## ## ### ## ## # # ### ### ### ### # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## ### # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # ### # # # # ### # ### ### THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT MIM Notes 95 December 1994 Electronic Edition * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Get MIM Notes 95 from the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM), and get the latest in Maoist news and analysis - put a revolutionary weapon in your hands. This longer issue includes articles sorting out the political differences in the international movement to support the revolution in Peru, the announcement of two new MIM-founded organizations, an urgent action call from Turkey, prison news, letters to MIM, reviews, and much more. MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the world's oppressed majority, and against the imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in the service of the people. Struggle with it and write for it. MIM Notes is available to subscribers of New York Transfer (nyt@nyxfer.blythe.org). Or get a subscription from MIM in e-mail or in print for $12/year for 12 issues. Write: MIM Distributors, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI 48106-3576. (Send, stamps, cash or check made out to "MIM Distributors".) Send questions, letters or submissions to: mim@nyxfer.blythe.org. For a free issue mailed to your Internet address, send a message explaining your interest to: mim@nyxfer.blythe.org. MIM Notes 95 includes: CONTENTS 1. PEOPLE'S WAR, NOT CAPITULATION, IN PERU 2. NEW MIM-LED ORGANIZATIONS 3. BIG BIOLOGICAL FEMALE BOURGEOISIE 4. LABOR ARISTOCRACY NEWS 5. TURKISH ARMY BURNS KURDISH VILLAGES 6. NATIONAL GUARD REINFORCES PUERTO RICAN POLICE 7. AMERICAN MILITARY PLAYS, BUT WON'T CLEAN UP 8. APACHE NATION ATTACKED WITH NUCLEAR WASTE 9. REVIEW: NEW BOOK ATTACKS BIOLOGY AS DESTINY 10. U.S. ROLE IN CHILE WHITEWASHED 11. HAITIANS ATTACKED AND BETRAYED 12. "EVERY DAY IS THE DAY OF THE DEAD" 13. MOTHERS KILLING CHILDREN 14. ANTI-IMPERIALIST GAYS AND LESBIANS 15. WHITE PATRIARCHY UPHELD 16. WAR ON WELFARE HITS SENATE 17. PROP 187: AMERIKAN CHAUVINISM 18. AMERIKAN VOTING IS NOT FOR PROLETARIANS 19. GETTING JOBS AT THE BERLIN WALL OF THE WEST 20. IMPERIALISTS CONTEND IN IRAQ 21. ANN ARBOR'S "ONLY" RAPIST STRIKES AGAIN 22. BURMA REVOLUTIONARY UPDATE 23. DENG'S STATE-CAPITALISM MEETS ROBIN COOK 24. UNDER LOCK & KEY 25. LETTERS TO MIM * * * PEOPLE'S WAR, NOT CAPITULATION, IN PERU MIM continues to strengthen its relationship to the People's War in Peru. Exiles from Peru around the world and even some people in Peru itself are now aware of MIM's existence and are glad for it. We join together to expose the attempt of the Peruvian regime to coax the people to lay down their arms. There is not a single news organization or political organization that claims that the armed struggle in Peru has ended as the Peruvian regime wished. Non governmental organizations continue with reports of armed actions of the people in Peru. Now a bourgeois press agency called Interpress Service reports (or threatens) that the peace negotiations in Peru will be ended by the Peruvian regime because they have failed. When the great leader of the Peruvian revolution, Chairperson Gonzalo, apparently entered into discussions with the Peruvian regime, the regime made use of his imprisonment to put forth a message to the people that distorted Gonzalo's words. This may have fooled a small minority of people for a period, but the masses of Peru saw through Fujimori's tricks. If comrade Gonzalo was telling the people to lay down their arms, then how come Fujimori doesn't let Gonzalo speak to the whole people, openly and with witnesses as to his health? Seeing this, the majority of the revolutionary Communist Party of Peru (PCP), opposed entering peace negotiations at all. Comrade Gonzalo has been in prison since September 1992, and the regime does not let him speak to the people. >From this, the people of the world learned that once again, the bourgeois regimes trifle with the masses' profound desire for peace. How consistently the imperialist and imperialist- backed comprador regimes prove themselves. They are incapable of peace. They only use peace rhetoric in order to slaughter the revolutionary masses more easily. Only worldwide communism can bring peace and the Peruvian people are waging People's War with a grim determination to bring about that goal. THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST MOVEMENT Inside Peru, the minority tired of armed struggle surrendered to the regime. Such liquidationist elements always exist. Especially in a revolutionary movement so deep and broad as in Peru, there must be a handful. Outside Peru, liquidationist lines in the international communist movement also arose, perhaps with added momentum with Fujimori's psychological warfare. Some wanted entire organizations dedicated not to leading revolution, but to human-rights and popular front. These comrades failed to distinguish amongst Maoists, revolutionaries, revisionists and human-rights activists. MIM is strongly in favor of organizing the non-revolutionary elements in as progressive a fashion as possible, but this is impossible when the leadership itself is unclear about the difference between revisionism and Maoism. The non-revolutionary element which is very large in the imperialist countries can only be led by genuine Maoists. Downplaying the need for struggle, as always, the Right Opportunist Line held that all the political organizations in the imperialist countries are basically the same. The Right Opportunist Line received aid from other sources. The ultraleft also held that it might as well organize all the different political organizations together because none engaged in armed struggle yet, so there is no qualitative difference amongst them. So for both the right opportunists and ultraleft organizing in the imperialist countries in support of the Peruvian revolution, a popular front arose to organize Maoists, revolutionaries, revisionists and human- rights activists equally. In practice, this meant the domination of revisionism in international work in connection to Peru. The prestige of the great Peruvian revolution paid for with the blood of the Peruvian people went into backing revisionism in the imperialist countries. Peruvian exiles sickened by this could not help but wish to upgrade their relations with genuine Maoist organizations like MIM. They did not wish to let the revisionists attract new revolutionary forces to their banner by using the prestige of the Peruvian revolution. Nationalists from Peru and right-opportunists from the imperialist countries also share a common agenda in denying that the principal contradiction is between the imperialist countries and the Third World. For them, the principal contradiction is between the world and Peru. They see no possibility for organizing revolution in the imperialist countries and abandon comrade Gonzalo on the need for vanguard parties and revolution in other countries as the best contribution to make to the revolution in Peru. Hence, the nationalists give the right-opportunists yet another excuse for not struggling, and for simply organizing the non- revolutionary elements to support the revolution in Peru. In some literature of the revisionist-led RIM, it was put forward that saving the life of Comrade Gonzalo was the task "above all else." Elements with this line denied the need of building vanguard parties in countries outside Peru and also acted as if the principal contradiction were between the socialist camp in Peru and the international imperialists. Such a right opportunist line has always existed abroad and will continue to be the main problem in organizing work. Further complicating matters in the international communist movement is an ultraleft line, nicely complementing right opportunism. According to the ultraleft, armed struggle is always the immediate task at hand, even in the imperialist countries. These ultraleftists give no heed to Maoist science, no matter how many times it proves itself valid. In connection to the situation in Peru, the ultraleft tried to sow confusion and attempted to stab the legacy of Lenin, Stalin and Mao in the back by acting as if these great leaders did not enter into negotiations with reactionaries of all sorts - imperialists, compradors, bureaucrat- capitalists and right-wing national bourgeoisie. These elements, though secondary to the right opportunist elements, implied that Comrade Gonzalo would be automatically wrong to enter into peace negotiations. They attempted to restrict Gonzalo's freedom of action and sought to undermine his leadership from abroad by going further in attacking the peace negotiations than necessary. Instead of simply opposing the laying down of arms, the ultraleft attacked Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Gonzalo for engaging in or supposedly engaging in peace negotiations. Comrades who put forward this line should criticize publicly the idea that peace negotiations are always bad or they prove their infidelity to the principles of Marxism- Leninism-Maoism. DISENTANGLING REVISIONISM AND MAOISM: RIM VS. MIM The Peruvians abroad continue to write criticisms of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM), which is led by the crypto-Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) USA. Before the arrest of Comrade Gonzalo, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Peru had already issued a written criticism of the RCP's work. Many Peruvian exiles with an up-close look at the RCP and RIM agreed with the criticism and went further and recognized MIM as the genuine Maoist leadership within U.S. borders. Before the psychological warfare campaign of the Peruvian regime against the people of Peru that distorted the meaning of Comrade Gonzalo's work, MIM had already received verbal word of the idea that the Communist Party of Peru was going to criticize the RCP, USA and boost its relationship with the MIM to a higher official status. From the Peruvians we spoke to around the world, it was already clear that the revolutionary Peruvian people already knew the difference between MIM and the revisionist RCP. The latest criticism of the RCP in print is now in the La Nueva Bandera of the MPP-USA. The MPP-USA calls on the Central Committee of the PCP to reorganize the RIM with itself or other genuine Third World-based revolutionaries at the center. The dominant role of the RCP left the RIM in the hands of brazen opportunists according to the MPP- USA. MIM WITHDRAWS FROM IEC For some time, the International Emergency Committee (IEC) has masqueraded as a non-sectarian organization battling to defend the life of comrade Gonzalo. In practice, MIM has found it impossible to work with this organization. We no longer wish any association with this sectarian outfit. Our name should be removed from the list of signatories to the IEC Call. In addition, the IEC has been a central actor in the confusion surrounding right opportunism and the popular front line. While England has no vanguard party, the IEC headquarters itself there. There could be no starker evidence of the bankruptcy of the right opportunist line on international work concerning Peru. NOTE: La Nueva Bandera #3, September/October, 1994. * * * MIM ANNOUNCES NEW MIM-LED ORGANIZATIONS: THE PARTY AND THE MASSES As MIM grows in functions and ideological depth, it becomes appropriate for it to create non-party organizations that it leads in order to connect the party to various kinds of mass work and to connect the masses to the party. For the last five years, MIM has worked with a category of people called MIM Associates - people who don't disagree with MIM's cardinal principles and who are considering joining the party. Now MIM is creating two formal organizations and invites people to join the Revolutionary Anti- Imperialist League (RAIL) and the MIM Supporters Group (MSG). REVOLUTIONARY ANTI-IMPERIALIST LEAGUE MIM itself is rooted in movements that arose to support armed struggles against U.S. imperialism and movements opposing the militarism of U.S. imperialism. More radical activists in work concerning Southern Africa, Central America and the Middle East founded MIM out of the recognition of the need for organizations that connected all the issues and did not water down the truth. It is only appropriate that MIM now forms an organization dedicated to the vision of a world without imperialism - the RAIL. RAIL is for anyone who supports self-determination for all peoples including the necessity of armed struggle against imperialism. There are no requirements for joining RAIL except that RAIL members recognize that RAIL will be led by MIM and RAIL members do not attempt to hide this in their work with RAIL amongst the masses who are not enemy. In practice, accepting MIM leadership will mean that RAIL chapters do not accept the leadership of other organizations and worked out lines. Voting members of RAIL must not disagree with MIM's cardinal principles. (See the What is MIM? box on page 2.) It is Ok if voting members do not have a position on these principles, but they must not disagree with them. For example, People opposed to the principle of a vanguard party, or the idea that MIM is the vanguard party or to the idea of that state-capitalism exists cannot be voting RAIL members. RAIL may have non-voting members who actually disagree with MIM's cardinal principles as long as they recognize that MIM leads RAIL and as long as they have been informed of other organizations that might better suit them. There are at least two reasons why there might be non-voting RAIL members. One is geographic laziness. Some people who disagree with MIM cardinal principles will want to work with RAIL because it is close by - a local phenomenon. A second reason for such non- voters to exist is that some will be impressed with RAIL somehow in practice while not being sure that practice is principal or that RAIL principles are sound. RAIL non-voters in effect agree to follow RAIL voters and MIM. They also contribute to the energy and consciousness of RAIL and recognize that it is possible to make contributions to RAIL work without agreeing with the cardinal principles. MIM will have the final say in whether a person can be a non-voting member of RAIL, because some people are not worth the trouble of working with. In general though, it should be possible to contribute to revolution and to hold hopes for those who may yet learn from practice why MIM's cardinal principles are correct. Voting members of RAIL will have a say on what projects are done and how they are implemented. Whether RAIL chapters have majority rule, consensus or autocratic fiat for a decision-making process will depend on what each chapter wants. Ideally RAIL chapters will choose their own topics for work and organize it themselves. RAIL chapters that want more than the right to choose their subject areas and how they implement MIM line should cease calling themselves RAIL and go independent of MIM with their own line. All RAIL events will allow the expression of the MIM view. MIM does not expect RAIL members to be like party members, but MIM will have the final decision on interpreting whether or not a RAIL person or chapter is following MIM line at least more than that person or chapter is following other lines. For RAIL, MIM proposes that the people recruit Dennis Brutus as their president. Dennis Brutus is one of the top poets of Africa and he broke rocks with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island after being shot in the back by the regime for his work opposing white colonialism in South Africa. Having worked many years with MIM to expose U.S. ties to apartheid South Africa, and nearly deported from the United States for doing so, Brutus exemplifies the kind of work we would like to see RAIL doing. To persuade Dennis Brutus to be RAIL president, write to Dennis Brutus, Black Studies Department, Forbes Quad, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260 Explain to Brutus how much work you would like to do with RAIL, what could be accomplished and why he should be president of RAIL. Those of us who know immigrants with the proper anti-imperialist perspective should get these immigrants to take leadership in the RAIL. MIM SUPPORTERS GROUP A second organization called the MIM Supporters Group (MSG) is for people who are definite sympathizers of Mao Zedong and who accept the vanguard leadership of MIM on all political issues. MSG members are non-party members with a higher level of commitment to MIM and Maoism than RAIL members. All members must not have a worked out line against any of MIM's four dividing line questions. They are interested in studying towards a greater understanding of and unity towards these lines. They agree that working with MIM or MSG is the most advanced work they could be doing in this country. Members are required to maintain regular contact with their MIM contacts and with the local MSG (if a local one exists). They attend local study groups if such exist, or work towards forming one if there is not one already active. Members defend MIM line in public to the best of their ability, sell MIM Notes and MIM literature where possible, and recruit members. Members will donate at least 1% percent of their annual income or raise at least $20 a month, whichever sum is greater, for the party or its organizations. That financial commitment can also be achieved by buying supplies including literature for the party to distribute directly or by selling literature worth that amount. The party will be empowered to decide if a certain method of meeting the financial requirement is acceptable. The point is not necessarily to take someone's money and send it away to some distant centralized operation, because doing that requires the highest level of commitment and trust in the party. HIERARCHY OF COMMITMENTS OUTSIDE OF MIM There will always be people who are ready to join RAIL or MSG but not MIM. Likewise, there will always be Maoist-sympathizers who do not wish all the rigors of party