FEBRUARY 27, 1981 75 CENTS VOLUME 45/NUMBER 7

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY /PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE Antidraft conference backs labor march .on Harrisburg, Pa. -PAGE 3

Militant/ Agnes 1,200 people attended Detroit antidraft conference February 13-15. Right, part of audience during standing ovation for representative of El Salvador's Revolution­ ary Democratic Front.

Inspiration for Young Rebels Today

MALCOLM X -PAGE 14 In Our Opinion VOLUME 45/NUMBER 7 FEBRUARY 27, 1981 CLOSING NEWS DATE-FEB. 18

promised pie in the sky in 1985 (after his term Partly, this is simply sleight-of-hand. expires): 13 million new jobs, an 8 percent "Although the Sandinist leaders have pub­ increase in real wages, a balanced budget, and licly denied such a role," says Riding, "they rapid economic growth. Workers know what have reportedly told Salvadoran guerrillas in such promises are worth. private that ·they could not risk a permanent Reagan's bipartisan congressional audience cut-off of American economic aid by providing applauded the most openly reactionary parts support for a new offensive" (emphasis added). of Reagan's speech. These well-fed crooks were To give added weight to predictions of doom particularly ecstatic over his promise to deeply for the Salvadoran guerillas, Riding quotes cut the food stamp program. Nicaragua's Interior Minister Thomas Borge The Republican and Democratic legislators as agreeing that the offensive had failed. jumped to their feet to hail his description of Borge categorically denied having made any this antilabor, racist program as "our plan." It judgement at all on the military situation iii El is their plan, the plan of big business and its Salvador. parties. Riding quotes Borge as saying that Nicara­ gua favored a "political solution" in El Salva­ Reagan challenged critics to provide an dor. If true, this hardly constitutes pressure on alternative. He knows that the Republican and the Salvadoran fighters. They have long said Democratic officeholders neither can nor de­ they are open to such a solution. sire to do so. Neither the Nicaraguan people nor their But the working class isn't swallowing Rea­ leadership have retreated from their support to gan's poison. The fight against the big­ El Salvador. Their plan business program has already begun with the For example, the week of February 15, 1,120 call by major unions for a rally March 28 in volunteers setting out to help with the cotton and ours Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, against nuclear harvest agreed to donate their pay to a fund In a report to Congress February 18 Presi­ power, for jobs, and in solidarity with the for El Salvador. dent Reagan laid out proposals to escalate the United Mine Workers Union. In a statement to the Militant in Managua, attack on working people. Painting a picture of the Times slander was sharply attacked by The working-class alternative to Reagan's high unemployment, double-digit inflation, and Irving Davila, the representative of the Sandi­ proposals is simple: No to the war budget! falling real wages, he promised that all would nista National Liberation Front's Department Human needs before profits! be set right if his program was adopted. of International Relations. His "solution": deep cuts in social programs, "The position of our government toward El tax cuts that will further shift the burden of Salvador," Davila declared, "is solidarity, taxation onto the shoulders of working people, political and moral." and a massive increase in military spending. Media diversion Referring to Nicaragua's alleged call for a He proposed cuts in Medicaid, school negotiated settlement, Davila said, "Our lead­ lunches, education, and the Trade Adjustment on El Salvador ers have no reason to tell the Salvadorans how Assistance payments that help tide auto work­ The capitalist media is waging a divide-and­ to do things.... We have never suggested ers and steelworkers over layoffs. demoralize campaign against the revolution­ any kind of solution." The proposed cutbacks will hit Blacks and ary struggle in El Salvador and its supporters Nicaragua's solidarity, he emphasized, Latinos most savagely. The racist themes of internationally. "maintains itself in spite of all the pressures of , Reagan's propaganda were evident in his use North American imperialism." For instance, in a February 11 dispatch from of code words about "welfare," "fraud," and Nicaragua's real stand is a far cry from the Managua, New York Times correspondent "state's rights." cynical distortion passed along by Riding. It Alan Riding suggests that Nicaragua's revolu­ He proposed reducing government regula­ was summed up by Commander of the Revolu­ tionary government, alarmed by the suspen­ tion-that means further devastation of the tion Daniel Ortega February 13: "We are not sion of U.S. economic aid, is now pulling back environment and of workers' job safety. going to sell ourselves for bread or for $15 from solidarity with the Salvadoran liberation Despite campaign rhetoric about balancing million or a $1,000 million." fighters. the budget, a White House "fact sheet" admit­ Davila put his finger on the purpose of the ted that the national debt will rise $122 billion Four days later, in a report from Mexico Times reports: "This is a campaign to under­ in the next three fiscal years. City, Riding pronounced the "failure" of the mine confidence or split the solidarity groups." The main cause of this is the fast-rising revolutionary offensive against the Salva­ While Washington asserts that the revolu­ arms budget, which will make up 32 percent of doran dictatorship. He asserted that as a tionary offensive has "failed" in El Salvador, the budget (up from 24 percent) if Reagan has consequence, several Latin American govern­ it belies its own assertion by its hastily accel­ his way. ments are reconsidering their "previous uncon­ erated shipment of weapons to the beleaguered Reagan's budget will mean more inflation ditional support" to the Revolutionary Demo­ junta. and deeper economic difficulties for working cratic Front, which leads the insurgent forces Similarly, the antidraft and solidarity move­ people. in El Salvador. A careful reading shows no ments must accelerate their efforts to mobilize To make sacrifices more palatable, Reagan concrete evidence for the assertions . against stepped-up U.S. intervention.

The Militant .Militant Highlights This Week Editors: CINDY J AQUITH ANDY ROSE Business Manager NANCY ROSENSTOCK 4 Grenadian leader attacked in Barbados Editori al Staff: Nan Bailey , Nelson Blackstock. Fred Feldman. Nelson Gonzalez, Will1am 6 Unionists hit company spying Gottlieb. Sue Hagen. Suzanne Ha1g. O sborne 7 Interview with Lockheed worker Hart. Diane Jacobs, Harry R1ng . Vivian Sahner. Pnsc1lla Schenk. Stu S1nger. 8 New premier in Poland Published weekly except two weeks in 21 Why militant feminist joined SWP August, the last week of December. 22 Support grows for Iranian socialist and the first Week of January by the 23 Nicaragua strengthens militias International Socialist Review Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 14 Charl es 24 'Plain Dealer• publishes socialist view Guatemala: A People Awake Lane, New York, N.Y 10014. Tele­ An fbal Yanez describes the struggle for phone: Editorial Office. (212) 243- 7 Socialist Fund human rights and socialism against one of 6392; Business Office, (21 2) 929-3486. 23 Solidarity with Central the most repressive regimes in this world. Correspondence concerning sub­ America and Caribbean He traces the roots of this brutal scriptions or changes of address should be addressed to The Militant 25 The Great Society government and the revolutionary struggle By Any Means Necessary Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, What's Going On back to the events leading to the CIA­ New York, N.Y. 10014. 26 As I See It organized coup in 1954. Page 11. Second-class postage paid at New Our Revolutionary Heritage York, N.Y Subscriptions: U ·s $24.00 27 Letters a year, outside U.S. $30.00 By first­ If You Like This Paper . .. class mail: U.S , Canada, and Mexico 9-20 International Socialist Review $60.00. Write for airmail rates to all other countries. S1gned art1c les by co nt r~ b ut or s do not neces­ sarily represent the Mli1tanrs VIew s These are e• pressed m ed1tona1s

2 1,200 attend Detroit antidraft conference By Suzanne Haig war buildup!" "Fund human needs not I 1"\ .• .,,,.. ~ '\J ~ \J · ~ o_strich and i~ore the jobs fight of mil- DETROIT-Some 1,200 high school war!" and "U.S. out of El Salvador!" \ • '~~~-- . . ~. ~ ~ hons of Amen cans. and college students, Blacks and Lati­ were cited as demands for the action in ·-- #\Jf1 . Iii · :'~ · ·~ . · .· . ·. . "~e have_to tie together jobs with nos, trade unionists, and other antidraft the joint proposal. antldraft, w1th nuclear power, and all activists gathered here February 13-15 The conference also voted to build lo­ ' ~- ~..~ --\~~-'. .\· ~-\ t.~· ~.. '-\~ · ~ ~f\\· . \~1•.!. th~ other issues," he said to loud, sus- for the first National Antidraft Confer- cal antidraft actions April 4-11 and to ~ ate . ~ tamed applause. ence. Sponsored by the National Com­ participate in the national days of pro­ Bokeba Enjuenti, Detroit co-coordina­ mittee Against Registration and the · test against U.S. military involvement tor of the National Black Independent Draft (CARD), the conference was held in El Salvador, March 24 and April18, Political Party, was continually inter­ at Wayne State University. called by the U.S. Committee in Solidar­ rupted by cheers and applause. A proposal for action, jointly submit­ ity with the People of El Salvador. Addressing the struggle against the ted by Detroit CARD, national SANE, Opposition to U.S. military interven­ draft and for jobs in the Black communi­ the Young Socialist Alliance, the Young tion in El Salvador and solidarity with ty, he said, "We feel there is a direct re­ Workers Liberation League, and the De­ the workers and farmers in their strug­ lationship between economic recession, mocratic Socialist Organizing Commit­ gle against the murderous junta was a high unemployment, and the military tee, was overwhelmingly approved. galvanizing force at the conference. industrial war machine in this country." When Arnaldo Ramos of the Revolu­ The proposal called for CARD to sup­ Dick Greenwood, international repre­ tionary Democratic Front (FDR) of El port and actively build the March 28 sentative and special assistant to the Salvador was introduced at the confer­ demonstration in Harrisburg, Pennsyl­ president of the International Associa­ ence rally Friday night, the audience vania. This will be a march against nu­ tion of Machinists, also spoke about jobs exploded in applause, jumped to their clear power, for jobs, and for support to at the rally. feet and chanted, "No draft, no war, U.S. the United Mine Workers in their fight "There are 10 million idle minds out of El Salvador!" in an electrifying for a decent contract. marking time in the army of the unem­ standing ovation that was repeated Conference participants voted to ployed, pres()ed into the service of the when he finished speaking. make this action the next major focus Arnaldo Ramos·, representative of Revo­ nation in a holy war against inflation," for CARD. Not only was there strong op­ lutionary Democratic Front of El Salva­ Greenwood said. Instead of unemploy­ position to nuclear power, but partici­ ''This," Ramos said, "is the most mov­ dor. ment, "let's crack down on the oil com­ pants recognized that March 28 was the ing salute the people of El Salvador panies, which want us to go to war to best way to expand union support for the have received from an American au­ save their interests." antidraft movement. dience. Initial sponsors of the March 28 ac­ "We are here because your society and and environmentalists, in Harrisburg Other speakers at the rally included: tion include the United Mine Workers, our society are locked in a deadly em­ March 28. Erma Henderson, president of the De­ United Auto Workers, International As­ troit City Council, who read a resolution brace, which, if not stopped immediate­ "No ally is more important than the sociation of Machinists, United Food passed by the city council greeting the ly, will turn the Caribbean into a sense­ labor movement, which must be won to and Commercial Workers, Internation­ conference; Joseph Blanding, United less conflagration parallel to and per­ the side of the antidraft movement." al Chemical Workers, and the National haps worse than the tragedy in Viet­ Auto Workers international representa­ Labor Committee for Safe Energy and Pointing to one of the demands of tive; Rev. Barry Lynn, chairperson, nam .. . . March 28, "Jobs for all: a shorter work­ Full Employment. "We need the active solidarity of the NCARD; Luis Vasquez, Association in As the action. proposal stated, March week and massive public works pro­ Solidarity with Guatemala; Mike Mor­ American people in this very difficult grams," Gordon said, "No social move­ 28 "presents us with the opportunity to moment in our history." gan, South African Military Refugee reach out to potential allies of the a.p.ti­ ment that addresses itself to any ques­ Aid Fund; Dave Dellinger; and others. Jerry Gordon, coordinator of the Na­ tion on the political horizon can be the draft movement and to link the ques­ tional Labor Committee for Safe Energy U.S. Rep. John Conyers spoke Sunday.' tions of nuclear power and nuclear wea­ and Full Employment, was also enthusi­ pons with the government's militaristic astically received. war drive." In addition, the conference called for "I want to tell you tonight," he said, national demonstrations in Washing­ "that we need your support. We need New Jersey unions ton, D.C., and San Francisco May 9. "No you to mobilize. We need a big presence registration! No draft!" "Stop the U.S. of the antidraft, antiwar movement to­ gether with us, marching with workers build Women's Day By Chris Hildebrand eluding the United Auto Workers, Uni­ NEWARK-International Women's ted Steelworkers, and United Food and Day will be observed here on Sunday, Commercial Workers unions, con­ March 8, with a festival sponsored by verged on Capital Hill February 4. a coalition of New Jersey unions and They served notice to the new Con­ Miners strike, win rehiring women's organi2;ations. gress and administration that women will not permit our gains to be eroded By Tom Moriarty "Women: .Yesterday, Today and To­ federal judge ordered Local 1702 to morrow" is the theme of the march and are willing to fight for our de­ MORGANTOWN, W.Va.-After pay a $3,000 fine for each shift beginning at noon from Military Park mands. a three-day strike and a rare pro­ missed, and individual miners to in Newark. It will end at Essex County union arbitration decision, on Feb­ pay $25 for each day out. Community College with a rally and . Billed as Women's Rights Day in ruary 4 Consolidation Coal Com­ The miners reported back to work festival highlighted with entertain­ Congress, the activities included at­ pany was forced to reinstate a and the arbitrator ruled in the ment, films, and ethnic food. tendence at various congressional miner they had fired from Blacks­ union's favor that afternoon. Speakers will include Crystal Lee hearings, a spirited mid-day rally, and ville #2 mine in northern West Vir­ Consol is notorious in the coal Sutton, the real . "Norma Rae," and late afternoon group lobbying of sena­ ginia. industry for refusing to settle dis­ Kathy Andrade of the International tors and representatives. The miner, a member of United putes at the mine site. Instead they Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and Black women made up a very high Mine Workers Local 1702, was fired seek quick victories from judges the Hispanic Labor Committee. percentage of the participants. Signs January 28. Accused of a discharge­ and arbitrators. Sponsors include: Coalition of Labor identifying unions were prominent in able offense, the worker denied it Last spring, Consol forced all of Union Women, New Jersey chapter; the rally. and asked to see his mine commit­ its District 31 miners out on strike National Organization for Women, Spea,kers at the rally included Gloria teeman. by firing eleven members of Local New Jersey; United Auto Workers New Steineni; National Organization for In violation of the contract, mine 4060 at the Four States mine, not Jersey Women's Council; and others. Women President Eleanor Smeal; Ad­ management failed to call the com­ far from Blacksville. The miners For further information contact: rienne Critchlow of the Coalition of mitteeman to the scene. When the returned to work after five weeks Georgia Kampf, UAW Region 9, 16 Labor Union Women; Maggie Kuhn, midnight shift arrived the next without being able to win. back Commerce Drive, Cranford, New Jer­ convenor of the Gray Panthers; and night, the miners decided to go out these jobs. sey, or call (201) 272-4200. former congresswoman Bella Abzug. in protest. Consol's president, Bobby Figures such as Congresswoman By February 1, Consol had ob­ Brown, is chief negotiator for the Shirley Chisholm and actress Mary tained a back-to-work order from Bituminous Coal Operators Associ­ * * * Tyler Moore also participated. the courts. When the 400 strikers ation in the current contract talks WASHINGTON, D.C.-Three thou­ Feminist singer Kristen Lema led the had not returned by February 3, a with the UMW A. sand supporters of women's rights, rally in the "Ballad of the ERA" as representing eighty organizations, in- well as traditional labor songs.

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0 $2 for eight issues (new readers only) to new readers 0 $5 for three months 0 $24 for one year The Militant-S weeks/$2 0 New 0 Renewal Name Lies, distortion, and suppression of news. That's Address all you get from the establishment media on El C1ty Salvador. The Militant tells the truth about the State ------'---- Z1p struggle there, the role of the U.S. government, 14 Charles Lane. New York . New York 10014 and how the movement against U.S. intervention is growing. You need the Militant each week.

3 Harrisburg march gains union support By Osborne Hart best possible alternative to nuclear !! ! " 714 endorsed the march and plans to Labor support for the March for Safe power. bring two buses. Energy and Full Employment, sche­ "But unless we continually speak The labor movement in Washington, duled for March 28 in Harrisburg, about the coal alternative it won't be D.C., plans a March 12 organizing Pennsylvania, is gaining momentum. considered. meeting for the demonstration. Wil­ · The Greater Harrisburg Labor Com­ "We hope to have thousands of liam Simons, D.C. Central Labor mittee, which is organizing for the UMWA members from Pennsylvania, Council secretary, signed a letter to demonstration, held an orientation West Virginia, Ohio and other parts of member unions urging their attend­ session February 9 to train volunteers the country in Harrisburg on March ance. to speak before unions. Representa­ 28. We hope to see you there." Other unions that have endorsed the tives from the Machinists, Gannent The United Furniture Workers Dis­ action include: International Chemical Workers, Furniture Workers, and Penn­ trict Council 4 in Pennsylvania sent a Workers, International Longshore­ sylvania Social Service Union at­ letter to all their locals urging them to men's and Warehousemen's Union, tended the session. "begin now to get a delegation together Graphic Arts International Union, and The following day, the regular busi­ and join us on March 28 in Harris­ International Woodworkers of Amer­ ness meeting of the committee heard burg." Ica. Matt Miller, United Mine Workers In an open letter on the front page of United Steelworkers Local 1010, the COMPAC national field director. the ·union Advocate, newspaper of · largest in the USW A international, Miller read a statement that appeared Pennsylvania Machinists District 98, recently endorsed. The United States in the February issue of the Pennsyl­ signed by business director Ed Clinch, Student Association, Washington Area vania COMPAC newsletter explaining encouraged the membership to "join Coalition Against Registration and the MilitanVKay Lewis the importance of March. 28. us" and "help organize what can be an Draft, cartoonist Jules Feiffer, and The statement read in part: "This event of great significance. One that D.C. City Councilwoman Hilda Mason demonstration will dramatize the con­ can help reverse the string of defeats are recent endorsers. cerns of working people throughout the for the labor movement and get us Food and Commercial Workers Local For more information on the Harris­ country · about the continued use of back on the offensive." 72 in Burwick and Furniture Workers burg demonstration contact: Labor nuclear power. The United Mine Work­ Other unions in Pennsylvania are Local 714 in Wilks-Barre. Local 72, Committee for Safe Energy and Full ers of America is a sponsor of this anti­ organizing their respective member­ whose international has endorsed Employment, 1536 Sixteenth Street nuclear demonstration and march. ships to participate on March 28. The March 28, distributed 900 leaflets at N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Tele­ Coal miners and coal represent the Labor Committee met with United the Wise Potato Chip factory. Local phone (202) 797-2371 or 265-7190. Steelworkers fear radioactive waste ruling By Linda Nordquist · · ~ses or transfers technetium-99 [half- Second, steelworkers will be sub- Besides the radioactive consumer PITTSBURGH-Imagine this: At 6 hfe ?f 210,000. years] or lo~-en~ch~d jected to low-level radiation along each goods, people who live in steel- a.m., you reach over and push down uramum as residual contammatwn m step of the steel-making process. producing areas will be subjected to the alann on your slightly radioactive any smelted alloy ..." (Federal Regis- In my BOP (basic oxygen process- radioactive slag. (Slag is a discarded clock. In the kitchen, you sleepily ter, 10127 / 80; 4~ FR 70874). . ing) department alone, more than three by-product of steel.) maneuver around the slightly radioac- . Translated, this means that radi?ac- billion pounds of scrap is used in one The NRC intends to make no adjust- tive fridge, coffee pot, and frying pan. tlv~ scrap from all three U.S. uramum year. ment. Slag will continue to be used as Once dressed, you find your slightly ennchment p_lants would be s~ld to road bedding and piled up in radioac- radioactive keys and head ·for your steel corp_oratwns and recycl~d m the Continuous tests tive slag mountains in and around slightly radioactive car. steel-makmg process. Steel IS made The NRC says that the ingots will urban areas. Now, if you're a steelworker, things from iron and scrap. have to be continuously tested to make One thing for sure, if the NRC's get a little more serious. At work you The NRC claims that by spreading sure the radiation does not exceed latest plan is not stopped, the level of spend eight hours working around low- out the contaminated scrap along with allowable limits. background radiation will increase level radioactive scrap, making low- uncontaminated scrap, th~ health ef- What if the test says it does? It will and this will mean higher cancer rates, level radioactive steel, rolling low-level fects on the general pubhc would be be too late to correct the exposure to more defective children, and more ge- radioactive slabs, or fabricating low- small. the workers. Will the company divert netic diseases. level radioactive sheets. the heat-cancel out a quarter of a Once outside the gate, you stop with No risk? million dollars worth of steel? This some friends for a beer, poured from a Jim Henry, senior health physicist question is not addressed by the NRC, Time for comments slightly radioactive can and paid for at the NRC, says: "Not one person has but the answer is obvious. It is very important that steel­ with slightly radioactive change. the risk of getting cancer ~om the total The radiation exposure will not stop workers throughout the country know At home, dinner is cooked on a amount of scrap if it were distributed in the basic oxygen, open hearth, or what the NRC has in store for our slightly radioactive stove. You finish out into the public." electric furnaces. It will penneate the future. Our union, at all levels, must the evening watching a slightly ra- So what's all the hullabaloo about? entire mill as the ingots become slabs register our refusal to be victimized by dioactive TV. Dr. Judith Johnsrud, co-director of and the slabs become sheets. the nuclear power menace. Sound incredible? Well, not if the Environmental Coalition on Nuclear The NRC is attempting to downplay ·Individuals, local unions, and dis: Nuclear Regulatory Commission has Power, explained in a letter to the New the health effects by insisting the tricts can send messages to the Secre­ its way. York Times December 20, these "pro- radiation level is "oh, so low." Yet tary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear posed changes in the regulation of low- there is scientific indication that the Regulatory Commission, Washington, New regulations level radioactive waste disposal may risk of cancer and other genetic dam­ D.C. 20555. , Last October, the NRC quietly an­ set a precedent for future distribution age is even .greater for low doses ex­ The most effective comment of all nounced that it "is considering amend­ of large quantities of contaminated tended over a long period of time than will be the participation of large ing its regulations to exempt from materials without licensing, monitor- for high doses in a short period. numbers of steelworkers in the Harris­ licensing and regulatory requirements ing or any follow-up studies of possible What of the NRC claim that the burg March 28 national demonstration any person who receives, · possesses, consequences for public health." general public will not be affected? against nuclear power. Pittsburgh group hosts Grenada consul-general PITTSBURGH-Joseph Kanute ing of nearly 100 at the University of community attended. Among these Black Studies Department. At this Burke, a leader of Grenada's New Pittsburgh. That gathering was spon­ were members of the National Black meeting thirty people added their Jewel Movement, spoke at two success­ sored by the Black Studies Department Independent Political Party. names to those interested in helping ful meetings here February 9 and held and the Center for Latin American The meeting was chaired by Richard fonn a chapter of the U.S.-Grenada infonnal discussions with several un­ Studies. A number of people from the Blackett, head of the university's Friendship Society. ion officials. Burke is Grenada's consul-general to North America. More than 100 students attended a noon meeting at Community College, Barbados gov't harasses Grenadian minister Allegheny County, sponsored by Stu­ On February 6 Selwyn Strachan, port, but the customs officials in­ vember, when Grenada's agricul­ dents for Involvement and Discussion. minister of communications , sisted on searching his luggage. ture minister, Unison Whiteman, Those attending included students works, and labor and acting minis­ After registering his protest, Stra­ was also harassed. from two Black Studies classes and a ter of foreign affairs of the Carib­ chan allowed them to carry out the In a news conference in New sociology class. bean island of Grenada, arrived at search. York February 7, Strachan ex­ The audience was mainly Black. As the Barbados International Airport The officials then demanded that plained, "The Barbados adminis­ a result of the major media's refusal to on his way to a conference of the Strachan and his aide be taken to a tration is undoubtedly a stooge of report news on Grenada, most of the Nonaligned movement in New private room for a search of their imperialism. students had previously heard little Delhi. Although other Grenadians persons. They refused. When it about the revolution there, which will on his flight were allowed to pass "The Grenada revolution is one became clear that the two Grenadi­ celebrate its second anniversary of the focal points for imperialism. through the airport unimpeded, ans would not willingly submit to March 13. There was great interest in They would like to see the end of Strachan and his personal aide such treatment, they were confined Burke's account of the revolution and were singled out for harassment as the revolution as quickly as possi­ to the customs area for several its accomplishments. ble. And therefore they will use the part of the Barbados regime's hos­ hours until their connecting flight Thirty-one people at the meeting neighboring states in the region, tile policy toward the Grenada rev­ was ready to take off. signed a fonn indicating interest in . olution. Barbados being one, to try to see .if helping to fonn a Pittsburgh chapter of Strachan was traveling under A similar incident occurred at the they can frustrate the revolu­ the U.S.-Gren ada Friendship Society. the protection of a diplomatic pass- Barbados airport in early No- tion . ... " That evening Burke spoke to a meet-

