>According to first-hand accounts posted on the Internet, >protesters continued to pour into the streets around the >summit all day, despite rough weather conditions, including >a morning downpour, bitter cold and high winds. > >Highly-organized affinity groups were deployed to block all >hotel entrances. They held their ground. Police were unable >to gain any strategic edge over the huge crowds for most of >the first day. > >The cops used a variety of tactics to test the >demonstrators' resolve. > >For example, they tried wedging through the human blockades >with horses, Hummer jeeps and densely packed squads of >police on foot. But to no avail. > >On Sept. 12, the police mounted a new offensive. They set up >a network of virtually impenetrable steel mesh barricades >from which they launched repeated attacks against >protesters. > >Shortly before mega-billionaire and Microsoft Chair Bill >Gates was slated to speak at the Crown Casino, 500 cops >smashed through a human chain of activists that had >blockaded WEF delegates. Protesters were trampled by riot- >gear-clad cops on horseback. > >Dozens were seriously injured. At least 19 were >hospitalized. > >As the third day of actions got underway Aug. 13, reports >began to come over the Internet about labor- and women's >group-led rallies and marches. > >WHAT IS WEF? > >Like other targets of recent international protest such as >the WTO, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the WEF >promotes economic and social policies that benefit the >world's billionaires at the expense of the working class, >poor and oppressed nations. > >The small class of capitalist billionaires--along with their >political servants in the imperialist governments and pro- >capitalist academics and "experts"--huddle together at >meetings in expensive hotels to scheme about how they can >best soak the workers and peasants in the interests of >generating bigger profits. > >Of the 1,008 members of the WEF representing 69 countries, >228 are from the United States. Only 258 WEF members are >from the African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern >nations combined. But those countries make up the vast >majority of the world's population. > >The Melbourne meeting is especially aimed at heightening the >exploitation of Asian and Pacific peoples. > >The WEF's annual world meeting is held in the remote village >of Davos, Switzerland--at a ski resort. Last February >several hundred protesters confronted the WEF there. > >VIOLENCE-BAITING > >State agencies and the big-business media in Melbourne >carried out a weeks-long violence-baiting campaign against >anti-capitalist protesters before the summit. The "official" >press accounts of Sept. 11 and 12 completely contradict many >eyewitness accounts of cop brutality. > >Indymedia.org--an independent media Web site that carries >extensive coverage of international protests against >imperialist globalization--reported Sept. 12 that a police >press release stated, "Despite being pelted with eggs, >bottles and a variety of other objects, police used the >minimal force necessary to allow the delegates safe >passage." > >The progressive Web site commented: "...IndyMedia >representatives who were on the scene at the time saw no >eggs or 'other objects' thrown. The police used unnecessary >force both this morning at 8 a.m. and this evening at 7.30 >p.m. Neither of the two riot police advances were preceded >by any warnings to the protesters. > >"This morning 500 police outnumbered 150 protesters. This >evening 700 protesters were again outnumbered by more than >1,500 police, including mounted officers, riot squad >equipped with batons and canines. > >"The attacks came without warning and panicked the >protesters, who scattered to avoid the hooves of horses and >batons, fists and feet of riot police. Nineteen people have >been confirmed hospitalized. Many more suffer from shock. > >"The mainstream media is depicting protesters as violent and >antagonistic where it has been demonstrated that it is >indeed undisciplined police who are perpetuating any >violence at the Casino." > >Indigenous people, labor unions and others plan to continue >the spirit of resistance with mass protests at the Summer >Olympics in Sydney starting Sept. 15. > >IndyMedia is working to document the police abuse and is >urging anyone who has video footage of the brutality to >contact them by e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >- 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, 14 Sep 2000 00:12:06 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable >Subject: [WW] Harlem Turns out for Cuban Leader >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 21, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >NOW