WORKERS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE! Special Issue for March 27 Demonstrations
Volume 12, Number 3
VOICE OF THE MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY OF THE USA
March 27, 1982
U.S. Imperialism, Get Out of El Salvador!
Celebrate May 1st, International Workers' Day!
MAY DAY DEMONSTRATIONS AND MEETINGS
Self-Determination for the Salvadorian People!
The 'Political Solution' Is Aimed at Propping Up the U.S.-Backed Junta
Never forget the crimes of the Democratic Party against the Latin American people
U.S. Imperialism, Hands Off Nicaragua!
Guatemalan people are rising up against the U.S.-backed generals
On the fraudulent 'nuclear freeze' and negotiations between the superpowers
To Fight Nuclear Weapons, Fight Imperialism!
Workers and all progressive people! Today the heroic liberation struggle of the people of El Salvador is triumphantly marching forward! Every day the revolutionary fighters score new victories against the fascist regime of the murderous generals. They have taken control over large sections of the countryside and demonstrated their ability to strike even in the heart of,the capital city.
This powerful struggle has greatly shaken the Salvadorian regime. This is also a big debacle for the U.S. government. Washington has armed the regime to the teeth with hundreds of millions of dollars of guns, bullets, helicopters and other military supplies. The Pentagon trains the Salvadorian troops and has even supplied the generals with at least 50 Green Beret "advisors." But in spite of this massive support from U.S. imperialism, the regime has been unable to stop the forward march of the liberation struggle.
Therefore, today the Reagan administration is drawing up new and more fiendish schemes to prop up the hated military dictatorship. War dogs Reagan and Haig have repeatedly declared that the U.S. government will do "whatever is necessary" to prevent the overthrow of its puppet regime in El Salvador. This can only mean wider U.S. military intervention. Today there is an increased danger of a Viet Nam-style aggression in Central America, either directly by American troops or through armed forces from other U.S.-backed fascist governments in Latin America.
Workers, youth, all progressive people! Our stand is on the side of the fighting Salvadorian workers and peasants. The U.S. must get out of El Salvador! Step up the mass struggle in solidarity with the Salvadorian people!
The Salvadorian People Advance in the Fight Against Fascist Tyranny and Brutal Exploitation
Recent months have seen a new and powerful offensive by the armed revolutionary fighters in El Salvador. In October they blew up the country's largest bridge: In late January they carried out a big attack on the country's main air base outside San Salvador, which crippled the junta's Air Force. They have been successfully carrying out numerous attacks on economic targets and have shown their ability to hit and overrun military positions in many provincial towns. In recent weeks, the military launched several boastful "counteroffensives" but these have all proven to be miserable failures.
The liberation fighters have established strong footholds in most of the country's 14 provinces. In the areas under their control they have established popular administration, including schools, hospitals, explosives factories, etc. Their strength in the face of a massively armed military regime shows the wide support they enjoy from the vast majority of the workers and peasants of El Salvador.
The Salvadorian people are fighting to overthrow a military regime which has only meant merciless exploitation and barbarous repression for many decades. The workers are exploited to the bone at the hands of the Salvadorian capitalists and the U.S. and other multinational corporations, such as Texas Instruments, Kimberly-Clark, etc. Their wages average $4 a day. Meanwhile in the countryside, a tiny handful of big landowners own some 60% of the land while the peasants and rural laborers slave for the rich and live in the most desperate conditions. Such systematic exploitation of the working masses has been enforced through the most savage repression. For over 50 years a fascist military dictatorship has ruled in El Salvador.
The military regime has built up a well-organized machinery of terror against the. masses. In this it has served as a lackey of the U.S. corporations. For decades the U.S. government has supplied the Salvadorian regime with weapons and trained its police and troops. Reagan's policy is not new but the continuation of a longstanding policy of U.S. imperialism, carried out by both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Thus, far from being a Russian and Cuban instigated "plot," the Salvadorian liberation war is a genuinely popular struggle of the working masses. In fact, the real "instigators" of the war are the Salvadorian oligarchy, their generals and the U.S. imperialists.
The March 28 "Elections" Are U.S. Imperialism's Latest Effort to Give a "Democratic" Facelift to the Bloodstained Junta
The U.S. government justifies its backing of the Salvadorian regime under the pretext that it is supposedly a "democratic" government which is interested in carrying out "reforms" but is threatened from the "extreme Right and Left." This is a monstrous hoax. The Salvadorian military junta has Jose Napoleon Duarte as its president, but the presence of a civilian figurehead does not change the fact that it is the generals who hold the power. In fact, the government itself is the "extreme Right" which has long been brutalizing the people. The fascist assassins who drag out people and slaughter them at will are none other then the government's troops, in or out of uniform. In the last year alone, the regime murdered over 16,000 people including old people and young children.
