MUNDO OBRERO Latinoamerica confronta crisis de hambruna 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org MaY 29, 2008 VOl. 50, NO. 21 50¢ China mobilizes to save lives & rebuild Swift, massive eff orts contrast with U.S. gov't response to Katrina

By Deirdre Griswold for not being prepared. However, Chinese building codes for the area had been based on an assessment of earthquake risk “consid- The People’s Republic of China suffered an earthquake of ered equivalent to that of the Global Hazard Seismic Assessment GIS FIGHT BACK immense proportions on May 12 in the southwest province of Program, a U.N.-endorsed project designed to reduce the toll A growing movement 2 Sichuan. One week later, the toll of known dead had risen to from natural hazards,” wrote the Britain-based magazine New more than 40,000 and was expected to keep growing. Some 3 Scientist on May 13. “GHSAP predicted Sichuan had a 10 percent million people have been left homeless. risk in 50 years of experiencing an earthquake that would cause The rescue and relief effort has been immediate and huge. a peak ground acceleration of 1.6 m/s squared—which is at the By the eighth day, despite blocked roads, landslides and deadly mid-level of extremity.” ATTACK ON aftershocks in the mountainous area, rescuers had reached all Instead, said Hong Hao, a civil engineer at the University of 1,044 villages hit by the quake. More than 150,000 soldiers Western Australia in Perth, this earthquake “far exceeded that, SUDaN were deployed in rescue and relief. Some 250,000 people were perhaps by a factor of fi ve. By some estimates at its epicenter, being treated for injuries, most caused by collapsed buildings. the energy released would have been equivalent to 300 to 400 Who's behind it and why 8 After a week, people were still being pulled out of the rubble Hiroshima atomic bombs.” alive, including a 60-year-old woman rescued in Pengzhou 196 Although no one had expected a quake of this extreme inten- hours after the quake. She was conscious and rushed to a hos- sity, the Chinese government moved very swiftly and decisively to pital by helicopter. save lives among those who survived the disaster. Communications, power, industry and mining were almost Within two hours, Premier Wen Jiabao was put in charge of completely destroyed in the seven most damaged counties, disaster relief and had boarded a plane to Sichuan. By the follow- according to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information ing day, even as drenching rain was falling over the area, thou- Technology. Because the government plays a dominant role in sands of soldiers, police, fi refi ghters and other relief workers were China’s national economy, it has been able to quickly mobilize already trying to open up blocked roads, repair bridges and dig resources for the rebuilding of the area. It announced that after people out of collapsed buildings. a week all affected cities and towns had working communica- The army started to parachute soldiers and supplies into the AMeRiCAN tions equipment, including 1,000 satellite phones distributed worst hit areas as others were still hiking in on foot. By midnight AXLe DeAL to the area. of the second day, “The fi rst rescue team of about 800 soldiers Is this the best possible? 5 Detailed reports on the many ways in which the government forced its way into the epicenter Wenchuan amid heavy rain and has been working to restore communications so survivors can rescue operations began.” (china.org.cn) contact their families and health workers can order needed All over China, people are responding to the Communist Party’s supplies can be found at china.org.cn. call for support with money and other aid. Some $2 billion has Soldiers and other rescue workers have made a heroic effort already been sent in money and supplies to the devastated area. to reach remote villages. Nearly 170 of them have died in land- One week after the quake struck, the whole country stop ped work slides caused by strong aftershocks. for 3 minutes to honor the victims. Chinese and international scientists now say the earthquake MARXiST U.N.: Area not considered at great risk reached 8.0 on the Richter scale. On this scale, one full point There is little coverage of China’s great struggle in most represents a tenfold increase in magnitude. By comparison, the from iNDiA Western media, which are quick to criticize the government Continued on page 9 Fighting globalization 6

DeFeND OBaMa aGaINSt RaCISM 3, 10

WW in 1971 ATTiCA UPRiSiNG 10

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NAME PHONE EMAIL MaLCOLM X and Ka BeL ADDRESS Heroes of The Oppressed CITY/STATE/ZIP WORKeRS WORLD 3, 10 55 W. 17 St. NY, NY 10011 212-627-2994 www.workers.org Page 2 May 29, 2008 www.workers.org GIs, vet resisters take lead in anti-war actions H In the U.S. By John Catalinotto martial—with a maximum one-year prison sentence—on GIs take lead in anti-war actions ...... 2 these charges is set for May 30 at Fort Gordon, Ga. Racist depiction of Obama creates outrage...... 3 Veterans groups and individual GI resisters and their “Since I joined up with Courage to Resist and Iraq Philadelphia: City of brotherly thugs...... 3 supporters have taken the lead in the U.S. anti-war move- Veterans Against the War, my life has changed. I plan to Tribute on Malcolm X's birthday...... 3 ment. In mid-May there were multiple reports of war write a book about all of this, and to make positive change Coalition mobilizes for moratorium bill ...... 4 refusals and one mass protest at a major military train- in my community when I get out,” said Jackson before ing base for troops headed for Iraq and Afghanistan. turning himself in at Fort Sill, Okla., on April 4. ICE attacks immigrants in Iowa...... 4 Near Fort Drum in upstate New York, the Watertown- Dianne Mathiowetz, the Atlanta coordinator for the Home-care workers ...... 4 based Different Drummer Café joined with the Iraq International Action Center, told WW, “Support for Ryan Tentative agreement in American Axle strike...... 5 Veterans Against the War and peace activists who had Jackson is building with activists in the Augusta area OSHA slammed for low fines in worker deaths . . . . . 5 marched from the upstate cities of Rochester, Ithaca and near Fort Gordon. Also, the Georgia Peace and Justice Anti-imperialist leader from India in Boston...... 6 Utica to hold a festival on May 17, Armed Forces Day. Coalition and the IAC are mobilizing to attend the vigil Philadelphia rally counters pro-Zionist affair ...... 7 Drummer organizer Tod Ensign told Workers World the night of May 29 and the court martial. All members that as the official Armed Forces Day Parade ended out- of the military who refuse to participate in this illegal war WW in 1971: The prisoners of Attica ...... 10 side the Dulles Federal Building, Col. Kenneth Riddle, of occupation deserve our full support.” Fort Drum’s garrison commander, found himself sur- IVAW member Matthis Chiroux announced on May H Around the world rounded by IVAW members in their black T-shirts. 15 in Washington, D.C., his refusal to report to active duty. China mobilizes to save lives & rebuild...... 1 When asked about the failure of the command to Sgt. Chiroux, who is originally from Auburn, Ala., has Indian Marxist on globalization ...... 6 address Iraq veterans’ problems with post-traumatic done tours in Germany, Afghanistan and the Philippines Pakistani people push back ...... 7 stress disorder (PTSD), all Col. Riddle could say was, “I since his June 2002 enlistment. Deir Yassin survivors recount terror...... 7 just got here two weeks ago.” Though the vets requested “As an Army journalist whose job it was to collect and a meeting, Riddle begged it off. filter service members’ stories,” Chiroux said, “I heard French demonstrations protest job cuts ...... 7 The festival, scheduled for a campsite and including many stomach-churning testimonies of the horrors and Sudan maintains defiance...... 8 five popular musical performances, moved inside to the crimes taking place in Iraq. For fear of retaliation from While U .S . education falters, Venezuela thrives. . . . . 9 Different Drummer when rain started. One observer the military, I failed to report these crimes, but never Cuba's role in promoting Haiti's literacy ...... 9 described the scene: “Veterans and anti-warriors from again will I allow fear to silence me. Never again will I at least four U.S. wars mingled happily together. The fail to stand.” H Editorials Drummer was bursting at the seams, as festival partici- Chiroux announced his courageous decision in the Long live the legacy of Ka Bel!...... 10 pants spilled on to the mall walkway outside while over Cannon House Office Building rotunda, after fellow IVAW 50 danced and celebrated inside.” members testified before the Congressional Progressive Defend Obama against racist attacks...... 10 An African-American veteran read a poem dedicated Caucus. to his wife, a soldier who has been called up for a second During a court martial May 13 at Rose Barracks in H Noticias En Español tour of duty in Iraq. She was in the audience holding their Vilseck, Germany, U.S. Army conscientious objector Latinoamerica confronta crisis de hambruna...... 12 7-month-old son. The couple received a tremendous out- Robert Weiss was sentenced to seven months confine- pouring of sympathy, including assurances of legal, moral ment. Weiss pled guilty to charges of desertion and miss- and practical support, whatever choice they make. ing movement. Weiss had learned in December 2007 that Ensign noted the atmosphere of mutual understand- his conscientious objector application was denied. Workers World ing between the upstate peace movement and the sol- Bryan Currie says he joined the Army in November 55 West 17 Street diers just now beginning to question the war. Another 2004 because “I thought it would be a good thing to fight New York, N.Y. 10011 good point was the marchers’ reception in a tradition- for my country.” He was trained as an Infantry Grenadier Phone: (212) 627-2994 ally conservative area—a local American Legion chapter and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 for 11 months. Fax: (212) 675-7869 hosted the marchers for dinner and let them stay in their He describes what he experienced when he got injured: E-mail: [email protected] hall for the night. Plus the marchers got relatively good “We were on a convoy to pick up another soldier. I was Web: www.workers.org publicity in both local upstate press and in the New York the driver. On the way back my truck got hit by a land Vol. 50, No. 21 • May 29, 2008 Times. (May 15) mine. ... I got burned, I lost four teeth, broke my jaw, got Closing date: May 21, 2008 Ensign told how Gen. Michael Oates, commander shrapnel on my hands, I was jolted forward so my knees of Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division, had released are all swollen and my back’s always sore.” He was treat- Editor: Deirdre Griswold a conciliatory statement during the week that he “wel- ed in Afghanistan, was out of combat for three weeks and Technical Editor: Lal Roohk comed” the peace marchers, saw “no problem” with then was sent back to drive trucks. Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, their demonstrating on base if they didn’t block traffic, When he returned to the U.S., he saw several military Leslie Feinberg, Monica Moorehead, Gary Wilson and said active-duty GIs could join in if they didn’t wear psychiatrists who treated him for PTSD. “They’d give uniforms. you a bag of pills and they’d say, ‘Here, try these and if West Coast Editor: John Parker that one doesn’t work try another and if you find one that Contributing Editors: Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, Support for resisters does, stick to it.’” Ordered to redeploy despite his injuries, Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, Other signs of the disenchantment with the wars were Currie packed his bags and left. He is currently AWOL David Hoskins, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash, the growing number of war resisters. and says he is now “100 percent against the military. I’ve Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Minnie Bruce Pratt One is Army PFC Ryan Jackson, who was formally done a complete U-turn.” Technical Staff: Shelley Ettinger, Bob McCubbin, charged with multiple counts of being absent without For more information on aiding resisters, see courage­ Maggie Vascassenno leave, stemming from his attempt to be released from toresist.org, ivaw.org and differentdrummercafe.org. Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez, the Army prior to Iraq deployment. His special court E-mail: [email protected] Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez, Carlos Vargas To receive Workers World Newspaper in 2008 Eight-week trial subscription for $4 One year for $25 Internet: Janet Mayes Subscribe Name______Address______Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator City ______State ______Zip ______Phone ______email ______Copyright © 2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying Clip & return to WW Publishers 55 W. 17th St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10011 212.627.2994 email: [email protected] www.workers.org and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. JOIN US. National Office Buffalo, N.Y. Houston Richmond, Va. 55 W. 17 St., 367 Delaware Ave. P.O. Box 595 P.O. 