Eyewitness report from the Philipines 4 TH£ Struggle of Tamil minority in Sri Lanka 9 Reporter's notebook of Cuban CP congress 16

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 50/NO. 12 MARCH 28, 1986 75 CENTS Hormel strikers stand firm as top 'onion officials end support Strikers Workers shut down vote to plant for continue 5 hours strike BY ANDREA GONZALEZ BY MAGGIE McCRAW AUSTIN, Minn., March 20 - Striking AUSTIN, Minn.- On Sunday, March meatpackers shut down the Hormel plant 16, more than 800 striking meatpackers here for several hours today. The ·action voted overwhelmingly to continue their stopped production in the plant for part of strike against Hormel. The vote came two the first shift. It marked a deepening of the days after the United Food and Commer­ struggle in the seven-month-old strike. cial Workers (UFCW) International Execu­ The strikers, members of United Food tive Committee revoked its sanction of the and Commercial Workers Local P-9, have strike. been on strike against the Geo. A. Hormel The workers, members of UFCW Local Co. since Aug. 17, 1985. The company P-9, have been on strike for seven months. was able to reopen the plant only after Min­ In a directive withdrawing the sanction, nesota's "friend of labor" governor, Rudy the International declared, "Effective 12 PerpiCh, sent the National Guard into Au­ noon Friday, March 14, 1986, the strike stin to herd scabs for Hormel in January. against George A. Hormel Co. in Austin, Today marked the first time the strikers Minnesota, and all related strike, picket­ have been able to close the plant since Cops arrest striking Hormel workers in Austin after they shut down plant March 20 ing, and boycott activities are unsanctioned then. At 4:00 a.m. hundreds of striking and unauthorized." meatpackers and their supporters left the back" and "Who are we? P-9!" As the work. When the trucks could not enter the The UFCW officials have publicly at­ union hall. By 4: 15 cars blocked the six strikers and supporters gathered around plant, the local radio station announced tacked the embattled local many times in . gates of the plant. The strikers had shut the fires to keep warm, the Austin cops took up that the plant had been shut down by P~9 's the last two months. The directive, repeat­ plant tight. positions at the comers of the plant. State picket lines. ing the earlier slanders, called the strike a Waiting in the pre-dawn cold, the strik­ cop cars were stationed on the highway With the radio announcement, trucks "program of destruction and misery." It ers carried signs that read, "Go home, above the plant. and cars driving along the highway near the again charged that P-9 had abandoned joint scab, the plant is closed." The crowd At about 5:00a.m. two trucks came by plant started to honk their horns in support bargaining with union locals at other Hor­ chanted, "They say cut back, we say fight the plant gate to deliver hogs for the day's Continued on Page 6 mel plants. The directive blamed the local union, not Hormel, for the "suffering" and "loss of jobs of good union members." The directive also attempted to Protest Reagan's drive to arm 'contras' blackmail P-9 members into calling off the strike. While declaring that the $40 per In his March 16 television speech to the needed. They have not been requested," he Passage of the proposal to aid the contras week strike benefits now end, the directive nation, President Reagan unloosed a tor­ said March 16, will be a major escalation of the U.S. war states that the International will pay "post­ rent of lies in an effort to gain support for But a March 13 dispatch to the New York in Central America, increasing the chances strike assistance to replaced strikers who the U.S. government's dirty war against Times stated, "Defense Department offi­ that U.S. workers and (armers may eventu­ do not violate this directive." They also Nicaragua. cials said tonight that President Reagan ally be sent to fight a war against Nicara­ promised to obtain "unemployment com­ "The Soviets and the Sandinistas must was prepared to use military advisers to guan workers and farmers. pensation and other benefits unavailable not be permitted to crush freedom in Cen­ train rebels fighting the Nicaraguan gov­ The promise that U.S. troops were "not during the strike." . tral America and threaten our own security ernment if Congress approved the $1 00 needed" by the contras was just one of the Despite the directive, pickets remained on our own doorstep," Reagan said. million in aid the President has requested lies di_shed out by President Reagan March at the plant gates. Some pickets, however, Union members, farmers, the Black and for the insurgents." 16. ripped off "UFCW" on their signs in re­ Chicano communities, women fighting for A "top administration source" told He charged that "top Nicaraguan gov­ sponse to the International's betrayal. Newsweek mapazine that about 50 U.S. ernment officials are deeply involved in Other strikers gathered in the union hall to military personnd would be assigned to the drug trafficking." · read and discuss the directive. Some ex- EDITORIAL contras as ··trainers." Continued on Page 22 Continued on Page 6 their rights, youth, and others need to speak out and act now to oppose all U.S. Haitians celebrate victory, discuss future aid to the contras. Opposition to the U.S. war runs deep From March 15-21 a Militant report­ which, in 1804, Haitians fought to win in­ over again. "Now we can breathe. Now we among working people in this country. One ing team visited Haiti to learn about the dependence from France and to abolish · can speak." indication of this is the growing number of popular rebellion that toppled the dic­ slavery. In 1957 Fran~ois Duvalier re­ With the overthrow of the repressive demonstrations against any aid to the con­ tator Jean-Claude Duvalier on February placed this fl ag with a red-and-black ban­ Duvalier regime , the Haitian people have tras. Another was the March 3 letter from 7. The three reporters, Jackie Floyd, ner. In the course of the Duvalier family's won the right to know, to speak, to protest, 23 labor leaders opposing Reagan's pro­ Margaret Jayko, and Harvey McAr­ and to organize. These are vital tools Hai­ posal. The signers included International thur, traveled to Port-au-Prince, tian workers and peasants need to confront Association of Machinists President Wil­ Gonaives, and Cap-Haitien, meeting Eyewitness report the enormous challenges they face in trying liam Winpisinger, Amalgamated Clothing with workers, students, peasants, un­ to develop their homeland, which U.S. im­ and Textile Workers head Jack employed, church leaders, and profes­ rule , blue and red came to symbolize the perialist domination has made the poorest Sheinkman, and former president of the sionals. Most of the interviews were con­ struggle to free Haiti, first from the grip of country in the hemisphere. United Auto Workers, Douglas Fraser. ducted in Creole, the language spoken in the Fran~ois "Papa Doc" regime and then Along the road from the Port-au-Prince A third indication was the fact that the Haiti. This is the first of their reports on from that of his son - Jean-Claude "Baby airport, families bathe in muddy puddles in margin of calls to members of the House, the rebellion and the problems facing the Doc." front of modem U.S.-owned factories and people of Haiti today. banks. Children - many naked, with bel­ which is expected to vote on the aid pro­ At any street comer in the busy capital posal March 20, continued to run heavily lies swollen from malnutrition - beg city of Port-au-Prince today one sees blue­ money at the roadside. against aiding the contras after Reagan's BY HARVEY McARTHUR and-red flags painted on store fronts and speech. Students, peasants, and workers, having PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 18 flying from taxis and tap taps - the many overthrown Duvalier, are now beginning to Reagan has tried to conceal the danger - The red-and-blue banner of Haitian in­ small trucks that provide public transporta­ form organizations to defend ·their rights that Washington's contra war represents to dependence and liberation from the 29 tion. Many ·people proudly wear new T­ and fight for needed social changes. U.S. working people by claiming that aid­ years of Duvalier dictatorship is being shirts with the flag and the slogan "Haiti is ing the contras is a way to prevent the use flown everywhere here. free - February 7, 1986." The return of political exiles is an impor­ of U.S. troops. U.S. troops "are not Red and blue were the colors under "Haiti is free," we were told over and Continued on Page 8 W. Virginia workers want Hormel strikers' views

BY JOHN HARRIS meatpackers. number of miners have rolled other mine portals has also been generated new interest in the MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - This interest in the strike has down their windows for discussion generally friendly. Although no paper. The strike by United Food and helped to push forward sales of the with salespeople about the strike, papers have been sold recently, a Militant sales have also been Commercial Workers Local P-9 Militant at area mine portals. which h~ been prominently fea­ number of miners have taken fliers stepped up at the Morgan Shirt against the Hormel Co. in Austin, Over the last three months, the tured on the front page of the displaying a recent Militant article plant in Morgantown. Morgan Minnesota, has generated a good Militant has been sold consistently paper. discussing the issues in the UFCW Shirt is organized by Local 347 of strike. the Amalgamated Clothing and One miner told the sales team Socialists here also organize Textile Workers Union. Workers that "our local supports the Hor­ sales at the gates of plants in other at the plant took dozens of fliers on mel strike, and we're boycotting industries. We have found that in­ the Hormel strike. Three copies of SELLING OUR PRESS Hormel products." He quickly terest in the strike is high among the paper were recently sold there. AT THE PLANT GATE pulled out a dollar for the Militant. these workers as well. One woman first walked by a Usually from two to five miners Recently, for example, three salesperson but · then turned come up with$. 75 or a dollar for a Militants were sold at the North around. "I've just got to read more copy of the paper. deal of interest and support from near the portal of the Emerald American Phillips plant in Fair­ about that Hormel strike," she the members of the United Mine mine. This mine is right outside of These miners want to read about mont, West Virginia. · Phillips is said, and bought a copy of the Workers ofAmerica in the area. Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, about the strike from the point of view of organized by the International paper. These miners are familiar with 15 miles from the West Virginia the strikers. They know that this is Union of Electronic Workers loc­ Militant supporters here plan to attacks by the coal companies on border. Since the Minnesota gov­ the kind of coverage they can get als 625 and 627. These workers' expand sales to more mines and job safety and on their union, so ernor sent the National Guard into in the Militant. · contract expired in March. The plants as part of building solidarity they identify with the striking Austin to herd scabs for Hormel, a The response to the Militant at contract discussions there have with the striking meatpackers. Okla. company lied aboUt uranium plant job safety

BY BRIAN WILLIAMS peated company safety violations over the scious corporate policy designed to road while she was bringing documents to Federal investigators have found that un­ past several years. maximize profits even at the expense of a reporter proving safety violations at the safe equipment and absence of safety train­ Last January 29, Kerr-McGee wrote a workers' lives. plant. The documents were gone from the ing were key factors in the chemical blast letter to the NRC stating that its manage­ Speedup meant total disregard for smashed car. that killed one worker and hospitalized 130 ment "had no knowledge" that overfilled safety. The safe way of removing excess at the Kerr-McGee uranium processing material from these large cylinders uses a Kerr-McGee's safety record is similar to cylinders were reheated and "had specific­ that of thousands of chemical companies plant in Gore, Oklahoma, this past Janu­ ally prohibited it." A little more than a vacuum process, but this takes much more ary. time. throughout the United States. According to month later, NRC investigators have pub­ a survey done by the Federal Environmen­ A March 13 report to the Nuclear Reg­ licly admitted that Kerr-McGee regularly ulatory Commission found that huge tanks Kerr-McGee gained world notoriety tal Protection Agency, from 1980 through reheats these overfilled cylinders in direct when Karen Silkwood, a worker at its June 1985 there were 7,000 chemical acci­ filled with uranium hexafluoride barely fit violation of their own safety procedures. on a scale supposed to warn of overfilling. Crescent, Oklahoma, plant, became con­ dents in the United States, causing 139 This was done 20 times in 1985 alone. taminated with plutonium. Soon after, she deaths and I ,500 injuries. That's an aver­ The tank that exploded actually had one The real cause of this disaster was con- was killed when her car crashed off the age of four accidents a day. end resting on the floor when it was weighed. The investigation also found that work­ ers required to handle the lethal chemicals South Dakota rally says 'Farms not arms' received little more than informal on-the­ job training. BY AUGUST NIMTZ change." She called for a "moratorium on the South Dakota Penitentiary. Greetings Earlier, probers found Kerr-McGee had FLANDREAU, S.D. - "Farms not military contracts" and denounced from Jesse Jackson were also read to the lied about its so-called safety procedures arms" was the theme of a protest rally on Reagan's request for $1 00 million to aid crowd. and, despite its claims to the contrary, had the farm of Craig Severtson February 27. the contras in Nicaragua, as well as his Among the participants at the rally were regularly ordered workers to carry out un­ The action was cosponsored by more "star wars" plans. supporters of Socialist Workers Party can­ safe practices that led to the blast. than 26 peace and antiwar groups, farm or­ didate for governor of Minnesota, Geoff Merle Hansen, president of the North In the explosion, a highly corrosive ganizations, labor unions, American In­ Mirelowitz. American Farm Alliance, stressed the need cloud formed by the release of 29,500 dian organizations, and student and church The rally was covered by virtually all the for peace and justice activists to join with pounds of uranium hexafluoride killed one groups. media in the state. worker, sent 130 people to the hospital, The event was held on Severtson's farm the farm protest movement. He pointed to the recently formed Na­ and spread a caustic gas across 18 miles of because it was being foreclosed by the tional Save the Family Farm Coalition, the surrounding area. local bank. Prior to the rally, much of the The tank ruptured when a supervisor or­ machinery was auctioned off. founded at the end of February in Des dered an employee to apply heat to remove The rally did not try to stop the sale since Moines, Iowa, as an example of what must the 2,000 pounds of this deadly chemical a compromise had · been reached with the be done and urged groups to join. "We that had been overloaded into the car-sized bank to allow Severtson's father to keep must join hands with all . We must stop the march toward war. Let's mru;:ch out of here cylinders. the house and some of the land and cattle. together because the issues are one and the Severtson believes that the bank may have The Gore plant, operated by a Kerr­ same." made the compromise because of the ex­ McGee subsidiary, partially refines Pete Winkels, business agent of United pected turnout for the rally. uranium. It is then shipped to government Food and Commercial Workers Local P-9 plants where it is used in making nuclear Opening the rally, Severtson explained on strike against the Hormel Co. in Austin, weapons and fuel for nuclear power plants. to the more than 400 in attendance that the Minnesota, also urged unity. "We in labor Top federal officials from the NRC were reality of the farm crisis has to be widely can never again be complacent about the quick to cover up for the company. They publicized. It mu:tt be linked, he said, to situation on the land." tried to blame the workers, suggesting they opposition to Washington's defense had violated safety rules. Gene Beckman from Local 1180 of the budget. Severtson described as "ludicrous" United Electrical Workers in Sioux Falls President Ronald Reagan's call for more In reality, the NRC was also attempting also spoke. defense monies. to cover for itself. The plant's operating Greetings were read from two Native license was recently renewed despite a Bobbi Polzine of Minnesota Ground­ American groups, the Santee Sioux Tribe September 1985 NRC report listing re- swell said that "only the people can effect and the Native American Treaty Council of Bobbi Polzine speaks at rally The Militant tells the truth - Subscribe today! The Militant That's the way you'll get facts about Washington's war against working people at home and abroad: from Closing news date: March 19, 1986 South Africa, El Salvador and Nicaragua, to embattled Editor: MALIK MIAH workers and farmers in the United States. Read our pro­ Managing editor: posals on how to stop the U.S. government's support MARGARET JA YKO Business Manager: for the apartheid regime in South Africa, its interven­ LEE MARTINDALE tion in Central America and the Caribbean, and the em­ Editorial Staff: Rashaad Ali, Susan Apstein, Fred ployers' offensive here. Read our ideas on what it will Feldman, Andrea Gonzalez, Pat Grogan, Arthur take to replace this system of exploitation, racism, and Hughes, Tom Leonard, Harry Ring, Norton Sandler. sexism with a system that's in the interest of working Published weekly except one week in August and the people. last week of December by the Militant (ISSN 0026- At the plant gates, picket lines, and unemployment 3885), 14 Charles Lane, .New York, N.Y. 10014. Tele­ lines, the Militant is there, reporting the news, par­ phone: Editorial Office, (212) 243-6392; Business Of­ ticipating in the struggle. To subscribe today, fill out the fice, (212) 929-3486. attached coupon. Correspondence concerning subscriptions or changes of address should be addressed to The Mili­ Enclosed is: o $3 for 12 weeks o $15 for 6 months tant Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, New York, STOP o $24 for 1 year o A contribution N.Y.10014. Name ______Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y. POST­ APARJR£1 MASTER: Send address changes to The · Militant, 14 Address ______Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. 10014. Subscriptions: U.S. $24.00 a year, outside U.S. $30.00. By first-class wow. City/State/Zip ------­ mail: U.S., Canada, and Mexico: $60.00. Write for air­ Telephone ------~----~----­ mail rates to all other countries. :.·· Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily rep­ Union/Organization ------­ resent the Militant's views. These are expressed in edito­ Send to Militant, 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. 10014 rials.

2 The Militant March 28, 1986 South Koreans fight for democratic rights BY TOM LEONARD The U.S.-backed Sputh Korean military dictatorship headed by President Chun Doo Hwan is continuing its brutal repression of South Koreans seeking political reforms in that country. The most recent wave of re­ pression has been aimed against supporters of the New Korea Democratic Party (NKDP) and opposition leaders Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young Sam. The new government attacks came on the eve of the overthrow of the U.S. -sup­ ported Marcos dictatorship in the Philip­ pines. That victory by the Filipino people has provided fresh inspiration for South Koreans whose democratic rights have been suppressed by authoritarian regimes since the 1950-53 Korean war. Through­ Left, President Chon Doo Hwan's cops charge demonstrators in Seoul. Right, current U.S.-South Korean maneuvers underline out the postwar period the U.S. govern­ U.S. backing for repressive dictatorship. ment has maintained a permanent occupy­ ing army in Korea. Currently, the presence of 40,000 U.S. troops, armed with nuclear ten by Chun after he took power in a were violating the existing constitution and the US culture center in downtown Seoul weapons, plus other military installations bloody U.S. government-backed military were subject to up to seven years in prison. which attracted widespread attention in the ': make South Korea one of the most heavily coup in 1980, the president is elected by a NKDP political offices were raided and international news media. Since then, at­ militarized areas of the world. 5 ,271-member electoral college. This body temporarily closed to prevent the campaign tacks on US facilities have been smaller but At present over 200,000 U.S. and South is elected by popular vote. from being organized. Three hundred more violent. Last August, students NKDP supporters were placed under house jumped the fence around the US Embassy Korean troops are carrying out military ma­ Because of his dictatorial rule, Chun's neuvers- the "Team Spirit '86" exercise arrest. in Seoul and burned a US flag before secu­ political opponents fear the present con­ At one point the home of Kim Dae Jung rity guards caught them. In early De­ -in the Pacific. Besides U.S. troops in stitution allows him to pressure and man­ Korea, the 10-week maneuvers involve was surrounded by 500 cops and his phone cember, other students carrying Molotov ipulate electors, enabling him to handpick lines cut. Other known petition supporters cocktails seized the US cultural center in U.S. troops stationed in the Pacific, in his successor to the presidency. Chun's rul­ were trailed by plainclothes cops and in­ the city of Kwangju and held it for nine · Hawaii, and on the mainland of the United ing Democratic Justice Party is opposed to States. timidated from meeting under threat of ar­ . hours before police moved in. The attacks constitutional changes, fearing any signs of rest. So flagrant were these attacks on dem- · have also hit US businessmen. Students oc­ On February 25, the day Ferdinand Mar­ relenting to the opposition could lead to cos was overthrown, NKDP leaders issued ocratic rights that embarrassed U.S. State cupied the American Chamber of Com­ mass mobilizations that could threaten the Department officials were forced to pub­ merce offices in Seoul last November, a statement saying, "We are all watching dictatorship. the Philippines because there are striking licly criticize their puppet regime for its ac­ spreading kerosene on the floor and similarities to South Korea." Last month the regime launched a cam­ tions. threatening to light it. US banks have be­ paign of political repression against the Mindful of what was happening to Mar­ come targets of protests." The statement pointed out that the polit­ supporters of constitutional reforms. cos in the Philippines at that time, Presi­ Attacks on U.S. corporations and banks ical upheaval in the Philippines demon­ dent Chun eased up the attack. This pro­ have been fueled by reports that the U.S. strated a "domino trend of democracy" that On February 4 a demonstration of l ,000 students from 15 campuses demanding voked some criticism of the U.S. govern­ Congress has moved to enact protectionist could affect South Korea and other parts of ment among his supporters. One top offi­ trade laws to limit South Korean imports the world. If the situation in Korea wors­ constitutional changes was broken up by police at Seoul National University. Some cial in the South Korean Ministry of Trade into the United States. This move comes at ened, they added, it "could develop into 200 students were arrested, and 51 later in­ and Industry bitterly complained, "The a time of sharp decline in the South Korean another Philippines upheaval." U.S. is here to help us, but the U.S. is also economy, with unemployment estimated at The statement came after weeks of in­ dicted for violating laws banning unau­ lhorized meetings. here to help themselves." 7.4 percent and 25 percent of the work tense attacks on NKDP members following But a deeper and more profound anti­ force underemployed, working 18 hours a that party's decision to help launch a 10- On February 12 the NKDP and its af­ U.S. government sentiment has been week or less. Because there are shortages million-signature petition campaign de­ filiate, the Council for the Promotion of growing among South Korea's prodemoc­ of jobs in fields they studied for, more and manding a revision of the country's con­ Democracy, attempted to publicly launch ratic forces for over a year. This sentiment more college students are taking factory stitution to allow a direct popular vote for the petition campaign for constitutional is spearheaded by the student movement. jobs. .. the presidency in the 1988 elections. Under change. Chun 's political cops responded Reporting from Seoul, South Korea, In a move to silence the growing senti­ the existing constitution, which was rewrit- by 11nnouncing that signers of the petition Steven Butler of the Christian Science ment against the U.S. government and Monitor recounted, "Anti-Americanism is U.S. corporations, the Chun regime is ~e­ spreading .. . and United States officials sorting to political terrorism against the are worried about it. · student movement. Last JanuaJY two stu­ SALES SCOREBOARD "Last year, harsh rhetorical denuncia­ dents were sentenced to death for allegedly tions of the US bec11me a standard feature spying for North Korea and stirring up anti­ (Week #I: Totals as of Militant issue #I 0, PM issue #5) in hundreds of student demonstrations - a American feelings. Two others were sen­ SINGLE ISSUES SUBSCRIPTIONS trend dramatized last May when 73 stu­ tenced to life imprisonment and 11 were Sold this week % of10-week Sold so far dents staged a peaceful, four-day sit-in at jailed for 2 to 15 years. Area Militant/PM goal reached Militant/PM

Atlanta 80/0 2/0 Baltimore 102/0 13 0!0 Birmingham 51/0 6 2/0 Good sales despite rain Boston 208/5 21 20/0 Capital District, N.Y. 54/0 8 14/0 Charleston, W.Va. 12110 20 010 Chicago 58/0 4 2/0 at L.A. abortion action Cincinnati 12/0 2 110 Cleveland 7611 9 6/0 BY PAT GROGAN special interest in the Militant's coverage Dallas 132/39 10 510 At the March 16 "National March for of Nicaragua and South Africa, as well as Denver 93/9 13 2/0 Women's Lives" in Los Angeles, the rain the Hormel and TWA strikes. Detroit 331/0 21 5!0 Two TWA strikers bought copies of the Greensboro, N.C. 53/0 8 5!0 was coming down so hard for most of the Houston 152/33 10 2 111 day that leaflets, newspapers, and even Militant. After getting a chance to look it Kansas City 88/4 8 3/0 cardboard signs soon turned-to mush. So it over for a while, they came back with two Los Angeles 101/44 7 8/6 wasn't easy to sell the press. other strikers who also bought copies. LouisviUe 36/0 10 0/0 Nevertheless, sales were excellent. Al­ One of the best advertisements for the Miami 43/0 8 4/0 . though a final tally isn't available, at least socialist press was the contingent of 75 Milwaukee 39/0 5 14/0 320 copies of the Militant, 20 copies of the young people who marched under the ban­ Morgantown, W.Va. "98/0 14 2/0 Young Socialist, and 15 copies of Perspec­ ner of the Young Socialist Alliance. De­ New Orleans 58/0 9 2/0 tiva Mundial were sold to march partici­ scribed by one young man as "the most New York 24911 2 8 18/2 smokin' contingent," they could be heard Newark 97/2 4 15/2 pants. Oakland 58/8 7 2/0 This was a solid contribution to the sec­ blocks away chanting, "Fired up, won't Philadelphia 99/4 10 3/0 ond week of our spring circulation drive. take no more," "Fund contraception, not Phoenix 83/53 9 6/3 Officially launched March 8, the aim is to contras," and "Hyde Amendment has got Pittsburgh 63/4 8 0/0 sell a total of 45,000 single copies of the to go." Portland 45/0 7 4/0 Militant and its Spanish-language sister Later, at an open house at the headquar­ Price, Utah - 1- - 1- publication, Perspectiva Mundial. ters of the Socialist Workers PartY, Laura Salt Lake City 33/3 8 1/0 A second goal of the drive, which closes Garza, national co-chairperson of the San Diego 2 111 4 210 May 16, is to sell 2,000 introductory sub­ YSA, said, "The march today and last 83/12 San Francisco 7 6/1 scriptions to both publications. San Jose 76/22 10 3/1 week in Washington shows that young Seattle 81/3 11 3/0 To date, 3,623 single copies and 220 people are putting a part of our lives into St. Louis 78/0 6 0/0 subscriptions to both publications have fighting to keep the rights that have been Tidewater, Va. 68/0 18 0/0 been sold. won." Toledo 58/I 12 13/0 Many of the sales took place at around Garza urged young people to join the Twin Cities 73/0 5 3/1 10:30 a.m. at the assembly area during one YSA as the best way to fight. "Just as Washington D.C. 97/1 5 14 5/1 hour that the rain let up. Reagan proudly proclaims himself a con­ Total sold to date 3,348/275 202/18 One member of the Oakland Young tra, .so we proudly proclaim ourselves rev­ Socialist Alliance, determined to take ad­ olutionaries. If you want to be on the side 10-week goal 45,000 2,000 v~nt e of the break in the weather for as of the Sandinista Revolution, on the side of Percent of national goal reached 8% II% long it lasted, sold 23 copies of the Mil­ the South African revolution, on the side of To be on schedule 10% 10% ita during this time. In addition to the the Haitian and Filipino people, on the side c verage of the March 9 abortion rights ac­ of fighters like the strikers of Local P-9 of tion in Washington, D.C., he reported a Continued on Page 15 March 28, 1986 The Militant 3 Thousands view obscene ·luxury of Marcos dictatorship

