>
>that a recent poll registered a drop in his approval rating
>to 45 percent. It was 54 percent only last September.
>
>Moreover, a stunning 72 percent of New Yorkers now believe
>that the Police Department is out of control and should be
>supervised by the federal government.
>
>Even the right-wing New York Post and Republican officials
>have distanced themselves from the mayor and openly
>criticized him. It's not that they disagree with his
>policies aimed at protecting the interests of big business.
>Instead, these forces, along with Democratic Party
>officials, fear that Giuliani's crass behavior could
>trigger a social explosion too hot to quell that would
>threaten the capitalist class.
>
>At the funeral, the police got a small yet forceful taste
>of this when they tried to herd an already enraged
>community behind steel barricades like animals, on a narrow
>sidewalk across the street from the church where services
>were held for Dorismond.
>
>The defiant crowd swept the barricades aside and flooded
>into the streets, cheering when police were forced to
>retreat. Then they ripped the United States flag from
>Dorismond's coffin and torched it, singing and chanting as
>it burned.
>
>The arrest of a woman with a bullhorn added to the
>tension, as did the arrival of police in riot gear. No
>public-address system was at the site. This further
>isolated the people from Dorismond's funeral service inside
>the church, which was attended by family members, Amadou
>Diallo's parents, city officials and others.
>
>When the crowd learned that the coffin had been whisked
>out the back entrance after the service, they became even
>angrier. They recognized the attempt by the Haitian elite,
>working hand in hand with the police, to separate them from
>this new martyr and symbol of resistance.
>
>Tempers flew as the cops tried to push the crowd back. So
>did fists, bottles and bricks. The Haitian people were
>clearly in no mood to be disrespected and messed with. Even
>after arrests were made some people stayed in the streets
>in defiance of the police.
>
>The next day, at the Bethany Baptist Church here in the
>oppressed community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, some 300
>activists showed up to plan the next stage in the fight
>against racism and police brutality, including the ouster
>of Giuliani and Safir.
>
>The Haitian Coalition for Justice organized the
>multinational activity. Speaker after speaker called for
>unity in the face of the city's attempt to divide the
>community using the heated events of the past day.
>
>A meeting is planned for March 30, and a march across the
>Brooklyn Bridge for April. A people's tribunal that will
>put Giuliani and Safir on trial is also in the works.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 23:06:39 -0500
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable
>Subject: [WW] Struggle over Elian in Critical Phase
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 6, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>STRUGGLE OVER ELIAN REACHES CRITICAL PHASE
>
>By Gloria La Riva
>
>Having lost their case in court, the Cuban right-wing in
>Miami are making desperate attempts to keep Elian Gonzalez
>captive, while the U.S. government indicates it may move to
>hasten the process of returning Elian home to his father in
>Cuba.
>
>Critical to the struggle has been the mobilization of the
>people--from Cuba to the U.S.--to demand his immediate
>return home. Overwhelming support for Elian`s return is
>evident in poll after poll.
>
>On Monday, the Justice Department announced it would
>revoke Elian`s immigration parole on March 30 and begin the
>process to return him to Cuba. This followed Lazaro
>Gonzalez's refusal to sign a promise to release the child
>if he loses a court appeal to keep Elian.
>
>Lazaro Gonzalez is the great-uncle in Miami who has held
>the child against the wishes of the father, Juan Miguel
>Gonzalez. Lazaro Gonzalez is acting in conjunction with the
>Cuban American National Foundation and other right-wing
>forces in the U.S., who are using the child as a pawn in
>their war against Cuba.
>
>This has only been possible because U.S. officials have
>given extraordinary leeway to Elian's distant relatives,
>despite the government's own ruling that the boy belongs
>with his father.
>
>On March 24, after having lost a federal court motion for
>"asylum" for Elian, Miami lawyers defied a noon deadline
>set by the government for a speedy appeals process that
>would end in early April. Instead, one hour after the
>deadline, the lawyers proposed an "independent arbitrator."
>
>Then the government set a new deadline, noon on March 27.
>Although the lawyers complied with this deadline and filed
>in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, they also sought and
>won a more extended court schedule that allowed for
>arguments in May, further dragging out the case.
