· AUSTRALIA $1.50 · CANADA $1.50 · FRANCE 1.00 EURO · ICELAND KR100 · NEW ZEALAND $1.50 · SWEDEN KR10 · UK £.50 · U.S. $1.00 INSIDE Five years after 9/11: Oppose U.S.-led wars, curbs on rights — EDITORIAL, PAGE 9 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 70/NO. 36 SEPTEMBER 25, 2006 5,000 rally in San Francisco Imperialist war in Washington: Chinatown ‘Legalize all Afghanistan intensifies celebration: British general: Fiercest combat since Korean War immigrants!’ ‘Socialist revolution BY PAUL DAVIES BY DOUG NELSON brought equality for LONDON, September WASHINGTON—“U.S. Congress, 10—Eight British soldiers were legalization now!” read a banner facing Chinese-Cubans’ killed in combat in Afghanistan the U.S. Capitol held up by 25 partici- in August, and another 20 in pants in a September 7 march and rally BY BETSEY STONE the first 10 days of September, at the National Mall. The protest drew SAN FRANCISCO—People from bringing the year’s toll to 36. some 5,000 workers, unionists, and San Diego to Vancouver, British Lt. Gen. David Richards, com- immigrant rights activists demanding Columbia, filled an auditorium in the mander of the NATO forces in legalization for undocumented immi- heart of Chinatown here September 9 the country, called the combat grants and an end to deportations. for a panel discussion of Our History Is under way the worst sustained It was one of a series of immigrant Still Being Written: The Story of Three fighting the British military rights demonstrations held during the Chinese-Cuban Generals in the Cuban has faced since the 1950–53 week of Labor Day in a number of cit- Revolution, a book-length interview Korean war. The casualties are ies. Among the participants were labor with Armando Choy, Gustavo Chui, the highest the British armed union contingents from UNITE HERE, and Moisés Sío Wong. forces have suffered since the Service Employees International Union The program was sponsored by the 1982 war against Argentina to (SEIU), and the Laborers union. Chinese Historical Society of America maintain colonial control of the Speakers at the rally included together with Pathfinder Press, the Malvinas islands off the South NAACP president Bruce Gordon, Ja- book’s publisher, and Eastwind Books American coast. net Murguia, president of the National of San Francisco. NATO forces are engaged in Council of La Raza, UNITE HERE The audience of 180 people brought the largest military operation president John Wilhelm, and Eliseo together students, workers, academic since the imperialist alliance Medina, international vice president figures, and activists in Chinese, Japa- took command from Wash- of SEIU. Several prominent Demo- nese, and Filipino-American organiza- ington of the occupying forces crats also gave speeches, including Sen. tions. Some 40 percent of the audience in southern Afghanistan in Edward Kennedy, Congresswoman were of Asian origin, and translation into July. The battle is raging in the Crown Copyright via Getty Images/Cpl. Mike Fletcher Sheila Jackson-Lee, and Congress- Cantonese and Spanish was available for southern province of Kandahar against the Taliban, the former British soldier watches the aftereffects of airstrike Continued on page 4 Continued on page 6 during fighting August 24 in southern Afghanistan. ruling party that was toppled in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. The Taliban commander, called for reinforcing the Pennsylvania town 400 subscribe to have reportedly taken control of at least 19,000-strong NATO force in Afghani- one town in the area. stan by an additional 2,500 soldiers. passes new, harsher ‘Militant’ at start On September 7, James Jones, the U.S. Washington has another 20,000 troops anti-immigrant law of circulation drive general who is NATO’s supreme allied Continued on page 7 BY JOHN STUDER BY ARGIRIS MALAPANIS PHILADELPHIA, September The Militant’s fall circulation cam- 12—At a hastily scheduled special paign is off to a good start. We began Majority in Iraqi parliament meeting on September 8, the city counting subscriptions on August 24, council in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, when the issue came off the press fea- propose a federated state passed on first reading a revised and turing the letter by Socialist Workers BY SAM MANUEL country into three autonomous regions revamped “Illegal Immigration Relief Party national secretary Jack Barnes within a substantially weakened federal Act.” The aim of the ordinance, accord- on Israel’s murderous war on Lebanon WASHINGTON—The majority state. Pressures in this direction have ing to Mayor Louis Barletta, who has (see “We are for whatever strengthens bloc in Iraq’s government—the United mounted steadily since 2003, when the championed the measure, is to “rid the the confidence and capacity of the toilers” Iraqi Alliance (UIA)—has submit- U.S. military toppled Saddam Hussein’s city of illegal aliens and protect legal in September 4 Militant). Between then ted legislation that would divide the Baath Party regime. American workers.” and the September 9–10 weekend, when The plan would divide Iraq into a Another special meeting took place the eight-week drive began, nearly 400 Kurdish region in the north, a Shiite Arab today to hold both the second and third people subscribed. Tel Aviv lifts region in the south, and a Sunni Arab readings of the ordinance and pass it These include 66 people renewing region in central and western Iraq. Kurds into law. their subscriptions, some 17 percent of naval blockade Continued on page 3 While no protest was planned at the the total. Militant supporters are working September 12 city council meeting, to keep this rate up or increase it. That of Lebanon Anna Arias, a leader of the Hazle- would mean winning nearly 500 renew- ton Area Latino Taskforce, told the als as part of the international goal of BY PAUL PEDERSON Also Inside: Militant, “We are determined to keep 2,600 subscriptions. Achieving the re- The Israeli government ended its Equatorial Guinea naval blockade of Lebanon September fighting to overturn this mean-spirited newal quota would be an important step graduates its first class in expanding the Militant’s long-term 8, as Lebanese Army troops and con- attack on an important part of our com- of Cuban-trained doctors 2 munity.” readership. tingents of soldiers under the United Efforts to adopt and put into effect an Reports on how this effort is combined Nations banner expanded their pres- Sweden: Communist League with signing-up new readers are begin- ence in the southern part of the country anti-immigrant measure in Hazleton launches election campaign, ning to come in. and the Italian navy began patrolling have been widely reported across the new issue of Marxist magazine 3 United States and copied in a number “On Sunday, September 10, several the coastline. of smaller cities, where local officials of us set up a table at 207th Street and The UN force in southern Lebanon have attempted to place blame for the Broadway, a working-class neighbor- has grown to 3,500 and is expected Republicans take off table social crisis in the country on the back hood in upper Manhattan,” said a note to reach 5,000 within a week, with ‘guest worker’ bill, of undocumented workers. from Alyson Kennedy, a Militant sup- the arrival of hundreds of Spanish push for tightening border 4 These moves have been met with porter in New York. “At one point, Man- and French troops, according to press both political and legal challenges. uel Sánchez and I went door-to-door reports. The Israeli government has Government of Sri Lanka Hundreds have demonstrated in to visit readers whose subs had expired pledged to withdraw its remaining wages war on Tamil Tigers 7 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 4 Continued on page 9 Equatorial Guinea graduates its first class of Cuban-trained doctors BY MARTÍN KOPPEL by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. AND ARRIN HAWKINS Other speakers included Health Min- Seventy-three students received ister Justino Obama Nve, university their medical diplomas at an August rector Carlos Nsé Nsuga, Cuban vice 1 ceremony in Malabo, the capital of minister of health Roberto González Equatorial Guinea. They were the first Martín, and Cuba’s ambassador to class to graduate from the medical Equatorial Guinea, Víctor Dreke. Also school in that nation in central Africa. part of the Cuban delegation attending The teaching facility, part of the Na- the ceremony was Dr. Alexis Díaz Ro- tional University of Equatorial Guinea, dríguez, dean of the Ernesto Che Gue- is directed and staffed by Cuban inter- vara school of medicine in Pinar del Cuban internationalist medical volunteers, together with university and government nationalist medical personnel. Río, where the Guinean youth studied. officials from Equatorial Guinea, at graduation of first class from Cuban-run medical school Díaz himself was the first dean of the in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. Víctor Dreke, Cuba’s ambassador to the West African country, The 73 included 20 youths who had is in front row, third from the left. To his right is university rector Carlos Nse Nsuga. studied five years at the medical school Bata medical school. in the city of Bata, in the country’s Present for the day’s celebration working in countries throughout Ninety-five Guinean students are continental region, and spent their were many of the 144 members of Africa at the end of 2004. Cuba cur- currently being trained by Cuban final year studying and doing prac- Cuba’s volunteer medical contingent rently has about 20,000 doctors serving teachers at the medical school in tical training in Cuba at hospitals in Equatorial Guinea, headed by in 68 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin Bata, and a larger number are study- in the western province of Pinar del Dr. Leonardo Ramírez. The doctors, America, and the Caribbean. ing in Cuba. Río. The other 53, after studying nurses, and other medical personnel five years in Cuba, completed their work alongside Guineans in each of medical program working alongside the country’s seven provinces and 18 Group formed in Canada to demand Cuban doctors in clinics and hospitals districts, from the hospitals in Ma- in Equatorial Guinea. labo and Bata, the two largest cities, redress for gov’t anti-Chinese head tax At the ceremony one of the students, to communities in remote rural areas. BY NED DMYTRYSHYN sigence of successive governments un- They play a vital role in helping con- Beltrán Ekua Pasialo, speaking on be- VANCOUVER, British Colum- willing to deal properly with the issue.” half of the graduating class, thanked front the country’s health problems, “We’ve outlasted many prime such as malaria, typhoid fever, intes- bia—More than 120 people packed the the Cuban teachers who trained them. Carnegie Centre September 10 to hear ministers of this country—Trudeau, He said the duty of the newly gradu- tinal parasites, river blindness, and Turner, Mulroney, Campbell, Chretien, outbreaks of cholera. speeches outlining the next steps in the ated doctors was to promote the health fight for full compensation for families etc.