BY DEB SHNOOKAL He was referring to the way that the U.S. AND RUSSELL JOHNSON government and courts blocked the return · MANILA, Philippines, March 16 - of the shah's ill-gotten wealth to the people Since the night of February 25 when Mar­ of Iran after that butcher had been over­ cos was forced to flee in the face of the thrown in 1979. "People's Power Revolution," the grounds Already a number of Marcos-owned of the deposed dictator's Malacafiang properties have· been located in New York Palace have been open to the public. They City and elsewhere in the United States, as have been popularly dubbed as "Freedom well as casinos in Australia and a Swiss Park." bank account holding $800 million. On March 13 the palace itself was That the return of the Marcos' stolen bil­ opened to the public. Thousands of poor lions is not simply a symbolic question has Filipinos celebrating their victory in the liberated Malacaiiang Palace people were bused in from the slums of been highlighted by the current visit to Manila for a tour where they viewed the Manila by three officials of the Interna­ These include those of Cojuangco (the The provincial governors, drawn from evidence ·of the staggering extravagance of tional Monetary Fund, the Philippines' "Coconut King"), Benedicto (the "Sugar wealthy landlords allied with Marcos, are : the former president and his first lady, Im­ largest creditor, to discuss repayment of Baron"), and Gen. Fabian Ver. The especially powerful with their private ar­ elda Marcos. the estimated $30 billion foreign debt run Aquino government has committed itself to mies sanctioned by Marcos as the Civilian President Corazon Aquino herself ad­ up in the Marcos era. This makes the the dismantling of the monopolies of these Home Defense Forces (CHDF). These dressed the first batch of visitors: "While Philippines the fourth most indebted nation Marcos cronies. warlords - the hated foes of the peasants seeing for yourselves the lavish furnishings in the world, after Brazil, Mexico, and Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times re­ and the biggest recruiters for the New in the palace, you will be able to under­ Argentina. ported March 13 that U.S. Defense Depart­ People's Army (NPA) guerrilla forces led stand why the government is in such a pre- ment investigators have subpoenaed Gen­ Marcos steals billions by the Communist Party of the Philippines dicament." · eral Ver in a federal grand jury investiga­ (CPP) - are resisting surrendering their The palace visitors were stunned and Sources here estimated the Marcos fam­ tion of possible kickbacks involving U.S. powers to the government. For instance, shocked by the almost obscene luxury they ily may have smuggled as much as $10 bil­ military aid of more than $100 million. Armando Dustilo, the governor of Negros found- especially that in the Imelda Mar­ lion out of the country over the years, These moves against the wealth of Mar­ del Norte and a close Marcps ally, is holed cos boudoir, which, apart from the grand much of it stolen directly from overseas cos and his cronies are part of the efforts of up in his fortified bungalow. He refuses to piano and the piles of jewelry she did not loans. Together with that of the "crony the Aquino government to dismantle the resign his powers. Dustilo, a local sugar manage to stash away in her flight bag, in­ capitalists" like Eduardo Cojuangco and Marcos dictatorship. For two decades Mar­ baron, had his CHDF thugs shoot up a cluded enough racks of dresses, furs, and Roberto Benedicto, who fabulously en­ cos had shaped the military, government, demonstration of 2,000 hungry sugar gowns to stock a department store. Three riched themselves through their collabora­ constitution, parliament, courts, and the workers in Escalante town last September thousand pairs of imported shoes and 500 tion with Marcos and fled the country with local governments as institutions through 20, killing more than 20 people. bras! Imelda Marcos' bathroom was the him in face of the "people power" uprising which he and his associates, known here as Another Marcos warlord, Ali Dimatoro, piece de resistance with its marble-tiled of February 22-25, it has been suggested the "cronies," could plunder and repress the Marcos-appointed governor of Lanao chait, mirrored walls, and the vast array of that the total amount smuggled to the the Filipino people with the backing of del Sur, has challenged the military and imported soaps, perfumes, and other toilet United States, Switzerland, and elsewhere U.S. imperialism. President Aquino to remove him. He has articles. may approach that of the entire Philippine But the February "people power" upris­ established the "Mindanao People's Demo­ Such discoveries immediately became foreign debt. ing to install Corazon Aquino as president, cratic Movement" and has vowed to use the talk of MJnila, and so many people Each day the Manila newspapers report after Marcos attempted to blatantly steal "people power" against any attempt to re­ flocked to the palace to see for themselves new findings of the commissions of the the February 7 election, changed all that. move him, although he handed over a case that scuffles broke out among those seek­ Aquino government that have been estab­ Central to Aquino's popular support was of high-powered arms to the military. ing to join the tours. lished to uncover corruption under the.. her pledge to restore democratic liberties The Aquino government faces a gigantic Marcos regime. The Majl;J.a , Times of and end the corruption of the Marcos years. challenge in djsarming these warlords. It Lack :of cooperation 'from Washington · March 15, foiinstance, 'tepoitea that dur­ was through them that Marcos J;Uled .the The government officials here are al­ ing January the Marcos-appointed manager Marcos cronies hang on country as a whole, reinforcing their tradi­ ready expressing frustration with the lack of Manila International Airport had pock­ While the dictator himself fled the coun­ tional role as "conduits of patronage," in of cooperation from the U.S. government eted 55 million pesos (almost $3 million) try on February 25, most of the Marcos the words of the Manila Times. in Philippine efforts to recover the billions · that was intended for the Philippine Na­ machine remained in place in the parlia­ An additional problem for the govern­ of dollars that ousted dictator Ferdinand tional Construction Company. It was also ment, judiciary, management of govern­ ment is that some 2,000 Marcos supporters Marcos plundered from the Filipino people reported that day that five more guest ment enterprises, military, and in provin­ in the military- many from the dictator's and has hidden in the United States and houses in the Philippines, maintained with cial and city governments. personal bodyguard of the Presidential Se­ elsewhere. government money but run by the Marcos Significant purges of Marcosites are tak­ curity Command abandoned at Mala­ Presidential Executive Secretary Joker family and associates as their own, had ing place in the officer corps of the armed cafiang - have refused to surrender to the Arroyo has called for "swift and meaning­ been found, bringing the total uncovered to services, the judiciary, diplomatic corps, new military command, now referred to as ful" action from the U.S. government. 30. and government service. However, less the Nu An Forces of the People. They are "We hope we will not be treated like the So far the assets of the Marcos kin and a has been achieved in the local governments reported to be massing in Marcos' home Khomeini government in its claim against number of associated businessmen have controlled by Marcos' New Society Move­ province of Ilocos Norte. the property of the shah of Iran," he said. been declared frozen by the government. ment (KBL). The KBL majority in Marcos' rigged na­ tional parliament, which declared the dic­ tator the winner of the February 7 elec­ Internat'l Women's Day celebrated by Filipinas tions, is also bitterly resisting moves by the Aquino government toward declaring itself BY DEB SHNOOKAL have been in the forefront of the struggle," Bay. a revolutionary government outside the framework of the 1973 constitution. Such a MANILA, Philippines - International Aquino said. "It is a woman who stands be­ The Philippines is frequently promoted Women's Day was being viewed in the fore you as the president of a proud, free, move would declare the Marcos parliament for "sex tourism." Child prostitution, both and local governments defunct, key moves Philippines as a day of great celebration. A and democratic Philippines. I am proud to male and female, is rife. The economic rally on Saturday, March 8, was held in be a Filipino, but even prouder to be a needed to break the Marcos regime. crisis in the Philippines, the lack of jobs in Some of the KBL politicians openly Luneta Park here as part of an international Filipina," Aquino told the cheering crowd. the cities and the driving off of thousands women's conference organized by the It is significant that the new Aquino gov­ admit their campaign against the Aquino of peasants from their land can only aggra­ government is being coordinated by tele­ feminist group GABRIELA, in which ernment includes several women, among vate this problem. women from the United States, Canada, them Dr. Mita Pardo de Tavera, a long­ phone with Marcos frollil Hawaii. Arturo Britain, Greece, Germany, Japan, and time feminist and leader of GABRIELA. The increasing tendency of Filipinas to Tolentino, Marcos' vice-presidential run­ Australia participated. Many carried assert themselves and their rights is pro­ ning mate who still calls himself "vice­ placards condemning the "sexploitation"of The role of women in Philippine society voking a reaction. Deposed president Mar­ president elect" and says that Marcos is Filipinas and the continued U.S. and Aus­ generally is quite striking. Women are cos ridiculed Corazon Aquino's electoral legal president "temporarily out of the tralian military aid and demanding the re­ especially prominent among business and challenge, saying she was "only a house­ country," and other Marcos ministers de­ moval ·of U.S. bases from the Philippines. professional layers but are also among the wife." More recently, one of Marcos' nounce Aquino as a worse dictatorship than The following day, President Aquino most militant unionists. For exainple, it has faithful warlords in Mindanao, Ali Dima­ that of their master. ''Peopl~ power," said addressed about 2,000 women on the been women workers who have led a toro, who had been the governor of Lanao Tolentino, is no legal basis for govern- ment. . grounds of Malacafiang Palace. "Women number of general strikes in the Bataan Ex­ del Sur, has refused to recognize the au­ port Processing Zone, a so-called "free thority of the Aquino government. "I for "'fl.lere were only about 2 million people trade zone" where multinational companies one," he said, "did not believe that a assembled in Camp Crame during the mil­ 1,500 Pakistanis are offered tax incentives and antiunion woman could run this country. Why will itary mutiny and.were not fully representa­ laws to ensure superprofits. · they get mad at me when this is my per­ tive of the 54 million Filipinos. There were protest port call sonal feeling - that this country cannot be about 27 million voters in the February 7 At the same time the ~·sexploitation" of run by a woman?" he said. "Now thatshe is election," he said. by U.S. warships Filipinas is lt major problem. Women are there she should try to prove to me that I Others offer support to Aquino . ' sent as domestic servants to Hong Kong, am wrong," he challenged, and dared the Fifteen hundred demonstrators burned a the Middle East, the United States, and military to remove him from his post as Other KBL politicians, some {)f whom U.S. flag 'and·im effigy of President Ronald elsewhere to be tre~ted as virtual slaves: In governor. loo~ed to former Marcos and now.Aquino Reagan in Karachi, Pakistan, March 17 to some countries, Filipinas are actually Defense Minister Juan Enrile, are offering protest. aport Cl!ll by six U.S. warships. bought and sold as prostitutes, <;>ften kept The "People's Power Revolution" of to declare Aquino president in return for According to a Reuters dispatch, th~ poH~.C? . . on drugs to keep them placid. , February 22-25, on the other hand, proved their maintaining the parliament. and the rushed the protesters "when they tried to Within the .Philippines, PJOStitution is that the vast majority of Filipinos did have Marcos constitution. .· .·. . : .. march on the. l).. S. consulate~ " arresting 50 big business, . especially in Ermita, the the confidence that a woman could "run the In ad!iition there are. many patronage · people. The six ships were led .by the J)u- , tourist part of Manila, and in Olongapo, country" when they pushed Aquino for­ politicians and other, former supporters of clear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise . .. the town near the U.S. I;\3-Val base at Subic ward to replace the hated dicJator . ~a,rcos. the ~ar<;9s dictators)Up in govern~nt and ·

4 campaign have also announced plans to take up her call to maintain "people power" through launching a network of communi­ ty-based "Cory Aquino People's Power" organizations to promote the interests of workers and peasants. Lorenco Taiiada- known as the "grand old man of the opposition" because of his consistent opposition to the Marcos dic­ tatorship and who is the chairman of the anti-Marcos coalition Bayan, which is politically led by the Communist Party of the Philippines - is reported to have been been reported to be holding out for seces­ appointed chairman of a Commission of sion. National Reconciliation. The commission The press here is constantly highlighting is expected to play a role in trying to claims from the military of unofficial negotiate an end to the guerrilla war being cease-fire agreements reached with NPA waged by the New People's Army and the forces in various provinces, or of the sur­ Muslim-based Moro National Liberation render of NPA or CPP militants to the gov­ Front. ernment. While no doubt there is a broad The appointment of the 81-year-old sentiment among Filipino peasants to give Taflada, if it is publicly affirmed by Corazon Aquino a chance, and this is sure Aquino, will be one of a series of appoint­ to have some reflection within the peasant ments to government positions of figures ranks of the NPA, little credibility can be associated with the so-called "parliament put on most of these reports, however. of the streets" opposition1o the ousted dic­ For a start, the peasant movement has tatorship. Along with Labor Minister San­ been aimed as much at the rural warlords chez, these include Minister of Social Ser­ and the Civilian Home Defense Forces as vices Mita Pardo de Tavera, a former head at the military per se, and the CHDF gang of the GABRIELA women's movement, has not been disarmed. For instance, on and her deputy, Kareena David of Kaak­ Bohol, one of the provinces where it was bay, which was part of Bayan until June of claimed that the NPA had agreed to a last year. cease-fire, 10 members of one of the anti­ communist "death squads" known as "Tad­ Moro National Liberation Front tad" and CHDF militiamen were reported in the March 16 Manila Suruiay Times to Le!!ders of two of the three major wings have been killed March 13 in a clash with of the Moro National Liberation Front have the NPA. Clashes were also reported in the returned from exile in Malaysia and Saudi same paper in Mindoro Oriental, Pam­ Arabia to negotiate the terms of a cease-fire panga, Negros Occidental, and Misamis with the new government. They have pub­ Oriental. licly declared support for Aquino and their An additional point of tension has been willingness to end their guerrilla war if the the reluctance of the military command in the military who now declare themselves chanted "People power! People power!" government ·grants the Muslim areas of According to a report in the Manila many provincial areas to carry out Presi­ supporters of the Aquino government. Mindanao autonomy on the terms of an dent Aquino's orders to release all the They are also resisting any thoroughgoing Times March 11, "The police complained agreement reached with the Marcos gov­ that the vendors had abused 'People NPA, CPP, and other political detainees. housecleaning of the corridors of power. ernment in 1978 but never implemented. In Cebu City, for instance, the Task Force There is continuing conflict within the Power' and were forced to release the ven­ Saudi Arabia has announced its willingness dors they had arrested because they feared Detainees organization is protesting the Aquino government coalition on how far to provide almost $500 million in aid for fact that the army continues to hold 16 de­ - and how -to proceed with dismantling that the vendors would attack them." development of such an autonomous Mus­ tainees on the excuse that military au­ the Marcos regime, and to what extent to A march was also scheduled for Man­ lim region. ila's City Hall to demand the ouster of the thorities have not yet received an official involve the people themselves in the con­ The third wing of the liberation front has copy of Aquino' s freeing order. solidation of a democratic republic. mayor for protecting the cops. This is reflected in the reports in the Employees of the Development Bank of press. Each day, and in each paper- and the Philippines began an indefinite walkout there are many today - different state­ March 13 to protest threatened staff layoffs ments appear from various members of the and demand the firing of top bank officials Cuba's artistic freedom government. They give different views on appointed by Marcos, including the DBP whether the government will be declared chairman, Cezar Zalmea. They also con­ "revolutionary" or "constitutional" or on demned the retention of Jose "Jobo" Fer­ is target of smear whether the Marcos constitution will be nandez as Central Bank governor. Posters scrapped, and on how and when a new con­ have appeared around Manila which read: stitution will be drafted. "Cory, save us from Jobo." Fernandez was BY HARRY RING other workers' states to put economic pres­ Those who favor the most sweeping a particularly hated official under Marcos NEW YORK - Dan Georgakas, an sure on the Cuban leadership to modify its purge of the Marcosites tend to favor Pres­ as an IMF stooge. editor of the widely respected film quar­ course in Latin America. Sentenced to 12 ident Aquino declaring her government to Another protest was held by 500 bank terly Cineaste, recently returned from his years, Bofill was released after five. be "revolutionary" and for Aquino herself workers on February 28 in Makati demand­ third visit to Cuba. Information that came In the early 1980s, Bofill again became to assume personal power for a transitional ing his removal. to his attention there bolstered his belief involved with the law. Currently, Geor­ period based on her "people power" man­ On March 13, some 150 Ministry of that a conscious international campaign is gakas said, he is at liberty in Havana. 0 date. These are, in general, figures as­ Health employees picketed Health Minister being conducted to discredit revolutionary Georgakas said Bofill obtained a copy of sociated with her LABAN Party or the Alfredo Bendzon's office to demand there­ Cuba among artists and intellectuals. Cuba the manuscript from Fuentes, who wanted "parliament of the streets" and "cause­ moval of several hospital and health is being portrayed as a country where artis­ his opinion of it. Later, when Fuentes oriented groups" that have joined her gov­ agency chiefs. Ten thousand employees of tic freedom has been crushed. pressed for its return, he was told it was ernment. These forces, including Aquino the Philippines Lo11g Distance Telephone For instance, one recent international "lost." herself and Local Government Minister Co. (PLOT) owned by Marcos crony Be­ scandal was created around the notorious Then, while Bofill was in jail, his papers Aquilino Pimentel, are reported to favor nedicto continued March 15 to defy for the Armando Valladares, the "wheelchair - apparently including the Fuentes manu­ the election by popular franchise of a con­ secpnd day a government order to end their poet," who supposedly had been jailed for script - were taken out of the country by stitutional convention to draft the new con­ two-week strike. Nevertheless, when the dissident views and subjected, as he told it, an unknown person. stitution. government announced March 15 that it to blood-curdling torture. Georgakas said the plagiarized work was On the other side stand especially the old was taking over PLOT and a number of Valladares, in fact, had been a cop under published with much fanfare, obviously patronage politicians of Vice-president other communications companies con­ the Batista regime and was convicted of designed to make Bofill a "cause" among Salvador Laurel's UNIOO Party and De­ trolled by Benedicto, the strikers helped participating in a counterrevolutionary intellectuals. fense Minister Juan Enrile. They oppose the government secure the company by en­ bomb plot. And, on release in 1982, he Editorial Playor, he observed, has pub­ using revolutionary power against the Mar­ suring that no documents or property were walked off a plane in Paris without benefit lished other works aimed at discrediting the cosites and want a commission appointed removed by management. Documents of wheelchair. Cuban revolution, including the book of to draft or redraft the constitution. Ex-KBL seized revealed huge amounts of profits Now, Georgakas said in an interview, poems by the hype artist, Valladares. members Laurel and Enrile are presently being sent to the United States. another hoax has been exposed. It also published a Spanish edition of maneuvering to create a new national par­ In mid-1985, a Spanish publishing Gays Under the Cuban Revolution, by liament majority with KBLers who have Occupation of education institutions house, Editorial Playor, published a novel, Allan Young, a U.S. writer. Vehemently formed themselves into a new parliamen­ The press has also reported a spate of oc­ Eltiempo es el diablo (Time Is the Devil), anti-Cuba, Young argues that in many re­ tary party, the Philippines Nationalist Party cupations of educational institutions and by Ricardo Bofill, a writer who has done spects, gays were better off under the ty­ led by former Marcos Labor Minister Bias marches on the Education Ministry by stu­ time in Cuba. rant Batista. Ople. dents and teachers demanding, among The book's jacket describes the work as Georgakas said he finds the efforts to At the up-to-3-million-strong March 2 other things, the exposure of corruption, "The extraordinary novel of a Marxist dis­ discredit Cuba among artists and intellectu­ ''Thanksgiving" mass and rally in Manila ouster of school heads, and the rollback of sident incarcerated in Cuba." als particularly invidious because during to celebrate the Marcos overthrow, Cora­ tuition fees. Protests have been reported at But, by Bofill's own admission, this is a his visits there he's found an open, zoo Aquino warned that puppet Marcos Rizal Technological College, University of fraud. The book was not written by Bofill, stimulating atmosphere in the filmmaking supporters continued to resist her govern­ the East, and five state-owned colleges and but by Jose Lorenzo Fuentes, a prize-win­ community and among artists generally. ment around the country and urged the universities and one public elementary ning Cuban novelist. In somewhat revised "Artists there are concerned about rais­ huge crowd to maintain "people power" to 0 school. form; it is slated for publication in Ecuador ing critical issues in a constructive way," combat them. In addition there are reports of labor un­ and Cuba. he said. "But I found no fear of discussing rest in the provinces. Labor Minister Au­ Bofill, Georgakas said, has formally ac­ any idea. They have gripes that any Workers apply 'people power' gusto "Bobbit" Sanchez, whose appoint­ knowledged that Fuentes is the author of filmmakers would have. But they're not si­ Sections of working people have begun ment was supported by the militant KMU the book. Meanwhile, Fuentes has initiated lent about it. There is debate." to take up this call and apply "people union movement, has said he expects the a $3-million suit against the Madrid pub­ Because he does find the artistic climate power" in their own way. On March II unrest to spread in the next period. lishing house. in Cuba so unfettered, Georgakas is per­ street vendors from the Cradajo Market in Efforts have begun to unite several of the The plagiarist, Bofill, was first con­ suaded "there's something fishy going on" Manila marched on Manila Police Station labor federations. victed by a Cuban court in 1967 as a mem­ - that the persistent efforts to discredit No. 4 to protest the arrest of fellow street ber of a "microfaction" led by Anibal Es­ Cuba among intellectuals does have the vendors for refusing to pay "pong," protec­ Activists from the popular organizations calante. Charges against the group in­ quality of an organized international cam­ tion money to the cops. Tile marchers that backed Aquino during her election cluded working to get the governments of paign.

March 28, 1986 The MiUtant Strikers shut down plant for ·· five·hours

Continued from front page _ing "Solidarity Forever." of the strikers below. Across the street a crowd stood shouting at the cops. The crowd included strikers While most of the strikers and supporters and supporters who were among the 115 stood near the main gate, others drove their people arrested March 10 during a protest cars around the plant honking their horns. at Harmel's corporate offices. Some cars carried American flags. One It had been decided earlier that those Chicano striker drove by with a Mexican who have already been arrested for strike­ flag. Each time the cars drove by, they related activities should avoid arrest if pos­ were cheered by those at the gate. Espe­ sible today. cially warm cheers were reserved for the car carrying a delegation from Harmel's The cops began to carry people at the Fremont, Nebraska, plant. That delegation gate to waiting vans. They filled two vans represented the more than 50 Fremont without trouble. Sixteen people, including worker-S who were fired by Harmel for two members of P-9's executive board, honoring P-9's picket line. John "Skinny" Weis and Carl Pontius, were arrested. But, as the cops began to Most of the pickets were members of the bring a third van toward the gate, the striking local or their supporters from Au­ crowd moved in to block the way. stin. But there was also a delegation of about 50 activists from St. Paul and Min­ Locking arms, they chanted, "What do neapolis. we want? A contract. When do we want it? Now!" Among these activists were two steel­ As the cops formed a wedge to push Militant!fom Jaax workers who work at American Can Co. in through the crowd, the strikers held firm. Strikers and supporters outside plant in January. That action also closed Hormel. St. Paul. They have just ended a strike. In encouraging the crowd, one striker During their strike, the Austin meatpackers yelled, "Remember, we're fighting for our had joined steelworkers' picket lines in an jobs, our dignity, and our children." The fitting answer to the claims of Hormel and tions, is needed. act of labor solidarity and support. The strikers were able to hold off the cops for a the top officials of the United Food and Meanwhile, the local has sent a letter to Twin Cities delegation also included lead­ while. But by 10:30 a.m. it was decided to Commercial Workers International that the Harmel management requesting to reopen ers of the Black community, as ·well as pull back. The plant was opened. strike is over. Obviously, the strike is alive negotiations. The company has told the members of other steelworkers' locals and The action at the plant demonstrated that and well. More solidarity, including work­ press that it would meet with P-9 next of the auto workers' and machinists' the strikers can stop production. It was a ers coming to Austin to participate in ac- week. unions. The pickets today included miners from northern Minnesota's iron range, and there were meatpackers from nearby Albert Lea. P-9 votes ,to continue Hormel strike Workers came from as far away as Wiscon­ sin, Ohio, and Missouri to support the Continued from front page ship explained that the rank and file were strike. Some in the audience blamed the Inter­ pressed confusion and uncertainty. But requesting a meeting in Austin with the national's intervention on those who had union's officials and representatives from At a little after 6:00 a.m., the scabs many said, "This will bring us closer to­ voted for the previous week's motion. But gether." the other locals in the Harmel chain. started to arrive for work. Hundreds of Huston explained that "the people who To try to justify their action, the Interna­ The local made it clear that the motion people greeted them with jeers and chants supported that resolution didn't know the was not a vote on their strike, their boycott, of "Scab, go home" and "Go get a real tional Executive Committee claimed that International couldn't read. We need to "many others have asked us to lift the sanc­ or any other strike-related activities. job." Without the help of troops to herd move on together,"he said, "with one plan tions so that they might save their jobs In response to the International's with­ them into the plant, most scabs either to beat the Harmel Company." without violating deeply held union princi­ drawal of the strike sanction, the local or­ checked with the cops on the comer and The revoking of the sanction, Huston ples ...." But as of March 18, only 25 ganized a press conference March 14. In turned around or drove by the gate and dis­ said, wasn't "a nail in the coffin," but "a union members followed the Interna­ addition to the media, nearly 200 strikers appeared. knife in the back. Nothing," he said, tional's order and signed up to return to attended. Pete Winkels, the local's busi­ "changes but the 40 dollars." work. ness agent, told the press that "the UFCW Two scabs, however, kept driving by, Kathy Buck, a member of the local's ex~ yelling at the strikers and making ob~cene Harmel claims that there are no jobs­ International Executive Committee has available. The strikers, the company says, seen fit to abandon the rank and file mem­ ecutive board, told the crqwd, "We needto . gestures, tr}'ing to provoke the crowd. unite our forces to become stronger. 'We' When no one responded, the scabs went· will be entitled to future jobs only if they bers. The Harmel company," Winkels drop all bargaining demands and offer to said, "claims the strike is over. Wynn need to put our emotions aside and think from provocation to threat. Outside the clearly about what's best by Sunday's rank area of the picket line, they pulled over a return to work. claims it is over. Yet the rank and file ofP- The revocation of the sanction comes 9 has not ended this strike. This strike will and file meeting." striker's car and put a shotgun to the face of Huston reported that support for the one of the strikers inside. Although the after local members narrowly approved a not. be over until there is a signed agree­ motion, March 12, requesting that the ment amenable to the parties involved." strike continued. ~' All day," he• said, striker reported the threat to the cops, they "unions across the country have called to did nothing. UFCW International meet with the local's Referring to the motion passed by the executive board to settle the differences members, Winkel continued, "The intent say if Local P-9 is still in the fight, they're At 7:00a.m. the Austin cops, reinforced that exist between them and that led to the of our vote was to settle differences, not with us." by sheriffs from the surrounding counties, officials' attacks on the local. The motion add to them. The UFCW has wrongly as­ The sentiment at the meeting was to con­ moved in. They announced that the crowd also requested that the International work sumed that this was a request for interven­ tinue and deepen the struggle against Hor­ was in violation of a December 1985 court with the local leadership to write a contract tion." mel. injunction limiting strike activities at the to present to Hormel. Finally, the resolu­ At the March 14 support meeting, the This sentiment was expressed a few days plant. They ordered the crowd to leave the tion gave the local leadership more leeway spirits of the 500 strikers and supporters later by P-9 President Jim Guyette when he plant gate. in bargaining with'"the company. were high. When P-9 Vice-president Lynn urged people to join in their struggle. About 100 strikers and supporters In forwarding the motion to the Interna­ Huston read the International's directive, Guyette said, "We intend to take the com­ pany on in a much bigger way. Our fight is locked arms and grouped at the gate, sing- tional Executive Committee, P~9's leader- the crowd booed. with Hormel and First Bank. We're not going to let the International take our fight from us. "At this point," Guyette continued, "we 'IP' on struggle of South African miners have no contract. We have no income, but the fight is going on. This is a fight that Black mine workers are among drawn increasingly into the broader transcends P-9." the most exploited workers in political struggle against the op­ After Sunday's rank and file meeting, apartheid South Africa. For a cen­ pressive apartheid system. Huston told the Militant that "we're going tury, they have labored under The same issue of IP reprints a INTERCONTINENTAL to continue with the boycott and the roving dangerous and difficult conditions joint communique from a recent pickets." The membership, he said, passed to d1g up the gold and other miner­ meeting among leaders of the Afri­ PRESS a motion protesting the International's ac­ als that have made South Africa's can National Congress, South Afri­ ·- tion and requesting that it withdraw its white capitalists so rich and have can Congress of Trade Unions, and Eyewitness Report From Philippines dirctive. helped finance the white minority the recently formed Congress of Guyette announced that P-9 will file a regime. South ~n Trade Unions. Masses Push for Rights and federal lawsuit against the International union. But today, Black mine workers lntefcontinental Press is a biweekly of Marcos Officials The suit, Guyette said, will seek com­ are organizing themselves into a that carries more articles, docu­ , pensation for the International's actions powerful weapon - the National ments, and special features on world "undermining the local's bargaining posi­ Union of Mineworkers (NUM). politics- from Europe to Oceania tion with Harmel." The upcoming, April? Interconti­ and from the Middle East to Central The suit will also seek an accounting of nental Press features a background America - than we have room for funds designated for P-9 that are being held article by Ernest Harsch on the con­ in the Militant. Subscribe now. !~~~~~~! ditions of these miners and on their by UFCW Region 13 in Bloomington, efforts to build the NUM. Enclosed is 0 $7.50 for 3 months. Nicaragua Minnesota. The local estimates that this 0 $15 for 6 months. 0 $30 for 1 Reagan Presses for amounts to more than $100,000. In just a little more than three year. More 'Contra' Aid P-9 is asking that all contributions be Borge on Church- years, the NUM has grown into the Name ______State Relations sent directly to them . (See "Strike at a single-largest union in the country, glance" on page 7 for the address.) with a quarter of a million mem­ Address ~==Re=po=tt=er=·s=N=ot=ebook=~ Delegations from Local P-9 and from bers. It has engaged in numerous Cuban CP Congress UFCW Local 43 I from Ottumwa, Iowa, City __ State __ Zip __ strikes, many of which were brut­ L______~ where more than 500 workers were fired by ally attacked by the police. Despite Clip and mail to Intercontinental Harmel for honoring P-9's picket lines, this, the miners have made some Press, 410 West St. , New York, NY will be going to Washington, D.C., to de­ notable gains. They have also been 10014. mand a meeting with UFCW President William Wynn.

