>countries. And we also know it's the big U.S. banks that >launder the drug money. > >But you and I are supposed to believe that Black youths are >somehow responsible for bringing drugs into this country. I >read an article that was written in the 1980s that said that >at that time the drug trade was worth more than $300 billion >a year. So you know it's worth a lot more than that by now. > >But you and I are supposed to believe that somehow, over >$300 billion a year is coming through the projects within >the Black communities of this country. That's absurd! It's >insanity! > >But, unfortunately, when this racial profiling and >stereotypical thinking starts to seep into the minds of our >working class--through fake cop shows and fabricated crime >statistics about Blacks and other people of color--this >becomes a real threat to our movement: It can divide us. > >Because this whole issue of racial profiling, just like all >the other racist policies, reinforces white supremacist >ideology that is rooted in capitalist society. That's why >it's imperative that white progressives come out in full >force against this policy. > >Ultimately the police, as a force of repression against the >majority, must be eradicated along with the whole capitalist >state--branch and root! > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <035401c02cdf$e6b00b80$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Protest hits corporate media control >Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 22:16:11 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 5, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >San Francisco > >PROTEST HITS CORPORATE MEDIA CONTROL > >Hundreds of people marched from San Francisco's United >Nations Plaza to Union Square Sept. 23 to protest the >National Association of Broadcasters convention and the >corporate monopolization of the airwaves. The NAB was the >main lobbying group that pushed the 1996 Telecommunications >Act through Congress. The Telecommunications Act allows >corporate broadcasting companies to own up to eight stations >per city. > >Another theme at today's protest was to challenge the >criminalization of microband, low-power radio stations that >pop up on radio dials across the country. At a rally before >the march, the Chicano theater group Teatro Campesino >described those stations as guerrilla media and an important >alternative voice in poor communities. > >Signs, banners and chants from the International Action >Center denounced the corporate media for distorting or >ignoring important issues, like the case of death-row >political activist Mumia Abu Jamal, escalating U.S. >intervention in Colombia and the deaths of 250 Iraqi >children each day due to the U.S./UN sanctions. > >--Story & photo by Bill Hackwell > >- 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: <035c01c02ce0$415ec440$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Havana youths denounce U.S. Cuban Adjustment Act >Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 22:18:34 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 5, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >While U.S. blesses hijackers > >YOUTHS DENOUNCE CUBAN ADJUSTMENT ACT > >By Gloria La Riva > >On Sept. 25, over 300,000 Cuban youths and workers rallied >in Havana to denounce the U.S. government's actions in >rewarding the air pirates who stole a Cuban aircraft. Those >who stole the plane risked the lives of the passengers, >including three children. For their illegal act, they were >granted permanent entry into the United States almost >immediately. > >A Cuban pilot, Angel Lenin Iglesias Hernandez, stole a >duster plane on Sept. 19 in the province of Pinar del Rio to >fly himself and nine other Cubans to the United States. >Using a ruse to deceive Cuban air traffic control and avoid >pursuit, he claimed that he was being hijacked. Iglesias >planned to fly to Florida. Instead the plane crashed into >the sea after running out of fuel. > >A greater tragedy was averted when a passing Panamanian-flag >cargo ship rescued the plane-wreck victims from >international waters. However, one of the Cubans--23-year- >old Yudel Puig Martinez--drowned when the plane crashed. The >other nine survived. > >According to U.S.-Cuba bilateral agreements against illegal >migration and hijacking, the U.S. government is legally >bound to prosecute or return those people responsible for >hijackings and smuggling. The first agreement between the >two countries to prevent hijacking was signed in 1972, and >the policy was reaffirmed in the September 1994 U.S.-Cuba >Migratory Accords. > >Instead the United States has harbored Cubans who have >committed these crimes against the island and refused to try >them. In doing so, Washington deliberately entices and >encourages further crimes of hijacking, human smuggling and >murder. > >For example, on Aug. 8, 1994, Leonel Macias Gonzalez >hijacked a Cuban boat with 26 Cubans aboard, and shot and >killed one of the boat's officers, Robert Aguiar Reyes. As >the boat neared U.S. waters the U.S. Coast Guard guided the >boat and passengers to Florida. > >Cuba demanded Macias' return for prosecution. Instead, a >U.S. immigration judge granted "asylum" to Macias. That was >his reward for committing murder and hijacking a boat. > >Similarly, in the latest air piracy, the U.S. government >declared two days after the incident that Iglesias and the >other adults committed "no hijacking" and will not be >prosecuted. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service >spokesperson Patricia Mancha said all nine surviving Cubans >will be paroled to the United States. > >U.S. HARBORS HIJACKERS >AND KIDNAPPERS > >Thanks to the 1996 U.S. federal law called the "Cuban >Adjustment Act," Cubans who arrive in this country illegally >are automatically considered "political exiles." They are >granted permanent residency after a year, along with >immediate work permits and social services. These Cuban >immigrants are granted luxuries and privileges not bestowed >on immigrants from any other country. > >The Cuban Adjustment Act is one of several U.S. laws meant >to destabilize Cuba, the only socialist country in the >Western Hemisphere. Since the Cuban Revolution triumphed in >1959, the United States has caused tremendous suffering to >the Cuban people using a brutal blockade. Then it has >cynically tried to portray Cuba as a country that people >"flee" because of political persecution. Hence the automatic >designation of Cuban immigrants as "political exiles" under >the Cuban Adjustment Act. > >The truth is that virtually all immigrants to the United >States, including Cubans, come for economic reasons. Yet >there are some unscrupulous Cubans who know that, if they >make it to the United States, they will be received with >open arms by the imperialist government and Miami right wing- >-especially if they make a claim of "political persecution." >They are willing to steal a boat or a plane, or even engage >in smuggling of Cubans to make a considerable profit as >well. > >That seems to be the case with the plane-wreck survivors. It >is interesting that the same thuggish gang that surrounded >Eli�n Gonz�lez during his captivity in Miami is now swooping >down like vultures on the families of the shipwrecked plane. >They need to recover some of their discredited image. In a >pitiful repeat, the Miami media made a big deal of the toys >that 6-year-old Andy Fuentes, one of the survivors, was >given on a shopping spree. > >CASTRO LEADS YOUNG MARCHERS > >Contrasting this odious scene in Miami were the spirited and >moving speeches at the Sept. 25 Havana rally, which began at >9 a.m. in front of the U.S. Interests Section. > >Cuban President Fidel Castro led the marchers to the U.S. >Interests Section, carrying flags and chanting slogans >against the Cuban Adjustment Act. > >The many youth speakers at the rally affirmed their >dedication to struggle for their homeland and socialism, and >to reject the "siren song" of U.S. imperialism. > >Irael Perez Gonzalez, an eighth grader, said, "We know that >[U.S.] imperialism carries out an aggressive, exploitative, >expansionist and inhuman policy which has been dedicated to >passing murderous laws against our country without regard >for the harm they cause, like the Torricelli law, the Helms- >Burton law, and the most murderous of all, the Cuban >Adjustment Act, or better said, the Law of Murder of Cubans, >which encourages illegal emigration, which offers benefits >to Cubans that are denied to other immigrants." > >Yanexis Zayes de la Fuente of the National Secretariat of >the Cuban Federation of Middle School Students said: "The >economic blockade will never succeed in stopping the advance >of the socialist revolution, which each day becomes more >just, because principles cannot be blockaded. > >"And for those who are attracted to the market of brand- >names and propaganda, and who choose to take the dangerous >journey in search of the 'wonderland,' a warning: Under >capitalism the poor run the greatest risk, because it is a >crime to be poor. In that 'wonderland,' 5 million Americans >are homeless, 44 million people have no healthcare, and up >to 50 percent of poor children are Black. And that man, >George Bush, who wants to be king of the empire, has a >record of executing 133 people in his five years as >governor. > >"No sentence would be truly just to condemn the U.S. >government for promoting illegal immigration, no sentence >could compensate us for the number of lost lives and the >impunity of the assassins." > >The Cuban Olympics team sent a statement of solidarity to >the rally. > >The overwhelming majority of Cubans choose to stay in their >country. They have not fallen for the Hollywood images of >the United States. They have a strong sense of solidarity >with their country, their fellow Cubans and their socialist >system. > >The Cuban government's position is that Cubans who wish to >leave can leave, but it must be by legal and safe means. And >entry must be guaranteed by the United States or another >country. A plane flight out is required--not an illegal and >dangerous craft like a boat or raft. > >In the same way that the people of Cuba mobilized tirelessly >to bring back Eli�n, another massive national campaign is >underway in Cuba. This campaign, launched upon little >Eli�n's return, demands the cancellation of the Cuban >Adjustment Act. This will be an important theme of >discussion and action among the 4,000 delegates at the >upcoming Second World Meeting of Solidarity and Friendship >with Cuba in November 2000. > >- 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: <036401c02ce0$c064c5a0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Fidel