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From Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row Racist depiction of Obama Philadelphia: City of brotherly creates outrage thugs By Dianne Mathiowetz The newly formed Cobb United for and Customs Enforcement in deport- Atlanta Change Coalition (CUCC) is moving ing drivers caught in traffic stops with- forward with plans for a Unity and out Georgia licenses. From a May 8 audio column. When the owner of a bar in Victory Civil Rights Rally this week However, according to Pelligrino, Go to www.prisonradio.org to hear Mumia’s audio messages Marietta, Ga., advertised the sale of to be followed later by a town hall the CUCC, composed of white, African- and www.millions4mumia.org a racially offensive T-shirt depicting meeting. American, Latin@ and immigrant to read updates on his case. Barak Obama as the monkey “Curious Organizers are all too aware of the members, is “a historic breakthrough The scene is as common as George,” community activists took notoriously reactionary history of for Cobb County, which reflects hope sunlight: cops beating Black immediate action, releasing a news Marietta and Cobb County stretching for the future.” Rather than being men in the streets. statement and organizing a protest in back to the 1900s when Jewish fac- intimidated, the CUCC is reaching out This time, captured on videotape from a hovering front of Mulligan’s Bar and Grill on tory owner Leo Frank was lynched by on a national as well as local level to helicopter, a malevolent swarm of cops pull occupants May 13. a mob of local prominent businessmen elevate solidarity and human respect. from a car, and then proceed to beat the paste out of Initiated by immigrant rights advo- and public officials after being falsely the men, kicking, punching and slamming with a club. cates, the coalition included the Cobb convicted of murdering a young female WWP holds Obama discussion At least 15 cops are seen in the broadcast beat down; County chapters of the Southern worker. The same evening as the protest an average of five to one. Within moments of its broadcast came the predict- Christian Leadership Conference For many years active Ku Klux Klan at Mulligan’s, the Atlanta chapter of able defense: cops in Philly are “stressed.” One need not (SCLC), Nation of Islam, Latino chapters functioned throughout the Workers World Party held a round- even await such defenses anymore; just put a tape on Alliance for Human Rights and New county with their headquarters locat- table discussion entitled “Obama, speed dial and repeat. If ever there was irony, the three Order Human Rights Organization ed right off the downtown square in Racism and the Economic Crisis” fea- car occupants were charged with aggravated assault among many others. Marietta. The interstate highway run- turing Monica Moorehead, an editor of and criminal conspiracy. The bar owner, Mike Norman, has ning through Cobb County is named WW newspaper; Alice Lovelace, poet How much do you wanna bet that the cops, who a history of placing racist and deroga- for Larry McDonald, who headed the and national coordinator of the US were caught on film in the midst of aggravated tory messages on his outdoor sign. virulently anti-communist John Birch Social Forum; and Gary Washington, assault—and as they committed the crime in common, In the recent period he has targeted Society, which opposed the civil rights Teamster steward and host of a weekly criminal conspiracy—are never charged with these immigrants as Cobb County undergoes movement and hounded Dr. Martin radio program, The Labor Forum, on crimes—and probably will never be arrested? a dramatic demographic change from Luther King Jr. More recently politi- WRFG. How can I dare make such a claim? Well, I have plenty of practice. a conservative, white, rural county on cians such as Newt Gingrich, a major The lively and thoughtful discussion Most folks flash back to the infamous Rodney King Atlanta’s northwestern boundary to a proponent of social service cutbacks, clarified not only why the Obama can- case, where cops in L.A. went into a whipping fit because thoroughly multinational urban area. rose to national prominence repre- didacy has aroused the emotions of so King tried to outrun them. Were they too, stressed? The bar’s interior is decorated with senting Cobb County. Prior to the 1996 many people tired of racism, war and It also reminded me of the taped beating of Delbert Minutemen recruiting posters, a large Olympic Games held in Atlanta, the oppression but also why the election of Africa, a MOVE member who was beaten during the display of weapons and dozens of reac- Cobb County Commission passed an Barak Obama would not be sufficient to August 8, 1978, police raid on MOVE’s home. tionary political bumper stickers. anti-gay resolution, declaring “the gay make the fundamental change needed. These cops, too, were easily acquitted by explicit Two days after the successful pro- lifestyle” as “incompatible with com- Moorehead referenced the struggle judicial decree. If tape doesn’t matter, what does? test, which drew national coverage, a munity standards.” Following protests, over the racist T-shirt as an example In the case against three cops who rifle-butted, suspicious package addressed to the the U.S. Olympic Committee withdrew of how only the united movement of punched and kicked Delbert, the judge ignored the “Cobb Latino Alliance,” with a drawing all scheduled events in the face of such workers of all nationalities, whether videotapes and cited both Delbert’s muscularity and the claim of a Black TV reporter, who claimed she saw of a figure hanging or burning from a blatant discrimination. documented or not, will be the key to him armed; this, despite the tape showing him shirtless, cross, was left on the doorstep of Rich The Georgia legislature has passed real change. The 30 people, who filled empty hands opened and naked from the waist up! Pellegrino’s home. Pellegrino, who had some of the most reactionary anti- the room to capacity—half people of Prepare for the all but inevitable whitewash. Look at first alerted the community about the immigrant legislation in the country color with many youth—all agreed that tape again, and you will see something that you’ll T-shirts, also was receiving threatening with much of the impetus coming from that they wanted more opportunities see if you looked at a gang attack, for these are gang- e-mails. Police officials are investigat- forces based in Cobb County. Its police to talk and learn about revolutionary sters, pure and simple. Only it’s the blue gang. ing the matter as a hate crime. agencies cooperate with Immigration politics. n Welcome to Philadelphia: the city of brotherly thugs. n On Malcolm X’s birthday Tribute to ‘a martyr for all the oppressed’ By Larry Hales the world, from Latin America and ditions that exist.” Forty-three years have passed since Malcolm Africa to Europe, Asia and Australia. And in 1964, on the concept of politi- X was assassinated—43 long years of imperial- Forty-three years have passed since Many claim Malcolm X, and it is the cal power, he said: “Power in defense of ist exploitation and bloodshed; and capitalism Malcolm X was assassinated at the right of any Black person to do so, even freedom is greater than power in behalf intends to give no respite, as it seeks even greater Audubon Ballroom in front of a crowd a sexist right-wing pig like Supreme of tyranny and oppression, because profit. The resentment that it breeds, and the of hundreds, including his wife and Court judge Clarence Thomas. Because power, real power, comes from convic- anger over the conditions it creates around the their young children. This May 19 where would Clarence Thomas be tion which produces action, uncompro- world, grows; and as history illustrates, times can would have been his 83rd birthday. had it not been for fighters such as mising action. It also produces insur- and do change, and it is the struggle of the ruled It is perhaps unfair and not dia- Malcolm X? rection against oppression. This is the over the rulers that always has and will continue to lectical to hypothesize on what he However, what Malcolm became only way you end oppression—with bring change—profound, revolutionary change. may have become were Malcolm X cannot be undone. By his own words, power.” It has been still alive today. It was his keen abil- he was a revolutionary, a Black revo- So, if Malcolm X were still alive, may- 83 years since ity to articulate the mood of the Black lutionary. And a revolutionary is not be the conditions of the world would be the birth of Malcolm; masses; his unwaveringness; his pres- interested in more of the same, but a the same. But he would still possess that he should be commemorated ence and skills as an orator, but also topsy-turvy world—where those on piercing gaze, the keen intellect, the by struggling forward. as an organizer that the state deemed the bottom arrive at the top; where the same optimistic outlook and militancy. too dangerous, which is why he was exploited supplant the exploiter and If asked about the prospects for con- assassinated. the masses become the rulers. tinuing worldwide struggle in 2009, we He should be commemorated On capitalism, Malcolm said in can infer from what he said regarding because of his brilliance, for what he 1965: “It is impossible for capitalism 1965, being a student of the long view stood for, the things he said and did, to survive, primarily because the sys- of history: “Well, 1965 will probably be and because, simply, he was a defiant tem of capitalism needs some blood to the longest, hottest, bloodiest summer person who rose from the conditions suck. ... As the nations of the world free that has yet been seen in the United imposed upon the oppressed Black themselves, then capitalism has less States since the beginning of the Black masses—singed but still amongst victims, less to suck, and it becomes revolution,­ primarily because the same the masses, still surrounded by the weaker and weaker. It’s only a matter causes that existed in the winter of 1964 Sources for ardor to confront the fire starter—the of time in my opinion before it will col- still exist in January—in February of Malcolm X quotes: oppressor. lapse completely.” 1965. Now, these are causes of inferior “Malcolm X Talks He was for Black people, as Ossie Also in 1965 Malcolm said: “All over housing, inferior employment, inferior to Young People,” Davis eulogized, “a shining Black the world, it is young people who are education. Pathfinder Books and prince.” But he is also a martyr for all actually involving themselves in the “All the evils of a bankrupt society “Malcolm X Speaks,” the oppressed around the world, the struggle to eliminate oppression and still exist where Black Americans Grove Press. great mass of humanity—from the exploitation. They are the ones who are concerned, and the internally oppressed within the U.S., most quickly identify with the struggle resentment that exists has the prison house of nations, to around and the necessity to eliminate the con- increased tremendously.” Page 4 May 29, 2008 www.workers.org ‘We have to hit the streets’ People’s coalition mobilizes to win passage of moratorium bill By Bryan G. Pfeifer office and clerical staffing, visual docu- “We need a multipronged approach. office space for the Moratorium NOW! Detroit mentation, research, press and outreach, We have to target the banks and Detroit Coalition at his church at 23 E. Adams, and speakers committees. Energy. We can’t allow them to get away 4th Floor, Detroit, MI 48226. Donations In an ongoing effort to win passage with this. They are responsible.” can be sent to this address. of a two-year moratorium in Michigan, ‘They can’t get away with this!’ At the May 17 meeting two action pro- Caleb Maupin, the moratorium coali- the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop At every moratorium organizers’ meet- posals were unanimously adopted. On tion’s intern, announced at the meeting Fore­closures and Evictions met May 17 to ing, horrendous and heartbreaking details Friday, June 6, from 4 to 6 p.m., a march that the office is now officially open, with continue building a fighting mass people’s of victims of foreclosures and evictions and rally targeting banks and financial hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday movement. emerge. institutions responsible for the morato- through Friday. Maupin said that this The multinational meeting at the At the May 17 meeting Diane Campbell, rium disaster will be held in downtown would be “an office of action” where Central United Methodist Church in an African-American Detroit resident, Detroit. More than 72,000 homes faced leaflets, outreach information and much downtown Detroit included participants described how a longtime friend and foreclosure in Detroit in 2007. more will always be available. Leaflet from a wide range of labor, community, neighbor of hers, Charlie, and another And on June 14 a statewide organizers’ delivery is also possible by calling the religious and student organizations. man were recently blown up in a home conference from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a office at 313-964-5813. Rep. John Conyers stressed the seri- in Detroit. Charlie had owned his own Town Meeting from 2 to 4 p.m. will take Pastor Golliday in Benton Harbor has ousness of the moratorium struggle, home for more than 20 years, but when place, sponsored and chaired by Sen. also endorsed the moratorium bill, and is saying it’s a crime for poor and working his home was foreclosed he was forced to Clarke at the UAW Local 7 hall, 2600 using his church as an organizing center people to be foreclosed on and evicted, sleep wherever he could. Conner St. in Detroit. Sen. Clarke will take in Western Michigan. or have their water and lights cut off due Eventually Charlie returned to his testimony from foreclosure and eviction “We’re about action and we have to to inability to pay. “We have to national- foreclosed home to rest one evening. victims at this event and a legal clinic will hit the streets to win this moratorium,” ize this moratorium movement. This is a When he lit a cigarette, the house blew operate to assist victims as well. said David Sole, an organizer with the global situation,” he said. up because of a massive gas leak that was These events and more over the sum- Moratorium NOW! Coalition and presi- Conyers and all other participants never repaired by the gas company. A man mer are being organized with the goal of dent of United Auto Workers Local 2334. pledged to continue mobilizing to win pas- sleeping upstairs also perished. According having a mass action at the state Capitol The next Moratorium NOW! orga- sage of the two-year moratorium bill, SB to Charlie’s friend, the entire block shook in Lansing in early fall 2008. nizers’ meeting is May 31, 2 p.m. at the 1306, recently introduced in the Michigan from the explosion, which put many more In an effort to build the moratorium Central United Methodist Church. legislature by state Sen. Hansen Clarke. people at risk of serious harm or death. movement’s campaign coordination and See the coalition’s Web site for PDF SB 1306 would allow a homeowner fac- After hearing this, Debbie Johnson of outreach, the Rev. Ed Rowe of the Central leaflets, videos and more: www.morato- ing foreclosure to go to court for an auto- the Moratorium NOW! Coalition said: United Methodist Church has donated rium-mi.org. matic stay, which would delay a sheriff’s sale for two years or extend the repayment period from six months to two years. The More terror raids court would set a reasonable repayment plan based in part on the borrower’s income and ability to pay. The law would be in effect for three years, meaning that ICE attacks immigrants in Iowa anyone in foreclosure at the time the law is enacted, or is placed in foreclosure dur- Following are excerpts from a May ing union organizers’ pleas, ICE amassed sweeps, in Postville some 390 workers ing that three-year period, could take 19 press release issued by the National a small army and proceeded to carry out were arrested, out of some 900 workers advantage of the moratorium. Network for Immigrant and Refugee a massive operation in the early hours at the plant. Bruce Feaster of Sen. Clarke’s office told Rights. (www.nnirr.org) of the day. ICE used two helicopters and ICE gave the Postville immigrant com- coalition participants that “you are the The National Network for Immigrant brought in over 200 federal, county and munity no warning of this monstrous lobbyists” for this bill. He described how and Refugee Rights condemns the latest local police agents including from ICE, the assault. In the weekend before the ICE the banks pay millions to their lobbyists Department of Homeland Security immi- FBI and other federal and local agencies, raid, community members were aghast to get what they want, but that there are gration raid carried out on May 12, by and dozens of vehicles and buses to haul at the preparations they were witnessing: more poor and working people than bank- the Bureau of Immigration and Customs off workers. Department of Homeland Security began ers. Feaster called for an all-out mobiliza- Enforcement (ICE) against immigrant ICE began unleashing a series of raids amassing police agents and the resources tion to win passage of the bill, with tactics workers at a meat-packing plant in in different parts of the country that to carry out this crushing blow against such as contacting legislators, organizing Postville, Iowa. started right before and continued after workers, including setting up a temporary town hall meetings, people’s delegations ICE’s actions have left the people of the national May 1 mass mobilizations. In jail at a nearby “Cattle Congress” facility, to Lansing and much more to build pres- Postville in a state of shock, as its very mid-April, ICE immigration enforcement where the men were jailed. Women were sure from below to build a movement that social and economic well-being has been raids struck Poultry Pride plants in five put in the local jail. can’t be denied. called into question, threatening the different states, another meat-processing After the raid, ICE stifled the immi- In an effort to win passage of the bill, future of its residents. After the ICE raid, company, arresting over 300 workers. grant workers’ access to legal counsel. moratorium coalition members have thus scores of immigrant workers and their Then on May 2 in northern California, ICE And, in the days and weeks leading up to far spoken at numerous events and dis- family members fled to a local church. took action against a small family-owned the raid, multi-agency collaboration DHS tributed thousands of leaflets throughout Workers at the Postville plant were restaurant chain in six cities, arresting investigations included getting addresses, Metro Detroit and throughout the state, reported to be in a labor dispute with over 60 workers. Then during May 5-6, social security numbers and other private including Upper Michigan. This work is employers. Despite policy prohibiting ICE stationed themselves in front of one information about the workers’ families, being conducted through rapid response, immigration police interference and ignor- elementary public school and one high youth and students from the local school school in Oakland and Berkeley, Calif., district. arresting at least four persons and scaring Home-care workers call out the bosses: the hell out of students, parents and work- Stop the ICE raids, end deten- ers. ICE arrests hundreds of documented tions and deportations and undocumented immigrants every day ICE deliberately uses raids to send ‘They take the money— in border and non-border regions of the shock waves through immigrant com- country, incarcerating as many as 30,000 munities, to repress rights and suppress cheap, cheap!’ immigrants on any given week, through organizing efforts, as well as to promote raids and other means. and showcase new enforcement policies One hundred home-care workers and strategies. The results are devastat- protested at the entrance to two home- Biggest raid to cover up immi- ing: families are separated, communities care agencies, All Season and Prestige grant jail abuses? Care, in New York City’s Chinatown May are traumatized and the economic losses 20. In spite of a heavy downpour, the ICE’s timing of the Postville raids is caused by immigration enforcement are spirited picket line was powerful. also questionable. In the days leading up almost exclusively borne by immigrants With support from home-care to this raid, major newspapers reports and their communities. members of the 1199SEIU union local were exposing the harsh conditions ICE ICE’s actions against Postville were a present, the agencies were attacked subjects persons to in immigration deten- deliberate attack on the rights and well- for paying only $7.15 an hour, without tion, including the revelation that dozens being of immigrants everywhere. ICE raids benefits. Fighting for a union contract of immigrants have died in detention over expose workers to further exploitation and with 1199SEIU for more than a year, the last few years from abusive treatment undermine labor rights and unions; they these mostly Asian workers enjoyed and lack of medical care. help perpetuate abuses and act as a cover- the solidarity from the union’s home- Then ICE delivered a devastating blow up mechanism for other violations that go care workers—Haitian, Filipina, Latin@, Black, West Indian and Asian—who to Postville, a small town with 2,273 resi- unpunished. After an ICE raid, parents chanted “Shame on you!” to the bosses. dents. By calling Postville the largest raid stop sending their children to school, they The event’s flier, in two languages, dignity. We are devoted caregivers, who in history, ICE was drawing attention stop going to work, to church and avoid described how “home-care workers provide deserve to be able to care for ourselves and away from the on-going exposé of the shopping and other public spaces out of comfort and care to the elderly and dis- our families.” harsh conditions in ICE jails. While ICE fear. ICE makes communities vulnerable abled ... so they can live in their homes with —Report and photo by Anne Pruden has arrested more workers in previous to abuse, crime and violence. n www.workers.org May 29, 2008 Page 5

Fight back still needed as Tentative agreement reached in American Axle strike By Bryan G. Pfeifer competitive.” Auto workers have Detroit In approving this tentative agree- been striking since ment, “We put ourselves in a very good Feb. 26. May 21—Following a courageous and competitive position with this contract WW photo: alan Pollock heroic workers’ strike at American Axle & to bid on future work at Cheektowaga,” Manufacturing, the United Auto Workers said Donovan in the May 20 edition of by Shifting Gears, International and the local’s bargaining Business First. a newsletter by and teams came to a tentative contract agree- American Axle CEO Richard Dauch for the UAW/AAM ment the evening of May 16. and his Wall Street backers are laughing rank and file, some The AAM strike, which since Feb. 26 all the way to the bank. Initial reports of the most onerous has lasted for more than three months, is claim American Axle will be robbing at provisions for the the eighth-longest strike in UAW history. least $185 million from the workers, their 2008-2012 contract Informational meetings were held in loved ones and their communities with include: every local almost immediately after the the 2008-2012 contract, if approved. • Wages would be tentative agreement, and voting took place In Detroit, an informational meeting slashed on aver- May 19 for Local 846 at the Cheektowaga was held May 18 for Local 235, the largest age $10 outright and Towanda, N.Y., plants; Local 2093 in local with more than 1,900 members, less for current workers and wages would Supplemental Unemployment Benefit Three Rivers; and Local 262 at the Detroit than 48 hours after the tentative agree- be at different scales between plants. fund of $18 million; Forge. According to preliminary reports ment was reached. At the packed meeting, At Detroit Gear, production workers • Various buyout packages up to from union leaders, the tentative agree- strikers were angry over the agreement’s would range from $14.35 to $18.50 per $140,000, which are subject to being ment has been approved by all of the locals details and what the majority saw as a hour, at Cheektowaga $14.35 to $16.50 taxed; voting on it thus far. The decisive vote will too-quick timeline for voting, which was and at Three Rivers $10 to $18; • Buy-downs of up to $105,000 over take place at Local 235 in Hamtramck, scheduled for the next day. After much • For the first time, workers would three years as workers’ pay is reduced Mich., on May 22. resistance from the strikers, voting for have to pay health care co-pays and to the new lower rate. But not all Local 235 members only was pushed to deductibles; workers would see this much because Why the rush to judgment? May 22, and more informational meetings •Only the Detroit gear and axle plant and this amount depends on the amount The leadership of UAW President Ron were scheduled leading up to the vote. Cheektowaga would be in the master of wage reduction a worker is forced Gettelfinger has been pushing for a con- Even the extended time is not enough agreement; the Three Rivers plant into. Furthermore, laid-off workers More terror raids cessionary contract even before the strike to dissect and analyze pages and pages of would be on its own; would have their buy-downs reduced to began. They even canceled a massive soli- life-and-death issues within the tentative • A no-strike clause would, in effect, take exclude their unemployment pay. darity demonstration April 18 to weaken agreement. Doesn’t the rank and file have these locals out of the Big Three-UAW This is only a partial list. ICE attacks immigrants in Iowa and undermine the support that was a democratic right to study their tentative umbrella; Lanna says there’s an alternative to needed to strengthen the strike. contract? Why is the International not • New hires in Detroit would start at these massive concessions: resistance. He With 30 General Motors Corp. plants making this time available? $11.50 with no cost-of-living adjust- says his co-workers can vote no, continue idled because of the AAM strike, two local ments for the life of the contract and no striking and regroup to fight for a solid unions fighting supplementary agree- ‘Vote it down!’ dental coverage for the first three years contract. Lanna and others opposing the ments also struck against GM. The fight- The majority of Local 235 members of the contract; agreement suggest building a massive, back mood of tens of thousands of UAW leaving the May 18 meeting were angry at • The closing of the Detroit Forge and internationalist labor-community support and other union rank-and-file members what they called a horrendous and prece- Tonawanda, N.Y., plants within the network, organizing protests at the plant internationally, as well as community dent-setting tentative agreement. next year; and throughout the community, rallies, supporters, hasn’t been seriously orga- “I would vote it down,” said Byrone • Pensions frozen as of January 2009 increasing strike pay, and stopping scab nized by the UAW International to fight Lanna, an African-American worker who and the implementation of a 401K plan trucks en masse, among other tactics. American Axle on a serious mass scale. began working for GM in 1976 and once at that time; Says Lanna: “No one should take a pay The tactics and strategy of the Inter­ worked at American Axle for three years. • The combination of skilled trades into cut at this company. It’s not right. The na­tional leadership flow from its deadly The tentative contract agreement is rife only four classifications and reduction workers don’t have to go for this tentative ideology. Kevin Donovan, UAW Region with steep concessions and givebacks. of their hourly wage; agreement.” 9 Assistant Director, reflects the orienta- According to a leaflet entitled “Is This • Overtime would kick in after a 40-hour Milt Neidenberg, David Sole, Jerry tion of the Gettelfinger strategy to help The Best We Can Do?” which is being week, not an 8-hour day; Goldberg, Martha Grevatt and Alan management become more “market- distributed at the Local 235 union hall • Limited and underfunded. Pollock contributed to this report. OSHA slammed for low fines in worker deaths

By Dana Gilmartin you only risk six months in jail.” (Industrial among Latin@ workers increased from gate fatality cases conscientiously and Safety & Hygiene News, April 30) 4.9 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2005 issue all appropriate citations, the system The U.S. Senate Health, Education, The report found that in 2007 the medi- to 5.0 deaths per 100,000 workers in is set up in numerous ways so that compa- Labor and Pensions Committee pub- an penalty assessed by OSHA in a fatal- 2006—a rate that is 25 percent higher than nies that receive citations can appeal the lished a report entitled, “Discounting ity case was $3,675. “Workers’ lives are that of the workforce as a whole. Of the penalty amount. An army of attorneys and Death: OSHA’s Failure to Punish Safety obviously worth far more than that,” said 5,840 deaths from fatal occupational inju- consultants has sprung up whose specialty Violations That Kill Workers” (available Kennedy. (Charlotte Observer, April 30) ries in 2006, 990 were of Latin@ work- is shooting holes in OSHA citations to get at www.aflcio.org) on April 29. The report Family members of workers who had ers, the highest number ever reported to them eliminated or reduced. In addition, calls the U.S. Occupational Safety and been killed on the job testified before the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Similarly, not all workplace deaths are considered Health Administration’s penalty system the committee on April 29. Donald Coit deaths among immigrant workers in 2006 clear violations of OSHA standards, such “flawed” due to low fines, which are fur- Smith’s 22-year-old son was a mechanic’s reached a new high of 1,046 fatalities. In as heat stroke fatalities. ther reduced in the settlement process, helper who was electrocuted while discon- both cases, the increase was overwhelm- Bills have been introduced to update in cases where workers have died. The necting wires from an electric motor at ingly due to higher numbers of deaths in OSHA penalties and criminal prosecu- report is also highly critical of the low Sanderson Farms poultry plant in Bryan, the construction industry. tions, but introducing bills that never number of fatality cases referred to the Texas. The $31,000 OSHA penalty was Seminario’s testimony revealed that in make it out of committee is not enough U.S. Department of Justice for criminal reduced to $12,000 in a settlement, and 2006, there were significant increases in to turn back the assault on worker health prosecution. Mr. Smith said that “mad doesn’t begin to deaths from falls, hazardous substances, and safety. At the release of the report, the commit- describe” how he felt. “He was left alone to and fires and explosions. She pointed out OSHA was formed as a result of the mil- tee’s chairperson, Sen. Edward Kennedy do a job, no supervision. He did what he that OSHA has a smaller staff now than itancy of working people, by unions and (D-MA), pointed out that companies fish- was told and he paid for it with his life.” it did in 1975, even though the size of the occupational safety and health coalitions. ing for tuna in the wrong waters of the (Charlotte Observer, April 30) workforce has doubled. The result is that Although OSHA in its present form is bad- South Pacific face more penalties than Ron Hayes, who testified at the hear- in the states covered by federal OSHA (as ly flawed, unions continue to successfully those that allow dangerous conditions ing about his son’s death in a grain silo, opposed to state OSHA plans), there is push it forward to set standards such as that contribute to an employee’s death. told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that cur- the capacity to inspect each workplace, on the regulations on hexavalent chromium, (Charlotte Observer, April 30) He stated: rent penalties are “not enough to deter.” average, only once every 133 years. (www. a carcinogenic, and the recent pressure “If you improperly import an exotic bird, (ISHN, April 30) afl-cio.org) to address workplaces with combustible you can go to jail for two years. If you deal Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO Director of Although there are compliance officers dusts. With 16 workers dying every day in counterfeit money, you’re looking at 20 Safety and Health, testified that for some within OSHA who come from the labor due to injuries on the job, a stepped-up years. ... But if you gamble with the lives of groups of workers the rate of deaths on movement or the worker safety and health militancy is needed to fight this unneces- your employees and one of them is killed, the job has gotten worse. The fatality rate movement, as well as others who investi- sary slaughter. n Page 6 May 29, 2008 www.workers.org Anti-imperialist leader from India talks to Boston workers By Frank Neisser of multinational corporations and SEZs Boston throughout India. Councilor Turner pro- posed drafting a City Council Resolution Workers in Boston had a unique denouncing special economic zones in opportunity here May 18 to share views general and Dow Chemical specifically