>
> WW News Service Digest #32
>
> 1) Will Congress Ratify Child Stealing?
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 2) Health Care Cutbacks and the Flu
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 3) Dock Workers Battle Riot Cops
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 4) Denzel Washington & "Hurricane"
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 5) Iraqis: "We Won't go Back to Colonial Status"
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 6) Equador Eruption Cut Short
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 22:07:50 -0500
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable
>Subject: [WW] Will Congress Ratify Child Stealing?
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 3, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>WILL CONGRESS RATIFY CHILD STEALING? PROTEST SET
>FOR MIAMI: "FREE ELIAN!"
>
>By Deirdre Griswold
>
>As the struggle to free little Eli=A0n Gonz=A0lez from the
>clutches of the Cuban right-wing in Miami painfully drags
>on, pressure is growing on the Clinton administration and
>the Immigration and Naturalization Service to enforce their
>own ruling that the boy belongs with his father,
>grandparents and neighbors back in his homeland.
>
>The Cuban people have shown their outrage for two months
>in gigantic demonstrations. And all over the U.S., local
>committees have sprung up to send Eli=A0n home.
>
>Now supporters of sending the six-year-old Cuban home are
>mobilizing for a national demonstration in Miami on Jan. 29.
>
>It will be the first time that the substantial number of
>Cubans in that city who are not under the control of the
>ultra-right will have an opportunity to make their views
>known before the world media. They will have to brave the
>threats of counter-revolutionary groups with a reputation
>for violence that comes from their use as commandos by the
>Central Intelligence Agency.
>
>But the progressive Cubans will not be alone. They will be
>joined by other Latin Americans, Haitians and whites who
>want Miami and the world to see that the days when right-
>wing thugs could control the streets of that city are over.
>
>International Peace for Cuba Appeal national co-
>coordinators Teresa Gutierrez and Gloria La Riva are in
>Miami helping to organize the protest, along with Rev.
>Lucius Walker of Pastors for Peace and other progressive
>activists.
>
>La Riva said the demonstration is "going to give the
>people in Miami, especially the Cuban community who are for
>normalization of relations and who have held on for 40
>years, some breathing space. A Pastors bus is coming from
>Chicago, Haitians have translated the leaflets and posters
>into Creole, and we are constantly getting calls from around
>the country from people who have read our web page or seen
>publicity about the event and are coming to Miami."
>
>Gutierrez added that "this historic event will have
>lasting significance for the people of Miami, long after the
>demonstration is over." The demonstration will start at 10
>a.m. at the INS building, 79th & Biscayne.
>
>FROM JAWS OF DEATH TO JAWS OF RIGHT-WING
>
>The Cuban ultra-right are trying to bolster their
>political position and whip up a hysteria against Cuba by
>turning this traumatized child, who floated for two days on
>a rubber raft in the Caribbean after seeing his mother
>drown, into a political pawn. Every day, they organize
>demonstrations at the house of his great uncle, who was
>given temporary custody of the child by the INS.
>
>The message is always the same: The kid will have more
>stuff here than in Cuba--more toys, more clothes, trips to
>Disney World, and all the other consumer goods that are
>scarce in that blockaded country. What they don't admit is
>that Eli=A0n not only has a loving family back in Cuba and a
>safe, dignified and warm environment, but he also is
>guaranteed work, shelter, education and health care there,
>unlike in the United States.
>
>Even as immigrants from other countries are being
>incarcerated or unceremoniously shipped back home, this
>boy's case has become a cause c=82l=8Abre of those who still
>vainly hope to overthrow the Cuban Revolution. Two Florida
>Republicans are preparing bills in the House and Senate to
>make him an honorary citizen, thereby removing him from the
>jurisdiction of the INS. If enacted, it would be the first
>time in U.S. history that an individual has been naturalized
>by Congress.
>
>President Clinton has not said definitively that he will
>veto the bill. Not wanting to openly antagonize the ultra-
>right, he is hoping to be spared having to take a clear
>stand by a filibuster in Congress.
