Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! Jan. 10, 2008 Vol. 50, No. 1 50¢ Rebellions follow Bhutto assassination

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• Bolivia 12 Pakistanis fault U.S.-backed regime By Deirdre Griswold of elected civilian government between coups. Bhutto’s father held the post of prime minister during one of them; he was over- The crisis in Pakistan has entered a new and even more acute thrown by the military and later hanged. Benazir Bhutto served phase with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, head of the twice as prime minister—from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996, when Pakistan Peoples Party, who had returned from exile just two she was forced out of office, then charged with corruption and www.wechargegenocide.com months earlier. She was killed on Dec. 27 while driving through sent into exile. a large welcoming crowd in Rawalpindi following a political General Musharraf, the latest in a string of military dictators, Ethnic rally. seized power in a coup in 1999 but later reinvented his rule by removal? The regimes of both Gen. Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad and creating a political party and winning the presidency in an elec- Battle for New Orleans 3 George W. Bush in Washington rushed to blame the brutal mur- tion widely regarded as rigged. During these eight years, the der on Islamic militants. poverty of the masses has deepened while much of the country’s Their pronouncements failed to convince the public. Even wealth has gone to the military elite. Musharraf himself has sur- the major imperialist newspapers in the U.S. and Britain have vived several assassination attempts. had to admit that the Pakistani people put the responsibility for After 9/11, Musharraf was strong-armed by the Bush admin- Siege of Gaza Bhutto’s death squarely on the government. istration into joining Washington’s “war on terror.” This antago- Demonstrations and clashes with the armed bodies of the nized many in this majority Islamic country, even though, in An Israeli war crime 9 state continue across Pakistan. The mass demonstration of Washington’s eyes, he wasn’t doing enough to support the U.S.- popular outrage has targeted especially offices of the govern- led war in Afghanistan. On Sept. 24, 2006, Musharraf told CBS’s ment, Musharraf’s ruling party and symbols of the military and “60 Minutes” that U.S. officials had openly threatened to “bomb superrich elite, including hundreds of bank offices. Some 58 Pakistan back into the Stone Age” if it did not cooperate more people were killed, most by troops and paramilitaries firing on vigorously with Washington’s war plans. the people. In the last year, his military forces carried out a massacre at a A private videotape of the assassination aired widely in the Muslim school right in Islamabad and also launched attacks on Pakistani media and abroad, including on Britain’s Channel 4 villages in the Northwest, where there is strong opposition to the News, shows Bhutto being felled by an assassin’s bullets before U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan. a bomb blast hits her car, contradicting the official account Opposition to Musharraf’s rule became tempestuous this ww photo: Cheryl LaBash that she died, not from gunfire, but from hitting her head on spring and summer after Supreme Court justices defied his Ohio ruling stalls a sunroof lever after the blast. The military refused to allow authority, ruling that he could not run again for president while an autopsy to take place, but doctors at the hospital where she heading up the military. Demonstrations and strikes broke out 4 foreclosures was treated said she appeared to have been killed by bullets to all over the country. They were brutally broken up by the state the head. and thousands, including hundreds of lawyers and jurists, were In an e-mail sent in October, after an earlier attempt had jailed for demanding an end to martial law and the restoration failed to kill her, Bhutto advised a British friend that if anything of democracy. A saga were to happen to her, she would hold Musharraf responsible. Musharraf sacked the judges and appointed a new Supreme Court, whose members did as they were told and ruled that his of sabotage U.S. supported military dictatorships “re-election” for president, which had taken place during a boy- Uribe nixes humanitarian Pakistan, a major client state of the U.S. and ally in the Cold cott by the opposition, was valid, as long as he officially dropped exchange 11 War beginning in the 1950s, has been under military rule for the title of head of the armed forces, which he did. The stage was most of this time and has received billions of dollars in U.S. then set for parliamentary elections, which were set for Jan. 8, military aid and equipment. However, there were brief periods Continued on page 8 Iraq occupation

• A look at 2007 7 • U.S. troop mutiny? 6

Reality v. ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’ 8

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Name Phone email Immokalee farmworkers and supporters march on the Burger King headquarters in Miami. Photo: Andy Lin Address City/State/Zip Workers World Newspaper 55 W. 17 St. NY, NY 10011 212-627-2994 www.workers.org Farm Workers v. Burger King 5 Page 2 Jan. 10, 2008 www.workers.org

UNITE ON MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

MONDAY 1 p.m.  In the U.S.

JANUARY 21 New Orleans fi ght to save public housing ...... 3 Rally & March from Imus /WABC to Lou Dobbs/CNN Ohio needs a moratorium ...... 4 On the picket line ...... 4 From W. 32 nd St. & 7th Ave. to W. 58th St. & Columbus Circle in NYC Immokalee workers battle Burger King ...... 5 Bosses use ICE to chill a union drive ...... 5 Toro in court Jan. 18 ...... 5 U.S. & czarist Russia's common problem ...... 6 Ethanol means higher food prices ...... 10 MAMARCRCH Jersey City social justice activists honored ...... 10 Around the world Pakistanis fault U.S.-backed regime ...... 1 Soldiers refuse orders in Iraq ...... 6 A look back at 2007 in Iraq ...... 7 Review: 'Charlie Wilson's War' ...... 8 AGAGAIAINST Israel threatens Gaza with all-out attack ...... 9 Uribe again scuttles humanitarian exchange ...... 11 Catalan, Serbian workers 'squat' in factories ...... 11

Editorials RACISM What does Workers World say? ...... 10

Noticias En Español FreshDirect ...... 12 Bolivia ...... 12

AFRICAN AMERICAN, LATIN@, ASIAN, WorkersWorkers World 55 West 17 Street ARAB, NATIVE & WHITE New York, N.Y. 10011 Phone: (212) 627-2994 Together We’re Powerful– Fax: (212) 675-7869 E-mail: [email protected] IT’S TIME TO UNITE Web: www.workers.org Vol. 50, No. 1 • Jan. 10, 2008 Closing date: Jan. 2, 2008 STOP IMMIGRANT BASHING Editor: Deirdre Griswold Lou Dobbs doesn’t Stop the raids An injury to one Technical Editor: Lal Roohk speak for working and the is an injury to all people deportations Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Leslie Feinberg, Monica Moorehead, Gary Wilson STOP THE WAR— West Coast Editor: John Parker Contributing Editors: Greg Butterfi eld, G. Dunkel, THE ONE ABROAD AND THE ONE HERE Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, Remember Stop the war Imus should From New Orleans Free John White: David Hoskins, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash, Sean Bell against Black not be on to Harlem: Self-defense against Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Minnie Bruce Pratt youth WABC Stop pushing people racist terror is Technical Staff: Shelley Ettinger, Bob McCubbin, out of their homes a right Maggie Vascassenno FREE THE JENA 6 Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Carlos Vargas MLK DAY MARCH AGAINST RACISM COALITION 212.633.6646 Internet: Janet Mayes IAC Solidarity Center, 55 W. 17 St., 5C, NY, NY 10011 Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator For list of endorsers & coalition members— go to www.TroopsOutNow.org Copyright © 2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium Join US. National Offi ce Buff alo, n.y. Houston Richmond, Va. without royalty provided this notice is preserved. 55 w. 17 st., 367 delaware Ave. P.o. Box 595 P.o. Box 14602, Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published week- workers world Party new york, ny 10011 Buff alo, ny 14202 houston, tX 77001-0595 richmond, vA 23221 ly except the fi rst week of January by WW Publishers, (wwP) fi ghts on all 212-627-2994; 716-566-1115 713-861-5965 [email protected] 55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: (212) 627-2994. issues that face the Fax (212) 675-7869 buff [email protected] [email protected] Rochester, N.Y. Subscriptions: One year: $25; foreign and institutions: working class and [email protected] Chicago Los angeles 585-436-6458 atlanta 27 n. wacker dr. #138 $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and edited. oppressed peoples— 5274 west Pico Blvd., [email protected] P.o. Box 424, chicago, iL 60606 Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers Black and white, Latin@, suite 203 Asian, Arab and native Atlanta, gA 30301 773-381-5839 San Diego, Calif. World, 55 W. 17 St., New York, NY 10011. Back issues 404-627-0185 Los Angeles, cA 90019 peoples, women and [email protected] P.o. Box 33447 and individual articles are available on microfi lm and/ [email protected] 323-936-1416 men, young and old, Cleveland san diego, cA 92104 or photocopy from University Microfi lms International, Baltimore [email protected] lesbian, gay, bi, straight, P.o. Box 5963 619-692-0355 300 Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. A searchable 426 e. 31 st., milwaukee trans, disabled, work- cleveland, oh 44101 Baltimore, md 21218 216-531-4004 [email protected] San Francisco archive is available on the Web at www.workers.org. ing, unemployed and 410-235-7040 [email protected] 2940 16th st., #207 A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. students. [email protected] philadelphia san Francisco, cA 94103 Denver Subscription information is at www.workers.org/email. Boston P.o. Box 9202, 415-738-4739 [email protected] if you would like to 284 Amory st., Philadelphia, PA 19139 [email protected] php. know more about wwP, Boston, mA 02130 Detroit 610-453-0490 Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. or to join us in these 5920 second Ave., [email protected] Washington, D.C. 617-983-3835 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to struggles, contact the Fax (617) 983-3836 detroit, mi 48202 P.o. Box 57300, branch nearest you. [email protected] 313-831-0750 Raleigh, N.C. washington, dc 20037, Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor, workersworld.net/boston [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. www.workers.org Jan. 10, 2008 Page 3 New Orleans. Residents fight to save public housing

By Larry Hales personnel were placed on “disaster leave.” Many of them are still denied jobs and the On Dec. 20—just five days before the right to collective bargaining. Christmas holiday—residents and sup- Attorney Bill Quigley reports that hun- porters of New Orleans public housing dreds of children returning for the fall were denied their right to speak regard- 2007 semester were denied access to ing the demolition of 4,700 public hous- public schools. He quotes a teacher who ing units. The housing is to be replaced said: “The public schools are totally frag- by “mixed income housing,” which really mented. The struggles are still the same. means upscale and expensive housing. Students still have difficult situations at What ensued before and after the now home; some are still in trailers or living majority white city council voted in favor with too many people in one small home. of demolition was a riot of state forces— Schools still lack books and materials, city council security, New Orleans SWAT which I don’t understand.” and regular police—tasering and tear- gassing people demanding their right to The fight is not over housing. The city council vote threatens Yet the battle for New Orleans has to create thousands more homeless in begun. Though the ruling local elite have Photo: Johnnie Stevens a city that already has 12,000 homeless Pastor Torin Sanders protests at City Council meeting in New Orleans. been able to maneuver the election of a people, many of them former residents of white majority into city council—a coun- public housing. flooding of New Orleans would mean that District was decided shortly after Katrina cil that was dominated by Blacks, in a city Videos of the horrific shoving and the Lower 9th Ward, with a 98 percent struck and while people were still waiting that was 68 percent Black since 1976—the dragging of an elderly woman with a Black population before the storm, would to be rescued. Black people of New Orleans are returning cane, along with the pushing, tossing to take on water—and it did, from at least Leigh Davis reports in a Counterpunch home and now make up a slight majority the ground, tasering and tear-gassing of three sources. article: “Within days of Katrina, Gov. Kath­ in population. people has been seen by many. However, The city stalled all rebuilding efforts leen Blanco (D) convened a special meeting It is not that people are not paying the process by which the attempt to take- for four months in the most devastated of the state legislature to talk about a take- attention, but that the daily struggle of life over and redefine the “Big Easy” is even areas, at the urging of real estate develop- over of the Orleans Parish Public School intervenes and is exacerbated by the par- more insidious. er Joseph Canizaro. The fate of the areas District, a district with a half-billion dollar ticular circumstances of New Orleans. The winds and storm surges of Hurri­ was then slated to be determined by how budget serving New Orleans. … The callousness of those in power and canes Katrina and Rita blew and washed many people return to rebuild. “A few months later, the state legisla- the brutality of state forces on Dec. 20 have away the façade the U.S. likes to present According to the Greater New Orleans ture passed legislation giving the state awakened many around the country. If the of life in the states. Community Data Center, the Lower 9th control of 107 of New Orleans’ 128 pub- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban The design to retake inner city areas, Ward had a 37 percent poverty rate. lic schools, by placing them under the Development and the Housing Authority where workers from oppressed nation- Twenty-seven percent of the people were authority of the Recovery School District of New Orleans think they can demolish alities and poor white workers have lived elderly and 25 percent were children. (RSD).” (Aug. 30, 2006) the 4,700 units that comprise Lafitte, St. for generations, is taking place across the So, though 60 percent of the homes Almost half of the children in New Bernard, B.W. Cooper and CJ Peete, then country. It has become known as gentrifi- were occupied by the owners, many would Orleans attend the charter schools and they have another thing coming. cation, but to many in the oppressed com- not be able to return because of the bur- half attend schools under the authority of The demolitions are slated to begin in munity it is nothing less than ethnocide— den of finding alternative housing, food the RSD. The rest attend private schools, January, but activists have already called the intentional destruction of a people’s and clothing. With no work and paltry which opened months after Katrina. for protests and resistance to the destruc- culture. federal assistance, the price of rebuilding Leigh also reports that 7,500 school tion of the housing units. n This process not only includes the would be nearly impossible. destruction of affordable housing, but The bulldozing of homes in the Lower also beefed up police forces that terrorize 9th went as planned and most of the area communities, rising cases of police brutal- is now overgrown with grass, but some ity, “zero tolerance” ordinances that target residents have returned and are attempt- people of color, declining schools, scant ing to rebuild. access to resources and public transporta- tion—all to replace the inhabitants of the Attack on public education areas with affluent whites. Every facet of life in New Orleans has New Orleans, though, is shaping up to been made increasingly difficult by local, be a battleground and the rallying cry— state and federal officials. The schools are not just for the Black masses, but for all no different. those in the fight for self determination Since Hurricane Katrina, $44.8 million for oppressed nationalities and human in federal monies have gone to charter rights. schools. The decision to have the state of WW PHOTO: Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST) Louisiana take over Orleans Parish School Vigil in front of City Hall in Raleigh, N.C., Dec. 21 in solidarity with housing struggle in New Rotten redevelopment from day one The aims of the local ruling elite were clear from the very beginning. James Reiss, the wealthy white head of the Regional Transportation Authority, stated in January 2006, “Those who want to see this city rebuilt want to see it done in a completely different way: demographically, geographically and politically.” Reiss was made chairper- son of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission. He reportedly brought in an Israeli security team to guard his home in the aftermath of Katrina. Reiss stated further: “I’m not just speaking for myself here. The way we’ve been living is not going to happen again, or we’re out.” His statements were in response to the demand of residents of the Lower 9th Ward that rebuilding efforts start immediately. The Lower 9th Ward is one of the lowest lying points in the city and any

