>
> WW News Service Digest #70
>
> 1) Elian: Miami Mayors' Revolt
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 2) Gore Reveals his True Colors
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 3) Bill Hackwell Exhibit Opens
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 4) Anti-China Campaign Diverts Labor Unions
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 5) Will the Stock Market Crash?
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 6) New Jersey Anti-IMF Rally
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>ELIAN: MIAMI MAYORS' REVOLT RAISES NEW QUESTIONS
>
>By Gloria La Riva
>
>People across the U.S. are asking serious questions about
>the Elian Gonzalez case: Why is the U.S. government
>dragging its feet on returning the six-year-old to his
>father in Cuba? How can 22 Miami-area mayors get away with
>encouraging riots by those holding the boy hostage?
>
>This in-your-face revolt invokes the days of Jim Crow
>segregation in the 1950s and 1960s, when Southern racist
>rulers openly challenged the federal government's orders to
>desegregate. Racist governors like Arkansas' Orval Faubus
>and Alabama's George Wallace gave encouragement to the Ku
>Klux Klan with declarations like "Segregation yesterday,
>today and forever."
>
>Although federal troops made a dramatic intervention in
>Little Rock, Ark., in 1957 to counter Faubus' resistance to
>desegregation, the federal government was more a passive
>observer than a serious protagonist for Black people's
>rights.
>
>It was only the heroic struggles of African Americans--
>from Montgomery to Selma--and a series of massive
>rebellions in cities throughout the country in the mid-
>1960s that finally forced the government in Washington to
>sign civil rights legislation and implement it.
>
>Today, in a similar way, the Justice Department is
>treating the Miami right wing with kid gloves while
>speaking in favor of Elian's father. This soft approach has
>encouraged the right wing's defiance around the Elian case.
>
>Attorney General Janet Reno says repeatedly that Juan
>Miguel Gonzalez is the sole representative to speak for his
>son. However, she has balked at virtually every meaningful
>request by the father, who resides in Cuba, to help in the
>process of Elian's return.
>
>The government permits the Cuban counter-revolutionaries
>and their lawyers to state publicly, day after day, that
>the boy will not be released. The government's answer?
>Extend their deadline. It's an open invitation to refuse
>compliance.
>
>Convicted terrorists like Ram=A2n Saul Sanchez of the so-
>called "Democracy Movement" organize fascist mobs to keep
>Elian from being rescued and returned to his father. How is
>Saul treated? He is portrayed on national television as a
>"community activist" and given legitimacy to hide his real
>history. Yet the most basic requests by Juan Miguel
>Gonzalez to Attorney General Reno for help in getting his
>son are ignored or delayed.
>
>The State Department has delayed granting visas to 12 of
>Elian's six- and seven-year-old schoolmates. His father
>wants to bring them here to help the boy adjust from his
>Miami experience. So far only six of an original 31 visa
>applications by the Cuban delegation have been accepted.
>
>Is Washington afraid of 12 first-graders? Or is it
>displaying just plain hostility to Cuba for being socialist
>and independent of the U.S.? The father's imminent arrival
>may now be delayed by the U.S. government's reluctance to
>cooperate fully with Cuba. The Justice Department is
>unwilling yet to give a definite date when he will be
>granted actual physical custody of his son.
>
>Of great concern is that Elian's distant relatives in
>Miami may continue with temporary custody, giving the right
>wing more time to mobilize against the child's return.
>
>Washington's special treatment of the Cuban right wing has
>not been lost on the African American community in Miami.
>Since early January, over 70 percent of Black people polled
>in Miami have responded that Elian should be sent home.
>
>On April 1 Black community activists held a press
>conference to demand the boy's immediate return. They
>blasted the federal government's lukewarm response to Miami
>Mayor Alex Penelas' instructions to local police not to
>assist in Elian's rescue from the house.
>
>Nathaniel Wilcox of PULSE, the People United to Lead the
>Struggle for Equality, said, "When there is the slightest
>hint of civil unrest in the Black community, they have the
>National Guard out there arresting people. Yet [Penelas]
>almost encouraged an insurrection."
