ICELAND KR200 · NEW ZEALAND $3.00 · SWEDEN KR15 · UK £1.00 U.S. $1.50 INSIDE . Release .Prisoners. brutalized by u.s~ at, Guantanamo!. TH£. . -PAGE 14 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 66/NO. 12 MARCH 25, 2002 'We are all Palestinians sharpen the target of crisis of Israeli regiine attacks by Military onslaught may 'tum all Palestinians into fighters' the bosses' BY PATRICK O'NEILL The Palestinian resistance to the brutal Socialist Michael Italie policies of the Israeli ruling class is sharp­ Machinists walk out in contract fights political firing by ening the crisis of the government in Tel Aviv. Widening protests and more effective Goodwill Industries attacks against the occupying power have dispute with Lockheed in Georgia resulted in a growing death toll of Israeli BY FRANCISCO PICADQ soldiers and civilians. ST. PAUL, Minnesota-"! am here to talk In response, the Israeli government has about the kind of movement we need in or­ unleashed its biggest military offensive der to defend workers' rights," said Michael since its invasion of Lebanon two decades Italie at a meeting with five meat packers ago, sending 20,000 troops and more than here. "I am not only talking about my own 100 tanks backed by warplanes and attack case, because we are all the target of the at­ helicopters into the West Bank and Gaza tacks by the bosses. We need to discuss out Strip. Tel Aviv's forces have killed scores the road to defend all of us." of Palestinians, rounded up hundreds more, Italie, a socialist worker fired from his job and damaged countless homes and build­ as a sewing machine operator at Goodwill ings. Industries in Miami, opened his tour here "What they are doing is transforming by having a wide-ranging political discus­ every Palestinian into a potential fighter," sion with the meat packers, who work at said Palestinian leader HananAshrawi of the Dakota Premium Foods and Lloyd's Bar­ impact of the Israeli onslaught, registering becue Company. The three workers from the depth ofthe fight for self-determination Lloyd's decided to work together to collect on the part of her people. signatures and win support for Italie's fight In the first 12 days of March, 159 Pales­ where they work. The following day Italie tinians and 52 Israelis have been killed, mak- met four other workers from Dakota Pre­ ing this the bloodiest period yet in 17 months mium Foods at a similar house meeting. of heightened conflict. Fifteen years ago Last fall, as the Socialist Workers Party one Israeli died for every 25 Palestinians • candidate for mayor of Miami, Italie was k1lled by Tel Aviv's forces. The rising Is­ outspoken in support of the Cuban Revolu- raeli death toll includes 31 soldiers killed . Continued on Page 4 since last month. Borrowing words from the U.S. government's justification for Washington's military aggression abroad, Israeli army of­ Meetings will ficials said the virtual occupation of the two After overwhelmingly rejecting two contract proposals by Lockheed Martin, more Palestinian areas was aimed at dismantling than 2,500 Machinists walked off the job March 11. See article page 2. Continued on Page 6 defend five revolutionaries Minneapolis press conference condemns from Cuba cop killing of Somali youth; rally called jailed by· U.S~ BY BECKY ELLIS MINNEAPOLIS-:_"Minneapolis has be­ BY GREG McCARTAN come a slaughterhouse. We call for the re­ NEW YORK-In the first of a series of moval of the police chief," said Omar Jamal, meetings to defend five Cuban revolution­ the executive director of the Somali Justice aries framed up and imprisoned by the U.S. Advocacy Center at a March 11 press con­ government, the Militant Labor Forum in ference here in response to the cop killing New York's Garment District is sponsoring of Abu Jeilani, 28. a March 22 meeting featuring Martin There has been an increase in cop harass­ Koppel, a leader of the Socialist Workers ment of people since September 11, and the Party and editor of Perspectiva Mundial. ~'police are going around kicking some Socialist workers and Young Socialists in people's doors in," Jamal said. "And now Continued on Page 7 this:just shooting them and killing them just like Mogadishu and civil war. This isn't what we expect." · Jamal and others held the conference, Also Inside: which was attended by 50 people, to pro­ test the killing by Minneapolis police of Washington builds up its Jeilani, a Somali immigrant with a history drive against Iraq 3 of mental illness. The killing had occurred the previous day, when police shot numer­ Colorado forum builds ous bullets into Jeilani. They later said they widdws' walk for black believed he was charging them. Witnesses lung benefits 5 say the man had been walking down the street carrying a machete and a crowbar. Support Books for Cuba Word of the brutal assault spread quickly throughout the Somali community, and 40 Fund 8 people gathered at the scene of the shoot­ ing, demanding answers from the cops. Cuban textile factory a big "He was mentally ill," Jeilani's brother, contrast to U.S. mills 9 Alawi, told the press conference. "He wasn't doing anything." Court excoriates New York Amal Yusuf, the executive director of the child welfare agency 10 Somalian Women'sAssociation, said, "I see this as an overutilization of police power. 1,000 farmers meet Ill This is police brutality. It was a long knife Texas to discuss crisis 13 · Continued on Page 11 Machinists strike Lockheed in Georgia

BY NED MEASEL sent elsewhere. MARIETTA, Georgia-Fighting com­ "The managers will tell you 'We'lllet you pany outsourcing of work and demands to do it this time,"' he said. By going on strike, increase health insurance payments, mem­ "we want to make Lockheed bring the work bers of the Machinists union at Lockheed back." Jones has worked for the company here walked off the job and set up picket 22 years. lines March 11. When asked if he thought the government Of the 7,000 people who work at the plant, would take action to avert a strike, Jones 2,700 are members oflnternationalAssocia­ said that if "the government does anything tion of Machinists (lAM) Local 709. The last it shouldn't let Lockheed do what it is do­ time the union struck was 1977. Over the past ing. We're faced with terrorism every day decade Lockheed has laid off thousands of with these people looking to take yourjob." workers. In 1990 there were 14,000 mem­ Roland Yap told the Militant that bers of Local 709 who worked at the plant. Lockheed Martin "made $8 billion in the Lockheed Martin, a major contractor for last four years yet they want to increase our the Pentagon, builds F-22 Raptor fighter insurance premiums and take away holi­ planes and C-130J Hercules transport planes days. We are the ones doing the job and at the sprawling facility adjacent to Dob­ making that money, not them." bins Air Reserve Base .. Last year Lockheed Another worker said the company takes won the largest defense contract in: history $14 out of a union member's weekly pay­ from the U.S. government to build the F-35 check for health coverage for an individual. Measel. Joint Strike Fighter for $200 billion. In the proposed contract Lockheed wants to increase the payment to $30 a week for Lockheed workers staff picket line March 13. Workers explain that the main issues in After they turned down the first contract the strike· are outsourcing of jobs, the pension plan, and health insurance payments. offer by an overwhelming 96 percent of an individual and $60 a week for two people. workers voting, the company quickly re­ "The wage raise won't cover the increase in turned with lf new proposal, which was health insurance payments," he said. "If we cook for the pickets. that's what they're still getting," he said. The turned down by 78 percent of those casting accept this contract, in a week there'll be a Another worker said he thought the lack average age of workers at the plant is 53. a ballot. lot less people working." of a cost-of-living increase in the pension In its first proposal Lockheed offered a 3 Rufus Cooper explained that there used plan was a major problem. "I know people Arlene Rubinstein, a meat packer and mem­ percent annual wage hike for each of the to be 60 workers employed at his "cost cen­ who retired years ago when the pension was ber of the United Food and Commercial three years of the contract and a $500 sign­ ter." Now there is one. He is signed up to $15 to $18 a month per year of service and Workers union, contributed to this article. ing bonus. The company bumped this up in its second proposal to a 4 percent raise in the first year and a $1,000 signing bonus. The bosses also said they would increase 300 in Watsonville demand drivers' licenses pension payments from $4 7 a month for BY ROLLANDE GIRARD nized numerous protests in cities across the people in passing cars honked their horns every year of service to $56. The union's WATSONVILLE, California-More than region to demand the right to a driver's li­ in support. negotiating team unanimously recom­ 300 people joined a march here to demand cense for all. "We are not making bombs, we are work­ mended rejection of the offer and for a strike that the state of California grant them the "We are united here to demand our ing," said Gabriela, who volunteered to col­ to be called. Similar contracts were accepted right to have a driver's license. rights," said Jose Sandoval, a protest leader. lect petitions. at two smaller Lockheed Martin plants in Many carried handmade signs in Span­ As the march wound its way through the "The majority of the people here work in Palmdale and Sunnyvale, California. ish that read, "The license is not a privilege, city, participants invited people to join and the fields," said Ricardo Manzo Jimenez, a it is a right thalwe deserve" and "We have to sign a petition which will be delivered to farm worker. "A lot cannot go to work be­ Growing use of outsourcing rights, we are workers; a license; legaliza­ the state government in Sacramento. Many Continued on Page 10 For workers interviewed here, the main tion for all; social security." Protest orga­ issues in the strike are outsourcing of jobs, nizers waited to begin the action until Sun­ the pension plan, and health insurance pay­ day Mass had concluded· and invited the ments. Outside the union hall while the sec­ churchgoers to join the protest. Many did Krug winery workers approve ond vote was underway, Harold Jones said so. a "raise is no good if you're not there to get The protest was organized by local de­ it." He said in his work area he has seen work fenders of immigrant rights and the Com­ contract, boss ends lockout that is normally .done by union members at munity Volunteers of San Jose. Over the last BY BILL KALMAN cuts and will limit the winery's use of non­ the plant crated up by the company to be year the Community Volunteers have orga- SAN FRANCISCO-Winery workers at union labor. Workers overwhelmingly re­ the Charles Krug Winery in Napa returned jected previous settlement offers by the com­ to work at the end of February after nar­ pany in August and January. rowly approving the company's latest con­ "I don't think anybody's happy," said cel­ tract proposal on February 16 by a vote of lar worker Kenny Drost, who noted that the 16 to 12. unionists had nearly exhausted their unem­ THE MILITANT The workers, who are members ofUnited ployment benefits. Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) · Many saw the struggle as an important union Local186-D, were locked out by the way to defend immigrant rights. Most work­ company last July. The lockout lasted more ers at the winery, and in the Napa wine in­ than severi months; making it the longest in dustry, are originally from Mexico. "There California history. The Krug winery is the are a lot of people coming into this country oldest in the Napa Valley and the last that is willing to work for eight-something an Ma:nchester, JS,ngland, are: unionized. hpur," said Frank Espinoza, who has worked stand4ng·up to the ri(lets•~· The Krug bosses went after the 40 cellar at Krug for 42 years. "How are our children attacks on union workers after they rejected a concession going to be able to survive on $8 an hour?" their and contract that would have cut pay for some rights. Follow this and jobs and eliminated job classifications. The Bill Kalman is -~ me.:nber of United Food pth.cr s(r&~ggl¢~ of19orking new three-year contract contains no wage and Commercial Workers Local 120. peilple.(JI';o~lfd the world erery weekJn• the 1Jtin above.address. By first-class (airmail), send $80. '"Militant.' 't miss a The Militant Asia: send $80 drawn on a U.S. bank to above Single isfll#l4?. address. Vol. 66/No. 12 Canada: Send Canadian $75 for one-year Closing news date: March 13, 2002 subscription to Militant, 4613 St. Laurent, Editor: GREG McCARTAN Montreal, Quebec H2T IR2. Business Manager: JACK WILLEY Britain, Ireland: £36 for one year by check IUB£111111 or international money order made out to Mili­ Editorial Staff: Roger Calero, Martin· Koppel, Jack Willey, Brian Williams, and Maurice Will­ tant Distribution, 4 7 The Cut, London, SE I 8LL, England. Continental Europe, Africa, Middle NEW READERS iams. Young Socialists column editor: ROMINA - East: £40 for one year by check or international . GREEN money order made out to Militant Distribution 0 $10 for 12 issues NAME Published weekly except for one week in June, at above address. August and December. · France: Send 65 euros for one-year subscrip­ tion to Militant, Centre MBE 175, 23 rue The Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 410 West St., RENEWAL ADDRESS Lecourbe, 75015 Paris; cheque postale: 40 134 New York, NY 10014. 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2 The Militant March 25, 2002 Washington prepares war against Iraq BY JACK WILLEY The king of Jordan, a staunch U.S. ally, As Washington wraps up its bloody aerial publicly cautioned Washington during and ground assault in the eastern mountains Cheney's tour. A spokesperson for the mon­ of Afghanistan-annihilating pockets of arch said the king would tell the U.S. vice Taliban and al Qaeda fighters along with president that "any attack on Iraq will be some civilians there-Bush administration devastating for the whole region. It will be officials are working to build a case to mount devastating in terms of spreading instabil­ a military assault on Iraq. ity. It will be politically and economically U.S. president George Bush, having lost · devastating. It will be too much to take. With the momentum from September 11 in justi­ the Israeli-Palestinian situation the way it fying military assaults abroad, has been is, opening another violent front is not good pounding away on the theme of not allow­ for this region." ing certain governments in the world to pos­ sess weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear posture review "In preventing the spread of weapons of The Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review mass destruction, there is no margin for er­ has received backing from both Democratic ror, and no chance to learn from mistakes," and Republican politicians. The report Bush said in a March 11 speech in Wash­ picked out seven nations among many that ington. "Our coalition must act deliberately, Washington claims have or are developing . but inaction is not an option." Bush added weapons of mass destruction: China, Iran, that his administration "is now consulting Iraq, Libya, north Korea, Russia and Syria. with friends and allies about this greatest of National Security Adviser Condoleeza dangers." Rice said that the purpose of the report is Articles in the big-business press, such French Mirage fighter jet taxies after landing at Manas airport in Kyrgyzstan. for Washington to send "a very strong sig­ as the International Herald Tribune, pointed first time since the Afghan war, Washington and Paris are using the ex-Soviet republic as nal to anyone who might try to use weap­ out the remark was a "reference to the trip a platform for bombing assaults in Afghanistan. U.S. troops are also stationed in at least ons of mass destruction against the United by Vice President Richard Cheney to sev­ two bases in Kyrgyzstan as Washington consolidates its military presence in the region. States that they'd be met with a devastating eraL Gulf and Middle Eastern countries response." where he is understood to be seeking sup­ to shore up support for an imperialist mili­ tion official said the previous day that the Democratic senator Joseph Lieberman port for a campaign against Iraq." tary assault on Iraq. The London Guardian push for inspectors would be a trapunless gave his stamp of approval to the policy In this context the disclosure over the reported March l 0 that Washington "has it is "the kind of go anywhere, anytime sort move on CNN's "Late Edition" program. same days of a supposedly classified Pen­ asked Britain to draw up plans for 25,000 of inspection regime." "Frankly, I don't mind some of these ren­ tagon "nuclear posture review" raised of this country's troops to join a U.S. task· Hans Blix, chairrtJ.an of the UN arms in­ egade nations [thinking] twice about the Washington's belligerent stance in the world force to overthrow Saddam Hussein," the spection commission, said, "For the cred­ willingness of the United States to take ac­ and brought a sharp rebuke from a the gov­ largest number of troops ever requested in ibility of future. inspection it is important tion to defend our people and our values and ernments of China, Iran, Iraq, and several peacetime. British troops would be part of that there are no sanctuaries and that access our allies," he said. other countries. The document poses the a 250,000-strong ground force to invade is without any delay that might permit the Richard Myers; chairman of the Joint possible use of nuclear weapons by U.S. im­ Iraq, in the case of full-scale war to topple removal of evidence." Chiefs of Staff, tried to allay concerns that perialism against seven countries in re­ the regime, the paper·stated. As UN officials claim they are pursuing other big-business politicians raised, stress­ sponse to their use of, or to prevent them In a manner reminiscent of the buildup a "peaceful" resolution, Washington is pre­ ing the report is "not a plan." from using, weapons of mass destruction. to the U.S.-led 1991 slaughter in Iraq, Wash­ paring for war. In the previous 1991 six­ "This preserves for the president all the Although initially portrayed as a big de­ ington, under the banner of the United Na­ week air assault and 100-hour ground war, options that a president would want to have parture for Washington, more sober press bons, is cynically offering "negotiations" more than 150,000 Iraqis were murdered in case this country or our friends and allies reports pointed out the policy has firm roots with the Hussein government. In this case, and millions left homeless by U.S.-led were attacked with weapons of mass de­ in the previous Clinton administration. As Washington is pressing draconian demands forces. struction, be they nuclear, biological, chemi- with other aspects of U.S. government for "inspections" of weapons of mass de­ Washington is using a pro-imperialist . cal, or for that matter, high explosives," he moves since September 11, the nuclear pos­ struction that would put the regime at the wing of the leadership of the Kurdish op­ said. ture review is part of the acceleration of mercy of imperialism. pressed national minority to legitimize its One recommendation in the report is the trends under way long before the attacks The Wall Street Journal on March 8 cau­ war moves. The U.S. rulers have enlisted development of a new generation of nu,clear on the World Trade Center and the Penta­ tioned Washington against relying too much the Kurdish Democratic Party and other weapons that have a lower yield and pro­ gon. on the negotiations tactic. Pressuring Iraq groups that function under the cover of the duce less nuclear fallout. Bombs that can to allow inspectors "raises the. question of U.S.- and British-enforced "no fly zone" in penetrate deep bunkers are also a develop­ Lining up 'coalition' for Iraq war what will happen if Sadeiam Hussein says the north oflraq. The Guardian reported that ment priority, he said. In his visit to London and seven coun­ yes," and "buys ... more time to acquire a U.S. special forces are in the area training British, Australian, and Italian govern­ tries in the Middle East, Cheney has sought nuclear bomb." A senior Bush administra- militias in preparation for an assault. ment spokespeople supported Washington's The Bush administration has offered to latest move. In Japan-the only country to finance the construction of a radio transmit­ be hit by nuclear weapons-government ter in an attempt to foment resistance against officials were largely silent. Bloody assault shores up U.S. the government. The Iraqi National Con­ Government representatives from the gress, a U.S.-backed group that also oper­ countries named in the report immediately ates under ON protection, has supported the· condemned the threat. A spokesman for the dominatio~ in Afghanistan proposal and requests it be built on Iraqi soil. Chinese government, Sun Yuxi, told the of­ The Guardian also reported that 5,000 ficial state paper that "China, like other BY JACK WILLEY At each step in the war and imperialist U.S. armored vehicles that had been countries, is deeply shocked" to be in the The continued effort toward launching an takeover of Afghanistan, ruling-class mothballed in Kuwait since the Persian Gulf group of seven and demanded an explana- attack on Iraq takes place as U.S.-led forces spokespeople have stated that the U.S. forces War are now being overhauled. Continued on Page 14 wrap up their "Operation Anaconda" mis­ are far from finished in their effort to elimi­ sion in Afghanistan. Launched March 2, the nate all organized resistance to Washington operation has focused on a 70-square-mile in order to set up an imperialist protector­ battle area. That region· has been pounded ate. every day by a concentration of air power Lieut. Gen. Bernard Trainor, a retired Cuba and the Coming American Revolution unprecedented in the Afghan war. U.S. Marine commander, told the Washington by Jack Barnes forces have flown long-range bombers and Post that while the tactical goal is to eradi­ tactical fi,ghter jets; dropping hundreds of cate the al Qaeda forces, the even more sig­ There will be a victorious revolution in the bombs, including 500-ton bombs into cave nificant strategic goal may be to show the United States before·a victorious entrances, sucking out all the oxygen and world the depth of U.S. resolve. suffocating anyone trapped inside. "It gives lie to the belief that Americans counterrevolution in Cuba More than 1,500 U.S.