>scheduled parliamentary elections for Oct. 15. > >According to the official results, slightly over 60 percent >of the people voted in this election. Fifty percent were >needed to make it valid. Those elected were largely >supporters of Lukashenko and his policies, which Washington >calls "authoritarian." > >There were 574 candidates competing for 110 seats. > >Lukashenko's opposition, like the opposition in Yugoslavia, >denounced the elections as rigged and claimed only 45 >percent of the people voted. Washington and other Western >governments refused to observe the elections but declared >them fraudulent anyway. > >Why does Washington want to get rid of Lukashenko? On a >visit to Cuba in early September, Lukashenko praised Cuban >President Fidel Castro, calling him "a legendary figure" and >saying "his life is a political manual for any politician in >the world." He added that he and the Cuban leader shared >"exactly the same points of view" on world issues. This >alone would anger U.S. leaders. > >Belarus has always been grateful for Cuba's aid to those >made ill by the nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl. > >Washington also wants to open up Belarus to the >International Monetary Fund, NATO and the transnational >monopolies. The Belarus opposition shares that goal. > >Along with opposing the U.S. internationally, Lukashenko has >pushed completely different internal policies from those in >other East European countries. > >CONDITIONS DIFFER FROM REST OF EAST EUROPE > >Wolfgang Richter, the head of the Society for the Protection >of Civil and Human Rights in Germany, was in Belarus during >the Oct. 15 election. Richter was observing for his >organization, not the German government. > >In a report published in the German daily newspaper Junge >Welt on Oct. 21, Richter gave a view of life in Belarus that >contrasted sharply with that in many of the other former >socialist countries. > >Richter remembered his bitter experiences in Moscow, Sofia, >Bulgaria, and Bucharest, Romania, and had to ask if there >was hunger in Belarus too. People laughed out loud that he >could even suggest it, he wrote. And there was almost no >unemployment. Only 1.7 percent of the people were registered >as jobless, while 2.6 percent of jobs were without workers. > >Living standards were low, Richter recounted, and so was the >amount paid retired people for pensions. But it seemed >everyone got enough to live on and was dressed well. There >were not the great differences between rich and poor seen in >capitalist Russia, Bulgaria and Romania. And even if >pensions and salaries were small, they were paid each month, >not held back for months and years as in those countries. > >Education through university was still free, and students >received stipends to live. Cultural events were still low- >priced, with "one-third of the seats at the concert filled >with young people," wrote Richter. > >$15 BILLION LEFT COUNTRY > >In the first few years after the counter-revolution in the >USSR, up until 1994, capitalism had free reign in Belarus. >More than $15 billion left the country, which was on the >verge of civil war. > >Then Lukashenko was elected president, and parliament passed >a whole new set of laws. > >Richter mentions that the German corporate press--Der >Spiegel, the Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung and others-- >were already denouncing the Belarus elections just as they >had the elections in Yugoslavia. Richter was an observer at >both elections and found them both held by normal rules. > >What's the population's view of Lukashenko? "For the people >who we spoke to," wrote Richter, "his name stood for the >effort to get social security for the population, for a >stable economic and political development, against >corruption, for strengthening the union with Russia and for >the struggle against NATO's expansion to the East." > >Perhaps that's why Washington and Berlin want to demonize >Lukashenko and undermine Belarus. > >- 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: <004101c04373$2aa48920$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] IMF policies make inroads in Yugoslavia >Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 14:45:47 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >PRICES UP, LAYOFFS AHEAD: >IMF POLICIES MAKE INROADS IN YUGOSALVIA > >By Pat Chin > >It's been less than a month since the U.S.-funded counter- >revolutionary coup by election in Yugoslavia installed >Vojislav Kostunica as the new president of that Balkan >country. > >But the people of Yugoslavia are already beginning to feel >the bite of the International Monetary Fund. > >No formal agreement has yet been signed with that predatory >financial institution. But Kostunica's Democratic Opposition >of Serbia coalition has already started to implement its >deadly provisions. > >Shortly after Socialist Party of Serbia head Slobodan >Milosevic conceded defeat in the Yugoslav presidential >elections, the new regime lifted price controls on basic >consumer goods, fuel and services. Since then, costs have >risen sharply. In Belgrade, for example, the price of one >liter of oil has reportedly jumped from 15 to 51 dinars, a >kilo of bread