Despite this barbaric record, the Reagan administration recently certified to Congress that the regime is "making progress in human rights"! In this regard Reagan points to the March 28 "elections" as the biggest proof of the regime's commitment to democracy. But these "elections" are a complete fraud, designed by U.S. imperialism for the sole aim of giving the generals another "human rights" and "democratic" coat of paint. The Salvadorian liberation forces have denounced these "elections," pointing out that there can be no prospect of fair elections in a country ruled by assassins and torturers. Anyone who speaks out against the regime is automatically put on a hit list by the fascists. In these conditions, for the liberation forces to take part in the "elections" would be to sign their own death warrants.
Not surprisingly it is only the fascist and reactionary parties which are running in the "elections." Besides Duarte's Christian- Democrats, another leading party is the Nationalist Republican Alliance of ex-Major D'Aubuisson, the notorious commander of the fascist death squads. This party openly threatens an even wider bloodbath, proclaiming, among other things, that "napalm is indispensable." Thus, the March 28 "elections" will only determine whether the military regime continues with a "reformist" face through the Christian-Democrats or the naked face of the avowed Hitler-type butchers. Either way, the military will remain firmly in power. The people can expect no solutions to any of their needs out of this farce.
U.S. Imperialism Is Determined to Drown the Revolution in Blood
The Reagan administration seeks to use the "elections" farce to bolster the legitimacy of the Salvadorian regime as "democratic." This would be a green light for even wider intervention in support of the generals. Thus, Reagan's ambassador to El Salvador, Deane Hinton, declared recently: "We respect the democratic process...no matter who wins these elections, I will do my damndest to work with them to develop areas of common interests for the good of this country and in the national interests of the United States."
Already Reagan has reaffirmed his military commitments to the regime. Since last October, $80 million in aid has already gone there. Over the next 18 months as much as $800 million is reportedly being considered. The Salvadorian army is, however, demoralized and cannot absorb such huge sums of military material. Thus they need other troops to do the job. This is why Reagan and Haig refuse to "rule out the option" of sending more U.S. troops. In addition an inter- American force is reportedly being set up by the CIA in Honduras with troops drawn from U.S.-backed reactionary regimes like Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. This is meant for use against both Nicaragua and the Salvadorian people. These plans bring to mind the fact that the U.S. invaded Viet Nam in the 1960's not just with American troops but also forces from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, etc.
Step Up the Mass Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism
Workers and all progressive people! Fight Reagan's aggression in El Salvador! Support the valiant revolutionary struggle of the Salvadorian people. Spread the news of the victories of their fight. Stand firm with the Salvadorian revolution and its goal of smashing the U.S.-backed oligarchy and the generals.
Direct the demonstrations and protests squarely against imperialism! Washington's stand towards El Salvador is naked imperialism. It speaks of defending its "backyard," its "strategic interests," its "American values," etc. On this basis it recognizes only its unbridled "right" to ride roughshod over the Salvadorian people.
Organize against the Republican and Democratic Parties, which are equally champions of aggression and militarism! U.S. intervention in El Salvador is a bipartisan policy of the billionaires. Organize the masses as an independent force separate from and opposed to the imperialist parties.
U.S. imperialism, get out of El Salvador!
[Photo: VICTORY TO THE SALVADORIAN PEOPLE!]
Workers! Youth! Activists in the fight against militarism and U.S. aggression! The struggle against U.S. aggression in El Salvador raises once again the issue of what is the revolutionary force in the U.S. This force is the revolutionary movement centered on the working class. It is only the vigorous development of the independent movement of the working class, independent of the capitalists and their imperialist parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, that can provide the strength for the victory of the anti-imperialist struggle.
Hence it is natural that all eyes turn towards May Day, the international festival of the class conscious workers. May 1st is the day when all over the world the workers raise high the banner of struggle against the exploiters and the imperialist slave drivers. May 1st is the day that the working class all over the world takes stock of itself, measures its forces and rededicates itself to organize itself for the achievement of the socialist revolution.
May Day 1982 comes at a time when there can be no complacency. Reagan is beating the war drums ever louder. The capitalists are on an orgy of wage cutting, layoffs, speedups, and slashing of the most meager social benefits. Reagan is leading the capitalist wolves in escalating racial discrimination and rabid reaction of the worst sort. On this May Day, the Marxist-Leninist Party calls on the workers and progressive people to go all out against Reaganite reaction. It is time to step up the struggle against the ruthless capitalist offensive of hunger, fascism and war.