National poster on racist displace- ment and genocide in New Orleans.

wechargegenocid Page 4 Jan. 10, 2008 www.workers.org Ohio needs a moratorium on the Picket line Judges’ rulings stop by Sue Davis Workers strike war profiteer Some 4,000 members of 11 Auto Workers’ locals in Georgia, Indiana, some foreclosures Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas who build MaxxPro engines for By Martha Grevatt blast-resistant Navistar trucks used by the U.S. military in Iraq conduct- ed an unfair labor practice strike for nearly two months ending Dec. 17, when the workers ratified a three-year contract. International Truck and The foreclosure crisis in Ohio has Engine, which tried hiring scabs to maintain its war profits, initially took become desperate, with hundreds a hard line but eventually gave in to the strikers’ demands. of homes put up for auction every The most important aspect of the new contract, which includes an week in Cleveland’s Cuyahoga immediate $2,500 payment and a 6 percent pay raise over the course of County alone. Now some judges’ the contract, pension upgrades, and health care protections, is a morato- rulings have given partial relief rium on plant closings and outsourcing during the life of the contract. with a complex decision that has “While it is not a strike against the war, it is still significant that yet to be played out. workers have struck a war profiteer in the midst of war,” noted Larry Once again Ohio rivals Michigan ww Photo: Cheryl LaBash Goldbetter, member of the National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981, in in rust-belt poverty numbers. Michigan activists have begun organizing to demand a morato- an e-mail to U.S. Labor Against the War. Statistics vary as to which state rium on home foreclosures. This protest was on Nov. 27, outside leads the country in foreclosures, a mayors’ meeting in Detroit. but it is one or the other. Cleveland an increase in foreclosure filings in 2007. Striking laundry workers hold vigil is second only to Detroit when it comes to banks Cuyahoga County has been hit the hardest. In early December, Danny Glover joined striking workers from going after workers’ homes. Cleveland and the “inner ring” suburbs—where Prudential Overall Supply, the largest laundry company based in The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on Dec. the Black population is concentrated and pov- California, when they began a 12-day vigil outside company head- 25 that homeowners are seeing some badly erty is staggering—have the most foreclosures, quarters in Irvine. The workers at five facilities across the state have needed relief. This past Oct. 31, Federal District both numerically and per capita, in the county. been striking against unfair labor practices since Sept. 12. Fighting to Court Judge Christopher A. Boyko dismissed Yet the highest increase in the rate of fore- improve wages, healthcare and working conditions, the workers, many 14 foreclosure filings. On the Web site iamfac- closure filings has been in the higher income of them immigrants, have been met by constant threats, coercion and ingforeclosure.com, Moe Bedard and Aaron “outer” suburbs. The predominantly white sub- intimidation. Krowne explained the complex ruling: urb of Parma, home to a General Motors plant In July the laundry workers and UNITE HERE filed a complaint with “Judge Boyko issued an order requiring the and many autoworkers, has seen the number of the Department of Labor alleging violations of wage, benefit, holiday and Plaintiffs in a number of pending foreclosure filings double in the past year. Foreclosures are paid time-off standards at Prudential facilities in California and Arizona. cases to file a copy of the executed Assignment a class-wide problem. The workers, who filed complaints alleging violations of local living wage demonstrating Plaintiff (Deutsche Bank) was Altogether nearly 90,000 Ohio households ordinances in San Diego, Oakland, Los Angeles and Ventura County, the holder and owner of the Note and Mortgage are currently at risk of losing their homes. were vindicated when San Diego and Oakland terminated their contracts as of the date the Complaint was filed, or the Many are the victims of predatory schemes. In with Prudential and sued the company for back wages for $1.82 million court would enter a dismissal. Summit County three lending companies—Car- and $120,000, respectively. “The Court’s amended General Order No. nation Banc, Evergreen Companies and Brittain Prudential backed out of its contract when notified that Ventura 2006-16 requires Plaintiff (Deutsche Bank) Holdings—were just indicted, with prosecutors County’s Living Wage ordinance would be enforced, and workers’ com- to submit an affidavit along with the com- labeling them “financial criminals who overval- plaints in Los Angeles are still being investigated. The struggle continues. plaint, which identifies Plaintiff as the original ue homes, borrow money under false statements mortgage holder, or as an assignee, trustee or and sell securities backed by worthless second Wal-Mart’s sexual discrimination successor-interest. mortgages.” The three-member Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Los Angeles “Apparently Deutsche Bank submitted sev- Craig Conner, former president of Carnation ruled Dec. 12 that the largest sexual discrimination case in U.S. history eral affidavits that claim that Deutsche was in Banc, has already pleaded guilty to engaging could proceed as a class action suit against Wal-Mart. Nearly two million fact the owner of the mortgage note, but none in a pattern of corrupt activity and 21 other women, who since 1998 have worked for the world’s largest retailer and of these affidavits mention assignment or trust felonies. super-exploiter of workers, stand to collect billions in unpaid wages and or successor interest. The case of Katie Turner of Dayton is typical. damages for being excluded from promotions. But there’s a hitch. The “Thus, the Judge ruled that in every instance, In 1997, after her husband’s death, Turner refi- decision also allows Wal-Mart to appeal the ruling. Stay tuned. these submissions create a ‘conflict’ and they nanced and saw her adjustable-rate mortgage ‘do not satisfy’ the burden of demonstrating at payment jump from $527 to more than $865 the time of filing the complaint, that Deutsche over the next three years. After she made one Make contracts LGBT-inclusive! Bank was in fact the ‘legal’ note holder.” late payment, her monthly bill increased to more Pride at Work, the AFL-CIO affiliate that promotes lesbian, gay, According to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid than $1,000. bisexual and transgender rights on the job, has developed a Union Attorney April Charney: Turner was able, with the help of an agency, to Certification Program to help workers negotiate LGBT-inclusive con- “This court order is what I have been saying renegotiate a workable arrangement. Most hom- tracts. Its first training took place in November with OPEIU Local 29 in in my cases. This is rampant fraud on every eowners will not be so lucky. For many, selling Oakland, Calif. court in America or nonjudicial foreclosure their property is not even an option in the cur- During the five-hour training, attendees learned how to add con- fraud where the securitized trusts are filing rent economic recession. Housing values have tract language that protects LGBT workers from discrimination and foreclosures when they never own/hold the fallen throughout the state, which means that harassment on the job and gives them access to federal programs like mortgage loan at the commencement of the even those able to find a buyer for their home the Family and Medical Leave Act. They also learned how to argue for foreclosure. So with this decision, it appears may be selling at a price that is less than what domestic partner benefits and transgender-inclusive health care. To find confirmed that investors in the mortgage deba- they owe, and they could still be in debt after out more about the program, contact [email protected]; to set up a training cle may in fact own nothing—not even the bad using that money to pay off the mortgage. session so your union can become certified, contact [email protected]. loans they funded!” The state’s politicians have voiced concern, The reason foreclosure filings ended up in but none have taken concrete action. U.S. Sen. Flight attendants need support federal courts in the first place was that mort- Sherrod Brown, a first-term Democrat, has sug- Imagine working up to 20 days a month away from home as a full- gage holders were seeking a legal short cut, gested that Congress is limited in what it can time employee and not qualifying for a family or medical leave when you bypassing the huge backlog in the Cuyahoga do and “the president has not used the power or a family member needs help. That’s what flight attendants and pilots County and other Ohio county court systems. of his office.” face because of the narrow wording mandating a 40-hour workweek in Now some Ohio homeowners are getting a Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has voiced the Family and Medical Leave Act. break. agreement with the judges’ ruling and report- To rectify that, the Airline Flight Crew Family and Medical Leave Act Foreclosures filed in Cleveland federal court edly will push for dismissal of dozens of cases was introduced in Congress last fall. The struggle for passage continues were averaging 100 per month before Judge across the state. Gov. Ted Strickland has said he in 2008. To show your support, write a letter to lawmakers; a sample Boyko’s ruling but in December dropped to will propose legislation to stop foreclosures—but letter is posted on the Flight Attendants’ Web site: www.afanet.org. To two. As of Dec. 31, federal judges in Dayton when? The crisis demands that the politicians do ensure hand-delivery to Congress, address the letter to AFA-CWA, Office and Columbus have issued decisions concur- more than talk about what they intend to do and of Government Affairs, 501 Third St. NW, Washington, DC 20001. ring with Judge Boyko. actually do something. The federal ruling led Hamilton County Judge Boyko’s ruling, with which legal author- Common Pleas Court Judge Steven E. Martin ities at the county, state, and federal level concur, NLRB issues Scrooge ruling to rule Dec. 7 that Wells Fargo Bank could not demonstrates that many of these foreclosures are Just in time to qualify for a Scrooge award, the National Labor legally foreclose on the Cincinnati-area home of not only inhumane but downright illegal. Clearly, Relations Board issued a 3-2 ruling on Dec. 21 that gives an employer Gloria and Ellsworth Byrd, because the bank’s activists calling for a halt to the threats against the right to prohibit workers from using the company’s e-mail system to lawyers didn’t prove that Wells Fargo was the their homes have legal leverage. send out union-related messages. The ruling said it was legal for employ- legal owner of the mortgage before it filed the As in Michigan, where grass-roots groups have ers to have a policy barring employees from sending e-mail for “non-job- foreclosure lawsuit. begun to fight foreclosures, the Ohio foreclosure related solicitations” for any outside organization. But how can bosses However, while this is good news for the epidemic calls for drastic measures to defend dare prohibit workers from communicating about work-related matters Byrds and others, these court rulings will only workers and their families from the illegal preda- of mutual concern? Though the NLRB has never throughout its his- slow down a crisis that has reached disastrous tions of finance capital. Now, not later, is the time tory been a consistent friend of labor, it’s typical that a Bush-appointed levels. for an immediate moratorium on home foreclo- NLRB would issue such a narrow, vindictive ruling. Just another reason All but three of Ohio’s 88 counties have seen sures in the Midwest and across the country. n workers will continue to organize and fight for their rights in 2008! n www.workers.org Jan. 10, 2008 Page 5 Immokalee workers step up battle against Burger King By Michael Martinez BK Corporation’s stock and has execu- try joined in solidarity in a campaign Miami tives sitting on BK Corporation’s board of known as “boot the bell” that included directors. According to a Dec. 20, 2006, hunger strikes. This struggle forced The Coalition of Immokalee Workers article in the New York Times, Lloyd C. Taco Bell to the negotiating table. (CIW), an organization that represents Blankfein, chairman and chief executive McDonald’s also came to the nego- farmworkers in central Florida, on Dec. of Goldman Sachs, was paid “a bonus of tiating table last April in the face of 23 extended their struggle to workers at $53.4 million in 2006, the highest ever for possible protests or a boycott. Despite Photo: Fritz Myer the Burger King restaurant in the Miami a Wall Street chief executive” – most of it all of these advancements and the Nov. 30 Apparently, the Burger King employees neighborhood of Aventura by holding a coming off of the backs of farmworkers. historic nine-mile march, the Burger King were first told that they were going to be picket there. On Nov. 30, the CIW had led Most of the farmworkers receive bosses vow to resist the penny raise and paid before Christmas, but on that Sunday a nine-mile-long march of 1,500 workers 40-to-45 cents for each 32-pound bucket preserve the living conditions in Florida’s they were told, “No paychecks until after and their supporters down to the Burger of tomatoes that they pick. After a 10-hour fields. Christmas.” So as the protest started to King corporate offices in Miami demand- workday, they would have to have picked But all is not grim, students and work- build the employees started to cheer from ing a penny more per pound raise for the up to 2 tons each in order to make a little ers from several unions including the within the restaurant. When the chant, tomatoes they pick. over $50, barely making the minimum Teamsters, SEIU, CWA and UNITE HERE “No more slaves! Pay a living wage!” start- The CIW has been waging fights against wage. These farmworkers have been are joining the CIW in the fight to halt the ed, one worker even came outside to lead some of the largest U.S.-based fast food cor- working for the same rates since their last decline in wages. The struggle for a penny the chant. porations. These farmworkers, who mostly pay raise in 1978. more will escalate and even Burger King The CIW is sending a full-time team pick tomatoes, are fighting to improve liv- Paying the extra penny would only restaurant employees are joining the fight. back to Miami after the first of the year. ing and working conditions from what can cost the multibillionaire fast-food giant At the Dec. 23 picket at the local Burger So there will be a lot more actions coming only be called modern day slavery. $250,000 a year, yet they refuse to budge. King restaurant in mostly the white upscale up both here and around the U.S. The first stop on the Nov. 30 march In 2005, the CIW led a national boycott Aventura neighborhood, restaurant work- The writer is from the Bolivarian targeted Goldman Sachs, a large invest- against another fast food giant, Taco Bell. ers cheered the picketers and some even Youth in Miami, who have participated ment firm that owns a big portion of the Workers and students all over the coun- came out and joined the demonstrators. in the CIW actions. Bosses use ICE to chill a union drive By Milt Neidenberg the struggles of the 1930s Depression. ing and the corporations’ collusion with one-day national work strike. The tactic is Immediately following the sham elec- the state’s repressive agencies that target already being used abroad, especially in Just two weeks before a union repre- tion, there was no surprise when Fresh immigrant workers. some European countries. sentation election in the midst of the holi- Direct management boasted that 80 per- Ott’s opening remarks charged that In their own insidious way, the banks day season, online grocery delivery giant cent of plant employees voted “no union.” the ICE raid on Fresh Direct was part of and corporations in their own class inter- Fresh Direct shocked its 2,000 employees. They did not mention that only 530 of 900 a national pattern and “no coincidence, ests are already shutting down on the poor The company demanded that workers pro- eligible workers showed up. Three hundred comes now in the middle of an NLRB elec- and the workers. Look at the foreclosures duce documents like Social Security cards and seventy members wisely decided not tion.” He blamed the federal government and the destruction of desperately needed to update records for an Immigration to show up as the ICE agents threatened and Fresh Direct complicity in interfering public housing in New Orleans. and Customs Enforcement Agency/ to arrest them. And even under a flawed with the workers’ right to have a union. Plant closings and layoffs shut out the Homeland Security (ICE) inspection. election, over 100 members voted for the Other speakers reinforced this theme, workers from the means of production Most vulnerable were the 900 ware­house union. As of Jan. 1, none of the locals on spotlighting the conduct of Fresh Direct and subsistence. Poverty and hunger shut workers slated to vote. Over­whelmingly the ballot have issued public statements. and ICE. off the masses from economic and per- Latina and women of color, they work in A week prior to the election, the New There was, however, no action propos- sonal security. Decent education is denied 12- to 18-hour shifts with forced overtime, York City Central Labor Council held a al put forward calling for a fight back to youth of color and 47 million are shut out for a starting wage of $7.50. Standing in press conference on the steps of City Hall stem the tidal wave of attacks on the labor of elementary health care. Prisons are near freezing temperatures in the refriger- targeting the ICE raids on Fresh Direct movement and the broad-based attack on packed with workers of many nation- ated warehouse, they price, pack and load workers. It was co-chaired by CLC direc- 12 million hard-working immigrants. alities shut out by bars of isolation and boxes, some heavy with canned goods, tor Ed Ott and Labor Council on Latin With the nation embroiled in imperi- repression. The very future of the planet onto delivery trucks. Many who had American Advancement President Sonia alist wars and class warfare and national is threatened by corporate polluters. been on the payroll since the company Ivany. The turnout of about 100—mainly oppression on the rise, wouldn’t it be rea- Isn’t it time for working people to shut was formed had signed union cards and union officials, politicians and clergy— sonable to begin discussing a campaign down work for one day in their own class looked forward to an election that would pointed out the widespread union bust- to shut down the country for one day—a interests? n lead to decent wages, working conditions and a sense of security and dignity. It looked like a winnable election for the union. Then in came the federal Toro to be in court on Jan. 18 agents—ICE, armed and dangerous— Víctor Toro Ramírez fought the Pinochet and marginalized people of the United victories won at local and regional levels ordering the workers to produce proof of dictatorship in Chile. Now he is fighting States and the world, and with the under- will not change. their legality. It was reported that at least deportation from the U.S., and is linking standing this is a development involving The main demands and those that 100 workers quit, and supervisors sus- his own struggle to that of all undocu- great projects carried out on a universal mobil­ized the most people were the pended dozens of workers who couldn’t mented workers. scale, we will have to change things. struggle for a general amnesty and the produce paperwork. Toro arrived in the U.S. in 1984 and In spite of contradictions weighing on struggles against the war in Iraq and the Sandy Pope, president of Local 805 settled in the South Bronx, N.Y. In 1987 the class struggle in this country, I would Middle East. Parallel to this situation and Teamsters, one of the unions on the bal- he co-founded La Peña del Bronx, a com- like to present some optimistic proposals its social and popular skirmishes, there lot, described the mayhem: “Some people munity grassroots organization serving for how I see that we can meet the chal- were developing crises, that of the mon- just walked out the door. They were sob- the poor and the needs of the commu- lenges of 2008. strous costs of the imperialist war, the bing [as they carried] garbage bags of nity, with his life partner and partner in We count upon the existence of a social, one of the war deaths of the U.S. Armed clothes from their lockers.” Fearful that struggle for social justice, Nieves Ayress. union and political rearmament far great- Forces members and the reactions of they would be arrested and separated On July 6, 2007, while on an Amtrak er than that which existed ten years ago. their relatives, the case of those tortured from their children and families, they passenger train, Víctor Toro was arrest- We rearmed at a high level in 2006 to car- in Iraq and Guantánamo, the continual didn’t wait to pick up their checks. ed and detained by the Border Patrol ry out protests, mobilizations and strikes scandals involving the Bush gang and In spite of the brutal repression by ICE (ICE) in Rochester, N.Y. Toro, who is out throughout the entire country involving its allies, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and though it was riddled with unfair on bail and continuing to organize, will thousands of people, and on May 1, 2006, the rapid increase in repressive violence labor practices orchestrated by Fresh be in court again on Jan. 18. His defense our struggle for unconditional amnesty and racism, whose greatest expression Direct, the election the National Labor committee asks everyone to come out reached its highest level, with a protest came with the Katrina hurricane in New Relations Board set for December 22-23 and show support at 26 Federal Plaza in movement of a million people in cities Orleans, the anti-terrorism and anti- stayed on schedule as if nothing had hap- Manhattan in New York. like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, immigration campaigns, the instabil- pened. The other union on the ballot Toro wrote recently that at his hearing New York, Washington and many other ity of Wall St., also the threat of an eco- competing with the Teamsters was the he hopes to discuss with the movement cities. It was a movement that made nomic recession, global warming and the United Food and Commercial Workers. his proposals, which he has developed the country’s Democratic-Republican overweening responsibility of the Bush The NLRB should have postponed the in a statement that we publish a part of bureaucracy tremble with fear. administration for it, the construction of election and called for hearings. below. Until 2005 we were invisible. In 2006 a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. ... The NLRB’s “speak no evil” policy elo- we became visible in the press media of Toro goes on to call for going quently points out the erosion of protec- Struggle of immigrants in 2008 those in power. And in 2007 we again forward to organize from the bottom up tions workers had under the National The year 2008 will provide great oppor- became invisible. We have to change his- a national protest to stop all work on Labor Relations Act, a law won by the tunities for immigrant workers to carry tory. We advanced in one year more than May 1, 2008, to fight for an uncondi- blood and sacrifices of the workers during out their tasks and struggles for the poor we could in the half century before it. The tional amnesty now! Page 6 Jan. 10, 2008 www.workers.org

