Ortega to Reagan: negotiate . . . . . 2 THE Issues raised in Bork debate . 4 Cuba: child care gets high priority .. 9

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 51/NO. 39 OCTOBER 23, 1987 $1.00

Washington Massive march in D.C. escalates demands action on AIDS aggression• in gulf

A trial balloon floated in Washington to expand U.S. military actions in the Persian Gulf underlines the danger of the already massive U.S. gunboat operation there. EDITORIAL

Meanwhile, it was announced that the West German government, in an unpre­ cedented move, agreed to support the U.S. operation against Iran by assigning three naval vessels to the area. The West German consitution bars mili­ tary involvement beyond the borders of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. It will be the first time German warships have been dispatched to the Mediterranean since the close of World War II. Previously, five European governments Hundreds of thousands joined October 11 march for full democratic rights for gays and lesbians had agreed to U.S. demands to join the op­ eration, which is designed to aid Iraq in its BY GEORGE KONTANIS rights and an end to discrimination in hous­ woman was wearing and selling "Shred war against Iran. Battleships and mine­ sweepers have been sent by Britain, WASHINGTON, D.C. - Waves of ing and employment. Bork" buttons. Another sign said, "Send France, Italy, Belgium, and the Nether­ applause from bystanders greeted the vic­ A demonstrator from New York who or­ Bork back on Amtrak" (a reference to the lands. tims of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency ganizes the New York city-based AIDS outrage New York demonstrators felt at syndrome) as they were wheeled past the Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) Amtrak cancelling a train chartered for the According to the October 13 Washing­ White House in a massive demonstration said, "I came because I hope that numbers march). ton Post, "western sources" disclosed that here Sunday October 11. make a difference. This government is The Latinos Unidos group carried a large the rear admiral in charge of the operation The People With Aids (PWAs) contin­ doing nothing to help the victims of banner demanding, "Stop the witch-hunt asked for authority from Washington to go gent that led the march was just the begin­ AIDS." He was wearing a T-shirt with - no mandatory testing." to the assistance of any ship that says it's ning of a flood of several hundred thousand Reagan' s picture crossed out and the slo­ The demonstration included tens of been fired on by a Iranian vessel. demonstrators that filled the streets of gan "AIDSGATE" painted in. thousands of young people in dozens of Current policy is supposed to limit such Washington, D.C. for five or more hours. Thousands of people of color- Black, college contingents. action to defense of ships sailing under the The march for lesbian and gay rights Latino, Asian, and Native American - Scott England said, "I came from the U.S. flag. started off at noon from the Ellipse behind took part in the march. The African-Amer­ Grinnell College [Iowa] gay community. the White House, and at 5:00p.m. march­ ican Gay and Lesbian Alliance marched This is my first march. We thought it was This proposed expansion of U.S. mili­ ers were still filing out of the assembly area and chanted, "Say it loud, say it loud, important to be here. To demand they do tary actions would be a virtual declaration heading for the rally near the Capitol. we're gay, Black, and proud." The Na­ something about gay rights. So I said let's of war against Iran. It would put the U.S. Police estimated the march at 200,000; tional Association of Black and White Men go for it! The massiveness of this march government openly on the side of the Iraqi regime, which began its war against Iran march organizers' estimates ranged from Together chanted, "Racist, sexist, anti­ has had a big effect on me." 300,000 to 500,000. Whatever the exact gay; Reagan, Bork, no way." "It's ·totally mind-boggling," he con­ seven years ago but has been unable to figure, it was the biggest march in history The sentiment against Reagan's nomina­ tinued. "The Reagan administration has achieve victory. for lesbian and gay rights, much larger than tion of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court not done enough around AIDS research - The White House responded to the re­ the 1979 demonstration of 100,000. ran high among march participants. One Continued on Page 13 Continued on Page 14 Ten thousand people came from the Los Angeles area alone. Bright purple-and-yel­ low banners of the California National Or­ ganization for Women (NOW) lead the Meeting in Burkina targets apartheid way for their contingent. "Every supporter of lesbian and gay BY SAM MANUEL bata. Bambata was killed and beheaded in Daba, who is also the Nigerian ambassador rights from L.A. must be here- they just AND MARGARET MANWARING 1906 during the armed resistance to British to the United Nations, had come to the con­ keep coming and coming," exclaimed one OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso colona! rule of what is today South Africa. ference even though the UN General -As­ demonstrator. "The time for speeches and resolutions has Representatives from 29 countries from sembly was in session. The marchers hailed from across the passed. Our people want action," said throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle A storm of applause greeted Abu Amin, United States and other countries as well. Mark Shope, a leader of the African Na­ East, and North America were present. representative of the Palestine Liberation From Alaska and Oregon, Montana and tional Congress of South Africa's delega­ They came from anti-apartheid groups, Organization. Amin told the participants, Idaho, Florida and Texas, Iowa and Ohio, tion to the Bambata Pan-African Anti­ youth and women's organizations, and po­ "We are here to show unity of all those New York and Maine - they marched and Apartheid Conference held in this West Af­ litical groups and parties. fighting against racism in the struggle for chanted to demand the U.S. government rican country. Delegations attended from 16 African dignity in South Africa and Namibia. A spend the billions necessary to adequately Six hundred delegates and guests partici­ countries. victory against the racist apartheid regime fund AIDS research. pated in the October 8- 9 conference, Many of the foreign diplomats in Bur-. will also be our victory." They were also marching for full civil which was dedicated to Zulu Chief Bam- kina also attended opening sessions. The Burkina Faso representative, An enthusiastic hand was given to a rep­ Mamabou Traore, explained, "One of the resentative from the Cuban delegation who aims of this conference is to make the anti­ spoke about Cuban revolutionary leader apartheid struggle no longer just the con­ Winning readers internationally Ernesto Che Guevara. The Cuban delegate cern of governments and official institu­ came to Burkina to participate in the activ­ tions, but also and above all the concern of BY NORTON SANDLER Mundial subscriptions have been sold in ities here, including marking the 20th an­ the people. Revolutionary fighters from several Canada in recent weeks. niversary of Guevara's assassination in countries, in addition to the United States, In telephone interviews, Larry Johnston Bolivia. "It is on them that the struggle for liber­ are participating in the campaign to win in Toronto and Beverly Bernardo in A substantial leadership delegation from ation rests", he said. "Victory over apart­ 6,000 new Militant readers by November Montreal described the Militant circulation the African National Congress participated heid will be achieved through solidarity 24. effort. Both are supporters of the Canadian in the conference. Shope brought greetings among the people, especially through sol­ In addition to circulating the Militant, biweekly publications Socialist Voice and to the conference from the ANC National idarity among the peoples of Africa." revolutionists in Canada, Britain, New Lutte Ouvriere. Several hundred subscrip­ Executive, which was meeting at the same A conference resolution urged African Zealand, Australia, Iceland, and other tions to these publications expire soon, and time. governments to permit or intensify the es­ countries are also participating in the drive supporters of the papers are in the midst of A representative from the South West tablishment of anti-apartheid movements to win 1 ,500 new readers for the Spanish­ a drive to convince readers to renew their Africa People's Organisation denounced in their countries. It called on them to get language monthly Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions. the continued occupation of Narriibia. mass organizations, women's associations, and in the effort to sell 2,000 copies of the "If they like Socialist Voice," Johnston Joseph Daba, chairman of the United youth, students , and trade unions to in­ Marxist magazine New International. said, "we explain they can also get the Mil- Nations special committee against apart­ clude among their political demands sup- Twenty-six Militant and 10 Perspectiva Continued on Page 6 heid also addressed the opening session. Continued on Page 13 Ortega to Reagan: negotiate with Nicaragua

BY HARRY RING negotiated the accords and for the agree­ make sure they got in. NEW YORK - Speaking at the United ment they arrived at. The progress of the meeting itself was il­ Nations, October 8, Nicaraguan President Noting that Reagan was not a signer of luminating to observe. Daniel Ortega called on the Reagan admin­ the pact, Ortega said he would be "de­ Supporters of the Nicaraguan revolu­ istration not to try to block the Central lighted" if Reagan were. tion, chanting " jNo pasaran!" (They shall America peace accords. He urged the If Reagan had signed the agreement, not pass) were there in numbers, but were a White' House, instead, to enter into a Ortega observed, "then he would have the minority of the audience. The rest of the dialogue with Nicaragua with the aim of right to discuss its terms." students, though, greeted Ortega and the ending hostilities against that Central Those who did sign, he added, "are the delegation that accompanied him, with American country. leaders of independent, sovereign coun­ warm, generous applause. The address was in direct response to tries. We are not colonies, or semicolonies Ortega skipped the customary opening Reagan's bellicose call, the previous day, of the United States." statement so the students could get right to for $270 million in renewed congressional In answer to Reagan's declared concern their questions. They lined up at the micro­ funding of the contra war against Nicara­ about the level of Nicaraguan armed readi­ phones and plied him with a range of in­ gua. ness, Ortega noted that the Guatemala quiries about the contra war, U.S.-Nicara­ Ortega continued to stress the need for agreement provides for negotiations be­ guan relations, and what is happening in such dialogue in an appearance that night at tween the Central American countries on Nicaragua itself. He answered all of the Columbia University, in several major the level of arms and the number of mili­ queries patiently and thoroughly. media interviews, and in a visit to the tary advisers in their respective countries. Almost with each response, you could Bronx, where community activists said The NiCaraguan president emphasized, hear the applause increase. they had gathered 27,000 petition signa­ "We are willing to have all foreign advisers Every appeal for U.S.-Nicaraguan ne­ leave the region." tures in a single day against aid to the con­ gotiations and an end to the bloody contra tras. Ortega detailed Nicaragua's compliance war met with strong approval. Explana­ with the Guatemala plan, pointing out that At the UN General Assembly, Ortega tions of what the Nicaraguan revolution was warmly greeted by a big majority of Washington's policy of force against Nica­ was trying to accomplish and how it was ragua had compelled it to establish a state the participants. When it was announced he going about it were listened to carefully was about to speak, scores of delegates of emergency, and that the Guatemala plan and, again, greeted with warm applause. flocked to the entrance of the assembly hall now made it possible for Nicaragua to take The audience listened with particular in­ to greet him . the steps it already has to lift curbs on liber­ terest when Ortega responded to a student And when, early in his address, the U.S. ties. who said he had been to Nicaragua and delegation staged a walkout, a large Proposes talks with Washington while there had heard much criticism. number of the delegates registered their Ortega said he was sure this was so. The disapproval by breaking into derisive Discussing a halt to the contra hos­ Nicaraguan people have much to criticize applause at the departing figures. tilities, he reiterated that the Nicaraguan and complain about, he said. When he and At the podium, Ortega paused briefly to government is ready to talk with the contra other government officials face open meet­ observe the walkout, commenting, "Some forces in the field, but sees no purpose in ings of the people, as they do each week, people find their ears hurt when the truth is talking to the top contras, who are simply he wryly observed, "the questions are spoken and they are incapable of listening, creatures of Washington. much more critical than here." but that's their business." The contras may disappear, he added, Militant But, he stressed, the fact that there are Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Ortega began his address by noting that but Washington will maintain its aggres­ many problems in impoverished, war-tom it was the 20th anniversary of the death of sion. Nicaragua that people are critical of does Che Guevara at the hands of U.S. -directed He warned of the danger that with an end not mean they are against the revolution. If to the contra war, Washington might im­ turned to the microphone and explained Bolivian troops. The Argentine-born revo­ they were, the revolution would not sur­ that the Nicaraguan people did not confuse lutionary was a leader of the Cuban revolu­ pose a blockade against Nicaragua, launch vive. Washington's war policy with the senti­ "surgical strikes" against Nicaraguan tar­ tion and died trying to help advance the That brought a huge ovation. ments of the North American people. As he Bolivian liberation struggle. gets, and even intervene directly with U.S. But the students seemed particularly af­ spoke of the need to develop bonds of com­ troops. With the victory of the Nicaraguan revo­ fected by Ortega's closing remarks, made munication and friendship, there was a lution in 1979, Ortega said, Nicaraguans For these reasons, Ortega stressed, it's virtually as the audience was leaving. The "pointless" to talk to the contras rather than standing ovation. It was clear he had won hoped to have a new relationship with the crowd sat back down to listen as he re- added support for Nicaragua. United States - a "respectful" relation­ Washington. This was a reiteration of Ma­ ship, "not one between slaves and mas­ nagua's longstanding proposal for bilateral ters." negotiations. But, he added, Washington remains de­ Ortega explained that the people of the Atlanta protest hits killing by cops termined "to wrest away our hard-won lib­ United States don't want another Vietnam. erty." "The people do not want Rambos, they BY GEORGE WILLIAMS Federal Bureau of Investigation and Citing the human and economic toll the want men of peace," he said. AND LINDA GRYTING Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents had U.S.-sponsored contras have inflicted on ATLANTA - Some 250 protesters an obvious presence, and taped the rally Nicaragua, he added, "But their policy has Columbia University meeting marched to City Hall here September 29 to speech of City Council member Hosea failed ." The truth of that contention was readily demand justice in the police murder of Williams. Ortega welcomed an earlier vote by the apparent with Ortega's appearance that Eddie Lee Callahan. The action was the The cops' show of force made many of UN General Assembly that unanimously night as a guest of the Graduate School of third in a series of protests since the killing the marchers worry about their safety. Re­ endorsed the Central America peace ac­ Journalism at Columbia University. occurred September 10. peated police blockades prevented march­ cords. He said he hoped the U.S. govern­ The school regularly invites public fig­ Callahan, a 37-year-old Vietnam vet­ ers from proceeding along the pre-arranged ment would abide by the resolution, "not eran, was gunned down by Atlanta police, ures to engage in press conferences with march route, and at each blockade march just by saying it agrees," but by respecting the journalism students. who poured five hollow-point bullets into leaders had to improvise a new route. its content. For this one, they used an auditorium his back and one into his side as he lay on In response to Reagan's attack on the ac­ that seats 750, and made tickets available the ground. Protest leaders included Williams, City cords at a meeting of the Organization of to other Columbia students. Numerous squad cars and motorcycle Council member Debby McCarty, and American States, and the assertion that the Early that afternoon, one student told the police patrolled the route of the September State Rep. Tyrone Brooks. accords did not address U.S. "security" Militant, the line of people applying for 29 march. Three police helicopters hov­ Several marchers were witnesses to the needs, Ortega declared that Reagan's tickets stretched for several blocks. And ered overhead as the marchers approached murder and denounced the cops' slander­ speech was a display of "disrespect" for the several hours before the meeting, the stu­ downtown. Cops refused to allow the dem­ ous use of lie detector "results" to disprove five Central American presidents who had dents who did get tickets were lined up to onstrators to rally at City Hall. their statements about the crime. The Militant tells the truth - S·ubscribe today! The Militant Closing news date: October 14, 1987 Coeditors: MARGARET JA YKO and DOUG JENNESS Circulation Director: MALIK MIAH ul like the Militant because of its Nicaragua Bureau Director: CINDY JAQUITH Business Manager: JIM WHITE Editorial Staff: Susan Apstein, Fred Feldman, Arthur bold approach to the issues and Hughes, Susan LaMont, Sam Manuel , Harvey McArthur (Nicaragua), Roberto Kopec (Nicaragua), Harry Ring, Norton Sandler. problems of the working people." Published weekly except one week in August and the last week of December by the Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 410 -Tomas Villanueva West St., New York, N.Y. 10014. Telephone: Editorial Of­ fice, (212) 243-6392; Telex, 497-4278; Business Office, (212) 929-3486. Correspondence concerning subscriptions or changes of address should be addressed to The Militant Business Enclosed is Office, 410 West St., New York, N.Y. 10014. Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y. POST­ D $4.00 for 12 weeks, new readers MASTER: Send address changes to The Militant, 410 West D $9.00 for 12 weeks, renewals St., New York, N.Y. 10014. Subscriptions: U.S., Canada, 0 $17.00 for six months Latin America: for one-year subscription send $30, drawn 0 $30.00 for one year 0 $55.00 for two years on a U.S. bank, to above address. By first-class (airmail), NMDe ______send $65. Britain, Ireland, Continental Europe, Africa: Aduess ______send £25 check or international money order made out to Pathfinder Press and send to Pathfinder, 47 The Cut, London City------State ______Zip ______SE1 8LL, England. Australia, Asia, Pacific: send Austra­ Telephone Union/School/Organization ______Tomas Villanueva, president lian $60 to Pathfinder Press, P.O. Box 37, Leichhardt, Syd­ of the United Farm Workers of, ney, NSW 2040, Australia. Send to THE MILITANT, 410 West St., New York, N.Y. 10014 Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily represent Washington State. the Militant's views. These are expressed in editorials.