-led troops from can only fight from 35,000 feet," he said. -- 'Jidet~. ~ 1961 Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Ger­ After reports of the first U.S. casualties, Cuba and the Coming American Revolution is about many, Norway, and the government of Af­ Rumsfeld said, ''This will not be the last the struggles of working people in the imperialist ghanistan have surrounded the area and such operation in Afghanistan. I think we heartrand, the youth who are attracted to them, and slowly moved in to cut off all supplies and have to expect that there are other sizable escape routes of fighters hiding in the moun­ pockets, that there will be other battles of the example set by the people of Cuba that revolution tains. this type." is not only necessary_:_it can be made. After eight U.S. soldiers were killed in Meanwhile, a reporter for London's Fi­ combat, Defense Secretary Donald nancial Times wrote that in the villages he Preface by Mary-Alice Waters. In English, Spanish, Rumsfeld arrogantly stated that Tali ban and has visited near the battle he found virtu­ and French. $14.95 al Qaeda forces sustained "much larger ally no support among peasants and work­ numbers of killed and wounded, and there ers for the imperialist assault. Eyeing the The Changing Face will be marly more." bombing nearby, one peasant told the re­ Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the porter, "For God's sake, "please tell your of U.S. Politics Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that al Qaeda Americans to spare our children!" WORKING-CLASS POLITICS forces face certain doom. "It seems they Local Afghans adamantly told the re­ have chosen to stay and fight to the last, and porter that the people in the mountains were AND THE TRADE UNIONS we hope to accommodate them," he said. former Taliban supporters who were trying Jack Barnes to simply hide out from the Americans. "Ev­ A handbook for the new generation coming into the Cannot win war from 35,000 feet high eryone was a Taliban," one said. "If they factories, mines, and mills as they react to the uncer­ For the first time since Washington's post­ bomb Saifurahman," the leader in the area tain life, ceaseless turmoil, and brutality of capitalism September 11 bombing assault began, U.S. who headed up the group under U.S. fire, today. It shows how millions of working people, as troops are in the forefront of ground com­ "why don't they bomb the ministries? All bat, albeit after a brutal bombing assault and the bureaucrats in Kabul were Taliban too." political re-sistance grows, will revolutionize them­ under the cover of air power. In addition to People in the area said that Saifurahman selves, their unions and other organizations, and all of society. Also avail­ the eight troops killed in combat, dozens had sent an emissary to the local governor, able in Spanish and French. $19.95 have been injured in what has been the fierc- inviting him to inspect Shah-i-kot, and was . est ground combat U.S. forces have seen awaiting an answer when- the imperialists Available from bookstores, including those listed on page 12 . since their assault on Somalia in 1993. and their allies launched their attack. March 25, 2002 The Militant 3 Meat packers in Bronx janitors rally for a new contract _Minnesota welcome f:tred garment worker Continued from front page they laid off the 43 workers," stated Jose. tion, in defense of unions and workers' "No one was given notice. They were rights, and in opposition to the U.S. war in marched out of the plant by a supervisor all Afghanistan. After he explained these posi­ the way to the parking lot without the op­ tions in a televised debate with the Demo­ portunity to talk to any other workers. They · cratic and Republican candidates, he was were marched out as if they had done some­ fired October 22. Goodwill's CEO Dennis thing wrong. It was as if they were crimi­ Pastrana told the Miami Herald that he had nals. It was insulting." dismissed Italie for his political views. Since then Italie's supporters have waged a cam­ The way bosses view working people paign to get his job back and make Good­ "This is the way·the capitalists view work­ will pay a political price for its violation of ing people," ltalie said. "They wish we had his rights. At the center of this campaign to no rights. They have no respect for our dig­ defend workers' rights is talking with and nity. This is what is shown in my case as winning support from thousands of work­ well. Goodwill Industries where I worked ing people across the country. was just pushing a little harder and faster At the meeting here, Marcos, a worker at than other companies. One of the things that Lloyd's Barbecue, said he is "angry about my case highlights is that the laws under police brutality. One time I was brutalized capitalism do not protect workers. The laws by five cops for no reason at all. I was out­ protect the capitalists. Workers at Lloyd's raged when the cops who beat up Rodney will have to put up a resistance, like other King were let off the hook in Los Angeles workers who are under attack. in 1992. I am very interested in how to de­ "We should also figure· out what is the fend workers against these kinds of attacks." root of these attacks," Italie said. "I point "The cops who beat up workers like you out that it is the system of capitalism. Un­ are doing their job," said Italie. "The cops der this system the bosses are only con­ ~ exist in order to intimidate working people cerned about maximizing the profits of the "What do we want? A new contract!" so~e 2,500 janitors and other building work­ and to defend the prerogatives of the rich. owners of industry and the banks. The fewer ers chanted on March 7, as they sat down in front of the Supreme Court in the The source of cop brutality is capitalism. rights we have the easier it is for the bosses Bronx, New York. The workers, members of Service Employees International Union The problem of cop bmtality poses the ques­ to maximize their profits." (SEIU) Locai32BJ, voted a week earlier to launch a strike on March 14, the date tion of building a political party of workers Miguel, a leader of a union-organizing their present contract expires, iftheir demands around wages and benefits are not that can take political power out ofthe hands campaign at Dakota Premium Foods, said he met. The wage of a super-a higher-paid SEIU member- of $500 a week in the of the capitalists." thought that unemployment "is getting to be Bronx compares with $750 in Manhattan and $710 in Brooklyn. The workers Lloyd's Barbecue Company is a subsid­ a big problem. What recourse do workers explain that their health coverage and facilities are also much more limited. Local iary of food giant General Mills. A series of have who cannot get a job? Their situation is 32BJ covers some 70,000 workers, 15,000 of whom live in the Bronx. attacks by the company on the workforce desperate. It's working people like these who has made the plant floor the scene of fre­ participated in the Mexican Revolution." quent discussions on how to fight back. For Workers at Dakota Premium Foods instance, 10 days before the meeting with launched a fight to establish a union in June going through experiences together it is need to understand that we are capable of Italie the bosses laid off 43 workers, using 2000 with a seven-hour sit-down strike in easier to see our own strength and potential making a revolution in this country." He the excuse that production had to be cut the company cafeteria. They demanded the power as a class." pointed to Cuba and the Coming American back. However, the company is now de­ company slow down the line speed and stop At Dakota Premium Foods, Miguel said, · Revolution by Jack Barnes, and From the manding that the remaining workers keep forcing workers to work while injured. Dur­ "We found the strength to resist together in Escambray to the Congo: In the Whirlwind up the same level of production ing the sit-down strike the workers were able the sit-down strike. We organized many of the Cuban Revolution, a newly released "The company spends lots of money on to force the company to meet with them and people ahead of time. We discussed the fact Pathfinder title by Victor Dreke. "The main new machinery and we produce a lot more to grant some concessions. The company that we had no alternative but to fight. The lesson of both books is that working people meat," stated Marcos. "This causes unem­ has refused to recognize the union ever bosses talked to each worker individually like us can do it, can take political power. ployment. However, they don't raise wages. since, even though workers voted in their and asked them to give up. Nobody buck­ We can defeat the capitalists. The example And we get none of the benefit." big majority for a union. . led. We stood strong." of the Cuban Revolution is clear. Si, se "You're exactly right," Italie said. "The "Working people can only effectively re­ puede. companies are driven to make more money sist the attacks by the bosses and their gov­ Example of the Cuban Revolution "In order to accomplish that goal, we need by getting us to produce more in less time. ernment when we act together," Italie said. In addition to signing up thousands of to build a communist party in the United This also drives them to attack our rights. "Workers are in the same boat. The capital­ workers and encouraging union members, States," stated Italie. "Without a conscious, The companies don't want us to have any ists push us together and we begin talking striking workers, and people involved in pro­ tested, and disciplined leadership the space to talk to each other and to organize to each other about our common problems tests against police brutality and. other struggle~ we are talking about today cannot against them." and we get to know each other. We begin to struggles to protest the firing by Goodwill, be led to victory once and for all. "I am especially angry at Lloyd's man­ see this is a broader problem and learn of Italie said he also urges everyone "to read "As with the recent massive upsurge in agement because of the manner in which other workers who are also resisting. By socialist literature like Pathfinder books. We Argentina, the capitalists will always find a way out of their crises until a revolutionary party is built that can lead millions of work­ ing people to replace the capitalist govern­ Houston meet condemns cop killing ofworker ment with one of their own," he said. "That is what the Socialist Workers Party is all BY PHIL DUZINSKI s!nce then. ·Others pointed to the 1998 kill­ rorism, they have been given the green light about. That is why yoJI should get to know HOUSTON-Fifty people gathered ing of Pedro Oregon who was shot 32 times to harass, beat, and use deadry force such more about our party and work with us." March 3 at the Guadalupe Center here to by Houston cops. as this against working people. My cam­ Supporters ofltalie in the Twin Cities are oppose the killing of Luis Alfonso Torres, Several days earlier, in an interview with paign demands these cops be prosecuted for also building a citywide meeting at the Uni­ who died in the custody of police in adja­ the Houston Chronicle, Mexican. Consul this brutal murder." versity of Minnesota. cent Baytown, Texas, six weeks ago. General Enrique Buj Flores said, "We are The candlelight vigil ·and speak-out not utterly fools, and know sometimes there hosted by the League of United Latin Ameri­ are acts of excessive force against Hispan- can Citizens (LULAC) heard a range of. . ics simply because they are Hispanic." Widows' March to speakers express their outrage at the Janu­ Harris County medical examiner Joye Demand Black Lung ary 20 killing of Torres in what Baytown Carter ruled Torres's death a homicide result­ cops called routine police procedure. ing from mechanical asphyxiation, explain­ Benefits for Miners A construction worker and re~ident im­ ing this means that someone compressed his and their Families migrant from Mexico, Torres was visiting airways so that he could not breathe. his family in Baytown when he had an acute No illegal drugs or alcohol were found attack of high blood pressure. Relatives in his system, but the cops claim Torres ap­ March 15 -- 1:OOpm kick­ called an ambulance, but Baytown cops peared intoxicated. Capt. Jack Erickson, of off rally at UMWA District were called when Torres fled from medical the Baytown police, excused the killing by technicians. saying, 'They could later be held respon­ 17 office, 1300 Kanawha Participants in the meeting viewed a copy sible ifthat person were hit by a car or hurt Blvd. East, Charleston, of the cruiser dashboard tape of the inci­ somebody else." West Virginia · dent, which showed Torres calmly shaking Chairing the meeting, LULAC commu­ one cop's hand. A second cop then ap­ nications director JohnnyMata invited those April 15 -- Final protest proached and the two wrestled Torres to the in attendance to participate. in an upcoming ground. Loud cries of pain could be heard march that would demand justice be done rally at the Capitol in from Torres as they restrained him. in this case. The officers involved have been Washington, D.C. "This was not an accident," said Houston· placed on paid administrative leave. NAACP executive director Yolanda Smith. A statement issued by Anthony Dutrow, _ For more information, contact "It was a deliberate attempt to violate his Socialist Workers Party candidate for Con­ Kawawha Valley Black Lung and human rights." gress in the 18th district, pointed to the role Disabled Workers Association at Local chaiirnan of the National Black of the cops in this and other similar inci­ (304) 595-2280. Funds for the United Front, Kofi Taharka, pointed to the dents. widow's walk can be sent and made 1977 drowning of Joe Campos Torres, who "The cops feel that with the recent war in out to NBLA c/o Thomas Ellis, P.O. was beaten by Houston cops and thrown into Afghanistan and the anti-immigrant attacks Box 632, Royaliton, IL 62983. a bayou. Taharka said not a lot has changed in the name of the so-called war against ter- 4 The Militant March 25, 2002 Forum builds march for black lung benefits BY ALYSON KENNEDY miners' widows are organizing a walk from mining region of the United States. occupational disease and forced the govern­ CRAIG, Colorado-"Discussion on the West Virginia coal fields to Washington, Alessio described the social movement ment to mandate inspections of dust con­ Black Lung Saturday" ran a headline above D.C., demanding black lung benefits." that developed in the coalfields in the 1960s centration levels in coal mines for the first an article on the back page of the March 7 The month-long action, he said, is a good and 1970s in the fight for black lung ben­ time." Craig Daily Press. Reporting a March 9 example of how working people "can make efits, mine safety, and health care. Participants in the meeting discussed why Militant Labor Forum, the article said that history and transform the future-some­ "In 1968 the Black Lung Association it is important for coal miners and other "a panel discussion on black lung and other thing we never learn in schpol orin any text- (BLA) was born in southern West Virginia," workers to support the demand by the wid­ mining safety issues will be held in Craig books." · he said. "The BLA led some of the most ows for federal black lung compensation in on Saturday. The meeting will be held at In addition to the widows' walk, the fo­ important wildcat strikes in 1969, forcing any way they can. Linda Chapman, a leader 1:00 p.m. Saturday at the Pathfinder book­ rum discussed the recent U.S. Supreme the government to provide black lung ben­ of the walk, sent a statement to the forum store on W. Victory Way. The meeting is also Court decision that imperils the 1992 Coal efits. At the height of the struggle, more than (see below). to rally support for Black Lung Widows who · Act and benefits for retired miners; proposed 40,000 miners from West Virginia alone "People like Linda Chapman see them­ are organizing a protest walk from Charles­ cuts to the Mine Safety and Health Admin­ were out on strike. Their motto was, 'No selves not as victims but as fighters," Alessio ton W. Va., through Pennsylvania to Wash­ istration (MSHA); and the attacks on mine Law, No Coal.' said. "In her message to this meeting she ington, D.C., while holding rallies along the safety that have led to an increase in the "The black lung strike," the socialist said, said, 'I knew something had to be done."' way." number of miners killed in the last several "was instrumental in passing the federal With this kind of determination and fight­ The article and subsequent forum were years. These issues have received no news Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. ing spirit, said the socialist, "working people the first major publicity for the March 15- coverage in western Colorado, a major coal This established in law that black lung is an are making history." · April15 walk by widows of coal miners who are demanding full federal black lung com­ pensation for miners and their spouses. The widows' walk is sponsored by the National 'We.willnot stop until the laws are changed' Black Lung Association,_the United. Mine Workers of America, and the Ohio Valley The following is a message from Linda firm believer that "ONE" voice can make a where there's a will there's a way, I started Environmental Coalitions. Chapman, a leader of the widows' walk difference and with wo,nderful people like making some plans. Debbie Wills has been Widows are planning to kick off the ac­ demanding federal black lung benefits, to ·you, it makes me have much hope .. a "big force" behind this movement. She has tion March 15 in Charleston, West Virginia. the March 9 Militant Labor Forum in When my husband Carson died I lost my known many of the doors that I have needed They will hold rallies in Fairmont and Craig, Colorado. Debbie Wills, who is one and only "soul mate" and in some of to knock on and she has opened many of Morgantown, West Virginia, and other cit­ mentioned in the letter, is a leader ofthe the darkest hours of my life when I had to these doors for me. · ies along the way. National Black Lung Association and of :face_ another new day without him, I won­ A reporter asked me this week what-my The forum was widely publicized in the the Kanawha Valley Black Lung and Dis­ dered what was the purpose of my life with­ name was? I love when this happens because area, including with calendar notices in four abled Workers Association in West Vir­ out "BEAR"? What could it possibly be? it makes the perfect opportunity for me fo local newspapers. Flyers were posted up in ginia.Alyson Kennedy is the chairperson And then I started meeting Widows just like make it very clear that this March to Wash­ local mini-marts and grocery stores. of the forum series. myself with stories just as horrible or worse ington, D.C., isn't about me and never will Jason Alessio, a member ofUMWA Lo­ than mine. Being a person of "action" I be. cal 1984 and a member of the Socialist Dear Alyson, knew something had to be done. · So I give an answer such as: Hi, my name Workers Party andYoung Socialists, was the You asked me ifl would like to make a state­ At one of our meetings in Montgomery I is Peggy Coleman. I'm 68 years old, my featured speaker at the meeting. ment to your group out in Colorado. Nothing proposed that we do a WIDOWS' WALK. husband, Dean died in 1985 of a massive "As the Bush administration is propos­ would give me more pleasure, so here goes: Realizing that so many of these fine women heart attack on our front porch and I have ing cuts in Social Security, Medicare and First let me say, THANKYOU! And God were older and in worse health than I was, I 19 appeals with my government. Hi, my other government-funded entitlements, and Bless each and every one of you who have thought that maybe this was going to be an name is Mrs. M~, I live in Oak Hill, my increasing funding to 'homeland defense' cared enough to take the time to see what undertaking that I would probably have to husband died 3 years ago, and we have 13 and the military budget," Alessio said, "coal you can do to help me to succeed. I am a do on my own. Being a total believer that appeals with my government. Etc. I try to make it very clear: this is not about me but the many widows out there who, after los­ ing their husbands to this terrible disease, Socialists sell 'Militant' to nrlners in-Colorado have to decide between food or their much­ needed medicines . ."I saw you at the mine today," said a coal When you drive through our beautiful miner who works at the Deserado mine. state, you will see giant billboards that are During a 30-minute discussion on questions advertising COAL. They read: "COAL ranging from the employers' attacks on coal KEEPS THE LIGHTS ON." Well it's time miners to the U.S. occupation of Afghani­ for our lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to stan, the miner. observed that "the U.S. al­ hear about the widows in this country who ways tries to impose its culture on other have lost their husbands. Because after countries." working for years for· the coal companies Team members also spoke to several lo­ and after keeping the lights on in this coun­ cal college students who were interested in try they leave behind their widows who have the widows' walk. a tremendous financial burden of medical "I don't usually read socialist newspapers, bills and no financial means of keeping but I want to see what you guys are talking "her" lights on-unless she's able to work about. It is a buck and a half?" said a miner two jobs. going to work at the big Colowyo surface After my husband died I was about mine early the next morning. Workers at the $20,000 dollars short ofpaying all the medi­ nonunion mine; which is owned by cal bills after all his life insurance was paid Kennecott Energy, produced 5.7 million out on medical bills and medical equipment tons of coal last year, up from 5, 1 million in that he needed to sustain his life. So after 2000. Many miners who work at Colowyo Carson's funeral I worked an average of80 live -in Craig, the location of the Pathfinder hours a week to keep my lights on. Don~t Bookstore. Miners purchased five Militants get me wrong when I speak of this because and took away many flyers for the forum. I thank God above that 'he gave me the _When the team returned to Colowyo later strength, willpower, and the determination in the week, coal miners bought another to provide for myself. seven copies of the Militant. One miner said But I have met many widows who are not Militant supporters