> WW News Service Digest #198 > > 1) Fujimori Gone, Wall Street Power Remains > by [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 2) Good News from Yugoslavia > by [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 3) Why Gore Let Bush Goons Win > by [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 4) Native Leaders Demand: "Free Leonard Peltier" > by [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 5) Baltimore: No "Thanksgiving" for Cop Victims > by [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 6) Seattle Newspaper Strike Gets Broad Support > by [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 7) Argentina General Strike vs. IMF Plans > by [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 8) Report from Vieques Tribunal > by [EMAIL PROTECTED] >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 7, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >PERU: FUJIMORI IS GONE, BUT WALL STREET POWER >REMAINS > >By Monica Somocurcio > >After 10 years of repression and eight years of outright >dictatorship, the regime of Peruvian President Alberto >Fujimori crumbled in November. The Pentagon lackey learned a >recurring lesson: Even the most crass servants of U.S. >imperialism are expendable when their services are no longer >in their master's interests. > >Fujimori has sought refuge in Japan. > >The post-Fujimori regime in Peru was solidified on Nov. 25 >when the newly appointed interim president, Valentin >Paniagua, named a cabinet and fired the top 15 generals of >the Peruvian military. > >Paniagua, a long-time bourgeois politician and head of >Congress, rose to the presidency after Congress rejected >Fujimori's resignation and instead deposed him for being >"morally unfit." Paniagua is to stay in power until new >elections are held next July 28. > >The new cabinet is filled with darlings of the U.S. State >Department. It includes prominent bourgeois politicians and >figures of the Peruvian elite such as Javier Perez de >Cuellar, former secretary general of the United Nations, and >Javier Silva Ruete, a banker and economist who was president >of the Andean Development Corporation and Peru's >representative to the International Monetary Fund, World >Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. > >Paniagua also appointed Ketin Vidal as interior minister. >Vidal headed the police "anti-terrorism" unit credited with >apprehending Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path) leader >Abimael Guzman in 1992. > >RIGGED ELECTION SPARKED MASS PROTESTS > >Fujimori was "elected" to a third term as president in May >after blatantly rigging the electoral process. He had >already sacked Electoral Court justices who refused to >rubber stamp his run for a third term that violated the >Peruvian constitution. > >The May election won Fujimori very little legitimacy. >Thousands of Peruvians demonstrated in the streets against >the blatantly anti-democratic character of the elections. > >While the U.S. government whined about the elections, it >continued to support Fujimori's government economically and >militarily. > >But Fujimori's regime came to a screeching halt when >Vladimiro Montesinos, his hated second-in-command and head >of the secret police, was caught on videotape bribing a >lawmaker. After the videotape was broadcast Sept. 14, >Montesinos fled to Panama with the help of the U.S. >government. He later returned to Peru. > >Although the entire state apparatus is supposedly searching >for him on Peruvian soil, he remains at large. There are >charges that he is being protected by members of Peru's >armed forces. > >Both Fujimori and Montesinos face corruption charges. > >COLOMBIA ARMS SCAM > >Another event that heralded the end of the >Fujimori/Montesinos regime was the "discovery" of a supposed >arms sale to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia- >People's Army (FARC-EP) by rogue individuals in Peru. It was >said that Montesinos himself purchased the arms. > >The weapons were later discovered in the possession of the >Colombian military, which claimed to have "found" them. > >This preposterous story--that an ideologically motivated >counter-revolutionary like Montesinos would send arms to >revolutionaries--was an obvious public-relations attempt by >the Peruvian ruling class opposition to mar the >dictatorship's key figures in the eyes of their Washington >masters. > >The Pentagon knows better, of course. The fact that it has >not come to the defense of its former allies means that >Washington and Wall Street have reached an agreement with >the new ruling clique in Lima. > >The CIA and the U.S. government undoubtedly knew in advance >of the events leading to Fujimori's demise. There is now a >petition by a Peruvian congressional committee to the U.S. >government to disclose any and all CIA information on >Montesinos. > >"I find it hard to believe that the great