with Manik Mukherjee, a veteran leader for their criminal role in Nandigram. This of working-class struggles from India. resolution could become a model for other Mr. Mukherjee is the general secretary progressive city councils to demonstrate of the International Anti-Imperialist their solidarity and aid in building a move- and People’s Solidarity Coordinating ment to stop this global injustice. Committee and vice president of the All Finally, Mukherjee addressed an India Anti-Imperialist Forum. International Action Center forum. Mukherjee has been at the forefront Bishop Teixeira described the significant, of organizing support and solidarity for 3,000-strong immigrant rights dem- the people of Nandigram in West Bengal, onstration on May Day in Everett, East India. Peasant women there have been Boston and Chelsea. Miya Campbell dis- on the front lines of resisting the forced ww photo cussed peoples’ resistance to the racist acquisition of their lands, which their Manik Mukherjee, fourth from left, with Boston workers and activists. acquittal of the cops who killed Sean Bell. families have farmed for centuries, for Steve Kirschbaum, who was part of the creation of a “special economic zone” peoples committees to oppose them. Mass immigrants. They expressed that Haiti, an IAC delegation to Nandigram last (SEZ) for Dow Chemical and other multi- meetings were held, explaining that the faced with U.N. occupying troops, mass November led by former Attorney General national corporations. The people stopped land to be acquired for the Dow Chemical starvation and the rising cost of food, was Ramsey Clark, spoke of the 30,000-strong the SEZ by digging up the roads and mak- hub was all arable land—the breadbasket of in need of the kind of militant struggle anti-imperialist demonstration that greet- ing the bridges impassable, but they faced Calcutta—that had provided the livelihood shown by the peasants of Nandigram. ed their delegation in Calcutta, and how multiple massacres and mass rapes by of the people for centuries. Its takeover Mukherjee expressed keen interest in the SEZs are a worldwide strategy at the West Bengali state agents. would lead to famine and massive unem- making such a trip, and the union leaders forefront of imperialism’s global war On his arrival in Boston, Mukherjee was ployment. Existing factories and industri- agreed to work to arrange it. against the workers. greeted by a delegation including United alization would be destroyed to make way Mr. Mukherjee next went to the Mr. Mukherjee said Nandigram repre- Steelworkers Local 8751 President Franz for superexploitation, free from all labor Charlestown Bus Yard to speak to union- sented the type of class struggle needed Mendez, Ed Childs of UNITE-HERE laws and regulation as well as taxes. ized school bus drivers on their break. to push back capitalism and move toward Local 26, Bishop Filipe Teixeira OFSJC, The people of Nandigram, according He gave a general description of the con- revolution. Organizing mass struggle and members of the executive board of the to Mukherjee, said, “No! We will give our ditions of workers in India, where more class struggle, as in Nandigram, provides Archdale Roslindale Coalition and mem- lives, but not our land.” He recounted than 90 percent are unorganized, where the opportunity to explain the need for bers of the International Action Center. the battle of Nandigram, where police there is 40 percent unemployment, and revolution. He gave a class analysis of the His first meeting was with a group of used torture, mass rape, burning down of where 36 percent live below the poverty current stage of Indian development as a about 20 leaders, organizers’ stewards houses and massacres, but were unable line, surviving on one meal a day. He talk- developing imperialist power, discussing and rank-and-file members of USW Local to defeat the people. The solidarity slo- ed of massive layoffs, no jobs, loitering, the impact of the collapse of the Soviet 8751, the Boston School Bus Drivers Union, gan of progressives throughout India begging and prostitution, and expressed Union on the global working-class strug- and the organizing staff of District Council became “My name, your name, our name the need for workers of the whole world gle and the need for all anti-imperialist 35, Painters and Allied Trades. Workers is Nandigram!” to unite against the capitalists and bring forces to unite and renew the worldwide from Haiti, Cuba, Angola, Brazil and three Mukherjee pointed to the need for an end to wage slavery. struggle against imperialist war. different U.S. states attended—a workers’ worldwide solidarity and working-class Later, a reception was held for Jonathan Regis demonstrated the new United Nations, as Tony Hernandez of DC unity to fight back against the SEZs and Mukherjee at Boston City Hall with Nandigram Solidarity Web site, www. 35 remarked in his opening comments. the multinational corporations. African-American city councilors Chuck nandigramsolidarity.us, which includes Mukherjee described the impact of the Several school bus union leaders Turner and Charles Yancey, and a rep- videos and photos about Nandigram, an 1,300 SEZs that have already been estab- inquired whether Mukherjee was plan- resentative of Korean-American City online interactive petition demanding jus- lished throughout India and the organiz- ning to visit Haiti. More than 80 percent Councilor Sam Yoon. The councilors were tice for Nandigram, and other ways to get ing in West Bengal of agricultural laborers’ of the members of Local 8751 are Haitian deeply moved by his account of the role involved in supporting the struggle. n Indian Marxist says Globalization means imperialist attack on working poor

By John Catalinotto invited to India by the central government New York and by the state government—where I am, Kolkata (Calcutta), this means the West Manik Mukherjee, the vice president Bengal government. of the All-India Anti-Imperialist Forum In a SEZ, the government will give the and a senior leader of the Socialist Unity multinational the land and the compa- Center of India, spoke at a New York ny will not have to pay rent. It will also City Workers World Forum May 16 get water and electricity free. The West along with WWP Secretariat members Bengal government says that globaliza- Fred Goldstein and Teresa Gutierrez, tion and SEZs will bring industry to the who had both just returned from a state but we have seen that no industry conference on Marxism in Havana, is established. We have a phrase for this: Cuba. The following are excerpts from “jobless growth.” Even where production WW Photo Sara Flounders, Manik Mukherjee and Ramsey Clark. Mukherjee’s talk and from an interview expands there is a net loss of jobs. These with him made that same day. are all capital-intensive industries with- the lands and they will use them for real the biggest steel company in the world. out much scope or opportunities for jobs estate development. The moneyed people [According to Forbes’ 2008 list of billion- Globalization is a nice-sounding word for the common people. of India will take over and build homes aires, numbers 4, 5, 6 and 8 are Indians— that means an imperialist attack on the In a SEZ, the existing labor laws won’t and the wealthy 10 percent of Indians will JC] It is these superrich and others like workers and peasants. And imperialism be operational. The owners can fire work- live there. The other 90 percent of Indians them who gain from globalization and is very bad for the common people. The ers at will. The maximum hours workers will just get poorer. SEZs, in conspiracy with the state and workers, peasants and agricultural work- can work will not be maintained; they Right now 36 percent of Indians live central governments. ers are under attack from imperialism on may be forced to work 12 to 14 hours a below the poverty level, which means they They allow the multinationals to pen- all fronts. day. Everything will be under the control get less than two full meals a day. Their etrate India to exploit Indian labor and This attack is spearheaded through the of the owner. purchasing power is so low that their very resources, and in turn get access to mar- use of what are called Special Economic existence is at stake. They suffer unthink- kets in Japan and in Latin America. All Zones, SEZs. The workers call them Poor grow poorer, able poverty. capitalist and imperialist countries are “Special Exploitation Zones.” There are rich become billionaires On the other hand, four of the richest going through an acute economic crisis of 1,300 SEZs planned for India. We find that They say they are expanding indus- people in the world are Indians, includ- overproduction and underutilized capi- many multinational companies are being try but we know they are taking over ing Lakshmi Mittal, owner of Mittal Steel, Continued on page 11 www.workers.org May 29, 2008 Page 7

As Pakistani people push back Pentagon moves torture general to back bench By Deirdre Griswold aerial drones to launch missile strikes on Pakistan had put their bodies on the line, sinated. Musharraf’s party was routed in Pakistani villages. No warning was given calling for Musharraf to go. There were the polls, but he still remains president The Bush administration and the to the Pakistani government. (Wall Street thousands of demonstrations and strikes based on an illegal election last fall that Pentagon are leaning heavily on Pakistan Journal, May 20) As usual in their attacks for democracy and against martial law. was boycotted by the opposition. And the to “pacify” regions along its border with throughout the Middle East, the imperial- Scores of people were killed by the military struggle over the Supreme Court goes on, Afghanistan and to allow even more ists claimed their target was “terrorists.” and police; many thousands were arrest- even though the opposition parties now aggressive U.S. military operations there. The government in Washington has no ed, among them thousands of lawyers and control the government and are trying to It is all done in the name of the fraud- respect for international law or the sover- judges who demanded the reinstatement cut down the powers of the president. ulent “war on terror”—a cover story to eignty of other nations. It acts as though of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The new government has been negoti- excuse the imperialist atrocities that are it has a free hand to rain down death and He had been removed by Musharraf for ating a peace deal with the local leaders being committed daily against the people destruction anywhere in the world. And challenging the legality of the general’s of the semiautonomous areas known as of the region in order to extend the geo- so it is using brute force to try to undo plan to get himself “re-elected” president the tribal regions. The U.S. is virulent- strategic dominance of U.S. big business the gains made last year by the people while still head of the armed forces—a ly opposed to such a peace. However, over this resource-rich area. of Pakistan in their struggle against violation of Pakistan’s Constitution. The its political influence in the area is However, the people of Pakistan are Musharraf. He is the latest in a long line whole judicial system was in an uproar. waning fast. As a paper in the United resisting being dragged further into the of Pakistani military dictators supported Parliamentary elections came next. Arab Emirates wrote recently, “[M]ost role of U.S. surrogates in Washington’s by Washington, which has handed over Huge crowds attended the opposition ral- Pakistani politicians are desperate to war to control Afghanistan. As much as the $10 billion in military aid to his regime lies, despite threats of violence. Right after distance themselves from Washington U.S. pushes, they continue to push back. since 2000. one of them, the leader of the Pakistan as any whiff of U.S. association is toxic.” A recent example of this came when For months last year, the people of People’s Party, Benazir Bhutto, was assas- (The National, May 17) n the Pentagon had to quietly withdraw the appointment of Maj. Gen. Jay Hood to be its top military envoy to Pakistan. Hood Deir Yassin survivors recount terror, honor resistance was previously commander of the noto- rious U.S. prison camp at Guantánamo. Some 60 Pakistanis have been through that hellhole and returned to tell of the tortures and insults they received there. For Hood to become the Pentagon’s top dog in Pakistan was more than just a sym- bolic threat. So when word of his pending appointment got out, a firestorm of pro- test swept Pakistan, causing the Pentagon to switch gears. This was followed, however, by a blus- tering speech by Deputy Secretary of State Audience at April 26 meeting in New Brunswick, N.J. John Negroponte in Washington saying Photo: New Jersey Solidarity the U.S. would “not be satisfied” until Special to Workers World Mohammad Awadallah, an NJS orga- ing special permission from the Israeli Pakistan had asserted its control over the New Brunswick, N.J. nizer and Palestinian student, opened the Minister of Health. Assad barely escaped border areas. Negroponte, notorious for discussion by answering several myths the Zionist death squads who killed his his murderous role in Central America in Continuing Palestinian resistance, 60 about Palestine and Israel that will be grandmother and 2-year-old brother. the 1980s, has personally taken charge years after Al-Nakba, or “the great catas- familiar to anyone bombarded by corpo- His younger sister hid between their bod- of U.S. policy towards Pakistan. When trophe,” was honored at a special meeting rate media spins. ies for hours and was later taken captive, Pakistani dictator Gen. Pervez Musharraf April 13 hosted by New Jersey Solidarity— Far from being “a land without a peo- while his mother, captured in another was under strong pressure to resign last Activists for the Liberation of Palestine at ple,” as one myth goes, Palestine’s dis- house, was refused the right to try to save fall, it was Negroponte who called him the New Brunswick Public Library. placed people are today the largest refugee her young son, who may still have been “indispensable,” indicating Washington’s Students, community members and populace in the world—nearly 7 million. alive. In all, 27 of Assad’s relatives were determination to keep the dictator in solidarity activists heard from a panel Awadallah answered charges of “terror- killed at Deir Yassin. power. that included two Nakba survivors, who ism” against Palestinian freedom fight- Assad returned home to conduct To illustrate Negroponte’s threat, the shared their memories of the 1948 Zionist ers by highlighting examples from the research on the massacre for a forthcom- CIA on May 14 launched two Predator terror campaign that forced 750,000 decades long, state-sponsored terrorism ing book. He said the common figure of missiles to strike a house in the village of Palestinians to flee their homes. The of Tel Aviv and Washington. And Israel is 250 dead was based on a random number Damadola in the tribal region of Bajaur, resulting massacres and mass land theft, not “the Middle East’s only democracy,” chosen by a British military officer. His killing at least 15 people, according to aided and abetted by U.S. and British he explained, but an apartheid state built review of records and personal interviews Pakistani officials. It was at least the imperialism, accompanied the creation of on inequality and racism. shows that 100 villagers were slaughtered fourth time this year that the CIA had used the state of Israel. Dawud Assad, who lived through the along with three foreigners: a school- Nakba as a teenager