Professional Documents
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Oct. 4, 2012
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Capitalism kills
REPRESSION IS A CRIME!
CHICAGO TEACHERS
4
OCCUPY
TH
AFGHANISTAN
Protests called by United Natl Anti-War Coalition UNAC for information on other protests: october7actions .net/wordpress
212.627.2994 www.workers.org
Name _______________________________________ Address _____________________________________ City / State / Zip _______________________________ Email ____________________ Phone ______________
SATOCT 6 SUNOCT 7
2 pm Pershing Park Square, LA
AT HOME State Building Plaza, 161 W. 125 St. Harlem, NY
No to Racism & Islamophobia, Raids & Repression! End Stop & Frisk! End Mass Incarceration! Stop Voter Suppression! Stop the Cutbacks!
ABROAD
Stop Drone Attacks on Africa & Asia! No Sanctions! Troops Home Now! Stand With Palestine! Hands O Syria & Iran!
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WORKERS WORLD
In the U.S.
Racism, schooling gap cut years from life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Journey to joining Workers World Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Forum marks Occupy Wall Street one-year anniversary . . . 2 Fracktavists challenge gas industry, fracking . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Chicago Teachers Union president defends strike . . . . . . . . 4 LGBTQ labor group commits to solidarity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Redd Welsh releases Stand with the People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Whats next after March on Wall Street South . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Protest, hearing challenge Pa. solitary con nement . . . . . . 6 Ongoing protests target racist Pa. voter ID law . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Blueford supporters shut down Oakland City Council . . . . 7 Pa. guv meeting disrupted by protest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 OWS free university welcomes radical ideas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Dinae is a New York activist and organizer in her high school and community. The following article is the first in a series of personal stories from young Workers World Party members describing their political development and their path to becoming revolutionary Marxists. By Dinae I first started to think I might be a communist at the end of my freshman year of high school. I was into many activities at the time, including spending time doing community service with a special after-school program. Through this organization I was invited to a weeklong summer leadership camp. I was pretty excited! The first day, I recognized everyone, including the service project coordinators except one. This quiet person ended up being Workers World party member Larry Hales, but at the time he was just another participant in the activities to me. I didnt say anything to him the first couple days. By the second night, I saw that he was wearing a Fight Imperialism Stand Together (F.I.S.T) a WWP-led youth group shirt and it caught my attention. At the time, I had no clue what imperialism was, but the shirt stood out because it looked so radical! I got the courage to ask him about the shirt and he began to tell me about F.I.S.T. and its ideals, although I had yet to know what socialism actually stood for. I was impressed, but all
I knew of socialism was that it was evil to society. From then on, my curiosity grew. When the camp ended, Larry and I stayed in contact. Two months later, I started hanging around the Workers World office, and began to read literature such as What Is Marxism All About? The Communist Manifesto and The State and Revolution, as well as the weekly Workers World newspaper. I absorbed myself in going to demonstrations as many as 3 or 4 a week and I loved it! A whole new side of the world was becoming clear to me. I started to see that the class struggle can allow for greater change in the world, with the ultimate goal being real socialism a society where everyones needs are met. I began to see capitalism as destructive to the people of the world and also how it had plagued my life in malicious ways. Although I faced heavy opposition from some people around me, I decided in December of 2010 to join Workers World Party. I was a sophomore in high school. Joining this party helped me become a better activist. It also has allowed me to make lifetime relationships with amazing people, help fight for basic necessities for my community, and ultimately has changed my life forever!
Editorial
Heed Troy Davis words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 They dont really care about us. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
NEW YORK
Noticias En Espaol
Dilogos colombianos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Workers World 55 West 17 Street New York, N.Y. 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: ww@workers.org Web: www.workers.org Vol. 54, No. 39 Oct. 4, 2012 Closing date: Sept. 25, 2012 Editor: Deirdre Griswold Technical Editor: Lal Roohk Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Leslie Feinberg, Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Gary Wilson West Coast Editor: John Parker Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, Greg Butterfield, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel, Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash, Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac Technical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger, Bob McCubbin, Maggie Vascassenno Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martnez, Carlos Vargas Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator Copyright 2011 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly except the first week of January by WW Publishers, 55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institutions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., New York, NY 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available on microfilm and/or photocopy from University Microfilms International, 300 Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. A searchable archive is available on the Web at www.workers.org. A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. Subscription information is at workers.org/email.php. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
National O ce 55 W. 17 St., 5th Fl. New York, NY 10011 212.627.2994 wwp@workers.org Atlanta P.O. Box 5565 Atlanta, GA 30307 404.627.0185 atlanta@workers.org Baltimore c/o Solidarity Center 2011 N. Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21218 443.909.8964 baltimore@workers.org Boston If you would like to 284 Amory St. know more about WWP, Boston, MA 02130 or to join us in these 617.522.6626 Fax 617.983.3836 struggles, contact the boston@workers.org branch nearest you. Workers World Party (WWP) ghts for socialism and engages in struggles on all the issues that face the working class & oppressed peoples Black & white, Latino/a, Asian, Arab and Native peoples, women & men, young & old, lesbian, gay, bi, straight, trans, disabled, working, unemployed, undocumented & students.
