The Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns President Trump’s outrageous attacks upon Venezuela and President Maduro. Trump claims he had the U.S. Navy attack a boat and that eleven Venezuelans were killed. Assuming it so, it is another in a long list of violent attacks by the U.S. against the independent country of Venezuela and its leadership.

The loss of innocent Venezuelan lives with no investigation, evidence, or trial is shameful. It is an act of war. The U.S. needs to seek peace and friendship, not war and intervention.

This time Trump mobilized multiple U.S. Navy missile ships, 4000 marines and sailors, and a nuclear-powered submarine. In response, masses of Venezuelans flocked to join the people’s militias in their communities and at their jobs. The militias are a reserve force of citizen soldiers, the eyes and ears of the revolution, trained under the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela (FANB) to defend their homeland.

While Trump’s attacks are dangerous, the past U.S. provocations and repeated coup attempts against both President Chavez and President Maduro have failed again and again. Instead of hurting the Bolivarian Revolution, the U.S. interventions strengthen it.

The Bolivarian Revolution emerged out of the Venezuelan armed forces, under the leadership of high-ranking military officers sickened by corruption and thievery of the nation’s resources. It spread among working people, farmers and the poor. It is a democratic revolution with broad participation. It is based on the idea that Venezuela belongs to the masses of Venezuela, instead of rich elites who serve U.S. oil companies and Wall Street capitalists.

Ever since Comandante Hugo Chavez won the presidency in 1999, the U.S. has harassed, sanctioned and violently attacked Venezuela. Trump is now intensifying these attacks against the former bus driver and union leader President Nicolas Maduro. The whole world sees the lies and slander of Trump and his media kooks. None of it is worth repeating.

President Maduro continues to build and develop an independent and sovereign Venezuela benefiting the people instead of Wall Street capitalists and U.S. oil corporations. The leadership is provided by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which recently won elections in all but one state. The Bolivarian Revolution has broad support, and people’s participation is reaching an all-time peak due to U.S. threats.

As Venezuela builds a new society, a new economy for the people, with steady economic growth for the past couple of years, we can see what it is that Wall Street fears. As the U.S. empire continues to decline at a rapid pace, Trump fears the example of Venezuela. He can try to bully Maduro and Venezuela’s leadership, but it isn’t working. So now the U.S. is escalating toward missile attacks and threatening an invasion.

The FRSO stands in solidarity with President Maduro, the PSUV and the Bolivarian revolution! No to U.S. attacks and war! Bring the U.S. warships and Marines home now!

#Venezuela #Imperialism #AntiWarMovement #International #Trump #InternationalSolidarity

Resolution in Solidarity with Organized Labor in the Philippines

WHEREAS, legislative and violent attacks on organized labor in the Philippines have resulted in the country being ranked among the world’s deadliest countries for trade unionists, where over 70 workers have been murdered since 2016, and;

WHEREAS, unions and labor activists are frequently targeted with forced union disaffiliation, intimidation, harassment, aggressive surveillance, torture, imprisonment, and killings, and;

WHEREAS, thousands of workers have been arrested on false charges in an attempt to silence their voices, including Anne Krueger, who was working to organize call center workers and hosted two delegations of Communications Workers of America (CWA) members to the Philippines, (1) and; 

WHEREAS, in April 2023, Alex Dolorosa, a union organizer whose work was funded by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), was violently murdered, and no effort has been made by the authorities to investigate his murder, (2) and;

WHEREAS, in the face of legislative attacks, violent repression, and human rights violations committed by the repressive Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regime, unionists in the Philippines continue to organize a vibrant and growing labor movement that merits great respect and solidarity, and;

WHEREAS, the government of the Philippines is by far the largest recipient of US military aid in the Indo-Pacific, having received $1.14 billion in US military aid since 2015, (3) and;

WHEREAS, on May 1st, 2019 the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Congress to end military aid to the government of the Philippines, and; 

WHEREAS, in June, 2020 the AFL-CIO issued a statement calling on Congress to pass the Philippines Human Rights Act (1), which would suspend US military aid to the Philippines, (4) and;

WHEREAS, The Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO, The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), and the AFL-CIO Executive Council have issued resolutions and statements calling for Congressional action to address ongoing human and labor rights violations by the government of the Philippines, and;

WHEREAS, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, representing nearly 20,000 union members, believes fundamentally in the power of worker solidarity, and actively supports trade unionists and all people of conscience working to stop attacks on labor and democratic rights.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO reaffirms our solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the labor movement of the Philippines, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO demands accountability from the Philippine government and supports international calls for a comprehensive investigation of the killings in the Philippines, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls for the urgent passage and signing of the Philippines Human Rights Act.

1. https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/statements/congress-should-introduce-and-pass-philippines-human-rights-act

2. https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/statements/2023-george-meany-lane-kirkland-human-rights-philippines-labor-movement

3. https://ph.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet-u-s-philippines-defense-and-security-partnership/http

4. humanrightsph.org/

#MilwaukeeWI #MALC #AFLCIO #Unions #LaborCouncil #Philippines #Labor #InternationalSolidarity

New York, NY – A crowd of over 50 people gathered in front of the United Nations on Saturday, September 24 to rally in solidarity with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who spoke at the UN a couple days before. The group was also protesting the U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe, which they stated are illegal. Despite the sanctions, President Mnangagwa has started making progress toward ending poverty and hunger, as well as implementing various infrastructure projects to help build Zimbabwe and maintain independence from U.S. influence.

The action was called for by the December 12th Movement and included speakers from Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, as well as other anti-imperialist movements standing up against the United States. All speakers emphasized the importance of independence for Zimbabwe and all African countries that have been colonized by Britain and subjected to U.S. imperialism. A small group of counter-protesters tried to disrupt the rally, but the crowd maintained focus and out-chanted the detractors.

After the rally, the crowd marched down the streets of New York, demanding U.S. hands off Zimbabwe.

#NewYorkCityNY #AntiwarMovement #InternationalSolidarity #antiimperialism #Zimbabwe #Africa

New York, NY – A crowd of over 50 people gathered in front of the United Nations on Saturday, September 24 to rally in solidarity with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who spoke at the UN a couple days before. The group was also protesting the U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe, which they stated are illegal. Despite the sanctions, President Mnangagwa has started making progress toward ending poverty and hunger, as well as implementing various infrastructure projects to help build Zimbabwe and maintain independence from U.S. influence.

The action was called for by the December 12th Movement and included speakers from Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, as well as other anti-imperialist movements standing up against the United States. All speakers emphasized the importance of independence for Zimbabwe and all African countries that have been colonized by Britain and subjected to U.S. imperialism. A small group of counter-protesters tried to disrupt the rally, but the crowd maintained focus and out-chanted the detractors.

After the rally, the crowd marched down the streets of New York, demanding U.S. hands off Zimbabwe.

#AntiwarMovement #InternationalSolidarity #antiimperialism #Zimbabwe #NewYorkCity #Africa

New York, NY – A crowd of over 50 people gathered in front of the United Nations on Saturday, September 24 to rally in solidarity with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who spoke at the UN a couple days before. The group was also protesting the U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe, which they stated are illegal. Despite the sanctions, President Mnangagwa has started making progress toward ending poverty and hunger, as well as implementing various infrastructure projects to help build Zimbabwe and maintain independence from U.S. influence.

The action was called for by the December 12th Movement and included speakers from Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, as well as other anti-imperialist movements standing up against the United States. All speakers emphasized the importance of independence for Zimbabwe and all African countries that have been colonized by Britain and subjected to U.S. imperialism. A small group of counter-protesters tried to disrupt the rally, but the crowd maintained focus and out-chanted the detractors.

After the rally, the crowd marched down the streets of New York, demanding U.S. hands off Zimbabwe.

#AntiwarMovement #InternationalSolidarity #antiimperialism #Zimbabwe #NewYorkCity #Africa

New York, NY – A crowd of over 50 people gathered in front of the United Nations on Saturday, September 24 to rally in solidarity with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who spoke at the UN a couple days before. The group was also protesting the U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe, which they stated are illegal. Despite the sanctions, President Mnangagwa has started making progress toward ending poverty and hunger, as well as implementing various infrastructure projects to help build Zimbabwe and maintain independence from U.S. influence.

The action was called for by the December 12th Movement and included speakers from Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, as well as other anti-imperialist movements standing up against the United States. All speakers emphasized the importance of independence for Zimbabwe and all African countries that have been colonized by Britain and subjected to U.S. imperialism. A small group of counter-protesters tried to disrupt the rally, but the crowd maintained focus and out-chanted the detractors.

