in July 1989, the East German par- request the creation of the research group diseases pose the biggest threats, espe- mula. The death rates went up from liament officially removed the age of con- at Humboldt University in 1984—the first cially in Africa and Asia. diarrhea—because of the lack of good sent discrepancy from the law books. official gay and lesbian studies committee A more focused study, led by Dr. water—and from other diseases because at a German university—to study the con- Robert E. Black, chairperson of interna- of decreased immunity. Demonstrations Satisfying material needs ditions facing the estimated three-quarter tional health at the School of Public and protests confronted Nestle’s, but the But the gains for lesbians and gays in of a million gays and lesbians in the GDR. Health at Johns Hopkins University, was negative effect remains. the GDR were not merely legal. Next: Lesbian/gay liberation—active published in the medical journal The With pharmaceutical and health- As the planned economy demonstrated support from Communist Party. Lancet. It estimates that 10.5 million equipment monopolies raking in profits children under the age of 5 die each year, at record rates from their patented drugs and that more than 60 percent of the and high-tech devices, many have deaths are easily preventable. stopped producing older, generic medi- It doesn’t take much to see the con- cines like the antibiotic that would stop nection between these unnecessary pneumonia, as well as oral rehydration Workers World Newspaper deaths and imperialism. Black’s study therapy equipment. “estimated that in the 42 countries The criminal lack of public health Give a gift-subscription! accounting for the vast bulk of the services in Africa, Asia and much of Special introductory rate: $2 for 8 weeks deaths, about 80 percent of children did Latin America can be traced to the not receive oral rehydration therapy to demands of the International Monetary fight life-threatening diarrhea; 61 per- Fund that countries cut their social $25 for one year cent were not exclusively breast-fed, spending to better pay on their debts. weakening the infants’ ability to fight off Poverty, war, HIV/AIDS. The plunder NAME ______infections; and 60 percent did not of imperialist super-exploitation, the receive simple antibiotic treatment for “divide and conquer” ploy the imperial- pneumonia, the single largest killer of ist powers use to help them grab the ADDRESS ______CITY/STATE/ZIP ______young children.” (Boston Globe, Dec. 9) world’s resources, the disruption of Diarrhea is caused mainly by a lack of unemployment and forced migration PHONE ______E-MAIL ______pure water. A minimum investment from that spreads diseases—all are part of the imperialist countries could make how this pernicious system murders Return to: Workers World, 55 West 17 St., 5th Fl., New York, NY 10011 drinking water available to the entire children around the world. Order online at www.workers.com www.workers.org Dec. 23, 2004 Page 11 Struggle vs. apartheid brings LGBT rights By Minnie Bruce Pratt changes are made to its national Marriage highest-ranking openly gay judge, and was courts. These rulings have overturned the Act, South Africa will join the Netherlands a leading opponent of the former racist nation’s sodomy laws and granted gay cou- A South African lesbian couple seeking and Belgium as the third county to grant apartheid regime. He spoke out as a per- ples the right to adopt children—available to marry received a favorable ruling on fully legal same-sex marriages. son living with AIDS during the Durban nationally elsewhere in the world only in Nov. 30 by that nation’s Supreme Court of The only political party to object to the international AIDS conference in 1999. He Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium. Appeals. In response to an appeal brought court’s decision was the far-right African was appointed to his judgeship by the (Afrol News) by Marie Adriaana Fourie and Cecelia Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), African National Congress government. Judge Cameron alluded to this judicial Johanna Bonthuys, the court stated that which has no seats in parliament. The In the introduction to his opinion, history by saying: “[T]he focus in this case “the intended marriage between the platform of the ACDP includes “Christian Cameron emphasized that the court’s deci- falls on the intrinsic nature of marriage, appellants is capable of lawful recognition Principles, Freedom of Religion, An Open sion had its roots in South Africa’s long and the question is whether any aspect of as a legally valid marriage.” The court Market Economy, and Family Values.” struggle against racism and oppression. He same-sex relationships justifies excluding ruled that the South African Marriage Act, A referendum against the ruling is being notes that the resulting Constitution was gays and lesbians from it. What the which only recognizes marriage between organized by a group of