4) Nepal: Not just a Palace Coup
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
5) U.S. Navy out of Vieques
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
6) Charleston 5: Key to Organizing South
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: torstai 7. kes�kuu 2001 10:58
Subject: [WW] Nepal: Not just a Palace Coup
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 14, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
NOT JUST A PALACE COUP: NEPAL IS CAULDRON OF MASS
REBELLION
By Sara Flounders
The spectacular assassination of most of the royal family of
Nepal on June 2 is an extension of a social crisis that has
turned feudal Nepal on its head.
Millions of workers and peasants in one of the poorest
countries in the world have shaken off centuries of feudal
oppression and have been in open revolt.
Just days before the royal assassinations, the capital city
of Katmandu was paralyzed by a three-day general strike
demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Girija Koirala
on charges of corruption. The Communist Party of Nepal--
United Marxist-Leninist called the general strike in a bloc
with five other left parties. Together they hold almost half
the seats in an unstable parliament and have been deadlocked
against the Nepal Congress Party on every fundamental class
issue.
Distribution of the land to the peasants is the fundamental
question in a country where 80 percent of the people are
engaged in subsistence agriculture. The small but powerful
landlord class has blocked any parliamentary solution to
this burning issue. On May 30 The Telegraph of Nepal
predicted that the overwhelmingly successful general strike
"signals sudden collapse is imminent."
Large parts of the rural areas are in the hands of a
communist insurgency. An armed struggle began in February
1996 led by the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist. This
revolutionary upheaval is a cause of great concern to the
Indian bourgeoisie and to the British and U.S. ruling
classes.
According to an article in the Asia Times that appeared May
25, a week before the royal assassinations, "35 districts in
the country are affected by the insurgency ... in some areas
the Maoists run a parallel administration.... To date, the
insurgency has directly affected the lives of roughly two-
thirds of Nepal's 24 million people. The rapid expansion of
their activities has raised concerns that the Maoists might
at some point be able to overturn the government."
A PALACE COUP
The explanation of the assassinations first put forth in the
Indian media is that 29-year-old Crown Prince Dipendra,
after an argument with his family over his marriage choice,
killed his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen
Aiswarya, and six other member of the royal family before
turning the gun on himself. The official explanation is that
an automatic weapon "exploded."
These stories are not believed by the masses of people. This
is because it is widely known that the entire government was
collapsing in a political crisis, not in a marital dispute.
Over the past 50 years the feudal landlord class in Nepal--
backed by the British, U.S. and Indian bourgeoisies--have
again and again used the monarchy to dissolve a weak,
advisory parliament in times of crisis. The monarchy or
royal court, as in other feudal societies, represents and is
tied to the interests of one or another contending faction
within the ruling class and is entangled in alliances with
competing outside forces.
A rising chorus of the propertied elite was demanding
repressive action against the mass movement and the
parliamentary impasse. However, the decaying royal court
seemed indecisive, out of touch and unable to defend the
property interests of the ruling class as a whole.
Some other member of the royal family--such as the brother
of the king, Prince Gyanendra, who conveniently was not at
the ill-fated Friday night dinner and is now the new king--
may have the backing of powerful internal or international
forces.
According to Nabun Sapkota of the Revolutionary Anti-
Imperialist Forum of Nepal, the reactionary forces, both
foreign and internal, are behind this old maneuver to play
one part of the royal family against the other. King
Berandra is reported to have been closer to the U.S. Other
forces at the royal court, including Prime Minister Koirala,
have been closer to the Indian bourgeoisie. A debate was
raging among them over whether or not to use the army in
addition to the police to suppress the insurgency.
Delhi is deeply concerned because the guerrilla movement in
Nepal is linked to several guerrilla wars in India.
King Birendra was eulogized in the corporate media as a
gentle, enlightened monarch, beloved by his subjects. Nepal
is described as a constitutional monarchy.
Whatever his personal characteristics, King Birendra
ascended to the throne in 1972 as an absolute monarch of an
impoverished, backward feudal state. He did nothing to
change this situation. He dissolved parliament and closed
all dissent. All political parties were banned. Limited
elections were allowed for what was only an advisory
government.
AMONG POOREST IN THE WORLD
Although King Birendra was educated at Harvard and his son
Prince Dipendra was educated at Britain's Eton College, he
ruled as an absolute monarch over a population that is more
than 65 percent illiterate. The life expectancy of 51 years
is among the lowest in the world. Nepal has one of the
highest levels of infant mortality and malnutrition, with 72
percent of the population living within the United Nations
definition of extreme poverty.
As the peasant insurgency has grown, it has impacted on the
lucrative international tourist trade and expeditions to
Mount Everest.
Wealthy international tourists trekking in Nepal are charmed
by the quaint traditional life of villagers in the Himalayan
Mountains who live without electricity or plumbing.
These peasants are tied to and indebted to the landlords.
Charms and prayers are their only protection from disease.
Society is divided by a rigid caste system. Illiteracy and
the lack of a national network of roads intensify rural
isolation. Deeply cut valleys divide ethnic groups. There
are 25 different nationalities and seven major languages
along with 125 recorded languages. Only 14 percent of the
people have access to electricity.
