AUSTRALIA $1.50 · canada $1.50 · france 1.00 euro · new zealand $1.50 · uk £.50 · u.s. $1.00 INSIDE Anarchist ‘black bloc’ politics pose threat to — PAGE 4 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vol. 81/no. 7 February 20, 2017 Cuba brigade: Calling Trump Protests continue against Unique chance a ‘fascist’ gov’t attack on immigrants to learn about disorients the SWP: Join protests, demand amnesty!’ the revolution working class by John Studer by seth galinsky Working people and youth have a Many liberals, some conservatives unique opportunity to learn firsthand and almost the entire middle-class about Cuba’s socialist revolution and left call President and to offer their solidarity with the Cu- his administration fascist. Drawing ban people by joining the 12th May on the rich history of the revolution- Day International Brigade April 24 to May 8. Last year more than 200 peo- ple from 34 countries participated in Commentary the brigade, which is sponsored by the Cuban Institute for Friendship with ary workers movement, the Socialist the Peoples (ICAP). Workers Party has a different view. For the first time, a U.S. contin- Is there something fundamentally gent will be part of the brigade. “It’s different about the Trump adminis- a fantastic opportunity,” Steve Eck- tration compared to previous Demo- ardt, co-coordinator of the cratic and Republican ones? Is Trump Cuba Coalition, which is organizing really a new Adolph Hitler or “Musso- the U.S. contingent, told the Militant. lini in a blue suit and tie,” as Norman AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews “Participants will visit three prov- Pollack wrote on the Counterpunch High school student Yacine Fall, originally from Senegal, speaks at rally of hundreds of inces besides Havana and meet with website Feb. 3? students in Feb. 7, opposing ban on travel from seven majority-Muslim countries. members of the Federation of Cuban Or is Trump simply the new chief by seth galinsky carried handmade signs with slogans Women, the Central Organization executive officer of the U.S. ruling NEW YORK — Protests continue written on school notebooks, poster of Cuban Workers, the Federation of class, who won election because of across the country against President board and skateboards. University Students and other mass the widespread distrust in his oppo- Donald Trump’s series of anti-work- The day before, some 20 rabbis af- organizations.” nent Hillary Clinton and interest in ing-class executive orders targeting “The low cost of the brigade is ex- the working class for political change undocumented workers, refugees and Amnesty for Continued on page 7 Continued on page 6 citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries. Immigrants! Several hundred high school and — Editorial, page 9 Social catastrophe after college students demonstrated here Feb. 7. “Daily life cannot just contin- filiated with T’ruah: The Rabbinic ue as is, when others are suffering,” Call for Human Rights were arrested storms is product of capitalism Beacon High School student Selam for blocking a street near the Trump Murphy, one of many high school stu- International Hotel and Tower in dents who walked out of class to join Manhattan. “Some of the language the protest, told the press. Students Continued on page 9 NY event celebrates life of Cuban leader Fidel Castro by Brian Williams Cuba’s volunteer medical missions NEW YORK — Hundreds of peo- around the world, including its role in ple packed the Malcolm X and Dr. defeating the Ebola epidemic in West Betty Shabazz Cultural Center here Africa. in Harlem Feb. 4 to celebrate the life Anayansi Rodríguez, newly ap- and political contributions of Cuban Continued on page 7 revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, who died Nov. 25. “Fidel’s unwavering solidarity has Militant photos by Sam Manuel benefited countless people across the Inside Above, remnants of trailer where Betty Lee and Jesse James Newsome were globe,” said Gail Walker, pointing to Yemeni bodega owners close killed when tornado hit. Inset, farmer Cuba’s internationalist mission in An- shops, rally against travel ban 2 Willie Head, left, and Fred Swain in front gola, which played a key role in de- of Swain’s home in Albany, Georgia. feating armed invasions of that coun- Actions protest attack Outpouring of working-class solidarity try by the white-supremacist regime since storms hit is sharp contrast to gov- on Chicago synagogue 3 ernment’s bureaucratic runaround. in South Africa, hastening the fall of apartheid. Walker, who is executive Gov’t prepares trial of framed- BY SUSAN LAMONT The huge storm system, which director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace, up Quebec rail workers 5 ALBANY, Ga. — It’s passed off passed from to South Caro- co-chaired the meeting with Malcolm by Democratic and Republican politi- lina over several days and pounded Sacks of the Venceremos Brigade. –On the picket line, p. 5– cians alike as an unavoidable natural eight states, spawned 40 tornadoes Walker highlighted Cuba’s interna- Locked-out health workers in disaster. But the catastrophic effect on in Georgia alone. Hardest hit was tionalism, including its treatment of Alberta fight for care for seniors working people here of the most se- Dougherty County, which includes thousands of children from Ukraine vere winter storms in the state’s his- Albany, the largest city in this rural at the special Tarará medical facility 6 years after NZ mine blast tory Jan. 21-22 is the result of social part of the state, with a population of outside Havana after the nuclear di- miners’ families win solidarity relations bred by the capitalist system. Continued on page 3 saster in Chernobyl. She pointed to Yemeni bodega owners close shops, rally against travel ban by brian williams P.S. 58 in Brooklyn and a member of NEW YORK — Over 1,000 Ye- the United Federation of Teachers. She menis closed the bodegas and cor- teaches English as second language ner stores they own and operate in and said she has many students from neighborhoods throughout the city Yemen in her classes. from noon to 8 p.m. Feb. 2 to protest High school student Yasmeem Hu- President Donald Trump’s executive mood carried one of the most popular order banning travel from Yemen to homemade signs in the crowd. It said, the U.S. for three-months. They ral- “If you don’t want refugees, stop cre- lied along with other supporters in ating them,” referring to ’s front of Brooklyn’s Borough Hall that ongoing wars in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, evening. Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Mid- Militant photos by Brian Williams Yemeni grocers, supporters rally at Brooklyn “A lot of businesses are shut down,” east. Borough Hall Feb. 2 after shutting their shops Abdul Salah, 65, told the Militant. He Saris Alkbas, a Yemeni-American for eight hours to protest ban on Yemenis en- runs a wholesale deli in Staten Island born in the U.S., operates a deli in tering U.S. Inset, high school student Yasmeem and has been living in the U.S. for 50 Harlem along with his father. “I voted Humood holds sign hitting Washington’s wars. years. “Our message is Jews, Muslims, for Trump because I wanted change,” Christians, we should live together in he said. But now he’s having second working people suffering the conse- left in much of the country by the civil harmony and be treated as equals.” thoughts, noting that Trump “signed quences. Former dictator Ali Abdul- war, taking control of a number of ar- He said it was already “hard to get off on the recent Navy SEAL com- lah Saleh, supported by Houthi mi- eas along the country’s coast and loot- here from Yemen” before the new or- mando attack in Yemen.” litias backed by Tehran, deposed the ing area banks, smuggling and impos- der. It took five years for Salah to bring After just a week in office, the new government of Abed Rabbo Mansour ing taxes on trade. his wife over under the Barack Obama administration continued in the foot- Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led Washington closed its embassy in administration. Three children from steps of the old, ordering drone air- coalition force and Washington. More Sanaa, the capital, in 2015. Yemenis his previous marriage put in for a visa strikes and the landing of U.S. special than 10,000 civilians have been killed seeking visas to get into the U.S. now a year ago. These applications “remain operations forces in central Yemen. and 40,000 wounded, many in U.S.- have to go to other countries such as in limbo,” he said They attacked the home of Abdul- supplied airstrikes. Millions are on the Djibouti or Egypt. Those resourceful Rally organizers said there are sev- Raouf al-Dhahab, a leader of al-Qaeda brink of famine. enough to get them have had them re- eral thousand bodegas and grocery in the Arabian Peninsula, killing him Al-Qaeda stepped into the vacuum voked under the new executive order. stores owned by Yemeni-Americans and 13 others, U.S. military spokes- citywide, many open around the clock. people said. However, medics on the “We are closing our business Feb. 2,” scene reported that some 30 people, in- Assad regime torture, mass murder said signs posted on many of the bo- cluding 10 women and children, were degas, “in support of our families, killed. This included the 8-year-old friends and loved ones” stranded over- daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.- of workers is documented in Syria seas. The closures won support from born supporter of al-Qaeda who the by brian williams cus, known to detainees as the “human many of their regular customers, bode- Obama administration assassinated in A chilling report issued by Amnesty slaughterhouse,” according to the re- ga owners at the rally told the Militant. a 2011 drone strike. International Feb. 7 documents how the port. “I’m here to stand in solidarity with Yemen has been wracked by civil dictatorial regime of Bashar al-Assad in Amnesty also documented in a sep- Yemeni students and family mem- war among contending capitalist forc- Syria has relied on mass jailings, tor- arate report last year that more than bers,” said Katie Lapham, a teacher at es since the beginning of 2015, with ture and extrajudicial executions of its 17,000 people had died of torture and opponents to enforce its rule. poor treatment in custody across Syria An explosion of mass protests against since 2011. the regime and its assaults on political Arbitrary arrests and torture have rights in 2011 was met with a murder- marked the Syrian regime for decades, ous response by Assad, leading to the going back to the 1971-2000 rule of civil war that continues today. More Hafez al-Assad, the current president’s than 400,000 people have been killed father. Throughout the civil war, Bashar and over 11 million forced from their al-Assad’s forces have used chemical Workers demand clean-up of toxic waste homes by Assad’s war. weapons and conducted barrel bomb Between September 2011 and De- airstrikes that target civilians and sieg- Workers in Los Ange- cember 2015 as many as 13,000 people es to starve out neighborhoods. Some les have been demanding were executed at the notorious Sayd- 75,000 people arrested by the govern- clean-up of deadly contam- naya Military Prison north of Damas- Continued on page 9 ination from an Exide bat-