—and we’ll continue until redress is and welfare “not only of the sons and In an interview with the Militant complete and equality is achieved,” said in October 2005, Ramírez explained, of head tax payers. daughters of the Republic of Equato- Ottawa imposed the racist tax on all Sid Tan in opening the event. Tan is a rial Guinea, but of all of humanity,” “We don’t just offer our medical ser- member of the British Columbia Coali- vices.” Cuba’s “goal is to strengthen Chinese immigrants between 1885 and citing Cuban independence fighter 1923. On June 22, Prime Minister Stephen tion of Head Tax Payers, Spouses and José Martí’s words. “Our homeland Equatorial Guinea’s own health-care Descendants. service, run by Guineans and for them. Harper apologized for the tax but refused is humanity.” to give more than “symbolic payments” of The meeting was also addressed by Some 600 people attended the We collaborate in their training. This is Colleen Hua, president of the Chinese a principle behind all our medical mis- $20,000 to the 35 surviving head tax pay- graduation, including students, fam- ers and 360 surviving widows. Canadian National Council. ily members, and top government sions in countries around the world.” Co-chair Grace Schenkeveld said the Some 1,200 Cuban doctors were In 1923, the Canadian government officials of Equatorial Guinea headed replaced the head tax with the Chinese June 22 compensation package from Ot- Exclusion Act, which effectively banned tawa is incomplete. “Future generations all Chinese immigration until it was re- will feel that they don’t deserve justice pealed in 1947. as the Canadian government is only of- A new organization, the Head Tax fering compensation to head tax payers Families Society of Canada, was launched and spouses,” she said. at the event. A campaign to sign petitions and a protest letter to the Canadian gov- ernment was introduced. New ‘Militant’ e-mail address: Independence for Puerto Rico! “More than four thousand families The Militant has a new e-mail of Head Tax payers, whose parents and address, which is: The ‘Militant’ describes how grandparents are now deceased, remain a successful fight for Puerto excluded,” the protest letter states. This, [email protected] Rico’s independence is in the it says, “is due to over 20 years of intran- interests of the vast majority of people in the United States. As Africa, Asia, and the Middle East: Send $65 long as Puerto Rico remains a The Militant drawn on a U.S. bank to above address. U.S. colony the fighting capac- VOL. 70/NO. 36 Canada: Send Canadian $45 for one-year Closing news date: September 13, 2006 subscription to the Militant, 2238 Dundas St. ity and solidarity of the U.S. West, Suite 201, Toronto, ON. Postal Code: Independent truckers in Puerto Rico Editor and circulation director: workers’ movement is weakened. Argiris Malapanis M6R 3A9. strike in 2005 to demand relief from United Kingdom: £25 for one year by check or Don’t miss a single issue! rising prices of gasoline and diesel fuel. Washington correspondent: Sam Manuel Editorial volunteers: Róger Calero, Martín international money order made out to CL Lon- Koppel, Olympia Newton, Paul Pederson, don, First Floor, 120 Bethnal Green (Entrance in and Brian Williams. Brick Lane), London, E2 6DG, England. Republic of Ireland and Continental Eu- SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Published weekly except for one week in rope: £50 for one year by check or interna- January and two weeks in June. tional money order made out to CL London The Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 306 at above address. NEW READERS W. 37th Street, 10th floor, New York, France: Send 75 euros for one-year sub- NAME NY 10018. Telephone: (212) 244-4899; scription to Diffusion du Militant, P.O. 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2 The Militant September 25, 2006 Gov’t of Iraqi Kurdistan Communist League in Sweden launches new strengthens its autonomy issue of Marxist magazine, election campaign BY SAM MANUEL and redistributed to the regions. But it WASHINGTON—Measures taken at would also limit the central government’s the end of August by the Kurdish Re- control and micromanagement of the in- gional Government (KRG) in northern dustry, Salih said. Iraq to strengthen its autonomy from Following a meeting with an Iraqi Baghdad highlighted momentum build- Turkmen delegation in Ankara, Turkish ing in the country toward a federated foreign minister Abdullah Gul called state. On August 7 the KRG published a referendum on the status of Kirkuk a draft oil law giving it full control over “unproductive.” exploration, production, and revenue in Nearly 100,000 Kurds have resettled in Kirkuk since the overthrow of Sad- Iraqi Kurdistan and the disputed area of Militant/Ola Nordin Kirkuk. dam Hussein. Thousands of Kurds were September 2 Militant Labor Forum in Stockholm. Speakers (from right) Catharina An Iraqi government spokesman forcibly removed from Kirkuk by his Tirsén, Paul Davies, Anita Östling, Filip Tedelund, and Greg McCartan. announced the country may adopt a Baath Party regime in the early 1980s. new flag after KRG president Massoud Their lands and homes were taken by STOCKHOLM, Sweden—The Communist League announced its campaign Barzani ordered the current flag of Iraq Arabs, also forced to move to Kirkuk, in the Swedish parliamentary elections at a September 2 Militant Labor Forum here. The meeting also included the launching of Ny International no. 4, the removed from all official sites in Iraqi in an “Arabization” campaign to ensure Swedish translation of the Marxist magazine New International no. 12, which Kurdistan, reported Reuters. Baathist control of the region’s huge oil features “Capitalism’s Long Hot Winter Has Begun” by Jack Barnes, national reserves. Kirkuk accounts for 40 percent Turkish government officials reacted secretary of the Socialist Workers Party in the United States. of Iraq’s proven oil reserves harshly to Barzani’s decree, calling it Ny International editor Catharina Tirsén chaired the meeting. Speakers in- “dangerous.” Ankara also stridently op- Iraq resumed pumping oil through a cluded Filip Tedelund, a student here and a Young Socialist, and Anita Östling, poses a referendum slated for 2007 that pipeline to an export facility in Turkey a meat packer. Both are CL candidates for the Stockholm city council and for could result in Kirkuk, along with its on August 29, reported Reuters. Iraq parliament in the September 17 elections. Also on the panel were Paul Davies oil, being incorporated into the Kurdish pumped 8.5 million barrels of crude of the Communist League in the United Kingdom and Greg McCartan, one of autonomous region. through the line before it was sabotaged the more than 200 supporters of the communist movement worldwide who, as Some 25 million Kurds live in a ter- on July 9. Iraqi oil officials had hoped members of the Printing Project, make production of these books possible. ritory spanning the intersection of the to pump 300,000 barrels per day, which “I have sold New International no. 12 on the streets of Stockholm and at the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, highlights the importance of Kirkuk’s oil world youth festival in Caracas last year,” Tedelund said. “Finally it is available and Syria. More than half, or up to 15 mil- to the country’s export earnings. in Swedish so I can understand it even better.” lion, live in southeastern Turkey. Bagh- Gul also demanded that the Iraqi gov- Östling said Ny International no. 4 is a major tool in the Communist League dad, Ankara, Tehran, and Damascus fear ernment take action against the decree election campaign since it explains the crisis of world capitalism and points to that any move toward independence, or by the KRG replacing the Iraqi flag. “If a road forward for working people. She noted that the central planks of the even formal autonomy, by Iraqi Kurds Iraq is willing to accept a flag that is not CL election campaign platform include: “No to Swedish troops in Afghanistan could be a mortal threat to their states, its own to fly over its own territory, it’s or Lebanon. Organize all workers, Swedish- and foreign-born, including those as it would inspire national struggles for over,” Gul said, according to AP. who are from countries in Eastern Europe. They are our co-workers and new self-determination among their Kurdish In response, Iraqi prime minister Nouri forces that can strengthen the labor movement.” populations. al-Maliki issued a statement saying, “The At one meatpacking company in the slaughterhouse area near the Militant Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Barham Iraqi flag is the only flag that should be Labor Forum hall, Latvian workers get lower pay than Swedish-born workers, Salih, announced that a basic agreement raised over any square inch of Iraq.” work longer hours, and have a special break room to keep them separated on sharing oil revenues had been reached But Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, a from the rest of the workers, Tedelund said. “The capitalists use these divisions to lower wages for all,” he said. “Working people need to unite to fight these but that differences remained over how Kurd and leader of the Patriotic Union of divide-and-conquer tactics.” responsibility for oil and gas reserves Kurdistan, defended the removal of the The conservative coalition led by the Moderate Party has a chance of winning flag, calling it “the Saddamist flag.” are to be divided between the central the election and replacing the Social Democrats, the ruling party for decades. The current flag is a Baathist design and regional governments, according to Östling said whatever bourgeois party wins the election what matters for the an August 27 Reuters dispatch. adopted after the first Baath Party gov- working class and its allies is struggles to unionize all workers and mobilize union Salih noted that the constitution gives ernment was installed in a military coup power to fight attacks by the bosses and government on wages, job conditions, the central government primary control in 1963. Hussein in 1990 added the words and social programs. “We are for anything that increases the self-confidence over currently producing oil fields but it Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) to and fighting capacity of working people,” she said. “Voting for any other party is unclear regarding new fields. the flag in his own handwriting. That is a waste! Vote Communist League and support our election campaign!” Under the agreement, oil revenues wording has been maintained but with —DANIEL NORDSTRÖM AND DAG TIRSÉN would be divided up at the federal level a neutral typography. MILITANT LABOR FORUMS Iraq may split into autonomous regions program. 