Puerto Rico Europa
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Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite!
workers.org
Nov. 29, 2012
Vol. 54, No. 47
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Worldwide solidarity condemns racist settler state
Gaza resists U.S.-backed Israeli terror
By Gene Clancy and Deirdre Griswold Nov. 19 — Israel has launched another brutal military attack on the Palestinian people living in Gaza, a small, densely populated strip of land that houses 1.7 million people. Once again, Israel has the complete backing of the U.S. government, which for decades has bankrolled the Zionist settler state and its military, enabling their many assaults on the Arab and Muslim peoples of the oilrich region. Gilad Sharon, a major in the Israeli army and son of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, wrote in the Nov. 18 Jerusalem Post: “We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza.” He justified this by comparing Gaza to Nagasaki, where the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb at the end of World War II, killing at least 75,000 people. Israel has launched hundreds of missile and air strikes into Gaza since Nov. 14. Its most recent targets have been media offices and vehicles. Israeli strategists don’t want the world to see heart-wrenching images of what they have done, like the photo of a grief-stricken father carrying his dead 11-month-old son, the victim of a U.S.-made Israeli “smart bomb.” Jihad Misharawi, an employee of BBC Arabic, not only lost his young son, Omar. His sister-in-law was killed and his brother was seriously injured when their house was struck in the Israeli attack. For days, the Israeli military propaganda machine has been pumping out images and commentary bragging about “surgical strikes” and killing Hamas’ top military commander, Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, at the beginning of this new onslaught. The U.S. capitalist-owned media focus mostly on the few casualties in southern Israel caused by missiles fired from Gaza. When the destruction and death caused by Israeli air and missile strikes are shown, they rarely get equal coverage. The casualty figures, however, tell the real story: Palestinian deaths and injuries are 10 times those of Israelis. As of Nov. 19, the dead in Gaza numbered 91 and the wounded 700. Israel reports three people killed and 79 wounded by Hamas rockets. Despite Israel’s overwhelming military advan-
NEW YORK CITY
Israel ‘guilty’
WW pHOTO: g. dUNKEL
Protest in Times Square Nov. 18 as Israel masses tanks and troops on Gaza border.
tage, the impoverished people of Gaza have not been cowed by these latest attacks. They continue to support Hamas, which is demanding that Israel end its five-year blockade of Gaza and pledge not to attack again. Hamas is also demanding multinational guarantees that Israel will abide by its commitments. In the meantime, Hamas says it will continue launching rockets into Israel, including a newer generation that can reach as far as Tel Aviv, Israel’s capital. News reports on funerals for Gazans killed in the attacks describe a passionate determination to continue the struggle rather than surrender to Israeli terror — like the murder of a 13-year-old Palestinian by an Israeli military vehicle. It was when Palestinians responded by attacking the vehicle that Israel claimed the right to revive its criminal policy of “targeted assassination” and launched its deadly assault on Gaza City. The condemnation of these deadly outrages has been swift and worldwide. Demonstrations against Continued on page 6
says People’s Tribunal
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Solidarity with Palestine
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NOV. 22 DAY OF MOURNING b Free
Leonard Peltier!
Editorial 4
b Climate change in the North
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ob Gustafson B Mohawk Warrior 5
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The crimes of Columbus 4
WORKERS ‘BLACK FRIDAY’ AT WALMART 3
Workers World Party holds national conference
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Revolutionary activists, many of them youth, gathered Nov. 17-18 in New York City for the WWP national conference. Pictured here are participants leading the audience in singing the International in English and Spanish at the event’s conclusion. Coverage of the conference, and excerpts from many of the talks presented, will be in upcoming issues of WW.
EUROPE Workers strike against austerity
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SOUTH AFRICA After miners, farmworkers strike
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Nov. 29, 2012
workers.org
On the Picket Line
WORKERS WORLD
In the U.S.
Kansas Machinists strike and win better contract
On the picket line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
After Machinists (IAM) Local Lodge 639 members in Wichita, Kansas, got a load of the draconian contract terms proposed by Bombardier Learjet on Oct. 1, they voted overwhelmingly to strike on Oct. 8. The Fortune 500 Global conglomerate based in Montreal sells combat and business jets as well as NASA Challengers and claims a record of “social responsibility” — which obviously does not extend to the workers. The company offered an eight-year contract (instead of five-year), no raises for the first three years and 1 percent the remaining years, no cost of living raises, replacing the pension plan with a 401(k) and replacing the health care plan with one that would increase costs by double-digits every year. “They want you to work harder and harder, for less and less,” concludes the flyer posted on 639iam.org. But after the union agreed to mediation on Nov. 2, the negotiating team came back with a much-improved fiveyear contract, which the membership voted to accept on Nov. 10. Though there is only a signing bonus of $2,500 for the first year and 1 percent raises the next four, the major improvement was, surprisingly, a 10 percent reduction in health-care costs, with another 5 percent savings if workers participate in a wellness program. Compared with the company’s pre-strike offer, workers with single coverage will see a $700 annual reduction in health-care costs, while workers with family coverage will see a $2,300 annual savings. That just proves, even in this economy it pays to strike.
Support Coke 16 workers’ struggle vs. racism
In January, 16 African-American and Latino/a workers filed suit charging that Coca Cola bottling plants in the New York City area are “a cesspool of racial discrimination.” The Coke 16, who are both women and men who worked in three plants on Long Island and one in New Jersey, charge that people of color receive biased work assignments and hours and unfair discipline and retaliation while laboring in a toxic work environment. Since then, they’ve taken their struggle for economic and social justice to the streets, with strong contingents at the Colombian Day Parade on July 22, the Dominican Day Parade on July 29, the March for Peace in Harlem on Aug. 25, and the NYC Labor Day Parade on Sept. 8.
To show support for their struggle, click on “Like” on Facebook.com/TheCoke16. For updates, check out stopCokediscrimination.org.
Victory for patient and nurse safety in Washington State
Patient and nurse safety was affirmed on Oct. 30 in a unanimous decision by the Washington State Supreme Court. It upheld nurses’ statutory rights to be paid overtime when their duties prevent them from taking rest breaks. Research has shown that nurses working long hours have decreased alertness and vigilance that can lead to fatigue-related errors. That’s why the Washington State Nurses Association brought a suit in 2007 on behalf of 1,200 registered nurses to recover unpaid wages for denied rest periods against Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. “Ultimately, our goal is to have hospitals make safe staffing a priority,” said WSNA Executive Director Judy Huntington. “We are hopeful that the decision will also have a chilling effect on other hospitals and their efforts to avoid paying nurses for missed breaks and serve as an incentive to them to give nurses the breaks they so deserve!” (The Stand, Oct. 30)
Collective bargaining affirmed for Missouri home care workers
It only took four years after voters passed the Missouri Quality Home Care Act in 2008, by a 75 percent majority, that 13,000 home care workers in that state will be able to negotiate their first union contract. Big-business anti-union forces sued to stop the workers after they voted to form the Missouri Home Care Union in 2010. (MHCU is a joint local organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and Service Employees unions.) Studies have shown home care that promotes independent living not only cuts state costs for nursing homes, but also provides much more humane, compassionate care for the elderly and the disabled. The Missouri State Supreme Court affirmed the workers’ right to collective bargaining on Oct. 30. Such issues as living wages, training, and measures to reduce turnover and protect clients will be on the table. (PR Newswire, Oct. 30)
Coney Island suffering two weeks post-Sandy Public housing tenants in Coney Island are facing falling temperatures by the waterfront with hardly an open store to be found. More than two weeks after Hurricane Sandy, they are still without lights, hot water or heat in apartment buildings near the ocean. Even the broken city’s famous amusement park is closed. City officials won’t say when the tenants may
get electricity and heat. Coney Island has a beat up and muddy appearance, and some of it is permeated with a stench like that reported in post-Katrina New Orleans. Some residents say this city will never be rebuilt. The accompanying photo shows unemployed tenants from Coney Island in lines stretching blocks waiting for some free groceries.