4 ACLU, Hal~erin defend gov't Hundreds block court deal with FBI CIA By Rich Robohm against "any United States person." CHICAGO-In a major victory for It claims those investigations the democratic rights, hundreds of people FBI does carry out will be limited to showed up here at a February 13 court "minimal intrusion" on democratic hearing and blocked a deal that would rights. cripple the fight against secret police As Charles Kruse, Justice Depart­ crimes. ment lawyer, proudly pointed out at The hearing was held before Federal the hearing, the settlement "is in no Judge Susan Getzendanner to deter­ way an admission that the FBI did mine if there were any objections to the anything illegal." proposed settlement of a lawsuit Moreover, it goes to great lengths to against the FBI and CIA. express political confidence in the There were plenty. "new" FBI. It asserts that under the The suit grew out of mid-1970s reve­ current FBI Guidelines many (it lations of widespread surveillance and doesn't say which) actions of the secret disruption by the Chicago cops, FBI, police would no longer be allowed. CIA, and right-wing terrorists such as the Legion of Justice. Blacks rip deal Among the victims of police harass­ Black attorney Lewis Myers, general ment were the Steelworkers union, counsel for the Nation of Islam and a United Auto Workers, Teamsters, member of the National Conference of NAACP, Operation PUSH, Commu­ Black Lawyers, received long and loud nist Party, Socialist Workers Party, applause for his blistering denuncia­ and Young Socialist Alliance. tion of the settlement. The American Civil Liberties Union "It is unrealistic for us to believe (ACLU) and the Alliance to End Re­ that in 1971 at the stroke of a pen by J. pression have cooked up an out-of­ Edgar Hoover, all surveillance activity court settlement of the suit with the against us ended," he said. Chicago cops In action in 1968. City's long hic•+n•"' government. The settlement would al­ Myers demanded the opening of all spurred protests against scuttling lawsuit. low the FBI and CIA to continue their FBI files to public scrutiny. Regarding spying. the vague and ambiguous wording in the settlement, he added, "The FBI Unpleasant surprise must not be allowed to define what is seeks to have SWP members deported Hampton, who was killed by cops But the liberals and government spying. Under no circumstances or fired from their jobs. while sleeping in his bed in 1969. lawyers alike got an unpleasant sur­ should we concede the right to even Cunningham explained that the set­ prise when 300 people, most of them minimal intrusion. The first amend­ FBI lied before tlement was not enforceable "because Black, showed up and strongly ob­ ment is absolute." Gilligan also submitted documents of vagueness regarding what is and is jected to the deal. One young man held He cited the history of government containing a judge's ruling that the not allowed." He insisted that the up a sign reading "Stop FBI Crimes" repression against Black people on this FBI had lied in Federal Court in New government's crimes-"in violation of until federal marshalls forced him to continent, going back to 1619. "It is York when it denied carrying out black the principles that our country is sup­ discard it. unbelievable that Black people will not bag jobs against the offices of the SWP posed to be founded on and what the The government did all it could to be the target of the FBI's wrath .. . . and YSA. She pointed out that this Constitution is supposed to protect"­ create an atmosphere of intimidation We have to constantly defend our provided ample proof that the govern- be admitted and spelled out in detail. m the courthouse. Federal marshalls rights by keeping our eyes on the ment cannot be trusted. · with dogs were present. But their pro­ people who are keeping their eyes on Finally she blasted the settlement Token admissions vocative behavior failed to produce us." for repeating the FBI's false character­ Cunningham pointed out that the any violent incidents. Another leader of the Black com­ ization of the SWP as advocating government's admission of 500 black The proposed settlement agreement, munity, Rev. Albert Sampson, also "violent revolution at some time in the bag jobs is token . . . they have not which Alliance lawyer Richard Gut­ denounced the settlement. indefinite future," and its suggestion conceded anywhere that what they did man hailed at the hearing as "entirely ~'Black people always keep an extra that the SWP would eventually "en­ was wrong." unprecedented," is full of double-talk. room in their house for the IRS and gage in serious crimes or violence." In conclusion Cunningham pointed It says the FBI and CIA won't carry FBI," he pointed out. There are thou­ This sets up the SWP for future harass­ to the contradiction between what the out "unlawful" burglaries "or any un­ sands of people in the Black commun­ ment, she explained. FBI is promising in the Chicago settle­ lawful disruption or harassment" ity who would come to testify that the Another speaker against the pro­ ment and what it is saying in the SWP FBI was still harassing them, he as­ posed settlement was Ted Pearson, and Young Socialist Alliance federal. sured the court. executive secretary of the Illinois dis­ suit in New York, where the govern­ Attorney Donna-Marie Gilligan trict of the Communist Party. Pearson ment has proclaimed the right to spy spoke for the Socialist Workers Party complimented the ACLU and Alliance on everyone. and Young Socialist Alliance, who are lawyers for their years of hard work, Mildred Williams, chairperson of the also named as plaintiffs in the Chi­ but expressed dismay at the end result. Chicago Alliance Against Racist and cago ca!Je. "We are virtually excluded from bene­ Political Repression, testified that her "We do not believe that the settle­ fit in this agreement, having been organization could ~ot accept the set­ ment agreements are in any sense fair, characterized as a 'foreign agent.' " tlement because its use of the term reasonable, or adequate," she said. She He strongly denied the FBI smear "U.S. person" excludes undocumented pointed out that the FBI Guidelines do and pointed out that "the continuation workers and others from protection nothing to stop FBI-CIA harassment of the investigation of the Communist against government crimes. and that the government has refused Party USA represents a threat to the David Finke, speaking on behalf of to admit any illegal activity. rights of all." the 57th Street Meeting of Friends, a Gilligan contended that the FBI was Also speaking out against the settle­ Quaker group, said, "We do not believe continuing its violation of democratic ment were attorneys Dennis Cun­ that there should be any intru­ rights today. To back up the claim, she ningham and Flint Taylor of the Peo­ sion . . . there should be no harass­ submitted a stack of documents more ple's Law Office. The People's Law ment . . . no police spying is justi­ Murdered Panther leader Fred Hampton. than a foot tall. They showed in detail Office has waged a tenacious fight to fied.'' Attorneys for his family denounced pro­ how the government even now main­ win compensation for the family of The government attorneys sat back posed settlement. tains files on political activists and Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Continued on next pege Pulley: 'Chicago victory is just the beginning' By Jon Hillson battle against the secret police. The Dennis Cunningham, a member of Kahlmorgan, one of the fifteen union­ CHICAGO-"The turnout of settlement offers no protection for our the People's Law Office, which repre­ ists fired from Lockheed Aircraft in hundreds here to protest the wretched rights, and doesn't even admit the sents the family of slain Black Panther Marietta, Georgia, for their political proposed settlement with the FBI and government committed any wrongdo­ leader Fred Hampton in a suit against ideas. She urged the crowd to increase CIA is a great encouragement to me ing in the past! the FBI, explained why his office op­ political activity to push back attacks and everyone fighting to extend demo­ poses the settlement. Cunningham had on democratic rights. cratic rights," Andrew Pulley told a "The sentiment here is a good sign, been a plaintiff in the original Chicago rally February 15. not only for the fight against spying in complaint against the FBI and CIA. Fresh from the 1200-strong Detroit The· Socialist Workers Party leader Chicago, but for blowing apart a sim­ "It's a sham," he said. The political conference against registration and was here to speak about the upcoming ilar rotten settlement in New York," he police "really don't say they did any­ the draft, the Young Socialist Alliance March 16 trial in the party's lawsuit added. "A few of the faint-hearted thing wrong, and really don't say they leader told the crowd that "the confer­ against government spying and to have grown tired of fighting, but for won't do it again." ence wasn't intimidated by the govern­ solidarize with those fighting to block the rest of us, this is just the begin­ Cunningham said that the big tum­ ment, and neither will the tens of the proposed Chicago settlement (see ning." out at the Federal Court here to object thousands that will be marching on above story). · Pulley pledged the full support of the to the conditions of the settlement Washington May 9 to stop the draft "What happened in the courtoom SWP in the building of a coalition of shows a strength that is "only the tip and a new Vietnam." here shows that many victims of the forces in Chicago to block the pending of the iceberg." A coordinated protest The rally pledged more than $1,600 to Chicago Red Squad, the FBI, and the settlement and force the government to might squash the settlement, he said. aid the SWP and YSA in their court CIA are not about to give up on the go through with a trial. Also speaking at the rally was Andree fight.

THE MILITANT/FEBRUARY 27, 1981 5 Students hit Lockheed's ... Chicago settlement Continued from page 5 Myers also asked Halperin whether 'subversive' charge and let the liberals try to sell the the settlement would cover undocu­ By George Johnson union activists and the company's settlement to the crowd. Attorney Doug­ mented workers. Halperin claimed it BERKELEY, Calif.-The Associated characterization of California students lass Cassel, speaking for the ACLU, would, a blatant untruth, since the Students of the University of Califor­ as "subversives." claimed there would be "substantial agreement stipulates it covers only nia at Berkeley (ASUC) voted to send a Chris Hoeppner, one of those fired, risks" in going to trial instead of U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and statement to Lockheed-Georgia Com­ met with the ASUC as part of a West settling. This despite thousands of "aliens" legally in the country. pany protesting the firings of fifteen Coast tour to win support and to ex­ pages of documents proving the gov· Further confirmation that the settle­ pose the company's antilabor move. ernment's illegal activities! ment stinks came from Renault Robin· The fifteen are members of lnterna· Jerry Berman of the national ACLU son, executive director of the Afro­ tional Association of Machinists Lodge also spoke in favor of the agreement. American Police League. He admitted Lockheed 709. Most belong to the Socialist Work­ in his testimony that cop spying con· ers Party or Young Socialist Alliance. Kissinger aide tinues. Robinson claimed, however, workers on tour Hoeppner told ASUC members that A key witness defending the govern­ that the settlement was "an important Three of the fifteen fired Lock- ' Lockheed records on Jean Savage, who ment's promise to stop spying was first step." He didn't say in what direc­ heed workers are wrapping up a was fired on December 15, highlight Morton Halperin, director of the Center tion. national speaking tour about the the fact that she attended Berkeley. for National Security Studies. Halperin Other endorsers of the settlement facts in their case. To find out The records call the campus "a center is a former aide to Henry Kissinger. He included Theresa Cropper, staff attor· details on the tour in your area, for dissident and subversive activities fell out with his former mentor when ney of Operation PUSH, Rachel Dego· consult the local listings on page during the Vietnam era." Kissinger had his phone bugged. lia of the Committee to Defend the Bill 27. Robert Lang, a Lockheed security Halperin was presented by the of Rights, and the Ethical Humanists officer, told lawyers for the Socialist ACLU to explain what the FBI's inten­ Society of Chicago. Chris Hoeppner Workers Party lawsuit against govern­ tions were in the settlement. But the overwhelming opposition to Feb. 21-24 Denver ment spying that his "profile" of sus­ The former Kissinger aide said he the deal showed that working people, Feb. 25-28 Kansas City pected "subversives" included any had met with the FBI and been person­ especially in the Black community, are worker who went to school in Califor· ally assured the Bureau had mended by no means inclined to follow the lead nia. its ways. of the liberals in surrendering to the Andree Kahlmorgan Dawn Chaban, ASUC executive vice­ Attorney Lewis Myers asked if any secret' police. Feb. 20-23 Cleveland president, proposed that the statement of the FBI's attorneys would testify As a result of the protest, Judge Feb. 25-27 Philadelphia be sent to Lockheed, and added, "This about the settlement. They refused. Getzendanner decided to postpone a is a slanderous attack on Berkeley Cross-examining Halperin, Myers decision on the settlement. Instead she students." pressed him to explain who would ordered the government to say in writ­ Jeff Rogers While touring the Bay Area, decide what was "minimal intrusion" ing whether it agreed with Halperin's Feb. 21-24 Indianapolis Hoeppner also met with members and by the FBI. Halperin squirmed in his interpretation of the settlement. The Feb. 25-27 St. Louis officials of several Machinists lodges. seat, ducking the question. After ask­ ACLU and the Alliance to End Repres­ He spoke at Laney College in Oakland ing five or six times for a clear answer, sion were also required to present in and on KPFA (Pacifica) and other Myers turned to the judge and said, writing their replies to the objections. In late February two fired Lock­ radio stations. He was interviewed by "Your Honor, the witness is evading The judge set a meeting of the attor­ heed workers and a Brooklyn Navy the San Jose Mercury and News, Oak­ my question." neys for March 13 to further discuss Yard worker, Susan Wald, will be land Tribune, Sunnyvale Scribe, and Judge Getzendanner then responded the proposed settlement. speaking about the Lockheed case Daily Californian. that Halperin was apparently saying Discussion has already begun on . and the Socialist Workers Party each individual FBI agent would de­ how to use this delay to organize and lawsuit in cities across Quebec and cide himself how much "intrusion" broaden still further the fight for a English Canada. They will be was warranted. prosecution of this lawsuit to the end. joined by a . speaker for three women fired for their socialist poli· tics by Pratt and Whitney Aircraft in Quebec.

Chris Hoeppner Feb. 18-20 Vancouver OVING? Milton Chee Feb. 18-20 Winnipeg Take the 'Militant' with you. Feb. 21-28 Hamilton and To avoid missing a single Toronto issue, send us notice of your change of address right away. Susan Wald Be sure to include the address Feb. 27-28 Montreal Militant/Osborne Hart label off your copy. CHRIS HOEPPNER Unionists blast spying at NASSCO, Lockheed By Mark Friedman "At this point," noted Holowach, trusteeship." tember 1980 in support of the idea of a SAN DIEGO-The use of FBI agents "the FBI enters the scene with Ramon Holowach described how more than labor party. and company spies to harass, intimi· Barton, a paid FBI informant and 1,000 workers signed protest petitions "The spying, however, was not only date, and ultimately destroy the labor company spy, who it turns out since and 300 attended the International's against the socialists, but also againat movement is not new. August was continuously wired with hearing on trusteeship. various union activists and everyone Recent developments around the conversation transmitting devices. "The International claims to have who attended the union meeting. country, especially the disclosures sur­ Barton played a provocative role dur­ stepped in to make the union more "As I travel around the . country rounding the firing of fifteen union ing a wildcat strike in August that democratic and because of previous winning support for our case and the activists and socialists at the Lockheed shut down the yard for three days." violence. Yet the only violence was the socialists' suit against the government, plant in Marietta, Georgia, have Then, on September 16, three work­ police attack on the wildcat strike, and I hear countless stories of FBI and alerted union members to the fact that ers at NASSCO, members and support­ the local has never been more demo­ company spying on the workers in the these company-government disruption ers of the Communist Workers Party, cratic. plants, mills, and mines." plots are stepping up. were framed up for "planning .to blow "With the local in trusteeship, and . "The support from our co-workers This was the topic of a Militant/ up company electric transformers." In the FBI frame-up continuing, the com· has been trQmendous," he added. "This Perspectiva Mundial forum here Feb­ response to this, workers at NASSCO pany has stepped up its offensive case is important because of the atti­ ruary 6. Speakers were Chris and other plants set up a "NASSCO against the workers. Production quotas tude of the Reagan administration, Hoeppner, one of those fired at Lock­ Three" defense committee, and re­ now exist for the first tiine, the power which has publicly admitted now that heed, and Frank Holowach, president tained civil liberties lawyer Leonard of shop stewards is reduced drastically, the harassment and observance of of Iron Workers Local 627 at National Weinglass. and workers are asked to carry the groups advocating revolutionary Steel and Shipbuilding (NASSCO) With union elections approaching, load, like at Chrysler where they have change is legal. This is an attack on here. the company and the press whipped up been forced to make concessions on every worker, every supporter of · NASSCO is the largest shipyard on anticommunism in the plant and three occasions." women's rights and school desegrega­ the West Coast. Holowach explained it around the city to beat back the mili­ Holowach ended by saying tion. had the lowest wages, and because of tant workers at NASSCO. Despite this, "NASSCO shows that this country is "Defending the rights of workers terrible working conditions, seven peo­ workers in the yard who were part of not moving to the right-people are and socialists," Hoeppner declared, ple had been killed there in the past the "NASSCO Three" defense and the looking for answers." "helps in the development of a new four years. big health and safety struggles won Chris Hoeppner said the Lockheed leadership in the unions and the ef­ "We built a strong shop steward the election in December 1980. workers "were fired because we are forts of the unions to take a stand on system, had rallies between shifts of "Then the International stepped in," against the draft, against racism and social questions of the day, like opposi­ up to 1,000 around the issues of health Holowach reported. "They placed the for women's rights. We were active in tion to the draft and nuclear power." · and safety," Holowach said. "We entire local of 3,000 in trusteeship. building and strengthening our union, In addition to the Friday night fo­ helped eliminate fatalities by winning They froze the union's bank account, the International Association of Mach­ rum, Hoeppner had meetings with ~ the right to shut down an unsafe job. locked the doors of the union hall, inists, Lodge 709." officials of lAM Lodges 685 and 2215, "With the development of a more posted guards there, and cancelled all He reported that the surveillance of at Solar and General Dynamics respec­ active membership, the company, Mor­ union meetings. They stopped the new the socialists at Lockheed began after tively. He also spoke in three classes at rison-Knudsen, hired a major union­ leadership from taking office. . . . We they distributed a leaflet at their union San Diego City college, and had inter­ busting firm to try to take back some then organized a steering committee of meeting that discussed the resolution views with campus and community of the gains the workers had won. all the factions in the yard to fight the passed by the lAM convention in Sep- press.

6 How firings affect mood inside Lockheed By Michael Pennock informers within the plant, as well as anticipate increased attacks on work­ union people. ATLANTA-As a result of extensive security cops. ers' standards of living by the corpora­ "The right wing within the plant," media coverage, the firing of fifteen "I've talked with dozens of people in tions. And the likelihood of a new Fiske explained, "are people who are workers at the Lockheed aerospace the plant," Fiske said, "and not a Vietnam-style war. tied in with the company. This in­ plant in Marietta has sparked a good single one of them believe that the "That's where their changing atti­ cludes the informers. deal of discussion in this area. company has the right to have a tude toward the socialists comes in," Most discussion, of course, is taking worker followed home. Or that com­ Fiske added. "They see the fight we're "We know from the company files place among workers at the plant. I pany cops have a right to try to listen putting up against the firings, and released to us," Fiske continued, "that talked with Tom Fiske, who is cur­ in on parking lot conversation with what the firings represent. They begin this informer and right-wing network rently working in the plant. A turret their 'big ear' electronic device." to see us as people who are likely to be is quite significant. lathe operator at the plant for nearly allies in future fights against attacks "Yet," he emphasized, "with the two years, he is a member of Lodge 709 Reject company story by the Reagan administration." company having that set-up going for of the International Association of Another point that Fiske feels is What about the role of right-wingers them, I haven't received a single Machinists. Fiske, like most of those clear to a majority of workers now is in the plant? threat. fired, is a member of the Socialist that the fifteen were fired for their "That's because they don't feel they Workers Party. political beliefs-not for the reason Company finks can get away with it. They can't whip Fiske said that initially most work­ given by Lockheed. ' Fiske said there is a definite right­ up a campaign against us because a ers were intimidated when the first There are some workers who haven't wing element. But, he emphasized, it's majority of the workers are sympa­ firings occurred in December. Many, fully answered in their own mind important not to confuse them with the thetic to us, to our right to have a job. he said, were immediately sympathetic whether or not socialists should be layer of older white workers, who often "They don't want to see the company allowed to work in a "defense" plant. tend to be conservative in their politi­ successful in intimidating the work "But on the basis of the many discus­ cal views, but include a lot of good force." sions I and others have had, the big majority believe the company shouldn't have the right to fire for political opinions. They don't think it's any of the company's business how UMWA offici~l rips dismissals you vote, or what party you belong to." Fiske says he can see the changing attitude most clearly among the work­ The following is the text of a January 30 letter sent to President ers in his own department. Ronald Reagan from Joe Jurczak, staff coordinator for the Penn­ "At first," he said, "many workers sylvania United Mine Workers Political Action Committee (COM­ were hesitant to talk to me. But that PAC). changed. Now most are sympathetic. They want to see the socialists re­ Dear Mr. President, hired." It's recently come to my attention that the Lockheed Georgia Company What's involved for many, Fiske has recently fired members and supporters of the Socialist Workers Party. I explained, is that they realize the feel that I must protest these· firings, not because I necessarily support the atmosphere of intimidation created by views of the Socialist Workers Party, but because I believe that no worker such firings very much affects them. should be discriminated against because of political beliefs or union activi­ They know this kind of thing doesn't ties. stop with the socialists, Fiske con­ This action by Lockheed Georgia Company, a firm which I understand tinued. Quite a large number of work­ has many government contracts, smacks of the tactics of a totalitarian ers, he said, have been taken to plant · state. Documents from Lockheed's personnel files prove that the company security and subjected to grilling about spied on union meetings and snooped into its employees personal lives. TOM FISKE alleged discrepancies in employment These violations by Lockheed of the basic democratic rights of free speech applications. to those fired, "but they weren't ac­ and political association are abhorrent in the extreme. tively defending us. They were afraid See common Interest I ask that ·you use your tremendous personal influence in getting legisla­ tion introduced to ban such tactics in the future and see that the fired they'd get the ax too." A number of workers are beginning But that sense of intimidation has to appreciate the way socialists are workers at Lockheed are reinstated. lessened. fighting back against the firings. They As an American citizen, as a coal miner, and as a representative of a great realize it's in their interest too. union, I would like to believe that the differences between our democratic Role of media ,coverage "It's very heartening," Fiske ob­ system of government with its emphasis on indivdual freedoms and that of Fiske feels an important factor has served, "when coworkers begin respect­ communist to.talitarian states are ones of substance and not rhetoric. been the media coverage the fired ing you for being on TV or passing out I thank you for giving my request your consideration. socialists won. The fact that the firings socialist literature at the plant gate." Sincerely, are being treated as a significant civil Another good thing, he said, is that Joe Jurczak, Staff Co-ordinator rights issue has encouraged more peo­ workers are calling the union hall, ple to say what they think. COMPAC in Pennsylvania urging that the union really fight the United Mine Workers of America On one key point there seems to be grievance of the fired workers. wide agreement, Fiske said. That's on Why did Lockheed choose to fire the issue of company spying. these workers at this particular time? Documents obtained under court In Fiske's opinion, it's tied to Lock­ I • • • • •••••••••••••••• a ••• a ••••••••••••. •••••• e •••••••••••••• a a •••••••••• a ••••• e I order by the fired workers confirmed heed's expanding role as a supplier of that they had been the target of exten­ Cljp and mail to Socialist Fund, 14 war material. Charles Lane, New York, New York sive surveillance, both in their political "I think they feel they would run and union activity, and in their private Yes, 10014. into difficulties in the plant," Fiske D I am pledging $ ____ lives. The documents confirmed that observed, "if there was an atmosphere DEnclosed is $ ~-___ the company utilizes a network of of opposition to war. And opposition to I want Name what goes with it. The speedup. The Address regimentation." Michael Pennock, member of Interna­ to help. City ------­ tional Association of Machinists Lodge Reagan ism State Zip ----- 709, was one of fifteen unionists fired at Fiske feels many workers also see Lockheed. this as tied to Reagan's election. "They •. • e • a •• a ••••••••••.••••••••••••••• a a ••••••••••• • • ••• • ••• -· .•••••••••••••.•••• • •• •• e I How your$$$ can help stymie the FBI By Norton Sandler some workers are showing stems from suit more than seven years ago, the The Socialist Fund has been built by The Socialist $75,000 Fund recently the fact that more are realizing capital­ Militant has printed hundreds of pages modest contributions. But when you recieved a contribution and a brief note ism can't solve the problems we face. of revelations about how the FBI and add them all up, the $63,526 pledged from a machinist in Erie, Pennsyl­ other governmental agencies have and the $30,991 collected to date is an vania. "As a regular reader and a The large corporations owned by the tried to disrupt and destroy the SWP impressive sum. It will significantly union member (lAM)," he wrote, "I handful of billionaires who profit from and YSA. The only reason the govern­ expand the ability of socialists to get have followed the case in the Militant. this system don't like this. That's why ment would have a plan of such size our ideas out to more working people in I regret not having made contributions the FBI works hand in glove with and scope directed at a relatively small the coming weeks. in the past." corporate personnel offices like the one organization like ours is that they fear He added, "Once again I hope my at Lockheed's Georgia aerospace plant, our ideas will have an impact. You can contribute at upcoming contribution helps the SWP continue where fifteen workers were recently The question of the right of socialists rallies or you can fill out the coupon . the fight for the future. For people, not fired because of their union activity to advocate and put into practice above. Mail it to the Socialist Fund, 14 profits." and political views. Marxist ideas will be central at the Charles Lane, New York, New York The increased interest in socialism Since the socialists filed their law- upcoming trial. 10014. ' Collected to date Pledged to 'da~ '> $30,991 $63,526 / $75,000 //