4800 W. 34th St., Suite C-51A. Tel.: FLORIDA Continued from front page Iraqi National Dialogue Front, the two Miami (713) 869-6550. Malcolm X, the Black Struggle, and the and Shiites were brutally oppressed un- main capitalist parties based largely Working Class. Fri., Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m. NEW ZEALAND der the Hussein regime. They constitute among Sunnis, have opposed the federal The Middle East, Capitalism’s World roughly 20 percent and 60 percent of the plan. “The establishment of a federation Disorder, and Prospects for Revolution- Auckland ary Change. A special forum to benefit the The “War on Terror” and Democratic Rights. population, respectively. would mean civil war,” threatened Saleh $90,000 Militant Fund. Speaker: Cindy Jaquith, Speaker: Barry Wilson, president, Auckland The main forces in the UIA are the Su- al-Mutlak, chairman of the National Dia- former editor of the Militant. Sat., Sept. 30, Council of Civil Liberties. Fri., Sept. 22, 7:00 preme Council for the Islamic Revolution logue Front. p.m. Donation: $3. 7 Mason Ave., Otahuhu (up- 4:00 p.m. Both events at: 8365 NE 2nd Ave., These two parties rejected the proposal Suite 206. Tel.: (305)756-4436. stairs, above laundromat). Tel.: (09) 276-8885. in Iraq, the Islamic DAWA Party, and the bloc led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. and boycotted the parliamentary session IOWA The UIA fell 10 seats short of an outright at which it was to be presented, accord- Des Moines CALENDAR majority in elections last December. It has ing to press reports. They were joined Lumumba: Lessons of Imperialist Interven- NEW YORK formed a coalition government with the in the boycott by political forces loyal tion. A film showing. Fri., Sept. 22. Dinner, Manhattan Kurdish Alliance, which won the second to Moqtada al-Sadr and to former Iraqi 6:00 p.m.; program: 7:30 p.m. 3737 Douglas premier Iyad Allawi. Ave. Tel.: (515) 255-1707. New York Welcome for Cuban Vice President largest bloc of seats in parliament, giving of the Council of State Esteban Lazo Hernán- it political weight in the government. Militias loyal to al-Sadr fought fierce dez. Wed., Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m. Church of the In- Kurdish leaders are backing the battles with U.S. troops in southern Iraq MINNESOTA tercession, Broadway at 155 Street. Donation: $5. Twin Cities Advanced tickets required. Sponsored by the New UIA proposal for a federated Iraq. An in 2004. Al-Sadr’s supporters now head The Cuban Revolution Holds Strong: York Welcoming Committee. For tickets or infor- autonomous Kurdish region, known as several ministries in the U.S.-backed Defend the Five Cuban Revolutionaries mation: [email protected]. Tel.: (212) 926-5757. Iraqi Kurdistan, has already existed for Iraqi government. Jailed in U.S. Prisons! Cuba Moves For- Allawi is a wealthy Shiite who served ward Despite Fidel Castro’s Illness! Panel 15 years. An unexpected consequence discussion. Fri., Sept. 22. Dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Free the Cuban 5 of the U.S.-led war in Iraq has been as prime minister in the Iraqi interim program, 7:30 p.m. Donation: $5 dinner, $5 an acceleration of the aspirations of the government, which was handpicked by program. 113 Bernard St. E., West St. Paul. WASHINGTON, D.C. Kurds for national independence (see Washington. Tel.: (651) 644-6325. September 23 article above). Control of vast oil reserves in Iraq’s Gather at U.S. Justice Department TEXAS at 11:00 a.m. and march to White “We ourselves have a federal region, north and south are at the center of oppo- Houston House. For more information, con- and we want more authority,” said Mah- sition by Sunni capitalists to a federated Middle East: Capitalism’s World Disorder tact National Committee to Free moud Othman, a Kurdish member of Iraq. Wealthy Sunnis made up the back- and Prospects for Revolutionary Change. the Cuban 5 at: (415) 821-6545. Iraq’s National Assembly, according to bone of support for Hussein’s Baathist Speaker: Cindy Jaquith, former editor of the Email: [email protected] Militant. Sat., Sept. 23. Dinner, 6:30 p.m.; the September 11 Washington Post. regime and enjoyed a broad range of program, 7:30 p.m. Donation: $5 dinner, $5 visit www.freethefive.org The Iraqi Accordance Front and the privileges over Kurds and Shiites. The Militant September 25, 2006 3 5,000 rally in Washington Socialist candidate for governor of Florida: Continued from front page from Hazleton, Pennsylvania, to the ‘Immediate, unconditional legalization for all!’ man Luis Gutierrez. recently defeated ordinance in Palm “The NAACP is here to fight with Bay, Florida. you and for you for justice,” Gordon “We will not accept the carrot as long told the crowd. “Too many people want as it comes with a stick,” said Alarcon. to divide us, pit Black against brown. Several bills that have been proposed We can’t let that happen.” as “pro-immigrant” alternatives to HR Like a number of speakers, Ken- 4437 include further measures aimed nedy emphasized electing politicians at criminalizing undocumented im- who can reform immigration laws. “If migrants, a range of restrictions and we can’t get this Congress to pass fair fines, construction of a wall along the immigration reform now, we’ll elect a border, and measures to beef up the new congress in November that will immigration police. pass it,” he said. HR 4437, passed by the House of Militant photos by Bernie Senter Jaime Contreras, president of the Representatives in December, would MIAMI, Florida—“I urge the entire labor movement to support immedi- National Capital Immigration Coali- make it a criminal offense to be in the ate legalization for all undocumented workers,” Omari Musa (above, right, tion (NCIC), which organized the United States without proper papers. speaking, with rally chairman Francisco Portillo) told a September 10 protest march and rally, said, “We can achieve “We believe this is only the begin- here. Musa is the Socialist Workers Party candidate for governor of Florida. immigration reform like Senator Ken- ning of our fight,” said Carlos Lopez, “This struggle is in the interests of all working people,” he said. About 200 people attended the rally, march, and vigil to demand residency nedy said. Even if it means paying a a day laborer from Virginia who spoke for all immigrants (above, left, with sign saying in Spanish, “Residence, Yes! fine.” at the rally. Deportations, No!”). Among the chants were, “What do we want? Legaliza- Macrina Alarcon of Mexicanas Sin Maura DeLuca, Seth Dellinger, and tion! When do we want it? Now!” A coalition of immigrants’ rights organiza- Fronteras (Mexicans Without Borders) tions called the action. Sara Ullman contributed to this ar- spoke about fights against harassment Other speakers included Blanca Mendoza of the Association of Guatema- ticle. and anti-immigrant city ordinances lan Americans; Citlali Blandino, an organizer of the student group SWEAR; and Enrique Pacheco, a pastor who is fighting his family’s deportation to Ecuador. ‘Militant’ subscription drive —ERIC SIMPSON Continued from front page then sold three more subscriptions go- or were about to run out. A seamstress ing door-to-door in the area. We also who works in a factory in Manhattan’s sold several in the Black community, midtown garment district, originally Harlem and Mt. Vernon. Two new ‘Militant’ editorial volunteers from the Dominican Republic, said she’s “Overall we’ve sold 45 subs, including been reading the paper and likes it. She 5 renewals, since August 24,” she said. BY PAUL PEDERSON charge of selling an ounce of mari- readily agreed to renew.” “These include 16 that supporters of the With this issue, the Militant is wel- juana to an undercover cop. Through “Another five workers who walked paper sold at the September 7 rally for coming two new editorial volunteers. an international defense campaign, by the literature table bought introduc- immigrant rights in Washington (see Olympia Newton is one of them. Washington’s efforts were defeated. tory subscriptions,” Kennedy continued. front-page article), a number of which Newton joined the socialist move- A federal judge declared Calero “not “They included a worker from Jamaica. were sold on the buses on the way to ment in 1997 in Washington, D.C. deportable” in May 2003. He said one of this favorite books was D.C. ” Since then she has lived in Los An- Calero was the SWP candidate for How Far We Slaves Have Come! by A total of 47 people subscribed and geles; Price, Utah; and New York. U.S. president in 2004 and is currently African National Congress leader Nel- more than 200 bought copies of the She worked in the garment industry the party’s candidate for U.S. Senate son Mandela and Cuban president Fidel Militant at that rally of 5,000, said Doug and coal mining and has shouldered in New York. Castro. Another worker from Mexico Nelson, a supporter of the paper there. a range of leadership responsibilities Arrin Hawkins, who was an edito- wanted to subscribe and a couple of Partisans of the paper are reaching for the Young Socialists and Social- rial volunteer since the beginning of people met him at work the next day out to workers on the job and through ist Workers Party. She has been a 2005, has moved to Pittsburgh to help after he got paid, and he signed up. They sales outside factories or other work- regular worker-correspondent for the build the communist movement there. sites. This is part of expanding Militant, participating in international Hawkins joined the Young Socialists Fall ‘Militant‘ Subscription Drive and maintaining the Militant’s reporting teams in north Korea and in 2000 in the Twin Cities and then subscription base in the working Venezuela. the Socialist Workers Party. She was September 9 – November 7 class and labor movement. Róger Calero is the second. Calero the SWP candidate for vice president Country Quota Sold % This reporter was part of teams served in this capacity before, from in 2004. AUSTRALIA 50 13 26% distributing the Militant outside a 2001 to 2005. He has written exten- UNITED KINGDOM building in midtown Manhattan sively for the paper on union struggles, full of garment shops, where about $90,000 ‘Militant‘ Fund Drive Edinburgh 35 8 23% battles for immigrant rights, and the a dozen workers bought copies of class struggle in Latin America. London 80 10 13% Sept. 9 –Nov. 7, 2006 ♦ Quotas the paper over the last two weeks. U.S. immigration agents arrested UK Total 115 18 16% Some are beginning to buy a copy Calero in December 2002 while he Country Quota UNITED STATES twice in a row, laying the ground- was returning from a reporting trip AUSTRALIA 1,200 San Francisco 75 25 33% work for more subscriptions. to Mexico and Cuba for the Militant. CANADA 