membership, including its often fiery inner-party struggle, sexual practice policies, residential policies, financial policies and mass work requirements. These new organizations are created for both people avoiding commitment to MIM and for people considering joining MIM. The point is not to create a justification for avoiding membership but to prepare comrades for that membership and all that it entails. Those wishing to propose the formation of other mass organizations following MIM leadership are encouraged to write to us. One hope in establishing these organizations is that it will provide some structure for working with MIM while also serving as a natural chain of progression in commitment to MIM. In the future, MIM will recruit as members only those people with lengthy pre- party experience, either as a member of RAIL, MSG, or similar future organization. People with some experience working with MIM and who believe the MSG requirements are too light should take the next step and join MIM itself. There comrades can dedicate themselves to revolution with the most commitment possible. New comrades can tackle ever larger burdens of work and exert leadership in ever wider fields. There is no doubt the energy is needed in the party itself in order to go toe-to-toe with the imperialists in every arena of struggle. HIERARCHY OF COMMITMENTS WITHIN MIM Within the party, there are members on probation for violating discipline. There are also non- voting members not on probation but nonetheless not meeting sufficient requirements of inner-party struggle to vote in party congresses. The principle of non-voting is that those somehow lacking in knowledge or practice relevant to making party decisions should not have a vote in making party decisions. Those without time to participate in fiery inner-party struggles should be non-voting members if they can meet the other requirements. MIM recommends that people generally try to meet MIM requirements botho tmake a contribution to the revolutionary cause and to keep from degenerating politically as individuals. MIM requirements are designed to the best of our ability to serve as benchmarks of what is required to keep from degenerating. Within the voting ranks of the party there are ministers in charge of various areas of work. These ministers may also have assistants or deputies. Typically the party delegates authority to ministers to handle certain tasks. Extending on that principle, the party also has its top leadership posts. The personal requirements for those leadership posts are the highest of all. A large part of leadership is assertiveness, but in MIM an even larger part of leadership is fulfilling ever more stringent requirements. THE THEORY AND THE PRACTICE Of course, in the ideal world, everyone has the theoretical understanding (science), ideological commitment (values, will), millions of dollars to supply the party, military experience and 24 hours a day of free and awake time to be the perfect MIM leader. The world is not ideal, so MIM does its best to organize itself to prevent political degeneration and to promote advancement of proletarian internationalist consciousness. >From this announcement, MIM would like to make it clear that there is a place for everyone to make a contribution to the revolutionary struggle. If someone desires to contribute somehow to the Maoist cause, then that person should not let anything stop him or her from making that contribution. At the same time, this announcement should serve to demystify the masses with regard to MIM's structure. Hierarchy in the party is useful and necessary for many reasons. One reason for hierarchy that should not be forgotten is that ranging from the non-voting RAIL member to the party's top leader, there is a step by step hierarchy of commitment to making Maoist revolution. * * * BIG BIOLOGICAL FEMALE BOURGEOISIE In the Statistical Abstract of the United States 1994 are newly published figures on the female bourgeoisie not available in the same book for 1993. The figures show the breakdown by biological gender of those holding gross assets of $600,000 or more. They show that 1.43 million biological women within U.S. borders own $2.071 trillion in net worth and that 1.99 million biological men own $2.733 trillion in net worth. Hence, in this elite category that comprises less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, women hold over 41 percent of the wealth. Gross asset figures don't count liabilities. Net worth accounts for the possibility of debt and so is a figure lower than gross assets. This table published by the U.S. government is a good attempt at tabulating the bourgeoisie, the class of people that controls the means of production. In U.S. society such private wealth is very important in belonging to the capitalist class. Elsewhere as in the ex-Soviet Union, capitalists controlled the means of production without privately owning them. There are some such government officials in the United States as well who belong to the capitalist class without privately owning the means of production. MIM has long opposed a simplistic reduction of gender issues to class. Currently a very popular notion in so-called socialist feminist circles is that women are basically synonymous with the proletariat. Erroneous figures published by the UN speculating on female ownership of the means of production have added to this problem. >From the figures above, we see that there is a huge material basis for bourgeois feminism. Bourgeois feminism is highly contradictory and mild. It seeks only that women can be individuals too with the equal opportunity to become exploiters. Bourgeois feminists exert tremendous influence on the mass media, aside from owning a large part of it. In addition to the bourgeois feminists, MIM also targets the pseudo-feminists based in the gender aristocracy. See MIM Theory 2/3, Gender and Revolutionary Feminism. - MC5 NOTE: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1994, p. 482. * * * LABOR ARISTOCRACY NEWS Partly correcting its own distorted and social- democratic leaning coverage of labor issues in the 1980s and 1990s, the New York Times has finally run a news story about the labor aristocracy which does not pander to it. Of course, the New York Times never mentions the phrase "labor aristocracy" or "imperialism." The Oct. 17, 1994 article titled "Statistics reveal bulk of new jobs pay over average" is the most accurate from a research point of view that MIM can remember. The political implications are not worked out, but a reasonable person could put the implications together. "The notion that Americans are working more for less pay is firmly embedded in public rhetoric.... No doubt many Americans are losing ground economically. But in fact most of the 5.5 million jobs the economy has added in the last two and a half years are in occupations that pay more, not less, than the average, which is now about $15.50 an hour." The article even explains such difficult issues as the rise in benefits, the nature of the services sector and the misleading nature of statistics purporting a decline in the wages of average Joe. However, best of all, the New York Times explains how this is all true while it could be that the lot of the bottom half got worse. MIM would have pointed to the bottom 20 to 30 percent which is predominantly national minorities and women, instead of the bottom half, but the New York Times is at least trying to deal with how one part of the middle class can get better off while another chunk of the population sees its living standard go down. People fooled by bourgeois democracy have a hard time letting go of the idea that the oppressed constitute a majority, because to let go of that idea undercuts some of the rationale for majority white rule over national minorities and the whole idea of "democracy" within North Amerika. When people start to think that the majority are oppressors, they start to realize why "democracy" is not always such a great thing. Here we have "democracy," but we also have the highest per capita imprisonment rate in the world because the labor aristocracy and imperialists share a common agenda against "crime." Poverty rates are on the rise, but this is true of the bottom 15 to 17 percent of the population by income. People on the bottom can and do become worse off while the majority gets better off. This is the secret of the labor aristocracy alliance with imperialism. It is also the reason that the white nation - Amerika - as a whole is not revolutionary and has no progressive "thrust of its own" to borrow the words of the Revolutionary Communist Party which disagrees with us. MIM believes the bottom 10 to 30% of society should ally itself with the Third World proletariat as its true political ally for change. Appeals to the middle class to form a majority alliance have no material basis for hope as a way out of the problems created by imperialism. ACCURACY ON THE LABOR ARISTOCRACY HARD TO ACHIEVE Economist Lawrence Chimerine wrote to the New York Times to attack its article "Statistics reveal bulk of new jobs pay over average." However, his attack was more substantial for what it omitted on the subject of U.S. living standards. The author made two obvious and limited points and concluded that "the bottom line is that while living standards in the United States may be slightly better than during the 1980's, they are on average improving only marginally at best, lagging far behind the gains that were made in earlier decades. This is partly because a large fraction of the new jobs that are being created provide relatively low compensation, despite the opposite impression left by your article." Such is a very limited claim because its only argument is that growth in the past was even faster. It amounts to saying the feeding trough hasn't expanded as quickly as in the past. Unfortunately, Edward S. Herman, whose work with Noam Chomsky we distribute, also wrote a letter to the New York Times and his letter was downright inaccurate and should not have been allowed by the New York Times at all. He claims that the article focused on average income changes when it should have used the median to account for the possibility that the very rich are absorbing all the gains. However, the article actually addressed this very point and proved for example, that the working class as traditionally conceived (by the "left") is hardly significant anymore as a fraction of the U.S. population. What Herman misses is that the losses are confined to the bottom 20-30 percent of the population. Yes, it is true that the percentage of people in poverty is up since 1989, but this concerns the people in the bottom fifth. It cannot remotely say anything about the top 70 percent of Amerika. If Herman had looked at the various percentiles as MIM did in MIM Theory 1 [A White Proletariat?, $3 from MIM], he would have found that the position of people on the median actually improved in the supposedly abysmal 1980s. Myths about living standards are promoted especially by the social-democratic left and revisionists - sometimes out of sentimentality and sometimes to lead people to work for ballot-box coalitions of the middle classes and the poor. The worst of the social-democrats and revisionists dogmatically refuse to believe that socialism or something like it can't win in the Amerikan ballot box, so they play loose with the facts and ignore the world's majority - the Third World laboring masses - who need a reliable ally against U.S. imperialism. It doesn't matter how many times their strategy of the ballot box fails, they continue promoting it. Whether it is the ballot-box or "Rainbow coalition" building or any strategy of trying to win an Amerikan majority to do something progressive, the strategy has failed except as a ruse to raise white working class living standards. In the end, it is just a part of cementing the white working class to the imperialists by camouflaging sell-out with leftist noise. NOTE: New York Times, 10/24/94, p. a16. * * * TURKISH ARMY BURNS KURDISH VILLAGES The U.S.-backed Turkish army recently began a massive operation targeting the population of the province of Dersim (Tunceli) in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan. The army has burned over 37 villages and confiscated over 21 tons of winter food supplies since the end of September.(1,4) The Turkish army has been unable to slow the advance of progressive guerrilla forces in the area directly, and is now attempting to "kill the fish by draining the pool" - defeat the progressive forces by forcibly breaking their ties with supporters. The Turkish military is following the population regroupment strategy developed by the U.S. in Vietnam. U.S. aid is more than ideological. The U.S. has given Turkey about half a billion dollars in military aid each year from 1988 to 1991. TURKISH ARMY DOES NERO ONE BETTER Turkish army officers have called this operation - nicknamed "Operation Rome" - the largest military operation in modern Turkish history. The number of troops in the province has doubled to 40,000. The army estimates that 3,500 guerrillas operate in the province.(1) More than 240 villages have been forcibly evacuated, which has created 5,000 new refugees. When villages are burned, villagers are given no warning and are not allowed to salvage any of their possessions.(2) The army has destroyed water pipes and wells in the villages, and the lack of fresh water has led to an outbreak of cholera in the area.(3) The army has also burnt down entire forests in order to flush out the guerrillas.(1) Throughout "Operation Rome" the Turkish Army has tried to blame the PKK or the villagers themselves for the village-burnings (according to the army, the villagers burnt down their homes so they could get relief aid from the government). But even the Turkish "Minister for Human Rights" acknowledges that the army is responsible for the burnings.(4) When the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister visited Dersim and offered relief aid to gathered refugees, the refugees resoundingly booed him.(5) Dersim has been under a "state of emergency" for the last 10 years and a "state of special emergency" for the last two. Residents are banned from taking sheep herds into the mountains. Food is strictly and minimally rationed, and the army confiscates surplus food. Free movement between villages is impossible.(6) PROTRACTED STRUGGLE The Turkish state has denied the Kurdish nation self-determination throughout this century. Its genocidal policies against the Kurds have ranged from bans on Kurdish culture - including the Kurdish language - to militarily enforced pogroms. (See TKP-ML statement.) In 1984 the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) launched armed struggle in order to establish an independent Kurdish state. The PKK has widespread popular support in Kurdistan. (See MIM Notes 79,85.) "Operation Rome" is nothing new. Since 1992, the Turkish army has principally attacked the guerrillas by attacking their popular support. Over 1,500 villages have been evacuated and over 2 million people displaced in the last few years.(7) The army also recruits local people into counter- revolutionary vigilante squads by paying them $200 a month, which is above above-average pay in Kurdistan.(8) In all of Turkish-occupied Kurdistan there are 200,000 troops, 80,000 police, and 40,000 paid vigilantes.(9) The PKK has about 10,000 guerrillas in the area.(10) THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE ADVANCES The Turkish Workers' and Peasants' Liberation Army (TIKKO), led by the Maoist TKP-ML (Turkish Communist Party - Marxist-Leninist) have joined the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK - the PKK's armed force) in fighting the Turkish army.(3) The TKP-ML supports the Kurdish people's right to self determination. The ARGK's last offensive - launched in June after the Turkish armed forces violated a cease-fire - was very successful.(10) According to a Kurdish official, the Turkish army lost 7,547 soldiers in the last few months, while 1,269 members of the ARGK were killed. Abas Tas, the European representative of a Kurdish nationalist group, said, "Contrary to what Turkey pretends, the Kurds are making advances."(11) NOTES: 1. Reuters 10/4/94. 2. Action on Turkey, 10/19/94. 3. Workers World Service. 4. Infoladen Omega 10/14/94. 5. Reuters 10/14/94. 6. Infoladen Omega 10/27/94. 7. AP 10/22/94. Reuters, 10/12/94. 8. AP 10/22/94. 9. AP 10/22/94. Reuters, 10/4/94. 10. MIM Notes 85 2/94, p. 6. 11. Agence France Presse 10/20/94. URGENT CALL TO ALL PROGRESSIVE FORCES OF THE WORLD: STOP THE KURDISH GENOCIDE AND THE OPERATIONS OF FASCIST TURKISH STATE WHICH INTENDS TO CREATE A NEW PALESTINE! July 10. 