churches and other based in “a conception of our nationhood Constitution asks in such a case is that we a man and a woman, discriminates on the religious organizations, including South that was both very wide and very inclu- look beyond the unavoidable specificities basis of sexual orientation. African Christian Leadership Assembly sive.” He continued: “Having themselves of our condition—such as race, gender and The post-apartheid South African (SACLA), which has ties to the Interna- experienced the indignity and pain of sexual orientation—and consider our Constitution, signed into effect in 1994 by tional Christian Chamber of Commerce. legally regulated subordination, and the intrinsic human capacities and what they then-President Nelson Mandela, is unique The African National Congress party, injustice of exclusion and humiliation render possible for all of us. In this case, the in the world in specifically banning such currently in office, welcomed the ruling. through law, the majority committed this question is whether the capacity for com- discrimination. The South African government empha- country to particularly generous constitu- mitment, and the ability to love and nur- The court’s ruling applies only to com- sized that the government “respects the tional protections for all South Africans.” ture and honor and sustain, transcends the mon-law marriage at the moment. How- right to dignity and equality as enshrined The constitutional protection of gay incidental fact of sexual orientation. The ever, Evert Knoesen of the Lesbian and in the Constitution of the country.” rights, which recognizes that Black and answer suggested by the Constitution itself Gay Equality Project predicted that same- white lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and by 10 years of development under it is: sex couples will be married in South Africa LGBT rights from the Struggle participated in the struggle against yes.” (Gay City News) within the next year, and declared, “The The author of the court’s decision, apartheid, has already been enforced Sources: Gay City News, Afrol News, principle has been won.” If the necessary Judge Edward Cameron, is the country’s numerous times by the South African WorldHistory.com and sacla.za.net. Philippine revolutionary speaks to the world

By Deirdre Griswold pressure from Washington to send troops tain his freedom while living in to Iraq and participate in Bush’s “war on exile in The Netherlands. “Jose Maria Sison: terror” by repressing guerrilla struggles of Since 9/11, Washington has At Home in the both Muslim separatists and the Com- attempted to equate any revolu- World, Portrait of munist New People’s Army. The Pentagon tionary activity anywhere with a Revolutionary,” also wants to reestablish the huge bases it terrorism. Under their new rules, Conversations with once had in the islands. those who opposed British rule in Ninotchka Rosca. Bringing pressure from the other side the 13 colonies would be catego- Jose Maria Sison Open Hand are the Philippine masses, whose long his- rized as terrorists, as would Sison and all Publishing, tory of revolutionary activity began more who have sought to throw off the yoke of suffered by the majority of the people—the Greensboro, NC, than a century ago when their rebellion foreign imperialist oppression. heritage of having been looted and 2004. 272 pp. Cloth against Spanish colonial rule quickly Sison says that “It is not the CPP and exploited for many generations. BOOK REVIEW $32, paperback $16. turned into a war of resistance against the NPA but the U.S. imperialists and their Sison’s message to the people of the new colonizers from North America. puppets that are responsible for terror- world at the end of the book is valid for Jose Maria Sison is credited with reviv- ism,” and reminds the reader that 1.5 mil- Marxists anywhere: “Persevere in the his book appears at a time when the ing the Communist Party of the Philip- lion Filipinos were killed by the U.S. in the broad anti-imperialist movement. This is Tclass struggle in the Philippines and pines after its decline in the 1950s. He has first 14 years after it invaded in 1899. the democratic base of the world proletar- resistance to relentless U.S. efforts to been a student organizer, a guerrilla This charge of terrorism is rejected by ian revolution. Monopoly capitalism has reimpose colonial rule are escalating. fighter in a people’s war, a political pris- most of the Filipino people. Many millions become more rapacious and violent. We On Nov. 16, at least seven striking sugar oner, a theoretician and leader of the CPP. have participated in mass organizations of must combat imperialism until its global workers were killed by the Philippine In this book, he tells of his history, his the left that fight every day against the defeat, build socialism and aim at the army and police. The government is under political views, and his struggle to main- deep poverty and miserable conditions attainment of communism.”

