$2.00 LITICS A Socialist Magazine of News and Political Analysis Number 6 Spring 1994

SOUTH AFRICA'S HISTORIC ELECTIONS: A VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY

INSIDE: t SINGLE PAYER HEALTH INSURANCE t CHIAPAS REBELLION t FOCUS ON ISRAEL AND PALESTINE ▼ THE WORLD AFTER STALINISM CONTENTS

Is Single Payer Health Insurance Socialized Medicine? South Africa: The Dawn of Freedom By Alan Hanger...... 3 By Caroline Lund...... 14

Anti-P oor Campaign in New York City Subways W e Have W on The Right to Vote By Kurt T. Hill...... 4 ANC Election Manifesto...... 15

Class Warfare in Decatur, Illinois WOSA Calls For a Mass Workers’ Party By Caroline Lund...... 5 By Malik Miah...... 20

Handshake Fails to Bring Peace The Brotherhood of Lies By Malik Miah...... 6 By Caroline Lund...... 21

Water and Occupation LINKS By Nancy Brown...... 8 International Journal of Socialist Revewal...... 24

Israel: Land-G rab M ania The World After Stalinism ByDaliaHabash...... 9 By Barry Sheppard...... 25

Economy of Autonomy Russian Confederation of Anarcho-S yndicalists Interview with Majed Sbeih...... 11 Interview, Part II...... 28

Behind the Chiapas Rebellion The Refounding of Russian Labor Review Zapatista Speech and Interview...... 12 By Renfrey Clarke...... 30 Why Things Burn COVER: A voter education play is performed for township residents outside Pretoria, Theatre Review by Rich Lesnik...... 32 South Africa. Photographer: Gisdle Wulfsohn/lmpact Visuals

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INDEPENDENT POLITICS 2 Spring 1994 Is Single Payer Health Insurance Some theoreti­ On April 27 more than Socialized Medicine? cians on the right say 1 million signatures that even the fire were turned in to systems should be county registrar of By ALAN HANGER privatized because voters across the state “the market is in­ of California to place an initiative on the Additional millions would lose postal herently more efficient.” This could lead November ballot to install a Canadian-style delivery because they could not pay for to a scenario where a fire in one building single payer health care system in the state. delivery, like the 39 million citizens who is left to spread to a larger area because of The 1,064,000 signatures collected repre­ are unable to pay for health care today. unpaid private fire company fees. sented 57 percent more than needed to qualify. While the comparison of single payer This scenario is similar to the current The fight begins now to win the vote—Edi­ with the Postal Service is a demagogic spread of TB, beginning with people who tor. attempt to play on the proverbial errors cannot afford medical treatment, which of the Postal Service, a single payer sys­ is due to underfunded public health pro­ n California, and nationally, the tem is not even as socialized as the U.S. grams. If you ca n ’t pay, you get no treat­ movement to eliminate insurance mail. Single payer is not socialized medi­ ment. company profits and to control costs cine, but socialized insurance. I Socialized medicine in medical care has been attacked from The fire-fighting system in most com­ the right as being socialized medicine, and munities is more socialized because fire The single payer system is not social­ from the left as not being socialized fighters are government employees. ized medicine. Socialized medicine would medicine. Is government sponsored single Doctors and medical workers, on t he other provide free universal health care for all payer health insurance socialized medi­ hand, would work for themselves or pri­ Americans regardless of employment, cine? If not, why should it be supported vate companies rather than for the gov­ nationality, race, sex or citizenship. Health by progressives and workers? ernment. Payroll taxes on employers in care would be treated as a right, not a the health system are analogous to prop­ privilege. The system would be based on The Postal Service argument erty taxes that are paid for fire districts. Continued on Page 5 Republicans such as Robert Dole and Newt Gingrich, and Democrats Jim Coo­ THE UNINSURED IN CALIFORNIA per and John Breauz charge that single Percent of residents under 65 who have no private health insurance, Medl-Cal or Medicare. payer is socialized medicine that will lead The uninsured Category Pet. Category Pet. to faceless bureaucrats running health care, in California counties All residents 22.5% Work status of adults and that situation will deteriorate— like Age Full-time employees 18.5% in the former Soviet Union. Their favor­ Under 18 19.3% Other work 37.5% ite argument against single payer is: if you 18 to 64 24% Nonworkers 28.1% like the U.S. Postal Service, y ou ’ll like single payer. This is their defense of a health Family income, ageo 18 to 64 Sacramento- system that abandons tens of millions of Yolo-EI Dorado Below poverty level j Placer-San 100 to 199 percent Americans because it is not profitable to Joaquin-Stanislaus of poverty level cover everyone. counties: 15.6* 200 to 299 percent of poverty level The major problem with the Postal 300+ percent 111.3% of poverty level Service is the fact that workers and con­ San Francisco- sumers d o n ’t run the Postal System. Al­ San Mateo- most all the profitable package business Marin-Alameda- - Fresno- Race/ettmldty Contra Costa ✓ Kem is left to private companies such as UPS counties: 15.2% .counties: Latino | \ 2 1 % African | Santa' 20.r and Federal Express. Clara American 1 If the Postal Service were privatized, as County: Aslan | 19.3'b 14.6% right wing ideologues demand, the postal White 1 \ S 15EPEK service would get worse, not unlike the U.S. health care system. Rural areas would Santa Barbara- Ventura counties: 17% San Bernardino- lose mail service because urban areas would Riverside Los Angeles counties: 19.6% not be subsidizing mail delivery, much County: 30.9% Orange County: like the lack of coverage for millions of 24.3% rural Americans owing to insufficient San Diego County: 21.9% NOTE: Accuracy of percentages ranges from plot or minus 0.9 percent to plus or minus 3.4 percent depending on sample sue. profits for doctors and the medical indus­ rgures are derived from the U S. Census Bureau's Current Population Surveys for 1991 end 1992. try.

Spring 1994 3 INDEPENDENT POLITICS Anti-Poor Campaign in

udolph Giuliani had New York City Subways homeless families for long been mayor of New periods of time in short-term RYork City one week housing—but without pro­ when the Metropolitan Trans­ By KURT T. HILL viding permanent housing for portation Authority (MTA) them. The State of New York announced a mean-spirited provides 25 percent of the cost crackdown on panhandlers and peddlers panhandlers and peddlers. But they can ’t for hotel or motel rooms, with the city working the city ’s subway system. The be everywhere at once. They need your and the federal government picking up Manhattan Quality of Life Plainclothes help. The best way to help end panhan­ the rest of the tab. Task Force has been ordered to make dling is not to give.. .The courts have held arrests to combat “aggressive” or “recidi­ that begging anywhere in the subway is Opposition growing vist” poor people. against the law. Make sure that it d o e sn ’t ozens of activists turned out While the Boobs in Blue have regularly pay. D on ’t give money to panhandlers.” January 27 at New York Uni­ ejected and issued summonses to pan­ (Emphasis theirs.) D versity Law School to attend a handlers, the results have been “disap­ Even more disgusting than the selfish­ “StreetWatch” city-wide training program. pointing” to MTA bureaucrats because ness dripping from the palm card is the Called by the Coalition for the Homeless, begging has not been deterred. With the new poster. Designed as a cartoon “thought the meeting was geared toward establishing new “get tough” attitude toward the poor, balloon,” a subway rider sitting in from a pilot project of four street patrols to the Giuliani regime is seeking to use the of it unwittingly becomes part of the anti­ monitor police harassment of homeless Public Authorities Law to strengthen re­ poor campaign by “thinking” such people. pression. They want to systematically charitable thoughts as: “Uh, oh. Oh The meeting began with an overview enforce rules against begging and peddling, pleeeeze d o n ’t come stand in FRONT of of “sweeps" of the homeless by city au­ “offenses” punishable by a fine of $50 and/ me ASKING for money. GREAT. Now the thorities and private security services in or up to 10 days in the city slammer. whole ca r’s staring...Look, I feel bad. I the recent past. Organizers discussed “The Transit Police have worked with really do. But HEY, it ’s MY possible new strategies by city authori­ the office of Manhattan District Attorney MONEY.. .SORRY, NO money from me.” ties, including an even higher level of co­ Robert Morgenthau to assure that pan­ The MTA claims their “studies" have operation between the administration and handling arrests can be smoothly pro­ “shown” that many riders are “confused” private security forces hired by local cessed,” purred John Cunningham, the about subway rules and “uncertain” of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in M TA’s Press Secretary. how to channel their compassion for harassing homeless people for so-called “The District Attorney has cooperated people in need. Presumably, the anti-poor “quality of life crimes." with us in this effort and we appreciate campaign will clarify for them what feel­ Speakers oudined the links between that very much," remarked MTA Chief ings they should have when confronted police, BIDs and community boards in Pig Michael O ’Con n or. “We’re nowin the by beggars in the w o rld ’s richest city. creating the anti-poor campaigns. A stu­ process of reaching out to the other dis­ dent from New York University reported trict attorneys’ offices in the city ”—to make Bi-partisan attack on homeless on last su m m er’s “Operation Silent Night,” the anti-poor crackdown a city-wide ef­ Apparently the new mayor and his a series o f “sweeps” sponsored by the fort. advisers believe that New Yorkers are so Village Alliance, the major BID in Green­ The MTA has embarked on an exten­ dumb they can ’t put two and two together. wich Village. sive “public information” campaign with While the city authorities have announced Coalition organizers projected the posters, flyers and PA announcements their intention to defy a 1980 court order creation of four pilot StreetWatch teams designed to stifle any charitable feelings mandating shelter on demand, the to patrol the Penn Station area, the Grand New Yorkers still have for poor people, Demopublican’s favorite “liberal,” Gov­ Central Station corridor, the 53rd Street and to promote selfishness as a “civic duty.” ernor Mario Cuomo, is pushing an even to 11th Avenue area, and the subways. Thousands of palm cards have been dis­ tougher stand. Each team would record information about tributed by MTA personnel at subway While the Giuliani regime would eject the harassment they witness, which may stations, and a new poster placed in sub­ homeless people from the shelter system be used in a class action lawsuit against way cars. after 90 days, Cuomo recently introduced the harassment to be filed in the near fu­ legislation to cut off reimbursement after ture. ▼ Giving: no way to help 60 consecutive days for families living The palm card proclaims: “Giving temporarily in hotels and motels. Intro­ Kurt T. Hill is a member of Activists for money to panhandlers is no way to help duced in mid-January as part of the Independent Socialist Politics in New York the homeless and the needy....The po­ G ov ern or’s proposed budget, the measure City and the founder of the Anarchist Cau­ lice are doing all they can to keep out will pressure city officials to stop placing cus in the Committees of Correspondence.

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 4 Spring 1994 the lockout because we rallied at the capital Class Warfare in Decatur, Illinois building, 2,000 strong, which had never happened before,” said Hull. By CAROLINE LUND starch slurry in case of disruptions due to Rogers added: “We busted into sena­ the union struggle. tors’ offices to make our demands. When ecatur, Illinois, a city of about Bob Hull, vice-president of the Staley the secretary would say, ‘Let me see if the 90,000 inhabitants, is the cen­ local, explained, “The company tells us senator is in,’ we said, ‘we’ll se e if he’s in,’ D ter of a war between corpora­ we have to be competitive with ADM, and marched right into the office.” tions and the labor movement. which has only400 workers while we have The weekend I was in Decatur some I visited Decatur for two days in Feb­ over 700. But then they told us ADM has 800-900unionists and their families turned ruary to attend a meeting of the New Di­ built this pipeline so that if we went on out to a public meeting to hear Marty Levitt, rections caucus of the United Auto Work­ strike, we w ou ld n ’t slow them down a bit.” author of the book Confessions of a Union ers (UAW) union and to get a firsthand I was talking with Hull and Caterpillar Buster. After years of a career as a union- update on the struggle of the unions there. worker Kenny Rogers in the packed bar busting consultant, Levitt is now spilling Decatur is an industrial town, I got a in the back of the AIW union hall. Hull the beans about the low-down tactics of tour with Larry Solomon, president of said that unemployment compensation will his former employers. UAW Local 751 at the Caterpillar plant, run out for the Staley workers after three “For the two hours of that meeting you which is the second-largest in the coun­ more checks. could have heard a pin drop,” said Bob try. We passed factory after factory—A.E. “And we only got unemployment after Continued on Page 31 Staley Co., Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM), Firestone. The huge Caterpillar plant is surrounded by a new, barbed-wire- topped fence with sliding gates. A stench Single Payer pay co-payments or deductibles for of food processing hangs over the city. treatment. The majority of Americans Continued from Page 3 You see signs in p e o p le ’s yards: “This family would pay less under single payer than supports the locked-out workers at A.E. they are currently paying now. Hospitals Staley Co.” need instead of profit. Preventive services, and clinics would still operate in the con­ such as pre-natal care and immunizations, fines of the capitalist market, but would Tough times for labor would be emphasized. There would be be subject to a global budget for cost con­ The 760 Staley workers, members of no cost to workers for this program, which trol. Allied Industrial Workers (AIW) Local would be paid for through the elimina­ Since single payer d o e sn ’t institute so­ 837, have been locked out by the company tion of military expenditures and with very cialized medicine, why should socialists since June 1993. T h e 1,760 Caterpillar steep taxes on the rich. support it? From this discussion it should workers in Decatur went on strike for five But single payer does address several be clear that the health care of all work­ and a half months last year over company needs within the universality of a single ing people would improve dramatically concession demands. They went back to tier of quality care for all. Citizens could with single payer. Socialists have always work last April, when the company not be refused coverage because of race, supported reforms of the capitalist system threatened to permanently replace them, sex, or income. Health care would be ac­ that would move working people forward and have been conducting a work-to-rule cessible to everyone, including those with­ both materially and ideologically. campaign for a decent contract ever since. out jobs and those with pre-existing con­ If we are able to win single payer gov­ During these tough times for the labor ditions. Preventive medicine would be a ernment administered and controlled movement it is inspiring to talk with these primary means of controlling costs, as well health care in the U.S., people will have a union fighters in the AIW and UAW in as a way to keep everyone healthy. concrete experience to counter the myth Decatur. The rank and file is fired up and The capitalist system of medicine would of “market efficiency” that is being fostered involved, together with their entire fami­ not be overturned under single payer, by capitalists. It will be much easier then lies. The Caterpillar and Staley workers because the profit motive in research, high- to organize the working class around see their fates as intertwined. Caterpillar tech equipment, and doctors’ fees would collective struggles for the common good. workers have donated about $30,000 in not be eliminated, merely controlled. A vigorous and active support for the plant-gate collections to the locked-out Doctors would still practice private medi­ single payer health reform struggle will Staley local. cine, though they would have to negoti­ be supported by all socialists to whom The corporations see to their own ate their fees. socialism has not become a religion. It is common interests as well. Food-pro­ The program would be mostly govern­ a positive step towards socialized medi­ cessing giant ADM has built a three-and- ment- and employer-financed, with only cine. In fact, it will not be possible to ever a-half-mile pipeline from its plant to the 2V2 percent being borne by working people win the latter without first fighting for A.E. Staley plant to supply Staley with directly. But workers would not have to single payer reform. ▼