After the rally, the crowd marched down the streets of New York, demanding U.S. hands off Zimbabwe.

#NewYorkNY #InternationalSolidarity #Zimbabwe #Africa

Chicago, IL – I just returned from eight days in Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, where the capital, Manila, is located. For many years, the movement for national democracy in the Philippines has asked for international solidarity, including human rights defenders to aid them in their struggle for economic and political rights. The presence of people from other countries can help diminish the violence of the Philippine military and national police against the movement. In addition, as national elections approach on May 9 there has been a rise in human rights abuses, and so the need for international solidarity is more pressing.

In 2016, Filipinos elected Rodrigo Duterte president. I was there just after his election. He campaigned promising to bring an end to the rule of the corrupt, wealthy elite that have run the country since independence from the U.S. occupation in 1946. Instead, he proceeded to intensify the repression against the movements of farmers, indigenous communities, workers, students and professionals who he claimed to champion. Hundreds of activists have been killed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), including priests and human rights lawyers.

War on drugs: War on the poor

Duterte also unleashed a “war on drugs” that was supposed to target the elites, including the four generals he identified in a campaign speech that he said were responsible for the flow of drugs coming into the country. In truth, it has been “a war on the poor,” as reported by INVESTIGATE PH ( https://www.investigate.ph/media/second-report) of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).

Six years later, over 30,000 drug users and small-time dealers – or people that the police claimed were users or dealers – have been murdered by the military or paramilitaries. The effect has been to create a climate of fear from a police and military occupation in the whole country, very much like that which Black and Latino communities have faced in U.S. cities for 50 years of our “war on drugs.”

Of course, the Philippines has suffered under American imperialist domination since the U.S. intervened against Spain in 1899. Like in Cuba and Puerto Rico, the Spanish were losing, and the U.S. saw an opportunity to become an imperialist power in the Pacific. The U.S. military waged a bloody war that lasted three years and resulted in the deaths of a million Filipinos. U.S. imperialism has never left the islands, despite granting independence in 1946.

The Philippines is a land rich in agricultural and mineral wealth, but because of their leaders selling them out to foreign investors, they have failed to develop their own economy. That’s why 6000 people leave the Philippines every day to work outside the country. The biggest landowners in the Philippines are U.S. corporations – Dole, for example.

The U.S. mass media – owned by the same corporate class that determines economic developments in the Philippines – reports on some of Duterte’s human rights abuses, including his attacks on opposition in the press. But they almost never report on the military carrying out massacres of trade unionists, peasants, or indigenous activists who dare to organize against the injustices facing the people.

Duterte: Time’s up

Because of the one-term limit in their 1986 constitution, Duterte’s presidency is coming to an end, but he is hoping his successors will be his daughter as vice president and Bong Bong Marcos, the son of the old dictator, as president. He needs them in office as an insurance policy.

As Tinay Palabay of Karapatan, the leading human rights watchdog in the country, explained to me, “Duterte loses immunity July 1. We are preparing cases for the International Criminal Court (ICC). Also in the UN, July will see three reports on human rights in the Philippines: by Michelle Bachelet, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR); a Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human Rights Council; and an International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights treaty body review.” The three reports of the INVESTIGATE PH were submitted to the UN OHCHR and at the ICC.

Palabay also noted that beyond the national democratic movement, “The anti-Marcos vote won’t settle for a BBM (Bong Bong Marcos) victory in the Philippines.” In other words, if the Marcos/Duterte slate wins, there will be a great increase in resistance to the new regime.

Electoral struggle/mass struggle: Basic demands for human rights and peace in the Philippines

Running against the Marcos/Duterte slate is Leni Robredo, the current vice president, and Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan. Leni and Kiko are also supported by 1Sambayan, a broad coalition of democratic forces banded together to pursue a common cause. Running on the senatorial slate of 1Sambayan are leading activists from the mass movements, including Congressman Neri Colmenares, who was detained and tortured under the martial law regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos (1972 – 1986); and Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog, president of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), the most important Labor Center in the country. Kilusang Mayo Uno means May First Movement.

I was able to talk with Amirah Lidasan, a Muslim woman activist from the Moro nationality on the island of Mindanao, running for congress as a third nominee of Bayan Muna (People First) Partylist. It is one of the partylists under MAKABAYAN Bloc (Patriotic Bloc) with different member partylists including Anakpawis, which translates to “toiling masses.”

For more than 50 years, the massive national democratic movement has led heroic efforts by the Filipinos to free themselves from U.S. domination, from foreign corporations cruelly oppressing them, and to demand genuine agrarian reform – “land to the tiller” as Antonio Flores expressed it. Flores is popularly known as Ka Tonying (Comrade Tonying). He is chair of Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), the farm workers union. It is well known that 70% of farmers in the Philippines are landless. While employment statistics suggest that the Philippines is no longer a farm economy, but a service economy, Ka Tonying said, “Farmers don’t see it that way.”

Red-tagging

Under Duterte, the AFP and PNP are carrying out more and more brazen attacks on organizers. Their targets include the KMU. In March 2021, they killed nine trade unionists in what has been called Bloody Sunday.

They have also targeted the officers of the KMU. Last week, I went to meet with KMU National Capital Region Secretary General Ed Cubelo. In March 2020, Ed was “red-tagged.” Red-tagging is what it sounds like. When authorities or anonymous actors put up vinyl banners (called tarpaulins or tarps), use spray paint, or a small picket line to accuse an activist, an elected official, or anyone of being a communist or a soldier of the New People’s Army (NPA). The purpose of red-tagging, or “terror-tagging” is to intimidate those with the courage to speak out.

In October 2021, Facebook accounts were created accusing him of membership in the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the NPA. Then on December 13, 2021, he received death threats.

Last month, the PNP escalated. The barangay (neighborhood organization with elected officers who have roles to administer schools, fire, police, parks) held a job fair on the street in front of his house in Metro Manila. Two PNP officers entered his house without permission. As a result, brother Cubelo is no longer living at home.

On February 23, another massacre was carried out near the city of Davao on the island of Mindanao, where I visited in 2016. Known as the New Bataan Five, two teachers, a health worker, and two drivers were murdered. Most were part of the Lumad, the indigenous people of the southern Philippines.

In both this case and that of Bloody Sunday, people in the area said there was no encounter between two armed groups. These were just two more of the long string of murders carried out by a military funded and backed by the Pentagon.

Given the murders of hundreds of activists, in addition to 30,000 of the urban poor in the past six years, there is good cause for Filipino activists to be very concerned when they get red-tagged or terror-tagged. The real source of terror in the Philippines is of course Malacañang Palace, the residence of the president.

I get red-tagged

Sunday morning, April 10, at 1 a.m., men identifying themselves as CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) hung banners in front of the hotel where I was staying in Quezon City, part of Metro Manila.

The four feet by five feet vinyl banners had a full color Getty Images photo of me when I spoke at the mass rally in Manila in July 2016. Held on the occasion of President Duterte’s first State Of the Nation Address (SONA), the People’s SONA is an annual affair. I spoke as a representative of the largest international solidarity delegation – over 300 people – who were there among the 30,000 in the rally.

The banners accused me of interfering in the affairs of the Philippines and called me a “Communist Terrorist Ally.” There were more of the same banners hung at a nearby human rights office housed in the National Council of Churches building.

The next day, a missionary worker woke to find banners with the same messages and her face hanging in front of her home. She had been with me in some meetings during my eight-day visit.

The mission of CIDG is to combat organized crime groups. It’s probably not a coincidence that their offices are near where I was staying and are housed in the same building as the NTF ELCAC, Duterte’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. This body was created by Duterte to systematize red-tagging and link up police investigation work to stop protest movements more effectively.

Solidarity is not a crime

Of course, the missionary and I don’t face the prospects of being killed or tortured. I remember in 2010 when FBI agents raided my home and six other homes and an office of anti-war and international solidarity activists. They alleged the Midwest Antiwar 23 had information about or were providing material support to “foreign terrorist organizations” in Palestine and Colombia. Justice Department prosecutors also brought up the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army. The U.S. put them arbitrarily on the State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations after 9/11.

We were subpoenaed to appear before a kangaroo court called a federal grand jury. Each of us said then that we would never talk to the FBI or the grand jury. From files left behind in one of the raided houses, we know that the FBI and the grand jury wanted us to tell them who we knew in Palestine and Colombia. In those countries, like in the Philippines, anyone we named would face torture or death, not just prison time.

The Antiwar 23 all took the position we would rather face prison time than contribute to the torture or murder of a freedom fighter.

We said then that solidarity is not a crime. And today again, that must continue to be our stand.

Finally, U.S. imperialism, not us, is who is interfering in the Philippines.

