Liberación continental 12 EUA, Corea y Vietnam 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 61 No. 13 March 28, 2019 $1 U.S. hands off! Venezuela fights for all Latin America

By Sam Ordóñez

March 23—This week U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met for the first March 30 time since Bolsonaro took office. The two far-right presi- dents appeared to be good friends while spouting fascist Confront the talking points like denouncing “gender ideology.” The two presidents made the real purpose of their meet- NATO war machine! ing in Washington, D.C., very clear, however, with much of their conversation focused on regime-change efforts People are coming to Washington, D.C., on past decades. There is an immediate threat of military in Venezuela. Bolsonaro had even visited the CIA before March 30 from across the U.S. and around the world dictatorships again dominating the people of Latin his meeting with Trump, and Trump mentioned in their to confront NATO and defend Venezuela. Many America. And if the U.S. gets its hands on Venezuela’s joint press conference that he would support Brazil joining different forces are mobilizing. Become an Organizing immense oil wealth, the U.S. will assume functional NATO, the imperialist military alliance. Center or find one near you! control over the vast majority of the world's oil. The last major expansion of NATO was only possible When the rightwing, racist president of Brazil, Jair But with all our strength, we are fighting back! through the 1999 war that fractured Yugoslavia. It seems Bolsonaro, recently visited the White House, Donald From solidarity delegations to flash pickets and that imperialism is prepared to start a new war in Latin Trump said he'd like to see Brazil as a closer “military mass mobilizations, we are gaining momentum. America, specifically in Venezuela, to carry out another partner”—possibly even a NATO ally. Activists and peace-loving people are converging on strategic expansion. With Colombia now an official actor in NATO, this Washington, D.C., on March 30. Trump alone cannot make the decision to add Brazil to would turn both Brazil and Colombia into bases for We will meet in front of the White House at 1 NATO, but the U.S. has the biggest economy and military the U.S. war machine. p.m. EST to tell Donald Trump, his generals and in the alliance. Brazil wouldn’t be the first Latin American Make no mistake—this attempted U.S. expansion his financial crooks that the people of the world are country in NATO, since Colombia joined as a “global part- into Latin America with NATO is a dagger aimed sick of racist and imperialist institutions like NATO. ner” last year. directly at both Venezuela and Cuba and the gains of Colombia has a long history of cooperation with impe- NoWarOnVenezuela.org rialism and is considered one of the most loyal U.S. Continued on page 9

International Working Women's Month 'Resistance, Remembrance and Revolution’ 2 Global marches, mass protests 6 Puerto Rican political prisoners 7 Rasmea Odeh 7

Behind the Mueller Report 5

International Women's Day on March 8 was marked by global actions, strikes and protests, including in the Philippines, above. More on 6-7. Austin bombing anniversary 3 Battling racist gentrification 4 Subscribe to Workers World The Houston fire 5 ☐ 4 weeks trial $4 ☐ 1 year subscription $30 Editorial ☐ Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/donate Climate change, social change 10 Name ______Eyewitness Venezuela 10 Email ______Phone ______

Street ______City / State / Zip ______Palestine 3 Syrian Golan 9 Workers World Weekly Newspaper workers.org 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011 212.627.2994 Yugoslavia & NATO 8 Algeria 11 Page 2 March 28, 2019 workers.org BOSTON ‘Resistance, Remembrance and Revolution’ this week By Maureen Skeehan

"Uphold the legacy of women's resistance! Women and gender-oppressed peoples are in the forefront of global fight- ◆ In the U.S. back!" was the call of the International Working Women's Boston: 'Resistance, Remembrance & Revolution' .2 Day program held by the Boston branch of Workers World Party and the Women's Fightback Network on March 22. Never forget the Austin bombings 2018 . . . . . 3 Viewing war as an urgent women's issue, the WFN was Black and Brown workers, Philly gentrification . . 4 formed in 2001 in direct rejection of President George Between the lines of the Mueller Report . . . . . 5 H.W. Bush's call for endless war. The WFN called women and their allies into the streets to protest any U.S. military Houston fires: immeasurable pain, illness, fear . . 5 aggression, and continues its anti-imperialist work today. Veterans For Peace highlight U.S. war crimes . . .8 Opening with the theme "Resistance, Remembrance and Revolution," Phebe Eckfeldt, a retired Harvard clerical WW PHOTO: LIZ GREEN ◆ Around the world worker and unionist, a Visiting Nurse Association nurse Some speakers at the International Working Women’s Day and WFN leader, welcomed the audience and introduced program were (left to right) Belladonna Ashman, Doris Venezuela fights for freedom from U.S. domination 1 the panel of speakers. Reina-Landaverde and Dorotea Manuela. Confront NATO war machine, defend Venezuela . 1 Doris Reina-Landaverde, a national leader with the Harvard TPS Coalition and union shop steward with Service that included meeting with President Nicolás Maduro. One year later, Gaza's Great March of Return . . .3 Employees 32BJ, detailed the ongoing attacks on immi- Flounders shared vivid examples of the Venezuelan peo- Walter Rodney: Immersed in class struggle . . . .3 grants and undocumented workers: "Every door is closed ple's creativity and organized mass resistance involving to us. They don't want to give us [driver’s] licenses. As a unions, collectivos, schools and ongoing defense by work- Global International Women’s Day ...... 6 mother I have to drive for food and to get to work. Thousands ers from the farms to the oil fields. She also reported on Free Ana Belén Montes and Nina Droz Franco! . . . . 7 of families are in the same situation. Our children are citi- the heroic struggle of President Maduro and the Bolivarian Yugoslavia and U.S.-NATO aggression ...... 8 zens and have a right to grow up with their parents. There people's government against U.S. imperialism. are workers with TPS [Temporary Protected Status] from Belladonna Ashman, a young trans activist and orga- The illegal occupation of Syrian Golan ...... 9 13 nations who are facing deportation and the loss of our nizer with Stonewall Warriors and WWP, moved the Chavista people's power resists U.S. attack . . . .10 families and livelihood. This fight is for all of us!" crowd with her revolutionary working-class assertion that Next, Dorotea Manuela, a long-time Puerto Rican "trans women are as much a part of the women's struggle Algerians say no to poverty and repression . . . . 11 Independentista activist and leader of Boston's May 1st as cis women. ... Let us be who we are and let us define our- Coalition, greeted the crowd: "I am an Afro-Latina Boricua selves." On how trans women suffer disproportionately, ◆ Editorial member of the captured nation of Puerto Rico that remains especially trans women of color, she emphasized, "Stop In solidarity with Rasmea Odeh and Palestine . . . 7 a colony of the United States." She dedicated her talk to killing us!" Ashman pointed out that "reproductive justice fierce revolutionary women warriors, both well-known and needs to include the health needs of trans women.” Climate change is driving social change . . . . .10 unknown. She asked the crowd to remember the women The Team Solidarity Singers, with Kristin Turgeon on lead who have fought for decent housing, welfare rights, to stop vocals, opened and closed the evening with a rousing musi- ◆ Noticias en Español hospital and school closings, and to demand clean drink- cal tribute to women leaders in struggles against slavery and Corea, Vietnam y la máquina de guerra . . . . . 12 ing water: "We are everywhere and we have to continue colonialism. Then the crowd raised their fists and sang the uniting and fighting for our liberation." words of The Internationale, the anthem of the worldwide Venezuela lucha por la liberación de un continente 12 Sara Flounders, co-director of the International communist workers movement. With steadfast optimism, Action Center, gave an exciting eyewitness account about they sang, "We have been naught, we shall be all!" (See Venezuela, having just returned from a solidarity trip workers.org for an extended version of this article.) Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10011 Join us in the fight Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] for socialism! Web: www.workers.org Vol. 61, No. 13 • March 28, 2019 Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist people are gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular Closing date: March 27, 2019 party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We are a basis. Editor: Deirdre Griswold multinational, multigenerational and multigendered orga- The ruthless ruling class today seeks to wipe out nization that not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to decades of gains and benefits won by hard-fought strug- Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, build a socialist society because it’s the only way forward! gles by people’s movements. The super-rich and their Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Pratt; Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of the political representatives have intensified their attacks on Web Editors: Ben Carroll, John Steffin world and the planet itself in the neverending quest for the multinational, multigender and multigenerational Production & Design Editors: Gery Armsby, Sasha ever-greater profits. working class. It is time to point the blame at—and chal- Mazumder, Scott Williams Capitalism means war and austerity, racism and repres- lenge—the capitalist system. Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, sion, attacks on im/migrants, misogyny, LGBTQ oppres- WWP fights for socialism because the working class Sue Davis, S. Hedgecoke sion and mistreatment of people with disabilities. It means produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should joblessness, increasing homelessness and impoverishment remain in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capi- Contributing Editors: G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, and lack of hope for the future. No social problems can be talist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially Fred Goldstein, Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, solved under capitalism. owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guaran- Betsey Piette, Gloria Rubac The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one tee basic human needs. Mundo Obero: Alberto García, Teresa Gutierrez, has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the Carlos Vargas education or anything else—unless they can pay for it. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even make and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP Copyright © 2019 Workers World. Verbatim copying it to college. Black, Brown and Indigenous youth and trans branch near you. ☐ and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium Contact a Workers World Party branch near you: workers.org/wwp without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly Bay Area Durham, N.C. 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AUSTIN BOMBINGS 2018: ONE YEAR LATER: Never forget Gaza's Great March of Return

