Moscow Anti-War demo - 5th Feb - report
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 02:59:47 EST RUSSIA INFO-LIST - from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - ISWoR On Saturday 5 February, an antiwar demonstration took place in MoscowÄôs Pushkin square. The demonstration was called jointly by a number of anarchist and ecologist groups including Anarchist Antiwar Movement, Dikobraz Group, Ecologist Movement "Rainbow Keepers", Localization Program of Socio-Ecological Union. The Movement for a Workers Party (MWP - Moscow branch, a collective of socialist groups who have been highly active in most of the recent workers struggles), and who have called a demonstration against the war later this month (for which ISWoR has been raising support), attended the demonstration too with their slogan "If you vote for Putin you vote for war". A member of the MWP who was present reported how the demonstrators condemned "the police state" in Russia, all forms of racism, repressions etc. "They also spoke about high costs of the Chechen war, about those wounded and killed, about casualties among women, children, old people. They also stressed that the war was broken in the interests of the ruling classes and that poor people are facing the consequencies." Because they knew that right-wing elements were included among the organisers of this demo, the Movement for a Workers Party had decided in advance to participate with their own separate slogans. Fortunately as already described much of the slogans and ideas advanced by the other groups were anti-capitalist and in harmony with the MWPÄôs own. Nevertheless, some right-wing pro-US capital elements were present too. They raised slogans in defence of Babitsky, the Radio Free Europe journalist who was the object of media attention worldwide when he disappeared recently in Chechnya. Radio Free Europe is the notorious right-wing US-funded broadcasting network which played a major role in promoting McCarthyite politics in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. One of the original organisers of the 5 February demo was a group attached to the Socio-Ecological Union (SEU). The SEU is a major conduit for US capitalist money aimed at manipulating sincere anarchist and ecologist activists to serve the economic and strategic interests of US big business against threats from the Russian capitalist elite, (much of which has become hostile to the US in the last two years and especially since the US intervention in the Balkans.) Correction: In a previous Russia Info List message, we mentioned that Zaschita trade union had voted to participate in the antiwar demo later this month organised by militant workers. We are now informed that this is an error. Although many of the unionÄôs most active militants belong to the MWP, (the collective of groups who have called the demo), nevertheless no official representative of Zaschita was not present at the meeting in which this decision was made. We are further informed that although Oleg Shein and other prominent activists of Zaschita have publically opposed the war, nevertheless the union itself has yet to take an official position. We apologise for any confusion caused. Lisa Taylor *** The RUSSIA INFO-LIST - puts out information and analysis from a wide range of sources. Messages posted to Russia Info-List do not necessarily reflect the views of ISWoR. We are a broad united front of individuals and organisations internationally who support Russian workers struggles, who oppose the IMF-Yeltsinite privatisation project, who oppose racism and fascism, and who want to build international solidarity between workers of all nations. If you have something you would like to distribute on Russia Info-List, or want to help in our practical solidarity work, contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Box R, 46 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8RZ, England ISWoR website - http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html __ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___
From AIAIF
From: "aiaif" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Published in 'Proletarian Era', (Vol. 33 No. 12, February 1,2000) the English organ of Socialist Unity Centre of India Events in Seattle And After The ministerial conference of WTO ended in a fiasco in Seattle. There was confusion both within and outside the venue of the conference. This conference was marked by violent demonstrations by an odd combination of protesters with widely varying motives. But the protesters were all united against the WTO. All ports in the USA were paralyzed by strikes called by the dockworkers in protest against the WTO. The protests spilled over to the other side of the Atlantic. A massive protest demonstration was organized in London against the privatization of railways leading to a big accident in London suburb because of slackening of safety norms with profit motive. The protesters converged in Seattle with a rare show of solidarity. They