May Day 1982 comes at a time when everyone is asking: how can the fight against Reaganite reaction be carried forward? The Democratic Party and its flunkeys are flaunting themselves as the "opposition" to Reagan. On one hand they "honeymoon" with Reagan in Congress, lavish affection on the Pentagon, and join with Reagan in "reindustrializing" America with job-eliminating productivity drives, huge tax breaks for the rich, and so forth, yet they tell the masses to vote Democratic in the elections in November as the alleged answer to all life's evils.
May Day is the day of class struggle. This year the slogan of "Build the independent movement of the working class" bears extra importance as the answer to the lying phrasemongering of the concealed Reaganites of the Democratic Party. May Day is a day to curse the Democrats as well as the Republicans and to brand the treachery of the social-democrats and trade union misleaders who do their best to paint the Democratic Party in progressive or even "socialist" colors. It is a day to brand the treachery of the revisionist and trotskyite liquidators who seek to give a "Marxist" color to liquidating the independent class organization of the proletariat by merging with the trade union bureaucrats and Democratic Party liberals. On May Day the workers reply: No progress without class struggle! No collaboration with the capitalists and their political stooges! Fight against the Democratic Party and the trade union bureaucrats as well as the Republicans in order to build the real class solidarity of the proletariat!
May Day is the day of socialism. The fight against the capitalist offensive of hunger, fascism and war is not a never-ending frustration, without perspective, but has a definite goal: socialism. Today Albania is the only genuinely socialist country in the world. The triumphant march of socialism in Albania shows that there is an alternative to the capitalist hell of inflation, exploitation, racism and militarism. There is a system where the working class rules and the people prosper.
On May Day, the workers resolve to join closer together in bonds of class solidarity and proletarian organization. The proletarian political party is the highest form of class organization. It is the indispensable guiding center for the revolution. Let all activists and workers rally around the Marxist-Leninist Party, the party of revolutionary struggle and socialism.
This May Day the Marxist-Leninist Party is again sponsoring a series of demonstrations and rallies to celebrate international workers' day. Let all workers, anti-imperialist activists and progressive people celebrate May Day, the day of international workers' solidarity.
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CHICAGO
Demonstration
Saturday, May 1 12:30 pm
Assemble at Bessemer Park South Chicago and 91st
Meeting
Saturday, May 1 Location to be announced
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
Meeting
Saturday, May 1 7:00 pm
Marxist-Leninist Books and Periodicals 3232 Grove St., Oakland
SEATTLE
Meeting
Saturday, May 1 7:00 pm
Garden Clubs' Hall 2336 15th S. (Beacon Hill)
NEW YORK CITY
Demonstration
Sunday, May 2 12 noon
Assemble at 191st St. and St. Nicholas Avenue
Meeting
Sunday, May 2 3:00 pm Columbia University, Room 214,
Ferris Booth Hall
116th St. and Broadway
(IRT #1 to 116th and Broadway)
Today a number of Democratic Party politicians are calling on the U.S. government to work out a "political solution" in El Salvador. Many of them are boosting a proposal from Mexican President Lopez Portillo. These calls are being trumpeted as being in opposition to Reagan's aggressive policy. Naturally the question arises, what attitude should the mass movement against U.S. intervention take towards this "political solution"?
The Marxist-Leninist Party of the USA holds that the movement should reject these schemes. All these proposals uphold the right of U.S. imperialism to continue its domination and interference in El Salvador. But the mass movement here in the U.S. has all along demanded that the U.S. must get out of El Salvador. The American workers and progressive people must stand firm on this -- the U.S. government has no right whatsoever to impose any kind of "solution" on the Salvadorian people. This is the only way to give real meaning to upholding the principle of self-determination for the Salvadorian people.
The Democratic Party liberals' call for a "political solution" is merely a maneuver to rescue the U.S. government from the crisis that Reagan's policy has landed it in. They reason that since Reagan has failed to crush the revolution something else must be done about it. Moreover, Reagan's policies have also led to the growth of mass opposition here in the U.S. Reagan's lies have created a big credibility crisis for the government. The mass movement which has emerged against U.S. intervention in El Salvador has added to the growing ferment of recent years against the draft, the nuclear program and other war preparations. The Democrats are haunted by the specter of a militant mass movement emerging, as happened in the 1960's.
A "Political Solution" to Preserve the Military Dictatorship
There are several variations of the proposal for a "political solution" coming from the Democrats.
A section of the top Democratic leaders in Congress continues to insist that the March 28 "elections" are the "political solution" that is required. Thus Tip O'Neill firmly backs Reagan's support for the Duarte regime. This is also the position of the AFL- CIO bureaucrats.