— Report and photo by Anne Pruden
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this week ...
By Sue Davis
Buffalo, N.Y. 367 Delaware Ave. Buffalo, NY 14202 716.883.2534 buffalo@workers.org Chicago 27 N. Wacker Dr. #138 Chicago, IL 60606 chicago@workers.org 312.229.0161 Cleveland P.O. Box 5963 Cleveland, OH 44101 216.738.0320 cleveland@workers.org Denver denver@workers.org Detroit 5920 Second Ave. Detroit, MI 48202 313.459.0777 detroit@workers.org
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Pittsburgh pittsburgh@workers.org Rochester, N.Y. 585.436.6458 rochester@workers.org San Diego P.O. Box 33447 San Diego, CA 92163 619.692.0355 sandiego@workers.org San Francisco 2940 16th St., #207 San Francisco CA 94103 415.738.4739 sf@workers.org Tucson, Ariz. tucson@workers.org Washington, D.C. P.O. Box 57300 Washington, DC 20037 dc@workers.org
Coney Island suffering two weeks post-Sandy . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Michigan ‘emergency manager’ law defeated . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Homeowners fight evictions by pension board . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Walmart workers gear up for ‘Black Friday’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 ‘Save the Berkeley post office!’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The myth of Columbus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Climate change affects life in the Arctic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Bob Gustafson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Around the world Gaza resists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Europe rocked by workers’ resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Russell Tribunal on Palestine: Israel ‘Guilty’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 South African farmworkers on strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Cuban 5 case featured at Howard Law School . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Solidarity with strikes in Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Gaza assault protested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Editorial Free Leonard Peltier! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Noticias En Español Puerto Rico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Europa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Editor’s message: Due to the Workers World Party national conference Nov. 17-18 and the printer’s Nov. 22 holiday schedule, this issue of WW is only eight pages.
Workers World 55 West 17 Street New York, N.Y. 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: ww@workers.org Web: www.workers.org Vol. 54, No. 47 • Nov. 29, 2012 Closing date: Nov. 19, 2012 Editor: Deirdre Griswold Technical Editor: Lal Roohk Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Leslie Feinberg, Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Gary Wilson West Coast Editor: John Parker Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, Greg Butterfield, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel, Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash, Milt Neidenberg, Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac Technical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger, Bob McCubbin, Maggie Vascassenno Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez, Carlos Vargas Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator Copyright © 2012 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly except the first week of January by WW Publishers, 55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institutions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., New York, NY 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available on microfilm and/or photocopy from University Microfilms International, 300 Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. A searchable archive is available on the Web at www.workers.org. A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. Subscription information is at workers.org/email.php. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
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Michigan
‘Emergency manager’ law defeated By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire Detroit Proposal 1, a ballot initiative in Michigan to reinstate Public Act 4, popularly known as the “dictator law,” was defeated in the Nov. 6 elections. The act had been suspended when the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the legitimacy of the 226,000 petition signatures calling for the repeal of the draconian law. Public Act 4 was instituted during early 2011 during a state and national right-wing offensive against labor organizations and oppressed communities. The November 2010 elections had placed a Republican majority in Congress and a narrow-majority Democratic group in the Senate. Right-wing politicians fueled by the corporate-backed Tea Party movement won seats in state governments as well. In Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and other states, legislation was rushed through to outlaw collective bargaining and to restrict, if not eliminate, bourgeois democracy in local
governments and school districts. PA 4 imposed “emergency managers” on many majority African-American cities. In Detroit, a so-called “Financial Stability Agreement” was passed 5-4 by the City Council. This agreement was designed, like PA 4, to guarantee the payment of billions of dollars in debt-service payments to the banks. A grassroots campaign was organized to collect enough signatures that would place a referendum on the ballot to overturn PA 4. This was done after efforts in the courts to stop the law were stalled.
ty Agreement. Cuts have been imposed which have reduced city services to the bare minimum. The people of the state voted to overturn this draconian law. The vote illustrated the declining influence of the corporate media and the failure of the state government to intimidate workers and oppressed peoples into complacency. Even though PA 4 has been voted down, the ruling class and its lackeys are continuing as though the elections never took place. The previous emergency financial manager law, Public Act 72, was resurrected after PA 4 was suspended Significance of ballot initiative upon validation of the petition signatures. The efforts of Gov. Rick Snyder and the The reimposition of PA 72 is currently right-wing-dominated state Legislature being challenged in the courts. Howevwere supported by the corporate-owned er, if any lessons are to be learned from media. Editorials were run daily in the the struggle to overturn Public Act 4, the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press courts will not be the decisive factor. praising the financial emergency manageOn Nov. 15, Snyder and state legislative ment and consent agreements. representatives announced they would Some 2,500 workers in Detroit were draft another bill, Public Act 76, which slated to lose their municipal jobs with would impose the same measures that the imposition of the Financial Stabili- had been rejected by voters. The bankers and their surrogates refuse to accept the political will of the people.
Workers and oppressed communities in Detroit and throughout Michigan must form broad coalitions to fight the downsizing of city, county and state government as well as the evisceration of public education. The Detroit Public Schools, the largest district in the state, has been decimated by the enormous debt-service payments to the banks which drain 80 percent of state aid. The Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shutoffs is calling for the release of all relevant documents related to the financial instruments and loan agreements signed that have resulted in the economic strangling of the city of Detroit. Moratorium NOW! is demanding the halt of debt-service payments to the financial institutions. The Financial Review Board, appointed by Gov. Snyder to lay the groundwork for a state takeover in the interest of the banks, reported that Detroit owed in excess of $16 billion in long-term debt. Yet the Moratorium NOW! Coalition asserts that the people of Detroit and Michigan owe nothing to the banks. It is the banks that owe the people!
Homeowners fight evictions Walmart workers gear up for by pension board ‘Black Friday’
Thirty homeowners and their supporters packed the meeting of the Detroit Police and Firefighters Pension Board on Nov. 15 to protest the Board’s attempts to foreclose and evict them from their homes. The Pension Board had lent $10 million to a fraudulent company, Paramount Land Holdings, in 2009. Paramount bought up foreclosed homes and sold these homes to buyers, assuring them that the company had paid off back taxes and had clear title to the properties. But Paramount had never recorded the properties and taxes were not paid. Paramount went bankrupt. One of its officers is under arrest; the other committed suicide. Now the Pension Board is going after the homeowners, the victims of Paramount’s swindle. Protest-
By Jim McMahan Federal Way, Wash.
