Cubans mobilize against Carter's threats -PAGE 3 MAY 16, 1980 50 CENTS VOLUME 44/NUMBER 18 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY/PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE Fightilg alliance with labor, Black mov'ts holds promise of ·victory The following is a statement dents of Chicago's Black community released by Andrew Pulley and and women's rights supporters from Matilde Zimmermann, Socialist around the country, will make it clear Workers Party candidates for to President Carter and the other Dem­ president and. vice-president. ocratic and Republican politicians who have been sabotaging the ERA that We welcome the May 10 March for it's time to sit up and take notice. the Equal Rights Amendment in Chi­ - This alliance of the labor movement cago called by the National Organiza­ and women's and civil rights groups tion for Women. makes the prospect for an ERA victory Auto Workers, coal miners, and steel­ brighter than ever before. workers marching, together with resi- And it is an inspiring example for working people, especially youth, who are fighting for the right to a job and decent standard of living and against the "right" to be drafted to fight for the interests of Texaco and Exxon. The power that actions -like the May 10 march can bring to bear was shown on July 9, 1978, when 100,000 joined the NOW-sponsored demonstration in Continued on page 5 Special offer to ERA marchers 3 weeks of the Militant for $1 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Enclosed is $1 for 3 weeks. Name ------------ Address ------------ City------------- State ____ Zip _______ Schooi/Union/org. --------- Send to: Militant, 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. Offer good only through May 23. In Our Opinion VOLUME 44/NUMBER 18 MAY 16, 1980 CLOSING NEWS DATE-MAY 7 In Los Angeles, they were arbitrarily denied backing brutal dictators the world-over. Attacks on RCP: a parade permit, forced to walk on the side­ American working people have nothing to walk, and then savagely attacked by the cops. gain from Carter's stand. Our interests lie in In a two-month period prior to May Day, common with the people of Iran, not brutal threat to rights of all some seventy-eight RCPers were arrested in dictators. On May Day, police in a number of cities the Los Angeles area. According to their No more U.S. military intervention in Iran! attacked and arrested members of the Revolu­ attorney, half the arrests were for selling their Send back the shah! tionary Communist Party exercising their paper. constitutional right to demonstrate. In some In downtown Chicago, the cops broke up cases, the RCP was assaulted by right-wingers their march and arrested thirteen. Earlier a while police stood by. number were arrested for selling their paper Gain for Olympics Prior to May Day, there were numerous and distributing leaflets. The American Civil The Olympic committees of eighteen coun­ arrests of RCP members building their demon­ Liberties Union is defending them. tries, including the nine countries belonging to strations. In Los Angeles, one was murdered In Morgantown, West Virginia, right­ the European Common Market, have dealt a April 22 and a second seriously wounded. wingers staged a counterdemonstration to the rebuff to Carter's call for a boycott of the Circumstances -surrounding this sinister at­ RCP-which wasn't even there. So, egged on Moscow Olympics. tack point to police complicity. by a state official, some of the right-wingers "We appeal to the Olympic committees of all The attacks on the Revolutionary Commu­ beat up a small group of pacifists from the the countries in the world to take part;'' they nist Party constitute a serious attack on civil War Resisters League. declared in a May 3 statement. "Any forgoing liberties for all. These attacks should be pro­ A serious reminder that "an injury to one is of the 1980 Olympic Games, besides failing to tested and the democratic rights of the RCP an injury to all." provide a solution to the present conflicts, should be defended. would have disastrous consequences on inter­ The police and right-wing assaults on the national sport.. ." RCP do not occur in isolation. The escalating Their statement highlights the fact that, as employer-government assault on working peo­ \Nhy soldiers died of now, the great majority of Olympic commit­ ple in this country has been accompanied by a The bodies of the American soldiers killed in tees are planning to send athletes to Moscow steady chipping away at democratic rights. the raid against Iran were returned to the in July. • Harassment and deportations of Iranian United States May 6, and President Carter, Carter's attempt to torpedo the Olympics is students have sought to intimidate