Long Live International Solidarity!

#ChicagoIL #Philippines #InternationalSolidarity #Duterte #Manila #Asia

To: National Democratic Front of the Philippines From: Freedom Road Socialist Organization On the passing of Ka Fidel Agcaoili

Dear comrades It is with great sadness we received the news of Ka Fidel Agcaoili’s passing. The leadership and members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) extend our heartfelt condolences to his many comrades, his friends and family. Ka Fidel was an outstanding example of what a communist should be. He was among those in the forefront of the titanic struggle to liberate the Philippines from the evils of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism. Great were the contributions of Ka Fidel and he will be missed by many the world over.

Ka Fidel was a true proletarian internationalist who took a keen interest in developments in the struggles of working and oppressed people around the globe. Leaders of our organization had the good fortune to meet with him on many occasions and we greatly valued his keen insights and analyses of developments in the United States, a topic he was extremely knowledgeable of and that no doubt was enriched by a stay in California as a young man, where he was a participant in the peoples movement.

Mao Zedong’s statement on the death of revolutionaries, those like Ka Fidel who devote the whole of their lives to serving the people, is entirely applicable when he stated that the loss is “weightier than Mount Tai.”

We will miss Ka Fidel, and on this sad occasion we vow to strengthen our efforts to strengthen the bonds of solidarity by the people of the U.S. and the Philippines, as we fight to defeat our common enemy – the monopoly capitalists.

With communist greetings, Mick Kelly, For the Standing Committee of the Central Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization

#UnitedStates #Philippines #InternationalSolidarity #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganizationFRSO #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippinesNDFP #KaFidelAgcaoili #Asia

The popular outrage that erupted a week ago in the United States after the cold-blooded murder of 47-year-old African-American worker George Floyd by police in Minneapolis is continuing against the state repression and the brutal force used by the police. Hundreds of thousands of Americans took the streets over the weekend in more than 80 major cities, in two-thirds of the country’s states, to protest state barbarism and racist violence, of the repressive forces.

Despite the outcry over the 47-year-old’s death, the government is escalating threats to the masses and offering “more military means if governors and mayors need it and cannot control the situation”. One more time the capitalists and their governments prove that the life of the ordinary people has no value for the capitalists.

The organizations of the working class must be now in the forefront of the struggle for social justice, equality, against state oppression. The WFTU calls every trade union, every trade unionist who respects itself to support the struggle of the people in USA. We demand the immediate end of police violence. The unemployed and the poor must be supported. The murderers of the Afro-Americans must be punished.

The WFTU calls its affiliated organizations in every corner of the world to participate in the WFTU Campaign by taking pictures in groups, submit solidarity statements to the U.S. embassies and take any support initiatives they can.

The WFTU Secretariat

#World #Labor #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #InternationalSolidarity #WorldFederationOfTradeUnionsWFTU #Antiracism #WFTU #MinneapolisUprising

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following appeal that was initiated by the German Communist Party (DKP), Communist Party Of Peoples Of Spain (CPPS), and the Communist Party Of Venezuela (CPV). Freedom Road Socialist Organization is among the signers.

The Communist and Workers' parties that suscribe the present APPEAL declare:

1. The serious international situation which has come from the unstoppable global capitalist crisis – now expressed as a health emergency that spreads throughout so many countries – requires strong and decisive social and political action that puts the needs of the working class, of the different people's of the world and of human kind above everything else.

2. The insufficient scientific resources, as well as the robbery of public health services, carried out by the capitalist countries under neo-liberal adjustment policies in the interest of the world's large monopolistic capital, which are imposed by the EU, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, etc, bring with them greater difficulties concerning the urgent and much needed measures which should be taken immediately to defend both the health and the lives of the working class and the people.

3. The degradation suffered by the capitalist societies, which are based on individual self-interest, consumerism and social Darwinism, adds even greater difficulties to efforts to deal with this health crisis, that requires values of solidarity, sharing and social justice: the values present in all of our revolutionary political projects aimed at socialism-communism.

4. Currently, capitalism takes advantage of the current health crisis as a perfect alibi to unleash a new attack against both the working class and all peoples, strengthening financial capital and monopolies and adding new cuts to salaries and to the rights of the working class. The inter-imperialist conflicts contribute to the spiraling rise of violence and social predation that, at the end, will be paid for by people and workers alike.

5. The international working class, along with the people, must react to this situation – today under the control of world oligarchies – for the health emergency will bring short time terrible consequences. It is necessary to show further evidence of the present historical wreckage of capitalism at its imperialist stage, as well as the urgent need for socialist construction in order to face the beginning of a new historical stage so much claimed by the current and extraordinary development of the productive forces.

6. That is why we send out a massive appeal in order to start as many actions as possible so that the peoples and the working class raise their flags of struggle.

a. For the complete stop of imperialist blockades imposed against Cuba, Venezuela, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua.

b. For the immediate end of imperialist military aggressions in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Mali, Iraq, Libya.

c. For the immediate end of occupations and for the recovery of the national sovereignty of Palestine, Puerto Rico and the struggle of the people of Western Sahara for self-determination.

d. For the immediate end to the repression of social movements in Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras.

e. For the right of the working class and the working people both from the cities and rural areas, to fully exercise their freedom and union organization, to collective bargaining, to strike, job stability, and sufficient wages to live with dignity.

f. For the socialization of the large and strategic means of production, financial and essential services for society, under workers, peasants and popular control.

7. Finally, we make an APPEAL to advance in the coordination of all the workers', peasants and popular anti-imperialist struggles and forces in a Global Front, capable of organizing political and social mobilization for the defense of people´s sovereignty, against imperialist war, and against all blockades; for an international social order for the benefit of social majorities – for the whole of mankind – , under the conditions given by the current development of productive forces, able, as it is well known today, to cover all social demands.

The organizations hereby signed up to this APPEAL will work together to add up our strength to, and to go further, in the above mentioned aims.

FOR THE WHOLE OF THE HUMAN KIND

FOR THE WORKING CLASS

FOR PEACE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

FOR SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM!!!

SIGNATURES SOLIDNET PARTIES:

1 COMMUNIST PARTY OF ARGENTINA

2 COMMUNIST PARTY OF ARMENIA

3 COMMUNIST PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

4 COMMUNIST PARTY OF AZERBAIDJAN

5 DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE TRIBUNE (BAHREIN)

6 COMMUNIST PARTY OF BANGLADESH

7 COMMUNIST PARTY OF BELGIUM

8 COMMUNIST PARTY OF BOLIVIA

9 BRAZILIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

10 COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRAZIL

11 COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN

12 NEW COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN

13 COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA

14 COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHILE

15 COLOMBIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

16 SOCIALIST WORKER'S PARTY OF CROATIA

17 COMMUNIST PARTY OF CUBA

18 COMMUNIST PARTY OF BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA

19 COMMUNIST PARTY IN DENMARK

20 FORCE OF THE REVOLUTION (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

21 COMMUNIST PARTY OF ECUADOR

22 EGYPTIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

23 COMMUNIST PARTY OF FINLAND

24 UNIFIED COMMUNIST PARTY OF GEORGIA

25 GERMAN COMMUNIST PARTY

26 HUNGARIAN WORKER'S PARTY

27 TUDEH PARTY OF IRAN

28 COMMUNIST PARTY OF KURDISTAN-IRAQ

29 IRAQUI COMMUNIST PARTY

30 COMMUNIST PARTY OF IRELAND

31 THE WORKER'S PARTY OF IRELAND

32 COMMUNIST PARTY OF ISRAEL

33 ITALIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

34 JORDANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

35 SOCIALIST PARTY (LITHUANIA)

36 COMMUNIST PARTY OF MALTA

37 POPULAR SOCIALIST PARTY – NATIONAL POLITICAL ASSOCIATION (MÉXICO)

38 NEPAL COMMUNIST PARTY

39 NEW COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE NETHERLANDS

40 COMMUNIST PARTY OF NORWAY

41 COMMUNIST PARTY OF PAKISTAN

42 PALESTINIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

43 PALESTINIAN PEOPLE'S PARTY

44 PARTY OF THE PEOPLE (PANAMA)

45 PARAGUAYAN COMMUNIST PARTY

46 PERUVIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

47 PHILIPPINE COMMUNIST PARTY (PKP-1930)

48 ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

49 ROMANIAN SOCIALIST PARTY

50 COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

51 COMMUNISTS OF SERBIA

52 NEW COMMUNIST PARTY OF YUGOSLAVIA

53 SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY

54 COMMUNIST PARTY OF SPAIN

55 COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE PEOPLES OF SPAIN

56 COMMUNISTS OF CATALONIA

57 SUDANESE COMMUNIST PARTY

58 COMMUNIST PARTY OF SRI-LANKA

59 COMMUNIST PARTY OF SWAZILAND

60 SYRIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

61 SYRIAN COMMUNIST PARTY (UNIFIED)

62 COMMUNIST PARTY USA

63 COMMUNIST PARTY OF UKRAINE

64 UNION OF COMMUNISTS OF UKRAINE

65 COMMUNIST PARTY OF URUGUAY

66 COMMUNIST PARTY OF VENEZUELA

OTHER PARTIES AND SIGNING ORGANIZATIONS:

