>Underscoring worries about Serbia and Montenegro, the >Pentagon yesterday began a global shift of forces to bolster >the U.S. military presence in the Balkans. A carrier battle >group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln left Thai waters ahead >of schedule and headed toward the Persian Gulf, which will >free up another carrier group, led by the USS George >Washington, for movement to the Adriatic Sea, Defense >Department officials said. > >It's not the first time > >The New York Times, March 31, 1997 (Late Edition - Final) > >Political Meddling by >Outsiders: Not New for U.S. > >By John M. Broder > >Members of both political parties express horror at >accusations that the Chinese may have tried to use covert >campaign donations to influence American policy, but the >United States has long meddled in other nations' internal >affairs. > >Congress routinely appropriates tens of millions of dollars >in covert and overt money to use in influencing domestic >politics abroad. > >The National Endowment for Democracy, created 15 years ago >to do in the open what the Central Intelligence Agency has >done surreptitiously for decades, spends $30 million a year >to support things like political parties, labor unions, >dissident movements and the news media in dozens of >countries, including China. > >The endowment has financed unions in France, Paraguay, the >Philippines and Panama. In the mid-1980s, it provided $5 >million to Polish �migr�s to keep the Solidarity movement >alive. It has underwritten moderate political parties in >Portugal, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Northern Ireland. It >provided a $400,000 grant for political groups in >Czechoslovakia that backed the election of Vaclav Havel as >president in 1990. For the Nicaraguan election of 1990, it >provided more than $3 million in "technical" assistance, >some of which was used to bolster Violeta Barrios de >Chamorro, the presidential candidate favored by the United >States. > >- 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: <009201c02905$24c46580$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Class struggle, parties & elections >Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 00:32:43 -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 >------------------------- > >Editorial > >CLASS STRUGGLE, PARTIES & ELECTIONS > >The attempt by the United States and its imperialist allies >to manipulate Yugoslavia's elections and steal that nation's >independence has raised once again the relationship between >electoral politics, political parties and class struggle. > >During the Soviet Union's existence, it was common for >imperialist politicians and pundits to insist that their >main complaint about communism was that it was a "one-party >system" and thus not democratic. They claimed that if the >socialist states allowed political parties--especially >capitalist parties--to contest for office, relations could >be friendlier. > >Like the rest of imperialist propaganda, this was a lie. The >truth was that the capitalists were waging a merciless class >war against the socialist states. They were trying to regain >what they saw as their "right" to exploit, that is, to rob >the workers. Armies, political parties, media, spy >organizations, even churches and aid groups were instruments >of the capitalists in that class war. > >In their own backyard, the imperialists scorned democratic >rights. When a democratic institution threatened the >fundamental interests of the imperialists, they considered >it a valid target. For example, in 1970 a pro-socialist >government came into office in Chile, led by President >Salvador Allende. Washington saw this Socialist Party >government as a threat, not only to the profits of ITT and >the big copper companies, but to the U.S. anti-socialist >strategy worldwide. > >After three years of U.S.-led and financed destabilization >programs, economic sabotage and conspiracy with the Chilean >armed forces, Washing ton and its agents succeeded in >overthrowing the Allende government and destroying democracy >in Chile. > >When socialist or revolutionary governments allowed pro- >capitalist parties the right to organize and contest >elections, it was no guarantee that this government would be >free from other, more openly aggressive imperialist >pressure. > >>From 1979 to 1990 the Nicaraguan Sandinistas allowed >bourgeois parties to contest elections, and had beaten them >fairly. Still, the United States financed and armed >Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries during that whole period >to drain the lifeblood of the nation. Finally a war-weary >populace voted out the Sandinistas and voted in a U.S.