JULY 31, 1981 75 CENTS VOLUME 45/NUMBER 29 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY /PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE New revolutionary steps in Nicaragua By Arnie Weissberg Matilde Zimmermann MANAGUA-An estimated half million Nica­ raguans shouted their approval of stiff new laws establishing greater government control over the· economy at a rally here July 19. The demonstration marked the second anni­ versary of the Nicaraguan r·evolution, as well as . the twentieth of the founding of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). The new laws were adopted in response to a series of demonstrations by the trade unions and other mass organizations. They make it easier for the government to intervene to halt "decapi­ talization" (removal of capital from the country by industrialists and wealthy farmers). The new Alo "10 crnes laws will also make more land available to land­ CcJTS less peasants. Even before dawn on July 19, the huge throng began converging on the July 19 Plaza here in the capital. Some people traveled two days to reach Managua. At 1 a.m., July 19, radio reports Build AFL-CIO Sept. 19 rally! from around the country carried the news of de­ parting contingents: 40,000 from the city ofChi­ nandega, for instance. One participant estimat­ ed that 700 trucks had come from Matagalpa. Reagan budget Roads near the plaza were lined with vehicles of every imaginable description and vintage. Anything that could move under its own power • had been pressed into service: fro·m jeeps and buses to dump trucks and trucks normally used means m1sery to haul cotton or cattle. In the plaza, wind-whipped flags of black and red (the FSLN colors), and blue and white (the · national colors) mingled with homemade ban­ ners and signs and the blue flags of the new or­ for millions ganization of small farmers. At the back of the plaza hung a banner from -PAGES Continued on page 7 Israeli Reagan's bombs threat to kill prosecute hundreds draft in Lebanon resisters -PAGE 5 -PAGE2 In Our Opinion VOLUME 45/NUMBER 29 JULY 31, 1981 CLOSING NEWS DATE~UL Y 22 ment claims that registration is proceeding bureaucrats have made significant concessions. smoothly. So do the latest official-and very in­ And the unity of the Polish people has sent a flated-figures. They claim that 97 percent of message to the Kremlin that the cost of military the first group-those born in 1961-registered, intervention would be incalculably high. A new step while 87 percent of the next group signed up, The party congress reflected the changed rela­ and only 70 percent of the latest-those born in tionship of forces. The party officialdom felt the toward war 1963-have registered. need to present itself as a force for "democratic The Reagan administration took another step The National Executive Committee of the renewal." This was manifested in the need to toward war July 20. Young Socialist Alliance issued a statement · change the personnel of the leadership and ad­ The Selective Service System sent a list of 134 that said in part: just its methods of functioning. names to the Justice Department "for investiga­ "The move to begiri prosecuting non-regis­ For the first time since the party bureaucrats tion and possible prosecution." trants is an attempt to intimidate opponents of took command of the country, ordinary workers the draft and U.S. intervention in El Salvador. These 134 are a fraction of the hundreds of . contested for delegates and many were elected. thousands who have not registered for the draft. "According to the New York Times, 'Reagan At the convention, a central committee of 270 The names, now secret, are being sent to local believes that resuming the draft . would lead members was elected. Of these, some 90 percent federal prosecutors. to public unrest comparable to that in the 60s were reported to have been elected for the first Like Carter before him, Reagan knows that to and 70s.' We must make it clear that even simply announce a new draft would risk an ex­ moves such as this one, to prosecute non-regis­ Notice to our readers plosion of opposition. The registration maneu­ trants, will be met with public unrest. We must Next week's 'Militant' will be the last issue before ver is an attempt to get around this-to condi­ demand: our vacation break. We will not publish for the fol­ tion public opinion to more readily accept a draft "No prosecution of non-registrants! No regis­ lowing two weeks. The first issue after the break by inching into it a step at a time. tration! No draft! No U.S. intervention in El Sal­ will be dated August 28. This latest action is another move in that di­ vador!" rection. One way to press these demands will be by time. This was no doubt jarring to a lot of bu­ Before he was elected, Reagan told voters he supporting local actions against the draft Octob­ reaucrats