>WHAT THE COLD WAR ACCOMPLISHED > >The most massive struggle against any country, short of an >outright war, has of course been the Cold War against the >Soviet Union. For decades the world was on the razor's edge >of a nuclear war as the U.S. initiated one doomsday weapon >system after another, all aimed at the USSR. Over a trillion >dollars was spent in the Reagan years alone in the effort to >overturn the USSR's planned economy and open up the Soviet >bloc to capitalist penetration. > >All this was supposedly to help the Soviet peoples and the >"captive nations" of Eastern Europe achieve freedom and the >good life. Of course, Hitler said the same thing when he >invaded the USSR in 1940. > >Czarist Russia had barely emerged from feudalism when the >regime was overthrown in a workers' revolution in 1917. >Nevertheless, the Soviet Union within a generation had built >a modern, industrial infrastructure despite its backward >origins and the vast destruction it suffered in World War >II. Because of its socialist planned economy, this country-- >which a generation before had been made up of feudal estates >drawing their wealth from starving and illiterate peasants-- >was the first to launch a space satellite and the first to >put a person in orbit. But it went bankrupt trying to keep >up with the U.S. in the arms race. > >BOUGHT ELECTIONS AND PROSTITUTION > >Today the USSR is no more. The various Soviet republics have >been split into small countries ruled not by idealistic >social reformers but by political allies of the ruthless new >capitalists, who themselves often got their start as >overseers for foreign capital. Private armies scramble over >control of what once were publicly owned resources. > >To make sure the Communist Party would not come back, the >U.S. poured billions of dollars into the election of Boris >Yeltsin. Then, as now in Yugoslavia, this open buying of the >vote, accompanied by dire threats, succeeded in stampeding >the electorate. Later, however, Yeltsin became so hated by >the Russian people that his popularity sank to 5 percent in >the polls--probably the lowest figure ever, anywhere, for a >sitting president. > >There is no hiding the social results of all this foreign >capitalist intervention. What once were free and universal >health-care and education systems are in smoking ruins. >Private schools and doctors cater to the capitalist elite. >Many communities have sunk to a subsistence-level existence, >as shown by catastrophic figures on lowered life expectancy >and a rise in preventable diseases like tuberculosis and >AIDS. > >Women have been thrown back into semi-slavery. The first to >be fired and last to be hired in the new "competitive" >economy, they sell their bodies rather than starve. >Prostitution is now the largest growth industry for women in >the eastern countries, and many are actually sold to foreign >sex-business entrepreneurs. > >But there's another side to this picture. Lucky Western >investors in "emerging markets" have realized 20 to 30 >percent annual returns on their money. A wealthy person in >New York or Los Angeles with enough capital to take >advantage of high-risk investments--risky because of the >political instability of these new regimes--can now enjoy a >palatial estate, perhaps even a private plane, because of >their "killings" in the stock market. > >The oil companies that have cased out the areas of the >former Soviet Union went into a feeding frenzy over the >Caspian Sea and its potential for offshore drilling. And >U.S. public relations firms now get to feature Russian >notables like Soviet "reformer" Mikhail Gorbachev in Taco >Bell commercials. How's that for progress? > >Countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America that had traded >with the Soviet Union on more equal terms than with the >imperialists, and that had received technical help and >education from the Soviet bloc, were also thrown into crisis >by the downfall of the USSR. Cuba, north Korea, Angola, >Mozambique, Vietnam and many more have gone through >excruciating economic readjustments in order to survive in a >unipolar world dominated by the U.S. > >Does anyone in the U.S. ruling establishment offer even one >word of regret for what they have done? Could communists in >the USSR have painted a bleaker picture of what would happen >if the capitalists took over? > >BLESSINGS DELIVERED BY GUNBOAT > >Closer to home, the countries of Latin America and the >Caribbean know the effects of U.S. interventions all too >well. Throughout the 20th century, Washington many times >resorted to gunboat diplomacy to enforce the exclusive >"right" it had established in the Monroe Doctrine to >dominate the Western Hemisphere. > >If U.S. intervention is a blessing, as its promoters claim, >then Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Guate mala, >Haiti, the little island of Grenada and other recipients of >Washington's kind attentions must surely have reached >paradise by now. They have been "blessed" so many times over >the last century. > >There is not room in this article to provide even minimal >information about the many U.S. interventions in Latin >America and the Caribbean. The list is far too long. >Fortunately, they have been chronicled by the authors cited >above, whose books are readily available. > >Highlights include the CIA overthrow of the Guatemalan >government in 1954, followed by 33 more years of U.S.