Kim Pierce
ing homeowners are demanding that the Pension Board negotiate with them over the issues of back taxes, title and the thousands of dollars the homeowners invested in restoring the houses they purchased. Above, homeowner Kim Pierce stands outside the Pension Board before the meeting. — Report and photo by David Sole
Walmart workers walked out at four Seattle-area Walmart stores on Nov. 15 against low pay and anti-worker intimidation. This is part of a national campaign to organize Walmart, which is headed for a national strike against Walmart on “Black Friday,” the day after so-called “Thanksgiving,” when retail monopolies like Walmart rake in billions of dollars in sales from workers’ small paychecks. The Food and Commercial Workers union, along with Working Washington and OUR Walmart,
California
‘Save the Berkeley post office!’ By Judy Greenspan Berkeley, Calif. When the major banks and financial institutions in this country were facing economic failure, they were quickly given a multitrillion-dollar bailout. But the U.S. Postal Service, a public institution serving millions of people, is getting sold out instead of bailed out. The government in collaboration with major real estate interests is closing post offices and selling the properties to the highest bidder. In Berkeley, Calif., a growing movement of workers, activists and city residents is coming together to make clear, “Our post office is not for sale.” People gathered Nov. 14 at the historic downtown Berkeley Post Office to protest its planned sale to Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s spouse, Richard Blum, a University of California regent and chair of CBRE, a major real estate firm. According to the “Save the People’s Post Office” newsletter (Nov. 2012), CBRE has the “exclusive contract to sell off Berkeley’s historic Main Post Office and some 70 other post offices nationally.” The new community/labor coalition charges Blum and other big-business interests with trying to privatize and
profit from the federal postal system. At the rally, Berkeley City Council member, Max Anderson, called the proposed post office sale “a slap in the face for the people of Berkeley. It should not be up for sale.” He said the sale smacks of a corporate mentality that was just defeated on Election Day. Anderson said the defeats of Measure S, which would have criminalized people who sat on the city streets, and Measure T, which would have given big developers a green light to further “develop” Berkeley, were victories for everyone’s civil rights. Susan Hammer, chief shop steward of the American Postal Workers Union, East Bay Area, Local 47, had her first postal job at the downtown Berkeley post office. Hammer called the sale “unnecessary” and urged everyone to fight this latest attempt to privatize the postal system. According to the organizers of “Save the People’s Post Office,” this movement won an important victory by forcing a postponement of the public hearing on the sale of this historic building. The original meeting was scheduled for two days before the “Thanksgiving” holiday, which would have guaranteed a low attendance. The hearing will probably be scheduled for
WW Photo: Judy Greenspan
Postal Workers chief steward Susan Hammer.
sometime in January. Following the rally, protesters walked into the post office to view the priceless New Deal murals on its walls and then marched up to Constitution Square in downtown Berkeley to gather more support for the campaign to stop the illegal sale of the Berkeley post office. The next action of the community/labor coalition will be Dec. 4. Protesters will expose the role of real estate mogul Blum by gathering at his San Francisco office, 909 Montgomery St. in San Francisco, and marching to Sen. Feinstein’s office. For more information, contact savetheberkeleypostoffice@gmail.com or visit savethepostoffice.com.
are organizing for the strike locally. Walmart workers’ supporters from unions and community groups showed up early on Nov. 15 to leaflet the Federal Way store. The cops’ order to leave the premises was soon overruled by dozens of Walmart workers pouring out of the store. Striking workers from three other Walmart stores, including a Sams Club, also came out. Workers chanted in the store and then led a crowd of 300, including a marching band, across the parking lot. People chanted, “Stand up! Live better!” and “We’re fired up, won’t take it no more!” Elena Perez from UFCW read off the names of the many labor and community groups supporting the Walmart “associates” (the term the corporation uses instead of “workers”). The workers spoke out loudly against the company’s harassment and attempts to intimidate their organizing campaign. Associate Sara Gilbert spoke of overcoming company fear and intimidation and going to Bentonville, Ark., to protest at Walmart’s corporate headquarters. Leaders from SPEEA/IFPT—the International Federation of Professional and Technical Workers at Boeing — presented the Walmart campaign with a $2,000 check and made a strong solidarity statement along with others. This early walkout by oppressed, lowpaid workers, many of them workers of color, is a sure sign of things to come.
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Nov. 29, 2012
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The Myth o
editorial
Free
Leonard Peltier! Nov. 22 will mark 13,439 days of incarceration for Native political prisoner Leonard Peltier. This year’s commemoration of the National Day of Mourning, to be held in Plymouth, Mass., will once again honor Peltier, a hero-in-the-struggle who has been unjustly imprisoned since 1976. The so-called “Thanksgiving” holiday is a stark reminder of the centuries of horrific assaults unleashed against Native peoples, first by European colonizers and then by U.S. administrations. Their lands were stolen, their people killed and their cultures and languages under siege. The myth of the “benevolent Pilgrims,” so glibly portrayed in U.S. history books, sharing their bounty with Indigenous peoples, is shattered when the truth is revealed. The real story is one of bigotry, injustice and violence aimed at this country’s original inhabitants. Racist discrimination, oppression and exploitation continue today, at the hands of corporations and by governments at all levels. The economic crisis has exacerbated the Native workers’ unemployment crisis. Since the recession began, the jobless rate has doubled for these workers in the Midwest. Moreover, in the Northern Plains region, only 44 percent of the Indigenous were employed last year. Accessible jobs are often low paying and come with few benefits, if any. At least one-third of Native people are impoverished. Banks and corporations get mammoth bailouts from this capitalist government, and trillions of dollars are spent to wage war and occupy lands abroad, yet workers and oppressed people here suffer. The Washington politicians who determine national budgets should ensure living-wage jobs, housing, health care and nutritious food to Indigenous and other super oppressed communities. At the traditional National Day of Mourning ceremonies, Native speakers tell of their history, pay homage to their ancestors and speak of their struggles throughout the Americas. They relate their efforts to survive today in the face of this anti-people system. Yet, they will also celebrate their militant history — the many struggles for political, economic and social rights, and for the recognition of their sovereignty and right to self-determination. Their basic tenets of international unity and solidarity always shine through.
The call for “Freedom for Leonard Peltier” has echoed worldwide as millions of people have demanded that he be released from his nearly 37-year ordeal. They deplore the many violations of his civil liberties since his arrest. Prosecutors withheld crucial evidence from his attorneys at trial, and he was then railroaded to prison, charged with shooting two FBI agents. Since Peltier’s arrest, he has had much support from Native communities and other progressive forces in the U.S. and worldwide. His supporters are now organizing a “Bring Leonard Peltier Home 2012 Concert” at the historic Beacon Theater in New York City on Dec. 14. They are working hard to raise awareness of Peltier’s cause and garner public support for him as they step up their campaign to win him clemency. There has been no response from President Barack Obama, who has been deluged with petitions with thousands of signatures for Peltier’s freedom. The ailing 68-year-old Peltier is imprisoned in a U.S. penitentiary in Florida, thousands of miles from his nation, the Turtle Mountain Band in North Dakota. His defense committee asks supporters to send letters and messages of solidarity to Leonard Peltier, #89637-132, USP Coleman I, U.S. Penitentiary, P.O. Box 1033, Coleman, FL 33521. The struggle goes on. Workers World Party stands in solidarity with all Indigenous peoples on the 43rd National Day of Mourning, as we loudly demand, “Free Leonard Peltier!”