- >financed puppet. > >Yugoslavia offers perhaps the most obvious example. For over >a decade now not one or two but dozens of openly capitalist-- >even monarchist--parties have organized and contested >elections in Yugoslavia, representing every nationality and >every nuance of political thought. Compared to the United >States, where two big capitalist parties with virtually >identical programs fight over the spoils of governing, there >has been a rich political life in that Balkan country. > >Yet this opening to formal bourgeois democracy did not save >Yugoslavia from imperialist sabotage, destabilization, >military threats and finally an all-out military attack, all >leading to this latest assault using the elections as a >weapon against a people. > >The working class and progressive movement, especially in >the United States, should keep this in mind not only as this >vicious struggle unfolds against Yugoslavia, but also as >imperialist demands are made against Cuba, China, north >Korea and Vietnam. To defend the gains made for the workers >and toilers of these countries, to defend the very >independence of these countries against imperialism, the >ruling parties have every right to refuse to allow their >enemies to organize. Indeed, they have the duty to refuse >them. > >- 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: <009a01c02905$8b36e5e0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Thousands in Prague say: 'Smash the IMF' >Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 00:35:35 -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 >------------------------- > >Tanks, tear gas can't stop protests > >THOUSANDS IN PRAGE SAY: 'SMASH THE IMF' > >By Bill Dorr >Prague, Czech Republic > >They came to wreck and destroy. From Washington and Wall >Street, Frankfurt, Tokyo, the Bourse in Paris and the City >of London, silk-suited bankers, financiers and economists >descended on this beautiful Central European city to consort >with and dictate to finance ministers from over 100 >countries at the annual meeting of the World Bank and the >International Monetary Fund. > >Behind the bankers' smooth professions of concern for the 2 >billion people on this planet who go to bed hungry was an >ill-concealed hidden agenda--cut wages, raise prices, shut >down plants, schools and hospitals, eliminate jobs. And make >sure that interest payments continue to flow from the >world's poorest countries to the world's richest banks. > >But these global economic tyrants could not carry out their >agenda in peace or silence. They had to hide behind armies >of police and walls of tanks as thousands of protesters from >all over Europe filled the cobblestoned streets of Prague >Sept. 26. > >The bankers had to travel to their hotels in special guarded >subway cars as activists fought armored police onbridges and >intersections leading to the Prague Congress Center. IMF-WB >delegates who dared travel the streets in chartered buses >found themselves surrounded by angry crowds. > >DEMOCRACY, CAPITALIST STYLE > >Czech President Vaclav Havel sent tanks into the streets of >Prague to intimidate the anti-corporate protesters. He sent >15,000 cops and 2,000 soldiers to gas them, beat them and >spray them with water cannon. Teams of FBI agents sent from >the United States supervised the Czech police forces. > >Havel, a former anti-communist dissident and darling of the >Western corporate media, is a longtime servant of capital. >After the overthrow of socialism in Czechoslovakia in 1989, >he rented out the wall of his home to Campbell's Soup for an >advertisement. > >Massive police force managed to stop three columns of >protesters from actually reaching the IMF-WB meeting. But it >failed to intimidate the marchers, who repeatedly charged >police lines in an effort to break through and confront the >bankers. On the Gottwald Bridge, demonstrators fought the >police hand to hand for hours amid chants of "No pasaran." > >'CAPITALISM, A SHAME AND DISGRACE' > >The rest of Prague belonged to the demonstrators, and anti- >capitalist slogans in a dozen languages echoed through its >winding streets: "Smash the IMF," "Cancel the debt" and >"Capitalism, a shame and disgrace." > >The Prague metro was shut down for a day so the bankers >could travel without being confronted, and many shuttered >businesses bore signs saying "Closed Until the IMF Protests >Are Over." > >Throughout the night, street fighting continued in and >around Wenceslas Square. Demonstrators surrounded the state >opera, forcing the IMF and World Bank to cancel a dinner >they had planned to hold there. > >MASS ARREST OF CZECH CITIZENS > >Late in the night, having failed to break the protests, >police began rounding up and arresting ordinary Czech >citizens on streets around the city center. While the >corporate media claimed the majority of protesters were >foreign, of the 422 people arrested, 392 were Czech >citizens. They are being held in the city of Plzen, far from >Prague, and have so far not been allowed to speak to >lawyers. > >Tuesday's battle was the climax of a week of protests. These >included a 3,000-strong Stop the IMF march on Sept. 23, >organized by the Communist Union of Youth and backed by >trade unions and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. > >That same day there was a 1,000-strong antifascist march to >counter a rally by the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Racist >skinheads who try and terrorize Roma and other people of >color found the tables turned as protesters chased them >through the streets. A few of the racists escaped unharmed. > >Most of the protesters who came to Prague were young, many >of them students, many of them teenagers. But there were >also construction workers from Greece, steelworkers from >Germany, railroad workers from France, public employees from >Britain and dock workers from Seattle. > >The contingents from Italy and Spain were especially large >and militant and took the front line in fighting the police. >Marchers from Germany and Scotland carried flags demanding >justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal. > >A delegation from the International Action Center in the >United States distributed a statement headlined "Abolish >NATO, the IMF's strike force!" It called the IMF and NATO >"partners in genocide" and demanded "U.S.