Every progressive person should condemn the arrest of Professor Jose Maria Sison by authorities in the Netherlands. Sison’s arrest by Dutch police on trumped-up murder charges is an attempt to criminalize the liberation movement of the Philippines and to silence the voice of the Philippines’s most important revolutionary. Professor Sison has lived as a political refugee in the Netherlands for 20 years. It is the hidden hand of the Bush administration that is pressuring the Netherlands to take actions against Sison, including freezing his bank account and stripping him of his right to work. This arrest is political, not criminal.

Jose Maria Sison is the Chief Political Consultant to the National Democratic Front (NDFP) of the Philippines. The NDFP represents the popular movement of the Filipino people in their struggle to end U.S. domination and control of their country. The NDFP is leading the struggle of the Filipino people to sweep away the corrupt U.S. puppet government of President Arroyo.

The U.S. is intervening militarily in the Philippines in an attempt to prop up the Arroyo government and stave off the Filipino people’s revolution. Under the phony ‘war on terror,’ the U.S. military has troops and advisors in the Philippines directing a dirty war against the peasants, workers and patriotic people. The current repression, including assassinations of trade unionists, disappearances of political activists and a dirty war in the countryside is all ‘Made in the USA.’ The kidnapping and murder of unarmed activists is happening at a higher rate than during the Marcos dictatorship.

In the Philippines, the U.S. is replicating the counter-insurgency war it uses in the country of Colombia. The U.S. and Philippine militaries defend the interests of U.S. corporations robbing the Philippines of its natural resources, agricultural products and the labor of the peasants and workers. The U.S. defends the small wealthy elite of big landowners and rich capitalists. Professor Sison, however, is on the side of the people.

The Netherlands government is acting as an attack dog on behalf of U.S. imperialism. While the Netherlands is a small country, it is imperialist and its ruling class follows the lead of the small class of billionaires and millionaires who rule the U.S. The Dutch government happily sends its young people to war with U.S. and British imperialism in Afghanistan. They brought the Dutch troops home from Iraq in 2005, but only under strong public pressure from their people at home. The Netherlands government backs the U.S. dirty war in Colombia by allowing the use of military bases on the Caribbean colony of Aruba. When the U.S. says, “Jump!” the Dutch government asks, “How high?”

The arrest of Jose Maria Sison is the real crime. We demand freedom for Professor Sison. We will work tirelessly for his release and for an end to U.S. intervention in the Philippines. The peoples of the world cry out for peace, freedom and justice. Freeing Professor Sison is a part of making that happen.

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