> WW News Service Digest #115 > > 1) Thousands hit U.S. trade schemes at OAS meeting > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) UNICEF on child poverty: U.S. worse than 27 other countries > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Cuba is catching up to U.S. in healthy life span > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Family, comrades, co-workers say farewell to Key Martin > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the June 22, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >PROTESTS IN WINDSOR, ONT.: >THOUSANDS HIT U.S. TRADE SCHEMES AT OAS MEETING > >By Mark Marzolf >Detroit > >Thousands demonstrated international working-class >solidarity in protests at the U.S.-Canadian border here >June 4. Their target was the Organization of American >States General Assembly meetings that began the same day in >Windsor, Ontario. > >Labor unionists rallied with young activists in an attempt >to shut down the U.S.-dominated OAS meetings. The protests >focused on the organization's role in the economic >restructuring of the globe to serve the imperialist and >corporate interests of the United States. > >Five thousand demonstrators rallied around the convention >center, site of the OAS meeting in Windsor. At the same >time another 500 marched across the river in Detroit. > >The protests demanded that so-called free-trade policies >be abolished, and an end to the agenda the OAS pursues-- >undermining workers throughout the hemisphere. > >At the forefront of the OAS meetings was a discussion of >implementing the Free Trade Area of the Americas by the >year 2005. As the extension of NAFTA, the FTAA aims to >consolidate the entire Western Hemisphere into one "free >trade" zone through "economic unification." > >The FTAA--like similar World Trade Organization and >International Monetary Fund policies--is yet another >extension of U.S. imperialist domination. It declares war >on the poor and working class for the gains of corporate >capital, takes over the domestic markets of less >industrialized countries and destroys organized labor >forces. > >"The corporations have their global links with >institutions like the WTO, IMF and OAS in privatizing >everything, taking away our self-determination," said a >member of the Canadian Auto Workers. "As their agendas >increase globally, so must ours. Workers must fight for >each other." > >The CAW joined members of the U.S. and Canadian steel >workers' unions, Service Employees, Ontario public >employees, locked-out Detroit newspaper workers, and many >other unions in the battle against the OAS and the >imposition of the FTAA. > >Drug trafficking was also listed as a topic on the agenda >of the OAS meetings in Windsor. In reality the United >States has used this as a cover for the Pentagon to >militarize regions of Latin America. In particular >Washington has used the pretext of a "drug war" to >intervene in what is really a war to crush the growing >armed popular insurgency in Colombia. > >`WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS!' > >For weeks before the OAS meetings, newspapers ran scare >articles on "security issues" about the upcoming protests. >They invoked the Battle of Seattle, as though the >protesters there had unleashed violence on the police. > >In fact, as is clear from documentary footage and >eyewitness accounts, the violence in Seattle was a riot by >the forces of the state against demonstrators. > >But law-enforcement agents used violence-baiting about the >Seattle protests as an excuse to set the stage for their >own repressive occupation of the U.S.-Canada border. They >suspended the basic constitutional rights of anti-OAS >protesters. > >Anti-OAS protesters were met with what residents and >reporters from the two cities were calling a police state. > >Thousands of cops came from all over Ontario to beef up >the Windsor police force. In Detroit the police outnumbered >demonstrators four to one. The city of Detroit spent over >$6 million on riot training and police overtime. > >Police helicopters and boats buzzed the border between >Detroit and Windsor, monitoring the thousands of >demonstrators. Field units of police were on every corner >in downtown Windsor, creating an imposing presence in >military-style outfitting and armored vehicles. > >Police in riot gear flanked the perimeters of the eight- >foot-high fenced-in zone where delegates were meeting. >Concrete barriers and steel fences cloistered the OAS >delegates from the protesters, creating a fortress within >which they could conduct their agenda. > >Police pepper-sprayed and clubbed several demonstrators >with batons for attempting to hang a banner on the steel >fence. > >Demonstrators marched through the heavily police-patrolled >area, chanting in unison: "Whose streets? Our streets!" > >Representatives from the International Action Center >joined the lead of the march carrying a banner demanding: >"U.S. hands off Colombia! Money for jobs and human needs, >not the Pentagon!" > >Twenty people were arrested for wearing masks--which the >city council had outlawed just days before the protest. The >law also banned hoods, squirt bottles, and any container >used for transporting fuel--all in an effort to "assure >that Detroit does not become another Seattle," one city >council member claimed. > >Preparations to shut down the 2001 OAS conference in >Quebec are already in the organizing stages. > >Christina Polsinelli of the International Action Center >also contributed to this article. > > - 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: <00c901bfdb1f$6654dd10$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] UNICEF on child poverty: U.S. worse than 27 other countries >Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 21:24:09 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the June 22, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >UNICEF ON CHILD POVERTY: U.S. WORSE THAN 27 OTHER COUNTRIES > >By Gary Wilson > >In the world's wealthiest countries, 47 million children >are so poor that their health and well-being are in danger. >This is the conclusion of a report released