>
>In response, the Immigration and Naturalization Service
>delivered a letter to the Miami lawyers late at night,
>informing them that Elian's "parole" would be revoked on
>March 30.
>
>Parole in immigration terms means that a person has the
>right to remain in the country, pending final resolution of
>that person's immigration status. Upon revocation of
>parole, the Immigration and Naturalization Service would
>take custody of Elian.
>
>To date, however, the government has still not indicated
>it will take decisive action to remove him from the house.
>Instead it has given Lazaro Gonzalez an extension to March
>29 to meet with government officials.
>
>As a sign they may refuse to give up the boy, his distant
>relatives removed Elian from his school in Miami. He is
>increasingly becoming a caged child, unable to live freely
>as he did at home with his family, schoolmates and friends
>in Cuba.
>
>Throughout the whole ordeal, Elian has been surrounded by
>right-wing thugs Ram=A2n Saul Sanchez, Jorge Mas Santos and
>others who are shamelessly abusing him to further their
>anti-Cuba agenda. Every kind of maneuver is being used to
>keep him hostage, including a suddenly announced ABC
>interview with Elian.
>
>Weighing in for Elian's captors, ABC's "Good Morning
>America" aired an interview with the boy this week,
>violating all standards of decency or his father's wishes
>to keep him out of the media. With no respect for the
>child's emotional wellbeing, the show's host, Diane Sawyer,
>asked about his mother and the circumstances of his ordeal
>at sea. She then asked him where he wants to live.
>
>Sawyer said she decided to interview Elian in response to
>the "increasing drumbeat" of the U.S. government calling
>for his return. ABC's ruthless exploitation of Elian has
>prompted condemnation by child psychologists for dragging
>him into the media spotlight and abusing his privacy.
>
>Alan Delamater, professor of pediatrics and psychology at
>the University of Miami's School of Medicine, told this
>reporter, "I think the interview was a very calculated move
>on the part of the Miami family and ABC to further their
>agenda. It should never have happened. It's exploitative,
>using the child for the family's objectives and to increase
>ABC's market share.
>
>"I don't believe that whatever this child says should have
>any bearing on what happens in his case. After all, he is a
>six-year-old. A six-year-old doesn't have the ability to
>completely consider all the implications of what he is
>saying. He is responding to the stress that is imposed on
>him by the situation, and is likely to say whatever he
>thinks others want to hear.
>
>"He has a lot of material privilege, lots of toys and
>designer clothes. His way out of it is to say, `Let my dad
>stay here with me.'"
>
>Delamater added, "The way he responded to questions about
>his mother, saying she is just lost and looking for him,
>shows that he is in the process of bereavement, he has not
>resolved the loss of his mother."
>
>Protests are taking place around the country against ABC
>and to continue to call for Elian's immediate return. For
>information, call the National Committee to Return Elian
>Home to his Father in Cuba at 212-926-5757 or 212-633-6646
>in New York, or 415-821-6545 in San Francisco.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 23:08:58 -0500
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] Police Try to Censor Mumia at Antioch
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 6, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>ALERT: POLICE TRY TO CENSOR MUMIA AT ANTIOCH
>
>By Greg Butterfield
>
>The graduating class at Antioch College in Yellow Springs,
>Ohio, is coming under heavy pressure from police groups and
>other right-wingers since these racist forces learned Mumia
>Abu-Jamal was invited to speak at the school's April 29
>commencement ceremony.
>
>An Associated Press article about the students' choice
>appeared in newspapers around the country in late March,
>prompting the Fraternal Order of Police--which openly
>campaigns for Abu-Jamal's execution--to launch a harassment
>campaign.
>
>Teishan Latner, a member of the Antioch Commencement
>Committee, said, "We've been getting hit with hundreds of
>hate-type calls and e-mails from cops and conservatives all
>over the country."
>
>The students are asking for solidarity messages to show
>they have support around the United States and the world.
>
>The students chose Abu-Jamal to give a taped speech at the
>graduation ceremony because they want to publicize his
>fight for a new trial. Also invited to speak is Leslie
>Feinberg, a lesbian transgender activist and co-founder of
>Rainbow Flags for Mumia, who will appear in person.