Indeed, the March 28 "elections" were always meant to be a linchpin of the Carter- Reagan policy to suppress the Salvadorian revolution. This was the trump card to give legitimacy to the regime as "democratic." But no section of the opposition is taking part in this farce nor are the masses being convinced that, contrary to their daily experience, the regime is really "moderate." Other Democrats think that the "elections" are not enough to save the junta so they are calling for a "negotiated political solution." By this they do not mean negotiations to handle the withdrawal of U.S. forces from El Salvador. No, the aim of the Democrats' "negotiated solution" is to save the junta from being defeated by the revolution. Democratic Congressman Stephan Solarz, a big champion of this maneuver, put this forward quite clearly in a recent statement: "We have an interest in a negotiated settlement because in a prolonged military conflict, the junta is more likely to crack than the guerrillas."
Clearly then, the aim of the "negotiated solution" is the preservation of the junta. Although no details have been spelled out, the general plan is to give the opposition a share in the government while keeping the military dictatorship virtually intact. This is not much different than what Carter tried in October 1979 after the removal of General Romero. A junta was set up in which certain civilians were allowed from the Christian- Democratic, social-democratic and revisionist parties. There were a lot of declarations about "reforms" but nothing really had changed. The repression continued and every "reform" turned out to be a fraud. Within a few months, all the civilians in the junta had resigned except for Duarte who continued to be a loyal front man for the military.
Hence the Democrats' proposal for a "negotiated political solution" means the preservation of the status quo. At best it may postpone the inevitable clash between the revolution and the reaction. At worst, it raises the danger of disarming and massacring the liberation fighters. The example of the treacherous murder of Nicaragua's anti-imperialist fighter Sandino in 1934 by General Somoza after he had signed a peace agreement is a pertinent example of the dangers of such a trap.
Lopez Portillo Is No Friend of the Salvadorian People
Many Democrats are boosting Mexican President Lopez Portillo's plan for a "negotiated solution" in El Salvador. A look at Portillo's role is useful then to see what he and the Democrats have in mind for the Salvadorian people.
Portillo is a good friend of Reagan but he also tries to pose as a big supporter of the Salvadorian liberation forces. He has offered Washington his services to act as a mediator to negotiate a settlement in El Salvador. This is a treacherous proposal. It seeks to save U.S. imperialism in El Salvador and is a stab in the back of the Salvadorian revolution.
Indeed Portillo has openly declared that his proposal is a "last chance" for the U.S. to save its interests. These interests are of course well-known -- the preservation of exploitation by the U.S. corporations and maintenance of a regime that will defend U.S. domination. Portillo knows this from firsthand experience since Mexico is also exploited by the U.S. imperialists although the form differs from the so-called "banana republics" of Central America. Portillo's regime is a bourgeois-landord government which has only meant extreme poverty and repression for the Mexican people. Only last month, the Mexican government announced the creation of a 4,000-man "quick-strike force" to crush any popular movement that may break out. Meanwhile this great "friend" of the Central American people uses his troops to prevent Guatemalan refugees from seeking shelter in Mexico and forcibly deports many of them back to the. hands of the gorillas of the Guatemalan regime.
Portillo's proposals are being boosted from many other quarters internationally who claim to be supporters of the Salvadorian revolution. This includes Soviet revisionist chieftain Brezhnev and Fidel Castro of Cuba who long ago betrayed the Cuban revolution and turned Cuba into a neo-colony of Soviet social-imperialism. It also includes' bigwigs of the social-democratic Socialist International like French President Mitterrand. The support of these forces for Lopez Portillo's treacherous proposals shows once again that social-democracy and revisionism are no friends of the revolution.
No! To the Democrats' "Political Solution"! Victory to the Salvadorian Revolution!
All these forces are bringing down a great deal of pressure on the liberation forces in El Salvador. If they succeed in imposing the U.S.-dictated "political solution" in El Salvador, it would mean a setback for the struggle. No solution which preserves the power of the U.S.-backed oligarchy and the military can bring either an end to the repression or any improvement in the lives of the poor and exploited toilers. But it will not mean the end of the revolution. The Salvadorian revolution has gone through many twists and turns and overcome many obstacles. It is bound to triumph!
The solidarity movement with the people's revolution in El Salvador can only support an outcome that will fulfill the aspirations for which so many have fought and died. Therefore we should reject the Democrats' "political solution" and continue to fight for the demand that U.S. imperialism get out of El Salvador, lock, stock and barrel!
[Photo: A section of the mass picket which surrounded the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco where Salvadorian President Duarte was attending a banquet, September 27, 1981. The Democrats' "political solution" seeks to save the Duarte regime from being defeated by the revolution.]