joi n join us
Bu alo, N.Y. 367 Delaware Ave. Bu alo, NY 14202 716.883.2534 bu alo@workers.org Chicago 27 N. Wacker Dr. #138 Chicago, IL 60606 chicago@workers.org 312.229.0161 Cleveland P.O. Box 5963 Cleveland, OH 44101 216.738.0320 cleveland@workers.org Denver denver@workers.org Detroit 5920 Second Ave. Detroit, MI 48202 313.459.0777 detroit@workers.org
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Rippel described the scenario: People are suffering serious quality-of-life issues, with skin rashes, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, breathing problems, headaches and eye irritation. But the nondisclosure provision of Act 13 prohibits doctors from even questioning their patients about exposure to drilling. Peoples kids are affected, but they are afraid that if they speak out against the industry, they wont be believed. Activists ght fear, isolation To combat this fear and isolation, filmmaker Kirsi Jansa has been producing a series of short documentaries called Gas Rush Stories. Jansa showed documentaries filmed in Germany and southwestern Pennsylvania at an afternoon conference of fracktavists on Sept. 21. The films can be downloaded from gasrushstories.com. Dana Dolney helped launch a faces of fracking campaign in 2010 after 11 families in Woodlands, Pa., experienced well water problems stemming from drilling activity by Rex Energy. While the company agreed to pay to pipe water to a multimillion-dollar housing complex, poor people in Woodlands are told to let their children drink poisoned water, said Dolney, who maintains a blog called theleague-of-activists.com.
Marilyn Hunt traveled with her family from West Virginia to raise awareness of the double impact that mountain top removal and fracking has had on isolated rural communities. While the Hunt family controls the mineral rights on their 70acre farm, their property is surrounded by drilling activity. When area residents began experiencing flu-like symptoms including headaches, sore throats and respiratory problems, doctors told them to drink more fluids, unaware that the problems stemmed from contaminated water wells. When people began to test their water, the gas companies purchased the testing laboratory the residents had used. With help from a nearby university, residents were finally able to run tests that found hundreds of contaminants in their wells, including acrylonitrile (plastic cyanide), a known carcinogen used in at least three stages of the drilling process. The gas industry and its politicians can launch all the fancy public relations campaigns they want to hide the truth about natural gas drilling and its horrible effects. But the result will be people like Dolney, Hunt and hundreds of others who will become fracktavists in the struggle for peoples health and environmental wellness.
Capitalism kills
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On historic strike
Duncan, [W]ere you, the administration, Mayor Emanuel, who used to be the presidents chief of staff, eager to get this story out of the news cycle? Duncan responded, I think that had zero to do with anything. I think what we were all eager to do is to get children back into the classroom. Union leader on strike signi cance Karen Lewis, president of the CTU, appeared on the Democracy Now radio show Sept. 19 to evaluate the strike. Host
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WW C OMMENTA RY
the most notorious and hated big banks, which carry out racist foreclosure practices and are driving students deeper into debt, bankrolling the prison industry, encouraging the criminalization of immigrants and profiting off environmental destruction, to name a few of their crimes. The coalitions work elevated Charlotte and the Souths central role in the capitalist economy, at a time when that system is being dragged down by its irresolvable contradictions and introducing even more vicious austerity measures onto the backs of working people. This approach provided a basis upon which to build multinational unity and elevate a thoroughly anti-capitalist program that put the blame squarely on those responsible for the crises being experienced by working and oppressed peoples the banks, corporations and the political system that ensures their power through the work to build the demonstrations. Organizers also took a principled position early on to oppose racism, bigotry and all forms of oppression, and to defend Obama against any racist attacks being hurled from the right. This overall approach to building the demonstrations allowed organizers to engage people around the concrete conditions of their everyday lives and expose the broader forces that have created these conditions namely the banks, corporations and the two parties that work on their behalf. To draw out these contradictions more, the Coalition to March on Wall Street South raised a program that spoke to the conditions and needs of working-class and oppressed people, bringing to light the clear differences between this peoples program and those of the Democratic and Republican parties. The march was built under the banner of Building Peoples Power at the DNC. This, along with drawing out the rich history of peoples struggles in the South throughout the work to build the protests, shows a clear alternative to the trap of capitalist democracy and a path forward for how to ultimately turn the tide. Next steps: Build peoples power Powerful, dynamic, vibrant, diverse, and heartening are a few words that, at best, serve to inadequately describe what occurred here in Charlotte during the DNC as a result of the recent