1994 The fascist state - the puppet of imperialism - of Turkish comprador, feudal and reactionary classes has for a long time transformed the anti-guerrilla military operations to an intensive anti-Kurdish operation in Turkey-Kurdistan. Thousands of towns and villages are evacuated by force. Ten-thousands of villagers who are driven from these habitation areas, are treated as slaves and are being collected in camps or they are being driven to another areas a migratory communities. These people who have lost all their living possessions, are imprisoned to a tragic heart rending life. The freedom struggle of Kurdish people going forward together with a tragedy of humanity. The most barbarous fascist brigades of the army of Turkish state, which has over one million soldiers, are sent to Kurdish areas and they are setting on fire, knocking down and destroying everything. During the fascist military offensives of the state up to now a lot of elders, children and women are massacred. The soldiers are humiliating the peasants in the villages and are realizing sexual abuses against women under the name of "controlling and investigating." All economical and social life is being destroyed consciously and systematically and the country is being transformed to an area where it is no more possible to live for the people. All properties, vehicles for working, farm animals and the houses of the villages are set on fire and are destroyed by soldiers. At this moment, all the ecological creatures and the forests of Turkey's Kurdistan are set on fire. Shortly, living and moving everything is being burned and killed. The self- determination right of Kurdish people who live under the dire circumstances, is wanted to be disappeared by a barbarous massacre in from of the eyes of all "civilized" world. DERSIM (Tusceli) city where the largest and the strongest military operations are going on, is an area where uncountable genocides are carried out up to now. It is an areas where around 60,000 people are massacred and ten thousands of people are driven to other districts by Turkish State, in 1938. The volcanic caves of this area are still full of the skeletons of the people who were massacred at that time. This area, Dersim (Tunceli) is very famous also that it is a castle of the progressive people who have struggled and are still struggling against the reactionary regime. The people of the Dersim has lost lots of his sons and daughters (revolutionaries, intellectuals) during his resistance against fascist dictatorship. .... This is the reason that the ferocity of the state in condensed in this area of Turkey-Kurdistan. The fascist state forces who are foolished because of the military offensives of the guerrillas of TIKKO (Liberation Army of Workers and Peasants of Turkey) under the MAOIST leadership of TKP(ML) Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist-Leninist) are attacking, as retaliation, against unarmed civilians and are setting on fire the forests of the area. The military strategy of the state which is applied in the practice under the name of "sovereignty of area" means in fact, to drive the people from the area and to massacre them. Below the names of the villages of OVACIK and Hozat districts which are attacked and are set on fire with all their farm animals, houses and goods since August. [14 names] Below some (found out) names of the families of the villagers whose houses are entirely set on fire: [39 names] Below the names of some villages of MAZGIRT district which can become face to face with the same results as above villages (The state prepares itself to evacuate and to set on fire also these villages). [9 names] All the world humanity is in a shameful calmness against this the deceit of "struggling against terrorism." Do you hear those cryings of villagers? "Our houses are set on fire. Our winter foods are destroyed. A part of our animals are killed, some of them are lost in the field. We have not money to carry ourselves to another place and no one helps to us!" The young people of the world! You must not keep yourself calm against this barbarism. Protest it. Because, uncountable amount of your young brothers who are struggling for a beautiful new life and for the freedom of their country, are being killed by the fascist military forces in Turkey and Turkey-Kurdistan. The women of the world! ... A lot of women guerrillas who are carrying out guerrilla warfare in the mountains against fascist oppressions, are waiting for your internationalist solidarity.... Ecological Organizations! We invite you to Turkey- Kurdistan, come and see! At that place, the natural cover is entirely being destroyed. The forests are being burned with all their living creatures. Ecologically this excellent part of the world is being destroyed ferociously. Democrats, progressives, intellectuals, artists, authors and scincnticians of the world! Do something against this ferocity! Support the justified struggle of People's Guerrilla Army- TIKKO. Protest the dirty war of the fascist state and their deceit of "democracy." Don't forget that there is no way but to carry out the people's war to be liberated from this kind of fascist barbarism in our country. Our struggle is a part of the freedom struggle of the progressive humanity of the world. The people's war leaded by our Party, obeys completely the rules of the revolutionary war. It gives a big importance to [not] cause any danger for unarmed civilian targets and for the personalities who are not taking place in the war. Our Party wants from the enemy to behave in the same way, not to attack against innocent civilians. We want you come and see in its place that how the fascist Turkish Armed Forces have transformed the war to an irregular and inhumanity-barbarian shape. Force the fascist Turkish government and help us to defend the civilian targets and unarmed Kurdish peasants. Blame and protest the burning and destroying actions and massacres which are being carried out by the fascist state! TKP(ML)-IEB COMMUNIST PARTY OF TURKEY (MARXIST- LENINIST) INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BUREAU * * * NATIONAL GUARD REINFORCES PUERTO RICAN POLICE STATE by a MIM Associate Amerika's National Guard is currently functioning in Puerto Rico to support the maintenance of its' colonial police state. As drug-related crime is reportedly on the rise, Puerto Rican governor Pedro Rossello is welcoming the U.S. military intervention of the National Guard. Rossello also insists that this intervention is representative of the common interest of the Puerto Rican masses(1). Amerikan colonialization of Puerto Rico has had devastating economic consequences; 63.3% of the Puerto Rican population lives below the poverty line.(2) This situation undoubtedly has contributed to the increase of the crime rate. The Rossello-Amerikan regime believes that the solution to this crisis is the increased intervention of colonial forces - the National Guard. The National Guard is part of the U.S. military. The U.S. militarily occupies Puerto Rico - thirteen bases occupy 20% of the land. Traditionally in Amerika, the job descriptions for federal military and the "civilian" pigs are kept separate. The weak state of the neo-colonial police against the masses requires breaking that tradition. "The gravity of crisis in our streets ... makes it appropriate for us to explore today situations in which the National Guard may be able to fight crime without endangering democracy..." said Congressman Charles Schumer, D-NY.(1) "Fighting crime" has proven to be excessively repressive and very anti-democratic in Puerto Rico. "...Searching apartments in public housing projects with out warrants" has been typical of Amerikan police actions. "Searches have been extended to children's school bags and lunch boxes."(1) Nkechi Taifa, legislative counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union insists that U.S. military intervention has resulted in the occupation of Puerto Rican housing projects and is responsible for the unwarranted murder of at least one youth.(3) Taifa insists that "law enforcement in Puerto Rico is ... based on race and class."(1) Police repression is a means of denying the Puerto Rican masses self-determination. It is not possible for the U.S. to intervene in Puerto Rico without violating democratic principles. Puerto Rico is a colony of the Untied States. The U.S. must intervene constantly in order to maintain this colonial relationship. The National Guard is assisting neo-colonial forces in the suppression of the Puerto Rican masses. This exists in a very physical force (persecution and threat of persecution) and in a monitoring sense (through unwarranted searches of Puerto Rican homes and personal properties). There is no such thing as consent to military occupation by an imperialist power. The only thing the National Guard is representative of is imperialism. NOTE: AP 10/5/94. * * * AMERICAN MILITARY PLAYS, BUT WON'T CLEAN UP IT'S MESS by MA314 The U.S. has formally abandoned it's military bases in the Philippines, but has left behind an environmental nightmare. By Amerika's own standards - that of the Environmental Protection Agency - this is a disaster of Superfund proportions. Superfund sites are among the most highly contaminated sites in the U.S., posing dire threats to not only human life, but entire eco- systems. Amerikan occupation of the Philippines was directly carried out through the Clark Air Force and Subic Bay Naval bases. Since their recent closure, the U.S. has ceased to outwardly oversee the "welfare" of its neo-colony. Instead, directions are carried out through the puppet of their choice, currently Gen. Fidel Ramos (trained at the U.S. army school - West Point). The Department of Defense (DOD) has conducted a superficial investigation into the nature of the toxic waste sites at Subic and Clark. The report was incomplete, omitting information on many potentially contaminated sites. The U.S. released the DOD study to the Ramos government only after persistent requests. In August, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) released a study based on the DOD's study. Making a more honest analysis than the Department of Defense, the UUSC study called for an comprehensive site assessment and clean up at the former bases in the Philippines. As of this time, no action has been taken to correct the situation. The World Bank has approved a loan to the Ramos government for $40 million - likely to go to pay Amerikans to clean up their own mess - which would only serve to aggravate the Filipino peoples' burden of debt. It's just like the oppressor to turn around and charge the oppressed for its imposition. Amerika's failure to address the pollution problem has made it worse. The passage of time allows chemicals to migrate into the water supply. They spread out, dispersed by the rains, re-entering the food chain through contaminated soil; and with the completion of each cycle, carcinogens such as asbestos, creosote, and various toxic metals become further embedded in all sources of life. The environmental destruction of the U.S. military should be corrected by and at the expense of the U.S. government, as soon as possible. Each day of delay means more extensive and long term environmental damage to the Philippines. Unfortunately for the Filipino people, the U.S. has no interest in preserving the environment or the people of the Third World. Pay-back for the self-serving disregard with which the U.S. military conducted its exploitation of Filipino land will come some day. That's why the Communist Party of the Philippines is leading a revolution against the U.S. and it's Ramos puppet. NOTES: BAYAN International, The Truth About the Ramos Regime, 1994. Bloom et al. (UUSC), An Environmental and Health Impact Report on Known and Potentially Contaminated Sites at Former U.S. Military Bases in the Philippines, 8/94. MIM Notes 94 11/94, p.1, 8. * * * APACHE NATION ATTACKED WITH NUCLEAR WASTE The Northern States Power Company has targeted the Mesclaro Apache Nation (in the U.S. state of New Mexico) as the "temporary" storage site of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants across the country.(1) With the increased need for storage space of spent fuel rods and other waste, the nuclear power industry is proposing to destroy the First Nation land at bargain prices. The Tribal government is bought off by the company and its illusionary promise that the storage site will help develop the nation's economy. There has been no direct consultation of the people and the proposal has happened without the general consensus of its enrolled members. "[The] Apache people, as a group have been diabolically and deliberately excluded [from the decision].... Many tribal members are opposed to siting nuclear waste storage on our homeland, for they believe it will be a violation of our sacred lands and sacred mountain, Sierra Blanca."(1) Whether the Tribal leadership of First Nations receive direct kickbacks from industrial capitalists or whether leadership sees no alternative development option, the ultimate control lies in the hands of the oppressor nation developers and the Amerikan government. The Amerikan government has left the First Nations with few development options - cigarettes, casinos, gas stations and now nuclear waste - all of which force reliance on bourgeois markets and make self-sufficiency impossible. The true representation of the Apache people is questioned in general, and in this case specifically, the people of the Apache Nation have not had a say in which path they want to take toward development.(1) Apache activist, Rufina Laws said, "I believe that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is unconditionally cooperating and is in collusion through the continued use of an incredibly unjust document, the Tribal Election Code, upon which the Chino Administration operates...."(1) Wendell Chino, the tribal president for three decades, appoints the Election Board which oversees the tribal elections, as well as the future (rubber stamping) vote on the issue of the site. Chino defends the election process by saying that it is in accordance with Amerikan democracy.(2) Chino advocates the storage by saying, "The storage of spent fuel is a 21st century industry with the attendant complement of high-tech, high- wage jobs not often available to Indian tribes.(2) Waste dump operators with the high paying jobs are imported from the base of the company. They are not people from the poor areas or oppressed nations where the sites are placed. Oppressed nations attempting to develop within the confines of imperialist capitalism must first choose the path to take. Two-line struggle between Mao and Liu Shao-ch'i was in part between swift development without an underlying political and ideological base or development with a dialectical materialist analysis. Efficient modernization alone did not lead to revolution in China and economic prosperity for a few within the First Nations will not lead to self-determination. The international division of labor restricts the national bourgeoisie from developing into a competitive force. Mao argued that development without the consideration of politics would only lead back to semi-colonial, semi-feudal status for China. Without consideration for the long term ecologically sound and non-economically exploitative development pattern, the status of the First Nations will not be one of self- sufficiency or independence from the domination of the Amerika. Dependency upon capitalist political or economic kickbacks or promises of prosperity does not equal self-determination. The Mescalero Apache Nation must not rely on the economic development promises of the same country that forced them onto the reservation in the first place. NOTES: 1. Albuquerque Journal. 5/2/94, p. A9. 2. Albuquerque Journal 5/10/94 * * * NEW BOOK ATTACKS BIOLOGY AS DESTINY Review: The Evolution of Racism: Human differences and the use and abuse of science by Pat Shipman Simon and Schuster: New York, 1994. 319 pp. by MC12 By a paleoanthropologist, this new book brings debates and discoveries about human evolution to a non-academic audience. Readable and informative, *Evolution* runs from Darwin, through eugenics and Nazism, right up to the Human Genome Project and the Violence Initiative. Still, it's not as good as Stephen J. Gould's (less current) *The Mismeasure of Man*, which has a better analysis for political purposes. Her biggest weakness is a naive liberal quest for value-free science, and bemoaning the fact that biological theories get caught up in the politics of the day. For her, power struggles belong outside the realm of science, and scientists can't do good science if they are going to be held accountable for the political implications of their work. DARWIN BEATS THE CHURCH While Charles Darwin's *The Origin Of Species* (1859) struck a progressive blow against the hegemony of the Church, it did not undermine hierarchy among humans. It was falsely used (though not against Darwin's will) to explain differences in wealth and power between different human populations. Darwin himself thought non- Europeans were not fully human.(1) One of the first widespread misuses of Darwinism was in its application to human society - for which Darwin had not offered any evidence, for there was none. In Germany this idea was developed by Ernst Haeckel, in Britain by Herbert Spencer, who coined the term "survival of the fittest" and applied it to all aspects of social life. This thinking - Darwinian evolution reflected through bourgeois ideology - obviously continues to the present. The term "eugenics" (breeding to improve the human race) was introduced in 1883 by Darwin's cousin, Francis Galton. "Could not the undesirables be got rid of and the desirables multiplied?" he asked.(2) By the time Darwin died in 1882, he was convinced of the necessity of eugenics; and he was rehabilitated by the Church: "Once berated as an enemy of morality and religion, Darwin was now sanctified and transformed into an icon acceptable to all aspects of society," writes Shipman. Darwin's son Leonard went on to be president of the Eugenics Society in England from 1891 to 1928.(3) Darwinism had "adapted" to capitalist society. Eugenics got a big boost in Amerika and Germany just after 1900 with hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to research by big capitalists (Carnegie and Krupp).(4) Their goal was to collect records on individuals and families for the purpose of sterilization and matchmaking to improve their "race" (synonymous with nation, for them). So they collected records for everyone they could find, on such "genetic" traits as: "insanity, epilepsy, alcoholism, pauperism, criminality, tuberculosis, goiter ... feeblemindedness ... nomadism, athletic ability, shiftlessness and thalassophilia (love of the sea)." All of these were assumed to have hereditary causes.(5) This research in turn contributed to laws restricting immigration, and formed the basis for the first IQ tests, which were intended to identify the "intelligence" required for every different position in society - and then force children into those positions. Finally, the research led to forced sterilization, with the Supreme Court's blessing and laws in many states. In both the United States and Germany, Shipman makes virtually no effort to connect these biological and medical theories to imperialism and the motivations of the capitalist class and patriarchy; without that analysis it becomes too easy to justify eugenics and genocide as "mistakes" based on primitive scientific understanding. In fact, the scientists were coming up with ways to justify actions that reflected the demands of the politically powerful at that time. WHY THE "RACES" AREN'T Visible (phenotype) traits used to define current "races" are not linked to each other at the genetic level. Someone can have the hair of one "race," the eyes of another, the skin of a third, etc. So "races" identified by visible features would be different from those based on blood types, for example.