braved winter conditions to sell to coal miners at Seneca mine that he "got one the other day. The union able to work one job let alone two. So it is should come out here. They would get a their voices that MUST be heard and their ·good response." BY ALYSON KENNEDY mine slowed down to read the posterboard stories that MUST be told. I will walk to Another team travelled to Twenty Mile CRAIG, Colorado-Socialist workers signs the team had taped to their vehicle in our nation's capital and will not stop until front of the mine portal. The signs read, coal mine. Owned by RAG American Coal we get the LAWS changed that will lead to and Young Socialists in Western Colorado Holding Company, the mine is one of the organized a one-week team to coal mines "Widows Walk to D.C. to Demand Black a change that will benefit these women who Lung Benefits" and "U.S. Supreme Court largest underground operations in the United have been neglected by our government for and working-class communities in the sec­ States. Several miners stopped to buy the ond week of March to sell the Militant, Attacks Retired Miners' Benefits-Read the too long. We also need to get the laws Militant." paper, including a mechanic who said he changed that have "tied" the hands of our Perspectiva Mundial, and Pathfinder books, was glad to find out about the Pathfinder and to publicize a forum on the fight by coal A worker stopped his truck to read the coal miners for too many years. bookstore in Craig. miners and their spouses for black lung and signs, backed up his vehicle to talk to one· We must be able to hire lawyers to repre- · health benefits. of the team members, and bought a copy of During the week's sales the wife of a coal sent us or we will never win our cases ·The local Militant supporters on the team the paper. He explained that he works as an miner told a team member who had knocked against the powerful coal companies. We · were joined by a socialist meat packer from engineer on the mine railroad, which takes on her trailer door that she had read about literally have to face theAdministrative Law San Francisco. Desera:do coal to a power plant in Vernal, the upcomi~g forum in the local paper. She Judge and the company lawyers with no one The team met a lot of interest in the Utah. Like the surface and underground was glad to see that there was a place in to represent us or to stand in our corner and Militant's feature coverage on the widows' miners, the railroad workers are members Craig to talk about subjects like black lung. we don't stand a "snowball's chance in Ha­ walk to Washington demanding black lung of the UMWA local. . Another miner's wife had read the news­ des." I was talking to a local Judge in the benefits, and the U.S. Supreme Court rul­ Two workers driving into the mine to put • paper article about the forum. She liked the county where I live and he told me he was ing on the 1992 Coal Act that dealt a blow in job applications also stopped to talk. One fact that someone was going door to door pretty sure that this law that the Labor De­ to the health benefit program for retired had worked in a coal mine in southern Colo­ publicizing the meeting. "It's good to see partment has forced upon us is UNCON­ miners. There has been no other news cov­ rado. He said that after his grandfather died someone believe in a cause," she said. STITUTIONAL! erage on these struggles in newspapers pub­ of black lung disease; his grandmother re­ Three people,. including a retired miner, So as a widow of a coal miner it is obvi­ lished illthe Colorado coalfields, ceived no benefits. Both were glad to hear came to the bookstore during the week be­ ous that we have many laws on the bookS The first stop was the Deserado Mine in about the widows' walk, and took out $2 to cause of the publicity about the forum. that are an issue for all ofus to address in Rangely, Colorado. In 1999, United Mine get the Militant. The workers also pocketed On the last day of their trip, the socialist the future, one step at a time. But as we be­ Workers of America (UMWA) Locall984 a leaflet advertising the upcoming Militant workers sold two more Militants to mine come organized our numbers increase. Be­ struck the ·mine, owned by Blue Mountain Labor Forum. workers at the Seneca mine, a UMWA-or­ cause they do increase with a new widow Energy, for four months. Major issues in the After the portal sale, team members went ganized surface miile. every six and a half minutes. Our fight will strike were pensions and health care for re­ to an apaitment building in Rangely, knock­ By that time a blizzard was under way be long and hard but we will prevail! ! ! ! tired miners. ing on doors to talk to the workers and stu­ and the team decided· to call an end to a sue-· Sincerely yourS, Many workers driving in and out of the dents who live there. cessful week of sales. Linda Chapman March 25, 2002 The Militant 5 Palestinians sharpen crisis of Israeli regime

Continued from front page from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and all an "infrastructure of terror" in the areas. Dis­ other territories seized since the 1967 war. missing criticism of the assault by United Expressing the views of the governments and Nations secretary general KofiAnnan, a se­ ruling classes of nations throughout the . nior Israeli official retorted that Annan had . Middle East, who fear both Israeli military supported the u.-s: government's attack on power and the impact of the Palestinian Afghanistan. "We use milder measures than struggle, the Jordanian foreign minister de­ the United States used inAfghanistan,".the scribed the proposal as "a serious initiative. official told a reporter for the New York It is a near consensus by the Arab world that Times, "facing a similar threat, if not a big­ the time has come to end the conflict." ger one." The Israeli army did stop writing identifi­ U.S. sends envoy cation numbers on the forearms and fore­ On March 7 the White House announced heads ofPalestinians it rounded up after sharp that special envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni criticism from some members ofParliament. would travel to the Middle East at the same "It is totally unbearable for me," said one time Vice President Richard Cheney is in survivor of the Nazi concentration camps in the region to drum up support for further Germany during World War II. "This is some­ assaults on Iraq by Washington. thing that was done to us in Auschwitz." The big-business press openly describes The nightly invasions of tanks and infan­ Zinni's mission as one oftamping down the try have involved house-to-house sweeps violence so the Israeli aggression against the and the detention of thousands of young Palestinians doesn't cut across support Palestinian men. Washington is trying to gamer in the region On March 12, the Israeli government sent for its own military attacks on Iraq. tanks and troops backed by Apache attack "If they're going to keep the focus on Iraq, helicopters into the Jabaliya refugee camp [U.S. officials] are going to have to do some­ in the Gaza strip. Up to 150 tanks rolled in thing about trying to calm" down the Israeli­ to occupy the West Bank town ofRamallah Palestinian conflict; said Martin Indyk, a and the adjacent Amari refugee camp, and former U.S. ambassador to Israel. other targets. Some 28 Palestinians were Reflecting the U.S. rulers' concern at the killed in the first hours of the raids. irrepressible Palestinian struggle and the es­ Israeli tanks cut off the road to the Amari calating conflict, Colin Powell, the U.S. sec­ camp and demanded all men between the Palestinians marched in solidarity with the retary Of state, said on March 6 that "Prime ages of 16 and 45 come to the courtyard of in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria on March 8. Minister Sharon has to take a hard look at a school. The order from the army was his policies to see whether they will work. blared through loudspeakers on the tanks. scored headlines for his "concessions." dent Bush's war on terrorism." Ifyou declare war against the Palestinians Four days earlier, Israeli tanks, armored Among the latter was a declaration that he In another indication of the depth and thinking that you can solve the problem by vehicles, and infantry, backed by warplanes, would drop his previous insistence that no spread of the resistance, and the solidarity seeing how many Palestinians canbe killed, Apache helicopters, and naval gunboats, talks would occur without a seven-day halt it arouses among Pl;llestinians inside Israel, I don't know that that leads us anywhere." killed 44 Palestinians in a series of raids. to the Palestinian resistance. "There was the Israeli Ministry of Justice claimed on The Secretary of State's comments appar­ At funerals in the Gaza Strip and in solidar­ nothing new here," said Saab Erekaat, the March 11 that over the past months hun­ ently had little impact on Tel Aviv. ity demonstrations in Jordan, Lebanon, chief negotiator for the Palestinian Author­ dreds of"IsraeliArabs" have joined the Pal­ Washington has devoted special efforts to Syria, and elsewhere in the Middle East, ity, of Sharon's so-called compromises. estinian security services--established un­ trying to ensure the Israeli rulers' coopera­ thousands of Palestinians rallied to express "He's trying to confuse people." der the Palestinian-Israeli Oslo negotations tion with any offensive against Iraq. Writ­ defiance at the Israeli assaults. "We will continue our heightened activi­ process-and other armed groups operat­ ing in the March 11 New Yorker magazine, In spite of the ferocity of the attacks, how­ tjes against the terror infrastructure," Sharon ing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Seymour Hersh reported that U.S. officials ever, Palestinian resistance to Israeli occu­ said on March l 0, as the Israeli armed forces ministry is proposing to make such a step briefed Sharon about their plans during his pation, including public protests, suicide pursued-in the words of aNew York Times punishable by up to five years in jail. February visit to the White House, and tried bombings, and surprise guerrilla attacks, has reporter-their "major military campaign to continued unabated. scour Palestinian refugee camps," The failure of the widening Israeli offen­ 'We must cause them losses' si:ve to curtail the Palestinian resistance, The Israeli escalation came after Prime however, was brought home the day after Minister Ariel Sharon promised "an aggres­ the March 8 Israeli assaults, when a suicide sive and continuous campaign without letup" bomber struck in a popular Jerusalem cafe, in a speech March 6 to troops and officials at killing 11 people. Over the weekend, armed a military checkpoint south of Jerusalem. Palestinians attacked crowds at Netanya, in • "We are in a hard war against a cruel and northern Israel, and the industrial port city bloodthirsty enemy," he said two days ear- ofAshdod, less than 20 miles from Tel Aviv. . lier. "We must cause them losses, casualties ... so that they understand they will Unabated Palestinian resistance gain nothing by terrorism. We must hit them, In January and February, two Palestinian and hit them again and again, until they women joined those who have carried out understand." Sharon's cabinet announced suicide attacks on Israeli targets. Wafa Idris, that it had ordered an "incessant and relent­ 28, became the first female suicide bomber less intensification of the military pressure." in the present conflict in late January, when The prime minister reiterated that ap­ she blew herself up in Jaffa Road, Jerusalem, proach over the following days, even as he killing one person and wounding others. Darin Abu Eisheh, 22, who wounded sev­ eral Israeli policemen on Febnrary 27 at a checkpoint near the Israeli-West Bank bor­ der, said in a farewell videotape that she was "following in the footsteps ofWafa Idris." "She was sure that we would be killed for Israeli troops rounded up Palestinian men in Dheisheh camp on March 11, ounaltOUl­ nothing, maybe at a roadblock or when our ing them and binding their hands. Hundreds have been held and interrogated. houses are bombed, and she used to say that it is better to die for a reason," said Abu The failure of Sharon's widening military to persuade him to delay a response to any Eisheh's brother, 31-year-old Tawfik Abu action to stem the resistance is forcing to attacks on Israel by the Iraqi military. Eisheh. "Her opinion was that women should the surface long-standing fault lines in his During the 1990-91 Gulf War the U.S. participate with men in the uprising., and that cabinet. Although Labor MPs like Shimon armed forces withheld "friend or foe" codes there is no reason from a religious point of Peres, the foreign minister, have advised from the Israeli air force, rendering impos­ view that women should not participate." Sharon "not to escalate the situation," they sible any action by its planes against Registering the tenacity of the Palestin­ have presented no alternative course. Baghdad, which was peppering Israel with ian struggle, a March 6 Times editorial, ar­ inaccurate Scud missiles. guing for "active American diplomatic in­ War-weariness, polarization "But the Israeli leaders refused to give the tervention," stated that "force alone.,.has not The divisions reflect the repudiation of White House an assurance that it would not battered the Palestinians into submission .... Sharon's. military actions among layers of retaliate," wrote Hersh. A senior Israeli offi­ To the contrary, Yasir Arafat's secular mili­ the Israeli population. One political scien­ cial told the reporter that "the United States tias have openly engaged in combat against tist observed in a March 7 Jerilsalem Post should assume, in its considerations, that if Israel. Suicide missions have become far column that "as more peace rallies are Israel is to be hit, Israel will hit back. We took more frequent and attacks on Israeli soldiers planned and more people attend them, as a hit in 1991 and did not hit back because we more effective." more violence takes place and casualties, could have ruined the United States-Arab The Wall Street Journal, a backer of • particularly civilians, mount on both sides, coalition. Our lack of retaliation was seen in Sharon's military policy, reported on March and as the polls begin to shift, Labor is fi­ the West as very smart, but in the Arab world 7 that "the most recent round of suicide nally starting to wake up." it had a serious negative effect on Israel's bombings and brutal Israeli reprisals has That growing war-weariness is juxta" deterrence posture," the official said. The made one thing clear to many Israelis: Pal­ posed to intensified polarization, expressed "deterrence posture" referred to is long-stand­ estinian militants aren't giving up, regard­ in a Tel Aviv demonstration oftens of thou­ ing Israeli policy that any attack on Israel will less of the military might Israeli Prime Min­ sands of people calling for stiffer action be met with an immediate and massive ister Ariel Sharon brings to bear on Pales­ against the Palestinian struggle. "Defeat counterstrike. The policy is the only way the tinian leader Y~ir Arafat and the roughly Arafat, destroy terror" read one banner. garrison state has survived in the region as a three million Palestinian residents of the At a March 9-10 Cairo meeting, foreign . outpost for imperialism. quasi-independent West Bank and Gaza .... ministers from Arab League nations declared The official continued, Hersh writes: "If The Palestinians are forcing themselves their support for a proposal floated by the someone thinks it can hit Israel and not be back to the center of the international stage government ofSaudiArabia, offering recog­ hit ten times as strongly back, it is a serious after being shoved into the wings by Presi- nition to Israel in return for its withdrawal issue. It won't happen again." 6 The Militant March 25, 2002 Meetings will defend.· ·framed-up Cubans · held in U.S. prisons ' Continued from front page tionary government of Cuba. A charge of the city and elsewhere in the country will "conspiracy to commit murder" was tacked be organizing similar events, including on later against one of the five. house meetings with co-workers and union­ On June 8 a jury in a federal courtroom ists, forums on college campuses, and pre­ here handed down guilty verdicts against the sentations to groups involved in struggles five men on all23 charge~ of "spying" for against the employers and. their government. the government of Cuba. Gerardo "We are organizing to get out the truth Hernandez was found guilty of the unprec­ about the case," said Koppel. "We are ex­ edented charge of "conspiracy to commit plaining that Gerardo Hernandez, Rene murder" for allegedly providing Cuban au­ Gonzalez, Ramon Labafiino, Antonio thorities with flight plans of the four Broth­ Guerrero, and Fernando Gonzalez were on ers to the Rescue pilots whose planes were an international mission to defend their shot down in 1996 by the Cuban air force. country and revolution from attacks by the A number of defense witnesses offered U.S. government and Cuban counteqevo­ ample evidence that these rightists provoca­ Top photo, five Cuban patriots framed-up and sent to five U.S. prisons. From left to lutionary forces based in the United States. tively violated Cuban airspace and refused right: Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez; Fernando Gonzalez "The five are working-class heroes, who to heed warnings to head back before they and Ramon Labaiiino. Bottom photo, thousands of Cubans mobilize all over the coun: have risked their lives to defend the first were downed near Havana. try to demand the release of their compatriots. socialist revolution in the Americas," Koppel In mid-December, Hernandez was given said. "As with any class-war prisoner in the two consecutive life terms plus 80 months dungeons of U.S. imperialism, the most i~ jail on these trumped-up charges. Days try. The defense also succeeded in expos­ acts of aggression were launched, was the basic task of working-class fighters is to later, Ramon Labafiino was sentenced to one ing how the U.S. government has provided only one that had this opportunity in its ensure the five are not isolated as they face life teim; Rene Gomalez received a 15-year a base of operations for these organizations hands." continuing pressure from the U.S. rulers. sentence; and Fernando Gonzalez got 19 and refused to take any effective steps to At the time the Militant noted the "trag­ "There are thousands of working people years in prison. halt their activities. edy was not what happened but what was and youth who are resisting the assaults by These convictions and sentences are an For example, a series ofbombings offour­ averted. Acts of terrorism and· aggression by the bosses and the government who will l!,ttack directed not· only at revolutionary ist spots in Cuba in 1997 was "organized, armed, U.S.-based 'civilians' have been want to learn about this fight, come to iden­ Cuba but at workers' rights in the United planned, and financed from the United slowed. Who can doubt that it has now be­ tify with these five brothers, and join in the States. FBI agents broke into their homes States," declared Roberto Hernandez Cabal­ come more difficult to recruit pilots and oth­ demand. that they be released and allowed repeatedly over the three years prior to the lero in the triaL Hernandez, currently a lieu­ ers to carry out provocations and terrorist to return to Cuba," Koppel said. arrests, violating the Fourth Amendment tenant colonel for the State Security Depart­ acts against the Cuban Revolution?" Washington refuses to recognize the five protection against arbitrary search and sei­ ment of the Interior Ministry of Cuba, testi­ The driving force behind the attacks and as political prisoners, Koppel said. It has sent zure. The prosecution's "evidence" con­ fied as a defense witness. economic warfare against the Cuban people them to five separate federal prisons across sisted of information the FBI claimed to This evidence further boosted the defense is not the counterrevolutionary Cuban the United States. "The purpose of the bru­ have collected in these raids, and from short­ case that the five men face frame-up charges groups in Miami, Koppel noted. It is the tal treatment in dividing them up is to de­ wave radio transmissions government that should be dropped. Testimony by a se-. imperialist ruling class in the United States, grade and force them to their knees;' Koppel agents asserted they intercepted between ries of witnesses brought to the. stand by whose holdings were expropriated by the said. "Their treatment is parall~l to that be­ Havana and the defendants. · defense attorneys shed further light on working people of Cuba and who will never ing meted out to the 300 prisoners who were · .The judge refus~d a defense motion to Washington's unceasing cold war against forgive or peacefully accept the challenge . kidnapped and taken by U.S. authorities to move the trial out of Miami, even after sev­ Cuba. to capitalist property and prerogatives that Washington's naval base in Guantanamo, eral potential jurors, especially Cuban­ Retired U.S. Air Force colonel George the socialist revolution in Cuba offers, and Cuba. Even under the. czar of Russia and Americans, disqualified themselves for fear Buchner testified March 21. that evidence the example it provides, to millions oftoil­ the Batista dictatorship in Cuba, opponents of reprisals if they voted "not guilty." No from the records of the U.S. government's ers around the world. of the government were not separated and evidence .of any military secrets being sto­ National Security Agency shows that the Koppel said the campaign to defend the isolated from each other, as U.S. authori- len fromthe United States and turned over Brothers to the Rescue pilots were well in­ five revolutionaries offers working people . ties are doing with the five Cuban revolu­ to Cuba was ever presented by the prosecu­ side Cuba's airspace when they were shot and yquth a great opportunity to discuss tionaries, tion. down. This contradicted earlier claims by these questions as broadly as possible, to Washington, and by 1996 United Nations defend workers' rights in the United States, "Th~s frame-up is part of the U.S. em­ As with Washington's attacks on work­ a ployers' offensive against working people ers' rights under the guise of fighting ter­ Security Council report, that the planes were and to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the here at home," he said. "It is an attack on - rorism since September 11, the U.S. rulers brought down over international