1 PARTIDO IZQUIERDA COSTARRICENSE

2 COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

3 RED ROJA (SPAIN)

4 INICIATIVA COMUNISTA (SPAIN)

5 UNIÓN PROLETARIA (SPAIN)

6 ASAMBLEA PARA LA DEMOCRACIA Y LA SOBERANIA (RASMIA) (SPAIN)

7 PÔLE DE RENAISSANCE COMMUNISTE EN FRANCE

8 COMITÉ INTERNATIONALISTE POUR LA SOLIDARITÉ DE CLASSE (FRANCE)

9 AGORA GALIZA – UP (GALIZA-SPAIN)

10 UNION DO POVO GALEGO (GALIZA-SPAIN)

11 FRENTE POPULARE (ITALY)

12 CONVERGENZA SOCIALISTA (ITALY)

13 VÍA DEMOCRÁTICA (MOROCCO)

14 PARTIDO DE LOS COMUNISTAS (MÉXICO)

15 FRENTE POPULAR PARA LA LIBERACIÓN DE PALESTINA

16 FRENTE DEMOCRÁTICO PARA LA LIBERACIÓN DE PALESTINA

17 PARTITO COMUNISTA SVIZZERA

18 PARTEI DER ARBEIT DER SCHWEIZ PdAS – PSP

19 FREEDOM ROAD SOCIALIST ORGANIZATION (USA)

#World #International #CapitalismAndEconomy #Healthcare #InternationalSolidarity #Socialism #CommunistParty #COVID19

According to a report from New China News Agency (Xinhua), “President Xi Jinping led the national mourning, which paid tribute to martyrs who sacrificed their lives fighting the outbreak and fellow Chinese who died.” Xi also serves as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.

In addition to public mourning ceremonies, the report stated “Subway trains in big cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, briefly suspended operations. Passengers stood up in subway cars. Station staff observed a moment of silence on the train platforms.”

Xinghua noted, “As domestic transmission has basically been curbed, China is putting more efforts to guard against imported cases, get people back to work and provide humanitarian aid to other countries and international organizations battling the pandemic.”

Socialist China is sending 1000 ventilators to New York City to help people struck by COVID 19.

#UnitedStates #US #Asia #Healthcare #PeoplesStruggles #China #InternationalSolidarity #PeoplesRepublicOfChina #Socialism #DonaldTrump #COVID19

THE WFTU STANDS SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH WORKERS AND THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD AGAINST THE ATTACKS AT THE EXPENSE OF WORKERS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

The World Federation of Trade Unions, its 100 million members and friends of militant workers around the world, we express our internationalist solidarity and support to workers and the peoples of all countries affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.

What is once more reaffirmed is that in difficult times, such as during extreme natural phenomena, wars, disasters, pandemics, it is the workers and the poor people who are at the forefront of danger. The workers are required to pay the price of the pandemic’s effects on both their health and their working rights, so that large business groups, multinationals and big companies can ensure their profitability.

From the first days of the spread of the Coronavirus up to the present day, where many countries register thousands of cases and victims, violations of rights, redundancies, restrictions on trade union rights and freedoms by governments and employers have not stopped. They take advantage of the pandemic in order to generalize anti-labor measures and tactics.

Thousands of layoffs have taken place since the beginning of the month in sectors where the turnover has fallen due to the pandemic, as illustrated by Greece’s example, which measures 41.000 layoffs in the first half of March. In Austria, in March, 74.000 workers lost their jobs, in Sweden the automotive industry announced 20.000 suspensions. Still other businesses have been generalizing flexible working hours and forcing workers into compulsory leaves, as denounced by unions in Europe, France and Latin America, in countries such as Panama and Venezuela. Airlines like the colossal Turkish Airlines, Imperia, Lufthansa and Emirates have forced tens of thousands of workers to unpaid leaves, threatening them with layoffs, as did travel agencies, hotels and tourism companies in general.

Many businesses, as workers in Italy denounce, continue to operate normally without the necessary protection measures against the Coronavirus for workers who went on strike across the country last week. In Peru, mining companies also force workers to work without any security protocol. In Serbia, in Turkey, the trade unions in transport, in metal, in other sectors demand the implementation of health and safety measures in the workplaces.

In Portugal, a few days ago, the dockworkers of the port of Lisbon who went on strike because of the lack of basic protection measures, were called to work after the government announced a civil requisition.

On the other hand, in businesses where turnover is rising sharply due to the Coronavirus pandemic, such as in Supermarkets etc, they are forcing workers to intensify their work. These workers are suffering exhaustion and occupational “accidents” and diseases. These “accidents” are often not even recorded by the Labor Inspection, which has been closed under these circumstances, instead of being present and carrying out intensive inspections. Also employees are denied leaves and day-offs, there is no information about COVID-19 cases in their workplace, the employers hide such cases so that a large number of staff is not quarantined.

In countries such as Palestine, measures for workers whose workplaces were closed due to the Coronavirus are summed up in a miserable allowance while Israeli forces continue to violate rights and also murder Palestinian workers. In Jordan and elsewhere there is growing concern about the unsecured workers and those who work in the informal sector, who have been found with no income and are not entitled to allowances as it is the case for the long-term unemployed workers in many countries.

In India, trade unions condemn the government’s attitude of leaving the masses of workers helpless, without financial support, while showing tragic shortcomings in the necessary material to deal with the Coronavirus, such as medical ventilators.

In the USA, in New York alone, 21.000 unemployment applications, a record number, have been submitted in just one day.

In Africa, COVID-19 outbreaks are on the rise in more and more countries of the continent, with workers in South Africa, the second-most-affected country, calling for protection measures for the most vulnerable groups of the population, and those already suffering from other diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis.

The policies of the vast majority of African governments, along with multinationals and monopolies, are responsible for the serious survival problems of workers and the popular strata, as well as for the tragic shortcomings in health systems and in securing access to clean drinking water and suitable housing for the populations.

The rights of workers who are at the frontline of the struggle against the Coronavirus, are also being violated. We are referring to doctors and other health-care staff, whose work is intensified to the fullest extent due to under-staffing and under-functioning of public health structures. Their risk of exposure to Coronavirus is high, they are required to work even if they themselves are ill, there are no protection measures for vulnerable groups among them. In countries such as Italy, where around 300 hospital beds correspond to 100.000 persons, the Health Workers are called upon to decide which patients to save and who to leave without the necessary medical care.

Today, in the face of the pandemic, and with a steady stream of aid to large companies, with billions being offered to them in various countries, all lost jobs must be restored and secured, without any conditions. All the changes in working relationships that employers have made with the cover of governments must be taken back.

The big trade union family of the WFTU, its trade unions members and friends on the 5 Continents, we are not passive observers – we continue our action to protect the lives and working rights of workers!

Under these difficult circumstances, we find the right ways to keep our workers informed and continue to play our role. We must continue our daily struggle to defend our rights without “discounts” and compromises.

Governments are announcing measures against the spread of the Coronavirus, putting forward the personal responsibility. However, it is revealed that gathering restriction measures and information campaigns for the implementation of personal hygiene measures cannot hide the inadequacy of public health systems to meet the requirements of hospitalization and health-care, due to the Coronavirus. Inadequacy that results from the deliberate undermining of all governments (both social- democratic and neo-conservative).

– The governments have the primary responsibility to provide public, free, high quality and modern Health services.

– The governments have the responsibility to stop the speculation of the capitalists.

– The governments have the responsibility to ban the dismissals and the cut of salaries and working rights.

In these difficult times, we are strengthening internationalism and solidarity among the workers of the world. We salute the initiative of Cuba to send 52 specialized doctors to Italy to help treat the pandemic.

No one must feel alone!

We are fighting to defend our health and our rights!

We are fighting for a system that prioritizes human beings and their needs and utilizes the scientific achievements to deal with a pandemic, or other catastrophic events in a timely and planned manner.