THE MILITANT/FEBRUARY 27,1981 7 . New Polish premier Campaign for new readers seeks to rein in workers By Ernest Harsch for the secret police. The general strike is ahead of schedule Poland's new prime minister, Gen. ended late the next day after the govern­ By Nancy Rosenstock workers District 31 at a rally attended Wojciech Jaruzelski, has been handed ment agreed that the rest home could be Saturday, February 14, marked the by some 400 people February 8 in an extremely difficult job: to keep down used as a public hospital until a new beginning of the eleven-week circula­ Chicago. Socialists actively campaign· the country's powerful and well-organ­ 610-bed facility is built. tion drive. Socialists are setting their ing for Balanoff are selling the Mili­ ized working class and to safeguard the • The Supreme Court on February 10 sights on over 3,000 new subscribers to tant, which covers his campaign. Sixty material privileges and authoritarian turned down an appeal by the new farm­ the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial people bought copies of the Militant at political control of the ruling bureau­ ers' organization, Rural Solidarity, for in four weeks! As we go to press, the the rally. cratic caste. registration as a trade union. The court circulation office has already received It was the failure of former prime proposed that the farmers organize 764 subscriptions to both publications. Posters minister JozefPinkowski to do that that themselves into an "association," a body Many areas have maintained regular Attractive new posters promoting led to his dismissal on February 9, folc that has fewer legal rights than a union. subscription sales since the end of last the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial lowing a plenary session of the Commu­ Walesa, speaking to a crowd of 5,000 fall's drive. In addition, subs have have been printed. Used widely, these nist Party Central Committee. The ap­ demonstrating farmers in Warsaw, been gathered at numerous national posters will not only aid our campaign pointment of Jaruzelski-which marks termed the decision a "draw." Leaders of and local protests. and increase the visibility of both the the fourth change of prime ministers in Rural Solidarity vowed to keep on fight­ This momentum needs to be main­ Militant and PM but will also spread less than a year-is a reflection of the ing for recognition as a union. tained for the next three weeks. Many the word on the socialist lawsuit depth of the crisis facing the Polish bu­ • A student strike that began in Lodz areas have already mapped out plans against the government. Putting up reaucracy. in late January spread to several other for door-to-door canvassing as well as posters can be combined with sales as In a January 12 speech before the Po­ cities, including Poznan and Warsaw. plans to win new subscribers on the teams fan out to workplaces, cam­ job. The Newark branch is one of lish parliament, Jaruzelski appealed for • Demands among rank-and-file puses, and communities. a three-month moratorium on members of the Communist Party for many that have begun to call previous strikes-"90 days ofpeace"-to give his greater internal party democracy have subscribers, urge them to renew, and government a chance to deal with the been mounting. Party chief Stanislaw inform them of upcoming activities. The Militant gets around country's deep economic crisis. Kania's failure to set a precise date for The Militant is now being sold in In a bid to get Solidarity, the inde­ the convening of an extraordinary party Antidraft conference Bridgeport, Connecticut, by a sup­ pendent union federation, to go along congress-as he had earlier promised to Of the 1,200 people at the first na­ porter who lives nearby. Having seen a with such a moratorium, Jaruzelski do--has already drawn protests from tional antidraft conference February poster for SWP candidates Pulley and promised to carry through far-reaching party members. 13-16 in Detroit, 142 bought copies of Zimmerman during the presidential economic changes and to work toward a On February 12, State Department the Militant, fifty-three received the campaign last fall, he wrote to the democratic "renewal." spokesman William Dyess said in Wash­ _Young Socialist, and fourteen bought national campaign committee for more Unfortunately for the Polish rulers, iilgton, "We wish the new Prime Minis­ subscriptions. In addition, fifty "No information. After receiving sample distrust of the bureaucracy as a whole ter and all the Polish people well in Draft" buttons put out by the Young copies of the Militant, he subscribed. runs deep. As one Polish farmer was their efforts to resolve their problems Socialist Alliance and $170 worth of He enjoyed the paper so much that quoted as saying, "We've lost confidence themselves and we look forward to a literature from Pathfinder Press were he decided to get a weekly bundle. in all of them, that's the problem. It's as constructive relationship with the new sold. Why not join the growing number of though they're playing a game of musi­ Polish Government." supporters who are circulating the cal chairs." Two days earlier, Dyess hinted to Ja­ Steelworker sales Militant? Just write to 14 Charles ruzelski that Washington would not James Balanoff kicked off his cam­ Lane, New York, N.Y. 10014 and we Jaruzelski's prospects dim look too unfavorably on a crackdown on paign for director of United Steel- will rush your bundle off to you. During the new prime minister's first the Polish workers movement. Accord­ days in office: ing to Washington Post correspondent • In response to an appeal by the na­ Michael Getler, the "tone of his answers tional leadership of Solidarity for a tem­ suggested the United States would react porary end to strikes, miners in Silesia with restraint in that case." --·-· Subscription goals and printing workers called off planned An editorial in the February 8 British job actions. In a policy statement on Manchester Guardian Weekly also MILITANT PM February . 12, however, Solidarity re­ argued for increased imperialist aid to AREA GOAL GOAL TOTAL served the right to strike. the Polish regime. Albuquerque 45 15 60 "Since the Gdansk strikes six months Lech Walesa, a central leader of Soli­ Atlanta 60 60 darity, stressed the need for the union's ago," it said, "Western bankers, prodded 10 million members to ''build -qp our or­ by their respective governments, have Baltimore 60 60 ganization." been busily putting together economic Birmingham 75 75 • On February 9, the very day that aid and trade packages designed to keep Boston 100 10 110 Jaruzelski was chosen prime minister, Comrade Kania's show on the road.. . . Brooklyn 105 25 130 about 300,000 workers in the south­ "Now the bankers are pressing on be­ Capital District 42 8 50 western region of Jelenia Gora walked cause they see precious little alternative off their jobs, paralyzing some 450 unless they are to lose their internation­ Charleston 20 20 plants and enterprises and shutting al stability and detente." Chicago 85 25 110 down transport and-other services. Like Moscow, the imperialists are CinCinnati 50 50 The workers were demanding the dis­ concerned about the impact that the ex­ Cleveland 40 10 50 missal of a number of local officials ac­ ample of the Polish workers movement Dallas 40 25 65 cused of corruption and the opening up could have on workers around the to the public of a rest house for Central world. Denver 35 5 40 Committee members and a sanatorium From Intercontinental Press Detroit 75 10 85 Gary 40 5 45 Houston 45 15 60 U.S. ousts Cuban diplomat Indianapolis 65 5 70 By Janice Lynn cials said there had been an upsurge in Iron Range 30 30 In one more of Washington's contin­ the mimber of calls received from U.S. Kansas City 55 10 65 uing provocations against the Cuban firms asking about the status of the Los Angeles 105 35 140 revolution, the Reagan administration blockade. Louisville 50 50 But a report in the February 12 New announced February 11 that Cuban Manhattan 150 75 225 diplomat Ricardo Escartfn was being York Times indicated that this charge expelled from the United States. was merely a pretext. Even officials at Miami 35 5 40 State Department spokesman Wil­ the Treasury Department said, accord­ Milwaukee 70 10 80 liam Dyess said that Escartfn, the first ing to the Times, that "the State De­ Morgantown 50 50 secretary of the Cuban Interests Sec­ partment was inflating the signifi­ New Orleans 75 75 cance of Mr. Escartfn's efforts to entice tion, which represents Cuba in Wash­ Newark 11 0 20 130 ington, was being ordered to leave Americans into illegal trade." Oakland because he tried to persuade U.S. busi­ Escartin was also accused of engag­ 60 10 70 nessmen to trade with Cuba. ing in intelligence activities, a totally Philadelphia 65 15 80 Since 1962, the U.S. government has unsubstantiated charge. Phoenix 40 10 50 imposed a total embargo on trade with A February 13 statement by the Piedmont 80 80 Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations Cuba. This criminal blockade was Pittsburgh 75 5 80 intended to strangle Cuba economi­ declared that "the false accusations" Portland 30 30 cally and to isolate it from the rest of against Escartfn reflected "the inten­ the world. ·The embargo even included tions of U.S. authorities to continue Salt Lake City 60 5 65 such vital necessities as food and medi­ their policies of hostility toward our San Antonio 40 20 60 cines. country and harassment of our repre­ San Diego 40 10 50 Nevertheless, the Cuban revolution sentatives in the United States." San Francisco 80 20 100 The Cuban statement also noted that survived the blockade, taking impres­ San Jose 30 10 40 sive' steps forward economically. To­ the charges constituted "a clear threat day, more than eighty countries trade to U.S. citizens, including members of Seattle 75 5 80 with Cuba, despite Washington's sab­ Congress, with whom our diplomat St. Louis 45 5 50 otage. maintained relations that were entirely Tidewater 80 80 In announcing Escartin's expulsion, legitimate and perfectly well known to Toledo 35 35 U.S. officials. The State Department is the State Department spokesman said Twin Cities 88 12 100 that Washington was concerned about now portraying these relations as if efforts to circumvent the trade em­ they were alien to normal diplomatic Washington, D.C. 70 10 80 bargo which were "more open and procedures." TOTAL 2705 450 3155 more blatant than previously." Offi. From Intercontinental Press

8 MONTHLY IIAOAZINE SUPPLEMENT TO THE MILIT.ll! FEBRUARY 1981

Guatemala: A People Awake By Anibal Yanez

Leon Trotsky and Wilhelm Reich: Five Letters (INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW/ PAGE 2)

wide opposition, stirring a new movement • A February 3 advertisement in the New into life. Registration was so unpopular­ . York Times protesting the U.S. role in El including among those who relucta.htly Salvador was signed by Russell Gibbons, Till 1101!11 signed up-that the government has been editor of Steelabor, newspaper of the United unable thus far to lift a finger against Steelworkers of America, and by Joe Samar­ hundreds of thousands who refused. And it gia, president of USWA Local 1938, which IIBBVD\1 has yet to win the American people to sup­ represents thousands of Minnesota Iron port for the draft. Range miners. The flaw in the Guardian's analysis is an The antidraft conference held in Detroit No More elementary one. It leaves out the workinQ February 13-15 heard representatives of the class. Subjected to years of increasing eco­ United Auto Workers and International Asso­ 'Vietnam nomic hardship in the wake of Vietnam and ciation of Machinists. The conference was Watergate, workers are in no mood to be endorsed by UAW Vice-President Martin whipped into patriotic war fever. Gerber and by Tom Turner, president of the Syndrome'? When the embassy in Tehran was seized in Detroit AFL-CIO. The media blitz, the yellow-ribbon cam­ • November 1979, the U.S. rulers for a few days On an issue which is intertwined with the paign, the parades, and the fabricated horror were able to stir chauvinist and even pro-war U.S. war drive-nuclear power-unions are stories with which we were inundated for sentiment among some workers. Socialists in taking the lead in opposition. The United weeks after the ex-hostages returned from factories, mines, and mills had to take some · Auto Workers, United Mine Workers, Interna­ Iran have largely run their course. fl~k when they voiced support for the Iranian tional Association of Machinists, and United They culminated fourteen months of gov­ revolution and opposed Carter's threats. Food and Commercial Workers unions are ernment and media propaganda around the But this sentiment died down quickly, and initiators and builders of the March 28 rally imprisonment of fifty-two U.S. embassy per­ was never rekindled. against nuclear power in Harrisburg. sonnel in I ran. What was the effect on the Increasingly, workers questioned the U.S. A wing of the union movement is issuing an American people of this intensive campaign? government's backing of the shah and the unprecedented challenge to the slavish sup­ The editors of the radical weekly Guardian decision to bring him to the United States. port that top AFL-CIO bureaucrats have long presented their estimate in the February 11 When Carter launched the abortive raid given U.S. foreign policy. Nothing compara­ issue. against Iran last April, suspicion grew that he ble occurred even at the high point of opposi­ The purpose of the hoopla over the hos­ was using the hostage crisis to maneuver the tion to the Vietnam war. tages, they correctly explain, was "to galvan­ country into war. The Guardian recognizes that the ruling ize all the patriotism, national chauvinism, There was no burst of hawkish sentiment class is trying to wipe out the "Vietnam sentiment and anger possible among the among working people when the hostages syndrome"-the media's name for mass people in order to direct it into acceptance of were released. Almost everyone was glad to opposition to war that took root during Viet­ a 'new beginning' wherein U.S. imperialism see them home-especially since their home­ nam. could once again get away with playing the coming eliminated the danger of war over the role of world policeman." ·issue. The media systematically create the ap­ And: "Strategically, the purpose was to But Washington pushed its exploitation of pearance that public opinion clamors for manipulate the hostage crisis in order to win the hostages too far. Millions were bored or unleashing the CIA, a bigger war budget, and some popular .. support for higher defense even disgusted at the seemingly endless a "tough" stand against "terrorists" like the budgets and a more aggressive international "officially choreographed patriotic demon­ revolutionary movement in El Salvador. posture of confrontation with the USSR and strations and jingoist fervor" described by the Government-organized spectaculars like intervention in the third world." Guardian. the hostage welcome are played to the hilt. The editors conclude: "This has succeeded, In the Black and Latino communities, dis­ The Guardian mistakes the resulting sound at least in part, and is of considerable signifi­ plays of. flags and yellow ribbons were few effects for the real voice of American working cance." and far between. Many Blacks could contrast people. Others go further in claiming gains for the news media's downplaying of the 100,000- Capitalist politicians and journalists talk Washington. strong Martin Luther King Day demonstration about the "Vietnam syndrome" as though :._:j In the January 28 In These Times, Fred in Washington to the strident buildup given antiwar sentiment were merely a residue left Halliday states: " . . . the result of reactions every ceremony for the ex-hostages. over from Vietnam. inside the U.S. to the hostage taking has been The Guardian's view that, at least for the But since Vietnam, antiwar sentiment has greatly to strengthen a Cold War climate and time being, broader support exists for U.S. spread, taking root in a new generation as a to wipe away the 'Vietnam syndrome'-that military intervention in Latin America, Asia, result of subsequent experiences in the class reluctance to intervene in the Third World and Africa is wide of the mark. struggle. that the struggles against the U.S. role in Once again developments in the working The conviction that Washington's foreign Indochina had created in the early '70s." class are omitted. • policy is in the interests of the rich has We think these assessments are wrong. The growth of solidarity with Nicaragua become more widespread as working people They leave important questions unanswered. and the Salvadoran people, particularly in look at events in Iran, Southern Africa, Nica­ Why did the government, having sup-; Latino communities and in the Catholic and ragua, and El Salvador-as well as at the oil posedly won wide support for military inter­ Protestant churches, doesn't rate a mention. barons' manipulation of " energy shortages." vention, feel it had to resolve the crisis by No note is taken of the steps by major The workers' response to employer­ yielding ground to Iran? national unions toward opposition to U.S. government attacks on our living standards Why did 52 percent of those questioned in intervention in El Salvador. generates antiwar sentiment and action. an NBC-Associated Press poll taken January During the weeks when patriotic frenzy Workers see that the government backs the 21-23-at the height of the media cries about over the hostages was supposed to be reach­ employers at every turn, making us pay for "torture" of the hostages- say they favor ing a crescendo: the economic crisis and for swelling the abiding by the terms of the accord with Iran, • The International Longshoreman's and Pentagon arsenal, while they prepare to draft rather than seeking revenge? Warehouseman's Union declared a boycott of youth for a new war. It's little wonder that the During the embassy episode, polls consist­ U.S. shipments to the Salvadoran junta. Keith government and its policies are viewed with ently showed that most Americans opposed a Johnson, president of the International growing hostility. military solution-and this on the issue wh.ere Woodworkers of America, sent a message to A growing number begin to identify with pro-war and chauvinist propaganda was most the ILWU supporting the boycott. the Nicaraguans, the African freedom fight­ pervasive. • William Winpisinger,.._ president of the mil­ ers, the Salvadorans, and the Iranian's rather Nor does the Guardian view jibe with the lion-member International Association of than with the imperialist rulers. outcome of draft registration. Machinists, demanded an end to U.S. mititary Rather than being pushed back, that pro­ The move to reinstitute registration aroused aid to the junta. cess took new steps forward in recent weeks.

COl TilTS Malcolm X: Inspiration for Young Rebels Today ...... 6 Editor: Fred Feldman Contributing Editor: George Novack Design: Diane Jacobs Guatemala: Leon Trotsky and A People Awake ...... 3 Wilhelm Reich: T he International Socialist Review ap­ pears in the Militant monthly except Jan­ Five Letters ...... 11 uary.

Copyright ~ 1980 The Militant

10 (FEBRUARY 1981)

Guatemala: A People Awake

By Anibal Y aiiez It is true that, like the rest of the Central American people, Guatemalan workers and peas­ Sing a song of quetzals, ants are rising up against centuries of oppression pockets full of peace! and exploitation. Because of this, Guatemala, The Commies are in hiding, like El Salvador, is increasingly being pro­ just across the street. claimed the victim of a communist conspiracy, And pistol-packing Peurifoy and in need of Washington's "defense." For the looks mighty optimistic Guatemalan people, this propaganda is nothing For the land of Guatemala new. is no longer Communistic! "The Iron Curtain is falling over Guatemala," -poem by Betty Peurifoy to her husband was the theme of a furious propaganda cam­ Jack, the U.S. Ambassador to Guate­ paign in the Unite.d States against the legally mala in 1954. elected Guatemalan governments of Juan Jose Arevalo and Jacobo Arbenz from 1945 to 1954. "Guatemala is the strategic prize of Central The objective of this campaign was to prepare America," according to a paper prepared for the U.S.-sponsored exile invasion of Guatemala Ronald Reagan's consideration by the Council in 1954. for Inter-American Security, Inc. Guatemala has been a rich source of lessons And this "strategic prize," with its seven for Latin American revolutionaries. American million people, ·threatens to slip out of U.S. working people also have a lot to learn from that controlled transport to the United States through imperialism's hands. "Vio1ence Stirs Polarized experience, both to understand the revolutionary its Great White Fleet. · Guatemala," headlined the Wall Street Journal movements in Central America and the Carib­ It monopolized railroad transport within Gua­ in December 1980: "Guatemala: trembling be­ bean today, and to understand the causes and temala, as well as the major Atlantic port of tween order and breakdown," headlined the dangers of U.S. imperialism's policy in the re­ Puerto Barrios through its virtual subsidiary, the Christian Science Monitor on February 4, 1981. gion. International Railways of Central America These spokespersons of the American ruling (!RCA); and it owned the best Guatemalan lands, class are expressing the fear that after Nicara­ 'Banana Republic' on which it grew chiefly bananas for export. gua, with the Salvadoran struggle growing in For the first half of the 20th century, Guate­ Through its board of directors, bankers, and intensity, Guatemala is next. mala was the fiefdom of the United Fruit Co. law firms, UFCo brought together the top fami­ (UFCo)-today named United Brands. Estab­ lies of the U.S. ruling class-the Rockefellers, Anibal Yanez is managing editor of 'Perspectiva lished in 1899 and incorporated in Jersey City, Morgans, and others. · Mundial,' the Spanish-language sister publication of New Jersey, UFCo grew to practically own The main competitors of United Fruit were the 'Militant.' Guatemala. By the time of World War II, it German firms. However, as Susanne Jonas