In 1990 militant street protests in Katmandu grew into an
explosive mass movement, finally forcing the king to
abdicate power and accept a constitution that made the royal
family a mere constitutional figurehead.
Political parties were legalized. Militant communist
organizations, mass organizations and unions recruited
hundreds of thousands. The masses had taken the stage.
BRITISH AND U.S. ROLE
Nepal had been a semi-colony since the British invasion of
1816. The mountainous terrain made total subjugation not
practical for the British, but they used the highly
organized Gerker troops from Nepal as mercenaries to
subjugate other peoples throughout the British Empire.
As an anti-China threat, the U.S. government has for over 40
years pumped in millions of dollars to maintain the Dalai
Lama of Tibet and his whole entourage in exile in India,
including an office in Nepal. The Central Intelligence
Agency spent many millions training a Tibetan contra army.
It spent nothing for the development of Nepal.
While the role of the U.S. government in Nepal's present
turmoil is not clear, it is important to note that Nepal is
a buffer state sandwiched between China and India. As the
British Empire has faded, U.S. imperialism has assumed the
role of preventing revolutionary upheaval.
ROYALTY AND CLASS STABILITY
In its early, progressive period, the bourgeoisie in
countries like Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and
Japan overthrew the old feudal order but then found it
useful to reinstate and keep on retainer, at great public
expense, utterly worthless royal families. A similar effort
was made in Nepal.
The feudal landlord class and old nobility in Nepal, along
with the Indian bourgeoisie and U.S. and British
imperialism, have all had a stake in preserving the archaic
royal family in Nepal. It is a powerful bulwark in
maintaining class divisions and private property.
All the weight of tradition protects the right of
inheritance and sanctifies the gross inequality in society.
Both British and U.S. imperialism have protected, equipped
and trained the military for utterly corrupt dynasties
throughout the Middle East and Asia, from Kuwait, Morocco
and Saudi Arabia to Thailand and Afghanistan.
However, when such an outmoded ruling structure is in danger
of being swept away by a genuine people's revolution, the
imperialists may act to remove the most hated figures and
install carefully chosen "reformers" in order to stave off
an upheaval that would threaten their interests.
But there is another road. If the revolutionary workers'
movement in the cities, led by several different communist
parties, and the communist insurgency in the countryside can
find common ground for collaboration, that would be a huge
step toward battering down all the reactionary forces that
are holding back social and economic development in Nepal.
- END -
(Copyright 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:
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: torstai 7. kes�kuu 2001 10:58
Subject: [WW] U.S. Navy out of Vieques
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 14, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
EDITORIAL: U.S. NAVY OUT OF VIEQUES
Since David Sanes was killed by U.S. bombs in Vieques in
April 1999, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans have
taken to the streets. Hundreds of elected officials,
political activists, actors, entertainers and other well-
known personalities have challenged the U.S. Navy's
occupation and continued bombing of the small island off
Puerto Rico. Even the governor of Puerto Rico has called for
the bombing to stop immediately.
The growing support has been mostly from the Puerto Rican
and Latino community, but the participation of Puerto Ricans
within the U.S. has won additional backing from human-
rights, civil-rights and anti-war activists. Most notably,
the African American community has come out in support,
symbolized by Rev. Al Sharpton's civil disobedience, the 90-
day sentence inflicted on him, and his hunger strike in
prison. Palestinians in the Right to Return committee are
mobilizing for the New York Puerto Rican Day Parade
But so far, except for some cosmetic concessions that
include a proposal for a plebiscite on the bombing that is
itself confusing and controversial in Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Navy has given nothing. The Pentagon has displayed its usual
arrogance. The military and police have arrested the
protesters, beaten some of them, and gotten the courts to
inflict sentences from 20 days to four months in federal
prison.
The Navy has even scheduled a new round of bombing exercises
on Vieques for 18 days beginning June 13.
This arrogant step is a challenge to the Vieques support
movement that must be answered. And it comes just three days
after the June 10 Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City,
the home of the largest Puerto Rican community in the United
States.
With this in mind, it is vital that the progressive movement
in the United States give full support to organizations
within the Puerto Rican community that intend to raise the
issue of Vieques in the parade. The Vieques Support Campaign
and the group Pro-Libertad have plans to keep this vital
issue before the million Puerto Ricans who want the U.S.
Navy to stop bombing.
The authorities in New York are doing their utmost to keep
"politics"--but not politicians--out of the parade. They are
interfering with the ability of the Puerto Rican community
to join march contingents.
Unfortunately, the parade's organizers, under pressure, have
tried to suppress the political character of the event,
claiming that last year's parade already handled the Vieques
theme.
The Vieques issue is a living struggle. It has won much
support, but it has yet to win the complete stopping of the
Navy bombing--not to mention the cleanup of the island,
compensation for the island's residents, and freedom for
those who have stood up and are now in prison.
The Puerto Rican community in the United States can play a
leading role in bringing this struggle before the people and
rescuing Vieques from the terrible damage inflicted by the
U.S. Navy.
Let the Vieques Support Campaign and Pro-Libertad get out
their message in the parade.
