Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org MAY 22, 2008 VOL. 50, NO. 20 50¢ Myanmar cyclone

Los oligarcas contra Bolivia La tasa de desempleo sube 12 U.S. hostility

IMMIGraNt hampers relief raIDS Missing from the media’s lecturing Bay area resistance 3 By Sara Flounders is mention of the disastrous Is the Bush administration really trying to help the people of Myanmar recover from the natural disaster that struck there? U.S. record in Hurricane Katrina. Then why is it insisting that the Pentagon be in charge of its aid? And why did it impose sanctions on the country when it knew plies. There is outrage and shock that Myanmar will not permit the cyclone was about to hit? U.S. military planes to land or Navy ships to dock. The charge One of the severest storms of the century slammed into the that the Myanmar government cannot possibly be trusted to low-lying, densely farmed Irrawaddy Delta of Myanmar on deliver the supplies is repeated again and again. the Gulf of Bengal on May 2. It is a fertile but underdeveloped What is not reported is that the Bush administration, with region, especially susceptible to fl ooding. The Delta is home to criminal calculation and planning, consciously made the relief one fourth of Myanmar’s 57 million people. The last tropical efforts far more diffi cult. The day before Cyclone Nargis actu- cyclone to make coastal landfall was 40 years ago. ally hit Myanmar, but when the approach of the monster storm Meteorologists had been following Tropical Cyclone Nargis had already being announced and tracked for a week, President for a week. But when the cyclone hit land it brought with it an George W. Bush signed a harsh new level of economic sanc- PHILa COPS unpredicted tidal wave of epic proportions. A wall of water 12 tions on Myanmar. Sanctions are an act of aggression, a form of feet high surged seven miles inland. economic warfare that specifi cally targets the poorest and most 5 another racist beating Over a million people have been left homeless and tens of desperate. thousands are missing. The estimates of deaths range from 20,000 to 100,000. Yangon, the former capital and major com- Sanctions imposed as cyclone hit mercial port city, was left in shambles. With all its spy satellites, Washington was far more aware The U.S. corporate media are full of stories on the scale of than the people of Myanmar of what was coming. The sanc- SaDr CItY the disaster and the inability of the government to cope with tions made direct U.S. and international donations of emer- the relief effort. Completely omitted is any mention of the U.S. gency funds and aid almost impossible. Xinhua News on May still resisting 8 government’s own abysmal track record in providing disaster 2 reported that Bush’s executive order was worded to “block all relief. property and interests in property of designated individuals and Each news article repeats the demand that Washington be entities determined to be owned or controlled by the govern- given full military access to Myanmar to deliver emergency sup- Continued on page 10 WW in 1967 On U.S.-Israeli aggression 9

FOOD CrISIS latin american summit 11

Pride & Protest—centerfold • NYC shut down for Sean Bell • Mumia on the second slaying of Bell • RAPPER JASIRI X ON SEAN BELL

Subscribe to Workers World Four weeks trial: $1 one year: $25

Name phoNe email address

City/state/Zip WW PHOTO: MONICA MOOREHEAD WOrKErS WOrLD Thousands of Black workers took over New York's bridges and tunnels May 7 in protest over racist verdict. 55 W. 17 st. Ny, Ny 10011 212-627-2994 www.workers.org Here, women face arrest at 1 Police Plaza near Brooklyn Bridge. Page 2 May 22, 2008 www.workers.org War protesters invite troops to Fort Drum fete