Spring 1994 5 INDEPENDENT POLITICS Israel refuses to recognize he February 25 Hebron Palestinian national rights settlements exist, there will be massacre of at least 29 Israeli control and more vio­ T Palestinian worship­ Handshake Fails lent conflicts. pers by a racist Israeli settler Supposedly, over the five brought to the w o rld ’s atten­ year interim period, all secu­ tion that peace is not around to Bring Peace rity arrangements between the comer in the Middle East. Israel and the PLO would be Israeli settlers continue to By MALIK MI AH settled and the 130 Jewish carry Uzis and attack Pales­ settler communities (about tinians, while the Israeli government and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. 120,000 people) would either agree to co­ army do nothing. Worse, Palestinians are In August the PLO and the Israeli gov­ exist with Palestinians under PLO con­ suffering even more repression since the ernment completed secret negotiations on trol, or volunteer to leave. massacre. The Israeli regime is tighten­ the DOP in Oslo, Norway. This utopian scheme, however, was ing their economic noose around the necks On September 13 in Washington, D.C., never agreed to by the settlers. Baruch of all Palestinians in the Occupied Terri­ under the watchful eye of President Goldstein, the butcher of Hebron, told tories. In response to suicide car bomb­ Clinton, Arafat and Rabin signed the Oslo friends before his Ramadan slaughter that ings carried out by Hamas, a militant Is­ Agreement and shook hands. This led to he was going to do “something big” to lamic group, government officials in early cheers in Palestine. Israel had finally destroy the pact. Goldstein, like many April announced plans to close off the recognized the separate existence of the Israelis, opposed any concessions to Pal­ Palestinian people. estinian rights. He was for the historic The plan, once implemented, would Zionist goal of total “ethnic cleansing” of grant Palestinians limited self-rule in the Palestinians from what is called “biblical O ^ I S X W E L & I I Gaza Strip and the Jericho area. Israeli Israel.” ■ <£ M JLSfT leWE I troops would withdraw and the PLO would The Rabin regime does not dispute the set up its own administration. The first Zionist objective in the Occupied Terri­ phase would begin in December and be tories. It was a Labor Party government Occupied Territories and bring in thou­ completed by April 13. that built the first settlement in 1967. But sands of foreign workers to take over many The DOP also stated that the Gaza-Jeri- Rabin sees the Oslo Agreement as a way jobs held by Palestinians from the West cho First plan was to lead over a five-year to contain the Palestinian struggle, to split Bank and Gaza. interim period to complete self-rule. In its leadership and defeat the most mili­ What happened to the historic peace December 1995 talks would start on the tant elements. He is dead opposed to agreement? It is still on, according to the permanent status of the West Bank and genuine autonomy for the Palestinians. government. The new repression is to make Gaza, the status of Jerusalem and the fu­ After the Hebron massacre, Rabin sure the Declaration of Principles (DOP) ture of the Jewish settlements. slapped the settlers’ hands with threats signed by the Israeli government and the W hat’s the record? Israel has failed to and arrested a few of the most extreme Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) meet any of the Agreement’s self-imposed racists. in September is carried out! deadlines. First, the December date went The Palestinian resistance, on the other The DOP, however, is not what the by. Then the April deadline passed. On hand, continues to face live bullets. Land Palestinian people had hoped for. So far, May 4, PLO leader Arafat and Israeli prime confiscations never stopped and new DOP has not brought the Palestinian minister Rabin signed a “definitive” ac­ settlements are being built. people any closer to self rule, much less cord for Palestinian self-rule. However, to genuine self determination.The Israe­ the so-called final agreement does not Credibility problem for Arafat lis refuse to grant even a figleaf of autonomy require total Israeli military withdrawal The failure of Israel to control the set- to the Palestinians. from the Occupied Territories or grant ders and meet the DOP deadlines is a major Yasser Arafat, the head of the PLO, is genuine self-rule in Gaza and the town of blow to Arafat, who went out on a limb now facing a growing revolt within his Jericho. to sign the Oslo Agreement and shake ranks. His inner circle is getting smaller Not surprisingly, there were no celebra­ hands with Rabin. When Arafat submit­ and smaller. tions. As one Gaza resident explained, “We ted the DOP to the PLO Executive Com­ celebrated back in September and noth­ mittee, the Committee was sharply divided. From Oslo to Cairo ing happened afterwards. This time w e’ll Only 14 out of 18 members were present, A review of the major events since last wait until we see that it ’s real.” and only eight voted in favor. Since then, summer helps explain why the Palestin­ Is it likely? No, because the Israeli a number of PLO leaders in the territo­ ian people are no closer to genuine na­ government is afraid to cross the most ries and outside have attacked Arafat for tional rights than they were prior to the explosive element in the Occupied Terri­ “selling out” the Palestinian cause. historic handshake between Arafat and tories: the Jewish settlers. As long as the The Hamas group and other opponents

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 6 Spring 1994 Alison Bradluy/Impact Visuals among the Palestinians are regaining the political initiative. Arafat is clearly on the defensive. The PLO chairman had to be circumspect in his denunciation of suicide car bombings carried out by Hamas members inside Israel. But he continues to pursue the DOP. On February 9 Arafat and Israeli For­ eign Minister Shimon Peres signed the Cairo Agreement, which addresses the implementation of security arrangements based on the DOP. This is clearly an agreement between the victors and the vanquished. While the PLO had previ­ ously agreed to full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, except within the settlement proper, the Cairo Accord allows Israeli troops in the areas surrounding the settlements. Israel also divides G aza’s territory into three non-continuous blocks. Israel will continue to control the three Palestinian youth protesting in Gaza roads that cross Gaza. What about Jericho? The PLO wanted supporters of Arafat and the PLO who are We should twist A rafat’s hand, but be self rule in the entire Jericho area of 350 going back into the streets. careful not to break it since we need Arafat square kilometers. Israel said only the town But the obvious questions are: Why did strong enough to suppress Hamas.” of Jericho, meaning 25 square kilometers. Arafat sign such a bad deal? And why has The final agreement says the PLO will he stuck to it even as its real nature be­ No peace without self- control 54 square kilometers. Most im­ comes clear? determination portantly, the border passages to Jordan Arafat believed the DOP was the best The Palestinian people are losing faith and Egypt will remain in Israeli hands. chance at getting a foothold for the Pal that the DOP will ever move them toward As Palestinian political activist Ali Jaddeh estinian people to achieve their goal of self-rule. The DOP has already failed to from the Old City of Jerusalem told the national self determination, that is, creation prevent the Hebron massacre. Israeli atroci­ Israeli left magazine Challenge, “Author­ of an independent state. He had hoped to ties occur daily. More massacres can be ity on the border crossing is the key to show the world that the Palestinian people expected. the political authority in the area. Unfor­ could run their own area and that this The road to genuine peace, it is now tunately, the authority in charge of bor­ would be the first small step toward clear, cannot travel through the Oslo, der crossings will be Israeli. Where is the genuine independence. Washington and Cairo capitals. Palestinian authority when Israel has veto The world, including most of the left, A just peace must begin with two ba­ power on any person who wants to come correctly applauded that heroic effort. The sic principles: First, the total Israeli into the territories?" relations of forces in the world (especially withdrawal from the Occupied Territories, Issues concerning taxes, customs and with the demise of the Soviet Union) and including the full dismantlement of the currency will remain basically in Israeli in the region are such that the PLO did Jewish settlements. And, second, a rec­ hands. Settlements and land confiscations not have much choice except to make an ognition of the inalienable right of Pal­ will continue and the Jerusalem area is historic compromise. estinian self determination. untouchable. The problem, however, is that the com­ While this solution (formation of two In other words, no fundamental ele­ promise is almost entirely one-sided. It is independent states) will not resolve the issue ments of Israeli occupation will change obvious the Israeli rulers have no inten­ of land confiscation in pre-1967 Israel or significantly under the DOP as it is now tion of granting the Palestinians real au­ the rights of t he Arab Palestinians who live being implemented. tonomy. and hold second-class citizenship inside Worse, Israel wants to use Arafat as a of Israel (some 20 percent of the population), Why did Arafat sign? weapon against his own people. The it is a transitional step toward the only As it becomes clearer day by day that Environmental Minister of Israel, Yossi permanent way to establish peace— the the DOP is not a step toward real Pales­ Sarid, put it succinctly during the Cairo creation of a unitary state of Jews and tinian national rights, the resistance to it meetings: “Israel negotiated with itself Palestinians living as equals— that is, a grows. It is not only Hamas, but past since the Palestinians have nothing to give. democratic, secular Palestine. ▼

Spring 1994 7 INDEPENDENT POLITICS Israel, Palestine and the y now no one should Struggle Over Resources In Gaza the problem is at a be surprised that very critical stage. Sea water is Blittle progress has Water and Occupation seeping into the aquifer. been made toward realizing Some scientists predict that the stated goals of the accord within five years agriculture signed last September be­ By NANCY BROWN in Gaza will be impossible. tween Israel and the PLO. The salinity could eventu­ Palestinian self-rule is not something Is­ been steadily declining under Isr a e l’s ally reach Jerusalem, and the damage is rael wishes to see. Aside from the obvi­ control. Military edicts imposed since 1967 irreversible. ous disregard for Palestinian human rights tightly control water procurement, allo­ every day in the occupied territories (the cation and use. Israel uses around 90 Ban on tree planting mosque murders in Hebron are a chilling percent of the total supply, although based Isra el’s administration of the territories example), there is the matter of control on population the Palestinians should, in includes a maze of laws (most are actu­ and ownership of resources. The desire fairness, receive 25 percent. Of the Jor­ ally military edicts) which control every to maintain control supplies a fundamental dan River itself the Palestinians on the aspect of Palestinian life, such as the pro­ motivation for oppression. As long as there West Bank get none. From the under­ curement of water, as mentioned. A de is a scarce supply of water, the occupa­ ground water on the West Bank, Pales­ facto prohibition against tree-planting went tion is likely to be actively enforced. tinians are alotted a mere eight percent. into effect in 1967 (a permit is required There are over 700 wells in Gaza and and impossible to obtain). But the com­ the West Bank, some of which are old, mon practice of planting trees in Israel is shallow, or in need of repairs. A 1967 law well-known, especially in the American I 091 ISM 'L L & I prohibits Palestinians from drilling new Jewish community. “Planting a tree in Is­ rP& LrES(Tl9 & wells or making existing holes any deeper. rael” was a common fund-raising theme On the western side of the nearest West in the 1960s. Bank aquifers, the Israelis drill deeper or Without any background information at an angle to reach the water, which de­ this sounds like a good policy, but once War over water resources pletes the aquifer and contaminates shal­ you realize that some of the land on which Indeed, the evidence suggests that the lower wells with salt. As of September 1991, conifers are planted once supported Pal­ “Six-Day War” in 1967— in which Israel over half of the wells in Jericho were dry. estinian orchards, the project has a dif­ gained control of the Syrian Golan Heights, ferent ring to it. And considering the plant­ the Jordanian West Bank and Jerusalem, ing prohibition on the eastern side of the and the Egyptian Gaza Strip and Sinai hill, plus the numerous occasions when Peninsula— was actually a war over wa­ the Israeli military forces uproot trees in ter and other resources. Isra e l’s public the occupied lands, an imbalance emerges. justifications for the occupation have been The geography of the area, combined with weighted toward the question of military the practice of denuding the eastern slope security. This tends to distract attention while greening the western (Mediterra­ from the realities of life in the desert. The nean-facing) slope, means that more rain­ security of a water supply provides per­ fall is attracted to the western (Israeli) haps the most basic reason to maintain side. This effect may or may not be part control of the West Bank and other areas, of a policy, but it is the result of the prac­ for an infinite period. tice of occupation. A look at a map of the region will indi­ cate that major surface water supplies were Irrigating the desert appropriated in 1967. The most obvious Israeli agriculture must be examined of these is the Jordan River, which has to understand how it was possible to “make since been reduced to a trickle because of the desert b lo o m ”—a famous phrase which its diversion to Israel. Later on, Israel gained has been used to justify Zionist policy and control of the Litany River in southern the occupation. Lebanon. But most maps d o n ’t indicate Being a technologically advanced soci­ the underground sources of water, which ety, Israel is able to extensively irrigate play a vital role in the conflict. In the West its farms, and as a result, many water- Israel now controls the Jordan river on the bank there are three major aquifers, which West Bank and the Litany River in southern hungry products are grown, such as cotton, are used heavily by Israel. Lebanon, which are sources for previously citrus, strawberries and lawns. Irrigation The Jordan River and the aquifers have inaccessible water supplies. is used on 49 percent of Israeli land, while

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 8 Spring 1994 less than six percent is irrigated on the Regional and global climate changes are yet in the “peace process,” and the Israeli West Bank. Traditionally dry-farmed crops bound to affect supply. And if interna­ government will avoid doing so as long such as figs and olives are commonly tional deals are arranged to ship water as possible. The United States, with its cultivated by Palestinian growers, who pay from these regions, conflicts could arise billions in aid, could change this, but so a premium for water. Israeli growers re­ when availability slips. far has chosen not to try. ▼ ceive water subsidies in the neighborhood Although efficiency and cooperative of $250 million a year, according to one efforts would go far to solve the problem Nancy Brown visited Israel and Pales­ estimate. (In the western United States, of water supply in Israel and Palestine, tine with a fact-finding delegation in 1991. this type of policy keeps many growers the occupation stands in the way. Land She is responsiblefor the design and graphic from using water-saving practices or and water rights have not been addressed production of Independent Politics. planting less thirsty crops.) J

In addition to farming practices in Is­ ohn rael, domestic and recreational uses also L aw guzzle this precious resource. It is as­ tounding to see a multi-acre swimming and water-sport facility just a few miles from bone-dry landscape. Home water­ saving devices and policies have not been common, and especially not available to Palestinians. For example, a recycling program was applied for, but Palestinians were denied permission to employ it un­ less the recycled water went to Jerusalem and the settlements. Israeli practices take advantage of air currents and geography to maintain control of water re­ Israel is currently searching for more sources. Trees planted on the windward side facing the sea tend to concentrate rainfall, while sources of water, such as in Turkey, the uprooting trees growing on the eastern slope helps to reduce rain. Aquifers in the West Bank former Yugoslavia, and the Nile River. are mined from encroaching settlements, causing Palestinian supplies to dwindle.

said, is now declared a closed military area. Israel: Land-Grab Mania When the villagers protested that they The following article is taken from the it has no intention of relinquishing to any depended on this land and had been cul­ January-February, 1994, issue of Challenge, autonomous Palestinian authority. These tivating it since 1933, a military police­ a magazine of Israeli-Palestinian coexistence, areas, which are not negotiable in the Is­ man responded that the State of Israel had published in Jerusalem. raeli view, include Greater Jerusalem, the allowed them to farm there for the past Jordan Valley, and much of the land ad­ 26 years out of kindness. By DALIA HABASH jacent to the Green Line [the pre-1967 The Beit Liqya residents w eren ’t sure Israeli border]. what the policeman meant by this— was he Israeli authorities have been Beit Liqya, a village of 8,000 inhabit­ he saying that Israel claimed ownership confiscating Palestinian land at an ants that borders the Green Line west of of this land since they occupied the West T unprecedented pace since the Ramallah, recently felt the effects of this Bank in 1967? And if that is true, why had signing of the Declaration of Principles policy. Beit Liqya is a quiet place full of they waited 26 years to make their claim (DOP) in Washington this past Septem­ intriguing stories, but also of pessimism. public? What the residents did know is ber. Approximately 37,065 dunams (one The signing of the peace accord proved that they had just lost 2,000 dunams of dunam equals approximately one acre) this attitude to be realistic. their land, a devastating blow to a village have been confiscated in the Occupied On the morning of September 1,1993, with an already high unemployment rate. West Bank in the past three-and-a-half 13 days before the signing of the accord, The village of Beit Liqya has been ne­ months (36,490 dunams in the month of some of the villagers went to work their glected and underdeveloped at least since December alone). The DOP mentions fields in the southern part of the village Jordanian rule. There is no running water neither land nor confiscation, leaving the which borders the Green Line, and were or telephones in the village, and just a Palestinians confused about the present startled to see Israeli bulldozers busily few streets are paved. The village consumes status of their land. digging away on their property. As the between 50-60 tanks of water a day, which The prevailing impression, however, is soldiers forcibly removed the villagers, they they purchase from the nearby settlement, that Israel feels the need to grab as much gave the stock reason for their activity: Mevo Horon, at 30 sheqels [$1 equals land as possible, especially in areas which military purposes. The land, the soldiers Continued on Page 10