who had long assumed they had sine­ was opposed to draft registration. So much for er 5-11, which have been called for by the Com­ cure. campaign rhetoric. mittee Against Registration and the Draft. Stanislaw Kania was reelected as first secre­ The ruling class needs the draft. It is part and tary of the party. But he was forced to submit to parcel of their war preparations. a secret ballot of all the delegates. According to the New York Times, top Penta­ Polish CP feels Moscow was not -pleased by the absence of an gon officials are pushing now to resume the iron bureaucratic grip at the congress. Accord­ draft as part of"the Administration's plans for a workers' pressure ing to New York Times correspondent John military buildup, and to display the national The congress of the Polish Communist Party, Darnton, the Kremlin sent Kania a "frosty" will." which ended July 20, was one more measure of message of congratulations. The war drive is key to Reagan's budget. Con­ the historic impact of the Solidarity movement But, more decisive, there were no indications trary to administration claims, there is no cut in on Polish society. ·that the Kremlin was moving confidently to­ total spending in this budget. What is involved ward military intervention in Poland. is taking billions from programs for human Solidarity has fought tenaciously to defend Not because the Polish masses have retreat­ needs and turning them over to the Pentagon to the interests of the workers and farmers against ed. Precisely the opposite. Solidarity has put buy more weapons of destruction. the bureaucrats and pressed for the right of working people to participate in the nation's de­ aside the advice of those--including U.S. offi­ What's behind this insanity? cision-making process. The shock waves created cials and media-who counsel, "Don't make The American rulers are in trouble. They by this movement for social progress were clear­ trouble. Don't push." It was by making it clear watched helplessly as workers and peasants ly registered at the congress. how determined they were to achieve their goals threw out their hired hands in Nicaragua, Gren­ that the workers forced the Polish bureaucrats, ada, and Iran. They know it will not end there. From the time it took command in Poland, at . as well as the ones in Moscow, to retreat. Already, they see a revolution under way in El the end of World War II, the Communist Party In his report on the party congress, John Salvador. has acted as an association of jobholders ready Darnton describes the director of a collective They can't afford this. Their profits depend on to defend their privileged positions by any farm speaking to the delegates about the ineffi­ their ability to hold down peoples the world means necessary. The party tops shaped the ciency of the state agricultural apparatus. over. ruinous governmental policies that brought Po­ He won applause when he declared: "There The economic crisis that U.S. big business fa­ land to its present economic and social crisis. can be no democracy without food, and there can ces means that Reagan must seek to squeeze The views and sentiments of working people be no food without democracy." workers and farmers in Asia, Africa, and Latin were suppressed and their needs ignored. He could well have added, and no democracy . America even harder than he is squeezing Solidarity has been working a profound without organizations like Solidarity to organ­ workers here. Revolutionary explosions are change in that way of life. It has effectively ize the masses to fight for it. built into this situation. Reagan needs the draft united workers and farmers in militant struggle For a direct report on the Polish Communist to try to crush them, as earlier administrations against the bureaucrats in Warsaw, and their Party congress, see our next issue. We'll have a tried to do in Vietnam. big brothers in Moscow. dispatch from Ernest Harsch, who is in Poland Reagan's prosecution threat belies govern- In the face of this movement, the governing for Intercontinental Press. Militant Highlights This Week The Militant Editors: CINDY JAQUITH ANDY ROSE Business Manager: NANCY ROSENSTOCK Editorial Staff: Nan Bailey, Nelson Blackstock, Steve Bride, Fred Feldman, Nelson Gonzalez, Wil­ liam Gottlieb, Sue Hagen, Suzanne Haig, Diane 4 Postal workers keep uncapped COLA Jacobs, Margaret Jayko, Malik Miah, Harry Ring, 5 Free Iranian socialists! Vivian Sahner, Priscilla Schenk, Stu Singer. Published weekly except two weeks in Au­ 8 National rally for socialist suit gust, the last week of December, and the first 9 How niedia covered trial of gov't week of January by the Militant (ISSN 0026- 10 Rallies back political rights Solidarity's program for Poland 3885), 14 Charles Lane, New York, NY 11 GE workers fight sex harassment Workers in the United States are told that only big­ 10014.