(6) Evolutionary biology now recognizes that a species is any group capable of reproducing together, and "the action [of evolution is] at the species level," where genotype (underlying genetic traits), not phenotype, is what matters.(7) And contrary to popular belief, evolution is *not* the process of species becoming "more adapted" or "better" than they were before. While individual species adapt, life on earth is no better adapted overall. In other species, races are frequently the precursors to splitting off new species; population separated geographically for long enough eventually develop enough differences to loose *interfertility* with the others. Since the early 1960s there has been a consensus in biology that, "Because the races are fully interfertile, because different races frequently live together in the same regions, and because humans are so mobile, pure races do not exist and the races cannot diverge into separate species."(8) But genetic studies still threaten the oppressed in Amerika. The predominant recent example of this is the Violence Initiative, which tried to identify genetic "causes" of violent behavior, with the intention of identifying potentially violent children and "treating" them preventively. Shipman devotes the last part of her book to this controversy. The proponents and followers of this research make the very common error of looking at a behavior that appears common in a certain group and assuming it has a genetic basis - rather than a social and economic one. If MIM behaved this way, we would be looking for a gene for imperialism or parasitic social behavior, and we would conclude - with strong circumstantial evidence - that white Amerikans have a genetic predisposition to oppress other people. Frederich Goodwin, the highest ranking psychiatrist in the government (head of the Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration), said in 1992: "If you look, for example, at male monkeys, especially in the wild, roughly half of them survive to adulthood. The other half die by violence. That is the natural way of it for males .... There are some interesting evolutionary implications of that because the hyperaggressive monkeys who kill each other are also hypersexual, so they copulate more .... "Now, one could say that if some of the loss of social structure in this society, and particularly within high impact inner city areas, has removed some of the civilizing evolutionary things that we have built up and that maybe it isn't just a careless use of the word when people call certain areas of certain cities jungles, that we may have gone back to what might be more natural..."(9) In other words, without proper "social control," Black males "revert" back to a "nature" of behaving like monkeys! Goodwin's statement was too outrageous (it wasn't even true of monkeys). So, after much protest, he was demoted - to director of the National Institute of Mental Health!(10) A University of Maryland professor, David Wasserman, was among those promoting this research. He tried to organize a conference called "Genetic Factors in Crime," for which he received federal funding, which he advertised with this text: "Genetic research ... gains impetus from the apparent failure of environmental approaches to crime - deterrence, diversion, and rehabilitation - to affect the dramatic increases in crime, especially violent crime .... Genetic research holds out the prospect of identifying individuals who may be predisposed to certain kinds of criminal conduct ... and of treating some predispositions with drugs and intrusive therapies."(11) Apparently, for Wasserman, "environmental approaches" don't include self-determination, employment, education relevant to Black people's lives, etc. So it can be concluded that these approaches have failed! This also raised enough of a stir (including by anti-psychiatric medication psychiatrist Peter Breggin, some NAACP chapters and others) to cancel the conference. But the research continues. Shipman does a good job of presenting the debates, but her opinion of them is liberal and idealistic. She is upset that "objective" research is being stifled because of the "volume" of the debate and the knee-jerk reaction to anything that could have racist implications. Readers of *The Evolution of Racism* should be prepared for some annoying anti- "politically correct"ism, as well as a useful presentation of the facts and issues. NOTES: 1. Shipman, p. 1. 2. Ibid, p. 111. 3. Ibid, p. 121. 4. Ibid, pp. 123-132. 5. Ibid, p. 125-6. 6. Ibid, p. 148. 7. Ibid, p. 154. 8. Ibid, p. 195. 9. Ibid, pp. 237-8. 10. Ibid, p. 238. 11. Ibid, p. 246. * * * U.S. ROLE IN CHILE WHITEWASHED For some reason the New York Times ran an article evaluating the life of Gen. Augusto Pinochet in Chile. It appears there is a move afoot to rehabilitate his name, because the New York Times article raised the question of what overall evaluation Pinochet deserved in his life. Pinochet is still the commander of the military in Chile, and won't retire until 1997. From 1973 to 1990 he was also the president of Chile, thanks to his own efforts and the U.S. military forces that helped him to power on September 11, 1973. According to the New York Times, he is due respect for being the oldest military leader in the world. The New York Times said his opponents were "leftists" and human rights groups activists. Also, the New York Times mentioned that Pinochet overthrew a "leftist" government headed by Salvador Allende Gossens, but it did not mention that Allende was the elected president of Chile. Nor did the New York Times mention the U.S. role first in funding Allende's opponents in the campaign and then in embargos, subversion and finally, military action. When Pinochet came to power, he massacred at least 20,000 people, many of whom were rounded up in a stadium for execution. The movie *Missing* is largely based on this real-life story. Pinochet, the CIA and the U.S. military are facts of life that prove the necessity of communism. Here Allende won his election through "democratic" means, but it turns out that U.S. imperialism is only for "democracy" when its side wins. When it loses, it seeks to twist the arms of entire nations into voting for capitalism and U.S. interests or supporting dictators that accomplish that purpose. Opportunists seeking political careers and the naive speak of "freedom" and "democracy," supported by the United States contrary to the facts. In Chile, the blood of the people is on the hands of Pinochet, the U.S. government and the "democratic socialists" who told the people the ballot box would work. NOTE: New York Times, 10/6/94, p. a9. * * * MORE BLOWS FOR THE HAITIAN MASSES: HAITIANS ATTACKED AND BETRAYED In Haiti, the U.S.-installed Aristide has turned a deaf ear to the thousands of demonstrators demanding reparations for the crimes of the coup leaders and their supporters. The U.S. military is protecting these war criminals and repressing the mass movements in the name of "democracy". Aristide has ignored the demands for justice from thousands of Haitian demonstrators, and has focused on building support from other bourgeois factions for further imperialist penetration. On November 8, the Haitian parliament formally endorsed Aristide's cabinet and his agenda to further prostrate Haiti to the IMF, to the World Bank, and to foreign capital.(1) POPULAR MASS ORGANIZATIONS MOBILIZE Over one thousand demonstrated in the streets of Grand Goeve on October 27. Father Jean Pierre Louis warned in the preceding mass against an overemphasis on reconciliation and said it is not possible without justice. Songs and posters presented the demands for the disarming of the army and paramilitary, investigations of the crimes committed in the past three years, reparations for the victims and a cleaning out of the public administration.(2) During the demonstration the people of the town demanded electricity and the arrest of judge Weber Milord - a top army officer in the area that has carried out widespread repression. On October 23, members of the Konbit Komilfo (KOD) protested at the home of Brevil - a soldier known for brutal repression - and demanded his surrender. U.S. soldiers then arrived to tell the crowd to disperse. The soldiers refused to arrest Milord or Brevil. U.S. SHOOTS FOR LONG-TERM CONTROL The U.S. plan to install a neo-liberal economic program depends upon the retention of officials that were formerly leaders of the coup. Jean- Claude Dupreval was named the army's Commander-in- Chief. At Cedras' departure ceremony, his successor promised to co-operate with the "foreign invitees".(3) "The U.S. wants exclusive rights to train the new officers through a program of the International Criminal Investigation Training and Assistance Program - an institution founded by the FBI in 1986 and run by the Justice and State departments."(4) ICITA's purpose is to fortify the development of emerging democracies in the western hemisphere; its history in Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador is a solid indicator of its definition of fortification. The current army will be replaced by two "new" forces, the army with 1,500 and the police corps with 7,000 to 10,000 officers. This does not necessitate the removal of old supporters or a change in the old structure. The U.S. has been offering the masses cash for guns.(3) Amerika claims a desire to prevent civil war, but rather aims to make the U.S.-imposed structure more difficult to challenge. The Assemblee Populaire Nationale said, "We cannot support or serve as a relay for the American imperialists who come to occupy the country."(4) The Assemblee correctly believes that it is up to the people to isolate the soldiers and punish them. Any "rectification" of the Haitian military that is controlled by the U.S. will continue to be selective and superficial. U.S. REPRESSES MASS MOVEMENTS The U.S. forces are not standing idly by as the protesters demand justice; they have actively taken part in the repression of mass organizations. They have collaborated with Haitian officials and "are even violating people's rights themselves."(2) Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the founder of the Mouvman Peyizan Papay [Peasant Movement of Papaye] (MPP), said in a speech after returning from exile, "This is not a victory.... Don't celebrate and think that the U.S. army is here to liberate us. It is part of the same strategy as the coup." U.S. soldiers responded to this speech with threats.(4) Amerikan "free speech" didn't come with the imperialist troops. When a local radio station criticized Haitian army officer Col. Clairjeune, the U.S. army ordered it shut down, because Clairjeune is a friend of Amerika. "U.S. troops and Clairjeune have also carried out joint missions, such as the arms search of the house belonging to a pro-democratic government official."(10) The function of the US military is to stop the mass demonstrations. A U.S. intelligence figure official expanded upon the purpose of prolonged occupation: "... to prevent the Haitian population from taking politics into its own hands and [to] forestall danger of radical mass mobilization. With regard to mass mobilization, simple ... you can't let it happen. There is no such thing as a demonstration while [the US military troops] are there."(5) ARISTIDE KOWTOWS TO THE DOLLAR As always, in exchange for loans, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are requiring Haiti to reorient its economy to serve the imperialist's interests. Aristide's agreement to further prostrate Haiti to the U.S. has made him popular in imperialist circles. Aristide has business support and promises of foreign aid for at least the next two years.(3) The IMF and the World Bank have required tariff reductions and open markets.(3) The $600 million this year in aid requires the privatization of industry, slashing the budget deficit and bureaucracy, and removing most price controls.(6) One such bit of "aid" is a $13 million jobs creation program - where 25,000 to 50,000 Haitians will work for $1 a day for two months.(4) Once again the cheap labor power of the Haitian masses will flood the pockets of multi-national corporations with bloody super-profits. To a large degree, Aristide has even been cut out of the picture by the imperialists. U.S. officials will have direct control over most of the money that comes from aid. The money will go to the private sector or local leaders chosen by the U.S. government.(4) Now the U.S. can choose the specific beneficiaries. One company, Brown and Root Inc., for example, built roads, landing fields and bases for U.S. troops in Vietnam. Brown and Root made $100 million in Somalia, and will make another $25 million building four U.S. military bases in Haiti.(7). It is no surprise that Aristide has only shallowly addressed the demands of the Haitian people. Their just demands are in direct opposition to Aristide's new master - foreign capital. MIM supports the fight against the continued repression of the mass movement in Haiti. As the old regime gets a face lift, and as the U.S. spews democracy rhetoric, the Haitian people are still struggling. The first step toward democracy is the removal of foreign parasites and their lackeys. Reconciliation must entail reparations to the Haitian people by the imperialists for destroying the Haitian political structure and for aiding in the deaths of their leaders. NOTES: 1. New York Times 11/9/94, p. A3. 2. Haiti Info 11/5/94 3. The Economist 10/22/94, p. 54. 4. The Haitian Information Bureau 10/22/94 - Haiti Info v.3, #2 5. The Nation 10/394, p. 344. 6. NYT 10/30/94, p. A1. 7. The Progressive 11/94, p. 9. * * * "IN LATIN AMERICA, EVERY DAY IS THE DAY OF THE DEAD" November 2, Amherst, MA - A UMass student made a powerful demonstration against U.S. imperialism in Latin America by burning the headless bodies of Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton, Lt. Col. Oliver North and National Security Advisor Anthony Lake in effigy. November 2 is the Day of the Dead, and the demonstration was designed to commemorate Latin American victims of U.S. imperialism. In Latin America, the Day of the Dead is a cultural and religious ceremony to honor the dead. The student, with gold painted face, green cape and feathered headdress, represented the Quetzal bird - the guardian angel of Tecu'n Uman who died fighting the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. The headless bodies of the chief Amerikan imperialists were arranged in a circle, each sharing the same hollow pumpkin head. Quetzal danced around the burning bodies, exposing the crimes of the imperialists and calling for solidarity with Latin American and Third World struggles. Laying a black cross and flowers for the martyred, Quetzal called out to their fellow revolutionaries "Keep going, [because if you do] you will not be dead." Quetzal threw the blood of dead Latin Americans on the burning bodies, and gave each the bloody heart of a dead Latin American killed by Amerika's foreign policy. This was doubly symbolic - Quetzal said it redeemed the souls of the martyrs and it proved that the imperialists have no hearts. Quetzal did not make a distinction between deaths caused by Amerikan interventionist bullets and deaths from starvation and disease caused by exploitation. For each death, the murderer is the same Amerikan system - and for each death their blood debt grows larger. The five Amerikan leaders were picked because they were recent figures, and Quetzal was quick to point out that many other Amerikan leaders could have been choosen. One of the most powerful lines from Quetzal was: We must remember the dead, "not just on the day of the dead. Because in Latin America every day is the Day of the Dead." Speaking for the dead, and for the youth of Latin America - who Quetzal predicted was a generation that would learn from the past and succeed where their fathers and mothers had failed - Quetzal warned "We will be back. We will." * * * MOTHERS KILLING CHILDREN: A SYMPTOM OF CAPITALIST PATRIARCHY. Recent celebrated cases of mothers killing their children seem "unthinkable" to the Amerikan public. They were more willing to believe that the Smith children were abducted by a strange Black man than the truth that their mother killed them. In fact, most children murdered are victims of their parents. Every year 700 mothers kill their children. This violence is a symptom of the capitalist patriarchy that reduces children to possessions of their parents. For most practical purposes, parents own their children and have almost absolute power over them. Society recognizes parental property rights to such an extent that only the grandest tales of abuse win public attention. And society is powerless to prevent children's murders until it abolishes those property rights. Just as white nation chauvinist pseudo-feminists prefer enacting repressive laws against Black men to abolishing the patriarchal gender relations that make all sex rape, advocates for children that focus on abducted children prefer chasing down individual men to abolishing the patriarchal family set-up that keeps children at the complete mercy of their parents. The actions of the mother in the Smith case clearly reveal her position in gender and national hierarchies. Pseudo-feminists want to believe that biological women are always victims, without any power to oppress. But in relation to her children, Ms. Smith was gendered male by her power over them in patriarchy. And she used her privileged gender aristocrat status to accuse an imaginary Black man of her own violence. She did not care whether an innocent Black man died in the electric