>
>Wilcox told Workers World, "Part of the problem is that
>Cubans are given special treatment when it comes to
>immigration policy. They are allowed to come in, to get
>almost instant citizenship and benefits. But for other
>immigrants it's a two-tier system of justice. It's not
>necessarily the Cuban people's fault who come here, it's
>the federal government that's allowed this to happen.
>
>"That's why there's a source of tension and racism towards
>the Black community. Some of those Cubans who get jobs by
>their privilege feel they're better than us. It's a way of
>discriminating against Black people, like the Jim Crow
>laws."
>
>He added, "They say Elian's father shouldn't raise him
>because Cuba is poorer. What about a Black father who is
>poor in the U.S.? Should he be also denied the right to
>raise his children just because he may be poor and
>struggling?"
>
> - 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, 5 Apr 2000 21:37:16 -0400
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] Gore Reveals his True Colors
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>GORE REVEALS HIS TRUE COLORS
>
>By Deirdre Griswold
>
>Some 80 percent of the people in this country agree that
>six-year-old Elian Gonzalez should be liberated from the
>clutches of the Cuban American community in Miami so that
>he can resume life with his father and other family members
>in Cuba.
>
>There's no question that just about every worker, every
>progressive person here wants that. And even the U.S.
>government has to admit that it's the right and legal thing
>to do, although Washington has been slow as molasses in
>implementing its own decisions in this case.
>
>So what does it say about Vice President Al Gore that he
>has gone to the right of the Clinton administration on
>this? Gore has called for granting permanent residency
>status to the child, which is a capitulation to the
>stridently anti-Cuba forces in Miami who have been using
>him as a poster boy.
>
>Gore, of course, is running for president. He's got the
>endorsement of most of the labor movement, as well as mass
>organizations representing seniors, women, oppressed
>nationalities, and others sectors of society that must band
>together to defend their interests against the rapacious
>corporations and the capitalist state.
>
>Capitalist politicians like Gore are notorious for talking
>out of both sides of their mouths in order to get elected.
>One day they support a cause; the next day they are
>stroking the other side. All for votes.
>
>But wait a minute. Did Gore do this for the votes? When 80
>percent of the people are on the other side? And when it's
>a foregone conclusion that the right-wing Cubans are going
>to vote for Bush anyway? No, votes aren't the explanation.
>
>A SIGNAL TO THE RIGHT
>
>Gore could have had only one motivation. He wanted to show
>the rich right wing in this country that he is perfectly
>willing to throw in his lot with them when push comes to
>shove. He makes Bill Clinton look downright principled.
>
>This is a preview of what a Gore presidency would be like.
>Those who are hoping he will live up to his vaguely worded
>promises should remember what he has done--or hasn't done,
>to be more accurate.
>
>Gore has never distanced himself from the slide to the
>right in the two Clinton administrations. Clinton-Gore were
>able to give the rich what they wanted--the dismantling of
>welfare, the whittling down of affirmative action, and the
>Newt Gingrich program to cut social programs while giving
>tax breaks to the wealthy--while pleading that they had no
>power because they didn't control Congress. Yet when the
>Democrats did have the majority in both houses during
>Clinton's first term, they still didn't try to pass any
>legislation to undo the damage of the Reagan-Bush years.
>
>Gore has carefully cultivated an image as an
>environmentalist, yet it is increasingly clear that the
>United States government stands in the way of any
>international agreement to reduce greenhouse gases that are
>melting the polar ice, warming the oceans and creating
>havoc with the weather. Environmental groups are starting
>to point out that the Gore family wealth comes from his
>father's close relationship with Occidental Petroleum--in
>other words, with the very sector of private capital most
>responsible for despoiling the environment.
>
>Gore says very little about lesbian, gay, bi and trans
>rights, going along with the president's worse-than-phony
>"don't ask, don't tell" program for gays in the military
>that has only increased violence against them.
>
>Gore poses as a friend of the elderly and a savior of
>Social Security. But what is the Gore plan? It is to pay
>down the interest on the national debt for the next 10
>years--don't the bankers like to hear that?--and then, in
>2011, start taking funds from the budget surplus and add
>them to Social Security.