2 The Militant October 23, 1987 Pathfinder Building in N.Y~ is ready for mural painting

BY STEVE CRAINE Maurice Bishop, assassinated leader of the NEW YORK - A scaffolding already Grenada revolution; Cuban revolutionaries covers the entire south wall of the Pathfind­ Fidel Castro and Che Guevara; Carlos er Building in New York City in prepara­ Fonseca, founder of Marxism in Central tion for the painting of a huge mural illus­ America and of the Sandinista National trating the role of the revolutionary press in Liberation Front of Nicaragua; Augusto leading the struggles of working people. Cesar Sandino, Nicaragua's national hero; At the same time as these technical prep­ imprisoned South African freedom fighter arations are beginning, the Pathfinder Nelson Mandela; U.S. communists James Mural Project is accelerating its campaign P. Cannon and Farrell Dobbs, founders of to broaden sponsorship and participation in the Socialist Workers Party; and leading the project. Project organizers are seeking figures in the world Marxist movement in­ to add to the growing list of prominent fig­ cluding Karl Marx, Fredrick Engels, V.I. ures from the artistic community who are Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Rosa Luxem­ sponsors and contributors to the work, as burg; among others. well as to solicit help and funds from hun­ Mike Alewitz, artistic director of the dreds of unionists, antiwar- and social-jus­ Pathfinder Mural Project, sees the mural as tice activists, and others who see the pro­ "continuing the tradition of workers in duction of this mural as part of their strug- struggle expressing their movements in ar­ gles. . tistic forms, such as graphics, dance, and Pathfinder is an international publisher song. The political and artistic inspiration and distributor of books relating to the for this mural come out of many of the so­ struggles of working people. cial struggles of today - from the Nicara­ With the scaffolding in place, the six­ guan revolution to the meat-packers' story brick wall is being sealed and a strikes in the Midwest. primer coat of white paint is being applied. A grid of chalk lines is then being put on "In a period when more and more artists the wall so the outlines of the design can be are getting interested in political subjects," transferred to the wall, square by square. he continued, "Pathfinder is providing a The mural project aims to give artistic centerpiece for artists and nonartists to expression to the centrality of revolution­ work together. The painting of the mural ary publishing and the ideas conveyed by will be a political action in itself." Pathfinder books to the struggles of work­ International participation ing people worldwide. The preliminary sketch for the mural, The mural is internationalist in its poli­ which is reproduced on this page, centers tics and will be internationalist in its execu­ on a large web press like the one inside the tion. Artists from a number of countries building, on which most Pathfinder books have been invited to paint portraits and fig­ and pamphlets are printed. The press itself ures in the crowd. is surrounded by and appears as part of a Dumile Feni, an exiled artist and activist massive procession of the workers of the of the African National Congress of South world. A banner proclaiming, in English, Africa (ANC), has agreed to paint the por­ French, and Spanish, "For a world without trait of Mandela. Other artists are expected from Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Militant/Holbrook Mahn borders!" is printed on the paper that feeds At top, sketch of mural to be painted on wall of Pathfinder Building. Below, the the press. SouthKorea, Britain, Cuba, Ireland, Nica­ ragua, and El Salvador, as well as from the building with scaffolding set up in preparation for work. Revolutionaries' writings United States. The mural illustrates some of the many As part of the project, Pathfinder will reach many young people who may not be expected to cost tens of thousands of dol­ revolutionary leaders whose writings are help organize speaking engagements for familiar with the contributions of some fig­ lars. The scaffolding alone cost more than published by Pathfinder and whose ideas the international artists while they are in ures in the mural, like Sandino or Malcolm X. $14,000. this country to work on the mural. Funds are urgently needed to see the continue to give guidance to fighters the "As an artist, I have been committed to project through to completion, and all con­ world over. Portraits of these leaders· ap­ Juan Sanchez, a Puerto Rican artist liv­ this kind of work- raising people's con­ tributions are tax-deductible. pear on the books being produced on the ing in New York, will be helping with the sciousness of reality and fighting to change Some of the artists who have recently press and throughout the crowd of demon­ portrait of Malcolm X. The Pathfinder that reality. The mural will definitely serve added their names to the sponsor list and strators surrounding it. mural, he told the Militant, "will truly be a that purpose." Major portraits include Malcolm X; symbol of the people's struggles. It will contributed funds to insure the completion Another artist who has volunteered to of the mural include actress Julie Christie, help in the project is Catherine Owens, folk singer Pete Seeger, filmmaker Chris from Ireland. Her award-winning installa­ Spotted Eagle, and pOet Sonia Sanchez. Book of Che's writings tion based on the time Winnie Mandela Political activists including Dave Cline, spent in solitary confinement in South Afri­ a leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against can prisons caught the attention of others the War, and John Linder, brother of Ben­ working on the Pathfinder mural. Winnie jamin Linder, the U.S. volunteer killed by win be out by Nov. 1 Mandela is Nelson Mandela's wife and a the contras in Nicaragua, are also sponsors leader of the ANC. of the project. BY MARGARET JAYKO commander in the Rebel Army of. Cuba Owens has been helping in some of the A brochure explaining the project and On Oct. 9, 1967, Cuban revolutionary that overturned the U.S.-backed dictator­ preliminary stages of the design by search­ soliciting contributions and other forms of leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara was killed in ship of Fulgencio Batista in January 1959. ing through files of photographs to find assistance is available for broad distribu­ Bolivia while leading a guerrilla movement Other writings and speeches deal with models for the portraits of historical fig­ tion to publicize the project, win sponsors, against the regime there. the challenges of building a new, socialist ures. She also expects to help paint some of and help raise funds. The art department at Pathfinder/Pacific and Asia of Sydney, society in Cuba after the revolution. the portraits in the mural. City College in New York has requested Australia, has announced it is publishing a "Socialism cannot exist without a "I am especially looking forward to copies of the brochure for all its students. new book- Che Guevara and the Cuban change in consciousness resulting in a new working with artists from around the world Please fill out the coupon below to be­ Revolution: Writings and Speeches of Er­ fraternal attitude toward humanity . .. and and finding out what they are doing in their come a mural project sponsor or to receive nesto Che Guevara - to mark the 20th an­ all peoples suffering from imperialist op­ various countries," she said. more information. Mail to Pathfinder niversary of his death. pression," Che explained. Students at New York University's Mural Project, 410 West St., New York, The book is an important and timely A third section features Guevara's School of Cinematography will do a N.Y. 10014. contribution to the international discussion speeches to the Organization of American documentary video about the whole proj­ on the "rectification" process under way in States, Afro-Asian Solidarity conference in ect. Cuba, as well as other political questions Algiers, and the United Nations. 0 Please add my name as a sponsor of the being discussed today by anti-imperialist Included also are 48 pages of photo­ Sponsors and contributions needed Pathfinder Mural Project. and communist fighters around the world. graphs of Che, many of them never before Progress is also being made in winning 0 Enclosed is a tax-deductible contribu- Meetings are being planned in several published, as well as a collection of Che's financial and political support for the am­ tion of $ Make checks countries to launch the book. In Sydney, an letters. bitious project. Completion of the mural is payable to the Anchor Foundation. event will take place on November 5, fol­ The book was edited by Pathfinder/ 0 I would like . copies of the lowed by meetings in New Zealand, Pacific and Asia with the collaboration of mural project brochure. Canada, Britain, and New York and other the Jose Marti Foreign Languages Publish­ Fidel Castro 0 I would like to work on, paint, or docu­ U.S. cities. ing House of Havana, Cuba. Che Guevara ment the project. Readers will be able to study in English and the Cuban Revolution is being distrib­ Nothing 0 Please send me a catalog of Pathfinder uted in the United States by Pathfinder/ books and pamphlets. the real Che, in his own, accurately trans­ Name ______lated words. New York. Can Stop the The book confirms Cuban President It will be available in Pathfinder and Course of History Phone ------­ Fidel Castro's assessment, "They are mis­ other bookstores by November 1, or by Address ------­ taken when they think that his death is the mail from Pathfinder, 410 West St., New Available from Pathfinder Bookstores City ------end of his ideas." York, N.Y. 10014; 47 The Cut, London listed on page 12 or by mail from Path­ State Zip ______inder Press, 410 West St. , New York, The book opens with articles by Che de­ SE1 8LL, England; or P.O. Box 37, Leich­ Signature ------hardt, Sydney, NSW 2040, Australia. N.Y. 10014. $8.95. Please include 75 Organizationlunionlschoo.______scribing Cuba's revolutionary war and its cents for postage and handling. lessons. Guevara was a combatant and (416 pp., $11.95.)

October 23, 1987 The Militant 3 Bork debate·and fight for right to privacy BY FRED FELDMAN jected government claims that presidential Act declared, "The Congress finds that. .. Two issues, both involving the basic executive orders calling for spying on those the right of privacy is a personal and funda­ democratic rights of U.S. working people, termed "subversives" overrode the provi­ mental right protected by the Constitution were at the center of the debate that led to sions of the Bill of Rights. of the United States." the defeat of President Reagan's nomina­ The first of the court decisions codifying tion of federal judge Robert Bork to the Totalitarian concepts new victories in the battle for this right U.S. Supreme Court. At the 1981 trial of the lawsuit, Deputy came in the 1958 case of NAACP v. The same issues have also been at the Assistant Attorney General Robert Keuch heart of the rulings in a Manhattan court­ defended the constitutionality of the gov­ Alabama. The Supreme Court unanimous­ ly held that state officials could not require room on the suit brought by the Socialist ernment's actions. He cited a 1939 execu­ the National Association for the Advance­ Workers Party and the Young Socialist Al­ tive order issued by President Franklin ment of Colored People to tum over a list liance against the attorney general, Federal Roosevelt, who ordered the FBI to step up of the names of its members. Bureau of Investigation, and other federal "investigative work" against those whose. "This court has recognized the vital re­ police agencies. views, as Roosevelt put it, "would tend to lationship between freedom to associate be subversive - I believe that is the word and privacy in one's associations," the de­ Griesa vs. Bork - of our form of government." cision stated. One issue was the right to privacy- the According to Keuch, the president had "Inviolability of privacy in group associ­ right of people to be free of government the "inherent power" to order such opera­ ations may in m~ny circumstances be indis­ surveillance and control over their personal tions against "groups who potentially could pensable to preservation of freedom of as­ lives and political activities. be acting inimically to our form of govern­ sociation, particularly where a group es­ The other was the growing tendency of ment." pouses dissident beliefs." the president and the executive branch, "Subversives" need not violate any law Federal Judge Robert Bork over the past half century, to assert and to become targets, Keuch explained. Abortion rights exercise ever-increasing powers and to "There can be many actions taken to at­ considerations were also involved. In 1965 , the court ruled in Griswold v. override the Constitution, including the tempt to influence the policies of the "As a Senator from a southern state," Connecticut that the government could not Bill of Rights. United States, its actions, etcetera, that do Shelby said, "I am well aware of the ad­ bar the dissemination or use of contracep­ This tendency resulted in a scandal when not necessarily involve or constitute a vio­ verse effect of division and polarization. tives or information about them. The Con­ the secret Iran-contra arms deals were lation of the law . . . . The seams of our society can be tom necticut law on this subject was con­ ·made public, but it did not originate with "There are simply ways that individuals apart." demned as violating "the zone of privacy the Reagan administration. and groups can act that may not necessarily The massive protests earlier this year, created by several fundamental constitu­ Since World War II, presidents have constitute violations of the criminal sta­ involving Blacks and whites, against the tional guarantees." been preparing and waging wars without a tutes," he explained, but that nonetheless attempt to maintain an enclave of white As the struggle of women for the right to declaration by Congress. Increasingly, pol­ make them legitimate targets for govern­ supremacy in Forsyth County, Georgia, icies have been set and executed in secret. ment surveillance and dirty tricks. have abortions registered gains, the 1973 was a sign of how much attitudes have ruling in Roe v. Wade was issued. "The And for half a century, foes of government The debate over the Bork nomination shifted in the South and a warning of the re­ right of privacy," the court held by a 7-2 actions have been tagged subversives and highlighted the deepgoing opposition sponse that would greet attacks on the majority, "is broad enough to encompass a secretly targeted for spying and harassment among working people and many others to gains of the civil rights movement. woman's decision whether or not to termi­ · under presidential executive orders. these totalitarian concepts . . The Reagan administration hoped that Bork vs. right of privacy nate her pregnancy. The detriment that the State would impose upon the pregnant placing Bork on the Supreme Court would Why Bork lost "During the hearings" on Bork's nom­ make it possible to push back or reverse The campaign against Bork organized woman by denying this choice altogether is ination, commented Linda Greenhouse in apparent." court decisions over the last 30 years - de­ by liberal Democrats in the U.S. Senate the October 7 New York Times , "privacy .. . cisions that have extended the right of pri­ counted on the sympathy of millions who Bork rejects this entire chain of legal came to stand for the whole theme of fun­ precedents, which codify rights that are of vacy and other rights won by working opposed Bork because of his stands against damental rights." The right to privacy was people in struggle. democratic rights. life and death importance to tens of mil­ a concept, she noted, "that politicians were lions of people, as wrongly decided. To They hoped to win court rulings con­ "I believe the American people have a suddenly rushing to embrace." firming some of the expanded executive cite two instances, he dismissed the ruling genuine and justifiable fear of government In sharp contrast to Griesa's rulings in in Griswold as "utterly specious" and the powers that have been exercised outside intrusion," Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), the socialists' lawsuit, Bork has argued that the existing laws, court rulings, and con­ abortion ruling as "wholly unjustifiable." chairman of the Senate Judiciary Commit­ there is no general constitutional right of Griesa's 1986 decision in the SWP and stitutional structure. tee and a leader of the opposition to Bork, privacy, since this right is not explicitly In the socialists' suit against government YSA case, on the other hand, both af­ told the New York Times shortly after the mentioned in the Constitution. The right of firmed and reinforced the recognition in cops, federal Judge Thomas Griesa ruled in committee's 9-5 vote on October 6 to rec­ privacy, he stated on one occasion, is "one August 1986 that theFBI's spying and dis­ NAACP v. Alabama that the right of pri­ ommend rejection of the nomination. more slogan" used by judges whom he ac­ vacy is a vital part of the freedom of polit­ ruption operations against the SWP and A key factor in the defeat of Bork was cused of "writing their own tastes into YSA had violated the right to privacy and ical association. His ruling affirmed that the fear, expressed most sharply by Demo­ law." this right applies to communists and others other constitutional rights of these organi­ cratic senators from the southern states, On the other hand, Bork has argued that zations and their members. targeted by the government as threats to that attempts to roll back the right of pri­ the president has wide powers to wage war "national security." Griesa reaffirmed and strengthened this vacy or other democratic rights would meet without a declaration by Congress, to carry The fight to defend and strengthen the ruling one year later, when he issued an in­ tough resistance. out policies in secret, and to order wiretap­ right of privacy is one of the cutting edges junction barring the government from The big-business media have centered ping and other surveillance against those he in the fight for political and other demo­ using the files it had gathered illegally on on the growing numbers of Black voters in terms threats to national security. cratic rights today. While the battle has led the two organizations. He made a special the South as the main factor in the decision The expansion of the right of privacy has to significant advances, setbacks have also point of forbidding government use of by most Democratic senators there to op­ been intertwined with the civil rights been suffered. One defeat occurred last SWP and YSA membership lists: pose Bork. However, as Sen. Richard movement, the women's rights struggle, year in the Supreme Court ruling on the In making both these rulings, Griesa re- Shelby of Alabama suggested, broader and other battles for democratic rights in Hardwick case. the last three decades. r------New York City------, Contrary to the claims of Bork and his Setback in Hardwick case right-wing backers, the right of privacy is Michael Hardwick was arrested on Come to a not a "new right" dreamed up by "activist sodomy charges when Georgia cops burst judges." into his bedroom and found him with Victory rally for Such a right is strongly implied in the another man. Although the charges were Bill of Rights. The Fourth Amendment dropped, he sued the officials responsible political rights bars unreasonable searches and seizures. for this invasion of privacy. As if to guard against Bork-like claims The court majority rejected Hardwick's Celebrate injunction barring government from using that there are no rights like privacy, beyond claim. Appealing to antihomosexual prej­ illegal FBI files. those specifically listed in the Constitution, udice, the ruling portrayed the issue as the Ninth Amendment declared: "The whether the constitution recognizes "a fun­ Hear enumeration in the Constitution, of certain damental right of homosexual sodomy" Mac Warren national leader of Socialist Workers Party. Leonard rights, shall not be construed to deny or and declared that it does not. Boudin general counsel of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Com­ disparage others retained by the people." In a dissenting opinion, Justice Harry. Blackmun pointed out that sodomy - mittee. Fred Dube member of African National Congress of South Af­ Court battles over privacy rica currently fighting political firing from teaching position at State Univer­ homosexual or heterosexual- was not the Supreme Court rulings enforcing a right fundamental issue. "The right of an indi­ sity of N.Y. Karen Lantz vice-president of Independent Federation of to privacy date at least as far back as 1891, vidual to conduct intimate relationships in Flight Attendants. Michael Warren plaintiff in suit against N.Y. Police when the Supreme Court barred a federal the intimacy of his or her own home seems Department's "Black Desk." Stuart Russell Canadian immigration and court from requiring that a plaintiff take a to me at the heart of the Constitution's pro­ civil rights attorney. Morton Sobell codefendant in Julius and Ethel medical examination, in the absence of leg­ tection of privacy." Rosenberg case. John Studer executive director of the Political Rights islation specifically authorizing this . The To date, the U.S. rulers have been un­ Defense Fund. Cate Woods Trenton National Organization for Women. ruling was based on privacy rights rooted able to use this reactionary court ruling to Angel Dominguez director of organizing for COTA. the Farmworkers in English common law . push back the ability to exercise the right to In its 1942 ruling in Skinner v. Ok­ privacy. Organizing Committee of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Reo~ Cacoul­ lahoma, the Supreme Court overturned a But the government continues to probe los Young Socialist Alliance national secretary. Yvonne Melendez de­ state law that authorized sterilization of for ways to chip away at or reverse these fendant in Hartford frame-up case against 16 supporters of Puerto Rican in­ those convicted two or more times of and other hard-won rights. Support for the dependence. Dave Cline coordinator of New Jersey-New York Viet­ "felonies involving moral turpitude." The right to privacy, however, and recognition nam Veterans Against the War. Thiago de Mello the Brazilian com­ court ruled that forced sterilization violated that it must apply to all, is growing. The poser and musician, will perform. "one of the basic civil rights of man." massive rally on October II in Washing­ However, it was the rise of the massive ton, D.C., in support of full democratic Fri., Oct. 30, 7:30p.m. Reception. 6:30 civil rights movement against racist segre­ rights for gays was one indication. Martin Luther King Labor Center gation, and the impulse this gave to other The debate over the Bork nomination Local 1199 Hospital and Health Care Employees struggles for democratic rights, that impel­ has spotlighted the fact that the issues in led the courts to issue rulings that greatly the suit brought by the SWP and YSA 310 West 43rd St. (btw. 8th and 9th aves) extended the recognized privacy rights of against the federal police agencies are right Donation: $5. Sponsor: Political Rights Defense Fund the mass of working people. in the center of the battles today to defend For more information call (212) 219-3679 or (201) 643-3341. By the 1970s, this right had won such and extend the basic democratic rights of wide support that the 1974 federal Privacy working people.

4 The Militant October 23, 1987 New stage in Nicaraguan revolution

Militant/Roberto Kopec Contra defeat, Coast autonomy Majority of Nicaragua's Black, Indian population lives on Atlantic Coast.