Cuban unionists meet with U.S. & Mexican workers Continued from page 9 reactions and it backfires on them,” he included representatives from the Maclovia workers. Endorse a National March in Million Worker March and member of said, referring to when Cuba decided not Rojas community in Tijuana and veterans Washington, D.C. for amnesty for all International Longshore and Warehouse to allow dollar transactions anymore. of the Bracero “guest worker” program. immigrants on a date to be announced. Workers Union Local 10 in San Francisco, “We must create unity between labor Cristina Vazquez, regional director of •Demand the U.S. end its military occu- spoke about the need to build an inde- and the anti-war movement. We must set UNITE HERE, representing close to half pation of Iraq—call for troops out now. pendent workers’ movement that will aside our petty differences and unite for a million workers in the U.S., gave an Endorse Jan. 20 demonstrations against speak for U.S. workers, rather than put the sake of the movement,” Parker urged. update on her union’s uphill battle against the inauguration of George W. Bush. their hopes in the Democratic Party, which He then called on participants to support hotel chains. Endorse unified international days of does nothing for workers and everything anti-war actions on March 19 and 20. The conference ended by adopting res- action on March 19 and 20 against the war for multinational corporations. Juan Jose Gutierrez of Latino Move- olutions, summarized here: in Iraq called by the Million Worker March. John Parker of the International Action ment USA said that capital knows no bor- •Send letters to U.S. authorities •Demand fair compensation for those Center spoke about the genocide taking ders, so we must internationalize the strug- demanding visas for the families of the who worked in the U.S. between 1942 and place in Iraq as well as the atrocities in gle. “Capital creates borders to divide and Cuban Five so they can visit their loved 1964 in the “Guest Worker Program” and Afghanistan, Haiti and Palestine. He also weaken us,” he said, proposing Tijuana as ones in U.S. jails. had 10 percent of their pay withheld but pointed out the U.S. role in terrorism the city where our struggles will be united. •Support the travel challenge to Cuba in never received the promised payments. against Venezuela, where Danilo Leaders of Mexico’s National Workers July 2005. •Support reclaiming May Day demon- Anderson, the lead prosecutor in charge of Union (UNT), Federation of Electrical •Send a delegation to the Fourth strations in the U.S. investigating pro-coup mercenaries hired Workers and Aluminum Workers Union Hemispheric Conference on Neoliberal •Demand an end to the occupation of by the CIA, was just assassinated. and United Force of Teachers of Mexico Globalization and FTAA to be held in Haiti by all foreign troops. Parker said the U.S. government is afraid also spoke, urging unity and struggle. Havana, Cuba, on April 26-30. •Support the Bolivarian government of to let people see Cuba. “But all actions have Workers’ struggles outside of unions •General amnesty for undocumented Venezuela. ¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los países, uníos! Neoliberalismo y resistencia en América Latina

De una intervención por Berta Joubert- El neoliberalismo ha despertado así Ya sabemos bien que el Plan Colombia judicial que puede detenerlos, de la com- Ceci en una reunión del Partido Mundo una respuesta masiva de parte de los no era un esfuerzo contra la droga. Esto se pañía que les puede despedir de su tra- Obrero (Workers World Party) en pueblos. El movimiento social en ha revelado al mundo como lo que ver- bajo, y de los paramilitares que pueden Nueva York el 3 de diciembre. Latinoamérica es muy diverso pero prin- daderamente es, un plan de contrainsur- amenazarlos y asesinarlos. cipalmente es antiimperialista dado que la gencia. El presidente de los EEUU George Uribe considera a todo grupo de oposi- La situación en América Latina debe lucha contra el neoliberalismo ha sido su W. Bush ha extendido el Plan Colombia a ción no armado como simpatizante de la considerarse en el contexto de la situación meta primordial. la Iniciativa Andina. guerrilla, aún cuando no lo sea. Esto mundial, la guerra en el Medio Oriente y En general, este es un movimiento Recientemente, el Congreso de los incluye organizaciones religiosas, sindi- la economía de los Estados Unidos. nuevo con fuerzas distintas