>This reporter was invited to speak on behalf of the U.S.
>National Committee to Return Elian Home to his Father in
>Cuba, and as a union activist. "Why did Clinton delay so
>long in finally saying that Elian should be with his
>father?" asked La Riva. "I think he hoped you would tire
>after a few protests and retire to your jobs, your homes,
>your schools. Companeros, I want to ask you, are you tired
>of this battle?"
>
>The crowd gave a resounding "No!"
>
>La Riva said that the struggle for Elian and 41 years of
>the revolution have been possible because of the "courage,
>wisdom and leadership of the most loved and respected man
>in the world, companero Fidel. The true and main violator
>of human rights is U.S. imperialism."
>
>She also spoke of the fight to save Mumia Abu-Jamal from
>the death penalty, saying, "We must not let them kill this
>revolutionary fighter."
>
>Argentinian activist Claudia Cambia spoke of the hypocrisy
>of the Argentinian government voting against Cuba and then,
>on the same day, furiously beating workers protesting
>Argentina's anti-worker policies.
>
>A 10-year-old student and member of the Pioneers youth
>organization, Lilian Tapanes, talked about each Cuban
>extending support to Elian as a thread that U.S.
>imperialism tries to cut. But, she said, 11 million strings
>together are too powerful to defeat.
>
>CASTRO'S SPEECH HITS IMPERIALISM HARD
>
>President Fidel Castro joked, "I wore my tennis shoes today"
>for the march to the U.S. Interests Section. His 40-minute
>speech hit U.S. officials hard for delaying justice to Eli=A0n
>and Juan Miguel Gonz=A0lez every step of the way. "Nobody in our
>country ignores the potential dangers lying on the twisted
>path taken by the U.S. authorities-under pressure from the
>[Cuban American National Foundation]-to resolve what would
>have been a simple immigration case had it not involved a
>Cuban child."
>
>Referring to the unceasing maneuvers of U.S. officials,
>Castro continued, "They are trying to keep him there
>indefinitely in the hope of enticing him away. They are all
>working in unison in pursuit of the same goal: to ensure that
>the boy never returns to Cuba, and thus deal a moral blow to
>the proud and heroic people that produced Juan Miguel and
>Eli=A0n."
>
>His speech was a heroic affirmation of the Cuban people's
>refusal to bow to U.S. aggression. "Nothing will be easy with
>regard to Cuba in the future. Forty years of resisting all
>sorts of aggressions and injustices, and the war of ideas we
>have been waging ceaselessly throughout five long months, have
>made us much stronger."
>
>Castro concluded, "The peoples of an ungovernable world, who
>suffer poverty and indigence and are exploited and plundered
>at an ever-growing rate, will be our best comrades-in-arms. We
>certainly lack the financial resources to cooperate with them.
>Instead, we have an extraordinary and selfless human capital
>which the wealthy countries do not have and never will
>possess."
>
>That strength was evident in the march. Every neighborhood
>was organized, every union out in force. Each marcher received
>a Cuban flag, postcard pictures of Eli=A0n and Juan Miguel, and
>a special certificate of participation to remember this
>historic occasion.
>
>HALF OF HAVANA MARCHES PAST U.S. INTERESTS SECTION
>
>Havana's population is a little more than two million. Half
>the city's people were in one vibrant, spirited mass marching
>down the broad avenue to the U.S. Interests Section. And not
>only marching, but chanting, "Long live the revolution! Long
>live the Communist Party of Cuba! Free Eli=A0n!"
>
>Thousands and thousands more people lined the march route to
>greet them. As soon as they spotted their "Comandante" in the
>front of the march, they would shout, "Viva Fidel!"
>
>At the rally in front of the U.S. Interests Section, youth
>leaders gave fiery speeches on their resolve to withstand
>U.S. hostilities. An impressive permanent rally site has
>recently been built just yards from the U.S. offices, where
>some 50 mass rallies have been held since Eli=A0n's plight
>began.
>
>Hassan P=82rez, president of the Cuban University Students
>Federation, said, "We have invaded the U.S. offices with
>our morals, our principles and our ideas."
>
>No matter how much cynicism is packed into U.S. bourgeois
>reporting about Cuba's "official" or "state-sponsored"
>rallies and marches, the simple truth is that no people
>anywhere in the world could be directed or forced to show
>support for a revolution the way the Cuban people love
>theirs.