manifestation of peoples power, Ayende Alcala, an organizer with the Coalition to March on Wall Street South and Occupy Charlotte, told WW. From that wonderful collaborative effort, the momentum of building peoples power shall continue in many ways and forms. Peoples Power Assemblies, in my humble opinion, represent the next great platform, expression and outgrowth of the ever growing momentum, and have the ability to serve as the next great catalyst for resurgence and movement. The alienation and frustration with the political system that so many feel is evident in communities throughout the country. The mantra of powerlessness is repeated to us over and over again throughout our lives. We are trained to individualize our struggles and deal with them in isolation, which contributes to the feelings of despair and hopelessness felt by many. This is especially true in Charlotte, where the towers of the big banks and corporations loom over the city, enshrining their power and staring down on the rest of the city. The people are at their mercy, they seem to say, and without them the world as we know it would come crashing down. Demonstrations like the March on Wall Street South are important to break through the isolation experienced in our communities, and show an alternative to the way we are taught to deal with our daily struggles to view them as part of a larger system, come together with our neighbors and friends who are dealing with many of the same things, and get in the streets to build independent movements for peoples power that can one day
eliminate the system that is at the root of our shared problems. We learn through our experiences and through struggles. The lessons learned and taught through the March on Wall Street South mobilization were numerous. But perhaps one of the most important things was that it showed that it is the people who have the power. We are the ones who make history not the banks, the corporations or the politicians. The possibilities of what we can achieve when we unite across all the social boundaries that are meant to divide us are endless. Along the march, many of the folks who lined the streets to see the demonstration commented that this was the first time they had seen anything like this in Charlotte. To continue to build upon the foundation that was laid by the March on Wall Street South, organizers are preparing to convene a Peoples Power Assembly in Charlotte on Nov. 10, as similar assemblies are held across the country. Several meetings have already taken place to begin planning for this assembly. The call to build peoples power that was raised through the mobilization is being carried forward by many community leaders, who have taken the initiative to convene the assembly in Charlotte. This mobilization was a step forward to building a movement that not only addresses the conditions in our communities today, but prepares us to take the power back from those bank towers that loom over Charlotte and every other city, and run society ourselves to meet all human needs, not for profit. The writer was a main organizer for the March on Wall Street South.
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sexual, physical and psychological abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war, had served as a guard at SCI Greene. Delaney raised that 92 criminal accounts of sexual abuse of prisoners were filed against one officer at SCI Pittsburgh, but nothing was done. Former prisoner Dana Lomax Williams noted that many women hesitate to speak out about sexual harassment for fear of retaliation. DOC = Department of Cruelty Theresa Shoats, daughter of Black political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoats held in solitary confinement since 1983, called the DOC the department of cruelty. Shoats stated, Our fight is not just for the 2 million people in prison, but against a prison system that affects people on the outside as well. Forty public schools are going to close in Philadelphia, while Graterford Prison is set to expand. We need to step in front of those bulldozers to save a childs life. Speakers at the rally and hearing stated that political activism and racism were often factors behind prolonged solitary detentions. Mumia Abu-Jamal, Pennsylva-
nias best known political prisoner, spent nearly 30 years in solitary confinement on death row before his January 2012 release to general population, where he continues to challenge his 1982 conviction. Former prisoner Hakeem Shaheed charged that he was placed at the infamous supermax prison in Marion, Ohio, in retaliation for speaking out against torture and abuse within federal prisons and because of his Muslim beliefs. A highlight of the rally was an address by Robert King, the only freed member of the Angola 3, who spent 29 years in solitary confinement in Louisiana. Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, who along with King organized a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1971, have spent over 40 years in solitary confinement after the death of a prison guard. An ongoing lawsuit and international movement are demanding their release. King compared the struggle to abolish solitary confinement to the abolitionist movement of the 1800s, noting that anti-slavery activists took a moral stand against a system that was protected by laws. Like slavery, prisons are meant to
NY Forum on
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No justice, no peace!