Spring 1994 9 INDEPENDENT POLITICS Land Grab Mania instances just after the 1967 occupation, But lawyer Halabi also realized that Beit when Palestinians sold land to Israelis: L iqya’s case had further political impli­ Continued from page 9 one in the village of Deir Treif, and an­ cations. It is adjacent to the future city, approximately 3 sheqels] a tank. There other concerning a group who obtained M od i’n, the largest of the planned Seven are one or two wells, but these cannot forged documents about land in Jericho, Stars, which is being built in Israel along serve the whole village. A few houses are then sold this land to Israelis.” the Green Line (the cornerstone was lain newly built, and on the roots of three Failing to get anywhere in Jordan, the in late December, 1993). This city is part houses rest large satellite dishes, each one committee members headed back to the of a vast project aimed at settling hundreds serving three houses and enabling the West Bank where they went to the finance of thousands of Israelis along the Green occupants to watch about 30 European director at the Civil Administration in Beit Line, making it nearly impossible to re­ television channels. El. Hussein showed them the deeds to establish the line as a border, and in fact The villagers had traditionally lived off the land, but the part that concerned the pushing it eastward into the West Bank. the land, which until 1967 included some Beit Liqya confiscated land was “erased According to Halabi, the border is being 15,500 dunams. After complications from the deeds in 1953 by the Jordanian pushed eastward in the Hebron area as arising from Israeli occupation, and the authorities. We had a piece of land which well. immediate confiscation of 1,000 dunams, my father and I have been cultivating since Halabi directed the committee to Faisal most of the younger generation were not 1933, and when I asked for the documents, H u sse in i’s office in Eastjerusalem, which able to follow in their parents’ footsteps. they told me that the registration number until now has not been of any assistance. Thus, about 50 percent of the inhabit- is there, but it d o e sn ’t specify what plot The villagers are still in limbo, not knowing of land,” Hussein said. what to do. The committee then approached law­ Left with no other options, there is talk yer Usama Halabi at the Quakers’ Legal 0 9 t I S K W E L & in the village of creative resistance to the I I Aid Center in Eastjerusalem. He requested confiscation. According to Hussein, the that they obtain aerial photos to prove Israelis will most likely uproot the villagers’ that the land has been cultivated since crops and replant the land with pine trees, 1933. The committee members were only and some villagers would like to respond ants of Beit Liqya had to find work as la­ able to find photos since 1987, bu t weren ’t in kind by then uprooting the Israeli trees. borers in Israel. After the closure of the successful in getting access even to these Whether the villagers will succeed in Occupied Territories was imposed in photos. any of their attempts at resistance, no one March 1993, only about 40 percent of the Halabi then discovered the cause of some can say, but these 2,000 dunams, like workers in the village were given permits of the confusion— the land concerned thousands of other dunams across the West to enter Israel. Then came the signing of straddles the Green Line separating Israel Bank, have been lost to the State of Israel. the DOP in September, and the military from the Occupied West Bank, in what is As the days pass and the Israeli version of closure of 2,000 dunams, and the number known as no m an’s land. That is why, when peace becomes increasingly clear, villages of workers given permits declined even the Jordanians designated the Beit Liqya such as Beit Liqya see less and less chance further, to 30 percent of those who had land as part of no m an’s land in 1953, of survival. ▼ been allowed into Israel since the closure. they erased the ow n er’s names from the After their rude awakening on Sep­ deeds. When Israel occupied the West CHALLENGE tember 1, the villagers met in the local Bank in 1967, the status of the entire buffer A Magazine of Israeli-Palestinian Coexistence mosque to decide what to do. This meet­ zone, amounting to hundreds of thousands '.. .1 use it constantly." Noom Chomsky ing spawned a four-person committee, of dunams, became contestable. Was the *.. .perceptive ond original.. .a must tend.' Noseer Aruri which immediately sent a representative no m an’s land to remain as such, was it to Acriticol magazine, Jerusolem-based, Independent, to the Jordanian Liaison Office for the become part of the West Bank, or part of Non-partisan Occupied Territories in Amman. They Israel? Annual subscription (A issues): Individual $30 Institu­ requested the documents that would es­ Regardless of its legal status, the villagers tions $50 Donor $50 and up (O r the equivalent in your tablish the rightful owners of the land in of Beit Liqya continued to cultivate the local cutrency. Contributions from US citizens are tax Beit Liqya. The Jordanian authorities re­ land. An 1858 Ottoman Law still valid in deductible.) Account no. 576718/38 Bank leumi, Branch No. 901, 21 Jaffa St. Jerusalem. Please send us sepa­ fused to give them access to the docu­ the West Bank states that if a person cul­ rate notice. ments. According to committee member tivates a plot of land for more than 10 NAME______Nimr Abd Hussein, whose land was in­ years, and in the meantime no one else ADDRESS______cluded in the September 1 confiscations, claims ownership, then that land belongs “They accused us of wanting to sell the to the person cultivating it. Since neither land to the Israelis.” Jordan nor Israel made a formal claim to Moke checks payable to: Challenge, PO Box 32107 “The officials,” Hussein continued, “may the land until now, it should remain as Jerusalem 91320, Israel have been wary because of two unrelated Beit Liqya property.

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 1 0 Spring 1994 Interview with Majed Sbeih Thefollowing interview which would serve first is taken from the Novem- Economy of Autonomy and foremost the interest ber-December, 1993, issue of the Palestinian people. of Challenge, aJerusalem-based bimonthly The Oslo agreement leaves the Israelis with English-language magazine written by the say in the most important spheres of Israelis, Palestinians and others. The in­ our economy, thus making it impossible troduction is by Challenge. See ad on page to create an independent economy. 10 for subscription information. Q: What will be the character of the new Israeli-Palestinian partnership? Economics occupy an important place in A: We are facing a strategic change in the vision of a new, peaceful Middle East. the relationship between Palestinian capital Whereas Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon and Israel. The Occupied Territories are Peres describes an ideal of inter-relation being transformed into a bridge to the Arab between flourishing economies, Israeli Fi- markets, and this is the main goal for Is­ nance Minister Abraham Shohat insists that rael of selectively developing infrastruc­ the emerging Palestinian economy will re­ ture there. Israel will use the new part­ main linked to Israel. For another view of nership with the Palestinians to penetrate the economic effects the Declaration of Prin­ the Arab markets. In their role, Palestin­ ciples will have on the region. Challenge ian capitalists are to become junior part­ interviewed Dr. Majed Sbeih, who holds a ners to the Israelis, profiting from the PhD in economics from the University of services they will be giving to Israeli capi­ Sofia, Bulgaria, and is the director of the talists. Arab customers are very sensitive Majed Sbeih Center for Labor Research in Ramallah. to the label “Made in Israel.” Now that At the same time, the agreement points Israeli products will be labeled “Made in Q: Foreign Minister Peres declared that to an Israeli-Palestinian partnership for Palestine,” this problem can be overcome. he is not interested in an Israeli takeover developing the transportation and elec­ Such commodities will be a product of of the Palestinian economy. Should we tricity infrastructure for industrial devel­ Israeli know-how and components manu­ take his statement seriously? opment in the Occupied Territories, as factured by cheap Palestinian labor. This A: A comparison of the two indicates well as joint enterprises for investment division of labor favors the Israeli inves­ that the economy of the Occupied Terri­ in industrial ventures. tors, leaving the Palestinian partners with tories is underdeveloped and dependent, Q: From your answer we get the im­ marginal profits. whereas the Israeli economy is techno­ pression that the Palestinian economy will Q: On the Palestinian side, who is go­ logically developed and industrialized. It develop through this agreement. Is that ing to profit from this agreement? is objectively impossible to have a rela­ true? A: The implementation of the agree­ tionship of equality between two such A: We must distinguish between two ment will generate a new, tiny partner­ economies. The classic terms of trade different terms— economic growth and ship with the Israelis. This new parasitic between underdeveloped and developed economic development. The new condi­ bourgeoisie will profit as the intermedi­ economies—that of cheap-labor commodi­ tions may enable some economic growth ary between the Arab markets and the ties and agricultural products in return due to investment in infrastructure, Israeli producers and capital. They will for high-tech, high surplus value prod­ namely, an increase in individual income. engage in speculative investments such ucts—will apply here as well. But in spite of a certain rise in the stan­ as real estate, services and trade, areas Q: What were the economic details of dard of living, the lack of a national policy which secure high profits but are void of the Oslo agreement between Israel and for industrial development will mean the productive investment whatsoever, espe­ the PLO and what are their implications? economic structure remains underdevel­ cially in industry. This new layer will have A: The agreement has a clear line di­ oped. vested interest in enforcing the depen­ viding the major economic spheres, which Q: What are the necessary conditions dency, leaving no room for industrial will remain under Israeli control, from for economic development? development, which is the basis for a the secondary ones, which will be handed A: The main condition for economic healthy, productive economy. over to the autonomy. The Palestinian au­ development is political independence. Q: How will the anticipated foreign aid tonomy will be given control of educa­ Political independence means economic influence the Palestinian economy? tion, health, social services, tourism, and independence. Without economic inde­ A: This economic aid has a very dan­ direct taxation, while the main economic pendence, it is impossible to control the gerous aspect. In extremely underdevel­ spheres such as industry, agriculture, for­ national resources, to define national oped economies such as ours, a huge eign trade, customs, and indirect taxation economic goals, or to create a policy for will remain outside Palestinian control. the development of a national economy. Continued on Page 12

Spring 1994 11 INDEPENDENT POLITICS Mayan Zapatista Tells Story of Uprising According to our indigenous people we have the right, we want our rights, we want respect to our dignity of man. We Behind the Chiapas Rebellion fight for the land that Zapata fought for. He fought for the poor people. He never sold himself. That is the only image of a Following are major excerpts from a statement by, and interview with Luis, a Mayan clean revolutionary that we have in Mexico. soldier in the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN are the Spanish initials). They Everyone else sold himself for a plate of were made at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, at the end ofJanuary of this beans, for food, for money, for land, even year. Luis was invited to Evergreen by the Labor Education and Research Center. They are for women they sold themselves. reprinted with permission. The Zapatista movement is very noble, The EZLN stunned the Mexican government and the world with its uprising in the state is very clean, because it comes from the of Chiapas on January I, the day on which the North American Free Trade Agreement went indigenous people. We, the Chiapanecos into effect. The uprising was met with fierce repression and massacres by government indigenous, when we give our word, we troops. do it for the truth. When you are talking Testimony to the power of this upsurge of the downtrodden came from New York Times to an indigenous, you are talking to a man. reporter Alan Riding, who wrote: “...as a former correspondent who knew Mexico in the Salinas d o e sn ’t know anything but to 1970s and 1980s, I was quite unprepared for what I found when I traveled here [Mexico lie to people. He never tells the world that City] this month [February]. Somehow, a few hundred Tzotzil, Tzeltal and other Indians from Mexico’s poorest state had achieved in a few weeks what opposition parties had failed to do in years: they had thrown the entire political system into disarray and given Mexico a hefty shove toward becoming a real democracy." Economy of Autonomy As we go to press, the Mexican government has agreed in negotiations to far reaching Continued from Page 11 reforms in the state of Chiapas. It remains to be seen whether the ranks of supporters of the amount of money could create a big bu­ EZLN will halt their struggle or whether the reforms will actually be carried out. reaucratic apparatus which would use the money to feed itself rather than investing ou may be asking, why the mas­ who are imprisoned unjustly, this is the in development. Bureaucracy is one of sacre? The indigenous of Chiapas answer of the government: bullets and the main obstacles to economic growth. Y have been the owners of the land more bullets. The answer of the govern­ We have quite a few examples of this in for thousands of years. The Spanish came ment is to identify those leaders who have the Arab world. Lacking political inde­ and took over our land. They have been the courage. After they are identified, the pendence, we do not even have a statisti­ always running over our rights and that government goes at night and they kill cal bureau, or an economic center for has been the history of Mexico. We have them. And then after they are killed the control and planning of our national re­ been killed, beaten, and kidnapped. They government puts a weapon in their hands sources, in order to make the most of such rape our women and they kill them. They and says that they are the criminals. aid. Under the present conditions this aid kill our sons, our parents and our brothers. I came from Chiapas [January] 4th. 1 might serve to enforce dependency and That is why the first of January we de­ am not a commander of any kind, I am a bureaucratism rather than help to build cided to start fighting against the govern­ soldier [zeltal]. And 1 got into this for our economy. ment of [President] Carlos Salinas. conviction, for necessity, because 1 d id n ’t Q: To summarize, how would you de­ Carlos Salinas represents the corrup­ have any other way. This is the last re­ scribe the new relationship between Israel tion in Mexico. He wants to lie to every­ source for a man and that is how 1 got and the Palestinian Autonomy? one. He tells everyone that in Mexico ev­ into this. Every man who has dignity, who A: Israel is striving to end the old forms erybody lives well. In Mexico we have has shame. I grab my machete and started of direct colonialism. We are entering a enough bread. We have enough water, fighting. I am an Indian and so I left with new phase— the neo-colonial phase. In enough power, enough clothes, we are in them. the new regional division of labor, Israel paradise. That is why the Zapatistas are a A lot of us already lost our lives—ap­ becomes the center, relegating the Arab bunch of crazy men. Only crazy people proximately 500 deaths. Salinas is offering countries to the periphery. Tel Aviv is to will challenge the government. right now, he is offering forgiveness and become the Metropolis; Damascus, Riad But I am here to tell you today the truth. he is offering amnesty. We d o n ’t think and Rabat—the Provinces. Industry, trade, And this is the truth: The Chiapas indig­ that this is the right way. tourism, and services will be transformed enous people do not have land. We d o n ’t Because if we put an example right now, for this purpose. The infrastructure in the have land to cultivate our com, beans, if any of you come here and ask for bread, Occupied Territories, such as roads and squash. Besides that, whenever we go and and if we beat you up, if we break your electricity, will be connected to the Arab knock on the doors, when we ask the bones and we leave you next to death, networks, thus binding the Arab world government, we want land, sir, we want and then we stand up and tell that person to Israel, and through Israel, to the justice, we want technical help on our we just beat up, there is no problem, we Western, developed economies in Europe cultivations, we ask for justice for those forgive you. and North America. ▼

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 1 2 Spring 1994 he sent airplanes and that he sent bombs are being represented by mestizos or We d on ’t have anything to do with [ PRD and massacred us. He is the president of cazlanes we will not go anywhere. They presidential candidate] Cuauhtemoc the rich ones, he is a murderer of his people. have to appoint indigenous with the ca­ Cardenas, he is a politician and a profes­ I think that the man who has the dignity pacity to talk. I know from my grandfa­ sional. He condemned us first, one or two to call himself a man ca n ’t kill his own ther, from my ancestors, what they told weeks later he comes to our rescue. “He people. me, the land is ours. I want to see that is a fisherman in a wild river.” We, the indigenous people, have af­ land is returned to us. Not for those who forded 500 years of misery and injustice. come with me, for they are experts in Q: What is the role of the women in Maybe many of you w on ’t understand that, Chiapas. But they spent 30 years in Mexico the Zapatista Army? but I tell you one thing, many of the in­ or in Harvard University. Like Salinas, he digenous people in Chiapas d o n ’t have has a m aster’s degree from Harvard, but Luis: Just like every woman in the world, food, we can ’t speak Spanish, and many he knows nothing about the indigenous. the most fantastic of all, they carry the of us d o n ’t have shoes. This is why I insist, if you really want weapons and they shoot the soldiers, even When the indigenous are conscious of to help us, insist on creating a group of taking care of us so we d o n ’t get killed. their rights they will ask for them. I think indigenous people to make sure that the everywhere in the world we ask for our land is returned to us. Q: How many people actually have been rights and they are not respected. Every­ killed? thing else is a lie but the struggle for the Q: Is the main goal of your struggle for Zapatista. Forgive us if we are mistaken. the land? Luis: Approximately 500. It is not an But if we are right, support us. Right official number. We believe we have 500 now, with money, with clothes, with letters Luis: Everything started because of the dead among guerrillas and soldiers. to Salinas and Camacho [the government land. When the indigenous did not have a negotiator]. Mexican Army out of Chiapas job they would fight with the soldiers. immediately. No more massacre. Viva el Q: Do you know the PRD [Revolution And they were the first who got thrown ejercito Zapatista! Viva for the indigenous ary Democratic Party] ? The media says into the fight against the rebellious. people who are dead! that you have allies in the Revolutionary I would like to make a comment be­ 1 invite you to cultivate the seed of truth, Democratic Party. fore I leave. I want to prove to you that the seed of the indigenous people once Salinas knows how to lie. He says that you leave here. Luis: False. That is one of the lies of there are no more poor people in Mexico. Salinas. He even called us foreigners. He And he is not lying. They are all dead. Question: Do you have a relationship called us Guatemalan and Salvadoran. As Another thing about Salinas is that he is with the struggle in Guatemala? if injustice had a name. When we decided promising us land and the only land he is to show the facts we decided to just get promising us is one meter in the cem­ Luis: Our identification with the Gua­ together with indigenous people. etery. ▼ temala struggle is that they are Indians, just like us. We are Mayans, Xotxiles, Tojolavales, Soques, Lacandones and other indigenous groups. Those groups are direct descendants from the Mayan cul­ ture.