Today Ronald Reagan who occupies the White House is the standard-bearer of U.S. imperialism's "Big Stick" policy in Latin America. The Republican Party is of course notorious for such a stand, as shown by Nixon's instigation of the coup in Chile in 1973 which put the butcher Pinochet in power. But Reagan and the Republicans' policy is not simply an expression of their particular jingoism but is the policy of the capitalist ruling class. This policy is common to the Democrats as well as the Republicans. This is important to note today when certain Democratic Party politicians are trying to pose as big "opponents" of Reagan's policy in Central America. Just a brief glance at recent history is enough to show the Democrats' sordid record against the working people of Latin America.
The Democrats ran the federal government from 1961-1968 under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. During his presidential campaign, Kennedy earned notoriety as a warmonger when he tried to outdo Richard Nixon in crude jingoism. He called for arming to the teeth to fill a so-called "missile gap" that was completely concocted, and he blustered fiercely against the revolutionary struggle of the Cuban people who had just overthrown the hated U.S.-backed tyrant, Batista. In 1961 Kennedy launched the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba which was a big defeat for Washington. Kennedy continued to hatch up one plot after another to try to strangle the Cuban people.
Kennedy also beefed up the U.S. "counterinsurgency" program for crushing the people's liberation struggles worldwide. In November 1963 he boasted that in his three years in office he had "increased by 600% the number of our counterinsurgency forces." This program not only included training of U.S. forces but also the training of many assassins and torturers from brutal dictatorships throughout the world. This is why the training center at Fort Bragg, N.C., where many of the Salvadorian junta's troops are being trained today, bears the name "JFK Center for Military Assistance."
Johnson faithfully carried forward Kennedy's counter-revolutionary policies. In April 1965, some 23,000 American troops were sent to invade the Dominican Republic to crush a popular uprising there. Johnson also dispatched scores of U.S. "counterinsurgency" experts to help reactionary regimes in Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, etc., against revolutionary movements.
Of course, Kennedy's and Johnson's aggressive acts were not limited to Latin America. Among other things, they are also well known for massively stepping up the aggressive war in Viet Nam.
In the 1970's when the Democrats returned to power with Jimmy Carter, Washington's policy towards Latin America remained essentially the same although it was covered over with much rhetoric about "human rights" and "democratization." To deceive the masses in the U.S. and abroad Carter pretended to be oh-so concerned about "human rights violations," but support for the fascist dictators continued unabated. Thus when revolutions broke out in Iran and Nicaragua, Carter stood by the hated tyrants, the Shah and Somoza, to the very end.
Carter's "human rights" fraud also included trying to give many fascist regimes a pseudo-democratic facelift in order to cool down the popular opposition. Thus in El Salvador in 1979, in the face of a big mass upsurge, Carter organized the coup d'etat which removed the Romero regime and replaced it with a military junta with certain civilians as front men, of whom only the loyal U.S. lackey Duarte remains in the junta today. The governments such as this one which carried out the fraudulent "democratization" were rewarded with stepped-up U.S. aid. Meanwhile, Carter imposed a few restrictions on military aid to regimes like Guatemala which did not carry out "human rights" facelifts. But this was only for show as military and "economic" aid continued to these regimes both directly from the U.S. as well as from U.S. allies like Israel, Argentina, etc.
Thus Reagan's support for the Duarte regime is merely a continuation of the Democrat Carter's policies. The policies of the Democrats and Republicans are the same in essence. For example, last year some liberals like Kennedy and Dodd claimed to be "opposed" to Reagan. But when Reagan's aid requests came up in Congress, they voted to continue aid to the junta while for purposes of show they attached an empty requirement that Reagan certify twice a year that "reforms" were being carried out in El Salvador. Of course, the professional liar, Reagan has obliged. After the mountains of lies we have seen from Reagan, could anyone have expected anything else?
Such is the nature of the Democrats' "opposition" to Reagan's aggression in Central America. What it shows is that the Democratic Party remains, as always, an imperialist party just like the Republicans. The workers and progressive people can have no faith in the smooth-talking liars of the Democratic Party.
On March 10, the Washington Post reported that Reagan has authorized $19 million for a 500-man CIA-directed paramilitary force to launch operations against Nicaragua. Along with another complementary force of 1,000 CIA mercenaries being recruited throughout Latin America, this paramilitary force is being stationed along the Nicaragua-Honduras border to carry out raids to destroy bridges, dams, power stations and other critical targets inside Nicaragua. Nicaragua reports that these raids have already begun. Combined with this, it was reported that Reagan has authorized the CIA to funnel millions of dollars to the "moderate opposition'' of businessmen and reactionaries within Nicaragua to carry out economic and other sabotage.