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2 The Militant February 20, 2017 Disaster product of capitalism Actions protest attack on Chicago synagogue Continued from front page ters in those vulnerable communities 76,000. People had barely begun to are few and far between,” Associated recover from a tornado that passed Press reported Jan. 24. through the area less than three weeks “We are taxed and taxed, but what does earlier when another one hit Jan. 22, the government do when something like with wind speeds up to 150 mph. this happens?” said Head. “Where is the The storms destroyed or damaged help? People aren’t warned or evacu- hundreds of homes, as well as farms, ated, even though government people businesses and factories. Thousands of knew for hours and even a few days that trees were uprooted or snapped in half the storm was coming and what its path like toothpicks. Thousands lost electric- was. Here, everyone’s left on their own ity when power lines were torn down. to protect themselves. At least 21 people were killed, most of “We should learn from the example them in Georgia, and many others in- of the Cuban people and their govern- jured. A 2-year-old boy, Detrez Green, ment, the way they are trained and the went missing here and has not been way they look after each other when found. Initial estimates of damages by they’re hit by storms like this,” said the state insurance commissioner were Head, who has visited revolutionary at least $100 million, on top of $30 mil- Cuba several times — where people Militant/Dan Fein lion from the Jan. 2 tornado. and resources are mobilized to mini- CHICAGO — “We will not be driven out or driven away by anyone in “Storms this bad are unusual for our mize loss of life and damages. “Why any shape or form,” Rabbi Gary Rosenberg, at podium, told a Feb. 5 press area, especially in winter,” said Wil- can’t we adopt their methods here? conference here in front of the Chicago Loop Synagogue a day after it was lie Head, a small farmer who lives in Here, the officials treat the loss of life attacked. “Even though we come from different backgrounds and different Brooks County. Head joined myself and almost nonchalantly.” places, all of us have the right to practice our religion in the way that we Sam Manuel, Socialist Workers Party “Of course, it will take a revolution to see fit and to be able to do it without fear and anxiety.” members from , to visit some of do that,” he said. “But I plan to bring up Surveillance camera footage shows a man breaking a window in the the hardest-hit areas a few days after the these safety questions at whatever local synagogue and attaching swastika stickers to the door. storm. meetings I can, to start the discussion.” “If any good came out of this, it was the outpouring of love we have “The only warning we got was an We saw an outpouring of working- seen,” said Lee Zoldan, at right, president of the 800-member synagogue. ‘amber alert’ on our cellphones at 3 class solidarity here, as workers and “We have received thousands and thousands of emails and text messages a.m.,” Head said. “Who’s looking at farmers volunteered to help neighbors, of solidarity from around the world.” their phones in the middle of the night?” friends and fellow workers deal with the The synagogue received flowers, food and support from members of the The two fatalities in Brooks County aftermath of the storm. Many churches neighborhood and other parts of the city who stopped by. were Head’s friends — Betty Lee and organized volunteers to provide meals, “Chicago’s Muslim community stands in full solidarity with our Jewish Jessie James Newsome — a retired clear debris and give whatever other as- brothers and sisters as they deal with the trauma of this vile act of hate,” couple he had known for years. They sistance they could. Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on were in bed when a tornado blew their “This was the worst tornado in my American-Islamic Relations, said in a solidarity message to the members mobile home onto the highway, shred- lifetime,” Freddie Swain, a retired auto of the congregation. ding it and killing them. We met rela- worker, who lives in one of the hardest “Unfortunately, we know the feeling all too well as mosque vandalism tives who were trying to find clothing hit parts of Albany, told us. “The torna- and burning has spiked recently in the U.S.,” he added. Zoldan announced an interfaith rally against bigotry and scapegoating to bury the Newsomes, among debris do hit our neighborhood midafternoon. for Wednesday, Feb. 8, at noon, at the synagogue at 16 S Clark Street. where their trailer once stood. There was no alarm or other warning, — Shiffa Rizki and Samir Qaisar “I didn’t expect to meet with so much except what was on TV.” His roof was bureaucracy after just a few days,” damaged and a huge tree in his front Aaron Sims, Betty Lee Newsome’s son, yard was ripped out of the ground. who lives in , told us. The fam- “Many others were hit much harder,” Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. state assistance,” he told the Albany ily also has to deal with a pile of county Swain said. “We were lucky because Four of the 16 counties under a state- Herald a couple weeks earlier after the government forms they have to fill out. we have insurance.” But the insurance proclaimed emergency decree — Cal- first tornado. “Just as the federal gov- “They won’t even let us take anything won’t pay to remove the tree, he said, houn, Clay, Crisp and Dougherty — are ernment will not come until the state from the garage — tools and other because it didn’t hit the house. And that among the 100 U.S. counties with the has done its assessment and request items we need to use,” Sims said. can cost $1,000 or more. highest poverty rate. they come in.” A tornado struck a mobile home park Many workers affected by the storms Gov. Nathan Deal visited the area It’s the opposite of how the Cubans in neighboring Cook County, demol- don’t have the resources to handle a so- a few days after the storm, promising do it. ishing half of the 40 homes there. Ten cial disaster like this. They lack home or some help would come eventually. of those killed in the storm in Georgia health insurance to handle injuries and “We were not able to come until local Willie Head in Pavo, Georgia, and lived in mobile home courts. damage, and can’t cover the cost of fu- authorities had done their assessment Sam Manuel from Atlanta contributed More working people in the South nerals for those who were killed. Many and asked us to come in and provide to this article. live in mobile homes than in most other lost everything, including clothing and parts of the country, and people living medicine. in trailer parks are far more likely to be At least 20 percent or more of the killed in a tornado than those residing population in storm-struck areas live For the first time in decades, the US rulers in houses. “Laws requiring storm shel- below the federal poverty level, the have begun to fear the working class Books for the deepening debate among workers seeking a way forward in face of capitalism’s global economic crisis, social calamity and spreading wars. Book review: Read ‘Is Socialist SPECIAL OFFER $5! The Clintons’ Revolution in the US Possible?’ Anti-Working-Class Record The brief review below of Is Social- on the American people. “Is Socialist ist Revolution in the US Possible? ap- Revolution in the US Possible?” is a peared in the Midwest Book Review definitive contribution to the growing in its January 2017 Book- discussion among working people ev- watch newsletter. erywhere who are looking for a way forward in the face of sharpening In the pages capitalist crisis and spreading wars. of “Is Socialist Fighting for a society only work- Revolution in the ing people can create, it is our own US Possible?: A capacities we will discover, not the Necessary Debate Among Working rulers’ false image of us, an image People” Mary-Alice Waters (a leader that reflects their own guilt and fear. of the American Socialist Work- A thoughtful and thought-provoking Also in Spanish, French Also in Spanish ers party) is an unhesitating Yes is read, “Is Socialist Revolution in the the answer to the question that com- US Possible?” should be a part of ev- Also in Spanish Are They Rich Because They’re prises her book’s title. Waters main- ery community, college, and univer- Contact Socialist Workers Smart? and Is Socialist Revolution in tains that while a socialist revolution sity library Contemporary Political Party or Communist the US Possible? $7 each or $5 each in the United States is possible, it is Science collection and supplemental League nearest you. See with a subscription to the Militant. not inevitable. That future depends studies reading list. directory on page 8.