11 (INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW/ PAGE 4)

pointed out in the extensive and well-documented , right to form unions. accompanied by a carefully orchestrated anti­ study Guatemala (published by the North Ameri­ With respect to foreign investment, new laws Guatemalan press campaign in the United ­ can Cpngress on Latin America in 1974), "Dur­ stipulated that exploitation of Guatemala's re­ States. The United Fruit Company took the lead ing World War II, the United States enforced the sources-especially oil-would be carried out by in this campaign, which ranged from denuncia­ liquidation of the sizable German coffee, banking the state, by Guatemalan companies, or by tions by the U.S. ambassador to scare articles in and merchant interests in Guatemala, even send­ foreign contractors under government direction. Reader's Digest. ing FBI agents to carry out the expropriations Foreign investment was welcome in other indus­ The response of Guatemalans to the reforms and interning German Guatemalans in Ameri­ tries. and Washington's opposition to them was deep­ can camps." The Constitution recognized the "social func­ ening nationalism-and class struggle. General Jorge Ubico, in power from 1931 to tion of private property," "prohibited" giant In 1949, the right-wing opposition staged a 1944, was the last and the most brutal of a series plantations, and permitted expropriation of pri­ military uprising against Arevalo. Students and of dictators who ruled Guatemala in this period, vate property in the public interest. But there organized workers took to the streets, forming a enforcing the exploitation of the Indian workers were no expropriations. Arevalo declared: popular volunteer militia to defeat the reaction­ on the foreign owned plantations. He decreed "In Guatemala there is no agrarian problem; ary insurgents, with arms distributed by the lower wages and instituted vagrancy laws that rather, the peasants are psychologically and government. guaranteed a supply of forced Indian labor. He politically constrained from working the land. With order reestablished, elections were again gave the coffee landlords and banana company The government will create for them the need to held in 1950, but not before Colonel Carlos executives the legal right to kill any rebellious work, but without harming any other class." Castillo Armas launched another coup attempt. Indians on their plantations. In 1933 his govern­ While setting out to establish the basis for the Jacobo Arbenz, a military officer loyal to the ment massacred 100 trade union leaders, stu­ development of modem capitalism in Guatemala, "October Revolution," was elected with the sup­ dents, and members of the opposition. His rule Arevalo's progressive reforms basically left un­ port of organized labor, peasants, the more was marked by rigid censorship, secret police touched the traditional agrarian structure and radicalized sectors of the petty bourgeoisie, and spying and brute military force. the economic power of the landlords. the not-yet-legalized Communist Party. In June 1944 a struggle by university students When he took office in 1951, Arbenz clearly exploded into a general strike in Guatemala City. Toilers A wake. stated his objectives: Ubico was forced to resign, naming a military In the mid-1940's, Guatemala was a very " ... first, to convert [Guatemala] from a triumvirate to succeed himself, which prepared backward, overwhelmingly agrarian country. dependent nation with a semi-colonial economy fake elections. Ubiquismo would be preserved. There was practically no development of capital­ to an economically independent country; second, But disconten.t spread, reaching into the ism, no industry. Some 90 percent of the labor to transform our nation from a backward nation with a predominantly feudal economy to a mod­ em capitalist country; and third, to accomplish this transformation in a manner that brings the greatest possible elevation of the living standard of the. great masses of the people." New Forward Steps But to carry out Arbenz's modest program, Guatemalans had to go much further in confront­ ing the United Fruit Company and the landed oligarchy, left intact by Arevalo. Arbenz tried. He promoted the construction of a government-run hydroelectric plant, a highway to the Atlantic, and an Atlantic port, projects aimed at breaking the foreign monopolies' con­ trol of energy, transportation, and exports. In 1951, Arbenz legalized the Guatemalan Workers Party (PGT), as the Communist Party called itself. The PGT developed a strong base in the labor unions and peasant confederations. Its program for Guatemala, like the program of other Communist parties for all the colonial countries, held that the workers and peasants had to support the capitalist class in creating a democratic republic on capitalist lines. The na­ tional bourgeoisie was to improve conditions for workers, give land to the peasants, and indus­ trialize the country. At some future stage, the working class was to lead an advance toward socialism. Agrarian reform poster that appeared in official Guatemalan publication. The development of the class struggle in Guate­ mala would soon prove that the PGT's views on younger ranks of the Guatemalan Army's officer force, made up mostly of unorganized Indian . the leading role of the "progressive" sector of the corps. coffee workers, lived in rural areas. (More than bourgeoisie in the Guatemalan revolution were On October 20, · 1944, armed students and half the population of Guatemala was Indian, dead wrong. civilians joined dissident junior military officers mostly speaking Mayan-related languages and in a rebellion which overthrew the Ubico regime. not Spanish. The rest were mestizos or ladinos, Agrarian Reform An interim Junta Revolucionaria called congres­ meaning all those who no longer keep the Indian In 1952, the Arbenz government passed the sional and presidential elections. customs, or who never had them.) Agrarian Reform Law. The Congress adopted a new Constitution and Only the 15,000 workers on the United Fruit Approximately · 100,000 peasant families re­ a few days later, on March 15, 1945, Juan Jose plantations had the beginnings of class con­ ceived land, as well as credit and technical _ Arevalo, a Guatemalan intellectual and educator, sciousness, with a history of spontaneous strikes. assistance from new state agencies. As rural took office as president. In the cities, the largest concentration of workers social services were improved, the Indians for the was in UFCo's railroad and port installations. first time since the Spanish conquest in the The 'October Revolution' There were a small number of workers in the sixteenth century became the beneficiaries of The overthrow of the Ubico regime, which textile, food, and beer industries, but most of the government policies. came to be known in Guatemala as the 'October urban masses were semiproletarian artisans and The law expropriated idle lands, with compen­ Revolution," opened up a ten-year period of re­ traders. sation to former owners. The intention was forms. The "October Revolution" was not led by the "to develop capitalist methods of production in During Arevalo's presidency (1945-51), suf­ working class, but by nationalist sectors of the agriculture . . . and to prepare the path for frage, which had previously been the right only petty bourgeoisie and bourgeoisie. Nevertheless, Guatemala's industrialization." Unused lands of literate males, was extended to all adults it began a process of awakening among the were to be a major target of the reform. United except illiterate women (more than 70 percent of toiling masses. Their mobilizations and demands . Fruit had no more than 15 percent of its holdings women and more than 90 percent of Indian were primarily responsible for the key social under cultivation. women). Freedom of speech, of the press, etc., reforms of the period. The agrarian reform polarized the country into were established. Political parties could be organ­ Urban workers an

12 (FEBRUARY 1981) (PAGE 5/INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW)

To oust the Arbenz government, the U.S. sent stepped up its threats against Guatemala in to Central America a team of operatives made up 1954. He spent several days waiting for arms, of CIA agents, experts in covert anticommunist along with a group of young members of the operations, and businessmen with a stake in PGT. Impatiently, he would keep asking why the Guatemala. distribution of arms was continually being put It selected Colonel Castillo Armas, who had off for the following day. His companions would been trained at the U.S. Army Command and repeat that he had to have faith in the Party and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kan­ in the government. sas. He had been plotting in Honduras ever since Che would not forget this experience. he escaped from jail in Guatemala City after his unsuccessful coup attempt in 1950. He was intro­ Arbenz Yields duced to the CIA as a prospective "liberation Arbenz wavered and then resigned, turning the leader" by a military aide to President Harry government over to three "loyal" military offic­ Truman. ers. U.S. Ambassador John Peurifoy refused to The State Department organized an Inter­ accept Arbenz's replacements, and insisted on American Conference of the Organization of the installation of Castillo Armas, the CIA's American States in Caracas in March 1954. The chosen "liberator." On July 3, 1954, Castillo first order of business was to approve in advance Armas entered Guatemala City on Peurifoy's intervention in any Latin American country U.S. Embassy plane. which Washington deemed to be "communist­ Arbenz had relied on his military colleagues dominated." rather than on the masses to protect the· revolu­ tion. The government proved unable to defend Exile Invasion the conquests of the masses in the face of the In May 1954, Washington found a pretext for imperialist onslaught. It became demoralized by open hostilities. Secretary of State John Foster the lack of support from the military, and the Dulles dramatically proclaimed that Guatemala prospect of deep-going civil war between contend­ was the recipient of a "massive shipment of arms ing social classes. from behind the Iron Curtain." The U.S. stepped up arms shipments to the Counterrevolution in Power Honduran dictatorship and to dictator Anastasio Castillo Armas proceeded to liquidate· the revo­ Somoza in Nicaragua. An army, composed of lution. By conservative estimates, 9,000 political right wing Guatemalan exiles and mercenaries and labor leaders were jailed or tortured, the recruited in Honduras and Nicaragua and paid special targets being union organizers on UFCo's $300 each a month, was trained under the direc­ plantations, and Indian leaders. Scores of peas­ tion of a "Colonel Rutherford." "Rutherford" was ants were murdered. The U.S. Embassy provided a CIA officer who had served in Korea. The lists of "communists" to be eliminated. Peasant training itself took place in Nicaragua on an and labor unions were disbanded. Social and estate owned by Somoza. economic measures that favored the workers and The U.S. press and Congress stepped up their peasants were uprooted. The United Fruit Com­ anticommunist chorus, and the CIA increased pany got its land back. its psychological warfare in Guatemala through Meanwhile, the U.S. ruling class and its ser­ "Radio Liberty" broadcasts. vants at home, from the AFL-CIO bureaucracy to On June 18, 1954, Castillo Armas invaded the New York Times, hailed the coup as a victory Guatemala with this mercenary force of some 200 for democracy. men, while CIA planes flown by American pilots bombarded the capital and other cities. Militar­ Cubans Learn ily, the Castillo Armas invasion would have been The followers of Salvador Allende in Chile did a fiasco had it not been for the CIA's aerial not learn the lessons of this experience. But the operations. July 26th Movement in Cuba did. In the United States, a few voices protested. From the time of the Granma landing in late Farrell Dobbs, then national secretary of the 1956, Fidel Castro,. Che Guevara, and the other Socialist Workers Party, sent a message to John central leaders were unwavering in their determi­ Foster Dulles, head of the State Department, nation to abolish the old army and police, the which was printed in the June 28, 1954, Militant: institutions which in Guatemala had betrayed "In the name of the Socialist Workers Party I Arbenz and turned the country over to Castillo demand that you immediately halt your conspi­ Armas and U.S. imperialism. racy to overthrow by force and violence the They recognized that this was the precondition democratically elected government of Guate­ for any real progressive revolution in Latin mala. America. "I accuse you and the State Department of the As forces within the Cuban Rebel Army, led by attempted military overthrow of a sovereign Huber Matos, opposed deepening the revolution, state. the Castro leadership unhesitatingly armed the "I accuse you and the State Department of masses. being directly responsible for the invasion of When the CIA launched the Bay of Pigs exile Guatemala by a gang of mercenaries in the invasion, the entire Cuban people were armed interests of the United Fruit Company. and mobilized, determined not to permit "another "I accuse you and the State Department of Guatemala." trying to put down the majority of the Guatema­ In 1960 Arbenz was in Cuba, where he had lan people by force, violence, invasion and lying gone for refuge. There he heard Che explain the propaganda. importance of the Guatemalan defeat: "Halt this act of imperialist aggression! Get "We should also like to extend a special greet­ out of Guatemala! Call off your hired mercenar­ ing to Jacobo Arbenz, president of the first Latin ies! Let the people of Guatemala determine their American country which fearlessly raised its own social, economic and political system!" voice against colonialism; a country which, in a far-reaching and courageous agrarian reform, Masses Unarmed gave expression to the hopes of the peasant One Guatemalan wrote of the response of the masses. Guatemalan people to the mercenary invasion: "We should also like to express our gratitude to "At no time in our past history has there him, and to the democracy which gave way, for existed in the people a greater mass readiness to the example they gave us and for the accurate fight than in those moments when ... the estimate they enabled us to make of the weak­ peasants, armed only with machetes, spontane­ nesses which that government was unable to ously kept watch on the highways, stood guard overcome. This allows us to go to the root of the on .the bridges, and captured enemy spies and matter and to behead those who hold power and agents. The workers and students organized their lackeys at a single stroke." themselves in volunteer brigades and ... wait­ ed in vain to be given the weapons needed to Impact of Cuba defend the country and their revolution." The experiences of the Guatemalan workers When the CIA-organized invasion took place, and peasants between 1944 and 1954, and the Arbenz ordered the army to distribute arms to brutal U.S.-organized counterrevolution are vital the militias, and the chiefs of the army refused. to understanding the maturity of the Guatema­ Top, Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, right-wing dic­ lan revolution and its leadership today. Among those who waited for the promised tator installed by United States in 1954. Land dis­ The other factor is Cuba. arms tha.t never came was a twenty-six-year-old tributed during agrarian reform was returned to In 1960, the Guatemalan dictatorship, headed Argentine traveler who had been drawn to Gua­ United Fruit Company and landlords, wave of terror at the time by Miguel Ydfgoras Fuentes (Castillo temala by the revolution. His name was Ernesto and repression began. Center, current puppet, Armas had been assassinated by one of his own Che Guevara. President Romeo Lucas Garcia. Bottom, women followers), enthusiastically cooJ)erated with Wash· According to Regis Debray and Guatemalan workers at Peabody's Arrow shirt factory in Gua­ revolutionary Ricardo Ramirez, Che volunteered temala City. Dozens of multinational firms benefit ington's plan for the invasion of Cuba. It gave to fight in the popular militias when the U.S. from superexploHatlon of Guatemalan workers. Continued on page /SR/9

13 (INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW/PAGE 6)

By Nan Bailey As a participant in the founding convention of the National Black Independent Political Party last November, I remember thinking at the time that the most influential Black leader at the convention wasn't even there in person. That was Malcolm X. In their speeches to the convention, Ben Cha­ alcolm X: vis quoted Malcolm on capitalism; James Turner urged that we learn from Malcolm's interna­ tional outlook; Ron Daniels quoted him on fight­ ing for Black freedom by any means necessary; and Malcolm's views were invoked on many other occasions. Books and pamphlets contain­ ing Malcolm's speeches were probably the most Inspiration popular literature sold from several of the tables set up at the convention. Hundreds-of those who came to the convention to launch a Black political party independent of the Democrats and Republicans were conscious of following the leadership and example of Mal­ colm in taking this step. for Young Others took an interest in Malcolm as they I learned from the speeches and corridor discus­ sions that here was a Black leader who had come to the same political conclusions that they were reaching themselves. Those who loved and respected Malcolm, who were educated by him during his lifetime, vowed Rebels Toda at his death that his enemies could kill the man, but they would not silence his ideas. And the Black party convention was one of the many political confirmations, in the sixteen years since Malcolm was assaJJsinated, that they were right. Those who are determined today to fight racist attacks, imperialist war, and exploitation and oppression in all its forms have much to learn from the life and ideas of this great revolution­ ary. Like so many who are radicalizing today, Malcolm was a product of capitalist exploitation and the racist oppression it breeds. "I believe that it would be almost impossible to find anywhere in America a Black man who has lived further down in the mud of human society than I have; or a Black man who has been any more ignorant than I have been; or a Black man who has suffered more anguish during his life than I have," Malcolm wrote in his autobio­ graphy. Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19, 1925. His mother, Louise, was from Grenada. She was born as the result of her mother's rape by a white man there. · When Malcolm was six, his father was killed Left, Malcolm X on tour of Africa and Mideast In 1964. Right, Malcolm X as leader of Nation of Islam (81 mysteriously. The family believed that he was 'Muhammad Speaks' was the Muslims' newspaper. Malcolm left the Muslims In 1964 due to Its refusal to help • lynched. struggle.

Odd Jobs, Prison Philadelphia and New York Malcolm proved his only by fighting for it. "You get your freedom by A high school dropout at fifteen, Malcolm took capabilities as a leader and political organizer by letting your enemy know you'll do anything to up odd jobs as a waiter, busboy, and shoeshine recruiting hundreds to the organization. get your freedom; then you'll get it," Malcolm boy. Later, gambling, drugs, and pimping be­ But in 1964 he split from the Muslims. said. came his lifestyle. Malcolm criticized conservative Black leaders In 1946 Malcolm was sentenced to ten years in Split with Muslims who counseled tolerance and negotiation in the prison for burglary. He was twenty years old. Malcolm described the political differences that fight for Black rights. There he taught himself to read and write. led to his split with the Muslims: "I say bluntly," Malcolm once said, "that you Malcolm had eight years of education in the "The split came about primarily because they have had a generation of Africans who actually Michigan public schools and he'd never learned put me out, and they put me out because of my believed that you could negotiate, negotiate, to read and write! "For the first time, I could pick uncompromising approach to problems I thought negotiate and eventually get some kind of inde­ up a book and actually understand what the should be solved and the movement could solve. pendence. But you're getting a new generation book was saying," he said of his one-man liter­ "I felt the movement was dragging its feet in that has been growing right now, and they're acy campaign. many areas. It didn't involve itself in the civil or beginning to think with their own minds and see For the remainder of his seven years in prison, civic or political struggles our people were con­ that you can't negotiate up on freedom nowa­ he spent all the time he could reading books from fronted by. All it did was stress the importance of days. If something is yours by right, then fight the prison library. He took part in the debates moral reformation- don't drink, don't smoke, for it or shut up. If you can't fight for it, then that were organized among the inmates and don't permit fornication and adultery. When I forget it." began to get experience as a speaker. found that the hierarchy itself wasn't practicing He told Black people that we must study our what it preached, it was clear that this pa~ of its own history, that we should be proud of our When Malcolm left prison on p~role in 1952, he program was bankrupt. heritage. His attitude instilled confidence in joined the Black Muslims, the organization "So the only way it could function and be Blacks who listened and looked to him. known today as the World Community of Islam meaningful in the community was to take part in As Black actor Ossie Davis once put it, "Pro­ in the West. He was given the name Malcolm X. the political and economic facets of the Negro tocol and common sense require that Negroes The Muslims were a religious organization. struggle. And the organization wouldn't do that stand back and let the white man speak up for What attracted Malcolm and many other young because the stand it would have to take would us, defend us, and lead us from behind the scene Blacks to them was their militancy and their have been too militant, uncompromising, and in our fight. This is the essence of Negro politics. emphasis on taking pride in being Black. activist, and the hierarchy had gotten conserva­ "But Malcolm said to hell with that! Get up off tive. It was motivated mainly by protecting its your knees and fight your own battles. That's the Malcolm's talents and devotion led to his being own self-interests.'' way to win back your self-respect. chosen as the first lieutenant of Elijah Muham­ Malcolm spent the last year of his life, from "You can imagine what a howling, shocking mad. As a spokesperson for the Muslims, he March 1964 when he left the Muslims to Febru­ nuisance this man was to both Negroes and became recognized as a gifted public speaker. In ary 1965 when he was gunned down, developing whites," Davis said. "Once Malcolm fastened on his political ideas, and acting on them. He spent you, you could not escape. He was one of the close to half of that year traveling in the Mid­ most fascinating and charming men I have ever Nan Bailey is a member ofthe National Committee of east, Africa, and Europe. met, and never hesitated to take his attractive­ the Socialist Workers Party and a staff writer for the What were the political ideas he offered? ness and beat you to death with it. 'Militant.' He said that Blacks would win their freedom "Yet his irritation, though painful to us, was

14 t(FEBRUARY 1981) (PAGE 7/INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW)

In a passage that sounds like· it could have been written today, a se~tion of the program adopted by the OAAU stated a firm position on the question of self-defense: "The Organization of Afro-American Unity, being aware of the increased violence being visited upon the Afro-American and of the open sanction of this violence and- murder by the police departments throughout this country and the federal agencies-do affirm our right and obligation to defend ourselves in order to survive as a people. .. . "The Organization of Afro-American Unity will take those private steps that are necessary to insure the survival of the Afro-American people in the face of racist aggression and the defense of our women and children. . . . "In areas where the United States government has shown itself unable and/ or unwilling to bring to justice the racist oppressors, murderers, who kill innocent children and adults, the Organ­ ization of Afro-American Unity advocates that the Afro-American people insure ourselves that justice is done-whatever the price and by any means necessary." Malcolm suggested that Blacks organize rifle clubs where they were threatened by racist vio­ lence. Evolution in Thinking The last year of Malcolm's life marked a deep evolution in his thinking on the question of race and the roots of racism. As a Muslim, Malcolm had pointed to the white race of "blue-eyed devils" as the source of the problem. He advocated separatism-that is, the establishment of a separate Black state-as the only solution to racism. But while Malcolm remained a Black national­ ist until the day he died, his thinking on some of these questions changed. The changes were largely influenced by his travels and discussions with revolutionaries in other parts of the world. In January 1965, one month before his assassi­ nation, Malcolm explained what he then thought were the causes of racism. "Ignorance and greed," he said. "And a skillfully designed pro­ gram of miseducation that goes right along with the American system of exploitation and oppres­ sion." Even before 1965, as he rethought who were the real enemies and potential allies of Black people, he said: "We will work with anyone, with any group, no matter what their color is, as long as they are genuinely interested in taking the type of steps necessary to bring an end to the injustices that Black people in this country are afflicted by. No matter what their color is, no matter what their political, economic, or social philosophy is, as long as their aims and objectives are in the direction of destroying the vulturous system that most salutary. He would make you angry as hell, and the system it is based on is a fundamental has been sucking the blood of Black people in but he would also make you proud. It was part of the problem that Black people face. this country, they're all right with us." impossible to remain defensive and apologetic Malcolm practiced his understanding of the Malcolm clearly stated his abandonment of about being a Negro in his presence. He wouldn't need for Black unity and independent political advocating separatism as the only solution to let you. And you always left his presence with action in the Organization of Afro-American Black oppression whim he answered an inter­ the sneaky suspicion that maybe, after all, you Unity (OAAU), the organization he was trying to viewer's question, "But you no longer believe in a were a man!" build at the time of his murder. Black state?" with, "No, I believe in a society in "We should reserve political action for the which people can live like human beings on the Fox and Wolf situation at hand, in no way identifying with basis of equality." Malcolm exposed the Democratic and Republi­ either political party (the Democrats or Republi­ It was Malcolm's . uncompromising attitude in can parties' role in fostering and maintaining the cans) or selling ourselves to either party. We his fight for Bla.ck freedom by any means neces­ oppression of Black people. He said it was a fatal · should take political action for the good_ of sary that led him to reach new conclusions based political error to believe that those parties or the human beings; that will eliminate the injustices," on a further investigation of the roots of racism. U.S. government would free Black people. he said, explaining the perspective of the OAAU "The Democrats get Negro support, yet the on the political front. Capitalism & Racism Negroes get nothing in return," he said. "The In Malcolm's view, Black unity was an essen­ The same uncompromising attitude led him to Negroes put the Democrats first, and the Demo­ tial first step to progress in the fight for Black challenge the capitalist system as the enemy of crats put the Negroes last. And the alibi that the liberation. This conception was embodied in the Black people and all of the exploited and op­ Democrats use-they blame the Dixiecrats. But a perspectives of the OAAU. Every Black person pressed on this planet. Dixiecrat is nothing but a Democrat in- dis­ who agreed on the need to fight for Black He pointed out that capitalism and racism are guise.... Because Dixie in reality means all freedom was welcome in the organization. This intertwined and suggested where the solution that territory south of the Canadian border." kind of unity, regardless of political or religious might lie: He would describe how the two-party con game differences, was what Malcolm advocated and "Almost every one of the countries that has worked. He said of the "choices" in the 1964 promoted. gotten independence has devised some kind of presidential election, for example: Malcolm explained that Black people must . socialistic system, and this is no accident," he "Johnson and Goldwater .. . as far as the decide the strategy and tactics for the Black said. "This is another reason why I say that you American Black man is concerned, are both just struggle. And that Blacks must choose their own and I here in America-who are looking for a job, about the same. It's just a question of Johnson, leaders. It's on this basis, Malcolm said, that who are looking for better housing, looking for a the fox, or Goldwater, the wolf. . .. They both Blacks can make alliances with others from a better education-before you start trying to be will eat him." position of strength. incorporated, or integrated, or disintegrated, into Malcolm explained that Blacks should look at These ideas reflected Malcolm's concept of this capitalistic system, should look over there the federal government as "the government," not Black nationalism: Black control over the lives and find out what are the people who have gotten "our government." The government is responsi­ and destinies of Black people. their freedom adopting to provide themselves ble for maintaining racism, Malcolm said. The Malcolm rejected the concept of "turning the with better housing and better education and same government is responsible for the murder other cheek" in the face of racist attacks and better food and better clothing." and rape of our brothers and sisters in Africa, the physical intimidation. He sharply disagreed with Malcolm was a revolutionary internationalist. Caribbean, and Latin America, he said. He · those civil rights leaders who advocated "nonvio­ There is no doubt where he would stand on explained that the present governmental setup lence" in the face of such attacks. U.S. government attempts today to reinstitute