By Teresa Gutierrez By Dianne Mathiowetz Austin, Texas Atlanta

One year ago, from March 2 through March 21 — Ahmed Abu Artema, from 21, this city was gripped by acts of ter- his home in Gaza, sent out a January ror when Mark Anthony Conditt, who is 2018 Facebook post asking: What would white, left cardboard packages armed to happen if hundreds of thousands of explode in homes and yards. Palestinians marched into the buffer zone At the end of it all, two people were fronting the barbed wire and chain link killed and five injured. Although corpo- that fences off Gaza at the de facto border rate media and law officials hesitated to with Israel? call the acts terrorist or racist, Austin’s March 30 marks one year of Friday African-American and Latinx commu- marches, Gaza’s Great March of Return, nities bore the brunt of Conditt’s aggres- which Abu Artema is credited with hav- ing generated. Sometimes numbering sion. The two people killed were Black. PHOTO: AFSC The explosions most affected East Anthony Stephan House. in the tens and hundreds of thousands, Ahmed Abu Artema in Gaza. Austin, which has historically been Palestinian people have streamed toward home to Austin’s Mexican and African- in Austin felt otherwise. How can any the fence that separates them from their of the West Bank, the Golan Heights and American communities and the center of other conclusion be made in this violent ancestral homes. Gaza itself. the 1960s-1970s Black and Chicano liber- society, and especially in the context of a As the anniversary approached, Abu International law affirms their ation movements. white supremacist presidency? Artema spoke in Atlanta about the inspi- right to return to their land, but Israel Today, with the gentrifying boom This country was founded on racism ration for the historic action. This talk responded to the Great March by using that has destroyed communities of color and terror. Austin itself is named after was the last stop of a multiweek U.S. live ammunition. Sniper fire killed over around the country, and indeed the settler and colonizer Stephen F. Austin. tour organized by the American Friends 300 Palestinians in 2018, according to world, people of color in East Austin are Texas, like other parts of the Southwest, Service Committee, with local sponsors the U.N. Office for the Coordination of either forced to move out or are strug- was criminally stolen from Mexico. including Jewish Voice for Peace. Humanitarian Affairs, including those gling hard to stay. One of the most egregious things Some 2.2 million Palestinians are clearly identified as journalists and med- during the bombings was a “Wanted” imprisoned in Gaza by Egyptian guards ics. More than 26,000 have been injured, Never forget: Say their names poster, issued by the FBI before Conditt’s on the south, Israeli military on the east with thousands shot in the legs, often The first to die was Anthony Stephan identification, which exhibited the pic- and north and an Israeli naval blockade requiring amputation, or in the head, House, 39, after picking up the package tures of the two Black victims. Outraged to the west. suffering life-altering wounds. Conditt left on his front porch on March comments on Facebook pointed out that Palestinians suffer from shortages Abu Artema was asked by an audience 2, 2018. Anthony, according to relatives it made House and Mason look like the of food, electricity and water. They member how Palestinians of all ages and friends from his alma mater, Texas perpetrators. live among bombed-out buildings and continue to march, unarmed, despite State University, was a family man and a Furthermore, police initially treated destroyed infrastructure. Unemployment the danger. He replied that the Great loving father to his 8-year-old daughter. House as the criminal. They said the is rampant, and poverty is intense. Most March represented the collective scream He was helping his daughter get ready for bomb might have been self-inflicted, and are refugees—forced into Gaza by Zionist of invisible and discarded people declar- school before opening the package that they went to his neighbors’ homes, imply- attacks on their villages in 1948, others ing defiantly, "We are here and we will killed him. ing that the explosion was the result of a by the 1967 Israeli war that seized control be heard!" ☐ On March 12, two more bombs left drug deal gone bad! 17-year-old Draylen Mason dead and Yet, as the media stated, “House and the another injured. Draylen brought the slain teenager are relatives of prominent package into the kitchen where it then members of Austin's African-American exploded, killing him and injuring his community.” “House was the stepson of WALTER RODNEY: mother. Freddie Dixon, a former pastor at a his- According to Facebook posts and the toric black church in Austin,” according press, Draylen was a gifted student and to the March 12, 2018, Washington Post. Immersed in class struggle bass player. He had been accepted into Austin NAACP president Nelson Linder the selective Butler School of Music at the said that House graciously maintained By Dianne Mathiowetz University of Texas at Austin. Students the organization’s website. Atlanta spoke of his warmth and generosity at a Austin spurs growth. And racists memorial a year later. The 16th Annual Walter Rodney Also on March 12, a 75-year-old Austin’s population growth is among Symposium was held March 22-23 at Mexican-American woman was harmed the highest in the U.S., according to sev- the Atlanta University Center Woodruff by potentially fatal wounds after han- eral government reports. A new forecast Library where the renowned scholar and dling a package. Esperanza Herrera lives says the region’s population will swell by Marxist activist's papers are archived. 15 minutes from the Mason family with 2.6 percent this year. Rodney is best known as the author of her 93-year-old mother, who was also at More than 150 people move to Austin “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,” a home when the bomb exploded. every day, many from California. seminal work that exposed the conver- On March 18, the fourth explosion It behooves Austin’s ruling class to gence of capitalism, race and class in the slightly injured two white men as they promote the view that Austin is “cool” or modern political, economic and social rode bikes in a predominantly white “weird.” It aims to attract more and more reality of that continent. area. That explosion was triggered by a high-tech or Amazon-like industries that Rodney was assassinated June 13, 1980, tripwire attached to a For Sale sign. use a liberal façade to destroy the planet in Guyana, where his steadfast work in Two days later, a fifth explosion and exploit workers. promoting class unity and struggle against occurred in a FedEx sorting facility and This growth has not just made the oppression and exploitation had earned injured one worker. traffic on Interstate 35 a nightmare; it him the hatred of the ruling elite. power and exploitation and would con- Finally, Conditt was identified by law has made it a nightmare for Austin’s The Walter Rodney Foundation hosts stitute a valuable tool in overthrowing officials on March 21. He killed himself in communities of color as well. But many the Symposium each year on the week- capitalism and building socialism. his car with his own explosives. white workers also find it hard to afford end closest to his birthday, March 23. Among those attending this year's adequate housing. It gathers together writers, activists, Symposium were Mireille Fanon Mendès- Liberal Austin myth also explodes Of Austin’s population growth of scholars, students and others to engage France, daughter of famed African lib- Austin is often painted as ultra-lib- 50,000 people in 2019, more than in Rodney's main position: The role of eration activist Franz Fanon, author of eral, as “other” than the rest of the state. 13,000 will be millennials, according to those with knowledge and skills is not “The Wretched of the Earth”; Jamaican Often called the “Berkeley” of Texas, it real estate advisory company Marcus & to collaborate with, but to challenge and Rastafari who collaborated with Rodney; has become the “it” city, working hard to Millichap. undermine the lies and myths of capital- scholars and professors of African stud- distance itself from racist, reactionary, Most millennials have many reasons ism, racism and imperialism. ies and political science influenced by rural Texas. to oppose gentrification, racism, etc. As illustrated by his own life, Rodney Rodney; activists engaged in support of But when Conditt dropped his pack- No matter their income, they are aware called on progressive or radical intellec- the Bolivarian Revolution and leaders of ages, not only did his bombs explode, but that the Earth they have inherited is in tuals to join social movement organi- community struggles. so too did the liberal façade of Austin. crisis. Many will stand with the victims zations to help build the capacity of the The Walter Rodney Foundation was Like the rest of Texas, Austin produces of Conditt’s bombings and help to smash masses of working and poor people for initiated by his widow, Dr. Patricia haters and white supremacists. the system that produced him. self-emancipation. Rodney and his children, who lead and The first myth to explode was that the Austin’s ruling class, just like Trump, He stressed that immersion in the sustain the Foundation. serial bombings were not racist or terror- knows that interest in socialism is about class struggle would bring real life to the For additional information, visit: ist. The Black and Brown communities to explode. Their days are numbered. ☐ academic's understanding of systems of ­walterrodneyfoundation.org. ☐ Page 4 March 28, 2019 workers.org Black and Brown workers reveal Philadelphia City Council gentrification scheme By Ted Kelly Blackwell’s family, was convicted of bank segregation at gay clubs in Philadelphia. Philadelphia fraud and extortion for shaking down a Muhammad’s mother died in 2012, homeless shelter in the Third District. followed by their father in 2013. In 2018, At 2 a.m. on the night of Feb. 23, Two days later, organizers staged they were diagnosed with HIV. over 50 people were gathered outside another protest to disrupt a Council A poet, Muhammad says, “Writing Philadelphia’s Ninth Police Precinct meeting at City Hall. Again, Blackwell was crucial to my survival. If I didn’t building at 21st and Hamilton. Despite and her allies on the City Council called write, I would be dead.” When medical frigid temperatures, the dozens of pri- police on the protesters, and Muhammad professionals sometimes insinuate that marily Black activists rallied, chanted and was arrested in full view of the press and HIV positive folks should abstain from shut down traffic demanding the release the public. sex and intimacy, Muhammad refuses to of Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, arrested ear- Police outrageously claimed that have their bodily autonomy revoked. The lier that evening at City Hall. this revolutionary activist was armed victim blaming and stigma are not unlike Muhammad is one of the found- and attacked the officers, charging what they saw their mother face after she ers of the Black and Brown Workers Muhammad with possession of an instru- was diagnosed with lung cancer. Cooperative, dedicated to the liberation ment of crime, resisting arrest, reckless of the most oppressed sectors of the endangerment and aggravated assault, Confronting racist gentrification working class. BBWC has launched sev- among other serious and bogus charges. “It wasn’t until the 2000s that you eral campaigns to combat gentrification After the Feb. 23 arrest, Muhammad started to see white folks not just shop- in Philadelphia, as well as confronting was transported to Hahnemann Hospital ping and passing through West Philly white supremacy in the city’s LGBTQ to be treated for injuries inflicted by the communities, but settling there,” institutions. police. The hospital refused to allow Muhammad told WW. Luxury apart- WW PHOTO: TED KELLY In 2017, they mobilized to confront Muhammad to be treated without police ments began springing up overlooking Abdul-Aliy Muhammad of the Black and a culture of racism and sexual violence in the room, so Muhammad declined Malcolm X Park. Student apartments Brown Workers Cooperative. permitted by the administration of treatment. They were then taken to the replaced family homes. Muhammad was the Mazzoni Center, one of the largest Ninth Precinct building where officers forced out of their own community due Muhammad wrote: “To raise aware- LGBTQ health care providers in the U.S. refused to serve halal food to Muhammad to skyrocketing rent and lived in South ness of these issues, the Black and Over 70 workers walked out, calling for who is Muslim. Philly for some time before they were able Brown Workers Co-op, an organization the resignation of Mazzoni CEO Nuri That’s when the network of work- to return to their home in Philadelphia’s I helped to co-found with Shani Akilah Shein, among other demands. ers and oppressed people snapped into Third District. and Dominique London, launched an Muhammad, who is HIV positive, put action to demand the immediate release Council member Blackwell is known to anti-displacement platform last sum- their body on the front lines of the strug- of Abdul-Aliy Muhammad. exercise a prerogative that Muhammad mer called ‘disappearing Blackness is gle by engaging in a “med strike”—forgo​ - Finally, on March 21, as the result described as “an unspoken deference City displacement politics,’ which tackles the ing the medications that keep the virus at of organized effort by the community, Council members receive in deciding on gentrification of West and Southwest bay. Shein and another executive resigned all charges against Muhammad were land deals that happen within their dis- Philadelphia. Dominique knows this within three days. BBWC is working with dropped, with the exception of a disor- trict’s borders.” issue firsthand: She was displaced from the Mazzoni Center to assure that struc- derly conduct charge. Abdul-Aliy pleaded Blackwell wants to see a vacant city- her own apartment in Wynnefield. As a tural changes are made to address work- guilty and was fined $100. owned property at 4601 Market Street whole, our collective focuses on the com- ers’ demands. sold for $10 million to a private developer. munities that we have seen be hit hardest Muslim and queer activism Michael Karp has been awarded numer- by displacement and homelessness: Black Activist victory over cops and cronies Abdul-Aliy Muhammad was born to ous contracts to gentrify West Philly and Brown people, LGBTQIA people, and Now the cooperative has turned its Melody Ellen Beverly, who became the with luxury student housing around the people living with disabilities, including energies toward revealing and revers- first Black woman to operate a trolley in University of Pennsylvania and Drexel chronic illness. ing the displacement of Black and Philadelphia. When Beverly was a child, University. This is part of a decades-long “We urge city leaders to consider those Brown communities. At a Feb. 21 re-­ her family was one of the first to move project to “settle” that historically Black populations and develop a means by election campaign launch event for City into the 46th Street projects. Beverly neighborhood, turning communities which 40 percent of city-owned land in Councilmember Jannie Blackwell, BBWC converted to Islam and her family joined like Mantua, Powelton Village and Black each district would be reserved for res- protested the 30-year incumbent for col- a Muslim community on the 52nd Street Bottom over to landlords who rent to idents and community members—not lusion with real estate developers to sell corridor. Muhammad grew up with white students in “University City.” Karp, just officials—to decide its use. After off public properties to her friends and Arabic as their first language. also an “advocate” for charter schools, is a all, when [real estate developer Shawn cronies. Inheriting a deep spirituality from founder of the for-profit Belmont School. Bullard] said he wanted his property to At the protest, Blackwell’s campaign their mother, Muhammad said, in com- Karp is not unique in Philadelphia. In a cater to college students and ‘millennials staff violently assaulted demonstra- ments to WW, that it can be very difficult recent op-ed written for the Philadelphia that work downtown,’ that doesn’t sound tors and called the notoriously racist to be both Muslim and queer. “These Inquirer, Abdul-Aliy also pointed to the like it describes most Philadelphians.” Philadelphia Police Department on them. rigid boxes are violent,” they said when examples of developers Shawn Bullard Philadelphia is a working-class city. Blackwell associate Michael Youngblood describing the conflict imposed on these and Felton Hayman, who both made And it is, more importantly, a Black and assailed BBWC members with threats of identities. This has certainly informed a fortune after other members of City Brown city. “It shouldn’t be any one per- rape and further violence. Youngblood, Muhammad’s activism, particularly in Council were able to use their “preroga- son’s prerogative,” Muhammad wrote in who works as a private contractor for BBWC’s mobilization against racism and tive” to award contracts. conclusion. “It has to be all of ours.” ☐

Fight for women’s liberation! Build Workers World!