We once again congratulate the workers who continue in these difficult times to move the cogs of life, producing food, medicine, transportation, communication, services, even at the risk of their own lives.

LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

THE SECRETARIAT

#World #International #CapitalismAndEconomy #Healthcare #PeoplesStruggles #InternationalSolidarity #WorldFederationOfTradeUnionsWFTU #WFTU #COVID19

Dallas, TX – About 20 people came to Pan-African Connection in Oak Cliff, Dallas, May 9, to show solidarity with Cuba and Venezuela, and brainstorm ways to organize against imperialist threats against them from the U.S. government. Akwete Tyehimba of Pan-African Connection hosted the forum. Many of the participants were from local socialist groups but others said they were unaffiliated.

Starting off the forum, George Chalmers of the Socialist Workers Party discussed his recent trip as part of a delegation attending May Day celebrations in Havana. Chalmers spoke on the strong support of socialism in Cuba among the Cuban people, and the strong support given to Venezuela by Cuba.

Tom Burke of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization skyped into the forum from Michigan to discuss his recent trip to Venezuela as part of a Freedom Road delegation to Caracas. Burke spoke on his meetings with Blanca Eekhout, Venezuelan Minister of Communes, and Jacobo Torres, a leader of the Central of Bolivarian Socialist Workers. Burke discussed the massive May Day rally he participated in alongside hundreds of thousands of working-class Venezuelans.

Burke also spoke in depth about American mainstream media's distortion of the depths of the food crisis in Venezuela, describing his astonishment at the availability of a large amount of basic staple foods in Venezuelan's homes. Burke discussed how workers in Venezuela had started taking control of their workplaces with the help of the Bolivarian revolutionary government, giving the examples of a plant owned by Kellogg seized by its workers after they closed their factory suddenly, and electrical workers who worked to restore power after hackers shut down the country's national electrical grid. Burke also discussed the recent failure of the coup in Venezuela, and the lack of the support for Guiado among working-class Venezuelans.

Kyle Joseph of the Party for Socialism and Liberation discussed American mainstream media, such as CNN's false news coverage of the attempted coup in Venezuela, and the effort to defend the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC from pro-Guaido protesters, who were supported by the Washington DC police.

After the speeches, the participants discussed what could be done to organize against the aggression against Cuba and Venezuela. This was followed by a call by Akwete Tyehimba to establish a coalition to protest U.S. interference against Cuba, Venezuela and any other progressive force in the region. The new coalition plans to meet monthly at Pan-African Connection.

#DallasTX #International #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #Cuba #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #InternationalSolidarity #Socialism #DonaldTrump

Those of us who support the liberation of Palestine regret the fact that he was never brought to justice for his crimes. He was one of the architects and builders of the racist apartheid state that is Israel.

Sharon began his criminal career at a young age, when he joined the Zionist militia called the Haganah and participated in the campaign to drive Palestinians out of Palestine.

When Sharon was Israel’s defense minister in 1982 he carried out his greatest single crime, the Sabra and Shatila massacre of Palestinians in Lebanon. Under his direction, Israeli troops and their right-wing Lebanese allies surrounded and then attacked the Palestinian refugee camp. Together they carried out the slaughter of more than 3000 men, women and children.

Much of the Western press is saying that Sharon’s crimes at places like Sabra and Shatila are a point of controversy. No reasonable person can say this. Sharon’s criminality is a point of fact.

The U.S. government, which aids and arms Israel, issued a disgusting statement from Secretary of State John Kerry today, praising Sharon’s life and efforts, but one odd phrase in the statement stands out as truth: “Ariel Sharon's journey was Israel’s journey.” The cruel brutality of Ariel Sharon certainly was, and for that matter is, “Israel’s journey.” And it will come to an end. The Palestinian people will put an end to the occupation and liberate every inch of Palestine.

#Palestine #Remembrances #InternationalSolidarity #USImperialism #IsraeliOccupation #ArielSharon #SabraAndShatilaMassacre

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution on Cuba that was signed by many of the parties present at the 22nd International Communist Seminar. Freedom Road Socialist Organization was among the signers. Resolution on Solidarity with Cuba

We, the undersigned parties present at the 22nd International Communist Seminar, are expressing our solidarity with the Cuban people and especially with the five Cubans who were involved in the anti-terrorist struggle. They were victims of a rigged and hostile process, their most basic rights were violated and they were suffering injustice and excessive prison sentences in the United States.

We welcome Rene Gonzalez's recent return to his country as a victory of the international movement that took up the defense of his case.

The disclosure of this case, especially in the United States, and the international support for the struggle for his liberation are the only guarantees to attain justice.

Moreover, we reiterate our condemnation of the unjust economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States, that is causing suffering and deprivation for the Cuban people and constitutes the principal obstacle to its economic and social development. We reaffirm the profound rejection this injustice has generated in the international community.

1. Algeria, Parti Algérien pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme (PADS) 2. Azerbaijan, Communist Party of Azerbaijan 3. Belarus, Belarussian Communist Workers’ Party 4. Belgium, Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB) 5. Bénin, Parti Communiste du Bénin 6. Brazil, Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) 7. Brazil, Partido Patria Livre (PPL) 8. Bulgaria, Party of Bulgarian Communists 9. Cyprus, Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) 10. Denmark, Communist Party of Denmark 11. France, Union des Révolutionnaires Communistes de France (URCF) 12. France, Pôle de Renaissance Communiste en France (PRCF) 13. Germany, German Communist Party (DKP) 14. Greece, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) 15. Hungary, Hungarian Workers' Party 16. Iran, Tudeh Party of Iran 17. Ireland, Workers' Party of Ireland 18. Laos, Lao People’s Revolutionary Party 19. Lebanon, Lebanese Communist Party 20. Luxembourg, Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL) 21. Malta, Communist Party of Malta 22. Mexico, Partido Popular Socialista de México 23. Netherlands, New Communist Pary of Netherlands (NCPN) 24. Palestine, Palestinian Communist Party 25. Philippines, Communist Party of the Philippines 26. Portugal, Portuguese Communist Party 27. Russia, Russian Communist Workers' Party – CPSU 28. Russia, Communist Party of the Soviet Union 29. Serbia, New Communist Party of Yugoslavia 30. South Sudan, Communist Party of South Sudan 31. Spain, Communist Party of Spain (PCE) 32. Spain, Spanish Communist Workers' Party (PCOE) 33. Sri Lanka, People's Liberation Front – JVP 34. Sweden, Communist Party (KP) 35. Switzerland, Parti Suisse du Travail 36. Tunisia, Parti des Patriotes et Démocrates Uni 37. Turkey, Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) 38. United Kingdom, Communist Party of Great-Britain – Marxist-Leninist 39. USA, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) 40. Venezuela, Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) 41. Vietnam, Communist Party of Viet Nam

#Belgium #BRU #Cuba #InternationalSolidarity #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #InternationalCommunistSeminar #Americas

*Fight Back News Service is circulating the following speech delivered by Jess Sundin, Nov. 5, at the first national conference of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, in Chicago. Sundin is a leader in the anti-war movement. Her home was among those raided by the FBI, on Sept. 24, 2010.*

Sisters and brothers, I’m so glad to be here with you today. I’m honored to speak on the same platform with so many people I respect, whose examples I strive to follow. Not only my friend, Carlos Montes, but also the speakers you will hear later – the families of political prisoners from the Palestinian struggle – Sami Al Arian, Ghassan Elashi and Abdelhaleem Ashqar. These men, like Carlos, have dedicated their lives to the liberation of their peoples and making this world a more just one for all of us.

We are here today because the powers that be will do anything to silence voices for justice. U.S. imperialists have bombed out whole cities, killed, tortured and starved millions of people – all in the pursuit of power and profit. We are here today as those who have raised our voices to oppose imperialist wars. We have organized our communities to stand in solidarity with the oppressed, those directly in the crosshairs of the imperialist war machine.

And yet, they dare to call us the terrorists, to treat us as the criminals. But turning reality on its head cannot save them as their grip on the world slips every day. From the Arab uprisings to Occupy Wall Street, and all points in between, the war criminals are losing ground. They cannot control the will of the peoples of the Middle East or South America, so they make criminals of those here in the U.S. who support self-determination for the world’s peoples.

I visited Iraq in 1998, after then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told the world that U.S. policy objectives were worth the cost of half a million dead Iraqi children. Since then, I have known that the U.S. government would do anything, pay any price, to clear the way for their agenda. When the FBI burst through my front door last September, this knowledge became very personal. That was the beginning of an open campaign of repression that has ensnared 24 of us in a government investigation of material support for terrorism.