The Militant February 20, 2017 3 Anarchist ‘black bloc’ politics pose threat to working class by EMma Johnson He was speaking to a reporter on the and Naomi Craine street when a black-clad assailant sucker Claiming to be fighting fascism, an- punched him in the face and ran away. archist groups in the U.S. have carried A video of the blow went viral on the out numerous actions in recent weeks internet, accompanied by tweets such that pose a deadly danger to the working as, “We all have to stay strong and sur- class — from sucker punching rightist vive so that we too can have the chance Richard Spencer as he was speaking to to punch Richard Spencer in the face.” a reporter, to assaulting workers who express support for President Donald ‘A righteous mob’ That video shows “anti-fascist bloc tactics par excellence — pure kinetic Commentary beauty,” Lennard declares. She waxes lyrical about bottle rockets flying, bricks Trump, to disrupting and shutting down hurled through bank windows, clashes campus speeches by individuals they with cops and “mild altercations with disagree with. rowdy Trump supporters.” She says, “If Reuters/Bryan Woolston that sounds to you like a precondition “Black bloc” in effort to “Stop Trump’s inauguration” in Washington Jan. 20. For over 150 These thuggish “black bloc” actions years Marxist movement has fought political danger of anarchists to workers movement. flow from the petty-bourgeois view for mob violence you’re right. But this is that a minority of adventurers can sub- only a problem if you think there are no ment. (See article on front page.) But as battles of communist leaders Karl Marx stitute themselves for mass actions and righteous mobs.” the class struggle deepens and the dan- and Frederick Engels against Joseph- change society. But the result is their ac- Anarchist black blocs have targeted ger of fascism is posed, the stakes for Pierre Proudhon and Mikhail Bakunin tions close down political space, hand speaking engagements of Milo Yian- working people in rejecting in the 1800s. (See Marx’s The Poverty the government and its police agencies nopoulos, an editor for Breitbart News, and its methods will only grow. of Philosophy and an 1873 article “The a golden opportunity to clamp down on at many campuses. At the University of Bakuninists at Work” by Engels.) The political freedoms, and become a hotbed Washington in , they forced their An anti-working-class course anarchists destroyed the Internation- for provocateurs. way to the front of a Jan. 20 protest, Attempting through violent attacks to al Workingmen’s Association led by That’s the opposite of what the Social- throwing bricks and paint to try to stop silence those you disagree with from ex- Marx. They bore much of the respon- ist Workers Party stands and fights for: people from attending his talk. A mem- pressing their views is a method that can sibility for the disastrous defeat of the mobilizing the working class to organize ber of the anarchist Industrial Workers and will be used against the workers’ working class in the Spanish Revolu- politically independent of the capitalist of the World was shot and wounded in movement. Groups that carry out such tion of the 1930s. Those and many other rulers and their parties, joining today’s the confrontation. A man who had come attacks are fertile ground for provoca- examples are the political continuity of labor and political struggles seeking to to hear Yiannopoulos later turned him- teurs, and to breed actual fascists. And today’s black blocs. build a revolutionary party capable of self in to the cops, claiming he fired in their provocations allow rightists such as The anarchist perspective is marked overthrowing capitalist rule and its dog- self-defense. Spencer and Yiannopoulos to appear to by opposition to political action by the eat-dog social relations. Similar groups tried to stop an event stand on the moral high ground as de- working class. They favor the action of Rich articles about the destructive ef- organized by the College Republicans at fenders of freedom of speech. small groups to the mobilization, edu- fects of the anarchists can be found in New York University Feb. 2 for come- “If you start by attempting to hastily cation and organization of the working the works of Karl Marx, Frederick En- dian Gavin McInnes, who calls himself gather together a vanguard force and class to take power out of the hands of gels, V.I. Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Far- a “Western chauvinist.” McInnes was crush fascism in the egg, you are play- the capitalist rulers and begin to reorga- rell Dobbs. pepper sprayed on the way in. ing into the hands of the fascists,” said nize society in the interests of the toiling One of the most striking things about In all these incidents, targets have in- Socialist Workers Party leader Farrell majority — as both the 1917 Bolshevik the anarchists’ actions — such as the cluded individuals wearing pro-Trump Dobbs in a 1975 discussion titled Coun- Revolution in Russia and the 1959 Cu- riot they organized in Berkeley, Califor- hats or signs. The anarchists join the ter-Mobilization: A Strategy to Fight ban Revolution showed was possible. nia, (see article below) — is that they re- liberals in slandering workers who vot- Racist and Fascist Attacks, published Other recommended reading on an- duce workers to bystanders, erasing any ed for Trump, fed up with the grinding by Pathfinder Press. “You are losing archism and its deadly record in the possibility of mass protest. depression conditions that world capital- ground in the mobilization of the real working class includes Dobbs’ two-vol- Writing in The Nation Jan. 22, Nata- ism is producing, those Hillary Clinton class that can do away with fascism.” ume series Revolutionary Continuity: sha Lennard gives a graphic description called “deplorables.” The workers movement has a long Marxist Leadership in the U.S. and The glorying in the black bloc she joined Neither Trump nor the workers who history of experience with anarchist Spanish Revolution (1931-39) by Leon in Washington Jan. 20 during Trump’s voted for him are part of a fascist move- currents, going back to the political Trotsky. inauguration. “Disrupt J20 aimed to directly impede, delay and confront the inaugural proceedings,” she writes. Berkeley: Anarchists shut down speaker, attack workers “This message was delivered with hu- man blockades, smashed corporate win- BY JOEL BRITTON “white supremacist” who engages in nesses. dows, trash-can fires, a burning limou- BERKELEY, Calif. — A protest “hate speech” while touring college Two days later, students were discuss- sine, ‘Make America Great Again’ caps here Feb. 1 against the self-styled “lib- campuses, the Berkeley Against Trump ing what lessons should be drawn. reduced to ashes, and a blow for Richard ertarian, gay, Trump-supporting pro- Coalition organized to prevent him from “I supported the protest but don’t Spencer.” vocateur” Milo Yiannopoulos became speaking at the meeting sponsored by agree with what the anarchists did,” Spencer is a white supremacist and national news after a large contingent the Berkeley College Republicans. said Landon Sorci, an economics ma- president of the National Policy Institute. of black flag waving anarchists marched The coalition — formerly called the jor who left when the action turned into the rally of more than 1,000 Univer- J20 Coalition for the date of President violent. Yiannopoulos got what he sity of students and attacked Donald Trump’s inauguration — was wanted, Sorci said, becoming “a free Revolutionary Continuity the Martin Luther King Student Union involved in earlier actions protesting the speech martyr.” Referring to Yian- The Early Years 1848-1917 where he was scheduled to speak. results of the November election. nopoulos’ campaign against the liber- by The anarchists tore down metal po- Some of the demonstrators carried als’ “political correctness,” Sorci said, How successive lice barriers and used them along with “Punch a Nazi” posters, encouraging “You do have a kind of forced liberal- generations of clubs and hammers to break plate glass thuggery. One woman wearing a Trump ism here at Cal.” fighters joined in windows. They toppled a portable light- hat was pepper sprayed in the face as Rudra Reddy, whose family is from the struggles that ing fixture and set it on fire. Fireworks she was interviewed by a TV reporter. India, was one of those gathered at shaped the U.S. were aimed at police, who responded Others who had lined up to hear Yian- the campus Republicans table. He said labor movement, with “nonlethal” projectiles. Some of nopoulos were assaulted. he disagrees with Yiannopoulos but seeking to build the hundreds of curious onlookers who More windows were broken and fire- wanted to hear him speak. Reddy said a class-conscious revolutionary had gathered nearby were hit by the po- works shot at police after the meeting he was most upset when he saw some leadership lice fire. was called off. After repeated orders to of the student protesters egging on the capable of Many protesters cheered when cam- disperse, campus and Berkeley police, anarchists. advancing the pus officials soon announced that the joined by cops from Oakland and else- Jordan, a political science major who interests of meeting to hear Yiannopoulos, an edi- where, cleared everyone out of the plaza asked not to have his last name used, workers and tor at the conservative Breitbart News, by the student center. U.C. officials im- told the Militant, “I don’t agree with de- small farmers and linking up with was cancelled. Many other students posed a “shelter in place” lockdown on meaning people,” citing Yiannopoulos’ fellow toilers worldwide. who were opposed to the violence left the entire campus. crudities and reactionary insults aimed 1st of 2 vols. $20 the scene not long after the anarchists Some of the protesters joined anar- at Muslims and others. But, he added, Pathfinderpress.com appeared. chists in rampaging through nearby “Silence one person and anyone can be Claiming that Yiannopoulos is a streets, trashing banks and other busi- silenced.”