'Not us. We’re not going' Soldiers refuse orders in Iraq By Dustin Langley on the mutiny. The series, without open- time it’d rain, we’d get that stagnant-ass guys they slept with, joked with, worked ly questioning the U.S. role as occupier water in the basement.” out with. I don’t think they’d be able to “Our army that now remains in of Iraq, idealizes the strong friendships Spc. Gerry DeNardi and Sgt. Ryan accomplish the mission.” Vietnam is in a state approaching col- among the U.S. troops and their willing- Wood wrote a song titled “Adhamiya The battalion gave 2nd Platoon the day lapse, with individual units avoiding or ness to make sacrifices for their buddies. Blues.” One line from the song says: to recover. Then they were scheduled to having refused combat, murdering their For revolutionaries reading the Army “War, it degrades the heart and poisons go back out on patrol in Adhamiya on officers and noncommissioned officers, Times series, it should be obvious that the mind. And we’re tossed aside by gov- July 18. drug-ridden, and dispirited where not Washington has placed these U.S. troops ernments’ lies.” But when Capt. Cecil Strickland, near-mutinous conditions [exist] among in an impossible situation: they must car- DeNardi joined the Army believing, “I Charlie Company’s commander, returned American forces in Vietnam that have ry out an occupation of a hostile country don’t think you can say you’re an American from a mission on June 18, he learned only been exceeded in this century by ... whose population is highly motivated, or you’re a patriot without serving.” 2nd Platoon had refused his orders. the collapse of the czarist armies in 1916 well-armed and capable of fighting back But a year of bloodshed changed his “They’re not coming,” Strickland said and 1917.” and winning, just as in Vietnam. mind. After living through daily explo- he was told. “So I called the platoon ser- —Armed Forces Journal, June 1971 Charlie Company’s verbal response to sions for 11 months, he said: “I’ve seen geant and talked to him. ‘Remind your One of the most underreported stories losing their buddies was that they want- enough. I’ve done enough.” guys: These are some of the things that from the Vietnam War is the role played ed to massacre Iraqis. Their physical Two weeks before his platoon refused could happen if they refuse to go out.’ I by the disintegration of military disci- response, however, was to break military orders, the 20-year-old DeNardi lost five was irritated they were thumbing their pline as the war dragged on. While the discipline, refusing orders to go out on friends, killed together as they rode in a noses. I was determined to get them down situation in Iraq has not reached the same patrol. Bradley Fighting Vehicle that rolled over there.” point yet, revolutionaries understand that an IED. Di Nardi said, “We said, ‘No. If you the fact that the bosses are forced to rely Charlie Company hit hard Meanwhile, their tour was extended make us go there, we’re going to light up on workers in uniform to wage their wars Charlie Company had been in Iraq for from 12 months to 15 months. They had everything. There’s a thousand platoons. raises the possibility that the troops will almost a year and during that time had been scheduled to go home June 20. Not us. We’re not going.’” say, “No.” been one of the hardest hit U.S. units in Just prior to the mutiny, First Sergeant He was not aware that 2nd Platoon On July 18 last year, members of 2nd Iraq, losing 14 troops out of approximate- McKinney, a well-loved NCO in Charlie had met and determined that they could Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, ly 140. Company, was on patrol with his soldiers, no longer function and that members of 26th Infantry Regiment, held a meeting During the day, Charlie Company when the stress became too much for him. the platoon were afraid that their anger and decided collectively that they would patrolled constantly. Each soldier went McKinney said, “I can’t take it anymore.” and stress would result in a massacre. refuse to obey an order to go out on patrol out three or four times a day, with a one- He took his M4, put it under his chin, and They decided as a platoon that they were in the Adhamiya region of Iraq. They deter- and-a-half-hour break between patrols. he killed himself in front of his men. done; they would refuse the order to go on mined, after an IED (improvised explosive They patrolled in full body armor in the The following week, soldiers from patrol, despite the knowledge that mutiny device) attack had killed five more mem- 110-degree heat, but could only shower Alpha Company, also of the 1st Battalion, can result in court-martial, imprisonment bers of Charlie Company, that they could every two or three days. At night, they were hit by an IED and lost four men. and even execution. “no longer function professionally.” slept 25 to a room in a run-down and Sgt. 1st Class Tim Ybay, 38, 2nd But no court-martial ever came. A recent four-part series in the Army sour-smelling basement. Platoon’s platoon sergeant, said: “I knew “Captain Strickland read us our rights,” Times tells Charlie Company’s story, Sgt. Shawn Ladue, 27, said of their after losing those five guys, my platoon DeNardi said. “We had 15 yes-or-no ques- which is the basis for this article’s report quarters: “I thought it was a dump. Every had to get out of there. These were the tions, and no matter how you answered In the shadow of default U.S. & czarist Russia’s common problem seemed minor in comparison with the By Sam Marcy There is no way of knowing how serious vastness of the empire and the size of its population—as today in the United Originally published on Nov. 23, 1995 a debt problem is until a default. States. The world position of the United States But finding an easy solution to the debt today is somewhat analogous to that of Of course, no one could deny the czarist Instead of its attention being con- problem—one that would not impinge the czarist empire in the 1890s. court when it asked for extensions on its stantly riveted solely on its own situa- substantially on either of the basic antag- At that time the Russian empire was the loans. Yet such matters as not being able tion of being robbed and exploited by onistic classes in contemporary society— most feared power in Europe and Asia. It to pay the bills due its creditors began to the newly created bourgeoisie, this pro- is just as elusive for the Clinton admin- cast its shadow not only over the Balkans assume greater and greater importance. letariat looked outward and sought by istration today as it was for the czar a but other areas as well, from Turkey to Yet who would dare refuse to extend every means to assimilate the lessons and century ago. Kamchatka. credit to the czar? The idea seemed experiences of its Western counterparts. We know now what happened in Old There was no question that the czarist unthinkable. No small portion of the czar’s finances Russia. We also remember the debt prob- regime was most hated among the small was spent in tracking down the newly lem of the French nobility just prior to and oppressed countries bordering its ter- Militarism and unpaid bills born, rebellious working class. But to no the Revolution. ritory. Exiles from the region kept pour- Like the United States today, czar- avail. There’s no way of really knowing how ing into the West. ist Russia was a great military power. Russia’s historical situation at that significant a debt problem is until there is But mighty though the empire seemed It lorded it over all the surrounding time is not altogether analogous to the a default. Under some circumstances, it is to be, and omnipotent in relation to its neighbors. Its pre-eminence could not present-day situation in the U.S. But easy for a capitalist government to achieve neighbors, it had one significant flaw: It be denied. certain similarities are undeniable. The a so-called soft landing—to spread out its was unable to pay its debts on time. Yet the question was, could it pay its problem of paying debts on time is the indebtedness or reduce its principal or bills on time? most pressing of all. interest through negotiation. About Sam Marcy Was this not the Achilles heel of the Floating a new loan for the czar always But it’s also possible that, instead of an czarist empire? The monarchy got a No one has contributed more revo- continued stream of extensions. But did lutionary insight to this newspaper they help? Or did they in fact weaken the The Bolsheviks and War than Sam Marcy, the empire? founder of Workers Lessons for today’s anti-war movement Whichever the answer, the debt prob- by Sam Marcy World Party, who lem flowed from more profound and died 10 years ago general causes. Capitalism came late to For most of the Socialist movement, World War I was an unmitigated disaster. The powerful workers’ parties of on Feb. 1, 1998. Russia. For it to develop, the bourgeoi- We’ll be rerunning Western Europe buckled under the war fever. But in Russia, sie needed considerable foreign support Lenin and the Bolsheviks redoubled their efforts and used a selection from his to maintain the ruling clique in the style the war crisis to organize the revolutionary overthrow of the past articles to familiarize our read- to which it was accustomed—maintain- old order. ers with Marcy, his analyses, and ing a rich court, lavishly entertaining What distinguished the Bolsheviks from the other parties in the Socialist International? Was Lenin’s focus on building what he had to teach about applying foreign business owners and diplomats, the basics of Marxism and historical the party a distraction from the anti-war struggle—or a nec- and continually expending its resources essary part of it? materialism to the challenges facing in wasteful ways. Sam Marcy in this book reexamines questions long at the working class Yet seen in another light, capitalist issue in the progressive movement both for the historical and oppressed today. development was slowly but surely pro- record and in light of today's dangerous international situa- tion and the Pentagon's post 9/11 wars. For more of his writings, see ducing a proletariat that was unique in www.workers.org/books. n the world at that time. Order online at www.leftbooks.com www.workers.org Jan. 10, 2008 Page 7