BY MARGARET JAYKO goal of overthrowing the Nicaraguan work­ country has been decisive in reaching this Sandinistas are now doing in the country as (Second of two articles) ers' and farmers' government. reasonable and realistic agreement in a whole, with the restoration of full civil In last week's article, I wrote that the But to the degree that Nicaragua can Guatemala." liberties. The experience of the Atlantic "decision of the leadership of the San­ continue to defeat the contras militarily and Coast project was necessary in giving Atlantic Coast experience dinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) erode their morale, the direct use of mili­ broad layers of the FSLN the confidence of Nicaragua to take advantage of the peace tary might by the United States will con­ The strategic defeat of the contras by it­ that political leadership can successfully process it set in motion by signing the Cen­ tinue to be pushed back because the politi­ self was not enough to make the initiatives advance the revolution by broadening its tral American accords and rapidly moving cal price Washington would have to pay for the Sandinistas are carrying out possible, base of support among the toiling classes toward lifting the wartime state of it will keep going up. however. and neutralizing, dividing, and isolating its emergency opens a new stage in the revolu­ The cease-fire and establishment of au­ opponents. tionary process in Nicaragua." Dilemma for pro-U.S. regimes tonomy on the Atlantic Coast were also es­ This, too, Is beginning to be explained sential. They confirmed in life the correct­ This step forward, the article explained, The strategic defeat of the contras by leaders of the revolution. ' ness of the decision made several years ago "was made possible by the two key vic­ created a crisis for the pro-Washington re­ In an interview that appeared in the Sep­ to move to replace military and other ad­ tories that the toilers in Nicaragua have gimes in Central America. This is what tember 10 issue of Barricada lnterna­ ministrative methods of government with a won in the past year: dealing decisive compelled the governments of Costa Rica, cional, a weekly published in English and political battle to lead forward the peoples blows to the contra mercenary army; and El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to Spanish by the FSLN, Humberto Ortega of the Atlantic Coast along the lines the political victory on the Atlantic Coast join Nicaragua on August 7 in signing the was asked if the example of the "pro-peace charted by the autonomy plan, and to neu­ with the adoption and initial implementa­ Central America pact. commissions created by community lead­ tion of the autonomy plan and the virtual "It was the daily combat of the people's tralize and divide opponents. ers in the Atlantic Coast to discuss autono­ cessation of the armed conflict there." The soldiers and the capacity of all Nicaraguans Nicaragua has several distinct Indian my [will] be repeated in the war zones?" Atlantic Coast is where a majority of the to resist the economic difficulties the and Black communities that have histori­ Ortega replied, "Of course." country's Black and Indian populations [U.S.] aggression has brought us , that cally suffered theft of their lands, persecu­ "We are studying," he said, "the exam­ live. made possible the signing of the accords," tion of their languages and cultures, denial ple of the Atlantic Coast and we will use This article will examine these two suc­ explained Bayardo Arce, a member of the of political rights, and discrimination in the most positive things from that experi­ cesses and their impact on revolutionary nine-person National Directorate of the employment and education. ence and apply them according to the par­ Nicaragua. FSLN, to a Sandinista rally on September The majority of the country's more than ticular conditions in each war zone." 18 in Nandaime, Nicaragua. 3 million people are Spanish-speaking Elsewhere in the interview, in response 'Strategic defeat' of the contras "Had we not been strong ," he added, mestizos, concentrated on the Pacific to the question of whether there can be a The Nicaraguan government says that "had Reagan and his mercenaries defeated Coast. On the Atlantic Coast, in addition to cease-fire in Nicaragua as stipulated in the the contras have suffered a "strategic de­ us militarily or had we succumbed to the mestizos, there are also Miskito, Sumo, accords, Ortega pointed out, "we have al­ feat." economic and material difficulties, they and Rama Indians, and English-speaking ready seen what happened in Zelaya [At­ This doesn't mean that the war is over. would be asking us to sign our surrender." Creole Blacks and Garifonas. lantic Coast region] where it was possible To the contrary, the U.S.-run terrorists Until the 1979 Sandinista revolution, the to achieve a cease-fire when communica­ continue to murder, kidnap, rape, and tor· Nicaragua signed the accords, said tions were established with some contra Arce, because they provide for "a peace Atlantic Coast was dominated by U.S. and ture Nicaraguan peasants and workers, Canadian corporations, with the complicity bands who rejected the war-like policy of burning down farms, schools, and health that accepts that in Nicaragua there is, and manipulation of the United States. They will be, a revolution." of the Somoza tyranny. They fostered mes­ centers. And they will keep on doing so tizo prejudice against Indians and Blacks, realized they were acting against the inter­ until the White House is forced to cut off And in a statement by National Director­ and kept working people on the two coasts ests of Nicaragua, and through communi­ all aid. ate member Luis Carrion on August 26 he isolated from one another. cation, their attitude changed. They were What has been decided in battle, how­ explained, "If the plans to destroy the rev­ In eight years since Anastasio Somoza able to incorporate themselves into the re­ ever, is the end of any chance that the con­ olution had been successful, if U.S. im­ was overthrown, Nicaraguans have strug­ gion's economic and public life. Many of tra war can accomplish its goal: the over­ perialism had been able to bring about a gled to find a way to overcome racial divi­ these people are now part of our armed throw of the Nicaraguan government. profound political crisis in Nicaragua, sions and mutual suspicions in order to forces. " As Nicaragua's defense minister, Gen. there would have been no Guatemala forge a united Nicaraguan nation that, at And, in fact, Red Cross officials who Humberto Ortega, explained this summer, agreement. There would not even have the same time, protects the identities of the helped head up the highly successful cease­ Washington thought "that by now Nicara­ been a meeting in Guatemala." Indian and Black communities. The result fire and amnesty negotiations on the Atlan­ gua would be undergoing a deep destabili­ "If the above had been the case," Carr­ is the new autonomy law, drafted by the In­ tic Coast were the people brought in to ad­ minister the new phase of the country's zation due to a civil war, with a vigorous ion continued, "all of the other govern­ dians, Blacks, and mestizos of the Atlantic overall amnesty program, embarked on in counterrevolutionary army capable of lib­ ments would have been waiting for the mo­ Coast. It guarantees the political, econom­ erating zones, territories, and important ment when the revolution would collapse, ic, language, cultural, and religious rights the wake of the signing of the accords. towns, capable of tipping the military re­ and they would not have signed the of Indians and Blacks. lationship of forces in its favor." Guatemala agreements. This shows that Sandinista leaders explain today that Had Washington achieved this, said the tenacious, heroic, persistent defense of 450 paperworkers sign Ortega, "it would not only have facilitated when they came to power in 1979, they ini­ their country and their revolution carried tially made mistakes on the Coast. Instead petition for justice the step of U.S. intervention - which re­ out by the Nicaraguan people has been the mains a real danger -but brought it much of beginning with the political, economic, cause, the factor, the key to the signing of and ethnic realities of the Coast peoples as for antiwar veteran closer in time." these agreements." After six years of trying, however, the the starting point for unifying the two parts Minister of the interior and founding of the country, the FSLN tended to me­ BY JON HILLSON contras have failed to take and hold a single member of the FSLN, Tomas Borge, told a JAY, Maine - Everyone at the Sep­ town, much less start a civil war. Their chanically implement political and eco­ women's conference in Managua that same nomic plans developed on the Pacific. tember 16 union mass meeting here lis­ ability to launch major military offensives day: tened quietly as Local 14 Vice-president has been shattered. The Sandinistas esti­ The U.S. government capitalized on Felix Jacques· read a petition being circu­ mate they have reduced the number of mer­ "We shouldn't ask why Nicaragua these problems and managed to recruit lated nationally by Veterans for Peace. It cenaries by almost two-thirds since 1984. signed these agreements, but rather, how is some Indians to its contra army, turning demands justice for Brian Willson, the "We have basically broken up" the con­ it that the other Central American presi­ what had been solely a political clash into a Vietnam vet who was run down by a Navy tra army, Ortega concluded. dents finally signed them?" military one as well. munitions train September 1 while protest­ "These Guatemala agreements," Borge ing the U.S. war drive in Central America. What Washington has accomplished continued, "would not have been possible, Autonomy The strategic defeat of the contras opened of course, without the factors that contrib­ The military and political conflicts Jacques urged the strikers to "fill up pe­ titions" when they came to the Local 14 the door insid~ Nicaragua to the political uted to this historic moment in Central began to subside in 1984 when the Nicara­ initiative the Sandinista leadership is now America. And these include not only the guan government adopted the perspective headquarters to pick up their strike benefits carrying out. Until that was achieved, the internal crisis in the United States resulting of autonomy for the Atlantic Coast. Tes­ checks. course of restoring democratic liberties and from the Irangate scandal; not only the fact timony to the success of this approach of Bob Livesey, the Veterans for Peace accelerating the decline and eroding the that there is a severe economic crisis in trying to politically win over the coastal member who brought the petitions up to morale of the contras through a broad, sus­ Central America, a great weariness with peoples is the fact that there are only a few Jay, said the strikers filled the petitions, tained amnesty campaign was precluded. the tensions and constant pressure from the hundred Indians left in the contra ranks "and then some." Four hundred fifty-two The fact that the contras' plans have United States. But also the fact that the today. signatures were on the petitions, which been dashed, however, doesn't mean that Nicaraguan people support the Sandinista The significance of this approach to re­ were sent to him in Boston a few days after Washington's war has been devoid of any revolution and that the counterrevolution solve the potentially fatal problems con­ the meeting. successes. In fact, it has deepened U.S. has been defeated in strategic terms. fronting the revolution on the Atlantic Livesey, who spent part of his eight imperialist intervention in the region and "Because had the counterrevolution not Coast goes far beyond the Coast itself. years in air force security in Indochina, has intensified economic, political, and mili­ been defeated, and had the people of Nica­ As Borge, president of Nicaragua's Na­ been to Nicaragua twice this year. He's en­ tary pressure on the Nicaraguan revolution. ragua turned their backs on the revolution, tional Autonomy .Commission, ... has ex­ couraging Maine Veterans for Peace· to get The U.S. rulers have not given upon the then we would not have· any accord. The plained, the course charted on the Atlantic involved in solidarity work for the Jay use of military force to accomplish their domestic relationship of forces inside this Coast was a "premonitiQn" of what the strikers.

October 23, 1987 The Militant 5 Young Socialist Alliance leaders on tour Youth urged to join fight by working class 'to build better world'

BY GREG McCARTAN to Free Clarence Brandley, who faces ex­ Three national leaders of the Young ecution by the state of Texas. Socialist Alliance have been on tour in Three students at the University of Texas California, Texas, and the Northeast to win also expressed interest in joining the YSA solidarity for the struggles of workers and following Picado's visit there, and a young farmers around the world and to build the Guatemalan worker joined the Houston YSA. chapter. YSA National Executive Committee Marea Himelgrin - editor of the YSA' s member Francisco Picado spoke to stu­ newspaper, the Young Socialist - is on a dents and young workers in five cities in tour of 12 West Coast cities, beginning in Texas. "I want to invite you to join the California. At Fresno State University, stu­ struggle for a better world," he told them, dents bought $180 worth of books, pam­ "not just because it is a just struggle, but phlets, and YSA T-shirts, along with seven also because it is one that our side - the subscriptions to the Militant . side of working people- is winning." The Gay and Lesbian Alliance on cam­ Picado met an enthusiastic response at pus invited Himelgrin to give a presenta­ several Texas campuses. Following his tion on the YSA and Socialist Workers talk at Pan American University in Edin­ Party's victory in their lawsuit against U.S. burg, 10 students signed up for more infor­ government spying and disruption . mation about touring Nicaragua and one In the Northeast, YSA leader James asked to join the YSA. At Texas Tech, in Winfield is touring in five states. In Bos­ ton, the first stop on his tour, he held meet­ Lubbock, one student joined the revolu­ YSA leader Francisco Picado (second from left) at Houston youth speak-out. tionary youth organization and three said ings at Roxbury Community College, Bos­ they were considering doing so. ton University, and University of Mas­ sachusetts, Harbor Campus. In Houston, Picado participated in a Winfield, a participant in the first Martin panel discussion entitled "Youth Speak Luther King student brigade to Nicaragua, International effort boosts Out Against War and Apartheid." Other encouraged young people he spoke with to speakers included activists in the anti­ see Nicaragua for themselves. apartheid movement at the University of 'Militant' subscription drive Texas at Austin who are facing university The following contributed to this article: disciplinary action for their political work, Greg Rosenberg in Houston, Alma Quiroz Continued from front page At the annual British Labour Party Con­ as well as a representative of the Coalition in Fresno, and Aaron Ruby in Boston. itant for the special introductory rate of $4 ference held recently in Brighton, 27 single for 12 weeks." copies of the Militant were sold, along with "We are stressing that the Militant is four copies of New International. weekly and that it has a wide range of Distribution of the Militant in Europe, Fall Sales Scoreboard coverage of big events in the class strug­ Africa, and the Middle East is handled by gle," Bernardo said. "This includes the rec­ Pathfinder/London. Pete Clifford reports tification process in Cuba, the events in that Pathfinder/London has received seven New Perspectiva Nicaragua, and the Central America peace new subscriptions from European countries Militant International Mundial accords." other than Britain in the past two months. sul>ocrlpCions '*'lie oopies Bernardo said subscriptions to the Mili­ Several came from Sweden. Clifford said Area Goal Sold %Sold Goal Sold %Sol Goal Sold %Sold tant in Montreal have been equally divided Pathfinder has also recently received two between those who speak English as their Militant subscriptions from the Middle Greensboro, N.C. 115 85 74 20 11 55 10 10 first language and those whose first lan­ East and one from Africa. Oeveland I05 72 69 20 0 0 15 4 27 guage is French. Eight Perspectiva Mun­ Fourteen new Militant subscribers have Houston 200 131 66 50 0 0 40 11 28 dial subscriptions have been sold in also been added in New Zealand. Nine sub­ Des Moines,""'' 125 73 58 35 4 11 15 2 13 Montreal as well . scribed at a conference on Central America in Wellington in July. Portland, 0... 80 46 58 40 22 55 30 1 3 Socialist Voice supporters in Toronto Boston 200 lll 56 50 0 0 100 23 23 have raised their Militant bundle from 20 to Ron Poulsen from Pathfinder/Pacific and Asia, which handles Militant distribu­ SanDiego 85 47 55 25 u 48 40 27 68 50 a week. They take the Militant with them on the five plant-gate sales they carry tion in that part of the world, reports that Morgantown, w.v.. 130 62 48 25 0 0 5 20 out each week. Johnston said they usually the paper's coverage of Nicaragua is also Los Angeles 300 139 46 100 50 so 175 63 36 sell five or so copies of Socialist Voice at popufar with Central America solidarity Detroit 200 92 46 35 6 17 25 3 12 each plant-gate sale. "If a worker -says I activists in Australia. There are currently 42 Militant subscribers in Australia. Omaha, Neb 70 32 46 20 5 25 10 7 70 bought your paper last week," Johnston

Annandale, N v 20 9 45 1 said, "we encourage them to pick up a copy Baltimore 140 57 41 40 0 0 10 10 of the Militant." The Militant's coverage of Nicaragua "is Kansas City I 05 42 40 25 2 8 20 7 35 the main selling point at the moment," said Support the Fall Oakland, CaJ;r. !50 60 40 100 14 14 50 9 18 Johnston. "But people are also open to the Socialist Salt Lake City !50 60 40 25 2 8 25 7 28 idea that there is something more than San Francisco 180 68 38 50 0 0 70 37 53 Reagan in U.S. politics and want to find Publications out about it," he added. Twin Cities, M;,. 180 68 38 75 21 28 20 4 20 Johnston cited the example of a striking Fund Newark , N.J . 350 131 37 75 12 16 125 29 23 postal worker who bought a copy of the San Jose, CaJ;r. 75 28 37 0 50 19 38 Militant because he wanted to know what At a rally August 13 Seattle 300 112 37 50 13 26 50 22 44 is going on in the unions in the United we announced the Milwaukee 115 42 37 35 0 0 15 7 States. launching of this fund, which has a Washington, o.c. 130 47 36 60 0 0 30 10 33 Fifty subscriptions to the Militant have been sold in Britain since mid-August. goal of raising Atlanta 120 43 36 35 15 43 20 6 30 Jon Silberman, a supporter of the $150,000 by Austin, M;... 85 30 35 10 0 0 15 2 13 British biweekly paper Socialist Action, is November 24. Miami 120 41 34 40 0 0 40 5 13 one of those involved in that effort. Its purpose is to fi­ Philadelphia 150 49 33 50 0 0 50 6 12 After taking an initial goal of selling 60 nance publication of subscriptions, Silberman said, Militant dis­ St. Louis 175 56 32 50 14 28 10 2 20 the Militant, the NewYork 600 189 32 350 207 59 !50 103 69 tributors in Britain have raised their goal to 75. They have also taken a goal of selling monthly Perspectiva Birmingham, AI•. 150 45 30 35 0 0 5 20 140 copies of New International and five Mundial, the Marxist Phoenix 100 30 30 0 0 80 25 31 subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial. So magazine New Inter­ Price, u"" 48 10 21 10 0 0 2 0 0 far, 76 copies of New International have national, the French­ Cincinnati 10 2 20 been sold. language Nouvelle Internationale, and Charleston, w v. 125 Silberman said the effort got off to a 22 18 20 0 0 Pathfinder books · Chicago 225 39 17 50 0 0 75 7 9 good start at a coal miners' gala in Notting­ hamshire in September, where 60 single and pamphlets. Pittsburgh 175 16 9 0 0 10 1 10 copies of the Militant were sold, along with As of October 14, Albany, NY 20 0 0 three subscriptions. $109,500 has been Amherst, Mm . 5 0 0 Silberman explained that Socialist Ac­ pledged and Davenport, ,... 5 0 0 tion supporters sell around 100 copies of $29,700 collected. that paper each week in the Nottingham­ Louisville, Ky. 5 0 0 shire area. These distributors are also sell­ I wish to help the fund, enclosed is: Other U.S. areas 11 ing between 20 and 30 single copies of the - $1,000 - $500 - $100 Britain 75 50 67 140 76 54 5 0 0 Militant each week. Among the 16 people Canada 26 11 who have bought new Militant subscrip­ _ $25 $ other New Zealand 14 tions and the three who renewed their sub­ scriptions in Notts are activists in the anti­ Name ------Puerto Rico 9 apartheid and Central America solidarity Address ______:_ ____ Other Intemat'l 2 3 struggles, a garment worker, four coal City------State Zip _____ Totals 5,678 2,289 38% 1,745 486 24% 1,392 475 32% miners, and two activists from Women Against Pit Closures. Mail to Fall Socialist Publications Drive Goals 6,000 2,000 1,500 In Manchester, 13 subscriptions have Fund, 410 West St., New York, N.Y. 10014. Should Be 3,372 56% 1,124 56% 843 56% been sold, two to coal miners at the Age­ croft Colliery.

6 The Militant October 23, 1987 Rally supports Colt NOTAl Firearms strikers $ Gov't rewards scab operation

BY STEVE CRAINE Colt since 1973, told the Militant that he HARTFORD, Conn. - ''I'm ready to was one of many victimized in this period. stay out as long as I have to." This was the Just before the strike began, he was sus­ • determination expressed by Walt Peszko, pended for refusing overtime work on who, along with 800 other members of Saturday. He had told his supervisor he United Auto Workers Local 376, has al­ wasn't feeling well, and the supervisor said ready been on strike against Colt Firearms it was all right for him not to come in. for more than 20 months. He spoke during Nonetheless, when he reported for work a solidarity rally for the strikers held here Monday he was told he was suspended. on September 27. The company also tried to cut back on Peszko explained that unionists from all payments to shop stewards for time spent over the region, as well as bosses, were on union business. following the Colt strike with intense inter­ Colt is now operating its two area plants est. "If they see Colt Firearms get away with scabs. It was recently awarded a $48 with union busting, companies all over the million contract from the U. S. government country will try the same thing," he said. for production of M-16 automatic rifles. More than I ,500 unionists and other "No tax $ for law breakers" was a popular strike supporters turned out for the Sep­ · picket sign on the march. tember 27 march and rally in downtown. Peszko emphasized that Colt's union .• .. . ~ Bus loads of United Auto Workers busting is part of a nationwide pattern. Craine (UAW) members came from all over Con­ Some 1,500 attended September 27 rally to back Colt workers on strike for over 20 necticut and as far away as New YorkCity "The companies are trying to roll back months. and Framingham, Massachusetts. There all union gains," he said, "all the way back was a contingent of city workers from Bos­ to 1933 if they can." He pointed to gains in ton, as well as representatives of nearly the fight against racism as one of the many every union in the greater Hartford area - conquests of the union movement that are W. Virginia slated for machinists, food workers, Teamsters, potentially in jeopardy. postal workers, city employees, and hospi­ "When I was hired at Colt's, back in tal workers. 1941 ," he told me, "they still had a sign on above-ground nuke dump One of the purposes of the rally was to the employment office door- 'We don't draw attention to the opening the following hire colored or Irish."' The UA W got or­ BY JIM ALTENBERG United Mine Workers and environmental day of hearings before the National Labor ganized shortly after that, he said. CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The U.S. activists. Relations Board. The board is considering After marching from the federal court­ Department of Energy (DOE) has an­ a raft of unfair labor practice charges Paul Childress, a leading promoter of the house on Main Street, the demonstrators nounced plans to build a nuclear waste pro­ against Colt. MRS , has offered West Virginia well over rallied in Colt Park, overlooking the struck cessing plant in southern West Virginia. The strike against Colt's two firearms $50 million of DOE money to take the plant, where they heard brief speeches This plant, known as the Monitored Re­ production plants, in Hartford and West MRS. But Childress is not a DOE official. from dozens of union leaders. UA WInter­ trievable Storage facility, or MRS, would Hartford, began in January 1986, 10 He is an executive of Babcock and Wilcox, national President Owen Bieber was sched­ receive and repackage spent fuel rods from months after the previous contract had ex­ the company that built the Three Mile Is­ uled to appear, but sent a representative in nuclear power plants across the country. pired. land nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, his place. The waste would be stored and pro­ During this 10-month period without a Pennsylvania, which had a partial meltdown Mike Burke, vice-president of the strik­ cessed ·above ground, unlike other dumps contract, the company tried in many ways in 1979. He is also in charge of the com­ ing paperworkers' in Jay Maine, pointed to where the waste is buried. Plant promoters to undermine the rights of union members, pany's contracts for producing the type of the role of solidarity in long strike strug­ claim that it would be a harmless way to eventually forcing the workers out on strike waste-storage casks that the MRS would gles. "Only through the support and coop­ store radioactive wastes until a permanent to defend their union. use. eration of local unions across the nation storage facility can be built. Hector Marquez, who has worked for have we been able to survive," he said. Other MRS supporters have made wild DOE has faced stiff opposition at every claims that the facility would bring site it has considered for a permanent waste thousands of new jobs to the area. They dump. No location has been chosen. It is have even opened up an office where appli­ likely that t~1e "temporary" MRS dump cations can be obtained to work in this Garment workers in Sweden would become permanent once the wastes plant that is still far from being built. In an are there. area where no jobs are available, where The government has sought to pressure roads are crumbling and public services win strike victory states into "volunteering" for the MRS pro­ poor, these promises appear attractive. ject. DOE has offered states and Indian na- BY CATHARINA TIRSEN The only way to stop the dismissal of But the MRS has not been popular, de­ STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Two hun­ Svensson was to strike. "If they can do this spite a relentless campaign aimed at in­ dred seventy garment workers in the south­ to Bengt, we will go back to the conditions timidating southern West Virginians into em Swedish city of Malmo won a big vic­ of the 1930s," said Inga Engstrom and Eli accepting it. Activists opposing it have tory September 16 after a week-long strike. Madsen, two striking workers. faced slanders, have been branded in the They forced their employer, Malmo "I have been here for 22 ·years, and I press as terrorists, and have been kept out Strumpfabrik, to take back the local union know we wouldn't manage without a of meetings organized to discuss it. A president it had fired . union," Cvetlana Lisolajska said. "We statewide drive to stop the plant is now The company had made earlier threats to have low wages. We work so hard, so being put together. fire the union leader, Bengt Svensson, for hard. And still they come and tell us to The MRS is not just a nuclear waste trying to improve the working conditions work harder." dump, as dangerous as that is in itself. It is and raise the wages of garment workers. But also according to the law, the com­ a nuclear manufacturing plant. Highly This plant had gained notoriety throughout pany could legally fire all the workers if the radioactive waste will be processed into a Sweden after a TV film had exposed the strike went longer than a couple of days. more concentrated form there. terrible pace of work, heat, and uncomfort­ The company took legal action against 143 able working conditions imposed on the workers for conducting an "illegal strike." It is a deadly threat to the health, safety, and environment of those who live around workers for low, piecework wages. The strikers and Svensson got wide sup­ According to Strumpfabrik, Svensson port from trade union locals all over Swe­ the plant and near the roads and rail lines leading to it. Fuel rod concentration poses had, in his capacity as president of the den within a matter of days. union local, talked to one of the workers, the risk of creating a critical mass, making The national Clothing Workers Union possible a nuclear chain reaction and ex­ who turned off her noisy machine for 18 supported Svensson and clearly indicated minutes. This, the employer said, caused plosion. Accidents and spills can release that it wouldn't stand in the way of the tions in the United States tens of millions of radioactive material into the air, soil, and "a stoppage of production." strike. In Sweden unions risk millions in dollars to take it. Three sites were proposed Svensson was also accused of slandering water. fines if they don't work to stop an "illegal" in Tennessee, but the state government re­ ·It is estimated that 1 ,300 shipments by the company on a local radio station. strike. jected them all. The state's report said Moreover, according to the employer, he truck and rail per year to and from the MRS The strikers went back to work for one MRS was unnecessary, expensive, and will be required. But the DOE has refused had taken a leave for union work that had day to make it possible for the union to based on unproven technology. . been approved by the wrong person. to perform safety tests on the actual casks negotiate with the company as stipulated West Virginia state officials and MRS used in shipment and storage. Instead, they Under Swedish law a company must pre­ by the law. advocates point to the promises of money have said they will rely on computer-simu­ sent reasons based on facts for dismissing a But there were no negotiations worthy of and jobs in their drive to get the MRS built lated tests. And West Virginia's narrow, worker. But even if the Labor Court does the name. The company just stated its in­ here. McDowell and Wyoming counties, twisting roads make accidents very likely. rule a dismissal illegal, the company can tention to carry through what it had de­ the proposed location, have been plagued still get rid of the worker simply by paying cided. for years by massive layoffs and shutdowns The MRS, and the increased use of nu­ a sum of money specified in the law. The next day the garment workers struck in the coal mines. Official unemployment clear power that it would facilitate, can be again. The strike was bigger and more de­ figures stand at 20 percent. Hundreds of a powerful club against the United Mine termined than before. This, and the grow­ The Militant stays on top of the most residents leave the area every year. Workers of America in the hands of the important developments in the labor ing solidarity from other unions, forced the Governor Arch Moore, who has quite coal operators. Union contracts expire in movement. It has correspondents who company to back down. Svensson got his readily thrown open the state treasury to January 1988. Many of the major coal pro­ work in the mines, mills, and shops job back, and he and the union local re­ any company with a scheme for jobs in the ducers are owned by giant energy com­ where the events are breaking. You ceived damage payments. The complaint state, supports the MRS. State lawmakers panies, which also have huge investments won't miss any of it if you subscribe. See· against the 143 workers was withdrawn. have announced their willingness to over­ in the nuclear industry. the ad on page 2 of this issue for sub-. This was the first victory of this kind for tum a law that currently prohibits storage The fight to stop the MRS can be anim­ scription rates. workers in Sweden after years of setbacks of nuclear waste in West Virginia. This law portant aid to the union in its upcoming and defeats. was won a few years ago by _efforts of the contract battle, and in the coming years.