Meanwhile in camps in Florida, California and Honduras the U.S. government continues to assist in the arming and training of 3,000-4,000 ex-members of the Nicaraguan National Guard, the bloodstained gendarmes of the late U.S.-backed dictator Somoza. And to make the picture complete, the Pentagon has been conducting military exercises and is setting up an Air Force base in neighboring Honduras, while NATO forces are carrying out the unprecedented "Safe Passage 82" naval maneuvers in the western Caribbean.
In short, the Reagan regime is attempting to strangle Nicaragua. Through economic disruption, military raids, and the open threat of a full-scale U.S. invasion Reagan wants to bring the Nicaraguan people to their knees. He wants to stamp out the fires of struggle for freedom from the U.S. imperialist yoke which are spreading throughout Central America. Reagan is striving for a repeat of the CIA-engineered coup d'etat in Chile which in 1973 overthrew Allende and brought down fascist terror on the Chilean people. With similar means, he wants to topple the Sandinistas and to restore the "paradise" that the U.S. imperialist corporations enjoyed during the 43 years of the cruel tyranny of the Somoza dynasty (1936-79), and before that the some 20 years of occupation by the U.S. Marines (1912-25, 1926-33.).
In the double-speak language of the Reaganites, Nicaragua, a poor and devastated country of 2.5 million people, is "dangerous," "aggressive," and "expansionist." So to eliminate this "danger," Reagan and Haig are dispatching CIA mercenaries and gunboats to overthrow Nicaragua's legitimate government and to restore the iron jackboot of a U.S.-backed dictatorship. This is the gangster logic of imperialism, aggression, and expansion.
Reagan's big stick will be met by the just resistance of the people. From the valiant resistance to the U.S. Marines in the days of the liberation fighter Sandino, to the revolution which smashed the ferocious Somoza dictatorship, the Nicaraguan people have demonstrated their heroic determination to fight with arms in hand for their liberation and freedom.
The American workers and progressive people must raise their voice against the imperialist adventures being launched against Nicaragua. We must not allow Reagan a free hand in his plans to strangle Nicaragua, to unleash his CIA mercenaries and other forces of aggression. The Nicaraguan people have already suffered far too much at the bloodstained hands of Yankee imperialism..Nicaragua must be allowed to settle its own affairs; it must be free of the U.S. imperialist dictate. Our fighting demand must be: U.S. imperialism, hands off Nicaragua!
[Photo: Nicaraguan masses denounce U.S. imperialism at a demonstration against the capitalist newspaper La Prensa for encouraging economic sabotage against the revolution.]
A storm of popular revolution is shaking Central America. The infectious desire to live free of fascist dictators and the Yankee imperialist yoke is spreading irresistibly among the poverty-stricken workers and peasants. This desire has gripped the peoples of Nicaragua and El Salvador, and it has gripped the people of Guatemala who are rising up arms in hand against a most ruthless and bloodthirsty military dictatorship.
Guatemala is a land of misery and starvation. The peasants are cruelly exploited on the coffee, cotton and banana plantations. The workers earn $3-4 a day in the factories, while 30% of the work force is jobless. Half of the children die before the age of five. For the majority of those who survive, there is no education or health care. And the indigenous Indian peoples, who make up over half of the Guatemalans, are savagely persecuted by the regime.
But for the U.S. imperialist corporations and for a tiny oligarchy of landlords and capitalists, Guatemala is a land where high profits are to be made off the super-exploitation of its people and the rape and plunder of its rich natural resources. A handful of big landholders own 70% of the land. U.S. corporations have invested $266 million in their Guatemalan operations. These include plantations, assembly plants, mines, and drilling ventures in Guatemala's potentially vast oil reserves.
To protect their super-profits the U.S. imperialists have backed to the hilt a military regime that is second to none in its savagery against the people. The government of General Lucas Garcia follows a policy of ruthless massacres against the popular struggles of the workers and peasants.
Any political opposition, even that of other reactionary parties, is met with systematic murder and terror. The armed forces and their allied civilian death squads murdered 13,500 people in 1981 alone. (See The New York Times, March 3, 1982)
Without the full backing of U.S. imperialism this clique of barbarous generals would be swept away in an instant. Indeed this inhuman regime of assassins was set up by the U.S. government. In 1954 the CIA engineered a coup d'etat that overthrew the government of Jacobo Arbenz which had taken steps to nationalize some of the holdings of the United Fruit Co. The military colonels and generals have held absolute power ever since, enjoying the lavish support of the State Department and the Pentagon.
As part of his imperialist "human rights" fraud, Carter suspended arms shipments to Guatemala in 1977 in order to disguise the bloodstained hand of the U.S. government in the atrocities of the military dictatorship. Ever since, alleged "commercial" shipments of helicopters, trucks and other equipment have been pouring in from the U.S. to be used in the generals' war against the people. At the same time, the Israeli Zionists and other U.S. imperialist lackeys have been shipping in thousands of tons of weapons and are actively training the storm troopers of the Guatemalan military.