a las de épocas EEUU aprobó el aumentar en un 100% la catos, movimientos sociales de indígenas Estamos hablando de 13 países en pasadas. Junto a las luchas tradicionales cantidad de efectivos militares y contratis- y afro-colombianos, mujeres, jóvenes y América del Sur (incluyendo a las encabezadas por los sindicatos y los cam- tas de los EEUU permitidos operar en estudiantes, campesinos, etc. Malvinas como parte de Argentina), ocho pesinos, nuevas formas de lucha y nuevas Colombia—todo para fortalecer la ofen- Cualquier insinuación de que una per- en América Central y 24 en el Caribe, con formaciones políticas están emergiendo. siva contra la insurgencia. sona tenga alguna conexión con la guer- una población combinada de más de 500 Los pueblos indígenas están defen- Colombia es el segundo país más rilla puede ser una sentencia de muerte. millones de personas. diendo sus culturas y sus terrenos que grande de Sudamérica. Comparte fron- Ese activista y su familia serán añadidos Hay constantes debates a través de la están asediados por las corporaciones teras con Venezuela, Panamá, Ecuador, a la lista de víctimas de los paramilitares. región sobre los orígenes de clase y el transnacionales; l@s estudiantes están Perú y Brasil, con la ventaja además de Los ataques contra el movimiento no potencial revolucionario de los movimien- defendiendo su derecho a la educación; tener costas en los océanos Pacífico y armado van desde detenciones y encarce- tos actuales. Sin embargo podemos diri- las mujeres están haciendo reconocer su Atlántico. Es rica en recursos naturales, lamientos masivos, a amenazas de muerte girnos a la situación en general que está lugar en la lucha y organizando para con una gran biodiversidad. Circunstan- y hasta asesinatos y masacres. L@s que estimulando estos movimientos, con par- defender las necesidades de sus familias; cias que hacen de Colombia un país único están detenid@s no tienen el derecho a ticular atención a Colombia y Venezuela. las lesbianas y homosexuales están defen- —y muy deseable para el apetito imperi- saber quiénes son sus denunciantes, los El factor unificador que produjo la diendo sus derechos; l@s afrodescendi- alista. cuales generalmente son informantes actual resistencia es el neoliberalismo. entes están luchando contra el racismo— Después de que el Presidente Hugo pagados. Este término significa una consolidación todos son componentes vitales del movi- Chávez asumió el poder en Venezuela en Las masacres suelen suceder general- de las medidas impuestas por el Fondo miento en diferentes grados según los 1998, la frontera colombo-venezolana mente en esos sitios dónde las compañías, Monetario Internacional, el Banco países. atrajo atención adicional y se hizo aún particularmente estadounidenses, ganar- Mundial, la Organización Mundial del Debemos recordar que el terrorismo más importante para el imperialismo ían si el lugar estuviera despoblado: Comercio y el imperialismo de los EEUU, estatal y las dictaduras militares han sido estadounidense por el petróleo vene- lugares para desarrollar megaproyectos y pero ahora impuestas con un patrón con- responsables por diezmar a los partidos zolano. regiones con recursos naturales valiosos. sistente en todos los países. comunistas y socialistas de la región. La resistencia armada en Colombia La justificación de los imperialistas Chile y Argentina son ejemplos muy bien incluye al movimiento guerrillero con- Solidaridad con los rebeldes para el neoliberalismo era ayudar a las conocidos. Pero toda Latinoamérica y el tinuo más antigüo en el continente —las Los Estados Unidos desean otra Faluya, economías del Tercer Mundo a desarrol- Caribe es una región donde hasta los mín- Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de otra Guernica, en Colombia – a espaldas larse y resolver sus crisis económicas. imos intentos de reforma han sido Colombia-Ejército Popular (FARC-EP). de la comunidad internacional. Pero la verdadera razón era la de estable- suprimidos, bañados en sangre. La disolu- Surgió en 1964 en la cumbre de la eferves- Ahora es más necesario que nunca cer firmemente la dominación capitalista ción de la Unión Soviética también tuvo cencia comunista y progresista. explicar la verdadera naturaleza de la mundial y volver a estos países dependi- un impacto en las fuerzas progresistas, al Las FARC han crecido hasta aproxi- insurgencia armada en Colombia. El entes y generadores de ganancias para las igual que en el resto del mundo. madamente 