Withdrawal is the only option A look back at 2007 in Iraq them, it looked like you disobeyed an By Joachim Guilliard* BBC and ABC news in September indi- British Labor and Liberal Democratic order. No one asked what happened. And cated that 70 percent of those polled said Party members of Parliament from the there’s no record—no article 15. Nothing The financing of U.S. president George that in the course of the troop increase, defense committee, who were in Iraq to show it happened.” W. Bush’s wars is now just about accom- security continued to worsen, as did the during July 2007, reported that for the Instead, battalion leaders began break- plished for 2008. By a large major- conditions for political dialogue, and the British soldiers, nighttime patrols in the ing up the platoon. Their only punish- ity, briefly before Dec. 25 the House of speed of reconstruction and economic oil metropolis had become “suicide mis- ment was that members of the platoon Representatives and Senate granted an development. Newer studies made in sions.” The population saw these troops were flagged, meaning that they could additional $70 billion for the occupations November confirm this view. as the main problem, and not, as the not receive promotions or awards. in Iraq and Afghanistan. A large number British government had claimed, as their As the brutal occupation of Iraq contin- of Democrats again voted for continuing Iraqis blame occupation protectors. (The Guardian, July 25) ues, with politicians from both corporate the funding. What made it easier for this The overwhelming majority of Iraqis Ninety percent of all attacks in Basra parties committed to Wall Street’s agen- bill to pass was that in the U.S. there was holds the occupation troops primarily were directed against British units, and da of domination of the oil-rich Middle a changed perception of the war in occu- responsible for the violence in the coun- those carrying out the attacks would East, mutinies, refusals, and other acts of pied Iraq. try and accordingly demands the troops’ often come from the ranks of the “patri- resistance in the ranks will continue. Reports of a decrease of violence in immediate departure. (Washington Post, otic youth.” Instead of fighting on, the It is the task of all revolutionaries and Iraq allowed the topic to disappear from Dec. 19) British Army command struck a deal with progressives, and the antiwar movement the headlines during the past few months. In the middle of December the British the parties that control the second larg- as a whole, to be visibly supportive of The U.S. government obviously succeed- Army held a celebration in Basra as it est Iraqi city: in exchange for a guaran- resistance in the ranks, to continue reach- ed in selling the reinforcement of combat transferred control of the southern Iraqi tee they would no longer be attacked, the ing out to the working class in uniform. troops begun last January as a success. province to Iraqi authorities. This too was British promised to stay outside Basra. In addition, it is to provide the political According to the Pentagon, the number of sold as a success of the British-American explanation that shows how the U.S. rul- attacks decreased by 62 percent in com- occupation policies. Actually, the British Peace without occupiers ing class—and not the Iraqi resistance—is parison to last March. U.S. troop losses had already withdrawn completely from Through the media you get a picture the real enemy of the working-class U.S. similarly sank. Basra in September to their base at the that the consequence of this deal was troops. airport, far outside of the city, their last anarchy and arbitrary violence. As ever, Many organizations are committed to Propaganda everywhere base in the country. the media emphasized—as if they were reaching the troops. In response to plans The decrease of violence is significant, Months before, the British had already again justifying an intervention—attacks to call up thousands of National Guard however, only in comparison to the first vacated their bases in the other three by radical Islamic forces on women. The in New Jersey, Military Families Speak half of 2007. At that time what was called provinces they originally occupied. fate of women in the South had never Out is distributing literature at National “the Surge” led to an overall increase of Officially the withdrawal was explained been reported in the media as long as Guard armories where soldiers have U.S. troop strength and expansion of mil- with the cover story that the Iraqi army occupation troops were the ones abusing orders to deploy to Iraq. The Military itary operations. In turn, the increased was ready now to take over local security. or killing these women. Project (www.militaryproject.org) orga- operations led to an increase in the num- Numerous statements by British officers, In reality, after the departure of the nizes regular outreach to military bases ber of victims among the Iraqis as well as however, clearly show that the situation British, the situation in Basra immediate- and publishes GI Special, a newsletter the number of U.S. soldiers killed, so that had simply become untenable. ly became substantially calmer, as officials focusing on GI resistance and the occu- both climbed to record heights. The same “Ninety percent of the violence down and citizens of the city told the Reuters pation. n applies to the number of Iraqi prisoners here is all against us,” a British officer told press agency (Oct. 1). Political murders and refugees. the Los Angeles Times (April 19). “You still occurred, but much less frequently Altogether 2007 became by far the dead- put more people on the ground, you are than at any time since the invasion in liest year of the occupation. The relative creating more targets.” 2003. Meanwhile families are again walk- calming in the autumn is essentially the The Western media tried to make it ing on the banks of Shatt al-Arab, even in easy landing, there will be a collapse. result of the U.S. Army’s canceling large appear that the Iraqi army took control in the evening, which during the past four The U.S. debt crisis has to be seen in offensives. The military analysis organiza- the South. This was false. The local par- years had been inconceivable. the light of the international situation. tion GlobalSecurity reports only one major ties that dominated the region took over. Not only in the South, but in the regions The individual bourgeois states are all operation since the middle of July. For example, 1,200 British soldiers where the U.S. was the main occupying trying to cover up their own weaknesses. What also had an impact on the media faced continuous bombardment as they force, similar conditions hold, although Where possible, they are of course trying was that two weeks before the votes in stayed in the Amarah barracks. The Mehdi there is almost no reporting from these to transfer the burden of the capitalist Congress, bus convoys with refugees Army of the prominent cleric Moqtada regions independent of the U.S. military indebtedness onto the shoulders of the returning from Syria arrived in Baghdad. al-Sadr took over these barracks immedi- or critical of it, as there is in the British working class. The U.N.-Refugee Organization found ately after the British left. The inhabitants press. The true situation could still be Nowhere is this easy for any of the capi- it necessary to contradict the rosy view of Amarah celebrated extensively, calling deduced, however, because fighting talist states, not even the strongest. The Washington presented. According to its themselves the “first Iraqi city to throw calmed down immediately in those areas world economy was knit together by com- estimate, security is far from adequate in out the occupiers.” from which U.S. troops withdrew. petitive forces in an earlier epoch and has Iraq. Later there were battles between the U.S. plans to divide Iraq into Shiite, since been fortified by monopoly, whose As the questioning of those who returned police—which consist mainly of members Sunni and Kurdish areas have little sup- tentacles stretch all over the globe. home showed, the refugees returned not of the militias of the radical Shiite govern- port among the Iraqi population. On the It is interesting to note that today, because conditions had improved inside ment party SIIC (formerly SCIRI)—and other hand, these partial retreats of the unlike in earlier years, a few of the bour- Iraq, but usually because their visa for the followers of al-Sadr, whose movement occupation forces often result in estab- geois economists are afraid to make pre- the country where they had been staying makes up the provincial government. The lishing independent areas that are con- dictions of an early and “easy” landing. had run out or they had exhausted their conflict was defused by the intervention trolled by different types of local forces, In the meantime, the task for the work- finances. Some were also lured by the of high-ranking Iraqi personalities. and could lead to the danger that these ers’ movement in the United States is to $800 pocket money that the Iraqi govern- “At the end it was an Iraqi solution,” areas decay into individual spheres of forge unity with each and every segment ment promised to give to those who came said Lt. Col. Richard Nixon Eckersall, influence—sort of local fiefdoms—as in of the working class in order to achieve a home. commander at that time of a unit sta- Afghanistan. truly united front of all the working-class Also from the point of view of the Iraqis tioned there. Since that time the province The unification of the Iraqi national and progressive organizations, the unions who remained in the country, nothing has been relatively calm. resistance made enormous progress in first of all. n improved. On the contrary, inquiries of In Basra the situation was no better. the course of the year. As long as the U.S. occupation forces are present and capable of launching an attack on concentrations of guerrillas, however, the resistance alli- ances cannot enter population centers to resolve political problems involving The Truth on Military Recruiters & the Draft the local groupings. Ever more urgently therefore, what is needed is the complete A Guide to Resistance and systematic withdrawal of all occupa- tion troops, accompanied by negotiations From the Introduction: “Army recruiting is in a death spiral,” says retired Army Lt. Col. Charles Krohn, a lifelong Republican and former Pentagon public affairs official. with the resistance and all other relevant forces inside Iraq. As the bloody colonial occupation of Iraq drags on into its fifth year, the Army continues to miss Published in the Berlin daily newspa- its recruiting quotas—falling short by a staggering 42% in April of 2005. per Junge Welt, Dec. 27, 2007. This book is aimed at increasing recruiting problems by helping young people and their parents * Joachim Guilliard is a key organizer counter the lies of the recruiters. of the German Iraq Coordination and In this book, you will find practical tools for challenging recruiters, exposing their falsehoods, writes frequently on the occupation of and getting them out of our schools. Iraq. Translated from German by John Catalinotto. Order online at www.leftbooks.com Page 8 Jan. 10, 2008 www.workers.org

