Filipino people press to extend rights . 6 TH£ Rightists win in Ill. Democratic primary 13 Behind shuttle deaths . 14 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 50/NO. 13 APRIL 4, 1986 75 CENTS Massive U.S. war fleet Hormel strikers attacks Libyan people call nat'l BY FRED FELDMAN In a carefully organized provocation, the U.S. government assembled the most mas­ sive array of naval power seen in the action Mediterranean in recent history to launch BYTOMJAAX an assault on the sovereign country of AND MAGGIE McCRAW Libya. AUSTIN, Minn . -Striking meatpack­ On March 24 and 25, U.S. planes firing ers are calling on all supporters of their guided missiles bombarded the town of eight-month strike against the Geo. A. Sidra and sank several small Libyan patrol Hormel Co . to come to Austin for a na­ boats in the Gulf of Sidra. tional march and rally Saturday, April 12. Dozens of Libyan people were believed The strikers are also asking supporters to killed. come into town beginning April 9 to help This brutal and bloody attack on Libya is shut down the plant. The company was an act of war. It is a clear threat by the U.S. able to reopen its plant January 21 when rulers that naked military might will be Minnesota Gov . Rudy Perpich sent the Na­ used against all governments and peoples tional Guard into Austin to herd scabs. that Washington politically disagrees with On March 20 strikers organized a picket - if it can get away with it. line that shut down the plant for several This attack shouid be condemned by all hours. This was the first time that produc­ opponents of U.S. aggression in the Mid­ LIBYA tion was stopped at the plant since the dle East, Central America, and elsewhere. Guard was sent into Austin. Hormel admits Emergency demonstrations and other pub­ that the action cost the company $300,000. lic protests should be organized. In making this call for support, the The Reagan administration is loudly local's executive board appeals to "labor threatening to launch more military attacks unions and other organizations across the until the Libyan government is overthrown clear submarines, 250 planes, 18,000 territorial waters without provoking acts of country, in the spirit of the civil rights or ends its opposition to U.S. government troops, and a vast array of torpedoes, mis­ war by Washington . Far from defending movement, to mobilize and send car cara­ policies. siles, and other weapons. the "freedom of the seas," U.S. forces im­ vans and bus loads of supporters to Austin There isn't the slightest justification for This terrorist force was mobilized posed a virtual naval blockade against ·to help us in our difficult struggle." Washington's missile strikes against against a country of about 3.5 million Libya in the gulf area. Libya. people, supposedly because its government Washington's imperialist allies gener­ The call for action comes as the strikers To launch this attack, the U.S. govern­ says the Gulf of Sidra is part of its territo­ ally backed the aggression, although the - members of United Food and Commer­ ment assembled a massive naval armada in rial waters! Italian government was mildly critical. cial Workers (UFCW) Local P-9 - face the Mediterranean - enough to blow The claim that this armada is guarantee­ Third World countries responded with out­ stepped-up attacks not only by the com­ Libya off the face of the earth many times ing "freedom of the seas" is a lie. Many of rage . The government of Ghana correctly pany but by top officials of their interna­ over. It included 3 aircraft carriers, 27 war­ Washington's allies, including Canada and explained that the hostilities were "the di- tional union . ships, 1 flagship, an estimated 6 to 12 nu- Iceland, have made comparable claims to Continued on Page 12 These officials of the UFCW have been on a public campaign against the striking local since January. These attacks esca­ lated March 14 when the International Ex­ ecutive Committee revoked the sanction of U.S. gov't steps up war on Nicaragua the strike, cutting off the workers' strike benefits. After the sanction was with­ BY HARRY RING curiously, insisted on not being identified, cials was one of surprise. drawn, the strikers voted overwhelmingly Using the hoax of a claimed Nicaraguan told reporters the invasion had occurred. "Everything is calm," said Maj. Jorge to continue their struggle. "invasion" of Honduras as the pretext, the The anonymous official said his infor­ Arguello, an armed forces spokesman. In retaliation, the International Execu­ White House moved to escalate U .S.