from 6 to 14, a liter of sugar from 6 to 45, >and three kilos of detergent from 180 to 220. > >Mocked as "democratic prices" by consumers, the increases >have caused deep dissatisfaction. The removal of price >controls is being blamed on the Serbian Parliament, which is >dominated by SPS loyalists. But it was initially praised by >the Western news media and trumpeted by the DOS as a great >achievement > >Most state institutions--including the Central Bank--were >forcibly seized by small groups of CIA-trained counter- >revolutionary gangs following the imperialist-backed coup >disguised as a "popular uprising." Their leaders include the >G-17 group of economists who wrote the IMF-approved program >adopted by Kostunica's coalition. > >"Immediately after taking office," reads G-17's "Program of >Radical Economic Reform," "the new government shall abolish >all types of subsidies. This measure must be implemented >without regrets or hesitation, since it will be difficult if >not impossible to apply later, in view of the fact that in >the meantime strong lobbies may appear and do their best to >block such measures.... > >"This initial step in economic liberalization," warns the >document, "must be undertaken as a 'shock therapy' as its >radical nature does not leave space for gradualism of any >kind." > >When G-17 seized control of the Central Bank in the name of >"democracy," it stopped the outflow of cash used by the >government for price controls on basic consumer goods. This >effectively blocked the financing of state subsidies, and >was done under the guise of "preventing the Socialists from >transferring money abroad." > >NEW MANAGERS SEEK HIGHER PROFITS > >In addition, reported the Oct. 15 Los Angeles Times, "When >Kostunica supporters forced out most managers in state-owned >shops and factories and put their own people in charge the >system of controls collapsed and prices immediately shot >up." Moreover, the new factory directors "are moving quickly >to make their plants more profitable." > >Faced with simmering resentment over spiraling prices--and >with elections for the new Serbian Parliament set for Dec. >23--G-17 director Mladjan Dinkic has tried to blame the SPS- >dominated governing body. He says he now favors a "return to >regulations of prices for certain basics as well as imports >of cheaper equivalents from abroad to tackle unjustified >price hikes." (French Press Agency, Oct. 16) > >Dinkic is using a potentially explosive situation to feign >concern for the "suffering of the people." But it was this >demagogue who agreed to the IMF demand for an end to price >controls and government subsidies. Dinkic's collaboration >with NATO and IMF officials took place secretly in Bulgaria >just before the Sept. 24 elections. The IMF plan stipulates >"price liberalization" as a precondition for loan >negotiations. > >The consummate opportunist, Dinkic would use the crisis, if >allowed, to open Yugoslavia to a flood of cheap imports, >which would destroy local businesses and farms. > >WHO'S BEHIND G-17? > >G-17 is funded by the Washington-based Center for >International Private Enterprise, which is linked to the >National Endowment for Democracy. The NED was created in >1983 as an "acceptable" front for subversive counter- >revolutionary plots hatched by the CIA. > >Three of G-17's leading members, Dusan Vujovic, Zeliko >Bogetic and Branko Milanovic, are Washington-based staff >members of the IMF and World Bank. Others also have strong >ties to these imperialist financial institutions. ("Lethal >Medicine" by Michel Chussodovsky and Jared Israel) > >G-17 coordinator Prof. Veselin Vukotic is also linked to the >World Bank. He was the minister of privatization in 1989 >under Yugoslav Premier Ante Markovic. It was just before-- >and part and parcel of--the cataclysmic breakup of the >Socialist Federation of Yugoslavia instigated by the United >States and Germany. > >Vukotic helped implement the World Bank Financial Operations >Act, which forced many companies into bankruptcy. From 1989 >to 1990 he directed the liquidation of more than 1,100 >Yugoslav industrial firms, according to the World Bank. > >"Over 614,000 industrial workers were laid off out of 2.7 >million. The areas hardest hit were Serbia, including >Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. Real wages did a >nosedive. Social programs collapsed. Unemployment shot up." >(Chussodovsky & Israel) > >Devastation of the economy was calculated to create severe >hardship and inflame ethnic rivalry. This set the stage for >the breakup of the Yugoslav Socialist Federation and >expansion of the capitalist empire in the post-Soviet era. > >BRINGING IN THE DEUTSCHMARK > >After NATO marched in and occupied Kosovo-Metohija last >June, Vukotic declared that the southern Serbian province >"should also have its own currency." (AP, June 26, 1999) >Since then, the German Deutschmark has become legal tender, >and Germany's Commerzbank now controls almost the entire >banking system there. > >This "elder statesman" of G-17 is also reportedly "one of >the economic brains behind Montenegrin secessionism." >Vokotic has in fact been put in charge of auctioning off >state property by the puppet Djukanovic regime