By John Catalinotto reception for them. The next day is Armed Forces Day, H In the U.S. and the Fort Drum military plans to hold its parade right War protesters invite troops to Fort Drum fete . . . . . 2 Anti-war activists in northern New York State are join- in the center of town. The reviewing stand will be right We live in a world of fake news...... 2 ing with the organizers of the Different Drummer cafe in in front of the John Foster and Allan Dulles State Office Watertown and members of Iraq Veterans Against the Building here. That’s right, the two leading cold warriors Police make life hell for youth of color ...... 3 War (IVAW) for a new kind of war protest this May 17, of another era were actually from Watertown and have a ICE raids spark community resistance ...... 3 dubbed Armed Forces Day. building named after them. Cynthia McKinney supports fight for water ...... 4 Three feeder marchers started out on May 8 from the “So we’ll be holding our kind of protest, appropriately, On the picket line...... 4 cities of Ithaca, Utica and Rochester to walk the many right in front of the Dulles Building. That will be early in Letters to the editors ...... 4 miles to Fort Drum, stopping at towns along the way the day, at 10 a.m. As you know, we are right near Fort Protesters file suit over DNC march permits ...... 5 before they all meet on May 16 north of Syracuse for the Drum, which is home to the 10th Mountain Division. last leg of the march. Brigades from this division have been the most heavily Fight-back wins $63M settlement...... 5 Organizers have written reports on a blog at nys- used in the Army, some spending three tours in Iraq or Police declare ‘open season’ on Black community . . . . 5 marchesforpeace.org, telling of the response from the Afghanistan. These tours are now 15 months.” Shutting down NYC for Sean Bell...... 6 local communities—mostly supportive—to the few dozen Ensign, who is also the head of Citizen Soldier, then Mumia on Sean Bell’s second slaying ...... 6 people marching from each city. At a supporting dinner, told of the big event of the day. “At 1:00 in the after- Conscious hip-hop to revive ‘golden era’...... 7 one father spoke of his two sons who had been to war noon we start our festival at the Black Water River Park Mother's Day protest hits police murders ...... 7 and of his own transformation: “I never liked people like and Campgrounds. We’ve invited all the soldiers who you,” he said, “now I am one of you for life.” At the same would like to attend. All the speakers will be soldiers or dinner, a Native elder volunteered to do a sweat lodge for veterans. H Around the world the walkers. “But the attractions are also the musical groups. These U .S . hostility hampers Myanmar relief...... 1 Leaflets for the march point out that the war has killed include Endangered Species, featuring Tommy Gunn; Asian-Pacific peoples hit U.S. occupation ...... 3 a million Iraqis along with more than 4,000 GIs killed Double Barrel Blues; Colleen Kattau, folk; S.O.N., hip Lebanese resistance turns back rightist offensive . . . . 8 and 60,000 wounded, and that it costs the U.S. Treasury hop; and It Dies Today, indie rock. We’re hoping for a U.S.-backed assault fails to quell Sadr City ...... 8 $275 million each day. good turnout. We’ve seen that the Drummer has become WW of June 24, 1967: U.S. and Israeli puppets. . . . . 9 Tod Ensign, a Vietnam-era activist and an organizer of more acceptable among the troops. That evening we’ll the Different Drummer Cafe, told Workers World of the hold another reception at the cafe.” Free Palestine!...... 9 group’s plan for the end of the march. For more information, see differentdrummercafe.org Latin American summit confronts hunger crisis. . . . . 11 “We expect the walkers to arrive in Watertown on or ivaw.org. Friday and that evening at the Drummer we’ll hold a E-mail: [email protected] H Editorials Clinton's barefaced racism...... 10 We live in a world of fake news! Earthquake in China...... 10 H Noticias En Español obs are disappearing, homes are being foreclosed, people are dying in bloody imperial- Los oligarcas contra Bolivia...... 12 ist wars, racist police are murdering people and getting away with it. But the loud-mouths of talk radio and the snippy editorial writers of the corporate press either blame everything La tasa de desempleo sube...... 12 Jon oppressed people or reassure us that it’s all okay. The corporations and big banks that own this so-called media plot overtime to make sure we Workers World don’t get the truth and fight back. 55 West 17 Street Workers World is a different kind of newspaper. Our voices are not those of the status quo or New York, N.Y. 10011 the system’s defenders. In WW, you find the voice of workers and oppressed people who strive Phone: (212) 627-2994 for a different world in which no one is held down by the chains of exploitation, racism, sexism or Fax: (212) 675-7869 anti-gay bigotry. E-mail: [email protected] The pages of Workers World will let you know about revolutionary movements abroad, the Web: www.workers.org treachery of those in power, and the struggle for justice here in the heart of the imperialist U.S. Vol. 50, No. 20 • May 22, 2008 empire. Closing date: May 14, 2008 If you cherish Workers World as a voice in the struggle, help us keep the presses running. Make Editor: Deirdre Griswold a contribution to the information battle against capitalist greed and injustice. Technical Editor: Lal Roohk Join the WW Supporter Program today. Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Leslie Feinberg, Monica Moorehead, Gary Wilson In April, workers.org had almost half a million visitors n Send me a subscription to Workers Worker Newspaper: West Coast Editor: John Parker from around world. The volunteer staff post articles, photo- n $4 for an 8-week trial subscription. n $25 for one year graphs, and podcasts. Check on timely analyses of world and Contributing Editors: Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, n Send me information about the WW supporter program national crises and people’s struggles. Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, David Hoskins, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash, Help to keep the workers.org Web site running! Name Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Minnie Bruce Pratt Your donations make a difference. Technical Staff: Shelley Ettinger, Bob McCubbin, Support the National Workers World Spring Fund Drive! Address Maggie Vascassenno Please fill out the coupon below and return it with your Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez, check to WW Publishers. Know that your dollars will help get Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez, the truth out and be an organizing tool in the fight against City/State/Zip capitalist war, racism and poverty. Carlos Vargas Internet: Janet Mayes n Yes! Here's a contribution to National Spring Fund Drive. Phone No. E-mail n Here is my donation of n $250 n $100 n $50 n $35 Return to: WW Publishers Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator th $_____ (other). 55 West 17 Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011 Copyright © 2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium JOIN US. National Office Buffalo, N.Y. Houston Richmond, Va. 55 W. 17 St., 367 Delaware Ave. P.O. Box 595 P.O. Box 14602, without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World Party New York, NY 10011 Buffalo, NY 14202 Houston, TX 77001-0595 Richmond, VA 23221 Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published week- (WWP) fights on all 212-627-2994; 716-566-1115 713-861-5965 [email protected] ly except the first week of January by WW Publishers, issues that face the Fax (212) 675-7869 [email protected] [email protected] Rochester, N.Y. 55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: (212) 627-2994. working class and [email protected] Chicago Los Angeles 585-436-6458 Subscriptions: One year: $25; foreign and institutions: oppressed peoples— Atlanta 27 N. Wacker Dr. #138 111 N. La Brea Ave., #408 [email protected] $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and edited. Black and white, Latin@, P.O. Box 424, Chicago, IL 60606 Inglewood, CA 90301 Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers Asian, Arab and Native Atlanta, GA 30301 773-381-5839 San Diego, Calif. 404-627-0185 310-677-8647 peoples, women and [email protected] P.O. Box 33447 World, 55 W. 17 St., New York, NY 10011. Back issues [email protected] [email protected] men, young and old, Cleveland San Diego, CA 92104 and individual articles are available on microfilm and/ Baltimore P.O. Box 5963 619-692-0355 or photocopy from University Microfilms International, lesbian, gay, bi, straight, 426 E. 31 St., Milwaukee trans, disabled, work- Cleveland, OH 44101 [email protected] 300 Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. A searchable Baltimore, MD 21218 216-531-4004 San Francisco ing, unemployed and 410-235-7040 archive is available on the Web at www.workers.org. [email protected] Philadelphia 2940 16th St., #207 students. [email protected] San Francisco, CA 94103 Denver P.O. Box 9202, A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. Boston 415-738-4739 If you would like to [email protected] Philadelphia, PA 19139 Subscription information is at www.workers.org/email. 284 Amory St., 610-931-2615 [email protected] know more about WWP, Detroit php. Boston, MA 02130 [email protected] or to join us in these 617-983-3835 5920 Second Ave., Washington, D.C. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. Detroit, MI 48202 P.O. Box 57300, struggles, contact the Fax (617) 983-3836 Raleigh, N.C. 313-831-0750 Washington, DC 20037, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to branch nearest you. [email protected] [email protected] workersworld.net/boston [email protected] [email protected] Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor, www.workers.org May 22, 2008 Page 3 Police make life hell for youth of color By Kathy Durkin database kept by the NYPD—which the them on the charge of misdemeanor Rafael Mutis, coordinator of 7 New York department refuses to turn over. It con- possession—when, most of the time, this Neighborhood Action Partnership tains personal information on everyone is not the case. High school students are Network, which works to repeal the dra- Going to the grocery store, visiting a stopped by police, though the vast major- kept in jail overnight until they go to court. conian New York State Rockefeller drug friend and walking home from work or ity—90 percent—have not been charged Then they are pressured into a plea bar- laws, explains that “drug use” has become school are all ordinary, everyday occur- with any crimes. gain, usually with an overworked, court- a pretext for stop-and-frisk searches in rences. But not so for hundreds of thou- The NYCLU is also demanding full appointed attorney representing them. low-income neighborhoods. “They don’t sands of people, mostly from African- disclosure from the NYPD about police In a city where police can gun down a go after people on Wall Street,” he said, American and Latin@ communities, who shootings in this city. The full story of young man like Sean Bell just hours before “where there’s a daily snowstorm” of are stopped, questioned, asked for their this horror is not known. In addition to his wedding and get off with not even a cocaine use. (highbridgehorizon.com) I.D., searched and often arrested here the terrible, tragic and totally unjustified slap on the wrist, youth stopped by cops It is no coincidence that police repres- in New York—and around the country. killings of unarmed individuals like Sean never know what might happen to them. sion has increased even as billionaire It happens to many youth and even to Bell, Amadou Diallo, Ousmane Zongo These youth are then labeled with crim- Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Wall children. and Patrick Dorismund, countless other inal records, which will follow them for Street cronies are trying to make New At a time when more white people people of color have been shot. Yet the the rest of their lives and can create future York City a haven for the super-rich, and appear to be rejecting racism at the polls, NYPD refuses to reveal what proportion obstacles for them in higher education, the real-estate tycoons are gentrifying racial profiling by police departments of those shot over the last 10 years have employment and housing. They’re also working-class neighborhoods as fast as and other state agencies is on the rise. It been members of oppressed nationalities. driven into the “criminal justice” system— they can. “Law-enforcement” agencies is systemic and deeply entrenched in the In the two years prior to that, it was 90 their fingerprints and photographs go into are helping them out by stepping up the “criminal justice system” nationwide. percent. (nyclu.org) the NYPD database—when they’ve done intimidation of low-income and oppressed Statistics given in new studies and Another aspect of the NYPD’s racial nothing wrong. people and to suppress opposition and try reports starkly bear this out. But the sta- profiling scheme is the campaign of ter- It is well known that there is serious to drive them further out of the city. tistics cannot convey the intimidation, ror targeting youth for possessing min- drug abuse in many high-pressure profes- All progressive people need to show anxiety and anger that so many people, iscule amounts of marijuana. This, too, sions in this city, yet the police don’t occu- solidarity with the oppressed communi- especially Black and Latin@ youth, must usually happens in communities of color, py financial centers or carry out random ties, especially the youth, in this struggle live with on a daily basis, nor the effect even though social studies show at least as searches in wealthy neighborhoods. against police repression. n this can have throughout their lives on high a rate of marijuana use among white them and their families. youth. In 2007 alone, police arrested In the first quarter of this year, New more than 100 people per day, or 39,700 York City police, by their own report, in total, for this so-called crime. ICE raids spark stopped, questioned and/or searched The NYCLU has just issued a report 145,098 people, more than half of them entitled, “The Marijuana Arrest Crusade African Americans. At this alarming rate, in New York City: Racial Bias in Police community resistance a record 600,000 people will be stopped Policy 1997-2007,” by Prof. Harry G. Levin this year. and Deborah Peterson Small. It describes By Joanie Marquardt & Judy Greenspan and was required to wear this unattract- In the last two years, nearly 1 million the NYPD’s campaign against oppressed San Francisco ive accessory. New Yorkers were harassed by police in youth. Of the nearly 400,000 people Sanchez said the ICE agents went this manner—90 percent of them people arrested in that 10-year period, 205,000 Police of the U.S. Immigration and through the workers’ lockers and took of color. That’s 1,300 a day. And it’s legal- were African Americans and 122,000 Customs Enforcement (ICE) department things, including his driver’s license. He ly allowed. were Latin@s. This represented a tenfold have been very busy in the Bay Area since told the newspaper El Mensajero, “I pay These operations, just in the past two increase over the previous 10-year period. May Day. They have invaded restaurants my taxes. ... I’m one of those people who years, have put more than 1 million inno- Since decriminalization in 1977, the and rounded up undocumented workers goes from my house to work, and on the cent people, mostly African-American and possession of a small amount of marijuana in San Francisco, threatened students weekends I take walks with my family.” Latin@, into the huge police database; has not constituted a “crime” in New York outside their high schools and homes in Later in the week, police and Department they are subject to future criminal investi- City—as long as it is not shown in public. Oakland and Berkeley, and—true to their of Homeland Security vans drove menac- gations merely by their inclusion there. Possession since then has been merely a name—sent a wave of terror and fear ingly through the San Francisco Mission The New York Civil Liberties Union “violation,” such as speeding and other through immigrant communities here in neighborhood, which is mostly Latin@. (NYCLU) is challenging the legality of traffic infractions. the East Bay. Neighborhood organizers posted warn- these potentially discriminatory prac- However, the police frequently stop Despite the recent raids, however, ings throughout the community and on tices and demanding information on the Black and Latin@ youth and then arrest immigrant rights organizations, neigh- the Internet. borhoods and students are fighting back. On May 6, ICE moved into the East On May 2, ICE conducted raids on 11 Bay communities, raiding several homes Asian-Pacific peoples Bay Area restaurants belonging to the and rounding up undocumented commu- Taqueria El Balazo chain, arresting 63 nity members and students. In Oakland, women and men workers on the spot. Homeland Security and ICE vehicles were hit U.S. occupation But this Gestapo-like offensive did not go spotted outside one of the high schools. unchallenged. Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums promised The following Monday, May 5, some that no ICE agents would be allowed on 300 people demonstrated in front of the school campuses. However, ICE vehicles local ICE offices in the San Francisco continued to be spotted around schools. financial district. Signs read, “ICE is a ter- Berkeley school officials made a similar rorist organization!” “Open borders, open promise, but the raids continued in the minds!” and “No one is illegal!” The Bay homes and workplaces of undocumented Area Immigrant Rights Coalition initiated immigrants. the action and the community responded. State Assemblywoman Loni Hancock Representatives of the San Francisco issued a statement sharply criticizing Board of Supervisors, the San Francisco the ICE raids and reminding the govern- Labor Council and California state repre- ment that both Berkeley and Oakland are sentatives all addressed the crowd. sanctuary cities for immigrants and their Félix Fuentes from the Bay Area Labor families. & Immigrant Committee said that ICE had On May 9, students at Berkeley High “violated all the rights of the workers ... School were so incensed about the ICE and we are here to tell ICE that we are NOT attacks that they formed a new organiza- scared and they will hear more from us.” tion: Fighting for Immigrant Rights and California State Sen. Carol Migden Equality (FIRE). “FIRE beats ICE” is reminded the crowd that San Francisco is their slogan. The group announced that a so-called sanctuary city where these raids its first action would be to form a protec- Photo: Jonna Bebeh should not be happening. She added that if tive human chain around the school as a The struggle of Indigenous peoples in the Asia-Pacific region against U.S. occupation was these workers are indeed undocumented, strong message to the government that the focus of a May 6 meeting at the International Action Center in New York. “then we should make them documented.” students have a right to a safe education The meeting was co-hosted by the IAC, the Philippine organization BAYAN USA and Asia Even workers from Taqueria El Balazo at their school. FIRE is also making plans Pacific Action. who had been arrested at work by ICE for a day of protest later in May that will Dulphing Ogan, an Indigenous leader of the Blaan people from Sarangani Province, came and bravely addressed the crowd. include teach-ins, music, a rally and a car- Mindanao, Philippines, was in the city to attend the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous José Sánchez López, employed as a cook ne asada barbeque. Issues. He spoke on large-scale mining plunder in Mindanao and on human rights and the for almost seven years and the father of The May 1 Coalition, the organization right to self-determination in the Philippines for Indigenous peoples. three children, wore his electronic moni- that led a major demonstration for immi- Jesse Lokahi Heiwa of the Hawai’i Solidarity Committee gave an update on the continuing toring device locked around one ankle. grant rights on May 1, also announced its struggle for self-determination there and the long struggle against U.S. occupation. He had been released from federal ICE intention to organize fightback actions — Sara Flounders custody pending immigration hearings against the San Francisco ICE roundups. n Page 4 May 22, 2008 www.workers.org ON THE PICKET LINE Cynthia McKinney By Sue Davis supports fi ght for water Two more UAW locals strike GM Autoworkers in UAW Local 31 in Fairfax, Kan., who make one By Cheryl LaBash McKinney stressed that water electricity and their oil, “moving of General Motors’ most popular new vehicles, the Chevrolet Detroit rights are not only of local or from protest to resistance.” She Malibu, went on strike May 5. The 2,700 members are demand- state concern, but a national and stated, “The truth commission ing that GM not suspend seniority rules for various job assign- The Truth Commission for international issue. She pointed acknowledges that people in the ments. Given that sales of the Malibu are up 32 percent over Water Rights on May 3 heard out that 36 states faced “water city of Detroit have moved from the same time period last year, the longer the strike continues, the experiences of Detroit and wars,” and that in her hometown protest to resistance to defend the more GM suffers. Another strike, by 1,800-member Local Highland Park, Mich., residents of Atlanta, water rates were rising their right to water. The truth 602 in Lansing, Mich., has been going on since April 17. There, who are being denied their human by 170 percent. commission supports them.” the issues are also work rules as well as grievance procedures. right to water. The Michigan McKinney stated, “It is incom- The commission proposed These two locals join nearly 30 GM plants currently closed or Welfare Rights Organization prehensible ... that elected offi - conducting hearings throughout partly shut due to the months-long strike at GM parts supplier (MWRO) organized the daylong cials on the federal level in the the Great Lakes region, begin- American Axle. event of multimedia and fi rsthand U.S. Congress continue to fund ning with communities served by presentations. a war, to the tune of $722 mil- the Detroit Water and Sewerage Truckers stage May Day actions Water service was cut off to lion per day, when people are Department. Truckers called for a coast-to-coast slowdown on May Day to more than 40,000 Detroit resi- getting their water shut off. It is Other proposals from the com- protest the all-time high of $4.20 a gallon for diesel fuel. It now dences last year, making those unacceptable.” mission included enforcing city, costs independent truckers $525 to fi ll an average 125-gallon homes uninhabitable. “Is Detroit a victim of ‘Hurri- state and federal laws and regu- tank. The truckers called on all motorists to join their protest Testimony included the DVD cane America’?” she asked, liken- lations for the right to water— against high fuel prices by driving fi ve miles below the speed movie “The Water Front” by Liz ing the water crisis in the predom- for example, fighting for the limit. Truckers at New Jersey ports staged a two-day strike Green, which documents High- inantly Black city of Detroit to the City Council Health and Safety beginning on April 30 to protest high fuel and energy prices land Park residents’ fi ght against unacceptable lack of government Committee to declare water shut- and to support the longshore workers on the West Coast, who water rates since they were response to Hurricane Katrina. offs illegal under the city charter; struck for eight hours on May Day against the wars in Iraq and increased by a state-appointed “Just as survivors of Hurricanes investigating corporate privatiza- Afghanistan. The truckers started their job action with a morn- manager to “balance” a budget Katrina and Rita formed an tion goals for the Detroit water ing rally at the Vince Lombardi Truck Stop at Exit 18 on the New defi cit. A disastrous human toll International Tribunal to take department, including the role Jersey Turnpike. (E-mails from Labor Exchange, May 1) ensued: lost custody of children; their issues to the United Nations, of federal judge John Feikens; lost homes to foreclosure when so this truth commission decided investigating how municipal Part-timers unionize at Michigan college unpaid and unpayable water bills to work with other organizations bond sales siphon wealth away Part-time professors at Henry Ford Community College in are transferred to property taxes; ... [to] have the General Assembly from human needs; and the rela- Dearborn, Mich., approved forming a union by mail-in vote and even lost life itself from the of the United Nations describe tionship between bond sales and on May 7. A group representing the nearly 600 adjunct faculty stress of the struggle to live under the U.S. as human rights abuser.” elected offi cials. members began organizing the Adjunct Faculty Organization, an such conditions, as happened to McKinney addressed the case of Along with Cynthia McKinney, affi liate of the Michigan branch of the Federation of Teachers, two of the main spokespeople in the Rev. Edward Pinkney, a leader the truth commissioners includ- more than a year ago. This win follows the highly favorable April the movie. of the Black Autonomy Network ed Rhonda Anderson, environ- 30 contract negotiated by part-timers at Wayne State University. Personal testimony filled in of Community Organizers, who mental justice activist from the (Detroit News, May 8) more details. An Alger Street has been in jail in Benton Harbor, Sierra Club; the Rev. Bill Wylie- resident explained that water ser- Mich., for six months in response Kellerman of St. Peter’s Episcopal Letter Carriers support moratorium vice was turned off to her entire to his defiance of developers’ Church; Jasmine Kramer, youth Branch 214 of the Letter Carriers union, which represents neighborhood when some resi- plans for a land grab. “The prob- member MWRO; Diane Bukowski, 2,500 workers in 11 cities in the San Francisco Bay Area, voted dents didn’t schedule appoint- lem in Benton Harbor,” she said, reporter for Michigan Citizen unanimously on May 7 for a resolution calling for a moratorium ments to have new automated, “is some people have decided to and TV host; Harold Spence, on home foreclosures, utility shut-offs and evictions. Citing the centrally monitored water meters steal the land that belongs to the Citizens’ District Council activist; fact that nearly 10 percent of the homes of U.S. workers could be installed—equipment that makes people of Benton Harbor to make Raphael Robinson, former water foreclosed this year, the resolution noted that a bill calling for a meter reader jobs unnecessary. it a playground for the wealthy.” department worker; Ronald Bass, two-year moratorium on foreclosures was recently introduced in When organized residents pro- She asked, “Is that what is in MWRO Utilities Commission; the Michigan State Senate. This is the fi rst union resolution from tested to the City Council, the store for the city of Detroit? We Bankole Thompson, senior editor outside of Michigan to support the call for such a moratorium. water was restored. can’t ignore what is going on right of the Michigan Chronicle news- (union e-mail, May 10) Cynthia McKinney, a former next door.” paper; and Willie Baptist, Poverty Congress member and Green McKinney recently returned Initiative Scholar-in-Residence at Discrimination suit against Bloomberg Party presidential candidate, from Mexico City, where 10,000 the Union Theological Seminary Fifty-four women recently joined a class-action lawsuit fi led summarized the deliberations of women marched in the main plaza in New York, who co-chaired the against Bloomberg, the fi nancial services and media com- the truth commission. to block the privatization of their commission. n pany founded by New York City’s billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg. The lawsuit, initiated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last September with only three com- plainants, charges that the women were demoted or their pay cut LETTERS TO THE EDITOR after becoming pregnant and taking maternity leave. The com- mission is reaching out to 478 women who took maternity leave Thanks for book review grades, and doing their best to appease teachers beginning in 2002. (New York Times, May 2) The following letter is in response to a book who knew just how to abuse their power over their review by Phebe Eckfeldt that appeared in the students, in China the masses of youth were told Actors end contract talks—for now April 10, issue of Workers World newspaper. during the Cultural Revolution that “It is right to Representatives of the Screen Actors Guild on May 6 ended The book is “Broken Justice: a True Story of Race, rebel.” three weeks of contract talks with Hollywood production compa- Sex and Revenge in a Boston Courtroom,” by Dr. This was such an inspiration to me. nies after no agreement was reached. Substantial issues remain Kenneth C. Edelin, and is available at www.bro- The Chinese Cultural Revo lu tion was a move- involving compensation for programming delivered by new kenjustice.com. ment about empowering the people, specifi cally electronic media. It seems the producers offered a new-media WOW! What a wonderful review. The power of young people, to help run society. Youth weren’t package different from what the Writers Guild won in February, the words used reminds me of the power of the told to obey. Youth weren’t told to take orders with and SAG wants to make it better for actors. The following day the movement which supported me so many years ago. a smile. Youth were told to stand up and be heard, producers began talks with a smaller actors’ union whose con- It was that power that helped me to continue on as they were the future of a socialist society, in tract also expires on June 30. (New York Times, May 7) and not give up. Thank you for that and thank you which the power belonged to the masses of people. for the wonderful review. It is my goal to wake up When I think of today’s schools, which are Saluting Rosie the Riveter America to the threats to women’s reproductive packed with racist cops, and students being If workers are the unsung heroes of capitalist society, then rights which exist today. With your help we will dragged away in handcuffs or frisked for drugs is women workers are the invisible heroes. But there is at least one achieve that goal. Again, thanks for the wonder- the norm, I remember what I read about education memorial to women workers in this country, and it’s because fully powerful review and for all that you do for the in Socialist China and that there is another way. of a war. In 2000 the “Rosie the Riveter Memorial: Honoring oppressed. China has backed away from some of its social- American Women’s Labor During WWII” was opened at the —Kenneth C. Edelin, M.D. ist policies, but that is not enough for the U.S. The site of the former Kaiser Shipyard No. 2 in Richmond, Calif. U.S. wants to reverse everything that was won Designed by visual artist Susan Schwartzenberg and landscape in 1949 when the Chinese workers and peasants architect/environmental sculptor Cheryl Barton, the memorial China and youth took power. The U.S. wants to rip all of China’s commemorates the 18 million women of all races who worked in The Chinese Revolution is worth defending. resources, all of China’s labor power, all of China’s war industries and support services—shipyards, aircraft facto- When I was in high school, I read books such land away from the Chinese masses, and return it ries, steel mills, foundries, hospitals and daycare centers—during as “Daily Life in Revolutionary China” by Maria to their money-grubbing hands of war and empire. World War II. When the troops returned, most of the women Macciocchi, and “The Long Revolution” by Edgar We must not let lies about Tibet get in the way of were eased out of their jobs, and services like daycare were dis- Snow. I learned about a society where the educa- what is right. The Chinese Revolution is a revolu- continued—until the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s tional system was very different. Instead of the tion that every young person should defend! won the revival of some subsidized programs. It’s time to fi ght students desperately stressing out to get the best —Caleb T. Maupin for them all over again. n www.workers.org May 22, 2008 Page 5 Protesters file suit over DNC march permits By Larry Hales themes, such as a day for political pris- ‘extraordinary event’ of the DNC. the tragic events in Chicago 40 years ago Denver oners, another for the environment and “The host committee has already that its name refers to. In fact, the onus another for immigrant rights. announced that they are hosting a ‘kick- for the violence then and today belongs Organizations intending to march on The activists have worked diligently to off media party’ on Aug. 23 at Elitch on the state forces. the Democratic National Convention get a fair permitting system. What came Gardens. If the committee has the finan- For its part, Recreate 68 has issued a when it is held here in August are suing out of the struggle for permits was a lot- cial resources for an event like this, why statement of nonviolence: “We are com- the U.S. Secret Service and the City of tery, but on the first day of the lottery should they be allowed to monopolize the mitted to resisting and overturning a sys- Denver to ensure their right to demon- activists with Recreate 68 realized that only available large free space, the only tem of violence inflicted daily on people strate in the streets and raise a number the permits they had filled out were not space available to ordinary citizens in of this country and the world, and against of serious issues confronting the people in the stack of permits being considered. downtown Denver, on the day before the the natural environment, by political and of this country. This “gaffe” led to the lottery being can- DNC, for yet another ‘kickoff party’? To corporate power, in the pursuit of profit. The lawsuit was announced May 2 by celed that day. say that this is unfair, and an inappropri- We are resolved that our group will not the American Civil Liberties Union, which While Recreate 68 and other organiza- ate use of public space, is the understate- instigate violence against human beings is representing the Recreate 68 Alliance, tions in the alliance secured some per- ment of the year.” as a means to end this system of violence the Troops Out Now Coalition, United for mits, the hosting committee for the DNC Activists planning to show their outrage and injustice. However, we recognize the Peace and Justice, the American Indian was able to get a permit for the largest over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, right of the people to self-defense and Movement, Escuela Tlatelolco, Code public space in downtown Denver—Civic and against U.S. imperialism in general, community defense.” Pink, Tent State University and many Center Park. would rather be organizing for the thou- Though this year is politically a com- other organizations. In a media communiqué on March sands who will arrive in Denver in late plex one, especially with the real possi- The primary reasons for the lawsuit are 21, members of the alliance stated, “The August. But both city and federal officials bility that a Black man could be elected to secure march permits and to make the city of Denver has awarded a permit for have demonstrated their unwillingness to president, propelled by a movement of Secret Service reveal hitherto concealed Civic Center Park on the day before the allow for dissent, and so made the filing of the oppressed Black masses, the role of information about its security perimeter. Democratic National Convention to a a lawsuit inevitable. the Democratic Party as an imperialist The Recreate 68 Alliance has worked ‘party planner’ for the 2008 Democratic Regardless of the outcome decided by party has not changed. for over a year to build for protests dur- Convention Host Committee. By so doing, the courts, people will still protest. The It is important to be aware of the move- ing the DNC. The coalition has met with the city of Denver has given the largest Recreate 68 Alliance has seen to it that ment behind Obama and even more of local, state and federal officials. It has public park in downtown Denver to a pri- people’s concerns about the possibility that movement’s fluidity as oppression stated all along its intention to march up vate, commercial entity, the Democrats, of reaction from the state are kept in the continues under a system controlled by to the Pepsi Center on Sunday, Aug. 24, and denied the people of Denver the forefront. rich white men. It is this system that the in an anti-war day of action, and for other opportunity to use their park for political There has been a great deal of vio- thousands of protesters will be condemn- days after that, all of which have specific expression during the city-proclaimed lence-baiting of Recreate 68 because of ing come August here in Denver. n After 2006 power outage Fight-back wins $63M settlement By Mary Owen Commission that Con Ed funds were allo- Queens, N.Y. cated specifically for communities that suffered through an outage. Contributing The Western Queens Power for the substantially to this breakthrough was the People Campaign (PFP) has announced community fight-back led by PFP—from a groundbreaking $63-million proposed petitioning, testifying at hearings, and settlement in the state’s case against the holding community meetings and march- utility company Con Edison for a July es to picketing Con Ed’s headquarters and 2006 power outage in the New York City sitting at the table in direct negotiations borough of Queens. with the company and the state. Western Queens Power for the People Campaign The agreement comes after nearly two The settlement also requires Con Ed to Events like this 'flashlight march' kept the pressure on Con Ed. years of struggle by the people of Western pay up to $500,000 for a study to assess Queens for justice and restitution for the economic and public health costs of and Commissions Committee, called the space in the entire city. We hope the laws damage caused by the utility’s longest out- damages caused by the outage, which hard-won settlement “an unprecedented will be changed in the future so other com- age, which left working-class and immi- can be used to improve the way the utility victory for real people in New York.” munities do not have to suffer like we did. grant communities with no or low power giant reimburses the victims of future out- “Western Queens Power for the People It just may be that the time of the privately for 10 days during a sweltering summer ages. Con Ed will also be prevented from Campaign understands better than any- owned utility company has seen its day.” heat wave. passing on $46 million in outage-related one that this settlement does not come The proposed settlement was filed with “Western Queens Power for the People costs to its customers. close to compensating the community the NYS Public Service Commission on Campaign still firmly believes that Con Some local elected officials criticized the for all its losses,” said Bonilla. “But it will April 24, and must be approved by the Edison’s negligence caused the power out- utility giant for not coming up with more put money directly into the pockets of full PSC before its provisions are imple- age and that our community’s suffering money. However, state Assembly mem- residents, many of whom are struggling, mented. Highlights and the full text of the was needless. Today’s settlement doesn’t ber Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), and it will help green sections of Queens settlement are available at www.power- change that,” said Alyssa Bonilla of PFP. who chairs the Corporations, Authorities that have some of the lowest rates of open forthepeople.info. n The grassroots group was formed during the outage. It served as a community voice in the state’s investigation and subsequent Police declare ‘open season’ on Black community settlement discussions and also opposed a rate increase for the utility. By Betsey Piette nose, swellings to his head and multiple police concocted a story that the men were “We agreed to this proposal,” added Philadelphia body bruises. “It’s like open season on any suspects in a shooting to cover up a case of Bonilla, “because it is the best possible Black person—period,” declared Pleasant’s mistaken identity. outcome for the community, given the The caught-on-videotape kicking and aunt, Daveena Pratt. According to city officials, this incident inadequacy of the existing laws.” beating of three young Black men—Brian Mayor Michael Nutter tried to excuse is an aberration, but the scenes caught The proposed settlement calls for a Hall, Dwayne Dyches and Pete Hopkins— the cops’ brutality, saying they were “dev- on video are all too reminiscent of an written apology from Con Ed, to appear by more than a dozen Philadelphia police astated” and “outraged” over the shoot- incident prior to the 2000 Republican on customer bills in English and Spanish, officers May 5 has once again put “the City ing death of police sergeant Stephen National Convention in Philadelphia, and $17 million in Con Ed stockhold- of Brotherly Love” in the national spot- Liczbinski the weekend before. Nutter when Thomas Jones was nearly lynched er funds to go directly to the affected light for police brutality. recently instituted a police “stop-and- by at least 20 Philadelphia cops who beat Western Queens communities. About half An 11-minute video, filmed by a FOX29 frisk” policy that many fear will lead to him and shot him five times. of that money will pay for refunds of $100 helicopter, shows cops with guns drawn more such incidents, especially given the Since 2006, police have fatally shot or more to customers, mainly residents pulling the three men out of their car and department’s history of brutality and rac- 35 people in Philadelphia, more than in of the affected communities. The balance then repeatedly kicking, stomping and ism toward communities of color. any similar period since 1980. Already will pay for tree planting and other neigh- hitting them with fists and clubs while the At a news conference, Eldridge Suggs, in 2008 there have been three reported borhood greening projects, beyond any three are facedown on the roadway. attorney for Dyches, suggested his client deadly shootings by police, including one already planned for the area by the city or In another incident just one night ear- was targeted because of his strong resem- of an unarmed bystander killed by a cop funded by other sources. lier, Philadelphia police grabbed Anthony blance to Eric Floyd, the man eventually who fired 11 shots into a house where a This is the first time in proceedings Pleasant off his bike and beat him so badly captured and charged with Liczbinski’s number of people, including children, of the New York State Public Service he ended up hospitalized with a fractured shooting. The victims’ attorneys claim Continued on page 8 Page 6 May 22, 2008 www.workers.org

From Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row Pride & protest Sean Bell’s second Shutting down NYC for Sean Bell slaying Disbelief and anger were over- Sharon Black handcuffed whelming in New York after a judge after group blocked Taken from an April 25 audio let off the three cops who had shot 50 Triborough Bridge. column. Go to www.prisonradio. times, killing young African American WW photo: Mike Eilenfeldt org to hear Mumia’s column and www. Sean Bell and wounding two of his millions4mumia.org to read updates on friends early on the morning of his endure this with dignity.” the campaign to free him. planned wedding. On May 7, several But this was different. The cops certainly had control of t was a classic “only in thousand people, the majority Black us—we were locked up and America” moment. The workers, blocked tunnels and bridges behind bars—but the magni- bench trial of three into Manhattan in protest over the I tude of the action, the fact that killer cops in New York verdict. Sharon Black of the Troops the jail was filled with over City, charged with Out Now Coalition was one of those 200 determined and conscious firing some 50 shots arrested at the Triborough Bridge in at that moment how vitally important it people, turned the tables a bit. into a car, killing one Harlem, and wrote the following letter was for white workers to show support for The fact that the Black working class man, Sean Bell, and to her son. Dolores Cox and Andy Stapp the Black community and to put them- had shut the city down, even if for a brief wounding two oth- (see quotes) were arrested at the Brooklyn selves on the line on this issue. time, created a sense of empowerment ers—all unarmed. Bridge. Opposing racism is always important, and accomplishment even behind the The case rushed across America, spread- Dear Steven, but at a time when all of us are under such walls of the jail. ing outrage in each city. Don’t worry about me. The action in severe economic attack, it’s absolutely Of course, that didn’t stop all the games Initially, the cops moved to have the trial Harlem was absolutely amazing. critical. that cops play. They took the arrestees transferred to a site upstate—to the rural, The big business media will probably lie Later, in the jail itself, I was happy to from Harlem to the wrong police pre- northern tiers. This motion denied, they about the numbers. But I know for a fact see that a small but significant number of cinct—took us out of the wagons—put us opted for a bench trial (or trial by a single that hundreds of people were involved in young white people had participated. Of back in—and then drove around in circles. judge), not trusting their fates to a so-called the Harlem protest—certainly well over course, we have to continue to try even This delayed the process and extended the jury of “citizens” they are sworn to serve and 500 participated. harder—not only because it is the just pain of being handcuffed. protect. A sea of people stretched from the sub- and the right thing to do—but literally for But the courage of the women I Time, it seems, has proven that they th way at 125 Street to Third Avenue. You working-class survival. was jailed with made up for these made the right decision—for, predictably, could tell that people were spontaneously At 4 p.m. 150 people left the main inconveniences. the judge acquitted them of all charges, joining right from the streets. One man group and began to march to the One was a construction worker. She arguing that the witnesses gave conflicting looked at the signs I was carrying and Triborough Bridge. About 40 of us broke had gone to work at 5 in the morning; testimony. asked, “Please, can I have one?” The side- down into three groups. This was done so when she got off, she went directly to the By so doing, the court essentially ruled walks and streets were so packed it was quickly and smoothly that you would have demonstration. She spontaneously decid- that Bell’s killing was justified; no crime hard to move. believed we had rehearsed it hundreds of ed to be arrested, despite the fact that she was committed. The defense utilized the Several people in electric wheel- times. might jeopardize her job. She explained “bad company” argument—that Bell was chairs fearlessly rode with the group. Twelve in the group I was with ran to that she had two sons and she worried shot and killed because he was among “the Children and young people, families and one end of the three main arteries of the that both could become Sean Bells. wrong crowd.” older workers all took part in the protest. bridge. We locked arms and stopped traf- A 68-year-old grandmother was so That such an argument swayed Supreme Workers still in their hospital uniforms fic. An MTA bus was idled in front of us— proud of her daughter. Pointing to her Court Justice Arthur Cooperman (in New marched. Neighborhood participants along with scores of cars. This York state, unlike most other states, the brought homemade signs. happened at the other two trial court is termed the Supreme Court, I had to run to catch up with people arteries simultaneously. and the state’s highest court is their Court who appeared to be organizers with the We had done it—we had of Appeals) is a measure of how devalued National Action Network so I could sign shut the bridge down! Black life is, and how easy Black men are to up to participate in the civil disobedience. We sat down and raised demonize and disparage. As you know, I’m so new to New York City our fists in the power salute If none of the cops knew the men, what that I didn’t know a single person—but waiting for police to arrest us. does it matter what their backgrounds things are the same pretty much in every Scores of police marched in were? They could’ve been lawyers, basket- city. Look for the person carrying the step to waiting police wagons ball stars or cops. clipboard. where other demonstrators That they were Black men—even Sure enough, I met the coordinator—a had gathered, chanting in our unarmed Black men—was deemed suf- dignified man, younger than myself, prob- support. ficient to unload on them, because in ably older than you—who shook my hand It was all exciting. Of America, their color was crime enough. and took my information, including my course, once they get So, 22-year-old Sean Bell joins Amadou Baltimore I.D. He made a special effort those overly tight plastic Diallo and others guilty of the capital to both welcome me to Harlem and thank cuffs on you and push you offense of WWB—Walking While Black. me for participating. into the police wagon, the And while millions of Black and white I can’t put it into words—maybe it was real process starts. You Americans thrill at political illusions of the sincerity of our exchange or some- begin to think, “What a “post-racialism,” Sean Bell’s case proves how thing a little intangible—but it struck me drag—the best I can do is deeply deadly race can still be. Even rumors of a weapon were enough to unleash 50 shots—or should we say “alleged rumors” for there were no guns found in Bell’s car. In the past, wallets, candy bars, Dolores Cox ww Photo: Monica Moorehead keys and packs of cigarettes were deemed sufficient to provoke such was shocked when they announced malicious responses. Now, nothing is I the verdict on the Sean Bell case. I saw required. Sean Bell was shot to death the sadness and disbelief of the people com- and his friends, Joseph Guzman ing out of the courthouse and realized I was and Trent Benefield, were seriously crying. wounded. Shot and killed for being I had hoped that maybe this once the sys- with “the wrong crowd.” n tem would do the right thing and truth and justice would prevail. But the historical vio- lence and terrorism of the past against Black