>
>Feinberg said: "The struggle at Antioch is a critical one
>for the Free Mumia movement, just like Evergreen College
>was last year." The Fraternal Order of Police waged a
>reactionary campaign after Evergreen graduating students
>invited Abu-Jamal to be their commencement speaker.
>
>Feinberg concluded, "We can't let the FOP terrorize and
>silence supporters of Mumia. We must rally to defend the
>right of political prisoners like Mumia to speak to the
>youth, and of youth and students to organize for justice.
>
>"And we will make that support for the Antioch students be
>part of building the national May 7 action for Mumia at
>Madison Square Garden."
>
>A statement from the Texas Death Penalty Abolition
>Movement read: "We join with you in demanding a new trial
>for brother Mumia. By adding your voice to his, the
>graduating class at Antioch is standing tall in the fight
>for social justice.
>
>"Your actions today are in the spirit of the Illinois
>students who investigated those cases that led to the
>freeing of 13 innocent death-row prisoners in that state,
>and ultimately to a moratorium on executions there."
>
>Messages of support can be emailed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 23:13:47 -0500
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable
>Subject: [WW] Cuban Americans Hit U.S. for Dividing Familes
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 6, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>AT ELIAN SYMPOSIUM: CUBAN AMERICANS HIT U.S. FOR
>DIVIDING FAMILIES
>
>By Deirdre Griswold
>New York
>
>The cynical political game being pursued by the U.S.
>government at the expense of a small Cuban child has
>awakened deep passions among Cubans in this country.
>
>The division of Cuban families after the 1959 revolution
>that overthrew the Batista dictatorship caused a pain that
>surfaced again and again March 25 at a symposium here at
>Hunter College on the case of Eli=A0n Gonz=A0lez. Calling for
>the immediate return of the six-year-old boy to his father
>in Cuba, speaker after speaker told of their own suffering
>or that of their community. They condemned the climate of
>fear and intimidation created by the Cuban American right
>wing and the U.S. government.
>
>Even as they were speaking, a group of about 15 Cuban
>right-wingers chanted in the lobby, while a few others
>picketed on a street corner. The meeting proceeded and
>eventually the disrupters were ejected by security.
>
>The lineup of speakers who ignored threats in order to
>participate in the meeting was impressive. Besides Cuban
>Americans speaking out for the first time, two Latino
>elected officials--Congress member Jos=82 Serrano and City
>Council member Jos=82 Rivera--demanded Eli=A0n's return.
>
>Prominent figures speak out
>
>Serrano, a Democrat who represents the South Bronx and is
>the main sponsor of a bill before Congress to end the
>blockade of food and medicine to Cuba, told the meeting
>that "Eli=A0n became the poster child for an election year. I
>can't say my party acted better than the other on this
>issue. Both are saying, let the courts speak. But the
>courts have no part in this case. Eli=A0n Gonz=A0lez became a
>symbol for an issue that has nothing at all to do with his
>safety and welfare. It frustrates me as a father and
>grandfather. If he had been Haitian or Mexican or
>Dominican, he would have been sent home a week later."
>
>New York City Council member Jos=82 Rivera said the Black
>and Latin Caucus is introducing a resolution in the council
>to send Eli=A0n home. He also raised the issue of Vieques,
>demanding that Vice President Al Gore take a position
>against the U.S. Navy's return to this small Puerto Rican
>island.
>
>The meeting gave a warm welcome to Cuba's Deputy Permanent
>Representative to the United Nations, Rafael Dausa
>Cespedes. He reviewed Washington's double standard on
>immigration, which encourages people to risk their lives at
>sea, as in Eli=A0n's case.
>
>Referring to Judge Michael Moore's recent decision on
>Eli=A0n, Dausa called it "encouraging, but we have to be very
>cautious. We need to increase our pressures. Eli=A0n is only
>the latest in a chain of aggressions and attacks against
>Cuba since the revolution.
>
>Dausa recalled that nine U.S. administrations have "not
>forgiven the Cuban Revolution for putting an end to U.S.
>hegemony. They have carried out blockade, political
>isolation, military, economic and terrorist aggression, all
>to destroy the Cuban Revolution. But 40 years later we are
>
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