‘Charlie Wilson’s War’ How the CIA lynched Afghanistan—

the first time Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser inspects a gun during By Stephen Millies What really happened his trip to Khyber Pass, Pakistan, in Afghanistan February 1980. The movie “Charlie Wilson’s War” is When the regime of no more truthful about Afghanistan than Mohammad Daoud was over- retary and everybody else. “Gone with the Wind” was about slavery. thrown in 1978, five percent of None of this fazes Crile, who The key character is Texas Congress­ Afghanistan’s population owned was a producer for the CBS show person Charles Wilson (Tom Hanks), who over 45 percent of the land. “60 Minutes.” The CIA is just a supposedly drove the Soviet army out of Women could be murdered if racist cesspool. Afghanistan. Charlie is a sexual predator, found not to be virgins when they Avrakotos urged the Greek col- harassing and exploiting women work- were wed. onels who staged a coup in 1967 ers on his staff. He is shown dabbling in Over 96 percent of women to murder Andreas Papandreou, cocaine. were illiterate as were the vast majority of dergartens and instituted nurseries for who survived and served later as Greece’s But he’s really a swell guy. From his men. A third of the people in the country- orphans.” Textbooks were printed in the prime minister. Las Vegas hot tub, Charlie listens to Dan side care were sharecroppers or landless Dari, Pashtu, Uzbek, Turkic and Baluchi The son of a sweatshop boss bottling Rather claiming that Soviet planes were laborers. languages. soda pop, Avrakotos grew up in the steel dropping toys rigged to maim children. Revolutionaries belonging to the By 1985 there had been an 80 percent town of Aliquippa, Pa., near Pittsburgh. In This vicious lie, worthy of Nazi propagan- People’s Democratic Party fought this increase in the number of hospital beds. his youth, Avrakotos joined white gangs da minister Joseph Goebbels, allegedly oppression. They looked across the bor- Brigades of women and youths went to the attacking Black people. gets Wilson moving. der in the Soviet Union where people in countryside to bring medical care to peas- If Hollywood were going to make a Wilson teams up with Pakistani dic- Central Asia had lived under similar condi- ants for the first time. movie about a genuine hero in Western tator Zia ul-Haq to fight for “freedom.” tions before the 1917 socialist revolution. None of this was to the liking of the Pennsylvania, it could consider Black Zia had hanged Benazir Bhutto’s father, For 70 years the Soviet government feudal landlords whose rule the revolu- Communist Benjamin Careathers, whose Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali carried out the biggest affirmative-action tion challenged. The landlords organized ceaseless efforts organized workers at the Bhutto, in 1979. Assisting campaign in history, bringing schools and counterrevolutionary gangs to terrorize Jones and Laughlin steel mill in Aliquippa Charlie is right-wing hospitals to the area. Industries were built people just as the Ku Klux Klan did here into a union in 1937, and who was jailed socialite Joanne Herring WWp and electricity came to the countryside. after the U.S. Civil War in the 19th cen- in 1953 under the mind-controlling Smith (Julia Roberts) and CIA Movie review Nations that were imprisoned by the czar tury. One of the landlords’ leaders was Act for his political beliefs. agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour were now free to develop their own culture Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who threw acid in Don’t waste your money Hoffman). The movie claims that they and literature. the face of women not wearing a veil. had to fight do-nothings in the CIA and This aid wasn’t a one-way street. This Afghanistan Klan got support from “Charlie Wilson’s War” whips up the State Department in order to arm Afghan Hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the President Jimmy “Human Rights” Carter. audience as Soviet helicopters are shot counterrevolutionaries. Red Army from the Central Asian Soviet In a 1998 interview with the French week- down with U.S. stinger missiles. Soviet This is a fantasy world, even for Holly­ Republics died fighting Hitler. Sabir O. ly Nouvel Observatateur, Carter’s National pilots are shown as fiendish charac- wood. By 1981, Ronald Reagan was in the Rakhimov—who was the first Uzbek to be Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski ters who love to kill, unlike U.S. pilots White House presiding over a $2 trillion made a general in the Soviet Army—died bragged that the CIA was already bank- whose bombs and rockets ravaged Korea, arms build-up. He installed “Pershing II” liberating Gdansk, Poland. Two million rolling the counterrevolutionaries by Vietnam and Yugoslavia and which still nuclear missiles in Europe that could hit Uzbeks live in Afghanistan. mid-1979. ravage Iraq and Afghanistan. the Soviet Union in eight minutes. The first spark in Afghanistan’s revolu- It was in response to this CIA-backed The movie not only claims that Charlie Reagan backed contra terrorists tion was the assassination of union leader campaign of violence that Soviet forces Wilson is responsible for driving the against Nicaragua, invaded Grenada, Ahbar Haybar on April 17, 1978. Leaders accepted the invitation of Afghanistan’s Soviets out of Afghanistan but also that and propped up death squad regimes in of the People’s Democratic Party were gov­­ernment to come to its aid on Dec. 24, the Soviet Union collapsed as a result. This El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. imprisoned on April 26 for giving speech- 1979. is turning history upside down. It was the The U.S. Air Force bombed Tripoli, mur- es at Hayber’s funeral. Within ten hours gathering counterrevolution that led to dering Muammar Qaddhafi’s daughter, the Afghanistan army revolted and freed The CIA’s racist gangster the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan among others. Reagan supplied Israel’s these political prisoners, using a tank to Much of the chemistry in the movie in early 1989. bloody invasion of Lebanon. Mercenary tear down the prison walls. is between Charlie Wilson and Gust Within three years of the Soviet with- wars were waged against Angola and Decree number six of the revolution Avrakotos of the CIA. Avrakotos is a tough drawal, the progressive Afghanistan gov- Mozambique as Reagan sought to save cancelled the debts of the poor in the coun- cookie who swears at a CIA official after ernment was overthrown. At least 50,000 South Africa’s anti-communist apartheid tryside. A farmer in debt had to turn over being passed over for a job in Finland. people were killed in the capital of Kabul regime. half of their crop to the money lender. Actually he’s a super bigot. According alone. The biggest CIA campaign was against Even a Pentagon study admitted, “The to the book “Charlie Wilson’s War” by the “Charlie Wilson’s War” is sexist anti- Afghanistan. The Democrat Charlie government trained many more teach- late George Crile, Avrakotos loved to throw communist poison. Don’t waste your Wilson was just a cheerleader. ers, built additional schools and kin- racial epithets in the face of his Black sec- money on it. n Bhutto murder sharpens Pakistan crisis a coalition government between the mili- Continued from page 1 The idea was to keep Musharraf and Bhutto was then put under house arrest, the military in power, but with Bhutto where she continued to speak out against tary dictatorship and the bourgeois oppo- but which the Musharraf regime said on giving the government a more democratic Musharraf, calling on him to step down. sition has failed miserably. After years Jan. 1 would be postponed to February. veneer. Her courage in the face of real threats on of Washington’s support for Musharraf, even demanding that he be more ruth- The deal that failed “The administration concluded over her life increased her mass support. the summer that a power-sharing deal The PPP met just days after Bhutto’s less against its perceived enemies, anti- Bhutto’s return in October from exile with Ms. Bhutto might be the only way assassination and elected her 19-year- U.S. sentiment is stronger than ever in had been brokered by the Bush admin- that General Musharraf could keep from old son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and her Pakistan, among both Islamic and secular istration, which got General Musharraf being toppled,” wrote the New York Times husband, Asif Ali Zardari, to take over the forces. to agree to drop the corruption charges. bluntly on Oct. 20. leadership, thus keeping this very wealthy Washington’s credibility with its An article in the Washington Post of From the moment that Bhutto returned dynasty at the helm of the largest party in “friends,” already in tatters, has tanked. Dec. 28 described how Secretary of State to Pakistan in October, however, it was Pakistan. The PPP is expected to win the Who among the many exiled political fig- Condoleezza Rice, her powerful deputy clear that Musharraf had no intention of most seats in the parliamentary elections— ures around the world will want to trust John Negroponte and U.N. Ambassador honoring the deal. if the government allows them to be held. its guarantees of their safety now? Zalmay Khalilzad thought they had In her very first public appearance, at Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan The situation seems ripe for the mass concocted a deal whereby Bhutto and a huge rally in Karachi on Oct. 18, Bhutto Muslim League, who was prime minis- movements in Pakistan to demand no Musharraf would share power in a coali- narrowly missed being assassinated by ter until ousted by Musharraf’s coup in secret deals, no more intervention by tion government that would continue to powerful bomb blasts that killed 150 1999, has called for the general to resign imperialism, and the creation of a truly cooperate with Washington. Bhutto, it people, 50 of them her security guards. immediately from the presidency so “a democratic and sovereign government said, had agreed that U.S. planes could At that time, too, the government blamed government of national consensus” can be committed to using the nation’s resources bomb targets in Pakistan’s Northwest ter- Islamic militants, but her supporters told formed. to address the urgent needs of the people ritory, a stronghold of the Islamic move- reporters that electric power to the whole The Bush administration is now scram- for adequate food, shelter, education and ment opposed to Washington’s wars in area had gone out just before the blasts bling to try to put the pieces of its policy health care. Afghanistan and Iraq. and blamed it on the regime. back together again. Its attempt to create E-mail: [email protected] www.workers.org Jan. 10, 2008 Page 9 Israel threatens Gaza with all-out attack