3,500 Chicago 100 24 24% All readers are urged to send The government sought to deport him ICELAND 450 Twin Cities 160 38 24% in reports about similar outreach based on a 1988 conviction, while NEW ZEALAND 2,500 Philadelphia 130 30 23% efforts by Monday nights. Calero was in high school, on the SWEDEN 500 Newark 150 30 20% UNITED KINGDOM 1800 Boston 120 22 18% UNITED STATES Miami 170 31 18% Republicans take ‘guest worker’ bill Albany 120 Houston 100 16 16% Amherst 60 New York 300 47 16% off table and push for tighter border Atlanta 4,750 Atlanta 100 12 12% BY SAM MANUEL Senate, William Frist, described the Birmingham 3,500 Des Moines 175 21 12% WASHINGTON—Repub- chances of getting any significant legis- Boston 3,500 Los Angeles 145 17 12% lican leaders in Congress have lation passed over the coming weeks as Chicago 5,000 Washington, DC 105 11 10% announced they are taking off “next to impossible.” Des Moines 2,200 Seattle 80 8 10% the table until after the Novem- Dennis Hastert, speaker of the House Houston 3,200 Albany, NY 20 2 10% ber mid-term elections—that is, of Representatives, said the priority for Los Angeles 8,200 Amherst, MA 10 1 10% until some time next year—dis- Republicans in the House would be put- Miami 2,500 Birmingham 115 10 9% cussion on the main “immigra- ting together a package of enforcement Newark 3,500 Pittsburgh 60 2 3% tion reform” proposals, variants proposals to tighten policing the border. New York 13,000 Detroit 1 of which have been passed by “Our border is a sieve. We are at war,” said Philadelphia 3,000 U.S. Total 2115 348 16% the House and Senate. “House Hastert. “We need to close our borders. Pittsburgh 4,200 CANADA 130 14 11% Republicans say that a Senate The Congress cannot wait until next year San Francisco 8,500 ICELAND 18 2 11% measure backed by Bush to cre- to take on this issue.” Seattle 7,000 NEW ZEALAND 60 5 8% ate a guest-worker program is Hastert and House majority leader Twin Cities 4,800 SWEDEN 37 0 0% unacceptable to their party’s core John Boehner said the package could in- Washington, D.C. 2800 OTHER 1 constituency,” said a September clude more money for the Border Patrol U.S. TOTAL 79,830 Int’l totals 2525 401 15% 6 news dispatch by Bloomberg and additional fencing and surveillance Intl’l totals 89,780 Int’l goal 2600 News. along the border with Mexico, reported Goal 90,000 The Republican leader in the Cox News Service. 4 The Militant September 25, 2006 ON THE PICKET LINE Australia: rallies oppose fining Enterprises, one of the two large super- of construction workers market chains in the country. Three days SYDNEY, Australia—Some 500 later all the workers were locked out. union members rallied here August 29 Chanting, “Who’s got the power? in solidarity with construction workers We’ve got the power! What kind of who were appearing in federal court in power? Union power!” some 250 work- Perth, Western Australia, to face fines of ers marched and rallied September up to A$28,600 (US$21,560) for taking 9 through Mangere Town Center in strike action in February. Workers then Auckland. Among those attending the marched on the office of the Australian rally were nurses, garment workers, Building and Construction Commission, firefighters, maritime workers, meat which is prosecuting the unionists. workers and teachers. That day more than 2,000 marched “We want one single collective agree- through the streets of Perth and joined ment for all the sites, with the same the rally outside the federal court where rates,” explained Daniel Patea, a Na- Militant/Felicity Coggan the construction workers appeared. The tional Distribution Union delegate, at Supermarket workers on strike march through Mangere Town Center in Auckland, New Zealand, September 9, one of the actions in their fight for a nationwide contract. workers were ordered to appear again the 24-hour Auckland picket line. The in court October 18. Solidarity rallies pay gap between different plants can be also took place in Melbourne, Adelaide, as much as NZ$2.50 an hour. The union a proposed contract that included cuts workhours for the 7,300 attendants em- Newcastle, and Wollongong. is demanding an 8 percent wage raise. in health-care benefits. During the strike, ployed by Northwest. The 107 workers on the Perth to Man- Workers are setting up flying pickets the union organized a strike assistance —Brian Williams durah railway, members of the Construc- outside different supermarkets when they committee, food bank, and cooks, and tion, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, hear of trucks arriving to deliver supplies, the union hall was open 24 hours a day. Unionists in Brazil strike walked off the job February 24 over the noted striker Lasitani Misinale. Picketers wore T-shirts that proclaimed, Volkswagen over layoffs sacking (firing) of their union delegate. —Janet Roth “United we bargain, divided we beg.” Members of the metal workers union This is the first time rank-and-file work- —Linda Joyce at Volkswagen’s largest assembly plant ers have been individually targeted under Steelworkers in West Virginia in Brazil walked out August 29 after the building industry laws that were in- ratify new contract Judge rules flight attendants the company announced the layoff of troduced last year. WALTON, West Virginia—After at Northwest can’t strike 1,800 workers as of November 21. A —Linda Harris a nine-day strike members of United A federal judge on August 25 blocked week earlier, the company informed the and Joanne Kuniansky Steelworkers Local 37 voted 231 to 147 an impending strike by flight attendants 12,000 workers employed at this plant to ratify a new contract with Steel of against Northwest Airlines, hours before near São Paulo that they either accept Supermarket workers in West Virginia September 3. According random walkouts were set to begin. The the elimination of 3,600 jobs over the New Zealand strike for contract to local union president Craig Knight, workers, members of the Association of next two years and a 25 percent wage AUCKLAND, New Zealand—Work- there was no reduction in benefits, Flight Attendants, had twice rejected cut, or Volkswagen would shut down the ers at four Supply Chain distribution cen- though workers now have to pay insur- $195 million in concessionary demands entire plant and fire at least 6,000 work- ters in Palmerston North, Christchurch, ance premiums for the first time—$20 Northwest said it would impose. A ers. In Puebla , Mexico, Volkswagen’s and Auckland began strike action August per month for a single person and $40 for bankruptcy judge approved putting 9,600 workers have been on strike since 25. The 500 workers supply dry goods to family members. More than 400 union- this contract into effect that cuts pay 21 August 18 over wages. 193 supermarkets owned by Progressive ists walked out August 25 after rejecting percent, reduces benefits, and lengthens —Brian Williams Hazleton city council passes new, stronger anti-immigrant measure Continued from front page published in English only. never have to.” “The fight to defeat the anti-immi- Hazleton demanding legalization for The third ordinance adds additional “While no one has dependable num- grant ordinance in Hazleton is part of all immigrants. The Puerto Rican Legal penalties against landlords who rent to bers, it’s clear that many people have left the broader struggle for unity for the Defense and Education Fund, the Ameri- people who do not have an official city town and it’s a fair assumption that many working class,” Osborne Hart, Socialist can Civil Liberties Union, and a number “occupancy permit.” of the departed weren’t contributing any- Workers Party candidate for governor of local attorneys have filed a challenge “How much of [the city’s problems] thing to the community,” they say. of Pennsylvania, said as he campaigned to the anti-immigrant measure. Because could be blamed on illegal immigration,” Speaking before the special council in Philadelphia’s Black community of the lawsuit, implementation of the act said an editorial supporting the anti-im- meeting, Allentown attorney David September 9. “Labor must fight for the was postponed by the city last week to migrant measures in the September 8 Vaida, one of the lawyers involved in legalization of all immigrants and throw allow for the revisions. Hazleton Standard-Speaker. “To be challenging the measures, said that it the power and resources of the union Barletta has received support from a honest, Mayor Barletta never provided would “create a climate of fear,” pitting movement into this battle. We urge number of national figures opposed to a good answer to that question.” “neighbor against neighbor.” working people and others to join those immigrants’ rights to revise the act and “It’s also unclear how or even if the “Ultimately they will end up in the in the Hazelton area fighting to defeat defend it in court. Michael Hethmon, city will ever enforce the ordinance,” Supreme Court,” Vaida added. “In our the anti–working-class ordinance the from the Federation for American Immi- the editors added. “Interestingly, it may opinion this will not stand.” Hazleton city council passed.” gration Reform (FAIR), rewrote the bill. Kris Kobach, an aide on immigration to former Attorney General John Ashcroft, 25, 50, AND 75 YEARS AGO has joined the city’s legal team, along with the Mountain States Legal Founda- tion. ProEnglish, another national right- wing group, has volunteered to defend the September 26, 1931 English-only bill from legal challenge. September 25, 1981 September 24, 1956 The revised ordinance divides the A war is raging in the small Central The heaviest single blow dealt in the measure into three separate bills. One American country of El Salvador. The Socialist Workers campaign national wage-cutting campaign of the establishes a city Code Enforcement Twenty-six thousand people have been headquarters is being flooded by capitalist class has just been delivered Agency, charged with investigating any killed in less than two years. Systematic mail as a result of the TV and radio by the United States Steel Corporation, complaint charging that an area business terrorism by ultrarightist death squads, broadcasts of [SWP presidential and which announced that, effective October or landlord has hired or is renting to un- which operate in collusion with the mili- vice-presidential candidates] Farrell 1st, wages of all its employees, approxi- documented workers. If the agency finds tary high command, have forced some Dobbs and Myra Tanner Weiss. The mately 220,000, would be cut ten percent. a violation, the business or landlord has 700,000 Salvadorans into exile—14 office staff and corps of volunteer help- The second largest steel corporation in a few days to file an answer or “correct” percent of the country’s population. An ers are hard put to answer all the letters the country, Bethlehem, announced the situation—by firing