>the people can live in dignity from their work. A true
>integral agrarian reform is indispensable--which not only
>gives land to those who want to work it, but also
>guarantees that they can live from this work through
>technical assistance and financing.
>
>REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FARC-EP HAVE STATED MANY TIMES THAT
>YOUR GOAL IS THE "TAKING OF POWER." IS THAT STILL A GOAL OF
>THE FARC-EP? WHAT CHANGES IN THE COLOMBIAN STATE IS THE
>FARC-EP ATTEMPTING
>TO MAKE?
>
>We still put forward as our objective the taking of power
>and the building of a society without exploiters or
>exploited. The proposal for a government of reconstruction
>and national reconciliation, contained in the Common Agenda
>for change toward a new Colombia and adopted by the
>Discussion Table leads to the building of a pluralist and
>patriotic government that allows the development and
>viability of the new country.
>
>We have said many times that this is a totally different
>process. It concerns restructuring and transforming the
>state with economic, political, social and cultural
>solutions through accords that require much time, patience
>and ability to develop. It is a negotiation in which the
>majority of Colombians, represented by the guerrillas,
>reclaim what the state and its many governments have taken
>away over years. It is not signing and turning over; it is
>building and restructuring a new Colombia where all
>Colombian men and women are valued.
>
>AS PART OF THE CONDITIONS FOR TALKS, THE FARC-EP WAS
>GRANTED ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF FIVE MUNICIPALITIES.
>COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE SITUATION IN THIS ZONE? HOW DOES THE
>LIFE OF RESIDENTS OF THE ZONE COMPARE WITH THAT OF
>COLOMBIANS LIVING OUTSIDE THE ZONE?
>
>The reason for the demilitarized zone--composed of the
>municipalities of Uribe, Mesetas, Vistahermosa, La Macarena
>in the department of Meta and San Vicente del Caguan in El
>Caqueta--is the need for an adequate space for carrying out
>the process of talks. Part of the agreements is the FARC-
>EP's recognition of the mayors of those municipalities and
>the municipal councils, as well as the creation of a Civic
>Police to maintain order among the inhabitants.
>
>The FARC-EP, after a long year of conversations, has built
>more than 250 kilometers of new roads and repaired 250 more
>for the benefit of the population of the five demilitarized
>zones. Twenty bridges have been built and 64 roads have
>been paved. We have carried out massive vaccination
>campaigns in which 20,000 adults and children have been
>treated. Sanitation and promotion of culture and sports has
>been addressed. The high rate of violent deaths has been
>lowered from 366 per year to eight, and the incidence of
>assaults and robberies has fallen to practically zero in
>San Vicente del Caguan. We have increased the mechanisms
>for the protection of the wilderness and wildlife for the
>preservation of the environment. We have been negotiating
>with the High Commission for the electrification of various
>communities and the improvement of health and education
>centers.
>
>The residents of the whole region assure their
>satisfaction with the tranquility and the progress that
>they now experience--which they have never before
>witnessed, since before the government withdrawal, two or
>three citizens a day died from violence.
>
> - 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)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <006801bf9e97$77b898e0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Gays up against the brass
>Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 20:39:57 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 6, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>EDITORIAL: GAYS UP AGAINST THE BRASS
>
>A Pentagon survey released March 24 says anti-gay bias is
>widespread and common in the military. And an overwhelming
>majority of GIs believe that this bigotry is tolerated
>among their officers.
>
>Duh. That's what lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans
>people inside and outside the armed forces have been saying
>for years. And the incidence of verbal and physical gay-
>bashing has stepped up dramatically since Bill Clinton
>abandoned his 1992 campaign promise to end the bigoted ban
>on lesbians and gays in the military.
>
>Unable to stand up to the brass, Clinton buckled and
>agreed to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy that was billed
>as a compromise when Congress passed it into law in 1993.
>But it was a surrender that emboldened the generals and
>admirals. For example, early in March 2000 the
>Servicemembers Legal Defense Network reported that
>incidents of reported anti-gay harassment more than doubled
>last year.
>
>It was the lynching of a soldier believed to be gay--Pfc.
>Barry Winchell--last July 5 at Fort Campbell, Ky., that
>renewed and broadened outrage over the anti-gay policy.
>Under siege from this widespread public anger, the Pentagon
>ordered this survey into the incidence of anti-gay
>discrimination and harassment in the military.
>
>The point is: Now what? Would Bush or Gore battle the
>brass on behalf of lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans
>people? Gore has had all these years inside the White House
>to put up a defense of gay GIs. He's already slipped and
>slid on the issue during this campaign.
>
>Here is Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen's
>prescription: "The report shows that military leaders must
>do more to make it clear that harassment based on sexual
>orientation violates military values."
>
>Why would the brass hats do that, unless an independent
>mass struggle in the streets forced them to? The Pentagon
>is the quintessential top-down organization. The anti-gay
>ideology and green light for bashings comes from those in
>the uniforms with the most brass on them, not the least.
>
>Bigotry of all kinds does not violate military values.
>Those ARE military values. The country's largest employer--
>the Pentagon killing machine--indoctrinates its employees
>with a Rambo mentality. The brass attempts to brainwash GIs
>into seeing its adversaries as less than human--
>particularly those from oppressed countries whose leaders
>stand up to the U.S., as well as women, gays and the
>disabled.