Castro's speech to U.S. movement >Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 22:22:14 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 5, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >Harlem, N.Y. > >FIDEL CASTRO'S SPEECH TO U.S. MOVEMENT > >[Two weeks ago Workers World published the speech of Dr. >Fidel Castro Ruz, president of the Republic of Cuba, to the >United Nations Millennium Summit. It focused on the >catastrophic situation facing the Third World. Here we >publish excerpts from his speech to the solidarity rally >held in Riverside Church, Harlem, New York, on Sept. 8, >2000. The talk was frequently interrupted with applause and >comments from the audience.] > >On my way here, I recalled my four visits to the United >Nations. The first time, I was thrown out of the hotel near >the United Nations. I had two choices: pitching a tent in >the United Nations courtyard--and as a guerrilla fighter who >had recently come down from the mountains, it would not have >been all that difficult for me--or heading for Harlem, where >I had been invited to stay in one of its hotels. I >immediately decided: "I will go to Harlem because that is >where my best friends are." > >(Someone in the audience shouts, >"My house is your house.") > >Thank you very much. That is what they used to say to me in >many beautiful homes where very wealthy people lived. They >had those little signs that read exactly like that. Later, >when we did something to help the poor, they definitely >removed the signs. However, in you I can sense the >generosity of the humble. > >I am sure you can understand that it is not easy for me to >visit New York; there is more than enough proof of that. >This time it was definitely not easy, and many of my >compatriots were very worried. We are living in a special >period, and I do not mean the special period in Cuba, which >has been brought about by the double blockade, but rather >the special period of presidential elections. And I have >received all kinds of threats, from killing me to sending me >to a U.S. prison. > >ON HUMAND RIGHTS >IN CUBA > >Simply by reducing infant mortality in our country from >approximately 60 deaths per 1,000 live births in the first >year of life to less than seven per 1,000, we have saved the >lives of hundreds of thousands of children. We have >protected the health of all children free of charge and >guaranteed a life expectancy of over 75 years. Moreover, we >have not only preserved lives but also guaranteed free >education for all, and not a selfish and mediocre education >but one based on solidarity and excellence. A study carried >out by UNESCO, a UN agency, revealed that our children >possess almost twice as much knowledge as the average child >in the rest of Latin America. > >We have also saved the lives of hundreds and hundreds of >thousands of children in Africa and other parts of the Third >World throughout the years of the Revolution, and we have >provided health care for tens of millions of people. Over >25,000 health care workers have taken part in these >internationalist efforts. This is called a "violation of >human rights," and it is why we must be destroyed. > >How Cuba has survived the blockade >and special period > >[The Cuban people] with exemplary courage have withstood 41 >years of a blockade enforced by successive governments of >the most powerful country in the world in political, >economic, technological and military terms. Furthermore, for >the last 10 years, they have withstood the double blockade >that resulted from the collapse of the socialist bloc and >the USSR. We were left without markets and without a source >of supplies of food, fuel, raw materials and many other >essential products that we paid for with our earn ings, and >in order to pay, of course, we needed to trade. If nobody >buys anything from a country, that country will not have >anything with which to buy from those who deprive it of >earnings. > >This country, where we are right now, is one of the few >countries in the world that could be almost totally self- >sufficient in terms of the basic elements for maintaining >life. But the same cannot be said of a small isolated >country, or a medium-sized country or even a large country >in Latin America. None would have been able to withstand >this for even two weeks, and we have withstood it for 10 >years. And for several years now, little by little, we have >managed not only to survive but also to gradually increase >our economic production, although we have still not bounced >back to the rates we had before the double blockade that >forced us into what we call the special period. > >Suffice it to say that a daily caloric intake of 3,000, more >or less evenly spread, was reduced overnight to 1,800 >calories. It now stands at around 2,400 calories. But not >even that stopped us from doing what we should. Throughout >these 10 years, we added 30,000 new doctors to our health >care network and we have not closed a single clinic, or a >school or a classroom. Our country has never been subjected >to those so-called economic shock policies that wipe out >hospitals, schools, social security and vital resources for > _______________________________________________________ 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] _______________________________________________________