4 The Militant February 20, 2017 on the picket line Maggie Trowe, Editor Locked-out health workers in the mine’s owners and management. Alberta fight for care for seniors A 2012 royal commission into the COLD LAKE, Alberta — Some 40 disaster found Pike River Coal guilty members of the Alberta Union of Pro- of numerous safety violations, includ- vincial Employees, locked out since ing inadequate ventilation and failing to Dec. 16, have been fighting for qual- heed warnings from the miners. ity health care for seniors at the Points “No one has been held to account,” West Living center here. Sonya Rockhouse, who lost her son in The recent death of 85-year-old the explosion, told the meeting. “This is resident Olga Penner was from “pure a huge injustice and if we don’t stand up neglect,” Lianne Dumais, one of the for what is right, what is to stop them locked-out workers, told the Militant at from doing it again.” She said she was a Feb. 3 solidarity rally at the compa- overwhelmed with the support family ny’s corporate office in Edmonton. Her members have received at the picket condition deteriorated after the work- line. So far contractors have refused to Militant/Abdurahman Ali ers were locked out and the company seal the mine. Health care workers locked out by Points West Living senior residence in Cold Lake, Alber- brought in scabs. — Ruth Gray ta, picket outside in fight for their first union contract and quality health care for seniors. When Katy LeRougetel, Communist League candidate for mayor of , and Abdurahman Ali, her co-worker Gov’t prepares trial of framed-up Quebec rail workers at a warehouse in Calgary, visited the BY JOHN STEELE crystal clear that it was the railway boss- campaigning for the government to build picket line Jan. 30, workers described SHERBROOKE, Quebec — At a es’ profit-driven disregard for safety, and a rail bypass around the town, attended conditions at the residence. Jan. 26-27 hearing here, Superior Court complicity of the federal government the hearing to show the widespread sup- Health care aides said they spend judge Gaétan Dumas began to set the agency Transport Canada, that were re- port for Harding in Lac-Mégantic. much of their time both cleaning and stage for the September trials of framed- sponsible for the disaster. Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, a writer cooking. “When I did my practicum up union locomotive engineer Tom Under a strict , and who is working on a book about the di- in Edmonton, health care aides weren’t Harding and dispatcher Richard Labrie, Atlantic policy to save time and money, saster, also came. “One cannot but won- even allowed into the kitchen because of along with Jean Demaitre, a Montreal, the Globe showed, Harding was forbid- der how justice can be totally served in cross-contamination,” said Julie Grant. Maine and Atlantic Railway manager. den from activating the train’s automatic such a tragedy, when only low-ranking “Here, we cook for residents, too.” The rail workers are being framed air brakes, which would have prevented employees are on the stand for the death Health care aides, nurses and other by the government for the July 2013 the parked train from rolling into Lac- of 47 people,” she told the Militant. support staff — the overwhelming ma- derailment and explosion of a runaway Mégantic that night. And Transport “Those who gave the orders, set the jority women — have been trying to Montreal, Maine and Atlantic crude oil Canada gave the MMA approval to run rules and ran the training — those who negotiate a first contract with this pri- train in downtown Lac-Mégantic, a city their dangerous oil trains with a bare own the company — are all off limits, vately owned facility since they union- of 6,000 near the Quebec-Maine border. bones “crew” of one. holed up in United States.” ized in March 2015. The disaster killed 47 people and leveled Separating the railroad out for its own “The fight against the frame-up of “The unions make you really strong,” the town center. All three are charged trial is reasonable, Charles Shearson, Harding and Labrie is important for said nurse Kaitlyn Jubinville. “We’ve with 47 counts of criminal negligence who spoke for Harding at the hearing, working people across the country and gotten to know each other on the picket and could face life in prison if convict- told the Militant. “The jury will have elsewhere,” said Philippe Tessier, Com- line like we never did at work.” ed. Harding and Labrie are members of more focus on the trial of Harding and munist League candidate for mayor of The union is demanding adequate United Steelworkers Local 1976. the others.” Montreal, who attended the hearing in staffing and training. Only four or five The judge ruled that the bankrupt and “We believe the judge should call the solidarity. “Defeating this frame-up workers are full time. The others are dissolved railroad, which has no assets prosecutors’ bluff and hold the trial of will strengthen the ongoing fight by either part-time or temporary workers. or legal counsel, will be tried separately. the MMA before the trial of Harding, rail workers everywhere who are strug- Workers want transparent scheduling “The prosecution has absolutely no Labrie and Demaitre,” Walsh said. gling for rail safety, for themselves and procedures and the replacement of ab- intention of going after the MMA,” Shearson said another pretrial hearing all those who live and work along the sent staff. Thomas Walsh, one of Harding’s law- set for April will address a motion by tracks.” Over 160 employees at four Points yers, told the Militant Jan. 30. “They Walsh to enter the Transportation Safety Messages in support of Harding West Living facilities in Alberta are want to go after Tom Harding. The Board report and supporting documents and Labrie can be sent to USW Local currently fighting for a contract. charges against the MMA are window as evidence, and to let the defense call 1976 / Section locale 1976, 2360 De Unionists employed at the Cold Lake dressing.” board officials to question them. Lasalle, Suite 202, Montreal, QC H1V military base, city employees and others An exposé in the Globe and Robert Bellefleur, spokesperson for 2L1. Copies should be sent to Thomas have visited the picket line in solidarity. Mail and the official report of the Trans- the Citizens’ and Groups Coalition for Walsh, 165 Rue Wellington N., Suite Community members drop off food portation Safety Board have made it Rail Safety in Lac-Mégantic, which is 310, Sherbrooke, QC Canada J1H 5B9. and other refreshments and frequent honks from passersby show support. — Michel Dugré 25, 50, and 75 years ago 6 years after NZ mine blast miners’ families win solidarity CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — A meeting here Jan. 25 discussed orga- nizing ongoing actions in support of the February 21, 1992 February 20, 1967 February 21, 1942 families of the 29 miners killed in meth- SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Public Feb. 13 — This afternoon, Lyndon An all-out employers’ offensive to ane gas explosions in November 2010 at attention here remains focused on the B. Johnson ended the less-than-48- block federal aid to millions of jobless the Pike River Coal company, located current Puerto Rico Senate hearings hour extension of the “Tet truce” with victims of priorities and delayed war on the West Coast of the South Island. that are investigating the 1978 police orders for resumption of U.S. bombing plant conversions, is receiving strong In response to company moves to murder of two young pro-indepen- of north Vietnam. support in Congress. seal the mine, family members began dence activists. The hearings have Washington used the so-called truce A majority of the House Ways picketing the mine’s access road last put a spotlight on the role of U.S. and period to build up forces for launch- and Means Committee last week ex- Nov. 12. They’re demanding the bod- Puerto Rican government officials in ing the biggest military operation of pressed their intentions of knifing an ies of their loved ones be recovered. It planning, carrying out, and covering the war, the 15,000-man “Operation Administration proposal for a skimpy is believed that some miners were in the up the murders. Gadsen,” which was launched at the $300,000,000 appropriation to provide mines’ entrance tunnel when the explo- The Puerto Rico Senate Judiciary minute the truce ended. At the same supplemental federal unemployment sion occurred. There may also be evi- Committee has questioned former time, Washington prepared to launch a compensation to the war-made unem- dence that could be used to prosecute police superintendent Roberto Torres massive invasion of the Mekong Delta ployed. Present state unemployment González and former deputy police region with another 15,000 troops of compensation allowances average $10 New International superintendent Desiderio Cartagena the Ninth Infantry Division. a week. about their involvement in the case. Further, giant U.S. B-52 bombers Behind this vicious campaign is the A magazine of Marxist politics determination of the boss class to keep and theory, 1934-present The two have contradicted their own rained death on the south Vietnamese and each other’s testimony. countryside up to the moment the unemployment relief down to starva- Intercontinental Press Carlos Soto Arriví, 18, and Arnaldo truce began, and resumed as soon as it tion levels, in the belief that this will International news magazine Darío Rosado, 24, were ambushed and ended. And while doing this, Pentagon make the workers willing to take jobs 1963-86 killed after surrendering to as many as propagandists worked overtime to at any wage, and to forestall any mea- Online at themilitant.com 20 cops at a remote mountaintop called cook up Johnson’s excuse for breaking sure that smacks even “in principle” of pathfinderpress.com Cerro Maravilla on July 25, 1978. the truce period off. what is termed “federalization.”