- >sponsored death squad attacks on the people that left >200,000 Guatemalans dead, mostly Indigenous peasants. The >1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic by U.S. Marines to >prevent the election of a progressive figure. The contra war >against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The setting >up of death-squad governments in El Salvador that crushed >the popular opposition. The long occupation of Panama >followed by invasion in 1989. The invasion of Grenada in >1983 after the election of a leftist government. > >Perhaps wealthy tourists who jet into private enclaves in >these countries can see paradise in the beaches and >mountains. But let them go where the people live and the >squalor will quickly drive them back to their gated >compounds. > >Economic investment from abroad is limited to getting out >the raw materials and operating assembly industries in tax- >free zones where workers are paid pennies per hour and risk >their lives if they join unions. For the people, there are >open sewers, broken roads, dirt-floor shacks, little >education or health care, massive unemployment--no way out >except to try and get to the U.S. by any means to work at >sub-minimum wages. > >U.S. domination has brought nothing but misery and terror >for the vast majority of the people. That is why, despite >all the repression, revolutionary movements continue to rise >and fight both the national oligarchies and their U.S. >protectors. > >To project such a future for a capitalist Yugoslavia might >seem far-fetched. But so it seemed with the Soviet Union. >And now it has turned out to be true. > >Those fighting to retain national independence and state >control over the basic means of production in Yugoslavia are >trying to avoid this fate. They are looking for the most >effective ways of fighting back. Whatever they do, their >cause is just. They can say, as Fidel Castro told the court >in 1953 after he led a guerrilla attack on the Moncada >barracks, "History will absolve me." > >- 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: <008201c02904$dea49570$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Int'l observers condemn U.S./EU interference >Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 00:30:45 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 5, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >INT'L OBSERVERS CONDEMN >U.S./EU INTERFERENCE > >By John Catalinotto > >Two hundred and ten international observers from 54 >countries--including current and former parliamentarians, >representatives from political parties and organizations, as >well as scholars, journalists and activists--were in >Yugoslavia monitoring the elections. > >In a statement issued Sept. 26, they made it clear that they >had "had free, unobstructed access to the relevant >activities and particularly to the voting on the 24th [of >September] when observers visited polling stations in >different parts of Yugoslavia, including Montenegro and >Kosovo." They emphasized that, regarding the Yugoslav >authorities, a smooth and orderly election took place with >no intimidation of voters, "equal or superior to the ones in >their own countries." > >Their comments about the election process in Montenegro and >in Kosovo, as well as on interference from outside >Yugoslavia, are worth quoting: > >"In Montenegro, the 20 foreign observers witnessed an >overall atmosphere of intimidation of the voters, >originating from the government of Mr. Djukanovic [president >of Montenegro] which is boycotting the elections. Everywhere >there were huge billboards telling people not to vote. These >had the appearances of threats: 'Don't vote or else...' > >"Some of those who did vote, told the observers that they >felt voting was risky for them and could lead to the loss of >jobs and other forms of harassment, as the polling stations >were watched by the police and cameras not belonging to the >media were pointed at the citizens coming to vote. > >"At one poll Serbian refugees from Kosovo told the observers >that hundreds of them had been left off the voters' lists, >although they had the necessary documentation to be able to >vote. This situation was brought to the attention of the >Montenegrin Electoral Commission and a more detailed report >will be forwarded to the Federal Electoral Commission of >Yugoslavia. > >"The observers feel strongly that the so-called >'international community' has been abusive of Yugoslavia and >democratic principles, in declaring weeks ahead that the >election will be 'rigged' and heaping constant abuse at the >authorities in Yugoslavia who are trying to carry out a >complicated, multi-level election in stressful conditions. > >"This abuse has continued after the election, with leaders >of Western countries declaring only a few hours after the >election that Mr. Kustunica has won, as if they would have >had privileged access to the voting results! This leads us >to wonder whether if Mr. Kustunica in fact comes first, >whether his election will also be considered fraudulent, >because, after all, 'everybody knows' that the election was >rigged. > >"The