waters. Cuban people. The socialist leader also en­ fundamental rights and is aimed at intimi­ used the "spy scare" case against the five Buchner's testimony and similar.evidence couraged supporters.ofthl.s fight to write to dating anyone who opposes the bosses' as­ Cubans as a ineans to justify broader pow­ presented in a federal courtroom received the five prisoners and said both the Militant saults or U.S. government policies." ers for the FBJ, including sanctioning break­ little media coverage beyond Miami•. and. Perspectiva Mundial will be sending ins and electronic eavesdropping, frame-up Brothers to the Rescue leader Jose each one a subscription to the publications. Prosecution's frame-up trials .on scanty evidence, and harsh prison Basulto had tried to portray himself in ear­ "I recently attended in Cuba a presenta­ lier testimony as a "nonviolent resister" to tion on the new Pathfinder title From the In 1998 th~ FBI announced with much conditions, such as extended. solitary con­ fanfare and media hype that it had discov­ finement solely based on the character of· "Castro's tyranny" and a follower of Mar­ Escombray to the Congo: In the Whirlwind ered a "Cuban spy network" in Florida. the charges against the defendants. tin Luther King and Mohandas Gandhi. ofthe Cuban Revolution by Victor Dreke," Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labafiino, An­ After the defense grilled him on the stand Koppel said. "During the meeting Dreke tonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Cuban government campaign for. five days, however, Basulto testified presented copies ofthe book to Magali Llort, Rene Gonzalez were arrested and charged All five defendants have stated they were March 16 that he would do nothing to stop the mother of Fernando Gonzalez, one of with trying to "infiltrate" the U.S. Southern reporting on activities of right-wing Cuban­ illegal arms shipments to Cuba because "he the jailed Cubans. It was evident atthe meet­ Command, passing U.S. "military secrets" American groups in Florida with a record broadly supports exile groups bent on over­ ing the degree of support the five have in to Havana, and "infiltrating" and "disrupt­ ofviolent activities against Cuba, carried out throwing Fidel Castro violently," according Cuba, and how they are seen as part of the ing" right-wing Cuban-American groups in with knowledge and complicity from Wash­ to the March 17 Miami Herald. struggle against U.S. imperialism." ington. They have announced they will fight Koppel said the dedication written by Miami that seek to overthrow the revolu- Washington's lies their convictions through appeals. Respond­ Dreke in each of the books to be sent to the . ing to the verdict, Guerrero said that if "I Washington's campaign around Cuba's imprisoned revolutionaries captured this were asked to do something like this again shooting down of the Brothers to the Res­ spirit. Dreke wrote: "To the five heroic pris­ From Pathfinder I would do it with honor." cue planes is a good case to review. That oners of the empire: I congratulate you for The Cuban government, which has Gerardo· Hernandez is serving a life term your firmness and bravery. Your are worthy launched an international campaign in de- for "conspiracy to commit murder" in rela­ representatives of Marti, Maceo, Camilo, TO SPEAK THE TRUTH . fense of the five, called a special session of · tion to the provocative assault on Cuba is a Che, and Fidel. I send you the book with all · the country's NationalAssembly December historic injustice. the respect and affection you deserve. The Why Washington's Cold War 29. With a unanimous vote, the Assembly Befote the United Nations and at other old oak trees are proud of the new pines." against Cuba Doesn't End · · named the five patriots "Heroes of the Re­ international forums in 1996 officials of the Fidel Castro and Che Guevara public of Cuba," because they carried out Cuban government meticulously dismantled the lies peddled by the U.S. government In speeches "with exemplluy dedication, dignity, and steadfastness the sacred mission of defend­ about the incident. Roberto Robaina, Cuba's before the United ing the nation and protecting it from terror­ Foreign Minister at the time, reported to the Nations and UN ism." United Nations Genera). Assembly the his­ bodies, Guevara The year 2002 has been dedicated as the tory of infiltrations and armed pirate attacks and Castro "Year of the Heroic Prisoners of the Em­ from southern Florida, including 25 incur­ address the . pire" in Cuba because of the importance of sions into Cuban airspace by Brothers to the the fight to free the political prisoners. Ral­ Rescue planes the previous year and a half. workers of the The U.S. FederalAviationAgency had even world. $16.95 lies, meetings, national "round table" dis­ cussions, and other events have sought to revoke9 Basulto's pilot's licerise, citing 14 deepen the education of the Cuban popula­ violations of Cuban airspace between 1990 tion on the fight. and 1996. "The government of Cuba takes full re­ History of attacks against Cuba sponsibility for the patriotic action that was Available from bookstores, including During the trial defense lawyers for the carried out in legitimate defense of the those listed on page 12; write Path­ five were able to present extensive informa­ country's sovereignty and security," Robaina finder, 410 West St., New York, NY tion on how U.S.-based Cuban-American told the UN meeting. "This incident was not 10014. Tel: (212) 741-0690; or visit groups have carried out attacks against Cuba the consequence ofa deliberate act by Cuba. www.pathfinderpress.com. Please _since the 1959 revolution, as well as those It was not we who could prevent these .vio­ include $3 for shipping and handling. in Miami who have stood up to oppose lations from continuing. The U.S. govern­ Washington's economic war on the coun- ment," he said, "from whose territory these March 25, 2002 The Militant 7 Wide range of_ Pathfinder titles reach Cuban readers ARRIN HAWKINS festo by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels; AND MARTIN KOPPEL Lenin 's Final Fight; The Revolution Be­ HAVANA-On the final day of the Ha­ trayed by Leon Trotsky; and The Working vana International Book Fair-a Sunday- · Class and the Transformation of Learning Pathfinder Press made every title in its booth by Jack Barnes. available to fair-goers in Cuban pesos. The Nueva Internacional no. 5, including fair was officially open at 10:00 a.m., but "U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War," by 9: 15 a.m. the Pathfinder booth was and the English-language New International mobbed by people waiting to purchase no. 6, featuring "The Second Assassination books and pamphlets. By noon it was virtu­ of Maurie~ Bishop," were also among the ally picked clean. best-sellers. Just about every last title in French, in­ cluding many copies of the magazine New book presented at meetings Nouvelle Internationale, had been sold to During the week following the Havana Haitian students and other French-speaking Book Fair, From the Escambray to the visitors to the fair. Congo was presented at events in a half­ Over the course of 10 days more than 225 dozen cities in central Cuba, the area where different Pathfinder titles were sold at the the book's author, Victor Dreke, was born, fair. In addition, visitors to the booth bought fought in the 1956-59 Revolutionary War dozens of copies of the Militant and hun­ to overthrow the Batista dictatorship, and dreds of copies ofPerspectiva Mundial. Thi-s later helped lead the battle against the coun­ response is one indication of the interest in terrevolutionary bandits in the Escambray revolutionary literature among working Mountains. Six members of the international people and youth in Cuba. Pathfinder team, bringing with them 20 car­ The final day of sales in pesos has be­ tons ofbooks and pamphlets, traveled with come a tradition of Pathfinder's participa-· their Cuban hosts in two vans throughout tion in the fair. Many people who have vis­ the region. ited the booth over tbe years eagerly await Speaking at the events were Victor Dreke; the opportunity to expand their access to Pathfinder president Mary-Alice Waters, one books on the international class struggle, ofDreke's interviewers and editor of the U.S. politics, the history of the communist book; and IraidaAguirrechu, who organized movement, the fight for women's liberation, editorial assistance on the book in Cuba. and many other questions. Some 240 copies of the title were purchased Pathfinder supporters organized success­ on the spot at these meetings or were left to ful sales and donations, not only at the an­ be sold later, including 54 in Dreke's home­ nual Havana International Book Fair and the town, Sagua la Grande. Another 54 were three book launchings held as part of it, but sold in Trinidad, the proceeds from which also at nine other events in Havana and were donated to the museum of the Lucha throughout Villa Clara at which the new Contra Bandidos (Struggle against the Ban­ book, was presented. dits-the name by which the campaign Three Pathfinder titles were the subject against the counterrevolutionary forces in the Escambray mountains of the early 1960s Militant/middle and bottom right, Jonathan Silberman; other photos by Daniel Ahl of special presentations during the Havana Top, Pathfinder book table outside presentation ofFrom the Escambray to the Congo in Book Fair itself. They were the Spanish-Ian­ is known in Cuba). Thirty were left for the museum to sell in its store . Sagua Ia Grande, Cuba. A line of people waited to buy the books. Middle left, Victor . guage editions of From the Escambray to Dreke speaks at Sagua meeting. With him on platform is IraidaAguirrechu to his left the Congo: In the Whirlwind of the Cuban Other meetings were held in Santa Clara, Placetas, Sancti Spiritus, and Manicaragua. and Mary-Alice Waters.Audience at meeting can be seen bottom left. Middle and lowe; Revolution by Victor Dreke; Playa Giron/ right, Pathfinder booth at February 7-17 Havana International Book Fair. Bay of Pigs: Washington 's First Military The book was also presented at two well­ Defeat in the Americas by Fidel Castro and attended events in Havana, paralle1 to the Jose Ramon Fernandez; and Women's Lib­ book fair itself. Participants in a workers tences of 10 and 15 years. Dreke presented ·operation. eration and the African Freedom Struggle, assembly of some 70 people at the National Llort with five copies of From the Fernandez said he will present these books by revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso, Union of Caribbean Construction Enter­ Escambray to the Congo, dedicated to each to the l)attalions that fought at Playa Giron Thomas Sankara, which was featured at a prises (UNECA) bought more than 50 cop­ of the five compaiieros, which she prom­ when they hold their annual meetings be­ joint presentation with the Social Partici­ ies. UNECA is a Cuban construction enter­ ised would be rapidly forwarded to them. tween now and April 19. At the end of the pation of Mozambican Women, recently prise that works on·development projects in Another 75 copies of the book were sold Continued on next page published by Cuba's Tricontinental Editions. Africa, Asia, Latin America, and else­ at a meeting sponsored by the Association where-including hospitals, r:oads, airports, of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution in Sales at the book fair and schools. Dreke is currently director of Nautico, the Havana neighborhood where The three Pathfinder titles above were UNECA's work in Africa. Dreke lives. Among the many prominent 'A good reason to among the best sellers at the publisher's Among those participating in that meet­ guests in the audience ofmore than 100 at booth during the 10-day book fair in Havana. ing was Magali Llort, a UNECA employee that gathering were Manuel Cardero, gen­ contribute' Other popular titles included the Spanish­ and the mother ofFernando Gonzalez one eral secretary of the Sugar Workers Union, "The results at the Havana Interna­ and Teofilo Stevenson, the former world language editions ofMaking History: Inter­ of the five Cubans framed up in u.s.' fed­ tional Book fair and other events in Cuba views with Four Generals of Cuba 's Revo­ eral court on charges of conspiracy to com­ heavyweight boxing caampion. Some 50 copies of From the Escambray are a good reason to contribute to the lutionary Armed Forces; Cuba and the Com­ mit espionage. Gonzalez was sentenced to Books for Cuba Fund," said Jack Willey, 19 years in prison. Two defendants were to the Congo were donated to the Combat­ ing American Revolution by Jack Barnes; business manager of the Militant. Spe­ Malcolm X Speaks; the Communist Mani- jailed for life, and the others received sen- ants Association to distribute to their lead­ ership across Cuba, and more than 200 were cial collections for that fund will be or­ presented as complimentary copies to those ganized at the upcoming regional social~ ist conferences, he said, and "we encour­ FROM Pathfinder who helped bring the book to fruition and other collaborators in Cuba, as well as to age anyone who can't attend those From the Escambray to .the Congo the Communist Party, People's Power, and meetings to send their contribution di­ Combatants Association hosts in the cities rectly to the paper." In the Whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution visited on the tour. The Militant sponsors the Books for Added to the 160 sold at the launching Cuba Fund, which makes it possible for Interview with Victor Dreke during the Havana Book Fair, and the 75 books and pamphlets published by Path­ In his account of how easy it be­ sold from the booth, a total of some I ,010 finder Press to be sent to organizations came after the 1959 victory of the copies of the Spanish edition of From the and institutions in revolutionary Cuba, Cuban Revolution to "take down the Escambray to the Congo were distributed and to be sold at affordable prices at book rope" that for decades had segre­ during the February events in Cuba. fairs and other book-related events. gated blacks from whites at dances in Please make out checks to the Mili­ Other titles distributed and sold town squares, yet how enormous tant and mail them to 410 West St., New was the battle to transform the social Hundreds of copies of Playa Giron!Bay York, NY 10014. relations underlying this and all the ofPigs: Washington's First Military Defeat other "ropes" inherited from colo­ in the Americas, and Women 's Liberation nialism, capitalism, and Yankee domi­ and the African Freedom Struggle, the other nation, Vfctor Dreke captures the his­ titles presented at the Havana Book Fair, turical challenge ofour epoch. were also distributed through these efforts. At the heart of this book lies the The 135 copies of Playa Giron sold dur­ willingness, aetermination, and cre­ ing the fair-60 at the book launch and 75 ative joy with which Cuba's working Infantry battalion of Rebel Army after climb­ from the booth-were supplemented by 35 people have, for more than forty ing highest mountain in Pinar del Rio, 1959. during the trip to Villa Clara and Sancti years, defended their revolutionary Spiritus. In addition, Pathfinder supporters course against the imperialist bastion Available from bookstores, including used the occasion of the launching to present to the north. In English and Spanish, those listed on page 12; write Pathfinder, Cuban vice president Jose Ramon $17.00. 410 West St., New York, NY 10014. Tel: Fernandez with 50 hardback copies that had (212) 741-0690, or visit been set aside by volunteer workers during Joyce Special offer: $13 www.pathfinderpress.com. Please a Red Weekend at the Pathfinder Building include $3 for shipping and handling. Pathfinder stall at this year's b<)ok fair in January-part of a major reorganization attracted lively discussion. of the publisher's printing and distribution 8 The Militant March 25, 2002 The difference·a revolution makes: textile factories in the U.S. and Cuba BY BRIAN TAYLOR called bobbins. When the tubes are full you SANTA CLARA, Cuba-During a tour have to "doff' them, that is, take a cart and of a half dozen cities in central Cuba by a zoom down the machine removing full bob­ team of volunteers expanding the circula­ bins and replacing them with empty ones. tion of Pathfinder's newly published book Each machine has as many as 120 bobbins. From the Escambray to the Congo, by Victor In contrast, workers in the plant in Santa Dreke, we had an opportunity to visit a large Clara are responsible for tending only five textile mill here on February 18. The machines, and the demanding doffing pro­ "Desembarco del Granma" (Landing of the cess is almost completely automated! The Granma) factory complex, which also en­ winding department has about eighfma­ compasses a sewing factory, produces not chines to a worker. And the pace workers only the textiles themselves but a range of keep in the factory here is steady but less finished products, including uniforms for physically exhausting than in the capitalist the Revolutionary Armed Forces and oth­ world. ers. In a textile mill, cotton dust is a particu­ Having been a· textile worker myself for lar hazard to workers' health. It can cause a year and having experienced the acceler­ "brown lung," a progressively debilitating ated "productivity" drive of mills through­ and sometimes fatal respiratory illness. The out the South of the United States, I was factory I visited here was well ventilated, nearly blown away by how much better the including in the doffing department, which conditions are for textile workers in Cuba. is usually the most dusty. At the plant where In the United States, many textile work­ I worked it was so dusty that a short stint ers work 12-hour shifts, three to five days a left you covered with white fuzz, eyelashes week. This extended workday was widely and all. Workers at the Cuba plant had little Militant Above and below, workers at Desembarco del Granma textile mill show guests the weav­ imposed over the last two years as part of or no dust on their clothes at the end of the ing machines. Banner on wallreads, "Besides justice, socialism is efficiency and quality." the capitalist bosses' stepped-up drive for day. profits. Supposedly you work three days one Most plants I am familiar with in the They expropriated the great landed estates cal and economic power is in the hands of week and foirr the next, to total 84 hours in United States have a doctor present-at least and guaranteed land to every working working people, the natural resources, the two weeks. But many workers, unable to live from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.-who runs farmer. They nationalized the factories and organization of labor, and the creativity of off those wages, "voluntarily" work an ex­ breathing tests on workers a couple of times began producing to meet the needs of the women and men throughout society are di­ tra day or two each week. This is especially a year. They are also supposed to take air Cuban people, not to maintain profits for a rected to meet different class interests. true for immigrant workers who, in addi­ dust samples regularly. The role of the com­ wealthy handful.offamilies. And in so do­ The people of Cuba, too, are the victims tion to trying to cover their own living ex­ pany doctors, however,.is to help the bosses ing they earned the undying wrath of the of a world capitalist market they cannot es­ penses, often send sizable portions of their cover up the unsafe working conditions, get U.S. government, which to this day is try­ cape from, and a brutal economic war di­ checks back to their families in their coun­ injured or ill workers back on the job as ing to roll back the revolutionary gains of rected at them by the U.S. government. But tries of origin. quickly as possible whether they are well the Cuban people. the revolutionary government in Cuba re­ Workers at the Cuban plant I visited nor­ or not, and undercut workers' efforts to hold In the United States and around the capi­ lies on workers and farmers acting together mally work an eight-hour day, five days a the bosses responsible for injuries on the job talist world, workers and farmers are always to open a road out of the economic crisis week. Currently they are working two six­ or demand improvements in conditions. hit the hardest by any economic crisis. We impo-sed oB them and implements policies hour shifts in order to reduce electrical con­ In the Santa Clara plant, as in all Cuban are discounted by the ruling rich, who to minimize its toll on working people. sumption--6:00 a.m. to noon and noon to workplaces, there is a doctor and nurse, throughout the roaring nineties boasted of 6:00p.m., with a 15-minute break. available at all times. They do regular tests an economic boom while most of us were Brian Taylor is a coal miner and member of At the plant where I worked there was no to monitor dust levels and prevent lung dam­ figuring out how to pay the gas bill. United Mine Workers ofAmerica Local2133 set lunch break. Workers are paid accord­ age. Their main concern is the health needs lri socialist Cuba, however, where politi- in Alabama. ing to how much they produce, so those who of the workers. are riot fast or need extra money feel pres­ After. a 12-hour shift at the plant where I sure not to take a lunch break at all, or to worked, you don't have much time for any­ take a very short one. These conditions are thing except what's necessary to sleep and common. prepare for the next day. Life is especially Layoffs have been sweeping the textile challenging for single mothers, who struggle industry throughout the South. The plant finding and paying for child care. Other where I worked laid off more than 50 work­ tasks of everyday life become more diffi­ ers in the winding department, in a plant of cult, too. roughly 300. The Desembarco del Granma textile fac­ In Cuba if there is no work, you don't tory has a child-care facility, a hairdresser, simply get thrown into the streets. Workers a bank, bicycle and TV repair shops~ and who are "temporarily laid off'--due to lack other similar services. The factory also or­ of raw materials, machinery, breakdowns, ganizes transportation to pick up the work­ or similar causes-maintain their jobs and ers near their homes-24 different routes! continue to receive their wages during the Other mills and factories in Cuba make simi­ time that production is interrupted. lar arrangements to help meet the needs of If your job is eliminated altogether due workers. to restructuring of the enterprise, you are considered an "available" worker and your It takes a