The Militant February 20, 2017 5 Is Trump really a fascist? Continued from front page rule,” Barnes said. at a time when they’re being battered Fascist groups, which exist on the by the effects of a deepening worldwide fringes at first, only get financial and capitalist economic crisis? political backing from a significant sec- The answer to this question has seri- tion of the bourgeoisie when the work- ous political consequences for anyone ing class “puts up an increasingly seri- who is interested in defending the inter- ous challenge to capitalist rule itself,” ests of the working class in the United Barnes said. States and around the world. In Germany and Italy the working Because of the decline in Marxist po- class was unable to unify and mobilize litical culture in the world today, “fas- its allies to overthrow capitalism and cist” is an epithet used by many on the take power because of the betrayal by left to mean any demagogic politician. the Stalinist and the They care little for seeking to learn the reformist Social Democrats. rich history of the revolutionary work- In 1930 the Social Democratic Party ing-class movement’s writings on fas- received 8,577,700 votes and the Com- cism from Germany and Italy to the U.S. munist Party 4,592,100 votes compared Fascism is the name given to reaction- to 6,409,600 for the Nazis. If the So- ary mass movements that arose leading cial Democrats and Communist Party Many liberals, some conservatives and most of the middle-class left claim Trump is a fascist, up to World War II — like those led by had formed a united front, if the trade like Hitler or Mussolini. Acting on this belief would lead the workers movement to disaster. Benito Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in unions they led had built workers de- Germany and with echoes in the U.S. fense guards, if they were on a political in Counterpunch Feb. 3, that “Trump’s and Barack Obama. Does Holmes think and other imperialist countries — that course to lead the working class to over- supporters fall into three broad catego- Clinton and Obama are fascists? were backed by the capitalist classes in throw capitalist rule, they could have ries: dupes, deplorables, and opportun- Labeling Trump a fascist, helps pave those countries when the existing dic- stopped fascism on the road to power. ists.” the way for resuscitating the Democrats, tatorship of capital could no longer sur- Instead, they did nothing to stand up Levine says it’s “the lowlifes whose the rulers’ other party, as the answer. vive by normal “democratic” means. to the fascist gangs and Hitler came to cages he [Trump] had rattled and whose There is another danger in misla- Leon Trotsky, a leader of the Russian power without a fight. passions he had inflamed” that are the beling Trump and his administration Revolution, who was expelled from the Workers paid the price of the Stalin- problem, showing his scorn and fear of as fascist. It disarms the working class in 1929 by Joseph Stalin ist and Social Democratic betrayal in the working class. politically for when fascism really as part of a broader counterrevolution blood. Millions of Jews and gypsies In fact, Trump’s policies are a mix of does raise its ugly head once again — against the program of V.I. Lenin that were sent to their deaths in concentra- steps designed to attract working-class as it inevitably will when the ruling led the workers and farmers of Russia to tion camps. The unions were destroyed. support, like his disdain for the govern- families see no other way to maintain power in 1917, wrote extensively about The working class was driven off the ment’s fake unemployment figures and capitalism. fascism. His goal was to lay bare the political stage. his call for infrastructure building and Communist workers don’t care which class dynamics that led to its rise and to Counterpunch’s Pollack says the elec- a repair program to provide jobs, with bourgeois candidate any individual politically prepare revolutionary-mind- tion of Trump is “a forward space in demagogic nationalist rhetoric that di- workers voted for — or didn’t — in the ed workers to fight against it. what I term a pre-fascist configuration, vides the working class. Like other presidential election. What working Through the fascist movement “capi- i.e., analogous to Germany in 1938.” bourgeois politicians he seeks to shore people need is to organize independent- talism sets in motion the masses of the Hardly. up capitalism. ly of both capitalist parties. crazed petty bourgeoisie and the bands Trump surprised bourgeois politi- Far from the political space for work- of declassed and demoralized lumpen- cians and pundits across the politi- Facts don’t matter to the ‘left’ ers to discuss, debate and fight having proletariat — all the countless human cal spectrum. He convinced a layer of To those crying “fascist,” however, been smashed by fascist gangs, the field beings whom finance capital itself has workers that he was the lesser evil com- the facts don’t matter. is wide open. The Socialist Workers brought to desperation and frenzy,” pared to Clinton; not so hard to do given Workers World Party leader Larry Party’s candidates take its revolutionary Trotsky explained, and then uses them the anti-working-class record of Bill and Holmes, to take just one example, said program and win support on workers’ as thugs to smash the labor movement Hillary Clinton when they occupied the in a Jan. 29 speech, “Building the ‘Wall’ doorsteps in cities, towns and the coun- and its vanguard communist organiza- White House. Hillary Clinton helped and this ban on Muslims are fascist tryside, as well as on strike picket lines tions. Trump win by calling workers who acts.” and social protest actions. The fascists “initially rail against were considering a vote for him “deplo- Holmes leaves out that about 650 We say the Socialist Workers Party is ‘high finance’ and the bankers, lacing rables” and “irredemables.” miles of the “wall” along the U.S.-Mexi- your party. What we do now in building their nationalist demagogy with anti- That’s the same language many on the co border has already been built, mostly a revolutionary workers party will be capitalist demagogy,” notes Socialist left still use today. Andrew Levine, says by the administrations of decisive in the years ahead. Workers Party National Secretary in Capitalism’s World Disorder. In order to divert ruined petty-bourgeois elements and demoralized workers from Fascism rises when capital must crush working class seeing capitalism as the problem, the This excerpt from the article “Whith- cline. If the means of production re- fight the workers, just as certain breeds Nazis scapegoated the Jews as respon- er France?” written by Bolshevik leader main in the hands of a small number of dogs are trained to hunt game. The sible for the growing economic and po- Leon Trotsky in October 1934 offers a of capitalists, there is no way out for historic function of fascism is to smash litical crisis and whipped up calls for a concise explanation of fascism. The full society. It is condemned to go from the working class, destroy its organiza- “final” solution to the “Jewish question.” article is published in Leon Trotsky on crisis to crisis, from need to misery, tions, and stifle political liberties when At the same time, the fascists “ape much France. Copyright © 1979 by Pathfinder from bad to worse. In the various the capitalists find themselves unable to of the language of currents in the work- Press. Reprinted by permission. countries the decrepitude and disin- govern and dominate with the help of ers movement. ‘Nazi’ was short for Na- tegration of capitalism are expressed democratic machinery. tional Socialist German Workers Party.” by Leon Trotsky in diverse forms and at unequal The fascists find their human ma- “Fascism is not a form of capitalist In all countries the same historical rhythms. But the basic features of the terial mainly in the petty bourgeoisie. rule, but a way of maintaining capitalist laws operate, the laws of capitalist de- process are the same everywhere. The The latter has been entirely ruined by bourgeoisie is leading its society to big capital. There is no way out for it in “Fascism is nowhere close to conquering anywhere in the world right complete bankruptcy. It is capable of the present social order, but it knows now ... [Never] has a fascist movement conquered and taken the reins of assuring the people neither bread nor of no other. Its dissatisfaction, indig- government except ... after the working-class movement peace. This is precisely why it cannot nation, and despair are diverted by has first had a chance at victory and been defeated. any longer tolerate the democratic the fascists away from big capital and — Jack Barnes in Capitalism’s order. It is forced to smash the work- against the workers. It may be said that World Disorder ers by the use of physical violence. fascism is the act of placing the petty The discontent of the workers and bourgeoisie at the disposal of its most “The historic function of fascism is to peasants, however, cannot be brought bitter enemies. In this way big capital smash the working class ... when the to an end by the police alone. More- ruins the middle classes and then with $25 capitalists find themselves unable to over, it is often impossible to make the help of hired fascist demagogues govern and dominate with the help of the army march against the people. incites the despairing petty bourgeois democratic machinery” — Leon Trotsky It begins by disintegrating and ends against the worker. The bourgeois re- $7 in Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It with the passage of a large section of gime can be preserved only by such the soldiers over to the people’s side. murderous means as these. For how for a complete catalog visit: That is why finance capital is obliged long? Until it is overthrown by prole- www.pathfinderpress.com to create special armed bands trained to tarian revolution.