Its legacy for Indig
By Stephanie Adohi
Excerpted from a talk given at a Workers World Party forum in New York City on Oct. 12. The writer is a longtime member of WWP and is of Cherokee, Huron and Muskogee descent. Columbus Day was promoted by (fascist) Mussolini backers. Italian-American working-class socialists and anarchists fought the fascists in the New York streets before it was made a federal holiday in 1937. Christopher Columbus was no Italian. His name was Cristóbol Colón, a Spanish pirate. The Spanish Queen would have executed him had she known. There is no evidence he was ever in Genoa. He wrote a lot and left nothing written in the dialect spoken in Genoa. There are stories of Columbus cutting the arms of Taíno men to feed to his war dogs. He wrote to the queen immediately to convince her of the idea of making them slaves. From contemporary descriptions of conquistadors Cristóbol Colón, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Juan de Oñate, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, Hernando de Soto, we can characterize them as a lumpen sort of completely out-of-control mercenary force. They used the Requerimiento, an announcement from the monarch and the Church, to demand people submit to these men as representatives of the Spanish crown or else knives and guns would be used. Murder, rape, torture and robbery on a level never before seen followed — enslavement of whole Indigenous nations, many worked to death in gold and silver mines. Isabella got wealth beyond all imagining. So did everyone with Francisco Pizarro, butcher of the Incas. Incan civilization grew from ancient farming communities, which held land in common. Incans distributed stored supplies from public warehouses to the sick, o oooooooo elderly, poor, widows, disabled. The Incas were highly skilled working with gold, silver and platinum. They used much bronze. They were the world’s finest weavers. They domesticated llamas and alpacas as pack animals, for wool and meat. They had advanced base-ten mathematics with zeros and place notation. They had 14,000 miles of paved roads. Cusco had a population of 50,000100,000 and there were many smaller cities and towns. Pizarro and his men attacked and killed the Incas at court, unarmed for they lacked fear of these men, who fought to the last even as Pizarro’s men cut off their hands. Pizarro took Atahualpa, the Incan leader, hostage.
SOL
WITH
Climate change affects li By Paddy Colligan
Northern Aboriginal communities in Alaska are not connected to After superstorm Sandy we the road grid that services the rest think “climate change.” It is back of the state. Instead, they are dein the headlines. But people in pendent on planes, an occasional the Arctic have been noticing summer marine barge or winter ice changes and coping with them “roads” for all supplies and transfor many years. Now, sharp shifts portation. A frozen surface makes in weather are occurring in the winter travel into the interior posArctic, where ice and snow are sible, but the shortening of the cold an important part of life. These season and the melting of permachanges affect transportation frost are impacting these vital links. and food, making life much more By summer, when the snow is mostdifficult for Indigenous peoples ly gone from the tundra, this fragin the North. ile ecosystem is highly vulnerable At the end of summer 2012, even to personal all-terrain vehicles. satellite views of the sea ice cover Thawing permafrost makes travel over the Arctic showed that it had there even more problematic. shrunk to the minimum extent Changing climate has resulted since records have been kept. It is in increasingly violent fall storms The Chukchi Sea, a section of the Arctic Ocean not easy to measure the ice cover that are tearing at the coastline and off northwest Alaska, in May 2008. By July most of the ice was gone. at the pole because it constantly literally destroying coastal commumoves, breaks apart, and jams WW Photo: Paddy Colligan nities. For millennia, First Peoples together; it wasn’t until satellite in the North have depended on the photography made possible consistent annual snapshots comprised of single-year ice and is no longer the thicker, sea for their subsistence. They have built their communiof the Arctic ice that sea ice extent could be tracked. multiyear ice that did not melt away each year. This makes ties on the coast to be close to their food supply. A painful Measurements of ice thickness have confirmed what the ice more vulnerable to breaking up in storms, leaving example is the Inupiat community on the barrier island of the satellite pictures show — much of the ice cover is now the ocean surface itself exposed, as occurred this August. Shishmaref on the Chukchi Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean).
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of Columbus
genous peoples today Atahualpa offered the Spanish a room full of gold and two of silver as ransom. The entire ransom came to seven tons of gold and 13 of silver, all of it in the form of artwork and jewelry. No king in Europe had ever seen or even heard of anything like this amount of precious metals. The conquistadors melted it all down. Some $129 million in gold was shipped to Spain every year. Spain used the gold for wars against France, the Turks, and against Protestantism. The huge amounts of stolen gold changed Europe. The European bourgeoisie had its role in outfitting all of the wars. Huge quantitative change led to qualitative change in the power of the bourgeoisie and led to the rise of capitalism. Colonialism exploded in size and scope. Coronado wandered all over the Southwest in search of gold, attacked, occupied and burned several pueblos. Less than a third of the original pueblos still exist today. They extended all the way into the Texas Panhandle. Oñate worked thousands of people to their death in the gold and silver mines of Zacatecas, then left Mexico to take over New Mexico. He attacked Acoma Pueblo in 1599 when it rose against the settlers. Oñate’s men killed 800 children, women and men. Oñate ordered every man over 25 to have a foot cut off and sentenced each to 25 years slavery. Females and males between 12 and 25 years of age got 25 years of slavery. Sixty young girls were sent to priests in Mexico, never to return. No one erects a statue to Oñate to this day without protest. There were rebellions against Spain and the conquistadors. The Incas melted gold and poured it down conquista-
Bob Gustafson, center, in 1983.
Bob Gustafson ww Photo: Steve Kirschbaum
Workers World Party mourns the loss of Bob Gustafson, a Warrior of the Mohawk Nation who was at the historic occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 and was a longtime United American Indians of New England activist. Gustafson, who passed away on Sept. 21, was a steadfast fighter for Native-American self-determination, sovereignty and freedom, and a comrade in the struggle for socialism. We will pick up his banner and continue the struggle for liberation for all Native nations.
Mounds remain of their great earthen pyramids showing the influence of the Mayans and others. The Mississippian culture depended on miles and miles of corn crops. Maize corn was the world’s first selectively bred food grain. Varieties of maize corn were cropped up and down the East Coast, all over the Mississippi River valley, the Southwest and more. Some 10,000 years ago, in the Chilca Canyon of Peru, the potato was domesticated. (The Incans) developed thousands of varieties for every altitude from the high peaks to the valleys. Indigenous societies were o ooo oooooooooooooooooooooooo gardening. Over one-half of dors’ throats. In New Mexico in 1680, the Indigenous people all food crops in the world by numbers of species and by volume were domesticated by Indigenous people in this burnt out the Spanish and kicked them out for 12 years. De Soto’s expedition traveled across the Mississippi to hemisphere — tomatoes, squashes, beans, chocolate, Arkansas, from town to city following the roads and paths, pumpkins, pineapples, cassava, avocados, papaya, quistealing food, burning storehouses, fields, towns. They en- noa, amaranth, acai, chiles and many more. Across this continent people from small villages to slaved local Indigenous people and burned them alive if they made trouble. De Soto cut off their hands if they didn’t cities lived communally; most of them still had a matrilineal structure on the basis of no classes at all. Native lead him to gold. Smallpox and seven other disease vectors living in the guts American women today often use the term matrilineal of de Soto’s war pigs spread disease everywhere. The Mis- because it does not imply any hierarchy. In original communalism the family is healthy and sissippian culture fell directly as a result of these diseases.