anyone true to form, used the occasion to press ahead part of the drive to arouse public opinion who opposes Washington's foreign policy. with his anti-Iran campaign. Proclaiming against the alleged "Soviet menace" and re­ • Carter has banned travel to Iran and three days of national mourning, he said that verse popular opposition, here and around the curtailed U.S. news teams there. the soldiers died willingly "because they world, to new U.S. military moves against • The White House threatens to lift the wished to right a terrible wrong." Iran, Afghanistan, or other countries that defy passports of or even prosecute U.S. athletes if The truth is that the soldiers were ordered Washington. into action because Carter has refusedto right they attend the Summer Olympics in Moscow. Like accepting draft registration, giving up a terrible wrong: the wrong done to the people • Through court rulings and congressional the games was one of the sacrifices demanded of Iran by the U.S. government's imposition of us to further this policy. action, the government is trying to legitimize and support of the shah. CIA and FBI secret-police operations. The vote of the Olympic committees came a For twenty-five years the people of Iran were week after the collapse of Carter's .raid on The attacks on the RCP are part of this murdered, tortured, and maimed; deprived of Iran. He had quite a nerve to demand that the pattern. The aim is to establish precedents for all rights; burdened with one of the world's world ostracize Moscow for sending troops to stopping others from demonstrating or selling most oppressive tyrannies. The hated shah, newspapers. the Hitler of Iran, was put into power in a CIA­ fight U.S.-backed reactionaries in Afghani­ In moving to establish new curbs on demo­ sponsored coup. He was propped up through stan, while he was plotting an invasion of cratic rights, the ruling class invariably em­ the years with U,S. arms. His secret police revolutionary Iran. ploys a time-tested tactic: direct the initial murderers and torturers were trained by the The decision of the U.S. Olympic Committee blows- against the most vulnerable. U.S. government. Up to the last, Carter hoped on April12 to bow to Carter's boycott demand · And, certainly the RCP does present a to keep him in power. was made under pressure of threats of travel vulnerable target. A Maoist sect whose politics All that the Iranian people are asking now is bans, financial penalties, and other antidemo­ have little chance of winning a hearing among that the despot be returned to be judged for his cratic moves. The boycott is overwhelmingly workers, the group has engaged in a series of crimes. unpopular among U.S. athletes, who want to confrontations with workers and others that Washington's refusal to allow this is the root participate in the Olympics. only adds to its isolation. of the hostage crisis. Carter should drop his threats, and the But that in no way justifies the police and Carter's refusal to right the terrible wrong committee's decision should be reversed. right-wing violence against the RCP. shows that he wants a free hand to continue Let our athletes go to the Olyq1pics! Militant Highlights This Week The Militant Editor: STEVE CLARK Associate Editors: CINDY JAQUITH ANDY ROSE Business Manager: PETER SEIDMAN Editorial Staff: Nan Bailey, Nancy Cole, Fred Feldman, Jim Garrison, Suzanne Haig, Osborne 3 Socialists hit Carter on Cuba Hart, Gus Horowitz, Diane Jacobs, August Challenge to Mich. election law Nimtz, Harry Ring, Priscilla Schenk, Stu Singer. 4 Interviews on the ERA Socialist Workers attorneys explain why the party's suit Published weekly by the Militant 6 U.S. out of Vleques march to overturn state's ballot requirements, which effectively (ISSN 0026-3885), 14 Charles Lane, 19 Getting the SWP on ballot bar small parties, is a defense of rights of all working New York, N.Y. 10014. Telephone: Editorial Office, (212) 243-6392; Busi­ 20 Wages don't cause Inflation people. Page 19. ness Office, (212) 929-3486. 21 The Great Society Correspondence concerning sub­ By Any Meana Necaaaery What's Going On scriptions or changes of address should be addressed to The Militant 22 Our Relfolutlonary Heritage Letters Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. 10014. 23 Leeming About Socialism If You Like This Peper . .. Second-class postage paid at New What makes Anderson run? York, N.Y. Subscriptions: U.S. $20.00 7-18 International Socialist Review Many think John Anderson is challenging two-party a year, outside U.S. $25.00. By first­ system. He explains he's trying to prop it up. His aim? class mail: U.S., Canada, and Mexico: To head off any moves toward independent political $50.00. Write for airmail rates to all action by labor.