>
>However, many of the lies about socialist Cuba told by the
>counter-revolutionaries are suddenly being exposed. When
>Eli=A0n's two grandmothers, Mariela Quintana and Raquel
>Rodriguez, both flew to the U.S. on Jan. 21 to try and bring
>the boy home, their very presence punctured the lie that
>Cuba is a police state from which everyone is trying to
>flee. They argued forcefully and convincingly about the
>advantages awaiting him at home.
>
>They are true ambassadors for the Cuban working class, the
>backbone of the revolution, even though tragedy has thrust
>them into this position.
>
>The strength of any revolution resides in the people--
>their unity, political consciousness and will to fight for
>the new society against those who would drag the country
>back to the past. The U.S. ruling class had hoped that
>Cuba's hardships after the USSRcollapse would break down
>that solidarity and will.
>
>They must be gnawing their knuckles at the impassioned
>human flood that marches almost every other day past the
>U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
>
>Around the world, the shadow-boxing between U.S. federal
>authorities and the "Miami Mafia" has evoked disbelief and
>disgust. Even the Economist, a conservative British
>financial magazine that usually has great praise for its
>imperialist ally, called the incident a "kidnapping" that
>reflects "the idiocy of American attitudes to Cuba."
>
>These attitudes have been crystallized in the 40-year
>blockade by which the U.S. has tried to impoverish and
>starve the socialist island. But for more than a decade now,
>the United Nations General Assembly has voted almost
>unanimously against the blockade. The only vote of support
>Washington can count on is from Israel, the largest
>recipient of U.S. military aid in the world.
>
>CUBA REFUSES TO COLLAPSE
>
>The right wing has been predicting the imminent collapse
>of the Cuban Revolution for 40 years now. Gov. Jeb Bush of
>Florida, George W.'s brother, even organized a $10 billion
>investment fund a decade ago for the day when U.S. capital
>would rush back to exploit the Cuban people once again after
>the collapse of the Soviet Union.
>
>But it hasn't happened. Now this crisis has shown how
>strong and deep is the Cuban people's anger and rejection of
>U.S. imperialism's high-handed and arrogant treatment. And
>it comes just when Washington was beginning to think it
>could cultivate a "dissident" movement inside Cuba to pave
>the way for counter-revolution.
>
>In pursuit of profits as well as a more nuanced approach
>to Cuba, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been lobbying to
>ease the blockade. This confirms the Cuban right-wing's
>worst nightmare--that their privileged position in the U.S.,
>where they not only have been given access to money and
>power but have also been incorporated into the political
>establishment in certain areas and into the state apparatus
>itself, may be flagging.
>
>Their extreme behavior in this case is an attempt to
>reassert their position. But, in the end, the tail does not
>wag the dog.
>
>The U.S. imperialist ruling class wants a free hand to
>conduct foreign policy in its own interests. It has a long
>and sordid record of building up counter-revolutionary
>groups and individuals when it has needed them, only to cut
>them down when its tactics change.
>
>The right-wing Cubans in Miami know that the CIA has used
>Kurds, Afghanis, Vietnamese and others when it suited them.
>But when a new situation arose, it has sacrificed them. It
>has even assassinated heads of state it had supported, like
>Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnam and Rafael Trujillo in the
>Dominican Republic, because they weren't useful any more.
>
>Because the Cubans are a large and entrenched political
>force within the U.S., they cannot be discarded as others
>have been. They are a bastion of anti-communism and right-
>wing politics in general, and Washington always has need of
>that. But the really big ruling class, which maps
>Washington's global strategy, never wants its puppets to
>mistakenly think they are the masters. It has many ways to
>drive that point home.
>
>Until now, these counter-revolutionaries have been free to
>say anything, no matter how outlandish, to defame Cuba. It
>was all treated as good coin by the big business media here.
>But now, all of a sudden, some of the truth is beginning to
>come out.
>
>The Jan. 31 Newsweek has an interview with Eli=A0n's
>grandmothers. Larry King and other powerful talk show hosts
>are giving equal time to those who say Eli=A0n should be
>allowed to go home. It is a very small rebuttal of the tons
>of lies that have been told about socialist Cuba, but given
>how the right-wing has completely dominated the public
>dialogue until now, it undoubtedly has them very worried.