October 23,.1987 The· Militant 7 j Nicaragua's Indian contras take amnesty

BY CINDY JAQUITH W AWA, Nicaragua - At 11:00 a.m. September 28 a pulley-towed raft docked on the bank of the Wawa River here. Ring­ ing the civilian passengers were dozens of armed youth in camouflage uniforms. Known as the "kisanes," many of these teenage soldiers had hair down to their shoulders or Afros. Awaiting the raft on this side of the river were armed men and women from the Sandinista People's Army (EPS) and Ministry of the Interior (MINT). The commanders of the kisanes greeted the EPS and MINT officers and began chatting. Then the kisanes and Sandinista troops took up separate defense positions, as a political rally started. Wawa is located about 20 miles west of Puerto Cabezas, the main city in the North Atlantic region of Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast. The villages between here and Puerto Cabezas are protected by. EPS and MINT troops. The villages on the other side of the river are defended by the kisanes, who are or­ ganized in what are called the Indigenous Militias. They are led by the Miskito In­ dian group Pro-Peace Kisan, which coordi­ nates its defense operations with the San­ dinista military. Two years ago, Pro-Peace Kisan and Rally in Puerto Cabezas during Multiethnic Assembly earlier this year. Assembly of the peoples of the Atlantic Coast <~nnr,,.v.,•tt Sandinista troops were shooting at each regional autonomy, which has become pole of attraction for Indians abandoning ranks of the contras. other. Today, they jointly defen!l the civil­ ian Indian populations in this area against On September 26, our delegation visited run mercenary group, in the gold-mining However, there are some contras who U.S.-armed contras. the Miskito village of Krukira. There we areas. They are mainly Spanish-speaking genuinely want to stop fighting and receive The kisanes no longer receive their uni­ were told that eight contras, who all grew Nicaraguans. amnesty, but are reluctant to give up their forms and guns from the CIA. Now they up in the village, had just returned and laid weapons. are armed and supplied by the Nicaraguan down their arms. Krukira is the hometown Direct talks with contras While laying down arms is "the best pos­ government. of Brooklyn Rivera, one of the most prom­ During our stay in the region, Nicara­ sible solution," Perez said, the government inent Miskito contra commanders. guan government officials themselves were is open to other amnesty arrangements on Cease-fire agreement Juan Salgado told our delegation that holding direct talks with some contra com­ the Atlantic Coast. The rally here was held to celebrate the several Miskito contra units had recently manders. At the rally here in Wawa, Sal­ Perez appealed to everyone to join in the second anniversary of a cease-fire agree­ entered Nicaragua from Honduras to probe vador Perez described some of the ques­ military defense of Nicaragua. He stressed ment signed in Wawa by Pro-Peace Kisan the possibility of ending hostilities. tions being discussed. He is the head of the that one does not have to be a Sandinista to and the Nicaraguan government. The In the city of Puerto Cabezas, amnesty MINT for the region. join the army or MINT. Another option is agreement ended the military hostilities be­ stickers were posted up everywhere. They Perez explained that any contra who to join the Indigenous Militias, he said. All tween the two and opened up a political read as follows: "Return to your home. turns in his weapon immediately returns to one needs to agree to "is to defend the Nic­ dialogue over how to jointly advance the Your family is waiting for you. Take ad­ his community with a written guarantee of araguan nation from imperialism, defend struggle for peace, Indian rights, and eco­ vantage of the Guatemala accords." "Am­ his safety. He gets paid for the gun and also autonomy, combat racism, and fight nomic development in this part of Nicara­ nesty is: Peace, Family, Work." "Without receives financial aid until he can start against the return of Somozaism," he con­ gua. bases in Honduras, there are only two working again. cluded. Before 1985, "there were errors on both roads left: coming home- or death." sides," said Pro-Peace Kisan commander Amnesty stickers and posters were dis­ Juan Salgado in his speech at the rally. The played not only on government buildings Sandinistas initially made mistakes in the but also on many private homes. Thou­ Party supporting U.S. gov't way they sought to bring the revolution to sands of Miskito war refugees have poured this region, but so did those Miskitos who into Puerto Cabezas in the last few years. joined Washington's contras and began Some families have a son or husband in stages Managua rally fighting the Sandinistas. the contras. Many have relatives who fled Today, Salgado continued, the task is to to Honduras and are living in camps run by BY HARVEY McARTHUR implementation of a cease-fire and ending "unite to advance the government of the the contras and Honduran army . Every­ MANAGUA, Nicaragua - The right­ all restrictions on civil liberties. Atlantic Coast," a government that more one's hopes are pinned on the greater pos­ wing Social Christian Party (PSC) held two The PSC leaders and many march partic­ and more Miskitos feel is theirs for the first sibility now of convincing these family rallies and a march here on September 27. ipants were professionals, business people, time. members to come home. The PSC is a pro-U.S. government and or students, but the rallies also included Salgado spoke at length about the auton­ pro-contra organization. It has had some hundreds of peasants and farm workers. omy law that has just been adopted by Nic­ Commissions for Peace and Autonomy leaders and members imprisoned for par­ They were brought from throughout the aragua's National Assembly. It guarantees Before the signing of the Guatemala ac­ ticipating in contra sabotage and terror country by PSC organizers. full language and cultural rights to all the cords, Nicaragua already had a full am­ groups. Some of the peasants the Militant inter­ Indian and Black communities of the At­ nesty program for contras. It was most ad­ Two competing PSC meetings were viewed did not seem to be pro-contra, but lantic Coast. It establishes the right of Atlan­ vanced here on the Atlantic Coast. Most held, since the party recently underwent a were not integrated into the mass peasant tic Coast residents to elect autonomous re­ Miskitos who joined the contras did so split. One drew 600 people, including dele­ or farm workers' unions. They did not see gional governments that will exercise thinking they were fighting for Indian gations from the U.S. and Honduran em­ themselves as benefiting from the revolu­ broad decision-making powers over the rights. bassies. The other, which drew 2,500 tion, and this left them open to the PSC's area's natural resources, education, social Once the Nicaraguan government em­ people and ended in a street demonstration, counterrevolutionary propaganda. services, and economic development proj­ braced the demand for autonomy on the At­ included leaders of the Christian Demo­ Luis Membrena works as a day laborer ects. lantic Coast, large-scale desertions from cratic International and representatives of on private farms near Posoltega. He said he "Our rights are well-defined in this law," the contra ranks began. Pro-Peace Kisan is the Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and West would like to get land of his own to work said Salgado. "And the Nicaraguan gov­ one example. In the gold-mining region German governments. ernment is fully in agreement with it." west of here, Sumo Indians who deserted The meetings and march took place but does not know how to apply for it under the agrarian reform program begun after He delivered his speech in the Miskito the contras have formed Indigenous Mili­ without incident as Sandinista police di­ the revolution. His biggest complaint language, which was then translated into tias as well. rected traffic around the demonstrators. against the government was the shortage of Spanish. Many in the crowd were Miskitos On the Rio Coco, the river that borders The political line of both rallies was the from villages where Pro-Peace Kisan is ac­ Honduras, there are also many amnestied same: charges that the Sandinista govern­ consumer goods. Socorro Gomez and Carlos Morena also tive. Salgado told them the autonomy law ex-contras. Some are functioning as border ment is worse than the Somoza dictator­ work as farm laborers. They said they did would soon be available in Miskito "so you guards, working with the Sandinista army . ship, overturned in 1979, and demands to not belong to the Rural Workers Associa­ can all read it." The amnesty process here has been end the draft, release all imprisoned con­ spearheaded by the Commissions for Peace tras and Somozaist National Guardsmen, tion "because it only organizes the state farms and the big private farms," not the Accelerating amnesty drive and Autonomy. These were initiated two dissolve the community-based Sandinista smaller farms they work on. They com­ The rally here was part of a flurry of ac­ years ago by Miskito women whose Defense Committees, and expel all Cuban plained bitterly about shortages and high tivities in the North Atlantic region to con­ families had been tom apart by the war. and Soviet personnel from the country. vince contras to take amnesty in light of the Along with some church and Red Cross of­ The PSC speakers made no reference to prices and the lack of a state-subsidized workers' store where they lived. Guatemala accords signed in August. The ficials, the women began making contact the U.S.-organized contra war and eco­ accords call for an end to military conflicts with contras and appealing to them to re­ nomic embargo, as they blamed the San­ Clemente Castro, a peasant from San in Central America, including a halt to turn, explaining that autonomy meant a dinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) Dionisio, said he was not a PSC member, U.S. aid to the contras, expulsion of contra whole new world was opening up for Nic­ for all the economic problems facing the but he had a son who was arrested for con­ bases from Horiduras, and amnesty for araguans who are Indian. country. tra activity. He came to the march because those who have taken up arms. The reconciliation commissions now They appealed to mothers who did not PSC organizers said they would help get This reporter spent a week in the region being established in other parts of Nicara­ want their sons to serve in the army, calling amnesty for his son. as part of an international delegation of gua are modeled on the success of the steps taken to defend Nicaragua an "FSLN Several young men from the capitafcity, women who live and work in Nicaragua. Commissions for Peace and Autonomy. military adventure," and urging draft eva­ Managua, complained that "there are no While we were here there was a steady The main Miskito contra units that re­ sion. jobs and no one can go to school any­ stream of contras turning in their arms. main in the North Atlantic region operate PSC Vice-president Julio Ramon Vfl­ more," and cheered calls to end the draft. One day, 11 came right into Puerto on the Rio Coco or in the Prinzapolka area, chez called for a "civic insurrection" against They later admitted they were draft evaders Cabezas itself to ask for amnesty. The next we were told. In addition, there is a con­ the government to begin on November 7 if and didn't want to apply for work or higher night another six showed up at one of the centration of contras belonging to the Nic­ all their demands were not met. That's the education for fear of being inducted into city's amnesty centers. araguan Democratic Force, the main CIA- deadline set by the Guatemala accords for the army.

8 The Militant October 23, 1987

I Cuba builds new child-care centers 'Minibrigades' make rapid progress

BY SUSAN LaMONT by their regular workplace, and coworkers With an outpouring of enthusiasm, the pitch in, if needed, to make up for the Cuban people have thrown themselves into brigade members' absence. a massive voluntary construction campaign For example the new child-care center that is transforming their country. "Little Steelworkers" where Castro spoke They've stiuted with Havana- the cap­ was built by a minibrigade from the Antil­ ital city of two million on the western end .Jana de Acero steelworks. Workers there of the island. By the end of this year, 600 make steel for Cuba's growing construc­ family doctors ' offices, 6,800 housing tion needs, as well as for export. On top of units, 10 health clinics, and II special meeting its own heavy production sched­ schools will be completed - all brand ule, the steel complex has six minibri­ new . In addition many existing hospitals, gades. theaters, and other buildings will be re­ There are already more than 20,000 modeled and expanded. minibrigade members in Havana. The Cu­ The plans are for the construction cam­ bans are confident that nearly twice that paign to continue for the next few years number can be organized. Some 3,000 are and be extended to the rest of the country. women. Most impressive of all are the figures for the number of new child-care centers being Castro recalled that the minibrigade movement was an idea that emerged in Cuban children in day-care center near Havana. Plans to build 100 new centers are Cuba with the Cuban revolution, as a mass well under way, due to minibrigades' success. For a more detailed description of action, just like organizing defense of the the work of the mini brigades and country, which is also an enormous mass movement. Since the 1970s, however, the anyone dreamed possible, and it's barely meals, medical care, and expert attention. other accomplishments of the started. Castro contrasted Cuba's approach to Cuban revolution, see the Oc­ minibrigades had been allowed to disap­ pear. Problems that had seemed unsolvable that of capitalist countries, where working tober 16 Militant, which reprints for years are being tackled and resolved. mothers are forced to fend for themselves Castro's speech of July 26, 1987. Their rebirth in the past year is an essen­ Projects that were slated for the distant fu­ in finding child care. Family and friends tial part of a bigger change -known as the ture are being worked on now. Others that are drafted to watch children, but often "rectification" process - which is trans­ had been begun and were never finished mothers have no choice but to leave the built in Havana itself: 50 in 1987, and 50 forming all aspects of Cuban life. are being completed. children unattended. more in 1988. The completion of these new Over the past decade, there had been a Castro talked about this in his speech at centers will meet Havana's current de­ the daycare center opening. "Here one can 'Mini-' minibrigades mands for child care by providing space for drift toward substituting administrative mechanisms - like the Economic Plan­ concretely see the new style of work and In the current construction efforts there 21,000 more children. the results of the rectification process. We are even "mini-" minibrigades, crew mem­ All this is part of a bigger plan to expand ning and Management System, which was supposed to organize the whole economy are in a new area [in Havana], and you all bers who volunteer over and above the the capacity of Cuba's daycare centers know what used to happen: buildings were work they're already doing to undertake from the current 100,000 spaces to - for involving the Cuban people them­ selves in running their society. The result put up but the streets weren't paved, no another project. Castro spoke on Sep­ 200,000. aqueduct or sewage system was installed, tember 2 about workers building a hospital On September 2 Cuban President Fidel was growing inefficiency, bureaucratic red tape, corruption, and disaffection. no stores, schools, or daycare centers were who volunteered to help put up an apart­ Castro spoke at a ceremony opening the built." ment house in the evenings when their reg­ first of the new centers in Havana. He de­ The "rectification" process is taking The opening of the new day care center, ular work ends. scribed the "minibrigades" that have made steps to turn that around. It means deeper he said, "is the most important social proj­ Even though the minibrigade members this remarkable accomplishment possible. involvement in and control by the workers ect by the minibrigades that we have inau­ are not skilled construction workers, they "The minibrigades," he said, "are creat­ and farmers in solving the problems they gurated. It is a symbol, because it is the are doing first-rate work, Castro explained. ing a new spirit in construction which is face and moving their revolution forward. pioneer of a program of 50 centers ... . spreading across the country." "The minibrigade has begun to mean Nothing makes this clearer than the re­ "It constitutes a real symbol of what can quality in construction, which is essential," The brigades are small work crews (the sponse of the Cuban workers to the new be done ... when the effort is serious, he said. "The habit, and even the idea of typical size is 40) made up of volunteers minibrigade movement. when we move away from bureaucratism, quality had been lost." who leave their regular jobs temporarily to theorizing, and all kinds of foolishness, "If Che [Guevara] was right," Castro Campaign a 'miracle' work on a specific construction project. and work seriously to solve the country's said, "in saying that quality is respect for Office workers, factory workers, and Castro has referred to the movement as a important problems." the people, then bad quality shows lack of others participate. They continue to be paid miracle. More is being accomplished than The excuse used to be, the Cuban leader respect for the people. It is a sign of lack of noted, that there weren't enough construc­ consideration for the people, and a lack of tion workers or materials to move ahead on culture. We will take care to ensure qual­ building things like new housing for ity ." Nicaragua women's march Havana. The modem, well-designed, soundly When it came to child-care centers, new built new daycare center - complete with construction had come to a virtual stand­ solar collectors on the roof - was proof backs Sandinista peace efforts still. that this goal is being met. Recalling these old attitudes, Castro BY HARVEY McARTHUR right wing's demand for the release of all said, "There were five daycare centers to MANAGUA, Nicaragua Some imprisoned contras and ex-members of the be built during the five-year period and 10,000 demonstrators, many of them Somozaist National Guard. they weren't being built. And if someone Guatemalan children working-class women, joined a march here Workers reacted angrily when asked asked about the day care center at such-and­ organized by the Nicaraguan Women's As­ sold on international their opinion of the rightist demand to re­ such a place that wasn't being built, they sociation (AMNLAE) September 29. turn properties confiscated from Somo­ said it was because there wasn't enough baby market AMNLAE called the march to protest the zaists and contras. "Impossible," said manpower, and for the other one there U.S. -backed contra war against Nicaragua, Adolfo Marenco, a mechanic's helper at weren't enough construction mater­ The sale of children is not a nightmare. and to support the steps the Nicaraguan the state-owned MET ASA metal fabrica­ ials .. .. " It actually happens. government has taken to implement the tion plant. "We suffered so many years This description hit home for the The Havana International Service re­ Guatemala accords. under the old owners, but now the plant be­ thousands of workers and local residents ported in a September 14 broadcast that a The march ended at the offices of the longs to the people. We would never give it attending the opening ceremony, who large, illegal network selling three-month­ United Nations, where a delegation deliv­ back." applauded enthusiastically. At the old rate, to six-year-old children exists in Gua­ ered a letter asking the UN to intervene "We'll never let them take back the land Castro emphasized, it would have taken temala, where the unemployment rate against the U.S. -sponsored war. from the peasants," added Luisa Mem­ I 00 years to accomplish what is now going stands at 43 percent. AMNLAE General Secretary Lea Guido brena, a worker at the Cafe Mejor food­ to be done in two. then addressed the crowd, recalling how Guatemalan Congressional Deputy Mar­ processing plant. "So many peasants had women had occupied the UN offices 10 Child care a top priority io Tarracona reports that in 1985, 218 chil­ no place to live and work, but now they years ago under Anastasio Somoza's dic­ dren were taken out of the country; 423 have land of their own. The future of the The Cubans understand that meeting the tatorship to protest the murders committed were removed in 1986. In the first five country depends on their keeping that need for child care is essential if women by his National Guard. months of this year, the number had al­ land." are to continue making headway in becom­ "We fought against the dictatorship to ready reached 600. Many marchers expressed a determina­ ing part of the work force. Before the 1959 win democracy and our equality," Guido revolution, only 10 percent of women The traffickers' network includes doc­ said. "Ten years ago, protesters were met tion to keep on demonstrating, especially tors, attorneys, and others who, with the as the wartime restrictions on civil liberties worked outside the home, mostly as with tear gas. Today, the streets belong to support of government officials, steal chil­ are lifted and they expect more activity by domestic servants. Many were forced into the people." dren from unwed mothers or very poor right-wing groups. prostitution. Today, women make up 38.1 Most of the slogans raised in the march percent of the work force. women to be sold in other countries at a focused on the contra war. "For the defense "It may bother the right wing, but "The 210 children registered [at the new later date. The Guatemalan Congress' of democracy, no more funds for the con­ AMNLAE women have guts," read the center] mean 210 mothers who are working Children's Protection Commission reports tras," went one chant. "Don't disarm the sign carried by one young worker. "This in production or services," Castro said. "It that one child can bring a price of $3,000 to people, keep the military service [draft]," means we revolutionary women can means that the mothers, as doctors, en­ $4,000. Other sources indicate that profits was another. "The women of the mobilize the people, but the rightists gineers, architects, middle-level techni­ per child can be as high as $20,000. Wholesale Market support the Guatemala can't," she explained. "It's okay if they cians, or workers in any industry or ser­ The Guatemalan paper El Grtifico re­ accords," read one large banner. reopen [the pro-contra daily] La Prensa ," vice, are producing for"the country and for ports that many of the children are bought Many marchers also took the opportu­ said Ivana Avflez, another Cafe Mejor the people." This helps the development of by persons or organizations to be sold to nity to answer demands raised here by worker. "But we'll meet them with the the country as a whole. parents of children who due to accident, ill­ right-wing groups. "No general amnesty," same determination and firmness. We It also means the best possible care for ness, or hereditary defects need an organ was a popular slogan. It referred to the won 't let them tum back the revolution." young children who receive education, transplant. - S.L.