As Marxists, we strive to not just honor history but brunt of Trump’s racist, sexist, bigoted xenophobic to make it—to promote changes that put the workers agenda: im/migrant women and refugees detained and and oppressed first instead of last. Workers World often deported for the “crime” of crossing borders to commemorates the socialist holiday of International find work and provide for their families or to escape Working Women’s Day, March 8, with a roundup of life-threatening repression and violence; children sep- women’s protests for freedom, justice and equality the arated at the border from parents, making it nearly world over. impossible to reunite them; and “Dreamers” whose Struggle is the only way to bring about change—like legal status under DACA is still in limbo. the Black Lives Matter movement, started by women If you appreciate WW’s year-round coverage of and gender-nonconforming activists, which boldly struggles that advance women’s liberation, join the fights racism and demands redress for centuries of WW Supporter Program. For a donation of at least oppression. Women are powering the fight for $15 $75 a year—and much more if you can—members an hour and a union because two-thirds of low-wage receive a year’s subscription to WW, a monthly let- workers are women, often women of color and heads ter about timely issues and five free subscriptions to of households. give to friends. Write checks (either monthly or once Inspired by the #MeToo movement and Time’s a year) to Workers World and mail them, with your Up, women are speaking up at work—particularly in name and address, to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New restaurants, offices and hotels—against sexual harass- York, NY 10011. Or sign up at workers.org/donate/ ment and for respect, and trans women are resisting to make monthly deductions. Know we appreciate your horrific sexual assaults by police and prison guards. help in building Workers World—for today and for the WW continues to focus on women who bear the future. ☐ workers.org March 28, 2019 Page 5 Between the lines of the Mueller Report

By Deirdre Griswold Newton. It fed Sen. Joseph McCarthy the “Trump’s shameless cam- information to point a finger at socialists paign to anoint Netanyahu The relationship between the law and and communists and get them fired from as the American govern- politics is once again the subject of oceans their jobs in the 1950s. It tried to bring ment’s clear preference in of ink—and their electronic equiva- down the American Indian Movement the upcoming Knesset elec- lents in this digital age—as the Mueller with baseless charges. tion.” Under Netanyahu, Report is being analyzed, down to the last The FBI also targeted Palestinian pro- hundreds of unarmed comma, by people who have not read it fessor Edward Said, “various AIDS advo- Palestinians protesting the and are not allowed to read it. cacy and gay rights groups like ACT UP unbearable conditions in It has been hyped as the biggest legal and the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Gaza have been shot and challenge yet to the Trump administra- Rights, and the Committee in Solidarity killed by Israeli troops. tion. The whole country is presumed With the People of El Salvador.” (“The But there are no head- to have been breathlessly awaiting its FBI Is Not Your Friend,” Jacobin, May 13, lines here about how the U.S. “influences” Trump lost the election by 3 million release—which has still not happened 2017) elections all over the globe. votes. That didn’t stop him from win- and may never happen. There is much discussion that the ning the presidency, however. He won What about climate change? All that has come out into the open so Mueller Report will now become the not because of Russia, but because of the far is a brief summary of Special Counsel focus of a huge struggle in Congress. This administration has shocked the highly undemocratic way in which the Robert Mueller’s report, written by Really? Is this report more important world by axing what little had been done Electoral College is structured. Attorney General Bill Barr. He says that than all the other crimes of the Trump in the U.S. to curb greenhouse gas emis- Then there are the millions of dollars Mueller’s investigation “did not find that administration? sions and protect the environment. Fossil spent by both Democrats and Republicans the Trump campaign or anyone associ- fuel conglomerates are ecstatic while cli- on political advertising with little restric- What about U.S. attacks on ated with it conspired or coordinated with mate change destroys lives all over the tions. This, with a few exceptions, guar- Venezuela? Or support for Israel? Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 planet. Compare all the articles circulat- antees victory for the candidates with the presidential election.” How ironic this issue of a foreign coun- ing on the Mueller Report with barely a biggest money behind them. Barr had to add that while the “report try influencing U.S. elections should pro- mention of the floods currently devastat- While progressives may use elections does not conclude that the President voke such indignation. At the very same ing the Midwest and the extremely intense as a platform to bring their message to committed a crime, it also does not exon- time, the U.S. government has openly storms from Norway to Bangladesh to the a wider audience, the electoral arena is erate him.” dismissed Venezuela’s elections, anointed eastern coast of Africa. tailor-made to perpetuate the rule of the a little-known politician there as “presi- Suicides are rising dramatically in the capitalist monopolies. An ‘impartial’ FBI? dent” of that country and is attempting a U.S. as young workers are trapped in The battle over the Mueller Report It should be remembered that both coup there! Where is the outcry over that? the gig economy with no income secu- will undoubtedly dominate the headlines Mueller and Barr were appointed to their Many in the capitalist media have rity, even as rents soar and millionaires of the capitalist media for a long time, jobs by Trump. The FBI, which Mueller reported on how the Trump adminis- become billionaires. No blaring headlines but it must not distract from the real headed for 12 years, has a long history of tration is trying to help get the far-right or demands for congressional investiga- ­struggle—in the streets, on the picket repressing unionists, progressives and Israeli politician Benjamin Netanyahu tions on that. lines, in the nitty-gritty organizing that immigrants, beginning with the Palmer re-elected by moving the U.S. Embassy All the hoopla about the Mueller Report goes on everyday to end exploitation, Raids of the 1920s. to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel’s is a distraction from the real problems union busting, racism, misogyny, anti- The FBI spied on and worked to destroy seizure of the Golan Heights from Syria. facing the workers of this country. LGBTQ2S bigotry, xenophobia, attacks Black leaders from Marcus Garvey to the Haaretz, a liberal Israeli newspaper, Moreover, the focus on the report cov- on Muslims and the oppression of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Huey writes that the Mueller Report helps ers up a basically undemocratic system. im/migrants. ☐ Houston Chemical fires cause immeasurable pain, illness, fear Part 1

By Mirinda Crissman and Gloria Rubac Fire releases deadly chemicals, Houston shuts down shipping The chemical tank fire occurred near The morning of March 17 saw dark Houston, the U.S. petrochemical capital. black billowing smoke begin to cloud the The blaze released chemicals commonly skies of east Harris County, causing res- found in the production of gasoline, idents to wonder if a storm or hurricane which can cause dizziness and headaches. was approaching. But this was no natural Those symptoms were reported by resi- disaster. It was man-made, caused by ITC, dents in the area throughout the week, Intercontinental Terminals Company’s even though the Texas Commission on facility in Deer Park, outside Houston. Environmental Quality daily downplayed Several petrochemical storage tanks the fire’s risk to the public. caught fire, and it took four days to put The Houston Ship Channel is a out the fires which spread to several more 50-mile waterway that runs from the Gulf tanks. Then midweek, the fires reignited. of Mexico through Galveston Bay and up While the fires are now out, residents the San Jacinto River, ending 4 miles fear they could break out again. While east of downtown at the Port of Houston. company officials report no danger, res- According to a study by the University of idents don’t believe them. Thousands Texas Health Science Center, children of people have gone to hospitals, clinics living within 2 miles of the Ship Channel and emergency rooms for a multitude of have a 56 percent higher risk for child- symptoms from watery and itchy eyes to hood leukemia than those living over 10 problems breathing and inability to keep miles away. Toxic “tank farm” fire still burning in Houston on March 22. food down. People with asthma have suf- The Channel was shut down due to fered greatly. pollutants released by the fire. It won’t behind the Texas Attorney General’s filing 1st in the U.S. for mercury, formaldehyde, According to ITC’s web page, the Deer reopen until the U.S. Coast Guard veri- a lawsuit against ITC this week, accusing benzene, 1-3 butadiene and a host of other Park terminal “currently has 13.1 mil- fies that cancer-causing benzene has dis- the company of violating clean-air laws. toxic chemicals in the air. Texas ranks 1st lion barrels of capacity in 242 tanks. It sipated in the air, and oily runoff from the in the country for carbon dioxide emis- stores all kinds of petrochemical liquids area’s worst chemical disaster in 14 years Decades of activism against pollution sions, cancer-causing chemicals released and gases, as well as fuel oil, bunker oil poses no threat to vessels or their crews. For decades activists from the Texas into the air, toxic chemicals released into and distillates. The terminal has five Oil refiners, chemical manufacturers Environmental Justice Advocacy Services water, hazardous waste generated, and ship docks and ten barge docks, rail and and grain exporters in Houston’s east- (t.e.j.a.s.) have fought the polluting refin- much more undocumented pollution. … truck access, as well as multiple pipeline ern suburbs are now cut off from Gulf of eries on the east side of Houston. Those Despite record profits, record pollution, connections.” Mexico shipping as the unfolding disaster communities in Texas Congressional record sickness, and minutes away from These fires are not ITC’s first offense. enters its second week. District 29 (CD 29) surround the Houston the largest medical center in the world, ITC has been out of compliance with Texas politicians have defiantly sought Ship Channel, home to the largest petro- Texas CD 29 has more uninsured children the Clean Air Act nine out of the past 12 to limit pollution lawsuits, and Texas has chemical refinery complex in the Western than any district in the country.” ☐ quarters. Since 2003 there have been 39 notoriously lax pollution enforcement. Hemisphere. The lack of safety in these unauthorized air releases. In 2013, they However, the lack of traffic through the industrial facilities has subjected resi- Next: Town meetings expose commu- released 10 times the legal limits of cya- shipping channel, which impacts pro- dents to uncontainable toxic pollution. nity health crisis in Houston. nide into the San Jacinto River. ductivity and therefore profits, is likely According to t.e.j.a.s., “Houston ranks Page 6 March 28, 2019 workers.org International Working Women's Day goes global! Kenya Argentina Australia