Q: The relationship between the in­ digenous people and the non-indigenous people within the Zapatista Army?

Luis: There is 90 percent indigenous people in the Army. We have friends in different states which are one percent.

Q: Is it a national movement?

Luis: It is an indigenous movement.

Q: Is the Bishop Ruiz correctly repre­ senting the Zapatistas? Indigenous Tzotzil women at a refugee camp in Chiapas, victims of land feuds involving the Luis: I want to leave this clear: if we government, landowners, the church and indigenous peasants.

Spring 1994 1 3 INDEPENDENT POLITICS FEATURE ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

And it promised that “all the land [shallbe] re-divided amongst South Africa: those who work it, to banish famine and land hunger...” The current platform does not mention nationalization of any The Dawn of Freedom industries. It does not project a broad land reform but does promise special courts to restore land previously owned by Blacks who were dispossessed following the apartheid Land Act of 1913. By CAROLINE LUND Avert civil war These compromises were made by the ANC in an attempt to s the historic elections began in South Africa on April achieve majority rule without a civil war and destruction of the 26, Nelson Mandela staled: “Today is a day like no other economy through a flight of capital. U.S. News and World Re­ A before it. Voting in our first free and fair election has port noted that even with the A N C’s conciliatory stance, “Capi­ begun. Today marks the dawn of our freedom. ” These elections tal is...believed to be flowing out of the country at a rate that, were not like elections in the should it continue, will sur­ GistLE W ui-Fsohn/Impact Visuals United States or other capi­ pass last yea r’s record high talist democracies, where half of $4.5 billion, or almost 5 the people d o n ’t even vote percent of the entire because they d o n ’t think it economy.” matters. The voting by Blacks The compromises by the in South Africa was a mass ANC, and their allies in the action to affirm their dignity South African Communist and determination to take Party, were also no doubt control of their country. influenced by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which put Victory for humanity wind in the sails of propo­ The majority of the popu­ nents of “market economies” lation, which is nonwhite, are worldwide. now citizens for the first time. For the next five years, the Half a century of white su­ ANC, with Nelson Mandela premacist rule has been as President of South Africa, overturned. This is a huge will lead a transitional power­ victory for humanity. Citizens oj Johannesburg participate in a mock election and voter education sharing “government of na­ The stage is now set for a at a pre-election "voting station. ” tional unity.” Former sup­ deepening of the struggle. porters of apartheid, such as The color line has been formally abolished. Now the line be­ the National Party, will not have veto power, however. After tween rich and poor, exploiter and exploited, will come to the five years, the ANC projects a traditional majority government fore more clearly. without inclusion of minority parties. The legacy of apartheid is criminal: Black per capita income is The A N C’s strategy of compromise to buy time for more fun­ one tenth of that of whites. Nearly half are unemployed and damental change has so far worked. Through a combination of about the same percentage can ’t read. One forth live in shacks. mass mobilizations and negotiations, the ANC was able to smash All the best land has been taken by whites. the anti-election alliance forged between far-right white su­ The April elections unleashed a powerful thirst for freedom, premacists and dictators in the so-called Black homelands cre­ for jobs, housing, education, land, and the right to start a small ated by the apartheid regime. business. The white supremacists split, with one wing participating in This is what the platform of the African National Congress the elections. The “homeland” dictators crumbled, one by one, (ANC) (see following pages) promises. It is a program to bring under the force of strikes and mutinies by workers, students the nonwhite population into full participation in a capitalist and police. mixed economy of both private and public enterprises. Many in the anti-apartheid movement worldwide (including This platform is not as radical as the historic program of the this writer) had thought that apartheid could not be abolished ANC, the “Freedom Charier,” adopted in 1955. In particular, in South Africa without a revolution to overthrow the white the Charter projected: “The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the supremacist state. This turned out not to be the case. banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the own­ ership of the people as a whole.” Continued on Page 19

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 1 4 Spring 1994 ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA FEATURE

Historic Turning Point for the South African People We Have Won the Right to Vote

We reprint below the “Election Manifesto of the African Na­ without fear. tional Congress,” the main liberation organization of the South These are the principles which guide us as we work together African people. to build a new society. The detailed framework is contained in our Reconstruction and Development Program. The ANC is ready to govern: we are ready to listen. In developing Together We Have Won the Right for All South our policies over the years, we have consulted widely, most recently Africans to Vote. in P e o p le ’s Forums. We have also discussed with role players in On 27 April, for the first time in our history, all of us will the economy, education and other areas. stand tall and proud as equal citizens in our common home. While others throw up their hands in despair or point fingers, South A frica’s first democratic elections are about our com­ we want to roll up our sleeves and tackle the problems. We are mon yearning for freedom, peace and a better life for all. They aware that eliminating the mess created over decades by the are about a past of oppression and despair and a future of hope National Party will not be easy. But we know that you can make and democracy. a difference. If we all work together, we are capable of achieving There are those who would like us to believe that the past even more. d o e sn ’t exist: that decades of apartheid rule have suddenly dis­ appeared. But the economic and social devastation of apartheid A Government of the People remains. Our country is in a mess. One of the most urgent challenges facing South Africa is the To eradicate the serious problems caused by apartheid, South adoption of a new democratic constitution. In the Constitutional Africa needs a government with the political will to meet the Assembly, whatever our majority, the ANC will strive through challenge. A government that understands the needs of the fu­ consultation and debate to reach national consensus. ture because it understands the neglect and division of the past. The ANC has always stood for basic democratic principles We need a government that puts people first. which include: • a constitution and Bill of Rights which guarantee human Proud of Our Past— Confident of the Future rights for all, including the right to a minimum standard of When the African National Congress set out its vision for a life; non-racial society on 8 January 1912, we did not know how • the right of all people to elect a government of their choice long it would take to achieve it. What we knew was that we in regular, free and fair elections in a multi-party democracy; would not rest until these ideals were realized. • democratic government at provincial and local levels, with For over 80 years, the ANC has led the struggle to bring about the powers and resources to meet p e o p le ’s needs; a South Africa that belongs to all the people. • an independent judiciary and constitutional court protected The ANC is a home for all South Africans. Our strength flows from any government or party political interference; from our roots among the people. That is why we inspired p e o p le ’s • freedom from discrimination on racial, gender or any other resistance during the darkest moments. That is why we initiated ground; and led the negotiations process. Our program reflects years of • freedom of association and the right to worship. p e o p le ’s struggles and is informed by their aspirations. A Good Beginning A Clear Plan Through negotiations and struggle, the ANC has ensured that To build a better life for all requires dear goals and a workable South A frica’s new constitution will be drafted by democratically- plan. Any solution to the crisis of apartheid needs an approach elected representatives. which rises above narrow interests and harnesses all our cou n try ’s We firmly commit ourselves to the Constitutional Principles resources. It requires: agreed to in multi-party negotiations as a basis for drafting a • a democratic society based on equality, non-racialism and new democratic constitution. non-sexism; The interim constitution is an important first step towards • a nation built by developing our different cultures, beliefs democracy. However, the new democratic constitution and Bill and languages as a source of our common strength; of Rights need to be truly democratic. The challenge is to make • an economy which grows through providing jobs, housing democracy a living reality. and education; • a peaceful and secure environment in which people can live Continued on Page 16

Spring 1994 1 5 INDEPENDENT POLITICS PEATURF ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

ANC Election Manifesto A new trade and industry policy will focus mainly on job creation, strengthening our manufacturing capacity and industries Continued from Page 15 that export goods. Our economic programs will take into account the need for sustainable development which does not destroy our natural An Open Society resources. Tighter controls will be introduced to preserve our The ANC will strive for an open society that encourages vig­ environment for future generations. orous debate. People must be free to express their views with­ out fear, including criticizing the government of the day. Freedom Public Works Program of the media will be essential for a flourishing of democracy. An ANC government will immediately start a national public works program which will address community needs and create Unity in Diversity jobs. Through this program alone we will aim to provide em­ All South African languages will have equal status. No one ployment and training for about 2.5 million people over the culture will be promoted over another. Traditional leaders will next 10 years, building roads and providing water, electricity, be accorded the status they deserve in line with the principles of schools, clinics, housing and meeting other needs. democracy. Freedom of religion and worship will be a basic right: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and all others— none Opportunities for Small Business will be discriminated against. Our program will create more job opportunities by making it easier for people to start their own businesses. An AN C government A New Style of Government will change licensing laws, provide training and access to loans, Government administration exists to serve the people. It must and, in particular, assist women. The government will give the be answerable to them. The ANC will encourage private citizens small business sector some of its contracts to help them grow. to use the independent Public Protector to investigate corrup­ tion, dishonesty or violation of rules of conduct on the part of Workers’ Rights government officials—those found guilty will be dealt with. Forums The ANC is committed to full rights for all workers in both representing government and workers, business, education and public and private sectors, including domestic and farm-workers, other groups will be strengthened to help in policy formulation. to organize, bargain collectively and be represented by trade In government, the ANC will continue the tradition of P e o p le ’s unions. The democratic government will: Forums— meetings in which ordinary people can voice their • outlaw all discrimination; opinions. • protect and extend hard-won employment standards, ma­ ternity and child-care rights; Improving the Quality of Life • introduce Adult Basic Education and more opportunities Democracy means more than just the vote. It must be measured for specialized training for workers and the unemployed, by the quality of life of ordinary people men and women, young especially youth and women; and old, rural and urban. It means giving all South Africans the • promote centralized bargaining and strong trade unions; opportunity to share in the co u n try ’s wealth, to contribute to its • guarantee the right to strike; development and to improve their own lives. • raise and enforce standards of health and safety. For years, our economy ran for the benefit of the minority, with opportunities and facilities limited to a few. While all parties A Just Tax System speak of improving the quality of life, only a government that An ANC government will ensure that South Africa has an represents the majority can be trusted to do this. efficient tax system. The income that ordinary people earn will not be lost through unfair taxes. We will: Jobs and Better Incomes • end VAT on basic foods like flour, milk and sugar; The millions of people without jobs will be at the top of the • reduce income taxes on people earning under R4,000 a month ANC governm ent’s agenda. In establishing a dynamic and growing [one dollar equals 3.5 rands]; economy we will employ various means to create more jobs and • end unfair taxation of women, married and single; opportunities. • ensure through efficient collection that every business pays its fair share. A Growing Economy As a legitimate government, the ANC will be able to work Ending Rural Poverty with others to create an environment of peace and stability, In addition to opportunities which our program will open for boosting investor confidence. The international community is rural people, an ANC government will introduce a rural devel­ already responding positively to our call for massive investments. opment program.

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 16 Spring 1994 ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Most people in the rural areas— the majority of whom are Housing and Services for All women— live in poverty. Central in the development program will be job creation through industrial development and op­ A roof over o n e ’s head and reasonable living conditions are portunities for small business, alongside land reform. We will not a privilege. They are a basic right for every human being. focus on provision of water, clinics, schools, toilet facilities, For over two decades, the National Party stopped the build­ electricity, telephones and roads. ing of houses for Africans in the urban areas. Influx control and a lack of urban planning have resulted in a crisis that is at the very root of many of our social problems. Women were denied Land Reform the right to own houses. Decent family life has been denied to South Africa belongs to all who live in it. To make this a millions of people. reality, an ANC government will: We will focus on the 7 million squatters and the homeless, • guarantee women equal rights to land and special assis­ and the upgrading of townships. We will upgrade hostels to tance; meet the needs of the residents as part of a program to eliminate • assist small farmers to get access to training, credit and the apartheid migrant labour system. The ANC will work with markets; building societies and other banks and financial institutions to • encourage large-scale farming, and ensure security of ten­ ensure that people have the loans and means to build their own ure and all basic rights for farm workers; houses. Consumers will be protected from fly-by-night building • restructure development agencies and marketing boards to contractors and unfair lenders. serve the farmers and consumers; Housing plans will take into account the need for people to • guarantee victims of forced removals restitution, which should stay close to where they work and the need to build efficient be carried out fairly through a Land Claims Court; transport systems and to provide recreational and other basic • use state land in the implementation of land reform. facilities. The ANC will ensure democratic, efficient and open local government which works closely with community structures in Opening the Doors of Learning providing affordable housing and services. An ANC government will make education a priority. The We have calculated that, within five years, the new government challenge is immense, but it will not require finding more money. can: We need to ensure that the R23 billion set aside is used for the • build one million homes; benefit of all. • provide running water and flush toilets to over a million For too long, the NP [National Party] government has denied families; too many people the right to education or the proper conditions • electrify 2.5 million rural and urban homes. for learning and teaching. Emphasis will be placed on teacher training and upgrading Health: Caring for All the People and improving their conditions of service. Above all, we will South Africa has more than enough health resources to care encourage a culture of learning and teaching, and introduce a for all its people. new curriculum which promotes both technical quality and Under apartheid, these resources were used to care for a small humane ideals. portion of society on the basis of race and wealth. Deaths of An ANC government will: young babies through poverty-related diseases has reached levels • introduce one education system that provides 10 years of that no self-respecting nation can tolerate. free and compulsory education for all children: The aim of the A N C’s health policy is primary and affordable • start utilizing all existing school facilities; health care, to ensure that all South Africans are guaranteed • provide more classrooms and repair and modernize inad basic treatment. equate facilities; Prevention will be the priority, and resources will be directed • double the number of free textbooks within one year; especially at rural areas and poverty-stricken communities. • allow mother-tongue instruction and education in the lan­ An ANC government will, in its health program, do the fol­ guage of choice; lowing: • provide a national bursary and loan system; • promote safe motherhood and play a major role in caring • provide adult literacy programmes; for the n a tio n ’s children through programs of immuni­ • assist youths who have not been able to complete their zation, nutrition and free health care for children under education; five; • focus on ways of providing pre-school educare; • introduce measures to make medicines more affordable; • give special assistance to women. Continued on Page 18

Spring 1994 1 7 INDEPENDENT POLITICS I i A IIJRE ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