>
>Those are the values of the oppressor. And the military is
>the armed might that Wall Street and Washington wield
>against any country that does not buckle to their economic
>and strategic interests.
>
>Imperialist interests are diametrically opposed to those
>of all who are discriminated against and downtrodden in the
>U.S.--and that's who's likely to find themselves in the
>armed forces.
>
>The struggle facing the anti-Pentagon movement in this
>country is two-pronged: Defend those besieged by bigotry
>and bashing inside the military. Fight to get the boot heel
>of U.S. military power off the necks of those under siege
>around the world.
>
> - 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)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <006e01bf9e97$93123ec0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] WWP memorial for Key Martin
>Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 20:40:43 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 6, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>NEW YORK WWP MEMORIAL: "KEY MARTIN PRESENTE!"
>
>By Leslie Feinberg
>New York
>
>Memories of Key Martin, retold as anecdotes by his comrades,
>family, co-workers and friends, evoked as much gentle and
>affectionate laughter as joy, pride and tears at a March 24
>memorial held by the New York City branch of Workers World
>Party. And that was fitting. Key's sense of humor was as
>characteristically his hallmark as his warm smile, firm
>handshake and red suspenders.
>
>Key was a leading and respected member of the New York
>branch. So it was important to hold an event where many, many
>members of his branch could say a few words about Key to each
>other at a moment of such great loss. Although Key had
>suffered from severe asthma for years, and more recently
>chronic heart failure, his death on March 18 came as a shock--
>even to those who worked closely with him.
>
>Plans are underway for a public memorial for Key Martin that
>will take place in a larger venue in May. Details will appear
>in Workers World newspaper. That event will bring together
>more members of Key's family, co-workers and friends, as well
>as his comrades from Workers World branches across the
>country. Clearly more people are expected to attend than will
>be able to speak.
>
>However, so many people wanted to speak on March 24 that
>even though individuals tried to trim their remarks, the
>outpouring of emotion continued until after midnight and still
>not everyone could get to the podium.
>
>Key's spouse Estela Vasquez, and two of their children,
>Alejandro Vazquez and Tamara Martin, attended. Alejandro
>warmed the audience with recollections about some of the many
>reasons he loves Key so deeply.
>
>Co-workers from Key's union were there. In 1980 Key was
>elected chair of the Newspaper Guild at Time, Local 3 TNG, now
>part of the Communications Workers of America. And a
>representative of Local 169 UNITE brought condolences from
>union president Ernesto Joffre.
>
>Key's admirable qualities and wonderful quirks came through
>in all the stories people told about him. But these individual
>attributes were recalled in the context of reminiscences of a
>communist who spent nearly 40 years of his life at the
>barricades of virtually every major battle in this country
>against Pentagon war, racism and oppression.
>
>In fact, several speakers noted that much of Key's ability
>to win such caring and friendship was because he was a
>communist. He could clearly see the distinction between the
>oppressed and the oppressor in every conflict. He threw his
>lot in with the working class and the oppressed. And he felt
>confident about the great potential of human nature. Key, one
>speaker said, was an example of what Cuban revolutionary Che
>Guevara expressed in his now-famous words, "a revolutionary is
>guided by great feelings of love."
>
>Many, many speakers talked about how Key, as chairperson of
>Workers World's youth group Youth Against War & Fascism, left
>his imprint on the struggles against the Vietnam war and
>racist repression during the 1960s and 1970s.
>
>But during the four-hour-long event speakers also painted a
>vivid picture of those political periods that had in turn
>shaped Key and the movements he was part of. As a result, both
>younger and newer comrades and friends and some of the older
>members commented on how much they learned at the memorial
>about political history, strategy and tactics.
>
>Key was recalled not just as a militant activist but as a
>Marxist who immersed himself in the writings of Marx, Engels,
>Lenin and other revolutionaries in order to glean the
>theoretical as well as political lessons of the communist
>movement.
>
>Others talked about how Key helped organize a national
>support campaign for fighting workers at the Detroit News and
>Free Press, who were locked out of their jobs for over three
>years by the Gannett and Knight-Ridder newspaper monopolies.
>How he set up the People's Video Network in 1993 to challenge
>the censorship imposed by the big-business news media about
>the people's struggle. How Key traveled to South Africa with
>other PVN members and worked to create video information about
>the murder of communist leader Chris Hani and the role of U.S.
>pharmaceutical giants in exacerbating the AIDS crisis there.
>
>Many spoke with both respect and concern for Key's seemingly
>tireless drive. He thrived on the class struggle. And he lived
>and labored in a fast-forward mode. Some expressed loving
>frustration and sorrow that Key didn't slow down and take care
>of his health. Others noted that if Key's life were measured
>by his work and its impact, he lived a rich, full lifetime.
>
>In the end, he faced a health crisis so serious that even
>his determination and will were not enough to conquer it.
>
>But a meaningful theme ran through the evening's program.
>Key Martin devoted his life to overturning capitalism and
>replacing it with socialism. He fought for a system of
>economic and social justice he will not live to see. But he
>lives on in the hearts and minds of so many of those who
>continue that historic struggle.
>
> - 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)
>
>
>
__________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki - Finland
+358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081
e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
___________________________________
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe/unsubscribe messages
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
___________________________________