The law banning material support criminalizes work that has been done by countless movements for decades – the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, support for the Irish Republican struggle, the Central America solidarity movement and many more. If this kind of work is illegal, then sign me up for some civil disobedience! Joking aside, we cannot allow the government to criminalize this very important work. To defend us, is to defend every acts of international solidarity.

The search warrant for my home authorized the FBI to seize any correspondence with anyone living in Colombia or Palestine; anything about travel to Colombia or Palestine, or anywhere; address books and phone lists; anything about the Anti-War Committee and much more. After five hours of searching, eight FBI agents seized several boxes of political and personal material, mostly paper, that might only offer evidence of who I know or what I believe. They left my partner and I each a subpoena to appear before a grand jury here in Chicago.

As you know, we, like all the others in our case, refused to testify. The decision was easy – none of us would ever agree to testify, betraying our friends and colleagues, the organizations we have helped to build and the movements we have worked in solidarity with. At the same time, we knew the government could punish us for this decision – as they have done to Drs. Ashqar and Al Arian, whose stories we will hear later. Several of us made custodial arrangements for who would care for our young children, should the government choose to jail us for refusing to testify. So far, your work has protected us from the contempt charges that have imprisoned others. We know the government could change course at any time, but still we will not testify.

We are here today, more than a year after the raids on our homes, because we believe the government is still working to bring formal charges against us. They have repeatedly said as much to our attorneys – they are seeking multiple indictments. We don’t know how many, and we don’t know when they will come done. [Some say the grand jury ends in June 2012.]

You may have read that some of our property was finally returned last week, after more than a year! While it’s certainly nice to have our copy of the Anti-War Committee database, or our copy of the petitions people signed to end U.S. military aid to Israel, it makes me sick that the FBI has digitally copied everything they took from all of our homes and offices. Literally, as I unpacked the boxes, my stomach turned with each item that had someone else’s name and number on it, as I imagined them being caught up in the FBI’s net. That the government can come into your home, without even a criminal charge against you, take whatever they want, keep it for a year, and keep their own copy forever, is such a violation of our most basic civil liberties. So for me, the return of my property is not a cause for celebration. Instead, it makes this all much more ominous, as I imagine decades of my work now being stored in FBI databases, to use however they wish.

Some of you may also be aware of the FBI’s own secret documents, mistakenly left behind in one of our homes last September. If you haven’t seen them yet, you can find them on our website at stopfbi.net. The documents were the FBI’s operations plan for Sept. 24.

They outline a plan for a highly-militarized assault on a one bedroom apartment above a restaurant in Minneapolis. Hundreds of rounds of ammunition, hand guns and automatic rifles, snipers, a hostage negotiator, directions to the nearest trauma center- it goes on and on. We don’t know what was planned at every home they raided on Sept. 24, but I know they were poised with a battering ram, when my partner and then-six-year-old daughter opened the front door of our home. Some 70 agents were involved in simultaneous raids in Minneapolis and Chicago, as well as questioning our colleagues from North Carolina and Michigan, to Milwaukee and San Jose. The operations plans reveal that six different FBI field offices are involved in this investigation.

The documents also include more than 100 interview questions they hoped to ask, if any of us had volunteered to talk while they were raiding our homes. Some of them were for everyone, and some were individual questions. One sister was asked about her husband’s immigration status, another was to be asked, “Did you ever recruit anyone to go to Israel, the West Bank, or Gaza?” They were going to ask me if I had ever lied to a grand jury. But most of the questions, to be asked of everyone, read as if they had been pulled out of a dusty old file from the McCarthy era: “Have you ever heard of Freedom Road Socialist Organization? Who are the leaders? Who are the members? What is discussed at meetings? Does anyone take notes? Where are those notes?” and on and on and on.

Freedom Road is an open organization – with a website and a newspaper, and people like me who are known, public members. The U.S. constitution guarantees the right to freely associate with like-minded people. Between the economic crisis at home, and the brutal wars abroad, it is no wonder that some people are looking for an alternative to capitalism, and for us in Freedom Road, the alternative we advocate is socialism. It is not a crime to be a socialist, any more than it is a crime to be a Palestinian or a Muslim. But the government wants to prosecute us for our thoughts, thought crimes.

You know what? I *do* oppose the policies of the U.S. government, a fact I have been very public about. I have organized marches of 30,000 to say no to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have spoken out about the humanitarian crisis I witnessed in Iraq, created by sanctions and war. I have hosted women trade unionists from Colombia and Palestine, to tell people here about the impacts of U.S. policy on their peoples. I have written and spoken about my trip to Colombia, where I met with FARC guerrillas who were at that time, engaged in a peace dialogue with the U.S.-backed Colombian regime.

I think this country is run by criminals who place no value on human life. Shame on them for accusing *me* of terrorism, as they carry it out every day in countries across this globe. But to clear the way for more new wars abroad, and more attacks on people here at home, they are doing just that. And for me, the stakes could not be higher.

If every protest I have organized, every trip I have taken, or helped others take, every time I have spoken in support of self-determination for oppressed peoples, every dime I have helped to raise for daycares in Palestine; if each of these is a count of material support, each punishable by 15-year sentences, then I face the rest of my life in prison. Yes, I will fight these charges in court, but the real battle will be won or lost on the streets, in the political realm.

We need a broad base of support and massive public outcry to compel the prosecutors to close this grand jury without indictments. We know that grand juries are basically indictment machines. If the prosecutors aren’t persuaded to drop this case, some number of us will face very serious charges. I thank you for the work you have already done. We are relying on you to keep the pressure on, to raise funds for our defense and to continue the important work of international solidarity.

I want to end by telling you about morning our home was raided. My daughter’s classmate walked by on the way to catch the school bus. Her friend asked what was happening, and Leila told her that the FBI was raiding our house. The friend asked why, and Leila answered, “It’s because we work for peace, and they want us to be quiet.” We refuse to be silent in the face of injustice and war. Please raise your voices with us: “From Colombia to Palestine, international solidarity is not a crime!”

#ChicagoIL #Colombia #Palestine #InternationalSolidarity #JessSundin #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression

Minneapolis, MN – Students and members of the community gathered here, March 24 on the University of Minnesota campus, for an event called ‘At home and abroad: Women under attack and fighting back.’ The program, sponsored by the Anti War Committee and the Women’s Student Activist Collective, was during with women's history month and addressed the current FBI attacks on women international solidarity activists and their families, how war disproportionately affects women and the right to be in solidarity with women in war-torn parts of the world.

Jess Sundin, Meredith Aby and Thistle Parker-Hartog of the Twin Cities based Anti War Committee spoke at the event.

Meredith Aby stated, “After all these years, Iraq and Afghanistan are still occupied by U.S. troops and contractors and the U.S. began a new war on Libya last weekend. Women and children are always the first victims of war. The women of Iraq and Afghanistan are worse off now than they were before war and many women are calling for the U.S. to leave their country.
 U.S. militarism cannot be a force for liberation and in fact on the ground is a force which violates rather than protects women’s rights.”

Aby also made the point; “The U.S. government cynically used the plight of women and feminism as an excuse to wage wars of conquest against Afghanistan and Iraq and to steal their natural resources. In truth, a foreign invader and occupier can never bring freedom to women.”

Jess Sundin talked about importance of international solidarity, stressing the work the Anti-War Committee has done to support the women of Palestine and Colombia.

Thistle Parker-Hartog addressed the FBI and grand jury repression that has been unleashed on international solidarity and anti-war activists. Parker-Hartog, like Sundin and Aby, is among the 23 mainly women activists who received subpoenas to the Chicago grand jury, headed by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Parker-Hartog stated, “We don’t know if the FBI and the Attorney General thought we women would be an easy target, but we absolutely will show them just how wrong they are.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #InternationalSolidarity #FBI #womensMovement

*A belligerent force is defined as a state or entity engaged in war, a status recognized by international law. In report after report, it is not the FARC-EP, but state military and paramilitaries that have been named as by far the most egregious perpetrators of human rights violations in Colombia.

Is the FARC-EP (Really) a Terrorist Organization?

By James Brittain

In light of the recent activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) throughout sectors of the social justice and peace movement within the United States, it is increasingly apparent that even those interested in solidarity with sociopolitical organizations struggling with issues of marginalization and equity are viewed as a domestic threat or, at the very least, a target of national significance. For example, longtime peace and justice activists have been subpoenaed by the FBI as a result of their work, which critiques the economic and militaristic involvement of their government and military in Colombia.