ANC Election Manifesto ternational aid and loans. Our objective is to use resources more efficiently and not to Continued from Page 17 increase the tax burden. Large sums of money already go to education, health and other areas. But the results are poor. Money • direct major resources at combating TB, AIDS and other has been used on a racial basis and squandered in corruption sexually-transmitted diseases, cancer and other plagues; and bureaucracy. This will be done away with. • facilitate the integration of traditional health practice. Peace and Security for All Welfare and Pensions Our country needs peace. We need an end to the violence A caring approach to children, senior citizens, the disabled against communities and to the abuse of women and children. and victims of violence will be central to our welfare policy. We must end the culture of violence created by apartheid. This An intensive program will be devoted to homeless children. hope and prayer of the overwhelming majority must be real­ All people deserve to grow old in dignity and with security. ized. Government will assist in the provision of facilities for the aged. As the organization that represents the victims of apartheid Pensions and grants due to people will be assured and allocated we understand the difference between a government that in­ through post offices, banks, building societies or other outlets timidates, and one that cares. We all deserve to live in a safe which are easy for rural people to use. environment. Together with communities, an ANC government In consultation with the disabled, the ANC will eliminate will ensure that criminals are dealt with to the full extent of the discrimination against them in the provision of services and law. jobs. They will be assisted to develop their full potential. Attention What is required is: will be given to the removal of obstacles which make access to • a government that represents all the people and implements places of work and learning difficult. a program to create jobs; • a government committed to dealing firmly with violence Eliminating Discrimination—Affirmative Action and crime and one that does not simply point fingers; It is not enough to talk of equality. Especially when the vast • a program to promote political tolerance, respect for the majority of our people have been left behind by a system that cou n try’s constitution and law s, and peaceful ways of handling excluded them by law and deprived the country of the contribution political differences; they could have made. • a gun control program to minimize the number of guns in Opportunities must be opened to all who were discriminated the hands of individuals and to eliminate gun smuggling; against as Africans, Coloreds and Indians, as women, the dis­ • a police force accountable to the communities in which it is abled and as people staying in rural areas. based; This will not be done at the expense of others; nor lead to a • a program which emphasizes rehabilitation instead of ven­ lowering of standards. Special emphasis will be placed on their geance. training and upgrading so they can rise to higher levels in business, civil service, skilled jobs and other areas. Security Forces South Africa as a whole will benefit if all levels of society All security forces will be reformed to reflect the national and represent the broad spectrum of its people. It is essential to the gender character of our country. They will be non-partisan, growth of our economy and the flourishing of our culture that professional, uphold the constitution and respect human rights. more people are skilled and that they feel part of the national A new volunteer army will deal with the defence of the country effort. and not internal political matters. It will also be used for productive purposes and upgrading skills of the youth. Making the Plan Work Criminal behavior in these forces will not be tolerated. Those We know that financing and implementing the program of serving today will be encouraged to continue, in line with the reconstruction and development will not be easy. But it is an new culture. Like other civil servants, security personnel will be opportunity to set the economy on a path of sustained growth guaranteed their pensions on retirement or resignation. They and development. will also enjoy fundamental human rights. By putting people first, we will be investing in jobs, housing and education at the same time as helping our country grow. Equality Before The Law More jobs and higher incomes will bring the government more For the anti-crime measures to succeed, it will be necessary revenue for expenditure on basic needs in future years. to have a court system that broadly reflects so c ie ty ’s racial and An ANC government will increase public expenditure and gender composition and provides fairness and equality for all encourage the private sector to put money in productive ventures. before the law. Detention without trial will be done away with. We will establish a reconstruction fund and seek beneficial in­ The system of justice will be made more accessible, cheap and

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 18 Spring 1994 ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA FEATURE

fair to everyone. The Dawn of Freedom Continued from Page 14 Taking Our Rightful Place in the World Decades of anti-apartheid struggle culminated in the 1980s The ANC and its leaders enjoy recognition and respect with a campaign to “make the Black townships ungovernable.” worldwide as upholders of democracy and human rights. An This, together with international economic sanctions, convinced ANC government will take South Africa fully back into the world. the white ruling class that apartheid was no longer good for South Africa will play its part in the worldwide campaign for capitalism. democracy, human rights, peace and nuclear disarmament. It Former South African President F. W. de Klerk said in an April will accede to all international agreements which protect human interview, “...if we h adn ’t done what w e’d done [get rid of rights, including the rights of women and children, and it will apartheid], then I’m convinced that maybe before the end of co-operate fully with human rights groups. 1990, the whole of South Africa would have been in flames.” An ANC government will work for just economic and social Although the faces in government will now change, the army, relations between the developed industrial nations and the de­ police, prison administration, civil service, and owners of the veloping countries. We will encourage relations between South co u n try ’s wealth remain largely unchanged. The police and army Africans and the peoples of the world in fields such as sport, harbor elements that have secretly funnelled guns and intelligence culture and tourism. to terrorist anti-democratic forces. Political equality to social equality Our Region and Our Continent The ANC and the South African people now face an even Our destiny is intertwined with that of Southern Africa, An greater challenge than winning an end to apartheid. The task is ANC government will build closer co-operation and economic now to use their newly-won political rights to fight for economic integration in the region. We will take active part in the Southern and social justice for the majority of the people— that is, for African Development Conference and other regional institutions such concrete gains as clean water, toilets, roads, jobs, housing, on the basis of equality. land, education and health care. An ANC government will build extensive links with countries A 16-year-old Black youth told a New York Times reporter, of Africa and work with other states to ensure that the continent “Without land reform we can ’t start out fresh. And that is what is not ignored by the rest of humankind. the youth are watching for, the issue our forefathers struggled South Africa will become a full member of the Organization for in the three centuries since the land was first taken from us.” of African Unity, United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, the Even the A N C’s limited social program (of jobs, housing and Commonwealth and other international bodies. education for the majority within a capitalist system) will run into fierce opposition from the rich and powerful whites who still control the wealth of South Africa. A Pledge Through their economic power and control of the media, the These policies of the ANC lay the foundation for us to work rich will try to manipulate elections, buy off candidates, sow together to change South Africa for the better. racial and ethnic divisions, and convince the mass of the people The ANC recognizes the depth of our co u n try ’s crisis. We are that they are powerless to change social and economic inequality. convinced that political will, an environment of peace and sta­ bility and a technically sound program are the sure foundation The movement will divide for reconstruction and development. The anti-apartheid movement will now differentiate. Some The ANC pledges to spare no effort to realize these ideals. We currents will be satisfied with gaining privileges and perks for are ready to tackle the problems. themselves within a class-divided society. Others will continue Above all, the ANC believes that the plan will succeed only if the fight to bring social and economic power into the hands of it is based on the active participation of all, a tradition we will the exploited and oppressed majority— Black, white, Colored carry into government. Together as South Africans— men and and Asian. A division has already arisen between the ANC lead­ women of all colors, young and old, urban and rural—we have ership and the 750,000-member Congress of South African Trade the power to build a better life for all. Unions. COSATU refused to accept a moratorium on strikes Together le t’s change South Africa. So that, once and for all, during the election period. our country can know peace and security. So that we can join The caliber of leadership of the struggle in South Africa is the rest of humankind as a proud and united people working outstanding in the world today. Certainly the freedom fight in together for a better world. that country will continue to be a beacon of hope to the op­ Now is the time! pressed and exploited internationally. ▼ God bless South Africa! ▼

Spring 1994 19 INDEPENDENT FEATURE ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

\ Alternative to ANC and SACP Strategy cludes the National Party of de Klerk (a necessary compromise by the ANC-led forces) reflects the relationship of forces WOSA Calls For a Mass today. For example, the ANC does not now have the power to abolish the Workers’ Party apartheid police and army. The military and police force will continue, in the main, By MALIK M1AH The manifesto states: “We believe that to be under the control of the current white only a workers’ party will be able to carry oppressors. forward the struggle of the exploited and SACP leader Jeremy Cronin, in an in­ n addition to the African National oppressed masses of South Africa. (Other terview prior to the elections with the Green Congress and the ruling National parties) cannot (solve the crisis) because Left Weekly of Australia, noted this con­ IParty, there were a number of other they accept the capitalist system.” tradiction: “The ANC,” he said, “is doing parties on the ballot. One of the most sig­ something that on paper is quite a dan­ nificant was the Workers’ List Party. Ini­ gerous thing. It is fighting elections, which tiated by the Workers’ Organization for The longer the unity it is going to win—if it w asn ’t going to Socialist Action (WOSA), it put forward lasts, the better it is for win, it w o u ld n ’t be such a dangerous a number of social and political demands thing—without security cover. We are that it says would represent a real break the democratic process. reliant on de K lerk’s army and de K lerk ’s with “apartheid-capitalism” in South Af­ police force to preserve law and order in rica. The idea of a mass workers’ party and a quite fraught election campaign, and WOSA rejected the ANC-led electoral workers taking power in South Africa is immediately after that election campaign.” alliance and the A N C’s support for a five- not rejected by the South African Com­ The AN C is a broad-based alliance with year “Government of National Unity.” munist Party (SACP) or other socialists many currents. There are already divisions WOSA said such a government would who support the ANC alliance. The issue between sections of the trade union “include racists” (representatives of the is: when and how this will occur, that is, leadership and the overall AN C leadership. National Party) and thus could not solve what strategy to follow to get there. There will be those in the new regime who the fundamental problems faced by The South African Communist Party, will press for workers to “hold back” their workers. the main ally of the ANC, sees the road to demands. The left-wing elements will p ress w o rk ers’s power and socialism through for quick implementation of the ANC For a Mass Workers’ Party uprooting apartheid first, establishing election manifesto, particularly as it per­ “WOSA will campaign under the banner democracy— that is, supporting the ANC tains to workers’ rights and interests. of a Workers’ List for an Independent and the transitional government that will But the longer the unity lasts, the better Workers’ Party (W LP)it explained when come to power after the April elections. it is for the democratic process and thus it launchd the Workers’ List. “The workers’ WOSA counters that as long as capi­ for the workers and farmers of South Af­ list is a list of demands of the working talism exists, real democracy is not pos­ rica (the overwhelming maj ority of popular class, but the WLP would also put forward sible. “Democracy is not about voting every forces) to increase their strength vis-a- a symbolic list of candidates who will fight five years,” the manifesto states. “De­ vis the right, which has not given up. for these demands.” mocracy is about controlling the fruits of Cronin, who is also editor of the Afri­ A central demand in the Workers’ List our labor, about deciding what to produce can Communist, writes in issue No. 136: election manifesto is for a “Constituent and how to produce it and how to live.” “The South African Transition process Assembly which is based on grassroot WOSA calls for “socialist democracy.” combines elements of a negotiated de­ structures.” It adds: “A genuine constituent mocratization with a decolonization assembly could be no more than a stepping Dangerous situation process. The process challenges a number stone to a workers’ government, which The SACP and other socialists recognize of paradigms and assumptions. It has, not will be under the control of mass orga­ the political problems and challenges surprisingly, touched off an ongoing nizations. We want to build a mass workers’ before the liberation leadership. They do theoretical debate within the movement, party, one of whose tasks will be to assist not believe nonracial democracy is the stock-taking of its national liberation and in the establishment of factory, township, same as socialism and the end of capitalist Marxist traditions.” village and other forms of worker action exploitation. But the fight for socialism W O SA ’s strategy for change and its call committees. These committees will be­ can only take off once the old system of for a mass workers’ party is part of this come the beginning of workers’ rule of apartheid is destroyed. The formation of debate and discussion in the South Afri­ society." a government of national unity that in­ can left. ▼

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 2 0 Spring 1994 US. Interest Section in Cuba

he following is a The Brotherhood of Lies Reference: H18422 693 4 communication Subject: Update on the T labeled “top se­ By CAROLINE LUND Cuban Refugee Program cret” fromjoseph Sullivan, head of the U.S. Interests Section (USINT) I. OVERVIEW in Havana, Cuba, addressed to the U.S. Applications by human The processing of refugee applicants Secretary of State, the CIA, and the Im­ rights groups members continues to show weak cases. Most people migration and Naturalization Service apply more because of the deteriorating (INS). It was published in the March 16 are marked by general economic situation than a real fear of issue of the English-language Granma and imprecise persecution. Cases presented by human International, a weekly Cuban newspaper. descriptions of alleged rights activists proved particularly diffi­ An article, “The brotherhood of lies,” cult for USINT officers and INS members. by Luis Baez Delgado accompanying the human rights activity, Although we have tried hard to work with secret document says it was “leaked to us lack demonstrable those human rights organizations on which by friendly hands.” evidence of persecution, we exert greater control to identify activ­ The document, says Baez Delgado, “is ists truly persecuted by the government, irrefutable proof not only of the lies and and do not meet the basic human rights cases represent the weak­ fabrications that are invented and pro­ criteria for processing est category of the refugee program. moted against the Cuban Revolution, but in the program. Applications by human rights groups of the absolute honesty and justice which members are marked by general and im­ has always characterized us.” precise descriptions of alleged human He continues: “Throughout the course devoted their lives and struggles for be­ rights activity, lack demonstrable evidence of these 35 years, Cuba has affirmed time lief in ideas d o n ’t persecute or imprison of persecution, and do not meet the basic and again that in this country there has ideas, as others have done. Those who criteria for processing in the program. not been one single political assassina­ believe in principles respect them. Those Common allegations of fraudulent appli­ tion, not one single person tortured, nor who fight for dignity and self-respect will cations by activists and of the sale of tes­ one single person disappeared and no one never be its executioners, but its most timonials by human rights leaders have can prove the contrary.” faithful defenders.” continued in recent months. Due to the It is clear why this document was made He continues: “Why d o e sn ’t the Immi­ lack of verifiable documentary evidence, top secret. Though written by enemies of gration and Naturalization Service use (its] as a rule USINT officers and INS mem­ the Cuban Revolution, the document resources for real refugees like the Hai­ bers have regarded human rights cases as testifies to the following: tians or the millions of Latin American the most susceptible to fraud. • The vast majority of people wanting immigrants who are discriminated against to come to the U.S. from Cuba are not or persecuted within the United States?” II. ASSESSMENT fleeing political persecution but are seeking He closes with a 1989q u o te from Cuban The decrease in the number of politi­ a more affluent life style and escape from President Fidel Castro: “We learned re­ cal prisoners led the State Department and the dire economic situation in Cuba. The vulsion and hatred toward all signs of the INS three years ago to work together harsh economic conditions in Cuba to­ violence against prisoners in our struggles in expanding the categories for process­ day are largely a product of the blockade against the tyranny. And those were the ing in the Cuban Refugee Program. Pro­ imposed against Cuba by the U.S. values which carried us to victory, those fessionals dismissed from their jobs, hu­ • The so-called “human rights groups” are the values which have kept us here. I man rights activists, and members of in Cuba are for the most part in business think that history will assume the re­ religious faiths suffering persecution were (literally) to get people entry into the U.S. sponsibility of writing the truth. introduced as new categories, with pro­ as political refugees. Some do this by ac­ This secret document provides some cessing guidelines developed for each to tually selling “testimonials” vouching for of that truth, which the U.S. rulers d o n ’t ensure a fair consideration of cases. a person being a human rights activist. want our people to know about. During later INS visits, USINT made a • Despite all the resources at the dis­ deliberate effort to include cases from all posal of die U.S. Interests Section, the CIA, The secret document about of the categories. As an average, it included and the INS, these agencies cannot (when US-Cuba “refugee program” ex-political prisoners, religious members, speaking frankly to each other) find any From: US Int. Sect. Havana human rights activists, and other cases. serious evidence of repression, torture, To: Sec. State, Washington We continue to select for prescreening or jailings in Cuba for political reasons. CIA only cases of probable INS approval. The In the introductory article in Granma, INS Baez Delgado writes: “Those who have Date: January 94 Continued on Page 22