SOLIDARITY
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
ife in the Arctic Despite the community’s efforts to relocate their centuries-old village, they continue to lose land and buildings to severe erosion while struggling to find the funding needed to move. Food supply and communities in danger The hunting of sea and land mammals supplies a significant amount of food for many Aboriginal people in northern Alaska. Communal whale hunting is done miles off shore from the ice edge in spring. Just a few years ago, this hunt took place in April or May, but now it is done in February and March. The ice now thins weeks earlier, affecting whale migration and making the ice itself dangerous for hunters and their equipment. Two years ago, a whale that was successfully landed in the traditional whale hunt in Barrow, Alaska, was then lost when the ice gave way. While everyone got to safety, tons of much-needed protein and fat were gone. In the interior, permanent snow patches and lakes are disappearing. The permanent snow patches were a reliable and preferred source of fresh water for people and also served to attract the occasional caribou that would roll in the snow to get relief from mosquitoes and flies. This would present an opportunity for a lucky hunter outside of the caribou migration area to locate solitary animals on the vast landscape. Migrating birds are an important resource for Indigenous Peoples in the North. The world’s migrating bird fly-
ww Photo
ways originate in the Arctic. Many species of waterfowl nest on the tundra, taking advantage of the concentrated burst of insect and plant life each summer. As the lakes shrink and disappear (the melt water seeps into the thawing soil like water flowing from a bathtub), the availability of food for the birds is changing, affecting migration patterns. The effect of huge floating ice floes as well as shore fast ice has meant that the Arctic is different from other oceans. Waves that are associated with oceans in lower latitudes have not been present for most of the year. Besides keeping the eroding power of the water in check, the ice cover has meant that the bands of ocean water did not mix vertically. Now, as the ice cover has melted, however, more wave action is present and the colder fresh water layer on top is now mixing with warmer salt water below, accelerating the surface melting process. A major threat to the Arctic’s human and animal occupants is the determination of huge energy corporations to recklessly prospect for oil profits. The presence of powerful outside economic forces challenges both the environment and the culture of the Northern First Peoples’ communities. The vulnerable communities are also in danger of being destroyed by the double whammy of these powerful forces. Colligan worked as an archaeologist at Point Barrow, Alaska, or Nuvuk, in 2008 and 2009.
vibrant. It is called the extended family. This form provides all the support needed for the individual, for the children. Everyone knows they belong. Unrelated people are adopted in. The role of smallpox and communicable disease Before 1492 no one here had immunity to the European and Asian diseases, diseases that jumped species from domesticated animals or rats. Disease traveled to every corner of the hemisphere. It is estimated in 1491 some 112 million people lived in this hemisphere. Smallpox, flu, measles and others killed 80 to 100 million people in 100 years. Decimated Indigenous nations then faced waves of settlers anxious and mean with greed to steal the land and create wealth. The Indigenous nations fought back, but fighting came after the waves of death had shifted the balance of forces to the invaders. During World War I the biggest rebellion against the fratricidal imperialist war this side of the Atlantic was in Oklahoma. It was called the Green Corn Rebellion. In 1917 Indigenous, Black and white farmers and workers fought side-by-side and were suppressed by the National Guard. This is still Indian land. The struggle continues. This is the significance of Day of Mourning. We salute Osceola, leader of the Seminole nation who never surrendered. We look to the Green Corn Rebellion for our inspiration in the struggle.
oooooooo
National Day of Mourning 2012
Thurs. Nov. 22 Cole’s Hill,
Plymouth, MA For more information: uaine.org & facebook.com/ events/528639163818793/ Bus leaving from Solidarity Center, 55 W. 17th St., 5th flr., Manhattan. 6 am sharp to DOM; $30/$40 round-trip. See Marie for tickets or call 212.633.6646, weekdays (3 pm –8 pm).
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Nov. 29, 2012
workers.org
Europe rocked by workers’ resistance By Gene Clancy Millions of people struck Nov. 14, and hundreds of thousands more poured into the streets in an unprecedented, coordinated general strike against the austerity measures that tear at the very bodies of the poor and working people of Europe. People in 23 countries protested, coordinated by the European Trade Union Confederation. Portugal was completely shut down, as more than 85 percent of workers participated in the general strike. As the protests raged across Europe, a vigil was held at the home of Agaia Egana, a 53-year-old mother who had jumped to her death from the balcony of her home in Barakaldo as bailiffs approached to evict her. Barakaldo is a municipality in the northern city of Bilbao, in the Basque country of the Spanish state. There have been some 400,000 home repossessions in Spain since the mortgage crisis came to a head in 2008. Another million vacant properties lie abandoned. Protesters surrounding Spain’s parlia-
ment building faced off with police and decried the policies of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government, which is imposing austerity measures to make the workers pay the yawning public deficit. Their banners read, “Mariano go home!” “Crisis? Robbery!” and “Spain, evicted!” The last slogan refers to the surge in home-owner evictions blamed for recent suicides. “We have the solution, send the bankers to prison!” protesters chanted in a sea of flags of the main CCOO and UGT unions, which called their second general strike this year, supported by all left unions and organizations. (Channel News Asia, Nov. 14) Thousands of workers and students converged on city and town centers across Italy as part of a four-hour general strike. In Turin students occupied the central railway station, raided the police station and occupied local government offices. In Rome there was a “guerrilla war” between police and protesters, as students made shields and barricades to use against police lines. In Naples protesters lay on the tracks in
the central train station and Metro transport workers walked out, grinding the city to a halt. In Greece unions held a three-hour stoppage beginning at noon. Some 10,000 marched on the parliament in central Athens. A lively contingent there included workers who have been occupying the main senate at Athens University. Local government workers protested at and occupied some town halls, while thousands more held meetings and demonstrations near their workplaces. ‘Double-dip’ recession confirmed Even the wealthier countries in the Eurozone witnessed demonstrations, including 130 across France and some in Belgium, Germany, Austria and Britain. Six East European countries saw protests. The next day brought an “official” confirmation that the eurozone is in a severe “double-dip” recession. The stiff austerity programs aimed at squeezing more out of the workers to help the banks had themselves slowed the economies.
Though the workers of southern Europe have borne the brunt of the crisis, the latest figures showed that the “wealthier” Netherlands had suffered one of the sharpest declines in its economic output. “‘These numbers show we’re ... looking at a spreading social crisis in which harsh austerity, increased taxes, and surging unemployment are bringing Europe to its knees,’ says economist Marc Touati, president of the ACEDEFI financial consultancy.” (Time Magazine, Nov. 16) “We are now getting into a double-dip recession which is entirely self-made,” Paul De Grauwe, an economist with the London School of Economics, said. “It is a result of excessive austerity in southern countries and unwillingness … to do anything else.”(Economic Times, Nov. 16) In the first sign that some sectors of Europe’s ruling classes were worried about the resistance, some Spanish banks signed a two-year moratorium on foreclosures. It is up to the masses of people in Europe and around the word to turn such tactical retreats of the ruling class into a full-scale rout.