15 (INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW/PAGE 8)

the draft or 01i imperialist war threats against the worldwide struggle against oppression and revolutionary put it best in a speech he gave the peoples of Iran, El Salvador, and Cuba. He exploitation. commemorating Malcolm. He described this denounced the U.S. role in Vietnam and Africa. He said, "We are living in an era of revolution, quality as "his ability to translate the compli­ He exposed U.S. complicity with the murder of and the revolt of the American Negro is part of cated and important ideas which he developed African freedom fighter Patrice Lumumba in the the rebellion against the oppression and colonial­ and absorbed into the language of those he knew Congo. ism which has characterized this era. . . . would change the world." Malcolm explained why an internationalist "It is incorrect to classify the revolt of the In the OAAU, Malcolm was trying to build outlook is important. First, he explained that it Negro as simply a racial conflict of Black something never attempted before: a militant, was the source of confidence for Black people in against white, or as a purely American problem. democratically organized Black organization t.heir liberation struggle in this country. Rather, we are today seeing a global rebellion of with a collective leadership. He understood this He pointed out that the nonwhite peoples of the the oppressed against the oppressor, the ex- ·· kind of organization was what was needed to world make up the ~ajority. That among them ploited against the exploiter." build a mass Black liberation movement. . and other revolutionaries, Blacks in this country Malcolm's leadership qualities stand in stark He was about to speak on the perspectives of would find inspiration and allies. contrast to those of the misleaders of the Black the OAAU in Harlem on February 21, 1965, when three gunmen ·pumped sixteen bullets into his I body. Behind Assassination Who killed Malcolm? The question remams unanswered. We do know that the government feared and despised him. The FBI spied on him, the big­ business media slandered him, and FBI files point to government complicity in his murder. As the cops and government continue to cover up the truth about his murder, Malcolm's sup­ porters have pressed for a thorough investigation of his assassination. Millions of working people of all colors today would agree with Malcolm's thinking on the role of the U.S. government and of the Democratic and Republican parties in fostering oppression and exploitation. Millions agree with him that Black pride and consciousness are the beginning of Black libera­ tion. That freedom must be fought for to be won. That among white and brown workers in this country Black people can find allies in the fight against racist oppression and economic exploita­ tion. That the exploited and oppressed in this country have more in common with the workers and farmers of exploited countries around the world than we do with the U.S. government and The Black person whose scope is limited to the and labor movements today. the big-business interests behind it. United States, said Malcolm, feels "he is the His starting point was that of a victim of underdog, and in his struggle he always uses an capitalism, committed to fighting oppression and Young Workers Today approach that is a begging, hat-in-hand, com­ exploitation "by any means necessary." In showing the way forward for Black Ameri­ promising approach." He cut through the lies and illusions that are cans, Malcolm set an example for workers of But the Black person with an international fostered by the government and the big-business all colors, who have a stake in fighting the outlook, said Malcolm, "uses a different ap­ media and told the truth about the social and oppression and exploitation of U.S. capitalism. proach in trying to struggle for his rights. He political relations in American society·. Some recognized this example while Malcolm doesn't beg. He doesn't thank you for what you He was always questioning, studying. Intellec­ was alive. Many other young militants, Black give him, because you are only giving him what tual courage is one mark of a great political and white, are discovering it today. he should have had a hundred years ago. He leader. Malcolm showed this in his openness to There is no more fitting way to commemorate doesn't think you are doing him any favors." changing or amending his own thinking if he Malcolm· than to study his ideas and to share was convinced that a new political idea was in them with the young Malcolms in the unions and Worldwide Struggle the best interest of the struggle. the Black community who are stepping forward And Malcolm pointed out how the fight for He was able to communicate to the masses of today to lead the fight for a better society. Black liberation in the U.S. is part and parcel of Blacks in a special way. I think one young

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16 (FEBRUARY 1981) (PAGE 9/ INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW)

Continued from page ISR/5 the CIA free use of Guatemalan territory to train the Bay of Pigs invasion force, led nominally by Cuban gusanos but politically by President John F. Kennedy. The counterrevolutionary adventure provoked massive protests within Guatemala by workers and students. · These protests, together with the growing overt corruption of the Ydigoras regime, led a small group of young army officers to rebel against the government on November 13, 1960. Their upris­ ing met with little success. It had a limited political program, calling for an end to corrup­ tion and the restoration of the reforms carried out under Arevalo and Arbenz. But some of the leaders of the ·revolt took to the mountains and went through a process of radi­ calization which would enable them, from 1963 to 1966, to lead an armed struggle which began to gain mass support. The most prominent leaders were Luis Turcios Lima, Marco Antonio Yon Sosa, and Cesar Montes. · Looking to Cuba-a number of the guerrilla leaders traveled there in the mid-1960's-these Guatemalan revolutionaries agreed that armed struggle was the only way of waging the fight against the misery and oppression of the vast majority of Guatemalans. Guatemala had provided the Cubans with valuable lessons as to the limitations of a demo­ cratic revolution which stopped half:way. Cuba now offered Guatemalans the example of the first successful socialist revolution in the Americas. · An important section of the Guatemalan revo­ lutionary leadership assimilated the lessons of the Arevalo/ Arbenz period. They saw it as the failure of a bourgeois democratic revolution with neither the capacity nor the desire to defend · itself. They concluded that what was needed was an armed struggle aimed at developing an inde­ pendent mass workers and peasants movement. They were convinced that to fight against impe­ rialism in Latin America meant to fight for socialism. Mural by Mexican artist Diego Rivera depicts Castillo Armas shaking hands with John Foster Dulles, while U.S. Ambassador John Peurifoy looks on. Beneath them are bodies of dead Guatemalans. Mural is entitled Mass Slaughter 'The Glorious Victory.' Washington responded with a brutal counterin­ surgency campaign in the middle and la~ 1960s. Under the guidance of U.S. Ambassador J. the increasingly outmoded agricultural sector to the right to have land. Gordon Mein, the Guatemalan army occupied industrial production. The assassins were defending the interests of villages and executed peasant leaders. Tactics The Central American Common Market, con­ , foreign oil cartels-for there is oil in Guatemala developed in Vietnam, including the designation trolled by the United States, was the main and a pipeline runs right through Kekchf lands. of "target areas for bombing" and the use of U.S. instrument of this policy. Also behind the Panz6s Massacre were U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets) as "advisers" to The actual result, however, was the develop­ and Canadian mining interests. Alta Verapaz is the Guatemalan security forces, were rapidly ment of new forms of dependency, and the the center of the nickel mining district in Guate­ implemented. creation of a small group-sometimes coinciding mala. Companies like INCO and the Hanna Entire vilages were obliterated by bombing with the old oligarchy, sometimes not-who be- Mining Company believe the Kekchfs are in the and napalm. u:s. Air Force planes based in nefited. . way of their access to that strategic mineral Panama participated in these operations. But it also led to the growth of an industrial required by the imperialist war machine. It was in this period that the infamous death working class. On January 31, 1980, the Guatemalan police squads appeared in Guatemala. By the mid-1970s, seventy-seven top U.S. corpo­ and military stormed the Spanish Embassy in rations on the "Fortune Five Hundred" list had Guatemala City, murdering more than thirty In 1967, the Guatemalan Committee in Defense their tentacles in Guatemalan manufacturing, people with-· flame-throwers. Most of the d~ad of Human Rights prepared a document entitled food processing, synthetics, construction, tour­ were peasants from El Quiche Province, who had Violence in Guatemala, to be presented to the ism, ·and finances. Exxon, Gulf Oil, Standard Oil ·occupied the embassy to protest repression and United Nations, the Organization of American of California, and Texaco all have operations in the disappearance of peasant leaders. The Span­ States, and world public opinion. In it they wrote: Guatemala, as do the Bank of America, Fire­ ish Ambassador, who survived, denounced the "The U.S. Embassy suggested that the Army stone, Goodyear, U.S. Steel, Minnesota Mining security forces. not be the one in charge of carrying out massa­ and Manufacturing, and the Hanna Mining cres of honest and patriotic citizens, but rather Company. Revival of Struggle that this task be entrusted to civilian Guatemala today is still primarily an agrarian But today, after each blow by the repressive groups . . .." forces, the Guatemalan masses respond by This suggestion gave rise to the infamous country, and the land question is paramount. broadening the struggle against the regime. terrorist organizations MANO Blanca (White Official statistics show that 2 percent of Guatem­ Leaders are killed almost every day, but new Organized Nationalist Action Movement) and ala's 7.2 million people own 70 percent of the ones step forward from the ranks of the working NOA (New Anticommunist Organization). Out­ cultivable land. Some 200,000 peasant families class and the oppressed. Terror has failed to stop fits like these have been responsible for thou­ own no land at all. Some 500,000 Indian families them. sands of deaths and "disappearances" in Guate­ are still forced to work under a debt peonage mala. system tantamount to slavery. A workers' and peasants' alliance is being Guatemala became in the 1960s the laboratory forged by revolutionary mass organizations of for the use of paramilitary· terror as a counter­ Miserable Living Standard the Guatemalan toilers: the National Trade Un­ insurgency tactic. It would bEl. employed later in Nor has economic development meant an im­ ion Unity Committee (CNUS) and the Peasant countries like Argentina and Brazil, and is today provement in the standard of living for the Unity Committee (CUC). being employed in El Salvador. people. Guatemala is first in Latin America in In 1976 virtually the entire Guatemalan trade The guerrilla movement of the 1960s was child mortality rates, second in infant mortality, union movement, which had managed to rebuild crushed, Turcios Lima and Yon Sosa killed. But second in infectious and parasitic diseases, and itself after near annihilation in 1954, came it was not gone forever. The surviving cadre and second in deaths from tuberculosis. Life expec­ together to form the CNUS. A determining event the masses assimilated lessons, and the move­ tancy at birth is shorter than anywhere in the in its formation was a militant strike for union ment would soon reappear-stronger and with Americas except Haiti and Bolivia. Seventy-five recognition by Coca-Cola workers which began even greater political clarity. ,.. percent of Guatemalan children under five years in Guatemala City and won broad labor solidar­ old suffer from malnutrition. ity in Guatemala and internationally. Common Market Repression remains the method employed to Israel Marquez, a Coca-Cola workers union Along with barbaric repression, the United keep the people in misery. leader who was forced to flee Guatemala because States tried to promote economic development in On May 29, 1978, at Panz6s, in the Department of threats against his life, told the Spanish­ Central America without altering the basic con­ of Alta Verapaz, the Guatemalan Army fired on language socialist magazi~e Perspectiva Mun­ ditions of oppression of the toiling masses. a demonstration of Kekchf Indian peasants, in dial in an interview in February of 1980: The imperialists encouraged regional economic what became known as the Panz6s Massacre. "There was a great deal of mobilization by the integration and the growth of some local indus­ More than 100 men, women, and children were workers. We occupied the factory. We were fired, tries, and stimulated the transfer of capital from murdered by the army for the crime of claiming the police threw us out, there were many

17 (INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW/PAGE 10)

quarters, but the Front mobilizes, the Front exists, the Front fights the repression-the Front is revolutionary. [Interview in the Cuban maga­ zine Bohemia, March 21 , 1980, pp. 67-68.]" The FDCR, as well as the entire Guatemalan revolutionary movement, has been inspired by the Sandinista revolution and the struggle in El Salvador. At each key stage of the struggle against Somoza in Nicaragua, the FDCR organ­ ized important mass mobilizations in Guatemala, publicly warning the Guatemalan dictatorship, currently headed by General Romeo Lucas Gar­ cia, not to intervene directly in Nicaragua. Barri­ cades were thrown up in the streets, strikes and demonstrations were called, all explicitly aimed at tying the hands of the U.S. imperialists' Guatemalan puppets. And the FDCR has been carrying out similar actions in solidarity with the Salvadoran people. Four political-military organizations lead the mass movement today. They recognize that in Guatemala, armed struggle in conjunction with the mass movement of the toilers is the only road for the oppressed to take power and win freedom. They are the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP), the Rebel Armed Forces (FAR), the Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA), and the Leader­ ship Nucleus of the Guatemalan Workers Party (a split from the reformist PGT). Reportedly, the leader of the EGP is Cesar Montes. Indians Revolt These revolutionary organizations are winning large numbers of recruits ·from the ranks of Guatemala's most oppressed-the Indian popula­ tion, which is the majority. ,.,~ Last year, a Guatemalan businessman told New York Times reporter Alan Riding, "No one Cartoon by Laura Gray on U.S. threats to Guatemala. Appeared In June 1954 'Militant.' has ever been able to organize the Indians, but if anyone should, God save us." The words "massacre," "machine-gunning," and "bombing" have no translation in any of the wounded. We then surrounded the factory, and formation of the Democratic Front Against Re­ twenty-three Indian languages spoken in Guate­ we didn't let it operate." · pression CFDCR). mala-although the Indians are very familiar Solidarity aCtions spread throughout the coun­ The FDCR includes hundreds of labor, peas­ with such events. But recently in an interview on try and the different union federations discussed ant, student, shantytown-dweller, journalist, Mexican television, a young Quiche Indian de­ what to do. These discussions led to the forma· professional, religious, and cultural organiza­ clared: tion of the CNUS. tions. It also includes two bourgeois political "In the face of the troops Lucas sends to (Finally, in July of 1980, under pressure from groupings that have been special targets of the destroy us, we have our own words­ the workers' struggle and an international boy­ paramilitary death squads, the Revolutionary organization, self-defense." cott organized by the International Union of United Front (FUR) and the Social Democratic She is a member of the CUC, as were several Food and Allied Workers Association, Coca-Cola Party (PSD). The top leaders of both these par­ other Indian women who appeared on the televi­ agreed to recognize the union and remove their ties-Manuel Colom Argueta and Alberto sion interview. Such people are now exploding manager in Guatemala, who had been accused Fuentes Mohr-were both gunned down in 1979. the myths about the passivity and submissive­ by U.S. Congressman Don Pease of Ohio of But as one Social Democrat pointed out in ness of Guatemalan Indian.s. "orchestrating ... an unmercifully ruthless March of last year, the FDCR's "leaders are no On October 20, 1980, the anniversary of the campaign of intimidation and terror" against the longer university students and intellectuals; "October Revolution," twenty-five explosions Guatemalan workers. Half a dozen Coca-Cola they're now workers and peasants. That's why went off simultaneously all over Guatemala City, workers leaders were murdered as part of this the Government is making a mistake in killing flinging hundreds of leaflets into the air. The campaign, but the workers resisted and won out the politicians. We don't ·control the mass move­ leaflets announced the formation of a unified against the bosses' violence.) ment" (New York Times, March 23, 1980). command of the EGP, the FAR, the ORPA, and The cue. founded in 1978, has grown to A Guatemalan revolutionary leader described the Leadership Nucleus of the PGT. It called on become the largest mass revolutionary organiza­ the FDCR's role this way: the people to move ahead in the struggle "to tion in the country. It is also a member organiza­ "The FDCR is a very important factor in the overthrow the criminal government of Romeo tion of the CNUS. process.... It is a factor that makes it possible Lucas Garcia." In February and March of 1980, the CUC to bring together all the popular and democratic The revolutionary organizations called for the organized a mass general strike on the Pacific forces that are struggling in the country. Note masses to fight back against the government's Coast of Guatemala. The agricultural workers that what is involved is an organization of and the bosses' repression "with organized and and farmers occupied sugar mills, blocked roads, struggle-the very name says so. . . . And of intelligent self-defense," to "join the Popular paralyzed production; and organized workers' course the Front has no legal status nor head- Revolutionary War ... led by our four revolu­ defense guards against the government forces tionary organizations, to deal new and better and the landlords' private armies. They also blows to the murderous army," and to "actively organized a strong solidarity movement all over support the victorious struggle of our brothers the country ~ong workers, peasants, and Indi­ and sisters in El Salvador and follow their ans. combative example." When they finally won important wage conces­ Since then, there has been an intensification of sions, the cue declared that they would reJ;Ilain armed struggle in Guatemala. There are reports mobilized to continue to press forward their that many more Indian peasants are joining the demands. guerrilla organizations. Mass Organizations No U.S. Intervention The leaders of the CNUS have studied the The cry of "communist menace" in Guatemala lessons of the 1954 CIA coup. They point to the is intended to prepare the people of the United primary reasons for the defeat of the Guatema­ States for more U.S. intervention in Central lan revolution of 1944-54: the lack of a clear America, including possible use of U.S. troops. working class leadership, the misplaced faith in But times have changed. One American official the bourgeois state and particularly the "demo­ is reported to have said recently, "What we'd give cratic" armed forces, and the incorrect policy of to have an Arbenz now." class collaborationist alliances followed by the Working people in the United States also have leaders of the workers movement at the time. a stake in the Guatemalan people's fight against The main lesson that the CNUS has drawn misery, oppression, murder, and exploitation. from the 1954 defeat is that only the Guatemalan Like the workers and peasants in El Salvador, working class can liberate Guatemala from impe­ they are raising the banner of freedom for all of rialist domination and exploitation- and that us against the Wall Street billionaires. the working class must pay a great deal of The struggle of-the people of Guatemala should attention to the development of its revolutionary become a call to action for millions of working leadership. people in the United States to oppose a new Vietnam in Central America. In 1979, the CNUS and the CUC led in the

18 (FEBRUARY 1981) (PAGE 11/INTER!VATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW)

(Introduction, Sex-Pol; Essays, 1929-1934, Vin­ tage Books, 1972). Reich claimed to have invented an "orgone box," which he said would restore sexual energy, and thus cure cancer and other physical or emotional ills. The U.S. Food and Drug Adminis­ tration called it a fraud, and prosecuted Reich for violating the Food and Drug Act. Convicted on this charge and for ·contempt of court, he was given a two-year sentence in a federal penitentiary, where he died in 1957. In the 1960s his ideas became popular in some intellectual and New Left circles, and most of his books were translated and published. But most of these were revised editions, reflecting his disillu­ sionment with Marxism; the above-cited Sex-Pol is an exception, presenting what he wrote when he was still trying to fuse Marx and Freud. Trotsky was expelled from Norway at the end of 1936, and moved to Mexico where he was assassinated by an agent of Stalin in 1940. Held was elected to the International Executive Committee of the Fourth International at its Leon emergency conference in New York in May 1940. After Hitler's army invaded Norway, he entered the Soviet Union in an effort to escape with his family to the United States. Stalin's secret police ·Trotsky apprehended him en route and executed him. Glotzer left the Socialist Workers Party as part of a minority faction that split in 1940. He later became a social democrat. and Wilhelm Reich: These five letters were translated from the German by Duncan Williams. The letters by Reich and Trotsky are printed by permission of the Houghton Library at Harvard University, and permission to publish the Held letter was Five Letters granted by Albert Glotzer. • • •

Top, Leon Trotsky, left, with Natalia Seclova. Right, Wil­ Wilhelm Reich to Leon Trotsky helm Reich. Dear Comrade· Trotsky: I am turning to you in the belief that the following information could be of considerable Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), an Austrian psy­ ll).eeting with Trotsky to discuss sexual politics use to the entire revolutionary movement today. I choanalyst and a pupil of Sigmund Freud, came and the Soviet Union. This was written on the am a psychoanalyst (a doctor and a student of to believe that Freud weakened his theories and Sex-Pol Organization's · stationery, bearing a Freud) and beginning in 1931 I organized the work by overlooking or excluding. social factors Copenhagen address, but Reich was in Oslo, Communist sexual-political movement in Ger­ producing or conditioning emotional and mental Norway, at the time. Trotsky was then also in many. There were roughly eighty sexual-political problems. While still in his twenties, Reich con­ Norway, at Honefoss, not far from Oslo. He had organizations in Germany, of the most varied cluded that neuroses and other maladies treated been expelled by the French government and types-most of them led by reformists with by psychoanalysts were, at bottom, social prob­ allowed to move to Norway by its Labor govern­ incorrect, unclear sexual-political ideas-with lems, requiring social as well as individual ment. He replied in his second letter that he was about 300,000 members in all, most of whom treatment. He became a Marxist, joining the about to be hospitalized (as it turned out, for six weren't in the party, and were quite often Chris­ Austrian Social Democratic Party in 1927. Thus weeks) but would arrange to see Reich after he tians or Nationalists. In western Germany the began his effort, which lasted for almost a got out. first wave of revolutionary consolidation resulted decade, to fuse Marxism and Freudianism, or The Trotsky archives at Harvard University do in a unified organization of about 40,000 members. I waged a sharp two-year struggle those of their features that he considered posi­ not contain any other letter to, from or about against the party bureaucracy for the develop­ tive. Reich and the proposed meeting. But the two did ment of a political line based on the miserable meet, some time between October 1935, when Three years later, in 1930, he moved to Berlin sexual condition of the masses, to be integrated and joined the German Communist Party (KPD), Trotsky left the hospital in Oslo, and April 1936, when a participant in the Reich-Trotsky discus­ into the general class struggle; they counterposed becoming its principal activist in the various the sexual question to the social, instead of sexual liberation movements that thrived in sion happened to mention it briefly in a letter to an American comrade. integrating them, and sought "to mobilize the Germany before Hitler came to power. Although masses" with economic slogans, to the exclusion he helped to bring together a fairly large Sex-Pol The author of this letter was Walter Held, a of sexual-political ones-this caused the move­ (sexual politics) tendency that supported the pseudonym of Heinz Epe (1910-41). Held was, like ment to falter. I was removed from the national KPD politically, the KPD leaders found them­ Reich, a Oerman refugee from Nazism. Despite leadership and the movement retreated. I have selves increasingly dissatisfied with and embar­ his youth, he was a veteran of the Left Opposi­ recently heard that the bureaucracy has now rassed by his work and writings about sexual tion, and international youth secretary of the been defeated and the struggle continues on the freedom. He was expelled from the KPD in movement for the Fourth International in the basis of my platform. I am now trying to gather February 1933, at approximately the same time mid-thirties. He had met Albert Glotzer (born forces on an international scale and, above all, to that the Nazis took over Germany and crushed 1908), a founder of the American Left Opposition, establish theoretical clarity. Many sources of all labor and radical movements. Reich fled to at an international youth conference in Holland error can be avoided by a certain amount of self­ Denmark, later moving to Sweden and Norway. and Belgium in 1934, and conducted a friendly criticism, but practical experience leaves no It was from Copenhagen, in October 1933, that correspondence with him in the following years. doubt that mass mobilization, especially on the he first wrote to Leon Trotsky. From Held's letter it appears that instead of cultural-political front, has a powerful lever in Trotsky (1879-1940) was living in France at being centered on Reich's views about sexual sexual-politics, which affects in the first ptace the this time. For ten years he had led the Left politics in general or in the abstract, the discus­ unpolitical or passive masses. Opposition, which stood for a return to Leninism sion revolved around his views as they were The Communist Party, as an economic­ in the Communist International (Comintern) and concretized in his efforts to explain the degenera­ political organization, cannot carry out sexual­ its affiliated parties. For doing this, Trotsky was tion of the Soviet Union after Lenin. Trotsky was political work; for this a separate mass organiza­ deported to Turkey in 1929 by the privileged writing a book about this very subject when he tion is necessary, but, in turn, this organization Stalinist bureaucracy that had usurped political met with Reich. cannot come to full development without being power in the Soviet Union after Lenin's death. affiliated to a political party. I ask you now to Two months before Reich's letter, Trotsky and According to Bertell Oilman, a generally ad­ tell me what you think of collaboration. For this, the Left Opposition had decided that the degener­ miring commentator, "From about 1935 on ... of course, it would be necessary for the leadership ation of the Comintern and its parties had gone Reich's interest in politics was gradually giving of the political organization to be thoroughly so far that they could not be reformed along way to a growing interest in biology, spurred by familiar with the basic problems of sexual poli­ Leninist lines and that a new, Fourth Interna­ the belief that he had discovered the physical tics and, in the case of basic agreement, to tional had to be built. basis of sexual energy (libido). From being a support the organization. I believe that you have psychoanalyst and Marxist social.,philosopher, a greater understanding than most people of the Reich's first letter to Trotsky introduced him­ Reich became a natural scientist, a metamorpho- significance of sexual politics for the class strug­ self and his ideas. Trotsky expressed interest in . sis that was to have drastic effects on both his gle. I base this belief on the conclusion of your learning more about these ideas, on 'which he did psychoanalysis and social philosophy. Reich speech in Copenhagen and your writings Prob­ not have enough information to pass judgment. emigrated to America in 1939. Each year added lems of Everyday Life, I think in 1924, in which Reich's second letter, two years later, asked for a to his spiritual distance from Marx and Freud" you printed, with complete understanding, the