or evicting the even greater number of refugees has been and to mail out the requested copies a similar cut, effective the same day, “alien,” or providing proof they are in the created within the country by army mas- of the SWP’s 1956 election platform. for its 50,000 workers. The so-called country legally—or face fines and loss sacres and indiscriminate destruction of And it looks as if there is no relief in independent steel barons have already of their business license. peasant villages. Those who speak out sight. More, and still more, broadcasts announced that the cut will be universal The revised measure adds a section al- against these crimes are marked for death are scheduled. throughout the industry. The president of lowing workers who are laid off because by the military junta and its agents. It is not only in the campaign head- the Pittsburgh Steel Company expressed an employer is closed down for hiring The Salvadoran junta represents a quarters that the impact of the fighting the sentiments of the “independents” by undocumented workers to sue to recover corrupt oligarchy. Twenty families in El socialist speeches of the SWP banner saying that “we could not ignore such a lost wages. Salvador control more than 70 percent of bearers is being felt. From the field there handicap as a 10 percent wage reduction The second measure makes English the country’s private banks, sugar mills, are reports of these speeches being dis- by other firms. It will be necessary for us the “official language” of Hazleton, coffee production, and exports, as well cussed on the floor of NAACP meetings to take similar action to keep our operat- mandating that all city documents be as the television and newspaper. and in college classrooms. ing costs at the general level.” The Militant September 25, 2006 5 Celebration in Chinatown

Continued from front page Chinatown was the first Chinatown in the entire program. the Americas,” he said, “when in fact the Originally scheduled to take place at one in Havana was established first.” the Historical Society itself, the event Between l847 and 1874 approximately was clearly going to be too large for 200,000 Chinese were “recruited” and those premises, so organizers shifted transported to Cuba as indentured labor- it across the street to the historic Gor- ers, Wang explained. Many, in fact, were don J. Lau elementary school. That “shanghaied,” he said—pointing to the nearly 150-year-old institution was origins of that expression—and taken long known as “The Chinese School,” to Cuba by force. In the l870s thousands since for many decades Chinese stu- more Chinese came to Cuba from North dents were not allowed to attend any America “during the mounting anti-Chi- other public school in San Francisco. nese agitation against the presence of Speaking on the panel were L. Ling- Chinese in the United States.” chi Wang, professor emeritus and former Wang was referring to what was often head of the Ethnic Studies Department at called the “yellow peril” campaigns, or- the University of California at Berkeley; ganized by the bosses and supported by documentary filmmaker Felicia Lowe; the skilled-trades union bureaucracy and Steve Wake, a leader of the Japanese- the large right wing of the Socialist Party American organization Tsukimi Kai; in the United States. and Mary-Alice Waters, editor of Our The Chinese in Cuba played an impor- History Is Still Being Written and presi- tant role in two revolutions, Wang said: dent of Pathfinder Press. the wars of independence from Spain in Waters brought greetings to the meet- the 19th century, and the revolution that ing from the three Chinese-Cuban au- brought down the U.S.-backed dictator- thors and presented a copy of the book ship of Fulgencio Batista in the l950s. signed by each of them to the Chinese Wang noted that next year will be the Historical Society of America. Gimmy 160th anniversary of the arrival of the first Park Li, a well-known San Francisco shiploads of Chinese indentured laborers radio personality who chaired the panel, in Cuba. He invited those interested to Militant photos by Ellen Haywood accepted the autographed copy on be- join him in the activities being organized Top: Ling-chi Wang, professor of Asian Studies at U.C. Berkeley, speaks at September 9 half of the society. in Cuba to commemorate this event. meeting in San Francisco on Our History is Still Being Written, sponsored by Chinese As with other events sponsored by Wang pointed out that unlike the racist Historical Society of America. Seated (from left), are moderator Gimmy Park Li, and panelists the historical society, the meeting had treatment still experienced by Chinese Felicia Lowe, Mary-Alice Waters, and Steve Wake. Bottom: Some 180 people attended event. been publicized by an attractively in many countries, including the United Chinese grandfather,’ or that somebody ship of women’s organizations,” and designed color postcard—this one in States, the generals explain in Our His- down the road is Chinese.” other tasks. One thing all these Cu- a run of 2,000, featuring the cover of tory Is Still Being Written how “only Steve Wake explained that Tsukimi ban revolutionists “have in common the book. Leaflets in English, Spanish, under the kind of socialist revolution in Kai has organized trips to Cuba by Jap- is that they came from that generation and Chinese were distributed in Chi- Cuba were the Chinese able to succeed in anese-Americans to establish contact of young people, students and workers, natown, on area campuses, and at local achieving equality, real equality.” with Cubans of Japanese ancestry. He who in the early 1950s—most of them factories and other workplaces. All three generals speak “very pas- described the impact visiting Cuba had still in their teens—simply refused to sionately” about their participation in ‘What can be learned’ on him, showing what human solidarity accept and bow down before the in- the second Cuban revolution, Wang makes possible. dignities and brutalities of a military “Through this book we can learn about said, as well as in the struggle against Following Pearl Harbor and Wash- coup carried out by General Batista,” a the history of Chinese in Cuba,” said colonialism and imperialism, especially ington’s declaration of war against Ja- dictatorship backed by Washington. Ling-chi Wang, the opening speaker, in Africa. By reading the book, he said, pan, Wake said, adult males from the “That was the generation that Arman- who had met the three authors when he including Nelson Mandela’s speech small Japanese community in Cuba do Choy, Gustavo Chui, and Moisés Sío helped organize a conference on Chinese when the South African leader visited were rounded up and incarcerated by Wong were part of,” she said. When she in Latin America at the University of Ha- Havana in 1991, you can see the Cuban the Batista regime on the Isle of Pines. first met Chui—a leader of the Associa- vana in l999. sacrifices and contributions “to getting This was carried out even before the U.S. tion of Combatants of the Cuban Revo- “We can learn a lot about the Cuban rid of the apartheid system.” The three government sent Japanese-Americans lution—and learned a little bit about his revolution,” he said, “and we can learn a Chinese-Cuban generals “participated on the West Coast of the United States history, they discussed doing an inter- lot about the Cuban role in the struggle and played very key roles in those ef- to concentration camps, he noted. view. “‘I have an even better idea,’ he against colonialism and imperialism.” forts in Africa.” “In Cuba soldiers actually went to suggested. There are three generals of Wang pointed to the importance of Japanese homes and dragged away Chinese ancestry in the Revolutionary the Chinese Historical Society sponsor- Video from Havana’s Chinatown the men,” Wake said. But the Japanese Armed Forces, Chui said. ‘Let’s make it ing an event that looks at the Chinese in Video footage of Havana’s Chinatown in Cuba received a lot of solidarity an interview with the three of us.’ And the United States as part of the broader was shown by filmmaker Felicia Lowe from ordinary Cubans. “Many of the the book grew from there.” Chinese diaspora in some l40 countries. from her forthcoming documentary, Chi- Japanese women who had been left The generation of Cubans who made “Most people think that San Francisco nese Couplet. Lowe has traveled to Cuba to fend for themselves received help the revolution in the 1950s, Waters said, twice trying to find out from their Cuban neighbors.” Cubans fought for land reform, to end racism, to more about her grandfa- of Japanese origin later participated Continued on page 7 ther who migrated from in the revolutionary struggle against China to Cuba in the Batista, he said. 1920s and stayed there In the lively discussion period after Our History for 15 years. the talks, Wake described what he Cubans of Chinese learned in Cuba about the contrast be- Is Still Being Written descent and others are tween the U.S. government’s response THE STORY OF THREE CHINESE- working to revitalize to Hurricane Katrina, where many CUBAN GENERALS IN THE CUBAN Havana’s Chinatown, lives were lost unnecessarily, and how REVOLUTION Lowe said in her re- the government and people in Cuba— Armando Choy, Gustavo Chui, marks introducing the which “is not a rich country”—organize and Moisés Sío Wong—three film clips. There is an young rebels of Chinese-Cuban to prevent loss of life in hurricanes. ancestry—threw themselves interest in Chinese cul- into the great proletarian battle ture, reflected in classes How the book came about that defined their generation. on the Chinese language Mary-Alice Waters described how They became combatants in the clandestine struggle and 1956– as well as the practice of Our History Is Still Being Written came 58 revolutionary war that brought down a U.S.- martial arts. about. Like its three authors, she said, it backed dictatorship and opened the door to the “It’s an interesting no- had “a humble beginning.” socialist revolution in the Americas. Each became tion,” she said, that in “a Over the past 15 years, Waters said, a general in Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces. Through their stories the social and political forces socialist society where Pathfinder has published an increasing that gave birth to the Cuban nation and still shape race presumably is not number of books built around inter- our epoch unfold. an issue, that there is a views with men and women in Cuba Also available in Spanish. $20 lot of pride expressed by “who have weighty responsibilities in those who say, ‘I had a the government, armed forces, leader- www.pathfinderpress.com September 10 issue of Ming Pao, main Chinese-language San or from distributors listed on page 8 Francisco daily, carried an article on the book launching. 6 The Militant September 25, 2006 Government of Sri Lanka wages war on Tamil Tigers