By Kathy Durkin Latin America: mass protests Cuba: Women celebrate 60 forces. German socialist Clara Zetkin from Mexico to Chile years of Revolution initiated IWD. International Working Women's Day In Guatemala City, hundreds of March 6 was the first day of the 10th Strikes by public sector unions and was founded in 1910 at an International Indigenous women, trans women, Congress of the Federation of Cuban demonstrations swept Italy, protesting Women's Socialist Conference in domestic workers and others protested Women (FMC), which was dedicated to job inequities and gender-based abuse. Copenhagen to strengthen global decades of state killing, rape and torture, Fidel Castro, FMC founder Vilma Espín Affected were transportation, education solidarity among women, especially which targeted Indigenous peoples. They and young Cuban women. Espín had and public health services in many cities. workers. Its socialist founders recognized protested pending release of convicted stated her pride in defending principles of Federica Stagni remarked, “The march the burgeoning numbers of women perpetrators. socialism, without which women remain blocked the entire city of Bologna.” (Italics workers pouring into factories at a time The Civil Council of Peoples' and invisible in history. Magazine, March 22) of capitalist expansion, facing terrible Indigenous Organizations of Honduras Teresa Amarelle Boué, FMC Secretary- Public sector workers in 30 unions working conditions and lacking any rights. held events in early March honoring General, said, “For 60 years, Cuban joined women's organizations in initiating This year's IWD calls for solidar- co-founder Berta Cáceres, a Lenca woman, women have had a voice and enjoyed walkouts in Athens and other cities in ity with women living under the gun of socialist and environmentalist, murdered rights that many countries can only dream Greece to oppose pay inequity and U.S.-backed wars or occupations, as in three years ago. Her now-convicted killers of.” The great achievements made by government austerity cutbacks harming Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and Occupied are members of the Honduran military women are the result of their efforts and women. Palestine, and those defending their coun- and executives of the Energy Development the government's political will. (Granma, Women and their allies marched try against imperialist intervention, as in Company, whose dam she fought against. March 12) in Belfast in the north of Ireland for Venezuela. It’s a day to support women Caceres' family demands “true justice.” IWD was commemorated in Haiti, legalization of abortion, which their and people of all genders facing bru- On IWD, Venezuela faced a U.S.- while in San Juan's financial district in sisters won in the Irish Republic last May. tal right-wing, dictatorial governments, coordinated electrical outage and threats Puerto Rico women strongly defended Tens of thousands were on the streets in as in Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the against President Nicolás Maduro. their rights to safe housing, health care Norway. Other actions took place in Philippines and elsewhere. Imperialist intervention would endanger and more. England, Belgium and Serbia. In response to oppressive capitalist glo- gains made by women workers, including South Africa: Honor women workers! balization, women workers worldwide are equal pay, pregnancy and maternal Europe: Women strike! striking and marching for higher wages, benefits, free health care and education, Massive marches and strikes involving The Congress of South African Trade pay equity, safer workplaces, unionization and laws that mandate women must hold millions of protesters swept the Spanish Unions paid tribute to the struggles and and equality. They demand an end to sex- half of council seats and ban anti-woman state, with 350,000 in Madrid streets, contributions of women workers and ual and physical abuse on and off the job. violence. 200,000 in Barcelona, 220,000 in acknowledged human and worker rights The #Me Too movement has spread inter- In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, crowds Valencia, and huge actions in Pamplona, on IWD. COSATU called on women “to nationally. Workers, as in Bangladesh, are of 50,000 people marched, while 15,000 Seville and in Bilbao in Basque country. intensify their struggle for justice and fighting for union protection from global came out in Recife and thousands more The 1,400 protests showed the strength of equality by organizing themselves in their brands and local bosses. The movement demonstrated throughout Brazil against the women's movement, backed by major communities and workplaces,” learning for reproductive justice is spurred on by reactionary President Jair Bolsonaro labor unions. Hundreds of thousands of about global women workers' struggles young women from Argentina to the north and his austerity cutbacks, racism women workers, other gender-oppressed and always supporting each other “for the of Ireland to South Korea. and misogyny. Agricultural workers people and students struck for two hours advancement of the women's struggle.” IWD is a time to support the tens of occupied mines. Indigenous women or all day. They protested pay and job The Congress called on men to support millions of migrant and refugee women rallied. Salvador protesters stressed that discrimination, misogynist violence, women's leadership and stand with workers—and their families—forced to Bolsonaro's election unleashed a war and rallied to protect hard-won rights, women “in eradicating patriarchy and all leave their homelands, fleeing repression, against women, Black people, the poor emphasizing, “There are 1,000 reasons!” its ills.” (cosatu.org) violence and poverty, only to face rac- and LGBTQ+ people. Demonstrations took place at 120 The South African Democratic ism, abuse and detentions. And to thank Women chanted, “We are all Marielle!” locations across France, uniting women's, Teachers Union, the country's largest Indigenous women, leading the global to honor Marielle Franco, Black lesbian student and LGBTQ organizations and educator union, celebrated IWD across movement against corporate destruction activist against racism and police labor unions. Key slogans demanded four provinces and at a national event. of the planet, often at great risk. brutality, advocate for urban poor people, pay equity and an end to gender-based Invited were sister unions in COSATU and Although capitalist governments give women and LGBTQ individuals, and Rio assaults inside and outside the workplace. the Tripartite Alliance, comprised of the lip service to IWD with phony procla- councilor. Two ex-police officers were The next day, women wearing African National Congress, South African mations about women's equality, and recently arrested in connection with her “pink vests” led a “yellow vests” Communist Party and the South African corporations commercialize it, the day's assassination a year ago. demonstration in Paris, opposing the National Civic Organization. working-class roots and global solidarity Thousands of pro-choice activists Macron administration's “labor reforms,” Among other commemorations on the prevail. On March 8, women workers and marched in Buenos Aires, Argentina, especially reductions in unemployment continent, hundreds of women, especially students, labor unionists, leftists, peo- carrying “Legalize Abortion Now!” signs. benefits. youth, demonstrated in Nairobi, Kenya, ple of all genders, nationalities, cultures, Each year hundreds of thousands of The slogan in Berlin, Germany, a for an end to employment and wage religions, ages, disabilities and abilities women have “underground” abortions, city where IWD is a paid holiday, was discrimination, as well as gender violence. demonstrated in the streets with colorful resulting in countless complications, even “Celebrate, strike, fight on!” Thousands Thousands of women marched in Tunis, banners held high. death. Legislation allowing the procedure of women and LGBTQ people, mostly Tunisia, chanting: “Equality—a right, not Here are some highlights: was narrowly defeated in 2018, but the young, held signs denouncing patriarchy, a privilege!” mass struggle goes on. the gender wage gap, sexual assaults and reactionary anti-choice, homophobic

Brazil Sri Lanka Gaza workers.org March 28, 2019 Page 7 International Working Women's Day goes global! Free Ana Belén Montes Bangladesh and Nina Droz Franco! By Teresa Gutierrez scheduled for July 1, 2023. At her trial, New York Ana Belén Montes testified: “I engaged in the activity … because I obeyed my con- The struggle to free Puerto Rican politi- science rather than the law. I believe our cal prisoners Ana Belén Montes and Nina government's policy toward Cuba is cruel Alejandra Droz Franco continues. and unfair … and I felt … obligated to help On March 23 the ProLibertad Freedom the island defend itself from our efforts Campaign held a Freedom March in to impose our values and our political Harlem as part of their Women’s History system.” Month activities and dedicated it to these heroes. ProLibertad organizes support Nina Droz Franco for Puerto Rican political prisoners and Nina Alejandra Droz Franco was Free Palestine! celebration. Women there are guaranteed demands independence for Puerto Rico. arrested in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after Women in Gaza protested at Israel's the right to free, safe, legal abortions, she blocked a line of riot police at a major Ana Belén Montes border fence on March 8 in the 50th while their sisters in the south are fighting demonstration and rebellion on May Day week since the Great March of Return for that right. Ana Belén Montes was a Pentagon 2017. She was accused of trying to set fire to their historical homes began a year Thousands of women and people of all analyst hired by the Defense Intelligence to the Banco Popular building, a target of ago. On IWD, named the “Friday of genders from 100 organizations, including Agency. One of her first assignments the protest. Palestinian Women,” 7,000 Palestinians Akbayan and Gabriela, marched through was to go to Cuba to study their military, The anger of the Puerto Rican peo- demonstrated, over half of them women, Manila, the Philippines, protesting according to ProLibertad. ple toward banks is righteous. The against U.S.-backed Israeli occupation President Rodrigo Duterte's reactionary Her work meant that she was granted banks, in collusion with the hated Fiscal and repression. During the Great policies, increasing sexual violence against access to almost everything intelligence Control Board imposed in 2016, have March, Israeli soldiers killed nearly 200 women and children, and imposition of forces had related to Cuba, including almost brought Puerto Rico to its knees. Palestinians, including 41 children, two martial law in Mindanao. The groups said, from the CIA and the State Department. Unemployment and poverty abound. women, three paramedics, two journalists “On this International Women's Day, we “Allegedly for 16 years, she shared This, coupled with devastation from and eight disabled people, said the human say 'enough' of the century of women's the information … with Cuba,” states Hurricane Maria in 2017, has brought rights group, Al Mezan. oppression … and of the misogyny of this ProLibertad. (tinyurl.com/y6kfpusl) miserable conditions to Puerto Rico. When thousands of women gathered administration.” (GMA News, March 8) In 2001, Ana Belén Montes was The U.S. District Attorney for Puerto in Istanbul, Turkey, to commemorate Gabriela Women's Party said, “There is no arrested by the FBI and accused of “con- Rico tried to portray Droz as a terrorist, IWD, police fired tear gas and blocked other path but the path of fighting.” spiracy to commit espionage” in favor of but she is a freedom fighter. their access to a main avenue off Taksim In Jakarta, Indonesia, thousands of Cuba. She pleaded guilty. Nina was sentenced to 37 months in Square. This has occurred every IWD women demonstrated for their rights, She was sentenced to 25 years in jail and three years of probation. During since 2016 under Recep Erdogan's and those of other marginalized groups, prison without parole and sent to a Navy the hearings, she was denied medication repressive regime. and an end to misogynist abuse. Women Base prison in Texas. Her release date is for chronic pain and anxiety. ProLibertad Women in Pakistan marched for equal workers demanded higher wages, fears she might be access to education and employment and lower prices for necessities, the right to moved to a U.S. prison. for bodily autonomy, decrying sexist maternity and menstruation leave, and an Ben Ramos, an orga- violence. end to exploitative work contracts. nizer of ProLibertad, Throughout India, women workers Australia: Support migrants! told Workers World, and activists, labor organizations and “These marches will left parties marched against job and Thousands of people marched through continue until Nina and wage discrimination and gender-based Sydney, led by migrant organizations and Ana Belén are free. Only assaults. The All-India Trade Union labor unions, including the Electrical through community Congress demonstrated in Coimbatore Trades Union. A Latinx contingent education, mobilization for a higher minimum wage and pensions honored Marielle Franco. Chants and agitation will our for all workers, with equal pay for women. demanded equal pay and the right to sisters be freed. It is the Women workers at ATG Ceylon clothing abortion. Rally speakers denounced people who free political manufacturer company in Sri Lanka exploitation of Asian migrant workers and prisoners!” have been on strike for 2½ months, violence against Indigenous women. Sex To find out how PHOTO: ASH JEGROO protesting intimidation, abuse and unfair workers marched in Brisbane, chanting, you can support, visit “Decriminalize sex work!” ☐ Supporters of Puerto Rican political prisoners rallied firings. On IWD, strikers, members in Harlem, N.Y., March 23. ­prolibertad.org. ☐ of FTZ-GSEU workers' organization, marched in Columbo. Contingents of women garment In solidarity with Rasmea Odeh workers—who comprise 80 percent of the 4 million workers in that industry— and the Palestinian People marched in Bangladesh, demanding statement better wages and working conditions in plants that produce clothing for global Workers World Party strongly pro- Palestinians’ right to fight position of the current admin- brands. Leftists and unions participated. tests that Rasmea Odeh, a renowned for self-determination istration against Palestine, Companies have fired 7,000 garment Palestinian activist, freedom fighter and and nationhood against Odeh chose to leave the United workers, many women, following wildcat former Israeli and U.S. political prisoner, the Israeli settler-colonial States voluntarily and return strikes and demonstrations denouncing a was recently banned from participating in regime. This regime has, to the Middle East. paltry wage increase. a speaking engagement in Germany and ever since its founding, Workers World Party stands Thousands of women workers, many was ordered to leave the country. been supported, politi- firmly in solidarity with Odeh in the Korean Confederation of Trade Under pressure from Israel, the cally and militarily, by and the Palestinian nation, Unionists, rallied in Seoul, South Korea. German government revoked Odeh’s U.S. imperialism. wherever Palestinians live. Signs called for “gender equality” and visa after she was scheduled to speak During the many Rasmea Odeh WWP has always explained and better working conditions. on “Palestinian women in the liberation decades Odeh lived in exposed the role of the Israeli In Democratic People’s Republic struggle” at an International Women’s the U.S., with permanent resident status state, from its illegal, criminal founding to of Korea, IWD is a national day of Day event in Berlin. and so-called citizenship, she helped hun- its position as a junior partner aiding U.S. This action is a violation of her right dreds of Arab women in her Chicago com- imperialist hegemony in West Asia. to speak openly and honestly about the munity gain civil, social and human rights We unequivocally support the global Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom in this racist country. So incensed were the solidarity movement with Palestine. We and justice. Germany’s actions also vio- Chicago power brokers by her prominence encourage all political, social and cultural late the rights of Odeh’s audience to learn in the Arab community that they opened work, including the Boycott, Divestment from her experiences and those of her a campaign to stop her meaningful and and Sanctions (BDS) movement, aligned compatriots. heartfelt community work. with the struggle of the Palestinian people Odeh was deported from the U.S. in After being convicted on fraudulent for their sovereign ancestral right to the 2017 after waging a long, arduous legal evidence by a federal court judge in land of their forebears. and political campaign against thoroughly Detroit, Odeh served several months in Workers World Party stands with biased charges; she was eventually con- jail and was eventually released. Rather Rasmea Odeh and against all who victed by equally biased federal courts. than retry the original case, the U.S. pro- attempt to stop her from telling the truth Her treatment reveals the hostility of ceeded to pile new charges onto Odeh. about Palestine. Rasmea Odeh is dear to past and present U.S. administrations, Not wanting to endure a repeat of this all hearts that beat for freedom and jus- Spain regardless of political party, which deny the judicial charade, given the biased political tice in the U.S. and around the world. ☐ Page 8 March 28, 2019 workers.org