In many respects, prominent state officials (and popular media outlets) have succeeded in demonizing the struggle of impoverished peasants, marginalized workers, and political dissidents in this Latin American country as terroristic (and then attempt to link international solidarity as acts of assisting terrorism), especially those belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP). Yet what all these mechanisms fail to exhibit (or understand) is that the resistance movement in Colombia is a national struggle of emancipation that structurally exists to change the societal conditions within its own country’s borders.

To try and classify the FARC-EP as a threat to the United States is preposterous due to the fact that the insurgency has been engaged in a half-century of struggle that has solely remained in the confines of Colombian territory and has been directed at the dominant class therein. Garry Leech, editor of Colombia Journal, has suggested that “while there is little doubt regarding the global reach of terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda, there is no evidence that the FARC is anything but one of the armed actors in Colombia’s long and tragic domestic conflict” (see Killing Peace: Colombia’s Conflict and the Failure of U.S. Intervention. New York, NY: Information Network of the Americas, 2002, p.86). Even conservative analysts like Peter Chalk have come to recognize that “the FARC-EP cannot be considered an international terrorist organization akin to al-Qaeda, for it does not demonstrate the intent nor desire to engage in a transnational terrorist campaign against antagonists” (see Trends in Terrorism: Threats to the United States and the Future of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. Washington, DC: Rand, 2006. p.11n.1).

The FARC-EP “are subnational actors that direct their political violence against domestic operations” (Michael Kenney. From Pablo to Osama: Trafficking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. p. 251 n.37). Noting this is important, considering that external forces beyond Colombia’s borders have been systematically involved in military operations against the FARC-EP, yet the insurgency has sustained a principle of self-determination based on the need for Colombians to structurally change the inequitable conditions in their country and not target other nations in the periphery (even when those nations have targeted the guerrillas).

In light of such realities, how can (or why is) the FARC-EP then perceived to be a threat to any government outside Colombia? Coletta A. Youngers, with the Washington Office on Latin America, responded to this question by describing how “the U.S. government now views the Latin American region almost exclusively through the counterterrorist lens, though the region poses no serious national security threat to the United States … little evidence has been put forward to substantiate such claims, and whatever activity is taking place there appears to be minimal” (“Dangerous Consequences: The U.S. “War on Drugs” in Latin America” in Latin America after Neoliberalism: Turning the Tide in the 21st Century, E. Hershberg and F. Rosen (eds.). New York, NY: The New Press, 2006, p.76). While she does not trivialize their revolutionary tactics, Youngers does posit that the FARC-EP cannot be correctly framed in the concept and rhetoric of global terrorism. Rather she clarifies how the insurgency is not a direct threat to the governance of administrations in the United States, Canada, the European Union, or any other foreign nation-state because FARC-EP activities “are targeted inward, not outward”; hence, “applying the terrorism concept to these groups negates their political projects” (Youngers, 76-77).

All this begs the question as to why so many state officials perpetuate the FARC-EP as a threat to the interests of the US, Canada, and the EU. The answer lies in the fact that the insurgency poses a potential harm not to the national security of citizens, but rather to the geopolitical interests of the aforementioned states and their economic allies. The FARC-EP proposes a socialized economy based on public ownership, which counters the (failed) neoliberal development strategies of contemporary capital. Former Colombian Army Colonel Carlos Velasquez, a U.S. security–not an NGO do-gooder–put it to me more succinctly in a conversation last year: “Of course the FARC haven’t lost their ideology. That’s why they’re still dangerous” (quoted in Adam Isacson. 2005. “ The End of the FARC's “Retreat”?”)

Hence, it is their praxis that makes the FARC-EP a threat: the insurgency does not subscribe to apolitical acts of violence to instill fear in the lives of the general masses, but rather structural targets–state forces and corporate infrastructure – in its quest to radically alter Colombian society for the betterment of the general population, not the continuity of the minority in power.

Contrary to dominant media outlets, numerous countries around the world have refused to recognize the FARC-EP as an international terrorist organization, as they see the struggle for peace with social justice in Colombia as an internal necessity (see ANNCOL. 2004. “ Duro revés para Uribe Vélez en la cita Americana de Defensa”). Dating back to 2004, numerous Latin American governments opposed the United States’ call for a multinational defense initiative to combat the FARC-EP (see Kintto Lucas. 2004. “ Defense Ministers Reject Intervention in Colombia”). In recent years numerous researchers, scholars, and politicians have supported the call for the FARC-EP to be declared a legitimate force fighting against a corrupt Colombian state (Alberto Cruz. 2008. “ Ante-room to Peace: Recognizing the FARC as Belligerents”; Bill Weinburg. 2008. “ FARC: “terrorists” or “belligerents”?”; Wolf, Paul. 2008. “ Bolivar’s Sword: Venezuela’s Recognition of the Colombian Insurgency”).

Ecuador is an example of this: in January of 2008, Maria Isabel Salvador, who was then Foreign Minister, argued that the FARC-EP should not be depicted as a terrorist organization. This sentiment was backed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who announced that the FARC-EP are far from a terrorist force but rather are a real army, which occupies Colombian territory and shares in a Bolivarian vision for Latin America (Xinhua. 2008. “ Ecuador Designates Colombian Rebels as ‘Irregulars’.”). Mexican deputy Ricardo Cantu Garza, too, promoted the recognition of the FARC-EP as a belligerent force legitimately fighting against a corrupt and unequal sociopolitical system (Mathaba. 2008. “ Mexico Deputy Supports Chavez’ Proposal about the FARC and ELN”). Even prominent US attorney Paul Wolf argued:

“The FARC-EP are a belligerent army of national liberation, as evidenced by their sustained military campaign and sovereignty over a large part of Colombian territory, and their conduct of hostilities by organized troops kept under military discipline and complying with the laws and customs of war, at least to the same extent as other parties to the conflict. Members of the FARC-EP are therefore entitled to the rights of belligerents under international law … there is no rule of international law prohibiting revolution, and, if a revolution succeeds, there is nothing in international law prohibiting the acceptance of the outcome, even though it was achieved by force.” (Paul Wolf. 2008. “ FARC Not a Terrorist Group”).

In short, administrations from Mexico, Ecuador, and Venezuela have opted to use language of belligerent or irregular forces to more accurately depict the FARC-EP’s domestic and geo-political stance. From Copenhagen to Caracas, numerous state officials have rejected claims and/or renounced the FARC-EP to be a terrorist organization and have pushed others to do the same so a peace process can begin to resolve five decades of civil war (Helen Pidd. 2007. “ T-shirt Sellers not Guilty in Terrorism Case”; Marta Harnecker, Understanding the Venezuelan Revolution: Hugo Chávez Talks to Marta Harnecker. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press, 2005). Characterizations depicting the FARC-EP as a foreign terrorist organization must be reexamined and any actors in solidarity with this organization should not be the subject of slander, detention, threats, or torture for simply believing otherwise.

James Brittain is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. His book, Revolutionary Social Change in Colombia: The Origin and Direction of the FARC-EP, was published by Pluto Press, 2010. More info: www.plutobooks.com. Also available through May Day Books, Minneapolis. James Petras states that in his book Brittain asks “a fundamental question for all democratic political practioners: ‘How does one pursue equitable social policies and the defense of human rights under a terrorist state aligned with death squads and financed and advised by a foreign power, which has a public policy of physically eliminating their adversaries?’”

#US #AntiwarMovement #Colombia #FARC #InternationalSolidarity #Americas

In recent months the U.S. Department of Justice has sent threatening letters to the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), which works in solidarity with grassroots social justice movements and the left in El Salvador. The government is accusing CISPES of being an 'agent of a foreign power' – specifically of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), the leftist political party in El Salvador. This echoes the FBI's groundless accusations against CISPES in the 1980s, which led to a seven-year campaign of illegal U.S. government harassment against CISPES that the FBI later had to apologize for.

CISPES works to build solidarity in the U.S. with the Salvadoran popular movement and with the FMLN. CISPES has done this work since 1980, when it was formed at the start of the civil war in El Salvador, during which the FMLN led an armed struggle for liberation against the brutal U.S.-backed right wing Salvadoran military dictatorship.

The following is an interview with Cherrene Horazuk, who was Executive Director of CISPES from 1993 to 2003. She talks about the current government attack on CISPES, the history of such attacks, and some thoughts on why this is happening now.

Fight Back!: What is going on now with the U.S. Department of Justice harassing CISPES?

Cherrene Horazuk: The U.S. Department of Justice sent threatening communications to CISPES in January saying that they thought that CISPES was contracted by the FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front) to run the FMLN's electoral campaign and to fundraise for the FMLN presidential campaign in the U.S. There are presidential elections in March 2009 in El Salvador and the FMLN slate of Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sanchez Ceren has a good chance to win. The Department of Justice said they read in the Washington Post and on web pages that the FMLN had contracted CISPES to do this, so they insisted that CISPES turn in all documents relating to a contract with the FMLN or presidential candidate Mauricio Funes. They wanted documentation because they said CISPES would be required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) of 1938.