minds of the CIA >did not know about the millions and millions of dollars >Montesinos was getting from money laundering," said >Congressperson Anel Townsend, a member of the committee on >corruption and a longtime Fujimori opponent. > >However, not much is being said about what the CIA knew >about the videotape and arms deal that brought down >Montesinos. While the firing and subsequent fleeing of >Fujimori has left many Peruvians in either shock or sheer >elation, all has transpired in relative calm. > >The Paniagua regime is cozy with commercial and capitalist >interests, and more closely tied with the old Peruvian >bourgeois elite. > >U.S. AUTHORIZED FUJIMORI'S 'SELF-COUP' > >Fujimori, by contrast, had originally come from an atypical >source--a political party that did not exist before the 1990 >election. He was an unknown in the political arena, not a >member of the small circle of bourgeois politicians that has >governed Peru on behalf of the ruling class for centuries. > >Fujimori was viewed as the strong, heavy-handed leader Peru >needed to put an end to the guerrilla movements that were >becoming more active. And, it was felt, he could implement >IMF-style shock therapy to the Peruvian economy. > >The U.S. government gave Fujimori full authority to do >whatever was necessary to beat back the left and all those >who opposed the new economic and political order. He wasted >no time, ending all subsidies and launching a massive >privatization campaign the year he was first elected. > >To continue the work of implementing this new order without >political or legal obstacles, Fujimori, with the military >solidly behind him, dissolved parliament and canceled the >constitution in a 1992 "self-coup." > >Along with Montesinos, the secret police and the military, >Fujimori continued the war against the revolutionary and >workers' movements. He proceeded to sign another agreement >with the IMF for continued restructuring. > >During his second term, Fujimori altered the existing >constitution to allow him a third term in office. After the >massacre of Tupac Amaru revolutionaries at the Japanese >Embassy in 1997, Fujimori claimed full victory over the >left. > >It wasn't long after that and his quest for a third term >that the old bourgeois political parties and their ruling- >class masters demanded to return to their traditional place >in the Peruvian political system. After all, the dirty work >was done. > >But Fujimori wasn't about to give up power that easily. It >took a series of scandals, of a kind that rarely happen >without prior U.S. government knowledge, for this regime to >fall. > >CLASS CONTRADICTIONS INTENSIFY > >It won't take long for people to realize that the change in >government doesn't necessarily mean a change for the better >for the majority. > >"We need in this moment for the government to make a >favorable gesture for the workers," said Juan Jose Gorriti, >secretary general of the Peruvian General Workers >Confederation. "We have to understand that democratization >is not just about free elections, but it has to do with >human rights, and workers' rights are human rights." > >Can Peru's ruling elite find a way to impose the IMF's will >with a "democratic" facade? That is the question being posed >across Latin America today. > >In neighboring Ecuador, two "democratic" governments have >fallen in three years because of mass mobilizations against >IMF-sponsored austerity. And while Peru's revolutionary >movement has suffered setbacks, the example of Colombia's >insurgency must give Peru's mine and factory owners cause >for concern. > >Across Latin America, the contradiction between capitalist >exploitation and the demands of the continent's working >people is intensifying. While the struggle in Peru today is >safely within the bounds of bourgeois legality, the >movements of the workers, peasants and Indigenous peoples >are bound to break through these limitations. > >- 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: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 20:54:20 -0500 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Good News from Yugoslavia >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 7, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >EDITORIAL: GOOD NEWS FROM YUGOSLAVIA > >It was the first good news out of Yugoslavia for anti- >imperialists since that unhappy day the U.S./NATO-backed >coup overthrew and burned the national assembly and national >TV last Oct. 5. A fight-back Socialist Party Congress of >2,600 delegates re-elected Slobodan Milosevic party leader >by 86 percent Nov. 25. > >This doesn't guarantee the SPS will win the Dec. 23 >elections for the Serbian Parliament. It doesn't mean it >will immediately win the loyalty of the working class. > >But it does mean that the SPS leadership refuses to retreat. >It means that those who are identified with the defense