6 The Militant February 20, 2017 NY tribute to Fidel Castro Continued from front page outside the hotel to welcome Castro and pointed Cuban ambassador to the the delegation. United Nations, was the featured Castro’s first visit to New York was speaker. She noted that the meeting in October 1955, Rodríguez said, when location was formerly the Audubon he came to win support for the July 26 Ballroom where Malcolm X was as- Movement and the fight against the sassinated in February 1965. Mal- Fulgencio Batista dictatorship. She colm greeted Fidel when he came to described how Castro spoke to 800 address the U.N. in September 1960 Cubans and supporters of the fight for as the representative of Cuba’s new Cuban sovereignty at the Palm Gar- workers and farmers government. den Hotel, explaining the revolutionary Castro used his speech at the U.N. movement’s goals. General Assembly “to spread all over Rodríguez quoted from a speech the world the truth about the young Cu- Castro made in Cuba on July 26, 1970, ban Revolution and his views on the in- where he explained that the Cuban Rev- Militant photos by Seth Galinsky ternational questions of the time.” olution is not the enemy of the American Anayansi Rodríguez, right, Cuban ambassador “The Cuban delegation was received people, but of its imperialist rulers. to United Nations, speaks at Feb. 4 meeting by U.S. authorities with deep hostility,” “We are the pioneers of this revolu- celebrating life and political contributions of she said. They were evicted from the tionary path, the first, but not the only revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. She recalled Malcolm X’s warm welcome of Castro to Harlem downtown hotel where they were stay- ones,” Castro said, looking forward to in 1960, in face of Washington’s hostility. ing and no other hotel would take them the day when the workers and farmers of in. Malcolm X and other Black leaders Latin America and the U.S. would make it must maintain firmness of principle,” formed a committee to welcome the Cu- their own revolutions. “One day, sooner Rodríguez said to applause. “We will bans and arranged for the Hotel Theresa or later, we will become the people of continue to uphold those principles to- in Harlem to offer them accommoda- Latin America. One day we will be part day and in the future, be sure of that.” tions. All of a sudden, hotels downtown of hundreds of thousands; not to con- Other speakers spoke about the im- made offers to give the delegation free front a powerful imperialism, but to live pact Castro and the Cuban Revolution rooms, but, to the chagrin of the U.S. in peace and unity with a great people have had around the world. State Department, the Cubans decided who have managed to shake themselves “Fidel has a special place in the heart to accept the invitation to stay in Har- free from the imperialist yoke, who have of the Haitian people,” said Ninaj Raoul, lem in a show of solidarity with the fight been able to bring about a revolution in director of Haitian Women for Haitian imposed sanctions on Haiti that lasted for Black rights. Thousands of African- their own country.” Refugees. “Haiti ousted the French in 60 years.” Americans and other workers gathered “For a socialist revolution to be true 1803 and Thomas Jefferson and the U.S. “To this day Haiti is still paying for that revolution,” she said. Haiti today is one of the poorest countries in the world, exploited by U.S. imperialism. The Cu- Cuba brigade: Learn about the revolution ban Revolution on the other hand, she Continued from front page overthrew the U.S.-backed dictator- political efforts to crush the revolu- said, “ousted the ruling class, the United traordinary,” Eckardt said, just $512 ship of Fulgencio Batista in January tion and the example it sets for work- States and their mafia.” for the entire two weeks, including 1959, died in November. This is the ing people in the United States, across “Every Friday at forums in the Hai- food, housing and transportation. 50th anniversary of the death in com- the Americas, and the world over. tian community we talk about the situa- And flights to Havana from the U.S. bat of Guevara, killed by Bolivian The U.S. rulers maintain their brutal tion in Haiti,” she said. “Haitian people are quite inexpensive today, he said. government troops and CIA agents economic embargo and continue to always bring up Cuba and the example The brigade will start at the Julio while leading a guerrilla column occupy Guantánamo “against the le- of Cuba.” Antonio Mella International Camp, against the dictatorship there. Gue- gitimate will of the Cuban people for Among other speakers were Joaquín in Artemisa province. Mella was a vara is a symbol of the Cuban Revolu- more than half a century,” the invita- Morante, a U.S. graduate of the Latin leader of student protests at the Uni- tion’s solidarity with the struggles of tion says. America School of Medicine in Cuba, versity of Havana and founder of the working people around the world. There’s a lot of interest in Chicago who was born in Harlem; Frank Vel- Cuban Communist Party. After being For the last six days of the trip, par- in joining the brigade. “A dozen peo- gara, an activist in solidarity with Cuba expelled from school and arrested by ticipants have two options. ple attended our first meeting on the and Puerto Rico, who read a poem to the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado, After May Day, brigade members brigade here,” Eckardt said. It shows Castro; Jaime Mendieta, president of Mella escaped Cuba, ending up in will travel to the provinces of Villa the “opportunity for us to reach young Casa de las Américas in New York; Mexico. Organizing there to over- Clara and Cienfuegos where they will people around the country.” Larry Hamm, chair of the People’s Or- throw the Machado regime, he was visit health centers, the Benny Moré “I encourage people to get in touch ganization for Progress in ; assassinated in 1929. School of Arts, meet with members of with us as soon as possible,” he said. and , former organizer of Along with meetings with people area Committees for the Defense of “The spaces should fill up quickly, United for Peace and Justice and a re- from Cuba’s mass organizations, the Revolution and with students from and we need to make sure everyone cipient of Cuba’s Medal of Friendship. brigadistas will take part in talks and the University of Medicine, and tour has all the travel documents they Many of those attending the meeting discussions on topics such as “Social- historical sites. need. What’s more, we also plan a lit- were thirsty for information on the his- ism in Cuba Today: Relations with For an additional cost, participants tle course of study on Cuba, because tory and lessons of the Cuban Revolu- the U.S.” and “The Cuban Economy.” can instead attend the Fifth Seminar the more you know before you go tion and revolutionary politics. A Social- Participants will work in the fields on for Peace and for the Abolition of For- there, the more you’ll appreciate and ist Workers Party table, staffed by SWP area farms for four hours a morning eign Military Bases, in Guantánamo learn from the trip.” candidate for New York mayor Osborne for five days. May 4-6. The seminar will take place To find out more about participat- Hart and other party supporters, sold Other activities are planned each in Guantánamo, the invitation says, ing in the May Day brigade, contact more than $400 of books by Pathfinder day, including films, visits to muse- because “117 square kilometers of the Chicago Cuba Solidarity Com- Press. Half the books were on the Cuban ums in Havana and Santa Clara, free [Cuba’s] territory has been illegally mittee at (646) 301-9037 or email: Revolution. The others were on a wide time to explore these cities, visits to occupied by a US naval base that was [email protected]. variety of political questions. farms and production cooperatives, turned into a center of torture.” and opportunities to talk with brigade The meeting is organized by the members from around the world. World Peace Council, the Cuban Now available! On May Day, the brigade will join Movement for Peace and Sovereignty the annual mass demonstration in Ha- of the Peoples, and ICAP, and co- Cuba & Angola vana for International Workers Day, sponsored by the Organization of the celebration of revolutionary labor Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, The War for Freedom struggles worldwide. And the next Asia and Latin America (OSPAAAL), Harry Villegas (“Pombo”) day they will participate with other the Martin Luther King Jr. Center and political activists in an International the Oscar Arnulfo Romero Center for The story of Cuba’s unparalleled contribution Meeting in Solidarity with Cuba at Reflection. to the fight to free Africa from the scourge the Convention Palace in Havana. The seminar takes place as the of apartheid. And how, in the doing, Cuba’s This year’s brigade is “a special Cuban and U.S. governments have socialist revolution was also strengthened. tribute to the Commander-in-Chief re-established diplomatic relations, Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Gue- unilaterally broken by Washington in Available in English and Spanish. $10 vara,” ICAP’s call says. Castro, the 1961 as one of the opening guns of its central leader of the revolution that 50-year-long military, economic, and www.pathfinderpress.com