Photo: Roberto mercado men and boys was still reigning supreme. $4.50 It wasn’t until I was actually there at One e have to stop these atrocities. Booklet available Michael Stewart, Patrick Police Plaza that I suddenly understood more from Dorismund, Ousmane Zongo—police killings of unarmed Black people in New clearly that to make change happen there WWPublishers W York have been going on for decades. If the cop who tortured Abner Louima has to be sacrifice, commitment and courage. 55 W. 17 St., 5 Fl. had killed him, that cop would probably be free now. The slavery-era Dred Scott decision NY, NY 10011 And that each one of us has to do our part in still applies—Black people don’t have any rights that the cops respect. If the highest- whatever way we can. As frightening as going Order books by ranking Black police officer in the city, Douglas Ziegler, could be pulled out of his SUV a to jail was, it was also one of the proudest and Mumia Abu-Jamal few days ago by white cops at gunpoint, then who is safe? online at most rewarding things I’ve done in my life. www.Leftbooks.com —Andy Stapp (second from right in photo above) —Dolores Cox www.workers.org May 22, 2008 Page 7

Pride & Protest Shutting down NYC for Sean Bell

Spellman College tee shirt, she explained Jasiri X, who started rapping in 1990, says artistic culture “springs Jasiri recorded the song that her daughter had graduated from from our experiences and spiritual connection and is a tool for “Free the Jena 6” in two that famous Black school and had moved change.” He sees it as a “survival mechanism.” days. The song was awarded to Queens after her own wedding a Any student of the history of the Black musical tradition under- “Hip Hop Political Song of month after the police gunned down Bell. stands the value of song, stretching all the way back to the fi eld hol- the Year” and “Single of the Her daughter’s fi ancé could have been lers during the times of chattel slavery. While the rhythms and other Year” at the Pittsburgh Hip Sean Bell, she explained. aspects of the Black musical tradition do indeed come from Africa, Hop Awards. Later in the wee hours, I spent time the content itself is rooted in the desire of an oppressed people for He fi rst heard about the joking with a 19-year-old technical col- freedom. six young Black men, who lege student. She had to take fi nals the Jasiri uses his music to teach, but sees in it the possibility to make defended themselves and next day and was worried that she was positive change. He works with youth in Pittsburgh and is one of the their community from rac- soon going to miss the last train back to founders of 1HOOD, an organization “created to promote unity among ist attack, from the Final New Jersey. Together we did push-ups young men, to strengthen and support each individual member’s pro- Call newspaper and e-mail to break the boredom. She was so proud grams and to promote peace in local Pittsburgh neighborhoods.” alerts. His urgency in mak- and happy that she had come. Jasiri started listening to hip-hop music in the late 1980s—what’s ing the song, which became Perhaps the person with the most to known as the golden era, a time when many popular artists were con- a clarion call, grew from his lose was a quiet older woman who had scious. Now, Jasiri says, “I listen to everything except country, from understanding of culture. major health problems. Both her legs Rage to Phil Collins to Stevie Wonder.” WW Jasiri says the problem were badly swollen and she explained It was hip-hop music that drove him to be politically active. He with hip-hop now is that to me that she had massive arthritis. wants to connect with other conscious rappers and to usher in a new it has been taken over by Because of back pain, she could barely golden era, where content means something and refl ects the condi- corporations that use it to move. She was one of the organizers of tions people are faced with. make profi t, and that a lot the march—who had attended meetings His newest protest song, “Enough is Enough,” was written after the of the musicians have to since the beginning. three cops that killed Sean Bell were acquitted. The song begins with JASIRI X fi t a model made for them Her health problems hadn’t stopped media coverage of the acquittal, as the music builds with protests in that has no basis in actual her, any more than the young deaf wom- the background and Jasiri chanting, “Enough is Enough.” He yells, reality. an who linked arms with me at the foot of “We will not surrender!” followed by the lyrics: He says that while many mainstream artists speak of “keeping it real,” the images shown in videos and the the bridge. In the war of cops and robbers, the cops are robbers content of the lyrics refl ect a lifestyle that many of the I’m now out of jail—but I’m still high They on the block with product, fi lling slots for lock up on “the power of the people.” artists who tout it can’t even afford to live. You’ll get strong armed by the long arm of the law The organization and precision of what “Reality is hard enough without our youth being bom- His small arms were too small to box with em took place in Harlem, and seeing what barded with negative images,” especially considering was possible, even briefl y, proves the Shots to them, glocks spittin hot ammo that many young people “internalize the conditions and power that the workers have. Manhattan You’ll get the mop handle turn on one another.” Ultimately, Jasiri believes that the is, after all, an island connected by You’ll get Dialloed or Louimaed system itself needs to be thrown out and replaced with bridges and tunnels. That in and of itself Or even locked up like Mumia one more humane that will put an end to oppression. should humble the powers that be. Waitin for that same man who put ya in prison to free ya To fi nd out more about Jasiri X, including the lyrics See the Bell tolls and if you see a cop wearin jail clothes to “Free the Jena 6,” visit www.myspace.com/JASIRIX. Love, Mom I’ve bet hell froze Mother’s Day protest hits police murders

