• La política exterior de Obama 12 WW PHOTO: TONI ARENSTEIN

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 57, No. 17 April 30, 2015 $1 April 14, New York City. See page 4. Dock workers to ‘shut it down’ MAY DAY PROTEST OF POLICE KILLINGS

By Clarence Thomas and Cheryl LaBash

On Friday, May 1 — International Workers’ Day — the cranes for loading cargo at the San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., ports will be still. The April meetings Outrage explodes over of both the Executive Board and the membership of In- ternational Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 unanimously endorsed a call for “Union Action to Stop Police Killings of Black and Brown People.” A unani- mously approved amendment called for the monthly Baltimore killer cops union membership meeting to be held on the May 1 day shift with a march to and rally at Oakland City Hall to demonstrate that the rampant killings by police is an ur- gent labor issue. The killing of young Michael Brown by Ferguson, Mo., police on Aug. 9 and the cellphone-videoed kill- ing of Eric Garner by New York police on Staten Island ­galvanized a rainbow movement, led by Black and Brown youth. Creative and determined protests have interrupted business as usual in streets, highways, shopping malls, restaurants — everywhere. Activists have faced up to tear gas and militarized SWAT (special weapons and tactics) units while chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Union banners and “Fight for $15 and a union” militants hit the streets in St. Louis, but organized labor action has been missing until now, even though the police kill- ings continue.

Walter Scott and labor printed pictures on its April 8 front page from video capturing the moment when 50-year-old Walter Scott was shot in the back and killed — murdered — by a white cop in South Carolina. But the article didn’t mention the Scott family relationship with International Longshore Association Local 1422 in Charleston, or that its union hall became a center for or- ganizing the protests that followed. Ken Riley, an ILA vice president and Local 1422 president, explained in a condolence statement issued by the ILA: “Walter Scott’s brother, Rodney Scott, joined our workforce two years ago. One of Local 1422’s dispatchers, Marion Green, and James Gibbs, a fore- man, are all close relatives. The Scott family and the Baltimore, April 20. See page 4. WW PHOTO: SHARON BLACK Riley family worshipped together for many years … and Bulletin: As of the evening of April 21, thousands of mainly ­remain close. angry Black youth have spontaneously taken to the streets “Local 1422 recognizes that we have a social respon- Prison profiteers lobby 3 of Baltimore to protest in front of the police department sibility to our community and we take that responsibili- against the police murder of Freddie Grey. A major protest ty very seriously. That is why Leonard Riley Jr. took the is scheduled at Baltimore City Hall April 23 to demand the lead and arranged the organizational meeting for the arrests of six white officers for the murder of Grey. protest at the North Charleston City Hall. He and other 8 Get updates on workers.org members also participated in the rally. Local 1422 will

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Street ______Bangladesh anniversary 11 City / State / Zip ______WW PHOTO: JUDY GREENSPAN Workers World 212-627-2994 Farmworkers at march for a $15/hour minimum wage th nd 11 147 W. 24 St., 2 Fl, NY, NY 10011 workers.org FARC & Colombia in Berkeley, Calif. See page 7 Page 2 April 30, 2015 workers.org ‘Extend tax foreclosure  In the U.S. moratorium!’ Dock workers: May Day protest of police killings . . . . 1 Detroit: ‘Extend tax foreclosure moratorium!’ ...... 2 Activists in Detroit picketed the Michigan state build- ing on April 16 to demand a permanent moratorium on Mumia: Int’l pressure blocks ‘execution by neglect’ . . .3 tax foreclosures and a reassessment of all homes located Prison profiteers drive detention of immigrants . . . . .3 in Detroit and Wayne County, needed to reduce gross- Baltimore erupts over fatal police beating ...... 4 ly inflated tax bills. They demanded the Michigan State Thousands protest police terror ...... 4 Housing Development Authority use the remaining $250 Michigan: Justice denied for Civil Rights leader . . . . . 4 million in federal “Hardest Hit Homeowners” funds to Eric Harris and Tulsa’s racist history ...... 4 pay back taxes and keep people in their homes. This mon- ey, which was meant to help low-income homeowners How NBC lied to promote regime change in Syria . . . .5 avoid foreclosure, is currently tagged for “blight remov- Day of Solidarity with Venezuela blasts U.S. threats . . . 5 al,” that is, tearing down homes throughout the city. Detroit remembers Civil Rights martyr Viola Liuzzo . . .5 Popular pressure resulted March 31 in the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office announcing a six-week dead- Wisconsin: Teachers, students, parents protest cuts . . .6 line extension for delinquent tax payments. Activists On the picket line ...... 6 with Moratorium NOW! Coalition say the delay must be Victory for bakery worker ...... 6 extended past May 12 until the crisis can be resolved. There are still 37,000 owner-occupied home seizures ‘Fight for $15’ tells bosses to raise wages ...... 7 pending, and more than 62,000 tax foreclosures overall are set to take place.  Around the world — Report and photo by Kris Hamel U.S. troops in Ukraine: Opponents of regime murdered .8 Refugee crisis in Mediterranean ...... 8 Slowdown, unemployment plague world capitalism . . 9 Tax refund? Invest in Workers World! Vietnam 40 years after liberation ...... 10 Bangladeshi garment workers need justice! ...... 11 ‘Colombian peace process must go forward’ ...... 11 Taxes pay for the U.S. war machine that gobbles up dustbin of history. over half the national budget in order to control the glob- That revolutionary fight is what drives Workers World.  Editorial al capitalist economy. Due to generous loopholes, Big So if you appreciate our powerful Marxist analysis and Oil and Fortune 500 companies like General Electric coverage that exposes the 1% while asserting the needs Legacy of May Day today ...... 10 don’t pay any taxes year after year. And taxes subsidize of the 99%, it’s time to invest your tax return in Work- billion-dollar merchandisers like Walmart and McDon- ers World. Join the WW Supporter Program that was  Noticias en Español ald’s, which pay workers so little they’re forced to rely on set up 38 years ago to help us publish anti-war, anti-rac- Sobre Cuba, Irán, Ucrania: Obama, un centrista, government services to keep their families alive. ist, working-class truth and build the many campaigns cede a la derecha ...... 12 Sick of a blank check for the Pentagon while food stamp needed to crush capitalism and usher in socialism. cuts mean kids go to bed hungry? There is a ­solution. We invite you to sign up today! Write checks to Work- Socialism is the only alternative to this rigged sys- ers World and mail them, with your name and address, tem that rewards the rich and oppresses poor and to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011. Or Workers World working people, especially Black and Brown youth. donate online at workers.org/donate/. 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. Fighting for socialism is the only way to kick the racist, And thanks for helping to grow the revolutionary New York, N.Y. 10011 sexist, ­anti-LGBTQ bosses, bankers and brass into the press in the U.S. Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Vol. 57, No. 17 • April 30, 2015 Closing date: April 21, 2015 Editor: Deirdre Griswold Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Who we are & what we’re fighting for Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead; Web Editor Gary Wilson

Hate capitalism? Workers World Party fights for a ­degrading people because of their nationality, sexu- Production & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk; ­socialist society — where the wealth is socially owned al or gender identity or disabilities — all are tools the Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBash and production is planned to satisfy human need. This ruling class uses to keep us apart. They ruthlessly Copyediting and Proofreading: Sue Davis, Keith Fine, outmoded capitalist system is dragging down workers’ super-exploit some in order to better exploit us all. Bob McCubbin living standards while throwing millions out of their WWP builds unity among all workers while support- Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, jobs. If you’re young, you know they’re stealing your ing of self-determination. Fighting oppres- Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, Fred Goldstein, future. And capitalism is threatening the entire planet sion is a working-class issue, which is confirmed by Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, with its unplanned, profit-driven stranglehold over the the many labor struggles led today by people of color, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, Cheryl LaBash, means of production. immigrants and women. Milt Neidenberg, John Parker, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Workers built it all — it belongs to society, not to a WWP has a long history of militant opposition to im- Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac handful of billionaires! But we need a revolution to perialist wars. The billionaire rulers are bent on turning Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; make that change. That’s why for 56 years WWP has back the clock to the bad old days before socialist revo- Ramiro Fúnez, Teresa Gutierrez, Donna Lazarus, been building a revolutionary party of the working lutions and national liberation struggles liberated terri- Carlos Vargas class inside the belly of the beast. tory from their grip. We’ve been in the streets to oppose Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis We fight every kind of oppression. , sexism, every one of ’s wars and aggressions. Copyright © 2014 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium Contact a Workers World Party branch near you: workers.org/wwp without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly National Office Bay Area Cleveland Houston Pittsburgh except the first week of January by WW Publishers, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. 1305 Franklin St. #411 P.O. Box 5963 P.O. Box 3454 [email protected] 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: Oakland, CA 94612 Cleveland, OH 44101 Houston, TX 77253-3454 New York, NY 10011 Rochester, N.Y. 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institu- 510.600.5800 216.738.0320 713.503.2633 212.627.2994 585.436.6458 tions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Boston Huntington, W. Va. Atlanta 284 Amory St. Denver [email protected] Rockford, IL Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY P.O. Box 5565 Boston, MA 02130 [email protected] [email protected] 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available 617.286.6574 Los Angeles Atlanta, GA 30307 5278 W Pico Blvd. on microfilm and/or photocopy from NA Publishing, [email protected] Detroit San Diego Inc, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998. A 404.627.0185 Los Angeles, CA 90019 P.O. Box 33447 Buffalo, N.Y. 5920 Second Ave. searchable archive is ­available on the Web at www. [email protected] 712 Main St #113B Detroit, MI 48202 [email protected] San Diego, CA 92163 323.306.6240 workers.org. Baltimore Buffalo, NY 14202 313.459.0777 [email protected] c/o Solidarity Center 716.883.2534 [email protected] Milwaukee A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. [email protected] [email protected] Tucson, Ariz. 2011 N. Charles St. [email protected] Subscription information is at workers.org/email.php. Durham, N.C. Baltimore, MD 21218 Chicago Philadelphia Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. 27 N. Wacker Dr. #138 804 Old Fayetteville St. P.O. Box 34249 Washington, D.C. 443.221.3775 Chicago, IL 60606 Durham, NC 27701 Philadelphia, PA 19101 P.O. Box 57300 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to [email protected] 312.229.0161 919.322.9970 610.931.2615 Washington, D.C. 20037 Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org April 30, 2015 Page 3 Mumia Abu-Jamal International pressure blocks ‘execution by neglect’