AS IN 1960: HARLEM TURNS OUT FOR CUBAN LEADER > >By Deirdre Griswold >New York > >Forty years after his first visit to Harlem as head of an >independent and revolutionary Cuba, Fidel Castro returned >here Sept. 8 to speak for over four hours to a crowd charged >with electricity. This time the venue was not the Hotel >Theresa on 125th Street but Riverside Church on 120th >Street. Some 2,400 people filled the vast, vaulted nave plus >an overflow auditorium, while hundreds more listened to >loudspeakers placed outside. > >The majority Black and Latino crowd had started lining up >for seats in mid-afternoon, but they stayed until after 2:15 >a.m. That's when the Cuban president finished his address, >full of pep, with the words "Buenos d=EDas"--Good morning. For >over four hours he had talked about the growing inequality >in the world, especially affecting Africa and Latin America, >and about the great contributions little Cuba has made to >struggling countries in providing medicine, education and >soldiers to fight fascism and apartheid. > >The world has changed in these 40 years, but the Cuban >leader's message has not. It is totally consistent with what >he told the Cuban people on Sept. 29, 1960, when he made a >speech in Havana reporting on his first trip to the U.S. >What he said then describes the situation today. > >"We must make an effort even to imagine the campaign that is >being waged systematically against Cuba by all the >magazines, newspapers, radios and television stations" in >the U.S., said Castro at that time. "Yet the Cubans, the >Dominicans, the Puerto Ricans, the Black people of Harlem, >and the Latin Americans in general, remain firm. They are >the groups most exploited and oppressed by imperialism in >its own territory. It is very moving. > >"From the time our delegation began traveling through >Harlem, from the instant a Black person saw us, he began to >wave to us in greeting. In the very heart of the empire >there are 20 million Black people, oppressed and exploited. >Their aspirations cannot be satisfied with a fistful of >dollars, it is a very much more difficult problem, because >their aspirations can only be satisfied by justice." > >Forty years later, his words sound prophetic. The income gap >is greater than ever. More African Americans, Latinos, >Native people and poor whites are in jail than ever. There >are daily accounts of police brutality against people of >color. The cry of the anti-racist movement is "No justice, >no peace!" > >CONCERN ABOUT SHAKA AND MUMIA > >Castro is in tune with this movement. He brought the crowd >to their feet when he mentioned Shaka Sankofa, a prison >activist executed in Texas after Gov. George W. Bush refused >to stop what a worldwide movement calls a racist legal >lynching. > >The audience cheered even louder when the Cuban president >went on to talk about Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black journalist on >death row in Pennsylvania. Castro described how Abu-Jamal >has become known throughout the island since U.S. activists >and experts appeared on Cuban television in several round- >table discussions on the racist injustice system in the >United States. > >Several of those round-table participants were in the >audience at Riverside Church, including Monica Moorehead of >Millions for Mumia, Abu-Jamal's attorney Leonard Weinglass, >law professor and attorney Lenox Hinds, and Gloria La Riva >of International Peace for Cuba Appeal. > >Scores of community and activist groups, including >progressives from many parts of the world, had organized >their members and friends to pack Riverside Church for the >historic event. Tickets had to be obtained in advance >because of strict security procedures. > >When the Rev. Lucius Walker of Pastors for Peace >congratulated Castro on his recent 74th birthday, the Cuban >president quipped that he was lucky to have lived this long-- >a reference to the many CIA attempts on his life. The >audience laughed along with him, but everyone knew it was >not a joking matter and that his security had to be taken >very seriously. > >Castro read for the audience a description he had written of >his brief encounter with Bill Clinton at the United Nations-- >the handshake that has been analyzed and dissected ad >infinitum by the corporate press. Clinton was in a narrow >hall shaking hands with all the world leaders as they >passed. "I couldn't run away," said Castro. "In two minutes >or less, I arrived at the place where he was standing. I >stopped for a second, and with great dignity and courtesy we >shook hands. He did exactly the same thing. It would have >been rude for me to act differently. It all lasted for 20 >seconds." > >Taking