-NATO Hands off >Yugoslavia." The statement also exposed the racist U.S. >prison system and urged international support for Abu-Jamal. > >Hundreds of Czechs joined the protests despite months of >hysterical violence-baiting by the government and media >aimed at turning the population against the protesters. >Eighty percent of the Czech Republic's media is owned by >foreign corporations. > >Members of the Czech Communist Youth Union and the Socialist >Youth of Slovakia marched behind a banner saying, "Stop the >dictatorship of the World Bank and the International >Monetary Fund." They chanted "Black and white, unite and >fight" and "Prague, Seattle, take it all the way, we will >expropriate capital." > >Marching with them was Mario, an 18-year-old Roma man from >Slovakia. "In the past 10 years everybody in Slovakia has >become poor, but the Roma are the most poor. Under socialism >most Roma people worked in heavy industry, but now we are 90- >percent unemployed. The government tries to make us >scapegoats, and there is a growing racist movement. We have >to fight back." > >Dragan, a 35-year-old Serbian construction worker, said he >would stand on the front lines of every demonstration. "I've >lived in Prague for nine years," he said. "People here now >have more freedom to travel abroad, but that's the only >thing that's better. Life has become much harder--there is >no social security. The Czech Republic is being walked like >a poodle by international monopolies and has been dragged >into the aggressive NATO alliance." > >He was particularly outraged at the campaign against >Yugoslavia. "It's all lies," he said. "I'm Serb but Croats, >Bosnians, Albanians are my brothers. We are a multi-ethnic >country. They call Milosevic a nationalist but all he wants >is an independent Yugoslavia." > >LABOR SUPPORTS PROTESTS > >At Saturday's rally Petr Simunek, president of the Trade >Union Association of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, explained >why his union supported the protests. "IMF and World Bank >policies have destroyed most of the social gains we had >under socialism and they want to take the rest. The biggest >blow is the destruction of heavy industry. > >"There is 10-percent unemployment in the Czech Republic >today but in industrial areas like north Moravia and north >Bohemia it is 25 and 30 percent. For those who are working, >prices and rents have gone up much faster than incomes. But >it is not only here. > >"Throughout the world 9,000 people are plunged into poverty >every day because of policies dictated by the World Bank and >International Monetary Fund." Simunek condemned U.S. and >European Union economic sanctions against Yugoslavia, Cuba, >Iraq, Libya, Sudan and north Korea. > >Also taking part in the protests or applauding from the >sidewalks were older Czech people who remembered the mass >labor demonstrations of 1948 that overthrew capitalism in >Czechoslovakia. > >Since 1989, when socialism was overthrown here and the >country divided in two, the Czech Republic has been held up >as a supposed "success story" of capitalism in East Europe. >It might seem that way in Prague, where there is a lot of >tourism and foreign investment. But since the economic crash >of 1998 much of the country has been plunged into poverty. > >A Czech worker from Plsen told Workers World how he now >works 120 hours a week to support his family. The extent of >the desperation here is shown by the fact that Prague has >become the center of prostitution in Europe. The World >Bank's own figures, released shortly before the meeting, >admitted a drastic rise in poverty and inequality throughout >East and Central Europe in the past five years. > >At press conferences and in media statements IMF and World >Bank officials decried the poverty they have helped cause >and threw around phrases like "humane investing." And some >of the protest organizers spoke of "reforming" the IMF and >World Bank. But as several protesters put it, "A tiger will >never become a vegetarian." > >The feelings of most of the protesters who spoke to WW were >summed up in a slogan chanted by young Czech Communists: >"Why are we here? Stop the IMF! What do we want? Smash the >IMF! What will we do? Unite and fight! What will we win? A >world for us!" > >[As of Sept. 27, protests are continuing in the streets of >Prague.] > >- 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. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
