DECEMBER 18, 1981 75 CENTS VOLUME 45/NUMBER 47 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY /PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE Haig seeks allies for Central·America attack By Larry Seigle in Honduras and Guatemala as well as El Sal­ Charging that Nicaragua is becoming a mil­ vador." itary "superpower" and is threatening to over­ The Times even quoted "military and intelli­ run all of Central America, Washington is con­ gence analysts" as fearing that "the military tinuing its drive to seek justification for a mil­ buildup might constitute a long-term threat to itary move against the Sandinista revolution. Mexican oilfields to the north and to the Pana­ Secretary of State Alexander Haig took his ma Canal to the south." traveling Big Lie machine to the Caribbean is­ But what has Washington concerned is not land of St. Lucia last week, for the meeting of the absurd charge that Nicaragua (population the general assembly of the Organization of about 2.5 million) will simultaneously seize con­ American States (OAS). Haig warned the OAS trol of the Panama Canal and conquer Mexico that "the militarization of Nicaraguans is but a (population about 65 million). prelude to a widening war in Central America." Rather, it is the fact that the people of Central Haig pressed for collective military interven­ America, inspired by the revolutions in Grena­ tion against Nicaragua. "The United States," he da and in Nicaragua, and the continued advan­ solemnly proclaimed, "is prepared to join others ces of revolutionary Cuba, are setting their in doing whatever is prudent and necessary to sights on bringing to power workers and farm­ prevent any country in Central America from ers governments in their own countries. becoming the platform of terror and war in the In El Salvador, the U.S.-backedjunta is losing region." what little social base it has left, and is likewise losing the civil war in the countryside. The day before Haig's speech, newspapers In Guatemala, the guerrilla war is reaching around the country ran articles from Washing­ similar proportions, with the regime being ton citing U.S. concerns about a military "build­ forced to begin drafting peasants to staff the up" in Nicaragua. The New York Times story army, in what can only be a futile effort to turn was headlined ''Nicaragua Arms Called Peril to the tide militarily. Area." It quoted "a senior official" as stating that the Managua government is "on the verge The roots of these revolutionary upsurges are of becoming a superpower in Central American the grinding poverty and brutal exploitation the terms" and is "fostering left-wing insurgencies Continued on page 5 ALEXANDER HAIG 'Hit squad' frame-up masks new threat to Libya Under the cover of combating mythical "Lib­ nounced it is pulling out of Libya and Mobil is yan hit squads," Washington is escalating its considering doing the same. economic, diplomatic, and military aggression According to Newsweek magazine, the admin­ against Libya and the regime of Muammar el­ istration is considering new "aggressive maneu­ Qaddafi. vers" by the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Gulf of Sid­ ra, where U.S. forces shot down two Libyan air­ planes last August, and promotion of a coup AN EDITORIAL and/or assassination plot against Qaddafi. What Washington can't tolerate is the Libyan Among the immediate actions being consi­ government's support to anti-imperialist strug­ dered by the Reagan administration are an em­ gles- from sending aid to Nicaragua, to back­ bargo on the import of Libyan oil, a ban on trav­ ing the Palestine Liberation Organization el by Americans to the North African country, (PLO), to using troops to defend the Chad gov­ and an attempt to organize a cutoff of all trade ernment against a military threat from forces with Libya, what the Wall Street Journal called organized by France, Chad's former colonial "the Iranian treatment." master. The U.S. oil monopolies are deeply involved in The efforts to overthrow the Libyan govern­ the sabotage plans. Exxon has already an- Continued on page 2 In Our Opinion VOLUME 45/NUMBER 47 DECEMBER 18, 1981 CLOSING NEWS DATE-DECEMBER 9 The Democrats in the Senate, in fact, have terrorists trained in Libya entered the United Solidarity Day II - just made it possible to pass the largest arms States last weekend." budget in U.S. history with a near-unanimous Their mission was "to kill Mr. Reagan by wrong road vote- 84 to 5. The $208 billion sum is $8 billion shooting down Air Force One, the Presidential On September 19 half a million workers more than what Reagan asked for. jet, with a surface-to-air missile, blowing up the poured into Washington, D.C., for the historic The Democrats' much publicized "concern" President's