------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Aug. 29, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
CZECH CP SAYS: CALL OFF NATO MEETING, USE FUNDS FOR FLOOD RELIEF By John Catalinotto Are the floods devastating Central Europe and South Asia a result of global warming? No proof yet, but these record floods--which have killed hundreds in Asia and brought as much as $20 billion in damage to the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and eastern Germany--have already had political repercussions. The floods have aroused protest of the next major summit meeting of NATO ministers, scheduled for Prague on Nov. 20. At that meeting, NATO plans to increase its membership by adding at least a few more formerly socialist Eastern European countries, tightening the grip of the Western imperialists on this region. The meeting will require a substantial outlay of funds by the pro-capitalist Czech government, which brought the Czech Republic into NATO in 1999. Not everyone in the country thinks this is a good idea. According to the newsletter Postmark Prague, on Aug. 15 the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia demanded that the government call off the NATO summit and use the $560 million saved to help the victims of the catastrophic floods. "Party Vice-Chair Miloslav Ransdorf (MP) told journalists that official estimates of the damage caused by the flood were too low. Reports from the CPBM's regional and district organizations suggested that the real cost would be nearer" $2.8 billion, Postmark Prague reported. In recent national elections, the CPBM made substantial gains, increasing its vote from 11 to 18.5 percent and its seats in Parliament from 24 to 41. The experience of living under real capitalism--with its unemployment, cuts in social services, economic instability and foreign domination--has turned a larger portion of the population back to communist and pro-socialist parties in the Czech Republic, as it has in other former socialist countries. The Western powers look to integrating these countries into NATO in order to ensure that they remain under imperialist domination, with de facto military occupation by NATO forces. - 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] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