6 The_Militant March -28,1986' N.Y. rally supports Minnesota strikers BY ARGIRIS·MALAPANIS activists around the country who can help NEW YORK - Despite heavy rain, make sure nobody buys Hormel products!" well over I ,000 people packed the II th Among the speakers most warmly re­ floor of District 65 of the United Auto ceived was Karen Lantz, vice-president of Workers (U A W) headquarters on March the Independent Federation of Flight At­ 14 for a spirited rally in support of striking tendants (IFFA), which is on strike against meatpackers from Local P-9 of the United TWA. Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) · Lantz explained that TWA was prepar­ in Austin, Minnesota. ing to try to bust their union. Months be­ The ball was filled with signs from area fore they were forced out on strike, she Militant/Dee Scalera unions, including auto workers, communi­ said, the company hired 2,000 replace­ Karen Lantz, a leader of striking TWA flight attendants and Jim Guyette president cations. workers, transit workers, ments. The union set up informational of striking Minnesota meatpackers' local, at New York 'solidarity rally. ' teamsters, and others. picket lines to explain to these workers that The success of the rally was summed up the company intended to use them as scabs. in the lead banner: "New York labor sup­ She expressed her admiration for the Guyette explained that although the Fischer, president of Oil, Chemical and ports Local P-9." striking meatpackers. UFCW International union had cut off all Atomic Workers Local 8-760 at the 3M Bill Nuchow from Teamsters Local 840 "We really understand what solidarity strike benefits to the local (see article on plant in Freehold, New Jersey; and Harold opened the meeting on behalf of the New means when a group of workers from Min­ page 1), the struggle would continue. Mendlowitz, president of Amalgamated York Labor Support Committee for Local nesota who have been on strike for six and In closing, he said, "From Watsonville, Transit Union Local 1202, which or­ P-9. a half months can take time off their picket California, to the TWA picket line, to ganizes Greyhound workers in the north­ To chants of "P-9, P-9," Nuchow an­ · lines to come and join our picket line." South Africa, to Austin, Minnesota, and east and in Quebec, Canada. nounced that fire marshals could allow no Jan Pierce, the International vice-presi­ Ottumwa, Iowa, people need to know - Ruth Messinger and Steve De Brienza more people on the lith floor. Therefore, dent of the Communications Workers of which side are you on." from the New York City Council an­ workers were filling the second floor hall America, introduced Jim Guyette, presi­ Among the other speakers at the rally nounced plans to introduce a resolution to to hear the speakers. dent of Local P-9. were Guillermina Ramirez, a striking can­ that body supporting the strike. In welcoming everyone to the rally, The crowd rose to its feet to greet nery worker from Watsonville; Stanley David Livingston, president of UAW Dis­ Guyette with prolonged applause and trict 65, pledged continued support. "The cheers of "P-9, P-9." Hormel strikers," he said, "are part of the "We in Austin," Guyette said, ''are in­ family of labor, and we will stick with volved in a struggle for justice and dignity. Publication fund drive them as far as they need to win." We are in a key struggle against conces­ The crowd rose to its feet to welcome a sions that concerns the whole labor move­ contingent -of s~me 75 striking TWA flight ment." For this reason, Guyette explained, attendants who· left their picket lines to the strike has won broad support from gets reporters to Haiti come to the rally. working people across the country, from Sam Myers, president of UAW Local both unions and farm organizations. BY ANDRE~ GONZALEZ United States. 259, announced that the UAW had already "The Iowa Farm Unity Coalition, Min­ In this issue of the Militant, readers will The Managua bureau has been a feature sent $20,000 to the meatpackers. His local, nesota Groundswell, and the North Ameri­ of these publications ·since·the·Nicaraguan he reported, raised $5,000 from a shop can Farm Alliance have come out in sup­ find an eyewitness report from Haiti. of reporters, including Margaret masses overthrew the U.S.-backed floor collection. He urged all unionists to port of the Hormel boycott, and these farm­ A team Jayko, managing editor of the Militant; Somoza dictatorship in 1979. increase their financial support to. the ers are not selling their hogs to Hormel," The reports from Nicaragua have helped strike. · ·· · Guyette said. Harvey McArthur •from the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial Managua bureau; and to politically arm antiwar and solidarlty ac­ The members.qfUFCW Local431 from Appealing for unity among workers and Jackie Floyd, a national leader of .the tivists to answer the U.S. government's Ottumwa, Iowa, and from t}le local's sup­ working farmers, Guyette ·said, "If the Young Socialist Alliance, is in Haiti cover­ campaign of lies against the Sandinista rev­ port gtoup w.ere greeted with a standing labor movement and the agricultural move~ ing developments since the overthrow of, olution. ovation. More than 500 members of that ment are to he heard; the time has come to the Duvalier dictatorship. In the last year, the Managua bureau has local were fired and then locked out by start 'helping each other." On-the-spot coverage of major political grown from two reporters to three. This Hormel f~r ho11oring P-9's picket lines. H~ viewed the history of concessions the developments makes up ~ important part growth 'has ·enab1~d tti.e Militant and 'Per­ B,i,V ;, ~Qd~,. s~!lkiitg for the Ottumwa . Horrilel workers in Austin have given to of the Militant and:PerspectivdMundii:Jl. ..· spectiVd MunJial id'hpand t:·overage of die': wo*ers, appealed for . support since they the company in the last 23 years. The result The reporting •team now in Haiti is one· deepening revolution: Stories on the debate receive neither strike nor unemployment of these ' concessions and of speedup, he example. Closer to borne is the Militant's over legalization of abortion, autonomy for b®efits. said, ha:s been an injury rate of202 per 100 team covering the strike by United Food Nicaragua's oppressed nationalities on the ':B'aldemar Velasquez, president of the workers. and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local country's Atlantic Coast, and the deepen­ Farm Lai;lQr Organizing Committee Honnel is the most profitable company P-9 against Honnel in Austin, Minnesota . •. ing land reform are examples Of the in- (FLOC), also' addr~ssed the rally. FLOC in the meatpacking industry. It 'has used Since Gov. Rudy Perpich sent the Na­ cr~ased breadth of coverage. · · has just won a major victoryJQr..f{U111 work­ these profits, Guyette said, to invest in two · tional Guard into Austin to herd scabs for ' On-the-scene reports are exCiting. They ers in Ohio and Michigan. After years, of new plants in South Africa. Hormel January 21, Militant reporters are also expensive. · · ·· struggle, including a· national boycott, the He appealed to the audience for help. He Maggie McCraw and Tom Jaax have been That's where the Socialist Publication union forced the giant Campbell's Co. to called on all present to support the boycott on the scene. Fund comes in. , sign a contract. of Horrrlel products, send resolutions of .. . The $100,000 fund enablesrus to. con- Velasquez pledged the union's support support to the local, and adopt a striking Their reports fro01 .Austin enable Mili- tinue this type ofcoverage, from Managua. for the striking meatpackers. "We don't family. Finally, he invited everyone to tant readers to follow the ~eek-by- week Nicaragua, to Austin. Minnesota. have much power or influence to offer come to Austin to learn the truth about the developments in this important labor bat- The fund drive began March 15. It's off you," he said, "but we .have (1,000 boycott strike'.·. tie. ' to a good start, with over $4,234 CQntrib- Their reports on this strike have ~el~d uted in the first five days. · to get out the strikers' side.oftbe story.and Your help can insure the success pf the to build support among working people. drive. To contribute, just make out a check . The Horine) strike at a glance Telling the story from the point of view to the Socialist Publication Fund and send of 9-ghte?.~ here. an~ ~und t?c, ~?rld is a _ . itt() the addr~~s ,on t~t;: c~u~on \)Pootqi ~pflge. The 1,500 members of United Food Party s~nt . ln the National Guard to herd: . ~aflmark ,{)f t)J,e _ soc~h~t pubhqal!ons. .;. ·:· ·.: .If yo-u'd lj~e to Ijelp bm don~ til~ye the and Commercial Workers union scabs for fiormel. Pu~lic outrage forced . Wit~ a ~ureal:l in_Mami gua, for'"example ," ,, ~ ~' rtioney ' right'now, you can make a'piedge.· (UFCW) Local P-9 were forced out on Perpich to pull the Guard back from the the soc1ahst penod1cals have helped tell the Just fill out the coupon on this page and strike by the Geo. A. Hormel meatpack­ plant on January 29. The strikers were truth about the struggles of Nicaraguan send it in. Your pledge can be paid any ing company on Aug. 17, 1985. They then able to close the plant again. workers and farmers to . people in the time before the drive ends May 10. · are workers at the company's Austin, On February 3 Perpich again assigned Minnesota, operation. the Guard to herd strikebreakers. Al­ Several months earlier, Hormel had though there are about 900 scabs in the On March 15 we launched the Socialist Publica­ $100,000 unilaterally slashed wages from $10.69 prnrn,--production is only at about 20 per­ tion Fund with the goal of raising $100,000 by to $8.25 an hour. They were later raised cent of normal. May 10. to $9.25. When the union's contract ex­ The striking local sent out roving pired August 17, the company refused to pickets to other Honnel plants. On Janu­ A major purpose of the fund is to help finance return wages to their former level. .ary 28 the company fired over 500 work­ publication of the Militant and our Spanish-lang­ Honnel also demanded additional ers at Hormel plants in Ottumwa, Iowa, uage sister publication Perspectiva Mundial and concessions, including gutting the and Fremont, Nebraska, for refusing to other socialist publication projects. seniority and grievance systems and in­ cross P-9's picket lines. stituting a two-tier wage system. The On February 22, P-9 removed their Checks should be made out to: Socialist Publica­ company has demanded the right to pickets from the Ottumwa plant. The tion Fund, 14 Charles Lane, New York, NY 10014. punish workers injured on the job. The workers, members of UFCW Local injury rate per year at the Austin plant is 431, an amalgamated local represen­ Enclosed is my contribution to the Socialist Publi- 202 injuri es for every 100 workers. Hor­ ting 5,000 members statewide, then cation Fund of$ ___ mel is also demanding contractual re­ marched en masse to demand their strictions on workers' democratic and jobs. The company refused, locking I pledge a contribution of $.___ to the Socialist political rights. out the workers. Publication Fund to be paid by _ ____ In the course of the strike, Local P-9. Donations and messages of support has had to face attacks by the company, for the Austin strikers can be sent to: Name ------courts, and governor. UFCW Local P-9, 316 4th Ave. NE, Address ------Austin, Minn. 55912. On Dec. 24, 1985, the courts issued City ------State __ Zip ____ an injunction limiting strike activity at Donations for the Ottumwa workers Collected: can be .sent to: Terminated Employees the plant. Phone ------$4,234 On January 21, Minnesota Gov. Rudy Support Group of Ottumwa, P.O. Box Perpich of the Democratic Farmer-Labor 1355, Ottumwa, Iowa 52501. Organization/Union ------'--

March 28, 1986 The Militant 7 -BUILDING ANTI-APARTHEID AND ANTIWAR AcriONS---- boycott campaign. Royal Dutch A reception was held for her at Pledge of Resistance, Religious Alabama Shell is a major supplier of fuel to UMW A District 22 headquarters Nicaragua leader Task Force on Central America, conference the South African government. organized by the Lady Miners of speaks to 200 at and the Central America Mobiliza­ The participants voted to en­ Utah. tion Committee. on Central dorse the boycott. More than 50 people, including U. of Pittsburgh Following the program, a plan­ retired and working miners, came America ning session decided to organize a to meet and hear her speak. BY CHRIS HOEPPNER West Virginia BY ALYSON KENNEDY statewide demonstration against Also on the platform were PITTSBURGH - The Nicara­ divestment BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- Boy­ contra aid March 22 in Birming­ UMW A Executive Board member guan minister of trade and com­ cott South Africa, not Nicaragua. ham. Richard Cordova and Rita Miller, merce, Alejandro Martinez hearing Stop U.S. military intervention in They also decided to support the president of the Lady Miners of Cuenca, spoke March 7 to an audi­ Central America and allow boycott of Harmel products. A Utah. ence of 200 at the University of message of support was sent to Pittsburgh. BY GREG ROSEMONT sanctuary for refugees. Stop the Cordova explained that hearing United Food and Commercial CHARLESTON, W.Va. trials and deportations! These Ngubo speak would be an oppor­ He explained why they should Workers Local P-9 on strike in oppose U.S. aid to the contras and Nomonde Ngubo spoke here at the were the themes of the First tunity for those who had come to end of February on what West Vir­ Austin, Minnesota. It read in part, that "the contras cannot win the Alabama Conference on Central gain a better insight into the ginia can do "to end the repugnant "Just like the people of Nicaragua war no matter how much money America held March 1. UMWA's activities in opposition racist regime" in South Africa. are leading the struggle for justice they receive from your govern- The 70 people who attended the to apartheid. He pointed to the in Central America, you are lead­ . ment. Like Somoza, who had conference included activists from latest issue of the UMW Journal She addressed a well-attended ing a similar struggle here." money, they cannot win because solidarity and peace organizations the union's newspaper. It had ex­ public hearing before the state's they don't have popular support." from 10 cities around the state. tensive coverage on apartheid and Senate Finance Committee on a As evidence of the contra mer­ the union's support for the boycott bill that would divest state funds Steve Schaffer from the Mobile Nomonde Ngubo of Shell Oil. · cenaries' lack of success, he cited from companies that operate · in Committee for Peace and Justice Ngubo described what living the fact that the Nicaraguan people South Africa. West Virginia has in Central America opened the tours Price, Utah conditions are like for Blacks in were able to carry out the recent some $131 million invested in program, saying, "It's not just South Africa. She explained that coffee harvest without a single ca­ such companies. BY JAN STEPHENSON economic support we're giving the Blacks cannot own land or prop­ sualty. PRICE, Utah - Nomonde contras. The United States is at erty, nor can they vote.· Cuenca further explained that Ngubo explained that what's Ngubo, staff member of United when the Reagan administration needed in South Africa is not just war with Nicaragua." She said that it was a big step Mine Workers of America finally realizes that the contras reforms. "The question is real civil Abraham Woods of the South­ forward for Blacks when they or­ em Christian Leadership Confer­ (UMW A), recently completed a cannot win and "if he decides to and political rights," she said. "lfl ganized themselves into unions to successful tour to educate working invade, it will be no Grenada. I am get involved in too much political ence explained that "we Blacks are fight for their rights as workers people about the racist system in an economist, not a military man, or union activity, I can be banned concerned about foreign policy. and to improve their working con­ South Africa. She directs the min­ but when the fi~t marine puts his or banished to a Bantustan," as the We would be hypocrites if we ditions and wages. were only concerned about South ers union's anti-apartheid cam­ feet in my country, I will fight - South African reserves for Blacks Africa. The CIA-supported con­ paign. Following the program, a we will all fight." are called. tras are trying to hold back the Ngubo was invited by the Black number of union members stopped A March 22 protest against Ngubo spoke also about the blessing of the revolution in Nica- Student Union at the College of by the UMW A table to pick up U.S. aid to the contras was an- boycott of Shell Oil, which was . ragua." Eastern Utah to participate in bumper stickers, buttons, leaflets, nounced at the meeting. The as- launched by the UMW A, Trans­ Sidney Hill, full-time organizer Black History Month. and posters about the Shell sembly point for the march is . Africa, and the AFL-CIO. for the Shell Oil boycott and a At a February 19 campus meet­ boycott. "Freedom Comer," Center Av-, Referring to apartheid, Joe member of the United Mine Work­ ing featuring Ngubo, she Ngubo's tour in the Price area enue and Crawford near St. Be- Powell, president of the West Vir­ ers of America, received loud explained what the system of also included two engagements at nedict the Moor Church, at 11:00 ginia AFL-CIO urged the Com­ applause following a slideshow apartheid was and why Blacks are Carbon High School, speaking to a.m. mittee: "Let's get rid of this cancer about South Africa and the Shell fighting back against it. 100 students. Sponsors of the protest include once and for all." Haitians celebrate. victory, discuss challenges I Continued from front page Haitian Refugee Center. how Haitians in Miami had organized dem­ they demand freedom." tant part of this growing political activity. At the Miami International Airport, onstrations against Duvalier and to defend "There is hunger throughout the coun­ During the nearly 29 years of Duvalier's Jean-Juste told reporters that many Hai- , Haitian refugees in the United States and try," she said. "The rich don't care if we rule, more than 1 million Haitians- one­ tians in Miami asked him to return home to •t· the Bahamas from deportations and mis­ don't have work, or if they kill us. fifth of the population - fled the country. find out "the conditions, the people's de­ treatment. Duvalier was a thief, a criminal, and an as­ Many were leaders of unions and opposi­ mands, to see if liberation is proceeding. I He said that he would take a report back sassin," she declared to enthusiastic tion political parties, journalists, or other am going to return," he said, "not to tell to the United States and asked if all the applause. Father Jean-Juste pointed out opponents of the dictatorship. Due to the people what to do but to find out what the problems were solved now that Duvalier that the most important achievement of the bloody repression, the union movement conditions are." He added that he did not had gone. revolution was winning the right to speak and opposition political groups that did know what reception he would get from the "No, no!" people shouted. "We don't freely. exist were small and weak. new Haitian government, although he had have jobs or food . Children can't go to The two-and-a-half-hour service, which On February 7 the National Council of been issued a visa to return. school. We need hospitals." was filmed by camera crews from three Government replaced the Duvalier regime. Jean-Juste took with him checks for One woman insisted on speaking and Miami-based television stations, included It includes four high-ranking military offi­ $31,000, money donated by Haitians in was led to the altar microphone by Aristide the singing of the Haitian national anthem cers who served under Duvalier and two ci­ Miami to help rebuild schools damaged or as Jean-Juste led the congregation in chant­ and calls to continue Operation Uproot, the vilians. The new government said that it destroyed in the uprising against Duvalier. ing, "The people are fighting everywhere, term used to describe the revolution. would screen exiles who wanted to return The delegation also included Leone! and that none could come back without an Cius, father of Jean-Robert Cius, a youth official visa. This is a requirement the Hai­ murdered by Duvalier's troops on tian government has maintained since the Miami: debate over contra aid November 28, 19lr5; and Gabriel Augus­ 1940s. In recent weeks, many exiles have tan, a Haitian Refugee Center board mem­ been given visas to come back. spurs right-wing attacks in city In the past week, these included Serge ber and prominent activist in Miami. Botl} had been exiled during the 1970s. Haitians Gilles, leader of the Union of Haitian Dem­ BY STU SINGER on board the flight from Miami broke into prime minister of Jamaica, Michael Man­ ocratic and Patriotic Forces (IFOPADA); MIAMI-The debate over the U.S. war ley, was also threatened. Again the meet­ Renee Theodore, secretary-general of the applause and shouts at the first glimpse of in Central America is sharply polarizing their homeland when it could be seen from ing, held at the university's south campus, Unified Haitian Communist Party (PUCH); this city. The large number of right-wing the airplane windows. took place successfully. Col. Octaee Cayard, who led an unsuccess­ exiles from Cuba and Nicaragua control A gang of 12 right-wingers did show up ful revolt against Fran~ois Duvalier in At immigration in Port-au-Prince's Mais most of the Spanish-language news media Sunday afternoon, March 16, outside Path­ 1970; Pierre Clitandre, journalist and Gate airport (formerly named for Fran~ois here. They have been campaigning to sup­ finder Bookstore in the Haitian community editor, expelled along with hundreds of Duvalier), Jean-Juste's group was pro­ port Reagan's proposal for $100 million to of Miami to threaten a meeting of the Mil­ other dissidents in November 1980; and cessed through the receiving line for dip- arm the contras attacking Nicaragua. They itant Labor Forum. This forum was a dis­ Thomas Desulne, anti-Duvalier business­ ~s and met by local church leaders. organized a rally, reportedly of 3,000 cussion on the role of women in the revolu­ man and former member of the Haitian Several police and army officers stationed people, last week in the West Miami sub­ tions . in Central America and the Carib­ Senate. Most of these have held press con­ at the airport shook hands with the Miami urb of Sweet Water. bean. ferences and appeared on radio and televis­ delegation as they left immigration. A Hai­ Reagan, a self-proclaimed contra, ad­ The right-wingers were accompanied by ion. tian flag was held over Jean-Juste's head as dressed the rally on a live phone .hookup. a car from WOTN "Union" radio, one of he addressed a crowd of Haitians outside Sweet Water, known as little Nicaragua, the right-wing Spanish-language stations. Miami delegation visits Haiti the airport. is where many cronies of ex-Nicaraguan People attending the forum stood outside Among the most prominent exiles to re­ dictator Anastasio Somoza live. It is also the building confronting the gang and after turn is Father Gerard Jean-Juste, director of 'People have begun to pose questions' home to families of former Somoza Na­ about 15 minutes the right-wingers left. the Haitian Refugee Center Inc. in Miami. On Sunday, March 16, Jean-Juste led a tional Guard officers who lead the U.S.­ The forum went on as scheduled. Jean-Juste was imprisoned by Duvalier in mass at the Saint Jean Bosco Church in backed contra army seeking to overturn the The biggest test will be a noon demon­ 1971 and has been in exile for 14 years. He Port-au-Prince. He was introduced by the Nicaraguan government. stration at the Torch of Friendship in down­ returned to Haiti March 15 for one week church's pastor, Father Aristide Bertrand, Right-wingers mobilized by Spanish­ town Miami, Saturday, March 22. It is with a fact-finding delegation from the . a prominent opponent of the Duvalier re­ language radio stations have tried unsuc­ called to protest the U.S. war against Nic­ gime. cessfully to break up three recent meetings aragua. A news conference held at that site The more than 600 people attending the here. The first, held at the North Miami in 1983 to protest u:s. attacks against El Barricada lntemacional, the weekly service broke into applause when Jean­ campus of Florida International Univer­ Salvador was attacked and broken up by a official voice of the Sandinista National Juste was introduced and gasped with sur­ sity, was a talk by Arnoldo Ramos, a repre­ right-wing mob with city officials and Liberation Front, is now available in prise and delight when Aristide announced sentative of the Farabundo Marti National police looking on. But since then at least Spanish and English. The price is 6 that Leone! Cius was present. Liberation Front-Revolutionary Demo­ two antiwar protests have successfully months for $12. In an opening prayer, Aristide said that cratic Front of El Salvador. A hundred taken place at the site. Send check or money order to: "the people have begun to pose questions. people turned out for the meeting February The March 22 rally is already being de­ Barricada lnternacional We must continue to work for a better 28, and no attacks took place despite the nounced by right-wing radio stations, Apdo. No. 576 Managua, Nicaragua. Haiti, with jobs and food for all." threats. which urge people to attack the demonstra­ Jean-Juste gave the sermon, explaining A March 7 meeting to hear the former tion.

8 The Militant Mardll8, 1986 International Socialist

~e~ie~------su_P_P_•e_m_e_n_tt_o_t_he_M__n_ib_n_t---M--ar_c_ h_._~_' Sri Lanka:

BY MALIK MIAH democratic The Tamils are made the scapegoats by the govern­ The "isle of paradise" is about a day's flight _from New ment. This encourages right-wing vigilante groups to at­ York. It is the home of the best tea in the world. It's beau­ tack Tamils. It undermines worker and peasant solidarity tiful - surely a place to have a nice vacation. between all ethnic groups. Its name: Sri Lanka. Its location: the Indian Ocean, off the southern coast of January visit India. struggle I experienced firsthand anti-Tamil discrimination dur­ But for the vast majority of people on this island of 16 ing a recent visit to Sri Lanka in January. After arriving at million, life is no paradise. The economy ,is in crisis, and Colombo's international airport, I bought several Eng­ the ruling government has declared a state of war against lish-language dailies to orient myself. Each paper had a the minority Tamil population. story about "terrorists" attacking the army, "terrorists" For the last decade, the Tamil people, who live mainly kidnapping someone, and so on. in the northern and eastern parts of the island, have been ol Tamil Because I had a few hours to kill, I decided to take a waging a determined struggle to protect their democratic city tour of Colombo - the commercial and political rights. Decades of discrimination of the Sinhala-majority center of the country. government has led to growing support among,Tamils for I hired a car- a Toyota - for a five-hour trip. the demand for a separate state - Tamil Eelam. (See We traveled a winding road to Colombo. We went accompanying article on the ethnic makeup of the coun­ minority through several small towns -all bustling with activity. try.) Catholic churches, Buddhist temples, Mosques, and Some separatist groups have armed themselves against Hindu temples lined the road. the central government's military occupation of the pre­ I asked the taxi driver - a Sinhalese Catholic - why dominantly Tamil provinces. Many groups have training I so miles I so many Catholic churches? The Portuguese, he replied. bases in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu where (Portugal occupied parts of the island in the 16th cen­ nearly 50 million Tamils live. tury.) The government of President J .R. Jayewardene of the Everything was pleasant until we entered Colombo. At United National Party (UNP) has pledged to militarily a bridge, an army patrol stopped our car to see who was crush the democratic struggle of the Tamil people. His inside. government has sent the army into much of the northern Was I a Tamil? and eastern provinces. It has declared the area around the Clearly not. We passed through. Jaffna Fort - Jaffna is the main city in the northern prov­ A Muslim reporter for one of the major English-lan­ ince ~ a military security zone. A 1,000-meter radius guage dailies, The Island, told me later that such viola­ area is now a free-fire zone for the army. This is a resi­ tions of civil rights go on all the time. It is to fight the dential area that has already come under military attack. "terrorists." There are daily killings ofTamil "terrorists" - mainly There is a siege mentality among many Sri Lankans. civilians. All Tamils are considered potential terrorists. They feel threatened by neighboring India. "We have no A prominent Tamil priest is currently on trial in Colombo place to go like them." for aiding "the boys," as the separatist militants are called "We" are the Sinhalese; "they" are the Tamils. in the Tamil community. Besides emigrants, the only Sinhalese in the world live In the south, the government uses the war in the north in Sri Lanka. But, as Sinhalese chauvinists will tell you, and east to justify broadside attacks on trade unions and there are millions of Tamils in India. peasants and on the basic democratic rights of all work­ The Buddhist hierarchy propagates the lie that Sri ing people - Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims, and other Lanka must be Sinhalese to preserve the Buddhist reli­ /~c groups. It is also used to explain away the declin­ gion. There is a fear that Tamils from the "north" - • mg economy. India - will invade the island. There are daily banner headlines in the major The rulers fan the flames of anti-Tamil bigotry to Sinhalese and English-language press on the "Tamil maintain their domination of the country. The objective threat." This chauvinist propaganda is mainly aimed at is to divert working people of all ethnic groups from the majority Sinhalese population. fighting their common enemy - imperialism and the Sri Lanka is a semicolonial country. It won its inde­ landlord-capitalist class - and establishing a nation-state pendence from British colonial rule in 1948 but remains where Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, and other ethnic dominated by imperialism. This is reflected in its foreign groups can live together. debt, which is nearly 35 billion rupees ($1 .5 billion). In­ Distribution of Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka: The antidemocratic policies of the UNP government terest payments to the foreign banks now take up 25 per­ shaded areas, Ceylon Tamils; gray areas, Indian and its predecessors are learned from their former coloni­ cent of the country's export earnings. Sri Lanka's major Tamils; white areas, Sinhalese. al rulers: Britain. It was during the colonial period that trading partners are Britain, the United States, Japan, and ethnic differences between different nationalities were Saudi Arabia. These two provinces produce 25 percent of the rice and encouraged. The government anticipates a 28.7 billion rupee (about 40 percent of the country's annual fish production. · It was the Christians (Catholics and Protestants) who $1 billion) deficit in 1986. That's 14 percent of the gross There has been a sharp decline in tourism. Visitor arri­ were first pushed to top colonial administration posts. domestic product. To make up the deficit, the govern­ vals for the first seven months of 1985 were 149,000, They received preferential treatment. They were the most ment is raising taxes and imposing other austerity meas­ down from 185,000 recorded in the comparable period in educated and still are. _ ures. 1984. The Tamils working on the large estates · in the hill Who pays for-this? Sri Lanka's workers and peasants areas in the interior were pitted against Sinhalese peas­ In response to this economic crisis the current govern­ - of all nationalities. ants who had lost their lands to make room for the plan­ ment has offered tax holidays and other incentives to for­ tations. While the condition of lite for plantation workers For example, the defense budget is 10 times what it eign investors. A free trade zone has been established in was a decade ago. The government has also discussed was virtual slavery, most peasants blamed them for their Colombo. There, the workers have few rights and no loss of land. levying a "national defense" tax on the wages of every unions and face terrible working conditions. employed person. And in the civil service, the British colonialists gave While the quality of life for the upper classes is impro­ disproportionate representation to Tamils, ·who were Official unemployment is around 15 percent, although ving, it is declining for workers and peasants. this is difficult to confirm since the government no longer more willing to learn English. This was done to blunt the gives regular report!) on employment. At least 40 percent Although the free education system has not been Sinhala-led independence movement and pndermine of the population is underemployed. abolished by the government, the lack of jobs means unity between Sinhalese and Tamils, who both fought for In 1981 average annual per capita income was $266. there are tens of thousands of educated but unemployed the use of their own languages instead of English. youths. This is true for all major ethnic groups - Most plantation workers earn much less. They are the Origin of Tamil struggle worst-paid workers in the country. Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims. Like many other Third World countries dominated by But educational and job opportunities for Tamils are The failure to forge a secular Ceylon - Sri Lanka imperialism, Sri Lanka's foreign exchange is primarily declining because of government discrimination and the since 1972 - is primarily rooted in this history of colo- based on export crops and tourism. Major exports include dislocation caused by the war. For example, the govern­ nial and imperialist domination. . tea, coconut, spices, robber, and gems. There is also an ment's general per capita expenditure in the Jaffna Dis­ Through a mass struggle, the Sri Lankan people won expanding fish-producing industry . trict in the northern province is 313 rupees ($1 2) while their independence from British colonial rule in February But in the last year, the price of tea - the major export the national per capita expenditure is 656 ($26). • 1948. Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims struggled together earner - has dropped by 50 percent. The war in the It is estimated that there are between 85,000 and for independence. While religious and ethnic conflicts northern and eastern provinces has led to a decline in rice 200,000 Tamils living as refugees in southern India and had existed, they were mainly at the instigation of the - the basic diet of the people - and fish production. another 10,000 to 40,000 in Western Europe. Continued on next page

March 28, 1986 The MUitant 9 International Socialist llevie~------~------M_a_rc_h __•_sw_2