included those with genuine anti-imperialist leanings and they stood by the people of the less developed countries in their struggle against WTO and the powerful multinational corporations. There were groups among the protesters whose objective was to wrest concessions within the ambit of WTO and there were spokesmen from the protectionist ''trade'' unions of the USA like AFL (American Federation of Labour), COL (Congress of Labour) which wanted measures to protect the US industries from competition from the less developed countries. The leadership of these trade unions is controlled by the agents of the US ruling class having still a big support from the workers. This leadership is trying to divert the attention of the workers by making use of their genuine sense of job insecurity and redundancy from the real cause i.e. the US capitalist system. This leadership is showing to them that the cause of their redundancy lies in cheap labour, child labour and women labour of the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This leadership is trying to create a division between the workers of the developed and of the developing capitalist countries. But despite this, one aspect was common among them all, and that is, an acute sense of job insecurity as a result of the implementation of the WTO measures. The attempts to create a rift between the workers of the developed and developing capitalist countries notwithstanding, the spirit of international solidarity was marked in the speeches of labour leaders of different countries. The Head of the US Longshoremen's Union said in his address : ''there will be no business as usual today. (We are) demonstrating to the corporate CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) that the global economy will not run without the consent of the workers everywhere... The interest of the working people transcends international boundaries.'' This spirit of international solidarity was repeated by a South African labour leader when he said : "Freedom is under a new threat today, the threat of corporate greed... a new form of terrorism led by the WTO, a new form of colonialism led by globalization...(They are) attempting to throw a new wedge between workers of the developed and workers of the developing countries." (Source : EPW, 17-24 Dec'99) Militant protest by working people More than 50,000 protesters marched, sang, shouted slogans and made speeches. The International was sung in three languages. The police of the Clinton administration pounced upon the protesters with ferocity. They used batons, bullets, grenades, tear gas shells, irritant chemical weapons and unconventional gases medically affecting the demonstrators. The arrested persons were beaten and tortured in jails by throwing all canons of human rights to the wind. Finally, emergency was clamped in Seattle. Cause of collapse of Seattle talks While this was the scene outside the venue of the conference, the picture inside was equally stormy. The Seattle Conference was convened to finalize the agenda for the next round of talk, euphemistically called the millennium round, to be held in Geneva. The 1 of 9Uruguay Round of talks, concluded in Marakash, had many unresolved issues, on which the Uruguay Round itself mandated further negotiation. These include critical issues like agriculture, financial services, maritime services and infotech services. Besides, some of the existing agreements need to be further reviewed in the light of the experience in implementing them during the last five years. The developed capitalist-imperialist countries have not opened up their markets to the extent they are required to though the less developed capitalist countries have opened up their markets to a large extent and fulfilled the commitment of WTO provisions to a large measure. Many developed capitalist-imperialist countries have failed to implement the Special and Differential (SD) treatment clause as incorporated in the GATT agreement. The third world countries were opposing a new round of talk with new agenda, and insisting
[Fwd: represión masiva a estudiantes en la UNAM (México) 900 detenidos reenviar información]
Original Message Asunto: represión masiva a estudiantes en la UNAM (México) 900 detenidos reenviar información Fecha: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 16:50:13 -0600 (CST) De: Vanguardia Proletaria [EMAIL PROTECTED] A: [EMAIL PROTECTED] A LOS PUEBLOS DEL MUNDO AL PUEBLO DE MEXICO A LAS ORGANIZACIONES POLITICAS, SINDICALES, SOCIALES Y DE DERECHOS HUMANOS INTERNACIONALES El 6 de Febrero del 2000, la Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP)incursionó en las instalaciones de la Ciudad Universitaria, hecho que viola la autonomía de esa institución.. En clara violación a las garantías individuales y a los derechos políticos consagrados en la Constitución Política de la Estados Unidos Mexicanos, la PFP desalojó con lujo de fuerza al Consejo General de Huelga (CGH) de la UNAM, que se encontraba en sesión, para evaluar