October 23, 1987 The Militant 9 Behind.Tibet independence protests BY MARGARET JAYKO from the pavement and hurled them at In an attempt to prevent further publicity cops. SOVIET UNION about recent protests demanding indepen­ The police fired into the crowd as it Miles dence for Tibet, the Chinese government, gathered in the square in front of Johkang on October 8, ordered all international re­ Temple. Several people were killed. 0 400 porters out of Tibet. Travel to Tibet by Three days later, on October 4, the foreigners has been banned, and telephone Chinese government blocked off all main and telex communications with Tibet have roads out of Lhasa and sealed off three been halted. monasteries. Security forces occupied the At least 14 people were killed and scores Johkang cathedral and raided monasteries, of monks arrested during the protests, tearing down pictures of the Dalai Lama. A which began on September 27. 10:00 p.m. curfew was put in force. • This was the first official report of anti­ In response to the Chinese government's Beijing government actions in Tibet since 1959. fear that big protests might erupt on Oc­ Despite the reactionary character of the tober 7, the 37th anniversary of the leadership of the proindependence forces Chinese invasion of Tibet, two planeloads in Tibet, the Chinese Stalinists' repression, of heavily armed security forces were CHINA in the name of progress and socialism, is an flown into Lhasa on October 5. They or­ obstacle to winning the Tibetan people to dered "separatist elements" to surrender by communism and reinforces support for the October 15 or "they would be treated seri­ Buddhist hierarchy. ously." The third protest occurred on October 6. The frrst demonstration in Tibet's capi­ Scores of monks, watched by some 2,000 tal, Lhasa, took place on September 27. A bystanders, marched to government offices group of lamas, as the monks are called, in Lhasa. Eighty monks were arrested, the and their supporters marched to the largest number of lamas arrested in more Johkang Temple, the most sacred shrine of than a decade. Reports described them Tibetan Buddhism. They chanted, "Tibet being beaten with wooden sticks and wants independence" and waved the red cudgels by police. and blue flag of Tibet, which has been out­ lawed by Beijing. Dalai Lama visit to U.S. Cops attacked the protest. Twenty-one The outbreak of protests appears to have lamas and five other Tibetans were ar­ been prompted by a 10-day visit in Sep­ rested. tember by the Dalai Lama to the United Protests were also reported in Shigatse, States to drum up support for his five-point Tibet's second-largest city, as well by program for Tibet. exiles on the Nepal-Tibet border and in His demands include an end to the policy India. of settling large numbers of Chinese citi­ The Chinese regime immediately con­ zens in Tibet; respect for human rights of demned the action. Tibetans; negotiations on the future status opposition to the Senate action. The Chinese Stalinists pursued an ad­ The official New China News Agency of Tibet, which is currently an autonomous One State Department official was ministrative and bureaucratic course in quoted Xiokang Tubdain Nyima, vice­ region within China; a halt to the storing of quoted in the October 7 New York Times as Tibet, as they did in the rest of China. In­ chairman of the Standing Committee of the nuclear weapons and nuclear waste in saying that any possible benefits of the stead of politically educating, organizing, People's Congress of the Tibet Autono­ Tibet; and the withdrawal of the 350,000 Senate action for the Tibetan people were and mobilizing the Tibetan people to take mous Region, saying, "Actions by a few Chinese troops stationed in Tibet. "insufficient to outweigh the almost certain steps toward dismantling the feudal the­ people are only aimed at splitting the The response in Washington to the pro­ damage to the U.S.-China bilateral re­ ocracy that exploited them and kept their motherland and sabotaging Tibet's excel­ tests and the Dalai Lama's appeal for sup­ lationship." land in a state of extreme backwardness, lent situation, and these individuals must port was divided. Another official quoted by the Times the regime tried to force social-reform be dealt with seriously." In June the House of Representatives said the congressional resolution and meet­ measures on the population. Actions like The second demonstration happened on had tacked two amendments onto a State ing with the Dalai Lama "sends the wrong curtailing feudal privileges and introducing October I, the 38th anniversary of the Department authorization bill criticizing signal to more-violent elements and could education for the youth were accompanied founding of the People's Republic of China's "violation of human rights" and lead to more bloodshed." by the closing down of monasteries and the China. Thousands of Tibetans, led by military "occupation" of Tibet. At a rare news conference from Dharm­ attempted forced collectivization of ag­ monks, held a proindependence march. And on October 6, the Senate voted 98-0 sala, India - his home in exile - the riculture. They chanted slogans in Tibetan: "Free for a similar amendment. Dalai Lama told reporters on October 7 that Armed Tibetan resistance to the Chinese Tibet," "Chinese out of Tibet," and "Dalai The Senate actions reflected Congress' the demonstrations in Lhasa were caused began among the Khamba tribesmen in Lama, come back to Tibet," referring to desire to take advantage of the Chinese by "discontent and suffering" and that the Eastern Tibet as early as 1954 and broke the traditional spiritual and political leader government's repression of the protests to time has come for greater pressure on.Bei­ out again in 1956. At the same time, an un­ of Tibet, who has been in exile in India make anticommunist propaganda. jing to negotiate a peaceful settlement with derground resistance movement de­ since 1959. The State Department, on the other Tibet. veloped. The crowd torched police cars and the hand, acting on the administration's desire Speaking over Voice of America radio A mass uprising in 1959, led by the re­ station where the lamas arrested previously to continue strengthening Chinese-U.S. later, he urged better relations between the ligious hierarchy, was put down by were being held. Youths tore up flagstones economic and political ties, voiced strong United States and China as a way to better Chinese troops. the lives of Tibetans. Hostilities were further fanned during The Dalai Lama's conciliatory tone re­ the Chinese "cultural revolution" which flects his desire to reach an agreement with began in 1966. Subscribe to 'Perspectiva Mundial' Beijing that will allow him to return to In Tibet, this violent, intrabureaucratic Tibet without totally discrediting himself struggle resulted in the destruction of virtu­ Che Guevara speaks among his followers. ally every monastery and temple, forcing the monks to become farmers or laborers, Background forced collectivization of Tibetan farms, As a reader of the Militant you Chinese control over Tibet dates from the selling overseas of many priceless cul­ are familiar with our weekly the 18th century , China establishing "suze­ tural and religious relics, and other rights coverage of the struggles of ~ rainty"- a loose form of domination. The violations. working people around the Nicaragua comienza a Dalai Lama - the "god-king" who was In 1979, the Chinese government issued world. aplicar acuerdo de paz both the supreme religious and political a public apology for the violence perpet­ If you can read or are studying leader - continued to exercise authority rated on Tibet during the Cultural Revolu­ Spanish, there is a complemen­ EU sigue financiando a los contras terroristas over internal affairs, but China regulated tion. It has begun to rebuild SO!lle of the Tibet's foreign relations and was entitled to temples and monasteries, foster a revival of tary monthly magazine for you: FIUPINAS Huelgas y station an army in the country. Tibetan culture and language, and provide Perspectiva Mundial. PM is a atentado In 1911, following the Chinese revolu­ preferential treatment for Tibet in the estremecen Spanish-language socialist mag­ al gobierno tion of that year, the Tibetans ousted Bei­ building of roads, schools, housing, and azine that carries many of the CANADA jing's representatives. medical centers. The Chinese government same articles you read in the M. hostigaa It wasn't until 1950, the year after has also been carrying out negotiations se.:tiista de EU Militant. China's anticapitalist revolution, that Bei­ with the Dalai Lama, trying to get him to jing sent armed forces into Tibet to bring it return on Beijing's terms. "The United States is not the once more under Chinese control. Yet Tibet remains woefully more im­ guardian of freedom, but the Che: 'Que cese Ia Tibet was one of the most backward re­ poverished than the rest of China. Its per perpetuator of the exploitation filosofia del despojo' capita annual income is about $80, less and oppression of the peoples of gions of China. In 1955, the population breakdown was: agricultural workers, than half China's national average. Ac­ the world as well as many of its cording to official statistics, 70 percent of own people." Subscriptions: $9 for one year; 600,000; herdsmen, 200,000; monks, 150,000 (15 percent of the population); the people are illiterate. Th1s is from a 1964 speech by $5 for six months; Introductory The 1983 population estimate was I. 9 offer, $3.00 for five months. then nobility, merchants, artisans, and Emesto "Che" Guevara, fea­ beggars totaling 50,000. million, of whom 500,000 are Chinese. tured in PM's October issue. D Begin my sub with current A description in the April 2, 1959, New Another 4 million Tibetans form the major­ This speech, which voices issue. York Post is illuminating': ity of the population of vast adjacent areas Cuba's uncompromising inter­ of China, India, and Nepal. nationalism, was given by Che Name------"The Dalai Lama presides over a system As of 1979, I. 5 million Tibetans were at the United Nations as the rep­ Address ______of government that is dominated at all engaged in agriculture, including 500,000 resentative of Cuba's revolutiort­ levels by nobility and clergy. There are nomadic herdsmen. ary government. It will appear City/State/Zip ______about 150 aristocratic families in Tibet. ... Chinese modernization efforts have re­ Ownership of land . . . is monopolized by sulted in the creation of 260 small- and in a forthcoming book by -path­ Clip and mail to PM, 410 West finder/Pacific and Asia. the monasteries and nobles. Ula - a ·medium-sized factories and mines produc­ St., New York, NY 10014. feudal obligation to provide free transpor­ ing electric power, coal, building materi­ tation and other unpaid services to nobles, als, lumber, textiles, chemicals, and ani- monks and officials-: stH! exists." •mal products. ·

10 The Militant October 23, 1987 London rally will demand end of apartheid

BY PETE CLIFFORD Africa People's Organisation of Namibia LONDON - Tens of thousands of (SWAPO). people are expected to converge on this Speakers scheduled to address the Oc­ city October 24 for a massive demonstra­ tober 24 action reflect this breadth of sup­ tion against apartheid rule in South Africa port. Joining SWAPO President Sam and Namibia. Nujoma and an ANC speaker on the plat­ form will be Norman Willis, general secre­ The demonstration has been called by tary of the Trades Union Congress (British the Anti-Apartheid Movement, a long­ equivalent to the AFL-CIO); Bernie Grant, standing organization with 200 local chap­ one of four Black Labour Party candidates ters throughout Britain. Thirty-five na­ recently elected to Parliament; and Joan tional trade unions are also affiliated to the Lester, representing the National Execu" anti-apartheid campaign. The demonstra­ tive Council of the Labour Party. tion will demand that the British govern­ ment impose "sanctions now" against the The National Union of Students has con­ ducted a major campaign to mobilize for apartheid regime. the demonstration and is organizing buses In appealing for support for the October 24 from throughout Britain to attend. NUS demonstration, the Anti-Apartheid Move­ President Vicki Phillips will speak at the ment states: "No government has done action. more to protect the apartheid regime from Strong support is also corning from the in­ economic sanctions than Mrs. Thatcher's." dustrial unions. Contingents of miners are At the center of British Prime Minister corning from the main coalfields. Their Margaret Thatcher's concerns has been the union, the National Union of Mineworkers protection of $20 billion in British invest­ cosponsored with the Anti-Apartheid Move­ ments in South Africa, which constitute ment a September conference that called some 38 percent of the total foreign invest­ for an end to British importing of South Af­ ment in that country. rican coal. Opposition to Thatcher's course has The National Union of Railwaymen has strengthened in the last year. This was re­ issued a special call for its members to at­ flected at the annual conference of the tend the demonstration. In addition to dis­ Labour Party held in September. Delegates tributing publicity about the action, the rail A 1986 anti-apartheid protest in London there unanimously passed a resolution call­ union has recently produced a pamphlet de­ ing for a program of comprehensive man­ tailing the plight of rail workers under datory sanctions against apartheid and for apartheid. It also describes the successful support to the African National Congress strike by South African rail workers last -WORI.D NEWS BRIEFS-- (AN C) of South Africa and the South West spring. tiny nation was said to have the highest Israelis machine-gun per capita number of prisoners any­ Arab school children where. Still unaccounted for are 170 people, Gov't, death-squad terrorisn1 Israeli soldiers opened fire with Uzi including nine children, who were "dis­ submachine guns on a protest of Pales­ appeared" by security forces. on increase in El Salvador tinian schoolchildren. A woman passer­ by was killed and five other people BY SETH GALINSKY Another nationally known trade union wounded. Officials said soldiers fired India launches assault SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - A figure, Jose Salvador Ubao, secretary-gen­ the Uzis at the Arab protesters' legs on Sri Lankan Tamils billboard on the road from the international eral of the Union of University Workers at when they refused to disperse. airport to downtown San Salvador pro­ the National University, was kidnapped The assault occurred October 12 in the India has mounted an invasion of the claims, "Welcome to Salvadoran Democ­ September 1 by heavily armed men. He is town of Ramallah in the occupied West northern and eastern areas of the island racy." But the true face of this U.S.-backed believed to be alive, but the government re­ Bank. country of Sri Lanka to accomplish what regime is revealed by the continued and in­ fuses to state whether he is in their custody. The previous day, a 10-year~old girl the Sri Lankan government there could creasing use of terror against all opponents One aspect of the intimidation campaign was critically wounded by Israeli sol­ not - the suppression of the movement of the government. of the government is a concerted effort to diers firing at Palestinian demonstrators of the Tamil people for equal rights, Kidnappings, disappearances, and offi­ portray the UNTS and other political or­ in the occupied Gaza Strip. self-determination and, if need be, an in­ cial and unofficial acts of repression have ganizations as fronts for the outlawed The attacks climaxed two weeks of Is­ dependent homeland. been on the rise in recent months, as Jose Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front raeli violence against Palestinian dem­ Airborne Indian commandos were Napoleon Duarte's regime tries to intimi­ (FMLN), which is leading the guerilla onstrators. The protests were triggered dropped into the northern tip of Sri date all political and working-class opposi­ struggle in the country. when three Palestinians were gunned Lanka October 12. tion to his rule. The government, with the cooperation down by Israeli troops after allegedly It was reported that as many as 12,000 In May a bomb destroyed the offices of a of the major newspapers here in the capital, trying to run a checkpoint near the Briej Indian troops are now fighting the Sri coalition of three committees of mothers of has used the capture of human rights activ­ Palestinian refugee camp in Gaza. Lankan Tamils. the disappeared and political prisoners. ist Gloria Alicia Galan Garcia to advance An October l3 New York Times dis­ That same month a leader of the National At AI Azhar Islamic University in the this campaign. city of Gaza, a reported 20 youths were patch from Sri Lanka said the Indian Union of Salvadoran Workers (UNTS) was Galan Garcia, a member of the Commit­ wounded when Israeli soldiers opened forces were "battling their way through shot while protesting outside the Mariona fierce Tamil guerrilla resistance." tee of Mothers of the Disappeared, Politi­ fire on a campus protest by 3,000 stu­ Prison, where many victims of the regime An initial Indian force came to the is­ cal Prisoners, and Assassinated, was at­ dents. are held, often without being charged. land, which is off the southeast ·coast of Recently, political prisoners at Mariona tacked by men dressed in civilian clothes Meanwhile, it was reported that at India, as "peat:ekeeping" troops, in an September 3 following a demonstration Prison were attacked in their cells by prison least 40 people - Arab and Israeli - agreement with the Sri Lankan govern­ against the kidnapping of Ubao. guards and soldiers of the Salvadoran are slated for trial on charges of par­ ment. She was taken to the offices of the Trea­ army. Five prisoners were wounded by ticipating in illegal demonstrations. The agreement, signed last July, was machine-gun fire and hand grenades as sury Police, where she was beaten re­ Most of these occurred in 1984 and peatedly while her head was covered with a made after Sri Lankan government they were sleeping. Among the wounded 1985. Four people were to be tried for troops had fought unsuccessfully since rubber hood. were Fermin Rauda, well known to inter­ joining in a protest that occurred five 1983 to crush the armed Tamils fighting After a day of this torture, the Treasury national delegations for his work in the years ago. to end the oppression they have suffered Police paraded her before a carefully or­ UNTS , and Jose Vladimir Centeno, son of as a national minority. ganized press conference, where she read a Humberto Centeno, a central leader of the Tamils comprise 18 percent of the Sri prepared statement indicating that she be­ union federation. Uruguayans sign to Lankan ·population. A much greater longed to the FMLN and that the mothers' number are Sinhalese. committee was under its command. prosecute military India has a big Tamil population and Behind Galan Garcia while she read the Ywog Socialist its government has taken the posture of police statement, but hidden from the view More than half a million Uruguayans supporting Tamil rig~ts in Sri Lanka. of the press, a man kept a gun pointed at have signed petitions for a national ref­ her head throughout the press conference . erendum to scrap a law that giv.es am­ The India- Sri Lanka accord provided ....~~ Since then she has been imprisoned at nesty to members of the military who that the Sri Lanka government would 'Q" ~ .. Ilopango Prison. committed human rights atrocities. press for legislation expanding the civil ~e'~.:<.'b-~~ Seeking more propaganda milage out of In a .nation of 3 million, 550,000 rights of the Tamils, including semi-re-. ~e~~,c'/j this case, El Diario de Hoy and La Prensa people have already signed the petition gional autonomy for the northern and Grafica, the country's two main dailies, and another 80,000 are being collected eastern regions of the island. \~~~ft)' Subscribe! printed a two-page color ad accusing Gar­ to insure meeting legal requirements. But it was also agreed that India In 1973 the military imposed a dic­ This bimonthly revolutionary youth cia of being a fighter for the FMLN. The ad would station 8,000 troops in Sri Lanka newspaper covers the fight against repeated Galan Garcia's supposed admis­ tatorship in the name of combatting the to enforce the accord and to disarm the apartheid, Washington's wars, and sions at the press conference and supplied Tupamaros, a guerrilla force. In the 12 Tamil liberation fighters. racism, and the struggle for women's some blurry pictures purportedly showing years of harsh repression that followed, Since the accord was signed there has liberation, the rights of workers, and Galan Garcia with a gun in a guerrilla en­ the unions, the Socialist and Communist been no progress on winning approval in a socialist world. campment. parties, and other dissenting forces were the Sri Lanka parliament for the civil targeted. rights measures assured to the Tamils. $3 for six issues The ad later appeared as a poster that was plastered up all over San Salvador. When the military grip was finally In September the government did Name ______These cases of terrorism by government loosened in 1984, a civilian government agree to appoint an interim administra­ forces or by government-sponsored death was elected with the tacit support of the tive council for the northern and eastern Address ------squads have continued even as the Duarte military. In office, it put a bill through provinces. A majority of the council City ______regime is being promoted by Washington congress barring prosecution of mem­ members were to be members or sup­ State ____ Zip ______as the model for Central America. bers of the military for their crimes. porters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil On September 18 a leader of the Chris­ It is estimated that 50,000 people Eelam, the largest of several militant Clip and mail with payment to: tian Committee for the Displaced was kid­ were jailed during the repression, with groups fighting for an independent Young Socialist many of them tortured. At one time the Tamil homeland. 64 Watts St., N.Y., N.Y. 10013 napped, beaten until he could not walk, and thrown in the Mariona Prison.