The Militant February 20, 2017 7 Dobbs: ‘Our task is to chart a revolutionary course’ One of Pathfinder’s Books of the care whether you die at six or live to Month for February is Teamster Re- be seven hundred, if that were pos- bellion by Farrell Dobbs. Excerpted sible, or what happens during your par- below is the concluding portion of a ticular lifetime. As the German poet 1966 speech given by Dobbs, which Goethe once said, “History marches like is quoted by Socialist Workers Party a drunken beggar on horseback.” National Secretary Jack Barnes in A lot can happen during your limited his introduction. Dobbs, a long-time lifespan, or you can live a dull existence. leader of the SWP and central leader Some people have had the good for- of the victorious battles in the 1930s tune to live more in a year than others that built the Teamsters union in the at a different historical juncture could Midwest, was speaking to an audience live in their whole lifetime. Or, as Ple- substantially composed of Young So- khanov once put it, “If it hadn’t been for cialists. “Dobbs summed up the world the French Revolution, Napoleon would historical view that best describes probably have ended up as a corporal in his lifetime political course; the class the French artillery.” characteristics indispensable for any Don’t make it a condition that the proletarian revolutionist; and what the socialist revolution must come in your working class demands of its leaders, lifetime. Be not only a citizen of the above all,” Barnes says. Copyright © Above, “Battle of Deputy’s Run,” where planet; be a citizen of time. Recognize Teamster pickets in beat off 1972 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by attacks by cops and goons sent by the that what’s fundamental is to be in permission. bosses in 1934. Farrell Dobbs, inset, was rapport with the human race from the a central leader of the victorious organiz- dawn of history, on to heights we can ing drive. “In the last analysis, the fate of only vaguely begin to dream of. humanity rests on the socialist revolution And what’s the alternative? The alter- Books of in the United States,” said Dobbs. native is to make a compromise with this to remain a mortal threat to all human- class of the United States. rotten capitalist system. Do you know the month ity. We must never forget that. The road ahead in that struggle is what people who do that are like? You That means the showdown battle for going to be strewn with obstacles, remember the movie, The Devil and by farrell dobbs world is going to be fought and there are going to be many pit- Daniel Webster? Jabez Stone, you know, We must be constantly aware of the right here in the United States of Amer- falls. There’s no roadmap, no way sold his soul to Scratch, the devil. He key role of the United States in the ica. And when the revolutionary victory you can find some kind of a detailed did so on the promise that his personal world. United States imperialism is to- is won, outlived, decadent capitalism is handbook that’s going to tell you what ambitions would thus be served. Later day the powerhouse of world reaction, going to disappear literally overnight to do at each juncture. Our task is to he regretted the action and asked to have as the war in Vietnam is abundantly from the face of our planet. Humanity chart a revolutionary course, based on his soul returned. Scratch, who was demonstrating. is going to march forward to the build- a fundamental understanding of our played by Walter Huston, that magnifi- It is an iron fact that until capitalism ing of an enlightened socialist society program — a basic feel of our revolu- cent actor, finally said all right, he’d give is overturned here in the United States where people for the first time can really tionary strategy—and to hammer out it back. of America, the gang of imperialist mad live together on this planet in peace and the tactics in that direction as we go So Scratch took a small matchbox dogs that rule this country are going in security and with freedom. Humanity along. from his pocket. He opened the box will finally realize the type of rewarding There’s no timetable. Nobody can and began poking around in it with his life that human intelligence is so abun- say how long it’s going to take or when stubby finger trying, and trying, to find Books dantly capable of making, even at the it’s going to happen. I personally feel the mean little soul of Jabez Stone so he February present level of technological develop- that those of you sitting in this room could give it back. of the Month ment. Once humanity learns how to today, who have got all your youth go- That’s symbolic of what you do to PATHFINDER conduct itself politically, organization- ing for you, have got at least Damon your own soul if you make a compro- READERS CLUB 25% ally, and socially, it can take advantage Runyon’s six-to-five chance of seeing mise with this rotten system. discount SPECIALS of these wonders. that explosion. Our job is to build a movement of That’s what we dedicate our lives to. But in saying so I want to add im- men and women who emulate the sea- Teamster Rebellion We of the party, we in mediately: don’t make that a condition. soned fighters of the Continental line in by Farrell Dobbs the United States — acting as best we Don’t adopt the criterion that the revo- the first American Revolution. Learn to Account of the1934 strikes can in solidarity with revolutionary lutionary change must happen in your be professional revolutionary fighters. that built the industrial union Don’t be summer soldiers. Don’t dabble; movement and helped forge a fighters across the world — must always time. Don’t take as a guide to your ac- social movement in the Midwest. keep in mind that in the last analysis the tive life that narrow, provincial, self- don’t vacillate. Put nothing above the $19. Special price: $14.25 fate of humanity rests on the socialist centered notion that if it doesn’t happen considerations of the movement. Main- revolution in the United States. Our task during the time of your own subjective tain your place in the front ranks of the War and Crisis is to build a party capable of leading that existence on this planet, it’s not impor- revolutionary fighters, and stand in that in the Americas revolution, going up against the most tant. place for the duration. by Fidel Castro heinous of the reactionary, monstrous Always remember that history is There is no other way in which you $23. Special price: $17.25 ruling class regimes that exist on the magnificently indifferent to the prob- can find so rich, so rewarding, so fruit- face of this planet: the imperialist ruling lems of the individual. History doesn’t ful, and so purposeful a life. Women in Cuba: Making a Revolution Within the Revolution by Vilma Espín, Asela de los Santos and Yolanda Ferrer if you like this paper, look us up $20. Special price: $15 Where to find distributors of the NEBRASKA: Lincoln: P.O. Box 6811. CANADA Militant, New International, and a full Zip: 68506. 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8 The Militant February 20, 2017 Editorial Protests continue Continued from front page that’s being used now to stop Muslims from com- Join the protests! Demand amnesty! ing in is the same language that was used to stop The Militant urges our readers to join the on- arsenal. Jewish refugees from coming” under Franklin going protests against President Donald Trump’s The fight for amnesty is a life-and-death ques- Delano Roosevelt prior to World War II, Rabbi Jill executive orders barring entry to the U.S. from tion for the labor movement. It’s essential to build Jacobs, told the New York Times. seven majority-Muslim countries and preparing the unity, self-confidence and class-consciousness At the same time, a three-judge panel of the U.S. to increase the criminalization and deportation of working people need to overthrow the dog-eat-dog Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California workers without acceptable papers who are already capitalist system and take political power. heard arguments Feb. 7 on whether an injunction is- here. This, unfortunately, is not the aim of those or- sued by a federal district court in Washington state Bring signs demanding, “Amnesty for all undoc- ganizing the demonstrations today. Their intent against the travel ban should be lifted. umented workers in the U.S.!” Join Socialist Work- is to try to delegitimize and take down the Trump The first immigration-related executive order ers Party candidates and members at these actions administration, and rebuild a more “progressive” signed by Trump Jan. 25 mandated the extension explaining why fighting for amnesty is necessary Democratic Party, the other party of U.S. imperi- of the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, hiring 5,000 to unite the working class and to chart a course to alist rule. They cry crocodile tears over Trump’s more immigration cops, and promising to step up take political power. Join the SWP in speaking out decrees, while avoiding any