Apr 11, 2019, Vol. 61, No. 15
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Contra la OTAN 12 Vidas trans 12 Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 61 No. 15 April 11, 2019 $1 White House escalates criminal war on migrants By Teresa Gutierrez poverty, … nearly one-third of the youth is unemployed on Latin America, ... the most recent figures for 2017 and not in school.” It states that many are forced to flee [were] more than $78.6 million.” The White House currently behaves like a bungee for “lack of food.” That is a lot of money for a small impoverished cord, with up and down proclamations that change So the decades of aid have not at all helped the peo- nation. day-by-day and the threat of major edicts that may go ple of the region, even by this ruling-class consortium’s What would help is if the money truly went to the nowhere—befuddling his audience. own admission. people and not local oligarchies. What would help is One day Donald Trump threatens to immediately According to the April 2 New York Times, “Of the if imperialism would pay reparations to the people shut down the Southern border; another day to cut aid Northern Triangle nations, Guatemala receives the of Central America for centuries of theft. It is U.S. to Central America right away. The ever-revolving door most aid. … [A]ccording to the Washington Office Continued on page 6 of White House staff could cause a small tornado as both high- and lower-level officials come and go. The latest is the resignation on April 7 of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. All this occurs as migrants face increasingly more des- Venezuela combats perate conditions that need immediate, humane and just solutions. Despite the chaos at the White House, Trump’s war against migrants is frankly succeeding. Families are sanctions with solidarity divided, children are missing, massive migration contin- By Sara Flounders The most recent sanctions on oil transport are ues, along with super-exploitation at work, depressing intended to punish Cuba for its solidarity and support concentration camps and deaths that include small chil- In its latest act of international piracy against the of Venezuela. Highlighting just how much the effort to dren. Imperialist policies, lamentably, have the upper people of Venezuela, the U.S. government has targeted bring down the government is a class issue that reso- hand for now. the shipment of oil between the Bolivarian Republic nates globally, it was U.S. Vice President Mike Pence Trump targets Northern Triangle and socialist Cuba. who announced the latest sanctions in a speech to These new sanctions have been imposed on the 34 wealthy Venezuelan business leaders now living in Trump announced on April 2 that he would be cutting ships operated by Venezuela's state-run oil company, Houston. aid to three Central American nations: Guatemala, El Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., as well as on two interna- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, in Salvador and Honduras, known as the Northern Triangle. tional companies that handle oil shipments between the Continued on page 7 That night the State Department informed Congress that two countries. $450 million that would normally go to these countries would be diverted elsewhere. Yet, the day before Trump’s announcement, Nielsen had just signed a regional agreement with officials from No walls in the workers’ struggle... the three countries that they would “conduct joint police operations and fight unauthorized migration.” The next morning, however, President Trump was, once again, crit- WORKER SOLIDARITY DAYS icizing those countries, as well as Mexico, for the record levels of family migrations to the U.S. According to the State Department website, the U.S. government spent over $2.6 billion in aid to the Northern Triangle during fiscal years 2015-18. So the mere cut- ting of $450 million appears to be posturing more than anything. Democrats and others who opposed the cut claimed that the very programs geared to prevent the social violence, poverty and hunger that cause migration would suffer. But you don’t have to be an economist to know that this money has done nothing to stop forced migration. For decades, the U.S. government has stolen tax money from the people in this country and used it to create terror Lessons for the class struggle 4 abroad, including in the Northern Triangle. The money has not been used to prevent hunger, but has served to line the pockets of U.S. agribusiness, sweatshop owners and the Pentagon. Chicago voters veer left 3 The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, an imperial- ist grouping of former government officials, admits that in “Guatemala and Honduras, half the country lives in Mumia legal update 3 Are you working class? 