Continued from previous page English as the language of government administration. British colonial rulers. There was no movement to estab­ This campaign was not to replace English with Tamil lish two separate states as occurred in India with the for­ and Sinhala on an equal status as national languages in mation of Pakistan in 1947. line with Sri Lanka being a secular state. Instead, the But the mainly Sinhala bourgeois nationalists led by SLFP called for "Sinhala-only" as the state language. D.S. Senanayake- "father of Ceylon," founder of the This chauvinist campaign undermined Tamil and United National Party, and the country's first prime Sinhala unity and encouraged communal hatred. It was a minister- immediately moved to consolidate their rule. blow to real solidarity. Established in the 1940s, the UNP was the leading In the 1956 parliamentary elections, an SLFP-led coa­ capitalist party at the time. To establish its dominance, lition won the majority of seats, mainly on its "Sinhala­ the UNP had to first corral an insurgent working-class only" campaign. The UNP was seen as too secular. leadership. One of the SLFP's first acts after taking over the gov­ ernment was to get a law adopted making Sinhala the of­ The Marxist left had grown during and after WWII be­ ficial state language. cause of its forceful anti-imperialist stand. It had led strikes and taken a strong position against Sinhala Rise of Tamil nationalism chauvinism and for secularism. Since most Tamils could not speak Sinhala, this deci­ The strongest left party - the Lanka Sarna Samaja sion caused a deep wound in the society. Sinhala-only Party (LSSP) - was a revolutionary organization with a not only discriminated against Tamil workers and peas­ strong working-class base. In the 1947 general elections, ants, but all classes of Tamils. the LSSP and other left parties won significant votes. The The Tamil capitalists, middle class, and workers and LSSP became the largest opposition party in parliament. farmers rejected the view that Sri Lankan nationalism in­ After independence was granted, D.S. -Senanayake cluded all people of the country. Sri Lanka is the and the UNP moved to isolate the left and strengthen their Sinhalese name for the country. hold over the state apparatus. Since much of the LSSP's w ••ric.. ..., on tea are of working class in Sri Lanka. Immediately after the Sinhala-only law was adopted, base was among industrial and agricultural workers, in­ riots broke out across the island. cluding among workers on the tea and rubber plantations, Tamils, who were brought to island The Federal Party in August 1956 issued a call for au­ the UNP moved against these workers. 19th century to work on plantations. tonomy for the northern and eastern provinces under a The plantation workers - the most exploited section federal constitution, parity of status for Sinhala and of the working 'Class- were in the main Tamils oflndian the government on .persons for distinguished service to Tamil languages, and citizen rights for Tamil plantation origin. They had been brought to the island by the British the professions, commerce, etc." workers of Indian origin. in the middle of the 19th century to work on the tea plan­ A special electoral act, also adopted, said only citizens This was not the first time the Federal Party called for tations. There was little overt hostility between the could vote. This disenfranchised the largest section of the autonomy. K.M. De Silva writes in A History of Sri Sinhala peasants and Indian Tamil workers until the late working class - Indian Tamils. Lanka: "As early as 1951, at its first national convention, 1920s. It was then that the British colonialists gave the In the next parliamentary elections in 1952, all Indian the Federal Party asserted that 'Tamil-speaking people in Indian Tamils some legal rights. Tamil representatives lost their seats. The UNP swept the Ceylon constituted a nation distinct from that of the While Sinhala chauvinist~ say Tamil and Sinhala elections. Sinhalese by every fundamental test of nationhood' and people have always had communal conflicts, this is not The Ceylon Workers Congress, which organizes the in particular stressed the 'separate historical past' of the true. mostly Indian Tamil plantation workers, and the left­ Tamils and their linguistic unity and distinctiveness." (Communalism here refers to the conflicts between wing parties lost most of their seats. From 1956 onward the Tamil question became the cen­ Sinhala and Tamil communities, fueled by different re­ In December 1948 Ceylon Tamils formed the Federal tral political issue in Sri Lanka. Should Sri Lanka be a ligious outlooks. In this case, Buddhism and Hinduism.) Party. Its leaders were mainly from Colombo's middle secular country? Or, should it be secular with a Sinhala This communal hatred only developed with the rise of class. The Federal Party sought to defend the rights of the and Buddhist bias? colonialism, and then it was mainly between disposses­ entire Tamil minority. Initially it had little influence. The Sinhala-dominated landlord-capitalist ruling class sed Sinhala peasants and super-exploited Indian Tamil The citizenship laws turned out to be only the opening refused to bend on the language question. Each govern­ workers who were a captive work force without rights. shot in the drive to limit the rights of Tamils. In Sep­ ment - whether led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party or The Sinhala landlords and the British colonialists encour­ tember 1951 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike split from the UNP the United National Party - refused to give the Tamil aged this misdirected hatred. to form the Sri Lanka Fre.edom Party (SLFP) - an language equal status to Sinhala. openly pro-Sinhala party. It based itself on Sri Lanka And whenever the Tamil people sought to press their Indian Tamils denied citizenship nationalism- that is, Sinhalese nationalism. The SLFP just demands, state terror or extralegal violence was used After independence, communal conflicts increased appealed primarily to the exploited Sinhala peasants and against them. In 1958 a pogrom was organized against significantly. In 1948 and 1949 three laws were enacted the urban middle class. While saying it still favored a sec­ Tamils. This became the pattern thereafter. that effectively denied citizenship to Tamils oflndian ori­ ular Ceylon, it screamed that Tamils and other minorities In 1961, for example, after the Sri Lanka Freedom gin. For 20 years these mostly agricultural workers had had more privileges than the Sinhalese. The SLFP lead­ Party-led coalition won the elections again, it declared a had the right to vote under the British colonial system. ers were backed by sections of the Buddhist clergy, who state of emergency in the northern and eastern provinces. In his article "Ethnic Consciousness in Sri Lanka: Con­ demanded state control of the schools - but under their The Tamils and Muslims there had been protesting gov­ tinuity and Change" reprinted in Sri Lanka: The Ethnic guidance. ernment language policies. Conflict, Myths, Realities and Perspectives, Kumari The SLFP's chauvinist appeal got a good hearing. The The SLFP had promised before the elections to make ~awardena writes: "The Ceylon Citizenship Act pro­ left parties were too weak to counter the reactionary cam­ some compromise on the Sinhala-only law. The Federal vided that citizenship was to be determined either by de­ paign. Party had backed them for taking that stand. - scent or by stringent conditions of registration, including Tapping the progressive, anti-colonialist, nationalist But the SLFP's election promise meant nothing. There proof of three generations of paternal ancestry in Sri sentiments of the Sinhala workers and peasants, the Sri was no compromise. Anti-Tamil chauvinism increased. Lanka, but providing for citizenship to be conferred by Lanka Freedom Party launched a campaign to eliminate The LSSP - once a revolutionary party and an af­ filiate of the Fourth International, a world Marxist or­ ganization - succumbed to Sinhala chauvinism in the early 1960s when it joined an SLFP-led government. (It Peoples of island-nation of Sri Lanka was expelled from the Fourth International for doing so.) The capitulation of the traditional left to Sinhala chauvinism left a void in working-class leadership. No Sri Lanka is an island-nation off the southern coast of of the Sinhala believe in the Buddhist religion, which is mass party existed that supported a democratic, secular India. It has 16 million people. Of these, there are several the de facto state religion. Most Tamils follow the Hindu Sri Lanka. ethnic groups: Sinhalas and Tamils are the largest; addi­ faith. Other Sinhalese and Tamils are Roman Catholic or The main Tamil organizations remained the Federal tionally there are Muslims (Moors) and Burghers. Protestant Christians - about 7 percent of the popula- Party and the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC). Each tion. · The original inhabitants of the island were subdued by sought to maneuver with the UNP and SLFP to gain more North Indian invaders several thousand years ago. Their influence and limit the attacks on Tamil rights. descendants are the Sinhalese, who are divided between The next largest ethnic group is the Muslims. They are descendants of a mixture of Arab and Malay immigrants · The Federal Party's base was in the northern and east­ low country Sinhalese and Kandyan Sinhalese. Tbe latter em provinces. It raised two demands: regional autonomy refers to the Sinhalese in the mountainous area in central and the Tamils and Sinhalese. They've lived on the is­ land for centuries and are 7 percent of the population. and citizenship rights for Indian Tamils. Sri Lanka where the last Sinhala kingdom existed. The CWC, which also functions like a party, is based Immigrants from South India also came to the island Because they are primarily Tamil-speaking, many on the Indian Tamil plantation workers. There are more more than one thousand years ago. Their descendants are Muslims live in Tamil areas but are distributed all over than a half million plantation workers - the largest sec­ known as Ceylon Tamils. (Until 1972 Sri Lanka was the country. tion of the working class. The ewe pressed for citizen­ named Ceylon.) The Burghers are a mixture of Sri Lankan people and ship rights for stateless Tamils. It did not favor auto­ In the mid-19th century the British' rulers brought nomy. another group of Tamils to the island to work on the tea the former Portuguese, Dutch, and English colonialists and are less than I percent of the population. plantations. They are known as Indian Tamils. The CWC's president, S. Thondaman, traditionally Today 75 percent of the people are Sinhalese; 18 per­ The Portuguese occupied part of the island beginning maneuvered the CWC between the UNP and SLFP to in­ in 1505 . The Dutch replaced them as colonial rulers in cent Tamil ( 12 percent Ceylon Tamil and 6 percent In­ crease his political influence. 1658. The B'ritish seized the territory in 1796. Sri Lanka dian Tamil). Since 1948 the Sri Lankan government has pressed The Ceylon Tamils live throughout the island but are won its independence in 1948. India to repatriate Indian Tamils, whom Sri Lanka de­ concentrated in the northern and eastern provinces and in Nearly half.the population is active in agricultural pro­ clared stateless. The first of three agreements on this duction- either as plantation workers or as farmers . The Colombo, which is the capital, as well as the financial issue were made by the two governments in 1964. In his chief crops are tea, coconuts, rice, spices, and rubber. and political center of the country. book on Sri Lanka, K.M. De Silva, a prominent Indian Tamils remain mostly plantation workers living Twenty-nine percent of the workforce is involved in academic, writes, "The agreement ... provided for the in the Kandy region and southern Sri Lanka. (See map on industrial and commercial production. The working class repatriation over a 15-year period of 525,000 Indian resi­ is highly organized, with more than I ,200 unions. JSR page l.) dents in Sri Lanka to India, along with their natural in­ _The official language is Sinhala. But few Tamils speak Less than 25 percent of the population lives in urban crease, and the absorption of 300,000 as citizens of Sri that language. They speak their own language, Tamil. areas. The Greater Colombo area has more than I million Lanka; the future of the remaining 150,000 was to be Few Sinhalese speak Tamil. people . negotiated later by the two countries." - In addition, there are communal (religious) differences Sri Lanka has one of the highest literacy rates in the The SLFP government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, between the two main ethnic groups. Nearly 70 percent Third World at 86 percent. - M.M. Continued on ISR/4

10 , Mar.ch. Z3, .... 198(;. .· March ISR/3 Namibia's

The following speech was given Oct. 14, 1985, by fight for two struggles to the exclusion of the other. What is Andimba Toivo ja Toivo. Ja Toivo is secretary-gen­ needed is a strategy which enables all the solidarity or­ eral of the South West Africa People's Organization. ganizations in the Americas and elsewhere to simultan~­ The speech was delivered in Toronto, Canada, to a ously support the peoples of Namibia and South Africa to conference on "Strategies for Change," attended by independence: attack the racist state on all fronts, weaken it from all an­ Black lawyers, judges, and others in the legal field. gles, and thereby hasten its defeat. The South West Africa People's Organization leads the struggle of Namibia's 1.5 million people for in~e­ On the current stage of the struggle in Namibia, I pendence. Namibia, which has a common border wath speech by leader would like to point out that the resistance to apartheid co­ Angola to the north and South Africa to the south, has lonialism in Namibia continues to be perpetrated on both been occupied and ruled as a colony by the South Af­ political and military fronts . On the political front, rican rulers since they seized it from German colonial SW APO activists are organizing the broad masses of our ol South ~ West people to oppose Pretoria's puppet sche_mes. ~!though rulers in World War I. In 1957 Andimba Toivo ja Toivo and a group of our movement is not allowed to hold public meetings and Namibian students and migrant workers formed the rallies, SWAPO cadres have been able to mobilize the Ovamboland People's Organization. oppressed people of Namibia to reject pul?pet i~stituti?ns Africa People's that racist South Africa has created and JS trymg to Im­ In 1960 the Ovamboland People's Organization changed its name to South ~est ~frica People'.s e The combatants of the PLAN have not only broadened fight over the years; and for this I would like to express fori:ed to pull out of Namibia in order to try to defend It­ the zone of armed confrontation in Namibia, but are also my deep gratitude to you all. . self within its borders. It is also important to recognize successfully pinning down Pretoria's massive army of In this connection, I would hke to urge you, brothers that on'e way of hastening the collapse of the apartheid occupation. They are making daily direct attacks _on and sisters to continue demanding for the release of state in South Africa is to cut off its weak links, and Pre­ South African military bases and camps, ambushmg Comrade Nelson Mandela and all other South African toria's control over Namibia is one such weak link. enemy convoys, and planting landmines on the roads and Namibian political prisoners. If we ~~n suc~eed to Namibia's occupation affords racist South Africa ~n used by racist military vehicles. force the apartheid state to release all political pnsoners additional source of vital natural resources and a strateg1c in South Africa and Namibia, we will be a step closer to Our freedom fighters are also carrying out extensive buffer zone. South Africa is exploiting Namibia's sabotage actions, blowing up rail lines, bridges, roads, our final goal of bringing an e~d to coloni~ism in uranium, diamonds, tin, silver, lead, zinc, and several enemy communication networks, electricity and ,tele­ Namibia and apartheid oppression m South Afnca. other strategic minerals which ~he apartheid rep~bli~ does This conference is taking place at a critical time when phone pylons, petrol stations, and water pumps. Over the not itself produce in the reqmred amount for 1ts mdus­ last five years, PLAN fighters have extended the war of the struggle for liberation in southern Africa has reached tries. Namibia's uranium and natural gas are among the great intensity. liberation to the north central part of Namibia which used vital strategic resources which Pretoria needs in its ambi­ to be the heartland of the colonial settlers' cattle-ranching Over the past 13 months the world ~as witnessed t~e tions to develop nuclear weapons and to achieve self-suf- intensification of a popular revolt agamst the apartheid industry. Terrified settler farmers have been ~orced to ficiency in energy. . . . . flee their properties in order to seek sanctuary m towns. system in SouthAfrica. You have all seen films on your In strategic terms, the occupation of~am•b • a_pr~v •des television of how the masses of the people of South Af­ Many others have left the country to live elsewhere. The racist South Africa with a sense of secunty that 1t still ha~ official figure given by the occupation regime in our rica are bravely coming out in their thousands to ~onfront . a wider defense perimeter. The advance of the moyement the racist and brutal South African troops and pohce. The country is that more than 4,000 colonial settlers have al- . for national liberation in our region, which has found its ready left the country. unprecedented courage wit~ whic_h th_e people of South expression in the independence of Angola, Mozambique, Africa are opposing apartheid fasc1sm m the fac~ of death and Zimbabwe over the last ten years, has caused a pro­ Colonial economy in decline is in itself a clear testimony of the fact that the time to act found emotional shock among the white minority racists Furthermore, the armed struggle in Namibia has in order to destroy the apartheid crime against humanity of South Africa. They have since been suffered a sense of has come. created a sense of uncertainty and insecurity among the encirclement by hostile countries. Their ~oss of contr~l foreign and local investors. Many are scared to invest The challenge for progressive mankind to give ~ll­ over Namibia will certainly aggravate the1r trauma, as 1t their money in a country whose immediate political fu­ round support to the struggling people of South Afnca will bring home to them more clearly the emerging ~i~ns ture seems uncertain, As a result, investments have been must be faced now. of doom in southern Africa. Also, independent Namibia, drying up, and the colonial economy in Namibia has which will be born of a bitter and bloody struggle against Namibia and struggle against apartheid sharply declined in recent years. This has affect~ the the same white racist minority, will , no doubt, join the standard of living of the colonial settlers. The dechne of I would like to make one important fact clear; that the 1 ranks of the Frontline States and will play its part in sup- the economy has led to widespread unemployment esti­ struggle to dismantle the apartheid system is inextr~c~b ly port of the struggle of the people of South Africa. . . mated at 30 percent. Thus the decline in the population's linked with our own struggle to put an end to colomahsm It is in the light of this that we in SW APO ~ons .•der Jt buying power. In other words, the armed· struggle in in Namibia. The two struggles are not contradictory but erroneous and short-sighted for some of the sohdanty or­ Namibia has punched irreparable holes in the socio-eco­ rather complementary to each other; and as suc_h, must _be ganizations here in America to try to support one of these nomic structure of occupied Namibia. carried out and supported concurrently. l_t Js, for m· stance, obvious that in the face of mountmg and sus­ Similarly, the war in Namibia has significantly exacer­ I. The Frontline States is a group composed of the govern­ bated South Africa's current financial and economic tained attacks at home and intensified international pres­ ments of six countries near South Africa. They are Angola, sure for political isolation and economic sanctions, racist Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Continued on ISR/6

March 28;1986 · The MHitant · n International Socialist Jte~e~------M_a_rc_h ___•s __w4 Interview with leaders of Sri Lanka civil rights group

The following are excerpts from an interview with I'm the convenor of the legal-assistance program. We Silva. We don't agree with the government's military Ainsley Samarajiwa and Redley Silva. It concerns the have about 25 lawyers who have agreed to give their ser­ solution - their attempt to suppress what they call "ter­ political activity of the Movement for Inter-raCial Justice vices. Some of them absolutely gratis and others at a very rorism." and Equality (MIRJE), a civil rights organization based modest fee . We don't call them terrorists. We refer to them as mil­ in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Samarajiwa is an attorney and We also publish Justice in English and Sinhala. itants. They are fighting for a cause. They are fighting for vice-president of MIRJE. Silva is the secretary of the or­ their rights in the face of government repression by its se ·· ganization. Q. Is Justice published in Tamil? curity forces . MIRJE was formed in 1979 and stated its aims as pro­ Samarajiwa . I'm afraid not. Of course, in Jaffna, the When we call for a political solution, we are against moting "inter-racial justice and equality, in accordance branch publishes their own publications. We need to do a sending the armed forces to the northern and eastern with the following principles: publication in Tamil here. provinces. We are against army occupation there. We say the government should discuss with the politi­ "1. Equality of all rights among the various racial and Silva. Our main task, because we are based in the calleaderships, the leaderships of the armed groups, and linguistic groups in the country. south among the Sinhala people, is to fight against the the political parties of the Tamil people. It should arrive "2. Opposition to communalism and racial injustice communalism, the chauvinism of the Sinhala people. at a political solution that is agreeable to them. and discrimination in all their overt and covert forms. We aim to convince them through our propaganda and "3. Opposition in the area of inter-racial relationships agitational work of the need for a political solution to the Q. Has the government harassed MIRJE? to all anti-democratic policies and procedures of govern­ Tamil question. We try to educate the Sinhala that Tamils ment, all repressive legislation and repressive action of Samarajiwa . Well, our former secretary is now in are citizens of this country, and they must be treated prison. security forces. equally. "4. Upholding in the area of inter-racial relationships We also oppose the discriminatory actions of the gov­ Q. Why was he arrested? of democratic and civil rights and human liberties. ernment. For example, the colonization of Tamil areas "5. Upholding of the rights to full and free citizenship with Sinhala settlers. Samarajiwa. He was arrested ' because he was sus­ of all the people of this country, including the Tamil We also question Sinhala being the only official lan­ pected of belonging to a party that has taken an antigov­ people on the plantations and elsewhere. guage in the country. The Tamil language is not recog­ ernment stance. "6. Opposition to racial discrimination against estate nized as an official language. This leads to various diffi­ But that's not a justification. This is supposed to be a workers and others in the fields of employment, educa­ culties for the Tamil youth getting jobs, getting promo­ five-star democracy according to our president. tion, housing, and health. tions, and going to universities. He has been in prison now for nearly two months. And "7. Fostering the union of workers and peasants of all there is no indictment. He's just being interrogated and races in the struggle for inter-racial justice and equality." Q. Is Tamil taught in the schools? kept in a police cell . Militant editor Malik. Miah interviewed Samarajiwa Silva. The government is not in favor of what we are and Silva at MIRJE's Colombo office on January 16. Samarajiwa. As a medium of instruction, it's found trying to do. The government wants to maintain its polit­ even here in Colombo. Of course-; it's used in the Tamil ical support base and doesn't want to do anything that * * * areas. will erode its political support among the Sinhala masses. Question . Could you explain what MIRJE is and why But that's not all there is to it. As long as Tamil oc­ We, as MIRJE, are trying to build inter-racial justice it was formed? cupies the second position, and Sinhala- the language and equality. This puts us in conflict with the govern­ of the majority- is the only officiallangua~. there will ment's discrimination against the Tamils. Ainsley Samarajiwa. MIRJE stands for the Movement always be a disadvantage to the Tamils. for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality. We have about 750 We organize public meetings to do this. We have had Silva. There is also the issue of religion- the con­ public meetings with political parties on the need for a to 800 members. Most are in the Colombo area. We have stitutional recognition given to Buddhism as the religion a group in Jaffna, which is quite active. political solution to the ethnic problem. of the state. Hinduism and other religions are not given We distribute leaflets. We agitate for our views. That's that status in the Constitution. At the moment our staff works here in this little office why we constantly come into contact with the police and in Colombo. We try to monitor cases of injustice and This again is discriminatory. All these things contrib­ the CID. cases of hardship suffered by people belonging to a par­ ute towards Tamils being alienated from the state. We defend the rights of the Tamil minority. ticular race. Samarajiwa. The real terrorists are the army and the We also have a legal-assistance program because a Q. MIRJE supports a political solution to the ethnic security forces . We should be afraid of them, not the mil­ large number of people are being held without trial. problem. Could you explain what you mean by a political itants. Many are brought before the high com~ on indictments. solution? State terrorism is the problem. Tamil people's struggle lor sell-determination in Sri Lanka

Continued from ISR/2 government of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the LSSP, Federal Party and the Ceylon Workers Congress- thus widow of the party's founder, however, decided to im­ and the Communist Party was elected to office. This uniting the major groups representing Indian and Ceylon plement the agreement in such a way as to cause an ex­ "popular" government nationalized the tea plantations Tamils. plosion. The government decided to put all persons of In­ and initially carried out some widely supported meas­ But the alliance didn't last long. dian origin -those who had already obtained Sri Lankan ures. But its main accomplishment was to deepen the di­ The CWC, led by Thondaman, was wooed away by citizenship, as well as those who were entitled to i:t under visions between Tamils and Sinhalese. the United National Party - now in opposition to the the 1964 agreement- on a separate electoral register. Jhe government's brutal crushing of a youth revolt led SLFP-Ied government. The UNP promised to remedy the Tamil leaders called the government's actions dis­ by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in 1971 ex­ grievances of stateless Indian Tamils and upgrade the criminatory. Antigovernment protests were organized. posed the phoniness of the LSSP's and CP's "socialism." status of the Tamil language once returned to office. The UNP decided to oppose the registration. In the It also was a warning to Tamils favoring autonomy. The UNP's 1977 election manifesto also promised to 1965 elections the UNP was put back in office. The The United Front government's adoption of a new summon an all-party conference to discuss these issues Tamil vote was decisive. Sinhala chauvinist constitution in 1972 brought this and pledged to implement the conference's decisions. Once back in office, the UNP dropped the registration home. The new constitution gave the government sweep­ The CWC had never favored the Federal Party's, now and adopted provisions for the "reasonable" use of the ing emergency powers that would be used to curtail dem­ TULF's, call for autonomy for the northern and eastern Tamil language. This was done to live up to apromise ocratic rights. The government undemocratically ex- . provinces. Most Indian Tamils lived in areas surrounded made to Tamil organizations. tended the life of parliament by two years until 1977. by Sinhala people. They were a minority. The CWC's The UNP government, however, refused to grant the The new constitution also explicitly stated: "The Re­ main demand had always been for citizenship rights for Federal Party's main demand: for regional autonomy in public of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost its members without papers. thenorthem and eastern provinces. The UNP said that an place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the state to integrated Sri Lanka can only be based on a Sinhala­ protect and foster Buddhism." Shift to Eelam dominated state. Soon after the constitution was adopted, the main For Ceylon Tamils, the years of discrimination by the A turning point in modem Sri Lankan history occurred Tamil opposition groups formed an alliance called the Sinhala-majority government made the issue of auto­ with the 1970 elections where a United Front coalition Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). It included the nomy and self-determination more central. From 1973 to 1977 militant Tamil nationalism significantly increased. The bourgeois nationalist leadership of the Tamil United Liberation Front made a historic shift in its posi­ tion in 1976. At their convention that year, a resolution was adopted "to restore and reconstitute the Free, Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of Tamil Eelam." The TULF ran on ·this separatist platform in the 1977 parliamentary elections, winning the overwhelming majority of votes in the northern province and a simple majority in the eastern province. The TULF became the largest opposition party in the parliament. The UNP be­ came the governing party, routing the SLFP-led United Front coalition. The new government of J.R. Jayewardene lived up to one of its pre-election promises by enacting two laws: recognizing Tamil as a national language while maintain­ ing Sinhala as the official state language; and abolishing the distinction between citizens by descent and by regis­ Sri Lankan government is trying to militarily crush democratic struggle of Tamil people. Right, troops on patrol tration. In Jaffna in northern province where Ceylon Tamils are concentrated. Left, Tamil guerrilla fighters in training. Continued on next page

.. Tile 'Militant Mardi 21, ,1986 March ISR/5

Continued from previous page These moves led S. Thondarnan, president of the CWC, to join the government in 1978 as Minister of Rural Industrial Development. It was the first time such a prominent and powerful Indian Tamil had joined a gov­ ernment since independence. But Jayewardene's government made no similar moves to grant a second demand: regional autonomy. The majority of Tamils in the north and east became more militant as a result of this "betrayal." Most Tamils had voted for the UNP. They became disillusioned in the central government's intentions to ever grant autonomy or even protect their civil rights. This affected the leadership of the TULF, which for three decades had been primarily based on Ceylon Tamils in Colombo. The radicalization of the Tamil population increased pressure for self-determination and led to a shift in leadership from Colombo to Jaffna in the north. The UNP used its big majority in parliament - 140 out of 168 members of parliament-and its alliance with the ewe to draft its own sweeping new constitution in 1978. The objective was to give even more power to the central government. The new constitution established a presidential system. A prime minister and parliament In 1983, government-inspired mobs carried out pogrom against Tamils. More than 2,000 were murdered. Here, would remain, as existed since 1948, but with less pow­ street in capital city of Colombo where hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed. After pogrom, tens of ers. thousands of Tamils became refugees. Ceylon Tamils took this new constitution as another at­ tack on their democratic rights. They felt they were being isolated in their own country. Discrimination was on the Many Tamils look to the Indian government to place At the same time, most working people- Sinhalese, rise. pressure on the Sri Lankan government to protect their Tamils, Muslims- favor a negotiated settlement. There Jayewardene was sworn in as president in 1978. In rights. The Indian government has been critical of reac­ is growing pressure on the government to reach a politi­ 1982 the parliament voted to extend its term six years to tionary attacks on Tamil rights and has told the Jayewar­ cal solution. 1989. This was narrowly ratified in a national referen­ dene government its concerns. This pressure is one reason., why basic democratic dum later in the same year. The ruling Congress Party of India feels pressure from rights still exist in the southern parts of the country. The From all indications, the central government was dig­ the 50 million Tamils in the state of Tamil Nadu, as well Prevention of Terrorism Act is used, but very selectively. ging in, not planning to concede any rights to Ceylon as the fact that Sri Lanka has been an important ally in the Trade unions can meet; meetings are held. Tamils. · region. Sri Lanka, like India, was a founding member of Democratic rights organizations can have public of­ the Movement of Non-Aligned Nations. It still remains in fices and distribute anti-government newspapers. Armed struggle launched that body despite the UNP's proirnperialist tilt, which in­ It was in this context in the late 1970s that Tamil cludes military ties with the Israeli government. The Is­ MIRJE separatist groups began to grow and launched the armed raeli army provides counterinsurgency training with the In Colombo, for instance, a civil rights organization­ struggle for Tamil Eelarn - an independent Tamil coun­ nod of the U.S. government . . the Movement for Inter-racial Justice and Equality try. Also, India is opposed to the breakup of Sri Lanka for (MIRJE) - is campaigning for the release of all political There are five armed groups. Four are in the Eelarn its national interests. It is concerned about its own inter­ prisoners and for "the government, all political forces National Liberation Front (ENLF): the Liberation Tigers nal ethnic and communal problems and the impact of an and mass organizations to reinforce and strengthen the of Tamil Eelarn (LTTE), the Eelarn People's Revolution­ independent Tamil state on the region as a whole. drive toward a negotiated and just political solution." ary Liberation Front (EPRLF), the Eelarn Revolutionary At the same time, the Indian rulers approach the ques­ MIRJE is mainly composed of Sinhalese democrats in Organization of Students (EROS), and the Tamil Eelarn tion pragmatically, just as they did with the breakup of the southern part of the country. It puts out Sinhala and Liberation Organization (TELO). The fifth group is the Pakistan in 1971 with the formation of Bangladesh. They English-language publications. Supporters include lead­ People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelarn supporteq Bangladesh once it became clear it was not ers of a number of trade unions, Christian organizations, (PLOTE). • going to be crushed by Pakistan. and left groups, as well as academics. (See accompany­ The mainly parliamentary Tamil United Liberation The Sri Lankan government, on the other hand, is ing interview with two MIRJE leaders.) Front (TULF) has no armed wing. maintaining its firm resistance to the movement for self­ There are two important trade union coalitions calling Last July the six groups participated in talks with the determination in the northern and eastern provinces. It for a political solution to the Tamil liberation war. They Sri Lankan government in Thirnphu, Bhutan. This was a ·not only rejects Eelarn, but regional autonomy too. are the Group of 21 Trade Union Organizations and the few weeks after a fragile cease-fire was agreed to January Jayewardene made this position crystal clear in a 12 Joint Trade Union Action Committee Organizations. 18 by the Tamil groups and the Sri Lankan government. number of interviews with the major Indian press in Jan­ The former includes unions led by or closely tied to the The talks were arranged by the Indian government. uary. In an interview with Hindu, for example, he said: reformist LSSP and Communist Party, as well as trade The meeting lasted for six days but did not resolve any "We want a political solution. But you can't have a polit­ unions led by more radicalleaderships such as the Ceylon issues. ical solution with terrorists. This is a military problem. Mercantile Union. · The talks resumed again in August but collapsed when They seek a military solution." The " 12 trade unions" front's leading union is the Gov­ the six Tamil groups walked out to protest an army mas­ In a speech to parliament, UNP leader Cyril Matthew ernment Clerical Service Union (GCSU), which led the sacre of Tamils in Vavuinya and Trincornallee, Sri explained: "Terrorism cannot be stopped and has never . 1980 aborted general strike that was defeated by the gov­ Lanka. b~en stopped by the means of the law. Terrorism has ernment. At the first round of talks, however, the six Tamil been stopped by terrorism. In no other way is it possi­ The Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU), which or­ groups set out four basic principles on which any solution ble . . .. Terrorists have to be killed because they are ter­ ganizes clerical and industrial workers, is one of the should be based: recognition of Tamils as a nationality, rorists. They are like mad dogs and no better than that." strongest unions in the country, with nearly 30,000 mem­ their right to self-determination, their right to a horne­ There is general agreement in the Sri Lankan ruling bers. It has branches across the country including in land, and citizenship rights for Indian Tamils who had class on Jayewardene's policy in opposing Tamil rights. Tamil areas. made Sri Lanka their horne. The capitalist opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party's criti­ Its general secretary, BaJa Tarnpoe, himself a Ceylon The government refuses to discuss their demands. Its cism of the government is that it isn't defending the inter­ Tamil, is also a prominent civil rights lawyer. He is pre­ decision to participate in talks reflects the general senti­ ests of the Sinhala majority effectively. The former prime sently defending a Tamil Catholic priest for aiding the ment in Sri Lanka for a political solution. This is true for minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, even says she has a · Tamil militants. The government is attempting to use this Sinhalese workers and farmers, as well as Tamils and solution to the "troubles," but won't reveal them unless widely publicized trial to show the world that Tamil Muslims. new parliamentary elections are called. priests are really "terrorists." The government maintains that terrorists only under­ In line with its divide-and-rule policy, the UNP-Ied On the stance of the CMU to the struggle in the north stand state violence. In 197-9 the government adopted a government continues to collaborate with the Ceylon and east, Tampoe explained: "We have a duty to speak on Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), giving it the author­ Workers Congress. In January it reached a third agree­ behalf of the working class and guide others by taking a ity to violate basic democratic rights. ment on the stateless Indian Tamil issue - a main de­ clear stand on the rights of t)Je Tarnil-speaking minorities Under this dictatorial law, the government can. arrest mand of the ewe. (Tamil and Muslim) to determine freely for themselves and detain anyone on suspicion of being a "terrorist," The new agreement -once implemented - will grant the way in which to govern their own destinies and to without access to lawyers or relatives, for up to 18 citizenship to 94,000 Tamil plantation workers of Indian develop themselves economically, culturally, and so­ months. There is no formal charge, no jury. origin. cially." "We are not going to run away from this country ," he In 1983 the UNP government amended the constitu­ In 1964 it was estimated that there were 975,000 estate added. "We must continue to be in the forefront to defend tion. The new Sixth Amendment outlaws the demand fot workers without citizenship. Sri Lanka had agreed to democratic rights and human rights, as we have always separatism and requires all members of parliament to dis­ grant citizenship to 375,000 and India to 600,000. But done." avow support for Eelarn. 94,000 Indian Tamils refused to be uprooted. The strong solidarity for Tamil democratic rights with­ The 15 TULF members of parliament refused and its A significant aspect of this new pact is it carne after S. in a section of the union movement is a factor in how far central leaders went into exile in Madras, India. Thondarnan's CWC threatened a three-month work stop­ the government is able to go in its terror campaign against Less than a year later, government-inspired mobs page to "pray" for peace and an end to the problem of the Tamil people. launched an anti-Tamil pogrom. More than 2,000 people statelessness. This action not only would have harmed The U. S. government is concerned about Sri Lanka's were murdered. Tamil businesses were burned. Homes production but the fragile alliance between the ewe and unity. The official U.S. position is that the Sri Lankan were attacked. Tamil unionists were chased down. UNP. government is responsible for any just grievances the Members of the government's thug-run "trade union," In spite of the stepped-up state terror in the north and Tamil people may have. But U.S. officials add that, in the JSS, led the assault. This so-called union hardly east, the separatist groups continue to gain support. their view, Tamils are not persecuted by the government. existed until the UNP took office in 1977. "We are now stronger and more confident than be­ U.S. officials point to the number of Tamils in govern­ After the 1983 pogrom, tens of thousands of Tamils ­ fore," said a leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil ment, the courts, and other state institutions. Indian and Ceylonese - became refugees. Many went Eelarn. He explained that the guerrilla groups now have Working people internationally should solidarize with abroad to India and Europe; others were placed in settle­ 40 military bases scattered across the northern and east­ the just, democratic struggle of the Tamil people and op­ ments in Sri Lanka. em provinces. pose th~ terrorist war of the Sri Lankan government. March ISR/6 Namibian independence struggle: speech hy SWAPO leader