Free the Vieques political prisoners.
U.S. Navy out of Vieques.
Free Puerto Rico.
- END -
(Copyright 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: torstai 7. kes�kuu 2001 10:58
Subject: [WW] Charleston 5: Key to Organizing South
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 14, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
WORKERS' RIGHTS VS. RACIST REPRESSION: SUPPORT FOR
CHARLESTON 5 IS KEY TO ORGANIZING SOUTH
By Mary Owen
On Saturday, June 9, a labor and civil rights march outside
the statehouse in Columbia, S.C., will launch an
international campaign to support the Charleston 5
dockworkers--mainly African American--who face felony
charges and years in jail for fighting for their rights.
The event is expected to draw union and community activists
from throughout the South and as far north as New York City
and Newark, N.J., where buses are being organized. They will
march and rally to demand that South Carolina drop all
charges against the Charleston 5 and abandon plans to pass
anti-worker legislation in a state where only 4 percent of
workers have unions.
The national AFL-CIO, its state affiliates in North
Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and the South Carolina
Progressive Network of 41 groups, including the
predominantly African-American Longshore Local 1422, have
gotten behind the protest.
The Charleston 5 case originated in January 2000 when 130
longshore workers picketing a ship being unloaded by non-
union labor were attacked by 600 riot police. The cops used
armored cars, armored horses, dogs, helicopters, concussion
grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets.
But the implications of the case are even larger than police
brutality and strike at the heart of the racism that in many
ways represents the unfinished business of Reconstruction in
the South.
On a recent trip to New York City to gain labor and
community support, Local 1422 President Ken Riley explained
that it is no accident that most members of his local are
African American.
THE HARDEST, DIRTIEST JOBS
"We have an old newspaper ad from decades ago where the
stevedore companies openly asked for Black workers to
apply," he told a gathering at the International Action
Center. "They recruited us for the hardest, dirtiest, most
dangerous jobs."
As time passed, however, the workers organized, turned the
tables on the bosses, and made Local 1422 a leader in civil
rights and union activism in South Carolina. The longshore
workers have also marched in Seattle against the World Trade
Organization and supported political prisoner Mumia Abu-
Jamal.
"We are active in the community and state politics. Our
union hall is used by many community groups in Charleston
for their meetings and events," said Riley. "We are proof
that working under a union contract can provide a living
wage and that being organized means political influence.
That fact is what has scared those who want to maintain the
old ways."
According to Riley, South Carolina tries to lure
corporations by touting its low rate of unionization. So
Local 1422--which is organizing workers, building unity
among other longshore locals, and actively campaigned to get
the Confederate flag off the State Capitol--became a target
of coordinated repression.
"On Jan. 20, 2000, a Nordana ship, the Skodsberg, docked in
port," said Riley. "It had been held out at sea a few days
so that South Carolina law enforcement agencies would not
have to divide their forces between the huge demonstration
of more than 47,000 people--who rallied in Colu m bia, the
capital, on Jan. 17, demanding the removal of the
Confederate battle flag-- and 'protecting' 20 scabs
unloading ships."
Not only did the cops attack picketing dockworkers,
arresting the Charleston 5, but WSI, the non-union
stevedoring company hired by Nordana, subsequently sued
Local 1422, Clerks and Checkers Local 1771, and 27
individual workers for over $1.5 million in damages. The
June 9 demonstration will also demand that the lawsuit be
dropped.
GLOBALIZATION AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
The campaign to free the Charleston 5 is also unfolding in
an increasingly globalized capitalist economy in which the
struggles of workers in any part of the world reverberate
internationally. Charle ston longshore workers waged a
valiant battle against Nordana's use of non-union
stevedores, but Riley says it was international solidarity
that helped them win.
"Stevedores abroad, particularly in Spain, refused to unload
Nordana ships, and that brought the company quickly back to
the table," he stated, with the Danish shipping line
agreeing to resume using union crews in the port of
Charleston.
Similar international solidarity is pledged for the
Charleston 5. The International Transport Workers
Federation, representing millions of air, sea and land
transportation workers worldwide, has promised to organize a
one-day work stoppage on the opening day of their trial.
"The June 9 march on Columbia, S.C., is just the beginning
of building a strong movement to support the Charleston 5,"
says Johnnie Stevens, a labor/community outreach coordinator
for the International Action Center. "This case is part of
the struggle against racism, sexism and bigotry that is
indispensable to organizing workers throughout the South.
Labor and community activists need to find ways to spread
the word and support the case--from holding meetings and
passing resolutions to sending financial contributions."
More information is available at www. iacenter.org/labor.htm
or www.ilwu.org (click on the Charleston 5 banner). Contact
www.peoplesvideo.org to find out about a cable access show
on the Charleston 5 or for a shorter video for organizing
meetings.
To contribute to the defense fund, send checks payable to
"Dockworkers Defense Fund" to either: Campaign for Workers'
Rights in S.C., P.O. Box 21777, Charleston, SC, 29413 or
Dockworkers Defense Fund, attn: Robert J. Ford, 910 Morrison
Drive, Charleston, SC 29403.
- END -
(Copyright 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)