Russell Tribunal on Palestine: Israel ‘Guilty’ By Dolores Cox New York The Russell Tribunal is an International People’s Tribunal organized to bring to light Israel’s recognized violations of international law and to advocate for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights. The New York Tribunal on Palestine was held at historic Cooper Union on Oct. 6-7, following sessions held in Barcelona, which focused on the European Union’s complicity; in London, focusing on corporate complicity; and in Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on the crime of apartheid. In New York, before a packed audience, the Tribunal focused on the United Nations and U.S. responsibility in denying self-determination to the Palestinian peo-
ple, as well as in upholding Israel’s complete disregard for international law. Invitations to the Tribunal were extended to the U.S. and Israel, both of whom failed to respond. Jury members were Dennis Banks, Angela Davis, John Dugard, Miguel Angel Estrella, Stephane Hessel, Ronnie Kasrils, Mairead Maguire, Cynthia McKinney, Michael Mansfield, Alice Walker and Roger Waters. Chairpersons were Pierre Galand and Stephane Hessel. Testimonies and jury responses were heard from 20 witnesses and experts. On the second day of the Tribunal, the parents of Rachel Corrie, who was mowed down and killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to prevent a Palestinian home from being demolished, gave an updated report on their efforts to obtain justice for
Gaza resists Israeli terror Continued from page 1 Israel and in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza are taking place on every continent. As thousands demonstrated in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in support of Gaza, Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel and sent Prime Minister Hisham Kandil to Gaza to offer Egypt’s solidarity. Arab politicians used to collaborating with U.S. imperialism have been put on the spot by the mass reaction to Israel’s Grief-stricken father Jihad Misharawi holds his dead infant. aggression. Iraq’s representative to the Arab League, Qais al-Azzawy, attacks on Syria, told the truth when he called on Arab states to use oil as a weapon called Israel a terror state after its assault on Gaza. to put pressure on the U.S. and Israel. The Palestinian people have every right Even Jordan’s King Abdullah cancelled to return to historic Palestine, but they a trip to Britain amid fears that his country are banned from doing so by a murderous could be the next to experience the Arab regime of settlers who have come primarSpring’s demands for change. Protesters ily from Europe and the U.S. and who evhad packed the streets of Amman, the capery year encroach further on their lands. ital, demanding an end to the monarch’s The Palestinian people have every right rule. The cancellation followed protests in to defend themselves against Israel’s milsolidarity with Palestine but also opposing itary onslaught and economic strangua hike in gasoline prices. At least one prolation. Now is the time to support their tester was killed and 75 injured. heroic determination to stand up against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan, U.S./Israeli terror in the Middle East. who has joined the imperialist-supported
their daughter’s killing. On Oct. 8 at the U.N. Plaza in a press conference, the jury presented its findings. Juror Angela Davis stated that “people are shocked to discover the conditions in Palestine not only replicate apartheid in South Africa. They are far worse.” She urged people to take action in supporting and spreading the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign against Israel. The jurors concluded that “Israel’s on-going colonial settlement expansion, its racial separatist policies, as well as its violent militarism, would not be possible without the U.S.’s unequivocal economic, military and diplomatic support, and aid to Israel in order to establish military superiority over its Arab neighbors, in violation of the U.S.’s own domestic law.” They found the U.S. to be guilty of complicity with Israel’s human rights violations of the Palestinian people. Strengthen solidarity with Palestine The U.N. was found to be in violation of international law for its failure to prevent and take concrete action against the severity of Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, the crimes of apartheid and genocide, and by not exhausting all peaceful means of pressure available to it, as stipulated in the U.N. Charter. The jury concluded that the U.N. must do more toward cessation of Israel’s wrongful acts and its impunity, and that it must compensate the Palestinians for the damage suffered. The jurors found Israel in violation of Palestinian fundamental economic, social
and cultural rights and freedoms, including the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, prohibiting the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes and discriminating policies and practices. Israel was found in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions and the U.N. Charter requiring a complete withdrawal from the occupied territory, and was condemned for its annexation of Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Tribunal concluded that “the present system of international justice is incapable to bring about change. However, change can be achieved by the mobilization of international public opinion, especially in the U.S. and Israel, towards a just society based on equality before the law, via the various manifestations of civic society: networks, movements with particular emphasis upon the BDS movement, trade unions and other campaigns.” The jury emphasized that the oppressive situation of the Palestinians is urgent! Israel’s pretense of being a democracy is a sham. It has never wanted peace. They determined that Israel needs to be sanctioned. They cannot make legal what is illegal. The Tribunal encouraged strengthening of the Palestinian solidarity movement, advancement of international law and its applicability to Palestine and Palestinians, and raising awareness about Israeli settler-colonialism and the grave injustices committed against the Palestinians under Israel’s brutal 64-year military occupation.
The Suppression of Bo Xilai and the Capitalist Road: Can Socialism be Revived in China? This 32-page booklet is a compilation of recent articles from Workers World newspaper, with a new introduction, written by Fred Goldstein. $3.50 per set, including postage. Send check, along with your name and address and number of booklets requested, to Workers World, 55 W. 17th St., 5th floor, New York, NY 10011.
workers.org
Nov. 29, 2012
Page 7
As miners’ walkouts end
South African farmworkers on strike By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire In the Western Cape of South Africa, where farmworkers produce fruits, and wines that are sold domestically and internationally, employees in 16 towns and farming communities have been on strike since Nov. 6. They are demanding a minimum wage increase from $8 to $20 per day. Many are members of the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU), an affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions. Nonetheless, the strikes are similar in character to the unprotected miners’ actions. During the strike, the situation has turned violent. In Wolseley, crates of fruit were set alight, 42 people were arrested during the unrest, one person was killed, and five more wounded. Though police say the situation is under control, violence again flared on Nov. 16. Reportedly, the same day, 300 workers returned to
their Wolseley jobs. The government had called for a two-week suspension of strike activity to foster negotiations around the wage increases. Yet protests for higher wages are spreading. In the Hex River Valley in the Western Cape, businesses were torched and shops looted. Reportedly, roads were blocked with burning tires and rocks to prevent the transporting of commercial goods. Workers set vineyards on fire in DeDoorns, a farming town outside Cape Town. A Nov. 16 statement said: “SACCAWU fully supports the striking farmworkers, their demands and the leadership role played by COSATU to defend these extremely vulnerable and low earning workers. Like the mineworkers earlier this year, farmworkers are hidden behind the fences of farms, they work under horrendous conditions, and they live in appalling conditions in a sector notorious for the brutality workers experience at the hand of employers. “These farmworkers have signaled,
‘Enough is enough!’ This is a strike for higher wages, for better living conditions, for improved benefits and above all for Dignity!” Miners’ strikes end In the meantime, South African miners’ strikes have ended after months of unrest that took the lives of over 50 workers. The Anglo-American Platinum (Amplats) firm settled with the remaining miners to return workers to their jobs. Because of these industrial actions, production has been reduced by more than 20 percent for the year. South Africa has 80 percent of the known reserves of platinum, a strategic mineral that is utilized in the automotive industry. More than 100,000 workers striking in the platinum, gold, iron ore and chrome sectors had shut down large sections of the top industry in Africa’s largest economy. The most violent period in South African labor history since the fall of apartheid — with the massacre of 34 workers at
Marikana, where Lonmin Platinum PLC refused to settle with miners seeking a 22 percent pay increase — sent shock waves throughout the country and the world. Mine owners are threatening large-scale downsizing and restructuring to weaken labor union militancy. Many recent strikes were so-called “unprotected” actions; they fell outside the legal negotiating process between the National Union of Mineworkers and other labor organizations. The miners’ efforts set off a political debate inside COSATU, with which the NUM is affiliated. COSATU is aligned with the ruling African National Congress party and the South African Communist Party, which welds significant influence inside NUM. The ANC’s December congress will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its founding. It will also elect the party leadership for the next five years. Speculation exists that President Jacob Zuma could face a challenge for his position from various elements within the organization.