19 (INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST REVIEW/ PAGE 12)

functionaries' questions in this field, in an ap­ Leon Trotsky to Wilhelm Reich Reich. He is seeking to "broaden" Marxist sociol­ pendix.1 I may add, without proving it here, that Dear Comrade Reich: ogy, that is, in fact, to replace it with a "mass the retreat of the cultural revolution in the Soviet I am answering your letter of October 1933 psychology" sociology. Reich heads a school, Union is tightly bound up with the fact that the with such a great delay because I was on a which developed from Freud and became ac­ sexual revolution was stifled in 1923 and did not month's "leave" for medical reasons. Also, I have quainted with Marxism; but now, instead of freely develop further. I hope soon to be able to not yet had the opportunity to look through the developing a materialist psychology out of the present this important question thoroughly; for book Mass Psychology of Fascism, which you so dialectical materialist elements to be found in now, I refer you to the conditions portrayed in kindly sent to me. In any case, I never received psychoanalysis, it seeks to apply psychoanalyti­ the Neue Weltbuhne, 2 which indicated a rebellion the two texts on the youth question and on the cal laws to sociology and in so doing oversteps of the literary consumers in the Soviet Union­ history of sexual economy. its bounds. In their practical conclusions these for the time being it is admittedly a backward­ I must confess that in general I am pretty "sexual politicians" want to lead the class strug­ looking one (return to the classics): ignorant in your field and have never concerned gle in the first place on the field of sexuality, I am now publishing a book on the sexual myself with the standpoint that you have against sexual oppression in the family, etc. economy of political reaction and the basic tasks brought to the fore. By that I mean to character­ Now Reich has written a pamphlet on the of proletarian sexual politics, which I will have ize only myself, and by no means the field you Soviet Union, in which he uses the reactionary sent to you right away. I would like your opinion, are involved with'. Of course, I do not ignore the elements of the psychological "mass structure" to and if we have basic agreement, your political general importance of sexual problems in the explain the cultural reaction there (by which he and organizational help as well as continued education of working class youth and I would basically explains nothing at all).5 LD gave him contact in our work. A short time ago I gave a like to get better acquainted with your views, a wonderful lesson in dialectical materialist representative [of your movement] two texts for experiences, and plans in this field. thought, in which he showed that the revolutioni­ you, one concerning the youth question and one Therefore I need not tell you that the "close zation of sexual and family life in the years 1917- the history of sexual economy. contact" proposed by you seems most desirable to 21 came about on the basis of war communism,6 On purely political grounds I am convinced of me, and I hope that it will not remain only on a that no attention was paid to the "material the basic correctness of your views and follow the personal level. basis" for marriage and child rearing because no work of the LO [Left Opposition] attentively.a With best thanks and greetings. material basis of any kind .was available. Only Although I personally believe less and less in the when production began to pick up a bit (1921-23), possibility of a resurrection of the [German] Wilhelm Reich to Leon Trotsky when goods came back on the market, only then Communist Party, I haven't been able to clarify Dear Comrade Trotsky: did people's appetites grow. Since there weren't completely for myself the question of the found­ Understandably, the complicated question of enough goods to meet everyone's needs, the ing of a new party.4 I am still a member of the cultural development in the Soviet Union is struggle for goods began. KPD, but I am in strongest opposition arid the being ardently discussed among our specialists At the same time the state was forced to only reason I haven't been expelled is because as well as our comrades. The Sexual-Political counter propagandistically the revolutionary sex­ first of all they have no_one competent to criticize Organization (Sex-Pol) has sought to bring to­ ual life of war communism, since it was not in a my sexual-political theory and second because gether the problems in question in a short book. position to take over child rearing, etc. (the result my influence is too great. The matter will resolve As many reasons speak for its immediate publi­ was the children without parents). Since the itself soon. If I should be expelled, or find myself cation as speak against it. We would be very revolutionary sexual life in the years of war unable as. a member to share responsibility for grateful to you if you would tell us your opinion communism did nQt.come about on the basis of the policy of the Comintern as well as the foreign on some of these questions and positions. I think production superior to that of capitalism, but policy of the Soviet Union, and leave on my own, it would be advantageous if we could at least talk rather, in fact, on the basis of nothing, after the then there would remain only the possibility of over these things. dissipation of revolutionary elan petty bourgeois working for a time outside of a party and waiting I ask you to tell me if this seems interesting appetites were awakened in some layers (intellec­ for a new party connection. Since my work, in its and important enough to you to discuss it. If so, tuals, kulaks [rich peasants-ISR), NEP bour­ theoretical as well as practical aspect, concerns a then please name a time. A late Sunday after­ geoisie) more strongly than in others.7 The Stalin new field of the revolutionary front, which has noon would be best for me, since the weekdays bureaucracy based itself on these layers, in that been left fallow until now, I have to maintain my are mostly taken up. But I would naturally make it made certain promises to them, and these self-reliance, without wanting to be a guerrilla, myself available on a weekday afternoon or layers supported the Stalin bureaucracy, in that until the revolutionary party is in thorough evening if a Sunday is out of the question. they conceded to it a certain broker's fee. agreement. The further questions don't need to be With revolutionary greetings LD has written a new foreword to his History decided yet, except whether closer contact is Wilhelm Reich ofthe Russian Revolution, which has developed desired and possible. into a whole book to be published first in Amer­ With best revolutionary greetings Leon Trotsky to Wilhelm Reich ica. 8 It ends with the necessity of a new political, Wilh[elm] Reich Dear Comrade Reich: not social, revolution in the USSR (a type of July I am on my way to medical treatment whose revolution corresponding to the French July length can't be predicted. I will be very happy to revolution of 1830 on the basis of bourgeois 1. Trotsky's speech in Copenhagen .in November 1932 property). was sponsored by a socialist student group. Under the get together with you, although-! must say in advance-my competence m your interesting Otherwise I see the Honefosser Colony pretty title "In Defense of the Russian Revolution" it is seldom. Most of my time I spend in the libraries. reprinted in Leon Trotsky Speaks (Pathfinder Press, field is very limited. As soon as I know for sure, I 1972). Trotsky referred favorably to psychoanalysis will get word to you. and Freud near the end of his talk. Problems of With best greetings Everyday Life was originally a pamphlet published in 5. Reich's pamphlet on "The Struggle for the 'New the Soviet Union in 1923, containing several articles by Life' in the Soviet Union" is the second half of his 1936 Trotsky about Soviet cultural problems, together with Walter Held to Albert Glotzer book The Sexual Revoluti9n (Farrar, Straus and Gi­ roux). lie undoubtedly expressed its views in his an appendix containing questions by Trotsky and Dear Albert, answers by twenty-five Moscow unionists and party discvs~ion with Trotsky. ... On other matters: a few weeks ago I sat in on functionaries about the Soviet workers' moods and an extremely interesting discussion between LD 6. War Communism was the name given to the system opinions, including their attitudes toward changes in of production that prevailed in the Soviet Union when family life following the 1917 revolution. The questions [Trotsky] and the radical psychoanalyst Wilhelm the young workers' state was fighting for its life in the by Trotsky were translated in Intercontinental Press, civil war of 1918-20. The Bolsheviks had not planned to October' 9, 1978. The appendix was omitted when nationalize and centralize so much and so soon after Trotsky incorporated the pamphlet into a book and they came to power; their original plans were more does not appear in Problems of Everyday Life and gradual. But everything was subordinated to the mil­ Other Writings on Culture and Science (Monad Press, itary struggle for survival. One result was growing 1973); it does contain his article "From the Old Family . conflict between the peasants, whose produce was to the New," which was based on the material in the .. requisitioned or confiscated, and the Soviet state; appendix. another was a continuing decline in production, both agricultural a nd industrial. Some people saw the chaos, 2. Die Weltbiihne (The World Stage) was a radical confusion and breakdowns that accompanied War Communism in every sphere of life as the very essence German magazine suppressed when the Nazis came to of communism; in fact, they thought it was the only power in 1933. Its successor, Die neue Weltbiihne, was road toward a classless society, and would have to be published abroad and printed several articles by Trot­ taken by any society that abolished capitalism. sky .that year . . 7. The New Economic Policy (NEP) replaced War 3. In the spring of 1933 the Left Opposition had Communism in 1921 and lasted until1928 or 1929. The concluded that the KPD's failure to put up a fight Soviet government adopted it as a temporary measure against Hitlerism proved that it was bankrupt as a to revive production after the civil war, win a breathing revolutionary force and therefore had to be replaced by AND OlHERWRITINGS spell and reconsolidate popular support, which had a new revolutionary party in Germany. In the summer ON CULTURE AND SCIENCE been eroded by the hardships accompanying War of 1933 the Left Opposition went further and said that Communism. The NEP allowed a limited introduction of capitalist production and foreign concessions along­ the Comintern's continued endorsement of the policy lJ~ttN '1,1\f)'I,SKY side the nationalized and state-controlled sectors of the that helped Hitler to take power proved the need for a economy. The Bolsheviks viewed the "NEP bourgeoi­ new, revolutionary International. In October 1933 sie" as a potential base for the restoration of capital­ Reich was still uncertain about the bankruptcy of the ism. KPD, and in June 1934, in his essay "What is Class­ Problems of Consciousness?" he aligned his Sex-Pol movement with 8. The title of this book was The Revolution Betrayed those who criticized calls for the Fourth International (Doubleday Doran, 1937). Part VII contains Trotsky's as premature. So he was and remained quite a distance Everyday Life chapter on "Thermidor in the Family," which he politically from Trotsky. undoubtedly presented and defended in his discussion and Other Writings on Cu1ture and Science with Reich. By Leon Trotsky, 352 pp. , paper $5.45, cloth $19.00 4. It is possible, in the chaos of 1933, that in October, 9. The Honefuss colony .consisted of Trotsky, his com­ Reich still did not know he had been expelled from the Order from Pathfinder Press, 410 West Street, New panion Natalia Sedova, and his secretary, Erwin Wolf, KPD in February; or perhaps he thought that because York, New York 10014. Please include$.75 for post­ who was murdered by the Stalinists in Spain during the expulsion was being contested by his supporters it age and handling. the civil war in 1937. was not yet final or in full effect.

20 By Harry Ring the 4-H Club. During a visit to Baltimore, I talked "As I met more people," she recalled, with Sheryl Hongsermeier, a veteran "I saw more of how differently women of the past decade in the feminist were treated than men in this society." movement. Last spring, she joined the Young Socialist Alliance and, more College years recently, the Socialist Workers Party. After graduation, Sheryl yielded to Sheryl grew up in a small German pressures to "go the traditional route." farming community in Nebraska. She She enrolled· at Nebraska's Hastings was one of six children, all of whom College to study nursing. worked on a family-operated cattle That was in 1971. She was fasci­ farm. nated by the "bits and pieces" she It was a very isolated life, and the heard about the feminist movement. work was hard. But one advantage, Working as a volunteer at the family she observed, was that there was planning clinic, she learned firsthand plenty of time to read, and to think. about the problems of teenagers denied Her parents were, in their own way, adequate sex education. "I could see political. "They believed in taking their ignorance about their own bodies, convictions seriously," she said. "And about the reproductive process-and that if you were right, people would how scared they were." come to see it." At the same time, Sheryl worked with a women's rights lobbyist at the School fight state capital in Lincoln. She also Sheryl adopted that approach. But lobbied on health issues. she also learned from experience. She She later moved to Columbia, Mis­ recalled the community's fight" to save souri, where she did graduate work Militant!Unda Nordquist a school, in which her parents played a and continued her lobbying activity. Chicago, May 1980. It was on freedom train to this ERA demonstration that women's leading role. · At the time, Missouri was engaged in a rights fighter Sheryl Hongsermeler first met socialists. "We lost that fight," she said, "even battle over ratification of the Equal though a majority of the people fa­ Rights Amendment. women who were active union society and how it was possible to vored keeping the school." At first, Sheryl felt like "this was one members. change it. Commenting on those who led the way of doing things. Maybe making a "These were people who worked in "They said, 'Look at Cuba.' Some of cutback move, she said, "I began to dent. But it was very frustrating. You'd steel mills, other places. And they were them had been to Cuba! The thing that talk to legislators and they'd say strong! They had a different sense of made the biggest impression was the they'd vote one way, then vote the being about them. public health-care system in Cuba. other. "They talked about what they were "Because I know what the health­ doing in women's groups in their un­ "I began to feel that when you get care system is in the United States. If ions. They saw themselves day by day into lobbying, it's like you're begging you have money, you can get pretty growing stronger. I had never felt like for a right-to be accepted as a citizen. good health care. If you're poor, it's Why do you have to beg for that that in my working environment. terrible.'' right?" "I talked with other people," she Sheryl was greatly inspired by the Sheryl saw another limitation to said, "but I kept going back. If there giant ERA demonstration in Chicago. what she was doing. was anyone on that train I wanted tO But the hours of discussion on the "While I was talking to legislators, talk to, it was these women. train also left their imprint. and to women who were involved in "Then I found out they were social­ similar efforts, I wasn't reaching the Ists. I thought, socialists-my god!" "Here were a bunch of people," she common American woman. It wasn't said, "that had clear-cut goals, not enough." 'It makes sense' only on feminist issues, but on all Faced with contradictions she "They went into every aspect of it, aspects of society. couldn't resolve, Sheryl decided to being rational about it. And I thought, "Radical feminists who focus only move to one of the big eastern cities it makes sense. Then I thought, no, it on women's issues make a lot of sense. where she might accomplish more. can't make sense." · But I don't see how they can possibly She decided on Baltimore. Someone sold her a copy of the think that women alone can change "Maryland had passed the ERA," Militant. "This is quite a newspaper," society. she explained, "and Baltimore was a she said to herself. "It certainly isn't "When I look back," she added, "I big industrial city. I had never been the Baltimore Sun." She was particu­ realize it's kind of like tunnel vision. involved with working-class kind of larly impressed with the articles about The problem isn't just the patriarchy. people. Also I heard there was a big the social progress in Cuba, Nicara­ It's the whole social system built Baltimore NOW chapter." gua, Grenada. around capitalism." "I had always thought of socialism How does Sheryl feel about being in SHERYL HONGSERMEIER ERA march in terms of the Soviet Union," she said. the YSA and SWP? Then came the May 10, 1980, na­ "And that was such a downer." "Because of my conservative farm realize that people in the community tional march for the ERA in Chicago. She continued her discussion with background," she replied, "it was a that you looked up to weren't always Sheryl made the trip on the "freedom the socialists. She raised points she pretty big decision to join. But I feel what they said they were. Especially if train" chartered by women from the had read in radical feminist litera­ I've learned so much I can never go there was a profit involved." East Coast. ture-that Marx didn't relate to femi­ back. I feel like there's energy and A turning point in Sheryl's life came She had countless discussions on the nist issues, for example. potential in this and I know too much in the eighth grade. Pupils were as­ train, but what made the deepest im­ "And these women explained how now to sit still. signed to talk to people in various pression on her was talking to several the problems of women were rooted in "I feel like I found a gold mine!" trades and professions to help them decide what they wanted to do as adults. Sheryl decided she wanted to be a Lutheran minister. Irish prisoners set new hunger strike Why did she want to be a minister? BELFAST-Irish political prison- [British secretary for Northern Ire­ the last hunger strike to again rally "Even though I had a limited pers­ ers here announced February 5 that land Humphrey] Atkins in his De­ to our cause, and we call upon those pective, I felt there were a lot of things they intend to begin a new hunger cember 19 statement. who sat on the fence to now see the that were wrong and, somehow, I felt strike March 1 to protest their con- "Obstacle after obstacle was intransigence of .the British and the that as a minister I could help people." tinuing mistreatment at the hands placed in our way, but we felt mor­ justice of our cause." She realized, of course, that there of the British government. ally bound to explore every avenue The February 27 issue of An Phob­ were few women ministers. "But I felt I A statement by the prisoners de- before giving in to exasperation and could do it." lacht, the newspaper of the Provi­ dared: "We the Republican political anger. The pettiness of the British sional republican movement, said in When she discussed it with her min­ prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long administration was well demon­ ister, he was "sort of antsy." a front page editorial: Kesh and in Armagh prison, having strated on January 23 when the "H-Block action committees waited patiently for seven weeks for prison governor, acting under Raise a family throughout Ireland, in America, in evidence that the British govern- orders; refused a number of men Europe and Australia have just He advised her that she would be ment was prepared to resolve the their own clothes .... better off if she married, had children, three weeks left before a second prison crisis, and having given them "We the blanket men, and we the major hunger strike by protesting maybe became a deaconess, and every available opportunity to do so, women political prisoners in Ar­ worked within the church that way. Republican prisoners commences in declare our intention of hunger strik- magh, have had enough of British the occupied North. "It was at that point," Sheryl de­ ing once more. deceit and of broken promises. clared, "that I just suddenly realized "On December 18 and 19,'1980, the Hunger strikes, to the death ifneces­ "This period should be used to that I wasn't accepted because of my hunger strikes in the H-Blocks and sary, will begin, commencing from resume any lost contact with those sex. Armagh prison were ended. When March 1, 1981, the fifth anniversary influential individuals, trade unions, "I decided then that religion, in that this happened we were expecting of the withdrawal of political status cultural bodies, or other organiza­ sense, was something I couldn't cope that within a few days all protests in the H-Blocks and Armagh jail. tions who showed genuine concern with." would begin to be de-escalated and "We are demanding to be treated during the last hunger strike, and to She made another decision-"that that the first hurdle, the blanketmen as political prisoners, which every­ seek out fresh support from other my purpose in life was not simply to receiving their own clothes, could be one recognizes we are. We call on and untapped quarters." have babies." got over in the sequence described by all those who supported us during From Intercontinental Press In high school, Sheryl served on the student government and was active in THE MILITANT/FEBRUARY 27, 1981 21 Three unionists victimized Gov't role ex in Canada firings By Joan Campana would be overlooked if the company The following is abridged from actually had a case. In fact, foremen an article in the January 26 issue reported at the arbitration hearing of the Canadian fortnightly 'So­ that the women were exemplary work­ cialist Voice.' ers. Reports by management cited their Transcripts from a top government excellent work. LeRougetel was even meeting reveal that Solicitor-General offered a promotion! Robert Kaplan sanctioned the RCMP Yet both arbitrators accept the com­ [Royal Canadian Mounted Police} pany frame-up. inspired political firing of three women The company and cops are attempt­ from Pratt &Whitney Aircraft in Lon­ ing to tar the women with unsubstan­ gueuil, Quebec. tiated charges of "sabotage" to belat­ Further evidence points to a frame­ edly justify the firing, the continued up of the women on a charge of "sabot­ use of disruptive tactics against them age." and their organization, and to intimi­ The charge is completely unfounded. date anyone in the plant from fighting The women-Katy LeRougetel, Su­ for a better deal from Pratt. In com­ zanne Chabot, and Wendy Steven­ pany eyes, any Pratt worker who hung son-were "laid off' in November, around a coffee machine discussing 1979, supposedly due to a personnel wages could be a saboteur! And the surplus. An inquiry by the Quebec frame-up of the three women is a Human Rights Commission laid that lesson to all of them! pretext to rest, finding that the women Fired workers tell story at news conference. From left: Katy LeRougetel; Wendy Stev­ Socialist views were "victims of discrimination based enson; Suzanne Chabot. But the women's only "crime" is to on their political convictions." hold socialist views. They support Confirmation of top government Local 510 at Pratt. the general situation . .. is [for] the women's equality, the struggle of peo­ knowledge of the firings e~erged De­ Testimony confirms that Pratt's Quebec Provincial Police to establish ple in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and cember 4 at a meeting of the federal management, singling out the three, the current situation in the plant ... the right of Quebec to determine its justice committee. In attendance were held several meetings on how to "get it's not only the extreme move­ own future. They support and build RCMP Commissioner Robert H. Sim­ rid" of them. ments.... " their unions. monds; Director-General for the Secur­ Participating in the meetings was Part of the conglomerate United Their organization, the Revolution­ ity Service, Michael Dare; other senior Jacques St. Pierre, head of Pratt Inter­ Technologies, Pratt & Whitney is ary Workers League (sister party of the Mounties; and members of parliament. nal Security. St. Pierre, himself a hated in Quebec as a notorious anti­ U.S. Socialist Workers Party), circu­ Solicitor-General Kaplan, in charge former RCMP Security Service agent, union, anti-worker company. lates its views in newspapers, runs of the RCMP for the government, met with Fernand Brault, currently in Pratt pays its workers the lowest candidates in elections, and is active in described his "close relationship with the Security Service's division on "left wages in the entire Canadian aero­ support of the New Democratic Party the RCMP ... We meet regularly. We groups." The meetin"gs occurred prior space industry-$2 an hour lower than and the Quebec nationalist movement. have a regular agenda. It covers Secur­ to the women's dismissal. · in Ontario, for example. Now manage­ It works to convince a majority to ity Service matters ...." Yet the company maintains that the ment is worried about the influx of new "change things through the political He went on to explain his knowledge RCMP agent's visits and the women's young workers who won't tolerate the process." The RWL opposes terrorism and approval of the firings: "And political beliefs had nothing to do with situation any longer. and illegal or individual violence to when that report [the Human Rights .the firings! In company testimony, workers' le­ bring about change. After years of inquiry] came out, I had it on the table. gitimate concerns become "rumors of illegal RCMP surveillance, it has never I discussed it with the Security Service Union, workers real target illegal strikes, unlawful assemblies been charged with a single crime! ... I am satisfied that [the service] is Sworn testimony at the arbitration and sabotage"! That's why the company and the operating within its mandate. I am hearings demonstrates intimate com­ The prime movers behind it all, RCMP have to resort to unsubstan­ not prosecuting people merely pany knowledge of and interference in according to J .C. Roy, head of Indus­ tiated smears and frame-ups. because of their political beliefs." internal union business. It shows that trial Relations, were the Pratt Three. The company and the RCMP have The facts say otherwise. management works closely with the "When they left, everything was calm; massive resources to attempt to carry RCMP as well as local and provincial today there is real peace." out this frame-up. Countering it is Company-RCMP witch-hunt police to spy on and compile lists of That's absurd, as an angry meeting vital. Letters and telegrams protesting Sworn testimony revealing a com­ union militants, political activists and of over 800 workers later showed. More­ the victimization should be sent to pany-RCMP witch-hunt apparatus even workers who smoke marijuana, over, the company presented not one Pratt & Whitney, Personnel Office, against militant unionists and for purposes of harassment and victim­ shred of proof that the women were 1000 rte. Marie-Victorin E., Longueuil, members of political groups in the ization. Names of union officials, un­ part of any disturbance, much less Quebec. Copies of the messages and plant has emerged during two arbitra­ ion leaflets and reports on the "situa­ "saboteurs," for the simple reason that badly-needed financial support should tion sessions hearing grievances seek­ tion" in the plant are regularly turned they were not. be sent to The Committee to Defend ing to rehire the women. The grievan­ over to the police. The dishonest smear carries no spe­ the Pratt 3, 4271 Chambord, Montreal, ces were filed by United Auto Workers St. Pierre testified: "The report on cific charge, hardly something that Quebec. Press drive to free Iranian socialist worker By Janice Lynn agers of Iran's nationalized industries, uted asking about the firings and tion of "a committee composed of rep­ Socialists and others in Iran are two women Ray-0-Vac workers and asking why Jazayeri wa~ still in jail. resentatives of all refineries to investi­ pressing forward with their campaign one other woman worker raised ques­ After slanderously hinting that Ja­ gate this case." to secure the release from prison of tions about J azayeri's arrest. The re­ zayeri and the other HKE workers The Isfahan oil employees, in a Nemat Jazayeri, a leader of the Revo­ sponse of the managers was to shove were American agents, Boosheri indi­ separate resolution of their own, also lutionary Workers Party (HKE) in and physically threaten the three cated that the questions raised in the condemned Movahed's firing and Iran. women, and then to have them ar­ open letter would all be answered in asked for his return to work. They are also challenging the recent rested. conjunction with Jazayeri's trial. How­ But a concerted propaganda cam­ firings of three other HKE members. The three women were released on ever, no date has been set nor has any paign is being mounted to try to dis­ Jazayeri, a lathe operator at the Ray- bail and told to return the next morn­ official announcement been given for credit the HKE. Mizan, the newspaper 0 -Vac battery factory, was arrested ing. The next day, before returning, such a trial. supporting the views of former Iranian September 8. Although no charges they delivered a protest letter to the Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, has Ministry of Labor and spoke before the At a February 4 press conference, attacked the HKE which it describes have yet been brought against him, he Ayatollah Mohammed Beheshti of the remains in Evin Prison in Tehran. Ray-0-Vac factory shora. as the "American Marxist group." Islamic Republican Party and head of Several members of the HKE were in the Iranian Supreme Court said that J azayeri had been active in building When they returned to the court, exile in the United States during the new guidelines for legal political par­ the factory shora (committee) at Ray- they were briefly questioned and told shah's regime. Jazayeri, for example, . ties and newspapers would soon be 0-Vac and in its activities in defense of no charges were being filed against was national secretary of the Commit­ the Iranian revolution. Co-workers them. issued. If the HKE and Kargar were legalized, he indicated, this could have tee for Artistic and Intellectual Free­ have been campaigning for his release. dom in Iran (CAIFI) which helped to a positive bearing on Jazayeri's case. In mid-January, some four months Workers protest win the release of political prisoners At another conference held at Kar­ after Jazayeri's arrest, three HKE Debate on democratic rights held by the shah's torturers. Of course, members were suddenly fired from gar · House-a meeting hall for some many-if not most-of Iran's present The debate and discussion in Iran their jobs. No explanations were given eighty Islamic associations and shoras leaders also spent years in exile in over democratic rights is intensifying. for their dismissals. in Tehran.:.....the response from the imperialist countries such as the Uni­ The sentiment among Iranian workers Bahram Ali Atai and Reza Aresoutr, workers was strikingly different. ted States, France, and West Germany. is against restrictions on these rights. workers at the large Iran National One of the fired workers, Bahram Jazayeri's friends, comrades, and co­ automobile factory in Tehran, and Atai, was given time to speak. Follow­ This is indicated by the broad pro­ workers are urging a stepped-up inter­ Khosrow Movahed, an employee of the ing his presentation, there was a con­ tests against the firing of HKE national campaign to win his release Isfahan Oil Refinery, were all called sensus from the workers present that a member Movahed. The shoras of oil . from prison. Along with the support back from the battlefront where they commission be established to investi­ refinery employees in Tehran, Isfahan, inside Iran from factory workers and had been participating in workers' gate the dismissals and J azayeri's Shiraz, and Tabriz passed a joint reso­ their organizations, international units fighting against the Iraqi aggres­ case. lution protesting "the unconstitutional working-class support can play an sion. Upon their return they were told At the workers' conference, a Mr. firing of our brother Khosrow Mo­ important role in securing Jazayeri's they were, being fired. Boosheri from the Islamic Court also ·vahed." release. At a recent conference held by man- spoke. An. open letter had been distrib- The resolution announces the forma- From Intercontinental Press 22 Nicaraguans gird for revolutionary defense . By Fred Murphy But we must also be prepared to face ment to prevent its territory from being port of the most reactionary and trai- MANAGUA-The Sandinista gov- armed attacks. The defense of national used as a base of operations against · torous local sectors and the encourage- ernment has declared 1981 the "Year sovereignty, territorial integrity, and revo- Nicaragua by the counterrevolutionary ment of the reactionary Nicaraguan of Defense and Production" here in lutionary power is not a task of the armed groups, which apparently feel so en- community in the United States where Nicaragua. An economic plan has been forces alone. It is a task that can only be couraged that they even give state- there are co1.mterrevolutionary 'solidar- taken up successfully if it is assumed by our drawn up that calls for meeting the entire people. ments to newspapers announcing their ity' groups." threat of imperialist economic boycott "All the people into the militias!" must be dangerous adventures." The counterrevolutionaries forget, with tight supervision of government the order of the day. In recent days the Sandinistas have Ruiz went on, that "the toilers are expenditures a:od a campaign to boost While thousands of workers and also issued a series of stern warnings becoming more and more conscious. labor productivity. But in the first students are responding to the FSLN's to domestic allies of the counterrevolu- The working class is more closely weeks of 1981 it is defense that has call and J. oining the expanded militia tl"onan·es abroad. united and our political commitment received the greatest emphasis. units, the Nicaraguan bourgeoisie is grows stronger every day. . .. On January 22 Brigade Commander launching complaints against·"milita- "Every day some businessman goes Eden Pastora of the Sandinista Peo- rism" and seeking to downplay the to Miami," Commander Henry Ruiz "If there is intervention, if there is pie's Militias (MPS) announced the threats against the revolution from said January 25. "Every day there is serious counterrevolution, the rules of establishment of six new training cen- abroad. · counterrevolutionary activity. Eco- the game can be changed, leaving the ters in Managua for militia volunteers. In a statement published in the nomic sabotage has begun. There are destiny of this country in the hands of In 1980, Pastora explained, MPS train- January 26 La Prensa, the Social encampments on the northern and the workers alone." ing had mostly involved only physical Christian Party (PSC) blamed Nicara- southern borders that enjoy the sup- From Intercontinental Press exercises and marching drills. "Now gua's economic problems on "exagger­ we are going to provide adequate train- ated emphasis on the military," which ing for defense-firing practice and it said "has led the country to finance courses in military tactics." unproductive expenditures with taxes Greater responsibility for organizing on the workers and growing foreign the militia units will now fall to the indebtedness." mass organizations, Pastora said, The January 17 Miami Herald car­ while the role of the regular army will ried an interview with Jose Francisco be limited to providing instructors. Cardenal, a Superior Council of Pri- ln February, the July 19 Sandinista vate Enterprise (COSEP) leader who Youth (JS-19) will begin signing up left Nicaragua last May. Cardenal said high school students as militia volun- that he and other exiles had formed teers, JS-19 leader Fanor Herrera said the "Nicaraguan Democratic Union" January 23. and were organizing support abroad In a January 27 statement, the San- for an "uprising" in Nicaragua. dinista National Liberation Front Fernando Aguero, long-time leader (FSLN) National Directorate called of Nicaragua's Conservative Party, Longshore union '1 00 percent behind you' special attention to the current cam- appeared on Miami television recently Jim Levitt reports that on January 31 the Seattle Committee in paign to build the militias and linked along with several top Somozaists and Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) organized a march of this task to the new threats emanating . announced plans for an invasion of more than 500 protesting the resumption of u.s. military aid to the from Washington: Nicaragua "to liberate it from Commu­ Salvadoran junta and the murder of the four American missionaries. nism." Our people must be prepared to confront The activity, which was co-sponsored by the International Longshore­ aggressions that are already beginning to In its January 22 article reporting men's and Warehousemen's Union as well as other groups, marched to be carried out in the economic field, such as Jose Francisco Cardenal's statements, the·federal building, where a rally was held. the pause in turning over the rest of the $75 the FSLN daily Barricada warned: "It Rev. William Cate, president of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, million loan. . . . is the responsibility of the U.S. govern- reported that a resolution denouncing the Salvadoran junta's human rights violations and opposing all U.S. aid had been adopted unanim­ ously by the church council. Dick Moork, secretary-treasurer of ILWU Local 19, got the biggest Minn. labor adds muscle response of the day. "The ex-hostages are now being used as political toys," he said, "while the people of El Salvador are truly hostages." to Salvador solidarity Moork explained the ILWU boycott of military and military-related goods to El Salvador. "Our union is 100 percent behind the aims of this crowd in By Jim Kendrick or George Latimer of St. Paul and May­ stopping the shipment of arms to El Salvador," he concluded. MINNEAPOLIS-As the result of a or Don Fraser of Minneapolis also en­ speaking tour of Duluth featuring Pro­ dorsed the El Salvador Solidarity Com­ Martin Gonzalez of Seattle CISPES announced that twenty-four forestry fessor Julio Quan, Fulbright scholar mittee. workers, who could not attend the march because they were working, from Guatemala, key sectors of the Min­ A bill calling on the U.S. government had donated their pay for the day. nesota labor movement have stepped to cut off aid to El Salvador has been in­ forward to defend the Salvadoran revo­ troduced into the State Senate by Sen. Vieques: Navy ordered to stop bombings lution. Allan Spear, who represents the district On February 3 a Boston appeals court ordered the U.S. Navy to cease During the week of Quan's tour, Jan­ around the University of Minnesota using the Puerto Rican island of Vieques for its bombardment practice uary 18-25, the members of United Twin Cities campus. exercises. The court ordered the Navy to seek permission from the Steelworkers of America Local 1938 on On January 20, representatives from Environmental Protection Agency before it can resume its exercises. the Minnesota Iron Range unanimously eighteen religious denominations met to The fishermen of Vieques have conducted a long struggle against the voted to send a telegram to the White form the Minnesota Ecumenical Task Navy to protect the fishing grounds off the coast of Vieques, their sole House protesting resumption of military Force on El Salvador. They voted to send source of livelihood. They have been prevented from fishing off parts of aid to El Salvador. a delegation to the Minneapolis Tribune the coast which have been placed off-limits by the Navy. to protest biased coverage of El Salva­ The Navy has indicated that it will ignore the court order and continue On January 20 Quan addressed the dor. The new task force also plans a bombing runs in the coming weeks. It says the court order is vague. · Minnesota United Auto Workers memorial for slain Salvadoran Archbi­ (UA W) CAP council. The twenty-five shop Romero in March. Carlos Zen6n, president of the Association of Vieques Fishermen, CAP council leaders in attendance, rep­ A highly successful tour by Mario Ve­ replied that they are planning to fish in the "restricted" zone based on the resenting 10,000 auto workers, voted to lasquez, spokesperson of the Revolution­ court order. .. endorse the Twin Cities El Salvador So­ ary Democratic Front (FDR) ofEI Salva­ For information on how you can support the ongoing struggle to get the lidarity Committee. The council also dor, culminated in a meeting of 350 at U.S. Navy out of Vieques, contact the New York Committee in Support of passed resolutions on Guatemala and El the University of Minnesota on January Vieques at 391 East 149th Street, Room 216, Bronx, New York 10455. Salvador. 27. Telephone (212) 292-1136. · United Electrical Workers Local1139 "We don't want another Vietnam in also endorsed the solidarity committee. El Salvador," Velasquez declared. The Milwaukeeans call for U.S. out of El Salvador In addition, the Duluth City Council students gave him a standing ovation Well over 1,000 people attended various activities sponsored by the passed a resolution urging the United and contributed $325 to future solidari­ Coalition to Aid Nicaraguan Democracy (CAND) in support of the States to cut off aid to El Salvador. May- ty work. Salvadoran revolution. The week began with a mass commemorating the martyrs of El Salvador, held in St Patrick's Church in Milwaukee's Latino community. Some 500 people, mostly Latinos, came to the services and 150 people L.A. steelworkers hear stayed afterwards to view a slide presentation on the Salvadoran struggle. More than $200 was collected to help CAND. Throughout the week of solidarity, slide presentations were given at Casa Nicaragua speaker various campuses in the Milwaukee area. The week ended with a spirited By Jerry O'Connell also suffer from poor eyesight as a result rally in downtown Milwaukee at the federal building. Three hundred LOS ANGELES-The president of of bad nutrition. people attended. United Steelworkers Local 6700, Thom­ He explained the success of the pre­ Speakers included longtime peace activist Sidney Lens, State Senator as Collins, invited Denilo Sedeno from vious literacy drive conducted by the Jim Moody, Father Matt Lamb of Marquette University, and others. Casa Nicaragua to address the local's Government of National Reconstruc­ union meeting on January 29. tion, which reduced illiteracy from fifty That same evening 150 people attended a film showing of El Salvador: In response to the national call by the percent to twelve percent. Workers for Revolution or Death. After the film Mario Velasquez, a spokesperson for USWA for all locals to participate in the the first time have the right to belong to the Revolutionary Democratic Front in El Salvador, gave a talk blasting campaign for humanitarian relief for trade unions, he said, and almost the en­ U.S. support to the junta and discussed the state of the struggle in his Nicaragua, Collins authorized the for­ tire work force is organized and has in­ country. mation of a committee in the local to col­ put into the economy. -Nelson Gonzalez lect eyeglasses to be sent to Nicaragua. At the meeting it was reported that In his address to the local Sedeno ex­ three d9zen pairs of eyeglasses had al­ Please send information on activities in your area to Nelsbn plained that the glasses were needed be­ ready been collected. Ten people signed Gonzalez, 14 Charles Lane, New York, New York 10014. cause many of those who are illiterate up to help in the effort.