By Betsey Piette gy and dietary specialists of his choice. ported by biased news media, called for Zuniga’s firing. April 19 — Worldwide pressure on Billions in profits for prison health care Instead of bowing to pressure to re- Pennsylvania officials on behalf of po- Mumia’s condition highlights the sys- sign her post, Zuniga, with the backing of litical prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal has temic neglect and abuse of prisoners in hundreds of Northern New Jersey com- halted the state’s efforts to execute him the U.S.’s vast and ever-growing system of munity activists, stood her ground. Peo- by medical neglect. Yet the struggle must mass incarceration. It is also a clear viola- ple who flooded a school board meeting continue to assure that Mumia receives tion of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. on Zuniga’s case on April 14 discussed the care necessary to reverse the ravages Constitution, which prohibits cruel and their own experiences at the hands of of months of untreated diabetes. unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme racist police. On March 30, Abu-Jamal fainted in Court has ruled this applies to the states. Demonstrators demanded that Zuniga the prison infirmary at the State Correc- The U.S. Bureau of Justice reported be allowed to address the hearing. Zu- tional Institution at Mahanoy in Frack- that some 40 percent of prisoners and niga, a first-generation Peruvian immi- ville, Pa. He was rushed to a hospital in jail inmates in 2011-2012 were exhibit- grant, said, “On February 5, I presented Pottsville, Pa., where he was diagnosed ing chronic medical conditions such as a ‘do-now’ that stated: What is the main with diabetic shock. Although he had asthma, cancer, heart disease, high blood idea of this quote: ‘So long as one just per- exhibited classic symptoms of diabetes pressure — and diabetes. An estimated son is silenced, there is no justice’? This and received three blood tests, prison 80,000 suffer from diabetes, compound- quote is by Mumia Abu-Jamal. Many doctors at SCI Mahanoy had never diag- ed by stress, lack of exercise and diets of my students took it upon themselves Marylin Zuniga stood up for justice. nosed or treated his condition. high in carbohydrates, salt and sugar. to go home and do research about civil Prison officials at first tried to keep A typical breakfast at Mahanoy, where or Michael Nutter renewed the county’s rights leaders discussed in class. In April, family and supporters from visiting him Mumia is imprisoned, includes both oat- contract with this company, accepting its I mentioned to my students that Mumia but later relented after Abu-Jamal’s sup- meal and a hefty slice of sugary cake. bid over a competing bid from Correc- was very ill and they told me they would porters around the world flooded the Compounding the poor nutrition is the tional Medical Care that offered to do the like to write get-well letters to Mumia.” prison superintendent and Department sub-par medical care provided by Cori- job for $3.5 million less per year. (Newsone.com, April 17) of Corrections’ officials with thousands zon Health Inc., a for-profit provider that Zuniga called her students heroes “be- of calls. Demonstrators also protested reaps profits of some $1.5 billion a year Support for students and teacher cause they showed compassion, care, and outside the prison, at the Pennsylvania from prison health care contracts. who spoke up love like any member of the community Department of Corrections and in sever- Corizon is the biggest for-profit cor- While the world’s attention is focused should show. They were mature enough al cities. rectional health provider in the U.S., re- on demanding the necessary treatment to do that in a letter and it is incredible Abu-Jamal has lost over 50 pounds. sponsible for prisoners in 27 states. This for Mumia, it also must call out the hor- and admirable of them as well.” High He still has fluctuating blood sugar levels company is drawing increased scrutiny rific conditions faced by the over 2.4 mil- school students from the Philadelphia and suffers from serious eczema, which over allegations that it skimps on care lion other individuals warehoused in U.S. Student Union, which fights for school has left his skin hard and crusted. His for some of the 345,000 inmates in its prisons. It must also demand that there reform, also sent letters to Mumia and condition is stable, but he is still weak charge. The company has paid millions be no retribution against individuals who participated in protests on his behalf. and in a lot of pain. His life remains at in legal settlements over inadequate or act to shed light on this problem. The fight to secure the medical care risk as long as medical treatment is left bungled treatment that resulted in the A case in point is the suspension of Or- Mumia needs and to eventually win his in the hands of the same prison infir- deaths of several inmates. It has been ange, N.J., third-grade teacher Marylin freedom will continue. Demonstrations mary doctors whose negligence nearly sued for malpractice 660 times in the last Zuniga, who supported her students’ and other events are being planned killed him. five years. wishes to send get-well letters to grave- over the weekend of April 24-26, when Prison officials are considering but In 2013, despite concerns about Cori- ly ill Abu-Jamal. The letter writing was Abu-Jamal turns 61. Many will focus on have yet to approve Abu-Jamal’s request zon’s costs, widespread negligence and voluntary and extracurricular. Neverthe- educating a new generation of activists to be seen by endocrinology, dermatolo- abuse of prisoners, Philadelphia May- less, the Fraternal Order of Police, sup- about his case. Prison profiteers drive detention of immigrants

By Fred Goldstein of them unable to pay bail of from $4,000 seeing these same corporations invest ities, as well as throughout the detention to $7,500. Many have no legal council at millions in the Congressional commit- center system. The U.S. prison system is more and deportation hearings. People are held not tee that created that insurance policy for The CCA contributed funds to 30 of more becoming a profit center for big knowing when their cases will be heard them.” (Common Dreams, April 16) the 36 legislators in the Arizona state private corporations. The detention of and whether they will be sent back to Legislature who drafted SB 1070, which undocumented immigrants fleeing per- their home countries to face repression. Prison rule by violence required police to detain people if there is secution has become a special source of The DHS gave the CCA the right to “a reasonable suspicion” that they are un- “profit from misery.” Prison lobby spends millions for detentions run a 50-acre compound in Dilley, Texas, documented. The legislation was drafted A new study from “Grassroots Lead- In 2009, at a time when detentions were that will ultimately house 2,400 women by the American Legislative Exchange ership” documents how the largest pri- in a multi-year decline, Sen. Robert Byrd, and children. But this corporation has a Council, a right-wing think tank, while vate prison corporations in the country, then chair of the Appropriations Subcom- history of fostering inmate violence as a the CCA was present. (Newsweek) the Corrections Corporation of America mittee on Homeland Security, inserted in method of running its prisons. In 2008, The two private prison corporations, (CCA) and the GEO Group, have spent an appropriations bill that “funding made the CCA was charged with having four CCA and GEO, whose only product is the millions of dollars lobbying the Depart- available ... shall maintain a level of not times as many violent incidents in its misery of the prisoners and detainees in ment of Homeland Security committee in less than 33,400 detention beds.” The Idaho Correctional Center as all the oth- their custody, enjoyed $48 million in gov- the Senate for harsh immigrant detention number was raised to 34,000 in 2013. er seven state prisons combined. It was ernment-guaranteed profits in 2014 and laws. Together, they run 90 percent of the The DHS interpreted this language as called “the gladiator school” by inmates. more than $250 million over the last sev- DHS detention centers. meaning that this number of beds would (Newsweek, Dec. 20, 2014) eral years. This money comes from tax- These harsh laws ratchet up deten- be filled on a daily basis. This became The CCA runs the Dawson State jail payers, mostly workers and the middle tions, which then ratchet up the profits of known as the “immigrant detention quo- for nonviolent offenders in Dallas, called class. the CCA and GEO. ta” or the “bed mandate.” The quota be- “the worst state jail in Texas” by the Tex- The Grassroots Leadership study un- The report was timed to coincide with came the driver of an increasingly aggres- as Observer. In 2010, 45-year-old Pa- covers the collaboration between the capi- a renewed hunger strike by women and sive immigration enforcement policy. mela Weatherby died because the pris- talist state and the corporations in its raw children at the infamous Karnes County The CCA spent $10,560,000 between on replaced her diabetes medicine with form. As the capitalist class finds it more detention center for women and children 2008 and 2014 lobbying for tougher im- a cheaper variety of insulin. In 2004, and more difficult to find profitable invest- in southern Texas, run by GEO. The hun- migration enforcement, according to the 30-year-old Ashleigh Parker died of ment in the stagnating economy, it resorts ger strike was launched to protest poor Grassroots Leadership study. The GEO pneumonia when the prison authorities more and more to parasitic, unproductive conditions, mistreatment and the unjust spent half a million dollars on lobbying denied her life-saving antibiotics. ways of milking the state for profits. Hun- detention of families fleeing for their between 2011 and 2014. Rebellions against mistreatment broke dreds of millions of dollars that could and lives. During a previous hunger strike The coauthor of the report, Bethany out in two CCA-run facilities in Missis- should be used for schools, health care, at Karnes this year, 78 mothers signed a Carson, said in a press statement: “The sippi. Two inmates at the Eloy Detention child care, funding of jobs and more is be- letter demanding release for themselves immigrant quota is taxpayer-financed Center run by the CCA outside Phoe- ing forked over to private prisons. and their children. insurance for private prison corpora- nix, Ariz., committed suicide three days That is capitalism. That is the profit Thousands of women and children tions that the government will maintain apart. Claims of rape and other sexual system. And that is why it must be done have been held in detention camps, many their bottom line at all costs. Now we are abuse have been lodged at CCA-run facil- away with. Page 4 April 30, 2015 workers.org Baltimore erupts over In southwest Michigan fatal police beating Justice denied for By Sharon Black protesting in front of the Western Dis- Baltimore trict police station. At the request of Civil Rights leader Grey’s family, the People’s Power As- By Abayomi Azikiwe of $1,736.17, saying the politician suffered Protests over the police killing of sembly and the Southern Christian St. Joseph, Mich. economic and psychological damage. 25-year-old Freddie Carlos Grey erupt- Leadership Conference staged a down- Hightower did not even bother to appear ed over the April 18-19 weekend after town protest and rally in front of City Read entire article at workers.org. in court, and prosecutor Michael Sepic, the announcement of the young Afri- Hall on April 20 at 9 a.m. The protesters who submitted the motion, argued on his can-American man’s death on April 18. then marched to police headquarters, Another postconviction motions hear- behalf. Grey was brutally and callously dragged where police blocked the entrance to ing took place on April 14 in St. Joseph, Human Resources Director Susan to a police wagon after being thrown to the station. Mich., involving the conviction by an all- Leach of Lakeland Hospital, where High- the ground because he could not walk. This brutal case has garnered nation- white jury late last year of a leading Black tower is employed, was subpoenaed by Eventually taken to the hospital, he was al press coverage. The PPA, SCLC and Civil Rights activist, the Rev. Edward the defense to testify. She reported that put on life support after suffering three the community have called a planning Pinkney, who was denied justice by a Hightower is a salaried employee who did broken vertebrae and a severed spinal meeting on April 22 to discuss next corporate-controlled racist system in the not lose any pay during the course of the cord on April 12. steps. Protests are continuing every southwest region of the state. recall campaign or during Pinkney’s trial Hundreds of people from West Bal- night at the Western District station. For Rev. Pinkney, of the Black Autonomy where he testified. Nonetheless, the court timore went into the streets both days more information, call 443.221.3775. Network Community Organization, was ruled against Pinkney. in the courtroom in St. Joseph, the seat The other motion by the defense re- of Berrien County. Defense Attorney Tat quested a new trial based on the connec- Parish requested that handcuffs be re- tion between juror Gail Freehland and moved from Pinkney. But Judge Sterling the family of Berrien County Clerk Sha- Schrock denied the request. ron Tyler, who was a key witness in the Eric Harris and Judge Schrock continues to preside prosecution of Pinkney. over the Pinkney case. The BANCO lead- Relationships were clearly established er was convicted on five felony counts of through a series of witnesses called by Tulsa’s racist history forgery in 2014 involving the purported the defense, constituting a clear conflict changing of dates on recall petitions de- of interest. By Stephen Millies “Black Wall Street,” was destroyed. Hun- signed to remove Benton Harbor Mayor Prosecutor Sepic argued the defense dreds of Black-owned businesses were James Hightower. arguments seeking to draw connections White millionaire Robert Bates, a for- burned down while thousands of African Schrock said removing the handcuffs and social relationships between these mer insurance executive, claims he “ac- Americans were forced to flee the city. was up to the discretion of the Michi- personalities involved in the trial were cidently” killed Eric Harris, an unarmed The aim of the massacre was to prevent gan Department of Corrections. But no “preposterous” and no connections were Black man, on April 2 in Tulsa, Okla. African Americans from benefiting from MDOC officials were in the courtroom, established. Bates, a volunteer reserve sheriff’s depu- Tulsa’s oil boom. since Pinkney had been transported to Defense attorney Parish replied that ty, says he thought he had pulled a Taser Big oil continues to dominate Tulsa, the Berrien County jail the night before “there is every reason to suggest connec- on Harris instead of his gun. a city of 400,000 with a metropolitan the hearing from the Lakeland Correc- tions,” which were not disclosed during That’s the same fairy tale that tran- region of a little more than 1 million. In tional Facility in Coldwater, where he the jury screening process. sit cop Johannes Mehserle told after he nearby Bartlesville are the headquarters is being held on a sentence of 30 to 120 Judge Schrock denied the motion for killed Oscar Grant III at the Fruitvale Bay of oil giants Phillips 66, which had rev- months. a new trial. He re-emphasized that Pink- Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland, enues of $171 billion in 2013, and Cono- Two motions resulted in decisions that ney did not qualify for bond pending the Calif. coPhillips, which had sales of $62 billion clearly violate the civil rights of Pinkney, outcome of his appeal, which is being filed Oklahoma has executed 112 people in 2012. The Williams Companies — a long-time county organizer. The first to overturn his convictions on the felony since 2012, but Bates won’t be one of whose $26 billion in assets includes pipe- stemmed from a prosecution motion re- charges. them. There’s never been a millionaire lines, natural gas and oil deposits — are questing financial restitution to Mayor A demonstration against Whirlpool executed in the United States. Bates has also located in Tulsa. Hightower due to purported harm to him products sold at Lowe’s in Southfield, been charged — but only with second-de- With this amount of loot, it would easy by Pinkney during the recall campaign. Mich., is scheduled for April 24 to expose gree manslaughter. to pay the justified reparations for the The judge ordered Pinkney to pay resti- the role of corporations in the politics of Racism isn’t an accident. And it’s not an racist massacre of 1921. But Big Oil and tution to Mayor Hightower in the amount Berrien County and southwest Michigan. accident that Bates was allowed to roam its local governments haven’t paid a nick- the streets with a gun and Taser el to the survivors and their descendants. weapon, even though he’s just a volunteer Instead they provided a welcome wag- cop. on for charlatans like the late Rev. Thousands protest police terror Billy Hargis. For decades the television Big Oil and racist terror and radio empire of this segregationist By LeiLani Dowell ­violently thrown to the ground and then Tulsa has a long history of racist vio- and warmonger spread hate coast-to- dragged before she was arrested. The lence. Between April 30 and May 1, 1921, coast. Events were held around the country protest demanded justice for Tony Rob- as many as 300 African Americans were Another favorite of Tulsa’s elite was the on April 14 to protest police terror under inson, a 19-year-old African-American killed by white racist mobs. Incendiary late faith healer Oral Roberts, who cruelly the theme of “Shut it down.” The militant youth who was shot dead by Madison cop bombs were dropped and rifle assaults exploited people with disabilities. He ac- actions, involving many youth activists Matt Kenney on March 6. on the Black community were carried out tually tried to establish a medical school. and organizers, were violently repressed “This is a clear example of the state from airplanes. Tulsa’s Oral Roberts University, named by the police in many areas. Among the violence we have been talking about for Lurid headlines in the Tulsa Tribune for this quack, has over 3,000 students. cities where protests were held were At- months,” said Grayson. “They brutalized helped spark the bloody terror, which in- But there is another Tulsa. Black, Lati- lanta; Chicago; Cleveland; Detroit; Fer- me, and they arrested our babies who cluded Black people being hanged in the no and Latina, Native, Asian and white guson, Mo.; Gainesville, Fla.; Greens- were mourning and protesting against streets. Copies of the racist Tribune rag workers and poor people there want jus- boro, N.C.; Honolulu; Houston; and Los the police violence that led to the murder for the date of the massacre have mysteri- tice for Eric Harris. They want an end to Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, San of their friend, Tony Robinson.” ously disappeared from libraries. police terror and poverty wages. They will Jose and Stockton in California. YGB has also joined with the Coalition The prosperous African-American lead more struggles in Tulsa and through- In New York protesters, including For Justice in Milwaukee to protest the neighborhood of Greenwood, known as out Oklahoma. many youth of color, marched for hours murder of Dontre Hamilton, along with from Union Square down Broadway and organizations such as Wisconsin Jobs PHOTO: FREEDOM INC. over the Brooklyn Bridge. They took over Now to demand living wages for low- the vehicular side of the bridge even when wage workers and with unions to protest cops tried to prevent them from doing so. right-to-work-for-less laws. Some 50 people were arrested. Black people in Wisconsin face some of After walking out of school earlier in the worst conditions in the U.S., includ- the day in Madison, Wis., and then en- ing the highest per capita rate of Black gaging in street protests, including oc- prisoners and infant mortality rates three cupations and cultural activities, youth times that of whites. Dozens of Black men and student protesters were peacefully and women have been killed by police in assembling for an evening protest when the last 10 years. The union-busting pro- they were surrounded by cops in doz- visions of Act 10, right-to-work-for-less, ens of vehicles and viciously attacked. and other austerity laws implemented in At least 10 protesters, including Young, the last few years are negatively impact- Gifted and Black Coalition leader Bran- ing Black communities the worst. di Grayson, were arrested and ticketed Toni Arenstein and the Milwaukee Madison, Wis. for municipal citations. Grayson was WW Bureau contributed to this report. workers.org April 30, 2015 Page 5