By Terri Kay Oakland, Calif. The Justice for Alan Blueford (J4AB) campaign, angry and over a hundred strong, led by Alans family, forced the Oakland City Council to cancel their meeting Sept. 18. They had gone to the City Council, which hadnt met since mid-July, to demand the police report on Alan Bluefords killing, and that murder charges be brought against Officer Miguel Masso. The Council had previously promised to assist the family in getting to the truth about their 18-year-old sons May 6 killing by the Oakland Police Department. It had taken over two months to get the coroners report, which was finally released after the J4AB campaign held a press conference and rally in front of the coroners office. The report showed that there was no gunpowder on Alans hands and no drugs or alcohol in his blood. Now, after more than four months, the family was insisting that they would not leave the Council without the police report. Jeralynn Blueford, Alans mother, pleaded to the Council: We came here in May asking for help and this officer is at home on our tax dollars. We still dont have a police report. The [police] story has changed so many times. Adam Blueford, Alans father, pointed out that the coroner, per the report, had moved Alans body at 1:25 a.m., only an hour after he was fatally shot. This indicated that they were more worried about quickly removing Alans body than conducting a proper investigation. Jenny, Alans sister, told the Council: Look at my parents faces and see if they need more time for the police report. We dont need money. You have the power to demand the answers. After the family and supporters took over the meeting for an hour, the Council president, Larry Reid, declared a 10-minute recess, supposedly to wait for the appearance of Police Chief Howard Jordan and the police report. The 10 minutes turned into 45, after which the Council tried to reconvene and move on to the next agenda item, without the promised appearance of Jordan or the report. Ironically, the first item was a declaration of an international day of peace! The crowd roared, chanting No justice! No Peace! The J4AB supporters
were determined not to allow the Council to conduct business as usual. Reid hastily adjourned the meeting, declaring the next meeting to be in two weeks! Blueford supporters respond to OPD article On Sept. 22, an article appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, in an attempt to slander Alan Blueford. The OPD and the Council had received significant negative press after the Sept. 18 Council meeting. They used Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, Chronicle columnists often used for this type of political volleying, to present a leaked story from the OPD, that they supposedly now had Alans fingerprints on a gun, claimed to have been found 20 feet from his body. A Sept. 23 press release issued by the J4AB campaign reads in part: Suddenly this allegation is released, with no way of substantiating it, seemingly as revenge against the Bluefords for demanding justice for their son. If this evidence were so clearly damning, they likely would have released it months earlier. First we want to know if its actually true, said Dan Siegel, former legal advisor to Mayor Jean Quan. The police have
already lied to the press, claiming that Alan shot at Masso, which we now know is not true. Now they leak this item to the press because they think it will help their case, but we still cant see the police report. This latest action by the Oakland Police Department is yet another maneuver to avoid any accountability for the actions of Officer Miguel Masso, who should have never been hired in the first place. Masso faced brutality allegations during his previous tenure at the New York Police De-
well attended, with much debate and discussion on the evolution of various forms and epochs of class rule and oppression. Sara Flounders led a class on Why Wall Street Is War Street. Bill Dores joined with Gary Lapao, a representative of the International League for Peoples Struggles, to hold a class entitled What Is Imperialism? Workers World New York bureau
Protesters disrupted Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbetts Town Hall meeting on Sept. 19. Ten minutes into the event at the Philadelphia Art Museum, three banners criticizing cuts in school funding and general assistance, plus the building of new prisons, were unfurled as a third of the audience chanted slogans for seven minutes while police escorted those holding the banners out of the building one banner at a time. Then, as Corbetts interview started again, protesters stood up and disrupted his talk every few minutes, raising the pending execution of Terry Williams, the cuts in general assistance, fracking and the other issues, including education cuts. A groundswell of boos erupted whenever Corbett made a particularly unpopular statement. Meeting organizers ended the event a half-hour earlier than its planned 90 minutes when it became clear that Corbett could not answer questions
without being shouted down. The quickly organized coalition behind the disruption included anti-fracking activists, ACT-UP, Decarcerate PA, Fight for Philly, and others organizing against the elimination of state sponsored programs for the poor, including general assistance and adult basic health care, and the reactionary, racist Voter ID law. A number of Occupy Philly activists were also on hand. Afterwards, around 50 people were able to temporarily hold Corbett hostage in the indoor parking garage of the museum by blocking the exit ramp for 30 minutes. See how prison feels! was yelled towards where Corbett was trapped, before police finally cleared the entrance and escorted the governors convoy of two large black SUVs past the demonstrators, who chanted: Jail Corbett! and Who do you protect?! Who do you serve?! a rhetorical question aimed at the police. Report & photo by Joe Piette
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HAITI:
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Colombia Peace Talks: Interviews With The Insurgency FARC-EP Comandante Timochenko