local and foreign journalists, church people, and foreign total discreditation. Its authors have ceased to wallow in ANGOLA visitors from entering districts in the war area without a their own delusions that they could arrange unjust deals written permit issued from the South African police. In in our region. addition to the permit, the person· entering any of these areas must be escorted by members of the South African Part of worldwide struggle army . This is designed to ensure that nobody leaks out in­ SW APO considers our own struggle for national and formation about the atrocities being committed by the oc­ social liberation as an element of the worldwide struggle cupation army in the rural areas where the bulk of the against national and class oppression, fascism, and neo­ Namibian population lives. colonialism. Independent Namibia, under SWAPO, will identify itself with the interests, wishes, and aspirations of the black people at home and in the diaspora. Our vast SWAPO's guerrilla network and under-populated Namibia will have plenty of room However, despite this blackout, SWAPO and the for all those progressive blacks and other people who churches in Namibia are able to receive and disseminate may wish to come live with us and help us to develop our fairly up-to-date information about what is happening in . country's vast resources to the benefit of all those who Namibia. This information is obtained through live in it. SWAPO's guerrilla network; the news services of the We in SWAPO are conscious of the fact that quite too churches in Namibia, and through Namibians who are often fighters for national liberation tend to forget, after occasionally allowed to travel abroad on business and winning victory, those who have supported them during other trips. The main problem is , therefore, how to dis­ their struggle. I pledge to you here today, in the name of seminate such information adequately in order to enable SWAPO, that we will not forget those of you who have SOUTH our supporters in North America and other parts of the stood by us in the hours of great need. This pledge will world to explain more effectively the plight of our people remain true, not only with regard to the blacks in the and their heroic struggle for liberation. It is our hope that Americas, but also to all other friends who have support­ the many contacts ·which we have made during my cur­ ed us in the course of our long and difficult struggle, rent tour of North America will enable us to disseminate those people who share with us the ideals of popular de­ more information about Namibia. mocracy, peace, social progress, anti-imperialism and We also hope to be able to supply inforrilation on antiracism. Namibia to the solidarity organizations and progressive I would like to restate one important axiom that, in our .community newspapers in a relatively shorter time than fight to bring about freedom and socio-economic justice Continued from ISR/3 we have done in the past. in society, we must always remember the fact that there is crises. The war has also begun to expose some of the Concerning the now widely discredited U.S. policy of very little thatwe can achieve in the modem world with­ weaknesses inherent in the South African army. For ex­ "constructive engagement," I would like to say this reac­ out effective organization. In this connection, I would ample, there is widespread frustrations, born of many tionary policy has been an ill-conceived and short-sighted like to congratulate you, dear brothers and sisters from years of waging a war which Pretoria can never win . The faith in the long-term survival · of the apartheid state the USA, for having created the National Conference of casualty levels among the white South African soldiers which the Reagan administration regards as an important Black Lawyers (NCBL) in order to combine your intel­ have also become high, increasing the rate of desertion bulwark against the so-called Soviet expansion in Africa. lectual resources and professional competence in defense from the racist army. Thousands of young white South Therefore, from this standpoint of the Reagan adminis­ of the rights and interests of the downtrodden blacks and Africans are leaving their country, and Namibia, for self­ tration, the fascist apartheid regime had to be supported others in this part of the world. imposed exile in Western Europe and North America in ·both overtly and covertly. The agony and sufferings of order to avoid being drafted to fight in Namibia. Many the black majority in both Namibia and South Africa I would like to point out, too, that it is thanks to others are serving prison terms for their refusal to go from under apartheid fascism is of no concern to Ronald SWAPO's organizational ability that the Namibian patri­ military service in Namibia. Reagan and his administration. ots have been able to withstand the storm of apartheid re­ Draft \iodging and desertion from the South African T,he Re~gan admiqistration has encouraged and abet­ pression and to bring Namibia to the threshold of its inde­ army is, moreover, aggravating Pretoria's already acute fed the raCist white 'rriinofity' state in its brutal campaign pendence. NCBL's ability to sponsor and organize our defense manpower situation. Over 50 percent of South of destabilization of the neighboring independent African tour of North America and this important gathering is an Africa's white male population between the ages of 17 countries with a view to forcing them to submit to the impressive demonstration of what can be accomplished and 55 is engaged in some form of security and defense idea of a peaceful coexistence with apartheid fascism . when a people have made a decision to make a collective activity. But a big number of them is also badly needed to The submission of the neighboring independent African organizational effort in pursuit of a noble ideal. perform jobs that are reserved for whites only in the states to the dictates of Pretoria was to lead to the isola­ I would like to, once again, thank you all for the warm South African economy. As a consequence of this acute tion of SW APO and the ANC2 and to the liquidation of and fraternal hospitality that you have extended to me manpower problem, South Africa was increasingly their military organizations, PLAN and Umkhonto we and my two comrades during our month-long tour of forced to use mercenaries in its military operation in Sizwe.3 This strategy was to be realized by means of North America. I would also like to urge you to continue Namibia. The futility is , however, obvious for any nation what the Reagan administration has called a "comprehen­ with your good solidarity work with oppressed but strug­ which tries to rely on the use of mercenaries for its de­ sive peace process" in southern Africa. This "peace proc­ gling people of Namibia and South Africa. You must fense. ess" was ostensibly to lead to the consolidation and en­ know that, although our victory is both certain and within These stresses and strains of the racist South African trenchment of the oppressive status quo in South Africa reach, many more and bitter battles lie ahead. army are bound to become even more obvious in the and puppet independence in Namibia. You must prepare yourselves to continue to support the struggle in South Africa when it will be transformed from months to come because, in addition to the 100,000 The policy has, however, failed because it was ill-con­ troops deployed on the Namibian battlefront, Pretoria has the present mass political resistance into generalized ceiv~d and short-sighted. The Reagan administration recently been forced to deploy some 10,000 more troops armed struggle. You must resist the pacifist view of the failed to understand the basic underlying logic of the situ­ struggle in southern Africa. We are confronted with the · to deal with the escalating mass uprising in the African ation in southern Africa that no regional peace is possible townships across South Africa. This new situation is ugly reality of limitless violence by apartheid South Af­ without the elimination of the apartheid system, which is rica; and, as such, to try to view our struggle from a over-stretching the regime's defense line, which now ex­ the root cause of all the armed and political tensions in tends over 3,200 kilometers, from the Atlantic Ocean, pacifist standpoint is to wittingly or unwittingly assist the that part of the world. white minority racists in South Africa to continue to kill cutting across the borders of Angola, Botswana, Zim­ The linking of Namibia's independence to the presence babwe, and Mozambique, to the Indian Ocean. and oppress millions of blacks without these racists being of Cuban troops in Angola is one of the key planks of called to account for their heinous crimes. . South Africa's inability, over the last 25 years, to Ronald Reagan's imperialistic policy towards southern ' check SWAPO's preponderant political influence and The apartheid regime will only surrender state power Africa. It assumed that, as a result of prolonged, destruc­ to the peoples of Namibia and South Africa under intense broadening armed struggle has led to a drastic increase in tive military aggression by South Africa, Angola would the regime's methods of repression against the Namibian political pressure, armed struggle, and tightening global submit to the dictates of Washington and Pretoria to sanctions. Only in this way will it be forced to allow the · people in recent years . For example, a martial law and a 4 agree to send the Cubans home, bring the UNIT A pup­ Namibian_people to proceed to independence through the dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed in the northern pets into the Angolan government, and compel lhe areas of Namibia since 1981. These draconian measures implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 4355 MPLA leadership to abandon its solidarity with and sup­ and to agree to genuinely negotiate with the true repre­ have provided the South African occupation army with port to the oppressed people of Namibia and South Af­ unlimited power to kill , ab(luct, arrest, detain, torture, sentatives of the oppressed people of South Africa, led by rica. None of this has happened; and as a consequence, the ANC. Therefore, you must continue to demand the rape, and destroy the property of the population, espe­ the policy of "constructive engagement" is now facing cially in the war areas. In this connection, South Africa release of all political prisoners in Namibia and South has created a number of special murder squads, such as Africa, the imposition of comprehensive mandatory Koevoet (Crowbar), Takkies, and Etango. These units, 2. The African National Congress, which is supported today by sanctions on South Africa, and the passing of the particularly Koevoet, have been responsible for a long the great majority of Black South Africans, was founded in Schroeder Bill6 in the U.S. House of Representatives, chain of sordid atrocities committed by the South African 1912 to oppose the racist policies of the white minority regime. which is intended to stop the U.S. -based transnational army in Namibia against thousands of Namibians. With the consolidation of apartheid after World War II, it Jed corporate monopolies from exploiting the Namibian massive protests against pass Jaws and other brutal racist jloJi­ Little information has filtered out of Namibia about people's natural resources without their consent. In short, cies. stay the course of moral and material support to our strug­ these atrocities. But to cover up its heinous crimes, South In 1955 it convened the Congress of the People, which Africa has thrown a blanket information blackout over adopted the Freedom Charter, calling for a united, democratic, gle. Our victory will be your victory. Namibia. One of the methods by which this blackout has nonracial South Africa. been effected is censorship of the local. press, which is The ANC was outlawed in 1960. 5. United Nations Security Council resolution 435 calls for a not allowed to report anything relating to the activities of Its central leaders include Nelson Mandela, in prison since ·cease-fire, restriction of South African troops to their bases, the occupation army without the approval of the South 1962, and Oliver Tambo. and withdrawal of all but I ,500 South African troops prior to African Defense Ministry. With the exception of well­ 3. Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) was founded by the start of the election campaign. All South African troops known apologists of the apartheid regime, even the local Nelson Mandela and others in 1961 after the banning of the Af­ would be withdrawn after elections overseen by United Nations rican National Congress. It carries out armed actions against the white journalists in Namibia are not allowed to enter the observers. apartheid regime. 6. Submitted by Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.), H.R. 2589 war zone and report on what is happening there. Further­ 4. The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, more, the blackout was reinforced recently when, in is aimed at U.S. companies that participate in Namibia's min­ led by Jonas Savimbi, is a terrorist organization. It operates as ing industry under the South African occupation. It bars these March this year, South Africa imposed the so-called Se­ part of the I 0-year war waged by the South African rulers, wbo companies from making any use of Namibia's natural resources curity Districts Proclamation. This proclamation covers arm and finance UNIT A, against the government of Angola. "without the permission of the United Nations Council for six areas of Namibia and is intended to further-prevent The U.S. government also backs UNITA. Namibia."

14 The Militant March 28, 1986 25,000 march.in .L.A. for abortion rights Continued from back page Many of the marchers, spirits still high, backed the March 16 action, including the chose to seek shelter rather than stay for the Pacific Northwest Council of the Interna­ rally. For a time the flow of marchers exit­ tional Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, ing the rally site was as great as those arriv­ United Electrical Workers Union Local ing. Passing streams of marchers saluted 142, American Federation of State, County one another with chants. and Municipal Employees District 36, and Many thousands stayed for the rally, the Santa Clara County Central Labor standing ankle-deep in mud and continuing Council. · to cheer speakers throughout the nearly Two Hormel workers, members of the two-hour program. United Food and Commercial Workers "The people are rising and you are show­ (UFCW) who were fired for refusing to ing it," Ed Asner told the crowd to loud cross picket lines supporting Local P-9 applause. Former president of the Screen members on strike in Austin, Minnesota, Actors Guild, Asner has been an outspoken staffeg a table at the rally site to gather sup­ critic in the labor movement of U.S. inter­ port for the strikers. vention in Nicaragua. Many banners carried the names of Actress Morgan Fairchild and actor women's professional, health, or religious Robin Foxworth of television's -"Falcon organizations. Crest" were among the first speakers. Jane A contingent opposing U.S. intervention Fonda followed soon. Other celebrities in Central America distributed information ·were present, including Cybil Sheppard, publicizing the April 19 march in San Fran­ Ron Liebman, and Carrie Fisher, among cisco. The Nicaragua Task Force displayed others. Many stood for hours in rain listening to rally speakers demand safe, legal abortion. a banner. Los Angeles is the entertainment capital A University of Southern California psy­ of the world, and dozens of Hollywood fig­ chology student told the Militant she was ures came forward to lend their names as Marchers continued to file into the rally their own lives - working in the face of here because "it's time to take a stand. I be­ sponsors. area well after the program was under way, terror. They have to worry not just about lieve in choice, and I don't like having my Ruth Miller of the Coalition of Labor as several speakers noted, each time spark­ rain, but about bullets coming in their win­ or my kid's choice impeded by others." Union Women told the marchers: "We are ing a new wave of cheers from the crowd. dows." Marie Guevara held the U. C. Davis ban­ the women who work in the fields, in the Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley Downer said, "We are under attack be­ ner. A 21-year-old mathematics major, she factories, in the offices, and on the stages. greeted the marchers, saying, "If this wea- cause the antiabortionists have had no suc­ had traveled along with two busloads of We're all kinds of workers. We are the ther won't stop you, nothing will." . cess reaching the hearts of the people. So students from Davis. Like Guevara, many ones who understand what it is to have Other elected officials included state As­ in a totally cowardly way, they come to at­ Latinas marched with student contingents. children, what it is to provide for them, and semblywoman Maxine Waters and tack individual women" arriving at the When it was pointed out that she had support them. We join with you here today Pennsylvania Congressman Robert Edgar. clinics. grown up at a time when the right of choice for one very good reason. We believe that Several others were present but did not "Our clinics have been shot at, bombed, was taken by most as a given, Guevara all women, including and particularly speak. and burned down," Downer said. said, ''That's right, and there's no way women who work, must have the right to Eleanor Smeal returned to the micro­ Other speakers included Gaye Williams we're going back to the old way!" choose if, when, and whether they should · phone to salute the striking TWA flight at­ of the Religious Coalition for Abortion The Young Socialist Alliance contingent have children. tendants. She pointed out that they face a Rights. · prominently displayed its banner. "It has always been strange to me that boss "who thinks women don't need as As the rally got under way, a noxious Chants heard along the march route in­ those people who deny us the right to abor­ much money to feed their families as men odor began to permeate the air around the cluded: "What do we want? Free choice! tion and the right to birth control never sup­ do. I urge all of you- don't cross those stage. Thought at first to be a possible elec­ When do we want it? Now," "Hey, hey, port us when we talk about child care. picket lines." trical fire, it was soon determined to be the no, no, the Hyde Amendment's got to go," ''The women of CLUW support NOW, Smeal noted that NOW's first legal ac­ work of march opponents. Some two dozen "Let it rain, let it pour, we know what and we support any movement that gives us tion was to force the airlines in the 1960s to "right to lifers" set up station near the dem­ we're fighting for: Free choice," and "Our the right to abortion and the right to live our drop rules forcing female flight attendants onstration, displaying signs emitting a nox­ struggle, our fight, abortion is a woman's lives and protect our bodies." to quit if they got married, had children, or ious odor of their own. right." NOW President Eleanor Smeal told the turned thirty-five. NOW President Smeal drew loud cheers As the drenched marchers entered the rally that the "reason we had so much con­ Introducing Carol Downer, director of when she said, "There is no way we're ever rally site in the park, they were forced to fidence in calling these marches is that the Federation of Feminist Women's going to go back one more inch. We're seek islands of high ground among the women and men throughout the country Health Centers, Smeal said Downer repre­ only going forward. We're here to stay, many puddles ~ even ponds - that had have said, 'We've had it.' The moral sents those who are "working at risk of and we are moving, moving, moving." accumulated during several days of con­ majority is neither. tinuous rain. "We want the organizers of those anti­ Confronted with the continuing down­ human rights referenda to know that we pour, rally organizers kicked things off will never, ever let California deny poor ahead of the scheduled noon start. Speak­ women the right to legal abortion." Striking Hormel workers ers took the microphone to give ab­ "We say to those who are faint-hearted," breviated versions of their talks before a she continued, "'Look at the message we sea of umbrellas in the field .beyond the are sending you today. We shall over­ win support at March 16 stage. come.'" BY JERRY FREIWIRTH workers, and others -came by to talk and LOS ANGELES - Support for the find out how their unions could aid this strike against Geo. A. Hormel Co. was crucial strike. Members of the National Or­ very visible among participants at the ganization for Women, young women British activist tours U.S. March J6 Los Angeles abortion rights from campus women's organizations, and demonstration. Two striking packinghouse activists against U.S. intervention in Cen­ to back Irish freedom fight workers - ·Mark "Bear" Martsching, from tral America came by to shake the strikers' the Ottumwa, Iowa, Hormel plant, and hands and offer their support. Especially warm solidarity was offered back Irish freedom, Collins was marching Frank Vet, from the Fremont, Nebraska, President Reagan met with visiting Irish plant - came to the march to get out the to the Hormel strikers by the large contin­ Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald on St. 'in New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade in gent of striking TWA flight attendants who the Irish Northern Aid Committee's contin­ truth abOut their strike and solicit support Patrick's Day, March 17, to press for a from the tens of thousands of march partic­ attended the rally. The Horrnel workers, $250-million U.S. aid package to British­ gent. Irish Northern Aid, which raises carrying a banner that said, "P-9 Proud, funds for the families of prisoners in North­ ipants. ruled Northern Ireland. Martsching and Vet were joined in this boycott Hormel," joined the militant and The aid is aimed at sweetening a ern Ireland, has been slandered by U.S. , spirited flight attendants' contingent in the British, and Irish officials as supporting effort by nearly a dozen West Coast union­ November 1985 agreement between the ists who are active in supporting the Hor­ march. Together they led other marchers in "terrorists." Irish and British governments, in which mel strike in their cities. Despite a torren­ chants supporting both the packinghouse London gave Dublin a voice in Northern In Philadelphia, Collins will speak on tial downpour that made literature distribu­ workers and the flight attendants. Ireland in return for Dublin's acceptance of "Ireland: Britain's Vietnam" on March 20 tion difficult, the Hormel strikers and their continued British rule there. at Distfict Council47 of the American Fed­ supporters set up information tables at both FitzGerald and Reagan also attacked eration of State, County and Municipal the march assembly area and the rally site Good 'Militant' sales those in the United States who raise funds Employees. and got out thousands of leaflets, buttons, for the families of Irish patriots held in at West Coast action He will be on WDVT radio there at noon and bumper stickers. Most popular of all British jails. was a button produced by the workers from on Friday, March 21 , and will speak at a for abortion rights A different message is being given to Ottumwa, who were locked out by the people in the United States by Martin Col­ noon, March 22, rally against U.S. aid to the Nicaraguan contras at John F. Kennedy company after they honored picket lines set Continued from Page 3 lins. Collins, a leader of the British Labour up by Hormel workers from Local P-9 in Plaza. the United Food and Commercial Workers, Party's Labor Committee on Ireland, is on Austin, Minnesota. The button says sim­ a six-city tour of the United States, ex­ On March 23 Collins will speak at 4:00 on the side of young women and men fight­ p.m. at Keene State College in New Hamp­ ply: "Local 431, Ottumwa, Iowa. 1986 - ing for women's rights- if you want to be plaining that the only solution to the strife the year of union solidarity." in Northern Ireland is to end British rule. shire. The following day he will address on the winning side, join the YSA," Garza In a tour that began March 14 in Albany, the Militant Labor Forum in Boston at 7:30 As one young woman said while buying said. New York, Collins is telling audiences at p.m. Sharing the platform in Boston will the button, "Yeah, 1986 is shaping up to be Matilde Zimmermann, SWP candidate meetings and through radio interviews .that be Bill Homans, a civil liberties attorney a good year for us and a bad year for Hor­ for governor of California; Greg Jackson, the Anglo-Irish Accord is not in the inter­ who has investigated British trials in mel, the antiabortion forces, and dictators SWP candidate for lieutenant governor of ests of working people in Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland. like Marcos and Duvalier." Hundreds of California; and Amy Husk, SWP candidate or the United States. Collins will also meet with members of dollars were collected through sales of this for U.S. Senate from Oregon, also greeted Collins is also meeting with figures in the Massachusetts State Legislature and button and through generous donations the participants at the open house. the U.S. labor movement to discuss how with prominent labor figures. made by the abortion-rights rally partici­ A Hormel worker from Ottumwa, Iowa, trade unionists in Britain and the United The British activist, who edited the book pants. one of those who was fired for refusing to States can work together to foster Ireland's Ireland After Britain, will also visit St. The information tables set up by the cross the picket lines of the striking Hormel reunification. Louis, March 26- 28, and Birmingham, Hormel strikers were busy throughout the workers in Austin, Minnesota, dropped by While Reagan and FitzGerald were in Alabama, March 29- 30, before returning day despite the weather. Many unionists ­ the open house. He was greeted by a ,long the White House slandering those who to New York, March 31- April I. teachers, machinists, service workers, oil standing ovation and chants of "P-9, P-9."

The Militant· · 15,_ Ma,rch ~' J986.-. '· .:-.• Third Congress of Cuban ·communist Party -pages from reporter's notebook