BY OLYMPIA NEWTON government agencies, and others. September 11— Since late July, the Tamils make up about 18 percent of Sri Sri Lankan government has carried out Lanka’s population, while 74 percent in military attacks against the Liberation the former British colony are Sinhalese. Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The In the 19th century London introduced fighting, which has killed hundreds large numbers of Tamils into the colo- and displaced more than 100,000, is the nial administration. At the same time, deadliest since a 2002 cease-fire ended the British colonialists built large tea a two-decades-long civil war. plantations on lands previously belong- On September 4, the government ing to Sinhalese peasants, and brought AP/Gemunu Amarasinghe Sri Lankan soldiers hoist national flag in Sampur, after capturing it from Tamil Tigers. captured the town of Sampur from the Tamils from southern India to work there Tigers. Sampur overlooks the port of as virtual slaves. Such moves fostered the national oppression of the Tamil nated areas. Trincomalee, the deepest natural seaport divisions among working people and people, including the denial of language The Tigers organize air and naval in the world. The Tigers control a large enabled the colonial masters to maintain rights and discrimination in employment wings, known as the Air Tigers and Sea portion of the northern and eastern coasts control of the country. and university admissions. Tigers. The Sea Tigers, with an arsenal of Sri Lanka, an island nation located just Since the island nation won its inde- A civil war broke out in 1983 be- that reportedly includes speedboats, southeast of India. pendence in 1948, successive administra- tween the Sri Lankan government and mini-submarines, and satellite commu- The government of Pakistan has pro- tions have sought to keep working people the LTTE. At that time, the Tigers were nications technology, pose a significant vided substantial military aid to the Sri divided along national lines. In the last 40 calling for an independent Tamil state. military challenge to the Sri Lankan Lankan rulers. The government of India, years especially, the Sri Lankan govern- In 2002, the group instead began calling navy. More than 65,000 people have been which in 1987 sent thousands of troops ment has passed laws to institutionalize for provincial autonomy in Tamil-domi- killed in the civil war since 1983. there to enforce a “peace settlement,” has refused to provide military assistance in the current battle. Pakistan’s interior ministry secre- Celebration in San Francisco’s Chinatown tary, Kamal Shah, told a group of Sri Continued from page 6 responsibilities they were shouldering standing the past in order to be able to Lankan journalists in early September eliminate illiteracy, to provide employ- there. “And Sío Wong’s reply was that act today and tomorrow.” That’s why that the Pakistani government is ready ment for everyone. In the process, they it was the socialist revolution that made the book is important here in the United for “enhanced and intensified” military defended themselves against assaults by this possible,” she said. “That’s what States, where Pathfinder has published it cooperation between the two countries. U.S. economic interests and against the distinguishes the Chinese community in English and Spanish, she said. Some 200 Sri Lankan officers train at efforts to block such measures by Cu- in Cuba from those in the rest of Latin Waters’s announcement that a Chinese Pakistani military institutions each year. bans who owned the land and factories. America.” translation is now under way, with plans In addition, intelligence officials in India “Working people in Cuba simply refused Waters said that Our History Is Still for publication in 2007, was greeted with have said that Pakistani air force officers to cede to these interests and kept driv- Being Written also helps those who read enthusiastic applause. have been advising the Sri Lankan army ing ahead. That was the beginning of the it get more interested in our own history “The book’s purpose is not to under- in its air campaign against the Tigers. socialist revolution in our hemisphere and here in the United States—“the history stand Cuba and the Cuban revolution “Sri Lanka represents a wonderful the source of the implacable hostility to of the Chinese and other Asian exclusion alone, but to understand ourselves, our opportunity” for the rulers of Pakistan Cuba by the U.S. government,” a hostility acts of the 1880s and 1920s, the property own history, and our future,” Waters to “undermine India’s influence in that continues to this day. exclusions, the pogroms, the laws against explained. “It’s about the millions of us South Asia,” stated an August 31 Stra- Waters pointed to comments in the intermarriage, the head taxes. Above all, who are in the streets today demonstrat- tegic Forecasting Inc. (Stratfor) article. book by General Sío Wong about the we learn about the resistance against ing and demanding legalization for all The government of Pakistan has been 1999 conference of overseas Chinese these brutal forms of racism and exploi- immigrants. It’s about the working people supplying weapons to the Sri Lankan held in Havana that Ling-chi Wang had tation, resistance that is part of a proud of this country. Who we are, where we regime in its offensive against the described. Some participants there had tradition of struggles by working people came from, why we are growing in Tamil Tigers, Stratfor reported. Stratfor, asked what was different in Cuba that in the United States. numbers and strength, and why we’re a private “think tank” describes itself as allowed individuals of Chinese ances- “This book is not just about the past,” not going away.” providing for a fee “global intelligence, try like themselves to become gener- Waters said. “It’s about the present and analysis, and forecasting” to businesses, als and assume the kinds of leadership it’s about the future. It’s about under- In the audience A number of prominent individuals in the audience were introduced by chairwoman Gimmy Park Li. Among Imperialist powers intensify war in Afghanistan them was Him Mark Lai, “the father Continued from front page ish forces had to abandon attempts to The September 10 Sunday Telegraph of Chinese-American history.” Lai is in the country under its own com- re-supply their garrison at Musa Qala, said the government of Britain is now adjunct professor of Asian-American mand. as it came under heavy attack. Taliban officially at war. Under new rules of Studies at San Francisco State Univer- The brunt of the combat has fallen on forces were able to retake the town of engagement commanders have legal sity and author of Chinese-American 4,500 British troops, according to the Garmser on September 7, reported the authority to launch air strikes against Voices, among other books. Also in- September 8 Financial Times. London Daily Telegraph. suspected Taliban strongholds and troduced were Judy Yung, author of has already announced it is dispatching Since September 1, five Cana- conduct ambushes and order pre-emp- Unbound Voices, Unbound Feet and another 1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, dian and 19 British soldiers have been tive attacks against enemy camps. other works; Chizu Iiyama, former but NATO officials say it seems dif- killed. British prime minister Anthony Meanwhile, in a September 7 state vice president of the National Japanese ficult now to muster additional troops Blair declared that Britain must “stand visit to Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, American Historical Society; and Jim from other countries. firm” and be “proud” of its forces in Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s Hirabayashi, former chair of Ethnic Led by Canadian forces and known Afghanistan. Col. Tim Collins, who president, appeared in a joint news Studies at U.C. Berkeley. as “Operation Medusa,” this is the commanded British forces during conference with Afghanistan’s presi- After the program participants contin- first brigade-level battle NATO has the 2003 Iraq war, and Gen. Patrick dent, Hamid Karzai. ued the discussion at a reception back at ever fought. Over the past month Cordingley both criticized what they In an apparent policy shift, Mush- the Chinese Historical Society. Thirty- NATO “has been engaged in the called the lack of resources to sustain arraf pledged to seek out and destroy three copies of Our History Is Still Being toughest fighting since it was formed London’s role in the imperialist opera- the command structure of al-Qaeda Written were sold by the society’s book- in 1949,” said the Financial Times. The tions in Afghanistan. and Taliban forces operating in Paki- shop, including eight in Spanish. Many operation involves air strikes, artillery Gen. Jones, NATO supreme com- stan. “There are al-Qaeda and Taliban enjoyed the displays of photographs and barrages, and ground troops. NATO mander in Europe, took the unusual in both Afghanistan and Pakistan,” drawings from the book, reviews it has officers claim their forces have killed step of voicing in public his dismay he told the media. “Clearly they are received, and photos of the Tsukimi Kai 420 people in the course of the opera- that the 26-member military alliance crossing from the Pakistan side and visit to Cuba. Participants also visited the tion since September 2. had failed to provide the troops and causing bomb blasts in Afghanistan.” historical society’s museum featuring the “The intensity and ferocity of the equipment needed for such a mission. His government has nothing to do with history of Chinese in the Americas, in- fighting is far greater than in Iraq” NATO chiefs say another 2,500 troops such attacks, he said. “We have to see cluding a special exhibit on the effects and involves hand-to-hand combat, would allow them to rapidly deploy a where their command structure is, who of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake according to Brigadier Ed Butler, mobile reserve to “trouble spots.” is their commander, and we must de- on Chinatown. commander of the British forces in The German, Italian, and Turkish stroy the command structure.” A photo and article on the meeting ap- Afghanistan. In the town of Sangin governments have expressed reluc- “I was very happy to hear this is not peared in the September 10 issue of Ming British paratroopers reportedly re- tance to move their troops from safer sponsored by Pakistan,” responded Pao, San Francisco’s main Chinese-lan- sisted 44 attacks in 25 days, and Brit- parts of Afghanistan to the south. Karzai. guage daily (see illustration on p. 6).

