*----------------------------------------------------------* | | | x x x x x x x xx xxx xxx xxx | | xx xx x xx xx xx x x x x x x Issue #6 | | x x x x x x x x xx x x x xx xxx | | x x x x x x x x x x x x 11/20/84 | | x x x x x x x xx x xxx xxx | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| | Newspaper of the Maoist Internationalist Movement | *----------------------------------------------------------* USA: WAR OVER SOVIET ARMS SENT TO NICARAGUA U.S. officials imply that the U.S. would go to war to prevent the Sandinista government of Nicaragua from receiving Soviet MiGs, which are advanced military aircraft. (Detroit News, 11/18/84, p. 7C) The U.S. raised a furor by claiming that MiG-21s were aboard a Soviet ship unloading in Nicaragua. Apparently, Nicaragua either did not unpack the MiG-21 jet fighters from the Soviet ship or there were not any on board. The Sandinistas wisely put off the delivery of the MiGs to the future and defended their right to buy them for defense purposes. In the language of diplomacy the U.S. said it would "not tolerate" a Sandinista purchase of MiGs. U.S. officials said that air strikes or a naval quarantine are possible. (New York Times, 11/8/84, 1) The U.S. officials have called Nicaragua "another Cuba." Former president John F. Kennedy led the "Bay of Pigs" invasion to reestablish U.S. neocolonial rule in Cuba. The Cubans crushed the U.S. invasion and protected their revolution; although, the Cuban government chose to trade U.S. dependence for dependence on the Soviet Union. The Sandinistas are preparing for another Bay of Pigs style U.S. operation. Government workers are instructed to fight guerrilla action against U.S. occupiers at night. Meanwhile, the Sandinistas are exposing U.S. plans to the world in an effort to rally public opinion internationally. U.S. officials have been repeatedly forced into denying plans for invading Nicaragua. When the U.S. finally does start more hostilities, the people will remember these lying denials. In the meantime, the U.S. imperialists have attempted to build public opinion for war against Nicaragua. The U.S. Defense Secretary Weinberger has painted Nicaragua as a military threat to the U.S.: "the Soviets are supplying a great deal of heavy offensive arms to Nicaragua" and "the U.S. is prepared for a great number of contingencies that may have to be taken." (Detroit News, 11/18/84, 7C) In other words, Nicaragua better get into line in the U.S. bloc; continued involvement with the Soviet bloc will mean war. In order to intimidate Nicaragua the U.S. has sent planes over Nicaragua to break the sound barrier at least four days in a row. The U.S. also sent fast ships and planes to harass the Soviet freighter that docked in Nicaragua. (NYT, 11/8/84, 4) The U.S. violates Nicaraguan airspace at will and then says that MiG-21 jet fighters are unnecessary offensive weapons. In efforts to prepare public opinion for war, high level State Department officials have admitted "a tough policy of intimidation and harassment" according to the Detroit Free Press. (11/13/84, 1) Part of that intimidation includes war games in Honduras which the State Department admits are to keep Nicaragua guessing about U.S. military actions. Blatant war maneuvers and naked terrorism go together. One front page screamed "Reports Say CIA Manual Was Legal." President Reagan lied desperately saying that there was "nothing in that manual that talked about assassination at all." (Detroit Free Press, 11/11/84, 1) Yes, Mr. Reagan, the word "assassination" does not appear because the CIA is aware of the "law" that says the word "assassinate" can not be promoted by the CIA. Now with this new "law," your men use the word "neutralize" instead. As the U.S. escalates WWIII across the globe, the government will more and more openly reveal itself for what it is. The trappings of a "Constitution," of "legality" and "democracy" will serve as an increasingly poor cloak of state terrorism. When the proletariat awakens to this and when there is an opportunity to do so, the people of the U.S. may rise to revolution and cast aside this excuse for "democracy." (For details on the CIA manual of terror against Nicaragua, see MIM NOTES no. 3) CHILE ROUNDS UP THOUSANDS FOR SLAUGHTER Faced with increasing protest against its rule, the Chilean junta rounded up thousands of suspected leftists and detained them in a soccer stadium. At least 2,000 were detained from one settlement alone called Silva Henriquez. Church officials collected the names of 440 people arrested. Another 227 people were detained in La Victoria. Chile's government did not say what would happen to the people. (New York Times, 11/17/84, 4) In 1973, Chile's military led a coup against the elected socialist President Salvador Allende Gossens. The bloodbath that followed also largely took place in a stadium. That bloodbath is the background of the movie "Missing." The flame of resistance in Chile lives and can not be repressed. FDR SUPPORTS ELECTIONS The