la conducta a adoptar en las condiciones de un nuevo rompimiento del diálogo que el propio Rector de la UNAM había convocado el 4 de febrero. Como se sabe, después de más de nueve meses de huelga, el conflicto se encontraba empantanado debido a la intransigencia gubernamental y a su persistencia a preparar una salida violenta, como se comprueba en su actuación a lo largo del conflicto donde sobresalen, hostigamiento, persecución, secuestro, violación, lesiones, represión masiva y selectiva, hasta los arrestos masivos el pasado primero y el 6 de febrero. Pero ¿cual es el delito que han cometido los estudiantes? Por encima de lo que diga y acuse el gobierno, lo cierto es que se les reprime solo por oponerse al proyecto de privatización de la educación superior. Más de 900 estudiantes han sido apresados en esas dos acciones represivas, muchos de ellos jóvenes menores de edad que han sido encarcelados por motivos políticos. Entre los detenidos se encuentran militantes de nuestro partido y de la Unión de la Juventud Revolucionaria de México, hasta el momento sólo contamos con los nombres de algunos: Alberto Pachecho Guizar (el diablo) uno de los principales dirigentes del CGH, Manuel Vergara Cobarrubias, José Manuel González Niño, Omar Fernández Ordoñez, Elizabeth Maley Díaz de León.. Están también detenidos los principales dirigentes del CGH, de diferentes organizaciones de Izquierda: Mario Benítez, (el gato), Alejandro Echeverría (el Mosh), Leticia Contreras, Higinio Muñoz, Víctor Alejo Platas, etc. El Partido Comunista de México (marxista-leninista) repudia esta nueva escalada represiva y sostiene que el verdadero culpable del alargamiento de la huelga es el propio gobierno. El uso de la violencia no resuelve el problema, pues no puede reanudarse la vida académica teniendo en la cárcel a casi un millar de estudiantes. Esto muestra que la implementación de las medidas neoliberales se harán a toda costa, incluso por la vía violenta, El Rector Juan Ramón De la Fuente ha asumido un papel fascistoide como instrumento de la Dirección General de Seguridad Nacional que depende de la Secretaría de Gobernación. La PFP es un grupo paramilitar que está al margen de la Constitución Política Mexicana por lo que se debe demandar su disolución. No es posible permanecer impávidos ante tales agravios, por ello llamamos al pueblo de México a incorporarse a la lucha por la defensa de nuestras garantías individuales y derechos políticos. Que se liberen de manera inmediata e incondicional a todos los presos políticos de la UNAM. También exigimos la libertad de los 61 estudiantes de la Normal Rural "Luis Villarreal" del Mexe, Hidalgo; quienes han sido brutalmente reprimidos, por las mismas causas, es decir, por oponerse a la política privatizadora en el terreno educativo. A las organizaciones internacionales les llamamos a que se manifiesten en repudio a la intervención de la policía en la UNAM, en repudio a la detención de los universitarios y por la defensa de sus derechos humanos, No a la privatización de la educación. Fuera la PFP de las instalaciones de la UNAM. Alto a la escalada represiva. Presos políticos libertad, Desaparición de la anticonstitucional PFP Combativamente. Partido Comunista de México (marxista-leninista). Do You Yahoo!? Obtenga su dirección de correo-e gratis @yahoo.com en Correo Yahoo!.
[Cuba SI] Emergency Alert
Subject: 2/4/00: Emergency alert on pro-NATO coup in Ukraine Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 12:16:14 -0500 EMERGENCY ALERT! PRO-NATO COUP D'ETAT IN UKRAINE; US-BACKED PRESIDENT SURROUNDS PARLIAMENT WITH TROOPS; OPPOSITION LAWMAKERS ON HUNGER STRIKE IAC Delegation Back from Kiev Charges US Gov't Role, Calls for Protests to Break US Media Information Blockade Feb. 4, 2000Troops have surrounded Ukraine's parliament. Inside the main hall are nearly 200 opposition deputies, some of them on hunger strike. They oppose rightwing president Kuchma's plan to abolish Ukraine's elected legislature (Verkhovnye Rada) and replace it with a body more compliant to his wishes. Those include bringing Ukraine into NATO as well as privatizing land and other measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund. On Feb. 1, protesters gathered to defend parliament were attacked by rightwing groups organized by the regime. US ROLE Before moving against his country's parliament, Kuchma held a private meeting with US vice president Al Gore in Washington, D.C. Kuchma was first elected in 1996 with considerable financial aid from the Soros Foundation. He was reelected last November in a vote the opposition charges was plagued with fraud. European Union electoral observers confirm many of their charges. The current confrontation began Jan. 21, when pro-NATO, pro-IMF deputies and their allies held an extralegal gathering in a non- government building at the same time as an official Rada session was in progress. The unconstitutional meeting voted to oust elected Rada speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko and deputy speaker