By Stephen Millies New York

Courageous parents whose children had Outside governor's been killed by cops went to the Manhattan offi ce, parents of offi ce of New York Gov. David Patterson gunned-down on Mother’s Day, May 11. They demanded children with justice at a news conference organized supporters. by the Justice Committee and Parents WW PHOTO: STEVE MILLIES Against Police Brutality. Supporters joined these parents in wearing bloodstained shirts with the names of police victims. Some brought pictures. Everyone demanded justice for Sean Bell. Parents whose children are murdered this cop. Police con- by police “never have a happy Mother’s tinue to threaten Day,” said Martha Laureano, a leader of and abuse Young the Justice Committee. and her family. In a letter to the governor, these parents Young is current- called for “a special prosecutor for victims ly facing criminal of police abuse and violence.” They want charges of assault- the New York Police Department to leave ing police who Juanita Young alone. invaded her home. Young has never stopped fi ghting for They claim the justice for her son, Malcolm Ferguson, legally blind mother threw a box of cake offi cers on March 13, 2007. Police claim student. Manny was chased 16 blocks and all victims of police terror. She went mix at them. Corey Mickins had a gun, yet there were through Corona, Queens, by a white lynch to the press conference along with the Margarita Rosario also came to the gov- no fi ngerprints on the alleged weapon. mob before being killed on March 29, other parents. ernor’s offi ce. Her son, Anthony Rosario, Loretta Cerbelli came for her son, 1991. None of the members of this racist Ferguson was unarmed when he was was shot 14 times and her nephew, Hilton Kevin Cerbelli, who was killed inside the gang was ever indicted; instead, one was killed at point-blank range by police Vega, eight times on March 12, 1995. Both 110th Precinct station house in Elmhurst, later admitted to the police academy. offi cer Louis Rivera on March 1, 2000, were lying down when they were killed by Queens, on Oct. 25, 1998. “While my son Doris Busch Boskey sent a letter to the in the Bronx. Five days before his death former bodyguards for ex-Mayor Rudolph was on the ground, they shot him in the event on behalf of her son, Gidone (Gary) Ferguson had been arrested for protest- Giuliani. Neither cop was ever charged. back,” said Loretta Cerbelli. Busch. Busch was shot 12 times by cops in ing the acquittal of the four cops who shot Allene Person came for her 19-year- Nicholas Heyward Sr. came for his Brooklyn on Aug. 30, 1999, despite wit- Amadou Diallo 41 times. old son, Timur Person, who was killed 13-year-old son, Nicholas Heyward Jr. nesses who said he didn’t pose a threat to Last year a civil court jury determined by police on Dec. 13, 2006, in the Bronx, The young honor student was killed by a anyone. Offi cer Rivera was “100 percent respon- while his hands were in the air. Four police housing police offi cer while playing “cops None of these killer cops or lynchers sible” for Ferguson’s death and awarded bullets were pumped into his body. and robbers” in Brooklyn’s Gowanus was ever prosecuted. Young over $10 million. The Bronx district Joann Mickins came for her son, Corey Houses on Sept. 27, 1994. Young told the crowd, “Either we bury attorney is appealing the just verdict and Mickins, who was shot a dozen times in his Altagracia Mayi came for her son, this system or we bury our kids.” No jus- refuses to reopen the criminal case against favorite Harlem restaurant by plainclothes Manny Mayi Jr., a Queens College honor tice, no peace! n Page 8 May 22, 2008 www.workers.org Lebanese resistance turns back rightist offensive By John Catalinotto relations with Hezbollah and its ally, the Lebanon, a Jumblatt stronghold. By out to all communities in Lebanon with Amal party. Since the airport is located May 11 Hezbollah was pulling back and aid and assistance. Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, popular in south Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, allowing the army to control these areas. In July-August 2006 Hezbollah led the because of their successful resistance to and since this is the main entry to the The government, in turn, returned Gen. organized guerrilla resistance that handed past Israeli attacks on the country, have country, Shoucair’s replacement could Shoucair to his role in airport security and the Israelis another serious defeat. This answered a provocation from the U.S.- put Hezbollah at risk. (Al Ahram Weekly, left Hezbollah’s communications intact. won it the allegiance of the mostly Shiite backed Lebanese government and at the May 8-14) south of Lebanon and the respect of the same time handed a sharp military defeat The government also ordered the army Struggle is political, not sectarian Arab and Muslim masses of all communi- to rightist forces, especially in Beirut. to destroy Hezbollah’s internal commu- The governments of the imperialist ties inside and outside Lebanon. Its vic- By May 12 heavy fighting between the nication system. This system, which is countries and the corporate media have tory inspired fear among the Arab govern- Hezbollah-led opposition and rightist separate from the Lebanese telephone painted a false picture of the events in ments that collaborate with imperialism. political factions in the government had network, was the base of Hezbollah’s com- Lebanon. These media say and write The Lebanese army in 2006 did not died down in the capital, but it continues munications during the 2006 war, when it incessantly that the fighting is between participate in the fighting against Israel. in Tripoli in the north. (AP, May 12) stopped and reversed an Israeli invasion two religious sects—Shiites and Sunnis— The Amal party, also based in the Shiite The Bush administration is without of Lebanon. The Israelis could easily dis- instead of between coalitions of political community, as well as the Lebanese hesitation behind the Fouad Siniora rupt the Lebanese national network. parties representing different sectors of Communist Party and the Free Patriotic government. In early May the U.S. once Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s society. Movement led by Michel Aoun from the again named Hezbollah a “terrorist” reaction was immediate. He called the Understanding who is who in Lebanon Christian community were all allied with group. Bush, on his way to Israel May 12 government offensive “a declaration of counteracts this distortion and helps put Hezbollah during the 2006 fighting, and to celebrate its takeover of Palestinian war” and said that “the communications the events that led to the fighting in their still are. The cross-sectarian nature of this land 60 years ago, condemned in a state- network is a fundamental component of political and social context. coalition, along with its deep popular sup- ment what he called “Hezbollah’s recent the weapons of the resistance. Up to now,” Washington’s weak position in Lebanon port, refutes the distortions in the imperi- efforts, and those of their foreign sponsors he added, “Hezbollah has never used our following the Israeli defeat in the 2006 alist media. in Tehran and Damascus, to use violence weapons internally, but we will do so to war gives the U.S. an interest in fomenting The Israeli assault killed 1,100 Lebanese, and intimidation to bend the government defend our weapons.” (Junge Welt, May internal fighting among the Lebanese, as it almost all civilians, and destroyed much and people of Lebanon to their will.” Bush 10) has done in Iraq and Palestine. Bush had of the infrastructure and housing in also expressed support for the Lebanese Walid Jumblatt and other right-wing supported and likely helped plan the 2006 southern Lebanon. Despite these hor- Army. forces in the government coalition imme- Israeli attack, urging then that Hezbollah rors, Hezbollah and its allies came out Most people in Southwest Asia and diately responded with a propaganda be crushed, as he does now. much stronger politically because of the North Africa—if not the world—consider attack on Hezbollah. They were unable, Lebanon’s government coalition, which 2006 victory. Nevertheless, the Hezbollah Bush a war criminal and an enemy of Arab however, to mount an effective military includes the party led by Jumblatt and leadership has said it has no intentions of and Muslim peoples. attack. Military battles also have a strong right-wing parties from the Christian trying to take over and run the Lebanese political component that pro-imperialist establishment, also enjoys the support of state. How regime provoked clashes forces often underestimate. NATO countries and of Arab governments Instead, over the last 17 months this Lebanon experienced a bloody, debili- The army itself has troops from all that are clients of imperialism, like Saudi progressive coalition has been struggling tating and indecisive civil war from Lebanese communities, and the com- Arabia and Egypt. just to get a one-third share of represen- 1975 to 1990. The Lebanese government manding officers were either unwilling or Opposing this pro-imperialist coalition tation in the Lebanese Legislature. It also today doesn’t want to be seen as provok- unable to directly confront Hezbollah, as is the Hezbollah-led opposition. insists on maintaining its own fighting ing another civil conflict, but it also feels the right-wing parties ordered the army Hezbollah, which means “Party of God,” force to repulse any Israeli aggression. threatened by the immense popularity of to do. The army itself took no part in the grew to become the major resistance The political struggle continues. The Hezbollah. It took two steps in early May fighting on either side. Other militia forces force after the 1982 Israeli occupation of goal of the coalition led by Hezbollah is to force Hezbollah and its allies to either representing the government, faced with Lebanon. It finally defeated and drove out to maintain a fighting force on an anti- disarm or appear responsible for the both the Hezbollah fighters and a general the Israeli occupiers in 2000. The party imperialist basis and to prevent fighting restarting of inter-Lebanese fighting. strike in Beirut, quickly collapsed. became the main organizer of the large from breaking out on sectarian lines, as The government tried to replace the After three days of fighting, there and very poor Shiite community that this would aid the U.S. and Israel. head of Beirut airport security, General were reports that Hezbollah by May 10 extends from the south of Beirut to the E-mail: [email protected] Wafiq Shoucair, who reportedly had good controlled much of Beirut and Mount border with Israel. Hezbollah has reached U.S.-backed assault fails to quell Sadr City By G. Dunkel Agency reported that eight rockets hit the knocked their tanks out of action. These resistance fighters had fired a shoulder- Green Zone the next day. teams couldn’t complete their mission. to-air missile two days earlier at one of its For over a month, the puppet Iraqi While the U.S. government and its (Los Angeles Times, May 11) Apache helicopters flying over Sadr City. army, with air strikes and extensive sup- Iraqi clients can’t hide the whoosh of the Swiss Radio is reporting that the wall While the missile exploded before reach- port from U.S. ground forces, has been Katyushas and the explosions they cause, is 80-percent finished, but the rockets are ing its target, the incident worried U.S. attacking Sadr City, a part of Baghdad they have admitted very little damage— still raining down on the Green Zone. commanders so much that they rerouted where the poor Shiite population is but won’t allow independent media to see While a May 11 article in the New two other helicopters carrying news crews concentrated and the Mahdi Army, led for themselves. York Times said, “Under the terms of the away from the area. n by Muqtada al-Sadr, has a significant Even though the U.S. command limited agreement, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal presence. its role to close support of the Iraqi puppet al-Maliki’s government would gain con- Some 925 people have died in this fight- division fighting in Sadr City, the fighting trol over Sadr City, now a largely lawless ing and 2,605 have been wounded. Many caused a noticeable increase in U.S. casu- area,” a similar truce in March fell apart of them were children, elderly people and alties. Washington will have even fewer when the U.S. began constructing the Police declare ‘open other non-combatants. (Christian Science troops in July to use on these missions wall, touching off the current struggle. Monitor, May 6) if those sent as part of Bush’s “surge” in A live report on National Public Radio season’ on Black An Iraqi politician and member of the January 2007 start coming home, as has May 11 reported that serious fighting was ruling party of Prime Minister Nuri al- been announced. going on around the checkpoint where the community Maliki said that the Mahdi Army agreed U.S. military officials released figures reporter was embedded. Another report Continued from page 5 to a truce with the Maliki government on May 12 showing “more than 700 attacks about a U.S. air strike in Sadr City after May 10. He also said that the Iranian gov- a month in Baghdad in March and again the truce was supposedly in effect states were celebrating New Year’s Eve. ernment had brokered the deal. (Reuters, in April, primarily at American and Iraqi that 50 people were killed and at least 147 Showing little concern for victims of May 12) Despite this truce, heavy fighting troops—nearly triple the level in February, wounded. police brutality, John McGrody, vice pres- broke out again on May 13. (BBC, May 13) before the Sadr City clashes began.” (New The Iraqi resistance to the U.S. inva- ident of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order Sadr City is close to the Green Zone, York Times, May 13) sion and occupation has been tenacious, of Police, said that “innocent until proven supposedly the U.S. occupation’s most U.S. strategy had been to push the even if it hasn’t been united on a national guilty in a court of law” means nothing to secure area in Iraq and where the Iraqi Mahdi Army into the northern part of basis. It has been tested and tried over the him. (Philadelphia Daily News, May 8) puppet government and U.S. Embassy Sadr City out of range of the Green Zone past five years, sometimes advancing and In the same issue of the Daily News, are based. Nevertheless, Katyusha rock- by building a wall along Al Quds Street and sometimes retreating. The Mahdi Army columnist Michael Smerconish, a for- ets and mortars supposedly fired from then supporting the Iraqi puppet army’s too, is still a fighting force, and the report- mer attorney for the FOP, openly advo- Sadr City have been reaching the Green attacks. This strategy hasn’t been work- ed truce with the puppet government can cated that police should shoot suspects to Zone. For example, the McClatchy news ing. The Mahdi Army was fighting from turn out to be just a temporary lull in the save the time and expense of jury trials! service’s “Daily Violence in Iraq” report- prepared positions. U.S. teams escort- fighting. Smerconish has spent decades trying to get ed that a Katyusha “slammed into the ing Iraqi construction workers have run In the latest news from Baghdad, the Black revolutionary journalist Mumia Abu- Green Zone” on May 8. The Kuwaiti News into heavy fire and pre-laid mines have U.S. military admitted on May 12 that Jamal executed on frame-up charges. n www.workers.org May 22, 2008 Page 9

From WW of June 24, 1967 U.S. rulers plotted with Israeli puppets for war of aggression against Arab masses