and survived the teacher who stayed to treat the wounded, bloody Deir Yassin massacre, told how he and a baker and his son who were cooked recently visited his home village for the alive in their oven. Survivors were paraded first time since 1948, only after obtain- Continued on page 9 Massive French demonstrations protest education job cuts By G. Dunkel employees who are also facing cutbacks— took to the streets throughout France in French President Nicolas Sarkozy and a one-day strike, called by a coalition of Xavier Darcos, his minister of education, union confederations, to oppose these job Philadelphia. seem intent on picking a fight with the cuts. According to figures from the FSU French unions. union, which is supported by a majority of Education in France is a national elementary and secondary teachers, near- Rally counters pro-Zionist affair responsibility. Sarkozy and Darcos say it ly half of the more than 800,000 teachers is essential for France to reform its educa- in France were on strike. Chants of “Occupation is a Crime! Free Palestine!” signs and Palestinian flags, and a thou- tion system and improve its results. There were 60,000 people in the sand black balloons confronted participants of the official “Israel at 60” celebration May To do this, they want to cut the number streets of Paris, while 30,000 came out 18 in Philadelphia. The cloud of black balloons was released into the sky to mark the 60th of teachers by 12,000 in the 2008-2009 in Marseilles. Significant demonstra- anniversary of Palestinian dispossession, when more than half the native population was school year, after dismissing more than tions were also held in Brest, Quimper, expelled from Palestine, more than 530 villages destroyed, and the history and heritage of 8,000 in this school year. This will mean Rennes, Grenoble, Pau, Bayonne, Lyon, an ancient people were stolen to make way for the creation of Israel. bigger classes and fewer electives offered Lille, Bordeaux, Nice and Rouen. In some The event concluded 60 days of activities by the Philadelphia Al-Nakba Coalition, which in secondary schools, and less help offered of the smaller cities, according to a report featured dozens of film showings, forums and speakers to raise awareness of Palestinian to students who are having trouble getting in L’Humanité, the riot cops harshly history, current struggles in Gaza and the West Bank against continuing Israeli violence an education. harassed protesters but no significant and expanding of settlements, and the critical role of the U.S. in supporting the outlaw On May 15, 200,000 to 300,000 peo- state of Israel. —Report and photo by Joe Piette ple—mainly teachers, students and public Continued on page 8 Page 8 May 29, 2008 www.workers.org

Sudan maintains defiance amid Western destabilization campaigns Attacks by Darfur rebels spark crisis with Chad

By Abayomi Azikiwe African children in Chad sparked outrage Muslims. For centuries the various ethnic are not law, they still represent a hostile Editor, Pan-African News Wire inside the country and led thousands of groups have intermarried and shared cul- act against the peoples of Sudan and Iran. people to protest the actions of Zoe’s Ark. tural and religious traits. They seek to create an atmosphere where A political and military accord signed Nonetheless, the government in Chad was people in the U.S. could be influenced and between the Sudanese government of beholden to France because of its pre- Michigan lawmakers seek convinced to support a military interven- Omar al-Beshir and Chadian President carious political position and the relative divestment tionist policy toward both Sudan and Iran, Idriss Deby in January was dissolved in strength of the UFDD opposition forces. In the state of Michigan, legislation two oil-producing nations targeted by the the aftermath of an attack by a Darfur reb- was introduced during 2007 that would Bush administration for regime change. el group on May 10. The so-called Justice Behind the political campaign mandate the immediate withdrawal of The Sudanese people must be able to and Equality Movement (JEM) carried against Sudan public pension funds from businesses decide their own future. out an assault in Omdurman resulting in The Sudanese region of Darfur is located that conduct trade with both Sudan and It is important that anti-imperialist the deaths of approximately 200 people. in the west of the country bordering Chad. Iran, as well as impose sanctions against forces in the U.S. and internationally Although this attack against one of the The government of Omar al-Bashir has any company with Sudanese investors or understand what is at stake in Sudan. major cities in Sudan has focused atten- accused Chadian President Deby of sup- stakeholders. The Bush administration, as well as other tion on whether the neighboring Western- porting the rebel movements in Darfur. The twin bills, entitled “Public previous U.S. leaders, has coveted the oil, backed and oil-rich Chadian regime of The Darfur rebels have gained the sym- Retirement Systems: Divestiture of other minerals and agricultural wealth Idriss Deby was behind the act of aggres- pathy and support of various right-wing Investments Related to Sudan and Iran” of this African country. This imperative sion, the transnational oil companies political interests in the U.S. and Europe. (House Bills 4903 and 4854), were spon- drives the propaganda and other acts with their major players based in the Some of these groups have sponsored sored by Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, a of military aggression against not only United States have formidable reasons for documentary films, photographic dis- Democrat, and Marty Knollenberg, a Sudan but many other geopolitical regions wanting to see the government in Sudan plays, rallies and even legislation which Republican. Smith’s bill is against Sudan throughout Africa and the so-called devel- overthrown. encourage the intervention of the U.S. and and Knollenberg’s against Iran. oping world. For over a decade now, U.S.-based other imperialist countries in the internal A legislative analysis issued by the The people of Sudan must be allowed to transnational firms have not been allowed affairs of Sudan. Michigan House Fiscal Agency describes resolve their own internal struggles aimed to exploit the rapidly emerging oil indus- Just last year a new documentary film the bills as “amending the Public at forging unity and national development. try in Sudan; they have been barred from entitled “The Devil on Horseback” pre- Employee Retirement System Investment It should not be up to the U.S. or the former extracting oil there. Some 80 percent of miered throughout the U.S. It was based Act (MCL 38.1133c and 1133d) to require a colonial power of Britain to set the moral the oil concessions in the country are on photographs taken by a U.S. Marine retirement system to engage in a number tone for what is acceptable in Sudan. granted to partnerships between the captain who had visited Sudan as a mili- of activities related to assets invested in Sudan has a tremendous history of Sudanese government and the People’s tary consultant to the African Union, companies with certain kinds of business maintaining independence through both Republic of China. Other concessions are which has had an observer mission in the relationships with Sudan and Iran. The political and military efforts. The people held by local interests in partnership with country for several years. bill ultimately could, under certain condi- heroically fought the British during the Arab and Middle Eastern nations. This film portrays the civil conflict in tion, require a retirement system to sell, 19th century before eventually falling This economic decision on the part the Darfur region of Sudan as a systematic redeem, divest, or withdraw all publicly under the yoke of colonialism for many of Sudan results from a foreign policy campaign by the el-Bashir government to traded securities of a company actively decades. orientation that is independent of U.S. carry out genocide against the inhabitants involved with the Sudan or Iran over a Today the Sudanese people are resist- military efforts in Africa and the Middle of this region. It does not mention the his- 15-month period.” ing imperialist efforts to topple their East. In 1990-91, the Sudanese govern- torical legacy of British colonialism, which This same document points out that the government, seize and exploit the natu- ment refused to support the Pentagon’s systematically divided Sudan so that the bill “would apply to retirement systems ral resources of the country, and place war against Iraq over the issue of former country could be subjugated for over half a under the Michigan Legislative Retirement Western military forces in the Darfur President Saddam Hussein’s intervention century. The origins of both the civil wars Act, the State Police Retirement Act, region—which would serve as a buffer in Kuwait, nor has it supported the current in the south of the country and in Darfur the Judges Retirement Act, the State zone between French imperialist influ- occupation of Iraq that began in 2003. in the west are rooted in the policy of Employees Retirement Act, and the Public ence in Chad and an encroaching U.S. divide-and-rule imposed by Britain when School Employees Retirement Act.” These and British destabilization campaign Chad under pressure from it defeated the early resistance movements public pension systems hold billions of dol- in the rest of the country. People who Western influence during the late 19th century. lars in employee contributions, which are oppose imperialism in all its shapes and Consequently, when looking at the hos- The documentary highlights the suffer- heavily invested in private corporations. forms must support the Sudanese in their tile U.S. State Department posture toward ing of the people in Darfur in an effort to Although these bills have not yet been struggle against political domination and Sudan, the oil factor must be taken into provoke a public outcry in the U.S. and a passed by the state Senate, and therefore economic exploitation. n consideration. demand for immediate military interven- Chad is also a large producer of oil. tion to weaken the authority of the central However, the government of Idriss Deby government in Sudan and establish a per- has close ties both politically and eco- manent Western presence in the Darfur Massive French demonstrations nomically to Chad’s former colonial ruler, region of Sudan bordering Chad. Continued from page 7 the right to strike. France, which has tilted toward the U.S. Another manifestation of the so-called Aschieri went on to say: “While he under President Nicolas Sarkozy. The “Save Darfur Movement” is the drafting incident was reported. [Sarkozy] affirms the necessity of improv- French military, which has a permanent and promotion of legislation on a local To blunt the effectiveness of the strikes ing education, he proposes no solutions presence in Chad, recently stepped in to and state level that seeks to divest pen- which the teachers, with major support to the concrete problems which confront shore up the Deby government. Otherwise, sion funds from corporations that engage from students and their parents, are hold- our education system. That is not how, an attempt to unseat him by the United in commerce with Sudan. Since there is ing, Sarkozy is insisting that “a minimum for example, we solve the question of get- Forces for Democracy and Development limited trade between the U.S. and Sudan, level of service” be provided everywhere ting every student to succeed, of fighting (UFDD) would have been victorious. such legislation is clearly promoted for its in France, using the money the state saves against inequality, of improving our pro- In response, the Deby government propaganda value. It advances the notion by not paying the striking teachers. fession. ... He refuses the dialog indis- released a group of French nationals who that the government should be changed On the left in France, the more radical pensable not only for avoiding conflicts had posed as a charitable organization based upon allegations of genocide against elements see the “minimum level of ser- but also for providing new morale in pub- calling itself Zoe’s Ark and allowed them the people of Darfur. vice” as an attack on the constitutional lic service.” (actu.fsu.fr) to return to France. They had been tried In addition, these right-wing elements right to strike, while more moderate ele- The French magazine Le Nouvel and convicted of attempting to kidnap falsely characterize the civil conflict in ments see an unconstitutional mandate Observateur published a roundup of the dozens of Chadian children in order to sell Darfur as a racial one, between what on local communities. statements of the leaders of the major them to people in Europe. they describe as Arabs in the north and The FSU held a nationwide demonstra- unions May 16. They all said they were The French and other Europeans in Blacks in the Darfur region. This attempt tion in Paris on May 18 to kick off a week ready and preferred to talk, but that if the Zoe’s Ark were questioned after their to racialize the conflict is deliberately of protests, which is scheduled to culmi- government wanted a confrontation they arrest. They stated that their motivation aimed at discouraging African Americans nate in massive demonstrations on May were not going to back away from one. was to transport children from the Darfur and anti-racist constituencies in the U.S. 22. According to the union, about 45,000 While the demonstrations were focused region of Sudan, which is currently under- from organizing any effort to defend the people marched behind a banner that on education and public service, a strong going civil conflict, to adoption agencies Sudanese people from Western military read, “Everyone should succeed! Struggle contingent of undocumented workers in France so they could permanently be intervention. against inequality!” marched May 15 behind a banner that placed in homes in Europe. Yet, accord- Most historians of Sudan say there are FSU General Secretary Gérard Aschieri, read “Legalization for all workers without ing to news reports emanating from Chad, no fundamental racial divisions between who is the son of Italian immigrants, papers! Equal rights for French and immi- most of the children were not from Darfur the peoples of this vast central African released a statement pointing out that grant workers!” This contingent also par- and had been taken in violation of the laws country. The majority of people in both Sarkozy has not taken any real steps to ticipated in a May 10 Paris march mark- of Chad governing adoption. the northern region, where the capital bargain with the unions but has “crossed ing the abolition of slavery in France and The uncovering of this plot to kidnap is located, and Darfur in the west are a veritable red line” in attempting to limit opposing current discrimination. n www.workers.org May 29, 2008 Page 9

While U.S. education falters, Venezuela’s thrives Protest condemns U.S. funding of counterrevolutionary student