-or­ mation was very tentative ~nd incompiete, The Honduran National Security Coun­ tive Committee announced March 28 that it ganized military aggression against Nicara­ but, he said, "we'r~ sure they're there." cil met to discuss the reported invasion, will be holding a hearing April 7 to consid­ gua. This was a full day after the alleged in­ and a spokesman, Lisandro Quezada, then er placing Local P-9 into trusteeship for While bewildered Honduran officials vasion occurred; in a country slightly told reporters that the ministers "have no "refusing to comply with the UFCW's di­ were still trying to figt~re out when and larger than the state of Tennessee, a coun­ more information other than that [in news rective to end the strike." how their country had been invaded, try where the U.S. military has a major pre­ cables] coming from outside Honduras." Under a trusteeship, Local P-9's officers Reagan used his presidential powers to sence and an elaborate surveillance sys­ Quezada qismissed the U.S. report as would be removed and its affairs, including bypass Congress and dispatch $20 million tem! "disinformation" intended to win support collective bargaining, would be taken over in emergency military aid to Honduras. The initial response of Honduran offi- Continued on Page 10 Continued on Page 4 And U.S. helicopters, piloted by Gls, were ordered to ferry Honduran troops to the border area where a major base of the Nic­ araguan counterrevolutionaries - the con­ Protests force collapse of Haiti governtnent tras - is located. It was in this area that the "invasion" supposedly occurred. This BY HARVEY McARTHUR Before leaving, Duvalier turned power of its members." The new council in­ involves Honduran troops more directly in PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A wave over to the army and organized the CNG. cludes Namphy and Col. William Regala, the U.S.-run war. of antigovernment strikes and demonstra­ Five of the six members were army officers the. two surviving members of the first The invasion scam was designed to tions led to the collapse of the National or former members of Duvalier's cabinet. junta, and Jacques Franc;:ois, an elder­ maximize congressional support for the Council of Government (CNG) here March The sixth, Gerard Gourgue, was chairman ly Haitian diplomat. Namphy and Regala contra war, as well as to justify more direct 21. The army immediately appointed a of the Haitian League for Human Rights. were high-ranking officers under Duva­ use of U.S. forces - including military ad­ three-person council to replace the six­ He was an opponent of the Duvalier regime lier. visers - in the campaign to topple the San­ member military-civilian junta established and was added to give the new government dinista government. Franc;:ois was Haiti's ambassador to the by dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier when he some credibility and a chance to defuse the Organization of American States in the These are dangerous moves - for the fled the country on February 7. The army massive protests. 1950s, but held no governmental posts in people of Nicaragua and the people of this also imposed an 8:00 p.m.-to-5:00 a.m. On March 20, Gourgue announced his Duvalier's administration. He was ap~ country as well . curfew in an attempt to dampen protests. resignation from the government. pointed foreign minister last month by the Strong emergency protests are needed to The next day, Gen. Henri Namphy, new government. demand a halt to Washington's war and to The Duvalier regime began in 1957 president of the junta, announced the resig­ defend the right of the Nicaraguan people when Franc;:ois "Papa Doc" Duvalier took nation· of Alix Cineas, Col. Prosper Avril, power. He created a private police force, The latest protests were sparked when to live withour interference from Uncle and Col. Max Valles. These three had been army troops killed five civilians in the Mar­ Sam. the hated Tontons Macoutes, to crush all targets of popular protests demanding their opposition. tissant neighborhood here in the capital on The initial facts about the claimed inva­ removal from the government. Avril and March 19. sion, which were available as this was writ­ When "Papa Doc" died in 1971, his son Valles were officers in Duvalier's presi­ ten, confirm that it is a crude fake. Jean-Claude Duvalier became "president dential guard, and Cineas was the dic­ According to radio and press reports, an The first report in this country of an as­ for life." The U.S. government backed tator's minister of public works and trans­ off-duty army captain driving through serted invasion of Honduras by l ,500 Nic­ Jean-Claude - as it had his father - pro­ portation. Martissant collided with a "tap tap" - the araguan troops was released to the press by viding him with economic and military aid . Namphy explained that "because of the common name for the small, brightly the State Department on Monday, March U.S.