But much more is needed to bolster the armed forces which are being pounded by the liberation fighters. It is reported that plans are afoot to double the size of the Guatemalan army. Meanwhile Reagan is chomping at the bit to renew,direct U.S. shipments of napalm and helicopter gunships for the regime's war of extermination against the insurgent people. With this aim, the Reagan administration hoped to use the "elections" farce that was, staged on March 7 as an excuse to give the military dictatorship a "human rights" bill of health and so pave the way to direct Pentagon arms shipments.
But far from the display of "democracy" that the White House advertised, these "elections" were nothing but a repeat of the cynical ritual where one fascist military strongman is replaced by another. In these elections all four candidates were of the extreme right wing and all of them campaigned on a platform of a war to the finish against the revolutionary movement. By law all eligible voters were required to vote for one or the other of these hangmen or face prison sentences and fines. (It should be noted that after the overthrow of Arbenz, the colonels disenfranchised the "illiterate masses," the 70% of the population that was illiterate or spoke the Indian languages, etc.) The revolutionary forces called for a boycott of this farce and fully 55% of the eligible voters defied the law and refused to vote. Even then, General Guevara, the military's candidate, resorted to massive vote fraud in order to win 35% of the votes cast, enough to ensure the orderly succession of military generals.
No amount of Reagan's napalm and bullets can rescue this savage dictatorship. The popular revolution is erupting like a volcano. For over two decades the people have persisted in armed struggle against the regime. Presently the armed workers and peasants are striking heavy blows against the armed forces and against economic and other targets. The liberation fighters have broad support among the Indian peoples and all the downtrodden masses of Guatemala. The workers and peasants are sending off their sons and daughters to fight with the guerrillas. Despite the genocidal counter-offensives that the armed forces are directing against the local populations, the guerrillas are hitting the enemy with ever greater force and with ever more powerful support from the people.
Today the revolutionary movement of the Guatemalan people is shaking the regime of U.S.-backed generals. This just and mighty struggle for liberation is bound to win.
[Photo: The Guatemalan people have bravely risen up arms in hand in the face of the tyranny of the fascist military dictatorship. Picture shows revolutionary fighters, including Indian women.]
A powerful movement is developing all across the U.S. against militarism and imperialist war preparations. The workers, youth, and all progressive people are outraged at the cancerous growth of the military budget, at the new military adventures in the making, at the reinstitution of registration for the draft, and so forth.
One of the manifestations of this outrage is that over a million people have recently voted for resolutions that they believed to be against war preparations and unbridled militarism. These resolutions have been carried by big margins in a number of cities and towns. This shows the growing indignation of the people. It is another indication that there is a fertile field for anti-militarist agitation in the U.S. and ample opportunity for work against imperialist war preparations.
The Fraud of the "Nuclear Freeze"
However, these referendums in themselves are a big fraud being put over on the masses. The people think that they are voting against war preparations. But, in fact, these referendums and petitions have consisted, at best, of pious wishes that the capitalist warmongers reform themselves. They are designed to stifle the growing mass movement and divert it into forms harmless to the warmongers. This year, these referendums are mainly based on the proposal for a "nuclear freeze." The "nuclear freeze" referendum and petitions consist simply of the polite suggestion that a message be sent to Reagan humbly requesting the good man to negotiate with Brezhnev a "nuclear freeze."
Thus, the "nuclear freeze" campaign is simply a rehash of the numerous schemes for negotiations between the imperialist superpowers. Such SALT negotiations and disarmament schemes have come in great numbers from the Nixons, Carters, Reagans and Brezhnevs as they step up their feverish production of armaments.
Indeed, for years the superpowers have engaged in SALT talks. What has been the result? The more the superpower warmongers talk of "arms limitations," the more they arm. Today both Reagan and Brezhnev themselves are already using the pretext of new disarmament proposals to justify their frenzied arming. Reagan says: in order to be able to negotiate disarmament, we must arm and arm again to have something to negotiate with. Brezhnev says: we propose disarmament, but if you don't agree, then we have our excuse to arm and arm again. This is "imperialist pacifism" at work. Each side talks peace to the gallery, while arming to the teeth for new wars of aggression.
The "nuclear freeze" is being promoted as the only "realistic" plan because it is based on "mutual disarmament." Thus, according to the proponents of "nuclear freeze," the Pentagon should go right on arming to the teeth unless both sides agree on the "nuclear freeze." What difference is there between this proposal and the present excuses of the Reaganite warmongers for their skyrocketing military budgets? None at all. The disgusting truth is that the "nuclear freeze" idea is based on accepting the existence of the present bloated nuclear arsenals, to say nothing of the rest of the imperialist war machines, and even of strengthening them on the pretext of "realism."