THE MILITANT/FEBRUARY 27,1981 23 ... Koch Continued from beck page coalition, and to other powerful groups differences" be subordinitel:l to the in the Democratic Party-hopefully task of defeating Koch. Forum someone to run against Koch. in the Some of the speakers placed Koch's Democratic primary. attacks in the context of the overall Oplalea I Analyst• I Co••eatary This means winning the approval of offensive of big business and the gov­ figures like Angelo Del Toro, a former ernment against working people. Ebun member of the Emergency Financial Adelona of the Coalition to Save Syd­ Separate party needed Control Board, which oversees all eco­ enham Hospital explained that the nomic policies in New York City for closing of Sydenham was part of a the banks. At the meeting, he blasted federal policy to reduce the number of Koch for not hiring more cops. hospital beds all over the country and to revitalize labor's An explicit statement of the goals of said that Koch had to be seen as "part the sponsors appeared in the February of the federal and state business com­ 18 Guardian, based on comments by munity." influence in politics Mimi Rosenberg who chaired the speak­ James Haughton of Harlem Fight­ out on behalf of the Black United back, an organization that has fought Front support committee: to end hiring discrimination in the By John E. Powers "Rosenberg indicated that the objec­ skilled construction trades, talked of tive of the campaign would not be the need for a "class perspective on the simply to galvanize the progressive political question." He explained that any commentators have workers - especially those who movement and provide a platform for "Koch is controlled by real estate and M attempted to analyze the are most oppressed. more advanced politics. Rather, she finance capital," and could only be -~~ping of the November The union movement must re­ said, the aim is to win. She put forward defeated by working people "pulling elections for labor. Did main a strong champion of civil these elections represent a sharp the view that even a less-than-radical together for serious battle." rights, continuing to push for qual­ inayor would be preferable to Koch tum to the right by the American jty desegre,ated education through Ray Markey, a delegate to District people? Did they signify a weaken­ busing. It must continue to work since it would ease polarization in the Council 37, said, "I'm for getting rid of ing of. the labor movement? Why for ratification of the Equal Rights city and facilitate further organizing Koch. But Koch followed in the foot­ were so many labor-endorsed Amendment. Affirmative action on other levels." steps · of Mayor Abraham Beame, candidates defeated? programs must be continued and "We're looking for somebody who another leading Democrat who carried In his "Nov. 24 Forum article, strengthened. A period of economic can attract money backers," she was out the same policy." He called for a Francls'•J. Smith began to address downturn must not be allowed to quoted as saying. some of • tlieee- questions. He ex­ wipe out the gains previously won break with the capitalist parties, and plained lrow"lfome "sa

Him and Adolph-"! love the Jew­ and Gwaltney's chicken bo­ federal law judge has just ruled that it ish people deeply. God has given them logna.. . ?" can raise its profit margin from 10 talents he has not given others. They percent to 10.87 percent, which will are his chosen people. Jews have a Rent-a-pig prospers-The Pin­ mean a new round of increases. Mean­ God-given ability to make money, al­ kerton agency now employs 36,000 while, the company reported 1980 most a supernatural ability to make people, 20 percent more than a decade "earnings" at $6.08 billion, the highest money .... They control the media, . ago. Security, a company official ex- ever for any American corporation . they control this city.'!-Rev. Dan plained, is a recession-proof industry, Fore, New York chairman, "Moral Ma­ because fraud and theft tend to in­ Where the bull is-Reagan has jority." crease with hard times. designated his California ranch as the Western White House. As confirmed by taste tests­ Hard-times dep't-Federal Judge Reporting on corporate inroads in the William Mulligan is quitting his job Thought for the week-"I think food industry, the New York Times because he can't get by on $70,900 a it's a modern-day miracle that we have Paine, PAl inquires: "How many Americans know year. food at the prices we do now, though I 'I wouldn't ask for time off, Mr. Dixby, but ... that a conglomerate, International know it doesn't seem that way to those I prefer not to have my baby born in cap­ Telephone and Telegraph, turns out Making do-AT&T obtained $1.4 who buy it."-Agriculture secretary tivity.' Wonder Bread, Hostess Twinkies . . . billion in rate hikes last year. And a John Block. By Any·Means Necessary 'Ben Vereen, how could you?' Osborne Hart There he stood, on national television in front of There's not much more I can say that hasn't been long time and the movement's been preaching­ President Ronald Reagan, face painted black and said about Vereen's debacle. that's ~hat 'power to the people' was about," lips white. There was, however, another sort of minstrel Williams said. "When Reagan talks about states' Ben Vereen, the Black actor who gained promi­ show for Reagan that didn't receive as much ado, rights, he's not talking about George Wallace stand­ nence as "Chicken George" in the TV production of but warrants comment. ing in the school-house door. He's talking about Alex Haley's novel "Roots," performed a minstrel Two weeks later, veteran civil rights leaders Rev. getting government back at the level of the people." routine for the Inaugural Gala. As Vereen danced Ralph Abernathy and Hosea Williams went to the The reactions of Williams and Abernathy demon­ and clowned, Nancy and Ronnie laughed away. White House to meet with the president, as the New strate the general dilemma that Black politicians Apparently, Vereen didn't learn much from York Times put it, "to assert their loyalty to the new find themselves in-consciously or unconsciously. If "Roots." President." Just as Vereen did. they maintain their allegiance to capitalist poli­ The outrage and disgust from the Black commun­ They talked about the new administration's poli­ tics-whether it's the Dems or Reps..,-they are ity came immediately. And m~jor media response cies on civil rights and social programs. What forced to compromise the interests, needs, and was apprehensive-at best. Reagan had to say didn't seem to faze them. Both aspirations of Black people. Time magazine called it "dubious." endorsed Reagan's election. That's why some Black leaders have decided to The Amsterdam News, in an article entitled "Ben The reaction of Williams and Abernathy to the get out of this trap and form an independent party. Vereen, how could you?" printed comments from meeting was disturbing. The founding of the National Black Independent their callers. One woman remarked, "What was he Now, remember, Reagan opposed the 1964 Civil Political Party some months ago is offering Blacks trying to do, put us back in slavery?" Rights Act and is a proponent of "states' rights"­ an alternative to defend the hard won gains of the The New Jersey Afro-American's editorial ex­ the cry of Southern racists during the civil rights past and assert our aspirations. plained, "What is being said about his black-faced, movement. It's an expression of the sentiment-like those white-lipped act on the inaugural gala produced by Williams and Abernathy were leaders of a move­ irate brothers and sisters who denounced Vereen's Frank Sinatra can't be printed here. Radio talk ment in which people struggled, and even died, over act-that we're tired of the minstrel show for the show hosts have had trouble keeping the blistering these very issues. two capitalist parties. There will be no more danc­ comments out of the bleeping range." "I have been preaching this states' rights for a ing and clowning routines. What•s Going On

CALIFORNIA MARYLAND MINNESOTA NEW YORK SAN DIEGO BALTIMORE IRON RANGE MANHATTAN CENTRAL AMERICA: THE NEXT VIETNAM? REAGAN: HOW MUCH WILL HE GET AWAY NO DRAFT! NO WAR I A Speak-out· Against Draft Speakers: Marjorie Rendon, official representative WITH AND HOW CAN WE STOP HIM? Speakers: 'SONG OF THE CANARY.' Dangers of the Ameri­ Registration and Reagan's War Drive in Central of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN); Less Bayless, secretary-treasurer, 1199E; Ken Mor­ can Workplace. Pesticide Poisons and Brown lung. America. Speakers to be announced. Fri., Feb. 27, Antigona Martinez, Salvadoran Refugee Defense gan, National Black Independent Political Party; Speaker: Dave Salner, United Steelworkers Local 7:30 p.m. 108 E. . 16th St., 2nd floor. Donation: $2. Committee. Fri., Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m. 1053 15th St. Mona Nasoosi, Socialist Workers Party. Fri., Feb. 6860 and Socialist Workers Party. Fri. , Feb. 27 , 7:30 Ausp: Young Socialist Alliance, Militant Forum. For Traducci6n al espai'lol. Donation: $1.50. Ausp: 27, 7:30 p.m. 2913 Greenmount Ave. Donation: $2. p.m. Solidarity Bookstore, 1012 Second Ave. S. , more information call (212) 260-6400. Militant and Perspectiva Mundial. For more infor­ Ausp: Militant Forum. For more information call Virginia. Donation: $1.50. Ausp: Solidarity Book­ mation call (714) 234-4630. (301) 235-0013. store. For more information call (218) 749-6327. OREGON PORTLAND REPORT BACK FROM NATIONAL ANTIDRAFT CONFERENCE: Speaker: Jackie Robey, Young Put gov't spying on trial! Socialist Alliance. Sun., March 1, 7:30 p.m. 711 NW Everett. Donation: $1. Ausp: Militant Forum. For COLORADO MICHIGAN PENNSYLVANIA more information call (503) 222-7225. DENVER DETROIT PHILADELPHIA RALLY: PUT THE GOVERNMENT ON TRIAL! SECRET POLICE ON TRIAL. Socialists vs. FRAME-UP! FROM THE MOLLY MCGUIRES TEXAS Socialists sue FBI , INS, CIA spies. Speakers: FBI, CIA, INS. Rally to support Socialist Workers TO THE FBI'S COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PRO­ DALLAS Jack Barnes, national secretary, Socialist Work­ Party lawsuit. Speakers: Maceo Dixon, SWP GRAM. Speakers: Philip Foner, noted historian National Committee; Howard Simon, American of Black and labor movement; Andree Kahlmor­ CLASSES EN ESPANOL. Classes on Latin Amer­ ers Party; Kika Martinez, Chicano lawyer facing ica taught in Spanish. Every Sunday, 2 p.m. 5442 E. frame-up; Silvia Zapata, chairperson, Denver Civil Liberties Union; Joe Madison, Detroit gan, fired Lockheed worker, member Interna­ NAACP; Maryann Mahaffey, Detroit City Coun­ tional Association of Machinists Lodge 709. Fri. , Grand. Ausp: Young Socialist Alliance. For more Young Socialist Alliance; Martha Remple, information call (214) 826-4711. member, El Frente Unido por Derechos Hums­ cil; Tom Olechowski, Poletown Neighborhood Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m. United Electrical Hall, 5700 N. nos in Pueblo. Sat., Feb. 28, Washington Park Council; Russ Bellant, Detroit Committee Broad St. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Community Center, 809 S. Washington. For Against Registration and the Draft. Sun., March Forum. For more information call (215) 927-4747. more information call (303) 534-8954. 1, 3 p.m. Cobo Hall, Room 3045. Ausp: SWP. For WASHINGTON more information call (313) 875-5322. SEATTLE GEORGIA WEST VIRGINIA MARX AND ENGELS ON REVOLUTIONARY POTENTIAL OF THE WORKING CLASS. Two ATLANTA MORGANTOWN classes. Speaker: Margaret Jayko, Young Socialist SOUTHERN RALLY FOR POLITICAL OHIO AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO All: Alliance. Sat., Feb. 28, 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. 4868 A RALLY FOR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS. Speak­ RIGHTS. Speakers: Andrew Pulley, trial witness CLEVELAND Rainier Ave. S. Donation: $1 per class; $1.50 for in Socialist Workers Party lawsuit against the ers: Kathryn Crowder, national organizational both. 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Speakers: Hector Mar­ tin, member, United Mine Workers Local 2095 723-5330. fired by Lockheed; Leamon Hood, international roquin, Young Socialist Alliance National Com­ and YSA; Carlos Sanchez, member, Pittsburgh union area director for American Federation of mittee; Lynda Joyce, Socialist Workers Party Nicaragua Solidarity Committee; Robert Bas­ WEST VIRGINIA State, County and Municipal Employees; Leslie candidate for mayor of Cleveland; Darryl Tukufu, tress, Morgantown attorney; Franklin Cleckey, Withers, staff for Clergy and Laity Concerned; chair, Akron chapter, National Black Independ­ civil rights attorney; Trudy Herod, executive MORGANTOWN Betsy Soares, SWP candidate for mayor of Win­ ent Political Party; Dave Hoover, Cleveland director, Morgantown American Civil Liberties SOCIALIST EDUCATIONAL WEEKEND. Noon: ston-Salem, North Carolina. Sat., Feb. 28, recep- . Committee Against Registration and the Draft. Union. Sat., Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m. 957 University Margaret Jayko, "Rise of Trade Unions in the U.S." lion 6:30 p.m., rally 7:30 p.m. 50~ Peachtree St., Sat. , Feb. 28, 8 p.m.; party to follow. 2230 Ave. Donation: $1 . Ausp: YSA and Socialist 3:30 p.m.: Peter Rotherham, "Marx and Engels on N.E. Donation: $1 .50. Ausp: SWP. For more Superior Ave. Donation: $3. Ausp: SWP and YSA. Workers Party. For more information call the Labor Party," Sun., March 1, 957 University Ave. information call (404) 872.7229. For more information call (216) 579-9369. (304)296-0055. Donation: $2 for both classes. Ausp: Young Social­ ist Alliance, Socialist Workers Party. For more information call (304) 296-0055.