>
>NO GOING BACK TO BAD OLD DAYS
>
>Miami's Cubans are by no means a homogenous group, but
>those who have captured Eli=A0n and are parading him as a
>symbol represent the past--a time of privilege for the few
>and misery for the vast majority. In Cuba, the people call
>them the "Miami Mafia" because so many trace their history
>back to the corrupt and bloody regime that ruled Cuba hand
>in glove with U.S. mobsters who owned the expensive hotels
>and gambling casinos.
>
>The Cuban elite were allowed to get moderately rich in
>those days--while the really huge fortunes were being taken
>out by U.S. capitalists.
>
>In 1956--the same year that Fidel Castro and his comrades
>in the 26th of July Movement launched their guerrilla war
>against the Batista dictatorship--the U.S. Department of
>Commerce reported that U.S. companies controlled 90 percent
>of Cuba's telephone and electric services. They also held
>about 50 percent of the railways, 40 percent of raw sugar
>production, the most important cattle ranches, the one
>copper mine, and the major tourist facilities and hotels.
>
>That was a time of abject poverty for the agricultural
>workers and small peasants who made up the majority of the
>population. Despite many heroic strikes by the sugar workers
>and other laborers, the conditions in the countryside were
>appalling. The poor were illiterate, had no access to health
>care, and lived in dirt-floored shacks with no running water
>or sewage systems. Intestinal parasites and other diseases
>were widespread. And the bosses employed thugs to keep
>things that way.
>
>This is why today, even in what Cuba calls a "special
>period" of economic hardship, a Cuban musician featured in
>the U.S. film "Buena Vista Social Club" tells how life is
>much better now than in those bad old days.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
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>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 22:09:35 -0500
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] Health Care Cutbacks and the Flu
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 3, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>DON'T BLAME THE FLU: FOR-PROFIT VIRUS SWAMPS
>HOSPITALS
>
>By Bev Hiestand
>Buffalo, N.Y.
>
>All around the country millions of people are experiencing
>the nasty symptoms of the flu. For most people the head and
>body aches, fever and chills, respiratory congestion and
>cough last for one to three weeks, followed by a full
>recovery. However, for thousands of elderly and debilitated
>patients, the flu can result in complications that are much
>more serious--even death.
>
>You would think that all the government health-care
>agencies and health-care delivery systems would be fully
>mobilized to provide the most scientifically advanced and
>compassionate care possible. After all, there is nothing
>unexpected about this epidemic. It happens every year.
>
>The seriousness of the predominant strain of influenza for
>a particular year varies somewhat. However, manifestations
>of the flu and the most current recommended treatment are
>known long before the first sneezes and coughs begin.
>
>Also, health-care officials know which groups of people
>will be most at risk for developing complications. Therefore
>they know where to concentrate their efforts.
>
>So in the richest, most technologically advanced country
>in the world, is there an all-out effort to mobilize
>adequate health-care resources to minimize suffering and
>death? All you have to do is scan the front-page headlines
>of any national or community newspaper or magazine to know
>that this epidemic is a national crisis.
>
>Hospitals, doctors' offices and other primary-care
>facilities are overflowing with very sick patients.
>Ambulances are lined up outside emergency rooms where
>patients are lying sick and minimally attended to while
>waiting for a bed.
>
>Nursing staffs are being forced to work long hours of
>overtime. They are exhausted. Many of the staff are forced
>to call in sick in order to recover. This makes the already
>dangerously low staffing levels even worse.
>
>Others come to work because they can't afford to lose time
>and wages or because they want to help their fellow workers.
>But crowded patient care areas and sick staff also
>contribute to the spread of this disease.
>
>Health-care workers, patients and families are pleading
>with hospital administrators and health officials to do
>something to improve conditions. In response, they are told
>that there is nothing that can be done.
>
>Management says there are not enough nurses or hospital
>beds because of this epidemic.