June 13 by the >United Nations Children's Fund. > >That's one in six children in the 29 richest countries of >the world. > >Of all the richest countries, the United States comes >close to being the worst for children. Only Mexico--an >oppressed country with a fraction of the wealth of the >United States--has a higher percentage of children living >in poverty, according to the UNICEF report. > >The report says there are 13.5 million children living in >poverty in the United States--that's fully one-third of all >the poor children in the wealthiest countries. > >The report questions the assumption that child poverty is >linked to the overall strength of the economy. > >The United States has booming profits for the top >corporations and bankers, with relatively high employment >levels. However, the United States has virtually eliminated >its "social safety net" and does not have a guaranteed >income for those who cannot get jobs or can't work. > >There is a clear link between child poverty and households >where no adults have an income, the report says. Only >Britain ranks worse than the United States in this regard. > >The UNICEF study is another indicator of the extremes >between the rich and the poor that have built up in the >United States. > >The media hype about the booming economy has emphasized >how the rich have gotten richer. The other side of this >boom is that the poor have gotten really poorer. > >The UNICEF report does not break down the U.S. poverty >figures by nationality. However, a 1997 Children's Defense >Fund report showed that one of every two African American >children lives in poverty, as do 30 percent of all Latino >children in this country. > >POVERTY CAN BE ELIMINATED > >Child poverty could be virtually eliminated by >establishing a guaranteed income for all. > >There are more than enough funds in the U.S. budget to do >this. > >Add to this a program to build schools instead of jails, >provide child care for all who need it, and raise the >minimum wage to a union wage, and there would be no crisis >of child poverty. > >However, the funds that could be used for this have been >diverted to build up the military and engage in war. > >The 78-day war against Yugoslavia cost the U.S. people at >least $4 billion, according to the Center for Strategic and >Budgetary Assessments. These funds were directly diverted >from essential domestic social programs. And yet they could >have virtually eliminated child poverty. > >The U.S. government has the biggest military in the world- >-bigger than the next 16 countries combined. The United >States has bases in over 100 countries around the world. >When it comes to military spending, there are almost no >limits. > >Now President Bill Clinton is selling a new multi-billion- >dollar "missile shield" plan that is a giveaway to the >military. Some have called it a welfare program for the >military-industrial complex. > >Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore supports >Clinton's missile shield. Republican candidate George W. >Bush supports a similar plan. Neither has an answer to >child poverty. > >The military-industrial complex continues to call the >shots in the bought-and-paid-for presidential elections in >the United States. > >Capitalism has created the painful paradox of poverty amid >enormous wealth. It takes going outside the capitalist >political parties to fight for any real 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) > > > >Message-ID: <00cf01bfdb1f$7a4f4df0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Cuba is catching up to U.S. in healthy life span >Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 21:24:43 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the June 22, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REPORT: > >CUBA IS CATCHING UP TO >U.S. IN HEALTHY LIFE SPAN > >By Scott Scheffer > >An infant born in Cuba today will more than likely live a >longer healthy life--68.4 years--than an infant born in a >poor neighborhood in the United States, according to a June >4 World Health Organization news release. > >Cuba has the best rating in all Latin America, the release >notes, "despite decades of a U.S. trade embargo." > >Vietnam, another socialist country that has suffered great >damage from the United States, "has been improving >dramatically in health profiles and healthy life >expectancy." > >The People's Republic of China, too, was commended for "a >very impressive performance." > >But the capitalist United States-the richest country in >the world--fell behind 23 other countries in healthy life >expectancy. > >The release cited the results of a study that uses a new >system to examine the state of health of each country's >population. Called Disability Adjusted Life Expectancy, it >calculates the expected years of a person's healthy life, >as opposed to just life expectancy. > >Japan has the highest rating: 74.5 years. The next nine on >the list are European countries. > >The WHO says the study revealed a wider gap between >developing countries and rich industrialized countries than >was expected. Generally speaking, the statistics showed a >correlation between healthy life expectancy and how poor or >rich a country is. > >Therefore, the failure of the United States to be rated in >the top 10 is described as "one of the major surprises" of >the WHO study. It is ranked 24th. > >WHAT GOOD IS TECHNOLOGY IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT? > >According to Dr. Christopher Murray, director of WHO's >Global Program on Evidence for Health Policy, the wide gap >between rich and poor people's access to health care has >pulled the U.S. average way down. > >"The reason it is 24th is that there are groups that have >been left out of the advances in health we have seen for >most of the U.S. population for the last two or three >decades," says Murray. > >The WHO release summarizing the study says more pointedly, >"Some groups, such as Native Americans, rural African >Americans and the inner city poor, have extremely poor >health, more characteristic of a poor developing country >rather than a rich industrialized one." > >The fact