By Sara Flounders The long-promised “safe passage” road people in a field located in the al-Zaytoun U.S. diplomatic between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank neighborhood in the south of Gaza City. and political maneuvers The Israeli siege of Gaza is an interna- was sealed. All crossings in and out of the The four were killed. Unable to crush the Palestinian spirit tional crime of collective punishment on Strip are under total Israeli control. In the West Bank, Israeli forces with hunger, isolation and blockade, an entire population. It is a crime carried Previously, tens of thousands of work- also continue to stage attacks, kidnap- Washington is giving full support to out with the full support and authoriza- ers from Gaza crossed into Israel as low- pings and missile strikes. The entire political and diplomatic measures that tion of Washington. paid day laborers. Now even this bare- West Bank, the other small fragment of would create an apartheid state. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had survival employment is terminated. Palestinian land occupied by Israel since The greatest attention has been paid rejected overtures by Hamas, the militant The more onerous that the repres- 1967, has been carved into numerous to dividing the Palestinian movement Islamic group that is the elected govern- sion and lockdown became, the more the tiny pieces, surrounded by 30 walls and with repression, mass imprisonment and ment in Gaza, for discussions about even Palestinian population responded with hundreds of Israeli Defense Forces police torture of those who are determined to a temporary cease-fire. (New York Times, resistance. In 2006 in democratic elec- checkpoints. stand for their full rights. This is matched Dec. 24) tions, Hamas overwhelmingly won the with empty promises to those willing to Now there are increasing calls within popular vote. Full invasion of Gaza conciliate. Israel, including from the head of the The U.S. and Israeli response to the threatened At an orchestrated photo-op in Israeli military, for a full-scale invasion of democratic election of Hamas was collec- IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi Annapolis, Md., in late November to sup- besieged and isolated Gaza. tive punishment of the entire population. declared in mid-December that the Israeli posedly discuss “peace and a Palestinian Conditions today in Gaza are desper- Supplies were even more restricted, U.N. Army should enter the Gaza Strip in a Homeland,” Hamas, the democratically ate; Israel severely restricts and in some refugee aid curtailed, charities were shut large-scale military operation. elected Palestinian government, was not cases even denies the entrance of even down and even the Palestinians’ own tax In past decades Israeli forces have invited. Israel has refused any discussion basic food, fuel and electricity. Water fil- revenues were withheld so that teachers, invaded Gaza many times at a cost of or negotiation with Hamas forces. ters, water pumps and bottled water are administrators and health staff could not thousands of Palestinian lives and mas- Before their holiday recess, both hous- barred. The most basic supplies, from be paid. sive destruction in efforts to smash the es of the U.S. Congress agreed to with- soap to batteries for hearing aids, are pro- Despite desperate conditions of siege resistance. But what is now causing hold $100 million in financial assistance hibited. No spare parts of any kind are and almost total blockade, resistance apprehension and great concern in Israel to Egypt, demanding that Egypt first permitted. Even desperately needed incu- continues. is that its forces will pay a price. In the take further steps to repress Palestinians bators for babies or dialysis equipment past year Palestinian mines, and possibly who smuggle supplies and weapons into cannot be repaired or replaced. Unequal and anti-tank missiles, have been able to pen- Gaza via a network of tunnels along the In the cold and crowded wards of Gaza overwhelming force etrate Israeli’s heavily armored 60-ton Egyptian border and clamp down on City’s Shifa Hospital, the dispensary is out Maintaining resistance in the face of Merkava Mark-3 tanks. On Dec. 12 an Gaza in other ways. of 85 essential medicines and is close to the onerous siege has the overwhelming Israeli tank was hit while on a raid inside This heavy-handed pressure tactic using up almost 150 others. support of the population. The Palestinian Gaza. is the first time that U.S. aid to Egypt— There are rolling blackouts across the resistance lacks jet aircraft, helicopters, The ability of Hezbollah fighters in provided since the 1979 Egypt-Israel Strip. Previously Gaza barely functioned radar, anti-aircraft batteries, tanks, elec- Lebanon to destroy Israeli tanks and Camp David peace agreement—has been on 80,000 gallons of diesel fuel a day. But tronic surveillance, satellite reconnais- shoot down its helicopters, along with threatened and significantly reduced. now Israel has reduced this to less than a sance or any of the other sophisticated the ability of Iraqi fighters to destroy Now several thousand Palestinian pil- third. Less than 24,000 gallons of diesel high-tech equipment that the Pentagon U.S. tanks, means that the IDF is no lon- grims are stranded in Egypt. The Egyptian fuel a day are allowed in. has endlessly supplied to Israel. ger invulnerable. When Israel invaded government has refused to let them return Without fuel and functioning pumps, Yet not a day passes that Qassam rock- Lebanon last August, it suffered a stun- to the Hamas-controlled border city of even the pumping of raw sewage has et barrages are not fired at Israel. These ning defeat. Despite massive bombard- Rafah in Gaza directly through Egypt. become a major sanitation threat. Garbage rockets and grenades are machine-tooled ment of the entire country and dropping The Gaza residents arrived in Egypt’s heaps rot in the streets and in vacant lots by hand in garages or smuggled through more than 1 million deadly cluster bombs, Sinai Peninsula the last week in December due to the shortages of fuel to operate gar- tunnels. The southern Israeli town of its high-tech, massively armed military after completing the Hajj in Mecca. They bage trucks. Sderot is the closest target, but rockets was unable to hold even a mile of land had left Gaza via Egypt on their way to Practically all businesses are closed and are fired all along the borders of Gaza. For inside the Lebanese border. the Hajj. But Israel is demanding that their workers laid off for lack of raw mate- months more than 10 rockets or mortars Out of fear that Hamas forces in Gaza the pilgrims pass through an Israeli- rials. With all supplies severely restricted, have been fired from Gaza each day. might have obtained anti-aircraft mis- controlled crossing on their way back to inflation is spiraling to five and 10 times Despite the totally unequal strug- siles, the Israeli Air Force now uses only Gaza so that Israeli forces can stop and the prices of a year ago. gle and the conditions of almost total helicopters equipped with anti-missile interrogate suspected militants and their Travel into and out of Gaza is banned. deprivation, resistance fighters in Gaza defenses when flying over the Strip. sympathizers. Even severely sick patients cannot leave have managed to accumulate primitive The problem for U.S. and Zionist forces In 2008 it is important that the world Gaza for treatment in hospitals in Israel, weapons and basic explosives. They are is that they have been unable to defeat the movement stand with and give full atten- Egypt, Jordan or any other country. smuggled into the Strip through the many will and determination of the Palestinian tion to the Palestinian struggle. The oner- Health clinics, lacking supplies, are shut- tunnels under its border with Egypt. The people to fight for full self-determination ous conditions of starvation and isolation ting down. endless digging of miles of tunnels is itself and the right of all Palestinian people to of Gaza can only be broken by world soli- Previously 900 trucks a day entered an enormous accomplishment. return to their land. darity. n Gaza. Now Israel has reduced the number The unequal and overwhelming Israeli to 15 trucks a day. A short list of about half force versus the fierce Palestinian resis- a dozen basic articles is allowed in. tance can be seen in just one week of Gaza is a mere 25 miles long and only attacks. 6 miles wide. It is one of the poorest and According to the Palestinian Web news For 25¢ a day you can become most densely populated areas of the world. service Electronic Intifada, on Dec. 20, Most of the population are refugees who on the eve of the celebration of Eid al- were expelled from their land by Zionist Adha, a special Israeli unit sneaked into a Workers World forces. They are destitute and have relied the Palestinian village of al-Msadar in for decades on U.N. relief supplies and the middle area of Gaza from the eastern supporter remittances from Palestinians working border fence. Once there, Israeli soldiers Workers World is able to publish anti-war, anti-racist news abroad for the most basic necessities. Now stormed six tall buildings and held their because we are truly independent. You can’t get anything like it in even these sources are being choked off. inhabitants. They set up sniper nests. any of the big business controlled media. We have no corporate But Gaza has always been a center of By early morning an Israeli Occupation backers or advertisers. We rely completely on your donations. the most militant resistance to the Zionist Forces unit, reinforced by four armored A donation of $100 a year is just about 25¢ a day. Become a member of the Workers state. Both the first Palestinian Intifada, bulldozers and 10 tanks, took positions World Supporter program and help build the newspaper year round. or uprising, 20 years ago and the Intifada in the area. Meanwhile, the IOF launched Sponsors who contribute $100 a year or more receive a year’s subscription to the that started in 2000 began in Gaza. air strikes and artillery attacks, killing print edition of the newspaper, a monthly letter, five free trial subscriptions to the print Because of unrelenting Palestinian both civilians and fighters who responded edition, and a book from WW Publishers. attacks on Zionist settlers in 2005, Israel to the attack. was forced to withdraw from Gaza 8,000 Two days earlier an IOF spy drone had Send a check or money order using the form below. To contribute using a credit of its colonizers, who had for 37 years fired two missiles into one of the most card, use our secure online Web site at www.workers.org seized the best land and available water. densely populated areas in Gaza, killing But after withdrawing the settlers, four people whom Israel claimed were Choose a Supporter Program option: Name______Phone ______Israel refused to allow a Palestinian state militants near the at-Touba mosque in $75 Enclosed to become a WW Supporter. Address______of any kind to function. Gaza, with a pop- Jabaliya refugee camp

ulation of 1.5 million people, was turned On the same day, an IOF fighter jet fired $100 Enclosed to become a WW Sponsor. Email ______into an even more rigidly controlled giant a missile that hit a car on Said Aal-Aas $300 Enclosed to become a WW Sustainer. concentration camp. Street in the al-Nasir neighborhood of City ______State ______Zip______Israel destroyed the airport and blocked Gaza City. Two people in the car were One time donation of $ ______. Clip & return to Workers World Newspaper the building of a harbor. All connections killed. 55 W. 17th St., 5th Fl., New York, NY 10011 Please send me more information with the outside world were cut; even the A day earlier, on Dec. 17, the IOF fired 212.627.2994 fax: 212.675.7869 about the Supporter Program. sea lanes and fishing boats were blocked. two ground-to-ground missiles at four www.workers.org email: [email protected] Page 10 Jan. 10, 2008 www.workers.org Ethanol means higher What does food prices By Kris Hamel Already the ethanol boom has proven disastrous to many farmers and the peo- Workers World say? The energy bill signed by Pres. George ple who eat the food they produce. Corn W. Bush on Dec. 18, makes a big show of production is skyrocketing as U.S. farm- ifty years. Workers World of big business and Wall Street. helping the environment, but only adds ers and agribusiness seek to cash in on begins its 50th year of publica- Over the years, during the constant to the assault on both humanity and the the demand for more ethanol. Ninety-four Ftion with this issue. ups and downs of the capitalist eco- earth, while throwing more assistance to million acres of corn were planted in 2007, That’s 50 years of experience that we nomic cycle, the circulation of Workers the energy industry. the most since World War II, producing a can use for going into the new year. World newspaper has always risen dur- The bill mandates a huge increase in the record crop of 13.2 billion bushels. Wheat What will happen in the coming year ing recessions. People know that Marx production of ethanol, a plant-based sub- and soybean prices are near record highs cannot be predicted, but we know how understood capitalism and that only the stitute for fossil fuels, to 36 billion gallons while soybean production is down sixteen it is starting. Marxists can explain what’s going on. by 2022. This is a nearly fivefold increase percent from 2006 in order to make room The last year was the deadliest yet During the coming year, which will from current ethanol production levels. for growing corn. Feed costs are up 25 to in the U.S. wars on the peoples of Iraq be filled with the grandiose speeches The bipartisan bill, passed by Congress 30 percent from last year as farmers look and Afghanistan. Maybe less deadly but and promises of Democratic and with a 314 to 100 vote, also sets new high- for other crops to feed livestock. not less criminal were the covert U.S. Republican politicians running for pres- er standards for fuel economy on vehicles With prices at record highs, consumer wars, particularly against the peoples of ident, Workers World can be depended and sets a goal of eliminating incandescent food prices have increased over five per- Venezuela and Cuba. on to get to the root of the issues and light bulbs within ten years. cent in the last year alone as the cost of There’s also a war at home against cut through the politicians’ smoke and The bill was stripped of provisions dairy products and meat spirals upward. immigrants and the Black community. mirrors. requiring utility companies to develop The Consumer Price Index reveals dairy It was a deadly year for Black Ultimately the problem is not either and use renewal sources of electricity. Nor prices up 14 percent; meat, poultry and fish America, as could be seen most graphi- Republicans or Democrats. The prob- does it include government subsidies for up 5.4 percent; cereal up 5.2 percent; and cally in New Orleans. Immigrant com- lem is capitalism, and if you don’t the development of solar, wind, geother- fruits and vegetables up 4.3 percent. Some munities were battered with military- understand that you won’t be able to mal and other sources of alternative ener- analysts believe food prices may increase style raids on homes and workplaces find the solution. The solution can gy, subsidies which would have been paid another three to four percent next year. ending in prison, deportation and dis- be found in the class struggle against for by higher taxes on oil companies, most In the meantime, world food sup- memberment of families. exploitation, racist oppression and of which are making record profits. plies are dwindling fast while food prices The economy appears to be heading imperialist war. In signing the new law, Bush stated, globally are reaching historic high levels, into a recession. Recession is a mild Workers World will show the anti- “[Today] [w]e make a major step toward according to Jacques Diouf, head of the word for the brutal reality. A recession capitalist solution every time. That’s reducing our dependence on oil, confront- Food and Agriculture Organization of the means that workers are losing their jobs what we’ve done for 50 years. ing global climate change, expanding United Nations. A New York Times article through shutdowns, losing homes in Workers World is widely respected production of renewable fuels and giving on Dec. 18 stated, “The agency’s food price foreclosures and going hungry. Health both in the U.S. and around the world future generations a nation that is stron- index rose by more than 40 percent this declines because there’s no affordable for its consistent Marxist reporting and ger, cleaner and more secure.” year, compared with 9 percent the year care available. Recessions are when analysis. It is common in many political But is this really the case? before—a rate that was already unaccept- labor unions are most needed to defend discussions for the question to come up, Millions of people in the U.S. are deeply able, Mr. Diouf said. New figures show workers’ rights, so the unions are under “What does Workers World say?” We concerned about environmental problems that the total cost of food imported by the the most severe attack. know because we get asked that all the caused by carbon emissions from fossil [poorest] countries rose 25 percent in the A recession is an unnatural disas- time. fuels, the depletion of the earth’s ozone last year. … ter, something unknown in all history We’ve been able to do this for 50 layer, and the horrendous destruction “At the same time, reserves of cereals until the rise of capitalism. There’s no years, without advertising or rich spon- to the planet caused by global warming. are severely depleted, the agency’s records natural law saying it has to happen. The sors, because of a widespread grass- Does the new energy bill really provide a show. World wheat stores declined 11 per- only reason there’s a recession is that, roots base of supporters who give con- solution to begin to turn around the del- cent this year, to the lowest level since to capitalists, their profits are the only tributions to keep us going. eterious effects caused by pollution and 1980.” Diouf stated that prices of wheat thing that matters at the end of the day. Please join our supporters and give corporate-based destruction of the envi- and oilseeds are at record highs, with Human needs are sacrificed on the altar your contribution to Workers World. n ronment? Nothing could be further from wheat prices having risen 52 percent since the truth. last year. The energy bill has essentially mandat- ed the creation of an entirely new oil-using One in 12 people malnourished Jersey City. industry, one that even its advocates admit FAO statistics paint a grim picture on they have no idea how to follow through world hunger and malnutrition. Some 854 on. The “plan” is to develop a huge new million people around the world do not industry to convert agricultural waste and have enough food to eat. One in twelve Social justice activists plant materials, primarily from corn, into people worldwide is malnourished, includ- fuel for automobiles. ing 160 million children under the age of 5. Hundreds of new factories will be Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger honored required, along with an infrastructure (www.thinkquest.org). Many parts of the The Jersey City Peace Movement spon- tions included Black Waxx artist and capable of hauling billions of tons of bio- world face a severe shortage in potable sored a program on Dec. 30 that present- activist, Nana Soul; peace and justice mass or plant material, mostly corn, by water. ed awards of appreciation to activists and activist, Dave Davis; and the late anti- gasoline-driven transport. Capitalists will The new U.S. energy plan does nothing organizations involved in community war activist and Vietnam War veteran, need to invest billions of dollars for an to alleviate the suffering of millions of peo- and political organizing of progressive Dave Cline. uncertain return on a technology that is ple here and around the world who face struggles at home and abroad. Presenters of the awards were JCPM still in its infancy, a technology that many poverty, hunger, malnutrition, low wages The standing room only event was activists Adela Santiago, Erik-Anders scientists say may have serious as-yet- and skyrocketing food prices, high energy held at the Pershing Field Vietnam Nilsson, Lisa Marie Palmieri and Trish unknown repercussions in terms of soil costs and a dwindling water supply. The Veteran’s Community Center in Jersey Szymanski. The JCPM is a member of erosion, water runoff and soil fertility. profit-driven mandate for more ethanol is City, N.J. The JCPM was formed after the TONC. not based on concern for the environment, U.S. bombed and invaded Iraq in March Starting on Jan. 27, the JCPM will Trading water and corn for fuel but on pumping billions of dollars into a 2003. Since that time the JCPM has been be organizing “Stop the War Sundays” Estimates vary as to corn tonnage nec- newfangled industry that will itself use connecting local community issues to an on the fourth Sunday of every month, essary for each gallon of ethanol produced. even more fossil fuels. Ethanol production anti-war perspective, creating friends gathering at the Journal Square 9/11 The Sierra Club notes that currently one will use agricultural land and water for and allies along the way. Memorial Fountain in Jersey City from ton of corn equals 39.4 bushels, which fuel instead of food for human consump- Organizations that were honored 12 p.m. until 1 p.m. For more informa- equals 110 gallons of ethanol. Millions tion, and place an even greater strain on included New Jersey Solidarity—Activists tion about JCPM, go to www.JCPM.org more gallons of water the planet’s people and resources. for the Liberation of Palestine; Black or email JCPeaceMovement@hotmail. will be required to A rational planned system based on Waxx Multimedia; Jersey City Youth com produce the corn meeting the needs of the people and Skaters; Peace and Justice Coalition JCPM demands are that the troops be needed to make saving the earth from environ- initiated by People’s Organization for brought home now; an end to racism, ethanol. mental catastrophe is need- Progress in Newark; Our Youth, a LGBT anti-Semitism, sexism, anti-Arab senti- ed now more than ever. n organization; Troops Out Now Coalition ment and homophobia; no war on Iran based in New York; Jersey City Food and other threatened countries; an end Not Bombs; New Jersey Acción (Action) to war on Iraq and Afghanistan and other 21, a mainly Latin@ group; 9/11 Truth oppressed nations; an end to Congress Chapters in Jersey City and Red Bank; funding endless war; and money for Free the Cuban Five– Fernando González, and Hoboken Farmboy, an organization jobs, education, health care, food and Ramón Labañino, that feeds the hungry. housing—not for war! Antonio Guer­­rero, Gerardo Individuals cited for their contribu- —Monica Moorehead Hernández and René González. www.workers.org Jan. 10, 2008 Page 11