The proponents of the "nuclear freeze" present the arms race as if Reagan and Brezhnev were reasonable gentlemen who have merely made a few mistaken calculations. But the massive military budgets are not a simple "mistake." They are based on the policy of U.S. imperialism of preserving the profits of the multinational corporations around the world. They are based on U.S. imperialism's defense of its world empire, of its domination over other countries and peoples. Without fighting against this imperialist system, all talk of fighting war preparations is a fraud.
The present-day Soviet Union is also a world aggressor. It is not socialist or peace- loving, but imperialist and aggressive. Here in the U.S., our job is to fight, first and foremost, against "our own" warmongers, "our own" exploiters and Reaganites. But that does not mean spreading illusions about the Soviet social-imperialists.
All the talk of "nuclear freeze" and "mutual disarmament" is a hoax because the struggle against war preparations must not be based on the alleged goodwill of the superpowers or the other imperialist militarists, but on struggle against them. It must not be based on guaranteeing them their imperialist spheres of influence and stabilizing their world empires, but on supporting liberation and freedom. We must not respectfully request in humble tones, bowing our heads to the ground, that Reagan and Brezhnev take pity on the people and get together to decide the fate of the world. On the contrary, we must denounce the pretensions to world domination of the imperialists. We must not ally with the generals, the warmongering politicians and the Reagans and Brezhnevs, but with the masses of the workers and oppressed, both in the U.S. and abroad, in order to organize to overthrow imperialism. We must address ourselves to the activists, the working people and the progressive masses in the U.S. And we must address ourselves to the heroic fighters in El Salvador' and Guatemala, to the millions of outraged workers in Europe, and to the liberation fighters all around the world.
"Nuclear Freeze" Is the Sugarcoated Poison of the "Left Wing" of the Democratic Party
The "nuclear freeze" is a bipartisan plan advocated by a section of the generals themselves. But among its advocates, the "left wing" of the Democratic Party has been assigned a special role. Their job is to campaign among the anti-militarist masses for the "nuclear freeze." To sugarcoat this poison, they are telling outrageous lies. They are saying that the money saved by having a "nuclear freeze" will go to provide jobs, employment, and social benefits for the American people.
But this is a cynical lie. According to the generals and the real theorists of the "nuclear freeze," such as Senator Mark Hatfield, Republican of Oregon, the money saved on nuclear weapons will go to strengthening the U.S. conventional forces or to further handouts to the energy monopolies. Hatfield, various generals, and the "reasonable" imperialists are not sure whether to put the emphasis on building more H-bombs or on a more rapid expansion of the conventional forces, on more "rapid deployment forces," chemical weapons and spy agencies. And so they support the "nuclear freeze" as a better way to strengthen U.S. military might, and certainly a better way to present voting for the military budgets as "progressive."
Furthermore, the "left wing" of the Democratic Party aims to tear the heart out of the anti-militarist movement and deprive it of all militancy. They are using the "nuclear freeze" idea to detach the issue of nuclear weapons from the "confrontational" and "divisive" atmosphere typical of the upsurge of the 1960's and the movement against U.S. aggression in Viet Nam. No, not that, anything but that. Instead, they say, we must promote as heroes of disarmament the various generals and lying politicians who promote the "nuclear freeze," such as those who want to have more conventional weapons or those who advocate the Strangelove-ish "MAD" (Mutually Assured Destruction) policy. Don't fight nuclear power plants, don't protest U.S. aggression around the world, don't denounce the U.S. machine of military aggression as a whole, or you will scare away these worthies, so say the "left wing" Democrats.
But all this is poison. Not voting for the advocates of "MAD" and SALT, but supporting the anti-imperialist forces and building the mass struggle, is the way to fight. Not abandoning the movement against nuclear power plants, nor the struggles against U.S. aggression around the world, nor the other "confrontational" and "divisive" issues, but linking them all into one powerful current against U.S. imperialism, is the way forward.
The passage of the "nuclear freeze" referendums is one of the signs that the masses are sick and tired of warmongering. They want to act against militarism. But to help the masses learn how to fight militarism, all activists should expose the fraud of the "nuclear freeze." The real aim of the "left wing" of the Democratic Party in promoting the "nuclear freeze" is to direct the people away from fighting against the warmongers into begging the generals to have mercy on us and into making "realistic" suggestions on how to strengthen U.S. imperialism. "Nuclear freeze" is the resurrection of the hoax of the SALT negotiations under a new name. It is nothing but Reaganism and Nixonism in disguise. Not "nuclear freeze" but struggle against imperialism must be the byword of the mass movement against militarism.