Yugoslavia war anniversary Role of U.S.-NATO aggression

By John Catalinotto NATO expands role during war always from the Pentagon. attempt to reconquer colonies liberated New York Sara Flounders, co-director of the While U.S. world economic dominance during the existence of the Soviet Union. International Action Center who visited has constantly decreased, its power of Other speakers at the rally included March 24—Today opponents of the Yugoslavia during the bombing, under- destruction is still preeminent. NATO has former Serbian Information Minister 1999 U.S.-NATO war against Yugoslavia lined that it was at NATO’s 50th anniver- been U.S. strategists’ choice instrument for Radmila Milentijevic, historian Barry gathered in Ralph Bunche Park, across sary meeting in April 1999—during the keeping the other imperialist powers under Lituchy and composer Milos Raickovich, from United Nations headquarters, to bombing—that the U.S. pushed through U.S. control, something that went without who organized the event. Raickovich commemorate the 20th anniversary of its strategy of expanding NATO member- question in 1949 at NATO’s founding. called for a Yugoslav delegation at the the air attack directed mainly against ship and area of intervention. Poland, the For contributing money and their major anti-NATO march in Washington, civilian targets in Serbia. The 78 days of Czech Republic and Hungary then joined youth to imperialist military adventures, D.C., on March 30 to protest the April 1-4 bombs and rockets killed 3,000 people, and brought NATO membership to 19 the ruling classes of the other imperial- NATO anniversary meeting there. destroyed hundreds of schools and col- countries. ist powers get a small piece of the loot (No2NATO2019.org) lapsed bridges and hospitals. There are now 29 members, with some stolen from the rest of the world. What The war and subsequent imperialist on or near Russian borders, plus nine the “new” members get is a few crumbs. Catalinotto and Flounders co-edited intervention in the Balkans completed the “global partners,” including Colombia. NATO has been turned into a worldwide the book, “Hidden Agenda: The U.S.- disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, President Donald Trump has announced police force serving imperialism in an NATO War Against Yugoslavia,” 2001. a multinational state of 20 million peo- his intention to invite Brazil to join. ple. Yugoslavia had remained sovereign NATO began its expansion with its first and socialist since its partisans drove out open aggression aimed at Yugoslavia. German imperialism in 1945. Now what Since then, NATO opened the war against remains are six small capitalist coun- Libya in North Africa and participated in tries, semicolonies of Western imperi- the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, alism. Already three of them are NATO all under U.S. military direction. The members. military alliance, whose name—North In addition, there’s the rump region Atlantic Treaty Organization—implies a called Kosovo, a province wrenched out limited area of responsibility, now inter- of Serbia in violation of international venes worldwide. law. There the U.S. military built Camp In the period just following World Bondsteel, its major base serving NATO War II, the United States was by far the in the Balkans. dominant imperialist state, measured Speakers at the rally had been active both by its economic and military power. opposing the U.S.-NATO war in 1999. Originally designed to confront the Soviet Besides reviewing the war crimes of the Union and to prevent workers’ revolu- Western powers and their Balkan lack- tions in Western Europe, NATO’s struc- eys, some pointed to the insidious role of ture puts Washington in control. The WW PHOTO: JOHN CATALINOTTO NATO. U.S. president always chooses the NATO March 24 demonstration at the U.N. denounces 1999 war against Yugoslavia, says commander, and the general in charge is ‘Kosovo is Serbia.’ My Lai massacre Veterans For Peace highlight U.S. war crime

By John Catalinotto The Lessons of My Lai millions with Agent Orange. Last year I New York I’m honored to share the stage with this visited [Vietnam] and held children who roster of people’s champions. My appear- are disabled as they continue to suffer Veterans For Peace, New York ance here is a consequence of my good from the poison. The past is prologue, Chapter, presented an art installation fortune to have met—and organized and reparations are in order. in Manhattan on March 22 that exposed with—like-minded GIs during the war. The exhibit challenges us to “remem- the U.S. war crime known as the My Lai Each of the Fort Hood Three agreed ber the past so as not to repeat it.” Of massacre. In the three-day exhibit at the that we could not in good conscience take course, the U.S. empire skillfully adapts Quaker House on Rutherford Place, art- part in an illegal, immoral and unjust war its aggression and military adventures ist Mac MacDevitt showed with anno- of aggression. We were able to remain to forestall protests and opposition. The tated photographs the horror of the true to our beliefs with the support of draft was ended. Many ground troops U.S.-ordered slaughter of 503 unarmed our loved ones, a growing and supportive were replaced by mercenaries. Pilots were Vietnamese villagers on March 16, anti-war movement and the courageous replaced by drones, and TV cameras were 1968—an atrocity subsequently exposed example of the Vietnamese people. removed from the battlefields. to the world. (tinyurl.com/y6tfmgl4) The exhibit, which we’ve gathered Yet, the United States still maintains WW PHOTO: JOHN CATALINOTTO J.J. Johnson of the ‘Fort Hood 3’ speaks To anyone still uncertain about the here to introduce and celebrate, calls to nearly 800 military bases in more than 70 at the My Lai massacre commemoration, role of current U.S. foreign policy, mind Howard Zinn’s “People’s History countries and territories in every continent March 22, New York. this look back 51 years ago shows that of the United States.” In the past, I’ve on the globe. And the U.S., with about 4.4 “humanitarian aid” is the unlikely out- often spoken about what some call “The percent of the world’s population, accounts [arrested at a protest in Dublin, Ireland, come of any U.S. military intervention United States of Amnesia.” But on closer for 37 percent of the world’s military this March]. Their actions, like this exhibit, anywhere. examination, it’s clear that so many in spending, which is roughly the amount connect the past to the present. Speakers at the exhibit included our nation aren’t victims of amnesia, but of the next seven largest military budgets And as we work with younger activists war resisters Nurse Lieutenant Susan rather a highly coordinated system of combined. Imagine all the people’s needs to combat militarization and its human, Schnall, Jan Barry and Doug Hofstetter, obfuscation and misinformation. that could be met with the $717 billion financial and environmental devastation, as well as Vietnamese Ambassador Those who profit so handsomely from that’s budgeted for war this year! we, too, can draw important lessons from Pham Hai Anh. Mekong Arts and Music the status quo have no intention of per- War and war spending are biparti- their struggles. and Ngo Thanh Nhan opened and closed mitting the truth to set us free. The san. In 2016, for example, the U.S. mil- As a trade unionist, I’m inspired by the meeting with Vietnamese songs. horror of My Lai should never leave our itary dropped 26,171 bombs. Last year the wave of teachers’ strikes. And move- J.J. Johnson, who as part of the “Fort consciousness. Nor should we treat My we [the U.S. military] bombed Syria, ments such as Occupy Wall Street, Black Hood 3” served time in prison for refus- Lai as an aberration. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya and Lives Matter, Standing Rock hold valuable ing orders in 1966 to ship out to Vietnam, We mourn the loss of the 58,000 mostly Somalia. Today, our nation has the blood lessons for our struggles. Last year, high gave a talk linking My Lai to current U.S. young men whose names are inscribed of thousands on its hands in Yemen and is school students organized the nation’s larg- military and foreign policy. The three on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in attempting to overthrow the government est protest against gun violence. And last Fort Hood, Texas, GIs—Johnson, Dennis Washington, D.C. and those who returned in Venezuela. week, some 1.4 million children around the Mora and David Samas—were the first physically and psychologically maimed. We [the anti-war movement] should world took part in a global climate strike to military heroes on the U.S. side of that But I also mourn the deaths of more than continue to sound the alarm, but we also demand action against the world’s greatest conflict. Their personal courage showed 1 million Vietnamese soldiers, 2 million have much to be optimistic about. Activists danger—the climate catastrophe. the potential of organizing against the civilians, the 5.3 million who were injured from every generation are on the move and war within the U.S. Armed Forces. Here and the 11 million Vietnamese who were in the streets. We salute and demand the Catalinotto is author of the 2017 are excerpts from Johnson’s talk: driven from their homes. immediate release of Veterans For Peace book, “Turn the Guns Around: Mutinies, I mourn and condemn the poisoning of members Tarak Kauff and Ken Mayers Soldier Revolts and Revolutions.” workers.org March 28, 2019 Page 9 U.S. hands off! Venezuela fights for all Latin America Continued from page 1 of “independent” but economically con- repress their own peoples to ensure profits the verge of collapse. Government cor- trolled states in Cuba and the Philippines. for North American corporations. ruption is rampant, most elections have puppet states. Brazil, however, was until From there, the U.S. steadily expanded The two Central American countries been thinly disguised fixes and paramil- very recently an important ally of the its hegemony over the region until World in the Lima Group, Guatemala and itaries control large portions of the rural Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. War II left the European imperialist coun- Honduras, are experiencing massive emi- provinces. The 2016 parliamentary coup against tries devastated. From that point forward gration as a result of right-wing policy. This week, the Colombian army Dilma Rousseff and the imprisonment the Monroe Doctrine took on its current In Guatemala, the right wing was put in opened fire on Indigenous protesters in of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da form: “Latin America is the backyard of power through a coup d’état in 1954 and the Cauca region. The city of Cúcuta, on Silva, who at the time was running in the U.S., whose word is law.” a subsequent civil war. In Honduras the the Venezuelan border, had been crafted the 2018 election and projected to easily Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), on the coup d’état was more recent, in 2009. into a hotbed for covert activity against defeat Bolsonaro, were important steps in other hand, had several political prin- In both these countries transnational Venezuela. With the border, along with imperialism’s plan to isolate and threaten ciples unique among the various Latin corporations routinely conspire with currency exchange houses, closed, Venezuela. American independence leaders. Unlike the state to assassinate Indigenous and Cúcuta’s economy has begun to collapse. most of the settler colonial elites who campesino leaders like Berta Cáceres in The struggle for a continent’s future rebelled against Spain, Bolívar was inter- Honduras. Mining companies and large Social movements rising The list of imperialist operatives ested in more than selling his country of infrastructure projects steal land from In every one of these countries, as well running the regime change efforts in Venezuela to Britain (later replaced by Indigenous peoples and destroy the envi- as other Lima Group members like Chile, Venezuela, including Elliott Abrams, the U.S.). Bolívar’s dream was the “Patria ronment. Most people work seasonally on Peru, Ecuador and Argentina, there are John Bolton and Sen. Marco Rubio, are Grande,” the “Grand Homeland,” a Latin large plantations, harvesting export crops growing social movements rising up fully aware of what is at stake. Seizing American union no longer dependent on for poverty wages. against the repression and suffering Venezuela is the first step in conquer- imperialist power. In Brazil, Bolsonaro’s racist, anti- imposed by imperialism. Some of these ing what they have called a “troika of Bolívar was also unique for opposing LGBTQ and pro-military dictatorship groups also understand the continental tyranny.” The next targets are Cuba and slavery, despite being from a relatively politics have opened the door for all kinds scale of the fight and have mobilized in Nicaragua. privileged class in a country that relied on of repression and against the land rights support of Bolivarian Venezuela. The conflict is not just between slave labor. Early on in his military cam- of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon. His Every day the battle lines become Bolivarian Venezuela, defending its sov- paign he abolished slavery after receiving economic plans are the same as those of clearer and the social movements of the ereignty and its social base of workers troops and equipment from the Haitian the rest of the Latin American right wing: Americas take their position. When the and oppressed, and the specter of the revolutionaries, the original indepen- privatization and unchecked neoliberal- struggle between imperialism and the 20th century Venezuela, tightly con- dence movement in the hemisphere. ism. In essence, the state exists only to popular masses is as sharp and as wide- trolled by a racist oligarchy in the service It’s no accident that the Venezuelans advance the interests of the transnational spread as it has now become, there are of U.S. imperialism. have chosen the term “Bolivarian” to corporations and to repress workers and only two paths left: a return to the brutal The battle in Venezuela is just one part describe their revolutionary process. Indigenous peoples. military dictatorships of the 20th century of a broader war for the entire continent Bolívar’s ideals pervade every aspect Colombia has been controlled by impe- or the liberation of the entire American of Latin America. of the revolution, from basing itself in rialist puppets for so long that it is on continent, just as Bolívar once hoped. ☐ Recently, anti-imperialist activists and the poorest and most oppressed sectors progressive journalists from the U.S. of society to the grand vision of Latin and Canada returned from a U.S. Peace American unity. Council delegation to Venezuela. They visited several community projects and The Lima Group, Monroe’s lap dogs met with social movements. After so many centuries of European At one point they had a meeting with and later U.S. domination, the peoples of President Nicolás Maduro, who men- Latin America are fighters, and relentless tioned that in addition to being a struggle ones at that. That’s why the U.S. has to between socialism and capitalism, the cur- resort to dirty wars, economic blockades, rent moment was a chapter in a “200-year sabotage and all the other forms of attack struggle between Bolívar and Monroe.” they have used against Venezuela. But James Monroe was the U.S. presi- they have also used their influence in the dent from 1817 to 1825. He is only really region to gather their right-wing puppets mentioned in relation to the so-called into the Lima Group to attack defiant “Monroe Doctrine,” which was at the time countries in the region. little more than a U.S. desire to replace If the conflict on a regional scale is Europe as the economic ruler of Latin between Monroe and Bolívar, members America. It took the U.S. ruling class of the Lima Group are Monroe’s lap dogs. some decades to make this a reality with These are right-wing governments com- the 1898 Spanish-American War. This pletely domesticated by imperialism. While war ended with the seizure of Puerto Rico they join together to threaten Venezuela Some members of the U.S. Peace Council solidarity delegation supporting Bolivarian as a direct U.S. colony and the creation on one hand, on the other they violently Venezuela, in Caracas, March 19. The illegal occupation of Syrian Golan