A saga of sabotage Uribe again scuttles humanitarian exchange By Berta Joubert-Ceci the mediation role of Sen. Córdoba and but only to Chávez or a person he would about the exchange and the Free Trade President Chávez. This happened after designate, as a gesture of “desagravio”— Agreement. In early afternoon, after meet- President Álvaro Uribe Vélez of U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William compensation for the good work of Córdoba ing with all the international delegates and Colombia, in collusion with the U.S. Brownfield stated, “We are two months and Chávez. The people were Clara Rojas, trying to dissuade them from going through administration, has once again sabotaged and 22 days into this process and we still assistant to Ingrid Betancourt; her 3-year- with the operation, saying they “would not the hopes of many to be reunited with have no proof of life.” old son Emmanuel, who was conceived be safe” with the guerrillas, Uribe held a their loved ones. Uribe argued that the negotiations were out of a love relationship with a guerrilla lengthy press conference, again and again In November Uribe had unilaterally a risk to Colombia’s so-called democratic member during captivity, and former con- accusing the FARC of being terrorists and and abruptly ended a process of nego- security. “Democratic Security” is basi- gresswoman Consuelo Perdomo. liars. tiation with the Revolutionary Armed cally a repressive policy tailored after the From then on the mechanism for He presented, as a hypothesis, that Forces-Popular Army (FARC-EP) of U.S. Patriot Act. Uribe harshly criticized the liberation began to be worked out. the FARC were not going to liberate Colombia being facilitated by Colombian Chávez, accusing him of having “expan- Communication with the FARC estab- the prisoners because they did not have Sen. Piedad Córdoba and President Hugo sionist” plans for Latin America. Venezuela lished the complex mechanism that Emmanuel; that the boy was in fact in the Chávez of Venezuela. Its goal had been recalled its ambassador to Colombia and would guarantee the safety of all involved, hands of the Abused Children Department the liberation of 45 people retained by the relations between both countries went including the prisoners and the guerrilla in Bogotá. Uribe had his “peace commis- insurgent group. It was hoped that this into a freeze. members who were to deliver them to sioner,” Luis Carlos Restrepo, who rep- might then lead to a general humanitarian Several days later, the Colombian safety. resented the Colombian government in exchange, including some of the hundreds Supreme Court opened an investigation of Chávez wanted the collaboration of the the operation, read in detail to the press of guerrillas held by the government. Sen. Córdoba for attempting “to break the Colombian government. He called the the record of abuse of a little boy Uribe After Uribe’s move, the FARC, in a law and treason to the Homeland.” She operation “Transparency” and requested alleged was Emmanuel. Uribe added that humanitarian gesture and to “compen- later made public that she knew of plans the presence of other countries. Seven he would request a DNA sample from sate the work” of both facilitators, in of Colombian government allies to assas- countries sent representatives: Brazil, Clara Rojas’s relatives in order to “prove” December offered to liberate three of the sinate her. Ecuador, Cuba, Argentina, Bolivia, France his hypothesis. retained people anyway, without further Families of the retained expressed and Switzerland. At of Jan. 2, five DNA “experts,” all from negotiation. But due to increased bomb- anger towards Uribe and asked Chávez U.S. filmmaker Oliver Stone was part Colombia and requested by Uribe, were in ings by the Colombian Armed Forces in and Córdoba to continue the efforts to lib- of the international delegation, which was Caracas to get a DNA sample from Rojas’s the area of the jungle where the FARC erate their relatives. led by former Argentine President Nestor relatives. What credibility will these tests and the retained people were believed to At the end of November, the Colombian Kirchner. They all met in Caracas and results have? Probably the same as Bush’s be, the liberation had to be postponed to Army arrested three people in Bogotá who then flew in specially marked helicopters “weapons of mass destruction.” ensure the safety of all involved. were carrying five videos and several let- to Villavicencio, a town in Colombia close The international delegates accused This saga has a long chronology. ters from the prisoners to their relatives. to Bogotá. As soon as the FARC gave the Uribe of interfering with the operation. In August, Sen. Córdoba had asked Córdoba angrily stated that these were OK, they would go from there to pick up Chávez said that “Uribe dynamited the President Chávez to help her mediate the the PoL she and Chávez had been waiting the retained. third phase of this operation.” Oliver Stone humanitarian exchange of people retained for, and that the three people had been Uribe promised to help, yet every step accused Uribe of sabotaging the exchange, by the FARC for 500 guerrilla members unjustly imprisoned. The government of the way he obstructed the process, set- telling the AP: “Shame on Colombia, in Colombian prisons. Chávez accepted announced it had “decommissioned” the ting a deadline of Dec. 31 for the operation. shame on Uribe.” All the delegates imme- and eventually Uribe nominated Córdoba PoL. Córdoba accused the Colombian Chávez, on the contrary, would not set a diately left for home, saying they were as the official Colombian mediator, to be government of interfering and promised deadline, stating that the operation might willing to return as soon as requested to assisted by Chávez. to get lawyers to defend the three, stating last more days because he had heard there continue with the operation. Uribe also approved a meeting between she would not leave them unaided. was heavy bombing where the FARC and An article in Argentina’s El Clarín, writ- Córdoba and the FARC. In a September letter to Chávez, the retained were located. ten by Paula Lugones, the paper’s special Relatives of the retained wrote to and Marulanda of the FARC had said that On Dec. 31, Chávez received a message envoy to Villavicencio, wrote that the eventually met with Chávez. They stated Uribe did not really want peace. Chávez from the FARC stating that the opera- Colombian government “wanted to break appreciation for the intervention of the read from the letter in December, quoting tion had to be postponed. The bombing the cohesion of the [Argentine] delega- Venezuelan president and said that “for Marulanda as saying that “while the gov- had intensified after the Colombian gov- tion. They even housed them in differ- the first time a serious attempt” was being ernment of Colombia refuses to clear an ernment intercepted the PoL, making it ent places.” She also denounced what she made to liberate their loved ones. Chávez area for the purpose of meeting and attain- impossible to guarantee everyone’s safety. said were “spy operations, where a phan- sent a message to FARC leader Manuel ing an agreement that allows the release of As soon as conditions would permit it, the tom plane constantly flew over Kirchner’s Marulanda asking him to help in the the prisoners, to analyze the basis for later operation would resume, said the FARC, room and there were microphones process. encounters … to attain peace, he facilitates so that “they will be home with their everywhere.” In September, Córdoba met in the jun- sufficient comfort to the 2,500 or 3,000 relatives.” In spite of these developments, Chávez gle with FARC spokesperson Raúl Reyes North American military advisers.” That morning, Uribe unexpectedly has promised to continue the operation, to advance the negotiations. The FARC On Dec. 8, a message from the FARC went to Villavicencio. News accounts said even if it has to be performed clandes- welcomed this as a move to liberate the announced it would liberate three people, Bush had called him that morning to ask tinely. n retained people and the guerrillas in pris- ons and also to begin a process that could lead to peace in Colombia. Relatives of three U.S. military contrac- Catalan, Serbian workers ‘squat’ in factories tors held by the FARC, who would be part of the exchange, also met with President By Martha Grevatt edition of Z magazine, “these workers are solidarity from unionists in Germany, Chávez in Caracas and thanked him for the most progressive element of Serbian Norway and Canada. They have asked for the humanitarian action. The phrase “sit-down strike” generally society. They are fighting for their own protest letters, faxes, and phone calls to Latin American and European countries evokes images of the 1930s, specifically working places, for equal rights, and they be sent to Behr company locations in the showed support for the exchange. French the 1936-37 takeover of General Motors are inspiring whole Serbia to fight against United States: President Nicolas Sarkozy and Uribe then in Flint, Mich., that led to the recognition neoliberalism.” Behr Heat Transfer Systems, Inc. requested Proofs of Life (PoL) from the of the United Auto Workers. However, The article went on to explain that when 4500 Leeds Avenue, Suite 201 FARC to demonstrate that the retained in 2007 a number of sporadic sit-downs a firm is privatized, “the buyer of the state- Charleston, SC 29405-8521 Phone were still alive. Sarkozy is interested in the have occurred outside the U.S., most owned factory does the following: through 843-745-1233 Fax 843-745-1285 case because one of the retained is Ingrid recently in Serbia and the Catalan region illegal means he first puts the company in Behr Dayton Thermal Products Betancourt, a former presidential can- of Spain. Workers at the Behr auto parts enormous debt to his own firms. Then he 1600 Webster Street Dayton, OH 45404 didate in Colombia who also has French plant in Barcelona and the “Shinvoz” fac- takes it out of bankruptcy. This rids his Phone 937-224-2900 Fax 937-224-2915 citizenship. tory in Zrenjanin, Serbia, are ringing in company of all smaller shareholders and Behr America, Inc. 2700 Daley Drive Marulanda let Chávez know that he the new year by occupying their place of all obligations towards the workers from Troy, MI 48084 Phone 248-743-3700 ordered the PoL. Chávez also met with employment. the original collective bargaining agree- Fax 248-743-3701 FARC representatives in Caracas. He Earlier this year workers occupied fac- ment with the privatized company.” Behr Climate Systems, Inc. 5020 was hoping to take the PoL with him and tories in Canada, Australia, Wales and in Meanwhile, the 300 Frape Behr workers Augusta Drive Fort Worth, TX 76106 Córdoba on Nov. 20, when they planned the Spanish state. are protesting a “labor force adjustment Phone 817-624-7273Fax 817-624-3328 to visit Sarkozy in France. The 470 Shinvoz metal workers are plan” to eliminate their jobs, as well as the The workers ask us to “please send cop- Chávez expressed confidence that the protesting the privatization of their fac- retaliatory firing of six workers. Their slo- ies of your protest letters, as well as copies PoL would be received but indicated that tory. They are supported by workers of gan in Catalan is: “Guerra, guerra, guerra, of distributed materials and pictures from it might take some time, since the situa- Jugoremedija, a pharmaceutical plant La Frape no cerra” (War, war, war, La solidarity actions, to the IWA Secretariat, tion