0 0 The Third Congress of the Cuban Communist Party took place in Havana February 4-7. The delegates discussed and adopted a Main Report, presented by party First Secretary Fidel Castro. That report reviewed the progress of the last five years, outlined the shortcom­ ings and problems that must be dealt with, and projected the main lines of de­ velopment for the next fiVe-year period. The congress also adopted resolutions dealing ·· with economic and social guidelines for the coming period, inter­ national policy, and the administrative organization .of the country and made some minor changes in the party sta­ tutes. In addition, the congress elected a new Central Committee and adopted a Billboard in Havana faces offices of U.S. Interests Section (formerly U.S. embassy). It says, "Mr. Imperialist, we have absolutely sweeping report on the criteria and no fear of you!" Aim of government is full participation of people in defense of their country against any imperialist attack. guidelines for the composition of the party's ·leadership bodies. 1,600 proposals and changes coming from been a central concern of the leadership. registered by the Third Congress was the The congress also adopted a draft pro­ these meetings had been incorporated in The Main Report adopted at the First Con­ decision to implement a "broad renewal" of gram of the party, which will now be dis­ the draft resolution before the congress. gress in 1975 noted the challenge facing the leadership bodies. Forty percent of cussed throughout the country - in the The main challenge, numerous delegates the party in this regard. Precisely becaqse those elected to the Central Committee trade unions, women's organizations, stressed, is one of revolutionary leader­ the party "is formed by workers with the were new, and a policy of affirmative ac­ student groups, the farmers' associa­ ship. highest prestige among the masses~ with tion for leaders who are young, female, or tion, the armed forces, and the neigh­ Technical aid and favorable long-term great authority and most outstanding Black and mestizo was discussed and borhood committees. At the end of 1986 trade agreements between Cuba and the achievements in labor, they are always the adopted. a special session of the Third Congress other countries of the Council for Mutual first to be chosen to hold any administra­ As Fidel explained it in his report on the will be convened to discuss and incorpo­ Economic Assistance (Soviet Union, East­ tive leadership post." rate changes coming out of the mass dis­ election of the new central committee, "It em Europe, Vietnam, and Mongolia) have It is positive, that report noted, that a was a matter of renewal or death." cussion process now under way. When enabled Cuba to plan for and construct a high percentage of those who assume the program is finally adopted it will re­ For the first time, a party congress dis­ number of modem industrial complexes. leadership responsibilities at farms, fac­ cussed and adopted a policy of promoting place the shorter Programmatic Plat­ Production of sugar, textiles, food, steel, tories, and workplaces, and as officials in form. adopted at the party's first con­ Blacks and mestizos. nickel, petroleum, agricultural equipment, the mass organizations, the party, and "Hypocritical societies that practice ra­ gress in 1975. electrical power, pharmaceuticals, and municipal and provincial government de­ The following sketches are from the cial discrimination are afraid to talk about many other basic products has increased partments, are of working-class origin. this," Fidel told the delegates and guests in notebook of our reporter who attended dramatically. Unless the party takes measures to guaran­ the congress in Havana. · a speech that was carried live on radio and But a modem industrial plant employing tee its continued growth and constant re­ TV throughout Cuba. "Revolutionary thousands of workers does not run on tech­ newal in all work centers, however, it will societies are not." * * * nical know-how alone. First and foremost, cease being a party of workers. "If you do not feel embarrassed to say BY MARY-ALICE WATERS it takes men and women who are able to That class perspective has guided the white or blond, why do you feel. embarras­ On the morning of the second day of the lead their fellow workers. growth of the Cuban Communist Party sed to say Black or mulatto or mestizo? Cuban Communist Party Congress, an SR- Several delegates from Santiago de from the beginning. Today, 37.3 percent of Why? Especially in this country, when we 71 spy plane from the United States pro­ Cuba, for example, spoke of the challenge the party members are production workers, are children of mixed blood. This is our vocatively circled the island, being careful they face in reaching full production capac­ another 5.9 percent are service workers, greatest source of pride, because it is not a not to violate Cuban airspace. Raul Castro, ity at. the giant new Celia. S.~~lie,z textile and 16.5 percent are teachers, profession­ bad mixture, it is an excellent mixture." minister of the Revolutionary Armed complex located in their eastern province. als, and technicians. Castro discussed the history of slavery Forces, reported this event to the delegates, The complex, they noted, already employs · A similar class perspective guides the and racism in Cuba and the legacy inher­ humorously noting that the sonic booms some 7,300 workers in three production construction of the Union of Young Com­ ited from decades of imperialist exploit­ heard over the city of Havana earlier that shifts, but two problems remain: increasing munists and the recruitment of youth lead­ ation. One of the first acts of the victorious morning were obviously the Reagan gov­ the size of the work force and retaining the ers to the party. revolution in 1959 was to outlaw discrimi­ ernment's salute to the Third Congress of skilled workers who have been trained to The Main Report adopted by the Third nation on the basis of race. And the antira­ Cuban communists. operate the technologically advanced Congress noted that "young people work­ cist laws were not just on paper. They were In a more serious vein, however, Raul equipment. ing in production, teaching, or services enforced by the new revolutionary power. noted that such acts frighten no one in One difficulty they pointed to has been make up 59 percent of the membership" of But, as Fidel noted in his report, "it is not Cuba. inadequate housing for the trained person­ the UJC. Another 20 percent are students. enough to establish laws on equality and Moreover, he commented to prolonged nel moving into the area. The housing Women make up 41 percent of the UJC expect total equality." The correction of applause, by the time the Cuban com­ shortage has prompted many to leave and membership. The report, however, pointed historic injustice cannot be left to spon­ munists of the future are celebrating their look for jobs elsewhere. out that women are not fully represented on taneity, he insisted; it has to be consciously 203rd congress in the year 2985 - and Fidel Castro interrupted the discussion the leadership level. Despite progress in promoted. probably well before that - instead of a on this question to explain the context - the last five years, women currently make The promotion of an affirmative action North American spy plane, "what will for the benefit of guests from capitalist up only 19.5 percent of the leadership policy in relation to Blacks and mestizos come from the north will be a plane cariy­ countries who, he was afraid, 'might not cadres. represents another important step forward ing an official government and party dele­ fully understand. "In capitalist countries," In line with a policy of accelerating the by the Cuban Communist Party - a con­ gation to represent the socialist - that is, he remarked, "workers have to fight to promotion of young people to party mem­ tinuation of the process begun at the Sec­ communist - government of the United keep their jobs. But here these workers bership and leadership responsibilities, the ond Congress in 1980 when, Castro noted, States." have numerous possibilities and options. It Main Report observed that hundreds of "we gave the Central Committee a strong is the factory that has to fight to keep them UJC cadre have taken on responsible posi­ dose of feminism, a strong dose of work­ * * * from leaving." tions in the party, the state, and other ers. "(Not only workers "in their condition The Cuban government staunchly de­ spheres in the last five-year period. as leaders," Fidel said, but "workers in fends the rights of all nations to be treated Despite some difficulties of this kind, The report called attention to another im­ their condition as factory workers.") with equal respect and dignity - whether however, the weak spot has not been tech­ portant guideline for party membership, Now, he told delegates, we have "to their people number a hundred thousand or nical preparation and training, insisted one however. "It is highly appropriate for UJC continue along those lines and insist on a hundred million. delegate, the general secretary of the party cadre to spend some time in production or three issues, three promotions"- women, This political principle was clearly dem­ nucleus at the plant. services before being promoted to respon­ Blacks and mestizos, and youth. onstrated by the simultaneous translation The work force includes many young sible positions in the Party. No textbook, In recent years in Cuba it has been services offered guests at the Cuban party workers who have studied abroad and are no· academy can take the place of the ex­ highly unusual to hear revolutionists argue congress. Signs at the front of the conven­ well trained, he noted. But, he added, "it is perience one gains in the work and struggle that affirmative action for Blacks and mes­ tion hall announced that the entire proceed­ not enough to have mastered the technol­ of the rank and file." tizos is necessary to eliminate the legacy of ings were available in Lao, Khmer, Ko­ ogy. You must also know how to lead I asked Julio Canera Gutierrez, the first discrimination. The emphasis has been on rean, Japanese, and Hungarian, as well as people." You must know how to lead the secretary of the UJC in the province of the very real progress of the revolution in Arabic, Portuguese, German, Russian, men and women who will make the pro­ Ciego de A vita, if this guideline is carried eradicating racism - often to the point of French, English, and Spanish. ductive process work. And that, he em­ out in practice. denying that any legacy of racism exists in phasized, you don't learn in a trade school Yes, he assured me, it is the norm: But Cuba. * * * in any country. just as important, he went on, is the com­ Even statistics that would show the real How can we make better use of our own In response to questions posed to the del­ position of the UJC. There is no quota sys­ advances have not been available. Until re­ labor power and the material resources egates by Fidel Castro and Raul Castro, it tem for young worke~s. for women, for cently, Fidel noted, no one knew what per­ available to us to hasten the industrial de­ was established that among the 7,300 em- . Blacks and mulattos, or any other group. centage of the party or its leadership was velopment of our country? Delegates at the ployees at the Celia Sanchez textile plant, But, he said, it is not by chance that a Black and·mestizo. "No one cared to ask," congress centered a great deal of their ·at­ there are currently some ~70 members of majority of our members are workers. he commented, because the attitude was tention on this question. the Communist Party, 1,300 members of "This is not a concession to workers," that "this question was erased in our con­ More than 29 percent of the delegates the Union of Young Communists (UJC), Julio added. "It is simply a recognition of stitution." were currently production workers. Many and 1,500 trained and armed members of the fact that the conditions of one's life de­ In capitalist Cuba, questions about one's other delegates had direct responsibilities the rapid action forces of the Territorial termine consciousness." Only the working race were asked for purposes of 3iscrimina­ related to management, planning, scien­ Troop Militias. Forty-seven percent of the class can lead a socialist revolution, he tion, Fidel continued. So after the revolu­ tific and technical training, and provincial militia troops are women. went on. "We are a working-class party tion people stopped asking. But n6w the government. The economic· ,and social and a working-Class youth organization." situation has changed. It is necessary now guidelines for the next five-year period had * * * to keep track, he insisted, :'because we been .discussed by more than 3 million Ensuring the working-class composition * * * have to . s~ how ~is policy of proport!on people prior to the congress, and more than of the Cuban Communist Party has always One of the most important developments advances and how each of the sectors is

16

- ' represented." tion is regulated by planning to meet the According to Fidel's report, 34 percent social needs of all, where everyone is of the Cuban population is Black or mes­ guaranteed a job, whererent is only 10 per­ tizo. Of the new Central Committee, 28.4 cent of income, where health care and edu­ percent are Black or mestizo, which is cation are free? close to the proportion in the party mem­ Capitalists "efficiently" organize the bership as a whole. work force to meet capitalist needs. They Esteban Lazo, a Black who is first secre­ intensify labor and increase the rate of ex­ tary of the party in the province of Matan­ ploitation. The only limit is the conscious­ zas, was one of the newly elected members ness, organization, and struggle of the of the Political Bureau. workers themselves. Following the close of the congress, dis­ Revolutionary workers who are increas­ cussion of this question more than any ingly playing a role in planning and con­ other dominated the public commentary. trolling an economy that produces for need There were many Cubans who felt like the not private profit have a completely differ­ young Black woman taxi driver who told ent set of criteria for organizing production Granma, "This congress made me happy "efficiently." three times over: to be a revolutionary, to In his Main Report, Fidel Castro re­ be a woman, and to be a Black." marked that even if the Cubans have much to learn in the realm of technical effi­ * * * ciency, "becoming the sorcerer's appren­ A big discussion in the Cuban Com­ tice, i.e. , apprentice capitalists, is not the munist Party in the period leading up to the solution." Third Congress concerned the need to ac­ As the congress discussion unfolded, celerate the pace of recruitment of women, The Black Scholar Fidel gave a concrete example. the need to promote women leaders on a Cuban factory worker. Congress noted that to remain working-class party, constant To much laughter, he recounted the preferential basis, and the need to step up growth and renewal in work centers was needed. In important step, 40 percent of kinds of mutual misunderstandings that the educational efforts of the party in com­ those elected to leadership bodies were new, and a policy of affirmative action for had accompanied a recent experiment in bating sexist attitudes toward women. leaders who are young, female, Black, or mestizo was discussed and adopted. joint management of an enterprise in Cuba The heightened consciousness on this partially funded by Spanish capital. question was evident in numerous ways at "There are a lot of things we don't know this congress. ers is not something that can be left to For the first time, Fidel's Main Report about running industries efficiently," Fidel Women today comprise 21.5 percent of chance, Castro insisted in his report to the stated, 14- and 15-year-old students said. "But one thing we do know some­ the party membership, up from less than 15 congress on the election of the new Central "began to receive their pre-military train­ thing about is how to manage industry in percent a decade ago and 18. 8 percent in Committee. It will not happen spontane­ ing and have been organized into small re­ the midst of a revolution that must defend 1980. ously. serve units. itself." But women were 26 percent of the dele- That is why the congress adopted a pol­ "To date, 150,000 young people have That is a political question, Fidel went , gates to the Third Congress. Even more icy of boldly renewingthe party leadership joined these reserve units voluntarily and on, "and it is only with our political princi­ striking was the fact that 41 percent of the bodies, with an emphasis on promoting with parental consent." ples that you can organize a factory in delegates who took the floor in the open young leaders, women, and Blacks. "We Cuba today." sessions of the congress were women. must change what history has created," * * * He explained that the first thing the Of the Central Committee elected by the Fidel told the delegates. And that is what The Main Report adopted by the Third Spanish managers objected to was being Third Congress, 18.2 percent are women. they set out to do. Congress contained some sharp criticism told they had to work together with the That figure represents conscious leader­ of the functioning of the daily press in trade union leadership - that no work ship advances over the last two decades. In * * * Cuba. schedules or other decisions on organizing 1965, at the founding of the Cuban Com­ The negative impact of sexist attitudes While praising Granma and the other na­ the work could be implemented without munist Party, only 5 percent of those toward women - .including on industrial tional and provincial daily newspapers for union agreement. elected to the Central Committee were productivity and efficiency - received their ·efforts· to ptovide a growing number ;~They didn ~t · like that," -Fidel said. women. At the First Congress in 1975, 8.9 pointed attention at the congress. of readers with information in a "sober and That's not the way they are used to or­ percent were women. In 1980 the Second Machismo, delegates pointed out, often precise" manner, the report also noted that ganizing a plant in Spain. "But they liked it Congress elected a Central Committee of prevents the most qualified worker from there are "frequent signs of a mistaken no­ even less when they learned that the party whom 12.4 percent were women. being hired - if that worker happens to be tion of what criticism of economic and· ad­ was organized in the plant, and the Union Fundamental to the advancing social a woman. ministrative activities should be." of Young Communists, too." They learned status of Cuban women is their steadily ris­ It is commonly acknowledged that many In practice, the report said, there is a ten­ that those organizations also had a say in ing educational level and growing integra­ administrators will try not to employ dency to point out problems in an isolated what could be done. tion into the productive labor force. women in skilled jobs in Cuba, arguing way and treat "criticism as though it were a "They learned, for example, that there . At the time of the Cuban revolution, that there is a greater turnover among separate genre in journalism." In fact, criti­ was a militia unit in the plant," Fidel went well over 25 percent of Cuban women were -women workers because of family pres­ cism is simply a method of work, neces­ on, that the workers were aoned, and that illiterate, with the percen~ge sharply sures, that absenteeism is higher among sary to "interpret reality as a whole, to pro­ time for militia training had to be organized higher in rural areas. Today, the campaign women because they take time off to care mote collective action aimed at transform­ into the work schedule. for all adults to complete a ninth-grade for sick children, and that women have the ing it and to overcome deficiencies," the In Cuba, that is part of "efficiently" or­ education is being successfully waged. right to paid maternity leaves of several report said. ganizing production. In 1959 fewer than 10 percent of Cuban months. "In a workers' state like ours," it noted, When it came time for the sugar harvest, women worked outside of their own homes Political Bureau.member Jorge Risquet "criticism of the deficiencies, or mistakes Fidel continued, "the Spanish managers or plots of land. Of those who were em­ gave delegates one example of the kind of in economic or administrative activities is learned we would need 30 volunteers to cut ployed, 70 percent worked as domestic ser­ machismo he said had to be combated. He not made to destroy anybody or damage the cane as part of a national mobilization." vants! recalled that when a large, new cement fac­ people's trust in the Revolution, but rather Naturally, 30 of the hardest workers in the Today 37.3 percent of the work force is tory began operation a short time ago in to confront the cadre on the basis of their plant volunteered and the rest of the work­ female. More than 55 percent of techni­ Cienfuegos, one of the furnace operators own sense of honor, to educate the people, ers agreed to make up for their absence. cians and college graduates are women. No was a young woman who had been trained and point the way to corrective action." "They didn't like the microbrigades, one is employed as a domestic servant. for her job in the German Democratic Re" The report underscored, however, that either," Castro added. He was referring to public. the wea)messes of the Cuban press are not the system by which a great deal of the In explaining the inadequate percentage housing in Cuba is built. A .factory or­ of women in the Cuban Communist Party Risquet commented that he recently simply due to inadequate training or inex­ learned the woman was no longer working perience. The bureaucratic practices of of­ ganizes a construction brigade. While the and its leadership, Fidel referred to this his­ brigade members build apartments, their torical legacy inherited from centuries of at the cement plant. She had married, and ficials and administrators who are afraid of her husband objected to her continuing to a press that is competently doing its job are jobs are covered by other workers· in the colonial domination and imperialist ex­ plant. The new housing is then assigned to ploitation and the fact that only with the work there. also a very real factor. "Our political work," Risquet con­ "Many officials and administrators do the workers at that plant on the basis of victorious socialist revolution in Cuba greatest need. were women able to begin to enter the cluded, "must include the struggle against not expedite the ·work of the journalists or machismo." maintain contact with them," the report Finally, Fidel related, along came Hur­ labor force in significant numbers. ricane Kate last November, one of the most But it takes time and conscious leader­ Risquet's intervention prompted Fidel to stated. "They deny access to unclassified add another example. Recently, he com­ information,. become self-appointed cen­ destructive storms ever to hit Cuba. With ship action for such historic changes in sugar cane stalks battered to the ground by women's economic and social status to be mented, he had been talking with a young sors, try to justify everything, or simply woman doctor working in the family med­ pretend they're not involved." the wind and rain, an extraordinary mobili­ translated into comparable changes in zation of labor power had to be organized women's leadership role. And this is dou­ ical program. He asked her if she was The Cuban journalists covering the con­ being awakened often in the middle of the gress proceedings were glad to hear the to go out and cut the cane by hand. Many bly difficult in an underdeveloped country more workers volunteered, and a great deal with sharply limited resources to devote to night by calls from patients. critical remarks contained .in the report. The doctor told him that her real pmb­ They thought the report would help to of the harvest was saved. creating the kinds of social services that are But that's not the way capitalists or­ necessary to alter women's double burden lem was something else. Her husband got stimulate discussion within the Journalists' very angry because the phone calls awak­ Union of Cuba - which will hold a na­ ganize labor power to produce profits for of domestic labor - the foundation of themselves. women's oppression. ened him. She indicated she was trying to tional congress later this year- and would Sex discrimination has been and remains educate her patients not to call unl~ss it was encourage the press to be more systematic The experience, Fidel said, convinced more prevalent than ethnic or racial dis­ absolutely essential. in going after necessary information and him that it was difficult to operate a factory crimination, Fidel told the delegates. It is And, Fidel told her, she should educate presenting real problems. on the basis of joint management with obvious, he noted, that there has been more her husband as well. A number of journalists also commented capitalists. "Our workers have different progress on overcoming race discrimina­ that the criticisms contained in the report conceptions of why and for whom they tion than prejudice against women. The * * * did not go far enough. produce, and our workers think the statistics on women in the party and in In 1985 another important step was capitalists' concepts are even more alien municipal and provincial bodies of taken in organizing the full participation of * * * than the capitalists think ours are." People's Power offer irrefutable proof. the masses of Cuban people to defend their What motivates people to work effi­ Only we can manage production in The promotion of women who are lead- country against any military attack. ciently and well in a society where produc- Continued on next page ' · • The Militant 17 Young Socialist Alliance 'brings it all together' New YSA chapter formed in Baton Rouge MillitaJnt/IJob Allen YSA is nationwide organization of young workers and students with chapters in 35 cities.

BY KA TY KARLIN tipns I could get there made a lot of sense to staged a mock trial on campus, charging ing so many liberals apologizing for 'com­ BATON ROUGE, La. -This winter, a me.'' Uncle Sam with war crimes. munist evils' that don't exist.'' New Orleans .Young Socialist Alliance After coming to Baton Rouge in the fall "Some of us in the Progressive Students Ferry grew up in Lake Charles, member debated two right-wingers from of 1984, Babin participated in a pro-abor­ Network are socialists, and some are not," Louisiana, where a teacher introduced him the Young Americans for Freedom (Y AF) tion rights demonstration called by the Edwin Ortiz, a PSN leader, said. "The to socialist ideas. When he was 15 the Ira­ here at Louisiana State University. The newly formed LSU chapter of the National common denominator for the PSN is that nian revolution occurred.- "I couldn't un­ Young Socialist Alliance (YSA) is a Organization for Women. we are against U.S. military intervention in derstand why so many people wanted to nationwide organization of young workers, For the past two years activists involved Central America and we are against apart­ throw out the shah, when the press painted students and unemployed youth with chap­ in the LSU chapter of the Progressive Stu­ heid." him as basically a good guy," he said. "So ters in over 35 cities. dents Network have kept up a fast pace of Ortiz himself decided to join the YSA I started reading everything I could find for the "clear perspective it gives." After the debate five leaders of the Pro­ events. In the fall of 1984 they organized a about it. The more I read, the more radical rally at the USS Kidd, a drydocked war­ "YSAers approach every issue with an I became.'' gressive Student Network in Baton Rouge anticapitalist, anti-imperialist perspective, decided to join the YSA themselves. "We ship, _to protest U.S. aid to the contr-.s in The Baton Rouge YSA members are part and figure out how to work on the issue had been working on several different is­ Nicaragua. of the YSA's efforts nationwide to defend They also organized vans of activists to based on that perspective." abortion rights, building and attending sues, and it seemed to us that the YSA Ortiz, 22, became interested in could draw them all together," said John attend last year's April 20 demonstration demonstrations such as the March for for Peace, Jobs and Justice in Washington, socialism while he was growing up in Women's Lives in Washington, D.C. Babin. "All of these issues have the same Puerto Rico. A turning point in his life was root cause- capitalism." D.C. They had a local send-off rally on They will also join ·with others on the April18 dealing withthe same issues as the the 1983 U.S. invasion ofGrenada."'It was LSU campus in the next few months to "We think being in the YSA will be an national event - military intervention in the first time in my lifetime that I was publicize a film series on Central America, educational opportunity for us," Babin Central America and apartheid in South aware of imperialist aggressj~~- Being and a workshop featuring Lois Gibbs. explained."We hope to draw more people Africa. . . from Puerto Rico made me especially iden~ ­ Gibbs is an environmental activist who led into the chapter by continuing our work in In the fall of 1985 the students returned tify with the Grenadians.'; - a fight against the cover-up of the danger these movements. That's where we meet to campus even more. confident. They "The more I read about Maurice involved in the Love Canal toxic dump in' people who have already begun to see what sponsored a visit from a caravan of Sal­ Bishop," he said, "the more I realize what New York .' some of the problems of capitalism are." vadoran refugees; an appearance by a an .important example he set for all revolu­ The YSA is helping tO build two rallies Babin was exposed to radical ideas for · member of Witness for Peace who had tionaries." in Baton Rouge this spring: One is sched­ the first time when he was a student iri Ann been on a boat captured by contras on the Mike Ferry, 20, decided to join the YSA uled for March 20 to commemorate th~ as­ Arbor, Michigan. "The socialist publica~ Nicaraguan-Costa. Rican border; and because it offers "political ac~vjty, not just sassination of El Salvador's Archbishop · political thought.'' _ · ,. Oscar Romero. The other will be'hetd ()n · . "The YSA ii up front about what it April 3 to oppose U.S. ties with apartheid N t b k ' . c b t gress stands for," he said. A leader of PSN, in South Africa¥~ to ~e~d divestm~91 :';: 0 e .00 '· {)0 ' U an par Y COn _ _Ferry first read about tJw ~SA in the Dail:y If yolA-would like tQJoliYthe.YS;A . co~¢.t' t Reveille. ·':In the debate ~·wtth theYIJ."er the the chapter.neatest Yh\l (see direictoiy, p. 20):· Continued from previous page · about ttleir- ~paity their'?re'voloti6n: their YSA member said the YSAstood 16():per- Cuba, he concluded. But our political pri_n- country. ' · cent behind the Cuban revolution," he said. Kat:y Karlin is chairperson of the Birming­ ciples alone do not mean we-operate. effi- The tbfee are workers from the province "I had never heru:d ~YOne ~ay that before. ham, Alabama, YSAchapter. ciently. To improve that we must master of Holguin. One is atrade union official in It was so refreshmg, espectally after hear- From Y~SociaHst . the technology. To improve that we have to : a ceinentplant. Another works on a state learn. farm in the sugar industry. The third works J< ' in a brewery. _ .. Do you know someone wh~ ~teadsSpanish? The brewery worker is missing part of * * ' * . "l:ley,. Cf?!"P.f!-~!?r~ Ovet: here." his right arm. "I left that·part of my body in It is 1:30 a.m. Out on the patio of there­ Africa,". he jokes. "It was a contribution 'PM' o~ _ Cub&t CP,congress ception hall the dance music is swinging fro~ the Cubal'l people to the Angolan "I'm a machetera," Carmen San­ and hundreds Q( deleptes-and gue_~ts )rre, people.'' __ _ chez Reyes said proudly. She is a unwindingafterft'iur l,rtg days of tbngress"' He is one of the 100,000 Cubans who cane cutter from one of the glttht proceedings. •· .. _. _t- • ' have,completed internationalist missions in . agro-industrial sugar produCing I j~ tlte three~· c9mp~r6s; · Wfio are~ the last five years rutd returned to Cuba to complexes in the proviJ:'lce of Hol­ laughing and joking. They know I'm a nor­ take up their lives and work there anew.- guin, Cuba. Before the revolution, teamericana, a guest from the United I try to ask them qriestions about Cuba, she explained to Perspectiva M un­ but they want to talk about the United States, They want to know w,bat I think Cuban women who worked States. It's .three-to-one and they win. dial, · for employers were mostly maids. What do North American workers think 1 ...... Socialist about the Cuban revolution? Will workers "Now we're proving there is noth­ r9JI.09 in the United States make a revolution like ing women can't do." 'Union Local P-9 on strike Cuba's? Sanchez was a delegate at the a 'BOYCOTT HORMEL When I confidently .ten them that work­ Third Congress of the Cuban ers and farmers in my country will make a Communist Party held in Havana revolution, they promptly agree. I am sur­ February 4-7. The congress fo­ ~~ ~ prised at their confidence, because many cused on the major gains and chal­ Cubans, who have been living with the im­ lenges of the revolution over the jBasta de Huelguisti1s de Ia fondos de EU Hormel protestan perialist monster at their throats for so past five years. para los contras! por detenciones ._,. long, think of the socialist revolution in the In the recent period, Cuban ... United States only as a historical certainty . leader Fidel Castro pointed out, It is not something they consider likely to Stop 'contra' aid there have been "two revolutions" working people and the oppressed -/~ //.//// / ///// occur in their lifetimes. in Cuba. "One in the field of de­ in the U.S. and around the world. Subscribe! But my friends from Holguin have a dif­ fense and the other in the econom­ jSuscribete ahora! ferent view. They assure me that working ic field." Both defense against This monthly revolutionary youth people in the United States need a socialist U.S. aggression and developing Subscriptions: $16 for one revolution now. They do not believe U.S. newspaper covers the fight against the economy are seen as genuine $8 workers will allow themselves to be ex­ year; for six months; Intro­ apartheid, Washington's wars, and "people's wars." ductory offer, $3.00 for three racism, and the struggle for women's ploited forever. The U.S. government, A third development reflected which wages war against Nicaragua, arms months. liberation, the rights of workers, and at the congress was the renewal of a socialist world. the South African-backed forces in An­ the party leadership bodies, with 0 Begin my sub with current •1 for 3 months/t4 for one year · gola, an.d threatens to destroy Cuba, does not represent the interests of working a conscious effort to advance issue. Name ______~ people in the United States. So it will not youth, women, and Blacks. last forever. A full report on this congress is Name ------­ Address------The party begins to wind down and we in the new issue of PM. Address ------­ c~------head for the door. But the three com­ Perspectiva M undial is the State ____ Zip _____ paiieros from Holguin want the last word. Spanish-language socialist maga­ City/State/Zip ------­ "We have a message for working people zine that every two weeks brings Clip and mail to PM, 408 West St., Clip and mail with payment to: in the United States," they tell me. "We you the truth about the struggles of New York, NY 10014. Younc Socialist want you to know what the Angolan people 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. 10014 know. You have friends here in Cuba.''