The Militant September 25, 2006 7 Trade unions: their past, present, and future Below is an excerpt from Trade the trades’ unions have not yet fully un- Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist De- derstood their power of acting against cay, one of Pathfinder’s Books of the the system of wages slavery itself. They Month in September. The articles in therefore kept too much aloof from gen- this collection explain the fundamental eral social and political movements. Of dynamics of trade unions, which have late, however, they seem to awaken to served since the onset of the industrial some sense of their great historical revolution two centuries ago as the el- mission, as appears, for instance, from ementary organizations for defense of their participation, in England, in the workers’ conditions and rights. Among recent political movement, from the the articles printed below in its entirely enlarged views taken of their function is “Trade unions: their past, present, in the United States, and from the fol- lowing resolution passed at the recent great conference of trades’ delegates at Sheffield: BOOKS OF “That this conference, fully appreci- ating the efforts made by the Interna- THE MONTH tional [Working Men’s] Association to unite in one common bond of brother- hood the working men of all countries, and future,” by Karl Marx. It was writ- most earnestly recommend to the ten as a resolution adopted by the 1866 various societies here represented, the Geneva congress of the International advisability of becoming affiliated to Working Men’s Association. Copyright that body; believing that it is essential © 1969 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted Union militants of the Minneapolis truck drivers move to defend picket lines against to the progress and prosperity of the by permission. police assault during one of 1934 strikes. Photo above shows scene of heavy fighting entire working community.” between pickets and police reinforced by deputies in city marketplace. BY KARL MARX on one side and the vital productive not only legitimate, it is necessary. It (C) THEIR FUTURE (A) THEIR PAST energies on the opposite side. The only cannot be dispensed with so long as Apart from their original purposes, Capital is concentrated social force, social power of the workmen is their the present system of production lasts. they must now learn to act deliberately while the workman has only to dispose number. The force of numbers, however, On the contrary, it must be generalized as organizing centers of the working of his working force [labor power]. The is broken by disunion. The disunion of by the formation and the combination class in the broad interest of its com- contract between capital and labor can the workmen is created and perpetu- of trades’ unions throughout all coun- plete emancipation. They must aid therefore never be struck on equitable ated by their unavoidable competition tries. On the other hand, unconsciously every social and political movement terms, equitable even in the sense of among themselves. to themselves, the trades’ unions were tending in that direction. Considering a society which places the ownership Trades’ unions originally sprang up forming centers of organization of the themselves and acting as the champions of the material means of life and labor from the spontaneous attempts of work- working class, as the medieval mu- and representatives of the whole work- men at removing or at least checking nicipalities and communes did for the ing class, they cannot fail to enlist the that competition, in order to conquer middle class. If the trades’ unions are nonsociety [unorganized] men into BOOKS such terms of contract as might raise required for the guerrilla fights between their ranks. They must look carefully OF THE MONTH them at least above the condition of capital and labor, they are still more after the interests of the worst-paid mere slaves. The immediate object of important as organized agencies for trades, such as the agricultural labor- trades’ unions was therefore confined superseding the very system of wages ers, rendered powerless by exceptional PATHFINDER 25% to everyday necessities, to expediencies labor and capital rule. circumstances. They must convince READERS CLUB DISCOUNT for the obstruction of the incessant en- the world at large that their efforts, far SeptemberSPECIALS croachments of capital, in one word, to (B) THEIR PRESENT from being narrow and selfish, aim at questions of wages and time of labor. Too exclusively bent upon the local the emancipation of the downtrodden Trade Unions in the This activity of the trades’ unions is and immediate struggles with capital, millions. Epoch of Imperialist Decay by Leon Trotsky This book offers militant workers IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP “food for thought” on how a Where to find distributors of the Mili- strike is fought, and how it can MINNESOTA: St. Paul: 113 Bernard CANADA tant, New International, and a full display St. E, West St. Paul. Zip: 55118. Tel: (651) ONTARIO: Toronto: 2238 Dundas be won. $15. of Pathfinder books. Special price: $11 644-6325. E-mail: [email protected] St. W., #201, Postal code M6R UNITED STATES NEW JERSEY: Newark: 168 3A9. Tel: (416) 535-9140. E-mail: To Speak the Truth ALABAMA: Birmingham: 3029A Bloomfield Ave., 2nd Floor. Zip: [email protected] by Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Bessemer Rd. Zip: 35208. Tel: (205) 07104. Tel: (973) 481-0077. E-mail: FRANCE Guevera 780-0021. E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Cuba’s revolutionary leadership explains Paris: P.O. 175, 23 rue Lecourbe. Postal why Washington’s ‘Cold War’ against Cuba CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles: 4229 NEW YORK: Albany: Tel: code: 75015. Tel: (01) 40-10-28-37. doesn’t end. $17. Special price: $13 S. Central Ave. Zip: 90011. Tel: (323) (518) 929-4786. E-mail:Young E-mail: [email protected] 233-9372. E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Manhattan: El desorden mundial del San Francisco: 3926 Mission St. Zip: 306 W. 37th St., 10th Floor. Zip: ICELAND capitalismo: política obrera al 94112. Tel: (415) 584-2135. E-mail: swpsf 10018. Tel: (212) 629-6649.E-mail: Reykjavík: Skolavordustig 6B. milenio (Spanish-language edition @sbcglobal.net [email protected] Mailing address: P. Box 0233, IS 121 of Capitalism’s World FLORIDA: Miami: 8365 NE 2nd PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia: Reykjavík. Tel: 552 1202. E-mail: kb- Disorder) Ave. #206. Mailing address: P.O. Box 188 W. Wyoming Ave. Zip: 19140. [email protected] by Jack Barnes 380846. Zip: 33138. Tel: (305) 756-4436. Tel: (215) 455-2682. E-mail: NEW ZEALAND A Marxist explanation of the E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Pittsburgh: 5907 Auckland: Suite 3, 7 Mason Ave., vast shifts in working-class GEORGIA: Atlanta: 2791 Penn Ave., Suite 225. Zip: 15206. Tel: Otahuhu. Postal address: P.O. Box and bourgeois politics at the (412) 365-1090. E-mail: PittsburghSWP 3025. Tel: (9) 276-8885. E-mail: turn of the century. Also avail- Lakewood Ave. Zip: 30315. Mailing address: P.O. Box 162515, @verizon.net [email protected] able in English and French. TEXAS: Houston: 4800 W. 34th $24. Special price: $18 Zip: 30321. Tel: (404) 768-1709. Christchurch: 287 Selwyn St., E-mail: [email protected] St., Suite C-51A. Zip: 77092. Tel: Spreydon. Postal address: P.O. Box Making History (713) 869-6550. E-mail: swphouston@ 7103. Tel: (3) 930-3373. E-mail: ILLINOIS: Chicago: 3557 S. Archer sbcglobal.net A collection of interviews with four outstand- Ave. Zip: 60609. Tel: (773) 890-1190. E- [email protected] ing generals of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed mail: [email protected] WASHINGTON, D.C.: 3717 B Forces. $16. Special price: $12 Georgia Ave. NW, Ground Floor. Zip: SWEDEN IOWA: Des Moines: 3707 Douglas 20010. Tel: (202) 536-5080. E-mail: Stockholm: Bildhuggarvägen 17, Israel: A Colonial-Settler State? Ave. Zip: 50310. Tel: (515) 255-1707. [email protected] 12144 Johanneshov. Tel: (08) 31 69 33. by Maxime Rodinson E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Chronicles the development of Israel and why MASSACHUSETTS: Amherst: WASHINGTON: Seattle: 5418 it serves the interests of imperialism in the 114 Rolling Green Dr. Zip: 01002. Rainier Ave. South. Zip: 98118- UNITED KINGDOM Mideast. $11. Special price: $ 9.50 Tel: (914) 466-6772. E-mail: 2439. Tel: (206) 323-1755. E-mail: ENGLAND: London: First Floor, 120 [email protected] Bethnal Green (Entrance in Brick Lane). Join Pathfinder Readers Club [email protected] Boston: 13 for $10 and receive Bennington St., 2nd Floor, East Boston. AUSTRALIA Postal code: E2 6DG. Tel: 020-7613- discounts all year long Zip: 02128. Tel: (617) 569-9169. E-mail: Sydney: 1st Flr, 3/281-287 Beamish 3855. E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] St., Campsie, NSW 2194. Mailing SCOTLAND: Edinburgh: Second ORDER ONLINE AT ORDER ONLINE AT MICHIGAN: Detroit: 695 Gullen address: P.O. Box 164, Campsie, NSW Floor, 105 Hanover St. Postal code: WWW.PATHFINDERPRESS.COM Mall Apt. 408. Zip: 48360. Tel: (248) 860- 2194. Tel: (02) 9718 9698. E-mail: EH2 1DJ. Tel: 0131-226-2756. E-mail: OFFER GOOD UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30 9341. E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] cl.edinburgh@ btinternet.com 8 The Militant September 25, 2006 EDITORIALS Lebanon, Israel Continued from front page Amnesty! Stop the deportations! troops from Lebanon once the UN force reaches that We join with those in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, who workers, whatever their skin tone. All the hue and cry size and 15,000 Lebanese troops are deployed. have vowed to fight uncompromisingly to defeat the about “illegal aliens” by many among the U.S. rulers has According to the Beirut Daily Star, Lebanese Army latest version of the anti-working-class “Illegal Im- to do with the changes in the working class at home. Im- troops have now been stationed in 80 percent of south- migration Relief Act.” migrants are not meek, suffering victims. They are fellow ern Lebanon. The tug of war that has led to the trouncing of similar workers who bring their class-struggle experiences, help Four Italian warships and one each supplied by the reactionary measures in Palm Bay and Avon Park, Flor- broaden the horizons of co-workers, and in the process governments of the United Kingdom, France, and ida, and the massive working-class actions in the spring themselves shed anti-Black and other prejudices. Greece began patrols along the country’s coast Sep- that shelved the House bill that would have criminalized We stand with the thousands of working people and tember 8, following the lifting of the Israeli blockade. all the undocumented, show that those who want to turn others who took to the streets this month across the Unit- The naval forces are mandated to stop and search millions of immigrant workers into social outcasts to ed States to demand amnesty, permanent residency, and vessels at the request of the Lebanese navy to prevent fatten