By Michael Kramer of imprisonment, he was released in 2012. He was re-­ moves are in complete violation of international law. arrested in 2015 and sentenced to another 14 years! According to Al-Marsad (golan-marsad.org), a human March 25—With a tweet and an executive order, the On Dec. 14, 1981, Israel declared that it had annexed rights organization based in Syrian Golan, “Today there Trump administration has further isolated itself glob- Syrian Golan. Three days later the United Nations Security are approximately 23,000 settlers, living in over 34 ally by reversing decades of U.S. policy in calling for “the Council unanimously (including the U.S.) adopted illegal settlements, profiting from the Occupied Syrian United States to fully recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Resolution 497 which declared the annexation “null and Golan’s abundant natural resources. The Occupied the Golan Heights.” The area, which is correctly known void and without international legal effect.” For this reason Syrian Golan is a rich volcanic plateau with extremely as Syrian Golan, is located in southwestern Syria. It was alone (and there are others), the Trump administration’s fertile soil. The region is home to a huge variety of valu- seized by Israel during the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War able natural resources, making it an ideal location for and has been occupied ever since. settlements and settlement industries. Since the occupa- Like Palestine, the occupation of Syrian Golan has been tion began, the Israeli authorities have aimed to imple- brutal. The city of Quneitra and 344 villages and farms ment policies which control the valuable resources in the were destroyed. Lands were expropriated for military bases region, in particular the land and the water.” and Zionist settlements. A rich and thriving Syrian agricul- The day after Trump’s tweet, Syrian residents in the tural community was no more. Over 130,000 Syrians were Occupied Syrian Golan held a protest extensively cov- forced from their homes, resulting in a refugee diaspora ered in the Israeli press, possibly as a reality check to set- today—over 50 years later—of around 500,000 Syrians tlers throughout all Zionist-occupied lands. Amal Safadi, who are denied their right of return. a 54-year-old librarian, eloquently summed thing up: Today approximately 25,000 Syrians, mostly follow- “Our blood is Syrian. If you take a blood test for a child, ers of the Druze religion, live among four villages, the it will read Syrian.” (ynetnews.com) largest being Madjal Shams, in Syrian Golan. They are the definition of steadfastness and resistance and are The writer is a member of Veterans For Peace. He exemplified by Zionist prisoner Sidika al-Maqt, who is A child holds a Syrian flag at a rally in the village of Madjal served in the Israel Defense Forces from 1972-75 and from Madjal Shams. After serving 27 consecutive years Shams, in Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan, March 23. took part in the illegal occupation of Syrian Golan. Page 10 March 28, 2019 workers.org

editorial Climate change is driving social change

The terrible news on unfolding climate greenhouse gases accumulating in the But cynicism is the absence of belief or production but suffering from capitalism change can have opposite effects on peo- atmosphere like a great blanket warming conviction. in every other way. The struggle for a ple: despair, lassitude and denial—or the Earth—we have seen people organize It is what you do, not what you scoff sustainable system, socialism, can unite angry energy. and do what seemed impossible when at and don’t do, that changes the tide of these class forces. The ranks of those in this country who they are convinced that their collective history. Right now, the greatest energy for buy into the lie, promoted by the fossil interests outweigh their own personal An anti-capitalist movement is devel- social change is coming from those most fuel industry and repeated by opportun- needs and desires. Tragically, this ability oping all over the globe in response to the exploited and oppressed by this system. ist politicians like Trump, that denies cli- to sacrifice and struggle has been made crimes of imperialism. One of its urgent It is the peoples of Africa, Central and mate change are thinning out, as evidence use of by the ruling classes of the imperi- issues is climate change. Can enough be South America and the Caribbean, much of its reality mounts. Sometimes it hits in alist world, who have indoctrinated peo- done to stop global warming before the of West and East Asia and the Pacific, their own backyards, whether it’s fierce ple by the hundreds of millions to fight “tipping point” is reached which, scien- who have contributed the least to global storms or wild fires or floods. and die “for their country.” tists warn, would make it irreversible? warming but are suffering the most from The young in particular, for whom the In fact, the 20th century’s world Obviously, this will take mass mobiliza- its consequences. future is a big chunk of their own lives, wars, as well as devastating “police tion on a grand scale. It will take thoughtful The recent cyclone that hit are driving the movement demanding actions”—think Vietnam and and organized restructuring of the way we Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, governments and corporations take Korea—were driven not by noble senti- humans live, work and get enjoyment out killing more than 600 people at a min- meaningful steps to turn around what ments of democracy and freedom, but by of life. Such restructuring is completely at imum and devastating hundreds of seems like an unstoppable slide into cli- the ferocious need for markets and profits odds with a profit-driven economic system. thousands, is a case in point. So is the mate chaos. built into the capitalist system. hurricane devastation of Puerto Rico And more and more, people in this Learning otherwise—as have so many Uniting the forces for socialism that continues. But we must also include movement are targeting capitalism as the GIs who were forced into the Vietnam The working class potentially has the the massive floods in the U.S. Midwest, problem and socialism as the answer. It’s War and now visit that socialist country power and organization to paralyze cap- where those most affected are always the about time—and there IS still time. in friendship—is a shattering but neces- italism, bring down its repressive state poor, who lack adequate shelter and can’t sary experience. and mobilize for the planned, socialist afford flood insurance. What can bring about change In recent decades, when capitalist gov- reconstruction of society to benefit the Despair won’t get us anywhere. The Over the last century and a half—a ernments call on the masses of people producers, not the exploiters. only effective response to global warming period when the industrialization of for more sacrifice, cynicism has replaced And it needs allies among those peo- is to fight like hell for workers’ power and the planet led to massive amounts of enthusiasm. And understandably so. ple not directly exploited at the point of socialism. ☐