Cuban 5 case featured at Howard Law School By Cheryl LaBash Washington, D.C.
At the Howard University Law School moot courtroom on Nov. 13, a case that is far from moot was examined in a forum called “The Case of the Cuban Five: Justice or Injustice?” Moderated by Howard School of Law dean, Okianer Christian Dark, the program featured activist actor, Danny Glover; defense attorney for Gerardo Hernández, Martin Garbus; former chief of staff for Colin Powell, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson; National Committee to Free the Five coordinator, Gloria La Riva; and others. The Cuban 5 are Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González. The current habeas corpus legal campaign to free these Cuban anti-terrorist heroes from U.S. prisons emphasizes U.S. government payments to prominent Miami reporters, inducements which corrupted the Miami media before, during
and after the highly questionable Miami trial. La Riva explained the complex case that resulted not only in the conviction of the five Cubans, but a double-life-plus15-years sentence imposed on Gerardo Hernández for a charge U.S. prosecutors themselves deemed impossible to prove. Glover compared the cruel U.S. blockade of Cuba with that of another island blockaded for 60 years by the U.S. for achieving its independence more than 200 years ago — revolutionary Haiti. Glover is featured in several short YouTube videos about the case, including one about current Director of National Intelligence, Gen. James Clapper, testifying favorably about the Cuban 5 during the 2001 trial. Col. Wilkerson began by flatly stating that the Cuban 5 should never have been tried in Miami. He spoke in favor of a new U.S. policy toward Cuba, citing that it is the U.S. that is now isolated, not Cuba. If historical precedents were followed, the
Solidarity with strikes in Europe New York City
Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez and Fernando González Llort. Rene González S ehewert was released from prison but cannot return home to Cuba. Cuban 5 would be released and sent home to their families. Alan Gross — a U.S. Agency for International Development contractor serving a 15-year sentence in Cuba for installing undetectable communication devices in clear violation of Cuban law — could also be released and returned to his family in Maryland. All that is needed is action on the part of the two presidents. Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban 5 now imprisoned in Florida, wrote to the assembly: “If we could summarize in one phrase that which has kept us in prison for so many years, it would be this: silence to cover up the injustice. When we say injustice it is because anyone who reads the transcripts of our trial can see that Gerardo never had anything to do
with the shootdown of the planes, which was an act of legitimate self-defense of its territory by the Cuban government. They could see that we never committed nor conspired to commit espionage. They could see that we were never asked to do anything against the national security of this country. They will see we were absolutely justified to act clandestinely against the counterrevolutionary groups that organized and still organize terrorist acts against Cuba from this country. …” Guerrero’s letter honored the service of the late Leonard Weinglass, who joined the legal team in the appellate stage. Full audio and video of the forum can be viewed at www.freethefive.org. Find additional information at theCuban5.org and antiterroristas.cu.
Gaza assault protested Philadelphia
In front of the Greek, Spanish and Portuguese United Nations missions in New York, around 150 workers and progressives came out Nov. 14 to express their solidarity with the general strikes and protests against austerity in more than 20 European countries. A number of speakers pointed to how the treatment of people living in New York City’s public housing was a good example of how austerity is practiced
in this country. Arthur Cheliotes, president of Communication Workers union Local 1180, a large union representing public service workers, was there. The demonstration was organized by the Greek-American Left Movement (Aristeri Kinisi) and Occupy Astoria. The protesters sharply condemned supporters of the neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” movement in Greece.
— Report and photo by G. Dunkel
WW Photo: Betsey Piette
The U.S.-backed Israeli attacks on Gaza were protested by outraged activists outside the Philadelphia Israeli Consulate at rush hour on Nov 16. An earlier protest took place at noon.
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Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: WW-MundoObrero@workers.org
¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios!
Medios de comunicación tergiversan votaciones de Puerto Rico Por Berta Joubert-Ceci Mientras que los/as ciudadanos/as de Estados Unidos emitieron su voto para Presidente el 6 de noviembre, los/as residentes de Puerto Rico también votaban por el próximo Gobernador de la isla. También votaron en un referéndum no vinculante, un plebiscito, supuestamente para definir el estatus de la isla. Actualmente Puerto Rico es un Estado Libre Asociado (ELA). Esto es una pura contradicción en términos, puesto que Puerto Rico ni es estado, ni es libre, ni tampoco tiene la soberanía para establecer una asociación real. Un país cuya economía, relaciones exteriores y comercio, legislatura y policía están en manos del gobierno de los Estados Unidos no puede decidir nada libremente. Puerto Rico ha sido una colonia de Estados Unidos desde la invasión yanqui de 1898. Cualquier cambio en la Constitución de Puerto Rico debe ser “aprobado” por el Congreso de Estados Unidos. Por lo tanto este plebiscito es una farsa judicial. Sin embargo, es interesante examinar atentamente tanto a la votación y cómo los medios corporativos internacionales informaron sobre los resultados. Incluso en las redes sociales como Facebook y Twitter, hubo una constante referencia a la “los puertorriqueños eligiendo la estadidad”. Esto está lejos de la verdad. Veamos las preguntas y los números. Se registraron un poco más de 2 millones de votantes. Un 77,4 por ciento de
ellos/as votaron, una alta participación comparada con Estados Unidos. El plebiscito estaba dividido en dos partes. La boleta oficial fue escrita en español e inglés, que son idiomas oficiales de la isla, aunque el idioma principal de Puerto Rico es el español. La primera pregunta era: ¿”Está usted de acuerdo con mantener la condición política territorial actual? Sí o No”. Ésta estaba seguida por la segunda pregunta: “Irrespectivamente de su contestación a la primera pregunta, conteste cuál de las siguientes opciones no territoriales usted prefiere”. Rechazo al estado colonial Por primera vez en la historia de Puerto Rico, la mayoría de los/as votantes rechazaron el actual estatus colonial. El “No” recibió un 52,4 por ciento, el “Sí” obtuvo 44,7 y el resto de los votos estaban en blanco. Ésta última opción fue impulsada por un sector del colonialista Partido Popular Democrático (PPD). La respuesta a la segunda pregunta, que ha sido tergiversada por gran parte de los medios de comunicación internacionales, no muestra que la estadidad fuera la elección de la mayoría. ¡Si se añaden los votos por la independencia, el ELA soberano y las 473.000 papeletas en blanco, además de algunas papeletas invalidadas, el total es de un 55 por ciento de electores/as que no eligieron la estadidad! Estos números en sí mismos son incapaces de reflejar la compleja realidad