chair, only that she avoid accountability for her abuse of power over her children. The only thing that will prevent the brutal murders of children is a revolution which releases them from their current status as private property and recognizes instead their status as human beings. NOTE: New York Times 11/5/94, p. 9. * * * ANTI-IMPERIALIST GAYS AND LESBIANS MARCH IN THE PHILIPPINES Some 100 gay and lesbian members of the multisectoral Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines (Pro-Gay) marched June 26 to protest the IMF-imposed expanded value-added tax (VAT) law and other pro-imperialist economic agreements. Carrying placards with messages such as "Reject Philippines 2000," the Pro-Gay activists said their struggle was not distinct from the Filipino people's struggle for freedom and democracy as their problem is rooted in poverty and also sexual discrimination. According to the protesters, the Philippine gay liberation movement is demanding access to social services like education and health, the right to work without sexual discrimination, the right to enter into a mutual relationship to marry, the right to have a family or adopt children and raise them, and the right to political leadership. They also claimed the right to be part of the struggle for social change and to be respected regardless of social status, religion, race or sexual preference. - reprinted from Liberation International (LI), a publication of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines 7/94, p. 6. LI can be reached at P.O. Box 19195, 3501 DD Utrecht, the Netherlands. * * * WHITE PATRIARCHY UPHELD This past October, Baltimore judge Robert E. Cahill sentenced Kenneth Peacock to 18 months in prison for murdering his wife, Sandra. Peacock, a white man with 2 brothers who are police officers, found his wife in bed with another man and shot her in the head 4 hours later. Judge Cahill said he wished he could let Peacock go free and commented: "I seriously wonder how many men married five, four years would have the strength to walk away without inflicting some corporal punishment. " From the bottom of his patriarchal heart, this Amerikan judge defends male rights to property (women). The day after Peacock's sentencing, another Baltimore judge sentenced a woman to 3 years for killing her husband after 11 years of abuse. The Women's Law Center in Baltimore has protested Peacock's sentence in Maryland's Court of Appeals on the basis of gender inequality. This pseudo- feminist strategy can, at best, win more privileges for First World biological women at the expense of the rest of the world - including over 2 billion Third World biological women. Reforming the Amerikan court system legitimizes it. Reforms give the court system credit for being able to correct its own errors of discrimination. But these errors are committed in the service of a government defined by social inequality. The revolutionary-feminist solution is to build a revolutionary party and people's power to overthrow the old state. - MAZ10 NOTE: NYT 10/21/94, p. A9. * * * WAR ON WELFARE HITS SENATE by MA313 November 7 - In the political musical chairs game for a seat in the U.S. Senate, candidates have been professing their intent to crack down on the welfare system. McCurdy, senate candidate in Oklahoma, admits that the Congressional delegates have recognized that conservatives attitudes towards welfare reform are necessary "... to further their reelection." Bob Carr, Michigan senate candidate, lumps receiving welfare with lying and cheating, and states that each are evidence of the moral degeneration of society. Bashing the welfare system and those who use it musters support from the white labor aristocracy who want to blame the poor for taking their "hard- earned" tax dollars which could be used to further their own gluttonous consumption. Governor Thompson of Wisconsin, who has assaulted the welfare system for the past eight years, is seen as creating an exemplary model for the rest of the country to follow - regardless of the fact that child poverty has risen in his state. Wisconsin has recently passed a bill that promises to abolish the welfare system as we know it by 1999.(1) Although no new plan has been outlined, one can probably expect the same basic substance - meager handouts in exchange for humiliation, degradation and victimization for its recipients. Persons receiving welfare are trapped by bureaucratic restrictions and minimal financial support. A welfare budget amounts to 2/3 of what the government deems to be the poverty line. Eighty-five to 95% of this might go to pay for rent and utilities. Food stamps are rationed in a manner which allows for an average of $0.40 per meal per person, or $1.20 per person daily.(2) This does not even buy a burger at McDonalds. Personal decisions, such as where to live, may also be denied. Members of the Boston welfare- rights group ARMS (Advocacy for Resources for Modern Survival) write: "To comply with conditions of our recipient status, we can not make any personal decisions ourselves. We must consult the Welfare Department first, and the final decision is theirs. The state is a domineering, chauvinistic spouse."(3) Despite the meager state handouts, politicians speak of welfare as a system capable of generating significant benefits to those who use it. Stories in the media about "Welfare Queens" and welfare fraud initiate public support for treating welfare recipients like criminals. New York unveiled a plan last spring to fingerprint all persons receiving welfare benefits with a computerized machine. By focusing on welfare as a significant burden to the U.S. economic system (in reality, welfare accounted for 3.4% of state budgets)(4), attention is painlessly diverted from the larger picture - the oppressive U.S. imperialist system which requires exploitation of the poor in this country, as well as internationally, to prosper. Political candidates know that the welfare issue is a topic from which they can easily accumulate support, since Amerikans love a justification for racism and a reason to discriminate against the poor. The Amerikan public thinks that welfare is a system abused by lazy criminals who want to "undeservingly" take a piece of the Amerikan pie. Although the present welfare system does not begin to solve Amerikan economic corruption and inequality, it is clear why politicians focus on the issue. It presents an easy target for victimization of a population with virtually no political voice. The response they receive from the public proves where the majority of the Amerikan population places its loyalty - with any group that promises more for them. NOTES: 1. New York Times 10/20/94. 2. Anderson & Collins, Race, class and gender: An anthology, Belmont, CA: 1992, p. 263. 3. Ibid, p. 250. 4. NYT 10/19/91, p. 1, 9. * * * PROPOSITION 187: AMERIKAN CHAUVINISM DEMANDS POCKET CHANGE For some time, reactionaries have fanned the flames of national chauvinism and racism by asserting that illegal immigrants are a drain on the economy. Now a report from the Urban Institute on 1.44 million illegal immigrants in California in 1992 shows that all the hoopla is over pocket change - $1.09 billion a year. That is how much California pays for the services to illegal immigrants beyond what it receives in estimated taxes from the illegal immigrants. More than a third of that or $368 million is from Amerika's prison craze - locking up 15,100 immigrants in prisons and calling that a "service" to the immigrants. California voters passed Proposition 187 on November 8 in what is typical Amerikan politics. Proposition 187 "would deny all social and health services except emergency care to illegal immigrants, kick their kids out of public schools and require teachers, doctors and others to report 'suspected' illegals to immigration authorities." MIM does not care to argue over whether California government or the U.S. government should pay for the services provided for the immigrants. Proposition 187 does not affect that more subtle issue. It's just about looking for scapegoats for a minuscule sum of money. The $4 per person in the United States or $40 per person in California is nothing compared with how much food and garment bills would increase when doubled, tripled or quadrupled for lack of immigrant labor. MIM stands behind the statement that the entire U.S. owes reparations to the Third World, including immigrants now moving to California. There is no rational argument behind Proposition 187, just very strong emotion. That emotion is built into U.S. settler history. The Democratic candidate for governor lost a 20 percentage point poll lead over this issue and now trails by 13 percentage points for merely opposing Proposition 187. Her loss proves that a bourgeois candidate cannot mess with the imperialist alliance with the labor aristocracy - even for a paltry $1.09 billion. Other polls show that whites give the highest level of support for the Proposition, but surprisingly, some Blacks and people of "Spanish- origin" - "Hispanics" - also support Proposition 187. Even many immigrants themselves cannot see fit to opposing Amerikan arguments over immigration. What this demonstrates yet again is that the parasitism of U.S. imperialism infects the whole continent. Good portions of the Black and Latino nations themselves have been bought off to such an extent that they are ready to vote for vicious anti-immigrant legislation. The United States is a nation of immigrant hypocrites that have a piece of the rock and don't want to share it with other newer immigrants. Cheerleaders for the bought-off working class of North America will make excuses for the anti- immigrant legislation and say it is just "false consciousness." While it is true that the ruling class always does succeed in confusing the oppressed classes in ordinary times, the fervor surrounding Proposition 187 goes beyond "false consciousness." The bought-off working class actively supported Proposition 187 and it has become the most important item on the California electoral agenda. When Amerikans get "angry" and want "change," they seek pocket change. NOTE: USA Today, 10/18/94, pp. 1-2. * * * AMERIKAN VOTING IS NOT FOR PROLETARIANS Voters have always been disproportionately non- proletarian in North Amerika. Vast majorities of the unemployed and poor do not vote. The anti- immigrant Proposition 187 is a demonstration of the existence of national chauvinist and labor aristocracy politics. It was no surprise that 64% of the white nation voters voted for Proposition 187 to cut-off education and non-emergency health services to immigrants and their kids. Initially, majorities of "Hispanics" also supported Proposition 187. After weeks of struggle, a progressive nationalism, principally Mexican nationalism, arose to oppose proposition 187. Still, in the end result, 31 percent of "Hispanic" voters still voted for Proposition 187. These voters want to keep "a piece of the rock" for themselves and exclude others from the rock.. Also important and confusing across the continent in a variety of contexts is the existence of Black and Asian middle-classes including labor aristocracies. Fifty-six percent of Black voters supported Proposition 187 and 57% of Asian voters did too. These voters are symbolic of the alliance of those middle classes with the white nation imperialists against Third World peoples trying to immigrate. Though it may be confusing, in the context of NAFTA, GATT and immigration, MIM stands opposed to any Black, Brown, Yellow or Red faces that the imperialists may throw at us in order to tighten the screws on immigrants. As for other social groups, both men and women gave a majority to the anti-immigrant Proposition; even though two women candidates for California office opposed Proposition 187. This shows that even with women in power in the U.S. Senate, they cannot lead a gender movement against white nation interests. As for the age breakdown, this was a little more promising. The older the voter, the more anti- immigrant the voter was. In the 18 to 29 voter group, the vote was 50 percent to 50 percent. MIM holds that the youth of the white nation more closely approximate proletarian interests than does the white working class. These numbers are further proof; although, even here, the white youth voted in a majority for the Proposition. We hope to pull the youth out of voting altogether. The white youth who did not vote and who voted but opposed Proposition 187 are the pivot of the progressive movement within the white nation. NOTE: USA Today 11/11/94, p. 8A. * * * GETTING JOBS AT THE BERLIN WALL OF THE WEST Anti-immigrant fervor being whipped up by national chauvinists can only end with one logical result - the creation of an ever-stronger Berlin Wall on the border with Mexico. To boost his own popularity and the popularity of Democrats with the labor aristocracy majority of Amerika, Clinton has increased border patrols in southern California. There are also new border patrol programs in Texas. The new program to cover just a six mile area in California cost an additional $25 million and includes a 12 foot high steel fence.(1) The total "drain" on services that illegal immigrants amount to in the whole United States is only $2 billion.(2) It doesn't take a genius to see that even by the labor aristocracy's own twisted propaganda, patrolling is more expensive than the "drain" created by illegal immigrants. The labor aristocracy is blind to the costs of a Berlin Wall solution, because the jobs patrolling the border - that produce nothing for anyone - go to people in the labor aristocracy or people who would otherwise be in the labor aristocracy. The labor aristocracy would rather spend billions policing the border than $2 billion actually curing infectious diseases and educating children in school, which is the largest expense being debated. Eleven hundred people patrol the San Diego area alone.(1) In this struggle, there is an internationalist faction of the bourgeoisie which is actually a better ally than the labor aristocracy and other middle classes. The internationalist bourgeoisie concretely benefits from superexploiting the Mexican workers and doesn't want its access to such labor cut-off completely. However, it is not likely to complain about the Berlin Wall or other such measures too loudly, because they act to increase leverage over the Mexican workers who do make it into the United States. The threat of bringing in the INS is the favorite tactic of the internationalist bourgeoisie making superprofits off of Mexican workers. On the other hand, the internationalist bourgeoisie also understands that the illegal immigrants create a business economy that otherwise would not exist if it were up to the Berlin Wall-type fascists. Creating a Berlin Wall is the opposite of what NAFTA supposedly intended and this would irritate the internationalist bourgeoisie in favor of the dream of "free trade" within capitalism. MIM is also in favor of "free trade," because borders are a waste of resources and an impediment to people-to-people understanding - peace. Borders also block the economic potential of the people of the world. Our difference with the bourgeois internationalists is that we know real free trade without borders is only possible in a communist world. The capitalists use things like border patrols to increase their exploitation and profits. As long as capitalists are allowed to make profits, there will be incentives to pit one nation against another in order to exploit large groups of people. NOTES: 1. New York Times 10/6/94, p. D21. 2. USA Today 10/19/94, p. 2A. * * * IMPERIALISTS CONTEND IN IRAQ The Boston Globe has managed to be astutely critical of imperialism in its October 17, 1994 editorial. The only drawback of its analysis of imperialism in Iraq is that it only meant to apply to French imperialism. As President Clinton sent troops to Iraq this month, the rightist dominated French executive branch of government issued a criticism of Clinton. Not usually noted for their pacifism, the French rightists said that Clinton's order "was not unconnected to [domestic] politics." Now the Boston Globe is firing back. "France and Russia have been the most overt, the most shameless. Their attempts to make Saddam's case for him - to save his skin by lifting the U.N. sanctions - originate in a long sequence of backstage deals and promises. "The French oil companies Elf Aquitaine and CFP- Total have acknowledged more than 40 meetings with Saddam's accomplices since the end of the last Gulf war. Last June Iraqi oil officials went to Paris to sign an agreement for the rebuilding of Iraq's Nahr Umar oil field, and later that month 28 chief executives from French companies such as Renault, Citroen, Alcatel-Alsthom and Electricite de France visited Baghdad to discuss investments in diverse Iraqi enterprises, from automobile plants to Saddam's notorious chemical industry. "For 10 days last April, Saddam conducted a murderous offensive against the population of southern Iraq. Specialists suspect Saddam's cleansing of the Shiite Muslims who live in the southern no-fly zone established by the coalition allies was a butchery performed to make the region safe for the French oil companies. "Hence the venomous remark of the French defense minister, Francois Leotard - that Clinton sent U.S. troops to the region for reasons of domestic politics - should be seen as an egregious example of the pot calling the kettle black." As is usual, we get the most accurate and insightful news and analysis from the bourgeoisie of our country when it is criticizing the bourgeoisie of other countries. Our media and politicians don't have the guts or truthfulness to explain that the United States leads the world in per capita imprisonment, but when it comes to criticizing other countries, they can be pretty good at it. Something else that this demonstrates is the impossibility of a world government while capitalism still prevails. Supposedly, France, Russia and the United States are all on the same side in Iraq through the U.N. The U.N. acts more and more as a proto-world government inspired by bourgeois internationalism - the belief in the freedom of all peoples to have the opportunity to make a profit off each other. While the U.N. acts to safeguard capitalism internationally, we can see that underneath the imperialists will still have contending interests, because the way to make the most profit is not to copy your competition, but instead to backstab your competition and do something different to find your own niche. As long as there is capitalism, there will be a motive for imperialist contention even in Iraq where it might appear to be taboo. For this reason, the bourgeois internationalists seeking to compete with proletarian internationalists can attempt to fool the world with talk of international order and peace, but they cannot succeed. Only communism can bring peace. * * * ANN ARBOR'S "ONLY" RAPIST STRIKES AGAIN Another woman has reported being raped and liberals are lining up behind the police for protection. The police believe that the most recent publicized rape - October 13th - was committed by the same man as in three previous assaults on the West side of Ann Arbor, MI. Liberals and University students have been clamoring about the rapes and about the sudden fear they feel while walking down the street.