By Jaimeson Champion mouthpiece for the deposed Venezuelan ers have sought to violently intimidate The achievements of the Bolivarian New York oligarchy. He is a privileged son of the old and silence students who support the Revolution in the area of education high- elite. He advocates a return to the pre- Bolivarian Revolution. light the great benefits of socializing pro- Dozens of demonstrators gathered out- Bolivarian Revolution days, when educa- duction to satisfy human needs instead of side the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New tion was a commodity reserved only for Education in Venezuela and corporate greed. The Bolivarian education York City on May 15th to protest the pre- the wealthy. the U.S.: A study in contrasts programs are funded in large part through sentation of the Milton Friedman Prize As a student, Goichochea attended the Despite Goichochea’s efforts, the revenues from the nationalized petroleum to Yon Goichochea. Inside, the leader of private Catholic University. One of the few Bolivarian Revolution has ushered in a industry. PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil a counterrevolutionary Venezuelan stu- remaining private universities in Venez­ new era in Venezuelan education that has company, funds a large proportion of the dent group received the award at a lavish uela, Catholic University has a long been a led to increased access to education for all budgets for Missions Robinson, Ribas $500-a-plate banquet sponsored by The training ground for the privileged class. sectors of Venezuelan society. and Sucre. Cato Institute, a right-wing think tank. The student demonstrations which Chávez has implemented a massive Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution The prize—named after the founding Goichochea has organized have been increase in social spending, particularly in are using Venezuela’s productive capac- father of neoliberal economic policy and attended almost entirely by wealthy stu- education and health care. Social spend- ity to improve the quality of life for all economic advisor to Chile’s fascist dic- dents from the private universities. These ing as a percentage of GDP has increased Venezuelans. Rather than enriching foreign tator Augusto Pinochet—is a $500,000 demonstrations by the children of the oli- from 8.2 percent in 1998 to 13.6 percent corporations, the Bolivarian Revolution award given to individuals who promote garchy have received enormous amounts in 2006. (source: Weisbrot, Center for is instead investing in the educational the interests of U.S. imperialism. of news coverage, though the participants Economic Policy Research) enrichment of Venezuelan students. The protest outside the hotel was orga- only represent a minute fraction of the “Bolivarian missions” such as Mission The Bolivarian Revolution’s focus on nized by the Alberto Lovera Bolivarian total Venezuelan student body. Robin­son and Mission Ribas, which are pro- increasing access to education stands in Circle, and included supporters and allies The demonstrations Goichochea and grams dedicated to improving social con­ stark contrast to the focus of the educa- of the Bolivarian Revolution from numer- his pro-imperialist stooges have orga- ditions in Venezuela, have helped increase tional system in the U.S. While an increas- ous organizations. nized have been violent and destructive. literacy and arithmetic skills in poorer ing number of students in Venezuela are Speakers at the demonstration assert- Goichochea and his supporters have urban and rural areas across the country. gaining access to higher education, the ed that Goichochea did not represent trashed publicly funded Bolivarian edu- Another Bolivarian mission, Mission opposite is true in the U.S. Venezuelan students, and that he would use cational facilities. Sucre, provides free university educa- Tuition rates in the U.S. are skyrock- the award money to further fund attacks In one 2007 demonstration, Goichochea tion to any Venezuelan, regardless of eting. With debt loads of U.S. students, aimed at destabilizing the presidency of supporters targeted the Caracas School of income or resources. Mission Sucre’s upon graduation, now averaging more Hugo Chávez. They said Goichochea, act- Social Work. They trashed the campus, set- official statement of purpose is “to guar- than $20,000, higher education is becom- ing as a puppet for U.S. imperial interests, ting the building on fire and trapping some antee access to university education for ing increasingly unaffordable for most seeks to reverse the tremendous gains social work students inside. Goichochea all undergraduates and to transform the working-class students. Many working- achieved by the Bolivarian Revolution in and his supporters targeted the School condition of those excluded from the sub- class students in the U.S are forced into the area of education. of Social Work because the social work system of higher education.” Through the armed forces in order to afford higher Demonstrators also contended that students overwhelmingly support Chávez Mission Sucre, hundreds of thousands of education. A free university education, as The Cato Institute is interfering in and the Bolivarian Revolution. Venezuelan students who had previously is provided in Venezuela, would be a wel- Venezuelan affairs by attempting to fund Far from championing “freedom of lacked access to higher education have come reprieve for millions of U.S. students the Venezuelan opposition movement. speech,” Goichochea and his support- been able to obtain a university degree. potentially facing a life of indebtedness. In the past year, Goichochea has been The Bolivarian Revolution is daily heralded by groups such as The Cato proving that there is a clear-cut alterna- Institute and pundits in the corporate tive to the violence, greed and destruction press as a peaceful organizer for “liberty wrought by capitalism and U.S. imperial- and freedom of speech.” China mobilizes to ism. The gains achieved by the Bolivarian But the reality is that Goichochea is a Revolution in areas such as education, violence-provoking, 23-year-old student housing and health care provide examples save lives & rebuild to the world of the potential benefits of socialism. The hundreds of thousands of Continued from page 1 were trapped in their attics as their homes recent college graduates in Venezuela who Deir Yassin 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the most flooded. At least 1,500 people died from attended school through Mission Sucre destructive ever to shake the U.S. (exclud- drowning, dehydration and lack of food or are testament to the reality that a better survivors ing Alaska and Hawaii), was 7.8 and took even a raft to get to higher ground. Corpses system is possible. n about 3,000 lives. remained in the fetid water for weeks. Continued from page 7 It took President George W. Bush two through the streets of Jerusalem, where Contrast with handling of Katrina days after the levees broke to cut short his they were spit upon. The contrast between the handling of vacation in Crawford, Texas, and fly over Cuba’s role “The Nakba didn’t end in 1948,” said this earthquake and the flooding of New the area in a helicopter. Vice President Charlotte Kates, an organizer of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is stark. Dick Cheney took four days to come back in promoting Jersey Solidarity and Al-Awda New York. China is still a developing country. There from his vacation, even as a horrified She noted the central role of U.S. impe- was no advance warning of a natural world watched the tragedy unfold hour by rialism in the occupation of Palestine, disaster on the scale of this quake. Yet it hour. Haiti’s literacy including the rush of both Democratic was able to mobilize its resources within Photos of the troops dispatched to New Cuba is actively helping Haiti develop and Republican presidential candidates hours to provide relief to the survivors. Orleans show them patrolling the city a literacy project. Carol Joseph, Haiti’s to be the most enthusiastic defenders of In the wealthy United States, the Army armed with assault rifles and handguns to secretary of state for literacy, went to Cité the Israeli settler state. Corps of Engineers itself in a report a year stop “looters”—often just people seeking Soleil at the end of April to participate in Kates urged the audience to “educate earlier had predicted the levees above New food and water after days without services. the graduation ceremony for 1,112 partici- our communities, friends and co-workers” Orleans could fail and the city be inundat- In the many pictures showing the disas- pants of the Dwouya literacy program. He about the ongoing catastrophe against ed if it were hit by a strong hurricane. Yet ter in China to be found at Yahoo’s photo gave each a certificate and reminded them Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, little had been done. As Katrina came bar- gallery, taken by a wide variety of sources, that now they can go further in develop- Palestine 1948 and in refugee camps, car- reling through the Gulf, meteorologists none of the soldiers or other rescue work- ing their skills. ried out with U.S. weapons and tax dollars informed the federal government and ers is armed. Cité Soleil is one of the poorest commu- as a means to further U.S. domination in “homeland security” of the danger. They One photo from China shows a rescue nities in Haiti. the Middle East. were told all necessary preparations had worker planting China’s red flag atop a Cuba not only provided technicians Awni Attiya, a Deir Yassin survivor and been made. heap of rubble as his exhausted comrades who trained their Haitian counterparts uncle of Assad, recounted his memories After disaster struck, the levees broke sit below. It is a reminder that, despite in Cuba’s “Yes I can” method for teaching of the Nakba. He recalled how the Arab and 80 percent of the city flooded. A mil- the inroads of capitalism in their market literacy, it also provided television sets village of Deir Yassin and surrounding lion people had evacuated the area based economy, millions of Chinese feel united that ran off solar panels for the programs. Jewish villages had lived in harmony and on the storm warnings, but many poor behind a cause—the betterment of all their Joseph evaluated Cuba’s contribution at even signed a peace treaty in the months and elderly remained. people—that inspired a socialist revolution $7.7 million and said that it respected before the massacre. “The British occupa- Some 25,000, the majority African- in their country just two generations ago. Haiti’s dignity. tion opened the door” to the Zionist death American, took refuge at the Astrodome As a time of great trial for the world According to Haiti-Liberté (May 7), squads, Attiya explained. only to run out of water, food and work- draws nearer with the consequences of militants in Cité Soleil feel that the $20 The meeting was chaired by Greg ing sanitary facilities as days went by and global warming, it is just this spirit of col- million in aid the U.S. has provided was Butterfield of New Jersey Solidarity and temperatures soared. Others languished lective action that will be needed every- squandered and wasted. the International Action Center. n on elevated highways and bridges, or where. n —G. Dunkel Page 10 May 29, 2008 www.workers.org

The Prisoners of Attica: Long live the legacy Unity & courage vs. Rockefeller’s machineguns of Ka Bel! Editor’s note: Workers World ATTICA, N.Y., Sept. 14—Billionaire is in its 50th year of publication. Governor Rockefeller yesterday end- Workers World Party sends our deepest condolences to the family, Throughout the year, we will share ed with a massacre the greatest pris- friends and comrades of the great Filipino labor leader and freedom fighter, with our readers some of the paper’s oners’ rebellion in modern times. Crispin Beltran, lovingly known as Ka Bel. content over the past half century. Reflecting the blatant racism that We received with great sadness the news Below is a reprint from a 1971 article has created the concentration camp that Ka Bel had died on May 20th after a long on the massacre ending the most sig­ system in this country and has led to and fruitful life. nificant of many prison rebellions in prisoners’ revolts nationwide, a guard Comrades of our party had occasion in 2006 a period in U.S. history when many held hostage by rebelling inmates at to meet with and visit Ka Bel in the hos­pital Black, Latin@ and Native prisoners Attica State Prison emerged from the where he was being held as a political prisoner were conscious of their role in their prison’s main gate free and unharmed at the time. Our comrades reported that it was peoples’ struggles for national libera­ with a violent shout of “White power!” a real honor to meet him and were deeply and Dianne Mathiowetz, Ka Bel & Teresa Gutierrez tion, when some were imprisoned Behind him, within the prison walls, greatly moved by his tremendous knowl- political leaders of groups like the spewed a carnage of blood and bod- edge, his deep understanding of Marxism the youth of this country, the U.S., so they Black Panthers, and where even some ies, including 28 dead prisoners and and his revolutionary optimism. He was may learn the history of Ka Bel and build white prisoners were political activ­ hundreds wounded, some fatally. full of joy, but most important, full of love on his legacy. Ka Bel was a revolutionary, ists jailed for direct action against Also dead were nine guards held for the struggle of his people. And he was a communist who dedicated his entire life war and racism. On Aug. 21, 1971, as hostages, all, according to later deeply concerned as well with the worldwide to the liberation of his people, and his work Panther George Jackson was execut­ autopsies, killed by bullets as 1,000 struggle against imperialism. should be known by all. His example should ed by guards in San Quentin state state troopers, sheriffs’ deputies and Despite years of imprisonment, repres- be studied and followed by people around Prison, Calif. On Sept. 9, the Attica prison guards armed with shotguns, sion and torture, Ka Bel was fiercely deter- the world, by anyone struggling against the rebellion began. Prisoner Solidarity automatic weapons and nausea gas mined to struggle on. He had the utmost yoke of imperialism. Committee leader Tom Soto, a con­ stormed the prison with guns blazing. confidence that one day the Filipino people Our party is confident that the struggle Ka tributor to Workers World newspa­ “It resembled the aftermath of a would be victorious. Bel dedicated his life to will be victorious. per, was among those few invited by war,” some observers said, and they The name Ka Bel is, unfortunately, not well The Filipino people will be free. They will one the prisoners to witness the negotia­ were right. Attica, with its prisoner known in the U.S., because the struggle of the day build a new society and the name of Ka tions but who were unable stop the population 85 percent Black and Filipino people for their liberation is hidden Bel will ring proudly through his land. state’s vicious attack. For compari­ Puerto Rican and the high politi- from the pages of the bourgeois press. But it Long live the Legacy of Ka Bel! son, today’s population is incarcer­ cal consciousness and clenched fist is a glorious and rich struggle, one that Ka Bel U.S. imperialism out ated at over five times the 1971 rate. salutes displayed during the rebellion, symbolized so well. As was so aptly put, “Ka of the Philippines! Bel was a legend in his own time.” Victory to the Filipino people! Let us take advantage of the death of Globalization: Imperialist this great revolutionary leader to build the Long live international solidarity! movement in solidarity with the Filipino From the National Committee attack on working poor people. A special appeal should be made to of Workers World Party Continued from page 6 geois parties but also a social demo- tal—they are unable to invest. cratic party—called the Communist Indian capitalism has also acquired Party of India-Marxist but which we Defend Obama imperialist characteristics and is in SUCI have considered a social-dem- exporting capital