THE MILITANT/FEBRUARY 27, 1981 25 'Crisis at Central Hi SCENE: Little Rock, Arkansas. Guns slung High" elects not to tell. What it does tell, in the over their shoulders, soldiers of the 101st Air­ words of Central High vice principal Elizabeth borne escort nine Black students up the front Huckaby (played by Joanne Woodward), is "what walk of all-white Central High School. They are happened, not why." there to enforce a court-ordered desegregation At that, it's a pretty narrow look at "what plan. It's the law. happened," through the eyes of Huckaby and the That was in 1957. other school administrators; that is, through the SCENE: Alexandria, Louisiana. Armed state eyes of those who played probably the least troopers escort three white students through the significant role in the whole thing, Woodward front door of all-white Buckeye High School. and the others simply go with the relationship of They are there in defiance of a court-ordered forces, dutifully admitting or evacuating Black desegregation plan. Screw the law. students depending on who happens to be That was last month. camped out front that day. Ike's troops, the kids So if "Crisis at Central High," a recent TV stay; white mob, they go. _ movie dealing with the Little Rock events, was The most any of them can offer is "I guess now good for nothing else, it was at least around _to it's up to the president," and we already know what he was up to. To its credit, the film doesn't try to inflate these administrators much beyond that. They dispatch what they think is evenhanded justice in the hallways, refer to their job as "keeping a lid on," and are heard often to "wish things away the first time, wpat these students ex­ were normal again." To that extent, then, "Cri­ pressed could hardly be called resignation: remind us of how far we haven't come in twenty­ sis" is probably a fair view of reasonably decent "I'm no quitter. I'll be back.'' (Ernest Green, four years. The laws are still on the books; the people doing the best they can under circumstan­ fifteen) government just doesn't 'enforce them. ces they do not altogether understand. "I'm not going to back down-Governor Fau­ Not that they jumped at the chance in Still, there is no getting around the fact that bus is." (Carlotta Walls, fourteen) 1957. ' .. this self-imposed tunnel vision allows the film to These were, in short, not just children. They Little Rock was probably the first major test of neatly sidestep every big question that was-and were the children of a great social movement, a the rising civil rights movement. Coming after really still is-up for grabs. Save for an infre­ movement "Crisis at Central High" more or less the Montgomery bus boycott, it was the first quent blip on the radio, or an occasional aside to ignores. which demanded federal intervention to uphold the effect that "the world is watching," it is Ultimately, though, the film's greatest impact the law. simply impossible to tell from "Crisis" what may come from what it could not ignore: the ugly Flaunting a court order to desegregate, Gov. those nine Black students are doing at Central resistance of some white parents who gathered Orval Faubus dispatched the Arkansas National High in the first place, and what anybody else is each morning to hurl epithets at the nine Blacks, Guard to turn away the nine Blacks at Central doing about it. ' The scenes are vile, at times violent, and "Crisis" High. Being in possession of all the guns, the Equally bad, the film casts the nine Black does them well. Guard managed this. students -in the role of resigned observers. It is You can't watch this sort of thing without President Eisenhower, himself no stranger to fully halfway through the movie before one of being reminded that, today, federal officials moving troops on a map, nonetheless temporized them, Ernest Green (played by Calvin Levels), shout themselves hoarse in opposition to busing for over three weeks, desperately seeking a deal even gets in a line of dialogue. In fact, the only or bilingual programs or any other practical with Faubus that would bury the matter. "I one shown doing anything other than what means of implementing equal education. And recognize the inescapable responsibility resting Huckapy and the rest tell her to do is Minniejean that today's mobs gather in the knowledge that upon the governor to preserve law and order," Brown (Regina Taylor), and she is· eventually- the President and all forces of government stand and "You cannot change people's hearts merely . mysteriously, the film would have it-expelled behind them. by laws," were two of his more compelling for "verbal retaliation after provocation." Maybe all "Crisis" suggests is that-whether observations at the time. (This is, by the way, one of the few instances of their press handouts say "states' rights" in Only when what UPI called a "wave of anti­ outright whitewash in "Crisis.'' Principal J.W. Arkansas, or "quality education" in Boston, or American sentiment that swept the world" Matthews, here portrayed sympathetically by "neighborhood schools" in Alexandria, Louisi­ threatened to break upon him, did Eisenhower Charles Durning, professes dismay at the expul­ ana-one foul-mouthed mob is just like another. federalize the 101st Airborne in Kentucky and sion. In fact, Matthews helped formulate the If so, it is at least a step toward calling all these march them into Little Rock. charges against Brown.) things by their right name, which in this case All of which is the story "Crisis at Central It's worth recalling that, after being turned happens to be racism. -Steve Bride

Our Revolutionary Heritage The day Russian women sparked a revolution March 8 was declared International Women's February 1917 textile_strike in his History of the no one-we can assert this categorically upon th( Day in 1910 to honor the battle waged by women in Russian Revolution. Below are excerpts. basis of all the data-then thought that February the United States for their right to vote. The 23rd of February was International Woman's 23 was to mark the beginning of a decisive drive · By then March 8 already had ahistory as a day Day. The social-democratic circles had intended to against absolutism. The talk was of a demonstra- of struggle for wo_men's rights. On that date in mark this day in a general manner: by meetings, tion which had indefinite, but in any case limited, 1857, for example, women workers in the needle speeches, leaflets. It had not occurred to anyone perspectives. trades marched in the Lower East Side of New York that it might become the first day of the revolution, Thus the fact is that the February revolution was to demand better working conditions. Not a single organization called for strikes on begun from below, overcoming the resistance of its On March 8, 1908, women garment workers that day. What is more, even a Bolshevik organiza- own revolutionary organizations, the initiative be- marched in New York City for the right to vote, for tion, and a most militant one-the Vyborg borough- ing taken of their own accord by the most oppressed the eight-hour day, and for an end to child labor. committee, all workers-was opposing strikes. and downtrodden part of the proletariat-the Following this militant tradition, both the Bol- The temper of the masses, according to Kayurov, women textile workers, among them no doubt many shevik and Menshevik parties in Czarist Russia one of the leaders in the workers' district, was very soldiers' wives. called International Women's Day meetings in 1913 tense; any strike would threaten to turn into an The overgrown bread-lines had provided the last and 1914. The meetings were held in defiance of the open fight. But since the committee thought the stimulus. About 90,000 workers, men and women, czar's ban on all protests against the government, time unripe for militant action-the party not were on strike that day. The fighting mood ex- These actions also laid the basis for a great strong enough and the workers· having too few pressed itself in demonstrations, meetings, encoun- historic battle. In the midst of World War I, Russian contacts with the soldiers-they decided not to call ters with the police. women textile workers in Petrograd called a strike for strikes but to prepare for revolutionary action at The movement began in the Vyborg district with for International Women's Day. On March 8, 1917 some indefinite time in the future. Such was the its large industrial establishments; thence it crossed (February 23 by the old Russian calendar), tens of course followed by the committee on the eve of the over to the Petersburg side. thousands of women poured into the streets. Their 23rd of February, and everyone seemed to accept it. There were no strikes or demonstrations else- d~mands were "Bread for our children," "Return On the following morning, however, in spite of all where, according to the testimony of the secret our husbands from the trenches." directives, the women textile workers in several police. On that day detachments of troops were The strike marked the start of the February factories went on strike, and .sent delegates to the called in to assist the police-evidently not many of Revolution. After four more days of street battles metal workers with an appeal for support. . . . them- but there were no encounters with them. between the workers and the czarist troops, the It was taken for granted that in case of a demon- A mass of women, not all of them workers, monarchy was overthrown. stration the soldiers would be brought out into the flocked to the municipal duma [parliament] de- The leading role of women in sparking the revolu- streets against the workers. What would that lead manding bread. It was like demanding milk from a tion brought inspiration to their sisters the world to? This was war time; the authorities were in no he-goat. over. Women in the United States, demanding that mood for joking. On the other hand, a "reserve" Red banners appeared in different parts of the President Woodrow Wilson grant suffrage, marched soldier in war time is nothing like an old soldier of city, and inscriptions on them showed that the in front of the White House in 1917, carrying signs the regular army. Is he really so formidable? workers wanted bread, but neither autocracy nor contrasting "Free Russia" with "Kaiser Wilson." In revolutionary circles they had discussed this war. Woman's Day passed successfully, with enthu- Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky describes the much, but rather a~stractl y. For no one, positively siasm and without victims,

26 Letters

'Cosmos' Martin Luther King's birthday Impartial press? I just finished reading Stu as a holiday, the vigil was For those Militant readers Singer's article "In defense of directed at closing the South retaining a lingering 'Cosmos.'" I applaud the African consulate, which was confidence in the role of the Militant for printing this unable to find office space in "free press" in this country, article. the city of Los Angeles for two recent news items ·should Carl Sagan is currently the political reasons. help clarify matters. number one popularizer of The sponsors of the event Leslie Gelb started his career scientific ideas. More power to were the Gathering, a group of at the Defense Department, him. I also find him to be very Los Angeles-area Black where he directed the Vietnam political. His politics are ministers, the Southern task force that wrote the shaped by his understanding Christian Leadership Council Pentagon Papers. From there, of the universe and the origin (West), and the Southern he went on to become a of life. California Alliance for diplomatic correspondent for He is horrified at how the Survival, which is fighting to the New York Times. capitalists' greed for profits is end nuclear weapons and In 1977 he left the Times to IJ,, I . /II I .~I .I allowed to destroy the delicate power plants, and to fund become director of the State ecological balance on the earth. human needs. Department's Bureau of In the "Cosmos" series The evening television news Politico-Military Affairs. Sagan confronts the rulers of coverage had one station's Last week, Gelb rejoined the estimate of the turnout as the world with· the complete Times. Many cell blocks are locked "You couldn't get a nicer group 1,000. By the following insanity of the arms race. Richard Burt has been down. Without outside support of folks together. They were the morning the Los Angeles It makes me very happy to working as a correspondent for the rest of Lucasville will be nicest people I ever hope to Times had shrunk the figure to know that so many people the New York Times. This locked down· too. meet." 350. watched "Cosmos." It week, Burt left the Times to We need to speak out about This article gives us a Jim Odling demonstrates the thirst for become-you guessed it­ the bad condition of the food, glimpse of how this "close-knit Los Angeles, California scientific knowledge that director of the State which is cold most of the time. family," which evidently exists. Department's Bureau of And there is a need for legal extended beyond the jury itself I also support Sagan's Politico-Military Affairs. defense for the brothers who to include both court officials critical attitude toward Steve Patt are here on frame-up charges and defense attorneys, religion. Religion will not Gillette, New Jersey or who have rebelled. dispensed "justice" to six disappear from this planet Widespread outrage There is still a very young racists who gunned down anti­ until we have solved the major An indication of the level of administration here at Klan demonstrators while TV social problems humanity outrage at the government's Lucasville, but the games they cameras rolled. faces. decision to resume military aid are using here are very, very Steve Craine But in the meantime it is the to the El Salvadoran junta was Colorado subscriber old. Divide and conquer. North Carolina duty of revolutionary socialists the letters to the editor column I read your newspaper at a Also, the KKK is out and out to join with atheists, in the January 23 Los Angeles rally for Francisco Kiko attacking the handful of philosophical materialists, and Times. Six letters on the Martinez in Pueblo, Colorado, brothers here who do get out of other scientific thinkers in a subject were printed-every de Aztlan and thoroughly solitary confinement. continuing battle against the one in angry opposition to that enjoyed it. Prisoners Bum Steer backward and dogmatic ideas decision. I would like a ten week Lucasville Prison, Ohio I recently watched a program of religion. Readers of the Militant subscription of your on public (PBS) TV called In closing, I would like to might be interested newspaper. Enclosed is my "Wall Street Review." The mention one of my favorite particularly in one of them­ subscription fee of $2.50. consensus of the gathered lines from the series. Sagan from Ed Asner, star of "Lou B.G. "experts" was that the year stated quite emphatically for Grant" and a consistent Pueblo, Colorado 1981 would be a "bullish" one all adherents of a religious supporter of the SWP and Jury of peers? for investors-read capitalists view of life to hear, "Biological YSA's lawsuit against the A revealing footnote to the and big businessmen-on the evolution is not a theory, it is a government. racist acquittal of six Nazi and various North American stock fact!" Asner wrote, "The United Ku Klux Klan murderers last markets. Stephen Thomas States is resuming shipments November appeared in the Bully for them! For the rest Minneapolis, Minnesota of arms to El Salvador on the Letter from Lucasville Greensboro Record on January of us workers, both employed grounds that the rebels are We the oppressed minorities 29. and unemployed, 1981 will be a being armed by 'Marxist' here at Lucasville An article describing how the bum steer. And so it will sources. May I suggest the Concentration Camp have, 16 jurors and alternates always be until capitalism is following: Let the United with a lot of uncertainity and became "a close-knit family" finally consigned to the dust King's Birthday States arm the rebels, thereby apprehension, agreed it is now during the 15-week trial bin of history. A very successful event removing the influence of the best time to try and reach included the fact that most R.H. Prinsep around Martin Luther King's 'Marxist' arms. Thus would a out to our Brothers and Sisters. jurors attended a Christmas Vancouver, British Columbia birthday was missed by the blow be struck for human We need mutual party at the home of Bailiff Militant. On the evening of rights and we would find the communication of opinions Henry Burke. Also attending January 17 almost 2,000 people United States (in one of those and views, and support. the party were three of the marched in a candle-light vigil rare moments) sharing in the A handful of us are being Klanners' defense attorneys. The letters column is an open outside the South African revolutionary and evolutionary kept locked up in control cells. The DA said he was not forum for all viewpoints on consulate in Beverly Hills. The process in Latin America and The guards-whose word is invited, but probably would not subjects of general interest to sidewalks were filled with the turning its back on a repressive law as far as it goes in the have attended even if he had our readers. Please keep your lines of marchers wrapping regime which by all counts courtroom-are persisting in been. letters brief. Where necessary around both ends of each executed a minimum of 9,000 of frame-up lies here. The One juror told the Record, they will be abridged. Please block. The vigil was about half its citizens last year." majority here are locked up in "the Christmas party was fun. indicate if you prefer that your Black and largely young. Sherry Smith administrative control, which It was like seeing your family initials be used rather than In addition to demanding Tarzana, California is really solitary confinement. again." Another explained, your full name.

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THE MILITANT/FEBRUARY 27, 1981 27 THE MILITANT 'Dump Koch' meeting: no answer to ·racist mayor By Susan Wald They want to reverse the decline in NEW YORK CITY -About 350 people living standards and put human needs turned out here February 8 for a meet­ ahead of the banks' needs. The turnout ing to discuss ousting incumbent February 8 was a partial reflection of Mayor Edward Koch in the upcoming that sentiment. election. Initiated by the Metropolitan Organizations participating included Area Black United Front and white the Coalition to Save Sydenham, Har­ supporters organized in the Black Uni­ lem Fightback, Mobilization for Survi­ ted Front support committee, the meet­ val, Coalition in Defense of Puerto ing called for "Democrats, liberals, Rican and Hispanic Rights, and the progressives, independents, union and National Organization for Womeri. community activists, Blacks, Hispan­ Political currents represented in­ ics, Asians, whites" to begin the pro­ cluded the Citizens Party; the Demo­ cess of seeking a candidate. cratic Socialist Organizing Committee; Koch is hated throughout the city for the Communist Party; the New Al­ his anti-working-class and racist poli­ liance Party; the Liberal Party, one of cies-and for his arrogance and con­ New York State's four long-established tempt toward Blacks, Puerto Ricans, capitalist parties; Democratic office­ and other working people. holders who oppose Koch; and long­ The quality of life has been decaying time participants in reform politics in for most New York City residents since the Democratic Party. the mid-1970s as wave after wave of By the time open discussion began layoffs and cutbacks in public services after fifteen scheduled speakers, it was hit. The pace of decline has quickened clear that the organizers of the meet­ since Koch took office. ing were not seeking a working-class alternative to Koch that would break / Firefighting and sanitation services sit workers last year and later called in space of one week in separate incidents with the capitalist parties. have been sharply reduced; the subway cops to evict hospital workers and here recently. fare has been hiked while mass transit community residents protesting the At the same time Koch-like his The idea is to find a liberal capitalist deteriorated to the lowest point in sev­ shutdown of Sydenham Hospital in predecessors-helps the banks loot the candidate who would offer a "strong enty-five years; and schools and hospi­ Harlem. city treasury. electoral hope" (as a leaflet put it). A tals are being closed down for "lack of He is pushing for the death penalty Hundreds of thousands of working search has been initiated for a candi­ funds." - and backing up killer cops who shot people are eager for an alternative to date acceptable to all forces in the Koch spewed hatred at striking tran- three innocent youth to death in the Koch. Continued on page 24 What's wrong with Cover-up for killer-cop Calif. 'anti-Klan' bill? hit in San Antonio By Tony Thomas local and federal-is controlled by the By Steve Marshall ahora," (Justice, now), and, "Jail the OAKLAND-Republican State At­ capitalist class through the Republican SAN ANTONIO-James Cammack killer-cop." torney General George Deukmejian and Democratic parties. Capitalism is back on the streets of San Antonio, Sponsored by LULAC and the GI and Democratic State Senator Diane breeds and needs racism to add to the and Chicanos and Blacks here want Forum, the march included a number Watson of Los Angeles are pushing for profits of big business and to divide the killer-cop jailed before he claims of Mexican-American Democrats, the a new law they claim will help stop working people. another victim. Labor Committee for Latin American racist violence. The government is one of the main In 1968 Cammack beat a Black Advancement, International Union of This law was drafted by the Califor­ weapons used to maintain patterns of youth to death in this city's east side. Electrical Workers, Organizations Uni­ nia Association of Black Lawyers. The racism-through violence-prone racist Several years later he reportedly used ted for East Side Development, and February 7 issue of the People's World, groups like the police, state troopers, a machine gun to kill a burglary sus­ Socialist Workers Party. the Communist Party's West Coast and the FBI. pect. Civil rights attorney Ruben Sando­ weekly, hailed the bill as "a new at­ Rather than trying to stop racists Then on Christmas Day 1980 Cam­ val and investigator Augustine Mara tempt to erect legal curbs on the Ku like the Klan and the Nazis, the gov­ mack cornered another burglary sus­ are representing the Santescoy family, Klux Klan and Nazi parties." A Janu­ ernment does what it can to protect pect under a house. Cammack shot which lives in Piedras Negras, Mexico. ary 31 editorial called for "a full-scale them. Hector Santescoy, an undocumented Sp.eaking at a January 20 Militant campaign to assure [its] passage." That was the story in Greensboro, Mexican worker, five times. Forum, Mata presented photographs Zakiya Somburu, the Socialist Work­ North Carolina, where the Klan-Nazi A police · cover-up of the murder be- . disproving Cammack's story. ers Party candidate for Mayor of Oak­ murderers of five antiracist demonstra­ gan immediately. Cammack claimed "Santescoy, crouched under a floor land, differs. She told the Militant: tors went free. that Santescoy had threatened him eighteen inches high, could not pose a "This law is a threat, not to racists If Attorney General Deukmejian with a "brick." The cops instantly threat to a cop." Witnesses add that like the Klan and the Nazis, but to were concerned about racist violence, produced a witness with a signed state­ there were no bricks under the house. Blacks, women, youth, and other work­ he could have sent in state troopers to ment to that effect. Santescoy's clothes show powder ing people. It is a diversion from the protect Black families who were under But Pablo Hernandez, the witness, bums, indicating that he was shot at real fight we need against the racist attack from the Klan in Contra Costa says that cops browbeat him into close range. On February 7 a second terrorists in this state." County. That would not have taken signing an English-language state­ autopsy was performed by two doctors, According to Diane Watson, this bill any new laws, just the enforcement of ment, which he didn't- understand and one from Mexico and the other from would make it illegal "for any group to existing laws guaranteeing Black doesn't agree with. McAllen, Texas. exist in this state if it can be shown in rights. That is supposedly the attorney Protests were lodged with the city Their finding: Santescoy was on his a court of law that such group know­ general's job. council by the NAACP, League of knees, his arms at his sides, when he ingly and willfully advocates, teaches, The only time cops protect Black United Latin American Citizens was shot. or encourages the commission of acts people against racist scum is when (LULAC), the Santescoy family, and Tony Prince, the Socialist Workers of violence or force." working people protest against their the Mexican government. Party candidate for mayor, and his Local cops, the state government, complicity. There were no arrests of On January 29 a grand jury voted campaign supporters have been ac­ and "citizens" would be able to get Klansmen in Contra Costa County not to indict Cammack. Of the nine­ tively supporting the movement court orders to ban "such groups." until Black community groups, unions teen witnesses heard, fifteen were po­ against the coverup. His main oppo­ Deukmejian told the press that police and youth protested. licemen. During the grand jury hear­ nent, City Councilman Henry Cisne­ infiltration of political groups would be Thinking that the proposed law will ings, the county prosecutor remarked ros, expressed confidence in the police needed to "prove" which ones are stop the Klan would only draw Black that "Cammack could have shot him "investigation" of the killing. "violence prone." people and trade unionists away from once, or could have shot him fifty , LULAC, the GI Forum, City Council­ Those who think this bill will be mobilizing massively against the times. He would have been justified in man Bernardo Eureste, and the Social­ used mainly against the Klan and the Klan. either case." ist Workers Party have called a demon­ Nazis "don't understand what the The law will give the government a On January 31, February 6, and stration for February 21 assembling at California government is all about," new weapon to use against antiracist, agai~ on February 14, more than 250 11:30 a.m. at the Alamo; and for Febru­ Somburu declared. socialist, labor, and other organiza­ people marched from the Alamo to the ary 28, assembling at 11:30 a.m. at Every level of government-state, Contlnued on page 24 county courthouse chanting: "Justicia, Hamilton and El Paso streets.