económica y demográfica de Puerto Rico. Las elecciones, especialmente un plebiscito sobre el estatus en una colonia, no son un verdadero ejercicio de democracia. No hay una libertad auténtica para organizar por la opción que haría al pueblo de Puerto Rico uno verdaderamente libre: la independencia. La represión de activistas y luchadores/as por la independencia de Puerto Rico aún está muy viva, a través de asesinatos, hostigamiento, largas penas de prisión sin justificación, mantenimiento de expedientes legales (carpeteo) por parte del FBI, etc. La lucha por la independencia siempre ha estado penalizada. Puerto Rico es un país cuya economía ha sido destruida, donde el ingreso medio es menor que en el estado más pobre de los Estados Unidos, y cuya fuerza trabajadora se ha visto obligada a migrar a los EE.UU. para poder sobrevivir. La población de la isla ha disminuido en los últimos años. ¡Hay 3,7 millones personas que viven en la isla, pero hay 4,2 millones puertorriqueños/as en EE.UU.! Los/as puertorriqueños/as que residen fuera de la isla no pueden votar en las elecciones de Puerto Rico. En un artículo escrito por el héroe de la independencia de Puerto Rico Rafael Cancel Miranda el día antes de las elecciones, titulado ¿”Elecciones democráticas”?, él plantea otra cuestión importante sobre la demografía de la isla y su impacto sobre las elecciones: “Y ¿cuántos de esos 3.7 millones de residentes en Puerto Rico son puertor-
riqueños? En Puerto Rico hay un gran número de estadounidenses con derecho al voto, tanto así que los anuncios electorales se publican en español e inglés. Y hay otros miles de extranjeros que residen en Puerto Rico, pero que han jurado lealtad a la bandera estadounidense, no a la puertorriqueña. ¿Cómo creen que votará la mayoría ellos? No olvidemos que en Hawai fueron los extranjeros los que constituyeron la mayoría en un supuesto plebiscito que llevó la estadidad a esa otrora nación”. (pr.indymedia.org) Fortuño es rechazado como gobernador En las elecciones para gobernador, uno de los candidatos era el presente gobernador Luis Fortuño quien quiere la estadidad; ha gobernado a beneficio de los empresarios y ha sido el responsable de las políticas neoliberales más recientes en la isla. Éstas incluyen el intento por privatizar instituciones nacionales como la Universidad de Puerto Rico, el despido de miles de trabajadores/as estatales, la amenaza de imponer un gasoducto y muchas otras leyes y maniobras antipopulares. Fortuño fue derrotado, consiguiendo sólo un 47,1 por ciento de los votos. El nuevo gobernador, Alejandro García Padilla, que representa al PPD ganó con 47,8 por ciento, un margen muy estrecho. El resto de los votos se dividió entre cuatro partidos, incluyendo el Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP). Los otros tres partidos eran nuevos, participando por primera vez en las elecciones.
Europa sacudida por la resistencia de los/as trabajadores/as Por Gene Clancy Millones de personas se fueron a la huelga el 14 de noviembre y cientos de miles más se lanzaron a las calles en una huelga general coordinada sin precedente contra las medidas de austeridad que golpean a la clase pobre y trabajadora de Europa. Hubo protestas en 23 países, coordinadas por la Confederación Europea de Sindicatos. Portugal quedó completamente paralizado, ya que más del 85 por ciento de los/as trabajadores/as participaron en la huelga general. Mientras las protestas se propagaban en Europa, se celebraba una vigilia en la casa de Agaia Egaña, una madre de 53 años de edad que se había suicidado saltando desde el balcón de su casa en Barakaldo cuando los alguaciles se acercaban para desalojarla. Barakaldo es un municipio en la norteña ciudad de Bilbao, en el País Vasco del estado español. Ha habido unos 400.000 embargos de viviendas en España desde que comenzó la crisis inmobiliaria en 2008. Otro millón de viviendas vacías yacen abandonadas. Los/as manifestantes que rodeaban el edificio del parlamento de España se enfrentaron a la policía y denunciaban la política del gobierno del primer ministro
Mariano Rajoy, que impone medidas de austeridad para que los/as trabajadores/ as paguen por el enorme déficit público. Sus pancartas decían: “¡Vete Mariano, vete a tu casa!” “¿Crisis? ¡Robo!” y “¡España, desahuciada!” La última consigna se refiere al aumento en suicidios producto de los desalojos de dueños/as de casa. “¡Nosotros tenemos la solución, enviemos a los banqueros a la cárcel!” gritaban los/as manifestantes en un mar de banderines de las principales federaciones sindicales, las CC.OO. y la UGT, que convocaron a la segunda huelga general de este año con el apoyo de todos los sindicatos y organizaciones de izquierda. (Channel News Asia, 14 de nov.) Miles de trabajadores/as y estudiantes se reunieron en los centros de ciudades y pueblos de toda Italia como parte de una huelga general de cuatro horas. En Turín, los/as estudiantes ocuparon la estación central del tren, atacaron la estación de policía y ocuparon las oficinas del gobierno local. En Roma hubo una “guerra de guerrillas” entre la policía y los/as manifestantes cuando los/as estudiantes hicieron escudos y barricadas contra las líneas policiales. En Nápoles, los/as manifestantes se acostaron en las pistas de la estación cen-
tral del tren y los/as trabajadores/as del transporte del Metro se salieron de sus puestos de trabajo, paralizando así a la ciudad. En Grecia, los sindicatos realizaron un paro de tres horas comenzando al mediodía. Unos/as 10.000 marcharon hacia el parlamento en el centro de Atenas. Un enérgico contingente incluía a los/as trabajadores/as que han estado ocupando el senado principal en la Universidad de Atenas. Los/as trabajadores de los gobiernos locales protestaron y ocuparon algunos ayuntamientos, mientras que miles más convocaban a reuniones y manifestaciones cerca de sus lugares de trabajo. Se confirma recesión doble Hasta los países más ricos de la zona euro fueron testigos de manifestaciones, incluyendo 130 en Francia y algunas en Bélgica, Alemania, Austria y Bretaña. Hubo protestas en seis países de Europa oriental. El día siguiente trajo una confirmación “oficial” de que la eurozona se encuentra en una grave recesión de “doble inmersión”. Los rígidos programas de austeridad destinados a exprimir más a la clase obrera para ayudar a los bancos habían desacelerado la economía.
Aunque los/as trabajadores/as del sur de Europa han cargado con la peor parte de la crisis, las últimas cifras muestran que el “acaudalado” reino de los Países Bajos había sufrido una de las bajas más pronunciadas en su producción económica. “Estas cifras muestran que estamos ... viendo una creciente crisis social en la que la austeridad severa, el aumento en los impuestos y el desempleo creciente están causando que Europa se arrodille”, dice el economista Marc Touati, presidente de la consultora financiera ACEDEFI”. (Time Magazine, 16 de nov.) “Ahora estamos entrando en una recesión de doble caída que es totalmente auto creada”, dijo Paul De Grauwe, economista de la Escuela de Economía de Londres. “Es el resultado de una austeridad excesiva en los países del sur y de falta de voluntad ... para hacer algo más”. (The Economic Times, 16 de nov.) Como una primera señal de que algunos sectores de las clases dominantes de Europa estaban preocupados por la resistencia, algunos bancos españoles firmaron una moratoria de dos años sobre las ejecuciones hipotecarias. Ahora corresponde a las masas de personas en Europa y en todo el mundo el convertir esas retiradas tácticas de la clase dominante, en una derrota a gran escala.