SYRIA How NBC lied to promote regime change

By Chris Fry ter a deadly gun battle. of events.” (New York Times, April 16) en millions from their homes. But to the NBC News and MSNBC both blamed At the time of the kidnapping, U.S. corporate wizards of NBC and the rest When artist Frederic Remington ca- not only the Assad government but also imperialism was waging a media blitz to of Wall Street, that means little next to bled back to his publisher from Cuba in Hezbollah and Iran for the kidnapping. step up military support to the Free Syri- maintaining their grip on the oil treasure 1897 that “There will be no war,” media The rest of the corporate media fell in an Army. As progressive journalist Glenn in the Middle East. mogul William Randolph Hearst cabled line behind this story. Greenwald writes: “Then-Chair of the So what has changed? Why is the true back: “You furnish the pictures and I’ll At the time, several experts questioned Senate Foreign Relations Committee John story about the kidnapping coming out furnish the war.” (Time, Oct. 27, 1947). whether Assad loyalists had actually kid- Kerry was openly discussing ways for the now? Hearst, along with news business mag- napped the news crew. They said that the U.S. to aid the rebels to bring about regime The policymakers for U.S. imperial- nate Joseph Pulitzer, beat the war drums kidnapping was more likely conducted change. Sen. Joe Lieberman was saying: ‘I ism, facing the unraveling of their polit- successfully for the first big U.S. imperi- by forces within the Free Syrian Army hope the international community and the ical and military strategy in Yemen, Iraq, alist adventure: the Spanish-American itself, by a group called the North Idlib U.S. will provide assistance to the Syrian Syria, Libya and elsewhere, are now split War of 1898. The U.S. government suc- Falcons Brigade, led by Azzo Qassab Free Army in the various ways we can.’ on Syria and how to deal with Iran. Is ceeded in grabbing Spain’s overseas pos- and Shukri Ajouj. Many pointed out that Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, this why NBC and the rest of the corpo- sessions to begin its own expanding em- these groups have often misled their kid- while ruling out direct military interven- rate media have decided to rewrite the pire, taking over Cuba, Puerto Rico and napping victims into believing that their tion, said: ‘We have to redouble our efforts story of the Engel kidnapping to match the Philippines. captors were Syrian government forces. outside of the United Nations with those more closely the current strategy of the A hundred and some years later, five As reported this year: “NBC executives allies and partners who support the Syri- Obama administration? journalists, including NBC correspondent were informed of Mr. Ajouj and Mr. Qa- an people’s right to have a better future.’” Not that this has stopped the more Richard Engel, were kidnapped in Syria in ssab’s possible involvement during and (firstlook.org, April 16) right-wing imperialist elements from December 2012 and held captive for sever- after Mr. Engel’s captivity, according to Backing the murderous organizations trying to torpedo these moves at every al days. After his release, Engel announced current and former NBC employees and fighting the Syrian government was far turn. Whatever faction comes out on top, that they had been kidnapped and held by others who helped search for Mr. Engel, more important to the executives of the the Engel kidnapping story, as Green- Shiite militia forces loyal to the govern- including political activists and security giant NBC Corporation than revealing wald describes, “is the type of systematic ment of President Bashar al-Assad. professionals. Still, the network moved the truth to the public about who was re- journalistic deceit and that Engel, who is fluent in Arabic, also said quickly to put Mr. Engel on the air with sponsible for the Engel kidnapping. This we have seen over and over, almost al- they had been rescued by forces of the an account blaming Shiite captors and U.S. imperialist policy has cost the lives ways on the side and service of the U.S. Pentagon-backed Free Syrian Army, af- did not present the other possible version of thousands of Syrian people and driv- government’s agenda of endless war.” Day of Solidarity with Venezuela blasts U.S. threats

By Brenda Ryan The U.S. demonstrators added their New York voices to the millions around the world speaking out in support of Venezuela. Shouting, “Venezuela is not a threat! One speaker reported that Venezuela has Repeal the decree now!” activists rallied collected 13 million signatures from peo- in Times Square on April 15 to demand ple around the world calling on Obama to that President Barack Obama keep U.S. retract the executive order, which these hands off the Bolivarian revolution. millions consider a prelude to invasion. The protest was part of the “Interna- On April 1, there was a “United Nations tional Days of Solidarity with Venezuela” Day of Solidarity with Venezuela,” during called in response to Obama’s declaration which leaders from numerous countries that Venezuela is a threat to U.S. security. condemned the U.S. decree and declared In the U.S., in addition to New York City, their solidarity with Cuba. demonstrations were held in Milwaukee, And at the “Seventh Summit of the Buffalo, San Francisco and Detroit from Americas” in Panama on April 10 and April 11 through 19. 11, Argentine President Cristina Fernán- On March 5, Obama had issued an dez de Kirchner, Bolivian President Evo executive order calling Venezuela “an Morales and Ecuadoran President Rafa- unusual and extraordinary threat to the el Correa criticized the U.S.’s hostility to WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN national security and foreign policy of the Venezuela and voiced support for Vene- Marchers in New York join millions who reject sanctions. United States” and announcing that the zuelan President Nicolás Maduro. U.S. would be levying sanctions on Vene- The U.S. government has been work- foot of Central Park. Bolívar, “the Liber- the Alliance for Global Justice, the United zuela under the International Emergency ing to overturn the revolutionary prog- ator,” led the struggle that won indepen- National Anti-War Coalition, Honduras Economic Powers Act. ress in Venezuela ever since the election dence for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ec- USA Resistencia, and the May 1st Coali- Speakers at the rally noted the absur- of President Hugo Chávez in 1998, when uador, Peru and Venezuela from Spain in tion for Worker and Immigrant Rights. dity of this statement and pointed to the the new government began to improve the early 19th century. In Milwaukee the protest on April 19 real threats people in this country face: dramatically the standard of living for In Buffalo, protesters gathered near was sponsored by the Milwaukee An- police brutality, unemployment, low wag- the poorest people. Now President Madu- Buffalo State College. Several people ti-War Committee and supported by nu- es, poverty, and the lack of housing and ro is carrying on this legacy, with the sup- passing by stopped to express their ap- merous labor-community organizations, education. They also noted the support port of political and mass organizations preciation for the rally and cars going by including the Latin American Solidarity that Venezuela has given to poor and in Venezuela. signaled their support. Committee, Fight Imperialism Stand working people in the U.S., including pro- In New York, people marched from The National Call for Solidarity was en- Together, Freedom Road Socialist Orga- viding heating oil to people in the South Times Square to the statue of Simón Bolí- dorsed by the International Action Cen- nization, Wisconsin Bail Out the People Bronx and New England. var at 59th Street and 6th Avenue at the ter, the Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle, Movement and Workers World Party. Detroit remembers Viola Liuzzo

By Joe Mchahwar Jr. to organize in Selma, Ala., following the One of the Klansmen involved in the been falling into disrepair for years, but Detroit “Bloody Sunday” voting rights march. terrorist attack was an FBI informant. a grassroots effort for its revitalization is Liuzzo was only in Selma for a matter The FBI then led a vicious smear cam- now underway. Other events around the In an era when many Civil Rights icons of days when the caught paign against Liuzzo and her family. city also marked Liuzzo’s birthday and are unknown to youth, even those in the up with her. On March 25, 1965, Liuz- Crosses were burned in front of her fami- contributions to the struggle. struggle, people are still working to keep zo, who was white, and Leroy Moton, a ly’s home in Detroit. Viola Liuzzo and other martyrs for jus- alive the legacy of those who gave every- 19-year-old African American, were shut- On April 10 this year, Wayne State Uni- tice will continue to inspire generations thing for justice. tling people in and out of Selma when a versity granted its first-ever posthumous of revolutionary youth. Liuzzo’s courage April 11 would have been the 90th birth- car full of Klan members maneuvered to degree to Liuzzo, an honorary juris (law) will be forever ingrained in Detroit’s con- day of Detroit Civil Rights martyr Viola drive them off the road. Shooting from doctorate. WSU also placed a plaque on sciousness. Gregg Liuzzo. A mother of five and a nursing their car, the racists hit Liuzzo twice in the campus in her memory and created a Joe Mchahwar is a Detroit organizer student at Wayne State University, ­Liuzzo the head, killing her instantly. Moton was scholarship in her name at the School of with the revolutionary youth group FIST heeded the call of Dr. Martin Luther King wounded and escaped the attackers. Nursing. A park named after Liuzzo has (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together). Page 6 April 30, 2015 workers.org Wisconsin austerity budget On the picket line By Matty Starrdust and Sue Davis