of >Yugoslavia against the U.S./NATO war remain at the head of >the party. It means there is no SPS collapse. > >And it indicates that most of the party activists don't feel >they have to hide from the masses of the people. As one >report out of Novi Sad put it, after price hikes of five to >15 times on basic goods, people are starting to say "Slobo >come back, all is forgiven." > >The counter-revolutionary wave that overthrew the Eastern >European workers' states in 1989 also dissolved or disrupted >the ruling parties. Leaders resigned or changed into instant >"reformers" at that time. This is different. If you read >what Milosevic said--the little published in the imperialist >media--he's coming out swinging against the U.S., NATO and >their puppets inside Yugoslavia. > >He said the October uprising was actually "a coup" backed by >"paid Western spies." This has been all but admitted in >earlier reports of the exploits of the mayor of Cacak >attacking parliament and the TV station with a gang of >mercenaries. The Nov. 26 New York Times Magazine exposed >U.S. manipulation of the opposition Otpor student >organization. > >"The war against this country is now being led by money," >the ruling Democratic Opposition of Serbia received a "major >bribe" and all the media are now in the hands of "foreign >secret services," he said. Equally true. One can expect a >stronger infusion of Western money as the Serbian election >approaches. > >Yugoslavia's new "nationalist" president, Vojislav >Kostunica, bases his economic plans on getting $2.5 billion >in European Union aid over the next few years and his >military policy on getting help from NATO to stop the right- >wing Kosovo Liberation Army from taking more pieces of >Serbia. Can he be so foolish? > >On the other hand, the Yugoslav Army, with its roots in the >1945 socialist revolution, is still intact. Milosevic and >the SPS are defiant. > >That means the struggle for Yugoslavia against U.S./NATO >imperialism is far from over. > >- 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: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 20:54:18 -0500 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Why Gore Let Bush Goons Win >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Dec. 7, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >WHY GORE LET BUSH GOONS WIN: WORKERS, OPPRESSED >MUST TAKE INDEPENDENT ACTION > >By Fred Goldstein > >If George W. Bush wins the presidential election, it will be >because of the aggressive, reactionary bullying of the >Republicans and the political cowardice of the Democrats. If >Al Gore wins, it will be because the ruling class fears an >openly tainted election result. > >But whoever wins, the very process itself demonstrates that >the working class and oppressed peoples have no choice but >to steer an independent course, guided by politics that >reflect their own class interests. > >A key turning point in the struggle for the White House came >on Nov. 21. That's when the Florida State Supreme Court >ruled that manual recounting of ballots in three counties >could continue past the prescribed date of Nov. 14. > >Manual recounts are clearly prescribed by Florida law as the >remedy for faulty machine counts. And these faulty machine >counts were demonstrated by ballot sampling of selected >election districts in the three counties. > >The court set Nov. 26 as the new deadline to complete hand >recounts. > >The Gore forces were elated by the ruling, convinced that >they would get the chance to demonstrate their electoral >majority in Florida. Gore declared that "democracy has won." >There was a celebratory mood in the Democratic camp. > >But within hours former Secretary of State James Baker >shocked the establishment when he branded the Florida >Supreme Court as lawless usurpers who "changed state law" >and "changed the rules in the middle of the game." > >CLARION CALL TO RIGHT WING > >He also gave a clarion call to the right-wing-dominated >Florida legislature to mobilize and be prepared to overcome >a possible Gore majority by asserting its own right to >choose the state's electors. > >"Throughout the Capitol," wrote the Nov. 22 New York Times, >"there was an almost warlike atmosphere of defiance among >Republicans. Clearly their efforts were fueled by the Bush >campaign's midnight call to arms by James A. Baker III." > >With Baker's declaration, the Bush camp and the Republicans >announced to the media, the ruling class and the Democrats >that no election laws, majorities or court rulings were >going to stand in the way of their struggle for the White >House. > >The right-wing mobilization began. "You wouldn't believe the >volume of incredibly hostile calls we've been getting," > _______________________________________________________ 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] _______________________________________________________