revolution employer, working together with the union, How is all this possible? is responsible for retraining you for another More than 40 years ago working people job in the sarne factory. lfthere are no jobs in Cuba carried out a successful revolution. in that plant, you are given training and of­ Led by the July 26 Movement and the Rebel fered work in another factory, whether in Army under the direction of Fidel Castro, that industry or a different one. While be­ Raul Castro, Emesto Che Guevara, Camilo from Pathfinder ing trained and relocated, the factory pays Cienfuegos, and others, they took power you one month at full salary and up to three from U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista Capitalism's World Disorder years at 60 percent of your previous wage. and brought into being a workers and farm­ Working-Class Politics at the Millenaium ers government. They mobilized their col­ Tending up to 18 machines in U.S. mill lective force and began carrying out deep­ Jack Barnes In the textile mill where I worked, I was going political and social measures to be-· The soci_al devastation and financial panics, the political tur­ a "doffer," avery physically demanding job gin to reverse the social and economic dev­ moil, cop brutality, and military assaults accelerating all the way U.S. bosses organize it. I was re­ astation created by the system of imperial­ around us are not chaos. They are the inevitable product of sponsible for tending 12-18 machines ist domination and capitalist exploitation lawful forces unleashed by capitalism. But the future the where yam gets spun onto little hollow tubes that prevailed before the revolution. propertied classes have in store for us can be changed by the united struggle and selfless action of workers and farm­ ers, conscious of their power to transform the world. Also Pathfinder books welcomed in Cuba available in Spanish and French. $19.95 Continued from Page 8 were donated to the Combatants Associa­ trip, another 40 copies of Playa Giron were tion and others interviewed in the book. Che Guevara donated to the Combatants Association. Cubans bought some 85 copies of Cuba Talks to Young People More than 100 copies of Sankara's and the Coming American Revolution by "We are attacked a great deal because of what we are. But Women 's Liberation and the African Free­ Jack Barnes and another 50 were distrib­ we are attacked much, much more because we show to ev­ dom Struggle were sold at the Pathfinder uted as complimentary copies. ery nation of the Americas what it's possible to be. What's im­ booth, the meeting, and other events. In ad­ All told, when the Cuban pesos were con­ dition, 100 copies were presented to the verted to dollars at the rate of 27:1, more portant for imperialism- much more than Cuba's nickel Federation of Cuban Women, 80 to than $950 had been raised in sales of Path­ mines or sugar mills, or Venezuela's oil, or Mexico's cotton, or Tricontinental Editions, 20 to the Combati­ finder literature during the month-long trip. Chile's copper, or Argentina's cattle, or Paraguay's grasslands, entes Association, and 100 to other institu­ The communist literature sold to indi­ or Brazil's coffee- is the totality of these raw materials upon tions and individuals in Cuba. viduals and presented to various organiza­ which the monopolies feed." --Che Guevara, July 28, 1960 Making History and Cuba and the Com­ tions in Cuba will pass through manyhands (from Che Guevara Talks to Young People). Also available in Spanish. $14.95 ing American Revolution also featured and be put to good political use for years to prominently in the sales and distribution come by workers, farmers, and youth, in­ Available from bookstores, including those listed on page 12; write Pathfinder, 410 West St., New York, NY organized by Pathfinder supporters during cluding many whose paths will cross with 10014; Tel: (2.12) 741-0690; Fax: (212) 727-0150; or visit www.pathfinderpress.com. When ordering by mail. and after the fair. More than 65 copies of communists from North America, Europe, please include $3 to cover shipping and handling. · Making History were sold, and 40 copies and Asia and the Pacific. March 25,_2002 The Militant 9 Court excoriates New York welfare agency

BY MAURICE WILLIAMS with her children to the home ofrelatives after in the Bronx and requested a place in a rector of the National Network to End Do­ Ruling on a class-action lawsuit brought the children's father pushed her down dur­ homeless shelter. mestic Violence. on behalf of women who have had their ing an argument in August 2000. "We went through hell," said Rodriguez, While lawyers for the city did not chal­ children taken from them by New York of­ Several weeks later, while living with her who now lives in an apartment with her chil­ lenge charges oflow pay to court-appointed ficials, a federal judge excoriated the city's children at a relative's home, the child wel­ dren. "If it wasn't for my lawyers, we'd still lawyers, according to the New York Times, Administration for Children's Services, say­ fare agency accused her of neglect for "en­ be there. But we haven't won until we actu­ city and state official said they were plan­ ing they submitted the women to a "pitiless gaging in domestic violence" and case work­ ally know they're not going to do this to ning appeals against Weinstein's March 4 double abuse." ers sent her children to foster homes with somebody else." opmwn. The suit and trial last summer exposed strangers. The injunction was '"a very important According to articles covering the case, the the fact that the department routinely re­ Rodriguez lost her job during nine weeks decision for all battered women across the situation in New York is not unique. Child moved children from the homes ofbattered . of fighting the Administration for Children's country because now we have a legal opin­ welfare agencies across the United States women by claiming the mothers were "en­ Services to return her children. The agency ion that says the government may not pe­ have been increasingly separating children gaging in domestic violence." Agency offi­ agreed to give back the children ifRodriguez nalize the mother for being a victim of a from abused mothers, according to the Na­ cials testifying at the trial said case workers took them to the Emergency Assistance Unit crime," said Lynn Rosenthal, executive di- tional Network to End Domestic Violence. and supervisors followed "normal agency procedures." The lawsuit was filed by Sanc­ tuary for Families, a battered women's or­ ganization, and the law firm Lansner & Hundreds rally for drivers' licenses Kubitschek. Judge Jack Weinstein from the Federal Continued from Page 2 District Court in Brooklyn said the "evi­ cause they don't have a driver's license. If dence before this court reveals widespread someone buys a car for $800-$1,000, and and unnecessary cruelty by agencies of the if he drives it without a license, the police City ofNewYork towards mothers abused will take it away. It is a month-and-a-half's by their consorts, through forced unneces­ worth of W,ilges." sary separation of the mothers from their His brother Salvador Manzo Jimenez has children on the excuse that this sundering is been a farm worker in the California fields necessary to protect the children." He noted for 14 years. Several years ago he was part that the agency executes this policy about of the fight for a union at Coastal Berry, the 1,750 times a year. largest strawberry grower in the country. The Weinstein sent a letter explaining his de­ company responded with a vicious anti­ cision to lawyers involved in the case and union campaign that included bringing said he would make a formal ruling within thugs in to intimidate workers. two weeks with the same conclusion. "To "The union election was a fraud," Jimenez blame a crime on the victim," he wrote, ''des­ said. "The company cheated on people, of­ ecrates fundamental precepts of justice." fering bonuses to some and firing others. Last December Weinstein issued an in­ We were just asking for a fair wage." There junction directing the city to stop taking is renewed interest in the union now, added children away from their mothers on the the farm worker. grounds that the women are victims of do­ The protest here, like others around the mestic violence. He said removing the chil~ state, is in response to state government dren was a violation of the mothers' consti­ regulations requiring anyone applying for tutional rights. or renewing a driver's license to have a valid Weinstein had also ordered the state to · Social Security number. Last year, state of­ Militant/Deberah Liatos increase the fees paid to lawyers represent­ ficials began verifying Social Security num­ Workers march in Watsonville, California, March 10 for right to have drivers' licenses. ing women with low income who find them­ bers through a linkup with the Social Secu­ selves facing the loss of their children. In rity Administration. The Department of his March 4 ruling the judge said the mi­ Motor Vehicles is also verifying all existing The series of protests come as the federal Transportation Department is developing a serly payments to lawyers appointed to rep­ licenses with the same body. government is taking additional steps to turn new national standard that would allow a resent the women effectively deprived them These measures began to be implemented the state driver's license into a national iden­ license from one state to be verified and re­ of their right to legal counsel, which is also in compliance with the 1996 Illegal lllllhi­ tification card. Washington is working with corded anywhere in the country. a violation of their constitutional rights. gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibil­ state governments to develop a uniform li­ Initial steps in 1981 and 1986 to set up a A 1963 Supreme Court decision acknowl­ ity Act passed by Congress under the cense that electronically stores an federal ID card were shelved due to wide­ edged that an indigent defendant in a seri-' Clinton administration, which required a individual's identification information. spread opposition among working people ous criminal case has a constitutional right Social Security number to be included on Under instructions from Congress, the and others. to a lawyer. In New York State the legisla­ drivers' licenses by the year 2000. This ture has set a limit of $40 an hour for court measure was later set aside, but many states time and $25 for work outside court as the continue to move ahead with the proposal. Reclamation Bureau will now allow fees paid to lawyers representing indigent · The requirement to show a Social Secu­ clients. As a result, women are often left with rity number effectively prevents undocu­ lawyers who do not investigate their cases · mented workers from ·Mexico and other Oregon farmers use ofirrigation water or confer with them. Calling this setup countries from having a driver's license, a "largely a sham," the judge directed the state crucial form of identification not only to BY BILL KALMAN directive last April that water diverted for to.pay lawyers of women facing the loss of drive legally but for all kinds of other ac­ SAN FRANCISCO-The U.S. govern­ farm irrigation would threaten the tw0 spe­ their children $90 an hour. tivities as well. In many parts of the United ment's Bureau of Reclamation announced cies of fish. One of the 10 cases detailed in the judge's States the inability to drive severely limits in late January that it will make "full water As with other court decisions and gov­ ruling involved April Rodriguez who fled job opportunities. deliveries" to farmers in the Klamath River ernment rulings citing environmental con­ Basin in southern Oregon who depend on cerns as the reason to carry out a certain irrigation to grow crops. policy, many farmers in the Klamath basin The decision reverses the bureau's action said the BOR's move to cut off irrigation Origin of the Family, Private of a year ago, in which the agency ~ut off water had nothing to do with protecting the Property, and the State all irrigation water to the 1,400 farm fami­ fish. Frederick Engels lies in the region. The government said the Gloria Palacios, a former raisin grower, reasons for the .cutoff were an ongoing said that behind the water crisis are "always Includes the appendix, "The Part Played by Labor in the drought in the Pacific Northwest and the big corporations that are using the environ­ Transition from Ape to Man," in which Engels explains need to protect the sucker fish in Upper Kla­ ment issues for their own interests." that capitalist production, including agriculture, is con- · math Lake and the coho salmon down­ One example of this, farmers said at the cerned with only "the most immediate results." As long stream. Both fish are covered by the Endan­ time, was the energy monopolies. In the as the "usual coveted profit" is made, the capitalist is gered Species Act. midst of skyrocketing prices charged by the satisfied and unconcerned with human, environmen­ Farmers in the region responded with large electrical companies, cutting off water to tal, or other consequences. $1 7. 9 5 protests, backed, and sometimes organized farmers had a double benefit for big busi­ by, local businesses and others. The govern­ ness. One was that electricity contracted by Capital ment action sharpened the divisions between farmers at a lower rate was not used, mak­ Karl Marx the farmers on the one hand, and fishermen ing it available for sale at a much higher and the Klamath Indian Tribes-both of price on the open market. Additionally, wa­ Marx explains the workings of the capitalist system and how it produces · whom depend on the fish for a livelihood­ ter not used for irrigation adds to the flow the insoluble contradiCtions that breed class struggle. He demonstrates the on the other. The Klamath Indian Tribes have downstream, where Pacific Power and Light inevitability of the revolutionary transform_ation of society into one I'uled treaties with the U.S. government going back owns and operates six hydroelectric projects for the first time by the producing majority-the working class. In three to 1864 guaranteeing water rights to support alorig the Klamath River. volumes. Vol. 1 $14.95; Vol. 2 $13.95; Vol. 3 $14.95 - fisheries and other resources. The BOR itself is an arm of the most pow­ The plight of the farmers became a rally­ erful imperialist government in the world Lenin's Final Fight ing point for many rightist organizations in and serves the interests of the giant Speeches and Writings, 1922-23 · the area who seized on the situation to rail agribusinesses and energy monopolies. The In the course of his final fight to maintain the · against"big government" and "environmen­ ag!fncy is the largest wholesaler of water in communist course of the Bolshevik Party, Lenin tal groups that are trying to eliminate rural the country and controls water access for discusses tasks of establi.shing public education, lifestyles in the Klamath basin." one out of five farmers in the West; irrigat­ literacy, electrifiCation and industrialization as bases for In face of the protests the federal govern­ ing land that produces 60 percent of the strengthening the alliance between the working class ment announced it would release some wa­ nation's vegetable crop and 25 percent of and the peasantry and joining the international fight ter and promised to provide some compen­ its fruits and nuts. The agency runs 58 power for socialism. Compiles speeches, articles, and other sation payments to affected farmers. plants that generate 40 billion kilowatt hours documents from this period. Also available in Spanish. But in early February, the NationalAcad- a year, making it the second largest producer $19.95 . emy of Sciences (NAS) concluded that there ofhydroelectric power in the western United was no scientific basis for the Bureau of States. Available from bookstores, including those listed on page 12, . Reclamation (BOR) decision, which was or visit www.pathfinderpress.com. based on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bill Kalman is a member ofthe United Food and tile National Marine Fisheries Service and Commercial Workers Union. 10 The Militant March 25,2002 · Soci-alist candidate in Newark presents revolutionary road BY WiLLIAM HOWARD tacking him "at 9 and I 0 o'clock at night. I NEWARK, New Jersey-"The problem know because they delivered one to my with both Sharpe James and Cory Booker," mama," he said. said Maurice Williams, the Socialist Work­ According to the daily newspaper, the ers candidate for mayor ofNewark, "is that candidates deny involvement in the under­ they both represent the capitalist two-party ground campaigns. Both, however, said they system. In the political arena, working believe the messages about their opponents people are forever presented with the are accurate. 'choice' of voting for the lesser evil of two "I think some of what Booker and James parties representing the interests of the tiny say about each other is accurate," said Wil­ handful of superwealthy families that run liams, "and I have no comment on what the Ne~ Jersey and the entire United States." supposed drug dealers gave to Sharpe Williams was responding to newspaper James's mama. All of these accusations are accounts of an "undercover smear cam­ a diversion for working people in this city, While petitioning to get on the ballot in Newark, Maurice Williams pointed to the need paign" between the two Democratic Party who face some of the worst economic and to chart a working-class course independent of the two parties of the superrich. candidates in the May 14 elections for social conditions in the entire state. mayor of this city. According to the Star­ "We need to rely on our own power, to Ledger, Booker's campaign has produced extend solidarity to struggles against po­ fort to obtain ballot status for the socialist rights and gaining acceptance for using and distributed a slick poster indirectly lice brutality and the fight of coal miners candidate. Williams, 45, is a staff writer for greater repressive measures against work­ blaming James for the deaths of two young and their spouses for black lung benefits, the Militant newspaper. ers," he said. sisters who died in a February 4 fire that and to chart a working-class political The Socialist Workers candidate said that Immigrants detained in New Jersey are destroyed an apartment building riddled course independent of the two parties of although the mayoral race is officially non­ being held in Hudson, Passaic, Middlesex, with housing code violations. The poster the superwealthy rulers," Williams said. partisan, it is still the same electoral· con and Bergen county jails. A Justice Depart~ asks, "How many more of our children will "Only by charting such a road can we be­ game. Sharpe James has been mayor for 16 ment spokesperson announced March 6 that have to die in fire traps before the mayor gin to fight for a government of our own years and has an entrenched political ma­ 327 people were being held nationwide as takes action against Newark slumlords?" and open up the possibility of addressing chine. He touts the "experienced leadership" of February 15. Although none have been An anonymous letter, presumably from the wretched conditions capitalism has he has provided for the capitalist rulers. For charged with participating in "terrorist ac­ the James' campaign, accuses Booker of forced on workers and farmers across this his part, Booker has attracted some wealthy tivities," the government refuses to release "trying to sell Newark to the highest bidder country for decades, particularly here in backers, such as Jack Kemp, a former sec­ their names or any information about their by accepting campaign contributions from Newark." retary of housing, and Harold Goldfield, a cases, including the charges under which wealthy businessmen around the country," This reporter caught up with Williams as former legal adviser to Ronald Reagan. they are held. according to the Star-Ledger. James him­ he and his campaign supporters were col­ Booker is trying to gamer votes by snipping Deportation hearings have been held in a self told reporters that Booker paid drug lecting signatures of workers and young at James's heels over the state of housing, Newark courtroom on a near-daily basis, dealers to distribute campaign literature at- people on the streets of Newark in their ef- education, health care, and employment for · although no public record is kept of the pro­ workers and their families in the city. ceedings, or even of whether a hearing took "A mayoral victory for either candidate place. Friends, family, and the media are will not change anything for working people chased out before the hearings begin. Pathfinder bookstore holds in this city," Williams said. "Slum landlords, A typical case involved Malek Zeidan, a housing violations, unemployment, and Paterson doughnut shop worker who was other social problems are part of capitalist paid a visit by an Immigration and Natural­ grand opening in N. Carolina society. These problems won't be eliminated ization agent. When Zeidan admitted to the by electing a Democrat or a Republican. cop that he had overstayed his visa he was BY LOUIS TURNER in West Virginia; events around the victory They can only be addressed through the told to report next day to the INS office in KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina-Some won by Blacks in Stanly County; the fight social struggles of working people, the be­ Newark, where he was then arrested. Among 20 people participated in a· grand-openirtg against linking the Martin Luther King Jr. ginnings of which we are starting to see to­ those ushered out before the hearing began celebration of the new Pathfinderbookstore national holiday with a holiday to celebrate day. ·· were reporters for the New Jersey Law Jour­ here March 9. The event, titled "The Place Robert E. Lee; and many more. The SWP "Workers and farmers will only be able nal and the Herald News. of Pathfinder Books in Today's World," was and Young Socialists "will be using this of­ to begin to fight to address racism, unem­ The New 'Jersey American Civil Liber­ also a celebration of the publication of fice and bookstore as a springboard to do ployment, oppression of women, and other ties Union (ACLU), the Center for Consti­ Pathfinder's latest book From the more of these things," Richter emphasized. hallmarks of capitalist society," he said, "by tutional Rights in New York, and other le­ Escambray to the Congo: bi the Whirlwind The featured speaker was James Harris, a waging a revolutionary struggle to bring our gal groups filed a federal lawsuit on