October 23, 1987 The Militant 11

/ -CAlENDAR------CALIFORNIA ILLINOIS Martin Luther King Dr. Donation: $2. Sponsor: Lewis and Clark College, Thayer Room. Spon­ Militant Labor Forum. For more information sor: Young Socialist Alliance. For more infor­ Los Angeles Chicago call (314) '361-0250. mation call (503) 287-7416. Makolm X Speaks. A documentary film con­ Environmental Impact on Honduras of U.S. Maurice Bishop and the Legacy of the Gre­ taining footage from speeches by the Black rev­ Contra War. Speaker: Juan Almendares, Hon­ nada Revolution. Speakers to be announced. PENNSYLV ANNIA olutionary. Sat., Oct. 17, 7:30p.m. 2546 W duran doctor and environmentalist. Sat., Oct. Translation to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 24, 7 p.m. Pico Blvd. Donation: $3. Sponsor: Militant 17, 7 p.m. San Lucas Church, 2913 W North 4907 Martin Luther King Dr. Donation: $2. Philadelphia Labor Forum. For more information call (213) St.; Tue., Oct. 20, 7:30p.m. Swift Hall, the Di­ Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ Socialist Workers Party Campaign Rally. 380-9460. vinity School, University of Chicago Quad­ mation call (314) 361-0250. Hear Richard Gaeta, socialist mayoral candi­ Support the Neville Toxics Struggle. Chemi­ rangle (program in Spanish); and Wed., Oct. date and other activists speak out. Sat., Oct. 17, cal Workers Demand to Be Tested. Speaker: 21, 7:30 p.m. Leveron Hall, room Gll3, NEW JERSEY 6:30p.m. 2744 Germantown Ave. For more in­ Brent Hardwick, chairman, Neville Chemical Northwestern University, Sheridan Rd., formation call (215) 225-0213. Santa Fe Springs bargaining unit of Oil, Chem­ Evanston. Sponsor: Green Flag. For more infor­ Newark The Meaning of the Rectification Campaign. ical and Atomic Workers Locall-128. Transla­ mation call (312) 752- 4461 or 489-4533. The Bork Nomination and the Fight for A talk on the current situation in Cuba. Sat., tion to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 24, 7:30p.m. 2546 Democratic Rights. Speakers: Andrea Morell, Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m. 2744 Germantown Ave. W Pico Blvd. Donation: $2. Sponsor: Militant MASSACHUSETTS national leader of Socialist Workers Party; Sponsor: Militant Forum. For more information Labor Forum. For more information call (213) others. Translation to Spanish. Sat. , Oct. 17, call (215) 225-0213. Boston 7:30p.m. 141 Halsey St., 2nd floor. Donation: 380-9460. The Guatemala Peace Accords -New Stage Nicaragua: How the U.S. Media Distorts the $3. Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. For more UTAH in the Nicaraguan Revolution. Speakers: Bev­ information call (201) 643-3341. Truth. Speaker: Miranda Collette, editor of erly Treumann, director of NICA language Price Barricada Internacional. Translation to school in Esteli, Nicaragua; Aaron Ruby, chair­ NEW YORK The Exploitation of Women- A discussion Spanish. Sun., Nov. 1, 2 p.m. Reception to fol­ person, Boston Young Socialist Alliance, of the issues facing women and the fight for low. 2546 W Pico Blvd. Donation $2. Sponsor: taught in Nicaragua 1980-85; others. Transla­ Manhattan women's rights. Speakers: Judy Stranahan, Militant Labor Forum. For more information tion to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m. 605 U.S. Out of the Persian Gulf! Speakers: Socialist Workers Party, member of Interna­ call (213) 380-9460. Massachusetts Ave. Donation: $2. Sponsor: Georges Sayad, Socialist Workers Party; tional Ladies' Garment Workers Union Local San Francisco Militant Labor Forum. For more information others. Translation to Spanish. Fri., Oct. 23, 294; others. Sat., Oct. 17, 7:30p.m. 23 SCar­ The Central America Peace Plan, a Setback call (617) 247-6772. 7:30p.m. 79 Leonard St. Donation: $3. Spon­ bon Ave., Suite 19. Donation: $2. Sponsor: to the U.S. War. Speaker: Malik Miah, mem­ sor: Militant Labor Forum/Foro Perspectiva Militant Labor Forum. For more information ber National Committee of Socialist Workers MINNESOTA Mundial. For more information call (212) 226- call (801) 637-6294. Party. Translation to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 17, Austin 8445. Salt Lake City 7:30 p.m. 3284 23rd St. (near Mission). Spon­ What's Behind the War in the Persian Gulf? Queens Conflict in the Persian Gulf. Speaker to be an­ sor: Militant Labor Forum. For more informa­ Speaker: Lynne Banner, antiwar activist who Hear Bernadette Devlin McAliskey. Fri. , nounced. Translation to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 17, tion call (415) 282-6255. has lived and traveled in the Middle East. Sat., Nov. 6, 9 p.m. The Breffni Inn, 40th St. and 7:30p.m. 147 E 900 S. Donation: $2. Sponsor: Oct. 17, 7:30p.m. 407 112 N Main St. Donation: Queens Blvd., Woodside. Donation: $10. Pro­ Militant Labor Forum. For more information FLORIDA $2. Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. For more ceeds to send legal observers to Birmingham 6 call (801) 355-1124. information call (507) 433-3461. appeal and Liam Quinn trial in Northern Ire­ Miami land. Sponsor: Committee for Legal Justice in WASHINGTON The Central America Peace Accords and the Minneapolis Northern Ireland. For more information call U.S. War in Nicaragua. Speakers: Chaplain (718) 833-7741 or 436-4770. Seattle Rally in Defense of Democratic Rights. The Legacy of the Grenada Revolution. Morrison, American Friends Service Commit­ Speakers: Fred Halstead, Political Rights De­ tee; representative Socialist Workers Party. Video and discussion. Sat., Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m. fense Fund; others to be announced. Sat., Oct. NORTH CAROLINA 5517 Rainier Ave. S. Donation: $2. Sponsor: Translation to Spanish and Creole. Sat., Oct. 31 , 7 p.m. Central America Resource Center 17, 8 p.m. 137 NE 54th St. Donation: $2. Spon­ Greensboro Militant Labor Forum. For more information auditorium, Newman Center, 1701 University Nelson and Winnie, a video on Winnie Man­ call (206) 723-5330. sor: Militant Labor Forum. For more informa­ Ave. SE. Sponsors: Political Rights Defense tion call (305) 756-1020. deJa, a leader of the struggle against apartheid in Open House and Reception for Marea Fund, Central America Resource Center, Back South Africa. Sun., Oct. 18, 7 p.m. 2219 E Himelgrin, editor of the Young Socialist. Sat., AIDS: Fight the Disease, Defend Its Victims. Room Anarchist Books, Mayday Books, Path­ A Discussion for Working People. Speakers: Market. Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. For Oct. 24, 5-8 p.m. 5517 Rainier Ave. S. Spon­ finder Bookstore, Paul Robeson Bookshop. For more information call (919) 272-5996. sor: Young Socialist Alliance. For more infor­ Rev. Robert Carver, Episcopal Church Task more information call (612) 644-6325 . Force on AIDS; Sebastian Simmons, Patients Why Is There a Housing Crisis? Speakers: mation call (206) 723-5330. With AIDS; representative of Socialist Workers U.S. Out of the Persian Gulf! Demonstration Ervin Brisbon, president, Confederation of Party. Translation to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 24. at Federal Building, 4th St. and 5th Ave. Tue., Greensboro Resident Councils; John Cox, re­ WEST VIRGINIA Pre-forum dinner, 6:30; forum 8 p.m. 137 NE Oct. 29, 4-6 p.m. Sponsor: Emergency Com­ cent volunteer on housing construction brigade Charleston 54th St. Donation: dinner, $3; forum, $2. Spon­ mittee to Protest U.S. Presence in the Persian in Nicaragua; representative of Socialist Work­ Grenada Four Years After the U.S. Inva­ sor: Militant Labor Forum. For more informa­ Gulf. ers Party. Sun., Oct. 25, 7 p.m. 2219 E Market. sion. Speaker: Steve Clark, managing editor of Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ tion call (305) 756-1020 .. St. Paul New International. Sun., Oct. 25 , 7 p.m. 116 Crisis in the Auto Industry - Causes and mation call (919) 272-5996. McFarland St. Donation: $2. Sponsor: Militant GEORGIA Solutions. Speakers to be announced. Sat., Labor Forum. For more information call (304) Oct. 17, 8 p.m. 508 N Snelling Ave. Donation: 345-3040. Atlanta OHIO $2. Sponsor: Militant Forum. For more infor­ Cleveland Morgantown Citizens Conference on Privacy and the Con­ mation call (612) 644-6325. stitution. Speakers and workshops on privacy U.S. Policy in Nicaragua. Speaker: Ray The Philippines, an Unfolding Revolution. South Korea - Workers in Struggle. Hodgson, mayor of Bluefields, Nicaragua. Speaker: Mark Satinoff, Socialist Workers in the workplace, government intrusion into po­ Speaker: Will Reissner, former staff writer for litical activities, and reproductive health. Sat., Sat., Oct. 17,7 p.m. East End Neighborhood Party. Sat., Oct. 17, 7:30p.m. 221 Pleasant St. Intercontinental Press. Sat., Oct. 24, 7:30p.m. House, 2749 Woodhill Rd. Sponsors: East End Donation: $2. Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. Oct. 17,9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Alumni Hall, Georgia 508 N Snelling Ave. Donation: $2. Sponsor: State University. Donation: $15. Sponsor: Neighborhood House, Simba Wachanga. For For more information call (304) 296-0055. Militant Forum. For more information call more information call (216) 696-8215. The 1983 Overthrow of the Grenada Revolu­ Georgia American Civil Liberties Union and (612) 644-6325 . others. For more information call (404) 523- tion: The Lessons for Today. Speaker: Steve 6201. MISSOURI OREGON Clark, managing editor of New International. Socialist Educational Conference: Portland Sat. , Oct. 24. Dinner reception, 6 p.m.; forum "Grenada's Revolution - Its Achievements Kansas City Youth and Students Speak Out Against 7:30p.m. 221 Pleasant St. Donation: dinner, and the Lessons of Its Destruction." Speaker: Why the Bork Nomination Failed. Speakers: Apartheid and Contra Aid. Speakers: Marea $3; forum, $2. Sponsor: Socialist Publications Sam Manuel, Militant newspaper staff writer. Ed Lewis, president of Kansas City Coalition of Himelgrin, editor, Young Socialist; Natashia Fund. For more information call (304) 296- Class I, Sat., Oct. 31, 1 p.m.; Class 2, Sun., Black Trade Unionists; Teri Van der Waal, Mickelson, Roosevelt High School Peace Club. 0055. Nov. 1, 10 a.m. Kansas City National Organization for Women; Sat., Oct. 17, Dinner, 5:30p.m.; forum, 7:30 Marilyn Brown, Socialist Workers Party. "Rally Against Apartheid." A socialist publi­ p.m. 2732 NE Union. Donation: dinner, $3; 'Militant' Prisoner Fund cations rally. Speaker: Sam Manuel, just at­ Translation to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 24, 7:30p.m. forum, $2. Sponsor: Militant Forum. For more tended Pan African anti-apartheid conference in 4725 Troost. Donation: $2. Sponsor: Militant information call (503) 287-7416. The Militant's special prisoner fund Burkina Faso. Sat., Oct. 31, 7:)0 p.m. Labor Forum. For more information call (816) What Is Socialism? a discussion with Marea makes it possible to send reduced-rate All conference events held at 132 Cone St. 753-0224 or 561-4980. Himelgrin, national leader of the Young subscriptions to prisoners who need NW, 2nd floor. Translation to Spanish. Dona­ St. Louis Socialist Alliance and editor of the Young help paying for the paper. Please send tion: classes, $1 each; rally $3. Sponsors: Cuba Today, an Eyewitness Account. Socialist. Fri. , Oct. 16, II a.m. Reed College your contribution to: Militant Prisoner Socialist Workers Party and Young Socialist Speaker: Cathy Sedwick, Socialist Workers Student Union; Fri. Oct. 16, 2 p.m. Roosevelt Subscription Fund, 410 West St., New Alliance. For more information call (404) 577- Party, member United Auto Workers. Transla­ High School; Tue., Oct. 20, 2 p.m. P.C.C. Syl­ York, N.Y. 10014. 4065. tion to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 17, 7 p.m. 4907 vania, Pine Room; and Tue., Oct. 20, 4 p.m. -IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP------Where to find the Socialist Workers Party, St. NW, 2nd Floor. Zip: 30303. Tel: (404) 577- MISSOURI: Kansas City: SWP, YSA, 16412. Tel: (814) 398-2754. Philadelphia: Young Socialist Alliance, and Pathfinder 4065. 4725 Troost. Zip: 64110. Tel: (816) 753-0224. SWP, YSA , 2744 Germantown Ave. Zip: bookstores. ILLINOIS: Chicago: SWP, YSA, 6826 S. St. Louis: SWP, YSA, 4907 Martin Luther 19133 . Tel: (215) 225-0213. Pittsburgh: SWP, Stony Island Ave. Zip: 60649. Tel: (312) 363- King Dr. Zip: 63113. Tel: (314) 361-0250. YSA, 4905 Penn Ave . Zip: 15224. Tel: ALABAMA: Birmingham: SWP, YSA, 7322. NEBRASKA: Omaha: SWP, YSA, 140 S. (412) 362-6767. 1306 1st Ave. N. Zip: 35203. Tel: (205) 323- INDIANA: Muncie: YSA, c/o Maurice Scott 40th St. Zip: 68131. Tel: (402) 553-0245. TEXAS: Austin: YSA, c/o Mike Rose, 7409 3079. Peret, 1125 W. Marsh St. Zip: 47303. Tel: (317) NEW JERSEY: Newark: SWP, YSA, 141 Berkman Dr. Zip: 78752. Tel. (512) 452-3923. ARIZONA: Phoenix: SWP, YSA, 1809 282-2996. Halsey. Zip: 07102. Tel: (201) 643-3341. Houston: SWP, YSA, 4806 Almeda. Zip: 77004. W. Indian School Rd. Zip: 85015. Tel: (602) Tel: (713) 522-8054. Lubbock: YSA, c/o Amy IOWA: Des Moines: SWP, YSA, 2105 For­ NEW YORK: Albany: YSA, c/o Lisa Sand­ 279-5850. Tucson: YSA, c/o Ursula Kolb, Waugh, 2202 22nd St., Apt. B. Zip: 79411. P.O. Box 853. Zip: 85702-0852. Tel: (602) est Ave. Zip: 50311. Tel: (515) 246-1695. berg, 120 Lark St. Zip: 12210. Tel: (518) 795-2146. LOUISIANA: Baton Rouge: YSA, 4264 463-8001. Mid-Hudson: YSA, Box 650, UTAH: Price: SWP, YSA, 23 S. Carbon Ave., CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles: SWP, YSA, Oxford Ave. #4,Zip: 70808, Tel: (504)766-0510. Annandale. Zip: 12504. Tel: (914) 758-0408. Suite 19, P.O. Box 758. Zip: 84501. Tel: (801) 2546 W. Pico Blvd. Zip: 90006. Tel: (213) 380- New Orleans: YSA, P .0. Box 53224. Zip: 70 !53. New York: SWP, YSA, 79 Leonard St. Zip: 637-6294. Salt Lake City: SWP, YSA, 147 E. 9460. Oakland: SWP, YSA, 3808 E. 14th St. Tel: (504) 484-6418. 10013. Tel: (212} 219-3679or925-1668. Path· 900 South. Zip: 84~ 11. Tel: (801) 355-1124. Zip: 94601. Tel: (415) 261-3014. San Diego: MARYLAND: Baltimore: SWP, YSA, 2913 finder Books, 226-8445. Rome: YSA, c/o Cos­ VIRGINIA: Portsmouth: YSA, P.O. Box SWP, YSA, 2803 B St. Zip: 92102. Tel: (619) Greenmount Ave. Zip: 21218. Tel: (301) 235- mos Andoloro, 7172 Rickmeyer Rd. Zip: 13440. 6538, Churchland Station. Zip: 23707. 234-4630. San Francisco: SWP, YSA, 3284 0013. Stony Brook: YSA, P.O. Box 1384, Patchogue, WASHINGTON, D.C.: SWP, YSA, N.Y. Zip: 11772. 3165 Mt. Pleasant St. NW. Zip: 20010. Tel: 23rd St. Zip: 94110. Tel: (415) 282-6255. San MASSACHUSETTS: Boston: SWP, YSA, 1 (202) 797-7699, 797-7021. Jose: SWP, YSA, 46 /z Race St. Zip: 95126. 605 Massachusetts Ave. Zip: 02118. Tel: (617) NORTH CAROLINA: Greensboro: SWP, Tel: (408) 998-4007. Seaside: YSA, P.O. Box 247-6772. YSA, 2219 E Market. Zip: 27401 . Tel: (919) WASHINGTON: Seattle: SWP, YSA, 1645. Zip: 93955. Tel: (408) 394-1855. 272-5996. 5517 Rainier Ave. South. Zip: 98118. Tel: MICHIGAN: Detroit: SWP, YSA, 2135 Stockton: YSA, c/o Ted Barratt and Gustavo OHIO: Cleveland: SWP, YSA, 2521 Mar­ (206) 723-5330. Mendoza, 825 N. San Jose St. Zip: 95203. Tel: Woodward Ave. Zip:48201. Tel: (313)%1-0395. ket Ave. Zip: 44113. Tel: (216) 861-6150. WEST VIRGINIA: Charleston: SWP, (209) 941-8544. MINNESOTA: Austin: SWP, YSA, 407 1/z N. Columbus: YSA, P.O. Box 02097. Zip: YSA, 116 McFarland St. Zip: 25301. Tel: (304) FLORIDA: Miami: SWP, YSA, 137 NE Main. Zip: 55912. Tel: (507) 433-3461. North­ 43202. 345-3040. Morgantown: SWP, YSA, 221 54th St. Mailing address: P.O. Box 370486. Zip: field: YSA, c/o Heiko Koester and PatRombero, Pleasant St. Zip: 26505. Tel: (304) 296-0055. 33137. Tel: (305) 756-1020. Tallahassee: YSA, Carlton College. Zip: 55057. Tel: (507) 663- OREGON: Portland:SWP, YSA, 2732NE P.O. Box 20715. Zip: 32316. Tel: (904) 222- 4000, ext. 4570 or 4563. Twin Cities: SWP, Union. Zip: 97212. Tel: (503) 287-7416. WISCONSIN: Milwaukee: SWP, YSA, 4434. YSA, 508 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul. Zip: PENNSYLVANIA: Edinboro: YSA, · c/o 4707 W. Lisbon Ave. Zip: 53208. Tel: (414) GEORGIA: Atlanta: SWP, YSA, .132 Cone 55104.-Tel: (612) 644-6325. Mark Mateja, Edinboro University of Pa. Zip: 445-2076.