mention of the anti- deportations. This hasn’t been challenged in court. against any sort of religious test for entry into the working-class record of the Bill Clinton and Barack “Working people need to take to the streets to U.S. or discrimination based on country of origin. Obama administrations. Many call Trump a “fas- protest the administration’s moves against undocu- The ruling class, aided by their government in cist” and disdain those who voted for him as racist, mented workers,” Osborne Hart, Socialist Workers Washington, depends on the superexploited status xenophobic “deplorables.” Party candidate for mayor of New York, told the of workers they criminalize and call “illegal.” This But workers — Caucasian, Black or foreign-born Militant. “The propertied rulers and both their two is key to their ability to maintain sharp divisions — who voted for Trump, or who voted for Sand- parties — the Democrats and Republicans — seek in the working class — to drive down wages and ers or Clinton or none-of-the-above, are searching to keep workers without papers in a pariah status, to deepen the exploitation of millions. They try to pit for a break from the economic carnage and endless divide and weaken the labor movement. We demand us against one another in competition for jobs and imperialist wars we all face. The Socialist Workers amnesty for all those in the U.S.” to take our focus off our common enemy — the Party gets a hearing from all of them today. The Jan. 27 decree imposed a three-month ban propertied capitalist class. To the young people, workers and others who on travelers from seven mostly Muslim countries — The rulers count on workers without legal status are outraged at the White House’s attacks on im- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen to stay in the shadows, accept their lot and refrain migrants and refugees, the Socialist Workers Party — a four-month moratorium on admitting refugees from fighting to join unions to raise wages and de- says, “Let’s fight together for amnesty, to organize from any country, and an indefinite ban on Syrian fend their conditions on the job. The constant fear unions. Most important, join us to build a party refugees. of deportation is a powerful weapon in the rulers’ that can make a revolution.” Some 60,000 visas of all types were revoked after Trump signed these executive orders. At the same time immigration officials detained more than 100 permanent U.S. residents at airports inside the coun- try. After widespread protests, and a number of court Assad regime torture, murders documented injunctions, the visas were reinstated and many of Continued from page 2 Since the Assad regime seized control of eastern those detained were admitted into the country. ment have been “disappeared,” according to the Syr- Aleppo from opposition forces — with assistance The Trump administration asked the Court of Ap- ian Network for Human Rights. by Russian airstrikes, Iranian troops and Tehran- peals to lift or limit the injunction. There should be The reign of terror aims to keep workers and backed militia units — they’ve stepped up arrests no “second guessing” of presidential decisions on farmers from fighting the regime. of anyone considered a government opponent. “The national security, U.S. Justice Department lawyer Many detainees at the Saydnaya prison, the ma- regime went from house to house with militiamen August Flentje told the judges. jority of whom are civilians, have been sentenced from the same neighborhoods with lists of those Washington state Solicitor General Noah Purcell to death in military court trials that last between wanted,” Mahmoud Ahmad, who left the city in De- argued for maintaining the injunction until courts one and three minutes, the report documents. Those cember, told the Wall Street Journal. “They arrested rule on the legality of the order as a whole, saying condemned are told that they are being transferred men because they had demonstrated against the re- the state’s challenge will likely prevail. to a civilian prison, but instead they’re severely beat- gime or had repaired a car for the rebels.” en for hours. Then, in the middle of the night, they Some who moved to western Aleppo to escape the Trump order follows Obama are blindfolded and hanged. regime’s bombings and ground attacks in the eastern In a White House statement Feb. 5, Trump said, Amnesty said its report is based on dozens of part of the city met similar treatment. “Whomever “My policy is similar to what President Barack interviews with former detainees, prison guards, worked in charity or used to distribute bread or was Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees judges and family members of those still incarcer- in any organization is wanted,” Ghadeer, a former from Iraq for six months.” The Obama administra- ated there. Aleppo resident, told the Journal. She said four of tion did stop processing Iraqi refugees at that time, “At midnight we heard the sound of torture,” her co-workers “went to the regime areas believing allowing only those already processed to enter. For- Omar, a high school student when he was arrested, that they would be OK because they had never car- mer President barred all Iranians from told Amnesty, “and we thought they were dying be- ried a weapon,” but they were arrested. entering the U.S. after the revolution there in 1979. cause the sound of the torture was so strong. They At last month’s talks in Kazakhstan seeking a “This is not about religion,” Trump claimed, re- were beating them in a monstrous way.” political settlement on Syria — sponsored by the ferring to the seven countries singled out in the or- Sameer, who was arrested when he was a student governments of Russia, Turkey and Iran — opposi- der. “There are over 40 different countries world- at a military academy, said his beating “just kept go- tion leaders said Moscow had guaranteed that the wide that are majority Muslim that are not affected ing. I was wishing they would just cut off my legs Assad regime would free 13,000 women prisoners, by this order.” But his advisers have said if the ban instead of beating them any more.” but none have been released. is upheld, more countries could be added to the list. Despite a lot of demagogy from both the admin- istration and its liberal opponents, the Jan. 25 order letters targeting undocumented workers does not represent any significant departure from the policies of pre- Is Trump a fascist? Cubans want socialism revolution and want socialism to vious presidents. The goal of the U.S. rulers is not I have thought a great deal about The day that [Fidel] Castro’s continue. to eliminate undocumented workers, but to regulate this. I do not think that most who death was announced in the U.S. A prisoner their numbers as the economy expands or contracts voted for him were necessarily moti- media, Good Morning America Pennsylvania and to maintain their status as a superexploited layer vated by and bigotry, though had a special segment… saying ‘Militant’ help to prisoners of the working class the bosses can use to push down some were. In reality, it is capitalism, he was starving the people. I was all wages. the pauperization of many workers, outraged at this show and lies. If Please know that your paper has Since the passage of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 the sell-out labor bureaucracy and Castro’s regime was so horrific, been and still is a great help to me during the George W. Bush administration, more the Democratic Party leadership that then why are Cubans still memori- and others. Thank you all. The will than 650 miles of fencing at the border has been paved the way for Trump’s victory alizing him and genuinely mourn- of the people is my goal. Revolution- built. In a May 10, 2011, speech in El Paso, , and not racist and ignorant workers. ing? They are passionate about the ary greetings to all. Obama bragged, “We have gone above and beyond Concerning the massive anti- A prisoner what was requested,” saying the border fence is Florida Trump protests, though the leader- ‘Militant’ Prisoners’ Fund “now basically complete.” ship attempted to herd people back The Prisoners’ Fund makes it pos- The letters column is an open The highest number of deportations in U.S. his- into the Democratic Party fold, sible to send prisoners reduced rate forum for all viewpoints on sub- tory took place during President Bill Clinton’s last many more were motivated by anti- subscriptions. To donate, send a jects of interest to working peo- year in office, when more than 1,800,000 immi- racism, anti-fascism and their dis- check or money order payable to ple. Please keep your letters brief. grants were deported. The Obama administration gust with conditions in this capitalist the Militant and earmarked “Prison- Where necessary they will be holds the record for the criminalization of immi- system. ers’ Fund” to 306 W. 37th St., 13th abridged. Please indicate if you grants — putting more workers charged with immi- Camillo Santo Floor, New York, NY 10018. prefer that your initials be used gration “crimes” behind bars than any other presi- Western Pennsylvania rather than your full name. dent in U.S. history.

The Militant February 20, 2017 9