behalf ofthe Cuban Revolution, by Victor Dreke. textile worker and National Committee mem­ class to power." of the two publications. TheACLU asserted This event marked a milestone in a more ber of the SWP. "More is. to come," com­ Williams responded to an "anticrime" that the U.S. government's policy of hold­ than two-year effort by the communist move­ mented Harris, who read a passage from campaign by the city's rulers that is aimed ing closed. hearings violates First Amend­ ment to reach deeper into the Southeast, noted Victor Dreke 's book. "When I was young my primarily at Black youth. A recent Star Led­ ment rights guaranteeing access to court Dennis Richter, a leader of the Socialist Work­ father used to tell me 'Don't get involved in ger article, headlined "Influx of ex-cons and proceedings. ers Party and a member of the Union of anything,"' and "fortunately I didn't listen." a weakened economy help murder rate "I call for the release of all 327 people Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employ­ Harris commented, "How many of us soar," asserts that "murder made a come­ tne Justice Department acknowledges are ees (UNITE). Participants came from Char­ have heard the same common sense advice? back in Newark and other major cities last being held across the country," said social­ lotte and Greensboro, North Carolina; Bir­ He [Dreke] avoided the common sense ad­ year." It stated that there were 96 murders ist candidate Williams. "All working people mingham, Alabama; and Atlanta. vice and went for the truth. He did not see in Newark last year, up from 59 in 2000, have a stake in demanding that these secret Richter read a list of struggles that the so­ his fellow fighters as futile, but as revolu­ and promoted the Greater Newark Safe Cit­ detentions be stopped immediately." cialist movement has participated in over the tionary, able to change the. world and his ies Initiative that keeps tabs on I 00 young past two years that led the way toward the life is proof of that." men "considered most likely to be the vic­ successful opening of the Pathfinder book­ . Mike Ellis, a Young Socialists member tims or perpetrators of shootings." All are store. They include the fight against the and a Concord High School student, ex­ either on parole or probation. Cop murder frame-up of the Charleston Five; a picket by plained, "The bookstore will deepen our roots State authorities, reported the article, have garment workers in Tignall, Georgia; a march in the working class." One goal of the YS is imposed tighter restrictions on inmates by Continued from front page in Washington in support ofthe·Palestinians' to deepen our proletarianization. YSers in curtailing paroles, reducing family prison that he was holding his hand. They could right to return to their land; a conference of North Carolina have been driving toward this visits, and increasing the use of solitary con­ have used Mace." coal miners fighting for black lung benefits goal by staffing communist literature tables, finement as punishment for "misbehavior." · Witness to the shooting Dendell Holley selling theMilitantat factory plant gates, and Many "amenities" inside prisons have al­ said, "It seemed like they just unloaded their participating in door-to-door sales in work­ ready been eliminated, including education guns on him." Self-determination ing-class neighborhoods, as well as having programs that allowed inmates to obtain One young immigrant from Somalia who one of our members as part of a fraction of college degrees while behind bars. stepped out of work to join the Monday for Western Sahara socialist workers in UNITE, Ellis reported. "This anti-crime, pro-cop campaign leads morning protest told the Militant that he Ellis reported th~ YS recently helped or­ to more working people getting locked up thinks the shooting was a message to the Continued from Page 16 ganize a tour for Michael Italie. In doing so and victimized by cops, especially if they Somali community. dent Abdelaziz Bouteflika visited the they met several youth interested in carry­ are Black or Latino youth," said Williams. Earlier incidents involving Somalis in­ Polisario Front headquarters at the Smara ing out common activity with socialists. "It is aimed at driving divisions among clude the death on October 22 of 66-year­ refugee camp, the first such trip by an Al­ Diane Shur, a Pathfinder digitization vol­ workers who find themselves incarcerated, oldAli W. Ali, who was injured while wait­ gerian president since the start of the lib­ unteer, pointed to the need for books con­ and reinforces acceptance of the worst dog­ ing for a bus. Police ignored witnesses who eration struggle against Morocco. The visit taining the history and continuity of work­ eat-dog values of capitalist society. And it said that a large white man had punched Ali coincided with the 26th anniversary celebra­ ing-class struggle and reported that 66 per­ tries to make working people view a sec­ in the face. tions of the SADR. cent of Pathfinder titles have been digi­ tion of our class as 'criminals' unworthy of On November 7 the FBI raided several Resistance has continued in the occupied tized-240 books in total-wjth the goal of humane treatment." money transfer businesses serving the So­ territory of Western Sahara The Western having 75 percent ready for print by June. mali community in the area, cutting off their Sahara Weekly News reported that the As­ "We have sold two books in the textile Protest against secret detentions ability to send money to relatives in Soma­ sociation of Sahrawi Unemployed has held mills in the past weeks," Rjchter reported, Williams said the capitalist rulers have lia. The government says that 10 of the 40 demonstrations demanding recognition of. "and we're about to sell two others--one to used their media in the same way to justify Somalis deported nationally by the Immi­ their organization by the Moroccan authori­ a co-worker who promised to pay for a book the bipartisan "anti-terrorism" dragnet gration and Naturalization Service are from ties. In spite of being assaulted by police and another who is waiting for a copy of mounted by the Bush administration after Minnesota. · February 14, they and others have contin­ Farmers Face the Crisis ofthe 1990s, a ship­ the September 11 events, which resulted in The Somali JusticeAdvocacyCenter has ued protests. ment of which just arrived yesterday." the arrest and secret detention of more than called a march in Minneapolis for March Three copies of From the Escambray ·to 1,100 immigrants. Many are currently in­ 23 beginning at 1:00 p.m. to demand jus­ Annalucia Vermunt is a member ofthe Meat the Congo were sold at the meeting and $750 carcerated in New Jersey. "The rulers' war tice for Abu Jeilani, the prosecution of the· Workers Union in Christchurch, New was collected toward fixing up the book- on crime, war on drugs, and war on terror­ cops who killed him, and the removal of the · Zealand. store. · ism are all aimed at assaulting workers' police chief. M~rch 25, 2002 The Militant 11 U.S. gov't prepares attacks on port workers . - BY BILL KALMAN 2001 along with Sen. Robert Graham of undergo criminal background checks. The cia/ Times .noted that "the requirement for SAN FRANCISCO-The U.S. House of Florida. workers will be fingerprinted and checked background checks on seafarers is expected Representatives is putting together new at­ Subcommittee chair Rep. Frank by the Florida Department ofLaw Enforce­ to be controversial, as it could contravene tacks on waterfront workers in regulations LoBiondo of New Jersey said, "A critical ment. some countries' civil liberties legislation.'~ that would bar anyone convicted of capital facet of protecting our ports is ensuring the One aspect of the harsher security require­ Indeed, Rear Admiral Paul Pluta· of the crimes, smuggling, or sedition in the past identity of all people working in these areas ments for maritime workers is "re­ U.S. Coast Guard, who headed up the U.S. seven years from working certain jobs at the and knowing who belongs, and more im­ credentialing" seafarers and issuing them an delegation, said that Washington's propos­ nation's 361 seaports. In addition, the new portantly, who -does not." Steve Stallone, electronic card that they would carry from als received "virtually no support" at a spe­ law would establish special port "security" spokesman for the International ship to ship: cial working group of IMO's maritime committees and require all dockworkers to Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's safety committee. wear special ID cards. Union (ILWU) based here in San Francisco, Union, bosses prepare for talks One controversial measure proposed by The House Transportation. Committee is said the union is opposed to these measures. These steps taken against maritime work­ ·the U.S. delegation was "vessel-port inter­ to hold five hearings on the new legislation "People wlio have already paid their debt ers come as contract talks begin between the face,'' which would open foreign port facili­ in order to piece together a so-called mari­ to society have come back and gone through ILWU and West Coast waterfront employ­ ties to U.S. inspection. Clay Maitland of time "antiterrorism" bill. By raising the the hard work ofgetting into the urtion, have ers and their trade group, the Pacific Mari­ · International Registries pointed out that specter of the U.S. ports as "wide open:' to gotten their lives together, and are making time Association. According to a report in other countries "don't want the U.S. to have secutity threats, Washington is seeking to a good living,'~ he said. ''And now suddenly the Journal of Commerce, "This year's ne­ tis own personnel in major ports overseas deepen its intervention on the waterfront. you get thrown out of your job for some­ gotiations promis.e to be contentious. Ter­ looking at the security of the terminals, The U.S. Senate has already passed a thing you did years ago? This sounds like minal operators, carriers, and shippers al­ which is conceivably something that could similar bill. Sen. Ernest Hollings of South double jeopardy." ready are talking openly about the possibil­ happen. You 'could have the [U.S.] Coast Carolina said, "This is a gaping hole in our Stallone also objected to adding the crime ity of a strike or lockout in the heart of the Guard in a m,ajor port ... doing spot checks national security that must be fixed, and it of sedition to the list. Many ILWU mem­ annual peak import season." of containers.'' must be fixed before enemies of the United. bers participated in protests against the At the same time, U.S .. officials received U.S. Customs officials have broached a States try to exploit our weakness." World Trade Organization, he said. "Is that a cool reception at a meeting of the 161- plan to "push the borders out" by installing Hollings, a Democrat and the chairman going to be a factor?" member International Maritime Organiza­ their own security checkpoints at foreign of the Senate Commerce, Science, and The federal legislation is in addition to tion (IMO). Washington is urging biomet­ ports where intermodal containers are bound Transportation Committee, first introduced state laws that are being discussed. For ex­ rics examinations,----such as fingerprinting for the United States. the Port and Maritime Security Act in July ample, the state ofFlorida has passed a new and retina scans-and background checks law requiring longshoremen, laborers, and for all seafarers, and security plans for ships, Bill Kalman is a member of United Food even truck drivers at the state's 14 pot:ts to ports, and offshore terminals. The Finan- and Commercial Workers Local 120. -MILITANT LABOR Australian rulers caught with 'truth overboard' Continued from Page 16 cannot afford a divided high command." example, in a letter to the federal attorney­ FORUMS- raveled, Australia's rulers are becoming con­ general, Daryl Williams, the Fairfax media cerned at the "erosion ofmorale" in the ranks Questions over 'Pacific solution' group, owners of the Sydney Morning Her­ IOWA of the navy, both over the callous orders to Questions about the lies and the cover­ ald and the Melbourne Age, threatened to Des Mnines turn back desperate civilians at sea and the up continue to surface. Following an initial challenge the new law in court because it Senate hearing, the opposition Labor and The Irish Freedom Struggle and the Deepen­ Howard governinent's blatant manipulation would impinge on constitutional rights of ing Crisis of British Imperialism Today. of the military for electoral purposes. Democrats, who have a majority in the Up­ freedom of communication. Speaker: Laura Richards, Socialist Workers An article in the Australian Financial per House, are launching a further inquiry "The bill may not be aimed at preventing Party. Sun., Mar. 24, 2:00 p.m, Lunch at 12.30 Review noted that, "like other arms of the to examine not only the "children over­ public discussion, but it would clearly have p.m. Lunch donation $5. federal bureaucracy;• the Australian military board" scandal but also the Howard that effect. [It] hampers public discussion Oppose Israel's War against the Palestinian "appears to have been undermined and di­ government's "Pacific solution" arrange­ by criminalizing receipt-that is today le­ People. Speaker: Mary Martin, Socialist Work­ vided by years of relentless politicization ments with Papua New Guinea and Nauru gal-of information about the workings of ers Party .. Fri., Mar. 29, 7:30p.m. Both events at and pressure to tell ministers what they want to house asylum-seekers. government.'' It would be "used to plug 3720 6th Avenue. Tel: (515)288-2970. to hear rather than what they do not want to At the same time as it has been buffeted leaks," the Fairfax letter said. know." The finance capital daily called it a by embarrassing leaks exposing its lying On January 29, the Sydney Morning Her­ NEW JERSEY "calamity unmatched in peacetime." election propaganda, the Howard govern-; ald bluntly editorialized against the grow­ Newark "It is a grim prospect when more than ment has proposed a new law that treats any ing restrictions on press freedom: "The co~ Miners March for Black Lung Benefits: Uni- 5,000 Australian troops are serving in East unauthorized disclosure of information by incidence of an election campaign,. the . versal Health Care for AIU Speaker: John Timor, Afghanistan and elsewhere, and when public servants as if it involved espionage Tampa affair and the September II terror­ Hawkins, Socialist Workers Party. Fri., Mar. 15, the government is significantly increasing or a leak of official secrets. ism atrocities has reinforced authoritarian 7:30p.m. 506 Springfield Ave., 3rd Floor. Do­ defence spending," the article said, and con­ This has already been met with opposi­ tendencies in the Prime Minister, John nation: $4. Tel: (973) 643-3341. cluded that "in a dangerous world, Australia tion among sections ofthe ruling class. For Howard, and his colleagues.'' NEW YORK Brooklyn The Fight for Women's Equality Today: Cel­ -IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP ebrate International Women's Day. Speaker: Where to find Pathfinder books and MINNESOTA: St. Paul: 113 Bernard St., Campsie, NSW 2194. Mailing address: P.O. Gerardo Sanchez, Socialist Workers ·Party. Fri., distributors of the Militant, Perspectiva West St. Paul. Zip: 55118. Tel: (651) 644- Box K879, Haymarket, NSW 1240. Tel: (02) Mar. 15, 7:30p.m. 372A 53rd St. (at 4th Ave.) 6325. E-mail: [email protected] 9718 9698. Donation: $5. Tel: (718) 567-8014. Mundial, New International, Nouvelle Internationale, Nueva Internacional and NEW JERSEY: Newark: 506 Springfield E-mail: [email protected] Garment District Ny International. Ave. 3rd floor. Zip: 07103. Mailing address: U.S. Intenention in the Philippines. Fri., Mar. Riverfront Plaza, P.O. Box 200117. Zip: BRITAIN 15,7:30 p.m. 545 8th Avenue 14th Floor. Dona- UNITED STATES 07102-0302. Tel: (973) 643-3341. London: 4 7 The Cut. Postal code: SE I 8LL. tion: $4. (212) 695-7358. E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 020-7928-7993. Upper Manhattan ALABAMA: Birmingham: 3029A E-mail: I 0 [email protected] Bessemer Road. Zip: 35208. Tel: (205) 780- NEW YORK: Brooklyn: 372A 53rd St. Israel's War against the Palestinians: Why 0021. E-mail: [email protected] Israel Can't Win. Fri., Mar. 15, 7:30p.m. (at 4thAve.) Mailing address: PMB 106.4814, CANADA Venezuela: U.S.-Backed Capitalists Seek to CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles: 4229 S. 4th Ave. Zip: 11220. Tel: (718) 567-8014. E­ Montreal: 4613 St. Laurent. Postal code: mail: swpbrookl)[email protected] Garment Oust Chlivez. Speaker: Stu Singer, Socialist Central Ave. Zip: 90011. Tel: (323) 233~9372. H2T IR2. Tel: (514) 284c7369. E-mail: Workers Party. Fri., Mar. 22, 7:30 p.m. Both E-mail: [email protected] District, 545 8th Ave. Mailing address: P.O. [email protected] events at 599 W. 187th Street, 2nd Floor. Dona­ San Francisco: 3926 Mission St. Zip: 94112. Box 30. Zip:10018. Tel: (212) 695-7358. tion: $5. Tel: (212) 740-4611. . E-mail: swpnygd@attglo bal. net; Toronto: 2761 Dundas St. West, Postal Tel: (415) 584-2135. E-mail:sfswp code: M6P IY4. Tel: (41'6) 767-3705. @hotrnail.com Upper Manhattan: 599 W. 187 St. #1A Zip: 10033. Tel: (212) 740-4611. E-mail: E-mail: [email protected] AUSTRALIA COLORADO: Craig: 6 West Victory Way. [email protected] Vancouver: #202D-4806 Main St. Postal Zip: 81625. Mailing address: P.O. Box 1539. Sydney NORTH .CAROLINA: Charlotte Area: code: V5V 3R8. Tel: (604) 872-8343. E-mail: Zip: 81626. Tel: (970) 826-0289.E-mail: The Fight for Irish Freedom Today. Sun., Mar. 2001A N. Cannon Blvd. Kannapolis Mailing [email protected] [email protected] 24, 4:00p.m. 1st Floor, 3/281-287 Beamish St., address: P.O. Box 5624, Concord. Zip: 28087. Campsie. Donation: $4. Tel: (02) 9718-9698. FLORIDA: Miami: 8365 NE 2nd Ave. Tel: (704) 932-0821. E-mail: FRANCE #206 Zip: 33138. Tel: (305) 751-7076. E-mail: [email protected] Paris: Centre MBE 175, 23 rue Lecourbe. [email protected] Tampa: P.O. Box Postal code: 75015.Tel: (01) 47-26-58-21. E­ OHIO: Cleveland: 11018 LorainAve. Zip: NEW ZEALAND . 16002. . Zip: 33687. E-mail: mail: [email protected] 44111. Tel: (216) 688-1190. E-mail: · Christchurch TOC I [email protected] · Bloody Sunday and Britain's Brutal Occupa­ [email protected] GEORGIA: Atlanta: 2791 LakewoodAve. ICELAND tion of Ireland. Featuring new documentary on PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia: 5237N. Zip: 30315. Mailing address: P.O. Box Reykjavik: Skolavordustig 6B. Mailing Jan. 30, 1972, massacre by British troops of civil 5th St. Zip: 19120. Tel: (215) 324-7020. E­ 162515. Zip 3032l.~Tel: (404) 763-2900. address: P. Box 0233, IS 121 Reykjavik. Tel: rights marchers. Fri., Mar. 22, 7:00 p.m .. mail: . [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] 552 5502. E-mail: [email protected] Gloucester Arcade, 129 Gloucester St. Donation: Pittsburgh: 5907 Penn Ave. Suite 225. Zip. $3. Tel: (3) 365-6055. ILLINOIS: Chicago: 1212 N. Ashland 15206. Tel: (412) 365-1090. NEW ZEALAND Suite 201. Zip: 60622. Tel: (773) 342-1780. E-mail: 103122.720@compuserve;com E-mail: [email protected] Auckland: Suite 3, 7 MasonAve., Otahuhu. TEXAS: Houston: 619 West 8th St. Zip: Postal address: P.O. Box 3025. Tel: (9) 276- -CALENDAR- IOWA: Des Moines: 3720 6th Ave. Zip: 77007. Tel: (713) 869-6550. E-mail: 8885. 50313. Tel: (515) 288-2970. E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] MINNESOTA [email protected]· WASHINGTON, D.C.: 3437 14th St. NW Christchurch: Gloucester Arcade, 129 Minneapolis MASSACHUSETTS: Boston: 12 Zip: 20010. Tel: (202) 387-1590. E-mail: Gloucester St. Postal address: P.O. Box 13- March for Justice for Abu Kassim Jailani, Bennington St. Mailing address: P.O. Box 702. [email protected] 969. Tel: (3) 365-6055. Somali Man Killed by Minneapolis Cops. Zip: 02124. Tel: (<>17) 569-9169. E-mail: WASHINGTON: Seattle: 5418 Rainier E-mail: [email protected] Prosecute the Police, Remove the Police Chief! I [email protected] Sat., Mar. 23, 1:00 p.m. Rally at Corner of Avenue South. Zip: 98118-2439. Tel: (206) Franklin Ave. and Chicago Ave. (site of killing) MICHIGAN: Detroit: 4208 W. Vernor St. 323-1755. E-mail: [email protected] SWEDEN and march to City Hall. Sponsored by the So- Mailing address: P.O. Box 441580 Stockholm: Domargrand 16 (T-bana ~ mali Justice Advocacy Center. Tel: (651) 602- Zip: 48244. Tel: (313) 554-0504. AUSTRALIA Vastertorp)Postal code: S-12904. Td: (08) 31. 9912. E-mail: I 04127 [email protected] Sydney: 1st Fir, 3/281-287 Beamish St., 69 33.E-mail: [email protected] 12 The Militant March 25, 2002 -GREAT SOCIEIY------'Essence of capitalism'-The a modest researcher, "one time I them their dinner on the house and Really?-"The desire not to sit week?-On average, workers in Pentagon calls it an "odor bomb." managed to evacuate the building." the tab was less than $100 apiece. through a commercial sales pitch is Britain are now putting in a 43.6- Their researchers are studying nox­ We'd g1.tess that in a joint like that a common one."-Roger Bray, col­ hour week. ' ious odors strong enough to disperse Read it and retch-"The United $75 would barely cover chips. umnist, the Financial Times, Lon­ . demonstrations or repel enemy States found fault with the human don. Footloose or settling down?- rights records of allies in the war Speedy cops and crooks­ In Beverly Hills, a roomy house. on terrorism, but said closer con­ DENVER, Colorado-"The city A pinch oftruth-"Female su­ Buy it for $4.85 million, or rent it tact at least provided a chance to suspended its photo-radar program pervisors have more liberty to touch for $24,000 a month. talk with them about abuses."­ and dismissed all pending tickets their workers, which for them can News item. issued under the system. A judge create an atmosphere of trust, Class struggle heats up-The ruled that the photo-radar program warmth and professionalism, ac­ departing president of the Connecti­ Went easy on the feed bag­ illegally gave police powers to a cording to researchers. Men, on the cut state police "union" is suing the Those five Londm; bankers who private contractor. He also said it other hand, consider themselves top cop. He says he was penalized got sacked for sipping $62,700 violated state law by appearing to boxed into the formality of a hand­ for efforts on behalf of his mem­ troops. So far the leading contend­ worth of choice wine and putting it compensate the contractor based on shake."-USA Today. bers. For example, he was repri­ ers are human fecal waste and rot­ on company swindle sheets didn't the volume- of tickets issued."