to other parts of the ocratic party since 1948—control the against racist attacks world, buying up industry, even major state. And they have been exposed in steel companies. Indian capital is buy- Nandigram for using state repression movement of the oppressed Black woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman ing even cheaper labor in Nepal and to serve capitalist interests. masses has propelled Sen. Barack pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you Bangladesh, which have become eco- SUCI is trying to unite with other A Obama forward, with white workers know the difference between a terrorist and a nomic colonies of India. forces, for example, the Naxalites and and youth also clamoring over the possibility woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a In turn, India’s foreign policy is no other Marxist Leninist organizations of having him as president. terrorist.” (worldnetdaily.com, May 9) longer nonaligned. India tilts toward and even a part of the Congress Party This has of course revealed the rabid rac- Where is the furor? the U.S. and Israel and is a large pur- called the TMC, to protest against ism inherent in the U.S., which is, after all, a Obama is still an imperialist politician; that chaser of Israeli-made arms. SEZs and to develop the mass and society built from the genocide of Indigenous won’t change. However, bourgeois elections With land being taken away from class struggle. people, the enslavement of African people, are still as Engels described them to be in The peasants for use in SEZs, more and Now a large sector of the people is theft of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, more than half Origin of the Family, Private Property and the more village people are coming into looking to SUCI as an organization of of Mexico and other lands. State: “a gauge of the maturity of the working the cities. Since there are no jobs, mass and class struggle. We are grad- The racist attacks against Obama class” that “cannot and never will be anything there is a big increase in begging and ually getting more support from work- keep coming, from the Democrats, the more in the present-day state.” Engels was prostitution. It is very painful that ers, peasants, women and students. Republicans, and, of course, the ultra-right. speaking specifically of universal suffrage, women are forced into prostitution to We have an agricultural organization Early on Geraldine Ferraro suggested that which was a gain won through struggles of feed their children. and our trade union organization is Obama has only gotten so far because of his oppressed people, and which should be every- Many workers and peasants are the fifth largest in the country. SUCI race. Tell that to the nearly one million Black one’s right. However, bourgeois politics can’t committing suicide—no fewer than exists in 17 of India’s 19 states. women and men locked up in prisons, or the be counted on to produce profound, revolu- 2,000 in the last year—when they get We oppose outsourcing. We are millions that live below poverty in substan- tionary change from one system to another. into intractable debt that they can in solidarity, for example, with U.S. dard housing, where their children attend That can only come through struggle. never pay back. workers who lose their jobs through substandard schools in neighborhoods occu- Yet—even taking into account the effec- outsourcing, and we oppose also pied by police. Tell that to the family of Sean tiveness of capitalist media—how bourgeois Nandigram means fight back Indian companies that outsource. Bell or to Hurricane Katrina survivors. politicians present themselves and their pro- Dow Chemical was invited into Outsourcing is a conspiracy to deprive Recently, former 2008 Republican can- grams, and the attention paid to the elections Nandigram in West Bengal to estab- workers of different countries, and we didate Mike Huckabee, speaking at the by workers and the oppressed, can illustrate lish a chemical hub. Its plants threat- have to maintain worker solidarity. National Rifle Association convention, joked the prospects of struggle and the level of ened to pollute the atmosphere and a In India too we have to build soli- after a loud bang: “That was Barack Obama, socialization of workers and the oppressed. nearby river. They started grabbing all darity. The British, during their colo- he just tripped off a chair. ... Somebody What these elections show is a certain level the fertile land in the SEZ. The peas- nial rule, divided people by religion— aimed a gun at him and he dove for the of socialization of white workers. Despite the ants and agricultural workers will lose into Muslim and Hindu—so that the floor.” Such a threat is no joke. racist attacks and the general criminaliza- the use of the land, which means they British could “divide and rule.” It was There have been the attacks on Rev tion of Black youth in the media and by the lose everything. painful that the national leaders of the Wright, which were, as Wright correctly put state, that a Black man has been thrust to the But Nandigram turned out to be Congress Party helped the conspiracy it, attacks against the self-determination of forefront of the political arena and may be something else. It was an example of of the British and became the party Black people, Black liberation theology and president speaks to the willingness of white tremendous resistance. People’s com- mainly of the Hindus. Now the rul- Wright’s righteous and on time views regard- workers to see beyond the social backsliding mittees formed. SUCI, my party, was ing class is following the same policy, ing racism and U.S. imperialism. that is occurring across the country. very active in Nandigram. The state both in the name of religion and by John Hagee is a certified racist, sexist, The attacks will increase, especially as government of West Bengal inter- the caste system among Hindus. They homophobic preacher and McCain support- the national election draws nearer, and they vened with severe repression. But the are dividing people to stop the unity of er, but he rarely has been dredged up by the should be fought at every turn. It is not about people kept fighting back and they had the proletariat. capitalist media. This is Hagee on Hurricane Obama’s program, which is an imperialist a victory. This has set an example for It is a hard task for us to convince Katrina: “I believe that New Orleans had a program indeed; but even revolutionar- peasants and agricultural workers all the common people, the working level of sin that was offensive to God and ies should see that there is a movement of over India. (See WW, Dec. 14, 2007, class, that caste and religion should they were recipients of the judgment of God oppressed people behind the Obama cam- “Nandigram­ says ‘No!’ to Dow’s chem- not divide us. But we must fight for that.” (mediamatters.org) And, on wom- paign and defend the right of Black people to ical hub”) together, united, against capitalism en: “Do you know the difference between a have a Black president. n West Bengal is where not only bour- and imperialism. n www.workers.org May 29, 2008 Page 11

The Prisoners of Attica: Unity & courage vs. Rockefeller’s Rockefeller’s machineguns machine guns was one more battle in the continuing war guard killed by other guards when the for national liberation of the Black and rebellion broke out. Brown populations in the United States. Meanwhile, the troop buildup outside Few believe that it will be the last. the prison continued. Sheriffs’ deputies On Thursday, September 9, over 1,000 poured in from 13 surrounding counties prisoners, long abused by the all-white in their own automobiles, armed with racist guard force, a vicious prison sys- shotguns and 30-30 hunting rifles for “the tem, and an economic and political dic- turkey shoot,” as one racist called it. It was tatorship held over the poor and working clear that Rockefeller’s government was class of this country by the rich, rose up to not negotiating in good faith. overpower their tormentors. Within min- Under cover of “negotiating,” they were utes, the inmates seized Cell Block D and preparing the massacre, as hundreds of 32 guards. Then, from a makeshift mega- National Guard troops were moved phone, the inmates issued their demands, into the area on Sunday. Police out- Wo r k e r s Wo r l d many of which reflected the high political side the prison grew increasingly in content of the rebellion. hostile to arriving crowds of prison- 1971 ers’ supporters and relatives. One state challenge to the dic- Political demands raised trooper leveled his shotgun at members tatorship of wealth “An immediate end to the agitation of of a delegation of the Prisoners Solidarity enjoyed by millionaires like Rockefeller. and sisters on the outside, a desperate race relations by the prison administration Committee and growled, “Get out of the This was not just a prison rebellion but affirmation that they are alive, there on of this State,” the prisoners demanded. An roadway or we’ll wipe you out!” part of a larger class war going on across the inside; they are human beings who, end to the racial discrimination against Meanwhile, relatives of prisoners were the country. This was recognized on a while treated worse than animals, have Brown and Black prisoners by the parole denied access to the prison grounds by national level as President Nixon per- not been crushed, whose spirit lives on in board; a replacement of the present parole police, although relatives of hostages were sonally phoned his congratulations to rebellion. board appointed by Rockefeller with a allowed in. A roadblock one mile from the the Governor. Rockefeller was, of course, The Prisoners Solidarity Committee is board elected by the people; the right to prison sealed off the prisoners from their delighted. another absolutely indispensable product labor union membership while working relatives and outside supporters. As far as The people were not. Prisons around the of this new spirit. It was formed less than a in the prison and State and federal mini- the State was concerned, the prisoners’ country stirred with anger. In Baltimore year ago, when prisoners at Auburn, N.Y., mum wage instead of the present slave families had no rights. A curfew was also City Jail, the second revolt within a year wrote to organizations on the outside labor; constitutional right to legal repre- imposed in the town of Attica to prevent broke out, and prisoners of Cleveland for help. Youth Against War & Fascism sentation at parole board hearings; “an angry Black, Brown and white support- County Prison also rebelled. Throughout responded, and soon helped form the end to the segregation of prisoners from ers from exercising their right to be at the New York, Rockefeller ordered all inmates Prisoners Solidarity Committee. The com- Globalization: Imperialist the mainline population because of their scene. in the state’s maximum security prisons mittee has expanded to many cities since political beliefs;” an end to guard brutality Rockefeller’s government had also confined to their cells in fear of spreading then, and includes relatives of prisoners attack on working poor against prisoners; and later the prisoners decided the prisoners had no rights. Not rebellion. Rockefeller, sipping his mint and released prisoners themselves. added their demands for amnesty from even the right to live. julep at his Pocantico Hills estate, may When news of the PSC reached the jails, criminal prosecution and “speedy and Yesterday, Monday morning, the have been delighted with Nixon’s sup- it released a dammed-up flood of letters safe transportation out of confinement to State’s mobilization was completed, port, but he was frantically worried about from brothers and sisters telling of the any nonimperialist country.” and by 8 a.m., 1,700 troops armed with the rising tide of people’s vengeance that indignities, the brutality, the pain that is a “Many prisoners believe their labor machine guns, automatic rifles, tear and is increasingly threatening to sweep him daily part of prison life. But these letters all power is being exploited,” said the decla- nausea gas, shotguns, and high pressure and his wealthy class into the dustbin of told something else. They were not pathet- ration of demands, “in order for the state hoses were poised for the attack. At 9:45, history. ic appeals from beaten people; they rang to increase its economic power and to con- Oswald gave the signal for the attack to Once in a very great while a rich man with hope and strength and willingness tinue to expand its correctional industries begin. Two Army helicopters circled over goes to prison. Maybe he’s taking a six- to struggle. Moreover, the writers were (which are million-dollar complexes), yet the northeast corner of the 55-acre com- month rap for a company that defrauded thrilled that they were finally breaking out do not develop working skills acceptable pound where the prisoners were gath- the people out of millions; when he gets of their isolation, that people outside were for employment in the outside society, and ered. One dropped canisters of nausea out after his brief stretch, he’s set for life. listening and working with them. which do not pay the prisoner more than gas onto Cell Block D, while the other And even while he’s in, every little com- The PSC published some of these let- an average of forty cents a day. Most pris- swooped down on the men below, firing fort is provided for him, so that the time ters in the pamphlet, “Prisoners Call Out: oners never make more than fifty cents a automatic weapons into the crowd of pris- passes as pleasantly as possible. Freedom!” day. Prisoners who refuse to work for the oners, shooting them down in “Vietnam” Most of all, he is never really isolated, The PSC raised some money with this outrageous scale, or who strike, are pun- fashion. The prisoners had no weapons to never forgotten. His lawyers visit him pamphlet and social affairs, and rented a ished and segregated without the access to return the fire but defended themselves as constantly, the guards treat him like a bus so that prisoners’ relatives could get privileges shared by those who work; this valiantly as they could. Their only means “gentleman,” and he is able to conduct his to Auburn and visit them. For many of is class legislation, class division, creates of defense was handmade weapons. It was business affairs from prison. them, it was the first visit in years. hostilities within the prison.” a massacre. Prisons weren’t made for people like When the Auburn 6 had several court The prisoners set up a People’s Central this. The fact that a handful of them may hearings, the PSC got sizable demonstra- Committee which included Black, Puerto Capitalist press lied! be in a few federal institutions is largely tions of support, even in blizzard condi- Rican and white members, organized their Yesterday the capitalist press was full an accident. tions. More and more, the PSC became a own typing pool and sound system. As for of horror stories of hostages with their But the prisons are full, overflowing, vehicle whereby the prisoners themselves the hostages, according to Tom Soto of the throats cut, mutilations and executions. exploding with poor, oppressed men and could speak to the people outside, could Prisoners Solidarity Committee who saw The racist hysteria against the prison- women for whom prisons have meant the generalize their struggle, fuse their griev- them, the guards were being well treated, ers’ uprising was being carefully fanned. end—of life, of happiness, of friends and ances and their hopes into the main cur- undoubtedly much better than the guards Today the truth