Adam Martynyuk and replace them with Kuchma supporters. Attempts to remove Tkachenko and Martynyuk by constitutional procedures had failed in the Rada. Today armed guards escorting Ivan Plyush, the pro- Kuchma grouping's choice for speaker, forcibly seized the speaker's office from Tkachenko, who had refused to leave. OPPOSITION LEADERS SPEAK TO IAC International Action Center representatives Larissa Kritskaya and Bill Doares were in Kiev last week, where they visited the Rada and met with Tkachenko and other opposition leaders. "This crisis comes not from the deputies but from the president," Kuchma told the IAC representatives. "There is an attempt to forcibly Westernize Ukraine. The presidential election was determined by force, and now the president is using force against parliament. Kuchma's rule has brought ruin to our people. Now he is staging a coup d'etat to concentrate absolute power in his hands. Our constitution has been violated at every step." "Kuchma is trying to make a coup to gain absolute power," said Ukraine Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz. "He is acting on behalf of powerful private groups that support him. Since Kuchma came to office, Ukraine has gotten poorer but his friends have gotten rich. They now want to get even richer by selling shares in land and grabbing control of basic industries like steel, petrochemicals and even oil and gas, which is now forbidden to be privatized." "It is obvious that the United States has designed the Ukraine's political landscape," Oleg Grachev, Kiev regional secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), told Kritskaya and Doares. "You cannot speak about injustice and electoral falsification in this country without speaking of the domination of the International Monetary Fund." INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER CONDEMNS US ROLE "The US-backed presidential coup in Ukraine is of a piece with the bloody war against Yugoslavia and the occupation of Kosovo," the International Action Center charged in a statement issued today. "It is part of NATO's drive to the east. The White House and Pentagon want to bring Ukraine into NATO, which is a dangerous step toward a new and larger war. This must be seen in the context of the revival of Star Wars and the plans to base nuclear weapons in Hungary. Washington also wants to crush any opposition in to the dictates of the International Monetary Fund in Ukraine and the other former Soviet republics. We must not allow a repeat of the events in Chile in 1973, with Kuchma as Pinochet." WALL STREET RULES With nearly 50 million people, Ukraine is the second-largest former Soviet republic. It was one of the USSR's most productive agricultural and industrial regions. Today, like other former Soviet republics, it has been devastated by "economic restructuring" dictated by the International Monetary Fund. Since the fall of the USSR, Ukraine's industrial production has dropped 70 percent. Its population has fallen by 2 million in just the past two years. The old-age pension is $13 a month and millions of workers are not being paid. While hunger stalks many regions, one-third of the state budget goes in interest payments to Western banks. The country's debt has risen 30 times since Kuchma took office in 1996. The Kuchma regime has tried to create a
What's in the latest Green Left Weekly? #392, February 9, 2000
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Green Left Weekly, Issue #392 February 9, 2000 http://www.greenleft.org.au Green Left Weekly provides news, information, opinion and debate from an environmental and left perspective. Featured this week: INDONESIA'S GENERALS MAY STILL GET AWAY WITH MURDER The Indonesian and United Nations commissions have released their reports on the massive human rights violations that occurred in East Timor last year. However, while some of those responsible are named, it is far from certain that they will be tried for their crimes. COVER STORY * Indonesia's generals may still get away with murder FEATURES * Why the West allows Russia to butcher Chechens * The end of privacy INTERNATIONAL NEWS * Burmese demand justice * ANC leadership's class agenda * Regional day of protest against Elian's kidnapping * Elian not the first Cuban child kidnapped * What about Suharto's crimes? * CPI-ML on the way forward for the Indian left * Herri Batasuna leaders arrested * Biosafety protocol signed * Philippines revolutionaries begin peace talks * Conference in Cuba: Globalisation -- understanding and resisting the monster * International news briefs * Organising East Timor's working people * Anti-debt protest in Indonesia CULTURAL DISSENT * Three Kings and a million dead * John Pilger wins gold * The Torch * Theme park RESISTANCE MAGAZINE * Blaming the unemployed * The changes * Lies and reality * Howard runs the gauntlet in Lismore * Students decide on action to defend education * Queensland student union refuses solidarity with staff * Resistance is everywhere NEWS * Lupin You * SA government's outsourcing will hurt workers * Bracks threatens unions * NSW teachers vote to fight * University plan is no solution * Yanner forced to stand down * BHP digs in over individual contracts * Geelong solidarity rally for Pilbara workers * Genocide protest camp to return to Roxby * Battle for the Mater heats up * Laboring on land rights * Action updates * Homeless people evicted * National Textiles workers confront Howard * Opposition mounts to NSW pay offer * 1240 asylum seekers on hunger strike in WA ISSUES * GST: a blank cheque for ripoffs * 36 reasons for action * CFMEU can win 36 hours, but what's next? * Networker: Cybersquatters REGULAR FEATURES * Loose cannons * and ain't i a woman?: Are men biologically programmed to rape? * Looking out: From that moment on * Life of Riley: Winston * On the box * Editorial: Washing the blood from their hands * Write on: letters to the editor * Chris Kelly cartoon * Jaybee's cartoon * From Leftfield (cartoon) Articles posted are as they were before proofreading, and prior to any final changes in the printed version. All articles appearing in Green Left Weekly, and reprinted here, are copyright by their authors. However, most regular contributors have granted permission for their work to be republished by non-profit green, left, human rights or generally progressive publications. Where such permission has NOT been granted, articles are marked with the symbol in the index above. Before reprinting such an article, or if uncertain whether your publication is allowed to reprint, please inquire by e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ALL cartoons are copyright and must not be reproduced without permission of the artist. We like to know what audiences we are reaching, and would therefore appreciate being informed of any republication (in print or electronically). * [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___
BELGIANS IN CUBA: US-CUBA MEDICAL TRADE FAIR/INTERVIEW
BELGIANS IN CUBA: US-CUBA MEDICAL TRADE FAIR/INTERVIEW Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ... THE US-CUBA MEDICAL TRADE FAIR (Third of 3 articles) BELGIANS IN CUBA: The Walloon Industrial Union Looks for Cuban Pharmaceutical Contacts Interview with Pierre Goffin, executive of the General Bank of Brussels and president of the Belgian entrepreneurial mission that visited Cuba at the end of January, 2000. Q: Mr. Goffin, what prospects for trade and investment do you see in the Cuban pharmaceutical industry? A: From the presentations I attended here and the visits we have made, we think that the pharmaceutical industry in Cuba is very strong. There are a lot of new projects, and there certainly are opportunities for collaboration between Belgian and Cuban companies. In Belgium, we also have a very strong pharmaceutical industry; that's why I think there are possibilities for the large Belgian companies, or those doing business in Belgium, like Smith Klein Beecham, Lilly and others, to supply equipment and services here in Cuba. We are very confident about doing business here in the near future. Q: Are the entrepreneurs visiting also interested in Cuban pharmaceutical products ? A: First, we are interested in giving to Cuban entrepreneurs all the knowledge and technology needed to be able to upgrade the quality of Cuban products to permit them to be exported. Although this time we brought a group of companies whose major interest is in selling, there's great interest back in Belgium to explore in depth Cuba's successful biotechnology and especially the Finlay Institutes. We have brought ten companies from all kinds of areas in the pharmaceutical field. Q: You said in your presentation that in your region of Belgium, you have formed an association for foreign trade and export, on behalf of which you have organized this trip to Cuba. What are the objectives of this association? A: This is the Union Wallonne des Enterprises, from the Walloon-speaking region of Belgium. It is an entrepreneurial organization presided over by Mr. Jean Stephenne, Smith-Kline Beecham Biologicals' General Director, who was in Cuba last September. The organization is the International Marketing Department of the Union, created in February 1998 under the auspices of Michel Hahn, Chairman of the board of Magoteaux International and former president of the Walloon Business Federation. Its objective is to promote exports for the small and medium-sized Walloon companies. with the support of multinational groups that are leaders in their sector. The department is sponsored by a number of large Walloon financial or industrial multinationals, which provide its budget and ensure its independence -- among them the banks Brussels Lamber (Group ING), Fortis, and Cridit Communal; insurance companies like Gerling Namur, manufacturers like Italcementi Group, Ciments d'Obourg, Glaceries Sanit Roch and Smith-Kline Beecham. Q: How does this department work? A: The department organizes export promotion events for small- and medium-sized Walloon