­ manded for failing to salute the ting food. Will it work? "Well," says get a fair shake. The restaurant gave News item. Remember, the 40-hour chief at a negotiating meeting. Farmers discuss need to respond to crisis on the land BY TED LEONARD Ron Seitz, a beef farmer and formerly a IRVING, Texas-A turnout of 1,000 · dairy farmer in Minnesota, said the main farmers here for the National Farmers Union problem facing farmers is, "Price, price, convention and an increase in the member­ price." ship in the organization in many states re­ On the final day of the gathering the 180 flects the desire of many working farmers delegates discussed and adopted a "Policy to respond to the continuing crisis on the of the National Farmers Union." -land. The framework of the discussion at the The National Farmers Union (NFU) cel­ convention was on what NFU members ebrated its 1OOth anniversary at its conven­ want to be addressed in the 2002 Farm Bill. tion here March 1-4. The organization has Both the Senate and the House have passed approximately 300,000 members in 26 farm bills, which are now in committee to states, mainly throughout the West and Mid­ prepare a final piece oflegislation. The cen­ west. Oklahoma has the largest number, terpiece of the hili is massive federal subsi­ with 121,650, followed by North Dakota dies to a handful of capitalist farmers and with 36,371. agricultural businesses. "The need for the Farmers Union is as Tom Buis, the NFU's top Washington lob­ great today as 100 years ago," said NFU byist, said Congress needs to "resolve the president Leland Swenson in an address in · bill before Easter, Farmers and ranchers nearby Point, Texas, the small community need certainty. We have no idea what the outside of Dallas where the NFU was safety net will be. The safety net [for farm­ founded a century ago. ers and ranchers] is the lowest in modern A local newspaper distributed at the con­ history." This session was broadcast live on vention explained the conditions small farm­ the radio show Agri-Talk. ers faced 100 years ago. "Farmers were vir­ The first hand that shot up in the discus­ Joel Geeno, president of American Raw Milk Producers Pricing Association, spills tual slaves to the soil and the insidious credit sion was of a delegate from Minnesota who milk July 4, 2000, in Wisconsin in protest against low prices paid to dairy farmers. system. Interest rates became so high in proposed that the NFU's policy document Some 55,000 dairy farmers have been driven off their farms over the past decade. · Texas, credit prices were 26.9 percent higher be amended to add that the "NFU shall strive than cash prices, and there was little, if any, for no less than 50 percent of parity for all the primary problem; when over 75,000 pro­ cash," it read. commodities in the short term with the long­ David Frederickson, president of the Min­ ducers sell to basically only three market­ "There were large corporations which term goal of 100 percent." nesota Farmers Union and a past state sena­ ers, then the balance of market power is tor in Minnesota, was elected the new na­ controlled the markets and always cheap­ Parity is a calculation that is used to de­ obviously tilted towards the less than hand- tional president of the NFU. ened farm produce prices at rhe specific time scribe the relationship between prices farm­ ful of marketers." · of harvest," the paper noted. "Railroads ers receive for their commodities and the costs According to information distributed at overcharged freight rates on the necessities they incur for production and living expenses. Ted Leonard is a meat packer in the Boston the convention, some 55,000 Qairy farmers area. Karen Ray, a garment workerfrom Min­ which the farmer had to buy. The farmers The index used to determine this relationship have been driven off their farms over the. neapolis, and Tony Dutrow, a meat packer justly felt that the railroads and corporations is based on the years 1910--1914 when there past decade. from Houston, contributed to this article. conspired to defraud them of the fruits of was a relationship between costs and prices their and their families' labor." supposedly favorable to farmers. Today, Swenson reported, the Department Today 100 percent parity for corn would of Labor estimates that over the next decade be $6.54 a bushel and 5'0 percent would be -25 AND 50 YEARS AGO $3.27. The price farmers receive from the some 328,000 farm and ranch families will lS CUffS lose their land. In addition, according to a grain monopolies for corn today is $2:01. concern. The files help penetrate the secrecy United States Department of Agriculture To break even on the production of corn surrounding the FBI's surveillance of (USDA) report, he said, there will be a "20 farmers need around $2.50 a bushel. TH£ MILITANT Malcolm X. However, they are far from percent drop in farm income next year. That complete. is the average," he added. In particular, he Crisis facing dairy farmers March 25, 1977 said, the price farmers will receive from the The largest number of amendments to the grain monopolies will drop by 22 percent policy document proposed from the floor FBI Director Clarence Kelley, in re­ TH£ MILITANT PU&LISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE w~re about dairy farming. They were spear­ sponse to a Freedom oflnformationAct re­ for soybeans, 28 percent for corn, and 30 NEW YORK, N.Y. FivE (5) CENTS percent for wheat. headed by. the delegations from Minnesota quest, recently turned over to the Militant Last year membership increased in more and California. more than 1,300 pages of files on Malcolm than half of the states where the Farmers Joaquin Contente, president of the Cali­ X. March 24, 1952 Union exists. The newly formed Missouri fornia Farmers Union and a leader of the The files show that from the time of his Farmers Union received charter status at the California Dairy Campaign, which in recent break with the Nation of Islam in March Backed by American banking interests . who control the Cuban economy and with convention after signing up 1,250 members. years has led milk dumpings and other pro­ 1964 until his February 21, 1965, assassi­ the secret connivance of the U.S. State De­ "I think a big impetus to farmers joining tests by dairy farmers, circulated an article nation, Malcolm X was the subject of one partment, General Fulgencio Batista on NFU were the 9 cents hogs. People realized he wrote last November 'that outlined the of the most intensive spy operations con­ things weren't working;' said Jay McCallie, problem facing dairy farmers. ducted by the FBI. March 10 set up a military dictatorship over Cuba. Boasting "I did it with captains and 38, a Missouri calf producer. "The California dairy producer is brac­ When Malcolm X emerged as an inde­ lieutenants ... we formed a military junta of -­ In December 1998, farmers were paid ing himself for another roller-coaster ride pendent Black leader in March 1964, a new fifteen or twenty of them," Batista violently $9.00 a hundredweight for hogs for slaugh­ again as the price paid for that milk has mood was sweeping the Black communi­ ter, or 9 cents a pound. The break-even-point plummeted about 40 percent within the last ties of the country. Tired of waiting for an overthrew the constitutionally elected gov­ ernment of president Carlos Prio Socarras. for raising hogs is around $35 a hundred­ month," said.the article. "Just as producers end to segregation, growing ever more im­ weight. Especially upsetting to farmers is were healing from the low prices experi­ patient with gradualism, Blacks were de­ Batista, who ruled Cuba frorri 1933 to that while they were paid rock-bottom prices enced in the year 2000, again the unexpected manding "Freedom now!" 1944 with a brutal military dictatorship, by the packing companies, the price of pork abrupt downturn came swiftly crashing the This new mood burst dramatically onto staged his latest seizure of power three in the grocery stores remained virtually the butter and cheese markets down to below the scene in two marches of more than months before presidential elections sched­ uled for June 1. He cynically claimed he same. the cost of production levels.... There lies 200,000 people-one in Detroit, the other in Washington, D.C.-in the summer of acted to forestall an alleged attempt by 1963. Socarras to suspend the elections by "gang­ In 1964 the "Freedom now!" slogan lent ster" actions. This claim is "accepted with In· Ne'W International no. ·4 its name to the independent Black party that general skepticism," conceded the March 11 N. Y Times, as "it has been General Batista, • The Fight for a Workers and Farmers Government in the challenged the Democrats and Republicans in the Michigan state elections. rather than Prio Socarras who ·anticipated United States by Jack Barnes Malcolm X, more than any other indi­ defeat at the polls." • The Crisis Facing Working Farmers vidual Black leader, articulated and sought Formally and publicly, the U.S. State by Doug Jenness to embody in organization and action these Department has adopted what the Times calls a ''wait-and-see" attitude toward rec­ • Land Reform and Farm Cooperatives in Cuba, two new militant sentiments. He brought to the Black movement a ognition of Batista dictatorship. But Batista speeches by Fidel Castro $9.0b revolutionary perspective. He championed will be recognized "in due time ifWashing­ Available from bookstores, including those listed on page 12; write independent Black political action-at the ton is satisfied that the regime actually was Pathfinder, 410 West St., New York, NY 10014. Tel: (212) 741-0690; polls and in the streets. in control, that it had come to power with­ or visit www.pathfinderpress.com. Please include $3 for shipping and Malcolm X was clearly dangerous in the out foreign help, and that it had demon­ handling. estimation of the FBI and the government. strated its intentions to live up to the The' newly released files document their country's international obligations." March 25, 2002 The Militant 13 ____;___EDITORIALS------Hunger strikers Free the Guantanamo prisoners! demand right Working people around the world can strike a blow · to wear turban against U.S. imperiaiism's brutal treatment of the men it is holding at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba by de­ BY MAURICE WILLIAMS manding: Release the prisoners now! Some 300 prisoners are currently incarcerated at the Washington has no right to hold a single one of them, U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Most were and their treatment at the hands of the U.S. military is an seized by the U.S. military during its assault on Afghani­ outrage. It is meant to make working people the world stan. About 200 participated in a hunger strike that was over get used to harsher treatment of anyone whom Wash­ sparked when guards stripped an inmate of his turban ington deems it has the "right" to capture, interrogate, February 27. transport, and jail indefinitely. The inmates are held in chicken wire cages, exposed to The U.S. imperialists are holding the men without charg­ rain and sun, and are provided with one-inch thick foam ing them with any crime. They have denied them access mats as beds. Some have tested positive for tuberculosis. to lawyers and stripped them of any rights. And although Press reports indicate they have had their beards forcibly U.S. president Bush continually claims his government shaved off. and class are part of the "civilized world," nowhere else "We have no intention of making it comfortable," said in the annals of modem history have prisoners been forced Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert, commander of the detention to live in open-air cages like animals. camp dubbed Camp X-Ray. Admissions by U.S. officials that it has become com­ The U.S. government has barred the media from mak­ mon practice for them to arrest people abroad and take ing contact with prisoners. The only way military offi­ them to Egypt, Jordan, or elsewhere for torture sessions cials allow journalists to get near detainees is through tour­ shows that Washington would like to make the outdoor ing the facilities in a van. prison cages in Guantanamo not the exception but the rule. One detainee who is being held in an area reserved for The U.S. govemmentcontinues to illegally occupy "troublemakers" was able to shout a message in English Guantanamo base at the eastern end of Cuba under a lease to reporters from CNN as they passed by the area in a signed with a U.S.-installed regime in 1903. Since 1959 van. "We are on a hunger strike. We've been on a hunger the Cuban government has called for the removal of the strike for 14 days and nobody cares," he yelled out. "We military facility. However, Washington has refused to give need the world to know about us. We are innocent here in up this military toehold against the Cuban Revolution. By this cage. We have no legal rights, nothing. So can some­ holding the prisoners at the base, the U.S. government is body know about us? Can you tell the world about us?" bound by neither the restrictions nor the political fallout The Washington Post reported March 11 that the U.S. it would face if it brought them to U.S. soil. U.S. military personnel with barefoot and blindfolded government has secretly arrested and deported dozens of prisoner at Camp X-Ray at the U.S. naval base in people from other countries who it deemed have links to Dehumanizing treatment Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. alleged terrorists. U.S. officials have bypassed extradition Washington has sought to dehumanize and break the procedures and legal formalities. prisoners from the very beginning. They were transported use of the two atomic bombs against the people of Japan, According to the Post, some of these countries include in the freezing holds of military cargo planes, under seda­ to the litany of countries devastated by imperialist war Egypt and Jordan where they can be "subjected to inter­ tion and with hoods or blacked-out goggles over their eyes; and economic depravation. It can be seen in the imposi­ rogation tactics-including torture and threats to families held in chicken wire cages-described as "kennels" by tion of Jim Crow segregation, through the Palmer Raids, that are illegal in the United States." In some cases U.S. one reporter--exposed to sun and rain, with one-inch thick to the concentration camps for people of Japanese descent spies remain closely involved in the interrogations, the foam mats as beds; and constantly shackled and hand­ in World War II. paper said. cuffed. There is no further evidence needed anytime Washing­ "After September 11, these sorts of movements have The Pentagon has termeq the men "unlawful combat­ ton imprisons its war victims to justify a vigorous cam­ been occurring all the time," an unnamed U.S. diplomat ants," refusing to even acknowledge that they are prison­ paign to demand their immediate release. told the Post. "It allows us to get information from terror­ ers of war-a classification that would require its actions During World War II the Militant and the Socialist ists in a way we can't do on U.S. soil." to be judged according to the 1949 Geneva Convention Workers Party campaigned to expose similar lies by Wash­ on such prisoners. POW s, according to that convention, ington that sought to hide the class truth of its brutal rule. include members of militias and "volunteer corps, includ­ In 1943, in the midst of the inter-imperialist slaughter, ing those of organized resistance movements, belonging the U.S. post office canceled the Militant's second class to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their mailing privileges. Among the exhibits used to justify this U.S. prepares. for own territory," with the proviso that they serve under a undemocratic act was an Oct. 24, 1942, editorial entitled, command structure and openly carry weapons. "Yes, punish the war criminals." The offending paragraph While claiming that Camp X-Ray "will be humane," read: · war against Iraq Marine Brig.-Gen. Michael Lehnert stated, "We have no "The English imperialists are not waging a war to de­ intention of making it comfortable." stroy fascism. In order to preserve their smallest colony Continued from Page 3 In January U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld said they would readily destroy every democratic right at home. tion by the U.S. government. The Russian foreign minis­ that some prisoners at Guantanamo would face indefinite They are sending the masses into slaughter only in order ter made similar remarks. detention. "the issue as to what happens to those people to preserve their empire. America's Sixty Families pursue A report in the Washington Post reminded .its readers will follow the interrogations and the process of getting aims no less ·predatory, reactionary and imperialist than that the basic outlines of the nuclear policy were devel­ as much information out of them as we can," he stated. do the Krupps, the Kirdorfs, and Boersigs of Germany. oped under the Clinton administration. During the Gulf The U.S. government has tried to portray those incar­ "They all bear the real responsibility for the war. They War U.S. president Bush wrote to Saddam Hussein say­ cerated at Guantanamo as exclusively prisoners captured are all equally guilty. They, together with their real politi­ ing any Iraqi use ofbiological or chemical weapons against in Afghanistan. But protests in Bosnia helped .to brea_k the cal representatives, are the war criminals. U.S. force would be met with the "strongest possible re­ information blockade. Six men who were all married to "We are wholeheartedly in agreement with the idea of sponse," a threat widely interpreted as use of nuclear weap­ Bosnian women were turned over to Washington after U.S. bringing all these criminals and their respective Hesses to ons. authorities accused them ofhaving links toal Qaeda. Some trial without delay. When the workers of all countries have Several years later Clinton's defense secretary, Will­ 300 friends ~nd family members mobilized in support of said their final say, this is precisely what they will do ...." iam Perry, said that "if some nation w·ere to attack the the six as they were being transferred to U.S. custody by · United States with chemical weapons, then they would Bosnian officials. Police armed in riot gear dispersed the Fight to free German prisoners of war have to fear the consequences of a response from any crowd. · Three years later the Militant campaigned for the im­ weapon in our inventory. We could make a devastating The ongoing hunger strike by prisoners at the base mediate releast:, of the German prisoners of war held by response without the use of nuclear weapons, but we would shows they have neither lost their spirit of resistance nor Washington. In the United States·alone some 350,000 were not forswear the possibility." allowed their imperialist captors to break them. held in slave-like conditions. Reading the articles about The article details Clinton-era directives for the Penta~ the conditions the prisoners were subjected to brings the gon to target small nations "seeking weapons of mass Rationalizing imperialist brutality decades together as if in a day. destruction," including constant updates on facilities in Why should workers and farmers the world over con­ "There is no coddling of the German prisoner," one Iran, Iraq, and north Korea. One official knowledgeable sistently oppose Washington's wars, jailing of prisoners, capitalist newspaper read. Many prisoners were placed of the Clinton directives and the current report told the and use of torture, the death penalty, and other weapons on bread and water in a solitary cell "with nothing on the Post that "nothing has changed" from the Clinton admin­ of terror against working people? concrete floor but a mattress for a period of up to two istration and the report sent to Congress in early January. From its birth as an imperialist power Washington has weeks," another reported. Thousands of prisoners were justified every war and assault on working people as part supplied to factory and agricultural firms as cheap labor of the struggle of a just nation to bring peace to the world, gangs. Berbers gain victory to oppose fascist tyranny or totalitarian regimes, or to rid · "How long these prisoners of war will be held here is not the world of drugs and terrorists. They now claim their known," the Militant reported. "Against them war is being Continued from Page 15 next war will be to keep the "civilized" countries safe from continued indefinitely. Now that 'peace' has been pro­ from 1830 until 1962, when workers and peasants won "weapons of mass destruction"-something the rulers of claimed in Europe, all American troops ought to be with­ their independence after a long liberation struggle that the "civilized countries" have in abundance and don't want drawn without delay. And the German prisoners in this coun­ took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Algerians at the "less civilized" to get their hands on. try should be given transport back to their homeland." the hands of French imperialism. To the detriment of Paris, But each justification is simply window-dressing to This past week a prisoner at the Guantinamo base some­ the Bouteflika government has deepened its ties with advance the .interests of a tiny handful of superwealthy how caught the ear of a CNN crew. "We need the world to Washington, which is interested in gaining more of a toe­ ruling families in the United States, both against working know about us!" he yelled at a van carrying the reporters. hold in the strategic and oil-rich north African country. people at home and abroad. The U.S. rulers know no "We are innocent here in this cage. We have no legal rights, Berber organizations that led the protests last year are bounds to the brutality they ~ill use, and are "civilized" nothing. So can somebody know about us? Cart you tell divided over whether or not to continue their boycott of only to the extent that the struggles of workers and farm­ the world about us?" the national elections. Those who command the most sup­ ers have carved out rights and political space. The true Working people everywhere need to respom~ to this port in Kabylia rejected an invitation to meet with face of the U.S. imperialist masters can be seen in their appeal and press the fight for the U.S. imperialists tore­ Bouteflika and said their broader demands are nonnego­ record, from the colonization of Puerto Rico, through the lease the prisoners now. tiable. They announced the boycott will continue unless all demands are met, while the government has flatly re­ jected the complete withdrawal of the gendarmes from the region.