Excerpts from an exclusive interview with the top comandante of the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Peoples Army), Timoleon Jimenez (Timochenko), by Carlos Lozano, editor of the Colombian weekly newspaper VOZ. VOZ: A new process of dialogue is beginning with a government that is somehow or other the heir to the democratic security regime of [President Alvaro] Uribe. How will the FARC deal with this? Timoleon Jimenez: We have always been willing to look for solutions other than war. With Uribe this was not possible, because of his open disregard of our policy. [President Juan Manuel] Santos is not only heir to the democratic security regime, but was also one of its star players. In fact, with some cosmetic changes, he has continued it. But as he himself says, he decided to take the risks of talking and took positive steps in this direction. Any Colombian would say that the real risk is the war and not dialogue, and thats why we dont hesitate to accept talks to seek peace. Regarding how to deal with the new process, we do it with high expectations of reaching the end of the conflict. The President repeated that he is not thinking of making the mistakes of the past, and we hope this is so. You know that the biggest mistake of all the above processes has been to come to the table to demand our surrender, without a real will to work at resolving the causes that gave rise to and continue to fuel the confrontation. VOZ: The agenda includes the issue of laying down arms, which would be the culmination of an agreement or covenant of peace. What are the FARCs expectations? TJ: There is no sense starting a process to get the final termination of the conflict, without contemplating laying down weapons as a target. Laying down arms consists of the abolition of the use of force or of appealing to any kind of violence to achieve political or economic purposes. Its a real farewell to arms. If we could succeed in making that a reality in Colombia, our country would take a huge leap forward. We hope that the Santos administration and all sectors that use violence for economic and political ends agree with this view. VOZ: What are the insurgencys conditions for the process to end successfully? TJ: The ruling oligarchy in Colombia, solidly supported by the governments of the United States, has spent almost 50 years betting on exterminating the guerrillas. Twelve presidents, one with repeated mandates, invariably promised our end and gave the military apparatus a free hand to carry this out. When Santos orders a step up in operations he is not doing it to give satisfaction to the sectors of the extreme right, he does it because he believes, as all previous governments did, that these steps really can force us to surrender. VOZ: What do you think about the six to eight months that President Santos has budgeted? TJ: This involves an expectation that he is generating on his own, contrary to what was agreed in the letter and spirit of the Exploratory Meeting. There was no final date discussed there, even the word months wasnt used, so the presidents statement lets us know how difficult this road we are starting on will be. By the way, they gave clear evidence of their strategy: when they dont achieve something at the negotiation table, they intend to impose it in the media. VOZ: What policy proposal will the FARC-EP make to Colombians at the start of the dialogue? TJ: To mobilize around the definitive ending of the conflict. War or peace are issues that concern all us Colombians and we are obliged to speak out. The government aims to have the dialogues conducted exclusively among their representatives and ours, very discreetly, with no noise, as it repeats incessantly. That means once again that what is agreed to in the talks is being done behind the backs of the Colombian population, which truthfully is only in the interest of the transnational corporations, bankers, business people and landowners. That cannot happen again in this country. The large majorities of the people should be heard and listened to. Our proposal addresses that. VOZ: Why have the FARC decided to take on this new attempt at peace? Weakness? Strategy? Realism? TJ: Those who claim that military pressure was what definitely moved us to political negotiations are forgetting that this past decade of war erupted when [President Andres] Pastrana unilaterally ended the peace process taking place in Caguan [in 2002]. It is the Colombian state that is returning to the table for talks with the FARC, after they made their internal evaluations. One of them, which has not been made public, has to be the recognition that the enormous effort to defeat us has been futile. The FARC is still here, fighting, resisting, advancing. Now we return to the natural setting of politics civilized dialogue. It is absurd to say that we have been forced to sit at the table, when it was the state that rose angrily from the table. We negotiate because a political solution has always been our banner and that of the popular movement. VOZ: But then hasnt the FARC taken severe blows during the last ten years? TJ: We cannot deny that we have received serious blows. And extremely painful ones. The deaths of four members of the National Secretariat cannot be minimized. What was also very hard were the deaths of our combatants under fire from bombardments. However, we have absorbed with courage all these experienc-
es. No current member of the Secretariat has less than 35 years of guerrilla experience, and also most of the Central Chiefs of Staff. The replacements were not improvised. Forty-eight years of continuous struggle have produced a formidable apparatus. We went ahead, with pain in the soul, but more experienced and confident in our rationale. In every war there are casualties. The media campaign insists in presenting us as a defeated organization with no future. They have always done so. If they were facing a defeated force, they would not be working on further increasing their troop strength and their already huge arsenal. These are truths that the state and the media deliberately concealed. Either way, the continuation of the conflict will involve more death and destruction, more grief and tears, more poverty and misery for some and greater wealth for others. Imagine the lives that could have been saved these last ten years. So we seek dialogues, a solution without shedding blood, through political understanding. With that we propose to go to Havana. We trust that the national government also understands the need to end violence practiced so long against the Colombian people. Read the entire interview at workers. org. Translation by John Catalinotto.
To be stable and enduring, a peace process under the conditions in Colombia requires the participation not only of the insurgency and the government, but also of different popular sectors, who are the ones bearing the brunt of the war. It is understood that peace requires a long and complex process, which confronts powerful enemies who pocket enormous dividends from the war. Marcha: How does the insurgency see its future in Colombia in the years to come? Does it consider the possibility of withdrawing from the armed struggle and putting all its strength into the political struggle? Gabino: We took up arms for almost 50 years because the legal and wider popu-
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editorials
Arab summer?