12 The Militant October 23, 1987 --THE GREAT SOCIETY------

Just plan ahead ~ If you're banana is used to illustrate the use protesting "the harassment of their Wall Streeter, "The cardiovascu­ Isn't that odd- We only now tired of Post Office lines, for a $2 of a condom. "The banana is an union officials and the forced box­ lar market is most promising for learned it, but during the alleged fee you can now order stamps by important product," declared the ing matches of their women work­ the next five years." gas crisis of the '70s, when Con­ phone and charge them to a credit prez of the IBA, "and deserves to ers to entertain the U.S. service­ gress imposed a tax on gas be treated with respect and consid­ men." The bright side - Marketing guzzlers, a "quirk" in the law eration." specialist Laurel Cutler advised exempted cars over 6,000 pounds. Job opening - Congressmem­ Campbell's soup pushers that what By a quirky coincidence, the Rolls Copout- In fairness, we note bers from the Kansas farm belt with the concern about herpes and Royce and Bentley are in that the PBS response to the banana proposed legislation to get another AIDS, the pleasures of food may weight class. folk: "Considerations of taste bankruptcy judge for the state to increasingly become a substitute Harry made it desirable to use a prop in­ help cope with the increasing for sex. Could be-Since the advent of Ring stead of the human anatomy to caseload. Bankruptcies in Kansas remote channel changers, TV pro­ demonstrate the proper use of a jumped 56.6 percent in two years. Just don't get excited -The gram switching has increased 75 condom." FDA found that the wiring in a percent, according to J. Walter card. The catch? They deliver Those golden arteries- What particular pacemaker might be fa­ Thompson, the folk who provide a them by mail. "Civilizing" the Philippines? with millions of people experienc­ tally defective, but permitted the lot of your commercials. But not - The newsletter of the Coalition ing high blood cholesterol levels maker to send a innocuous letter to to worry, JWT advises its clients. "Yes, We Have No Bananas" of Labor Union Women reports and the feds okaying several rem­ doctors. The company assures the Viewers are "quite likely to con­ -The International Banana Assn. that three of its members met with edies, the market for cholesterol­ danger is "minimal," saying the sider a good commercial as enter­ has protested a slated PBS striking workers at a U.S. base lowering drugs is expected to hit defect merely causes the gadget to taining as programming on an­ documentary on AIDS in which a area in the Philippines who were the $1 billion mark. Enthused one skip a beat now and then. other channel." Pan-African conference in Burkina hits apartheid

Continued from front page since the revolution. Bureau of Students of Burkina Faso, told port for the anti-apartheid struggle. After the official opening ceremonies, the delegates, "All the youth and women of Several delegates noted that Burkina conference participants decided to open the Africa denounce all commercial relations Faso had taken the lead on this proposal. discussion to everyone attending. Its pro­ with apartheid. He reported that the Bur­ The Bambatacommittee, which organized ceedings were also broadcast on radio and kinabe youth were planning to march in the conference, was established as a grass­ television in Burkina Faso and to neighbor­ protest against apartheid October 24. roots, nongovernmental organization. The ing cmmtries. The Ouagadougou daily Sid­ A lively discussion developed on several Burkina Movement Against Racism and waya carried regular reports. points over the four days of the conference. for Friendship of the People (MOBRAP) "Our duty is to collaborate with the Many delegates stressed the need for man­ organized support for the conference from women and youth of South Africa and datory, comprehensive sanctions against the 30 provinces in the country. Namibia," said Colette Nana of the Wom­ South Africa. Others expressed frustration A representative of MOB RAP explained en's Union of Burkina. "Too much has at the reluctance of the United States, that the purpose of the provincial commit­ been said and too little has been done. Our Europe, and Japan, and many African tees was to involve people at every level in aim is to do away with routinism," Nana countries to apply sanctions in any mean­ the conference and to educate about the explained. ingful way. struggle against apartheid. The committees Still others emphasized military aid, in­ Other women delegations included the raised funds in workplaces and in the vil­ cluding the possibility of military interven­ National Women's Union of Mali, the Na­ lages. tion by African states as the most effective Many of the Burkinabe delegates tional Union of Women of Mauritania, and action to end apartheid. explained that their decision to hold the the National Union of Women of theRe­ ANC leader Shope explained, that he conference was a result of the many anti­ public of the Congo. understood the difficulties in many coun­ apartheid activities held in the country Some Jonas, president of the 'National tries. But, he said, "Fighting for total and comprehensive sanctions against the racist regime is the most effective way in which D.C. march demands action on AIDS the international community can help our struggles today. That movement is grow­ Continued from front page Other speakers included Cesar Chavez, ing stronger day by day ." much more could be done. Money that is president of the United Farm Workers of He continued, "South Africa must be used for war could be used for a lot of bet­ America, and two members of Congress, liberated by the South African people. No ter things." representatives Gerry Studds and Barney one can do the fighting for us. A Central America solidarity group Frank, both Massachusetts Democrats who "All of the international solidarity ac­ Under apartheid, South African miners marched by chanting loudly, "Stop AIDS, are openly gay. tions should be increased in order to hasten are separated from their families for not Nicaragua" and "Money for AIDS - A moving part of the rally was the hook­ the fall of the Pretoria regime." most of the year. not the contras." ing together of a quilt with the names of A veteran's contingent also marched. 1, 920 victims of AIDS. The patchwork As the huge march crowded into the quilt, made up of panels created by friends Mall near the Capitol, Eleanor Smeal, the and family members, was laid out on the -10 AND 25 YEARS AGO--- former president of NOW, spoke. "We mall during the march for the first time. 1950s for armed actions carried out in sup­ must carry today's message to the White Most of the people remembered in the THE MILITANT port of Puerto Rican independence. House - we will have full civil rights for quilt are men, but a few are women. And gay people," said Smeal. "This is one of one was for baby Jessica, a child who died Oct. 21, 1977 the largest marches in American history - from AIDS. The quilt, which measures 150 we are too large to ever be denied again." by 470 feet, cost about $50,000, money "Don't cry. If one is dying for his coun­ THE Smeal captured the victory that marchers raised mainly by small donations. · try there is no need to cry." felt had been won in stopping the Bork The United Farm Workers organized a These were Andres Figueroa Cordero's MILITANT nomination. "We are feeling powerful be­ contingent, and there were some union first words to his brother as the ailing mem­ Publiahed in the lntereats of the Wor~in9 People cause Bork has been stopped - that the signs in the crowd. But there was not a big, ber of the National Party of Puerto Rico ~ct. 22, 1962 Price 10c right to privacy stays for Blacks, stays for organized union participation. was carried from a plane at the San Juan women, and now must be extended to les­ On the night before the march 300 airport October 7. Andres' brother had bro­ (The Cuban missile crisis did not begin bians and gays. We must unite with all the unionists attended a reception at AFL-CIO ken out in tears when he saw the pallid, until President John Kennedy's speech of movements for social change, including headquarters. It was hosted by more than a frail figure of Andres in a wheelchair, a Oct. 22, 1962. The item below refers to the labor movement, because united, jus­ half dozen union locals. Puerto Rican flag draped across his shoul­ events leading up to it.) tice will be ours." Speakers at the labor reception included ders. Oct. 17 - The great majority of the Virginia Apuzzo, a longtime gay rights Bill Olwell, vice-president, United Food Outside, thousands of people greeted the American people are opposed to a U.S. leader, linked the march to the civil rights and Commercial Workers; Norman Hill, Nationalist with shouts of, "jLibertad! military attack against Cuba. President movement that destroyed legal racial co-chair, A. Philip Randolph Institute; jLibertad! jLibertad!" Kennedy has begun to court this majority segregation. She said, "This day was born Anna Podia, Coalition of Labor Union Freedom!-to hail Figueroa Cordero's sentiment by attacking Republican advo­ out of Birmingham and Little Rock. We Women; United Auto Workers District 65 release. cates of immediate invasion. At the same are the sisters and brothers of Rosa Parks Vice-president Julia Kushner; Arturo Rod­ Freedom!-to demand that President time he continues his own efforts to stran­ and Martin Luther King. We are here to riguez, United Farm Workers vice-presi­ Carter release the other four Nationalists gle the Cuban revolution and preparations win." dent; Willie Baker, vice-president, Coali­ imprisoned with Figueroa Cordero. for a direct U.S. military assault at some Actress Whoopi Goldberg addressed her tion of Black Trade Unionists; and Howard Freedom!-to tell the United States to future time. remarks to the Reagan administration and Wallace, Gay-Labor Alliance of San Fran­ get out of their country so that Puerto Ri­ A Washington dispatch in the October Congress: "When the kids in Florida who cisco. cans can run their own affairs. 14 New York Times says "authoritative suffer from AIDS got their house burned Julia Kushner noted, "This issue is a de­ The night before, Cordero was also sources here report that close and occasion­ down, Reagan, did you tell them it was bate not just outside, but also inside the given a hero's welcome at a rally of 350 in ally provocative surveillance of Cuba by wrong? If America is just, then why didn't labor movement. Our union has fought for Chicago. the U.S. military has met with no resis­ the president support them, comfort anti"discrimination clauses in our con­ There Nelson Canals, head of Puerto tance from Premier Castro's Government" them?" tracts." Rico's National Committee to Free the In other words, the only reason there Jesse Jackson, candidate for the Demo­ Joslyn Williams, president of the Metro­ Nationalist Prisoners, read a message haven't been any shooting incidents di­ cratic presidential nomination, pledged politan Washington Council (the Washing­ Figueroa Cordero had written but was too rectly involving U.S. and Cuban forces so support for gay rights. He called for in­ ton, D.C., Central Labor Council), wel­ weak to read. far is because the Cubans have refrained creased federal spending on AIDS re­ comed the unionists to Washington. Wil­ "My release is a victory for the Puerto from responding to provoc::ttion - and the search and education. "We gather today to liams said, "Through your efforts or­ Rican and North American people, which provocations are great. James Reston re­ insist on equal protection under the law for ganized labor has finally come out of the should be dedicated to work for the release ported in the October 12 Times that the every American, for workers' rights, for closet. You have opene~ the door and of other political prisoners, especially the Kennedy administration ''is sending its women's rights, for the rights of religious helped to untie the chains of ignorance that other four Nationalist political prisoners, planes over Cuba night and day." freedom, the rights of individual privacy, held us in prison. This is a historic occa­ Lolita Lebron, Oscar Collazo, Irving Since Cuba now has anti-aircraft sys­ for the right of sexual preference," said sion. This is a fight that you have been Flores, and Rafael Cancel Miranda." tems, radar and jet fighters, the question Jackson. "We came together for the rights fighting for years but labor has been late in Figueroa Cordero said. must be asked: "Is the U.S. government of all the American people." joining." The five were imprisoned in the early trying to provoke a shooting incident?"

October 23, 1987 The Militant 13 -EDITORIALS------'Overtiine' and the bosses' drive to Help get the 'Militant' around extend workday

The Militant strongly urges our readers to make a pines, Angola, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Ireland, Great Brit­ BY DOUG JENNESS pledge now toward the $150,000 fall Socialist Publica­ ain, Guyana, Grenada, and many other countries to get Striking paperworkers in Jay, Maine, are wearing a tions Fund. The fund is aimed at maintaining and ex­ the facts that never make it into the big-business media. T-shirt that sports a pig with wings and proclaims, "Sure panding the readership and coverage of the Militant, the In addition, since the Nicaraguan revolution of July I'll work Christmas ... when pigs fly." Spanish-language monthly Perspectiva Mundial, the 1979, the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial have main­ One oflnternational Paper's demands is that Christmas Marxist journal New International, the French-language tained a bureau of reporters in that country to provide reg­ be eliminated as a shutdown holiday. The company has Nouvelle lnternationale, and Pathfinder books. ular coverage of the revolution and Washington's war to already gotten rid of Easter and July 4th as days it will Your pledges and contributions have a vital role in overthrow it. close down its mill in Jay. helping the Militant get out the truth about workers, And the Militant is read by growing numbers in farmers, and their allies who are fighting for justice Canada, Britain, Iceland, Sweden, Australia, New Zea­ around the world. land, and elsewhere who are hungry for the world view of This issue, for instance, carries a report by Sam Man­ the struggles of workers and farmers that the Militant LEARNING ABOUT uel from the West African country of Burkina Faso, on provides on a weekly basis. the pan-African conference against apartheid recently There is no mystery about how the "right things" in the SOCIALISM held there. Militant get around the world. The Militant's role is Because the Militant tells the truth to working people made possible by its supporters- readers, distributors, The huge paper company is also putting the arm on the about what is happening in the world - from Jay, and financial contributors. workers to give up double-time pay for working Sun­ Maine, to the Persian Gulf- it is a tool for fighters who These include the hundreds who are participating in days. are trying to chart a way to defend the interests of the op­ the current campaign to win 6,000 new subscribers for In Hartford, Connecticut, where workers have been on pressed and exploited. the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial. strike for 20 months against Colt Firearms, a union activ­ Malcolm X, a leader of the fight for Black liberation The $150,000 fund is vital for making possible further ist was suspended before the strike began for refusing to who was one of the outstanding revolutionary figures of steps forward for the Militant, and for the other socialist work "overtime." (See article on page 7.) · our time, appreciated the Militant's role. He said in a publications. Both of these cases spotlight one of the big problems 1965 speech: "The Militant newspaper is one of the best As we go to press, the fund stands at $109,500 pledged facing working people- the employers' never-ending in New York City. In fact, it is one of the best anywhere and $29,700 collected. The top priority is to bring the drive to lengthen the working day. you go today because everywhere I go I see it. I saw it pledges up to and above the $150,000 goal. Hundreds The battle over the working day takes place in many even in Paris about a month ago; they were reading it more pledges are needed. ways. One is the petty pilfering of minutes from workers' over there. And I saw it in some parts of Africa where I In the coming weeks, supporters of the Militant, Per­ rest and meal breaks, often without regard for contractual was during the summer. ... If you put the right things in spectiva Mundial, and the other socialist publications in agreements. it, what you put in it will see that it gets around." many parts of the United States will be holding public Another way is through what has become known as The international role of this newspaper has expanded meetings to discuss the unique contributions these publi­ "overtime." This actually is misnamed and can more ac­ further in recent years. Our reporters provide eyewitness cations make to advancing the struggles of working curately be described as stretching out the normal work coverage of events of the struggles of working people in people. day. Increasingly, working "overtime" isn't voluntary; it the United States from meat-packers in Sioux Falls, We urge all our readers to support, publicize, and at­ is a condition for keeping a job. South Dakota, to farmworkers in Washington State. In tend these meetings, and to make a pledge now to the The concept of "overtime" arose because workers, the last couple of years Militant correspondents have Socialist Publications Fund by filling out the coupon on through struggle, forced the government to limit the gone to Cuba, Trinidad, Haiti, Indochina, the Philip- page 6. workweek to 40 hours. This victory was codified into law in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. In spite of this law, millions of workers don't work 40 hours; they work 50, 60, 70, or more hours a week. The employers have gotten around the law by dubbing more than 40 hours' work as "overtime." In most instances, U.S. steps up aggression in gulf they pay a higher hourly rate for these "extra" hours. But this is still cheaper than hiring additional employees for crashed. One plunged into the sea October 4. One crew whom they have to pay benefits and so on. Continued from front page This division between "normal time" and "overtime" is port by stating, "There's been no change in our policy." member is missing and presumed dead. Three others were injured. Another chopper crashed during the sum­ increasingly artificial. Moreover, it isn't the most impor­ Meanwhile, an administration source "privately" vol­ tant division of the working day. mer, killing four crew members. unteered that commanders in the gulf want to know what One part ofthe working day is the time in which work­ Maintenance of the helicopters, the backbone of the action they should take if they encounter "a ship in need" ers create the equivalent value to what they need to live minesweeping operation, is becoming a major problem, not flying the U.S. flag. and to keep on working- that is, for the food clothing, Navy people told the New York Times. And the Pentagon added that rules on the U.S. mine­ shelter, and other things necessary to subsist. And to "The relatively delicate machines are operating in the sweeping operation in the area now include the right to raise children that will eventually replace them on the worst possible conditions of high heat, humidity, sand attack any Iranian ship that U.S. forces say has been labor market. storms and salt spray," the paper reported October 7. caught laying mines, or carrying them. But it doesn't take the full working day for workers to "Conditions are so bad," one naval officer said, "that The Post noted that administration spokespeople "indi­ produce enough value to ensure their labor power will helicopters require as many as 40 man hours of mainte­ cated little willingness to press Iraq to stop its now al­ continue to be renewed. If, for example, it takes only most-daily attacks on Iranian oil tankers or Iran-bound nance for every hour spent in the air." The dispatch added: "The Navy's difficulties are com­ three hours oflabor each day to achieve this, workers will vessels." get paid for the value of what they produce in three hours. A Post dispatch from the United Arab Emirates the pounded by the fact that, while vast stretches of water must be searched with vulnerable equipment, it is relativ­ This is spread over the total number of hours worked each previous day observed: day, creating the impression they are paid for every hour "While the American buildup in the gulf was con­ ely simple for the Iranians to toss mines from small sail­ of work. ducted in the name of protecting free navigation at sea, ing vessels or from speedboats . .. . " Despite these difficulties and dangers, Washington is Workers are hired for an entire day and they keep U.S. policy is now seen to be compromising that princi­ working beyond what is necessary to replace their labor ple by tolerating Iraqi attacks on foreign tankers carrying plunging in ever deeper. One reason the Reagan administration is able to press power. During these extra hours, they are producing Iranian crude, yet seeking to thwart any Iranian retalia- value for the employer. tory action . . .." · this confrontational course with Iran is that it has the sup­ And the same issue of the paper reported that the U.S. port of the Democrat-controlled Congress. Naturally, once their hired laborers have produced helicopter assertedly fired on by an Iranian gunboat Oc­ Democratic leaders in the Senate and House have com­ enough to survive, the owners of the mines, factories, tober 6 was not a patrol aircraft, as the Pentagon had re­ plained that Reagan has thumbed his nose at the War mills, and big farms want to keep them working for as ported, but a heavily armed Army gunship. Washington Powers Act, which requires that Congress be given voice many additional hours as possible. Each of those hours of used the alleged incident as a pretext for attacking four when the U.S. military is in a war situation. work puts more money in the bosses' pockets. And if Iranian ships on October 8. But at the same time, they hasten to assure, they fully they don't have to pay overtime or premium pay, they In its moves to choke off Iran, Washington has gained support the gunboat presence in the gulf. rake in even more. more practical support from neighboring Arab regimes. To further the White House effort to isolate Iran, both The ideal situation for the owners would be to work These regimes have been reluctant to openly align the House and Senate voted in favor of a total ban on Ira­ their employees 24 hours, seven days a week. But they themselves with Washington, recognizing how badly this nian imports. can't do that because there are physical limits to how long would discredit them. On October 6, the Senate voted 93-0 for the resolution. humans can work. At the same time, the rulers of the gulf-area Arab states In the House, the same day, the vote was 407 to 5. Many employers, however, do try to keep production fear the impact within their own countries of Iran's re­ The Congress members conceded that a ban would running around the clock every day by using shifts. For fusal to bow to U.S. military power. Such defiance of have little practical effect since Iran can readily sell its oil their machinery to stand idle overnight or on weekends U.S. imperialism, which has plundered the resources of elsewhere. and holidays is useless to them. So they're always trying the entire region, strikes a sympathetic response among The sentiment behind the resolution was summed up to find ways of maximizing the number of hours each the masses of the people there. They might demand their by House Speaker Jim Wright, the Texas Democrat. "We worker can work. own rulers do likewise. can assuage our anger," he declared. That's why all across the country the number of in­ On a visit to the area, U.S. Energy Secretary John Her­ Why is the U.S. military force in the Persian Gulf? voluntary "overtime" hours worked is going up and holi­ rington told reporters, that Washington was "very satis­ For the same reason that it's in Central America. day and Sunday work is increasing. fied with the support we are getting from the gulf coun­ Washington and Wall Street are determined that no The employers don't give a tinker's damn about the tries. matter the cost they will remain the world's dominant im­ wear and tear on workers who are forced to work 10, 12, "We are getting ship repairs done," he said. "We are perialist power. They can no more abide Iran exercising and 14 hours a day. Nor do they have any interest in the getting refueled and resupplied. We are getting what we its right of self-determination than they can Nicaragua workers having some time for themselves or to relax with need." doing so. their families and friends . There are now 80 U.S. warships in the area, carrying The many people in this country who oppose the ag­ Workers who are driven to work longer hours, return­ thousands of military personnel. And there are the planes gression against Nicaragua should also oppose the ag­ ing home every day more and more exhausted, are more and helicopters. gression against Iran. likely to be physically and emotionally worn down. And Iran claims to have shot down one of the helicopters The U.S. gunboats should get out of the Persian Gulf! they will likely live shorter lives. that recently attacked its boats in the gulf. Washington The U.S. men and women on the ships and aircraft in But that's no problem for the employers. There's more denies this. the region, whose lives are in daily peril, should be than enough workers to replace them. But it does admit that so far, two helicopters have brought home now! The degrees to which the employers can be prevented from lengthening the working day depends on how much power workers are able to bring to bear through their unions in defense of their interests.