(1) The pseudo-feminist trend in recent years has been to educate women about the common occurrence of rape committed by acquaintances. The annual "take back the night" march, seminars and posters about the higher statistics of rape committed by acquaintances rather than by strangers, and support groups specifically attempting to include victims of acquaintance rape all have apparently failed to alleviate the fear of the man behind the bush. The above examples of education focus attention upon the single male perpetrator as opposed to focusing the fight against patriarchy at the roots. The emphasis on acquaintance rape misses the boat of analyzing the existence of power struggles in all relationships and concludes that there can be equal relationships without coercion if the man is reformed enough. This leaves pseudo- feminists denying systemic causes as they fight individual men. MIM includes all sex in our definition of rape because we know that even "the best sex" does not exclude coercion. Individual relationships cannot escape the fundamental power struggles that exist in our society. Targeting one rapist in the community serves the purpose of focusing the problems caused by a patriarchal system on one man. One man is the problem and catching the one rapist is the solution. Intensification of the manhunt, increased policing of the campus, and spreading fear through the newspapers all sum up to ignoring the fundamental cause of rape. Reactions as reported in The Michigan Daily's article "Manhunt for Rapist Intensifies" range from heightened fear to advocating more police action. This would make it appear that the cops are on the side of women's liberation or that the police are "doing their job" and protecting women. A specific situation like this highly publicized rape clarifies where the liberals align themselves - with the police in the case of Ann Arbor. This is an admission that they are not truly interested in abolishing the patriarchal system that is the real impetus and perpetrator of violence against women - systematic rape, starvation or poor material conditions. NOTE: The Michigan Daily, 10/17/94. * * * BURMESE REVOLUTIONARY LIKES MIM NOTES: MASSES STRUGGLE AGAINST FASCIST REGIME Dear Friends at MIM Notes, I am really encouraged by your newspaper, which I got unexpectedly from a friend from America. It is like a light in our world. I would like to get your newspaper or other revolutionary materials as much as possible. I will send money soon. I am also a revolutionary. Our camp is inside Burma near the Thai border. We have our guerrilla forces, which are not big yet. We are trying to survive by ourselves now. I enclose some of our pamphlets in English. We usually publish in Burmese only. The People's Liberation Front (PLF) is also an active member of the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB). If anybody wants to know more or visit us, please contact us. We will welcome you warmly. Keep in touch. Yours sincerely, - a People's Liberation Front (Burma) activist, August 10, 1994 MIM REPLIES: Thanks for both the kind words and the information you enclosed with your letter. MIM takes this opportunity to comment on the situation in Burma (Myanmar), relying largely on the literature you sent. The struggle of the People's Liberation Front in Burma is currently against the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). SLORC became the government on September 18, 1988 when General Saw Maung and the armed forces declared martial law, and killed more than 1,000 demonstrators. MIM supports the struggle of the Burmese masses and their organizations against the fascist SLORC government. At the same time, we recognize that if the proletariat does not take leadership of the anti-SLORC movement, the Burmese masses will find themselves suffering under a new arrangement of exploitation once SLORC is ousted. PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT AND THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE OF BURMA The People's Liberation Front described their aims in a April 19, 1990 statement: "1. To unify the resistance forces, especially among the youth, for the overthrow of the military dictatorship; 2. To cooperate with all democratic forces for the establishment of a democratic system of government with guarantees for all the human rights; 3. To strive for the establishment of a genuine federal union; 4. To endeavor for the harmony of all the indigenous nationalities and minorities in the country; and 5. To stand on the side of the common people in their struggle for freedom, justice and fair distribution of Wealth." The PLF statement says that the PLF is an active member of the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB). DAB's principles are: "1. To overthrow the Burma military junta; 2. To stop the civil war and bring back peace; 3. to establish democracy; and 4. To establish a genuine federal union. [this last means incorporation of the oppressed nationalities and national minorities.]" TIMELINE Both Britain and Japan, principally Britain, colonize Burma between 1824 and 1948. World War II creates an opportunity for the Burmese masses, as for the Chinese and many other oppressed peoples, to rebel. On January 4, 1948, Burma (but not its ethnic minorities) gains independence under the leadership of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). >From 1948 to 1958, Prime Minister U Nu of the AFPFL heads the Burmese government. His government practices bourgeois democracy and creates what an unsigned document sent to MIM by the PLF calls "a socialist welfare state." This document says that the AFPFL government faced revolts by Communists "who lacked the people's support" and nationalists. MIM does not know enough about these revolts to comment significantly on them. But we do not believe that socialism and bourgeois democracy are compatible; true socialism requires the dictatorship of the proletariat. In September 1958, the Burmese Army seizes power, under the leadership of General Ne Win. In 1960, U Nu, now of the Union Party, wins power back in an election. U Nu takes office in April 1960 and proposes a federalist system to placate Burma's national minorities. Proving that a progressive government requires a People's Army if it is to survive, Gen. Ne Win leads a coup in March 1962. Gen. Ne Win deposes U Nu and establishes single-party military rule, which continues today. In July 1973, the People's Liberation Front (PLF) is formed by five activist students of Mandalay University. Rangoon University also has at least one underground anti-government cell. The cells at both schools circulate anti-government pamphlets. In the summer of 1987, Ne Win plays for international support by relaxing state control over trade in rice and other agricultural products (but gives no guarantee that the lifting of restrictions would last). This is accompanied by phony political reforms. On September 5, 1987, the government declares 80% of Burmese currency worthless, which sparks mass rebellion in Rangoon and Mandalay, and inspires many students to flee to the hills to join the insurgent forces. On October 1, 1987, the People's Liberation Front of Burma issues "A Communique From Burma." condemning the Ne Win government and its abuses. The communique says that the ethnic minorities suffer worst, that 30% of Burma is under insurgent control, and that: "Our party aims to represent more than a single ethnic group or class. We are working for the rights of all the oppressed people of Burma. Our aim is democracy..." The PLF Communique says that "The Communist Party of Burma, operating in the north of the country, has been unable to gain popular support, and has lost the backing of China, which now seems to prefer more profitable dealings with the Burmese government. China ... has turned a deaf ear to the suffering of the Burmese people." MIM would add that the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) had also turned a deaf ear to the people, as it is clear from other sources that the CPB upheld the anti-Maoist, social-fascist (socialist in words, fascist in deeds) Deng Xiaoping regime in China. With Burma's main "Communist" Party upholding fascism, and with a fascist government which sometimes called itself "socialist," it is no wonder that the mass movement against the fascist Burmese government is led by a national bourgeoisie and not by communists: the phony socialists and phony communists have succeeded in giving communism a bad name for many Burmese. In July 1988, waves of anti-government demonstrations force Gen. Ne Win to resign from his Party Chair post. In 1990, the PLF Central Committee describes this as the military junta "brutally crushing the country-wide movement for democracy." In 1989, the Dengist Communist Party of Burma (CPB) collapses. Likely, the embarrassment of supporting Deng Xiaoping became too great once Deng's "Communist" Party of China proved its similarity to SLORC by shooting at unarmed, pro- "democracy" students in June 1989. On May 27, 1990, the Burmese government holds its sham elections. The opposition party National League for Democracy (NLD) wins overwhelmingly, but a new government is never formed. MIM Notes 42 said at the time that "[t]here was little chance of the elections being democratic as the country has remained under military rule since [1962]." MIM called the elections "a ruse to allow foreign investors such as Japan to restore suspended trade and investment." Following the phony elections, in May and June 1990, the Burmese military arrests many elected representatives from the NLD. The opposition forms a government-in-exile, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, on the Thai- Burmese border. On November 17, 1993, the SLORC government expresses its willingness to hold talks with the jungle-based armed organizations. On December 1, 1993, DAB Chairman General Saw Bo Mya sends a letter to SLORC Chairman General Than Shwe for official DAB-SLORC talks. SLORC replies that it would not talk with either DAB or the NDF, but would talk only with individual armed organizations. (The NDF is the alliance of ethnic armed forces.) >From January 11-14, 1994, DAB holds an emergency meeting, at the end of which their Central Committee releases a statement rejecting SLORC's divisive approach to talks and saying that DAB fights for a true peace. Here DAB defines its objective as: "Establishment of a genuine federal republic based on democracy." CONCLUSION We thank the writer for providing us with information about the PLF and DAB, but we still seek information on Maoism in Burma. MIM is also looking for information about the nature and extent of the U.S. role in Burma. We are aware that Pepsi, Amoco and Unocal have played a role in propping up Burma's fascist ruling regime, but we seek a deeper understanding. We encourage both the original letter writer and all others, including Burmese exiles in this country, to provide more information and join us in the struggle to liberate humanity with the most successful means possible - Marxism-Leninism- Maoism. * * * DENG'S STATE-CAPITALISM MEETS ROBIN COOK The bourgeois media announced last month that prisoners executed by the state-capitalist regime in China may be having their organ's harvested for sale abroad or for use by party officials. China's neighboring countries, Hong Kong and Taiwan announced a ban on all organs imported from China for fear of participating in this human rights abuse. Amnesty International expressed its concern that profitability of organ harvesting from China's estimated 10,000 executions a year would prove to be a "obstacle in limiting the use of the death penalty". China's actions under Deng appears to confuse the bourgeois media. On the one hand, China is applauded for its venture capitalism and for allowing companies like Boeing, AT&T, and Motorola into their country. On the other hand China is still portrayed as a brutal, authoritarian, Communist government. While groups like Amnesty attempt to reconcile China's communist past with its capitalist future, MIM understands that China's draconian and repressive policies only arose with capitalist restoration when Deng and co. seized state power after the death of Mao. Maybe other capitalist countries like Amerika are simply worried that China can isolate a human organ market that their brand of capitalism can't touch. NOTE: Boston Globe 10/25/94. * * * UNDER LOCK & KEY INDIANA CENSORS MIM NOTES State of Indiana Department of Correction Notice and Report of Action taken on correspondence Package is a danger to the safety of an individual(s) or security of the institution. - received from Westville Correctional Center, 9/26/94 TEXAS CENSORS ANTI-RACIST MIM NOTES ARTICLE Publication denial notification MIM Notes 7/94 #90 has been reviewed and denied in accordance with Section 3.9 of the TDCJ-ID Rules and Regulations for the reason(s) checked below: Publication contains material that a reasonable person would construe as written solely for the purpose of communicating information designed to achieve a breakdown of prisons through inmate disruption such as strikes or riots. Page 9 contains material of a racial nature which could lead to prison disruptions if distributed on the units. (Qualifies for clipping. Page 9 [1 page].) - Mail System Coordinators Panel, Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice, 9/12/94 MC49 responds: The material the pigs say is "of a racial nature" is "Captive in Scioto KKKounty," by an Ohio prisoner. This article exposes institutionalized racism in Scioto KKKounty and its Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. GOV. ALLEN'S PROPOSAL IS A CRIME! The Virginia legislature is voting now on a proposal to cement shut all the cracks in its current program of repression on the poor and minority underclass. The governor's proposal eliminates parole for all but a few crimes and requires the construction of 27 new prisons to contain the consequent multiplying of inmates. The result of this billion dollar state enterprise is to keep a mostly Black and Latino, mostly poor or working-class population defined by birthmark as "criminal" locked behind bars for an average of three to seven times as long. In essence, this plan would give the go-ahead to target a class of people already branded as disposable and undesirable for genocidal removal. CLASS POLITICS OF PRISON We believe that this proposal, the politically attractive but humanly devastating "lock-em-up" mentality (as seen on television commercials nationwide under the buzzword of "tough on crime") must be seen in the perspective of a capitalist imperialism in order to be resisted effectively. First of all, prisons are not, and have never been, a means of "reducing crime". Even a recent NRA study showed that, although the U.S. prison population more than doubled from 1980 to 1990, the number of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and assault) stayed relatively constant. The very popularity of the concept of abolishing parole is due to the realization the United States prison system is a failure at its stated purpose of "rehabilitating" errants. The truth is that prison inmates are simply not given opportunities for education or job training, or any means of making a healthy transition back into the outside world. Instead, they are warehoused in overcrowded cells, facing boredom, resentment, and an atmosphere of violence and abuse that guards both create and encourage among inmates. Is it any wonder that some convicts go back and commit crimes again after being released? Prisons do not prevent crime in any way. Neither by rehabilitation or by deterrent factor. The U.S. presently has the highest imprisonment rate of all nations in the first world, as well as the highest crime rate. In order to justify his plan, Gov. Allen is resorting to the weak argument, "well, if you keep criminals locked up, then they're not out on the streets committing more crimes." But prisons do not prevent crime even in this inefficient and illogical way. Most behavior that is branded as "criminal" takes place in poor inner-city neighborhoods and is a direct response to the situations and conditions that these neighborhoods produce. The majority of crimes that are punished with prison terms are non- violent property offenses - theft, vandalism, burglary, and use or sale of drugs - crimes that are obviously motivated by the class situation of the perpetrators. And even the majority of violent crimes are motivated by class conflict, frustration at poverty, inequality, and racism. The violence doesn't come from the poor; what is punished as "crime" is, for the most part, the oppressed people reacting (in one of the only ways available to them) to a systematic program of class warfare by the middle and upper classes. In these neighborhoods, more than one out of four males is in prison; a difficult situation for any community to sustain itself. And