came out—the guards family. The first stretch becomes a stig- rent of rebellion that is rising in the coun- had ever treated the prisoners. were all killed in the same murderous ma that dooms a young person to a life try as a whole. assault by police and national guards on behind bars. The prisoner never sees a The PSC, on hearing of the rebellion, Rockefeller rejects amnesty the prisoners. lawyer, is prevented from defending him- had immediately mobilized all its strength: Nelson Rockefeller, billionaire gov- So far, twenty-eight prisoners and nine self, is estranged from his or her family it sent a delegation to Attica, arranged ernor of New York, disagreed. “To do so hostages were reported killed, hundreds of just out of the sheer impossibility of visits transportation for relatives, and orga- (grant amnesty) would undermine the prisoners wounded. The 28 surviving hos- to isolated prisons, and can look forward nized many demonstrations throughout very essence” of American society, he tages were taken for treatment to a nearby to desperation and disappointment when New York State and in several major cit- said. From the barbed-wire seclusion of hospital, while the hundreds of wounded and if he ever hits the streets again. ies elsewhere. The prisoners knew about his 3,000-acre private estate at Pocantico prisoners waited for treatment in a small For thousands of prisoners, especially all this, and knew that what they had to Hills, Rockefeller rejected the plea of the room in the prison, 8 by 10 feet, the floor the large percentage of Black and other say would be heard on the outside. mediating committee for him to join the covered with blood. “It’s the worst thing oppressed people routed into the pris- At the most difficult moments, when negotiations. Instead, this brother of the I’ve ever seen,” said one doctor emerging ons from birth, these conditions have ruling class hysteria against the prisoners head of Chase Manhattan Bank ordered from the prison gate in a bloodstained become unbearable. The terrible isola- reached its height, the PSC announced the full mobilization of the National Guard gown. tion imposed by the racist authorities from inside Attica that it unconditionally units in western New York to prepare a Asked if he had any second thoughts has been broken again and again in the supported the prisoners’ demands. A fur- massacre of Attica’s inmates. after seeing the resulting massacre, only way left to human beings who have ther bond of love and trust was forged in The demands of the prisoners were Commissioner Oswald patted his huge been literally sealed in their own tombs: those tense hours. never seriously considered, and the most stomach and calmly replied, “No, I by open rebellion. These rebellions are The isolation of the prisons has been fundamental of the demands, amnesty, don’t.” Nelson Rockefeller had no second specifically directed at the numberless permanently shattered. Even the highest was never considered by the State. To the thoughts either. He agreed that the secu- injustices that read like a description of concrete wall, the darkest cell, the cruel- prisoners, this was crucial as many were rity of the whole rotten prison system was the Chamber of Horror; but they are also est solitary “hole” can no longer hold the in danger of being framed up on murder at stake. The highly political content of something more. terror it once had, for 1,500 men at Attica charges for the death of a sympathetic the prisoner demands was also a direct They are a passionate cry to brothers have looked the worst in the face. n ¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los países, uníos! Reunión Latinoamericana confronta crisis de hambruna Por Berta Joubert-Ceci crisis actual: “La esencia de la crisis no agricultor@s y campesin@s de todas las remedio venenoso contra el hambre. En está en los fenómenos más recientes, sino partes del mundo, en un documento titu- Cité-Soleil, las galletas son hechas de un Con el tema de “Soberanía y Seguridad en la desigual e injusta distribución de la lado “Una respuesta a la Crisis Mundial lodo amarillo de la meseta central del país, Alimentaria: Alimentos para la Vida,” riqueza a nivel global, y en el intolerable de Alimentos” (www.viacampesina.org), mezcladas con sal y aceite. ¡Cuesta $5 fab- delegaciones de 15 países se reunieron modelo económico neoliberal, impuesto las políticas neoliberales han destruido la ricar 100 galletas, pero aún a ese precio, en Managua, Nicaragua, el 7 de mayo con irresponsabilidad y fanatismo duran- capacidad de los países de alimentarse a much@s haitian@s no tienen lo suficiente para discutir y planear estrategias para te los últimos 20 años.” sí mismos. para comprar una galleta hecha de lodo! enfrentar la seria crisis de hambre que El Presidente Ortega, quien presidió Aunque mencionan a los biocombus- Puede llenar la barriga de un/a niñ@ pero afecta a los pueblos de América Latina y la reunión, expuso la crisis del hambre a tibles y al calentamiento global que afecta el lodo también conlleva parásitos y sub- el Caribe. través de hechos: “La información de las a las cosechas como causas de la crisis ali- stancias potencialmente letales. Esta reunión presidencial fue resultado organizaciones internacionales nos dice mentaria, ven la falta de la soberanía ali- Cuba y Venezuela han ido a ayudar al de otra reunión de emergencia convocada que cada 5 segundos un niño menor de mentaria como la causa principal: “Esta pueblo haitiano. Entre otras acciones, el 23 de abril por cuatro de los cinco miem- 10 años muere a causa de desnutrición, crisis también es el resultado de muchos Venezuela ha enviado más de 600 tonela- bros del ALBA llevada a cabo en Caracas, de hambre. Cada minuto que estamos años de políticas destructivas que soca- das de alimentos el 13 de abril, y 50 cami- Venezuela. Durante esa reunión los presi- hablando aquí, intercambiando ideas varon las producciones nacionales de ali- ones para la agricultura. Cuba ha estado dentes Evo Morales de Bolivia, Daniel sobre este problema, 12 niños mueren. ¡Y mentos, y obligaron a los campesinos/as proveyendo cuidado médico a l@s más Ortega de Nicaragua, y el Vicepresidente cada hora, 720 niños menores de 10 años a producir cultivos comerciales para com- pobres, quienes que no tenían acceso Carlos Lage de Cuba se reunieron con el mueren de hambre!” pañías multinacionales y a comprar sus a servicio médicos. Desde hace cinco Presidente de Venezuela Hugo Chávez La declaración final firmada por 12 país- alimentos de las mismas multinacionales años, 400 médic@s cuban@s han estado para firmar un acuerdo especial que es rechazó las subvenciones en los países (o a otras…) en el mercado mundial”. trabajando en Haití; y 600 estudiantes desarrollaría­ sectores agrícolas e indus- desarrollados y el intercambio comercial El artículo muestra como ejemplo a haitian@s estudian medicina en Cuba. triales para incrementar la producción de injusto que afecta a los países no desar- México, el cual, después del TLC-AN, se Según el presidente de Haití René Préval, granos como el arroz y el maíz, granos con rollados. También rechazaron el uso de convirtió, de ser un país exportador de para el pueblo haitiano “después de Dios, contenido de aceite, carne y leche. Según alimentos para la producción de biocom- maíz en uno dependiente del 30 por cien- están los doctores cubanos.” Prensa Latina, “El acuerdo firmado por bustibles. Se propuso un plan de acción to de su maíz del importe desde los EEUU. los miembros del ALBA también favorece detallado para ayudar a fortalecer las Ahora que la producción de maíz en los El pueblo muere de hambre la formación de una cadena comercial economías de los países y la producción EEUU está siendo dedicada más y más a mientras las corporaciones de alimentos e incluye un compromiso de alimentos en una forma sostenible. La la producción de combustible, hay menos prosperan mutuo para crear una fundación con $100 propuesta de México, que ofreció ser el disponible para México. También men- En un comunicado de prensa el 14 millones de dólares como capital inicial anfitrión de una conferencia de delega- ciona el caso de Indonesia, que en 1992 de abril, la gigante corporación esta- para permitir la implementación de los ciones de alto rango sobre la tecnología a produjo soya suficiente para satisfacer dounidense de alimentos Cargill, reportó programas y planes de la iniciativa.” final de este mes fue aceptada. el consumo doméstico para las comidas “ganancias netas de $1.03 mil millones en Sin embargo, ya que la esencia del Otras reuniones sobre la cuestión están básicas de ese país. Después de abrir sus el tercer trimestre del 2008 que terminó ALBA es la integración y el bienestar de ocurriendo en América Latina. La Agencia puertas a las políticas neoliberales, la soya el 29 de febrero, una subida del 86 por todos los pueblos de América Latina y el Cubana de Noticias (ACN) reportó que barata de los EEUU inundó su mercado, ciento de los $553 millones en el mismo Caribe, una reunión cumbre más extensa más de 100 representantes de 30 países forzando una reducción en la producción período de hace un año. Las ganancias en era necesaria para discutir la actual crisis latinoamericanos y del Caribe partic- nacional. Un sesenta por ciento es actual- los primeros nueve meses sumaron $2.9 alimenticia. iparon en una conferencia sobre la mal- mente importado de los EEUU y los pre- mil millones, un incremento del 69 por A la reunión del 7 de mayo en Managua nutrición juvenil en Santiago de Chile el cios se han duplicado. ciento de los $1.71 mil millones de hace acudieron delegaciones de Bolivia, 6 de mayo. Los días 16 y 17 de mayo, la Por esto, sin la capacidad de producir un año.” (www.cargill.com) Ecuador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Haití, Quinta Cumbre entre la Unión Europea, sus propios alimentos como resultado de El comunicado continúa: “Cargill San Vicente y Las Granadinas, Cuba, Latinoamérica y el Caribe (EU-LAC) las recetas neoliberales, combinados con registró un fuerte tercer trimestre con- Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belice, tendrá lugar en Lima, Perú. Los temas los severos cambios climáticos, los países secutivo en un año en el cual las dimen- Panamá, República Dominicana, México principales serán “Pobreza, desigualdad pobres son víctimas de la especulación del siones de cambio en la agricultura global y Nicaragua. También hubo represen- e inclusión” y “Desarrollo sostenible: el mercado de alimentos y la conversión de son llamativas,” dijo Greg Page, el presi- tantes de la Organización de Agricultura ambiente, cambio climático y energía”. Al productos alimenticios en biocombusti- dente y principal ejecutivo de Cargill. “La y Alimentos de la ONU, el Banco Mundial, terminar la cumbre presidencial del 7 de bles. Mientras que el consumo de alimen- demanda por alimentos en las economías el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, el mayo, fue decidido que la crisis alimen- tos representa entre 10 y 20 por ciento subdesarrolladas y por energía mundial- Programa de Alimentos para el Mundo de la taria fuera discutida en la EU-LAC y en del ingreso personal en la mayoría de los mente, está estimulando la demanda por ONU, UNICEF, PARLACEN, (Parlamento todas las otras reuniones internacionales países desarrollados, en el Tercer Mundo productos agrícolas, a la vez que el dinero Centroamericano) y PARLATINO, (el que se celebren en el futuro próximo. es entre un 60 hasta un 80 por ciento. Y para invertir ha entrado en los mercados Parlamento Latinoamericano). los productos más afectados por la cri- de bienes de consumo. En relación a la Las declaraciones de apertura por cada Imperialistas se reúnen sis actual son las comidas básicas de las demanda, los abastos mundiales de cere- uno de los países fueron dirigidas a la a puertas cerradas mesas de los pobres, como por ejemplo el ales hoy en día están en su nivel más bajo preocupación y a propuestas sobre la cri- Nueve días antes de la cumbre de arroz y el maíz. en 35 años. Los precios están subiendo sis y también señalaron las políticas de los Managua, el 28 de abril, la Directora Entonces no es de extrañar que haya a niveles sin precedente y los mercados países imperialistas como las culpables Ejecutiva del Programa Mundial de habido levantamiento de masas en México, están extraordinariamente volátiles.” de la catástrofe. La cadena de televisión Alimentación, Josette Sheeran y el Indonesia, Yemen, las Filipinas, Camboya, Monsanto, otra compañía esta- TeleSUR cubrió la sesión. Presidente del Banco Mundial, Robert Marruecos, Senegal, Uzbekistán, Guinea, dounidense, también reportó ganancias Ralph Gonsalves, el Primer Ministro de Zoellick se unieron a puertas cerradas en Mauritania, Egipto, Camerún, Bangladesh, enormes. En un comunicado del 6 de San Vicente y Las Granadinas, declaró muy Berna, Suiza, con el Secretario-General Burkina Faso, la Costa de Marfil, Perú, mayo, la compañía dijo: “Como compañía elocuentemente la necesidad de incluir la de la ONU Ban Ki-moon y ejecutivos de Bolivia y Haití. tecnológica de agricultura, tenemos una pesca en las discusiones sobre la agricultu- 27 agencias de la ONU para discutir los Haití merece atención especial porque oportunidad única porque nuestra tec- ra y alimentos, afirmando que los peque- crecientes precios y las sublevaciones es uno de los países más pobres del mundo nología crea valía para nuestros clientes ños países islas como el suyo no tienen el en 37 países provocadas por el hambre donde la avaricia genocida de las corpo- agricultores no importa cuál cosecha siem- espacio para criar ganado y dependen más extrema. raciones transnacionales queda obscena bren, dónde vendan sus granos, o a qué de pequeños animales y productos maríti- Según la ACN, Ban exigió $2,5 mil mil- y patentemente clara. Ochenta por ciento precio sea vendido ese grano en el merca- mos, pero que la situación climática está lones en ayuda para combatir la crisis de la población vive debajo del nivel de do de bienes de consumo. . . Las robustas afectando la pesca porque los peces tien- mundial de hambre durante una confer- pobreza y 54 por ciento vive en la miseria ganancias de Monsanto continúan siendo den a irse a más profundidad del océano. encia de prensa en Berna el 22 de abril. extrema. Según el Servicio Paz y Justicia reflejadas en los dividendos. Monsanto ha Concluyó, “Yo no veo que los americanos ¿Cuál fue la solución de Zoellick para la en América Latina, “Hace veinte años incrementado sus dividendos seis veces — o los europeos nos estén ayudando, de crisis alimentaria? Demostrando su ver- Haití producía el 95 por ciento del arroz un aumento de 200 por ciento — desde hecho, muchas veces cuando ellos traen dadero interés de clase, él propuso que no que era consumido por su población; hoy 2001.” (www.monsanto.com) programas de diversificación, producción se limite la exportación de productos de en día importa de los Estados Unidos el Monsanto es la corporación más cul- agrícola, etc., ellos perpetúan el fraude petróleo. 80 por ciento de ese producto.” (www. pable de la producción de semillas trans- entre la gente, (pues) ellos aumentan sus ¿Cómo pueden los imperialistas resolv- srpajamericalatina.org) génicas que han inundado y destruido la expectativas y es muy poco lo que traen.” er una crisis que ellos mismos crearon? El hambre extrema en Haití ha forzado agricultura en países del Tercer Mundo, El Vicepresidente Esteban Lazo de Como dijo Vía Campesina, una orga- a la gente a darle de comer a sus hijos gal- haciéndolos dependientes de las semillas Cuba resumió lo que es la base real de la nización de pueblos indígenas, pequeñ@s letas llamadas “Pica” hechas de lodo, un y productos de Monsanto. n