in the jungle is very dangerous. It is a that workers had occupied to protest Frape will not close). Supporters are dem- so that a comprehensive list of activities war zone where the Colombian Army and being privatized. They ended the nine- onstrating outside the occupied plant. can be made and forwarded to the com- U.S. military contractors and “advisers” month occupation when their 58 percent Behr, based in Stuttgart, Germany, rades in struggle: secretariado@iwa-ait. regularly operate and bomb. stake in the plant was restored. makes automobile air conditioning units. org.” n On Nov. 21, Uribe abruptly ended “At this moment,” writes the Balkan The workers have received messages of ¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los países, uníos! FreshDirect usa intimidación contra inmigrantes para detener campaña sindical Por Milt Neidenberg visible, luchando con líneas de piquete a l@s emplead@s que no vinieran a buscar agencia neofascista en el Departamento Nueva York y manifestaciones, buscando apoyo del sus cheques, como una severa amenaza de de Seguridad de la Patria, está funcionan- público y exponiendo las condiciones bru- que el ICE iba a buscarles. Funcionarios do por encima de la ley. Novecient@s trabajador@s que se tales que l@s trabajador@s del almacén de la unión buscaron conseguir amig@s Según el “UE News Update”, el 10 de encuentran en medio de una campaña tienen que aguantar. y partidari@s que pudieran tomar los octubre, el Juez Charles R. Breyer de de sindicalización en los almacenes de El Local 805 ha acusado a la com- cheques para l@s trabajador@s. California, “determinó que la política de FreshDirect están bajo ataque del ICE pañía de usar prácticas injustas de tra- Bush es ilegal, y ordenó al Departamento (Servicio de Inmigración y Control de bajo. FreshDirect debe ser investigada Operación ilegal de vida o muerte de Seguridad de la Patria a pararlo inmedi- Aduanas de Estados Unidos) que opera y acusada de violaciones al Acta de los Aquí estaba la operación “Choque y atamente. Su decisión también prohíbe a en complicidad con la compañía de entre- Estándares Justos de Trabajo y a los Espanto” de Bush en el lugar de trabajo, la administración del Seguro Social enviar gas de comestibles, basada en Queens de estatutos de salud y de seguridad del calculada para romper la voluntad de l@s 141.000 cartas de “no-concordancia” a los Nueva York. La compañía ha suspendido OSHA (Acta de Seguridad y Salud en el trabajador@s de apoyar una propuesta de patronos, cubriendo a más de ocho mil- a varias decenas de trabajador@s, pre- Trabajo). Bajo estas condiciones brutales, organización sindical. Pero la campaña lones de emplead@s. ... El juez dijo que el dominantemente inmigrantes latinas, y l@s trabajador@s del almacén necesitan de terror es sintomática de una conspir- gobierno falló en seguir los procedimien- ha despedido a otr@s. desesperadamente su propia organización ación más siniestra para deshacerse de tos apropiados para emitir la nueva regla, Una elección sindical está programada y parecía que la victoria de la unión era l@s que han venido aquí desde sus patrias lo que tendría ramificaciones masivas’. … para los días 22 y 23 de diciembre. Tanto una cosa segura. empobrecidas. La política habría responsabilizado a los la unión de los Teamsters como la UFCW Pero entonces llegó ICE, el espantoso La campaña nacional del ICE, en con- patronos basado en las cartas de “no-con- (Unión de Trabajadores de Alimento) huésped invitado por FreshDirect para cierto con el Servicio de Rentas Internas cordancia” del SSA”. (13 de octubre) están en la papeleta, junto a la opción de arruinar la campaña de organización con (IRS) y la Administración del Seguro Las burocracias del gobierno tienen “ninguna unión”. La compañía y el ICE un reinado de terror y miedo. Social (SSA) para forzar a l@s 12 mil- órdenes de proveer datos llenos de errores han emprendido una investigación ilegal El 9 de diciembre a las 4:30 de la lones de inmigrantes para que prueben sobre la identificación para atrapar a l@s y despiadada contra l@s inmigrantes para mañana, mientras l@s trabajador@s se su estado “legal” está amenazando el trabajador@s inmigrantes. El informe de sabotear la campaña de la unión. reportaban a su trabajo en la fría oscuri- movimiento sindical. FreshDirect alega UE indica que “12,7 millones de las 17,8 L@s trabajador@s laboran de 12 a 18 dad, los supervisores les sorprendieron que recibió cartas de “no-concordancia” millones de discrepancias… pertenecen a horas diarias, incluyendo horas extras con un memorándum indicando que (en inglés, no-match letters) del SSA ciudadan@s nacid@s en los EEUU”. obligatorias, trabajando de pie en tem- eran blanco del ICE. Con miedo a ser donde le informaba que los números de FreshDirect cooperó con ICE y el peraturas cercanas a la congelación para detenid@s y apresad@s en sus puestos Seguro Social proporcionados por vari@s SSA ilegalmente para atrapar a l@s asegurar la frescura del alimento que de trabajo, y lo más terrible de todo, que trabajador@s no eran legítimos. trabajador@s e interrumpir las elecciones embalan, tasan y etiquetan. Preparan las fueran separad@s de sus hij@s, much@s El presidente de los Teamsters James de la unión. Estuvieron en contra de l@s cajas, muchas de ellas muy pesadas con trabajador@s eligieron volver a sus casas. Hoffa, ha cuestionado el derecho del mism@s trabajador@s que están pagando las mercancías enlatadas, para que los En las estaciones de trabajo, los super- ICE a investigar los expedientes de l@s al fondo fiduciario del Seguro Social. camioneros y los ayudantes de entrega visores les exigieron a l@s trabajador@s emplead@s de FreshDirect. Hoffa cita la Deben contestar cómo recibieron estas las lleven a su destino. Por este trabajo que mostraran los papeles que probaran propia política interna del ICE que dice: El cartas que violan la orden de restric- agotador donde todo el año es invierno, que su estado de inmigración era legal. ICE se inhibirá de actuar inmediatamente ción del juez federal. ¿Violaron ICE y la cobran alrededor de $7,50 sin beneficios “Algun@s simplemente se fueron.” dijo acerca de cualquier información recibida Seguridad de la Patria la decisión del juez marginales. Según se informó, un super- Sandy Pope, presidente del Local 805. referente al empleo de extranjeros indoc- Breyer? L@s trabajador@s suspendid@s visor le dijo a l@s trabajador@s, “¿qué de “Lloraban mientras llevaban bolsas de umentados o desautorizados… donde y despedid@s deben ser regresados a sus malo hay en trabajar tantas horas? Ahora basura llenas de ropa de sus armarios. parece que la información se pudo haber trabajos con restitución completa hasta usted no tiene que buscar un segundo Pensaban que no tenían forma de arreglar proporcionado para interferir con o tomar que finalice una investigación inmediata trabajo.” sus documentos, así que se fueron.” represalias contra los empleados por su e independiente por los Teamsters, el El Local 805 de los Teamsters es el más Funcionarios de la compañía advirtieron derecho” a formar una unión. ICE, una UFCW y otros partidos interesados. n Bolivia:. La mayoría indígena enfrenta a separatistas ricos Por Dee Knight a la muchedumbre. “Deben devolver el en las grandes compañías petroleras lo indígena a las provincias del este del dinero que tomaron de nosotros,” dijo. transnacionales. Ahora, en los nuevos Altiplano, donde vive la mayoría. La mayoría indígena de Bolivia se movi- “Investigaremos retroactivamente todas estatutos de la constitución, la mayoría de Hay cierta ironía en que los antiguos lizó masivamente durante los días 15 y las grandes fortunas, y los corruptos ahora las comunidades indígenas tendrán auto- dueños de esclav@s se muevan para 16 de diciembre para defender los logros están temblando de miedo. ridad local, sus 37 idiomas se convertirán declarar autonomía después de que l@s conseguidos a través de la Asamblea “Bolivia es una nación entre naciones,” en idiomas oficiales del país, y lo más que descendientes de l@s esclavos y l@s Constituyente que concluyó el 12 de diciem- dijo Morales, refiriéndose a la diversidad horroriza a la oligarquía es que tendrán el trabajador@s forzad@s se hayan levanta- bre. Los líderes de la vieja oligarquía euro- de los pueblos indígenas cuyas tradiciones derecho a recuperar la tierra robada a sus do para reclamar lo que les fue robado. Y pea y racista declararon la “autonomía” el datan de siglos. “No somos un país solo de antepasados a través de generaciones. La parece que creen que tienen una petición 15 de diciembre en las provincias orien- gente con ojos azules, con ojos verdes. Es nueva constitución también impone nue- justa sobre “autodeterminación” contra el tales de Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni y Pando. un país plurinacional compuesto de pieles vos impuestos a los ricos, para devolver la nuevo gobierno que por primera vez en Estas provincias abarcan más de la mitad oscuras y pieles blancas. Esta nueva consti- riqueza nacional al pueblo. 500 años representa verdaderamente a del territorio nacional, pero tienen sola- tución nos unirá.” (CNN, 12 de diciembre) Los líderes de la oligarquía boicotearon la mayoría del pueblo. Tan ridículo como mente alrededor de una tercera parte de la Morales es un miembro de la nación la asamblea constituyente donde fueron parezca, los elitistas están absolutamente población de Bolivia. También poseen la Aymara, que junto al pueblo Quechua y a aprobados estos estatutos. Aún así serios, y parecen tener confianza, posible- mayor parte de la abundancia del gas nat- otras 35 nacionalidades indígenas, com- protestaron con horror los resultados. mente debido a la ayuda de las gigantes ural y del petróleo de Bolivia y es la región pone la mayoría abrumadora en este país “Evo [Morales] nos está poniendo en el compañías petroleras y de los imperialis- agrícola más rica. de 9,5 millones. Estos dignos pueblos, camino del caos con ideas que discrimi- tas en Washington. El presidente Evo Morales puso las fuer- descendientes de la vieja civilización inca, nan contra la gente que no es indígena”, Pero Morales y la mayoría indígena zas armadas en atención. L@s partidari@s fueron esclavizados por los conquistado- declaró el presidente del separatista también están serias, y están listas a del gobierno fuera de Santa Cruz, el centro res españoles, y han permanecido esen- Comité Pro Santa Cruz en una entrevista luchar para asegurar que su país per- del movimiento de “autonomía”, tomaron cialmente oprimidos y explotados, hasta el 16 de diciembre con El New York Times. manezca unido y se devuelvan las riquezas armas y crearon bloqueos, según un repor- las luchas actuales, que trajeron a Morales Los “líderes de la autonomía” de la élite robadas a su pueblo. La consiga en una taje de CNN. Millares de personas se mov- a la presidencia en diciembre de 2005. redactaron actas regionales que darían vigilia de millares de mineros indígenas, ilizaron el 15 de diciembre en el La Paz, La administración del presidente poder sobre las regalías del gas natural, las campesin@s, organizaciones comunitar- la capital, en defensa de la nueva consti- Morales nacionalizó la industria del gas políticas agrícolas, y la fuerza policíaca, a ias y otras fuera de la asamblea fue “¡Ahora tución. “No permitiremos que Bolivia sea y del petróleo en el 2006, a pesar de las los funcionarios provinciales. También sí empieza el cambio!” (Indy, La Paz, 12 de dividida,” declaró el presidente Morales protestas de la élite y sus promotores proponen limitar la migración del pueb- diciembre) n