Teachers, students, parents Low-wage restaurant workers: march against cuts ‘#StopTheOtherNRA’ Several hundred low-wage restaurant workers and their supporters took to the streets of the U.S. capital on April By Workers World Coalition of Progressive 15 to rally against the National Restaurant Association, Milwaukee Bureau Organizations, United the lobbying group pushing to keep 11 million tipped Council, Youth Empow- workers making poverty wages. The protest, organized by Hundreds of members ered in the Struggle and Restaurant Opportunity Centers United and its Coalition of the Milwaukee Teachers numerous faculty senates. to #StopTheOtherNRA, included a pop-up “restaurant” Education Association, Unions such as American that blocked four busy intersections in the D.C. metro area students and communi- Federation of Teachers and to prevent busloads of NRA lobbyists from meeting with ty supporters protested the American Federation of policymakers. The NRA, whose membership includes Mc- in Milwaukee April 18 State, County and Munici- Donald’s and other Fortune 500 corporate bigwigs, lobbies to end cuts to K-12 and pal Employees, which rep- against initiatives to raise the tipped minimum wage (a higher education, protest resents UW System faculty measly $2.13 an hour since 1991!) to the federal minimum toxic testing and charter and state employees, and a wage and give workers much-needed paid sick days. schools, and demand ad- wide array of labor, com- Protesters called for “One Fair Wage” for all workers. PHOTO: MILWAUKEE TEACHERS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION equate resources and services for munity and African-Ameri- That would help tipped workers, about 80 percent of whom teachers, staff, students and com- “public authority” body. Although can organizations are coalescing to are women, nearly half of whom live in or near poverty, munities. Walker hasn’t revealed specifics, beat back these attacks. according to the ROC United report released April 14. The April 18 demonstration is research suggests the governor Youth and student led protests ­(ROCunited.org, April 15) part of a series of mass protests would appoint all board members have taken place at UW Green Bay, since January when Gov. Scott of the public authority, leading to UW Stevens Point, UW Madison, Equal Pay Day, April 14 even more privatization of the UW Walker unveiled his 2015-17 aus- UW Milwaukee, UW Eau Claire On Equal Pay Day, women’s, civil rights and labor groups System. terity budget. They are a continu- and other campuses. More are be- observed that women must work 104 days longer -- until Supporters of public education ation of the people’s occupation of ing organized. Solidarity is being April 14 -- to earn what men earned the previous year. A have grave concerns about how the state Capitol in 2011. The ef- built among many struggles, in- new study published that day by the National Partnership these moves would affect state em- fects of the 2013-2015 state budget, cluding public education, low-wage for Women and Families shows flagrant discrimination ployees. Once jobs are outsourced which included the largest cuts to workers, the fight against police exists against all women workers, whose pay averages just to private employers at below-pov- public education in Wisconsin his- terror and union busting. 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. This gender-, erty wages and inferior or no bene- tory, are now painfully felt in every Ben Herrenbruck, a student at the class- and nationality-based inequality runs rampant fits, those workers would not be el- city, town and village. The vast ma- Milwaukee Area Technical College through all jobs, careers and professions, from the lowest igible for state pensions and health jority of the state’s poor and work- and a member of Fight Imperial­ paid to the highest. But, the study shows, it falls hardest on care systems. That would destroy ing people are demanding: Hands ism, Stand Together (FIST), is par- mothers who work full time, who are paid “just 71 cents for the civil service system and strip off public education! ticipating in many of these protests. every dollar paid to fathers who work full time, year round. tens of thousands of employees of The 2015-17 proposed austerity “Education is a human right and Single mothers are paid just 58 cents for every dollar paid hard-won rights. budget, like the previous one, at- should be free. The bankers, corpo- to fathers. And African-American and Latina mothers suf- The proposed budget cuts would tacks every sector of the working rate thieves and their political ser- fer the biggest disparities, being paid just 54 cents and 49 also impose hardships on work- class and oppressed, including en- vants fear us ... around this slogan cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to white, non-His- ing-class students, students of col- vironmental and prevailing wage because it suggests a fundamental panic fathers.” This causes, says NPWF President Debra or, women and lesbian, gay, bi, trans laws, unemployment insurance, connection among various strug- L. Ness, “real and lasting damage to women, families, and queer students who already FoodShare benefits, senior care, gles. More are beginning to realize communities and our nation.” (nationalpartnership.org, faced tuition increases under both project labor agreements and pub- that austerity in education has the April 13) Democratic and Republican ad- lic education. Wall Street orga- same root cause as other attacks, What’s the solution? Fight for a living wage for all -- just ministrations. Now the UW System nizations such as Americans For including police terror against as thousands of workers did the next day! Prosperity, American Legislative faces limited academic offerings, Black, Brown and other oppressed Exchange Council and the Heritage program closures and staff layoffs. peoples; union busting; low-wages; Foundation are fast attempting and imperialist war. The root cause Bus drivers vote to unionize Education is a human right! to eviscerate progressive Wiscon- is capitalism. As our resistance Bus drivers on both coasts have organized successful sin laws won decades ago through But faculty, staff, students and takes on an increasingly anti-capi- union drives. Double-decker tour bus drivers working mass struggle. community supporters of the UW talist character, it’s possible to form for Go New York Tours elected to join Transport Workers On behalf of Wall Street, Walk- System are not accepting these bonds of solidarity with all sectors Union Local 100 in a landslide vote on April 14. TWU er is now proposing at least a austerity cuts. The proposals have of the 99% against the common en- Local 100 now represents over 40,000 drivers in New York $300 million cut to the 26-cam- sparked resistance at UW campus- emy, Wall Street.” City. Among the drivers’ grievances are low wages and pus, world-renowned University of es and beyond statewide. For more information, visit denial of bathroom and lunch breaks. (NYDailyNews.com, Wisconsin System. He also wants Protests have been mounted by saveouruwm.com, facebook.com/ April 14) to sever the system from legisla- such organizations as UW Students groups/UWStudentsAgainstCuts The Teamsters welcomed shuttle bus drivers from five tive control and replace it with a Against Education Cuts, the UWM and wibailoutpeople.org. major Silicon Valley, Calif., tech companies on Feb. 17. Drivers at Yahoo, Apple, Genentech, eBay and Zynga voted to organize, citing low wages and unfair scheduling as their main grievances. The drivers seek the same contract won Victory for bakery worker by Facebook drivers earlier that month, which guaran- tees them $33,000 more annually in wages and benefits packages. The Teamsters now represent some 65 percent of Silicon Valley shuttle bus drivers. “Our next step now is Morima Ortiz and others to move forward and pick up the rest of the drivers,” says had been picketing Kenny’s Teamsters Local 853 Vice President Rome Aloise. (Mercu- Bakery in northern Man- ryNews.com, Feb. 27) hattan for over a year. Ortiz worked there for eight years Darigold dairy poisons drinking water and says she experienced wage On Jan. 14., a U.S. District Court found that Cow Palace, theft and verbal and physical a dairy supplier in the multibillion-dollar Darigold con- abuse while being paid below sortium headquartered in Seattle, poisoned the drinking the minimum wage. With the water of thousands of people in Washington’s Yakima help of the Laundry Workers Valley. The court found that the dairy consistently ignored Center, Ortiz won her legal U.S. Department of Agriculture recommendations for safe claim. Supporters celebrated storage and use of cow manure in agricultural fields. As her victory on April 13 in front a result, it is estimated that millions of gallons of manure of Liberato restaurant, whose leaked into the residential water supply, endangering as workers are still fighting for many as 24,000 people. Risks of exposure include cancer, their rights. heart disease and stroke. — Report and photo In a related incident, a Cow Palace dairy worker by Catherine Zeitz drowned on Feb. 24 after his truck toppled into a cow ma- nure storage reservoir that had been improperly secured. The United Farm Workers is asking supporters to email Darigold CEO Jim Wegner to demand adequate safety pro- tocols. See the link under Take Action on ufw.org. workers.org April 30, 2015 Page 7 ‘Fight for $15’ tells bosses to raise wages

By Sue Davis the Black Work Matters cam- paign, also known as Fight for Low-wage workers in the tens of thou- $15. (Common Dreams, April 15) sands, in 263 cities and towns, went on After demonstrating in Mem- strike from coast to coast on April 15 for $15 phis, more than 200 workers an hour and union representation without and students, joined by forces retaliation. It signaled a growing escalation from Little Rock, Tenn., board- in the workers’ struggle in the U.S. ed chartered buses and sever- Joined by protests in 40 countries on al small vans for the five-hour five continents — from San Paulo, Brazil, drive to join the Fight for $15 to Seoul; Amsterdam to Auckland, New action in Ferguson, Mo. Zealand; Toronto to Tokyo — April 15 rep- College and university stu- resents an emerging global movement dents came out in droves, driv- against low wages. en by the burden of student Nothing like this upsurge of work- loans and foreseeing a debt-rid- ing-class protest has been seen in the U.S. den future. “It’s important for since the national May Day demonstration students to be involved,” said in 2006, led by thousands of migrants from Robert Ascherman, a student many nations. WW PHOTO: ABAYOMI AZIKIWE activist from New York Univer- Organizers deliberately called the nationwide pro- were a group of about 50 unorganized drivers and se- sity, “because even if we aren’t working for McDonald’s test on April 15, Tax Day, to emphasize that taxpayers curity guards at Brink’s, the global security company. or Walmart, we are still on McDonald’s or Walmart type subsidize mega-billion-dollar imperialist giants like They’re fed up because the company recently reduced of wages.” Even now, some students have to choose be- McDonald’s and Walmart that pay workers poverty wag- its contribution to their 401(k)s; now pays for only five tween buying food or buying textbooks. es. A study, released April 13 by the Labor Center at the hours of overtime, though they often put in 60- to 80- Mary Kay Henry, Service Employees internation- University of California Berkeley, reports $153 billion hour weeks; and new messengers and drivers make less al president, said that students on 170 campuses were for such public assistance as food stamps, Medicaid and than $15, while United Postal Service and FedEx work- expected to join the struggle. On a recent tour of six housing subsidies is needed to sustain underpaid work- ers make over $20 an hour. (In These Times, April 15) colleges, she “saw students everywhere on fire to fight ing families. African-American youth linked the for their future and link arms with these workers … to A report by the National Employment Law Project, movement to the low-wage struggle. A banner headline change this low-wage economy.” also released April 13, found nearly half the U.S. work- on the Facebook page of Fast Food Forward proclaims: Even , the ruling-class mouth- force (42 percent) makes less than $15 an hour. Women “Economic justice is racial justice.” Dramatic links were piece, ran an article April 15 stating that though $15 an and people of color are disproportionately represented in made when early-morning demonstrators in Brooklyn, hour for fast food workers “seems a real stretch” … [it] the underpaid workforce, with over 50 percent of Afri- N.Y., picketed a McDonald’s wearing T-shirts reading, “I “may not be such a reach,” citing cities like Seattle and can-American workers and nearly 60 percent of Latino/a can’t breathe, Fight for $15.” And a die-in was staged at San Francisco where workers are now making $15 an workers making less than $15. noon in front of a McDonald’s on the Upper West Side of hour and noting struggles in many cities and states to Manhattan for four minutes and 15 seconds — to sym- boost their minimum wage. Three more layers broaden struggle bolize the struggle. The working-class genie that popped out of the capi- Workers in the fast food industry started this struggle “We joined the Fight for $15 because, for us, racial jus- talist bottle on April 15 — asserting the collective might two and a half years ago. This time other sectors were also tice is economic justice,” said Charlene A. Carruthers, na- of a determined working class — cannot be shoved back on board with walkouts, marches, rallies and die-ins, from tional director of Black Youth 100. “We believe that Black into that bottle. Atlanta to Los Angeles. In addition to members of com- workers have paid undeserved debts to greedy corpora- Coverage of April 15 actions by WW activists in cities munity and faith-based groups and unionized workers tions for far too long.” Her nonprofit organization started around the country is posted on workers.org. proudly showing solidarity, three more groups came out, some for the first time: workers in other low-wage jobs, ac- tivists in the Black Lives Matter movement and students. Baltimore Legions of underpaid, unorganized home care and child care workers, car washers, adjunct and graduate student teachers, retail and dollar store clerks, unorga- nized construction laborers, airport service and laundry workers, and all kinds of part-time, temporary and con- tract workers joined the Fight for $15. For the first time, manufacturing workers joined the strike. Members of the United Electrical Workers Local 150 in Whitakers, N.C., who work at the Cummins Inc. Rocky Mount Engine Plant, held a press conference to announce their support for Fight for $15: “Thousands of manufacturing workers, including over 100 RMEP work- ers, are paid even less than the $10.10/hr minimum wage President Obama has advocated. We are also fighting against companies’ violating our union rights.” (UE press release) Voting spontaneously to walk off the job in Chicago

PHOTO: BILL HUGHES Dock workers to ‘shut it down’