Spring 1994 2 1 INDEPENDENT POLITICS USINT in Cuba lease letters) to determine the inclusion since the economic downturn in 1989 have in the refugee program. Yet, this is not tended to submit applications as human Continued from Page 21 the case with most human rights appli­ rights activists. Human rights leaders have approvals reflect the careful analysis of cants. told USINT officers that they know that cases and the good understanding between We have recorded an increase in the most of their members joined only to take USINT officers and INS visiting members. number of human rights cases since 1992. advantage of the refugee program. Although USINT has tried to cover cases However, this increase did not stem from Since the inclusion of human rights in line with the processing criteria, it has a higher level of human rights activity, activists as another category, we have kept nonetheless preserved its flexibility to membership, or government repression. a flexible and responsive approach to them. present cases that may fall short in some The majority of cases rarely contain any Human rights leaders such as Paula areas but represent an interest to US. demonstrable evidence of persecution and Valiente, the Aspillaga brothers, and others A deteriorating Cuban economy has frequently give only minimal, hardly have received proper and quick consid­ provided incentive for new economic credible, evidence of participation in eration. A similar treatment has also been migrants to seek the refugee program. human rights activities. given to simple activists. In cases where Additionally, the expansion of the cat­ The testimonials of human rights leaders the a ctiv ist’s supporting evidence is weak, egories has contributed to an increase in generally carry vague descriptions of but commitment to US is otherwise clear, the number of applicants. prescreening officers have given the ap­ It is brazenly acknowledged now by It is brazenly plicant the benefit of the doubt. some of the reintegrated ex-political The leader of one group said that sev­ prisoners that they apply for refugee status acknowledged now by eral people left his organization when they as a means to escape the deteriorating some of the reintegrated knew that it does not give testimonials to economic situation, and not because of a ex-political prisoners members. He complained of pressures from current fear of persecution or harassment. members to obtain strong testimonials of Others seem to have been pressed to re­ that they apply for refu­ their human rights activity. quest refugee status by their adult children gee status as a means to The latest INS visits have witnessed hoping to leave with their parents. Most escape the deteriorating repeated incidences of fraud and allegations of these adult children of elderly, often of fraud by human rights activists. USINT retired, ex-political prisoners do not meet economic situation, and has attempted to address the problem the criteria for refugee status in their own not because of a current through a revision of internal procedures capacity. fear of persecution to identify strong human rights cases. In Regrettably, the general quality of many addition, it met with heads of human rights of the applications is poor. Few of the ex­ or harassment organizations to determine the objectives, political prisoners accepted now as refugees size and other aspects of the major human would have been accorded such a status human rights activity, such as the moral rights groups. USINT restricted as well in previous years. As a rule, they have support of family members of political the testimonials accepted from the groups served much shorter sentences compared prisoners. These descriptions accurately to those from leaders we trust, aware that to the early entrants in the program. Most show the low-level activity and played lesser roles in counterrevolutionary nonconfrontational attitudes of most groups, accepted political reeducation in human rights groups. The Debate Over Health Security The political economy of health cate order to have their sentences reduced, and On the other hand, almost none of the by Charles Andrews later abandoned political activity to [human rights] cases show proofs of house 85 pages reintegrate into Cuban society. searches, interrogations, detention, or A significant number of applications arrest. The activists usually claim perse­ Do you ...wonder why health care in our country is have also been received from individuals cution by State Security, but they rarely in a crisis? charged with attempting to illegally exit can provide properly documented evidence ...want to sort outargumentsfor and against the country. With the depolitization of of it. In some instances the applicant claims Clinton’s managed competition plan? “illegal exits” by the Cuban government, to have been subject to harassment without ...want to know how institutional health care sentences for such charges were reduced. arrest. Interviewing officers end up hav­ developed? INS has generally regarded “illegal exits” ing to rely virtually on what activists tell ... want to know who gains from heatlh care? as lacking political content. them. The generally low quality of the cases, The general trend has been one of lack Get answers by sending $5 to: including those in the 1991 new catego­ of evidence to prove that the person is Needle Press ries, has not kept USINT from continuing actually an activist, which leaves the P.O.Box 16101 category open for virtually everyone. to rely on documentary evidence (i.e., legal Oakland, CA 94610-6101 documents, dismissal notices, prison re­ Young men caught in illegal exit attempts

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 2 2 Spring 1994 past divisions within human rights groups sessed with the program. USINT has even man rights groups. And only 19 were fi­ have produced allegations of unauthorized received appeals to give human rights or­ nally approved. and fraudulent issuances of testimonials. ganizations a formal role in the refugee Despite being only 20 percent of the To our regret, not even these steps have program. total, human rights cases represented more prevented allegations of fraud and bitter Out of the 225 cases presented by USINT than half of the denials. The overall re­ recriminations among top human rights to INS during its December visit, 47 fusal rate for the December visit as a re­ leaders. Shortly before the INS Decem­ claimed involvement in human rights sult was 22 percent. This rate, although ber visit, Gustavo Arcos and Jesus Yanez activity, although many fell into other significantly higher th an in past INS vis­ of the Comite Cubano pro-derechos categories, like professionals dismissed its, has on the sideline the advantage of humanos accused Aida Valdes of selling from their jobs and persons attempting hopefully resulting in a higher level of fraudulent avals [endorsements]. She, in to commit illegal exits. Although this was activity by the groups. turn, accuses Arcos and Yanez of similar our best effort to work with human rights practices for economic profits. groups to present the strongest cases, CONSIDERATIONS This situation increases the general interviews clearly showed the weakness In the face of a general decline in the concern regarding the danger of relying of most cases. quality of the cases, including those in­ on the testimonials. The deep rivalries and Of all 47 human rights cases, only one volving ex-political prisoners, USINT will infighting among the human rights groups need to work harder in identifying the make it simply inevitable for the recurrence The USINT will best cases. With a view to help in this of charges of fraud not to prevail. effort, it will introduce additional changes Prominent activists have confessed their maintain the flexibility to in the processing of cases. worries that the refugee program is rob­ present cases that may The problems encountered in the bing them of the few dedicated members not meet all of the processing of the bulk of the human rights while at the same time it has become a cases point to the need for USINT to magnet for opportunists. During a meeting criteria but that given continue its close work with the INS to with USINT and the INS, Felix Bonne, their nature may prove select strong cases. the head of the group Corriente Civica, useful for US interests. However, the USINT will maintain the called the refugee program “the primary flexibility to present cases that may not focus of many human rights leaders and meet all of the criteria but that given their organizations.” claimed a total of more than 30 days de­ nature may prove useful for US interests. The involvement by some of the best- tention over the last five years for human Given C IA ’s expressed interests in the known human rights leaders in Cuba in rights activity, and even he could not subject of human rights, and its greater these serious allegations clearly illustrates provide evidence of the detentions. The involvement with and better knowledge that our refugee program has become a rest in general only claimed house searches of the different groups, we suggest a closer divisive and increasingly controversial or a few undocumented summons to police cooperation with USINT in line with our focus of attention for many human rights stations. Most activists have only vague common goals. groups, whose leaders appear almost ob­ descriptions of their involvement in hu­ — [Joseph] Sullivan

The Committees of Correspondence SUBSCRIBE! National Convention ...to News fora People's World, reporting for social change, serving July 22-24,1994 Northern California The Bismarck Hotel Chicago, IL. News for a People's World is committed to informative, non-sectarian reporting and analysis. Its editorial core includes activists and journalists from diverse backgrounds The CoC is a new left organization for pro­ and political traditions. gressive politics and socialist renewal. Its __Send me News fora People's World in the mail each month. $10/year. founding convention is open to all members „ l'll take a bundle o f__1 0 __2 5 __for my group or neighborhood. and friends. For more information contact __I'll help circulate papers on a route. the Committees of Correspondence, 11 John Street, Room 506, New York, New York NAME______PHONE (__)______10038. (212) 233-7151, or in Northern ADDRESS______CITY______STATE ZIP_____ California: CoC, 522 Valencia St., San Fran­ cisco, CA 941 10. (415) 863-6637. Make checks to Pacific Publishing Foundation, 522 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110.

Spring 1994 2 3 INDEPENDENT POLITICS International Journal in the vital tasks of building organizations and parties. of Socialist Renewal The magazine will not present a single line. It will be pluralist, open, and very LINKS much a discussion forum. There will not be a regular editorial, but there will be certain parameters. LINKS will be devel­ Thefollowing is the introduction to a new oping and marking out the space for international magazine for socialist renewal genuine socialism. and regroupment. The new journal was LINKS hopes to not only bring together ■ Interview with Daniel Ortega ■ Russia'* trade union movement launched at an “International Green Left active socialists from different countries by Bans K ojprbtsto and Rnfrr, C isrh ■ Leninism versus Stalinism debate Conference” held in Sydney, Australia, and different continents, but to unite tn the Philippine* March 31 to April 4. Over 800 people reg­ socialists coming from different tradi­ by Smtirt M rincrt ■ Spilt in Philippines CP istered for the gathering that included over tions— the tradition of the pro-Moscow by Max U m * ■ Framework tor left dialogue In the USA 50 speakers. International participants in­ communist parties, Trotskyist parties, by M***t»g Marabit cluded: Duke Maria Pereira from the Bra­ Maoism, the left wing of national move­ ■ Accord politics in Australia by Pat Bm /*r and Peer fjsyk zilian Workers Party; Sonny Melencio, Vice- ments, left forces breaking with social ■ Brazil PT: 1S94 election principle* Austria $6.30 Britain £».00 president ofMakabayan, a new mass socialist democracy, and activists from social Omw If 00 V»SO> B«2fi Mm IniW %J V) formation in the Philippines; Dr. V. movements who have come to realize the MiliW«e> i*50 SoJ»Vt«an? Karunarathne, General Secretary of the New need for a party. We all come from different sm u*t*> (tvso$7 <» Socialist Party, Sri Lanka; Luciana Castelina, backgrounds, and often still have differ­ member of the European Parliament, and ent viewpoints, but are united in: project around the world. T Party of Communist Refoundation, Italy; and • our socialist convictions of the need Editorial Board: Australia: Max Lane; Doug Susan George, author of How the Other Half for fundamental social change; Lorimer; Reihana Mohideen; John Percy; Dies. Carl Bloice, Peter Camejo, Mike • the need for a democratic, non-au­ New Zealand: MattMcCarten; Philippines: Wyman and Malik Miah (all members of thoritarian socialism; and Sonny Melencio; Francisco Nemenzo; the Committees of Correspondence) attended • the need for a socialism that’s green, South Africa: Jeremy Cronin; Langa Zita; from the United States. feminist and anti-racist. Sri Lanka: Baddegama Samitha; USA: Carl LINKS will carry discussion and debate Bloice; Peter Camejo; Malik Miah. INKS is a new international dis­ pieces from around the world. It will solicit cussion magazine. It is a maga­ original articles from contributing editors Contributing Editors: Alejandro Bendana L zine for the post Cold War left, a and supporting parties, and from anyone (Nicaragua); Hector de la Cueva (Mexico); magazine that rejects the Stalinist distor­ who wishes to make a useful contribution Pallo Jordan (South Africa); Boris tion of the socialist project, a magazine to the debate. It will reprint documents Kagarlitsky (Russia); Tamas Krausz that takes into account ecological ques­ and discussion pieces from different (Hungary); Alain Krivine (France); Kiva tions, a magazine that is taking steps to parties, as well as relevant articles from Maidanik (Russia); Ernest Mandel (Bel­ unify and bring together the forces for other magazines. gium); Manning Marable (USA); Gerson socialism in the world today, a magazine Being an English-language magazine, Martinez (El Salvador); Francois that aspires to unite Marxists from differ­ English-speaking countries will be the Vercammen (Belgium). ent political traditions because it discusses primary focus, both for distribution and openly and constructively. editorial content. But we also need input Managing Editor: Peter Boyle It is determinedly socialist, anti-capi­ from other countries, so that the magazine Design: Cameron Parker talist and anti-imperialist, a response to will be able to reflect and participate in the collapse of the Soviet Union, and a the debates taking place among left forces LINKS, Post Office Box 515, Broadway, recognition of the continuing and urgent around the world. We want the magazine NSW 2007 Australia. need for a socialist solution to the crimes to develop a genuine political dialogue. Telephone: 02-690 1230. Facsimile: 02- and contradictions of rampaging capital­ Part of its task will be to arrange translations 690 1381. ism. of key documents and articles from the United States distribution: LINKS, Post LINKS will not be oriented to academic socialist press in non-English speaking Office Box 8402, Berkeley, CA 94707-8402, Marxists, as many existing theoretical countries. USA. magazines are, although it will have aca­ We invite debate—in the form of demics among its contributors. Its main comment, articles and letters. We need Subscription rates: One year (four issues). contributors and readers will be active your ideas, contributions and support if Australia USA Other Countries socialists, those involved in the day-to- LINKS is to succeed as a real forum of Individuals A$25 US$20 US$25 day struggles, especially those involved discussion for the renewal of the socialist Institutions A$35 US$30 US$35

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 2 4 Spring 1994 Marxism Today: Why It Remains Relevant Second of a two-part se­ Third World are being ries The World After Stalinism driven off their lands and into the cities, and they n the last issue, we By BARRY SHEPPARD join the ranks of the looked at some of propertyless every day. the effects the collapse of the regimes world market, of the concomitant unin­ Competition has not been ended by the of Eastern Europe and of the Soviet Union hibited competition, from the ever more growth of monopolies and transnational have had upon the world relation of violent and universal trade crises, which corporations, but has been increased as forces— effects that are negative from the have already become full-fledged crises huge blocks of capital form alliances against point of view of the working people of of the world market, from the creation of others. Indeed, this competition became the world. the proletariat and the concentration of so fierce it led to two world wars in this We also noted that the collapse of capital, from the ensuing class struggle century, and is again intensifying. Stalinism was a very positive outcome that between proletariat and bourgeoisie. And the class struggle between work­ in the long run would help enable the Communism, insofar as it is a theory, is ers and capitalists becomes increasingly international socialist or communist the theoretical expression of the position an international struggle. movement to rebuild, to return to its roots of the proletariat in this struggle and the There are many aspects of M arxism ’s and make a fresh start. theoretical summation of the conditions “theoretical summation of the conditions But the immediate impact of these events for the liberation of the proletariat.” of liberation of the proletariat.” Basically, has been to discredit socialism, because Marxism is not a blueprint of a better it is as follows: The working class, in or­ of the identification of socialism with society, which seeks to impose itself upon der to fight for its own interests, must Stalinism. This is not only true among overcome its fragmentation and divisions, the masses of working people. It also has and mobilize its strength. The workers as affected people from the socialist move­ The working class, in individuals are weak against capital, but ment, including former pro-Moscow and order to fight for its own collectively they are strong enough to win. Increasingly, this unity must be achieved pro-Beijing activists, who, while perhaps interests, must overcome rejecting the crimes committed under on an international level, as capital is in­ S ta lin ’s regime, nevertheless identified its fragmentation and ternational. This truth, summed up in the Stalinist ideas and practice with socialism. divisions, and mobilize fighting words of the Communist Mani­ festo: “Workers of the World Unite!,” is The Stalinist cancer that developed in its strength. the w o rld ’s first workers’ state has finally being brought home to workers in the killed the patient. Instead of coming to United States in a new way, as a result of grips with this fact, some former socialists reality, reshaping reality to suit itself. Such U.S. capitalists building factories in low- are blaming the patient for the cancer, schemes are doomed to remain schemes, wage countries. and have fled Marxism. even if they have a positive aspect of This unity begins at first on the level of criticizing wrongs in the present capital­ a single trade, with the formation of unions. W hat is Marxism? ist society. It has spread to more inclusive unions in In a polemic with someone, Frederick Marxist theory has nothing to do with whole industries, and to federations. Engels wrote the following, shortly before such utopian schemes. In fact, its “theory” But the formation of unions is not he and Marx wrote the Communist is not “theory” in the sense of such a enough for the workers to win. They come Manifesto: blueprint, but a scientific analysis of up against the power of the state, which “[This person] imagines communism “previous history” and especially of capi­ the capitalists control. To fight this power, is a certain doctrine which proceeds from talism. It is based on facts, as Engels said. they must form political parties, with the a definite theoretical principle as its core Since Engels wrote those words, capi­ goal of taking the state power themselves. and draws further conclusions from that. talism has developed much further along And “by degrees,” as the Communist [He] is very much mistaken. Communism the lines he suggested. Capitalism has Manifesto says, workers must wrest from is not a doctrine but a movement; it pro­ penetrated almost all corners of the globe. the capitalists the means of production, ceeds not from principles but from facts. The world market has grown apace. The place them at the disposal of society as a The Communists do not base themselves concentration of capital in a few hands whole, and build a new society on an in­ on this or that philosophy as their point has increased grotesquely, with hugely rich ternational scale without classes and ex­ of departure but on the whole course of families in the advanced capitalist coun­ ploitation. previous history and specifically its actual tries dominating not only their own But this is not a straight-line develop­ results in the civilized countries at the working people but the workers and ment. Competition and divisions fostered present time. Communism has followed peasants of the whole world. Industry is by capitalism within the working class from large scale industry and its conse­ not only large in scale but it crosses country quences, from the establishment of the borders. Thousands of peasants in the Continued on Page 26