limousine with a rocket or attacking AFL-CIO Solidarity Day march. In their demon­ about jobs and cutbacks in social services was the President at close range with small arms." stration of working-class solidarity against nowhere to be found as the vote on the arms No evidence was offered for a single "fact" in the budget cuts, the danger of new U.S. wars, and budget was taken. Democratic whip Alan Cran­ report. Just the word of "an informant." attacks on Black and women's rights, the ston explained, "There is a consensus in the By December 5 the story had grown to "at marchers were seeking a new direction for the country and in Congress that we need more re­ least two informants," reported Associated U.S. labor movement. sources for national defense. We have to consid­ Press. And on December 6 the assassination That new direction is all the more urgent er these needs on their merits and can't link team had become a "ten-man squad." "Authorit­ three months later. them to social or economic needs." ative sources" confided to the Washington Post Today, Washington is preparing military ag­ These are the "anti-Reagan" candidates the that the U.S. government had "the name of each gression against the revolutions in Central AFL-CIO wants workers to "march to the polls" squad member and known aliases." America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile the for. But why support the very politicians whose However, despite repeated challenges to pro­ capitalists are plunging the U.S. economy policies we marched against on September 19? duce the "evidence" to back up the accusations, deeper into recession. Unemployment has now Why don't the unions take the lead and run the Reagan administration has produced no­ hit 8.4 percent and will go higher. Big business their own candidates in 1982? thing. is demanding major concessions on wages and That would be a step toward reversing Rea­ That is because no evidence exists. working conditions in the 1982 contract negoti­ ganism. It would point in the direction of fight­ Washington's story is so transparent that ations. ing to replace the capitalist U.S. government even some of its own cops aren't going along The response of AFL-CIO officials to this of­ with a workers government, labor's real answer with it. As the New York Times reported De­ fensive is not solidarity with the workers and to permanent war, unemployment, inflation, ra­ cember 8, "Some officials, including senior offi­ oppressed here and abroad, but solidarity with cism, and sex discrimination. cials of the Federal Bureau oflnvestigation, are the employers and their goals. - To fight for a government that represents said to be skeptical about the information." The recent AFL-CIO convention gave a politi­ working people and defends our interests the In Detroit, one of the supposed planned entry cal boost to Washington's war preparations in unions must break from the Democratic and Re­ points for the "hit squads," the Detroit Free Central America by adopting a shameful resolu­ publican parties and form a labor party that can Press reported that government officials "be­ tion on Nicaragua. The resolution charged the mobilize the power of the unions, Blacks, Lati­ lieve it's much ado about nothing." Nicaraguan government with "totalitarianism" nos, women, and working farmers. "The way things are going," one said, "we're and urged "appropriate action at the interna­ The perspective of a labor party struggling to going to start getting calls from people seeing tional level to reverse this disturbing trend." establish a workers government is the real road camels coming across the Detroit river in rafts." The same officials are on a campaign to con­ forward from Solidarity Day on September 19. After a secret briefing for members of Con­ vince U.S. workers to "face reality" and submit gress on the supposed plot, Sen. Patrick Leahy to bigger attacks on their standard of living. told reporters, "There is no hard evidence at This deepening class collaboration is what ... threat to Libya all." lies behind the AFL-CIO's call for Solidarity Continued from front page In an interview December 6, Qaddafi chal­ Day II, a drive.to get Democrats elected on No­ ment go back several years. They involve U.S. lenged Reagan to make public any proof at all of vember 2, 1982. Presented as the way to fight collaboration with France, Britain, and Libyan the assassination plot. "If they have evidence we against "Reaganism," Solidarity Day II's real exiles. They remain very much alive today. are ready to see this evidence," the Libyan lead­ purpose is to tie the unions even more closely to Newsweek reported that U.S. officials "openly er said. He called for an investigation to "let the the two-party system.