Workers World, now in its 50th year ing as a “journalist” held secret briefings the crisis is that Israel buys $220 million club to lower wages and worsen working of publication, is reprinting articles from with the top U.S. advisers to President yearly in U.S. goods but exports only $65 conditions. Waves of strikes had broken past issues. This article was written Johnson: Walt Rostow, Defense Secretary million, a whopping four-to-one unfavor- out all over Israel—postal workers, milk after the 1967 war between Israel and Robert McNamara and Gen. Maxwell able balance of trade. In the past, Israel delivery workers, garbage collectors and a group of Arab countries. WW’s youth Taylor—the architects of the U.S. aggres- was able to meet some of this deficit by many others in the civil service. group, Youth Against War & Fascism, sion against Vietnam. On his return from the reparations it received from West What made the situation even more had just organized a demonstration at Vietnam, Dayan once again went into top- Germany, but the last payment was made ominous for the workers was that a fur- the U.S. Mission to the United Nations level briefings with McNamara, Under in March. Finance Minister Sapir, typical ther swell of unemployment was expect- in New York protesting U.S.-Israeli Secretary of State Nicholas B. Katzenbach, of Wall Street stooges, blamed the work- ed as the citrus shipping season ended. aggression. Today, 60 years since the and the top Army brass. ers for the crisis: “We have eaten and Army conscripts were being demobilized Israeli state was brutally planted on This information was reported in an consumed more than we produced ... as if and students graduated. Workers were so Palestinian land, it continues article in the May 1967 Jewish somebody else would foot the bill.” militant that they broke down the barriers to do Washington’s bidding in Currents by Louis Harab, in a Sauer, who holds the second-highest that separated them from City Hall and the Middle East. review of Dayan’s book, “Diary of position in the Export-Import Bank, indi- fought the police, who used truncheons the Sinai Campaign.” cated his pleasure with this sentiment. At and shields to ward them off. By Milt Neidenberg According to the article, Dayan was a luncheon held in his honor, he voiced supposed to make recommendations his support for the government’s eco- Plight of non-European Jews The Washington-Israeli scheme to to the top U.S. brass on how the war nomic policy and said he was impressed Hardest hit by unemployment are the consolidate the gains of Israel’s aggres- in Vietnam could be won. He interviewed with the economy, which “seemed far bet- Sephardim or “Oriental Jews” who emi- sion against the Arab states has become U.S. generals in battle zones and accom- ter than the impressions one received in grated from North Africa and the Middle increasingly clear in the last week. The plot panied units in operation. It is difficult to the U.S. press.” East. Last to be hired, first to be fired, these is simple. While U.S. Ambassador to the understand how this military puppet could While the loyal servant of the Wall Jewish immigrants work at the most menial U.N. Arthur Goldberg rambled on about give any advice to his imperialist masters Street bankers was favorably impressed and difficult tasks. From Yemen, Morocco “cease-fires” and “peaceful solutions for all who “wrote the book” on waging aggres- and it was clear that he would recommend and Iraq, they poured in, financed by the parties concerned” and piously appealed sive wars against oppressed people strug- further loans, Israeli workers were less fund drives of the United Jewish Appeal in for “the territorial integrity of all Middle gling for liberation. The truth is that he than impressed with what Sauer called an the U.S. Many of the dark-skinned Jewish East countries,” Israel’s armed forces went to Vietnam, not as a journalist, not as “economic slowdown.” immigrants who make up nearly 65 per- pushed deeper into Arab territory. These a teacher, but as a student with notebook cent of the population are now destitute. sanctimonious mouthings at Security and pencil in hand. He was in Vietnam to Israeli workers riot They are segregated in Israeli villages and Council meetings were intended to mask learn the ways of waging wars of aggression for ‘bread or work’ are subject to racial prejudice. the U.S. commitment to Israeli aggression against liberation struggles, to observe the On March 14, the New York Times The procession of events culminating in and prepare the way for Israel to bargain destructive effects of napalm and anti-per- reported that “rioters protested growing the military action indisputably confirms and legitimize the fruits of its aggression. sonnel weapons and how terror bombing unemployment in Israel, stoned City Hall that Israel was in a state of near collapse. The Israeli government, its bankers, affects the civilian population. tonight, smashing windows and damag- The collusive friendship between the U.S. politicians and military brass, acted as Is it not a testimony to the collusion and ing the vehicles in the parking lot. ... The and the leaders of Israel was to wage all- agents for U.S. imperialism’s vast and conspiracy of the U.S. and Israel govern- disturbance followed an orderly demon- out war against the Arab people. strategic Middle East oil empire that ments that less than a year later Dayan, as stration of several thousand workers ... The old-fashioned capitalist remedy for oppresses the Arab masses. Israeli Defense Minister, was putting his organized by union committees in the an ailing economy was prescribed for the While President Lyndon Johnson dou- grisly lessons into practice on the Arab Tel Aviv area. Some marchers said they wavering Israeli body economic–one injec- ble-talked about finding diplomatic solu- people? were unemployed, but most attended as tion labeled “military buildup,” to be fol- tions to the United Arab Republic’s block- While Johnson cynically talked about contingents from factories. They chanted lowed by another labeled “military aggres- ade of Israeli shipping, Israeli officials “neutrality” and “territorial integrity,” ‘Bread and work’ and ‘We are against sion.” The “remedy” had desirable side were telling a different story in Tel Aviv. Washington was in a state of jubilation dismissals.’” effects that ameliorated other weaknesses over the results of the Israeli aggression. They were protesting about the of the body politic, inducing the exhilarat- Washington gave Tel Aviv Their pupil had learned his lesson well. 100,000 workers (over 10 percent of the ing fever of nationalism and chauvinism, the green light work force) who are out on the street, as which they hope will minimize the chronic In an article in Israel Digest of June 2, U.S. bank ‘aids’ puppets well as thousands more who are on short ailments of unemployment and blunt the 1967, headed “America’s Unambiguous In the midst of all this military schem- workweeks of two and three days. They class struggle in Israel. Stand,” it was related how Prime Minister ing prior to the invasion, another event were protesting against the government But the Israeli ruling class did not Levi Eshkol, following his briefings underscores the master-servant rela- plan to use a wave of unemployment as a Continued on page 10 with Foreign Minister Abba Eban, who tionship. In March of this year, Walter had just returned from secret meet- Sauer, vice president of the U.S. Export- ings in Washington, told the Knesset Import Bank, turned up in Tel Aviv. (The Free Palestine! (Parliament), “The Israeli government U.S. Export-Import Bank is a “bankers’ was deeply impressed by the unambigu- bank”—a consortium of large U.S. banks ous stand of the U.S. in favor of the safe- that together have a gigantic money pool Rally challenges ‘celebration’ guarding of passage in these international to implement U.S. foreign rule.) waters.” According to the Jerusalem Post Though couched in diplomatic lan- Weekly of March 20, 1967, a few months of Israel guage, it was clear to the Israeli leaders before the Israeli invasion, Sauer had pri- that the U.S. government would sponsor vate meetings with Eshkol; the governor A grand celebration of 60 years of Israel in a war against the Arab states. of the Bank of Israel, David Horowitz; and Israel’s existence was marked May 10 If further evidence were needed that Finance Minister Pinchas Sapir. These at the prestigious Kodak Theater in Israel had the green light from the U.S., it meetings were to discuss Israel’s economic Hollywood, filled with entertainers and was revealed in an interview in U.S. News “slowdown,” as the Jerusalem Post called celebrities to push the message that and World Report of April 17 following the it, which was in reality a severe economic Israel’s past and present should be hon- prime minister’s trip to the U.S. Eshkol depression. Number 1 on the agenda was ored. That was the Hollywood fantasy. WW photo: Maggie Vascassenno was asked if Israel would expect U.S. help the discussion of how Wall Street financ- Outside the theater, more than 40 dem- grant rights May Day Unity Coalition and in a showdown. He answered, “When we ing could bail them out. onstrators made it clear that this was an Don White, member of CISPES-LA. asked for more arms we were told ... don’t What is ironic about the Israel crisis attempt to hide Israel’s brutal and geno- Speakers reminded those going into the spend your money. We are here. The Sixth is that it was precipitated by its relations cidal nature. “What about the massacres theater about Israel’s role as the primary Fleet is here.” with the U.S. They were in hock to U.S. of children killed by Israel?” shouted agent of U.S. imperialist interests in the businesses, who sold them military hard- Mazen Almoukdad, press spokesper- region—maintaining an illegal occupation, Dayan’s Vietnam training ware (Douglas A-4 Skyhawk jet bombers, son and member of Al-Awda Right to violating U.N. law and practicing genocide The U.S. commitment had been put Hawk missiles, M-48 Patton tanks and Return Coalition, which sponsored the and ethnic cleansing since 1948. into specific terms a number of months other arms) and then loaned them money rally along with the Campaign to End One Black man passing by stopped when earlier when Maj. Gen. Moshe Dayan was through interest-bearing Israeli bonds Israeli Apartheid-Southern California, a speaker made the connection between invited by the U.S. to visit Vietnam. The and other loans to pay the bills. Free Palestine Alliance, International apartheid in South Africa and the struggle “hero” of the 1956 Sinai invasion took a With military spending and payments Action Center, National Council of Arab- against Israeli apartheid. He then joined leave of absence from his post as a mem- on the national debt being the two larg- Americans and the Palestinian American the rally. With constant chants ringing ber of the Knesset to make this very spe- est items in its budget, Israel was running Women’s Association. up and down Hollywood Boulevard, the cial and significant trip. What made his a debt to the imperialists of over $400 Participants included Bev Tang of fantasy Zionists were trying to portray did trip so ominous is that prior to his leaving million a year, a substantial amount for the Filipino social justice organization not go unchallenged. for Vietnam, this soldier-politician pos- a small state. What further aggravated BAYAN USA, Martha Rojas of the immi- —John Parker Page 10 May 22, 2008 www.workers.org