Continued from page 1 tes, mounted police and tear gas to beat back the mari- cargo sat in the harbor for 10 days. The courts lined up time strikers and reopen the ports. Cops shot two San with apartheid, ordering the ILWU to unload the ship, continue to stand up and speak out against injustice in Francisco workers, Nick Bordoise and Howard Sperry, but community pickets blocked the entrance to pier 80, any form, whether it is , racial discrimina- in the back, killing them near the union hall. Tens of refusing to allow business as usual with the racist apart- tion or, as in this case, racial homicide.” (www.ilaunion. thousands marched in their funeral, sparking the 1934 heid South African regime. org/news) General Strike. Oscar Grant was killed by a transit cop at the Bay Area The South Carolina AFL-CIO thanked ILWU Local 10 That massive labor solidarity won union control of the Rapid Transit’s on Jan. 1, 2009. It was for its solidarity: “You supply courage to the members of hiring hall and the coast contract uniting all 29 Western one of the first killings captured on camera phone. Local the SC AFL-CIO as we continue to address the unwar- ports. It ended the racist shape-up system on the docks 10’s Oct. 23, 2010, port shutdown — of the type planned ranted . We will share your mes- that had pitted worker against worker based on race, na- for the May 1 rally at Oakland City Hall — called for: sage of solidarity and reach out to workers around the tional origin, kickbacks or other favors — all to the boss- “Stop police brutality! Jail killer cops! Defend jobs and country to join with us on May 1st in actions to protest es’ benefit. public education! Stop the wars and repression!” the continuing unjustified killings.” Strike leader Harry Bridges said, “The owners have The ILWU’s 1971 Convention “voiced strong support only one objective, the destruction of labor unions. … If for the defense of Angela Davis and pledged a renewed ILWU forged in fighting racism, police killings we can’t control the hiring hall, then the right of long- battle against racism.” ILWU’s policy statement outlined Local 10 actions — including rescheduled union meet- shore [workers] to organize is just a farce. … The unions the role of labor: “Because unions must be spokes[peo- ings — are deep in the union’s tradition of fighting racism will be destroyed by discrimination and blacklisting.” ple] for all the people who work for a living, and because and injustice. The resolution included some examples. Local 10’s recent resolution notes that “ILWU has we must be in advance of all social and economic pro- Every year the ILWU shuts down all West Coast ports a proud history of standing up against racial injustice, grams for progress, we have no choice but to take the to remember “Bloody Thursday” — July 5, 1934. The San like the 1984 anti-apartheid action and the 2010 shut- lead in eliminating the scourge of racism from our land.” Francisco port bosses had unleashed a torrent of vigilan- down for justice for Oscar Grant.” In 1984 South African (ILWU Dispatcher, April 1971) Page 8 April 30, 2015 workers.org As U.S. troops arrive in Ukraine Opponents of coup regime are murdered

By Greg Butterfield Peacekeeper is being used as a ‘bulletin al Guard, a body created after the Maidan and Maidan goons. (rusvena.su, April 17) board’ for imminent death notices against coup to incorporate fascist gangs into the One year ago, on May 2, 2014, neo-Na- April 20 — In just four days in mid- those who dare to speak the truth about state apparatus. zis, including members of the Azov bat- April, three well-known critics of the what is really going on in Kiev. Keep in U.S. forces are to drill with the Azov talion, massacred at least 48 antifascists U.S.-backed Ukrainian junta were mur- mind that the website is actively support- Battalion, which is dominated by the at the House of Trade Unions. dered in the capital city Kiev. These ed by the advisor to the Interior Minister neo-Nazi movement. The Communists declare: ‘It’s time to act’ deaths followed more than a dozen other of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko.” battalion has been accused of numerous suspicious deaths and alleged suicides of An analysis of the website found that human rights violations in the junta’s The revolutionary communist orga- regime opponents. it was registered in Texas under a bogus brutal war against the independent Do- nization Union (Struggle), in an The three killed were former parlia- name, and is connected to NATO’s main netsk and Lugansk People’s Republics of April 19 statement on the assassinations, mentary deputy Oleg Kalashnikov and web domain. The full report, with rele- the Donbass mining region. said: “We appeal to everyone to ... realize journalists Sergei Sukhobok and Oles vant screenshots, is available in English , chief negotiator for that has come to our house. Buzina. at the website slavyangrad.org. , said of the U.S. troops’ arrival: “The ruling elite, which unleashed a Immediately after Buzina’s death near Meanwhile, an April 17 report in the “This is a conscious policy. In combina- fratricidal war, which pushed the people his home in Kiev on April 16, Ukrainian Post, an English-language mouth- tion with the moving up of military equip- into poverty, misery and injustice, cannot Interior Ministry advisor and parliamen- piece of the far-right government, said a ment [Kiev’s buildup of heavy weapons in rely on the support of the majority of peo- tary deputy Anton Gerashchenko posted group taking its name from the Ukrainian violation of the Minsk II ceasefire], this is ple. To preserve their political power, the on his Facebook page: “Everyone who Insurgent Army had claimed responsibil- meant to escalate the conflict.” (Novoros- ruling group has to rely on terror. Any at- was involved in the organization and fi- ity for the assassinations of Kalashnikov sia Today, April 17) tempt at dissent is suppressed in the most nancing of Antimaidan or other unlawful and Buzina, along with several others The Azov Battalion has embraced its brutal manner. acts against Maidan and feels a threat to over the past month. new official relationship with Washing- “The collapse of the economy, mass im- their life, please contact the law enforce- ton. Korrespondent.net published photos poverishment and widespread injustice Repression mounts ment agencies, so as not to follow the path on April 16, obtained from the Associated necessarily lead to social upheaval. And of Kalashnikov and Buzina.” (mk.ru) In The assassination campaign takes Press, of Azov forces near the occupied the junta has decided to take preventive other words: Turn yourself in or be killed. place in the context of three key politi- city of in the Donetsk People’s measures, knowing that a wave of popu- Maidan was the pro-imperialist, an- cal developments: The April 10 ban on Republic. They are shown flying the U.S. lar protests could sweep it away.” ti-communist movement that carried communist propaganda, symbols and flag alongside those of Ukraine and the Borotba declared further: “We can say out an illegal coup against the elect- “glorification of Soviet history” enacted Right Sector. with certainty that these killings signal ed government of Ukraine in February by the , or parliament; When Right Sector forces destroyed a the beginning of a new phase of the civil 2014. Antimaidan was the name given a law passed the same day enshrining as monument of Soviet leader V.I. Lenin in war in Ukraine. If the earlier confrontation to the anti-fascist resistance which arose “freedom fighters” ultraright Ukrainian occupied on April 17, ama- followed the line of junta [and] supporters throughout the country after the coup. In nationalist groups that collaborated with teur video showed the fascists flying the against the people of the southeast, now the primarily Russian-speaking south- Nazi German occupation during World U.S. flag. the representatives of yesterday’s elite have eastern region, Antimaidan gave birth to War II and the CIA during the Cold Right Sector and other Nazi groups been unwittingly drawn in. ... a struggle for independence. War; and the arrival of U.S. troops on marched through the center of , “The cruelty of the authorities will only The occurred shortly after Ukrainian soil. a multinational port city in southeast- increase. And anyone who is not satisfied a Ukrainian website called Mirotvorets Some 290 commandos of the U.S. Ar- ern Ukraine, on April 17 chanting, “Great with what is happening in the country (“The Peacekeeper”) published extensive my’s 173rd Airborne Division arrived Ukraine is for the white man,” “One race, must understand that it is impossible to personal information on the targets. The April 17 in Lvov, western Ukraine, after one nation” and “Hang the communists,” remain silent. It’s time to act. website, which calls itself a “resource for what Russian media called a military pa- according to Odessa’s dumskaya.net. The “We encourage everyone to prepare for Ukrainian law enforcement,” maintains rade of hundreds of kilometers from Italy march was escorted by the police. the fight. We will have no freedom from an extensive hit list of figures considered through Eastern Europe. The same day, at a protest against the Nazis unless we free ourselves,” the enemies by the junta. Along with British, Canadian and Pol- utility rate hikes and pension cuts, 53 statement concluded. An investigative report published at ish commandos, these U.S. troops are to opposition activists were arrested and The full statement can be read in En- politrussia.com says: “The website The provide training to the Ukrainian Nation- detained by police, aided by Right Sector glish at borotba.su. Imperialist wars, repression underlie Refugee crisis in Mediterranean By G. Dunkel Among the welter of what capitalist il war, poverty and political repression, just signed an $11 billion contract with the politicians in Western Europe call “solu- and make their way to Libya, do so in the Pentagon for Apache attack helicopters. A ship with 700 refugees on board tions” to this problem, one element stands hope of reaching Western Europe from (New York Times, April 18) The U.S. also capsized south of the Italian island of out — the situation in Libya. German there, as 219,000 people did in 2014. wants to up the ante in its proxy struggles Lampedusa in Libyan waters on April Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmei- (UNHCR, April 17) against Iran and its allies. 18. It was the latest episode in the huge er said, “The first thing” to be done is “to Very few of the poorest Africans try to Many refugees from the fighting that humanitarian crisis caused by a flood of try to get a government of national unity get to Europe — they don’t have the mon- follows these arms deliveries have wound refugees crossing the Mediterranean. in Libya.” (AP, April 19) ey to even start. But for young Africans up in Turkey. The UNHCR estimates that The Italian and Maltese coast guards, But it was the French and British air from families with a bit of money, often there are at least 1.9 million refugees in as of April 19, had saved only 50 people forces, with connivance and intelligence workers or farmers, or for some who have Turkey, mainly from the Syrian civil war. and estimated that 650 others had died support from the U.S. Pentagon, that in managed to get an education, Europe is a Refugees in western Turkey can cross a in this incident. 2011 destroyed Libya’s infrastructure beacon. few miles of water to get to Greek-owned The United Nations Refugee Agency and opened the road for local warlords to Hoping for salvation for themselves islands, and many of them do so. Hun- (UNHCR) estimates that 1,600 refugees compete for booty. Before the imperialists and their families from the political re- dreds a day are landing on small islands leaving from Libya have died in 2015, overthrew the government led by Moam- pression and violence that U.S. imperi- so lacking facilities that they wind up while 35,000 have made their way to Eu- mar el-Gadhafi, Libya had the highest alism and its junior partner France are sleeping in sheds or courtyards. (Ekathi- rope. Last year, around 219,000 people standard of living in Africa and attracted employing to control Africa, they take merini, April 17) crossed the Mediterranean, while 3,500 immigrants. The imperialist crushing of the chance. Since Greece is the poorest country in lives were lost. Most crossings are at- the Libyan state has reversed that. Europe, its strategy of dealing with this tempted in the summer when the weath- Now, people from all over Africa, from Greece, Turkey and the Mideast massive increase of refugees is to fairly er is calmer. Ghana to Somalia, who are fleeing civ- The UNHCR estimates that 4 million quickly give them travel documents and In November of last year, after Italy Syrians are refugees from the violent civ- send them on. But this strategy is getting ran out of money to run its search-and- il war that the United States and its Eu- entangled with Greece’s financial strug- rescue operation called Mare Nostrum ropean allies, like France and Great Brit- gles with Germany and other prosperous and asked the for funds, ain, plus its allies in the Middle East, like European states. northern European countries like En- Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have fomented, Refugees in eastern Turkey appear to gland, Germany and Holland insisted instigated and manipulated. take a different route. Some smugglers on a border interdiction program. Called The U.S. government is pouring arms obtain large ships from Syrian business Triton, it is the proximate cause of the into this area with big and profitable deliv- people, load them with refugees and then large spike in casualties. eries of advanced aircraft, missiles, bombs send the ships towards Italy. The captain By the end of April 2014, only 90 peo- and other weapons, replenishing what has and crew abandon the ship after leaving ple had died crossing the Mediterranean, been used up by the fighting in Syria, Iraq it on autopilot, trusting that the Italian the UNHCR estimates, compared to the and Yemen. Saudi Arabia spent $80 bil- coast guard will intercept it before there is 1,600 so far in 2015. U.S./ NATO bombs Libya in 2011. lion last year, and Qatar, a tiny country, an accident. (New York Times, Feb. 2) workers.org April 30, 2015 Page 9

What does it mean for workers? Slowdown, unemployment plague world capitalism What Marx warned the workers about 150 years ago:

By Fred Goldstein employ the workers already in the work- ➧ Intensification of exploitation of the workers. force, then mass unemployment, part- ➧ Lowering wages to below subsistence. The finance ministers of the largest time and temporary jobs steadily expand capitalist economies exuded gloom and with population growth. ➧ Mass unemployment or increasing the reserve army pessimism at the recent Washington When more and more unemployed of unemployed. meeting of the G-20. “Six years after workers are seeking scarce jobs, which ➧ Promoting foreign trade to gain additional profits abroad. tackling the global financial crisis, the comes with low growth, the bosses can world’s top economic policy makers are hire at lower and lower wages -- unless These are the very measures that the working class struggling to exit crisis-management the workers have a union, a good contract is experiencing today. mode and lift growth out of a long-term and are organized to defend their rights. funk,” wrote the Wall Street Journal on April 19. Karl Marx as a guide for today ciency programs, monitoring of workers, became discouraged. The underlying concern was that since This was all explained by Karl Marx GPS (global positioning system) spying If current trends continue, said the the so-called “recovery” began in 2009, over 150 years ago. He wrote for the and directing workers in transport, In- ILO, and they are expected to at best, un- the global economy has been in a steady working class and for those who wanted ternet-based outsourcing of medical ser- employment will rise by another 13 mil- state of slow growth and stagnation. to organize against capitalism. His analy- vices and legal briefs, ordering and mon- lion by 2018. The International Monetary Fund is- sis is highly important for understanding itoring of production, automated ports, It should be noted that the ILO, as an sued warnings about so-called “emerging what the bosses are doing today. container ships, management software organ of the U.N., is a very conservative markets.” China had its slowest growth Here in the U.S., the capitalist class has that can reach around the globe, and organization which tends to produce sta- in 10 years. Russia is in a recession. Bra- been struggling to expand its profits of many more technologies are the modern, tistics that tone down the facts exposing zil’s growth has slowed to a crawl. Inves- production since the global financial and high-tech version of what Marx called the world imperialism. tors are starting to pull their money out economic crisis of 2007-09 ended. To be intensification of exploitation. Unemployment in the U.S. is in the tens of many countries. sure, speculative paper profits of bank- of millions, but the growing “reserve army Lowering wages below subsistence The U.S. capitalist economy is growing ers, hedge funds, private equity funds, of unemployed” is a permanent feature of anemically, while and Europe are Wall Street gamblers and other parasites All these technologies make the skills capitalism at a dead end -- the phase in stagnating at best. The Greek debt crisis have grown enormously in recent years. of the workers obsolete by putting their which the workers are now living. is coming to a head as the IMF and the But this is largely based on the Federal skills into machines and software, there- Exporting their way out of crisis European bankers try to force further Reserve Board pouring trillions of dol- by destroying jobs and skills that once austerity on Greece’s Syriza government. lars of cheap money into the economy. paid livable wages. Millions of workers Washington and Wall Street are des- Worries about a Greek default, which However, the industrial and service with jobs now live in poverty and need perately trying to expand exports by could destabilize the eurozone, haunted parts of the “real” economy have been up government assistance to survive. This is promoting the Trans Pacific Partnership the G-20 meeting. against world capitalist overproduction, what Marx called lowering wages below agreement, which is calculated to break Behind this condition of slow growth limited markets and expanding produc- subsistence level. open the markets of 12 countries and and stagnation is capitalist overpro- tion capabilities due to technology. What Marx projected is now a global give corporations virtually sovereign duction. This is the underlying malady Marx explained in the third volume of phenomenon. The Global Wage Report economic power in the region. Washing- behind the gloom at the G-20, although his fundamental work, “Capital,” what 2014/15 of the U.N.’s International Labor ton is also scheming for a European Free no one will say it -- mostly because they measures the capitalists take to bolster Organization says, “Wage growth around Trade Agreement. don’t know it. their profits when they are facing a de- the world slowed in 2013 to 2.0 percent, In general, the big imperialist coun- cline. He listed some of them in a famous compared to 2.2 percent in 2012, and has tries are trying to export their way out Working class and chapter titled “The Law of the Tendency yet to catch up to the pre-crisis rates of of their crises. They want to gain a trade capitalist economic ‘growth’ of the Rate of Profit to Decline.” about 3.0 percent. advantage over their rivals and engage in Why should workers be concerned Here are some of the measures he out- “Even this modest growth in glob- unequal trade with oppressed countries. about the slowing rate of growth of the lined that tend to drive up profits: al wages was driven almost entirely by The big capitalist economies have world capitalist economy? • Intensification of exploitation of the emerging G-20 economies, where wages become massively productive through “Growth” under capitalism is an in- workers. increased by 6.7 percent in 2012 and 5.9 technology; they all suffer high unem- crease in overall economic activity. But percent in 2013. ployment and have lowered wages. So • Lowering wages to below subsistence. economic activity under the profit sys- “By contrast, average wage growth production quickly outstrips the market tem is also the process of exploitation of • Mass unemployment or increasing the in developed economies had fluctuated for the goods produced. workers. The two things are inseparable. reserve army of unemployed. around 1 percent per year since 2006 But as each country tries to export its The aim of the capitalists is to expand • Promoting foreign trade to gain addi- and then slowed further in 2012 and way out of the crisis in the home market, their exploitation of the workers and tional profits abroad. 2013 to only 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent global overproduction will expand, lay- to increase their profits. That is what These are the same measures that are respectively.” ing the basis for new and even greater growth means to them. To workers capi- negatively affecting the working class crises. talist growth means more jobs. All work- ­today. World ‘reserve army of unemployed’ In Marx’s time, foreign imperialist ers must sell their labor power to a boss The millions whose jobs have been investment was not a dominant factor and enter into the relationship of ex- Intensification of exploitation eliminated through technology and in the world economy. That is because ploitation in order to live. The alternative Intensified exploitation means - ex speed-up now swell the “reserve army of imperialism developed after Marx died. is unemployment under capitalism. panding the output that workers create in unemployed” that Marx referred to a cen- He would surely have included it in the Workers get paid for only part of the less and less time, often for lower wages. tury and a half ago. capitalists’ struggle to raise profits, and it time they work during the week. But they This is precisely what the working class Again this is a global matter. must be included today. must work for the whole week. Usually is being hammered with, not only in the The ILO reported: “Almost 202 million So workers should be deeply concerned they get paid just enough to stay alive U.S. but around the world. people were unemployed in 2013 around about what the world’s financiers are while the boss gets to keep what they Automation on the production line, in the world, an increase of almost 5 million saying. The big business experts cannot create during the entire week. The boss the restaurants, hospitals, big box stores, compared with the year before. This re- really predict anything very precisely, sells the product or service for money fast food outlets is the rule today. Bar flects the fact that employment is not ex- because their unplanned market system and profits from this surplus -- the un- codes, computerized cash registers, ro- panding sufficiently fast to keep up with is chaotic. But it is clear that world cap- paid labor time the workers put in. bots in warehouses, centralized commu- the growing labor force.” italism has not revived and is not reviv- Every year tens of millions of potential nications systems in stores and factories, The ILO further reported that in 2013, ing. Even the pro-capitalist pundits can workers enter the workforce around the and so on have eliminated jobs, destroyed over and above the 202 million unem- see this. world. If the capitalist economy does not skills and put pressure on the remaining ployed, there was an additional 62 mil- The working class, the labor move- grow fast enough to employ, that is, to workers to work faster. lion job gap, including 32 million new ment, the oppressed communities, the exploit these new workers, as well as to Development of computerized effi- job seekers and 23 million people who students and youth should take the wor- ries of the ruling class as a potential threat to the working class. When the bosses become gloomy about their econ- Low-Wage Capitalism at a Dead End omy, they are preparing to further push Job destruction, overproduction their crisis onto the masses. Capitalism The time to alert the workers and begin What the new globlized and crisis in the high-tech era organizing a massive pushback is now. high-tech imperialism For more information on these books and Goldstein is the author of “Low-Wage means for the class other writings by the author, Fred Goldstein, Capitalism” and “Capitalism at a struggle in the U.S. go to www.LowWageCapitalism.com Dead End,” which can be ordered from Available at Amazon and other bookstores. lowwagecapitalism.org. Page 10 April 30, 2015 workers.org Vietnam 40 years after liberation Visitors flock to the tunnels of Cu Chi

By Paul Wilcox and Joyce Chediac WW PHOTO: JOYCE CHEDIAC Legacy of May Day Cu Chi District, Vietnam Vietnamese children at rehearsal for victory commemoration. Ho Chi Minh City, known as Saigon before its lib- today eration, is a fast-moving metropolis of more than Next year will mark the 130th anni- another; it is the creation of ‘order,’ which 10 million people. Prepara- versary of the founding of May Day. Also legalizes and perpetuates this oppres- tions for April 30, the 40th known as International Workers Day, sion by moderating the conflict between anniversary of the unifi- May Day is still commemorated more classes.” cation of north and south consciously abroad — with demonstra- The pamphlet goes on to say that the Vietnam and the decisive tions, protests, strikes and other militant “state is a product and a manifestation defeat of the U.S. invasion actions worldwide — than where it origi- of the irreconcilability of class antago- and occupation, can be seen nated: in the United States. nisms. The state arises where, when and all over. On May 1, 1886, the American Federa- insofar as class antagonisms objectively Red flags of Vietnam and tion of Labor organized militant actions cannot be reconciled. And, conversely, the Vietnamese Communist demanding the right of all workers to an the existence of the state proves that the Party fly everywhere. Bill- eight-hour workday. On that day, workers class antagonisms are irreconcilable.” boards announcing the an- walked off their jobs and withheld their How does the state — which includes niversary abound. Hundreds of exuber- provide diversion for the fighters — most- labor from being exploited by the bosses. the armed bodies of men and women, the ant children gather in a downtown park ly peasants from the area. Martha Grevatt, a long-time Chrysler prisons, the courts, Immigration Customs rehearsing for commemoration ceremo- Some underground rooms have been autoworker, wrote about the origins of Enforcement, the military, the media and nies and posing for pictures. recreated and a small section of the tun- May Day: “About a quarter of a million more — manifest itself today? The most However, no place in Vietnam more nels enlarged for tourists to enter. took part in many cities, but Chicago, obvious example is the outright racist war embodies the revolutionary heroism The tunnels were used by the liberation with its militant, left-wing labor move- of mass incarceration and police and vig- that made this victory possible than this forces to infiltrate Saigon with intelli- ment, had the largest demonstration. ilante terror against Black, Brown and In- small suburb of Ho Chi Minh City. The gence units, Communist Party cadre and There, tens of thousands laid down their digenous youth, who face no prospect of guerrilla tunnels of Cu Chi District tes- sabotage teams. The 1968 Tet Offensive tools, and women and men poured into good-paying jobs, a decent education or a tify to the determination of a people to was prepared, and troops and supplies the streets. The demonstrations contin- bright future under capitalism. win their independence against a foe far assembled, through the Cu Chi tunnels. ued past May 1, and on May 3 police at- To its credit, the May 1 Coalition for superior in technology but far inferior in When the U.S. unknowingly set up a tacked and six workers were killed. Worker and Immigrant Rights is holding motivation, morale, and sheer base in Cu Chi right over the tunnels, it The next day a protest over the killings a major May Day rally and march in New determination to resist. found it was constantly attacked from was held in Haymarket Square. A bomb York City’s Union Square, demanding: The tunnels have been preserved and within the base. A special team of U.S. was thrown, a policeman was killed, and “From Ferguson to Ayotzinapa to NYC: turned into a national museum. soldiers sent into the tunnels to fight a struggle broke out that left seven police No more police terror; we want jobs, $15 Cu Chi District’s proximity to Saigon, encountered hidden booby traps made and four workers dead. Eight workers’ an hour and a union; end militarization where the U.S. and its puppet forces were from sharpened bamboo sticks covered leaders were convicted of murder, five of the border and police departments; based, and to land and river routes to with animal dung to cause infection. On of them sentenced to death. Four were legalization, not deportations; solidarity, that city, made it strategically significant. exhibit are examples of these traps, with hanged and one reportedly committed not war.” It was the only sizable area in the south of labels like “clipping armpit trap,” “door suicide. The other three were eventual- The capitalists are driven by their sys- Vietnam where troops could move easily, trap” and “folding chair trap.” ly pardoned.” (workers.org, March 23, tem to make more and more profits, not even during the monsoon season. Next the U.S. sent specially trained 2012) Those who were hanged became to meet human needs like jobs, health dogs to locate the tunnels. The Viet- known as the Haymarket Martyrs. care, food, shelter, education and equal- Tunnels spanned 150 miles namese fighters began to wash with U.S. Fast forward to Philadelphia, May 13, ity. This is the irreconcilable antagonism A guide explains that the tunnels were Army soap and wear captured U.S. Army 1985, when a powerful bomb was dropped based on one class oppressing another painstakingly dug by hoe, with the earth uniforms to confuse the dogs with a from a State Police helicopter on the home that exists today. A socialist revolution taken out in baskets. Their excavation “friendly smell.” of the MOVE family. The bomb created an on a global scale can begin the process of began in the 1940s. Despite the immense incendiary fire that caused the horrific eradicating this antagonism in order to difficulty of life in the tunnels, where air, Most bombed area in history deaths of 11 MOVE members, including fulfill the needs of humanity. food and water were scarce, and health The Pentagon’s response was barbaric. children, and the massive destruction of The state, which exists under capital- problems — especially malaria — were Cu Chi became the most shelled, gassed, at least 60 houses in the majority Black, ism to serve the greed for profits of the common, the tunnels provided shelter bombed, devastated and defoliated area working-class neighborhood. corporations and banks, has proven time from bombing attacks and a place to in the history of warfare. It was declared What do these two important events, and time again that it is no friend of the launch attacks on French and later U.S. a “free-fire zone,” the target of random occurring a century apart, have in com- workers and oppressed peoples, who are soldiers and the South Vietnamese colo- artillery fire, with pilots encouraged to mon? They both expose the naked terror the vast majority on the planet but suffer nial army. drop unused bombs and napalm there of the repressive state apparatus under in the billions from unmet human needs. At the height of the U.S. war, the tun- before returning to base. capitalist class society, especially the role This massive suffering has become exac- nels extended over 150 miles in length So many defoliants were dropped and of the police. erbated since the current capitalist eco- and several stories deep, starting about the area was so heavily carpet-bombed In Haymarket Square, unarmed work- nomic crisis reared its ugly head in 2007. 40 miles north of Saigon and extending that it became known by the U.S. com- ers fighting for a larger piece of the value Hasn’t the time come for the people to to the Cambodian border. mand as the “white zone” for its absence they create, in the form of livable wages demand that the state be disarmed and They grew to house entire under- of vegetation. But the tunnels still served and better working conditions, were fa- eventually abolished, along with the rot- ground villages with living quarters, as shelters and the liberation fighters still tally shot, followed by the unjust hanging ten capitalist system that it serves? In kitchens with hidden smoke vents, facto- made their way through these tunnels to of four of their compatriots. No police the spirit of International Workers Day, ries for turning unexploded U.S. bombs Saigon. were arrested for these crimes. which calls for the empowerment of the into weapons, hospitals and bomb shel- Today the “white zone” is once again In the case of the MOVE bombing, no entire working class, Workers World re- ters, schools and fighting areas. There green with fields of rubber plants and police or other officials who sanctioned sponds with a resounding: YES! were even theaters and music halls to vegetables. The villages forced under- the bombing were arrested. The only ground are now repopulated. They have surviving MOVE member of the bomb- been singled out as “heroic villages” and ing, Ramona Africa, spent seven years MARXISM, REPARATIONS & the Black Freedom Struggle the district renamed “the Iron Land.” in prison. And why was MOVE targeted According to Trip Advisor, the Cu Chi An anthology of writings from Workers World newspaper. Edited by Monica Moorehead. by the state? Their outspokenness on the tunnels are the second most popular Racism, National Oppression & Self-Determination Larry Holmes issue of police brutality. The 30th anni- tourist destination in Vietnam. Of the Black Labor from Chattel Slavery to Wage Slavery Sam Marcy versary of this government-sanctioned thousands of comments and reviews Black Youth: Repression & Resistance LeiLani Dowell crime will be commemorated this year online over the last few years, nearly 90 The Struggle for Socialism Is Key Monica Moorehead on May 13 in Philadelphia, along with percent said their visit was a very good or Domestic Workers United Demand Passage of a Bill of Rights demanding the release of the MOVE 9 Imani Henry excellent experience. The most popular members, who have been unjustly im- Black & Brown Unity: A Pillar of Struggle for Human Rights tourist place in Ho Chi Minh City is the prisoned since 1978. & Global Justice! Saladin Muhammad GRAPHIC BY SAHU BARRON War Remnants Museum, formerly called Both of these examples prove in theo- Harriet Tubman, Woman Warrior Mumia Abu-Jamal the War Crimes Museum. ry and practice a basic tenet of Marxism, Racism & Poverty in the Delta Larry Hales Comments of tourists from around the discussed in Vladimir Lenin’s 1916 pam- Haiti Needs Reparations, Not Sanctions Pat Chin world found on Trip Advisor include: phlet “State and Revolution.” It explained Alabama’s Black Belt: Legacy of Slavery, Sharecropping & Segregation Consuela Lee “Tells the story of Vietnamese ingenui- that “the state is an organ of class rule, an Are Conditions Ripe Again Today? Anniversary of the 1965 Watts Rebellion John Parker ty, resilience and tenacity to defend their organ for the oppression of one class by Available online and at other bookstores. land against a superior force ... how they workers.org April 30, 2015 Page 11