>
>The Cuban revolutionary process, which in 1959 placed all
>the society's power in the hands of those who produce the
>wealth, is one which U.S. imperialism will never fathom nor
>be able to defeat.
>
> - 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: Thu, 4 May 2000 00:43:52 -0400
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable
>Subject: [WW] Struggle Continues to Free Elian & Family
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the May 11, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>DEMONSTRATIONS CALLED FOR MAY 11: STRUGGLE
>CONTINUES TO FREE ELIAN & FAMILY
>
>By Teresa Gutierrez
>
>Elian Gonzalez is no longer in the clutches of the Miami
>right wing, but he and his family--Juan Miguel, Nercy and
>Hianny--are still not home in Cuba. A court date looms over
>them and it cannot be said how the case will play out.
>
>The Gonzalez family are being held at the Wye River
>plantation some 30 miles outside of Washington. Several
>have described this as "a new sort of prison," since the
>U.S. government is making it impossible for Cuban diplomats
>to communicate with them.
>
>On May 11, a federal judge in Atlanta will hear arguments
>for "political asylum" for Elian. Around the country,
>demonstrations will be held in several cities to demand that
>this legal charade end now.
>
>There is still a danger that the U.S. government will tie
>the child up in court, preventing the family from returning to
>Cuba any time soon.
>
>Nonetheless, the case of Elian Gonzalez has opened up a
>new chapter in U.S.-Cuba relations.
>
>MILLIONS GLIMPSE THE REAL CUBA
>
>The struggle to send Elian home has had a long-lasting
>positive impact on the consciousness of millions in the U.S.
>People who had up to now heard mainly negative propaganda put
>out by the U.S. government saw another side of Cuba.
>
>Average folks with no knowledge of the real Cuba saw that
>the revolution could produce a child so healthy and resilient
>that he could survive the nightmare Elian went through.
>
>People saw a father, Juan Miguel, who just a few months ago
>was an average worker living a simple life amidst a community
>and country he loved. But Elian's tragedy forced him into the
>vortex of international politics. Juan Miguel rose to the
>occasion, not only winning his child from the clutches of the
>kidnappers but in the process also winning the hearts and
>minds of millions of people.
>
>That these images were allowed into the mainstream press
>speaks volumes about the broader agenda of the U.S. ruling
>class towards Cuba. The fact that so much sympathetic news for
>Cuba's position was allowed shows that two views now clash in
>the U.S. ruling class on how to handle the Cuban Revolution.
>
>FAST OR SLOW POISON
>
>After 40 years of blockade and sanctions, they've failed to
>crush the Cuban Revolution from the outside. Many now think
>they should focus more on eroding it from the inside with
>Track 2--inciting a dissident movement inside Cuba while
>allowing more cultural, academic and other normalized
>exchanges.
>
>The Elian case has revealed big cracks in the relationship
>between the reactionary Cuban Americans and their puppet
>masters, U.S. imperialism. The right-wing Cubans in Miami
>have been discredited. They are a major liability for the
>ruling class--the same class that created and nurtured
>them.
>
>They're trying to revive their support by beating their
>chests and appealing to the anti-communism of the bourgeoisie-
>-as in their march on April 29. But the magnificent unity in
>Cuba shows that this gang has no influence there--and
>therefore can be of little use in U.S. imperialism's counter-
>revolutionary plans.
>
>Now right wingers of all stripes are duking it out in Miami.
>The irritation of the Anglo conservatives with their former
>allies came through in the anti-immigrant demonstration there
>praising Attorney General Janet Reno and the Immigration
>Service for their show of force.
>
>The April 22 Justice Department raid at the house where
>Elian was being held was fairly mild by U.S. standards. No one
>was hurt. Much worse happens every day in oppressed
>communities. However, no class-conscious worker feels like
>applauding a police action by the same repressive government
>that is now hurrying to arrest Puerto Rican resisters in
>Vieques.
>
>How much better it would have been if the progressive
>movement had been strong enough to free Eli=A0n itself,
>without the aid of the very government that put him there
>in the first place. But the long delays allowed by the
>Clinton administration gave the Miami right wing time to
>dig in, and they were clearly not going to turn the child
>over willingly.