under the no- parole program, those numbers will be even higher, further destabilizing communities and lighting the fuses that explode into crimes. The state has a monopoly on legal violence to such a degree that even attempts at self-defence by oppressed peoples are criminalized. One argument that must be refuted in order to get to the roots of injustices in the prison system is that usually invoked by liberal critiques, that the criminal justice system is merely an emotional release, a way for society to enact vengeance on a person who breaks its rules. While it is true that emotional "sob stories" of victims are certainly exploited by the ruling class as an effective way of gaining consent for a tougher-on- crime approach, this viewpoint hides the most repressive functions of prisons. While the governor and attorney general are relying on isolated stories of individual victims to give their genocidal plan a more "human" face and convince people despite all the evidence that prisons are in the best interest of minorities and poor people, the judicial and penal systems are fine-tuning their structural program of racist and classist repression. RACE POLITICS OF PRISON In "A Brief History of the New Afrikan Prison Struggle", political prisoner Sundiata Acoli begins, "The Afrikan prison struggle began on the shores of Afrika behind the walls of medieval pens that held captives for ships bound west into slavery. It continues today behind the walls of modern U.S. penitentiaries where all prisoners are held as legal slaves". To understand the present functioning of prisons in America we must understand their historic role in the suppression of post-slavery New Afrikan autonomy. The first prison in the US was established in Philadelphia in 1790, but as long as Afrikans were held as outright chattel, the prison populations remained white. However, within five years after the end of the civil war the percentage of Black prison inmates went from 0 to 33. Once imprisoned these black men were held in segregation and hired out by the State. In the factories , plantations, chain gangs and workhouses, the role of Afrikan as slave was maintained despite the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. How did this occur? Through the imposition of white law, created and applied in an outrightly racist manner by the architects and engineers of slavery. Acoli writes, "Immediately after the Civil War and at the end of slavery, vast numbers of Black males were imprisoned for everything from not signing slave- like labor contracts with plantation owners to looking the "wrong" way at some White person or for some similar "petty crime". Any "transgression" perceived by Whites to be of a more serious nature was normally dealt with on the spot with a gun or a rope...provided the Black was outnumbered and outarmed". Thus "law and order" and its prisons were used in post-Civil War America to reinstate the social order of slavery and defend that order through a reign of terror. These conditions continue today when 2/3 of Virginia's prisoners are black though only 20% of Virginia is black. Governor Allen pretends that his law will protect "minorities" by locking-up more "minorities" in a state that already exceeds the national average for disproportionate imprisonment of Black people. The cops in their cruisers and helicopters, the racist courts, and the brutal, dehumanizing prisons are part of a centuries old struggle by the white supremacist USA to repress Afrikan autonomy in this land. We must question the authority of white law to lock-up Black people who were never given franchise in this country, whose every struggle toward self-determination has been met with brutal repression. Governor Allen's attempt to end parole must be understood as an intensification of the marginalization and oppression of Black people. THE INDUSTRY OF PRISON & THE PRISON INDUSTRIES Following the logic of all activities in capitalist society, the imprisonment of a socially inscribed criminal class is made a profitable enterprise. With prisons numerous jobs are created in construction the service sector, and management. Thus in the context of "post- industrial" America and its economically decaying settlements. prisons are a perfect growth industry. Prisons provide solutions to two problems facing capitalist organization of society: what to do with the growing and threatening urban underclass and what to do with the towns suffering a lack of industrial employment. Their answer has been to put the underclass in prison and hire the working class to build the new prisons, guard the prisoners and along with middle class professionals, provide various "services" from food to psychiatric therapy. On top of all of this, the ruling class can turn a profit. Thus in rural Florence, Colorado, there is the recent case of citizens lobbying for the placement of a new $200 billion prison complex holding 2,500 people in four different prisons, including a control unit ("Administrative Maximum"). All over the country, with law and order on the march, prisons mean economic opportunity. Of course, this situation also reinforces class and racial stratifications and antagonisms necessary to maintain capitalism. With the increased imprisonment of an urban, Black underclass having been signified as criminal. and the day to day repressive operations of these prisons being carried out typically by white members of a privileged working class, American capitalism reinscribes white solidarity across class lines while fragmenting possibilities for class solidarity.... We oppose the Virginia plan to abolish parole, because we see it as an intensification of the ruling classes war against poor and oppressed people. - by Anarchist Black Cross P.O. Box 77432, Washington, DC 20013 FREE DR. MUTULU SHAKUR! A campaign has been initiated around the case of Dr. Mutulu Shakur, a New Afrikan prisoner of war incarcerated at the US Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. Dr. Shakur, a co-founder of the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America (BAANA) and the Harlem Institute of Acupuncture, led the Lincoln Hospital Detoxification Program, which pioneered the use of acupuncture in the successful treatment of narcotics addiction. He was arrested in California several years ago after an international manhunt conducted by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force, which painted him as the leader of a failed attempt to expropriate funds from an armored car in Nyack, NY by the Revolutionary Armed Task Force. Mutulu had been driven underground by this frame-up, and his family and friends were put under surveillance and harassed as the FBI tried to find out where he was. Dr. Shakur is serving a 60 year sentence, not for any crime he committed, but for his life-long and uncompromising commitment to and leadership of the liberation struggle of his people. He has a long history of solidarity work for African liberation struggles. In particular, he was closely involved with the Zimbabwean liberation struggle against the white settler colonial "Rhodesian" regime. He was invited by ZANU to the Zimbabwean Independence Day celebration in 1980, and participated as an international monitor and observer of Zimbabwe's first free elections to report back to Africans in the U.S. that same year. In 1968, as a member of the Revolutionary Action Movement and activist in the struggle for community control of education in Ocean Hill- Brownsville, a Black community in Brooklyn, NY, Shakur was a co-founder of the Republic of New Afrika, a beginning effort to define the Black struggle inside the U.S. as a national liberation movement to free the land. Later, he was the Coordinator of the National Task Force for COINTELPRO Litigation and Research, a group which investigated and exposed the illegal counter-intelligence program conducted by the FBI and the US government. This program was designed to disrupt and destroy the Black Liberation Movement, the American Indian Movement and other forces for radical social change in the US. The Task Force was instrumental in exposing the extent of the illegal FBI activity and frame-ups in numerous cases of repression around the country through its own independent investigative efforts, beyond what was dribbled out by the government in Freedom of Information and discovery motions and Congressional hearings. In addition to his precedent-setting work with acupuncture as a tool for drug de-toxification, Dr. Shakur worked on a petition brought to the United Nations by the National Conference of Black Lawyers concerning the human rights violations and genocidal conditions suffered by people of African descent in the US. All of these above-ground political activities were targeted for repression. Lincoln Detox, for example, was shut down, and one of the participating doctors killed, and the government introduced methadone maintenance as a way to keep heroin addicts hooked and dependent on their government drug suppliers, instead of allowing them to become drug-free and politically conscious through the acupuncture program. The U.S. conspiracy against Dr. Shakur has intensified since his capture, because he has continued his struggle inside prisons. He has focused on setting up prisoner programs to eliminate the prison-fostered fratricide between African, Latino, Asian, Native and white inmates. He has tried to develop a social, cultural and political understanding among incarcerated Black youth. He is the author of a "Code for the Thug Life," a program to eliminate the random violence that exists within the Black colony in America. As a result, in April he was suddenly and unreasonably transferred from the penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA to Marion, the highest-security prison in the US. There, he is locked down 23 hours a day, and gets 2 hours a week of outdoor recreation. The Bureau of Prisons claims the transfer was for administrative, not disciplinary reasons - in other words, even though he had no infractions, the BOP wanted to isolate him from contact with other prisoners because of the threat of his revolutionary example and practice. The BOP has since told him that he'll be moved again, to the newest and most "secure" (read: repressive) US penitentiary in Florence, Colorado. It's clear that Dr. Mutulu Shakur is being punished for his political beliefs. To support him, write to him: Dr. Mutulu Shakur, #83205-012, USP Marion, PO Box 1000, Marion, IL 62959. Or contact the December 12th Movement International Secretariat, P.O. Box 1283, Lincolntown Station, New York, NY 10037; (212) 234-7788, which is coordinating international contacts on his behalf. You can also write to the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, P.O. Box 19211, Los Angeles, CA 90019, which is taking up his case. - reprinted from People Against Racist Terror (PART)'s Turning the Tide, 9/94. PART can be reached at P.O. Box 1990, Burbank, CA 91507. PRISONERS REFUSE TO BE DIVIDED OR CONQUERED Here's a little input on what's taking place on this location: we went on lockdown 8/31/94, because a pig put his hands on a convict, so the brother ran a set off on the pig. We got off lockdown again on 9/14/94 because a race riot was about to jump off in the cell house I'm in. Well, let me give you a little background on this cell house. D Cell House used to be a regular cell house until 7/92, when we had a major lockdown of the whole prison. But when the major lockdown was over in 6/93, the prison changed. In 1/93, the oppressors started moving all the people in D Cell House who they thought were troublemakers. They moved 95% of the gang leaders and members to this cell house. What they thought was gonna happen was the gang members (People, Bloods, El Rukns, Vice Lords, Latin Kings, Folks, Crips, GDs, BDs and Latin Disciples) were gonna kill each other, but that never did happen. They all became one and started study groups to learn history, law and whatever they could get their hands on. So in 6/93, they started putting Klan and skinhead members in D Cell House, hoping something would jump. But it didn't; everybody got together and kept studying. So on 9/14/94, tension started getting thick, because the oppressors have been labeling dudes as snitches. And then no one was trusting anyone. The people of color stopped trusting people not of color and vice versa. So shit was about to jump. But the Muslim brothers said, "We ain't gonna let this shit jump" over what was nonsense. We (I'm a Muslim myself) knew it was the institution behind the labeling, so we stepped in and took control. But they still have this cell house locked down for nothing. That's where we are at as of now. Please put this in your paper, so people can see how people with power play people without it! - a Californian prisoner in Indiana, 9/22/94 P.S. My mother finally got a subscription to MIM Notes. Long live the struggle. ADMINISTRATIVE "ACCIDENTS" ... Since the "grand opening of the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay in 1988, several stabbings and physical assaults have occurred which resulted from the unit control officers' opening cell doors within the same unit pod of opposing prison and ethnic groups. These are considered "accidents," but all too often, these "accidents" only occur between rival gang members, prison groups and ethnic groups. These so-called accidents can only occur by the deliberate and intentional actions of the control booth officers due to the prisoners involved. On the one hand, the prison administration segregates us under the guise of deterring prison violence on the main lines. Yet on the other hand, the administration creates the violence under controlled conditions. They now determine who is going to attack who and when. Some prisoners are intelligent enough to understand this, and when it's their turn for the doors to open on them, don't play into that cross. These acts are acts the prison administration doesn't report to the masses, yet uses to support the need for greater prison restrictions and legislation behind the scenes. The prison system creates the exact conditions necessary to perpetuate its existence. - by a California prisoner, 7/23/94. Reprinted from the Coalition for Prisoners' Rights (CFPR) Newsletter, 9/94. CFPR can be reached at P.O. Box 1911, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1911 ANOTHER AFRIKAN Another gunshot blast; another last breath Another Black-on-Black crime; another senseless death Another drive-by hit; another bullet strays Another playground becomes a warzone; another innocent child lays Another time to mourn; another Mother must be strong Another funeral procession; another funeral song Another Rock sold; another pipe of crack smoke Another hustle to pay for another toke Another busy corner on another busy night Another Sister sells her body for the five-minute hype Another drug bust; another Benz confiscated Another Black Warrior incarcerated Another Afrikan locked in an eight-foot cell Another Afrikan subjected to amerikkka's caged hell Another Afrikan pushed to the brink Ah, but another Afrikan with lots of time to think Another Afrikan learning to understand The plots and schemes of the master plan Just another pawn in the oppressor's game Another tool for this evil system, white supremacy is its name Another tool used to boost the cracka's ego Another tool used to maintain the status quo Another fool used for the Afrikan Community's annihilation All the while strengthening white supremacy's domination Another Afrikan did hard time But released with a new conscious of mind Another Soul denounces being amerikkkan And embraces the Spirit of being Afrikan Now understands the importance of Afrikan Unity And realizes we must rebuild the Afrikan communities Another Afrikan knows amerikkka: we can't trust Her survival is dependent on criminalizing Us Another Afrikan realizes no matter who the president We must be Free and Independent Another Afrikan takes the vow of Freedom or Death And fights for Afrikan Liberation until the last breath - reprinted from Crossroad 9/94 WHAT NON-PRISONERS CAN DO TO SUPPORT PRISONERS: 1. STRUGGLE WITH, WORK WITH, FINANCE AND JOIN MIM. The best way to support prisoners is to overthrow the system under which capitalists profit from the exploitation of prisoners. History shows that the best way to do this is to build a Marxist- Leninist-Maoist party. The oppressors will not give up their power without a fight. 2. FINANCE MIM'S PRISON WORK. OUR BIGGEST BILL EACH MONTH IS POSTAGE. Most of the prison comrades who read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it. So if you have money, send what you can afford. Every cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us. 3. DISTRIBUTE MIM NOTES AND NOTAS ROJAS. Bring the voices of prisoners and their supporters to as large and wide an audience of people as possible. Contact MIM for bulk rates and distribution tips. 4. START OR JOIN A PRISON SUPPORT GROUP. MIM can provide advice and resources to help you build public opinion for prisoners and their struggles. 5. FIGHT CENSORSHIP, BEATINGS, TORTURE AND OTHER FASCIST OUTRAGES. Under Lock and Key often features the addresses of prisoners' friends and enemies. Work with the friends and let the enemies know you're watching. (Don't expect to win the fascists to the side of humanity, however. See #1 in this list). 