Eyewitness Venezuela Chavista people’s power resists U.S. attack

By Sara Flounders district with 1.5 million people, and working and out-of-work families Caracas January 23, where the late president and receive staple supplies of corn flour, revolutionary leader Hugo Chávez is bur- cooking oil, beans, coffee, sugar, per- Flounders, a co-director of the ied—it looked like there was 100 percent sonal hygiene and paper products. International Action Center, was part support for the revolutionary process. Of Venezuela’s total population of the solidarity delegation from North Electric attacks also impacted plumb- of 32 million, these 6 million fami- America organized by the U.S. Peace ing, elevators, gas lines and more. lies make up more than two-thirds Council. Keeping everything running is based on of the people. Even the young hosts March 17—During nine days in the work and collective determination of in the COSI solidarity organization Venezuela, the U.S. Peace Council’s del- the local community councils. need and rely on these basic supplies. egation witnessed the danger posed by A community council is a self-orga- COSI is the International Solidarity U.S.-organized sabotage of the country’s nized group of about 200 families. They Committee (Spanish: Comité de electric power. We also witnessed how apply for government recognition, and Solidaridad Internacional), estab- such an attack can boomerang, as the direct government aid is distributed lished in Venezuela in 1970. masses of people, working in their local through these councils. People are elected The people are preparing now for the organizations, are mobilized in sync with at each level to these councils. Eight to next U.S. attack through their commu- the Bolivarian state apparatus to resist. 10 community councils make up a com- nity councils, which are telling them to Water can’t be pumped without power, mune. The councils elect commune rep- store food, water and batteries. which was out for most of the week. There resentatives to the National Constituent were long lines of people collecting water Assembly, a popular alternative to the Food production to drink, cook, wash and flush toilets. The reactionary National Assembly. Of course, the government has to government sent water trucks to street There are 500 communes. They are have food in order for CLAP to dis- corners and to central distribution sites based in all the poor and working-class tribute it. The economic sanctions for emergency distribution, while the communities and represent thousands and actual theft of Venezuela’s wealth electrical service was being restored. of organized community councils. These have prevented the government from As important as the government’s coordinate their efforts to find workable purchasing food abroad. The lon- quick repair was, however, it succeeded solutions to the shortages, which the impe- ger-term solution requires producing because the government and the popu- rialists’ internal sabotage has created in more food at home. lation mobilized to resolve the everyday their efforts to sow chaos and confusion. The head of the Ministry of Urban WW PHOTO: G. DUNKEL problems caused by the power outage. The communes have created a func- Agriculture, Madeline Arias, explained Sara Flounders, co-director of the International Action Center. This mobilization also helped resist and tioning popular power base or network how Venezuela will produce 25 per- balance the sanctions and shortages the throughout the country. Involving every- cent of its food needs this year, using imperialist governments have imposed one in problem solving solutions for backyards, empty lots and small backyards and up to 3-acre gardens in on Venezuela. immediate emergencies has empowered greenhouses. empty lots. Also, fish farms are being the population and energized people to Venezuela plans small agricultural pro- developed to create protein and fertilizer Community councils see this as a historic challenge. duction that is 100 percent organic and from more than 260 large fish ponds. Some background on the community People’s militias, armed groups made sustainable, and that goal requires the lat- Rabbit raising is planned. It’s easy and councils: Caracas is in the mountains. up of the masses, function through these est scientific advances. The Venezuelans clean, provides high protein, and you can Cable car metros go to the mountainous organs of popular power and coordinate are learning about small agriculture feed rabbits vegetable scraps. neighborhoods or barrios that surround with the Bolivarian Armed Forces. Tenacity solutions from Cuban, Vietnamese and And there are other, larger local farm- downtown. This was a big accomplish- and determination are their watchwords! Korean experts who have had to deal with ing efforts that are also 100 percent ment of the early days of the Bolivarian near-famine conditions created by U.S. organic. Revolution—to break the forced isola- Food distribution wars and sanctions. In addition to the government’s quick tion in these working-class suburbs or The government organization known There is an all-out effort to develop recovery of electric power, the people are shantytowns. as CLAP delivers boxes of essential food urban gardens to provide low-cost veg- experiencing the power of their own orga- In two of the larger barrios the delega- supplies to community councils that ser- etables and fruit. The plans include up nizations, which are integrated with the tion visited—Catia, a poor mountainside vice 6 million families. Almost all poor, to 1-acre gardens on rooftops and in defense of the country. ☐ workers.org March 28, 2019 Page 11 ALGERIA Hundreds of thousands say no to poverty and repression By G. Dunkel which considers itself communist, officers, also marching. (tinyurl.com/ costly civil war in Algeria between armed the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) to the y4wlxb76) groups owing their political allegiance to Beginning Feb. 22, hundreds of thou- Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), they have While the United States is careful not the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) and the sands of Algerians took to the streets of not played a significant role in calling this to be seen obviously poaching in France's Algerian army, whose political direction every city in Algeria—from Oran and month of nearly daily protests. backyard, the State Department’s web- came from the FLN. Tlemcen in the west, through Algiers and Youth and students have coordinated site does say: “Algeria is a strategically The FIS lost, but the scars remained. Tizi Ouzou in the center, to Constantine through social media, bringing out stu- located and capable partner with which The Algerian army selected Abdelaziz and Skikda in the east—to tell President dents at all 48 Algerian universities, and the the United States has strong diplomatic, Bouteflika in 1999 to manage the tran- Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his family that Union Confederation of Productive Forces law enforcement, economic, and security sition to a more stable political system, Bouteflika was not going to get a fifth (COSYFOP: Confédération Syndicale Des cooperation.” The Algerian army is also which still left the same small group of term in office. Forces Productives), which called a 4-day participating in Flintlock 2019 organized officers and businesspeople in charge. Even in the south of Algeria, in towns general strike, had more impact. by Africom. (tinyurl.com/y6aqfuyp) High prices for oil—Algeria's main and cities scattered in oases plunked here Even after Bouteflika had announced France is also deeply interested in export—and vigorous police repression and there in the Sahara, from Ouargla to that he was not going to run for a fifth what is happening. Hundreds of thou- enabled the system to overcome any Ain Salah passing by Adrar and totally term, protests continued, especially sands of Algerians, some with deep protests. isolated Illizi, thousands of people came after he said he was going to continue in ties to their homeland, others like the But given the fall in oil prices and out into the streets demanding “no” to a office. The way Algerians summed it up harkis—Algerians who fought for the the lack of real economic development, fifth term for Bouteflika. was wry but expressed a steely determi- French in their War of a Million Martyrs the accumulation of grievances finally Any of the candidates for parliament nation: We protested for five weeks for 1954-62—who are more ambivalent, brought out hundreds of thousands of brave or foolhardy enough to be on the elections without Bouteflika, now we have live and work in France. The economic Algerians. streets where demonstrations were taking Bouteflika without elections. ties between France and Algeria are old, The Algerian people are conscious of place were met with cries of “Resign!” In the past, big outpourings of mass deep and very significant. Over half of their revolutionary history, and they are Besides demanding that Bouteflika discontent in Algeria have been met Algeria's international trade is with the in the streets demanding not just the res- retire, angry denunciations flowed from with vigorous, and sometimes bloody, European Union. ignation of President Bouteflika but real the hard life Algerians face: high unem- repression. But these protests have been In the 1990s there was a bloody and changes in the system. ☐ ployment, inflation, police surveillance, so massive and so widespread that the the arbitrary behavior of government Algerian state held back, although some officials, and corruption which produces of the early protests were met with tear a burning sensation of frustration, rancor gas and baton charges. and humiliation. (tinyurl.com/y2cv586h) YouTube videos of recent protests on Accumulation of grievances Place Maurice Audin in the center of Beginning the third week of March, Algiers show this huge, wide square com- cracks began to appear. The National pletely filled with people and signs, ban- Liberation Front (FLN), Algeria's ruling ners and placards. Signs were in Arabic, party, officially abandoned its support French, Tamazight (known as Berber), for Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term, say- Spanish and English. There was music, ing it supported the protesters. The army singing and organized chanting. Men and chief of staff also indicated that the army women—some wearing a hijab, some supported the protests. (tinyurl.com/ without any head covering—and families y3ojsvv9) were all mixed together. Algerian web services began to run pic- While there are a number of opposition tures of cops marching in the protests in parties, ranging from the Algerian Party their uniforms, and a few days later pic- for Democracy and Socialism (PADS), tures began appearing of soldiers, even Anti-government protest in Algiers on March 15. Corea, Vietnam y la máquina de guerra de los Estados Unidos

Continúa de la página 12 después de años de amenazar a la RPDC insultantes, utilizando las mismas frases colonial francés y luego de los invasores con la devastación nuclear, está actuando comunes una y otra vez. También repiten estadounidenses. En cambio, fue Mike Pompeo, sorprendida de que los coreanos hayan sin cesar la misma mentira: que las tropas El 1 de marzo, Kim Jong Un depositó Secretario de Estado de Trump, a quien desarrollado la tecnología para defen- estadounidenses están en Corea del Sur coronas de flores en el Mausoleo de Ho el Times llamó "el adulto en la sala" y lo derse con armas nucleares. para defender a las personas que están Chi Minh y en el Monumento a la Guerra describió como "el principal arquitecto de ¿Cómo pueden los EUA esperar que los aterrorizadas por el norte. de Vietnam en Hanoi, un memorial para las continuas negociaciones de Trump" coreanos acepten una oferta para poner Pero esa mentira destruida durante todos aquellos que murieron luchando con la RPDC. fin a las sanciones, que en realidad son los Juegos Olímpicos del año pasado en por la independencia y el socialismo en ¿Pero cuál fue la posición de los Estados una violación del derecho internacional, Corea del Sur, cuando era obvio para la guerra con los Estados Unidos. El pre- Unidos presentada por Pompeo en las destinado a matar de hambre a la pobla- todo el mundo que la gente del sur aco- sidente vietnamita Nguyen Phu Trong conversaciones? Fue que la RPDC debe- ción de la RPDC, cuando no contienen gía con entusiasmo a los equipos atléticos organizó un banquete para Kim Jong Un ría renunciar a todas sus armas nuclea- una sola palabra sobre cómo abandonar del norte y del sur que marchaban juntos y la delegación de Corea. res, materiales e instalaciones a cambio la presión militar contra país? bajo una bandera común. Ambos países asiáticos estaban dividi- de poner fin a las sanciones económicas La conclusión obvia es que la "oferta" dos por las potencias imperialistas occi- de Estados Unidos. de los EE.UU., elaborada por Pompeo, Relaciones entre RPDC y Vietnam dentales. Ambos han sufrido horribles ¿Qué quieren los coreanos? El fin del estaba destinada a hacer estallar las El viaje de Kim Jong Un a Hanoi tuvo pérdidas humanas y materiales a manos estado de guerra que sigue siendo la polí- conversaciones. Pero ninguno de los otro lado que ha recibido pocos comen- del Pentágono. Ambos tienen que des- tica oficial de los Estados Unidos hacia principales medios capitalistas dirá esto. tarios en los medios corporativos aquí. cubrir cómo sobrevivir y fortalecer su Corea. Solo hubo un acuerdo de alto el Tampoco lo hará ninguno de los líderes Pero fue importante para la gente tanto desarrollo socialista en un mundo aún fuego en 1953. Bajo el estado de guerra del Partido Demócrata, que critican la de Vietnam como de Corea y para las per- dominado por el imperialismo. que todavía está vigente, los Estados reacción súper reaccionaria de Trump sonas de todo el mundo que luchan por el La gente de Vietnam y Corea está Unidos continúan estacionando casi sobre otras cuestiones y su flagrante socialismo. haciendo todo lo posible para avanzar. 30,000 soldados en Corea del Sur, y racismo y sexismo, sino que se alinean El viaje a Hanoi fue el primero de La pregunta es: ¿Qué puede hacer el pue- podrían lanzar un ataque al norte en cual- con la administración a cerca de Corea. un líder de la RPDC desde que Kim Il blo de los EUA para frenar las manos de quier momento. De hecho, la clase dominante de los Sung, el legendario liberador de Corea los maníacos de la guerra como Bolton, ¿Quiénes son los verdaderos maníacos EUA y el Partido Demócrata han criticado del gobierno colonial japonés y organi- así como a los “adultos en la habitación” de guerra en el mundo? A partir de 2017, a Trump desde la derecha, por difícil que zador de su resistencia a la guerra de más engañosos pero igualmente peligro- los EUA poseían casi 7,000 armas nuclea- parezca, cuando se trata de decir algo los Estados Unidos de 1950‑53, visitó sos, como Pompeo, para que las guerras res, muchas de ellas desplegadas en todo positivo sobre Corea del Norte. Vietnam en 1964. El líder coreano se reu- libradas solo por obtener beneficios para el mundo, listas para ser lanzadas desde Es un procedimiento estándar en todos nió en ese momento con el igualmente super rica clase gobernante nunca vuel- aviones, submarinos y bases de misiles. los medios corporativos de EUA para legendario Ho Chi Minh, líder de la van a suceder? ☐ Sin embargo, la clase dominante aquí, presentar a la RPDC en los términos más lucha por liberar a Vietnam del dominio Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected]

¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 61 Núm. 13 28 de marzo 2019 $1

WW PHOTO: SARA FLOUNDERS Ante nuevas amenazas norteamericanas, President Nicolás Maduro, marzo de 2019. Venezuela lucha por la liberación de un continente

Por Sam Ordóñez Elliott Abrams, John Bolton, Marco sueño de Bolívar era la Patria Grande, Berta Cáceres en Honduras. Las minerías Rubio, y otros, tienen muy claro sus obje- una unión continental que no dependía y los megaproyectos roban la tierra de los 23 de marzo—Esta semana se reu- tivos. Primero conquistar a Venezuela, y del imperialismo. pueblos originarios y destruyen al medio nieron los presidentes Donald Trump después Cuba y Nicaragua. Hasta nombre También Bolívar tenía una alta con- ambiente. Los sueldos son miserables y de Estados Unidos y Jair Bolsonaro de les dieron: la famosa “troika de la tiranía.” ciencia política, ya que se oponía a la suelen ser estacionales por trabajar las Brasil. Los dos presidentes de extrema El conflicto no es sólo entre la esclavitud. Famosamente por esto ganó cosechas en las grandes fincas. derecha parecieron hacerse buenos ami- Venezuela bolivariana, soberana y orien- el apoyo en forma rifles, cañones y tro- En Brasil, la presidencia de Bolsonaro, gos, proclamándose “en contra de la tada al poder popular, y la fantasma de la pas de la revolución haitiana, la primera racista, homofóbico, y amante de la dic- ideología de género” y otros eslóganes Venezuela del siglo pasado, dominada por revolución independentista, liderada por tadura militar, ha abierto las puertas neofascistas. una oligarquía racista y completamente esclavos sublevados, del hemosferio. a toda forma de represión y de ataques Pero la verdadera razón por la visita servil al imperialismo norteamericano. No es por accidente que el proceso contra los derechos y tierra de los pue- del mandatario brasileño quedó muy En Venezuela se está luchando una batalla venezolano se llama la revolución “boli- blos originarios de la Amazona. Sus pla- obvio: preparar una nueva fase de agre- por todo el continente latinoamericano. variana.” Los ideales de Bolívar se ven nes económicos son las típicas políticas sión contra Venezuela. Antes de reunirse Recientemente regresaron activistas en todos los aspectos de la revolución, de la derecha: la privatización y el neoli- con Trump, Bolsonaro visitó a la CIA, y en anti imperialistas y periodistas progre- desde su base en los sectores más pobres beralismo desencadenado. Es una política rueda de prensa Trump habló de la posi- sistas de Estados Unidos y Canadá que y oprimidos a su gran visión de unidad e donde el estado existe sólo para servir los bilidad de incorporar a Brasil en la OTAN, viajaron a Venezuela como parte de una integración latinoamericana. intereses de las empresas transnacionales la alianza militar del imperialismo. delegación del Consejo de Paz de EUA. y reprimir a los trabajadores y los pueblos La expansión anterior de la OTAN sólo Visitaron a varios proyectos comunales y El Grupo de Lima, los perros originarios. fue posible gracias a la 1999 guerra que se reunieron con líderes sociales. falderos de Monroe A Colombia por poco se le puede llamar fracturó a Yugoslavia. Parece ser que el En un momento se reunieron con el Después de tantos siglos de dominio, un estado, ya que la corrupción es des- imperialismo tiene toda la intención de presidente Nicolás Maduro, que ofre- primero desde Europa y luego desde el controlada, la democracia hace años que provocar una nueva guerra en América ció comentario sobre el conflicto actual. norte, los pueblos de América Latina son no existe, y domina el paramilitarismo Latina, en particular contra Venezuela, Mencionó que el conflicto, además de ser fuertes y luchadores. Es por eso que los en las provincias. Esta semana el ejército para cumplir sus objetivos estratégicos. un conflicto entre el socialismo y el capi- Estados Unidos recurre a la guerra sucia, colombiano abrió fuego contra los pue- Trump no es el único responsable de talismo, forma parte de “una lucha de la guerra económica, el sabotaje y todas blos originarios que protestaban en la tomar una decisión así, pero los Estados 200 años entre Bolívar y Monroe.” los otros ataques que han usado contra región del Cauca. Cúcuta, pueblo fronte- Unidos tienen la fuerza militar y la econo- Monroe era un presidente de Estados Venezuela. Pero también, mediante el rizo con Venezuela, ha sufrido un colapso mía más grande de toda los otros miem- Unidos que es famoso más que nada por control que tienen en la región, han jun- económico desde que se cerró la frontera bros de OTAN. Tampoco sería Brasil la llamada “Doctrina de Monroe,” que en tado a sus títeres derechistas en el Grupo en febrero, porque había sido transfor- el primer país Latinoamericano en la su momento era un deseo de dominar de Lima para atacar a los países indepen- mada en un pueblo de contrabandistas OTAN, ya que Colombia se incorporó el todo el continente americano, en lugar dientes de la región. para debilitar a Venezuela. año pasado como “socio global.” de los europeos. Este deseo tardaría unas Si a gran escala la guerra es entre En todos los países mencionados y Colombia tiene una larga historia de décadas en hacerse realidad, con la gue- Monroe y Bolívar, entonces el Grupo de otros del Grupo de Lima como Chile, cooperación con el imperialismo, y es uno rra contra España en 1898 que incorporó Lima son los perros falderos de Monroe. Perú, Ecuador y Argentina hay grandes de los títeres más fieles del imperialismo. a Puerto Rico como colonia norteameri- Son gobiernos de derecha completamente movimientos sociales que se levantan Pero Brasil en su momento era un impor- cana y a Cuba y las islas Filipinas como domesticados por el imperialismo, que para combatir las condiciones de vida tante aliado de Venezuela revolucionaria. estados “independientes” pero serviles. con una mano se juntan para amenazar impuestas por el imperialismo. Pero algu- El golpe de estado contra Dilma De allí creció el poder hegemónico esta- a Venezuela y con otra reprimen con nos también entienden que la guerra es Rousseff en 2016 y el encarcelamiento dounidense hasta que la Segunda Guerra máxima fuerza sus pueblos para garanti- continental, y se han visto movilizaciones del ex-presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Mundial causó pérdidas enormes para zar las ganancias norteamericanas. en apoyo a Venezuela en varios de estos Silva, que en 2018 era el candidato con el imperialismo de los países europeos. En centroamérica los dos países del países. más probabilidad de vencer a Bolsonaro, En ese momento volvió la doctrina de Grupo de Lima, Guatemala y Honduras, Cada día las líneas de batalla son más fueron pasos importantes que tomaron Monroe expresada de su forma actual: están viviendo un éxodo al norte, pro- claros, y los movimientos sociales de las los imperialistas para aislar y amenazar “América Latina es nuestro (norteameri- vocado por la política de la derecha. En américas van tomando posición. Cuando Venezuela. cano) patio trasero, y aquí mandamos sin Guatemala la derecha llegó al poder gra- la lucha entre el imperialismo y los pue- preguntas.” cias al golpe de estado de 1954 y la guerra blos es tan profundo como lo es ahora La batalla por el destino Por su parte, Simón Bolívar no era un civil que siguió, en Honduras el golpe de sólo hay dos opciones: una vuelta a las de un continente simple líder independentista como los estado ocurrió en 2009. dictaduras militares del siglo pasado, o la Los agentes del imperialismo que criollos que se alzaron contra España En ambos países el gobierno y las gran- emancipación del continente americano actualmente dirigen el esfuerzo de cam- para enriquecerse vendiendo sus países des empresas conspiran para asesinar a completo, tal como lo imaginó Bolívar. ☐ bio de régimen en Venezuela, como a Inglaterra y luego Estados Unidos. El líderes campesinos e indígenas, como Corea, Vietnam y la máquina de guerra de los Estados Unidos

Por Deirdre Griswold titulado “El Caso Legal para Golpear a sediento de sangre John Bolton ansioso por el ejército de los Estados Unidos a Corea del Norte Primero”. En otras pala- por matar a los norcoreanos ". principios de la década de 1950, cuando la La última reunión cumbre entre Kim bras este se merece el título de maníaco ¿Dónde están ahora estos críticos bur- Fuerza Aérea de los Estados Unidos bom- Jong Un, el líder supremo de la República de la guerra. Tres semanas después, gueses? ¿Dónde está el New York Times? bardeó todos los edificios por encima de Popular Democrática de Corea y el Trump nombró a Bolton para que fuera Su editorial sobre el nombramiento dos pisos en Corea del Norte y millones Presidente de los Estados Unidos, Donald su asesor de seguridad nacional. estaba titulado: "Sí, John Bolton real- murieron. Cuando usted, como persona Trump, terminó abruptamente en Hanoi Al momento del nombramiento, hace mente es así de peligroso". (23 de marzo) responsable, lea que un belicista sediento el 28 de febrero sin ningún acuerdo. un año, muchos de los medios de comu- Sin embargo, sus informes ahora, con el de sangre ahora está asesorando al pre- Si bien Trump, con su ego sobredimen- nicación capitalistas de aquí criticaron a colapso de las conversaciones, están cul- sidente de los Estados Unidos, ¿no haría sionado y su comportamiento imprede- Bolton. Simon Kuper, del Financial Times, pando a "grandes egos y malas apuestas" todo lo posible por fortalecer las defensas cible, había querido obtener crédito por escribió el 4 de abril: "Un belicista está a en ambos lados. Al parecer, se han olvi- de su país? algún tipo de acuerdo de paz, él mismo punto de comenzar a trabajar a pocos pasos dado las amenazas de EUA de lanzar una Bolton sigue siendo el asesor de segu- sentó las bases del fracaso de la reunión de Trump en una Casa Blanca sin proce- guerra nuclear contra la RPDC. ridad nacional del presidente, pero no con sus citas de John Bolton y Mike dimientos". Un artículo en The American acompañó a Trump a la reunión con Kim Pompeo, ambos duros contra la RPDC. Conservative (!) se titulaba "A Loco en El papel de Pompeo Jong Un. ¿Cómo podían los coreanos sen- El 28 de febrero de 2018, Bolton escri- El Consejo de Seguridad Nacional". Una Supongamos que representaba a un tarse con él en la misma habitación? bió un artículo para el Wall Street Journal pieza en la revista Salon se titulaba:" El pequeño país que había sido devastado Continúa en la página 11