15.000 miembros. Para el movimiento internacional no debe distan- corporaciones de los EEUU. En varios países, los nuevos movimien- año 2000 controlaba el 40 por ciento del ciarse de l@s rebeldes, sino colocarles al Algunos de los rasgos destacados del tos han forzado la elección de presidentes territorio colombiano. El Ejército de lado de las resistencias iraquí y palestina. neoliberalismo son la privatización, el que, por lo menos en sus discursos de can- Liberación Nacional (ELN), otro La insurgencia no lucha solamente por flujo libre del capital, la ausencia o reduc- didatura, se oponían a los acuerdos de movimiento guerrillero inspirado en la el pueblo colombiano sino por todos los ción de tarifas, la eliminación de subven- “libre comercio” neoliberales. Este es el Revolución Cubana, tiene fuerzas de pueblos de Latinoamérica. Y además es ciones para los productos de un país, la caso de Argentina, Ecuador, Brasil, aproximadamente 4.000. absolutamente necesaria para la consoli- reducción de las agencias gubernamen- Bolivia y Uruguay. Durante toda su historia, las FARC han dación de la Revolución Bolivariana que tales –en particular las que existen para intentado a incluir a la población civil para está teniendo lugar en Venezuela. A mejorar la calidad de vida – y la elimi- Colombia en estado de sitio construir una Colombia democrática y menos que no se logre una paz con justi- nación de los beneficios sociales que pro- Mientras que los Estados Unidos inter- justa a través de asambleas populares, cia social en Colombia, seguirán las ame- tegen a los más pobres y vulnerables. vienen militar, económica y diplomática- comunicados frecuentes y otras iniciati- nazas desde ese territorio hacia Otro rasgo importante es el requisito mente en todos los países de la región, está vas. Venezuela. Los paramilitares colom- que los gobiernos balanceen sus pre- más profundamente involucrado en Cada administración ha respondido bianos, obedeciendo a los intereses de los supuestos. El dinero que anteriormente Colombia. Y la razón es la insurgencia con violencia a los intentos de la guerrilla EEUU ya han hecho incursiones contra era utilizado para financiar las agencias armada. de negociar una solución política. Pero la Venezuela desde la región de Arauca. gubernamentales ahora tiene que ser administración actual del Presidente Junto a Cuba, Venezuela ahora repre- desviado para pagar el déficit y una deuda Álvaro Uribe ha sido la más violenta e senta la esperanza de los pueblos pobres externa imposible de pagar. intransigente. de la región y del mundo. Cada día la Uribe, un fascista leal a los Estados Revolución Bolivariana se mueve más y Neoliberalismo enciende Unidos, está incluso tratando de cambiar más del capitalismo hacia el socialismo. resistencia la Constitución de su país para poder ser La amenaza que la Revolución Boli- Lógicamente, la imposición simultánea reeligido, dándose así más tiempo para variana le plantea a los imperialistas está de estas medidas deja a la población dev- poder exterminar a la guerrilla y a toda la ilustrada por los muchos intentos por astada y en condiciones de miseria. Se oposición a su programa neoliberal. parte de Washington de derrocar a pierden empleos por la privatización Chávez, el financiamiento de la oposición mientras que los precios suben y los pro- Grupos no-armados en la mira venezolana a través de la Fundación gramas sociales se reducen o son total- Uribe impuso la llamada Acta de Nacional para la Democracia, y los mente eliminados. Seguridad Democrática que criminaliza la asesinatos de líderes revolucionarios En 1980, 120 millones de personas en oposición política e incrementa los como Danilo Anderson. América Latina y el Caribe vivían en poderes del ejército y de la policía. Es el deber de cada revolucionari@ condiciones de pobreza. Al final del 1999, El presidente declaró que una huelga de defender la lucha justa de nuestras her- aproximadamente 220 millones de per- trabajadores petroleros contra la privati- manas y hermanos en la insurgencia sonas eran pobres. Desde 1990 hasta zación de ECOPETROL, la industria colombiana así como la Revolución 1995, de los 15,7 millones de empleos crea- petrolera nacional, era ilegal. Si una Bolivariana, al mismo tiempo que nos dos en América Latina, 13,6 millones eran huelga es considerada ilegal, los traba- oponemos a la guerra imperialista en Irak en la economía informal. jadores pueden ser blanco del sistema y en todas partes del mundo.