5 Subscribe to Workers World ☐ 4 weeks trial $4 ☐ 1 year subscription $30 Editorial ☐ Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/donate Highlander arson 10 Name _______________________________________________________________ Email _______________________________ Phone _________________________ Oregon: Oil barons Street _______________________________________________________________ poison river 10 City / State / Zip _______________________________________________________ Workers World Weekly Newspaper workers.org 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011 212.627.2994 Algeria 11 Korea 11 Mali 11 Page 2 April 11, 2019 workers.org Advancing liberation for nine decades: Vietnam Women’s Union this week By Paddy Colligan New York ◆ In the U.S. War on migrants............................... 1 Women organizers of economic and political struggles in New York exchanged experiences with their sisters Meeting with Vietnam Women's Union ..........2 from the Vietnam Women’s Union April 1 at the 1199/ Chicago election ...............................3 SEIU Hall. Representing the VWU were national Vice Mumia Abu-Jamal update ......................3 Chairperson Nguyen Thi Tuyet; Ho Thu Nguyet from MOVE 9 members wed .........................3 Lâm Dông Province, representing the provincial level of organizing; and Tran Thi Minh Huong, a very skilled VWU Lessons for the class struggle ....................4 WW PHOTO: PADDY COLLIGAN translator. You are the working class .......................5 From left to right, Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Ho Thu Nguyet, Tran Thi While Vietnam has a population of close to 100 million Minh Huong, representing Vietnam Women’s Union. Google workers' solidarity ......................5 people, the Women’s Union has the large number of 19 Fossil fuel endangers Columbia River ...........10 million members. In response to a question from an aston- the undergraduate degrees, 43 percent of master’s degrees, ished woman organizer in the audience, Nguyen Thi Tuyet and 21 percent of the Ph.D. and higher degrees are held by ◆ Around the world stressed that they were not just names on a list but active, women. In 2012 the Women’s Academy became a univer- dues-paying members! sity with six faculties, including gender equity, business Venezuela: Solidarity beats sanctions ............. 1 The VWU was initially founded in 1930 to involve management and multimedia studies; it is now open to Guaidó’s ‘Operation Freedom’ flops ..............6 women in the struggle to liberate the country from French both women and men. An imperialist new order .......................8 colonialism, continuing this focus throughout the subse- Women are also increasing their role in the political Western colonizers imposed anti-gay laws ........9 quent Japanese and U.S. occupations. After the decisive life at all levels of government. The Women’s Union has U.S. military defeat in 1975, the focus shifted to involv- responsibility for advancing policy matters relating to Algeria's uprising continues .....................11 ing women in rebuilding their lives and the country and families, women and children. In addition to promoting Mali: mass street protests .......................11 to helping them escape poverty and “achieve their full women’s leadership, it has set goals for the percentage of Message from Workers Party of Korea ...........11 potential.” seats in various political bodies that must be set aside for Today the union works toward full economic, educa- women. The excuse that there are not enough qualified ◆ Editorial tional and political equality for women. With 70 percent of women to fill these seats doesn’t work. The seats must go Highlander fire ...............................10 women involved in the economy, they make up almost half unfilled until women are found to fill them, removing the the labor force. The VWU offers numerous vocational and temptation to continue filling these seats with men until ◆ Noticias en Español social training programs. It organizes banks to participate “qualified” women can be found! in microloan programs that enable women, even in rural As someone who was a young anti-imperialist activist Contra la OTAN .............................. 12 areas, to participate in economic activities that will ease in the 1960s, I feel a great debt to the Vietnamese people. Vidas trans .................................. 12 poverty and foster a better life for themselves and their I have been inspired by their example of determination children. It educates villagers about how they can help and courage in the face of such apparently overwhelming ease the overwhelming responsibilities faced by families of odds. several generations of people poisoned by Agent Orange. Today the women of Vietnam continue to awe me by Women are making great strides in education. Their lit- their consistent, determined and methodical work to eracy rate is 93 percent, only slightly less than the overall overcome the legacies of war and poverty as they con- 95 percent literacy rate. The number of women with col- struct a country where women and men are equally Workers World lege degrees has advanced remarkably: Today almost half responsible for social, economic and political life. ☐ 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 Join us in the fight E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org for socialism! Vol.