companies, which are grouped in "clusters," based on their end customers. The approach is to target a specific sector, or a particular foreign investment. One of the major new clusters is the pharmaceutical industry, and so manufacturers and entrepreneurs in that field accompanied us to Cuba on this visit. Q: How does it work specifically in Cuba ? A: The missions organized by the Department staff begin by presenting the cluster to potential decision-makers abroad and arranging a visit from all or part of the cluster related to their needs. Then we set up formal presentations, or bilateral contacts between buyers and sellers or prospective investors. In Cuba, we are clearly now in the second phase. For Cuba, the advantage of this approach is that it allows Cuban entrepreneurs to diversify and improve their suppliers and to discover new technological solutions. Secondly, it presents the opportunity to develop joint ventures, similar to the one formed by Smith-Kline Beecham with the Finlay Institute, to improve, develop and commercialize products of interest. There's great interest back in Belgium for other products of the Finlay Institute and the Cuban Biotechnology Center. -end- = NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] = nytcari-02.07.00-08:12:16-1237 Cuba SI: http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/ Imperialism NO! Venceramos! Information and discussion about Cuba. Discussion of the
Conference in Cuba
From: Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SYMPOSIUM ON SOCIAL THOUGHT AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM IN CUBA (Second Call) The Center for Development Studies (CDS) and la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Programa Cuba, are sponsoring an international symposium on "The State of Social and Economic Thought: Marxist, Third World and Feminist Perspectives" in Havana, Cuba from June 7 to June 9, 2000. The international symposium seeks an interchange and reflection among social scientists and historians from various countries on themes related to the situation of global revolutionary movements in light of recent developments in the world economy. The symposium is calling for presentations on the themes of the world economy, including new imperialist strategies, and/or movements of social change from the perspectives of the national and international movements of workers and women as well as Third World national liberation movements. Also, the symposium will have interchanges among Cubans and scientists of various countries focusing on the dominant currents in their particular disciplines (economics, sociology, political science or history) in their particular countries. The organizers solicit proposals related to these themes. The symposium will be bilingual and presentations can be made in English or Spanish. The conference will be preceded by an educational program, "Peripheralization and National Liberation in Cuba," that includes two components. (1) Prior to travel to Cuba, there will be an eight-week program from March 19 to May 12 of reading and electronic discussion among group participants, including reading on Cuban history and the Cuban electoral and political system. (2) Upon arrival in Cuba, there will be a nine-day experiential program in Havana from May 27 to June 6 (or participants may select an abbreviated educational program from June 3 to June 6). The experiential program includes activities such as visits to an urban neighborhood, to the national office of the Federation of Cuban Women, to scientific research centers, schools and hospitals and centers of health as well as lectures by the faculty of FLACSO on the project of the Cuban Revolution, women in Cuba, the political process, rural development and the special period. Many lectures are tied to an experience. For example, a visit to a popular council follows a presentation at the university concerning the political process in Cuba. There will be English and Spanish versions of the electronic discussion, and the experiential program will be bilingual. For more information on the program, contact Charles McKelvey at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Louis Proyect (The Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.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 ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___
Fresh Crises hovering over the Market
Communist Web Monday 7th February 2000 9.30pm gmt Fresh Crises hovering over the Market . Third international economists' conference convened for early next year WHEN the potential for crisis is present, flight of capital is the next step, warned President Fidel Castro in the final session of the 2nd International Economists' Conference in Havana, attended by specialists from close to 60 countries. Making an analysis of the world economic situation, the Cuban president noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the backbone of the current international economic order established and developed in the wake of the Bretton Woods agreement. He maintained that Cuba has been able to resist the economic blockade imposed by the United States for more than 40 years and 10 years of special period, without any credits whatsoever from the IMF, the World Bank... http://www.billkath.demon.co.uk/cw/cw.html