Of course there is no such documentation because CISPES hasn't signed any contractual agreements or taken orders to do the solidarity work that CISPES does. CISPES organizes solidarity in the U.S. based on shared values with the Salvadoran social justice movement and the FMLN. It's a relationship of solidarity.

Fight Back!: What is the history of FBI and U.S. government harassment of CISPES and of the Latin America solidarity movement? Tell us about what happened with CISPES in the 1980s.

Horazuk: From 1981 to 1987 the FBI carried out one of the largest domestic spying endeavors in recent U.S. history. They investigated more than 100,000 individuals and more than 3000 groups. That included CISPES committees, Central America solidarity groups, church groups, student groups, social justice organizations and anyone that in any way shape or form was speaking out against human rights abuses in El Salvador and Central America. Anyone speaking out in support of grassroots progressive human rights groups and revolutionary organizations was investigated.

I think 52 out of the 59 FBI bureau offices in the U.S. were involved in the investigation. They started the investigation within months of CISPES's founding in 1980. It included surveillance, harassment, intimidation, break-ins to offices and houses. Some people lost their jobs as a result. The worst impact is that some Salvadorans were investigated that were then deported back to El Salvador, and the U.S. government turned their names over to the brutal Salvadoran military and those people were never heard from again.

In 1987 CISPES filed a lawsuit against the FBI because we got some files under the Freedom of Information Act. Congressional hearings were held, and ultimately the FBI was found to have carried out a completely illegal investigation, in which they found no proof of any wrongdoing on CISPES's part. All the wrongdoing was by the FBI in their illegal spying and harassment. As a result the FBI was ordered to cease and desist. That case also led to some law changes that curtailed domestic surveillance, made it harder for the FBI to do spying. Of course that was then later reversed under the Patriot Act. At the end of the lawsuit the FBI actually had to issue a statement saying they were wrong.

Fight Back!: Why was CISPES specifically targeted?

Horazuk: We were the largest solidarity organization in the U.S. We took a clear position against the U.S. government support for the right-wing death squad regime in El Salvador and we stood strongly in solidarity with the people of El Salvador fighting back against that regime. We were supportive not just of the grassroots movement, but also the revolutionary movement and the FMLN. The FMLN was fighting against a brutal right-wing death squad government that was propped up by millions of dollars of U.S. military aid. The right-wing government was shown to be responsible for countless massacres and torture and for the vast majority of the 75,000 deaths during the Salvadoran civil war.

CISPES stands up for the Salvadoran people's right to self-determination, and I think because of that the U.S. government saw the solidarity movement and CISPES particularly as a threat to U.S. policy in Latin America. This was in the early 1980s in the context of newly-elected President Reagan saying he was going to ‘draw the line’ in El Salvador to prevent a revolution there, after the left-wing Sandinistas had just overthrown the pro-U.S. military dictatorship in Nicaragua. The Reagan administration thought El Salvador would be next and were providing millions of dollars a day in military aid to stop a progressive victory in El Salvador.

CISPES organized delegations to El Salvador throughout the war for people from the U.S. to go see for themselves what our government was doing there. Thousands of people from the U.S. went with CISPES to El Salvador during the war and saw what was really going on. President Reagan was saying there were no massacres, no bombings, but people went and talked to survivors of bombings and massacres. People saw that our government was lying, it was a huge learning experience for a whole generation of activists.

In addition, people who went on CISPES delegations also saw that there was a resistance movement fighting back, an alternative. People traveled to the FMLN's liberated territories and saw a different vision of a better society. People came back to the U.S. and rededicated themselves to the fight against injustice and oppression, to the fight for fundamental change in El Salvador and here at home.

This is some of the context of the FBI's harassment of CISPES in the 1980s.

Fight Back!: Why do you think this harassment is happening again now? There's not an armed struggle or a war going on in El Salvador now – why do you think they're interested in CISPES again all the sudden?

Horazuk: I think what the Department of Justice is doing is a clear attempt to intimidate El Salvador and Latin America solidarity activists, who know very well the history of the FBI investigation into CISPES in the 1980s.

There's not an armed struggle in El Salvador right now, but there's a growing wave of left-wing governments in Latin America and a growing wave of support for leftist policies in the region by the people.

The Salvadoran presidential elections are coming up in March 2009 and the FMLN has a good chance of winning. The U.S. did a lot to try to manipulate the last Salvadoran elections in 2004, using scare tactics and misinformation. The U.S. told Salvadoran voters that if the FMLN won then the U.S. would cut off Salvadorans living in the U.S. from sending money back to their families in El Salvador. These 'remittances' that Salvadorans in the U.S. send to their families in El Salvador are the only thing keeping many Salvadoran families from starvation and keep the Salvadoran economy from total collapse. I think this harassment of CISPES is part of the U.S. government trying again to prevent support and visibility in the U.S. for the people's movement in El Salvador.

It's important to understand that the right wing ARENA government in El Salvador isn't just any old government. It is one of the U.S. government's closest allies in Latin America, and does whatever the U.S. government tells it to do. El Salvador is the only country in Latin America that still has troops in Iraq as part of the U.S. occupation forces, even though over 70% of the Salvadoran people oppose their troops being there. El Salvador is used as an experiment for U.S. foreign policy. The implementation of free trade, privatization, dollarization, all these policy initiatives, they use El Salvador as a testing ground.

The U.S. is opening up an international ‘police training school’ called ILEA in El Salvador. ILEA is just like the School of the Americas but for training police forces instead of military forces. The ARENA government maintains El Salvador as a subservient U.S. puppet in the region. The U.S. administration doesn't want to lose that. So they are trying to create a situation where they can guarantee that El Salvador will remain a U.S. ally. They really don't want to see a grassroots popular opposition to that, and they don't want to see a government elected in El Salvador that will put people before profits.

The FMLN is committed to creating a different society. It's a society that does not say that there should be a race to the bottom. Instead it's about making sure people have adequate food, health care, education, housing, that people in the countryside have land to grow crops on, that labor policy would not be to just open more free trade zones and pay people pennies to manufacture good to ship to the U.S. The U.S. government considers it a huge threat for people to see there's an alternative. And people in El Salvador want that alternative.

Fight Back!: What can people do?

Horazuk: I think people should follow closely what's happening in El Salvador. Presidential elections are coming up in March 2009 and the right forces are likely to commit fraud and possible violence to try to hold on to power. The ARENA party is run by the richest people in El Salvador and has been in power 19 years now. The founder of the ARENA party, Roberto D'Aubuisson, is the founder of the death squads in El Salvador and was the mastermind of the assassination in 1980 of Archbishop Romero, which sparked 12 years of civil war. ARENA is not likely to give up power willingly. And unfortunately until now they have been able to count on the full support of the U.S. government.

But the Salvadoran people are ready for a change. In the election itself there will be a need for people to be aware of right-wing fraud and violence and to denounce that. There will be a call for international election observers before and during the elections.

People should do what you can to support CISPES and to support progressive movements in El Salvador. The CISPES website, www.cispes.org, has the latest campaigns and action alerts that you can help with.

Throughout Latin America the people are showing that another model is possible besides the U.S.-imposed model. Those of us here in the U.S. have a responsibility to oppose the oppressive things our government does in our name with our tax dollars in Latin America. And we should also learn from and support those that are fighting back.

#AntiwarMovement #Interview #StateRepression #ElSalvador #Interviews #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #CISPES #FMLN #InternationalSolidarity #Americas

The Venezuelan and Arab crowd made the Plaza a sea of Lebanese and Palestinian flags. Demonstrators held signs in Arabic and Spanish. One protester’s sign read, “Bush and Olhmert are assassins, terrorists, fascists. Long live the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance!”

Erika Zurawski, a U.S. anti-war activist, was at the demonstration and explained, “The Venezuelan people really highlighted the role of U.S. imperialism in aggravating the conflict in the Middle East. They stood united as one oppressed nation in solidarity with another, recognizing the importance of the Arab struggle as the battleground in an ongoing defeat of US imperialism.”

The demonstrators chanted, “Viva el pueblo Arabe! Viva la lucha Palestina! Viva la lucha Lebanesa!” or, “Long live the Arab people! Long live the Palestinian fight! Long live the Lebanese fight!”

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #News #Palestine #Venezuela #Imperialism #Lebanon #Zionism #2006IsraelInvasion #InternationalSolidarity #MiddleEast