This column was transcribed from a Sept. 12 audio column from prisonradio.org. everal years ago, a new American president charmed the crowds in Cairo with his eloquence, his seeming earnestness, and most importantly, his person. This president was the first such U.S. chief executive with caramel brown skin, and his name, Barack Hussein Obama, reflected, at least in part, an Islamic and African ancestry that sent ripples of delight throughout the North African audience. Several years later, American embassies in several Arab countries are attacked, and most potently, a consular office in Benghazi, Libya where a young U.S. ambassador is credentialed to the new, post-Gadhafi government is struck by RPG fire and burned to the ground, killing at least 4 Americans, including the countrys U.S. ambassador. Reporters assign blame to an insulting and inflammatory anti-Islamic film that maligned the Prophet Muhammad. But, that said, friends dont burn or bomb friends. Despite all the promise of Obamas Cairo speech, his drone wars against alleged Islamic extremists, not to mention his continuing acquiescence to Israeli extremism and anti-Palestinian attacks, have burned bridges in the Arab and Muslim consciousness that finally explodes in real burning and real bombs. Nor should it be overlooked that these attacks occurred on 9/11. In Cairo, that vast, cosmopolitan and ancient city, where once the Obama name stirred hums of hope, now the embassy is raided and the U.S. flag shredded. And, as ever in life, there is irony, for the American Embassy in Libya was undoubtedly the source of the arming of the anti-Gadhafi resistance and perhaps the source of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, burning it to the ground. In other words, the chickens have come home to roost. It seems the Arab Spring is over.
n Sept. 21, 2011, shortly before the state of Georgia executed him, Troy Davis urged his supporters to dismantle this unjust system! That call rings as true now as it did in 2011. Davis had been convicted of the murder of a police officer and sentenced to death in a trial in which no physical evidence had been brought against him. Seven of the prosecutors nine witnesses later recanted their testimony and said they had been coerced by police. The state of Georgia spit in the faces of Davis, his family and friends, and an international movement when it legally lynched him a year ago. A year later, a case reminiscent of Davis requires the attention and support of those against the U.S. death penalty. Reggie Clemons, an African-American man, was in court in St. Louis this week to challenge his conviction for the 1991 murder of two white women. Like Davis, not a shred of physical evidence was presented in Clemons trial. Clemons was convicted under the testimony of two witnesses, both white. One, a cousin of the two women, originally confessed to the murder, but then changed his story to implicate Clemons. The other, Daniel Winfrey, was a co-defendant in the case and framed Clemons as part of
a plea bargain. According to the Associated Press, Winfrey later told a fellow inmate that no one would believe a bunch of black men. (Oct. 25, 2005) Clemons had been severely beaten by police and coerced into making a confession of rape, which he later retracted. Clemons mother recently testified that when the police arrived at her home in 1991, they told her that her son did not need a lawyer, although he was facing a double murder charge. The chief prosecutor in the case attempted to revise important police records of the case. (guardiannews.com, Sept. 22) The Innocence Project estimates that between 2.3 percent and 5 percent of all prisoners in the U.S. are innocent. Thats between 36,800 and 80,000 of the U.S.s 1.6 million prisoners, who are overwhelmingly poor and overwhelmingly people of color. People belonging to the wealthy ruling class some of whom commit genocidal crimes against working people every day are rarely convicted in the U.S., and almost never executed. In Troy Davis honor, and that of so many others, the movement to end the racist death penalty and the entire prison-industrial complex, including mass incarceration, grows stronger.
ichael Jackson was right, singing, They dont really care about us. The superrich not only dont care about us, they hate us. Mitt Romney confirmed it with notorious remarks to his fellow multimillionaires about the 47 percent. According to Romney, nearly half the people in the United States are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. In the wealthiest country on earth, 147 million people actually think they shouldnt go hungry. Thats how many people belong to Romneys 47 percent. The Department of Agriculture hands out billions to agribusiness not to grow crops and stockpiles millions of tons of food to keep prices high. None of this keeps small farmers from losing their land. Massive unemployment isnt the only reason more people and their families need food stamps. Millions of workers qualify for food assistance because their wages are so low. Shouldnt every child be entitled to the very best health care? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared, Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. Deamonte Driver didnt have the right to health care. This African-American, 12-year-old boy died of a toothache on Feb. 25, 2007. Deamontes family had lost their health insurance and couldnt afford a dentist. By the time he was admitted to a hospital, bacteria from a tooth abscess had spread to his brain. Wasnt Deamonte Driver entitled to live? Yet Romney said his job is not to worry about those people. Ill never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. This revolting hypocrisy is typical of the capitalist class. When have Wall Street bankers and wealthy speculators ever taken personal responsibility for themselves? During the latest economic crisis they were bailed out with trillions of dollars stolen from people all over the world. Armies of servants overwhelmingly Black, Latina and Asian women raise the children of the rich, cook their food, wash their clothes, clean their toilets and do the myriad of tasks that millionaires and billionaires disdain, but that workers and poor people must do for themselves and their own families every day. Sneering at poor and working people is nothing new for wealthy parasites. The difference is that Romneys attack on the 47 percent includes tens of millions of white workers. Slavery, racism and something new Compared to workers in Canada, Japan or Western Europe, U.S. workers work the longest hours, have shorter vacations and fewer benefits. The capitalist class gets away with this increased exploitation because they keep the U.S. multinational working class divided. So much of political culture in the U.S. is derived