the bosses’ profits won’t get their way easily. an end to discrimination and persecution of any kind. shipments of arms to Hezbollah—the Lebanese group The first-ever U.S. nationwide political strike on May At the same time, the size and scope of the recent ac- that fought the invading Israeli forces and lobbed mis- Day, when millions declared, “We are workers, not tions for immigrants’ rights show there is a conjunctural siles into northern Israel during the war. criminals!” showed that immigration has permanently slowdown in the struggle. The de facto decision of the At home, the Israeli government still faces a storm and irreversibly strengthened the working class. U.S. Congress to take off the table the “guest worker” bill of criticism for falling short in its objective of debilitat- The recent new immigration waves are transforming the Senate passed in May, and put off decision until next ing Hezbollah during Tel Aviv’s 34-day assault. Some the United States and other imperialist countries. All the year, is a factor. Working people are now bombarded by 40,000 people turned out for a pro-war rally in Tel Aviv wealth of finance capital is produced by the exploitation “friends of immigrants,” largely liberal politicians and September 9 demanding an independent inquiry into the of labor. In addition to exporting capital in order to cap- their middle-class radical hangers-on, that the important government and military leadership of the war. “Many ture markets and exploit lower-wage labor around the issue is to get Democrats elected in November—det- in the crowd…were reservists who served during the world, the propertied families have come to rely more rimental advice given how bipartisan is the assault on war,” the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. and more on sucking labor power into the metropolitan working people, including on the rights of immigrants. “Among the speakers in Tel Aviv were leaders of both centers themselves. This global expansion of capitalism’s Class-conscious workers need to recognize this reality left and right-wing parties opposed to [Israeli prime reserve army of labor is replenished by peasants and in order to shed false expectations and stay the course. minister Ehud] Olmert’s centrist Kadima,” Haaretz said. workers driven off the land and fleeing urban slums in Act on the fact that the composition of the working “They formed an odd alliance of those who supported the Asia, Africa, and Latin America in search of jobs and class puts us on a stronger footing, a new plateau, for war and those who wanted to end it sooner.” livable conditions for themselves and their families. the coming battles against the employers—for the fight Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli premier and The U.S. capitalist economy would stagnate if the to transform the unions into revolutionary instruments leader of Likud, the main opposition party, has seen his bosses had to rely solely on the exploitation of U.S.-born capable of waging such battles. popularity rise, according to recent polls. In a September 7 speech in New York, Netanyahu focused his remarks on the need to prepare for war with Iran and for another Five years after 9/11: Oppose assault in Lebanon aimed at defeating “a few hundred armed Iranian proxies,” as he called Hezbollah. Meanwhile, with the Israeli offensive in Gaza going U.S. wars, curbs on democratic rights on three months, the Palestinian National Authority Below we use part of our editorial space to publish out spying and harassment by government informers and (PNA) announced September 11 that a tentative agree- excerpts from a statement that first appeared in the Sept. agents provocateurs. The last four years of the Clinton ment had been reached to form a unity government 24, 2001, Militant. It was released on 9/11 on behalf of administration, and the opening months of the Bush between Fatah and Hamas. It will replace the one led the Socialist Workers Party by Martín Koppel, who was White House, have been marked by stepped-up biparti- by Hamas, which calls for an Islamic Republic just the SWP candidate for New York mayor at the time. We san efforts to strengthen the federal death penalty, erode like Hezbollah and won the largest number of votes are publishing it in response to the reactionary, patriotic the rights of the accused and convicted, and increase the in the national elections earlier this year. fanfare that has dominated the big-business media over room for commando-style operations by the U.S. Border “We’re trying to make a balance between the require- the last week, leading up to the fifth anniversary of the Patrol and other Immigration and Naturalization Service ments of the international community and Palestinian attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. cops, the FBI, and other federal assault agencies. factions,” Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas spokesman, told Whoever may have carried out the September 11 op- the press. The following day, a military court in Israel Waving the banner that “America is under attack,” erations, the destruction of the two World Trade Center ordered the release of 18 Hamas lawmakers arrested that it has sustained “a second Pearl Harbor” in the towers, and the air attack on the Pentagon—with the by Israeli forces during the Gaza offensive. Tel Aviv, wake of today’s assault on New York’s World Trade resulting deaths and injuries of thousands of men, Washington, and other imperialist powers, cut off all Center and the Pentagon, the U.S. government will women, and children—these actions have nothing to aid to the PNA earlier this year to squeeze the Hamas seek to advance its “right” to launch military assaults do with the fight against capitalist exploitation and leadership into a compromise. Thousands of Palestin- on other countries, as it has done over the past few imperialist oppression. Revolutionists and other class- ian teachers and government workers struck in early years against the peoples of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Sudan, conscious workers, farmers, and youth the world over September demanding unpaid wages. and Afghanistan. The U.S. rulers will become even reject the use of such methods. more brazen in their backing for the Israeli regime’s The U.S. government and its allies for more than a escalating war drive against the Palestinians. century have carried out systematic terror to defend their Calls by capitalist politicians and apologists for class privilege and interests at home and abroad—from stiffer measures to prevent future such “intelligence the atomic incineration of hundreds of thousands at Hi- LETTERS failures” are being played up nonstop by the big-busi- roshima and Nagasaki, to the 10-year-long slaughter in Open letter to Steelworkers ness dailies, news agencies, and TV and radio net- Indochina, to the war against the Iraqi people in 1990–91, To members of United Steelworkers Local 37 on works. Anti-Arab and anti-Islamic bigotry is being to the burning to death of 80 people at Waco on its home strike against Steel of West Virginia: cranked up to bolster this onslaught. soil, to other examples too numerous to list…. Gentlemen, I admire your courage. My local The Socialist Workers Party calls on workers, farm- By its systematic superexploitation of the peoples just went through a battle with our company, and ers, and all defenders of democratic rights to speak out of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; by its never-end- the support we lent the negotiating team was very against the U.S. rulers’ demagogic efforts, in the name ing insults to their national and cultural dignity; by its important to them. As a result, we were able to keep of preempting “terrorism,” to rationalize restrictions on ceaseless murderous violence in countless forms—U.S. our key sticking point, health insurance. We were political rights. We must oppose the campaign by the U.S. imperialism is turning North America into a death trap eight hours from striking. I admire the fact that so government—Democrats and Republicans alike—to for working people and all who live here. many of you are sticking together. It takes guts to curb the constitutionally guaranteed space for political The U.S. rulers know that as they press their assault stand up and strike in the face of the unknown. God organization and activity and to legitimize the use of the on the living and working conditions of workers and speed to you all. Together, we will prevail. U.S. armed forces at home and abroad. farmers in the United States, they will meet growing Jeff Schwendeman During its final months in office, following several resistance, as working people organize to defend their Pomeroy, Ohio years of preparations, the Clinton administration estab- livelihoods and their rights. That’s why Washington lished for the first time in U.S. history, a North American is systematically strengthening its hand against the The author, a member of USW Local 5668 at Cen- command—that is, the command structure for deploy- battles it knows are coming. tury Aluminum in Ravenswood, West Virginia, sent ment of U.S. armed forces at home, aimed first and The Socialist Workers Party calls on workers and this letter to the striking Steelworkers in Walton, West foremost at working people in this country…. farmers in the United States and worldwide to speak Virginia, and to the Militant on August 26. The strike The Bush administration is now deploying these forces out in defense of the struggle of the Palestinian people, was settled September 3. (See “On the Picket Line” in their first domestic military operations.... the people of Western Sahara, the Puerto Rican people, story on p. 5.) In coming days, as the administration acts on Bush’s the rights of the people of Cuba, and others the world over —Editor vow “to hunt down and punish those responsible,” the fighting for their national rights and against all the ways labor movement and all democratic-minded organiza- in which the world capitalist order presses humanity to- The letters column is an open forum for all tions and individuals must be on the alert to protest gov- ward fascism and war. We must oppose U.S. military viewpoints on subjects of interest to working ernment frame-up trials and oppose its trampling on intervention anywhere in the world. We must oppose people. Please keep your letters brief. Where the presumption of innocence; the right to due process; efforts by Washington to escalate an assault on the po- necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate Fourth Amendment protections against arbitrary search, litical rights of working people and the organizations of if you prefer that your initials be used rather than seizure, and wiretaps; and freedom of association with- our class and its oppressed and exploited allies. your full name. The Militant September 25, 2006 9