14 The Militant October 23, 1987 A lesson about why not to talk t() cops on the job

BY MIGUEL ZARATE ous to many because foreign materials had been found in sabotage. His job was to "weed out" union militants. But The most valuable lesson workers at O'Brien Meats products prior to that time. both he and the plant manager testified that they didn't Inc., a small packinghouse near Omaha, have learned in For example, nuts and bolts from a hydro-flaker know about the union activity of the three who were fired recent months is not to talk to cops. Unfortunately, we machine on its last legs worked loose and fell into a vat of until the day of the arbitration hearing itself. But they learned this one the hard way. ground up meat. Paint has also been found in meat. And quickly contradicted each other. I was hired with a number of other folks in the fall of just the day before, a thermometer was found in meat as For example, the cop said he began his investigation in 1986. Local 271 of the United Food and Commercial it was being sliced. a completely objective way, checking out every worker Workers union began to get reorganized in December O'Brien Meats Inc., hired a detective from the Baker's in the plant. He said the investigation quickly narrowed Detective Agency, a private company that claims its ob­ down to six people. They turned out to be six recently jective is to "weed out dishonest workers." Roughly hired employees, who the cop claimed were the most translated, that means getting rid of union activists. likely to commit such an act of sabotage. But company UNION TALK This cop began calling workers in for questioning. records showed that six other recently hired workers were Many mistakenly thought if we didn't cooperate, we'd never investigated. The ones who were investigated all 1986. Prior to that time, the union membership had dwin­ be fired. As it turns out, three of us were fired anyway. attended union meetings. dled down to two members and the local hadn't met for At the arbitration hearings, four of us had a chance to over two years. Workers have the right to refuse to talk to cops regard­ explain the truth. less of whether they are from the FBI, CIA, or local A number of meat-packin.,; fights began in the area The local has dues check-off. The company had police. This practice of refusing to talk to cops should about the same time. Unionists at Iowa Beef Processors noticed a substantial increase in union membership in also extend to agencies like Baker's Detectives. (IBP) in Dakota City, Nebraska, were locked out in De­ three months' time. And a supervisor attended a union The mere act of cooperating in an investigation like cember. A few months later, these unionists voted to go meeting after getting the company owner's approval to this gives the cops undeserved "authority" to pry into on strike after the company began preparations to restart do so. workers' business. the plant with scabs. Unionists also went on strike at the Testimony from union activists directly contradicted John Morrell & Co. packinghouse in Sioux City, Iowa, Shortly after the cop concluded his investigation, three that of the company cop. But it boiled down to the word just across the river from the IBP plant. of us were fired, supposedly for falsification of our job of the cop against the word of the union member. The cop applications. Some of us at O'Brien Meats wanted our union local to said that a worker had given him the full names of six We immediately filed grievances explaining that we likely suspects, yet that worker testified that this was im­ become more involved in extending solidarity to meat­ had been fired because of union activity. We also filed possible since he didn't know the workers' names. packers in these fights and with those under attack where charges against O'Brien Meats with the National Labor we work. Relations Board. The cop also testified that a worker fingered six people who were supposedly communists or gays. Again, the Our reorganized local held its first union meeting in After we were fired, a meeting was held to inform the worker stated that this was a complete fabrication. May 1987. Everyone had questions and there was a lot of union membership. It was clear from the meeting that The results of the hearing won't be known for a little discussion. We talked about some of the rights guaran­ virtually every worker had been questioned about their while. But in the meantime it's clear that the company teed in our contract. We also voted to begin a food collec­ union activity. has done real damage because we weren't prepared tore­ tion in preparation for visits to the striking meat-packers At this stage there was still a lot of confusion about the fuse the cop investigation from day one. For us the ver­ at IBP and John Morrell. role of the cop. One worker decided that he had to take a dict is in: If you're pro-union and believe in solidarity, Within a week of the union meeting, the company polygraph test to clear himself of guilt, because after never talk with cops. claimed it had found three bolts in meat about to be pro­ three of us were fired he was being placed on the hot seat. cessed. The bosses immediately concluded that this was a Testimony at the arbitration hearing showed that the Miguel Zarate is a member of United Food and Commer­ deliberate act of sabatoge. This assertion was preposter- cop's job was not to find anyone innocent or guilty of cial Workers Local271 in Bellevue, Nebraska. -lETTERS------Senegalese revolutionist project that will make the Path­ lies when the resolution came up finder Building in New York City I have been reading the Militant for floor debate. for a year and a half, and I find it an artistic and political landmark. "It troubles me that the federa­ very interesting. It covers a lot of Included in the audience were tion's position seems so close to fields so that internationalist fight­ 12 farmworkers from southern the position of Reagan," said ers can learn from fights led by New Jersey who were attending Seide. He continued, "A president workers, peasants, and oppressed their first Militant Labor Forum. who does everything possible to nationalities all over the world. Halket Allen harm workers and farmers in the I am a Senegalese revolutionist, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States certainly can't be and the Militant helps me under­ doing anything for workers and stand about the fight of Black Minn. AFL-CIO farmers abroad." people in the United States. During the debate, six delegates On September 22 delegates to from different unions spoke on the In the July 31 issue I read a the Minnesota AFL-CIO conven­ shoit account of the meeting here resolution's behalf, often to bois­ tion passed a resolution oposing terous cheers. The resolution in Dakar between the African Na­ U.S. policy in Central America. tional Congress and a group of passed overwhelmingly on a voice The resolution urges the na­ vote to much applause. white liberals from South Africa. tional AFL-CIO to take a stand Despite the fact that this important Argiris Malapanis oposing contra aid. It also en­ Minneapolis, Minnesota meeting took place here, Militant dorses the Central American peace readers should know how Sen­ accords signed August 7 in Gua­ Disagrees completely egalese President Abdou Diouf temala and supports labor unions I completely disagree with your treats anti-apartheid fighters in this critical of the government in El country. paper. Salvador. It will be offered for Capitalism does have its evils, On Aug. 22, 1985, Diouf ar­ consideration at the federation's rested many readers of the Sen­ but so does Communism, and the national convention this fall. trend is for people to pour into egalese Democratic Alliance The vote took place two days (ADS), which was organizing capitalist countries such as Canada after John Linder - brother of and the USA, not into the USSR. what we called the "demonstration Benjamin Linder, the U.S. en­ of Africa" against apartheid. The The article on Panama's Gen­ NO PROBLEM gineer murdered in Nicaragua by eral Noriega was completely false . ADS is a coalition of five political the contras - finished a week­ IT WA S S' I+IPPED parties, including my party, the Please don't send me any more long tour of the state. papers. TO THE THIR1) Socialist Workers Organization Linder spoke about his brother's (OST). Y.B. WO~LD death and urged Minnesotans to Omaha, Nebraska The arrest of these fighters pro­ press for an end to contra aid. He voked a big protest throughout addressed many unionists during Heartless doctors Senegal and in several other Afri­ his tour, along with students and Men with symptoms of heart can countries. Thanks to these others. disease are 10 times more likely to mobilizations, all the defendants Elliot Seide, Minnesota-area di­ be recommended for coronary were freed. rector of the American Federation bypass surgery than are women American workers and op­ of State, County and Municipal with similar symptoms, according pressed people should know this Employees introduced Linder to to a report published in Annals of Barricada/R6ger reality of the Diouf regime. the biggest public meeting of the Internal Medicine. An article on Zaccharia tour. Seide pledged to press"op­ the report appeared in the Wash­ Dakar, Senegal position to contra aid within the ington Post this summer. in medicine as it is everywhere And when physicians· did recc labor movement. He was instru­ Why such a discrepancy? else." ommend further tests for patients, Art and revolution mental, along with other union~ Not because women are less Elaborating on this point, Tobin with men it was most likely to be A standing-room-only audience ists, in pushing for the resolution likely to suffer from heart disease, said he sensed that "doctors often an attempt to determine the sever­ attended a Militant Labor Forum on the convention floor. the nation's leading killer; in fact, make inaccurate ·assumptions ity of the illness. But with women on "Art and Revolution'' in The motion · was introduced it affects both sexes relatively about the relative contributions of it was usually an effort to confirm Philadelphia October 1. shortly after a speech by David equally. men and women to society;" the presence of disease. The presentation by Mike Jessup, special assistant to the di~ · "It is an enormous, disturbing The report's authors found that M.J. Alewitz included a report with rector of the AFL-CIO' s American difference that cannot be ex­ many doctors feel that the surgery, Jersey City, New Jersey slides on the 1986 Havana Bienal, Institute of Free Labor Develop­ plained by the distribution of heart a costly procedure, simply is not a big international art festival held ment in Washington, D,C. disease in the population," said as effective for women as for men, The Militant special prisoner in Cuba. He showed a film accusing the Jonathan Tobin, assistant profes­ a feeling not well supported by the fund makes it possible to send Alewitz explained how the Sandinistas of oppressing labor sor of epidemiology at New facts. reduced-rate subscriptions to Cuban revolution of 1959 had unions and praised Jose Napoleon York's Albert Einstein College of The study also found that prisoners who can't pay for transformed Cuban society, in­ Duarte, El Salvador's president, Medicine and principal author of women are twice as likely as men them. To help this important cluding by opening up art forthe for land and labor reform. The the report. "Here is a case where to have their symptoms '-- such as cause, send your contribution participation and enjoyment of all . film did not go over well with social perceptions are masquerad­ chest pain and shortness of breath· to: Militant Prisoner Subscrip­ working people. many del~gates, several of whom ing as scientific fact. Unfortu­ - dismissed as something other tion Fund, 14 Charles Lane, He also talked about the mural spoke strongly against Jessup's nately, sexism is just as common than heart disease by their doctors. New York, N.Y .. 10014.

October 23, 1987 The Militant 15 THE MILITANT Maine strike builds solidarity Jay paperworkers to host Oct. 21 support conference

BY JON HILLSON create a back-to-work movement. By hir­ JAY, Maine - The campaign to ing massive numbers of scabs, it is trying broaden support for the 1,250 paperwork­ to "intimidate, coerce, and break" the Jay ers oo strike here against the giant Interna­ unions. tional Paper Company continues to move Meserve warned the meeting that one forward. tactic the company might try would be to This was the message of reports and dis­ propose a contract on the condition that cussion at the regular Wednesday "union "half the scabs stay, and ask us to take it family" meeting, which more than 1,100 back for a vote" by the locals. strikers, spouses, and supporters attended This, he said, would be "wrong, dead October 7. The workers, on strike since wrong." June 16, are members of United Paper­ workers International Union Local 14 and "We're fighting for a just cause, not per­ Firemen and Oilers Local 246. sonal greed. We want to be treated fairly, On October 5, a delegation from the Jay with dignity," the union president said. locals headed by Local 14 Vice-president Trading jobs to get only some workers Felix Jacques, met in Atlanta with other back would destroy the union. "We don't locals involved in contract battles with In­ want to get the local trapped in this situa­ ternational Paper. (Locals in DePere, Wis­ tion," he said, to a thunderous round of consin, and Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, On Strike applause and chants of "Union in, scabs are also on strike; workers are locked out at To Honor out!" the Mobile, Alabama mill.) A delegation of International Paper They were able to win approval from the A Commit~', workers from Corinth, New York, headed UPIU international leadership for propos­ by UPIU Local 7 President James Walker, received a warm reception at the meeting. als to strengthen unity among union mem­ Women strikers from Jay flank New England Patriots player on picket line at Sulli­ bers working for IP. The Corinth workers' contract expired van Stadium near Boston. Paperworkers and supporters joined garment workers, September 30. So far, Walker reported, IP Local 14's plan centers on sending dele­ teachers, farm workers in backing NFL players' strike October 4. gations of Jay strikers to the nearly 100 has offered "$1 0 towards a pair of safety UPIU locals that represent IP workers. boots." 29, for example, a negotiating session was They also want to reach members of other Jacques' report was greeted by a long Ray Hinckley, a UPIU official from finally scheduled for the first time in umons. and loud standing ovation. Georgia-Pacific paper corporation, re­ Other locals in tum are being encour­ The meeting also heard a report by Local weeks. The session lasted nine minutes. ported to the meeting that locals in five GP This impasse has been frustrating for union aged to send delegations to Jay, reported 14 President Bill Meserve, who addressed mills had passed strike authorization votes. Jacques. That way they can see for them­ the frustrations some members are feeling members, Meserve said. Some of this frustration has been di­ Unionists from the area brought solidar­ selves IP's massive scab-herding operation after four months on strike. "Where do we ity messages and nearly $3,000 in contri­ at the Androscoggin Mill. (According to focus our discontent, our anger, and our rected at the negotiating committee or the UPIU International leadership. When we butions to this week's meeting. Joining the Lewiston, Maine, Sun, the company disappointment," over the lack of progress them was Holly Gerlaugh, from the Au­ has hired 1,000 "replacement workers.") in contract negotiations, he asked. "have to lay blame," he continued, it has to be "on the right people." gusta, Maine, Committee for Peace and These efforts will help build an October This is the first strike at the IP mill here The "right people" are IP management, Justice. Her solidarity message, which 21 conference of paperworkers, which the in 61 years. Workers have grown used to he explained, which offered Local 14 a compared the Jay strikers to unionists Jay strikers are inviting other locals to at­ getting a new contract every few years sim­ choice: "humiliate yourself, or go on fighting for justice in EI Salvador, was tend. The conference will hear area reports ply through negotiations. strike." given a big round of applause. and discuss how to be more effective in Now they face a new situation. This He reviewed the union's offers to extend Meanwhile paperworkers at Interna­ fighting IP's concession drive. The day­ time, unlike in the past, the company is the old contract a year, and then two years, long event will be held in Jay. stonewalling negotiations. On September tional Paper's mill in Gardiner, Oregon, is­ without any changes. IP refused, demand­ sued a 10-day termination notice to the ing major concessions in wages and work company on October 8. The workers are rules. members of Local 101 of the Association Most critical is the company's insistence of Western Pulp and Paper Workers. that the scabs hired during the strike are Ohio strike ends; union permanent replacements and that negotia­ They passed a strike authorization vote tions can only proceed on that basis. This on September 23. Issuing the notice means means there aren't negotiations in any real that the local is free to strike after 10 days. fights to regain jobs sense, Meserve said. IP has also refused to conduct serious The company, he went on, is trying to negotiations with the Gardiner local. BY NED WEBSTER ing corrugated paper, continued to be de­ COSHOCTON, Ohio - The strike here livered by the small outfits, some family­ against Stone Container Co. ended Sep­ run, that supply Stone. The company has tember 24 after members of International made it clear it intends to keep the scabs on Women .unionists win one in Jay Union of Operating Engineers Local 544 as permanent employees and that its goal is decided to return to work. to break the union. BY JON HILLSON A few months later, she was hired along The strike began August 17. Stone Con­ Local 544, with 180 members, gathered AND SUSAN LaMONT with one other woman. Since then more JAY, Maine - Cynthia Bennett is a tainer, which showed a $58 million net a lot of support throughout the strike. Two women have followed- around 10 per­ profit for the first six months of 1987, de­ rallies attended by 1 ,500 people and one of member of United Paperworkers Interna­ cent of the Jay mill's work force is now 600 were held. The Coshocton County tional Union Local 14 with 11 years in In­ female. · manded concessions that included loss of premium pay for weekend work and elimi­ Trades and Labor Council and scores of ternational Paper's Androscoggin River The fight to win their own bathroom mill. On September 21 the Maine Human nation of the last two holidays for which local unions expressed solidarity, and isn't the first skirmish Bennett and other production is shut down - December 24 many made donations of money and food. Rights Commission ruled Bennett had "just women workers have had with IP. Their and 25. The company makes corrugated But, with the company's ability to maintain cause" and that IP in fact was guilty of dis­ biggest challenge was proving that they production and the complicity of the courts crimination against women workers. could stay in the mill and do the work. The paper. and government, mounting economic pres­ Ten female coworkers had signed Ben~ During the 39-day strike, the workers company, of course, was convinced they were confronted with court injunctions, a sure forced many strikers to consider re­ nett's grievance against IP, which refused wouldn't last. Women had to fight to get curfew, firings and contempt charges for turning to work. to give female hourly employees their own their own locker room. They had to force strike activity, and surveillance and harass­ These conditions and the desire to main­ locker room, separate from management's. IP to provide toilet facilities in the lab area, The grievance was taken to the Human ment by company security. tain unity within Local 544 led members to where many of the women workers are decide to accept the concessions contract. Rights Commission after being denied concentrated. A Labor Day rally of 1 ,500 strikers and The two shut-down holidays were lost im­ through the normal grievance channels. Female paperworkers are a significant supporters was attacked by 85 sheriffs mediately, and, although hourly wage in­ "They wouldn't give us separate facili­ part of the Jay strike, as well as being deputies from Coshocton and surrounding creases are included in the contract, by the ties," Bennett said. members and leaders of visiting solidarity counties, who used clubs, tear gas, and end of the fourth year, the loss of premium Women union members and supervisory delegations from paper mills across the rubber bullets. Several people were ar­ pay will still amount to an average loss of personnel were forced to share common state. rested and injured that day. The cops also $.97 per hour. shower and changing rooms in the plant. For its part, International Paper is not raided the union's headquarters, forcing Stone Container allowed only 51 union The company rejected Bennett's griev­ too happy about having to make this mini­ those inside to run a police gauntlet to get members back to work immediately. More ance, she said, claiming it wasn't part of mal concession to union independence. outside. will be recalled as production returns to "contractual language." Company spokesperson Joseph Pietroski During the strike, the company was able normal levels, management personnel that Union men, however, have their own fa­ told the New York Times that to avoid the to keep a significant level of production were shipped in leave, and some scabs cilities. Local 14 backed Bennett's griev­ cost of adding a second women's locker going with management personnel brought quit. The battle now facing Local 544 is to ance. room and to equal things out between the in from around the country and about 45 win the recall of everyone, including three Bennett, a tall, outspoken woman, first male and female workers, the company scabs. members fired for strike activity, and to de­ applied for a job at IP in 1975. At that time, may simply remove the partition that sepa­ Wood chips, the raw material for mak- fend members facing contempt charges. there were no women working in the mill. rates the·two men's facilities.

16 The Militant October 23, 1987