political representative of most guerrillas in El Salvador favors participation in elections in cooperation with the murderous Salvadoran junta. Social Democrat Guillermo Ungo, head of the Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR), said "we do not want the lion's share of power." "We need elections as soon as possible." (New York Times, 11/17/84, 1) Ungo, who is fraternally aligned to the reformist Socialist International, probably means what he says because his friends in the Labor Party of Israel and the Socialist Party of France have gained power through the ballot. The pro-Soviet Salvadoran Communist Party also favors laying down arms. The reformist FDR coalition is very similar ideologically to the coalition that put Allende in power in Chile. Unfortunately, the social democrats and reformist pro-Soviet "communists" do not seem to have learned that it is impossible to "compromise" with butchers--butchers who killed over 40,000 people in El Salvador so far. GUERRILLA GROUP FORMS FOR ARMED STRUGGLE IN SALVADOR On November 1st, a Marxist group called the Roberto Sibrian Popular Revolutionary Movement formed. The group apparently favors "popular revolutionary war" and "totally rejects" the FDR's talks with the U.S.-dominated junta. Previously a group called the Workers' Revolutionary Movement formed with similar objections to the FDR. MIM NOTES is unaware of the ideology of either of these groups except that both have been called Marxist. (Detroit Free Press, 11/2/84, p. 7A) NONE OF THE ABOVE WINS CRUSHING LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR PRESIDENT Despite months of propaganda from the press predicting record turnouts on election day and despite record voter registration of 125 million people, voter turnout for the president eked out a bare 90 million votes--52.9% of those eligible. This figure is a mere three tenths of one percent higher than the figure for 1980--the lowest turnout since 1960. Apparently, the efforts of Jesse Jackson and others succeeded in corralling a higher percentage of Black voters than usual. 90% voted for Mondale. The District of Columbia lead the turnout increase at 5.8%. (New York Times, 11/8/84, 16, 17) None of the above carried every state with an average of 47.1% of the vote. The candidate was said to benefit from the boredom produced by the two candidates who split the bourgeois and middle class vote. PEACE CORPS PUSHES CORPORATE CREDENTIALS In a letter to professors across the country, Loret M. Ruppe, director of the Peace Corps boasted of the career development possible through the Peace Corps. "Many multinational corporations and Federal Agencies make a point of hiring returned Peace Corps Volunteers." Not surprising since they hired them in the first place. WORKER JAILED IN CHINA FOR OPPOSING BOSS A woman who put up a wall poster about her boss received a one year sentence in the People's Republic of China. She lives in Shenyang, a city in Manchuria. Her crime falls under the rubric of infraction of labor discipline. In China from 1966 to 1976, Mao Zedong, China's founder and the world's greatest contemporary Marxist-Leninist, workers regularly put up wall posters criticizing their bosses. Indeed, official committees of workers and others watched over and supervised their bosses in the factories. Through this kind of worker control, the Cultural Revolution attempted to insure that no one dominated the workers and that the workers learned to run plants themselves. Since 1976 a state capitalist counterrevolution overthrew socialism in China. The new ruling class uses prisons and jails to keep workers in line. However, such repression always encounters resistance. "Reports in the official press acknowledge that there have been work stoppages, sit-ins and heated confrontations between workers and factory managers." (Jim Mann, "Why China's Factory Workers Are Unhappy," San Francisco Chronicle, 10/31/84, p. C6) Much of the protest concerns recent "reforms" that drive China further back into primeval capitalism. It seems that the state capitalist class is having a hard time maintaining welfare capitalism and is moving toward free market capitalism. In one instance, the recent "reforms" attempted to cut fringe benefits and to dock pay for failure to achieve quotas. Workers went on strike; marched to the so- called Communist Party headquarters and petitioned against the reforms. The workers won, but two months later the "reforms" went through anyway. (Ibid.) _____________________________________________________________ THIS IS AN ELECTRONIC ISSUE OF MIM NOTES For the real thing, twelve to sixteen pages of tabloid newsprint, including revolutionary art and photos with professional lay-out, subscribe to MIM Notes now. Back- issues also available in original release for most issues. Subscriptions: Send US$12 for 12 issues of MIM Notes sent via US Mail MIM Distributors PO Box 3576 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3576 USA Make checks out to "ABS" or send cash.