People's Voice - Articles - Feb. 15-30, 2000
PEOPLES VOICE ON-LINE ARTICLES FROM THE COMMUNIST PRESS IN CANADA (These articles below are from the Feb. 15-29/2000 issue of Peoples Voice, Canadas leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: Peoples Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) __ 1) EDITORIALS: MEDICAL EMERGENCY CANADAS MEDICARE system has been in critical condition for several years; now its on life support. Hospital closures, lengthy waiting lists for urgent operations, and overflowing emergency departments are already costing lives across the country. By suggesting that Medicare should be scaled back to insure only basic medical services, the ten premiers have started yanking on the plug. It wont be long before working class and poor Canadians get a couple of pain-killers and a band-aid for serious medical problems, while the wealthy get gold-plated treatment for their hangnails. Unless we rise up in anger, we can say goodbye to the system of universally-accessible medical care won through the struggles of Norman Bethune, Tommy Douglas and many others. Without a doubt, the worst villains in this situation are the two ReformaTory premiers. Ontarios Mike Harris helped get the ball rolling with his governments savage health care cutbacks. Ralph Klein did likewise in Alberta, then started to privatise big chunks of the provinces hospital system. But nobody should let the rest of the anti-Medicare gang off the hook. The Chrétien Liberals slashed billions of dollars from spending on health care, social programs and education, then did nothing to block provincial attacks on hospitals and health care workers. By caving in to this Liberal/Tory alliance, the NDP premiers of BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are selling out their own partys proudest historical achievement. Behind these politicians are the corporate interests carving out the most profitable chunks of the health care system. The Canadian Health Coalition did a useful job of raising this crucial issue at the Quebec City meeting of the premiers in early February, but the outcome of that gathering shows that mass action is necessary. Every peoples organization should get into this struggle - union locals, student unions, seniors organizations, the womens movement, anti-poverty groups and others. Warn the federal and every provincial governments that we simply will not accept the destruction of Medicare! Every possible tactic should be used to drive this message home: letters, petitions, demonstrations, occupations of government offices. CHILLING NEWS FROM AUSTRIA HISTORY NEVER repeats itself in precisely the same ways, but events in Austria are cause for considerable alarm. It may be the case that Joerg Haider is no Adolf Hitler, but the Nazi leader also made promises to preserve democracy... until he was in power. Its also true that Austria today has less potential to launch a devastating war than the Germany of the 1930s, but this is no reason to be complacent. The chilling fact is that Haiders ultra-right Freedom Party is now part of the government in a European country, controlling the ministries of defence, finance, justice and social affairs. For the working people of Austria, especially immigrants and minorities, this can only mean serious trouble. Racist, neo-fascist, and anti-immigrant parties in other countries will certainly be encouraged to step up their own campaigns to win power, posing enormous dangers for Europe and the entire world. There are two ways to fight the neo-fascist menace. One is to expose the modern day followers of Hitler whenever they crawl out from under their rocks, before they gain substantial voter support, and while they are in office. Since fascism thrives on cynicism and despair, the second imperative is to campaign for genuine peoples alternatives to unemployment and declining living standards, based on the needs of working people and the environment, not corporate greed. 2) THE FEDERAL BUDGET: Annual Organized Robbery of the Working Class As Canadas ruling parties carry on a staged public debate on fiscal policy before the February 28 federal budget, more basic economic problems affecting the working class and jeopardizing Canadian sovereignty remain in the shadows. Canadas ruling class as a whole is pleased with finance minister Paul Martin. So are the bond raters in New York, who play a large role in determining the solvency and fate of governments around the world. It matters little to the bond raters, from their class point of view, if Martin balances the budget with money plundered from the unemployment insurance or with $30 billion looted from the pension funds of federal civil servants. The bourgeois