14 The Militant March 25,2002 Engels explains transition from ape to man Printed below is an excerpt from Ori­ . All extant anthropoid apes can stand erect have been only very simple. The lowest sav­ labor, it is also the product of labor. Only gin ofthe Family, Private Property, and the and move about on their two feet alone, but ages, even those in whom a regression to a by labor, by adaptation to ever new opera­ State by Frederick Engels. This is one of only in case of urgent need and in a very more animal-like condition with a simulta­ tions, by inheritance of the thus acquired Pathfinder's Books of the Month for clumsy way. Their natural gait is in a halt­ neous physical degeneration can be assumed special development of muscles, ligaments March. The item quoted is from one of erect posture and includes the use of the to have occurred, are nevertheless far supe­ and, over longer periods of time, bones as the appendixes entitled "The part played hands. The majority rest the knuckles of the rior to these transitional beings. Before the well, and by the ever-renewed employment by labor in the transition from ape to fist on the ground and, with legs drawn up, first flint was fashioned into a knife by hu­ of this inherited finesse in new, more and man," which was written by Engels in swing the body through their ·long arms, man hands, a period of time may have more complicated operations, has the hu­ 1876. Copyright © 1972 by Pathfinder much as a cripple moves with the aid of elapsed in comparison with which the his­ man hand attained the high degree of per­ Press, reprinted with permission. crutches. In general, we can, today still ob­ torical period known to us appears insig­ fection that has enabled it to conjure into serve among apes all the transition stages nificant. But the decisive step was taken: the being the paintings of a Raphael, the stat­ BY FREDERICK ENGELS from walking on all fours to walking on two hand had bec9me free and could henceforth ues of a Thorwaldsen, the music of a Labor is the source of all wealth, the po­ legs. But for none of them has the l

;tt~r~~ BOOKS OF THE MONTI-I

* * * * Pathfinder Readers Club SPECIAI::S Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation 25% DISC:QUNT of Women JOSEPH HANSEN, EVELYN REED, MARY-ALICE WATERS How big business plays oh women's second-class status.and social insecurities to market cosmetics and rake in profits. The introduction by Waters explains how the entry of millions of women into the workforce during and after World War II irre­ versibly changed U.S. society and laid the basis for a renewed rise of struggles for women's emancipation. $14.95, special -LETTERS------price: $11.00 Bush hypocrisy ing this newsletter; I also pass it on to any I was dumbstruck by the sheer audacity and all who are interested in it when I am Eu.gene V. Debs Speaks of a statement by George W. Bush, the Texas done. I hope that it is being read by several Speeches by the pioneer U.S. socialist agitator and labor leader, governor-turned-president who some la­ people each week. jailed for opposing Washington's imperialist aims in World War I. beled the Texecutioner because he presided A prisoner Caiion City, Colorado Debs speaks out on capitalism and socialism, anti-immigrant over a record number of executions while governor of the state. chauvinism, how anti-Black racism weakens the labor move­ In a proclamation on "National Sanctity 'Another Vietnam' ment, Rockefeller's massacre of striking miners at Ludlow, Colo­ of Human Life Day" on January 20 he I enjoyed Patrick O'Neill's review of rado, and more. $19:95, special price: $15.00 quotes Thomas Jefferson who said that "the "Another Vietnam." For those who are not care of human life and happiness ana not able to travel to New York to see the exhibi­ Origins of the Family, Private Property, their destruction is the first and only legiti­ tion, the collection is also available in book and the State - mate object of good government." Bush said form. "Another Vietnain" is available from he rejected the "notion that some lives are National Geographic Press and retails for FREDERICK ENGELS less worthy of protection than others $50. How the emergence of class-divided society gave rise to re­ whether because of age, illness, social cir­ Michael Pennock pressive state bodies and family structures that protect the cumstances, or economic conditions .... " St. Paul, Minnesota property of the ruling layers and enable them to pass along What caught my eye is his statement that wealth and privilege. Engels discusses the consequences for these rights should apply to every Ameri­ Unions need to unite working people of these class institutions-from their original can, including the elderly and unprotected, I am a retired Teamster and 76 years old. the weak, and the infirm and even the un­ forms to their modern versions. $17.95, special_price: $13.50 When are the unions going to unite and work wanted." with nonunion people? Then we can get any George W. Bush is hypocrisy at its finest law we want passed. The top 1 percent have Military Writings and I as a human being demand that he ad­ Available from as much income as the lower 35 percent. LEON TROTSKY bookstores, including mit this and take steps to ensure the sanctity Richard Critchfield The central organizer of the Red Army discusses the challenge those listed in page of all human life and not just those he deems Walls, Mississippi worthy. of organizing an army made up of peasants and workers, based 12. Or order online at Paul Colella on a shared interest in defending the young Soviet republic. 'WWW.pathfinderpress.com Polunsky Unit The letters column is an open forum for $18.95, special price: $14.00 Death Row all viewpoints on subjects of interest to Livingston, Texas working people. Please keep your letters brief. Where Join the Pathfinder Readers Club for $1 0 'Enjoy the newsletter' necessary they will be abridged. Please and receive discounts all year long I am writing to let you know that my ad- indicate if you prefer that your initials . dress has changed. I very much enjoy read- be used rather than your full name. March 25, 2002 The Militant 15 THE MILITANT Self-determination for Western Sahara BY ANNALUCIA VERMUNT Annan threatened to use the UN to deny the decades. The country was a direct colony possibility of holding the referendum. CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand-In a Sahrawi people full independence of their ofSpainfrom 1884to 1975. In 1975, as the The UN chief's report presented four February 19 report to the United Nations country from Morocco. independence struggle led by the Polisario options for the Security Council to consider Security Council on "the situation concern­ The people ofWestem Sahara have fought Front picked up steam, the Spanish govern­ enforcing on the liberation forces and the ing Western Sahara," Secretary-General Kofi against foreign domination of their land for ment handed Western Sahara over to the Moroccan regime. semicolonial regimes of Mauritania and The first is to continue trying to imple­ Morocco. ment the referendum plan, which would re­ Today Morocco, with the support of quire settling more than 48,000 pending Filipino farmers oppose U.S. troops French and U.S. imperialism, continues to voter registration appeals by Moroccans occupy two-thirds of Western Sahara, in­ now living in Western Sahara. To date, the cluding the entire coastline. Close to Moroccan regime has made frivolous ap­ 200,000 Sahrawis, the majority ofthe popu­ peals, giving the UN a pretext to indefinitely lation, were driven off their land and live in delay a vote. refugee camps in Algeria, near the border, The second option would be to revise a and in the liberated zone in the eastern part plan presented last year by the special UN of the country. , envoy to Western Sahara, James Baker, to The Polisario Front waged a guerrilla war offer a form of "autonomy" for the people to win liberation until 1991 when it entered of Western Sahara while remaining under a UN-brokered cease-fire with the Moroc­ Moroccan occupation. The Security Coun­ can monarchy. The cease-fire was based on cil would present the plan to both sides "on an agreement that Sahrawis would be al­ a nonnegotiable basis." The Polisario Front lowed to hold a referendum to determine has unequivocally rejected this denial of whether their nation would be independent self-determination. Baker was the treasury or annexed to Morocco. secretary under the Reagan administrations and secretary of state under George Bush. UN discusses take-it-or-leave-it options Another avenue the report raises is for In his February 19 report, Annan, in ref­ Baker to explore with the two sides the par­ erence to the agreement 11 years ago, de­ tition ofWestem Sahara. If no agreement is scribed "a rather bleak situation with regard reached, the Security Council could present to the peace process in Western Sahara." The a take-it-or-leave-it proposal. pro-imperialist UN chief equally blamed The fourth option outlined by Annan is both sides in the conflict for the current to pull out the 260-member UN team known Filipino farmers protest presence of 600 U.S. troops in the Philippines. The sol­ impasse, stating that the "high level of ani­ as the Mission for the Referendum in West­ diers are, backing a Philippine army offensive in the south. The government in mosity" between the Moroccan king and em Sahara. Manila is also discussing opening up Subic Bay-site of former U.S~ naval base, Polisario Front, accompanied by a "winner­ In a statement on behalf of the Polisario closed in 1992 in the face of massive protests-and other facilities to U.S. forces. take-all mentality," effectively ended the Front, Fadel Ismail, head of the liberation organization's Mission for the United King­ dom and Ireland, rejected any modification • J of the Baker plan that would legitimize Morocco's occupation. He said that al­ Australian gov 't caught with 'truth overboard' though partition of their land with the ag­ gressor is unacceptable, the proposal "nev­ BY RON POULSEN take them to Christmas Island, an Austra­ ging all enlisted military personnel from ertheless has the merit of recognizing the SYDNEY, Australia-Revelations in the lian territory in the Indian Ocean. As part of speaking publicly on the case, an order which right of the Sahrawi people to indepen­ big-business media about pre-election lies Canberra's belligerent stance, a naval flo­ remains in effect. This was the most explo­ dence." and deception by the government of Prime tilla was rushed towards neighboring Indo­ sive of Canberra's litany offalse accusations "It must be reminded," Ismail said, "that Minister John Howard over people seeking nesia to forcibly tum back any further boat­ against asylum-seekers. the full and entire sovereignty over Western asylum in the country have damaged the loads of asylum-seekers, or to transport Howard and his ministers coupled their Sahara belongs to the Sahrawi people alone; credibility of senior government officials as them to camps in Pacific Island countries assertions with demagogy about the need Morocco is only the occupying power which well as the armed forces' top brass. The dominated by Australian imperialism. to build a '·'Fortress Australia" and other anti­ must consequently withdraw sooner or later scandal has become known as the "truth The first in a damaging series of revela­ immigrant notions that had been the trade­ from the Sahrawi territories which it is oc­ overboard" affair. tions in the big-business press came on Feb­ mark of ultrarightist Pauline Hanson and her cupying illegally." A separate but intertwined crisis for the ruary 12, when Canberra's electronic spy­ One Nation party. They sought to dehuman­ The statement scored the "intransigent rulers has also shaken the country's head of ing on communications between the Mari­ ize the immigrants, mostly working people and arrogant attitude of Morocco," which state. Peter Hollingworth, the governor-gen­ time Union of Australia and the captain of from Central Asia and the Middle East seek-. as a member state of the United Nations, eral recently appointed by Howard, has cre­ the Tampa during the crisis was exposed and ing refuge and a better life in Australia. La­ "is allowed to get away with failing to imple­ ated a public storm with his anti-woman protested. At the time of this spying, the bor Party leaders went along with this reac­ ment the decision of the Security Council comments and defense of his cover-ups of press was excluded from any contact with tionary campaign until they were defeated and those of the General Assembly on the child sexual abuse by clergymen while he the Tampa crew or the asylum-seekers. at the polls .. Western Sahara issue, particularly those re­ was Anglican archbishop of Brisbane. The orchestrated climate of political po­ lating to the 1991 peace plan." In a February 16 editorial, the Sydney 'Children overboard' lie exposed larization over the issue coincided with the Ismail reiterated the Polisario's demand Morning Herald noted that not only had This was overtaken by a major news story buildup to the imperialist assault on Af­ that the "Sahrawi people should decide their Howard's credibility been "seriously dam­ that had begun to leak out just before the ghanistan, and helped Howard to win a third own fate tlirough a free, fair, and transpar­ aged," but the military and government bu­ federal elections last year. The most sensa­ term in November. The new Labor opposi­ ent referendum," noting that any settlement reaucracy had been effectively gagged and tional claim of Howard's election cam­ tion leader Simon Crean later labeled this a must be based on the "Sahrawi people's politicized and "dragged into the maelstrom paign-that asylum-seekers had thrown "dirty victory" after the government had right to self-determination, independence, of a political campaign," threatening their their children overboard-was proved to be "lied, spied and denied." and justice." "integrity" for Australia's imperialist rulers. false. Moreover, this was knowingly cov­ In an interview in Spain, Polisario secre­ In a March 3 speech, former Labor prime ered up at the highest levels. Instead of be­ False story exposed tary-general Mohamed Abdelaziz said the minister Paul Keating attacked the Howard ing able to claim a mandate for new assaults It wasn't until February that the truth Sahrawi people "need to be consulted about government, warning that "Australia's insti­ on working people as the rulers would like, about the photos shown by the defense min­ their future. The referendum is our first pri­ tutions have been eroded in dangerous ways" the scandal has undermined the new ister began to emerge. They were in fact ority as far as options go. The government by being "politicised." Keating listed the high government's. credibility. cropped from a picture of people abandon­ of the SADR [Sahrawi Arab Democratic court, the public service, the armed forces, Last October, just after the election cam­ ing their sinking boat. The deliberately mis" Republic] has a positive attitude towards this and the governor-general as key pillars of the paign had begun, the HMAS Adelaide inter­ dated photos depicted a crew member res­ latest report [from the UN secretary-gen­ capitalist state that have been destabilized. cepted a vessel in the Indian Ocean that had cuing two people the day after the "child eral], not only because the referendum is Like Washington, the Australian govern­ been abandoned by its crew with 200 asy­ overboard" claims. Both Reith's department the best option for finding a peaceful solu­ ment faces the exhaustion of its ability to lum-seekers aboard. The Australian warship and the prime minister's office were quickly tion to the conflict, but also because, for the use the September 11 events to drum up a fired shots across the bow. Some time later a informed by senior naval officers that their first time in 11 years, it [the report] has ac­ patriotic war fever. The rulers' ability to use man on board held up his child in a plea for statements were incorrect. knowledged the difficulty in reaching any a propaganda scare over the need to "stem help. Some men jumped overboard as a na­ On February 27, the chief of the Austra­ agreement at all because of the Moroccan the flood of boat people" has also receded. val party boarded. The unseaworthy boat was lian military forces, Adm. Christopher stance." Hundreds of people seeking asylum, ordered to head north, away from Australia. Barrie, abruptly withdrew his month-long The Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Af­ thrown into detention camps surrounded by Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock backing of Howard's stonewalling after fairs, for its part, issued a statement "un­ razor wire, along with thousands of support­ twisted an unclear naval communication pressure from senior officers and the press equivocally and strongly expressing its to­ ers, have organized protests to condemn about the incident into the headline-grab­ campaign. In a March 2· editorial, the Sun­ tal rejection of any partition idea or any dis­ Canberra's brutal treatment of immigrants. bing assertion that the asylum-seekers had Herald, which broke the woman sailor's cussion on the matter." These actions are beginning to counter the thrown their children overboard. Howard explanation of the pictures, called for the . demagogy of government officials and their went on to insist this was to "blackmail'' his admiral to "walk the plank." Struggle in occupied zone continues ability to justify their treatment of this layer government. He pounded on the theme ~hat As Sydney Morning Herald journalist As the UN Security Council discussed of working people. As a result, the rulers such parents were undesirable people to be Mike Seccombe wrote, "It took four hours what it will do in regard to the Sahrawi lib­ have begun to divide on the issue. let into the country. for the Government to distribute false in­ eration struggle, the Moroccan King Last August, Howard's cabinet decided Then defense minister Peter Reith claimed formation advantageous to its central elec­ Mohammed VI continued to assert his domi­ to send armed commandos to storm the the false story was "an absolute fact." He re­ tion issue, border security, and four months nation overWestern Sahara with a March 5 Tampa, a Norwegian freighter. The captain leased photographs showing a female sailor to admit the truth." visit to the occupied towns of Dakhla and and crew had rescued 438 asylumcseekers from the Adelaide in the water with a woman As government ministers' story has on­ El Aaiun. A week earlier, A1geria?s presi- adrift in a sinking vessel and had tried to and child. The government issued orders gag- Continued on Page 12 Continued on Page 11

16 The Militant March 25, 2002