>
>ASK NURSES WHAT THE PROBLEM IS
>
>Is it the flu epidemic that is the cause of the current
>shortage of nurses and hospital facilities?
>
>In a recent letter to the editor published in the Jan. 22
>Buffalo News, a nurse wrote: "Why are we blaming this on
>just the flu? I have been working in a busy emergency room
>for the past 14 years, and this last year has been a real
>challenge for a lot of people, not only the staff but the
>patients. It isn't only people with the flu--it is also
>cardiac patients and diabetics who are waiting days in the
>emergency room for a telemetry or critical-care bed."
>
>Ask a nurse anywhere in this country and she or he will
>answer that the shortage of nurses and hospital beds long
>predates the flu epidemic. In every community across the
>country hospital systems have been consolidated. Beds,
>emergency rooms and entire hospitals have been closed down,
>all in an effort to reduce costs.
>
>Health-care officials claim there are too many unoccupied
>beds. However, they have no plans about what to do when
>there are epidemics or times of increased need.
>
>In this community alone, a major emergency room was closed
>just weeks before this epidemic. That strained the remaining
>emergency services.
>
>The union representing nurses at the biggest hospital in
>this city has filed hundreds of grievances about unsafe
>staffing over the past year. Nurses have been laid off.
>There has been a major decline in the enrollment at nursing
>programs.
>
>A university nursing program in this region just announced
>it is closing because of low enrollment. That announcement
>followed the closing of several other nursing programs over
>the last few years.
>
>As the staff nurse who wrote to the Buffalo News so
>rightfully asked, "Why don't we start putting the blame
>where it belongs? Let's start with the polititians, who are
>in charge of all these health-cutting costs, or the
>insurance companies, which keep raising their prices to the
>point that people can't afford medication or health care."
>
>She added, "I am burning out, so I hope someone finds a
>cure soon."
>
>THE REAL DISEASE IS THE PROFIT SYSTEM
>
>As any health-care worker knows, to cure a disease one
>must first find the cause. The flu epidemic is not the cause
>of the profound decline in the quality of health-care
>services in this country.
>
>The real disease that needs curing is the "health care for
>profit, not need" disease.
>
>It is no secret that the richest corporations--including
>the health insurance industry, the pharmaceutical and
>medical technology conglomerates, and the banks that back
>them--have taken over health-care systems for the sole
>purpose of making huge profits.
>
>No longer are hospitals and other health-care services
>organized to meet people's needs. Services are cut or
>slashed completely based on profitability, not human need.
>
>It is true that the CEOs and administrators are always
>advocating "quality improvement" and improving "patient
>satisfaction" for our "customers"--lingo imported from
>Corporate America. They are also very clear about their
>goal: "becoming more competitive."
>
>Nurses are learning very quickly that being more
>competitive does not save jobs or improve care. Those who
>work every day in this environment over and over again see
>decisions made that result in unsafe conditions, poor care,
>and dangerous and unhealthy working conditions.
>
>In order to deliver quality health care and preventative
>care to all, a fight is needed to create an economic system
>that puts people before profits.
>
>The yearly flu epidemic does not have to be a "natural
>disaster." Society can plan for immunization programs and
>clinics open in every neighborhood around the clock to free
>up emergency room services.
>
>Sick health-care workers should be given paid time off so
>that they are not forced to come to work and contribute
>toward the spread of the flu. Available and affordable
>child-care facilities open 24 hours a day, including those
>for sick children, would free up health-care workers who
>might otherwise have to stay at home to care for their own
>children.
>
>Increase the number of nursing, physician and other
>health-care-worker education programs. Create more health-
>care jobs and improve working conditions so that nurses and
>doctors want to work in these professions. Provide the most
>up-to-date anti-viral drugs and treatments at an affordable
>price for all those who need them.
>
>IT CAN BE DONE!
>
>How could all of this be funded? The money is there.
>
>Get rid of the insurance companies that spend a large
>chunk of health-care dollars on nothing more than
>determining who is and who is not eligible for coverage. The
>rest they take as sheer profit.
>
>
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