18 The Militant March 28, 1986 Nicaragua: a 'Face the People' meeting

BY HECTOR CARRI6N preme Court had decided to return the com­ MANAGUA, Nicaragua - "We are pany to its former owner, Antonio Lacayo. carrying out a very effective military de­ The oil company had been expropriated fense , but the economic defense is more from Lacayo and he is seeking to get it difficult and complex. It imposes limita­ back through the courts. tions demanding major efforts by everyone Emilio Baltodano explained to the work­ in order to accelerate the final defeat of the ers that the Supreme Court has not decided enemy," said Nicaraguan President Daniel anything yet, and the rumor that the plant Ortega to l ,000 workers here last January. was being returned to Lacayo was not true. Ortega spoke at a Face the People meet­ Luis Anduray, leader of the union of ing at the Nicaraguan Paper Company banana packers, pointed out the problem of (COMPANIC) in Managua. The workers speculation and illegal sale of bananas that at this meeting were union delegates repre­ are too ripe for export. He mentioned that senting wage workers from the cities and some workers have left the job to sell these the countryside. bananas from which they make more The Nicaraguan government holds money than by working in the packing weekly Face the People meetings with dif­ plant. ferent sectors of the population to find out Decline in real wages their needs and demands and to discuss major national and international issues. A Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega answers workers' questions at January meeting After the discussion between the work­ different factory, farm, neighborhood, or held in Managua factory. Government holds such meetings weekly to hear needs and ers and other government officials, Presi­ mass organization is chosen for each meet­ demands of people and to discuss national and international issues. dent Ortega took the floor. He focused on ing. These meetings are later televised so steps the government is taking to cope with workers and peasants throughout Nicara­ done unless they get the tires, s!te said. cent of the hospital equipment is not func­ the country's severe economic problems gua can follow the discussion. Minister of transportation William tioning." She also pointed out the problem and explained the national economic plan The meeting at COMPANIC was dedi­ Ramirez explained that the tires his minis­ of technicians who leave public hospitals of the government. He took up the sharp cated to the Haymarket martyrs, eight U.S. try imports are for small trucks and jeeps. for better-paying jobs in private clinics. decline in workers' real wages, which real­ workers' leaders executed by the U.S. gov­ Another ministry was supposed to import Dora Maria Tellez, minister of health, ly began in 1982, he said. Th~ root cause of ernment following a May Day protest in tires for cotton trailers, but had forgotten to responded by calling on hospital workers to the high inflation eating up wages is the Chicago in 1886. do so. They were trying to get an take care of the equipment they use, to U.S.-backed war, he said. The meeting was very high spirited. To emergency order of tires now. "However, realize that the country does not have the "There was much irritation and a lot of show their understanding and determina­ if necessary, the Ministry of Transporta­ money to fix all broken equipment im­ uneasiness on the workers' part and with tion to defend the Nicaraguan revolution in tion will supply jeep tires and try to mount mediately. Tellez explained that it would good reason," the president said. The case of a U.S. invasion, workers chanted them on the trailers," Ramirez said. take the whole year of 1986 to fix all the Ministry of Internal Commerce, responsi­ throughout the whole meeting slogans such Enrique Obando, a worker from COM­ broken equipment in the hospitals. "You ble for policing prices, was going through as: "Wherever they come, the Yankee will PANIC, spoke of the lack of spare parts for workers must take care of the other 50 per­ "some very difficult moments," he added. die," "One single army," ''They shall not machinery and how inadequate mainte­ cent of the equipment so it is not broken by Grinding Nicaragua down economically pass," "National Directorate, give the nance was decreasing production. He the time we finish these repairs," she said. is a key part of Washington's war, he command!" painted out that each work center should A woman worker from the La Libertad pointed out. "The U.S. strategists have il­ For three hours the workers took the strengthen its maintenance department. gold mine spoke on behalf of her cowork­ lusions that the revolutionary government, floor to raise their concerns and get an­ The minister of industry, Emilio Bal­ ers to ask for more safety equipment. The the Sandinista Front, and the workers can­ swers from government officials. todano, explained that the lack of machin­ minister of industry ha; , ..r~~ctl~m Jo 1-:up., ~age., mcre~e • . v~~ga ; Revolutionary ·' 'g· ov't revises wage scale ~~~t~~·~~~~~~n~~f~;p~;~~~~~~~;:~ · ers recetved the measure wtth some doubts, because it is clear that this is not the way to MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Under the more, despite the fact that they already take all workers received for doing the same solve the problems. Instead the problems new wage rates decreed by the revolution­ home substantially more money than pro­ type of labor. But another was to give ma­ will be resolved by producing, controlling ary government here January 1, techni­ duction workers. terial incentives to workers, technicians, prices, and good distribution ofproducts." cians and professionals are'receiving prop­ Production workers in the lowest pay and administrators so they would increase Following the wage increase, the Minis­ ortionately higher raises than most factory. category, for instance, will go from 4,500 their skills and productivity and stay on the try of Internal Commerce launched a cam­ production workers or farm workers. c6rdobas a month to 7,100 cordobas. A job. paign against speculators. The campaign is In an interview in the Sandinista Na­ slillled mechanic in the same plant will go Because of decades of U.S. domination, Continued on next page tional Liberation Front (FSLN) daily, Bar­ from 11,800 c6rdobas to 22,300. The high­ Nicaragua has very little industry and few ricada, union leader Lucio Jimenez est-paid engineer in the factory will go skilled production workers or engineers, explained why. Jimenez is the general sec­ from 24,400 c6rdobas to 48,900. And the scientists, and administrators. It desper­ retary of tbe Sandinista Workers Federa­ plant's top administrators will go from ately lacks medical personnel as well. Cost in lives of tion, Nicaragua's largest union federation, 28,900 to 58,400. Maintaining and increasing the number of which is based on workers in industry. Jimenez told BtJrricada the raises were trained people has become harder because U.S.-backed war Under the new wage program, the low­ structured this way deliberately, to rein­ of the pressures of the war against Nicara­ est-paid production workers will get a 58 force the pay system established in Nicara­ gua sponsored by Washington. MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Recent percent raise, and more skilled workers gua in 1984. This system placed each type In 1985, in order to curb some of the ef­ statistics released by the Sandinista will see an 80 to 90 ~t raise. But some of occupation, based on the skills and train­ fects of galloping inflation, three national People's Army demonstrate the enormous engineers, professionals, and administra­ ing involved, in one of 28 pay categories. wage increases were made by the govern­ price in lives being paid by the Nicaraguan tors will get a l 00 percent increase or One goal was to make uniform the wages ment. The wage differentials set up by cat­ people to defend their sovereignty and con­ egory in 1984, however, were not main­ quer the right to live and work in peace. tained. Technicians, professionals, and ad­ The figures also show the improved com­ ministrators received proportionately lower bat capacities of the Sandinista troops and Contra terrorists raid near Jalapa raises than production workers. the scope of the losses they are inflicting on "This deviation was more than an error the mercenary forces organized by Wash­ BY CINDY JAQUITH dinator of the Sandinista National Libera­ of inexperience," said Jimenez. "It was a ington to wage war on Nicaragua. MATAGALPA, Nicaragua - Terrorists tion Front, said the attack on the Inpeli political error based on the demand of The army reports that 1,143 Nicaraguan financed by the U.S. government attacked farm was part of the Reagan administra­ those workers who didn't agree with the troops were killed in 1,249 military con­ the Inpeli state farm 17 miles north of here tion's campaign to get $100 million in aid idea of higher salaries for technicians." He frontations with the mercenaries in 1985. March i I, destroying seven tobacco sheds, for the contras. Unable to mount major said the SandinistaWorkers Federation and This is a giant loss of life for a country with seven trailers, a tractor, the supply store, military campaigns in the region, the mer­ the Ministry of Labor were both partly re­ a population of only 3.5 million. In a war and the farm's office. No civilians were in­ cenaries are attempting quick forays sponsible. of similar proportions in the United States, jured. against economic or civilian targets to "The correct thing would have been to it would equal 78,000 dead. prove that they can earn their keep. Such maintain the 1984 wage scale and make the Death statistics for the Sandinistas over a The farm is located about five miles attacks - whenever successful - do fur­ appropriate explanation, to convince the three-period, however, show that an im­ south of the city of Jalapa, close to the ther damage to Nicaragua's war-tom econ­ workers that this was necessary and cor­ portant shift is taking place. In 1983, about Honduran border. The U .S.-organized ter­ omy. rect," Jimenez said. 300 Nicaraguan troops died in 900 battles, rorists had slipped across the border to Terrorist assaults are also a constant "If we paid everyone the same regardless attacks, and skirmishes. The number carry out the assault and attempt other at­ threat further south, here in the Matagalpa of their qualifications, instead of develop­ soared in 1984 to nearly I ,000 combatants tacks in the area. area. On a trip from Matagalpa to the town ing the economy, we would push it back­ killed in more than I ,500 military confron­ Troops of the Sandinista People's Army of San Dionisio, deep in the mountains, ward," he argued. tations. moved in quickly against the mercenaries, peasants pointed a power plant out to the At the same time, he added, the new Sandinista army officials say 1984 was and battles were reported in several loca­ Militant. The first week in March. they wage increases do not only give extra ben­ the worst year militarily for'Nicaragua, and tions south of Jalapa. said, mercenaries attempted to blow the efits to technicians, but also to the more that the 1985 figures - relative to the Meanwhile, all the farm cooperatives in plant up , but fa iled. While large contra skilled workers. "In sum, it should be un­ losses innicted on the counterrevolutionary the area went on a general defense alert to units can no longer operate in the derstood that the recent raises are not just a forces - retlect major progress in turning be ready if the mercenary bands attempted Matagalpa region. small terrorist bands political goal of the technicians and profes­ the tide of the war. other attacks . Residents of Jalapa itself still attempt ambushes of peasants. sol­ sionals, but rather a political means of In 1983, some I ,800 mercenaries were stepped up revolutionary vigilance, the diers , and organizers for the National stimulating the increase of skills among the killed in combat. The number increased to nighttime neighborhood.defense patrols . . Union of Farmers and Ranchers traveling workers, and through this, developing the 3,000 dead in 1984. And in 1985. over Carlos Manuel Morales, regional coor~ in such remote areas. country. ·• 4,600 were kil led. M'itrch 28, t986 The Militant" 19 -CALENDAR------ALABAMA Ireland: Britain's Vietnam. British Work­ OREGON Forum. For more information call (214) 943- ers' Stake in Irish Freedom. Speaker: Martin 5195 . Birmingham Collins, leader, British Labour Party's Labour Portland Ireland: Britain's Vietnam. Speakers: Martin Committee on Ireland. Mon., March 24, 7:30 No U.S. Aid to Nicaragua Contras! Speakers: Collins, member British Labour Party, editor p.m. 510 Commonwealth Ave., 4th floor. Do­ Markie Wilson, member Amalgamated Cloth­ WASHINGTON, D.C. Labour and Ireland; Georgia Fleming, editor nation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For ing and Textile Workers Union Local 127 and The Roots of Women's Oppression. A panel Irish American Voice ; Brian Fleming, publisher more information call (617) 262-4621. representative of the Socialist Workers Party; discussion. Translation to Spanish. Sat., March Irish American Voice. Sat. , March 29, 7:30 Jaime Partridge, member National Association 22, 7 p.m. 3106 Mt. Pleasant St. NW . Dona­ p.m. 205 18th St. S. Donation: requested. MICHIGAN of Letter Carriers, executive secretary of Port­ tion: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ land Labor Committee on Central America and information call (202) 797-7699. mation call (205) 323-3079. Detroit the Caribbean. Slideshow and discussion. Sat. , Boycott South Africa, Not Nicaragua! A March 22, 7:30p.m. Preforum dinner 6 p.m. ARIZONA Socialist Workers campaign rally. Speaker: 2732 NE Union. Donation: forum, $2; dinner, WEST VIRGINIA Phoenix Kate Kaku, Socialist Workers Party candidate $3. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more in­ Charleston ·for governor of Michigan. Translation to formation call (503) 287-7416. A Free Nicaragua- What the U.S. Govern­ Spanish. Sat., March 22, 8 p.m. 2135 Wood­ Nicaragua: Eyewitness Report from the War ment Aims to Destroy. Eyewitness report and ward Ave. Donation: $2. Ausp: Michigan Zone. Slideshow and presentation by Marsha slideshow on Nicaragua. Speakers: Barbara Socialist Workers Campaign. For more infor­ PENNSYLVANIA Lou Parker, Socialist Workers Party. Sun. , Greenway, Socialist Workers Party; Karen mation call (313) 961-0395. Pittsburgh March 23, 7 p.m. 61 1-A Tennessee Ave. Dona­ Stockard, Young Socialist Alliance. Transla­ How Can We Stop the U.S. War Against Nic­ tion: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more tion to Spanish. Sat. , March 22, 7 p.m. 3750 W MINNESOTA aragua? A panel of antiwar activists. Sat., information call (304) 345-3040. McDowell. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor St. Paul March 29, 7:30 p.m. 402 N Highland. Dona­ Forum. For more information call (602) 272- tion: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more 4026. Socialist Campaign Rally: Solidarity With the Austin Strikers, Stop Farm Foreclosures, information call (412) 362-6767. WISCONSIN Free South Africa RaUy. Sat., April 5, 12 Milwaukee noon. Phoenix College Theater. Ausp: Arizona End U.S. War in Central America! Speaker: TEXAS Coalition Against Apartheid. For more informa­ Geoff Mirelowitz, Socialist Workers Party can­ The Socialist Alternative in- '86. Speaker: tion call (602) 894-2209. didate for governor. Sun. , April6. Reception, 4 Dallas Margo Storsteen, Socialist Workers Party can­ p.m.; rally, 5 p.m. 508 N Snelling Ave. Ausp: Haiti: Why Duvalier Fell. Speaker: Lee Ole­ didate for U.S. Senate. Sat., March 22. Recep­ CALIFORNIA Minnesota Socialist Workers Campaign. For son, Socialist Workers Party. Translation to tion, 6:30p.m.; rally, 7:30p.m. 4707 W Lis­ more information call (612) 644-6325. Spanish. Sat. , March 22, 7:30p.m. 336 W Jef­ bon. Ausp: Storsteen for Senate Committee. Los Angeles ferson . Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor For more information call (414) 445-2076. The Fight for Women's Rights Around the MISSOURI World. Film showing of Women in Nicaragua , the Second Revolution and a presentation by a Kansas City representative of the African National Congress Protest U.S. Aid to Nicaraguan 'Contras.' of South Africa. Translation to Spanish. Sat. , Speakers: Anita Atkinson, ·participant on Nica- 'Face the People' meeting March 22, 7:30p.m. 2546 W Pico Blvd. Ausp: - ragua coffee brigade and member of Leonard Young Socialist Alliance, For more information Peltier Defense Committee; Alvino Carrillo, Continued from previous page out an increase in production puts an into­ call (213) 380-9460. Socialist Workers Party, member of United called "Iron Fist." Hundreds of merchants lerable burden on the water, transportation, Auto Workers Local 31; Kris Kurovsky, partic­ Is a Revolution Possible in the United States? have been fined. Many products have been health, and education systems. Therefore, ipant in Nicaragua coffee brigade. Sun. , March A class series of the Young Socialist Alliance. confiscated from shop owners found the Nicaraguan government is devoting re­ l. ''The Workers and the Unions." Sat., 23 , 5 p.m. 4725 Troost. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more information speculating or operating without a license. sources to improve living conditions in the March 22, 3-p.m. The president announced the formation of a countryside, and encouraging displaced 2. ''The Ruling-class Offensive." Sat., call (816) 753-0404. people who've moved to the cities to return March 29, 3 p.m. task force of volunteer inspectors or­ 3. "Revolutionary History in the United NEW JERSEY ganized by the neighborhood Sandinista to the country. States." Sat., AprilS, 3 p.m. Newark Defense Committees to help MICOIN per­ "We want the people who are engaged in 4. ''The Workers' and Farmers' Govern­ Memorial Procession for Archbishop of El sonnel in their Iron Fist campaign. unproductive labor in Managua to go to the ment." Sat., April 12. 3 p.m. Salvador, Oscar Romero. Sat., March 22, 12 countryside for useful work," Ortega told · Translation to Spanish. 2546 W Pico Blvd. noon to 3 p.m. Meet at Peter Francesca Park Can't ·make crisis disappear. the workers. If they want water, electricity, For more information call (213) 380-9460. (east side of Newark Penn Station). Ausp: Com­ The president continued, "The cns1s and housing, he said, "they will find it in ite El Salvador. For more information call (201 ) Oakland must be controlled, because it is not in our 242-3743. the countryside." Socialist Campaign Kick-Off Rally. Speaker: power to make it disappear. It is caused by Miesa Patterson, Socialist Workers Party candi­ outside factors that bear down on the Nica­ Ortega concluded his remarks by ex­ date for U.S. Congress, 8th C. D. Translation to NORTH CAROLINA raguan economy, as you know perfectly plaining that the government would Spanish. Sun., April6. Dinner, 5 p.m.; rally 7 Greensboro schedule more such meetings with urban p.m. 3808 E 14th St. Donation: $5. Ausp: Hormel Strikers- Fighting for AU Working well. What is the main outside factor that bears down? The aggression." workers to continue this discussion in the Socialist Workers Campaign. For more infor­ People. Eyewitness report from Austin, Min­ near future. mation call (415) 261-3014. nesota. Speaker: Rich Stuart, Socialist Workers Ortega called upon the workers to meet candidate for U.S. Senate, member of textile this crisis. He mentioned the need for work KENTUCKY workers' union; other speakers to be an­ discipline and the responsibility of the TWA Louisville nounced. Sun., March 23 , 5 p.m. 2219 E Mar­ workers' leaders to strengthen this in the strike support Popular Revolt in the PhUippines Topples ket St. Donation: $2 . Ausp: Militant Labor workplace. An hour lost, multiplied by Dictator. Speaker: Aida Jordan, Ohio Citizens Forum. For more information call (919) 272- thousands of workers, means millions lost Continued from back page for Philippine Concerns. Sat., March 22, 7:30 5996. for the country, explained Ortega. of the San Francisco Central Labor Coun­ p.m. 809. E Broadway. Donation: $2. Ausp: OHIO After discussing these challenges facing cil; and a TWA pilot, all offering messages Militant Labor Forum. For more information urban workers, Ortega told them that the of solidarity. Many workers from other call (502) 587-8418. Cincinnati priority for development in 1986 would be unions in the airline industry were present. Solidarity with the Hormel Workers. An-eye­ in the countryside, not the cities. If Nicara­ These included members of the Interna­ MASSACHUSETTS witness report. Speaker: Mark Rahn, chairper­ gua can build any schools or health centers, tional Association of Machinists, the Inter­ Boston son, Cincinnati Young Socialist Alliance, just returned from Austin, Minnesota. Sun., March they will be in the countryside, not the national Brotherhood of Teamsters, and Campaign Rally and Open House. Speaker: cities. the Air Line Pilots Association. Jon Hillson, Socialist Workers Party candidate 23, 7:30 p.m, 4945 Paddock Rd . Donation: A representative of the San Francisco for Congress, 8th C. D. Sat. , March 22, 3-7 $2.50. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more This is a conscious step to encourage p.m. 510 Commonwealth Ave., 4th floor. information call (513) 242-7161 . many nonproductive city residents to re­ chapter of the National Organization for Ausp: Socialist Workers Campaign Committee. Toledo turn to the countryside where they are Women spoke, offering support and sol­ For more information call (617) 262-4621. Why Haitians Revolted Against Duvalier. needed for agricultural production. The idarity with the struggle of these workers March and Rally. U.S. Out of Central Amer­ Speakers: Carolyn Fowlkes, Socialist Workers war has driven 250,000 peasants and ag­ against sexist attacks and urging those ica! Break All Ties With South Africa! Sat. , Party, and Errol Samuel, Bowling Green Carib­ ricultural workers off the land and many of present to join the March for Women's March 22 . Assemble 11 a.m. Copley Sq. Rally bean Association. Sun., March 23, 7 p.m. 1701 them have come to Managua and ·other Lives in Los Angeles March 16. San Fran­ I p.m. Boston Common. Speakers: Amilcar W Bancroft. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant cities. Because there is a shortage of pro­ cisco NOW offered to subsidize bus tickets Labor Forum. For more information call (419) Navarro, Nicaraguan UN Mission; representa­ ductive jobs, they live by hawking fruit, for striking workers-who wanted to go to 536-0383. tive, African National Congress of South Af­ sodas, candies, and other small items on the march. rica; Amoldo Ramos, representative of the How FLOC Won: Farm Workers Get FMLN-FDR of El Salvador; Pete Winkles, Unions. Speaker: Ray Santiago, secretary-trea­ street comers and in the neighborhoods. Also in the crowd were many family . United Food and Commercial Workers Local P- surer of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. In Managua, Ortega said, "we have half members of flight attendants. Some carried 9 and Hormel striker. Ausp: March 22 Coali­ Sun., April 6, 7 p.m. 1701 W Bancroft. Dona­ of the pbpulation engaged in unproductive signs saying, "My mom is a breadwinner" tion. For more information call Casa (617) 492- tion: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more labor." and "My wife earns 55 percent of the 8699. information call (419) 536-0383. This increase in urban population with- bread." -IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP·------Where to find the Socialist Workers Party, GEORGIA: Atlanta: SWP, YSA, 132 Cone NEW JERSEY: Newark: SWP, YSA, 141 Dallas: SWP, YSA, 336 W. Jefferson. Zip: Young Socialist Alliance, and Pathfinder St. NW , 2nd Floor. Zip: 30301. Tel: (404) 577- Halsey. Zip: 07102. Tel: (201) 643-3341. 75208. Tel: (214) 943-5195. Houston: SWP, bookstores. _4065. NEW YORK: Capital District (Albany): YSA, 4806 Almeda. Zip: 77004. Tel: (713) ILLINOIS: Chicago: SWP, YSA, 3455 S SWP, YSA, 352 Central Ave . 2nd floor. Zip: 522-8054. ALABAMA: Birmingham: SWP, YSA, Michigan Ave . Zip: 60616. Tel: (312) 326-5853 12206. Tel: (518) 434-3247. New York: SWP, UTAH: Price: SWP, YSA, 23 S. Carbon 205 18th St. S. Zip: 35233. Tel: (205) 323- or 326-5453. YSA, 79LeonardSt. Zip: 10013. Tel: (212)219- Ave. , Suite 19, P.O. Box 758 . Zip: 84501. Tel: 3079. KENTUCKY: Louisville: SWP, YSA, 809 3679 or 925-I 668. Socialist Books, 226-8445. (801) 637-6294. Salt Lake City: SWP, YSA, ARIZONA: Phoenix: SWP, YSA , 3750 E. Broadway. Zip: 40204. Tel: (502) 587-8418 . NORTH CAROLINA: Greensboro: SWP, 767 S. State, 3rd floor. Zip: 841 I I. Tel: (801) · West McDowell Road #3. Zip: 85009. Tel: LOUISIANA: New Orleans: SWP, YSA, YSA, 2219 E Market . Zip: 27401 . Tel : (919) 355-1124. (602) 272-4026. 3207 Dublin St. Zip: 701 18. Tel: (504) 486- 272-5996. VIRGINIA: Tidewater Area (Newport CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles: SWP, YSA, 8048. . . OHIO: Cincinnati: SWP, YSA, 4945 Pad­ News): SWP, YSA, 5412 Jefferson Ave. Zip 2546 W. Pico Blvd. Zip: 90006. Tel: (213) 380- MARYLAND:Baltimore: SWP, YSA,2913 dock Rd. Zip: 45237. Tel: (513) 242-7161. 23605. Tel: (804) 380-0133. 9460. Oakland: SWP, YSA , 3808 E 14th St. Greenmount Ave . Zip: 21218. Tel: (301) 235- Cleveland: SWP, YSA . 2521 Market Ave . Zip: WASHINGTON, D.C.: SWP, YSA, 3106 Zip: 94601. Tel: (415) 261-3014. San Diego: 0013 . 44113. Tel: (216)861-6150. Columbus: YSA, Mt. Pleasant St. NW. Zip: 20010. Tel: (202) SWP, YSA, 1053 15th St. Zip: 92101 . Tel: MASSACHUSETIS: Boston: SWP, YSA, P.O. Box 02097 . Zip: 43202. Toledo: SWP, 797-7699. (619) 234-4630. San Francisco: SWP, YSA, 510 Commonwealth Ave., 4th Floor. Zip: YSA , 1701 W Bancroft St. Zip: 43606. Tel: WASHINGTON: Seattle: SWP, YSA, 3284 23rd St. Zip: 94110. Tel: (415) 282-6255. 02215. Tel:(617)262-4621. (419) 536-0383. 5517 Rainier Ave. South. Zip: 98118. Tel: San Jose: SWP, YSA, 461h Race St. Zip: MICHIGAN: Detroit: SWP, YSA, 2135 OREGON: Portland: SWP, YSA, 2732 NE (206) 723-5330. 95126. Tel: (408) 998-4007. Woodward Ave. Zip:48201 . Tel: (313)961-0395. Union . Zip: 97212. Tel: (503) 287-7416. WEST VIRGINIA: Charleston: SWP. COLORADO: Denver: SWP, YSA, 25 W MINNESOTA: Twin Cities: SWP, YSA, 508 PENNSYLVANIA: PbUadelphia: SWP. YSA, 61 lA Tennessee. Zip: 25302. Tel: (304) 3rd Ave. Zip: 80223. Tel: (303) 698-2550. N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul. Zip: 55104. Tel: (612) YSA. 2744 Germantown Ave . Zip: 19133. Tel: 345-3040. Morgantown: SWP, YSA, 221 FLORIDA: Miami: SWP, YSA, 137 NE 644-6325. (215) 225-0213 . Pittsburgh: SWP. YSA, 402 Pleasant St. Zip: 26505 . Tel: (304) 296- 54th St. Mailing address: P.O. Box 370486. MISSOURI: Kamas City: SWP, YSA, N. Highland Ave. Mailing address: P.O. Box 0055. Zip: 33137. Tel: (305) 756-1020. TaUahassee: 4725 Troost. Zip: 64110. Tel: (816) 753- 4789. Zip: 15206. Tel: (412)362-6767. WISCONSIN: Milwaukee: SWP. YSA. YSA, P.O. Box 20715. Zip: 32316. Tel: (904) 0404. St. Louis: SWP, YSA, 4907 Martin Luther TEXAS: Austin: YSA . c/o Mike Rose. 7409 4707 W. Lisbon Ave. Zip: 53208. Tel: (414) 222-4434. King Dr. Zip:631 13. Tel:(314)361-0250. Berkman Dr. Zip: 78752. Tel. (512) 452-3923. 445-2076.

Tile Militant March 21, 1986 -THE GREAT SOCIETY------....._------

Impulse shopper-"There are hind. The Spartans - Responding duras. And blow your nose - If you bills and bills and bills .... Imelda to reports in Miami's Nicaraguan feel the youngster could do better, would buy a million dollars in A right-handed compliment? exile community that contra chiefs Let's not go overboard- A table-mannerswise, sign her up for jewelry at one store in the morn­ - "I may have said something flit about in private jets and draw corporate benefit for the Metro­ a weekend crash · course at the ing, and then tum around and buy about the NAACP being on-Amer­ $7,000 a month plus expenses, a politan Opera featured an onstage Ecole des Ingenues. Among other ican or communist, but I meant no PR person for the mercenaries said dinner. Enthused Esther Fergu­ . things, she'll learn to identify 74 harm by it." - U.S. Attorney Jef­ that if they sometimes use private son, spouse of the chief honcho at different pieces of silverware. ferson SesSions at a hearing on his jets they've been invited by General Foods, "It gives you a Fee, $500. Or, more in depth, the nomination to be a federal judge. friends. She didn't know how sense of what free enterprise is all nine-day summer session. $2,000. much they knock down, but was about. ... After all, culture is no sure it wasn't "extravagant." less important than, say, Maxwell Thought for the week - "The Harry Moral obligation? - Patti House coffee or Jell-0." stock market's gains probably Ring Davis, whose new autobiographi­ In depth - The White House don't lead to people eating steak cal novel suggests what it's like organized a congressional delega­ Fan mail .....,... Gov. White of instead of hamburger. They do growing up with Ron as daddy, tion for an overnight flight to Hon­ Texas insists he really didn't pro­ lead to someone taking a week's $2 million worth from an antique was suddenly cancelled from a duras,El Salvador, and Nicaragua pose compulsory drug tests for all vacation in Europe instead of Las store in the afternoon." -Beat­ scheduled guest appearance on to get "a first-hand assessment" of teachers in the state. His proposi­ Vegas, or adding a second week to rice Zobel, who is cataloging what NBC's "Tonight Show." Nobody the situation in the region. Like, if tion evoked unsolicited urine sam­ their Vegas trip." - Walter the fleeing Marcos family left be- at the network knew why. it's 4 o'clock, this must be Hon- ples at the State Capitol. Dolde, a Wall St. economist. 'Fire from the .Mountain': a gift from Sandinistas

Fire from the Mountain, the Making of a Sandinista. elected president of the student government. By Omar Cabezas. With a foreword by Carlos EI Gato, he proudly recalls, "was the first . . . presi­ Fuentes. 233 pages, hard cover. $13.95. Crown Pub­ dent to be elected by going from class to class repeating lishers, New York. over and over that he was a communist, a Sandinista ... . That was 1970." BY SONJA FRANETA Spurred by the Sandinistas, the students formed study Fire from the Mountain has won the hearts of many circles and began organizing demonstrations. However, people throughout the world. Not only is it Nicaragua's Cabezas reports, the people of Leon did not take the stu­ best-selling book ever, but it has been translated into 10 dents seriously until the students took the people seri­ languages. It received the 1982 Cuban Casa de las Amer­ ously. icas award and has even evoked praise from U.S ..review­ Led by the Frente, the students began to work in the ers. barrios. Cabezas and others worked with the native Sub­ First published in Nicaragua in 1981 , Fire from the tiavan Indians living there. This gave him a new appreci­ Mountain was released here last summer and is s1a.ted to ation of what the FSLN and people all over Nicaragua come out in paperback next summer. Cabezas has been were fighting for. approached for movie rights. Cabezas describes the firelike spreading of the revolu­ Currently an official ofNicaragua;s Ministry of the In: tionary movement: "The people were attracted by the use terior, Cabezas offers a fascinating account of his experi­ of candles in demonstrations. So the students began to ences as a Sandinista .fighter, with a particular focus on gather people around by building bonfires." the period he spent as a guerrilla in the Nicaraguan moun­ Fires began flaring up in the barrios. "Fire took on this tains. subversive character because everybody in the opposi­ From the early part of the -century, U.S. imperialism tion, all the anti-Somoza people and all the pro-Sandinis­ dominated Nicaragua, and its grip was not broken until tas, clung together around the flames. So the bonfire was a sign of subversion, a symbol of political agitation, of revolutionary ideas brought by the students into the bar­ Militant/Bill Gretter rios." BOOK REVIEW Omar Cabezas Cabezas was 22 when he went to the mountains. "So, was a good thing or a bad thing .. . . What I mean is, I when I left for the mountains, it wasn't just the march of the victorious Sandinista revolution of 1979. In 1933 the knew what I wanted. I wanted to fight the dictatorship. .Indians I had behind me, but also a chai'" of fires, a liberation movement led hy Augusto Sandino succeeded But I wasn't very ·sure, and not only that, I had a sort of ·· spreading of fires in all the barrios." in driving out the U.S. Marines. Meanwhile, the U.S. fear or doubt, or who knows what I felt, about seeing that That experience gave him the confidence that sus­ military had organized and trained the Nicaraguan Na­ commitment through to its final consequences." · tained him through the physically grueling, lonely period tional Guard and installed Anastasio Somoza as head of When you read Fire from the Mountain, you will feel in the mountains. The high morale of the Sandinistas was this brutal force. Cabezas is talking to you- around a fire, to pass time, based on political work, their knowledge of the people's In 1934 Somoza assassinated Sandino, established his to trade stories. He describes the physical hardship and needs and capabilities, and their confidence in their or­ dictatorship, and set out t0 exterminate Sandino's move­ the loneliness and fears during his training. And also the ganization, no matter how small it was at the time. ment. U.S. domination continued·. good times, the camaraderie. Every new compafiero who Cabezas describes a critical personal moment. His po­ Cabezas writes, "The Sandinistas ·were isolated after came to the camp, he says, was "like hitting the jackpot litical mentor is shot dead by the Guard. Cabezas is badly the death of Sandino, and they started educating their .. . an influx of new things into camp, new ways of see­ shaken. What went wrong? He doubts his training. He children in that tradition, encouraging that feeling against ing, new opinions. . . ." loses confidence in the FSLN. He wonders if they will all the occupying Yankees who had invaded and were The charm.of Cabezas' book is its directness, its deep­ be defeated. · humiliating us." ly personal point of view, and its earthy, warm sense of "And what saves you then? Because eventually your Inspired by the victory of the Cuban revolution and humor. · head stops spinning. Those feelings subside, and you committed to Sandino's example, the Sandinista Front After joining the Sandinistas on graduating from high start to reflect maturely, calmly. You are saved by the for National Liberation (FSLN) was founded in 1961. sc~ool in Leon, Cabezas functions underground for a . fact that the FSLN inculcated in us a historical will, an in­ Subtitled the Making of a Sandinista, Fire from the while, but is soon selected to join the student movement finite, boundless stubbornness." Mountain is the story of a young man who wanted to fight at the university in Leon. . . This book is about how that iron political will was the Somoza dictatorship, became attracted to the FSLN, The students, with a vigor characteristic of young built. How these revolutionaries kept going. and developed into a determined revolutionary. people everywhere, were eager to build an opposition to Fire from the Mountain is full ofpowerful feelingsand In reflecting on why he joined the Frente, Cabezas the dictatorship. rich stories about life and being a revolutionary. It is a says, "Remember, I didn't have any firm political con­ He describes vividly the campaign he participated in to real gift from the Sandinistas. May it deal a good hard victions .... I had serious doubts about whether Marxism have "EI Gato," a fellow Sandinista youth activist, blow to the imperialists.