observers believe that there has been undue >interference in the Yugoslavian election by the Western >powers, in particular by the United States, which has seen >fit to interfere to the tune of $77 million to various >opposition movements and organizations, including the >'independent' media. This is a shameful--and no doubt >illegal--intrusion into the affairs of a sovereign nation. >Also the attempts by the European Union to bribe Yugoslavian >voters to vote in a certain way in order to be "rewarded" >with the lifting of sanctions and other goodies, must be >condemned in the strongest possible terms." > >- 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: <008a01c02905$00e7cb20$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] In their own words >Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 00:31:43 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 5, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >IN THEIR OWN WORDS > >Following are excepts from news reports in the New York >Times and Washington Post detailing Washing ton's illegal >intervention in the Yugoslav elections. > >The New York Times, Sept. 20, 2000 > >Milosevic, Trailing in >Polls, Rails Against NATO > >By Steven Erlanger > >BELGRADE, Serbia, Sept. 19--In his race for re-election, >President Slobo dan Milosevic of Yugoslavia is running >against NATO and the United States, not against his >democratic opposition. > >He is not entirely mistaken to do so. The United States and >its European allies have made it clear that they want Mr. >Milosevic ousted, and they have spent tens of millions of >dollars trying to get it done. > >Portraying himself as the defender of Yugoslavia's >sovereignty against a hostile, hegemonic West led by >Washington, Mr. Milosevic and his government argue that >opposition leaders are merely the paid, traitorous tools of >enemies who are continuing their war against him by other >means. In March 1999, NATO began a 78-day bombing campaign >to drive Serbian forces out of Kosovo. > >The Yugoslav elections are on Sunday, but there has hardly >been a day since the bombing began that state television >news has not railed against "NATO aggressors." > >The money from the West is going to most of the institutions >that the government attacks for receiving it--sometimes in >direct aid, sometimes in indirect aid like computers and >broadcasting equipment, and sometimes in suitcases of cash >carried across the border between Yugoslavia and Hungary or >Serbia and Montenegro. > >Even before the Kosovo war, the United States was spending >up to $10 million a year to back opposition parties, >independent news media and other institutions opposed to Mr. >Milo sevic. The war itself cost billions of dollars. This >fiscal year, through Septem ber, the administration is >spending $25 million to support Serbian "democratization," >with an unknown amount of money spent covertly to help the >failed rallies of last year, which did not bring down Mr. >Milosevic, or to influence the current election. For next >year, the administration is requesting $41.5 million in open >aid to Serbian democratization, though Congress is likely to >cut that request. > >Independent journalists and broadcasters here have been told >by Amer ican aid officials "not to worry about how much >they're spending now," that plenty more is in the pipeline, >said one knowledgeable aid worker. Others in the opposition >complain that the Ameri cans are clumsy, sending e-mails >from "state.gov"--the State Department's address--summoning >people to impolitic meetings with American officials in >Budapest, Montenegro or Dubrovnik, Croatia. > >But there is little effort to disguise the fact that Western >money pays for much of the polling, advertising, printing >and other costs of the opposition political campaign. > >------------------ > >The Washington Post, Sept. 19, 2000 >(Final Edition) > >U.S. Funds Help Milosevic's Foes in Election Fight > >By John Lancaster, >Washington Post Staff Writer > >Charges of Chinese influence-buying in the 1996 U.S. >presidential campaign caused a political storm in Washington >that has yet to fully abate. By some measures, however, that >episode pales by comparison to American political >interference in Serbia, locus of a $77 million U.S. effort >to do with ballots what NATO bombs could not--get rid of >Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. > >In the run-up to national elections on Sept. 24, U.S. aid >officials and contractors are working to strengthen Serbia's >famously fractured democratic opposition. They have helped >train its organizers, equipped their offices with computers >and fax machines and provided opposition parties with >sophisticated voter surveys compiled by the same New York >firm that conducts polls for President Clinton. > >More generally, they have sought to foster what one aid >consultant calls "democracy with a small 'd'," funneling >support to student groups, labor unions, independent media >outlets, even Serbian heavy metal bands that stage street >concerts as part of a voter registration drive called "Rock >the Vote." > > _______________________________________________________ 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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