>
>Perhaps what forced the hand of Attorney General Janet
>Reno even more was Juan Miguel himself. The night before
>the raid he announced in extreme frustration that he and
>his family would just head to Miami themselves to pick
>Elian up. But before that he would call on the people of
>the U.S. to join him in Miami.
>
>Would not that have been a scene for the U.S. ruling
>class? Juan Miguel, Nercy and Hianny leading the people to
>set Elian free!
>
>The reunion of Elian and Juan Miguel does not negate the
>fact that the U.S. policies that created this tragedy are
>still very much intact. The U.S. government continues its
>entrenched hostile attitude towards the Cuban Revolution
>and its leadership. The blockade is still in place and the
>Cuban Adjustment Act still entices Cubans to leave without
>authorization.
>
>The greatest tribute anyone can give to Juan Miguel and
>Elian is to build a movement that tears down the anti-Cuba
>architecture of U.S. policy, ensuring there will never be a
>case like this ever again.
>
> - 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: Thu, 4 May 2000 01:29:22 -0400
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] Summer of Resistance for Mumia
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the May 11, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>WHAT NEXT AFTER DAY FOR MUMIA? SUMMER OF
>RESISTANCE
>
>By Greg Butterfield
>New York
>
>When thousands of people gather in the Theater at Madison
>Square Garden for the historic May 7 Day for Mumia, they
>will be urged to unleash a "Summer of Resistance." The
>season of action will culminate with major protests at the
>Democratic and Republican conventions.
>
>"Activists, supporters of Mumia, and opponents of the
>death penalty will mobilize massive resistance at both
>conventions," explained Larry Holmes of Millions for Mumia
>and the International Action Center.
>
>The aim is to win a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal, the
>African American political prisoner now serving his 18th
>year on death row, and to end the state of Pennsylvania's
>threat to execute him.
>
>Monica Moorehead, coordinator of the May 7 Mobilization,
>told Workers World, "There'll be no business as usual for
>the big-business candidates until Mumia is granted a new
>trial." Moorehead is a socialist candidate for president
>running on the Workers World Party ticket.
>
>Legal proceedings for the former Black Panther are at a
>critical stage. Rulings made in a federal appeals court in
>the coming months will determine whether he receives a new
>trial.
>
>Abu-Jamal, a respected radio journalist, was convicted and
>sentenced to die for the 1981 shooting death of a white
>Philadelphia cop. He maintains his innocence. Supporters
>say he was the victim of a crude police frame-up.
>
>Defense attorneys have cited 29 violations of Abu-Jamal's
>constitutional rights in the 1982 trial presided over by
>"hanging judge" Albert Sabo.
>
>Abu-Jamal's defenders are drawing strength from the
>national outcry by millions demanding an immediate
>moratorium on the death penalty. Responding to this mass
>pressure, on April 26 Sen. Russell Feingold introduced the
>"National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2000" in
>Congress. The bill would freeze executions nationwide for
>two years.
>
>Still the death machine rolls on. On May 2, Arkansas
>carried out its first execution of a woman prisoner. On May
>1 Texas abolitionists learned that the last appeal of Shaka
>Sankofa, also known as Gary Graham, has been denied.
>
>Presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush could
>order Sankofa's execution within a month.
>
>Joey Miller, a fellow inmate of Abu-Jamal, is scheduled to
>die in Pennsylvania May 4. Miller is mentally disabled.
>
>`SUMMER OF RESISTANCE'
>
>The Summer of Resistance kicks off with an International
>Day of Protest for Mumia Abu-Jamal on May 13. Major
>
>
>regional demonstrations are planned in Chicago, San
>Francisco and other cities.
>
>May 13 is the 15th anniversary of the police/government
>bombing of a MOVE organization house in Philadelphia. In
>that act of state terrorism, 11 children, men and women
>were killed and a Black neighborhood was reduced to smoking
>rubble.
>
>It had been Abu-Jamal's defense of MOVE during earlier
>police attacks that contributed to his being targeted for a
>frame-up.
>
>Abu-Jamal's supporters in Philadelphia will mark that
>somber anniversary with a "Mothers' March for Justice."
>
>Members of the group International Concerned Family and
>Friends of Mumia say they expect Judge William Yohn to
>announce a date soon for Abu-Jamal's first appearance in
>federal court. Pam Africa says that on the first day of the
>hearing--which will determine whether the defense can
>present new evidence of his innocence--people should pack
>the courtroom and rally outside at Sixth and Market streets
>in Philadelphia.