from slavery. The U.S. Constitution, in Article 1, Section 9, prohibited Congress for 20 years from banning the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The African holocaust was constitutional. Since 1977, 3 out of 4 executions have been carried out in states that joined the Confederacy. Two-and-a-half million people are locked up in prisons, most of which are run by state correction departments. Whipping enslaved people was also called correction. Wall Street became the financial center of the country because it was the banking house for the slave masters. One of the worst results of racism in the U.S. is the difference in life expectancy between African Americans and whites. In 2007, Black men lived six years less than white men, while white women lived four years longer than Black women. (2011 Statistical Abstract of the United States) However, a new study has revealed that from 1990 to 2008, life expectancy for the poorest whites dropped by four years. (See page 1 article.) And capitalists despise white workers, too. Just before the Civil War, South Carolina Sen. James Hammond defended slavery. Hammond claimed Hammond claimed that slaves in the South and poor workers in the North need to be exploited so that civilization can flourish. Hammonds defense of slavery and his linking it to the necessity of keeping white workers poor in the North inflamed the Northern working class. Romneys words should inflame everybody. Frontal assault needs mass response Romney attacked immigrant workers in his 47 percent speech. He claimed they have no skill or experience and are told youre welcome to cross the border and stay here for the rest of your life. Romneys audience laughed at this big lie. Yet they would be hard pressed if immigrants, many of whom are undocumented, didnt pick the crops and feed them. The wealthy and powerful have stayed on top by concentrating so much misery in the Black, Latino/a and other oppressed communities. Wounded Knee was just one of countless massacres committed against Native peoples. China bashing will lead to new attacks against Asian workers, like Vincent Chin, who was beaten to death by a racist Chrysler foreman in 1982. Arabs, South Asians and all Muslims are targeted for attack. Racism, sexism, bigotry and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and immigrant bashing arent odious enough for the 1% during this period of accelerated decay of the capitalist system. Theyre launching a frontal assault on all workers. Everything the working class has won in the last 80 years is under attack. What is needed is for people to act on a massive scale and do what the Chicago teachers did fight back and struggle. It is the only way to stop the attacks on the 47 percent and the entire working class. Its the only answer that the 1% will understand.
HAITI:
workers.org
Oct. 4, 2012
Page 11
LIBYA, phase 2
SOUTH AFRICA
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Qu propuesta poltica le hacen las FARC EP a los colombianos al comenzar el dilogo? Movilizarse en torno a la terminacin definitiva del conflicto. La guerra o la paz son asuntos que nos conciernen a todos los colombianos y estamos obligados a pronunciarnos. El Gobierno pretende que los dilogos se realicen exclusivamente entre sus voceros y los nuestros, de modo discretsimo, sin bochinches, como repite insistentemente.
Qu opina de los 6 a 8 meses que presupuesta el Presidente Santos? Se trata de una expectativa que l est generando por su cuenta, en contrava de lo pactado en la letra y el espritu del Encuentro Exploratorio. All se concert no poner fechas fatales, ni siquiera la palabra meses, as que lo expresado por el Presidente nos indica lo difcil que va a ser este camino que emprendemos. De paso, evidencia de manera clara la estrategia que van a implementar: cuando no logren algo en la mesa intentarn imponerlo en los medios.
Es decir, que se desconozca otra vez a la poblacin colombiana, que se pacte a sus espaldas lo que en verdad solo interesa y conviene a las transnacionales, banqueros, empresarios y terratenientes. Eso no puede suceder ms en este pas. Las grandes mayoras deben ser escuchadas y atendidas. Nuestra propuesta apunta a eso. Por qu se decidieron las FARC a asumir este nuevo intento de paz? Debilidad? Estrategia? Realismo? Quienes afirman que la presin militar ha sido definitiva para movernos a una negociacin poltica, olvidan que esta dcada de guerra se desat cuando Pastrana puso fin de manera unilateral al proceso de paz que se celebraba en el Cagun. Es el Estado quien regresa a la Mesa de Dilogos con las FARC, para lo cual habr hecho sus valoraciones internas. Una de ellas, as no la haga pblica, tiene que ser el reconocimiento de que el enorme esfuerzo realizado para vencernos ha resultado intil. Las FARC seguimos ah, combatiendo, resistiendo, avanzando. Ahora volvemos al escenario natural de la poltica, los dilogos civilizados. Es absurdo afirmar que nos han obligado a sentarnos a la Mesa, cuando fue el Estado quien se levant furioso de ella. Dialogamos, porque la solucin poltica ha sido siempre una bandera nuestra y del movimiento popular.