off his glasses, the Cuban leader then looked >straight at the audience and said that no one representing >the people of Cuba would ever go begging to another power. > >While the program was kept short in anticipation of one of >the sweeping, educational expositions Fidel Castro is famous >for, several key personages in the Cuba solidarity movement >made brief interventions. > >MANY GROUPS JOIN IN WELCOME > >Luis Miranda of Casa de las Americas welcomed the >"comandante" on behalf of Cubans in the U.S. who support the >revolution. > >Teresa Gutierrez of the International Action Center joined >Reverend Walker in asking the audience to respond to a >series of questions, such as "What head of state sent >thousands of doctors to Africa?" The audience roared back >"Fidel" in recognition of his forceful contributions to >oppressed nations. Gutierrez and Walker had led the campaign >to let Elian Gonzalez go back home to Cuba. > >Two members of Congress--Maxine Waters of Los Angeles and >Jose Serrano of the Bronx--helped welcome Castro and spoke >out against anti-Cuban U.S. laws. > >The meeting was opened by the rector of Riverside Church, >Rev. James Forbes. Rosemari Mealy of radio station WBAI--a >long-time supporter of Cuba, a participant in the round >table on Mumia, and an organizer of the New York Welcoming >Committee--chaired the meeting with warmth and skill. > >- 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, 14 Sep 2000 00:12:06 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Spies, Lies and U.S. - China Relations >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 21, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >EDITORIAL: SPIES, LIES AND U.S. - CHINA RELATIONS > >fter holding physicist Wen Ho Lee in shackles for nine >months and refusing to let him speak his mother tongue, the >U.S. Justice Department made a sudden reversal and admitted >they had no evidence to prove Lee was a spy. > >The flimsy case and the court's brutal handling of Lee >succeeded in arousing anger and resistance among his fellow >scientists and within the Asian community here. People were >furious at the obvious racial discrimination. Scientists of >Asian descent were refusing jobs on military projects. > >But in a case of this political weight, the lack of >evidence, the exposure of bias, even the growing resistance >among Lee's colleagues, are not enough to explain the >government's U-turn. Similar developments did nothing to >stop the execution of Shaka Sankofa in Texas last June. > >Nor, in what is perhaps a more nearly analogous case, did it >stop the U.S. government at the onset of the anti-USSR Cold >War from framing Ethel Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg. > >That's just the case some U.S. prosecutors had in mind, it >seems. As a report in the Sept. 12 New York Times mentions, >"Some government investigators even suggested that once it >was fully understood, Mr. Lee's role was comparable to that >of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed as Soviet >spies in 1953." > >What the Lee case was about goes far beyond the fate of this >individual scientist, who has been abused by those he had >given the benefits of his talents and thinking. > >At the center of the case is the class conflict between the >imperialist United States and the socialist People's >Republic of China. Equally at the center is a struggle >within U.S. ruling-class circles about how to conduct this >class war. > >A section of that class has been content to continue to >expand economic ties between imperialism and China and to >continually increase pressure to open up the Chinese economy >to capitalism and imperialist penetration. In the short run, >this brings profits to U.S. capitalists. In the long run, it >aims at "soft" counter-revolution and dissolving the unified >Chinese state--much as happened with the Soviet Union. > >The ideas of another section of the ruling class can be seen >in the writings and speeches of those like George W. Bush's >advisor Paul Wolfowitz and former U.S. Ambassador to China >under President George Bush, James Lilley. > >Lilley was first appointed National Intelligence Officer for >China in 1975--that is, the top U.S. spymaster against >China. In an op-ed article in the New York Times Sept. 12, >Lilley writes that "we must not damage our national security >by painting a benign picture of China's espionage >techniques." > >But these forces don't limit their role to talking and >writing. They also carry out their China policy by bombing >the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, lobbying to build and >install anti-ballistic missile shields that give the >Pentagon a first-strike potential against China, and putting >victims like Wen Ho Lee on trial. > >The sudden reversal, then, is an expression of this inner >ruling-class conflict over strategy. It will undoubtedly >continue regarding Lee's case and on other fronts. > >Pro-socialist forces within the United States have an >obligation within their abilities both to defend the gains >of the Chinese Revolution and to defend China against >assault from this viciously aggressive wing of the U.S. >ruling class. That means battling against "Star Wars" >schemes, exposing the lies and slander against China, and >exposing the hypocrisy and injustice of cases like those >against Lee. > >- 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, 14 Sep 2000 00:12:04 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Selma Elects First Black Mayor >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 21, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >SELMA ELECTS FIRST BLACK MAYOR: "JOE'S GOTTA GO!" >COMMUNITY SAYS > >By Dianne Mathiowetz > >Jubilation spread quickly through the streets of Selma, >Ala., on the night of Sept. 12, as the news of James Perkins >Jr.'s election victory filled the air. An impromptu caravan >of cars paraded up and down main street, horns blaring. >Hundreds packed Perkins' headquarters to celebrate. > >Selma, site of "Bloody Sunday"--the day in 1965 when >hundreds of civil-rights marchers were viciously beaten >while crossing the Edmond Pettus Bridge during a voting- >rights march to Montgomery--has elected its first African >American mayor. > >The passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is credited to the >heroic women and men who refused to bow to the brutal >attacks in Selma and pressed on with the struggle. > >Selma's mayor in those days was Joe Smitherman. His >reputation as a racist is forever sealed by his televised >reference to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. using a racial slur. > >Smitherman was the voice of the arch-segregationists who >defended and promoted the use of violence and intimidation >against those who challenged the racist status quo. > >As mayor, Smitherman stalled and prevented by any and all >means the registering of African American voters. During one >attempt by civil-rights workers to register voters at the >local courthouse, the Selma police chief struck the Rev. >C.T. Vivian to the ground on the courthouse steps. >Smitherman himself stood in the courthouse's doorway to >block their entrance. > >Thirty-seven years later, Smitherman was still the mayor of >Selma. While in 1965 there were fewer than 300 registered >Black voters in the city, today they number about 9,000, >roughly 60 percent of the registered voters. > >Alabama voting-rights activists charged Smitherman with >engaging in vote fraud for years. Despite signed affidavits >from voters stating that the mayor's office forged their >signatures on absentee ballots or bought their votes, state >and federal officials have taken no action against him. > >Polling places still turn away Black voters. Their locations >and hours of operation change unexpectedly. Votes are >routinely bought and the number of absentee ballots is >astronomical, say members of Selma's "Joe's Gotta Go" >campaign. > >This grassroots effort to bring electoral democracy to Selma >was galvanized by the 1996 mayoral race, when Perkins, an >African American businessperson, lost to Smitherman by just >325 votes. > >SEGREGATIONIST CHALLENGED > >On Aug. 22 of this year, Smitherman faced two challengers: >Perkins and Yusef Salaam. The vote count was 4,345 for >Smitherman, 4,065 for Perkins and 1,019 for Salaam, forcing >the first-ever runoff election in Selma. > >Smitherman got 1,000 absentee votes in the election. The >U.S. Justice Department refuses to investigate despite pleas >from voters. > >The "Joe's Gotta Go" campaign redoubled its efforts after >the government denied it official recourse. The group called >for election monitors and international observers to come to >Selma for the Sept. 12 runoff vote. > >The critically important character of the struggle to win >voting rights in Selma was made nakedly clear Aug. 27 when >cars belonging to two "Joe's Gotta Go" activists were >firebombed outside the group's office. > >Leaflets headlined "R.I.P.," targeting campaign leader Rose >Sanders, have been distributed around the town. Campaign >members have received threatening phone calls and have been >vilified by the mayor's supporters. > >Perkins declared to his overjoyed audience that his victory >in the Sept. 12 runoff was "a victory over fear." > >- 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 _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. 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