6. STAY IN TOUCH. Keep us informed of pro-prisoner work you do. Our readers might find it educational or inspirational. * * * LETTERS TO MIM REVOLUTION IS FRIGHTENING I have the September issue, which I know is a while ago... The first thing that scared me a little about the paper was the title, and the icons. I didn't really understand what it was all about at first, but then I turned the page, and there was the description, which helped a lot. And although my knowledge of history and the communist movement is a little bit shaky, I think I can understand the general points. I agree with many of the general principles of the movement, but still, the newsletter frightened me a great deal. After all, I feel very small in the whole scheme of things. The word "revolution" is one that I am not exactly comfortable with, which I think is easy enough to understand. Of course I feel that there are many things that need to be changed, and I agree that the statistics mentioned in the newsletter are alarming. But to tell the truth, I am not convinced that Socialism or Communism are really the answer to all of this. The biggest problem is that I sometimes fell like there are really no answers. Thank you for the paper. Enclosed is a dollar to pay for it, which I promised -Student in the East MIM Responds: Thank you for the dollar, and thanks for getting back in touch. You are right, revolution is a frightening thing. But it's also wonderful. It means a total change in the way we live our lives. Throwing out the old order and building a new one will mean improvements in the material lives of the majority of the world. And it's the communist-led revolutions that have had the most success Revolution is also frightening (but not so wonderful) to those who have something to lose. In this country, the majority here has much to lose from revolution and the payment of reparations to the Third World and the internal colonies. We need to overcome our fears and struggle to make the best society possible, with the best possible means. Everywhere in capitalist society, people are supposed to feel alienated and powerless. You are feeling the effects of this alienation. We need to struggle against this alienation and the nihilism it produces. Only the people can make revolution, so we need to arm ourselves with revolutionary theory, and struggle as hard as we can to put our ideas into practice. Contact MIM about joining a study group in your area. TURNING ANGER INTO REVOLUTION Dear MIM: Today, October 5, 1994, this flyer caught my eye. I attend a majority white school called X. The statement that "The United States is a free country" has never once been true to me. I'm a black eighteen year old young lady who has grown up in X around mainly black people. And I see how much anger my black brothers have stored up inside themselves. The fact that blacks get much longer jail terms for doing the exact crime a white might commit, that brothers get much longer terms if they commit a crime against a white as opposed to a black and the many other injustices that we as blacks have to deal with, makes me upset and more than that it makes me eager to make a change. I would like to know more about your organization and what I can do to be a part of it. -Student reading MIM posters MIM responds: It sounds like we already have quite a bit of base agreement. Nation is the principle contradiction and your brothers' anger is justified. Bourgeois democracy which has power in Amerika was never intended to extend to its internal colonies. Thus we do not define "political prisoner" in the narrow way that Amnesty International or others do, but rather take into account the presence of internal colonies and recognize prisons as a tool of oppression. We are glad you are ready to channel your anger against the system into abolishing it. The youth are key to creating change because they see through the lie that Amerika is altruistic. Not yet subdued into blind acceptance, they refuse to accept its oppression without challenge. In a sense, they have less to lose because their place in society is in flux. Those who are members of oppressed nations have much to gain by revolution. We can get you in touch with MIM comrades in your area and you can join in the building of public opinion which is the focus of the vanguard's role at this time. Creating study groups of Maoist literature, distributing MIM Notes, arguing line with the masses, bringing speakers to your area: all of these are good practice for revolutionaries. MIM encourages people to struggle with us about our line and join in the creation of it. SPREADING MAOISM IN AMERIKA'S PRISONS Dear MIM, At the present time I am a prisoner in the state of Washington serving a 10 1/2 year sentence for crimes committed against the establishment in 1991. Recently I became aware of your publication "MIM Notes" and was impressed with what I read. Unfortunately, the paper belonged to a fellow convict and before I was able to obtain all the information that I wanted he was moved to another unit, hence my letter to you now. I would greatly appreciate being added to your mailing list so that I may receive your publication. As I said before, I am a prisoner and lack funds to pay you, but would be delighted to submit my thoughts and view points for possible publication. If my contribution in words and thoughts is sufficient payment then so be it. Respectfully submitted, -Washington State prisoner MIM Responds: Thanks for getting in touch. We know that Maoism is being spread throughout Amerika's prisons in just the way you describe - prisoners are passing around information and building revolutionary consciousness. MIM will make sure that you get added to the mailing list. After a few months, it's a good idea to write again and confirm your address because the pigs keep comrades moving around so our list needs to be updated frequently. We strongly encourage you to act on the advice printed on the prison pages for what prisoners can do to help build MIM: start study groups, share materials like your fellow prisoner did, fight the prison's restrictions and keep in touch with those of us on the outside. Writing for MIM Notes is also extremely important. The bourgeois press produces thousands of pages a day spouting the views of the oppressor nation, but there are few places that express the views of the oppressed. Amerika wants the ones it locks up to be silenced because their words disprove the lie of altruistic equality in this "free country." MIM believes the oppressed should be heard, and we act on that conviction by putting their opinions into print. We encourage you to write again and describe both your experiences and your politics to become a part of the discussion that builds public opinion for revolution and creates the correct line. Do not let lack of money keep you from getting involved - you have an important role to play. BOOKS FOR PRISONERS Dear Comrades, Thanks for the information on the Black Panther Party. here's some reading material for our brothers under lock and key. Thanks again. Signed, Comrade in the Southwest [Enclosed: Malcolm X: The FBI Files; Soul on Ice; To Kill a Black Man; Black Power; 100 Amazing Facts about the Negro with Complete Proof; Historic speeches of African Americans; The Autobiography of Malcolm X; The Struggle: A history of the African National Congress; The Wretched of the Earth.] MIM Responds: Yours is a great example for everyone who has appreciated our literature and wants to help spread the word. MIM's books for prisoners program is important but our resources are scant. We urge anyone who has books they can spare to take action to aid Amerika's prisoners in their political development. Don't have any books to send? Send money or stamps. WHITES DON'T LIKE THE SYSTEM In a recent article on Elections (November 1994) you said: "The majority of white Amerikans support or participate in the electoral system." I don't believe this: from what I've heard, read, seen, etc., most citizens do not register to vote. Even fewer actually do vote. I do not remember what the racial breakdown of this was, but I remember that most whites also do not vote. Could you please cite the study or research that you base your statement on? -St. Stephen November 1994 MC12 responds: The critic raises a small point over a general principle, so we should talk a minute to address it. There is a very common perception among Amerikan leftists that the problem with Amerikans is that they don't participate enough, or don't care enough about politics. MIM argues instead that the more they participate the worse it gets. The assumption of much of the Amerikan left is that the political system does not give Amerikans what they want. Either whites just don't know what's good for them (the theory goes) because of media and cultural brainwashing, or they are trying to buck the system but just can't because the rules favor incumbents - or some other excuse. Ideological blinders prevent these people from understanding that the majority of Amerikans benefit from this system - its economy and politics. This is often considered "pessimism," but MIM prefers revolutionary science to feel-good pandering, so we take the truth wherever it leads. For example, MIM also acknowledges that significant numbers of non-whites are also benefiting from this system. We also avoid too many feel-bad days by thinking about the rest of the world, in which the vast majority of people are oppressed by imperialism. Unlike Amerikans, they have demonstrated over and over that they recognize imperialism for the oppressor it is, and are willing to fight to rid the world of its scourge. By the way, in the 1992 presidential election, 104,552,736 voted, according to official results, or 55.9% of the voting-age population. Unless non- whites vote at a much higher rate than whites, there is your majority. In 1988, 67.9% of eligible whites said they were registered. NOTES: World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1994, p. 613-5. 1991 Statistical Abstract of the United States, p. 268. MIM IN SCHOOL? I'm in high school still, hadn't heard but vague statements made about Haiti, and then we've been spending the last few days in history and economics talking and reading about Haiti. In fact, we're having an enrichment today, and I'm expected to be the head of the Aristide supporters ... but, I have a four page essay due on Monday in which I am supposed to speak of the link between politics and economics in Haiti. So far, I see a very clear link, but not one that will fill four pages. So, I need more knowledge ... -Interested student on Internet September 1994 MIM responds: There is indeed a very clear link between politics and economics in Haiti - as there is everywhere! In Haiti, the official political system has largely been the product of U.S. economic interests as enforced at the barrel of Amerikan military weapons. President Aristide posed a threat to that system, so the Amerikans and Haitian military and economic elites got rid of him in a coup. When there was a stink over that, they agreed to put Aristide back under U.S. and U.N. military occupation - to make sure he won't threaten with that system any more. This student wrote in response to an offer of a free collection of MIM Notes articles on Haiti over the Internet. MIM articles may be useful to students even though our politics are suppressed by many teachers; our articles are footnoted, which helps students who use them put forward their best defense. For a free electronic Haiti pamphlet, send e-mail to mim@nyxfer.blythe.org. A copy on paper costs $5. To buy a one-year e-mail subscription to MIM Notes, send $12 to: "MIM Distributors," PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3576. MIM Notes is available to members of the New York Transfer News Collective, an alternative computer news and information system networking activists and organizations all over the world. NYT also offers Internet accounts. For information write to nyt@nyxfer.blythe.org or NYT New Collective, 39 West 14th St. #206, New York NY 10011. SUPPORTS IRAQ My name is X from the All-African People's Revolutionary Party. I want to ask MIM: what is your position on the current Persian Gulf crisis? We want every one to know that we support the Iraqi people including Saddam Hussein in their struggle against American Imperialism. -African revolutionary MC12 responds: Thank you for writing. MIM also supports the Iraqi people, but not their comprador ruling class or Saddam Hussein. The war against Iraq is not over; it remains a central part of the Amerikan war to control labor and resources in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region. For that reason, we think it's appropriate to quote from our article on this question from March 1991. This article followed an article on Revolutionary Defeatism, in which MIM explained our position in favor of Amerika losing the war. MIM's position is that communist-led national liberation struggle and People's War are the best tools for liberation in oppressed nations. Imperialist-style wars against Amerika or other imperialist powers are a dead end don't benefit the oppressed. >From MIM Notes 50: "Marxists should know that the 'Defend Iraq' slogan plays into the hands of the Iraqi bourgeoisie. By so doing, the Marxists also disarm real struggle against U.S. imperialism, because Saddam Hussein cannot mobilize the masses to struggle against imperialism. ... "To avoid opportunism in any war situation, the real Marxist must examine things on a class basis. Iraqi workers and peasants have no interest in dying to protect Saddam Hussein or the rest of the current Iraqi government. "One should scrutinize three concepts in thinking about class analysis and war: "Governments and ruling classes: MIM defends no current governments or ruling classes in the world. "Nations: MIM defends Third World peoples against First World peoples. MIM defends the Iraqi masses against U.S. imperialism. This concept overlaps with the concept below of classes. "Classes: MIM opposes workers or peasants fighting each other. Working masses should only fight for a dictatorship of the proletariat in alliance with peasants. "The Iraqi military is not going to win this conventional war that they are fighting on bourgeois terms against the Amerikan imperialist powers. The only way the Iraqi people can succeed in achieving true liberation is by reorganizing to fight a peoples war." AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BETTER ANARCHISTS by MC49 The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is aware that in North Amerika today, there are a growing number of people who simultaneously uphold anarchism and revolutionary national liberation struggles. Two leaders (gasp!) of this trend are Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin (author of "Anarchism and the Black Revolution") and Cooperative Distribution Services (distributor of works by J. Sakai, E. Tani, K. Sera, Butch Lee, Red Rover and more). The influence of these leaders (gasp! gasp!) can be seen in most of North Amerika's anarchist press, as well as in grassroots organizing being done by anarchism's best in support of the oppressed nations. MIM notes that the bulk of the better anarchists' work centers around North Amerika: splitting the white nation and supporting the struggles of the Black, Latino and First Nations. Supporting the EZLN in Mexico is also clearly high on the better anarchists' agenda. MIM says good things are good, but we want what's best. To truly support national liberation (or for that matter, to truly uphold a universal ideology like anarchism or Maoism) is to be an internationalist. To be an internationalist, you have to broaden your horizons to include the whole globe, not just half a hemisphere. Once you look at the whole globe, the first thing you'll see is China. One fifth of the world's people live there. It's history is something any supporter of national liberation has to take seriously. If you can't go beyond one-liners copped from the imperialist media and the Beatles, then you shouldn't speak at all. But since you've already decided to engage in progressive politics, why not go all the way? The first thing a good anarchist will notice when they study China is that anarchism has been an utter failure there. Check it out: read "Anarchism in the Chinese Political Culture/Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution" on pp. 228-233 of the April 1994 issue of the Journal of Contemporary Asia, then get back to us. Some other things you'll see when you study China: # Life-spans doubled under Mao, thanks to innovations in health care, education and production. Who controls the state is a life-or death matter which anarchists ignore while they idly *wish* the state would disappear. # Mao had mass support and remains popular among the Chinese people (though not necessarily among Chinese immigrants to the U.S.) today. Perhaps anti-Maoist anarchists think these millions of people were all stupid for rejecting anarchism in favor of Maoism? MIM says anarchists could learn a thing or two from these masses. # The current regime in China is not Maoist, communist or socialist. Deng Xiaoping was the number two target of the Cultural Revolution. The current regime is socialist in words, fascist in deeds. # The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, led by Mao Zedong, was centered around a concern prevalent among anarchists. Anarchists are fond of saying that "power corrupts." MIM disagrees that this is always so, and points to Mao as an example of someone who seized power and used it to serve the people. But it is true that the seizure of state power by revolutionary communists does create the material basis for the rise of a new bourgeoisie within the ruling communist party. Mao's greatest contribution was his recognition of, exposure of, and battle against this new capitalist class. This battle was the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which kept the new bourgeoisie at bay from 1966 until Mao's death in 1976. MIM recognizes this as the highest advance of communism in human history. So hit the books, anarchists! MIM sells numerous books on China. Once you start studying China, it should be only a matter of time before you choose either outright anti-communist reaction or Maoism. Some have already made their choice and abandoned anarchist idealism for Maoist materialism. We expect to see some more of you soon. CORRECTIONS In MIM Notes 94, November 1994, MIM incorrectly reported that over 20 people were arrested at a demonstration outside the FERMI II nuclear power plant. The correct number is 16. In the review of her work in MIM Notes 92, September 1994, MIM misspelled ani difranco's name. -- ## ## ### ## ## MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT # # # # # # # P.O. BOX 3576 ANN ARBOR MI 48106 # # ### # # ---- mim@nyxfer.blythe.org -----