Two years after Rana Plaza disaster Bangladeshi garment workers need justice!

By Kathy Durkin for Worker Solidarity, was tortured and However, some retail giants have eluded deliver a letter to officers. All charges killed in April 2012. No one has been held responsibility and paid nothing, as they were subsequently lowered and/or dis- The struggle for justice and compen- responsible for his murder. are not legally required to support dead missed. These activists ask consumers sation for the Rana Plaza workers is far The catastrophe at Rana Plaza un- workers’ children or unemployed dis- to pressure the retailer to fully meet its from over two years after the deadliest leashed a militant struggle among the abled workers. trust fund obligations. disaster in garment industry history. country’s apparel workers, who demand- Many of those injured cannot work or Global actions from April 18 to 24 call On April 24, 2013, a building housing ed justice for their dead and injured are discriminated against and not hired. for all brands doing business in Bangla- several factories collapsed outside Dhaka, sisters and brothers. This, along with a Some have post-traumatic stress dis- desh to sign the safety accord and for Bangladesh, killing 1,138 workers, mostly world outcry, pressed the government to order and cannot work. During the two companies owing compensation funds to young women, and injuring 2,500 others. arrest the factory owners and Sohel Rana, years of waiting for compensation, some Rana Plaza victims and relatives to pay It has taken a struggle by injured work- owner of the building. They face murder died because they could not pay for need- in full. ers and families of the deceased, union charges. Last summer, the country’s an- ed medical care. Bangladeshi bosses and the biggest organizers and global allies just to gain ti-corruption commission also charged Because some global brands that con- corporations cannot stop the workers some workplace safety measures and a Rana and 17 others with construction tracted with Rana Plaza manufacturers from demanding their rights and gain- modicum of financial compensation for violations. Even that light charge took a have come up short on their contribu- ing support from others. The class strug- the victims and relatives. struggle. tions, $8 million is still owed to the fund. gle continues. Some strong unionization Bangladesh garners $20 billion a year The continuing, intense class struggle Mango, Matalan and Inditex will not drives are succeeding, while others are from garment exports. Its 5,000 factories has pushed for workplace safety, high- reveal how much they donated, report- still pushing for legal recognition. produce millions of garments a year for er wages and union rights. The official ed the Clean Clothes Campaign on April Moreover, the bosses cannot prevent major U.S. and European retail giants. monthly minimum pay was increased 17. It also said that Walmart and The Bangladeshi workers from gaining inter- Worldwide sales enrich global brands from $38 to $68 — still a starvation wage, Children’s Place are among companies national allies. Our Bangladeshi sisters such as H&M, Primark, Walmart, The but many companies do not even pay that. that underpaid and are being pressed to and brothers request and need global Gap, Mango and Benetton. These com- Verbal and physical abuse are rampant in increase their funding. Because of the solidarity. They ask activists to keep the panies demand quick, cheap production the plants, as are forced 14-hour shifts. shortfall, thousands of disaster survivors pressure on the retail giants. Let us show and low wages for the 4 million, mostly Garment workers and their advocates and victims’ relatives have received only solidarity by demanding full compensa- female, workforce. Implementing safety in Bangladesh and abroad pushed for partial payments. tion for all Rana Plaza victims and survi- measures cuts into their mega-profits. the legally binding Bangladesh Fire and Global solidarity is vital to this cause. vors from culpable U.S. companies. Some 29 global brands had contracts Building Safety Agreement. It requires After a mass campaign and petition with Global corporations sweep the earth with Rana Plaza’s manufacturers and corporations that contract clothing man- 1 million signers, Benetton buckled and searching for the cheapest labor in their bear responsibility, along with local plant ufacturing there to fund factory safety contributed $1.1 million on April 17, but “race to the bottom.” They disregard owners, for the catastrophe. Blame can inspections and upgrades. More than activists point out the company owes workers’ safety and lives; their only goal also be assigned to Washington, London, 150 brands signed on — but not Walmart millions more. A campaign is aimed at is to maximize profits. Their greed has no Paris, Madrid and Rome for not insisting and The Gap, which established a weak- The Children’s Place, a major contractor limits. If workers are injured or die in in- on safe working conditions in factories er, nonbinding plan. Apparel workers are of labor at Rana Plaza factories, which dustrial accidents, they are replaceable, producing goods for Western companies. still dying and being injured by the hun- paid only $450,000 to the fund. It is their lives expendable. This is the mind- Bangladesh’s government is not dreds in factory fires. being urged to donate $8 million — less set of corporate owners and CEOs. blameless either. Its officials notorious- than half of CEO Jane Elfers’ 2012 salary. Brutal, low-wage capitalism is not a ly collaborate with local bosses to curb Demand full compensation Kalpona Akter, executive director of policy. It is the essence of capitalist glo- labor costs and suppress union activity Workers and activists in Bangladesh the Bangladesh Center for Worker Sol- balization, of imperialism; it is what so Western corporations can maximize and their allies abroad compelled many idarity, and 26 others were arrested for creates mega-profits. For the sake of our profits. A working-class hero, Animul Is- Western brands to contribute to the $30 trespassing in March at The Children’s Bangladeshi sisters and brothers, let us lam, organizer for the Bangladesh Center million Rana Plaza Donors’ Trust Fund. Place in Secaucus, N.J., as they tried to oppose the whole rotten system. ‘Colombian peace process must go forward’

Below is a statement issued on April WW PHOTO: BERTA JOUBERT-CECI 20 by a fact-finding delegation that trav- Several members of U.S. eled to Cuba to assess the peace talks delegation with FARC between the Colombian government representatives. and the FARC-EP. International Action Center representatives Martha Grevatt and Berta Joubert-Ceci were part of the the National Lawyers Guild, the 33-member delegation. International Action Center, and Thirty-three activists traveled to Ha- the Task Force on the Americas. vana, Cuba, on April 11-18 to participate The delegation went under the in a fact-finding delegation concerning auspices of the Alliance for Global the Colombia Peace Negotiations taking Justice. place there. The participants were from The current Colombian peace several U.S. states — Arizona, Califor- negotiations began in October of nia, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Ken- 2012, after representatives of the gov- the conflict and achieve a lasting peace. many as 6 million people have been in- tucky, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania ernment and the Revolutionary Armed There are five agenda items: 1) compre- ternally displaced, the majority women and Texas — as well as Colombia, Costa Forces of Colombia - People’s Army hensive rural development, 2) political and children. Rica and Puerto Rico. Some represented (FARC-EP) agreed on a framework to end participation, 3) illegal drugs, 4) rights of The U.N. has estimated that paramil- victims and 5) the end of the conflict. The itaries with ties to the government and negotiators have reached partial agree- transnational corporations have com- ment on the first three items. The current mitted over 80 percent of the casualties. Continued from page 10 ‘Babies were born here.’ round of negotiations is addressing items The delegation agreed that the peace “It was absolutely fascinating to see four and five. process must go forward. According to turned bomb scraps into traps, tires into these tunnels and all the preserved ev- The delegation met separately with ne- delegate Pamela Brubaker, “We have sandals and how they dug their tunnels, idence of the ingenuity, resilience and gotiators from FARC-EP and the Colom- become convinced, after a week of in- hide the air vents and camouflage it.” determination of a people … who, on our bian government, as well as the sub-com- tense discussions, of the urgent need to “It is no wonder that the high-tech admittedly brief experience, seem to nat- missions on gender and on victims. They implement a bilateral ceasefire between American army were out maneuvered.” urally be so gentle.” also met with representatives of the the negotiating parties.” Martha Grevatt “It was their way to have surprise at- “In these tunnels you can see why the two guarantor countries — Norway and spoke for the group saying, “We stand tacks and vanish unobserved. ... Great Viet Cong won the war.” Cuba. As a result, the delegates are now in solidarity with the people of Colom- people of a great country — what suffer- With over a million visitors every year, informed about the process of the nego- bia — women, campesinos, students, ing they went through for their freedom.” the Cu Chi tunnels are living proof that, tiations. unions, LGBT — who have come together “The Vietnamese people lived in these despite the many thousands killed in the Estimates of the victims of the conflict in organizations and movements with a small tunnels during day time, to come war, the Vietnamese won not only free- range from 1.5 million to over 6 million. vision of a new Colombia, built on a foun- out only at night to do cultivation so that dom for their country but the hearts and More than 90,000 people have disap- dation of equality, social justice and a they are not attacked by the Americans of the workers and oppressed peo- peared, over 220,000 have been killed, lasting peace. This is what the majority during the war.” ples of the world. 80 percent of them civilians, and as in ­Colombia wants.” Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero PRIMERO DE MAYO 2015 pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected] Alto a la guerra racista contra la Comunidad Negra y todas las personas de color......