in >Montenegro. > >World Bank Senior Economist Dr. Dusan Vojovic is >Washington's link to G-17. In August he was put in charge of >negotiating "one of the world's most deadly economic >packages" for the Ukraine, already blistered by IMF-World >Bank reforms. (Chussodovsky & Israel) > >Then there's Dr. Zeliko Bogetic. This IMF adviser--also to >Djukanovic--holds a senior position at the financial >institution. In 1994-96, he forced the IMF's structural >adjustment program on Bulgaria. All social defenses were >stripped in the onslaught. Price controls, subsidized food, >housing and medical care, among other things, were >devastated. > >"This is not simply a group of economists," explain the >authors of "Lethal Medicine." "It is a network. The >International Monetary Fund and World Bank are using this >network to impose their policies on Yugoslavia. Meanwhile >they tell everyone the fiction that G-17 is a homegrown >alternative." > >This is the reactionary cabal aligned with Kostunica's >coalition that claims it will lead Yugoslavia to prosperity. > >SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE > >The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been under brutal >U.S.-instigated sanctions for 10 years for its resistance to >NATO expansion and IMF plunder. This led to a steep decline >in the standard of living. But the country was kept from >total collapse--unlike Bulgaria--because of price controls >and state subsidies. > >Milosevic and his Socialist Party coalition had become a >symbol of resistance. That's why Washington wants his >administration crushed. > >In an arrogant and open display of interference in the >affairs of a sovereign nation--something the U.S. government >would never tolerate here--Washington shamelessly earmarked >close to $200 million of the wealth created by the working >class to oust Milosevic. That's money that could have been >spent on education, childcare and health care, housing for >the homeless and the poor, food for the hungry. > >"In Yugoslavia," writes Belgian journalist Michel Collon >from Belgrade, "the game is far from being over. A lot will >depend on the capacity of workers to resist. Some leftist >alternative is indispensable, and resistance is being >prepared." > >- 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: <005101c04373$512d57c0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Letter from Tel Aviv: Arab and Jewish protesters condemn Barak >Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 14:46:52 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >LETTER FROM TEL AVIV: >ARAB AND JEWISH PROTESTERS CONDEMN BARAK > >[The corporate media have not reported on anti-war >demonstrations within Israel. The following letter describes >one participant's impressions of a demonstration held in the >Israeli capital, Tel Aviv.] > >>From 500 to 700 people participated in an anti-war >demonstration in Tel Aviv on Oct. 15. Everyone was alert, >expecting attacks by right-wingers. There was no attack. >Some participants had been demonstrating all week. There >were some young people, but not nearly as many as came to a >recent anti-globalization demo. The Arab-Jewish community >Neve Shalom had an impressive presence, and printed stickers >reading "No to occupation." Their chairperson, Anwar Daoud, >spoke. > >There were slogans calling for the right of return, against >apartheid, against settlements, stop the war, against Barak >and the Labor government, end the bloodshed, yes to peace, >peace or hell (it rhymes in Hebrew). > >Of the speakers, Yael Dayan of the governing Labor party was >both applauded and booed. A letter was read from soldier >Noam Khuzar, who is imprisoned for refusing to serve in the >territories. > >Knesset Member (MK) Issam Makhoul made a powerful speech, >outlining Israeli apartheid and calling for a Jewish-Arab >struggle based on full equality and respect. He placed the >blame for the killings squarely with the Barak government >and was loudly applauded. A letter was read from MK Azmi >Bishara, who won applause as soon as his name was mentioned, >as a show of solidarity after his home was targeted in the >Yom Kippur pogrom by right-wing Israelis in Nazareth. > >The best speaker was from Hakeshet Hamizrachit from the >Oriental Rainbow, the organization of Jews from Arab >countries. He blasted the government, the political parties >and the media, and was applauded after almost every >sentence. > >As he spelled out the following five points, the crowd >applauded and shouted support: 1) There is no such thing as >a "Jewish and democratic state." 2) The Palestinian citizens >in Israel are a national--not only ethnic--minority. 3) Oslo >is dead. Real peace means peace with an independent >Palestinian state, not by dictate and under pressure. 4) >Peace includes withdrawal from all occupied territories, >including East Jerusalem, and dismantling all settlements, >or a bi-national state. 5) There is either peace and a >process towards just peace, or war. > >About half of the demo later walked to the Defense Ministry >to continue the protest there. > >Rayna Moss > >- 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] _______________________________________________________