that the people of Cuba, China and Vietnam fare >as well as--or in the case of Cuba better than--the poor >people of the United States affirms that access to health >care is a more important factor in health and longevity >than the size of a country's economy. All three countries >have made it a priority to spread good health the way U.S. >capitalism spreads fast-food restaurants. > >The United States falls way behind even other rich >capitalist countries. They have all instituted varying >forms of national health care under the pressure of large, >organized working-class movements, many of these movements >led for decades by socialists and communists. > >Here, however, the health-care industry is dominated by >giant insurance/hospital corporations. They defeated even >the weak health-care initiative put forth in the first >Clinton administration. > >If apologists for U.S. capitalism feel stung by the >results of this report, more recent news will surely rub >some salt in their wounds. The study's results were made >public only days after a U.S. Congressional Black Caucus >delegation visited Havana. > >There they were told by President Fidel Castro that Cuba >would offer free medical training to U.S. students willing >to commit to be physicians in poor neighborhoods back home. > >The latest WHO bulletin announces the inaugural conference >of the International Society for Equity in Health. This >conference will be held in Havana on June 29-30, and it is >another indicator of how serious Cuba is about promoting >health care. > >The fact that three socialist countries, all struggling >against aggression by U.S. imperialism, have provided >health care for their populations in such an impressive way >gives working-class and oppressed people hope. It heralds a >day when people's ownership along with centralized planning >will be the basis for wiping out hunger and disease >worldwide. > > - 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: <00d501bfdb1f$8d2f2710$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Family, comrades, co-workers say farewell to Key Martin >Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 21:25:14 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the June 22, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >FAMILY, COMRADES, CO-WORKERS SAY FAREWELL TO KEY MARTIN > >By Deirdre Griswold >New York > >With so much of the world seething under the heavy burden >of U.S. imperialist oppression, the progressive movement >here can ill afford the loss of even one person. And when >that person is as tireless and revolutionary as Key Martin >was, the loss is nearly unbearable. > >Martin died in March at the age of 56. In the weeks >following, his comrades in the struggle and co-workers met >in several cities to mourn his loss. An obituary >summarizing his political life appeared in this newspaper >at that time. > >On June 11, the organizations he had helped to build-- >Workers World Party, Peoples Video Network, and the Inter >national Action Center--joined by Work fairness, Ha�ti >Progr�s, the Workers Justice Committee (Detroit) and >members of Key's family, met here at the Fashion Institute >of Technology in an extraordinary testimonial to his life. > >As speaker after speaker told of his generosity, his >militancy and his enthusiasm for the class struggle, a >picture emerged of what a communist aims to be. Key was >loved by his fellow workers at the Time-Life chapter of the >Newspaper Guild. Several of them reminisced about how, as >chapter chairperson, he had relished fighting the bosses >and had won many benefits for the workers. > >Other trade unionists who had worked with Key recalled his >militant support in both Detroit and New York for striking >Detroit newspaper workers, who are still fighting to get >their jobs back. One AFSCME local presented a check for >$500 to a memorial fund to benefit the Peoples Video >Network, which Key had founded, so that the documentary he >had begun on the life of martyred South African Communist >leader Chris Hani could be completed. > >Key Martin was a member of Workers World Party for over 35 >years, having joined its action arm, Youth Against War & >Fascism, in the early 1960s. As each speaker added a piece >to the mosaic of his life, it was clear that there wasn't a >campaign or struggle carried out by the party that Key did >not contribute to--as organizer, street tactician, >videographer and militant. He also initiated quite a few >projects of his own. > >In the last year, he had been to Seattle for the World >Trade Organization protests, had protested police murders >on the streets of New York in the Amadou Diallo and Patrick >Dorismond cases, had gone to South Africa to gather >material about Chris Hani and about the AIDS epidemic, and >had shown innumerable kindnesses to the people around him, >despite chronic health problems. > >Many speakers told of Key's devotion to his daughter, >Tamara, who had been at his side at union negotiations and >picket lines since the days when he carried her in a >backpack, and of her older brother and sister, Alejandro >and Evelyn. Poised and warm despite the emotional occasion, >Tamara Martin spoke of her father with affection, humor and >insight. > >Despite Key's many years of political activity, it seemed >that he only grew younger as time went by. As a leading >member of a party with a keen analysis of international >events, he never buried himself in provincial matters but >was well aware of the counter-revolutionary setbacks in the >USSR and Eastern Europe. Never for a moment, however, did >this sap his energies or his cheerful enthusiasm. His >confidence in the victory of the worldwide working class >over capitalist slavery grew with his own involvement in >the struggle. > >Johnnie Stevens, Key's close collaborator in PVN, helped >prepare a video on his work that was shown at the memorial. >Those wishing to contribute to the Key Martin Memorial Fund >can contact the Peoples Video Network at 39 West 14th St., >New York, NY 10011, (212) 633-6646. > > - 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] ___________________________________