¡Libertad para Mumia Abu-Jamal, ¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 57 Núm. 17 30 de abril, 2015 $1 Oscar López Rivera y para todos los presos políticos en los EEUU! Sobre Cuba, Irán, Ucrania: Obama, un centrista, cede a la derecha

Por Fred Goldstein pleta del sentimiento anti-imperialista, El pueblo iraní soportaó un cuarto cionario en Kiev. Este régimen depende pro-Venezuela, a favor de Chávez y anti de siglo de represión y tortura bajo la principalmente de las fuerzas fascistas Los vericuetos de la política exteri- yanqui de las masas latinoamericanas. SAVAK entrenado por Estados Unidos, por el poco apoyo social y militar que or del Presidente Barack Obama, desde la policía secreta del Sha. Ellos libraron tiene. El ejército ucraniano es totalmente Cuba a Irán a Ucrania, muestran la ca- Líder iraní empuja contra Kerry dos años de lucha continua y sufrieron no confiable. Las fuerzas de Kiev han sido pacidad de la derecha para socavar las En el caso de Irán, el gobierno de grandes bajas antes de que Shah aban- expulsadas de la mayor parte del este de políticas de las fuerzas centristas dentro Obama, mientras sostiene las negocia- donara el trono en 1979. Ucrania. de la clase política de la clase dominante. ciones nucleares, está tratando de ejecutar El petróleo se nacionalizó, las bases El gobierno de Kiev está totalmente en Esta es una expresión de las fuerzas ex- una maniobra diplomática que espera lle- estadounidenses fueron desmanteladas bancarrota y ha tenido que recurrir a un pansionistas y militaristas que tienen var a Irán hacia el Occidente y conseguir y los líderes religiosos establecieron la préstamo de emergencia del Fondo Mon- raíces profundas dentro del capitalismo que abandone su apoyo a las fuerzas an- República Islámica, independiente de y en etario Internacional de $18.5 mil millones estadounidense. ti-imperialistas en el Medio Oriente. oposición al imperialismo estadounidense — y no hay forma real para devolver el La iniciativa de Obama de abrir rela- Esta maniobra es probablemente una y británico, los dos colonizadores de Irán. dinero solo sacando el dinero del sudor de ciones con Cuba es un ejemplo clásico. quimera completa, derivada de una ilusión Washington ha subestimado una vez las masas ucranianas. Las grandes empresas estadounidens- por parte de la administración Obama. Y más el fervor anti-imperialista de una El gobierno de Estados Unidos ha es han crecido cada vez más frustrada subestima seriamente el poderoso sen- gran parte de las masas iraníes, que to- agudizado las tensiones con Rusia, y aho- con su aislamiento en América Latina. El timiento anti-imperialista, anti-Estados davía está vivo y persiste después de dé- ra está en la posición de tener que apun- gobierno de Obama quiere poner en mar- Unidos que prevalece en Irán. cadas de sanciones, amenaza militar, sab- talar militarmente al régimen de Ucrania. cha la Asociación Trans-Pacífica, la Ini- Después de meses de negociaciones, otajes y trucos sucios. Imperialistas europeos están tratando de ciativa Latinoamericana de Libre Comer- las dos partes habían acordado un marco Ahora, con el fin de mostrar la dureza, guiar a algún tipo de acuerdo para poner cio y otros acuerdos comerciales. para futuras negociaciones - denominado la administración Obama acaba de anun- fin a la lucha y restaurar la estabilidad. El aislamiento de Estados Unidos se Esbozo del Acuerdo. Pero está en peligro ciar la prueba de una nueva bomba “bun- Pero al mismo tiempo, el Pentágono está debe en gran parte a la popularidad de la por el deseo de la administración Obama ker buster”, presumiblemente capaz de enviando a sus fuerzas para entrenar a Revolución Cubana en América Latina. de aplacar a la derecha. penetrar en los sitios profundos en Irán. la escoria fascista en el ejército ucrania- Cuba ha resistido el bloqueo económi- A raíz del anuncio del Esbozo del Acu- Además, ha anunciado que va a impedir no. Además, el Pentágono y la OTAN han co, la invasión, la subversión y los inten- erdo, el secretario de Estado John Ker- a que Irán “arme al grupo Huthis” en Ye- movido las fuerzas a los estados clientes tos de asesinato por la CIA desde 1959. ry preparó una llamada “hoja de datos”, men, ayudando a Arabia Saudita a bom- bálticos y de Europa de Este. Washington finalmente ha tenido que diseñada para mostrar a la derecha bardear e invadir a ese país. El gobierno de Obama, al permitir pedir conversaciones sobre relaciones cuan rudo EE.UU. ha estado en las con- Los imperialistas estadounidenses han que los derechistas se hagan cargo de la diplomáticas. versaciones. Esta hoja informativa no invadido a Irak y Afganistán; dirigieron política de Ucrania y que llevara a cabo Pero Obama, con el fin de demostrar a fue aceptada por la parte iraní y más o el derrocamiento del gobierno de Libia; un golpe de estado, se ha enrollado con la derecha, las rabiosas fuerzas anti-cu- menos representó la lista de deseos de están tratando de derrocar al gobierno otra crisis militar y geoestratégica en banas en la política de Estados Unidos Washington. sirio; han apoyado a los sauditas a invadir sus manos. Cuenta con la posesión de que no se ha “suavizado”, anunció poco Entre otras cosas, la hoja de datos, decía Bahrein y Yemen; han respaldado a , un régimen desacreditado en bancarro- después de la apertura con Cuba que que las sanciones se le levantarían a Irán que ha invadido Egipto, Siria, Cisjordania ta que depende de derechistas y fuerzas Venezuela era una “amenaza de seguri- sólo después de que este haya cumplido de y Gaza; respaldaron a Irak cuando este in- fascistas. Todos sus planes para penetrar dad nacional” para los EE.UU. y se impu- manera verificable con todos los términos vadió a Irán. Ucrania gradualmente, por la subversión, sieron sanciones dirigidas a funcionarios del acuerdo - es decir, las sanciones rela- Mientras tanto, el gobierno iraní no ha se han esfumando. del gobierno de Maduro. cionadas por Estados Unidos iban a durar enviado tropas a invadir a ningún país. La Este es otro caso de subestimar total- Esta demanda indignante creó una más que el tiempo del acuerdo. hipocresía de EE.UU. no tiene límites. mente el sentimiento antifascista y an- tormenta de fuego en América Latina También agregaba que no podía haber ti-imperialista de las masas ucranianas. apenas antes de que Obama tenía previs- inspecciones de los “sitios sospechosos” EE.UU. sostiene régimen Fue un error total de cálculo basado en to asistir a la Cumbre de las Américas en fuera de la cadena de suministro nuclear desacreditado en Kiev aplacar al grupo derechista y militarista Panamá del 10 al 11 abril. conocido - lo que significa que cualquier En Ucrania, Washington y la Unión en el establecimiento político de la clase Fue un burdo intento de dividir a Cuba reclamo de sospecha podría ser investiga- Europea fomentaron un movimiento de dominante estadounidense. y Venezuela. Pero fracasó y al contrario do, presumiblemente incluyendo instala- derecha en las calles de Kiev y otras ciu- El panorama general es que la clase se encontró con la amenaza de que este ciones militares. dades a partir de noviembre de 2013 hasta dominante en su conjunto ha consider- intento socavaría aún más la posición de Estas son sólo algunas de las afirma- febrero de 2014. El objetivo era empujar a ado la época desde el colapso de la URSS Estados Unidos en América Latina y el ciones de Washington de que los iraníes Ucrania en sentido contrario al de Rusia y Europa del Este a principios de los años intento de la administración para abrir han denunciado como “giro”. y vincularlo a la Comunidad Económica 1990s como de reconquista de todo lo las relaciones con Cuba, que iba a asistir Toda la estrategia recibió un rechazo Europea. que había perdido el imperialismo du- a la reunión por primera vez. pesado cuando el Líder Supremo iraní En la plaza Maidan en Kiev, capital de rante el siglo 20. De hecho, Obama tuvo que retirar esta Ali Jamenei afirmó rotundamente que “a Ucrania, decenas de organizaciones no El ala derecha en los EE.UU.— los John amenazadora caracterización de la dere- menos que todas las sanciones económi- gubernamentales europeas y estadoun- McCain, Lindsay Graham, Henry Kissing- cha de Venezuela con el fin de evitar un cas fueran levantadas en su totalidad en idenses fomentaron un movimiento que er y su calaña — representa el sector más colapso de toda su intento de mejorar las el primer día de la implementación de hiciera que el primer ministro Viktor Ya- agresivo y expansionista de la clase dom- relaciones de EEUU con América Latina cualquier acuerdo,” no habría acuerdo. nukovich negociara un acuerdo con la UE. inante que se esfuerza por alcanzar la en la reunión de Panamá. Además, declaró que no habría inspec- Yanukovych accedió a celebrar las elec- dominación global total. El presidente Raúl Castro de Cuba ciones de sitios militares de Irán. (New ciones para diciembre del 2014. Centristas como Obama que se desvían dio una acusación mordaz histórica de York Times, 09 de abril) En el momento que habían terminado aún ligeramente de este programa, son Washington en su discurso ante la cum- Jamenei también dijo que las declara- las negociaciones, el Departamento de Es- castigados y puestos bajo presión y ataque. bre. En él declaró: “Venezuela no es, y no ciones públicas de EE.UU. sobre el acu- tado de Estados Unidos, bajo la influencia No es que la administración de Obama puede ser, una amenaza para la seguri- erdo son “defectuosas, incorrectas y en de la neoconservadora Subsecretaria de está tratando de inaugurar una nueva épo- dad nacional de una superpotencia como contradicción con los hechos”. Y expresó Estado Victoria Nuland, organizó escuad- ca de paz. De ningún modo. Sin embargo, Estados Unidos. Consideramos que es un fuerte desprecio por los EE.UU., y lo de- rones de matones fascistas para invadir Obama reconoce algunas de las debili- hecho positivo que el presidente de Esta- scribió [a EE. UU.] como “obstinado, en- al parlamento, expulsar a Yanukovich y dades del imperialismo estadounidense dos Unidos ha admitido. gañador, indecente y dado a puñaladas establecer un régimen títere de Estados en Latinoamérica, Oriente Medio, África “Yo debería reafirmar nuestro apoyo, por la espalda.” Unidos. EE.UU. escogió al nuevo primer del Norte, etc. y está tratando de apunta- decidido y leal a la hermana Repúbli- Jamenei representa el legado de la Rev- ministro, . lar su posición en lugares donde es débil ca Bolivariana de Venezuela, al gobier- olución iraní de 1979, que fue una gran Este golpe de estado fascista provocó con el fin de recuperar la iniciativa para no legítimo y la alianza cívico-militar conmoción social. La revolución derrocó una gran rebelión en el centro industrial las grandes empresas estadounidenses y encabezada por el presidente Nicolás al carnicero asesino Sha de Irán, que de Ucrania del este. Desarrollaron mov- el Pentágono. Maduro, y para el pueblo bolivariano y había sido puesto en el cargo en el año imientos separatistas antifascistas. El El centrismo siempre termina aplazan- chavistas de ese país que lucha por seguir 1953 a través de un golpe de estado por pueblo de Crimea votó para reunirse con do a los derechistas en una crisis — a pesar su propio camino”. CIA. En el golpe de Estado, EE.UU. aca- Rusia. Y comenzó una guerra de resisten- de que el ala derecha está totalmente fuera Este es un caso claro de la adminis- paró al petróleo iraní y estableció bases cia antifascista. de contacto con la realidad de que el sen- tración centrista Obama que escucha a la militares para proteger los intereses petr- El gobierno de Estados Unidos está re- timiento de la mayoría de la humanidad es banda derechista y subestimación com- oleros de Wall Street. spaldando un régimen oligárquico reac- anti-imperialista.