Spring 1994 2 5 INDEPENDENT POLITICS We must be with the Marxism Today masses on the road tures of the former workers’ states, such as universal health care, housing subsi­ Continued from Page 25 forward... That means dies, the right to jobs, and free education, upset unity. fighting for a return and as they resist right-wing attempts to The class struggle is a battle, including to real socialism, push back women, and the burgeoning a batde of ideas, where the capitalists have which is based upon evils of national chauvinism and fascist the initial advantage through their racism. domination of education, the press and democracy. Socialism The final collapse of the USSR was an the pulpit. without democracy important, deeply felt episode in the Sometimes this batde reaches the point is not socialism. struggle between the world capitalist class of revolution, counterrevolution and and the w o rld ’s working people. But it no counter-revolutionary war. more disproves Marxism or socialism than And sometimes the workers lose, contradictory and partial support which does the defeat of a strike or the elimination whether in a strike or in a revolution. previously existed under the oppressive of a trade union. Marx d id n ’t invent the Stalinist regimes— no workers’ state can class struggle, or its particular forms under The fall of the USSR exist. These states could not be “saved” capitalism. He helped explain it, he took The collapse of the regimes in Eastern by Stalinist crackdowns. Any such sides in that struggle, he helped explain Europe and the USSR was not the failure crackdown would have accelerated the what we have to do to win it. of “the socialist model.” It was the final motion towards capitalism by the Stalinist The collapse we have been talking about product of a counterrevolution that began bureaucracy, by giving it a freer hand. at the end of the 1980s and beginning of under Stalin in the 1920s against the Moreover, the masses raised a demand the 1990s, has taken place in an overall Russian revolution, in the context of the for democracy, the key to breaking out of situation of a change in the relation of failure of working people to take power the dead end of Stalinism. Socialists had forces to the detriment of the workers on in the advanced capitalist countries. to support them in raising this demand, a world scale. The failure of the revolution to extend without sharing the illusions of Western- The end of the 1970s saw certain vic­ into the heartlands of capitalism had both style “democracy” and capitalism, illusions tories. The workers and peasants of Iran objective and subjective intertwined bolstered by Stalinism itself. But the threw out the hated Shah and his U.S. causes, beyond the scope of this article. bankruptcy of Stalinism became identified backers. In tiny Grenada a revolutionary But one factor was the counterrevolu­ with socialism. Socialism became equated government took power. A long struggle tionary role played by Stalinism on a world with dictatorship and denial of democratic in Nicaragua culminated in the overthrow scale, which helped tilt the balance against rights, environmental destruction, ethnic of the American-backed Somoza dicta­ working people on more than one occa­ oppression and big-nation chauvinism. torship. Revolution was on the rise in El sion. Our job is not to lament the dead car­ Salvador. However, the collapse of the bureau­ cass of the Stalinist regime, or to come to The lack of a working class party with cratized workers’ states in the Soviet bloc its aid against the masses during its death roots in and support among the masses is a defeat. World capitalism has succeeded throes, or to hold out the vain hope that in Iran meant that the clergy was able to in establishing regimes there which are it could rise again and turn the clock back wear out the democratic and working class unashamedly on the road to capitalist to 1980. thrust of the revolution, and place it in a restoration. We must be with the masses on the stranglehold that destroyed it. The instrument of this transformation road forward, not backward. That means As the Soviet bureaucracy increasingly was the privileged bureaucracy itself. It fighting for a return to real socialism, which saw its future tied to that of imperialism actively ruled over the workers in their is based upon democracy. Socialism and capitalism, it was more reluctant to name. It was anti-democratic. This sector without democracy is not socialism. challenge the aggressive counter-revolu­ is, by and large, still dominant in the new Fighting for democracy in the former tionary interventions of U.S. imperialism. regimes. Russian President Boris Yeltsin Soviet bloc remains a key immediate task. This was true in Central America and the is a good example. In their drive to restore capitalism, these Caribbean, and was a factor in the over­ Should socialists have therefore called regimes must come into conflict with the throw of the Grenadian revolution, the for the crackdown by the military against working people, and must break their disintegration of the revolution in Nica­ the pro-democracy mass demonstrations resistance to that restoration. That could ragua under the U.S.-backed counter­ of 1989-90 in the name of “saving” the mean a dangerous move toward new revolution, and the situation faced by the workers’ states? dictatorships, as can be seen in Y eltsin ’s revolutionists in El Salvador. Combined I think not; rather the opposite. The authoritarian drive, as well as in more with errors by the leaderships in those Stalinist rot had turned the workers sinister forces to his right. areas, and the outright perfidy of the Ber­ themselves against these states. Without Working people need support as they nard Coard group in Grenada, the lack of the support of the workers— even that resist the dismantling of the positive fea­ a significant challenge to U.S. interven-

1NDEPENDENT P o l i t i c s 2 6 Spring 1994 We can never know tion spelled defeat for the working class. where or when the selves to suddenly enter on the world scene The complete collapse of the Soviet oppressed and exploited and challenge the privileges and pre­ Union was foreshadowed by its abject rogatives of the rich. support of W ashington’s war in the Per­ will find the Every few decades the French seem to sian Gulf, that video-game slaughter de­ organization, will, jump into the act. In 1968, France saw signed to show the world W ashington’s and leadership in the greatest general strike in history. This fancy weapons and its will to use them past year we have seen the airline and when it can get away with it. themselves to challenge airport workers, standing together in unity, The working people of the world, in­ the privileges and defeat government attempts to drive down cluding in the advanced capitalist coun­ prerogatives of the rich. their living conditions and organizations tries, took a severe beating in the 1980s. in massive and physical battles. Then this The class struggle, far from ending or even spring, students and youth by the hundreds abating, has been heating up. But unfor­ class has been dealt blows. It does no good of thousands smashed a government at­ tunately, it has been the capitalist class to pretend that there are still workers’ states tempt to lower the minimum wage for which has generally been on the offensive, in the former Soviet bloc. We ca n ’t deny workers under 25 years old to 80 percent and dealing blows to the living standards, that Stalinism has made socialism look of the current minimum wage. The gov­ rights and organizations of working people. like a failure to many. Nor should we fail ernment gave in, fearing a repeat of 1968; This has been a decade of growth in to realistically assess the difficult situation its weakness can impel other groups of unemployment and underemployment. in which the w o rld ’s working class finds workers to resist. Even in the advanced countries (and it itself. The South African masses are poised has been worse in backward and exploited But at the same time, we must find ways to end apartheid as a legal system, a vic­ capitalist countries), higher-paying and to join the fight of working people on every tory brought about by mass struggle. This better-organized jobs are being system­ front, for that fight exists everywhere, from will open new arenas of battle as the op­ atically eliminated. Low-wage, temporary democratic struggles to the factory floor. pressed peoples of that country seek to and part-time work is on the rise. We enter the class battle at its current deepen and extend their victory. This unemployment weighs down on level, on the side of the workers and op­ the workers. Those employed fear for their pressed, and go from there, patiently Marxism will emerge again jobs— there are millions out there ready generalizing that struggle, linking it with Marxism, or communism, arose out of to take them at lower wages and worse future struggles and with the struggle of the class struggle as it developed in conditions. Workers are threatened by the working people across the planet. capitalist society. Since that struggle practice of moving factories to low paying We join the battle as it exists. As Marx­ continues unabated, Marxism will arise countries. ists, we have a theoretical understanding out of it again, even if all Marxists alive Resistance by workers has occurred. But of the place of tod a y ’s battles in the long today dropped off the face of the earth. the defensive battles have generally been march of working people. We d o n ’t confuse But it will make its comeback more defeated. In this country we can point to tod a y ’s batdes with tom orrow ’s, however, quickly—and we d o n ’t have all the time the breaking of the air traffic controllers; because to do that keeps us from joining in the world before capitalism succeeds the defeat of the heroic meatpackers in the struggle where it is today. We seek to in poisoning the world or a nuclear con­ Minnesota; the defeat of the paperworkers, become citizens of time, and to know our frontation gets out of hand—if Marxists and others since the early 1980s. place in it. today can find their way to each other There have been partial victories— the And, we take heart when our side strikes and link up with the class struggle. coal miners have held onto many of their some blows. We need to be patient. We are in a pe­ gains, although the United Mine Workers’ Cuba stands and still fights for social­ riod of left regroupment and socialist re­ Union is numerically much weaker than ism. The revolution has not been crushed newal. All kinds of people from different a decade ago. Eastern Airline workers foiled and Washington still hesitates to attack backgrounds on the left are seeking an­ to save their jobs but did force the airline militarily because it knows that the masses swers to what went wrong in the Soviet industry’s main union-buster, Frank of Cubans will put up a hell of a fight in Union and what socialists can do now. Lorenzo, out of the industry. defense of the revolution. We can make a We will be aided in rebuilding a new But there have been no victories of difference by fighting the U.S. blockade. communist movement by the collapse of sufficient scope to galvanize the majority The peasants in Chiapas, Mexico, ap­ Stalinism as an ideology. It is no longer a of the workers to begin a massive fightback parently h aven ’t heard of the end of the material force in the world, but a dis­ against the capitalist offensive. class struggle, or that they are supposed credited system that poisoned socialism. to be docile slaves until the end of time. Cleansed of this poison, we can move What is to be done? We can never know where or when the forward, providing we base ourselves on First we must recognize reality. Work­ oppressed and exploited will find the or­ the living movement of the working people ing people have been dealt blows. Our ganization, will and leadership in them­ of this earth. ▼

Spring 1994 2 7 INDEPENDENT POLITICS Interview, Part II

This is the conclusion of Russian Confederation anarchist federation and all an interview done by Alex different anarchists joined Chis of Independent Poli­ of Anarcho-Syndicalists it. Now it is a mostly ho­ tics in Moscow in November mogeneous anarcho-syn­ 1993 with three activists ofthe Confederation political activities were centered around dicalist organization. People are involved of Anarcho-Syndicalists (KAS): Vlad the newly elected Russian parliament and in working with different trade unions Tupikin, Mikhail Tsovma and Nikolai support to [Russian President Boris] Yeltsin and w ork er’s organizations. In KAS-KOR Muravin. The first section (see IP #5) cov­ and we d id n ’t fit in this picture. The we tried to establish information services ered events through 1989. newspapers were giving much more in­ for these organizations. We do not want formation than they did before and were to support either old or new unions be­ Alex Chis: What has been the work of quite cheap. Many people started to buy cause we are critical of both. We just want KAS since 1989? regular newspapers instead of samizdat to propagate the ideas of the rank and file [underground publications]. Almost all independent workers movement and we Vlad Tupikin: In 1990, the KAS-KOR samizdat publications ceased to exist This want to propagate socialist and anarchist information agency was created. People was a crisis of many of the editorial groups ideas among the workers. were trying to get links with the emerging like Obshchina. In different places KAS activists are workers organizations and trade unions. Some kind of reemergence of activities involved in working with trade unions occurred during the coup d ’etat in August and making publications. In Thomsk 7, AC: This was the time when there was 1991 and anarchists also participated in they have a very good experience of fighting a big m in er’s strike? the struggle against the dictatorship. Of against nomenklatura privatization of the course we were not defending Yeltsin but enterprise and fighting for better work­ Mikhail Tsovma: Yes, after the m in er’s just did not want the Communists and ing conditions and salaries and maybe in strike in 1989, there was this process of party bureaucrats to come back. some time they will crea te an independent creating independent trade unions and we After the August coup d ’etat, the offi­ union. tried to get in contact with them. This cial trade unions started some changes of was also the time when there were a lot the structure and leadership and tried to AC: What is Thomsk 7? of street actions, demonstrations, pickets, find a new face for themselves. They distributing literature, etc. proposed people from KAS-KOR and KAS MT: Thomsk 7 is a secret city near For example, on May 1 we participated to do their newspaper and for some time Thomsk. There was a big nuclear blow­ in a demonstration at Red Square. There we worked on this paper. The paper was out there. Thirty percent of the plutonium were 500 people there with a black flag. quite radical and interesting. Different in Russia is made in this city. They have There were attempts to create inde­ people had the opportunity to speak an anarcho-syndicalist group and a pub­ pendent groups with participation of through this paper—the Greens, the Party lication there and are active in the fight anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists, which of Labor, anarchists, socialists. This was against privatization. They try to create were not successful. But there were a lot successful for some time but then we be­ an independent union. of anarchist newspapers, 30 of them came redundant and were not politically In Baikalsk (at Lake Baikal) one of our throughout Russia. Some published only correct. So step by step we were kicked activists is involved in independent union one issue, or stopped soon. They were in out. activities. There is a big factory there. They Siberia, Thomsk, Kharkov, several in created a union recently of about 270 Moscow, Leningrad and other cities. This AC: When did that period end? people. This guy is the chairman of this was like the peak of social and anarchist union. activities, 1989-1990.. MT: This started in August 1991 after In M ay 1990. we started KAS-KOR, in the coup and for about half a year we were AC: How large is this factory? an attempt to reach out to the workers making the paper with no ideological and to try to propagate syndicalist ideas, restrictions. VT: There are several thousand people but also to gather information and try to in this factory. In comparison with that establish informational links between VT: Little by little we were pushed out the union is rather small but there was a different organizations. For some time of making decisions and finally they just pre-strike readiness in this enterprise and KAS-KOR was very successful with that. cleaned some people out. Not only anar­ out of 11 people on the strike committee, chists, but also some Marxists had to leave four were from this union. This shows 1990-91 period because their articles were too communist. the popularity of this independent union VT: 1990-1991 was the beginning of Now KAS is quite a small organization is quite big. Of course it is very hard for decline of public activities. People were but still it has groups in various regions, local workers’ groups to be big, because quite tired of politics and the social and Russia mainly. Before, it was the only the activity of workers in general is not

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 2 8 Spring 1994 so big. T hat’s why there are so few inde­ Later when we got access to different pendent unions and they are now quite tendencies in socialist thought we dis­ MT: I t ’s not a dogma for us that anar­ bureaucratic because of this lack of rank covered that maybe anarcho-syndicalism chists should boycott elections, but for and file activity. The old trade unions was the closest one because we were anti­ us i t ’s obvious that parliamentary de­ continue to exist because nobody appears communist, meaning that we were not mocracy is not what we want and is just willing to change them, but maybe in some communist we were collectivist-socialist, run by the propaganda machine, the state time this will change. and we thought that some of the origins and the major party. So we boycotted those. of Communist totalitarianism can be found We felt that by participating in the local AC: What types of newspapers are in Marx and Engels and in the practices elections we could propagate our ideas available for workers? of different communist parties. That’sw h y to a wider circle of people. There were we adopted the ideal of decentralism, some people who were not elected because MT: Generally there are two kinds. federalism and the freedom of individu­ of illegal manipulations during the elec­ There are the local workers’ newspapers, als, but we d id n ’t stop being socialists. tions. all different types— those that belong to Also for every social activist or person independent trade unions and those who tried to make his own estimations of AC: What about the elections in De­ sponsored by the AFL-CIO because it is the situation in this country it was obvi­ cember 1993? very active in trying to get control over ous the repressive nature of the state. All the new workers’ unions. Then there are these attempts to think for yourself were MT: In Moscow and Khabarovsk we newspapers of leftist groups. They speak crushed from the very beginning. T hat’s know that anarchists will boycott the about workers but they are party news­ why we were very anti-statist because we elections because we have information on papers of political sects. They are not very just saw how the state was. how this coup d ’eta t was made, how it popular. At the same time, we did not believe in was done with provocation from the Western democracy. As historians, the government and people who stand around Evolution of anarchist ideas people who founded the Obshchina group Yeltsin. People in the other regions of AC: Could you talk about your ideo­ knew that there were different kinds of Russia, they have just the media picture logical genesis? You were Marxists or social experience, like Russia in 1917. It of what happened, a big distortion. Nothing socialists and read Bakunin. But because was obvious to us that parliamentary to do with reality. in fact there were widespread numbers democracy in the West is based on money We are trying to gather information to of people that went to anarcho-syndicalism and big business and this was not the ideal analyze the situation and communicate or anarchism, there must have been more that we wanted. We also studied the ex­ it to the regions and give them an alter­ general reasons than people reading perience of the Russian revolution. For native picture of what happened because Bakunin and Obshchina. It looks more like us it was the experience of a country which we were all witnesses of these events and a social phenomenon. Can you comment for about a year lived without a state. There know what it was in fact. We think people on that.? was a system of soviets, direct democracy, will want to boycott these elections because workers’ self management. We tried to it is the only honest position, after they MT: Vlad thinks that the evolution of get what we could from this. We were get the information. We think we should his ideas is quite characteristic for many rather critical of some of it but for the either boycott this election or make fake anarchists and leftist sectors here. most part this was a big inspiration for campaigns, like the Subtropical Russian us. Movement for the Banana Republic, just VT: We were all victims of the official showing this regime what it is. Communist propaganda, and from early Elections There is a person trying to participate childhood we were taught that the values AC: What is your position in general in the elections. He chose the university of freedom, equality, brotherhood and on elections? district. Maybe among the students there collectivism are very good and this is the are more people with common sense who real humanism. But life in the Soviet Union VT: We had many discussions about understand what it is about and will vote and the practice of the CP showed us that participating in elections in 1989. There for him. He needs only 4,500 signatures the world we lived in was constructed was the election of the Congress of P eop le’s to get registered as a candidate. This guy according to different principles. So there Deputies of the USSR, which we boycotted. is not an anarchist but is a long time ac­ were two choices, either to devaluate all The year after, in 1990, there were elec­ tivist, one of the former dissidents and these values which were officially tions of the Russian parliament and of the informal lecturers. He has the same atti­ propagated, or to try to change the world local soviets. Of course we boycotted the tude as we do of this regime. we live in to bring about these values. parliament elections but we participated There are people previously in these So for many of us it was not much in the local elections. liberal, democratic and human rights different how to call these ideas—hu­ manism, social democracy, Trotskyism. AC: Why do you say of course? Continued on Page 30