Myanmar cyclone Clinton’s U.S. hostility hampers relief Continued from page 1 pre-emptive military policies. barefaced racism ment of Burma (Myanmar).” “U.S. Air Force and naval vessels, This criminal executive order decreeing including the US C-130 military aircraft n previous editorials this election rules. In West Virginia and Arkansas, we expanded sanctions was followed within now in neighboring Thailand, and the USS year, we’ve predicted that in an U.S. know that when we see it.” (Associated days by expressions of deep concern for Kitty Hawk and USS Nimitz naval war- election featuring a Black man as a Press, May 2) I the devastated population. The cynicism ships, are currently on standby in nearby viable candidate for president, the racism The very fact that Obama did so well in and hypocrisy could not be greater. waters. … Policymakers in Washington are of both bourgeois parties would increas- these two Southern states, mainly among The new sanctions prevent U.S. human- now no doubt weighing the potential pros ingly expose itself—requiring a response workers in the cities, shows the fallacy of itarian organizations and individuals from and cons of a pre-emptive humanitarian and defense of Sen. Barack Obama the Clintons’ racist arguments. donating money directly to causes within mission in a geo-strategically pivotal and against racist attacks, despite his poli- It’s not surprising that the corporate impoverished Myanmar. U.S. aid organi- suddenly weakened country.” (Asia Times tics. Recent remarks—by no less than his media have expressed few denunciations zations, such as the American Red Cross, 0nline, May 10) Democratic opponent—seem to confirm of these false statements compared to the found they could provide only supplies— that assessment. amount of criticism that followed Rev. not personnel or money—to the relief Shock doctrine In a May 6 interview with USA Today— Jeremiah Wright’s valid comments on effort under the sanctions rules. While Many countries even in the midst of a one of the most widespread newspapers race and justice. As part and parcel of the the U.S. corporate media have carried disaster fear U.S. and Western assistance in the country—presidential candidate capitalist system, the corporate media hundreds of reports arrogantly lecturing because it so often comes with strings Hillary Clinton said: “I have a much message is always the same—let the rul- Myanmar on what is not being done, they attached, including onerous debt condi- broader base to build a winning coali- ing class whip up racism; it’s a favored are not even mentioning the impact of the tions and demands to reorganize their tion on,” citing a Associated Press article tactic to keep the working class divided. new U.S. sanctions that were imposed as economy and privatize nationally owned that, according to her, “found how Sen. But let the masses call that racism out, the storm barreled toward the country. resources. Obama’s support among working, hard- and they must be silenced. Based on weather satellite monitoring, Naomi Klein’s book, “The Shock working Americans, white Americans, is Every election year, capitalist-party many scientists had tracked the storm as it Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,” weakening again, and how whites in both candidates try to come across as “feeling gained momentum. Nearly a week before describes in great detail how U.S. aid, the states who had not completed college the pain” of working people and as some- it struck land, the Indian Meteorology IMF and World Bank are used to take were supporting me.” She continued to how authorized to speak for them. Once Department was releasing detailed warn- advantage of a country in shock, even explain, “These are the people you have they’re elected into office, though, their ings of route, speed and locations. The when it is faced with a devastated infra- to win if you’re a Democrat in sufficient actions rarely reflect the rhetoric. Hillary Myanmar government, while it received structure from a natural calamity of a numbers to actually win the election. Clinton should know this best. Her text messages of warning from India start- hurricane, tsunami, drought or flood. Everybody knows that.” spouse, Bill Clinton, signed the so-called ing on April 26, and announced storm Such crises are seen as an opportunity to Said a day after she faced defeat “welfare reform” bill that cut off public warnings on state radio, does not have push through unpopular economic “shock in the North Carolina primary and a assistance for some 5 million people— coastal radars to detect a cyclone’s path, therapy” such as selling state assets and narrow, two-point-margin victory in mostly children and their mothers. Those nor did this impoverished country have an privatizing resources. It’s therapy, all Indiana, Clinton’s words hearken back classified as either Black or white were evacuation plan. right—for the international bankers, not to the “good old days” of the Democratic affected in almost equal numbers. The The U.S. government has been insist- the affected countries. Party’s “Southern strategy.” That strategy result was a huge increase in child pover- ing that the Pentagon be given the right to attempted to appeal to white voters on ty. His administration also ushered in the deliver assistance with its own personnel U.S. record in New Orleans the most racist terms, saying in essence North American Free Trade Agreement, and equipment. Evidently, this rich impe- and Iraq that whites would not vote even for a can- which brought reduced wages and sweat- rialist country has no other way to deliver Missing from all the corporate media’s didate favoring the Black population, let shop conditions to workers throughout humanitarian relief except at the end of a lecturing on what Myanmar should and alone, today, a Black candidate. Clinton North America. bayonet. could do is any mention of the U.S. ruling even took it a step farther when she dif- The only time the message of real Many other countries, however, have class’s own disastrous record in emergen- ferentiated the whites who would vote for working people is brought to light in found non-military ways to provide imme- cy planning, evacuation and relief during her as the “hard-working Americans.” the corporate media, or reflected in diate assistance. The Myanmar state radio and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit Stumping for Hillary Clinton in bourgeois politics, is when the people has reported that international humani- New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Clarksburg, W.Va., on May 1, former themselves put up a struggle that can’t tarian aid has poured in from China, India, The whole world watched the criminal President Bill Clinton expressed similar be ignored. In a time of economic crisis Japan, Singapore, Italy, Bangladesh, Laos neglect, racism, lack of planning and total sentiments, while attempting to down- affecting all workers, it’s all the more rea- and Thailand. Arriving at the Yangon confusion as floods and broken levees play the racism in them: “The great son to reject racism and all attempts to Inter­national Airport with their respective drowned the city of New Orleans on Aug. divide in this country is not by race or divide the working class—because it takes aircraft were tents, mosquito nets, power 28, 2005. even income, it’s by those who think they the unity of all workers to effectively generators, medicines, water purifiers, dry This was followed by an arrogant refusal are better than everyone else and think and victoriously fight the system that potato and pork, instant noodles, biscuits, to accept assistance from organizations they should play by a different set of oppresses us. n cloth, zinc sheets, hammers and nails, and and individuals seeking to volunteer and an candles. outrageous rejection of international aid. The U.S. government expresses outrage Offers of help from Cuba and Venezuela, Earthquake in China that Myanmar, while it accepts aid, will which had fully provisioned teams of doc- not allow foreign personnel to oversee its s a working-class newspaper nearby like jackals seeking signs of weak- tors on standby and offered tons of food, distribution. The government-run news- inside the United States, Workers ness they can capitalize on. Meanwhile, water and a million barrels of extra petro- paper New Light of Myanmar on May 9 World would like to express its the Chinese, with Premier Wen Jiabao leum, were refused. Even French aircraft A explained why this is so: “The Pentagon is and a hospital ship standing ready in solidarity with the Chinese people and directing efforts in the area, have already desperate to station their military bases in especially those in southwest Sichuan mobilized 130,000 troops, police and the Caribbean, along with German and our country.” province. These sisters and brothers have rescue workers in Sichuan. Russian help, were put on hold. This is not wild paranoia on the part of experienced a harsh natural calamity that One alert: beware the role of the International camera crews flew over- the military junta that rules Myanmar. The has already claimed the lives of 15,000 imperialist media. They look at a natural head filming desperate people clinging to Pentagon has hardly hidden its interest in people as of May 15. The powerful earth- calamity as an opportunity to weaken a rooftops. More than 20,000 people without overthrowing the regime. This comes as quake, without warning, shook a vast area country like China, which only 59 years potable water, food or sanitation packed pressure is put on the country to open up that is home to tens of millions of people. ago threw off its colonial shackles with a into the Superdome and tens of thousands and allow the leasing of U.S. bases and Natural calamities have a social and glorious social revolution. If force can’t of others spent days at the Convention U.S. corporate access to Myanmar’s vast political component. The Chinese gov- be used effectively, the corporate media Center in blistering heat. Emergency crews nationalized oil and gas deposits. ernment’s ability to minimize what will try lies. As we follow the rescue from around the U.S. were prevented from Here’s how Shawn W. Crispin put it in are sure to be enormous casualties will efforts on the other side of the world, reaching New Orleans. an article entitled “The case for invading impact on the world scene. U.S. imperial- we’ll check all reports against Chinese Air Force helicopters at a base close by Myanmar.” ism and the other imperialist states lurk sources where possible. n were ordered grounded, although pilots “With United States warships and air volunteered and pleaded to use them to force planes at the ready, and over 1 mil- evacuate people. FEMA and Homeland From WW of June 24, 1967 lion of Myanmar’s citizens left bedraggled, Security actually blocked aid and volun- homeless and susceptible to water-borne teers, according to many media reports. U.S. rulers plotted with Israeli puppets diseases by Cyclone Nargis, the natural Truckloads of water and tons of material disaster presents an opportunity in crisis sent from around the country were never Continued from page 9 Israeli exploiting classes made them more for the U.S. released. invade the Arab countries and precipi- than eager to go to war for Wall Street “A unilateral—and potentially United Two and a half years later, tens of thou- tate a world crisis simply to stave off their against the Arab revolution. Tel Aviv was Nations-approved—U.S. military inter- sands of evacuees are still not able to own crisis. If they had tried such an act thus able to create a war hysteria and vention in the name of humanitarian- return to their homes. without the go-ahead from their masters demand unity of all the exploited Israelis ism could easily turn the tide against in Washington, Ben-Gurion, Eshkol and so that Moshe Dayan could put into prac- the impoverished country’s unpopular Pentagon in Iraq and Somalia Co. would have been stopped in their tice all the lessons patiently learned under military leaders, and simultaneously The Pentagon’s record in Iraq is far tracks by the imperialists. the tutelage of Washington’s genocidal rehabilitate the legacy of lame-duck U.S. worse. More than five years after smash- Nevertheless, the internal crisis of the high command in Vietnam. n President George W. Bush’s controversial Continued on page 11 www.workers.org May 22, 2008 Page 11 Latin American summit confronts ‘The essence of the crisis is the unequal hunger crisis and unjust distribution of the wealth By Berta Joubert-Ceci is the integration and well-being of all the peoples of Latin America and the at the global level’ With the theme “Sovereignty and Food Caribbean, a larger summit was necessary Security: Food for Life,” delegations from to address the current food crisis. dential summit, it was decided that the national corporations is obscenely and 15 countries met in Managua, Nicaragua, The May 7 summit in Managua was food crisis be raised at the EU-LAC and all patently clear. Eighty percent of the popu- on May 7 to discuss and plan strategies to attended by delegations from Bolivia, other international meetings in the near lation lives under the poverty line and 54 confront the serious hunger crisis that is Ecuador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Haiti, future. percent in abject poverty. According to affecting the peoples of Latin America and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, Servicio Paz y Justicia en América Latina, the Caribbean. Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Imperialists meet “Twenty years ago Haiti produced 95 per- This presidential summit was the result Panama, Dominican Republic, Mexico behind closed doors cent of the rice that its people consumed; of an April 23 emergency meeting of four and Nicaragua. There were also represen- Nine days before the Managua sum- today it imports from the U.S. 80 percent of the five ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative tatives of the U.N. Food and Agriculture mit, on April 28, World Food Program of that product.” (www.serpajamerica- for the Peoples of Our America) coun- Organization, World Bank, Inter-American Executive Director Josette Sheeran and latina.org). tries held in Caracas, Venezuela. At that Development Bank, U.N. World Food World Bank President Robert Zoellick met The extreme hunger in Haiti has forced time, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Program, UNICEF, PARLACEN (Central behind closed doors in Berne, Switzerland, people to feed their children with “Pica” Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and American Parliament) and PARLATINO with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon crackers made of mud, a poisonous rem- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage met (Latin American Parliament). and executives from 27 U.N. agencies to edy against hunger. In Cité-Soleil, the with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Opening remarks from each coun- discuss rising food prices and uprisings in crackers are made with yellow mud from to sign a special agreement that would try addressed concerns and proposals 37 countries due to extreme hunger. the country’s central plateau, mixed with develop agricultural and industrial sectors about the crisis, but also overwhelmingly According to ACN, Ban demanded $2.5 salt and oil. It costs $5 to make 100 crack- to increase the production of grains like pointed to the policies of the imperialist billion in aid to help fight the world food ers, but even at that price, many Haitians rice and corn, oil-containing beans, meat countries as the main culprit of the catas- crisis during a press conference in Berne cannot afford a cracker made of dirt! It and milk. According to Prensa Latina, trophe. The television network TeleSUR on April 22. might fill a child’s belly, but the mud also “The agreement reached by the ALBA covered the session. What was Zoellick’s solution to the carries parasites and potentially deadly member countries also favors the setting Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of food crisis? Showing his real class inter- substances. up of a food commercialization network Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, elo- est, he called on not restricting the export Cuba and Venezuela have stepped up and includes a joint commitment to create quently stated the need to include fishing of oil products. to help the Haitian people. Among other a fund with $100-million initial capital to in the agricultural and food discussions, How can the imperialists solve a crisis actions, Venezuela sent 600 tons of food allow the implementation of the programs noting that small island countries such as they created? As Via Campesina, an orga- on April 13 and 50 farm trucks. Cuba and plans with the initiative.” his do not have the space for cattle rais- nization of Indigenous, small farmers and has been providing medical care to the However, since the essence of ALBA ing and depend more on small farm ani- mals and sea products, but global warm- peasants throughout the world, stated in most poor, who did not have access to ing is affecting fishing, since the fish tend a document entitled “An Answer to the doctors. For five years, 400 Cuban doc- U.S. hostility hampers to go deeper in the sea. He concluded, “I Global Food Crisis” (www.viacampesina. tors have been working in Haiti; and 600 do not see the Americans helping us, or org), neoliberal policies have destroyed Haitian students study medicine in Cuba. Myanmar relief the Europeans, and in fact, many times the capacity of the countries to feed According to Haitian President René when they bring programs for diversifi- themselves. Préval, for the Haitian people “after God, Continued from page 10 cation, agriculture production, etc., they Although they mention biofuel and there are the Cuban doctors.” perpetuate a fraud among the people, they global warming that affects harvests as ing their way into an Iraq crippled and People starve while food increase their expectations and there are causes for the food crisis, they see the lack weakened by sanctions, the U.S. military corporations thrive has proved unable to provide the most few things they deliver.” of sovereignty in food as the most promi- basic human survival needs of potable Vice President Lage from Cuba summed nent cause: “This crisis is also the result In an April 14 press release, U.S. food water, basic nutrition, electricity, emer- up the real basis of the current crisis: “The of many years of destructive policies that giant Cargill reported “net earnings of gency health care or education. essence of the crisis is not in these recent have undermined domestic food produc- $1.03 billion in the 2008 third quarter If more than 160,000 U.S. troops, phenomena, but in the unequal and unjust tion. ... Farmers have been forced to pro- ended Feb. 29, up 86 percent from $553 100,000 private contractors and the larg- distribution of the wealth at global level, duce cash crops for transnational corpo- million in the same period a year ago. est collection of military equipment on the and in the untenable neoliberal economic rations (TNCs) and buy their food on the Earnings in the first nine months totaled planet won’t provide reliable electricity or model, imposed with irresponsibility and world market.” $2.9 billion, a 69 percent increase from potable water in Baghdad, should anyone fanaticism over the last 20 years.” The article shows the example of Mexico, $1.71 billion a year ago.” (www.cargill. expect they would do better in Yangon? President Ortega, who chaired the meet- which, after NAFTA, went from being a com) Using the excuse of a humanitarian ing, conveyed the hunger crisis through corn-exporting country to one dependent The release continues: “‘Cargill posted mission in famine-stricken Somalia, the the facts: “Data from the international for 30 percent of its corn on imports from a third consecutive strong quarter in a U.S. pushed through a U.N. resolution organizations tells us that every 5 seconds the U.S. However, now that U.S. corn pro- year in which the dimensions of change in allowing Marines to occupy the capital of a child under 10 years of age dies from duction is increasingly used for fuel, there global agriculture are striking,’ said Greg Mogadishu in December 1992. The out- undernourishment, from hunger. Every is less available for Mexico. It also men- Page, Cargill chairman and chief execu- raged population drove the Marines out minute that we are here talking, exchang- tions the case of Indonesia, which in 1992 tive officer. ‘Demand for food in develop- by the following year. The Pentagon had ing ideas about this problem, 12 children produced enough soy to satisfy domestic ing economies and for energy worldwide totally miscalculated the popular anti- are dying. And every hour, 720 children consumption of the staples tofu and tem- is boosting demand for agricultural goods, imperialist sentiment, even among a des- under 10 years are dying from hunger!” peh. After opening its doors to neoliberal at the same time that investment monies perate population. The final declaration signed by 12 coun- policies, cheap soy from the U.S. inundat- have streamed into commodity markets. In Myanmar, mass opposition to British tries rejected subsidies in the developed ed its market, bringing domestic produc- Relative to demand, world grain stocks and then U.S. domination is a strong cur- countries and the unfair trade that affects tion down. Sixty percent now is imported today are at their lowest levels in 35 years. rent in the population. Any intervention the underdeveloped countries. They also from the U.S. and prices have doubled. Prices are setting new highs and markets could meet with stiff resistance, despite rejected the use of food for biofuel. A Therefore, without the ability to pro- are extraordinarily volatile.’” the suffering caused by the cyclone. detailed Action Plan was proposed that duce their own food due to neoliberal pre- Monsanto, another U.S. company, also In all the U.S. media attacks on the gov- would help strengthen the countries’ scriptions, combined with severe climate reported huge profits. In a newswire on ernment of Myanmar as a dictatorship, it is economies and food production in a sus- changes, poor countries are victims to the May 6, the company stated: “As a tech- important to remember that the Pentagon tainable way. A proposal from Mexico, speculation of the food market and the nology company in agriculture, we have a has propped up, armed and financed which volunteered to host a high-level diversion of food production to biofuel. unique opportunity because our technolo- brutal military dictatorships around the meeting on technology at the end of May, While food consumption accounts for gy creates value for our farmer customers world–from Saudi Arabia and Indonesia was accepted. probably 10 to 20 percent of a person’s regardless of which crop they grow, where to Pakistan, Chile and Congo. Their oppo- Other gatherings about the issue have income in most developed countries, in they ultimately sell their grain, or at what sition to the dictatorship in Myanmar is been taking place in Latin America. The the Third World it is 60 to 80 percent. price that grain is sold on the commodity not due to its repressive measures but Cuban News Agency (ACN) reported that And the products most affected by the markets. ... Monsanto’s strong earnings that it has not undone the nationalization more than 100 representatives from 30 current crisis are staples of poor people’s growth continues to be reflected in divi- of the natural resources forced through by Latin American and Caribbean countries tables, like rice and corn. dend payouts. Monsanto has increased anti-colonial mass sentiment decades ago. participated in a conference on child mal- No wonder masses have been rising its dividend six times—an increase of 200 This is what U.S. corporations are deter- nutrition in Santiago de Chile on May 6. up in Mexico, Indonesia, Yemen, the percent—since 2001.” (www.monsanto. mined to reverse. On May 16-17, the Fifth European Union- Philippines, Cambodia, Morocco, Senegal, com) The anti-war and progressive move- Latin America and Caribbean Summit Uzbekistan, Guinea, Mauritania, Egypt, Monsanto is the main culprit behind ment should be wary of the reactionary (EU-LAC) will take place in Lima, Peru. Cameroon, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, the genetically engineered seeds that media campaign around Myanmar. The The main themes will be “Poverty, Ivory Coast, Peru, Bolivia and Haiti. have inundated and destroyed agricul- people there have a right to immedi- inequality and inclusion” and “Sustainable Haiti merits special attention, since ture in Third World countries, making ate international assistance free of U.S. Development: the environment, climate it is one of the poorest nations on Earth them dependent on Monsanto’s seeds and where the genocidal greed of the trans- products. n demands or sanctions. n change and energy.” At the May 7 presi- ¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los países, uníos! Referendo apoyado por los EEUU Oligarcas tratan de dividir a Bolivia Por Berta Joubert-Ceci de Bolivia, con casi un tercio del territorio de la provincia, son los líderes del movi- Morales, en un discurso televisado, nacional. Su capital es Santa Cruz de la miento separatista de Santa Cruz. Su ala dijo, “Esta encuesta, que es ilegal e incon- El 4 de mayo se dieron en Bolivia Sierra, la ciudad más grande del país, con armada, la Unión Juvenil de Santa Cruz, stitucional, no fue el éxito que ellos espe- masivas manifestaciones de indígenas, casi 1,4 millones de habitantes. Santa Cruz es un grupo violento estrechamente alia- raban. … Entre la tasa de abstención de un campesinos/as, obreros/as y estudiantes genera el 30,63 por ciento del Producto do a la Falange, una organización fascista 39 por ciento, los votos por el ‘No’ y las en contra de un atentado por los lati- Nacional Bruto. activa en los años 1940 y 1950 que parece papeletas en blanco, eso es prácticamente fundistas y empresarios de dividir el país. Santa Cruz es el hogar de una oligarquía estar reapareciendo. un 50 por ciento”. La participación para el Estas manifestaciones recibieron muy europea que a su vez es profundamente En búsqueda de empleos, miles de “referendo” fue baja. poca atención de la prensa internacional racista. Muchos de los oligarcas son lati- personas del altiplano en el oeste se han El ministro del interior Alfredo Rada, en los países imperialistas. fundistas dueños de inmensas fincas que mudado a Santa Cruz, en particular miem- en una entrevista con Telesur, declaró El enfoque de estos noticieros era producen productos de exportación como bros/as de las naciones indígenas Aymara que las elecciones fueron caracterizadas sobre el “referendo por la autonomía” soja, goma y ganado. y Quechua. En Santa Cruz enfrentan dis- por “violencia, confrontaciones e irregu- en la provincia de Santa Cruz, el cual ha Uno de estos latifundistas es Ronald criminación y con frecuencia, violencia laridades”. Dijo que algunos nombres sido declarado como ilegal e inconstitu- Din Larsen, un ciudadano estadounidense racista, perpetrada mayormente por el fueron borrados de la lista de votantes y cional por el gobierno progresista de Evo que ha vivido en Bolivia por muchos años grupo juvenil fascista. 20 personas fueron heridas en confron- Morales. y es propietario de 141.203 acres de tier- taciones con el grupo juvenil fascista. En La población indígena en Bolivia ha ra en Santa Cruz. Según las autoridades Referendo ilegal un vecindario conocido como Plan 3000, sido ignorada, perseguida y explotada por bolivia­nas, Larsen ni siquiera tiene una El referendo sobre la autonomía es ile- baluarte del partido de Morales, jóvenes 500 años. Pero hoy están defendiendo sus registración o tarjeta de identidad bolivia­ gal bajo la constitución de Bolivia. Hasta fascistas provocaron una pelea contra los/ derechos, la unidad de su país y el gobi- na, pero aún así se opone activamente a las Naciones Unidas y la Organización de as residentes indígenas y campesinos/as, erno nacional dirigido por Morales, el la reforma de tierras propuesta por el Estados Americanos, que no son campeo- gritándoles insultos racistas. Los resi- primer presidente indígena de Bolivia. gobierno­ de Morales de dividir estas tier- nas del progreso, se opusieron al refer- dentes contestaban: “Fuera fascistas”, y El imperialismo estadounidense ha esta- ras y ponerlas a disposición de los/as endo. El General Luís Trigo, jefe de las “Que viva Evo”. do dirigiendo muy cuidadosamente una bolivianos/as pobres. Cuando el vice min- Fuerzas Armadas Bolivianas, lo denunció Gente de Santa Cruz que apoya a estrategia divisoria en Bolivia que planea istro de tierras, Alejando Almaraz visitó públicamente por afectar la “seguridad y la Morales habían tomado urnas electorales aplicar en otros países de la región, incluy- recientemente Santa Cruz, fue atacado por defensa del Estado de Bolivia”. Él destacó quemándolas como un rechazo al refer- endo a Ecuador y Venezuela. Santa Cruz un grupo armado instigado por Larsen, que algunos de los artículos del referendo endo. En el proceso, encontraron muchas es una de las nueve provincias bolivianas. según la agencia noticiera ABI. establecen el control local sobre legisla- papeletas todavía sin usar pero que ya El voto por la “autonomía” está dirigido Santa Cruz es donde la mayoría de las ciones, todo el transporte por tierra, rio, estaban marcadas con la opción “Sí”. De a desestabilizar el gobierno de Morales y transnacionales tienen sus oficinas. Es aire, al igual que sobre las ondas radiales, inmediato llamaron a los medios notici- dividir al país, muy parecido a la manera también el lugar donde están las reservas la seguridad y la defensa. eros para anunciar al fraude. en que Kosovo fue separado de Yugoslavia. más grandes de gas natural, de petróleo y De hecho, es un proyecto para proveer En una transmisión por Telesur, De hecho, algunos de los mismos actores de otros minerales. un pretexto legal para establecer un país Morales también acusó a los EEUU de están muy ocupados en Bolivia. El actual Los empresarios de la provincia están nuevo. patrocinar la oposición. “La embajada embajador estadounidense en Bolivia es organizados en la Unión Cívica de Santa Encuestas informales demuestran que de los EEUU es la que encabeza a esta Philip Goldberg, quien fue figura clave en Cruz, encabezada por Branko Marinkovic, la mayoría de la población de Santa Cruz conspiración”, dijo, agregando que “el la separación de Kosovo. un capitalista croata con estrechos lazos no conocía los contenidos exactos del embajador de los EEUU es el gran defen- con la Embajada de Estados Unidos. Caro­ referendo. sor de la división de Bolivia, de las acti- Riqueza concentrada lus Wimmer, el secretario nacional del En un intento por engañar, los medios tudes anticonstitucionales, de eso grupos Santa Cruz, en las llanuras al este Par­tido Comunista Venezolano, dijo a la comunicativos oligárquicos reportaron el que no desean la igualdad para nuestros de Bolivia, es parte de la Media Luna tele­visión­ venezolana que algunos miem- 5 de mayo que la opción “Sí” aprobando pueblos, de los grupos que quieren robar que incluye a las provincias de Pando, bros de la oligarquía croata en Bolivia la autonomía ganó por más de un 80 por de nuestro país”. Tarija y Beni. La Media Luna es la parte habían sido expulsados de la Yugoslavia ciento. En los EEUU, el Washington Post Artículos de varias fuentes mencionan más afluente del país, generando un 44 Socialista­ después de la Segunda Guerra repitió esos números en un artículo en el que USAID y la Fundación Nacional para por ciento del producto nacional bruto. Mundial acusados de ser partidarios de que se citó a Marinkovic diciendo, “Es un la Democracia han dotado millones de Una oposición derechista al gobierno de los fascistas. Los croatas se asentaron día histórico, y mañana tendremos más dólares a los grupos de oposición para Morales se encuentra allí, con su liderazgo en varios países latinoamericanos con la trabajo que hacer. … Tenemos que deter- supuestamente “luchar contra el narcotrá- centrado en Santa Cruz. ayuda de la CIA. minar una nueva senda para Bolivia, y no fico”. (Vea, por ejemplo,www.coastalpost. Santa Cruz es la provincia más grande Marinkovic y Rubén Costas, el prefecto será una tarea fácil”. com) n La tasa de desempleo sube a 9,2 por ciento en abril