Pero entonces no han recibido las FARC golpes severos durante estos diez ltimos aos? No puede negarse que hemos recibido serios golpes. Y sumamente dolorosos. Las muertes de cuatro miembros del Secretariado Nacional no pueden ser minimizadas. Son muy duras tambin las muertes de combatientes bajo el fuego de los bombardeos. Sin embargo, hemos asimilado con coraje todos esos casos. Ninguno de los actuales miembros del Secretariado cuenta con menos de treinta y cinco aos de experiencia guerrillera, lo cual puede aplicarse tambin a casi todo el Estado Mayor Central. Los relevos no se improvisan. 48 aos de lucha continua han producido un formidable engranaje. Seguimos adelante, con dolor en el alma, pero ms avezados y convencidos de nuestras razones. En toda guerra hay muertos. La campaa meditica insiste en presentarnos como una organizacin derrotada y sin futuro. Igual ha sido siempre. Si se tratara de hacer frente a una fuerza vencida, no estaran trabajando en incrementar an ms el pie de fuerza y el ya de por s enorme arsenal adquirido. Son verdades que el Estado y los medios ocultan deliberadamente.
Sea como sea, la perduracin del conflicto implicar mayor muerte y destruccin, ms luto y lgrimas, ms pobreza y miseria para unos y mayor riqueza para los otros. Imagnese las vidas que se hubieran ahorrado estos diez aos. Por eso buscamos los dilogos, la solucin incruenta, el entendimiento por vas polticas. Con ese propsito vamos a La Habana. Confiamos en que el Gobierno Nacional tambin entiende la necesidad de poner fin a tan larga violencia practicada contra el pueblo colombiano.
diferencias, somos fuerzas con objetivos similares, que es lo ms importante. Marcha: Cules son hoy, en Colombia, los requisitos para esa paz que vuelve a estar en boca de todos, incluso del presidente Santos? C.G.: La mayora de colombianos est cansados de una guerra interna de ms de 50 aos; los distintos sectores sociales se han venido organizando y pronunciando sobre la salida poltica que concluya en la terminacin del conflicto, como es el caso del Congreso de los Pueblos que viene promoviendo un Congreso de Paz para el ao entrante. De igual manera han expresado la urgencia de la paz un alto nmero de organizaciones populares y sociales. Cuando se habla de lograr la paz, todos los colombianos y colombianas queremos que ese momento llegue; el problema est en que la entendemos y queremos de diferente manera, de acuerdo a intereses en juego. Las grandes mayoras de Colombia, incluida la insurgencia, consideramos que paz es justicia y equidad social,
Marcha: Por qu estn las FARC y no el ELN en las negociaciones de Paz recientemente anunciadas? C.G.: Slo en los dilogos con el presidente Gaviria en la dcada de 1990 del siglo pasado, la insurgencia estuvo en la misma mesa. Las dems experiencias han sido dialogando por separado cada fuerza guerrillera. El ELN considera como lo ms acertado para el proceso de paz, la mesa nica de la insurgencia. Y debemos esforzarnos para que as sea. Esto requiere niveles de unidad y estamos caminando para lograrlo. Somos respetuosos del proceso que ha iniciado el gobierno con los compaeros de las FARC y les deseamos muchos xitos. Confiamos que ms adelante, el proceso que ahora se inicia por separado, pueda confluir en una misma mesa ya que, salvo algunas
democracia y soberana. En cambio para la clase dominante la paz se logra cuando se haya vencido al enemigo interno en el campo de batalla, reafirmacin hecha por el presidente Santos das antes al anuncio del inicio de los dilogos con las FARC. Un proceso de paz en las condiciones colombianas, para que sea estable y duradero, requiere de la participacin no solo de la insurgencia y el gobierno, sino tambin de los diversos sectores populares que son los que estn llevando el peso de la guerra. Se sobreentiende que lograr la paz es un proceso largo y dispendioso, donde se atraviesan poderosos enemigos que le sacan inmensos dividendos a la guerra.
Marcha: Cmo ven el futuro de la insurgencia en Colombia para los prximos aos? Evalan la posibilidad de replegar la lucha armada y volcar toda su fuerza a la lucha poltica? C.G.: Nos levantamos en armas hace casi 50 aos porque la lucha popular amplia y legal no ha tenido las garantas polticas
y jurdicas. Cuando esa lgica perversa se modifique y haya garantas y respeto para la lucha popular, el pueblo no se ver obligado a empuar las armas para alcanzar sus derechos; pero esa decisin est en manos de la clase dominante colombiana, como quien dice, son ellos los que tienen la palabra. Y si luego de 50 aos de guerra fratricida, se disponen a reconocerle a las mayoras el derecho a la justicia y equidad social, la democracia y la soberana, se marchar hacia la paz. Claro que esta no se alcanza con un decreto, pero es urgente que se abran los causes en esa direccin. Por eso no concebimos que la solucin sea la desmovilizacin y el desarme de la insurgencia, esa frmula ha sido ensayada y fracasada porque la esencia del conflicto es social y ello dio origen al levantamiento en armas, entonces hay que ir a las causas que lo originaron para buscar soluciones, solo as se ir a la esencia del asunto para cambiarlo y superarlo.
Fuente: https://eln-voces.com/. Vea workers.org/mundo-obrero/ para leer toda la entrevista.