Spring 1994 2 9 INDEPENDENT POLITICS KAS Interview overrun by Yeltsin. In a sense, you de­ there was not much popular support for fended the idea of the Russian parliament. this. Continued from Page 29 The population was just manipulated MT: The exact position is that we called by the media and from that point of view groups who are trying to understand what for peaceful resolution of this political this coup d ’etat was 90 percent media- this Russian democracy is about. They conflict because we did not want millions organized. It was very characteristic be­ know the coup d ’etat was a great distor­ of people to get involved in this and get cause before all political changes to a great tion of democracy and human rights, that killed and maybe the best decision was to degree were based on force—army, po­ there is no free press in this country. They reelect both Yeltsin and parliament. Of lice, and stuff like that. Of course, in this as honest people come to the same course we would not have participated in coup d ’etat the use of force was involved opinions. the election, but for the sake of democ­ but the main part was the control of pub­ racy it was the best variant. Unfortunately lic consciousness. ▼ VT: There is now a debate on partici­ pating in these elections. Some people think that as many oppositionists as The Refounding of Russian Labor possible should be elected to show Yeltsin that it w o n ’t be a pocket parliament and Review that there are other opinions in the society. We would like to thank Against The Current for permission to reprint thefollowing Many people who think that are people article on KAS-KOR by R enfrey Clarke. Readers who havefollowed KAS-Kor’s progress that just want to be elected and care only will be interested in the latest developments. ATC is a bimonthly left magazine pub­ about their own political career. This w on ’t lished in Detroit. Subscriptions are $18/oneyear. Write: ATC, Center for Changes, 7012 change much in the situation. Michigan Ave., Detroit, MI. 48210.

Yeltsin’s coup In ATC 48, Alex Chis and I reported on the vital work undertaken by the young militants AC: What was the position of KAS on of the KAS-KOR Labor Information Center. KAS-KOR was bom after the miners strikes of Y eltsin ’s coup, and specifically, on defense 1989, to fill the critical information gap among workers in struggle across the breadth of of parliament [in September 1993]? the former Soviet Union. Although their numbers were small, their reach was immense— a weekly radio program with a potential audience of300 million, a weekly bulletin abotit MT: We saw that this had nothing to workers’ struggles and a quarterly English language journal, Russian Labor Review. Their do with democracy and were quite satisfied work was the dream of Western leftists. As of this writing, KAS-KOR is no more, a victim with the situation when there was a par­ of dwindling financial resources, internal conflicts, the current demands of the political liament and president that fought each situation in Russia, and the antics of the AFL-CIO. Renfrey Clarke, a frequent contributor other and there was some freedom in the to the work of KAS-KOR, explains, KAS-KOR’s crisis and demise.— Susan Weissman society. Now if somebody wins, whether (Susan Weissman teaches Russian politics at St. Mary's College of California.) parliament or Yeltsin, it ’s a distortion of human rights and of freedom. Of course, By RENFREY CLARKE ing 1993. Trade unions were less and less parliament could not have won because able to pay for the information which KAS- Yeltsin was supported by the Western guns MOSCOW— Many people in the in­ KOR collected and distributed. Hard and big business. ternational left and labor movements were currency income gained from research We d id n ’t go to defend the parliament impressed last year to see and read a new work for Western organizations bought because we knew what kind of people English-language publication from Mos­ less and less, as the Russian government gathered there and that this parliament cow—Russian Labor Review. Sponsored by pursued “strong ruble” policies. By early was not defending the interests of people. the Labor Information Center KAS-KOR, 1994 all o f KAS-KOR’s projects, not simply The deputies themselves said they are in Russian Labor Review was published by an Russian Labor Review, were under threat. 90 percent agreement with Y eltsin ’s eco­ editorial group that included both Russians KAS-KOR’s financial difficulties were nomic policies. These neo-liberal policies and foreigners, Two issues appeared during compounded by growing political prob­ would destroy the Russian economy, leave 1993, with a long series of articles ex­ lems within the organization as the needs millions unemployed, and are an anti- amining the Russian labor scene from a of the Russian labor movement changed popular economic policy. Of course we democratic left perspective. and new tasks presented themselves. When cannot support this policy. But the main Early in 1994 the scheduled third is­ KAS-KOR was founded in 1990, one of thing was to oppose Y eltsin ’s dictatorship, sue failed to appear. The key problem was the critical needs of labor activists was a deep crisis within KAS-KOR. Like all for reliable, detailed information on the AC: While you d o n ’t and did not po­ independent organizations in the Russian struggles of other workers— the kind of litically support the parliament, you would labor movement, KAS-KOR had found information the still-censored official press have preferred that parliament not be itself under acute financial pressure dur- was denying.

INDEPENDENT P oU T IC S 3 0 Spring 1994 New situation movement. On the international plane, “Sometimes w e ’ll get over 100 people to this work will be carried out by Russian gather around as we stand on a filing cabi­ By 1993, this situation had changed Labor Review. Within Russia, it will be the net or on a pickup bed,” he said. radically. A good deal of information on task of a soon-to-be-founded Russian- Also, a three-day union walkout over a labor struggles could now be had from language journal of labor movement news firing last November made a big impact mass media sources. The key need of and commentary. on the company. “Since the walkout,” said worker activists was no longer simply for The new journal will aim to be lively, Solomon, “the company has bent over information, but also for analysis— for inexpensive, and open to a broad range backward to make the union people explanations of where the interests of of contributors from the progressive side happy— allowing them longer breaks and workers really lay in the swiftly changing of politics. KAS-KOR may have passed even naps. battles of Russian politics. from the scene, but its best activists are “Our union hall is only two blocks from As an information agency, KAS-KOR back in action and facing up to new Staley,” continued Solomon, “so this keeps needed to develop swiftly into a sophis­ challenges^ our guys kind of revved up because they ticated labor movement “think tank.” This realize all labor is under attack, not just was a tall order for the ce n te r’s young Subscriptionsfor Russian Labor Review at Caterpillar.” activists, who were brought together by are $30 for 4 issues for individuals, $50for their shared commitment to the labor institutions to P.O. Box8461, Berkeley, CA Rank and file leads movement. They lacked a developed ba­ 94707. The involvement of the rank-and-file sis of political agreement, and had limited was emphasized by S ta ley worker Mike experience. Staley Workers Griffin, who was the first of many workers Dissensions multiplied, and at the be­ fired before the walkout for their militant Continued from Page 5 ginning of 1994 KAS-KOR suffered a union activity. Griffin said he tells his union number of splits. An ominous development Hull, “because what he described is ex­ leaders, “If you d o n ’t want to fight then at this time was an effort by the Russian- actly w hat’s happening in the entire cen­ get the hell out of my w ay!” American Foundation for Trade Union tral Illinois.” The meeting was sponsored Griffin says he takes a serious attitude Research and Education, an agency set by a dozen different unions in the area. toward his regular picket duties. “1 make up and funded by the American Federa­ Through company closures, sure that each and every person who enters tion of Labor-Congress of Industrial Or­ downsizing, and union-busting, the “good that plant goes in with a bad conscience,” ganizations (AFL-CIO), to draw the KAS- middle-class jobs” are disappearing, said hestated, “This is psychological w arfare!” KOR structures under its umbrella. Hull, who has 38 years at Staley. “I have The Staley workers continue to hold By mid-February this effort had been 14 different nieces and nephews who have mass meetings on Tuesday nights at the successful. Three of KAS-KOR’s 10 or so had to leave Decatur to find jobs,” he union hall, involving spouses and fami­ original activists had set up a new infor­ continued, noting that the population of lies in the struggle. Some 100 workers mation agency funded by the AFL-CIO, the city has decreased by 12,000 in the have become “road warriors,” taking the including the former KAS-KOR radio past 10 years. u n io n ’s story across the country and program. Caterpillar local president Solomon seeking solidarity. Twice a week free food spoke of the difficulties in fighting a is given out at the union hall. About 30 Current issue in progress company with Caterpillar’s vast resources. families with special hardships have been The Russian Labor Review editorial The company has bombarded the work­ “adopted” by other union locals. Union group, a number of whose members had ers with letters to their homes, commer­ members get $60 a week from their in­ resigned from KAS-KOR duringjanuary, cials in the media, and 28 full-page ads in ternational union. Staley cut off all health was left with one computer, some video the Decatur daily over the past two years. care benefits three days after the lockout. equipment, and the journal. But if the “It’s been hard to get the sympathy of Both Staley and Caterpillar workers g ro u p ’s resources were slight, its members the community because we have the best expected to launch major offensives in were nevertheless determined to press pay and benefits of any workers in the their struggles this spring. They realize ahead. area,” said Solomon. He thought the Staley they must do something decisive to move A third issue of Russian Labor Review workers (who make several dollars an hour things forward. The stakes are high in is now approaching the layout stage. A less than Cat workers) had done a better Decatur for the entire labor movement. new association—as yet unnamed— is job of winning public opinion by imme­ To send contributions or request in­ being formed to act as the jo u r n a l’s offi­ diately answering all company attacks. formation, contact: Allied Industrial cial sponsor. On the other hand, Solomon said the Workers Local 837,2882 North Dinneen, The new association will try to answer in-plant campaign at Caterpillar was go­ Decatur, IL 62526, phone: (217) 876- the political needs of workers by creating ing well. Union leaders have started hold­ 7006, or United Auto Workers Local 751, an independent forum for analysis and ing union meetings at lunch time inside 2365 E. Geddes Ave., Decatur, IL 62526., debate on issues affecting the Russian labor the plant to maximize participation. phone: (217) 428-7706. ▼

Spring 1994 3 1 INDEPENDENT POLITICS way that seems to ascend to nowhere, and series of interactions that highlight the Why Things lighting that shadows everything, we wait origins of sociopathic behavior in family for this play, dubbed a “dark comedy” by violence and hatred. It is at times difficult Burn the producers, to begin. to watch. By Marlane Meyer. Directed by Roberta After initial blackout, the rising lights Particularly disturbing is Sonny, played by Cintra Wilson. A young woman whose Levitow. Produced by San Francisco’s Magic reveal Lester, a balding, middle-aged, Theater. discouraged man, speechifying on the entire persona has been ravaged by drugs inherently low nature of human beings. and abuse, she finally succumbs to self- We find out as the play progresses that hatred and hopelessness by killing her­ By RICH LESNIK L ester’s son, Lon, has joined him in “the self. Lon has just beat her, blaming her club,” a Klan-type skinhead group. Much all the time for “bringing out the beast” to L on ’s m oth er’s consternation, they are in him. n this new play, Marlane Meyer prods embarked on a campaign of violence and Cut to the chase. Lon returns home with the audience to ponder the roots of arson. T h ey’re about to leave for a meet­ his aunt and uncle to confront his dad I violence, bigotry, misogyny and ing. with m om ’s murder. The closing scene general social disintegration as our culture So. D ad’s a Nazi, m om ’s an alcoholic reaches a thoughtful and provoking con­ plunges down toward the 21st century. “poet” who is fascinated and revolted by clusion, which serves as a starting point The “answers” she comes up with would the hatred around her, and Lon—well, for thought on the question of “blame.” certainly be troublesome to many in the L on ’s sort of caught in the middle. Lester, after recounting his life ’s disap­ organized left, considering the prevailing When he returns from the meeting, Lon pointments and tragedies, and lamenting dogma that ascribes all sociopathic behavior finds his mother dead on the floor, with being left alone, after all this, asks, “Who to a decaying and decadent social and the implication that after he left, his fa­ decided that this is how I should end up, economic system, etc., etc., etc. You get ther killed her in a rage. He then leaves all alone? Whose decision was that?” Lon, the picture. on assignment for an unnamed city to with a mixture of distaste, sadness and Many, however, including those who embark on an arson campaign in concert hope, says, “You did. Dad. You did,” as are survivors of this simplistic approach with other skinheads, around the time of he ascends the opening sce n e ’s staircase. and who are searching for ways to con­ riots and social unrest (suggesting L.A. The temptation here is to launch into a front the agony that seems to be spread­ after the Rodney King verdict). simplistic, if provocative discourse on the ing out of control all around us, will find We then meet L on’s m oth er’s sister and various networks of connections between this new play a refreshing, if troubling, her husband, who house him, and pro­ family, economy, politics, and society. I experience. vide much of the humor in this otherwise choose, though, to take a somewhat dif­ Waiting for the play to begin, the audi­ dark and thoughtful, if somewhat horri­ ferent tack. ence listens to songs from 60s rock groups fying, drama. We also meet a ragtag group The reductionist thinking characteris­ about fire, burning and violence. The set of young people who seem to be filled tic of “scientific” politics misses key areas— is open, spare, and waiting to be occupied with more self-loathing than any other the gray areas— in discussing any ques­ by the characters. Dominated by a stair- kind of hatred. What ensues is a tragic tion like the roots of violence and sociopathology. In seeking to trace be­ havior to its ultimate roots, individuals— SI II'.SI kibe indeed, whole classes— are absolved of I Please clip and mail to: Independent Politics responsibility for their behavior, and, more P.O. Box 55247 importantly, for seeking ways to stop it. Hayward, CA 94545-0247 “There are no solutions to social prob­ Telephone/FAX: (510) 430-1893 lems,” we are told. Or, “until society is I Name______changed fundamentally, people will behave ‘ Address______this way.” Remember “the only solution is revolution”? City/State/Zip______Well— all true, in a sense. In a more | Organization/Union______Telephone profound sense, though, there is a deeper truth. It all begins with personal respon­ , □ I want to SUBSCRIBE to Independent □ I want to join Activists for Indepen­ sibility, so eloquently portrayed in “Why I Politics for $8.00 for 4 issues dent Socialist Politics. Enclosed is $15 | (including $______postage). (including $ ______subscription). Things Burn.” I recommend this play | □ I want to SUBSCRIBE at the $15.00 □ I want more information. without reservation. I welcome the dis­ ■ international rate. □ I want to support your efforts. cussion this brings up, and look forward . □ I want to SUBSCRIBE at the $24.00 Enclosed is $______contribution. to creative solutions, political and per­ I institutional rate. □ Keep me informed of your activities. sonal, that are brought forward as we seek Enclosed is $______for mailing costs. to find our way through and out of social I______I collapse. ▼

INDEPENDENT POLITICS 3 2