>
>On July 3-4, on the anniversary of Abu-Jamal's 1982
>sentencing, protests and civil disobedience actions are
>planned for the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.
>
>And soon after, the two big-business political parties
>will be holding their election-year conventions. The
>Democrats meet in Los Angeles, while Republicans gather in
>Abu-Jamal's hometown.
>
>"There will be major demonstrations at the Republican
>Convention in Philadelphia," Larry Holmes told WW,
>"starting on July 29 and 30. Activists will continue
>protesting throughout the entire convention from July 31 to
>Aug. 4."
>
>In Los Angeles, groups are hard at work planning
>demonstrations at the Democratic Convention, set to begin
>Aug. 13.
>
>"Both Democrat Gore and Republican Bush support the death
>penalty," said Monica Moorehead. "We are going to hound
>them at every step."
>
>The International Action Center and Millions for Mumia
>urge everyone to join the Summer of Resistance campaign as
>an organizer, intern or volunteer. Readers can get more
>information by calling the IAC at (212) 633-6646 in New
>York or (415) 826-4828 in San Francisco; by emailing
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]; or by visiting the web sites
>www.iacenter.org and www.mumia2000.org.
>
>WHY COP THREATS BACKFIRE
>
>The Fraternal Order of Police and other racist, pro-death-
>penalty groups continue to harass supporters of Mumia Abu-
>Jamal and call for his immediate execution. But as they
>have for years, the police threats are backfiring in their
>faces.
>
>The threat of police counter-protest didn't stop students
>at Antioch College from inviting Abu-Jamal to be their
>graduation speaker. When the cops' Ku Klux Klan allies
>joined their hate campaign, the whole town of Yellow
>Springs, Ohio, was outraged. Many community members turned
>out to support the students and Abu-Jamal.
>
>Nor will police threats deter the crowd that gathers at
>Madison Square Garden to demand a new trial for the Black
>freedom fighter. Instead, people of all ages,
>nationalities, sexualities and gender expressions will
>unite as one to say, "Mumia is all of us!"
>
>Lesbian/gay/bi/trans people, labor unionists,
>revolutionary nationalists, students and youths, immigrants
>and progressive people from all walks of life are drawn to
>Abu-Jamal's cause.
>
>"Why," the cops ask pitifully, "why can't we legally lynch
>this African American man as we have so many others?" They
>can't figure it out.
>
>But to millions around the world--to the workers and the
>oppressed--the answer is simple.
>
>Abu-Jamal's case has come to represent the many struggles
>they grapple with every day--from police terror to the
>monstrous growth of the U.S. prison population to the
>criminalization of Black and Latino youths.
>
>Abu-Jamal is on death row because he dared to speak out
>against racism and police terror, against capitalist
>exploitation and war.
>
>He and the broad movement for justice he's come to
>symbolize represent oppressed humanity's hopes and
>aspirations. They represent the fighting spirit that says
>yes, we can unite. As the great labor anthem "Solidarity
>Forever" put it, "We can bring to earth a new world from
>the ashes of the old."
>
>That's why millions--from South Africa to Cuba to France
>to the Philippines--are determined to save Mumia Abu-Jamal.
>
>Abu-Jamal's salvation won't come through the generosity of
>the federal courts. The legal lynching will be stopped only
>if his friends, comrades and supporters continue to raise
>the stakes.
>
>In the end it's a question of power. Can the government
>afford to risk executing an innocent person, a fighter
>beloved around the world--a Nelson Mandela of the United
>States?
>
>Or would such a rash move make Wall Street's Babylon
>ungovernable?
>
>The responsibility, Abu-Jamal's supporters agree, falls on
>those gathered at Madison Square Garden May 7 to build the
>resistance to Abu-Jamal's execution, the racist death
>penalty, police terror and the prison-industrial complex.
>
>Everyone must reach 10, 100, 1,000 more and bring them
>into the streets this summer to demand a new trial.
>
>Time is short. But the power of the people, united in
>militant action, can win this critical battle.
>
>When Mumia Abu-Jamal walks free, we will truly have taken
>a big step toward building that new world workers sing
>about.
>
> - 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)
>
>
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