Maryland savings bank oWner~ swindle depo~itors i-l' . ·. ·; ' ' BY BAXTER SMITH minutes, and you'd just up and run into A few victimized depositors have com­ nationwidein 1985, themost since 1933. BALTIMORE --:- During an investiga­ another room and say, 'You wouldn't be­ mitted suicide. Several hundred others _Most. S&Ls.atttact depositors by offer­ tion related to why specific Maryland sav­ lieve what these guys did.' " have translated their anger into action and ing higher rates on savings .accounts than ings and loan 'owners were stealing money The most prominent of "these guys" is marched on the state capitol demanding re- commercial banks. Some thrifts then put from their banks, a lawyer for one o.f the the president of defunct Old Court Savings I ~[ . depositors' money into riskier-thao,.,norrnal owners explained. "Everybody did it." and Loan, Jeffrey Levitt. He has been On the surface, the S&L crisis appeared ventures, often in real estate. The remark was included in a recent named in a 25-count indictment for stealing to begin last May when depositors started One such operation was a 68.:unit, high­ state-ordered probe into Maryland's sav­ $ 14.6 million from his depositors. withdrawing their money as rumors of im­ priced condominium project funded'by Old ings and loan (S&L) failures. This crisis Levitt is seen as the personification of pending bankruptcies spread. The

2,l;· to '·' -EDITORIALS------Maurice Bishop on U.S. attacks Attack on Soviet UN missions on Cuba, Nicaragua The following excerpts are from a June 1983 speech The U.S. government has ordered the Soviet, Ukrain­ Whipping up fear and hatred of the Soviet Union is one of delivered by Grenada's prime minister, Maurice Bishop, ian, and Byelorussian missions to the United Nations to the Reagan administration's tactics in seeking more sup­ to more than 2,500 people at New York City's Hunter reduce their personnel by more than one-third. (The Uk­ port for the war against Nicaragua, which they falsely . College. rainian 'and Byelorussian republics are part of the Soviet portray as a "base" for alleged "Soviet-Cuban expan­ Bishop headed the workers' and farmers' government Union.) sionism." that was in power from March 1979 to October 1983. He - A U.S. government statement claimed March 7 that The move is also an implied threat to cripple United was murdered by opponents within his own party on Oct. the size of these missions "poses a threat to national secu­ Nations delegations that oppose U.S. policies. Like 19 , 1983, just a week before a U.S.-Ied invasion imposed rity." They were charged with "activities unrelated to UN WashingtoQ 's recent withdrawal from UNESCO (United a puppet regime in the country. Bishop remains a popular business, including espionage." Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organiza­ hero to the masses of Grenadians. This U.S. action should be opposed. It is part of Wash­ tion), it is a form of blackmail. In these excerpts, Bishop discusses the importance of ington' s war propaganda portraying the Soviet Union and The U.S. government has already barred the delega­ many other countries as sinister threats. tions of Afghanistan , Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, The move against the three diplomatic missions, like East Germany, Iran, Libya, Poland, the Soviet Union, the unprecedented number of espionage trials being and Vietnam from traveling beyond a 25-mile area OUR staged by the U.S. government, is being used to foster a around the UN offices. spy scare. The goal of the scare is to justify attacks on the By imposing travel and other restrictions on the dip­ REVOLUTIONARY democratic rights of U.S. working people in the name of lomatic delegations from these countries, the U.S. gov­ "national security." ernment limits their ability to make known facts that HERITAGE The action was taken as the Reagan administration might counter Washington's propaganda. Restrictions on pressed Congress for massive arms aid to the U.S.-or­ these diplomats are also restrictions on the right of U.S. Cuba and the U.S. imperialist campaign against Nicara­ ganized contra terrorists who are attacking Nicaragua. working people to hear their points of view. gua. The full text of the speech can be found in Maurice Bishop Speaks, published by Pathfinder Press. The book costs $7.95 and can be ordered from Pathfinder Press, 410 West Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. It is also avail­ able from Pathfinder bookstores listed in the directory. Protest Reagan's contra drive Copyright © 1983 by Pathfinder Press; reprinted by per­ mission of the publisher. Continued from front page Nicaraguan government had "betrayed the promise of its This lie was shot down March 18 by the U.S. govern­ revolution." * * * ment's own Drug Enforcement Administration, which He stressed that the Democratic Party supported We will always have relations - warm, fraternal, said it had no information implicating Nicaraguan gov­ Reagan's goals in Central America. "Our disagreement is close relations - with the people and government of ernment officials. with the means the President has used to achieve these Cuba. And that is our admiration and our respect for the Reagan did not mention that U.S. cops and supporters goals." internationalism and the achievements of the Cuban of the contras have confirmed that these terrorists are in­ Although the ruling capitalist class and both capitalist people. [Applause] Whether they [the U.S. government) volved in the cocaine trade. parties are united in seeking to isolate, weaken, and roll like it or not, Cuba was the first revolution in this hemi­ Reagan charged that the only synagogue in Managua back the Nicaraguan revolution, they have serious tacti­ sphere to have succeeded. And if there was no Cuban (the capital of Nicaragua) had been "desecrated and fire­ cal differences. revolution, there could have been no Grenada or Nicara­ bombed" and that the "entire Jewish community" had The debate in the ruling class, the capitalist parties, guan revolution. [Applause] been "forced to flee Nicaragua." and the capitalist media has been heightened by the suc­ Whether they like it or not, Cuba was the first country Rabbi Balfour Brickner of the Stephen Wise Free cess of the Nicaraguan people in pushing back the con­ in this hemisphere to give a sound licking to U.S. im­ Synagogue in New York refuted those charges, which he tras. perialism at the Bay of Pigs [in 1961). [Applause] investigated during a 1984 visit, in a March 18 interview The U.S. rulers were also put on the spot February 10 Whether they like it or not, Cuban internationalist sol­ with the New York Times. The American Jewish Com­ when the foreign ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Colom­ diers have been the first in the world to charge the racist mittee and the World Jewish Congress ruso investigated bia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela South African monster and to face it with arms in their the charges and found no evidence to support them. asked the U.S. government to end aid to the contras and hands while defending Angola. [Chants of "Viva Cuba! A July 1985 report by the Americas Watch Commit­ resume negotiations with the Nicaraguan government. Viva Cuba! Viva Cuba!") tee, an independent group which monitors human righ~s Washington broke off talks last year and has refused to If there were no Cuban internationalist troops in An­ issues in the Americas, concluded, "Jews remaining in resume them, despite repeated requests by the Nicara­ gola, how long ago would the South African apartheid Nicaragua worship without restrictions and suffer no dis­ guan government to do so. monster have overrun Angola with the assistance of sev­ crimination." Sasser and other Senators are pushing a "compromise" eral Western powers? Cuba is a great stabilizing factor in To hear Reagan tell it, the port now being built at El proposal to vote to place $100 million for the contras in that Angola equation. And that is why when they come Bluff on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast is a probable sub­ escrow while the administration goes through the mo­ up with this hypocrisy of linkage, and say that for marine base and a major military threat to the United tions of negotiating with the Sandinistas. Some hope Namibia to get independence, Cuban troops have to States. In fact, the El Bluff port will facilitate the de­ such a charade will wear down opposition in Latin Amer­ leave, we who are in the Third World understand that and velopment of Nicaragua's trade and of the whole Atlantic ica and the United States to the U.S. war. have seen their bluff and will fully back the Cuban sol­ Coast region by providing the country with its first signif­ Other ruling-class critics, however, concede that the diers and the Angolan people in ensuring that they stay in icant Atlantic Coast trading port. mercenary war has failed . An editorial in the March 19 Angola. Reagan portrayed Nicaragua as a country where "there Washington Post states that "the contra force is not a use­ They like to talk a lot about backyard and frontyard is no longer any independent labor movement." Another ful instrument to bring to bear against the Sandinista gov­ and lake. Grenada is nobody's backyard and part of no­ lie. For the first time in the country's history, all of Nic­ ernment." body's lake. [Applause] aragua's workers are free to join unions, and 260,000 One simple democratic idea, which has broad support The more desperate that imperialism gets, the more It (out of a total population of only 3 million) have done so. in the United States and around the world, has found no comes up with the most vulgar and hostile measures to try In addition to other lies, Reagan also appealed to ra­ echo in the debate in Congress and the capitalist media. to keep the poor oppressed people of the world, who are cism when he warned that "desperate Latin peoples by That is the idea that the Nicaraguan people are a trying to win their natiomil liberation and to build their the millions would begin fleeing north into the cities of sovereign nation that has the right to determine its own own future, down. Think of Nicaragua. Nicaragua, a the southern United States" if.the Nicaraguan revolution government and its own foreign and domestic policies. country invaded over the years- two, three times in this is not destroyed. The president's speech left no doubt that, in his view, century - by the United States. Nicaragua·, a country Reagan also denounced Nicaragua as "totalitarian." the composition of Nicaragua's government, its foreign that has been under the brutal heel of the Somozas for But the Nicaraguan people today enjoy the right to or­ and domestic policies, and even who may visit or do over forty-five years. Nicaragua, a country that, just like ganize unions, peasant groups, women's groups, and business there must be approved by Washington. the Americans 200 years ago, finally resorted to their su­ other mass organizations; they enjoy the right to food, After all, as Reagan put it, Nicaragua is on·"our own preme right to overthrow their repressors and murderers clothing, and shelter, however modest; the historically doorstep." It is in "our hemisphere." and to take their destiny into their own hands. And when oppressed peoples of the Atlantic Coast enjoy the right to Reagan's ruling-class critics, like the Washington Post the people of Nicaragua, when the sons and daughters of speak their own languages; young people can walk the and Senator Sasser, share this imperialist outlook. Sandino assumed their liberation, when they won in July streets without being murdered by Somoza's National In defiance of U.S. imperialism's claim to own the of 1979, what was the crime th~y committed thereafter? Guard; and, most importantly, the Nicaraguan people no hemisphere, the Nicaraguan workers and farmers won Their crime was to be bold and mannish and fresh longer have to take orders from Uncle Sam - they are their national.sovereignty in battle. Fifty thousand of enough to say that their resources belong to them, to say free. And they are willing to defend that freedom with them gave their lives in the insurrection that toppled the that they want to build their country in their own way, to their very lives. brutal Somoza dynasty that Washington had imposed on say that they want to choose their own friends. The workers' and farmers' government there is a popu­ their country. And thousands more have died in success­ And because of that, you have this situation where lar regime - so popular that it can arm the people with­ fully defending their independence against the U.S.-or­ today the most vulgar, shameless acts of the last year or out any fear that the guns will be turned against the gov­ ganized contra war. so can pale only in comparison to what is happening in EI ernment. Similar aspirations to self-determination and freedom Salvador, or what happened in the middle of last year in What Washington hates about Nicaragua is that there from imperialist domination spurred the recent overthrow Lebanon when the Palestinian people were slaughtered. is no longer a U.S.-dominated regime there looking out of U.S. -supported dictators in Haiti and the Philippines. The most vulgar, shameless act of open CIA activity in for the interests of U.S. big business. Washington's determination to resist these aspirations their country. That is why the U.S.-organized contra army has been is behind the U.S. government's conflict with the many The most open, vulgar, shameless act of even admit­ unable to capture and hold a single town or city. That is other countries and organizations that were denounced in ting that not only will they resort to covert actions, but if why the Nicaraguan army and militia have been able over Reagan's speech- such as Cuba, Iran, Libya, and the necessary, they will publicly back overt action against the past year to deal them a major defeat, limiting their Palestine Liberation Organization. the Nicaraguans. The shamelessness of it can only be ex­ capacity to strike inside the country, and carrying out a The battle over aid to the contras in Congress is impor­ ceeded by the way in which sections of the media have successful coffee harvest without disruption. tant. Rejection of the aid, as Sandinista leader Luis Car­ chosen to respond . To pretend that the Nicaraguans are Nicaragua has paid a high· price for these gains. About rion put it, will show the world "that the American people losing popular support. To pretend that these murderers, 14,000 Nicaraguans have been killed in four years of are rejecting the military option entirely." If an aid pack­ ex-Somocista elements, are some kind of freedom fight­ war. (The same percentage of the U.S. population would age passes, however, it will mean further escalation of ers. To pretend that these butchers who will just throw be l.l million.) the bloody and unjust war against the Nicaraguan work­ bombs· on women and children as they are passing and Tennessee Sen. James Sasser, who responded to ers and farmers. run when they see the Sandinista soldiers. To pretend that Reagan for the Democratic Party, demonstrated the We must demand: these people deserve to have some opportunity to rule the bipartisan character-of the u.s~ government's attack on U.S. hands off Nicaragua! people of Nicaragua- the shame·lessness of it is really Nicaragua. He echoed Reagan!s lies by stating that the No aid to the contras! extraordinary.

22 The'Militant · March 28, 1986 Service Employees Union backs immigrant workers

The following is a guest column by Nancy Russ tacks. workers and deport them - busting the union. from Houston, Texas. But this one turned out to be different. Unfortunately most union officials say nothing when These workers had voted last May to affiliate to the this happens. They accept- and even perpetuate - the Sixty-nine Latin American workers were picked up by Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Al­ bosses' claim that these workers "rob" jobs. So they are the Immigration and Naturalization Service when they though the election has yet to be certified, the union de­ disanned in the face of these antiunion attacks. left their jobs cleaning offices at the Allen Center in cided to take a stand against this attack. This time ~he union did respond. It was immediately The SEIU organized a news conference at the office of joined by other organizations in protesting this attack. the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council to protest the raid as These included the League of United Latin American an attack on union rights. Citizens, Mexican American Democrats, American Civil Sandra Garza Spector, a union representative, charged Liberties Union, Labor Council for Latin American Ad­ iBASTA that the INS was being used to bust the union at American vancement, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, State Rep. Building Maintenance. She told the media that in an at­ AI Luna, and Congressman Mickey Leland. YA! tempt to intimidate the workers, the company had Andrea Gonzalez threatened them with deportation throughout the organiz­ Following the press conference, SEIU took legal steps ing drive. to win the release of the 27 workers being held in the INS "All workers have a right to a union," Spector said, detention center. Houston January 25. Forty of the workers who were and noted that it was not the union's responsibility to After they were released, the union accompanied them Mexican were immediately bused to the border and de­ screen its me~bers for citizenship papers. to American Building Maintenance to secure their jobs ported. The others, including 10 Mexicans, 18 Salvado­ La migra denied that the raid was aimed at busting the back. rans, and one Honduran, were held in the INS Detention union. The cop agency was forced to admit, however, At this time only one worker has been rehired. The Center in Houston. that the raid was the result of a tip by the company. union is going to the labor movement and the Latino Such tips are commonly used to bust union organizing community to win support for its campaign to win back Raids of this kind are commonplace. La migra- as drives and strikes in the Southwest. It is far from unusual the jobs of all 27 workers. the Immigration and Naturalization Service is known - for Ia migra to arrive at a picket line outside a struck plant The SEIU's defense of those workers is an important expects and usually gets little flak about these vicious at- or on the eve of a union-recognition vote to round up the example for the entire labor movement. San Diego youth faces trial for defending himself

BY ALLAN GRADY eventually fell to the ground after a blow to attack. He plans to interview as many of SAN DIEGO - The trial of Sagon the head. the youths as possible to prove that the Penn, who defended himself from an attack "You think you're bad, don't you, boy," photographing and the file itself were il­ by cops last March 31 , began on February said Jacobs. "We're gonna beat your black legal and were part of the racist attitude of 19. ass." the police toward Blacks and other Twenty-three-year-old Penn was driving During the.struggle to save his life, Penn minorities. a group of eight friends home in his pickup got hold of Jacobs' gun and shot and killed In another recent . development, Sarah truck when two cops stopped them, claim­ Riggs. Jacobs and a civilian passenger rid- , Pina-Ruiz, the civilian passenger injured ing they were looking for an anned gang ing in the cop car, Sarah Pina-Ruiz, were duri~g the shooting, has filed a civil suit member. wounded. claiming police broke regulations by put­ He showed the cops his driver's license He drove the police car to his grand­ ting her in a life-threatening situation. when asked and said, "What's the prob­ father's house, and then they drove to the The Sagon Penn Defense Committee has lem." police station where he turned himself in. waged an active campaign since the inci­ Witnesses report that one of the cops, The San Diego cops taped three inter­ dent to get out the facts about the beating. Donovan Jacobs, then asked Penn, "What views with Penn for more than three hours Three rallies, two candlelight vigils at the do you claim, Cuz·or Blood?" (This refers before informing him of his constitutional county jail, and an impressive float in the to two gangs.) Penn told the cops that he rights. Penn had no lawyer present. Martin Luther King Day Parade have belonged to no gang and did not associate During the jury selection process, pro­ helped solidify support for the case. with gang members. secutor Michael Carpenter has tried to ex­ The committee has met weekly since its clude Blacks, Hispanics, and young formation last May and has distributed After continued harassment, Penn asked people. thousands of fact sheets, Sagon Penn T­ again what he had done and got no re­ On February 24 Penn's lawyers won a shirts, and Free Sagon Penn buttons. sponse. As he turned and walked away, victory when an appeals court upheld a de­ Support for the case ranges from Jacobs grabbed him by the ann. Penn cision to allow the defense access to police Muhammad Ali and the National Confer­ pulled away. file photos. (Purportedly to "control street ence of Black Lawyers to Vernon Bel­ Jacobs then started to beat Penn with his gangs," the San Diego Police Department lecourt, the Chicano Federation, Con­ nightstick. The cop from the other car, has taken hundreds of photos of Black, gressman Ronald Dellums, Los Angeles Thomas Riggs, came over and joined in, Asian, and Chicano youth.) Assemblywoman Maxine Waters, and hitting Penn in the ribs. The photos will be used by defense attor­ many others. "Why are you doing this?" Penn asked ney Milton Silverman to prove that Penn An anniversary vigil at the jail is planned Sagon Penn the cops as they continued beating him. He was acting in self-defense to repel a police for March 31. -LEIIfRS------Injuries at Hormel The conference was held at the the suffering they're causing? death even though their families The Militant is one of the most The Militant has repeatedly union hall of the United Teachers Where is. the conscience of these see little of that $425. well-informed publications on used the figure of 202 injuries per of Los Angeles. Educators ·came people? It's easy· for some to say R.B. both national and international 100 workers at the Hormel plant in from Boston, New York, Blacks have too many chips on San Diego, California new.s. their shoulders, that they're hot Austin, Minnesota. When I heard Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San The Militant publications re­ Jim Guyette, president of United Diego, San Francisco, Los tempered. But who put the chips MOVE movie ceived last year were shared Food and Commercial Workers Angeles, and Vancouver, Canada. there in the first place? among many prisoners here at this Many participants were active People have to stop thinking of The Philadelphia Inquirer re­ institution and, together, we are Local P-9, on ABC's "Nightline," ported that "several current and I'm sure he said 202 per 1,000 per in the teachers' committees in sol­ each other as separate. Instead of most grateful because we now each thinking color or race, they former city officials . .. are serv­ year. This might be something to idarity with Central America. know what is really going on in the need to think in terms of human ing as advisors and 'technical con­ double check. These committees sponsored tours world in general. beings. If you hurt others, you sultants' for a made-for-television Keep up the good work. to Central America, sent a delega­ We Militant readers have dis­ tion of 29 teachers and unionists to hurt y'ourself. movie" about the May 13 MOVE cussed the many articles in your Ron Richards bombing that killed 11 people. Cambridge, Massachusetts the 19th congress of the Salvado­ Pati Whitley publication and have a much more ran teachers' union ANDES, and Former Police Commissioner profound understanding of why raised money for educational pro­ Gregore Sambor, Fire Commis­ socialism can provide a better gov­ Editor's reply: hi a special Feb­ Human skeletons sioner William Richmond, City ruary edition of the United Food jects in Nicaragua and El Sal­ ernment for oppressed people eve­ vador. The newspaper here reported Councilman Lucien Blackwell , rywhere. and Commercial Workers Local P-· that a dealer in human skeletons and former District Attorney Ed­ 9 newspaper, The Unionist, ati ar­ This spring they plan to tour "Viva Ia Militant." Julio Cesar Portillo, general secre­ will have to sWitch over to plastic ward Rendell have given their ac­ I intend to send a contribution to ticle headlined "Why we strike" ones even though they cost more counts . to the creators of. the says, "In 1984, the injury rate at tary of ANDES. keep the Militant circulating, as The conference also heard and aren't as good. They warp. movie. soon as possible. Unfortunately, at Hormel's Austin plant was 202 in­ The skeletons are exhibited and The forthcoming movie for juries per l 00 workers. Serious greetings from Marta Alicia Riv­ the present, I am indigent and in- era, official representative of sold at IJledical conventions. NBC will be named City Under carcerated. · · and major lost-time injuries are at The principal supplier, India, Siege, and it is being being fdmed a level that even the company ad­ ANDES. The Militani helps· free our Sue Skinner has passed a law banning the ex­ in Canada because the producers minds from this oppression. mits are too high. These include port of skeletons. think it would be "too emotional" injuries such as amputations, cuts Los Angeles, California "Keep on keeping on:" Until this fall, India had regu­ to film in the United States. A prisoner · and lacerations, tendonitis, back larly shipped up to 15,000 skele­ S.B. Huntingdon, Pennsylvania and shoulder injuries from slips, Really got to me tons and 50,000 skulls a year to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania falls and strains, and the disabling The article, "Women in apart­ Western medical schools. wrist injury known as carpal tun­ heid South Africa: triumphs and Most of them are the remains of The letters column is an open nel syndrome." tears," I enjoyed very much. peasants too poqr to be buried. Read the truth forum for all viewpoints on sub­ It was such a good article, it Their families are forced to sell the I have enjoyed the intrepid arti­ jects of general interest to our Teachers for peace really got to me, especially its de­ skeletons for a pittance, some­ cles and news of the Militant dur­ readers. Please keep your letters· On February 8 and 9 more than scription of the separation of chil­ times less than $5. Here, they go ing the year of 1985 and have be­ brief. Where necessary they will 100 teachers and supporters dren from parents. It's very hard for $425. . come aware of what it means to be abridged. Please indicate if gathered for the first National for me to understand the govern­ The irony of this really struck read the truth to one who has a rev­ you prefer that your initials Conference of U.S. Teachers for ment of South Africa. How do me. Under capitalism, these poor olutionary mind and outlook in be used rather than your full Peace in Central America. they sleep at night, knowing all people may be wortl} more in "the now times." name.

March 28, 1986 The Militant 23 THE MILITANT L.A. 'March for Women's Lives' BY NELSON BLACKSTOCK they assembled for the approximately one­ AND JOANNE TORTORICI PICADO mile trek to Cheviot Hills Park for a rally. LOS ANGELES - Defying torrential At several points along the march route, rains, at least 25 ,000 marchers took to the the skies seemed to open up, releasing tor­ streets hel;'e March 16 to express their sup- . rents of rain, accompanied by rolling peals port for a woman's right to choose abor- of thunder. Demonstrators answered with tion. · stronger chanting, jeering, and catcalls, as · The National March for Women's Lives if in defiance of the weather and any other - WestCoas~ was a follow-up to the pre­ obstacles that might stand in the way of vious week's march in Washington, D.C., free choice. where more than 100,000 turned out for At the head of the march were banners one of the largest marches for women's demanding that abortion be kept safe and rights in U.S. history. The demonstration legal and honoring the thousands of women here marked the largest such action ever who have died from illegal, botched abor­ held on the West Coast. The National Or­ tions. ganization for Women (NOW) initiated the Students made up a large component of demonstrations. the march, with delegations coming from The turnout was all the more remarkable nearly 50 California colleges and univer­ because of the numbers who defied the sities, according to organizers. Campus driving rain to march. Such downpour is banners were. visible throughout the march. unusual in Southern California, where Many came from out of state. much lighter rain is liable to snarl traffic A contingent of more than 30 striking and send many to seek the safety of their TWA flight attendants carried their union homes. banner and picket signs proclaiming: "I am Rather than putting a damper on spirits, a breadwinner" and "TWA is antiunion and the rain was seized upon by marchers as an antifemale." One striker, dressed in uni­ opportunity to let it be known how strongly form, told the Militant she was attending they felt - that no rain was going to hold the march because women "have a right to them back. determine our own future ." As for the NOW President Eleanor Smeal said, as status of the strike, she said they were de­ the demonstration concluded, "We are just termined to stand firm. "There is no way amazed at your stamina. There's just no we 're going back to earning $12,000," she way we're ever going to give up or give said. in." Members of International Association of Marchers came from every western Machinists Local 565 proudly displayed state, including Alaska and Hawaii . Lines their banner, as did" members of Service of buses - nearly I 00 had been expected Employees International Union Loca1660. - rolled in to deposit demonstrators at Fourteen West Coast labor organizations Despite heavy rain, at least 25,000 turned out in Los Angeles March 16 to demand Century City in West Los Angeles. There Continued on Page 15 abortion rights as part of national "March for Women's Lives." Union members discuss General Electric strike BY RUSSELL DAVIS Identification with other unions on strike among Local 201 members. junction to ban picketing. In response to LYNN, Mass.- During the four-week has greatly increased since the G.E. strike The fact that Lynn and Everett are war­ this , a shop steward in charge of organizing G.E. strike by 8,000 members of Interna­ began. Many IUE members sport "P-9 industry plants means that the government picketing observed, "We have to run this tional Union of Electronic Workers (IUE) proud" buttons and stickers on the picket is already inv.olved in the strike. One work­ strike like they ran the civil rights move­ Local20 I , Militant supporters were able to in­ lines. Two workers from Local P-9 of the er, for example, told the Militant, "G.E. ment." terview a number of strikers on the picket line. meatpackers' union in Austin, Minnesota, and the government are working together (As we go to press, the shop stewards got a warm reception when they visited to break the union." Strike morale was good as many 20 I voted 100 to 15 to accept a tentative agree­ Local 201. Several strikers the Militant members got jobs and were digging in for a ment.) spoke to cited P-9 as an example of how Dozens of cars marked "U.S. govern­ long strike. One aircraft worker told me he Many of them told us how proud they labor needs to fight back. ment" passed in and out of the plant daily. had cashed in all his G.E. stock and would were to be on strike because they weren't Other ongoing strikes also drew a lot of Though people in them pretended to be never buy any more. One veteran of the just walking the picket line for a few cents comments. Many airport workers live in neutral, few strikers have illusions about 101-day G.E. strike in 1969 said, "It's pay increase. Instead, they told us, they and around Lynn, so the TWA flight atten­ what side they are on . Pressure from the good for the younger ones to go through a were standing up for the union, for justice, dants' strike seems ~ lot closer. Finally, government is constantly cited by G.E. as hard strike like this. Hopefully we'll come and for all the things they believe in . two days after the Local 201 picket lines an excuse to crack down on the work force out stronger." The strike, which began February 21, went up, the rail workers on the North and increase production. has raised a broad discussion among Local Shore went on strike. The Lynn Daily Picketing continued around the clock, Russell Davis is a member of IUE Local 201 members about what the company's News Item ran a big headline reading, and the lines have been peaceful despite 201 and works at the Lynn Riverworks intentions are and what the significance of "Strike three," referring to the G.E., G.E. provocations aimed at getting an in- plant. the strike is. TWA, and rail strikes. One worker said, At the picket line at the main gate in "What's going on here? This is like the,.. Lynn, one worker.commented, "This strike '30s." is about everything G.E. 's been doing for The rail strike shut down the commuter the past five years, from the 'factory of the rail service to the G.E. Lynn Riverworks San Francisco NOW, unionists future' to the 1985 contract." plant. The rail line is referred to as the The "factory of the future" is a new auto­ "scab express" because it 's used by man­ back TWA flight attendants mated plant G.E. built in Lynn only after agement to avoid picket lines when enter­ the union agreed to concessions on wages ing the plant. BY DIANA CANTU were in the air 70 hours and away from and work rules. Concern was expressed by Interest in broader social issues also in­ home 240 hours a month. several workers that the new automated creased among strikers. The beginning of SAN FRANCISCO - Support for the Independent Federation of Flight Atten­ In demanding these deep concessions, systems G.E. has been installing make it the strike coincided with the fall of Mar­ TWA President Carl Icahn has stated that easier for the company to continue produc­ cos, and many identified with the Filipino dants (IFF A) began in the Bay Area before they were forced out on strike by TWA on flight attendants should give up more than tion during a strike. As one picket put it, people. Several Local 201 members also other unions at TWA because 85 percent of "The 'factory of the future' is coming back attended the March 9 abortion rights march March 6. On March 3 members of the AFL-CIO, their union are women who are not "bread­ to haunt us now." on Washington. Their bus tickets were sub­ winners." A common view was that G.E. forced a sidized by the National Organization for Teamste.rs union, and the National Organi­ zation for Women joined IFFA members in Many IFF A supporters at the ·March 3 strike on Local 20 I because it voted down Women. Interest in the Militant has also in­ rally wore buttons saying, ''I'm a bread­ the 1985 contract despite its passing in creased. Sales and subscriptions have gone a rally at San Francisco's Union Square to protest TWA's outrageous concessions de­ winner, not a loaf." every other major G.E. plant. At the Fair­ up. After a march around the square, union child Street gate, one younger worker said, Reagan's request for $100 million for mands. Before the strike the flight attendants representative Anamarie France spoke. "They're out to get us because they think the Nicaraguan contras was unpopular She pointed out that despite company 201 is too militant." with just about everyone the Militant spoke had agreed to take the same concessions Others saw the strike as part of a broader agreed to by other unions having agree­ claims, flight attendants are skilled work­ with on the picket lines. "The country is ers and bear a lot of the responsibility for campaign against the unions. "This isn't a going broke, and he wants to give $100 ments with TWA. These included a 15 per­ G.E. or Lynn thing. It's happening all cent wage cut and some changes in the the safety of the flying public . The wage million to those people"' was a typical reac­ cuts are not necessary for the company but across the country, like at Hormel," said an tion. work rules favoring the company. older worker. "Ever since Reagan broke G.E. workers don't often deal with the TWA countered by demanding wage .merely another example of corporate the air traffic controllers [in 1981], the fact that most ofthe production at the Lynn cuts up to 22 percent and drastic changes in greed. unions have been getting kicked around," and Everett plants is for the military. When work rules. Under these new rules, flight Other speakers included Art Pulaski , he continued. "When PATCO went out, a visiting P-9 member raised the need to attendants would have to be in the air 83 president of the San Mateo County Central we all should have gone out and backed cut the military budget to create jobs, it hours and away from home 320 hours a Labor Council; Walter Johnson, president them up." raised a lot of questions and discussion month. Before the strike, flight attendants Continued on Page 20

24 The Militant March 28, 1986