Por Gary Wilson buscar trabajo y también a la gente que tra- sus hijos/as o no tienen acceso a trans- económico desde la recesión del 2001 baja jornadas parciales porque no puede portación. No incluye a los/as desem- ha sido mediocre a pesar del incremento Los empleos continuaron desapare- encontrar trabajo de jornada completa — pleados/as que se alistaron al servicio mil- enorme en la riqueza y los ingresos de los ciendo en abril según la Agencia de subió en abril a un 9,2 por ciento, lo cual itar porque no podían encontrar trabajo, súper ricos,” dice Phillips. Estadísticas Laborales. La tasa oficial de es casi dos puntos de porcentaje más alto ni a las dos millones de personas encar- Phillips dice que esta gran distorsión desempleo es de 5 por ciento. Durante los que al comienzo de la última recesión,” celadas. Para la juventud desempleada, la de las cifras de desempleo fue introducida últimos cinco meses, el empleo en empre- dice Chad Stone, economista principal del cárcel se ha convertido en el programa de por la administración de Clinton. “A pesar sas privadas ha bajado. Centro de Prioridades del Presupuesto y trabajo del gobierno. de la propensión de la administración de Más de 800.000 trabajadores/as han Política. Kevin Phillips, en un reporte titulado Bush de manipular la data (por ej. Irak, perdido su trabajo durante el último año. ¿Qué quiere decir Stone con una tasa “El fraude de números” que apareció en el cambio global del clima), no ha podido El desempleo por largo tiempo está pro- alternativa de desempleo? la revista Harper’s Magazine, escribe que igualar a su antecesor en las revisiones fundizándose. Eso se refiere a la gente El Departamento del Trabajo discre- este índice alternativo es la cifra verdad- económicas,” escribe Phillips. que ha estado sin trabajo por más de seis tamente provee una serie de cifras a los era, pero que los números más bajos están Fue la administración de Clinton la que meses. Es ahora más de 1,3 millones de negocios y economistas, pero estos núme- usados para cubrir la profundidad de la removió a los/as trabajadores/as desem- trabajadores/as; más de uno/a de cada ros nunca aparecen en los reportajes de crisis económica. pleados/as por largo tiempo de los núme- seis trabajadores/as desempleados/as. A los medios de difusión, ni están mencio- “Las cifras verdaderas, para la mayoría ros oficiales de trabajadores/as desem- este ritmo, otros tres millones serán parte nados por los políticos, ya sean republica- de estadounidenses que piensan sobre la pleados/as, quitando inmediatamente a 4 de este grupo de desempleados/as a fina- nos o demócratas. economía, sería como un baño con agua millones del número oficial en 1994. Y al les de año. Esta tasa alternativa de 9,2 por ciento fría. Basado en los criterios usados hace quitar a las familias en los centros pobres “La medida alternativa más detallada incluye a los/as que llaman trabajadores/ 25 años, la tasa de desempleo actual en de las ciudades, la administración de de la tasa de desempleo del Departamento as “desalentados/as”. Son los/as trabaja- los Estados Unidos estaría entre 9 a 12 por Clinton hizo que bajara aún más el núme- del Trabajo— que incluye a la gente que dores/as que no pueden activamente bus- ciento; la tasa de inflación tan alta como ro oficial de desempleo. n quiere trabajar pero está desalentada de car trabajo porque no tienen cuidado para 7 o incluso 10 por ciento; el crecimiento