>
>All this presupposes a robust economy, a long period of
>capitalist growth, for the surplus to continue. Since the
>present expansion is the longest on record, this is
>presupposing a lot. It also seems to be timed perfectly.
>The funds would be added only after the end of a two-term
>Gore administration.
>
>`FIGHTING FOR WORKING FAMILIES'
>
>Gore's campaign oozes phrases like "he's fighting for
>working families." Who is he fighting? Not the bosses,
>that's for sure. They're not the least bit worried about
>him. He's a known quantity. And how convenient, that phrase
>"working families." If the economy turns down and
>unemployment turns up, he has promised the workers nothing-
>-because they won't be working. They won't have welfare to
>fall back on, either.
>
>Gore represents nothing fundamentally different than
>George W. Bush. Whichever way the election goes, it won't
>alter the rapacious consolidation of big capital here and
>in the world. It won't stop the enormous accumulation of
>wealth by a few at the expense of the many.
>
>Workers would do better registering a protest vote--like
>one for Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva of Workers
>World Party, two women workers of color with a long history
>of fighting racism, war and capitalist reaction. Such a
>vote in itself won't change the system, but it will be a
>signal that many people are fed up with a political process
>that every four years puts in another stooge for the rich.
>It will help elevate the independent struggle of the
>workers and oppressed, which is the only way things will
>change.
>
> - 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, 5 Apr 2000 22:12:19 -0400
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] Bill Hackwell Exhibit Opens
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>BILL HACKWELL EXHIBIT OPENS
>
>The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts is presenting
>a 30-year retrospective exhibit by social documentary
>photographer Bill Hackwell throughout April, entitled,
>"Common Expressions of Humanity."
>
>Hackwell's photographs from Cuba and Chiapas in Mexico,
>and of progressive social protest demonstrations throughout
>California, often appear in Workers World newspaper.
>
>There will be an opening reception on April 7 from 7 to 10
>p.m. at 2868 Mission at 24th St. in San Francisco.
>
>This exhibit runs through April 30, concurrently with
>Cofradia De Luz, a selection of the works of 15 of the
>greatest contemporary Mexican photographers, including Flor
>Garduno, Mauel Alvarez Bravo, Gabriel Figueroa and Graciela
>Iturbide. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday
>through Saturday.
>
>For more information, call (415) 821-1155.
>
>By John Catalinotto
>
> - 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, 5 Apr 2000 22:23:38 -0400
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] Anti-China Campaign Diverts Labor Unions
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>SWEATSHOPS MADE IN U.S.A.: ANTI-CHINA CAMPAIGN
>DIVERTS LABOR UNIONS
>
>By Fred Goldstein
>
>The movement against global corporate domination that
>surfaced in Seattle is one of the most hopeful signs in the
>U.S. in years. People the world over are heartened to see
>resistance in the belly of the beast. Even more hopeful is
>the building momentum and widening of that movement as it
>targets the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
>
>Right now this movement must not allow itself to be
>diverted from its proper target--the U.S. multinational
>banks and corporations that are plundering the world and
>attacking the workers and all the people here at home.
>
>Rank-and-file workers and progressive union leaders in the
>labor movement who want to fight the bosses must be on
>guard. Forces within the AFL-CIO leadership and liberal
>establishment are attempting to make the Chinese government
>a major target of this movement. They want to campaign
>against allowing China into the World Trade Organization.
>
>They try to justify the revival of this Cold War policy on
>the grounds of fighting sweatshop labor, prison labor, the
>right to organize trade unions, defending human rights and
>saving jobs of U.S. workers, among other arguments.
>
>Most of these arguments are not documented or verified and
>simply float around as "obvious truths." Others are based
>on wild exaggerations and complete misunderstandings of
>China and its history as an oppressed colonial country and
>its current problems as a struggling socialist country.
>
>This campaign is harmful for a number of reasons.
>
>First of all, focusing hostility on China takes the heat
>off the real corporate enemies of the workers right here.
>
>Second, it gives aid to right-wing forces who want to
>increase tensions with China and build up the U.S. military
>in the Pacific region to prepare for military intervention.
>
>Third, it denies the right of self-determination to one-
>fifth of the human race by denying them the ability to
>carry on world trade without discrimination.
>
>
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