This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
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THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT
MIM Notes No. 56 SEPTEMBER 1991
MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the
world's oppressed majority, and against the
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in
the service of the people. support it, struggle
with it and write for it.
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. WHO WILL OPPRESS THE SOVIET PEOPLE NOW?
2. CANADIAN EMPIRE TRIES MOHAWKS
3. SEPARATISTS FIGHT TO DEVIDE YUGOSLAVIA
4. LETTERS
5. REPORT ON MATH SCORES SLANDERS OPPRESSED NATIONALITIES
6. PIG RIZZO OINKS HIS LAST
7. SALVADORAN 'FREE MARKET COMPETITION'
8. U.S. MILITARY AID TO EL SALVADOR CONTINUES
9. GUATEMALAN GOVERNMENT PROMISES DEMOCRACY
10. NICARAGUAN RECONTRA ATTACKS
11. NICARAGUA NEWS DISTORTION
12. POINTS OF ATTENTION GUIDE MAOISTS
13. PEOPLE ARE CHEAPER
14. WHAT'S THE SCOOP, GORBY?
15. SWITCHAROOS
16. MEET THE PRESS
17. INFO INDUSTRY SPITS OUT FIRST WORLD PROPAGANDA
18. MOVIE REVIEW: THE DOCTOR
19. MIM NOTES SUPPLEMENT: LESSONS FROM THE ATTICA PRISON UPRISING
20. ATTICA CHRONOLOGY
21. TWO DECADES LATER, PRISON REFORM FAILS
22. UPRISING LEADER: 'THE STATE LEARNED FROM ATTICA, TOO.'
23. BIG BUSINESS, BIG MONEY INVADE PHILIPPINES
The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is a
revolutionary communist party that upholds
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, comprising the collection
of existing or emerging Maoist internationalist
parties in the English-speaking imperialist
countries and their English-speaking internal
semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging
Spanish-speaking Maoist internationalist parties
of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of
the U.S. Empire. MIM Notes is the newspaper of
MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-
speaking parties or emerging parties of MIM.
MIM is an internationalist organization that works
from the vantage point of the Third World
proletariat; thus, its members are not Amerikans,
but world citizens.
MIM struggles to end the oppression of all groups
over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM
knows this is only possible by building public
opinion to seize power through armed struggle.
Revolution is a reality for North America as the
military becomes over-extended in the government's
attempts to maintain world hegemony.
MIM differs from other communist parties on three
main questions: (1) MIM holds that after the
proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution,
the potential exists for capitalist restoration
under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within
the communist party itself. In the case of the
USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the death
of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's
death and the overthrow of the "Gang of Four" in
1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural
Revolution as the farthest advance of communism in
human history. (3) MIM believes the North American
white-working-class is primarily a non-
revolutionary worker-elite at this time; thus, it
is not the principal vehicle to advance Maoism in
this country.
MIM accepts people as members who agree on these
basic principles and accept democratic centralism,
the system of majority rule, on other questions of
party line.
"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is
universally applicable. We should regard it not as
dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is
not merely a matter of learning terms and phrases,
but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of
revolution."
-- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208
* * *
SOVIET DOGS SCRAP FOR CONTROL
History shows that a crisis in the imperialist system offers a
revolutionary opportunity for the people. Last month, the Czar's
flag was raised over the capital of Russia, statues of Lenin were
torn down, the "Communist" Party was banned. What do the Soviet
masses really want? The people have rejected the reimposition of a
police state. In the ensuing political vacuum, they have a chance
to make a revolutionary change.
The Soviet coup is a class conflict over the economic and
political direction of state capitalism.
The current Soviet system is state capitalist and social
imperialist (socialist in words, imperialist in deeds), not
socialist or communist in any way. That includes the military and
KGB leaders who seized power in the August coup. They are not
"Stalinists" or "Communist hardliners."
Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin and
other "reformers" advocate a more "free market" version of
monopoly capitalism--with some of its corresponding democratic
forms--for their own gain. Their opponents represent the interests
of those who would maintain rigid state control over the economy,
with corresponding repressive political forms, for their own gain.
Neither party represents the interests of the Soviet people or
those inside the Soviet empire.
WHO WILL OPPRESS THE SOVIET PEOPLE NOW?
by MC¯ & MC12
Last month's Soviet coup represents a revolutionary development in
world power, and exposes continuing class struggle in the USSR. If
a civil war breaks out in the Soviet Union, it means the leaders
of the world's nuclear powers will become factionalized, violent
and desperate. It will also make for a huge increase in Amerikan
hegemony.
Revolutionaries need to understand two things about the coup.
First, that it was not, as the media "experts" say, a clash
between communists and capitalists. Second, that this is a
revolutionary opportunity, one which will most likely be missed.
The ongoing conflict is a struggle between the old party ruling
elite and emerging new capitalist roaders who cannot develop under
the existing hierarchy. Both groups are capitalist. The Soviet
system has been capitalist since 1954, when Nikita Khruschev
seized power in a military coup, succeeding Josef Stalin as the
country's leader.
Since that time, the old party ran the state industries according
to profit, had state managers hire and fire at their whim. People
were not paid according to work. The old party elite passed wealth
on to their children. It was a capitalist aristocracy into which
newer reformers couldn't penetrate.
The new capitalist group wants the Soviet Union to be even more
capitalist. It wants the freedom to compete and the freedom to eat
at McDonald's. It is not about socialism, and likely not even
about national unity. The new class worships the West and Amerika
as ideals of success.
Both groups contain elements which occasionally pose left. The new
capitalists sometimes criticize Amerika for homelessness and
racism.
The old elite sometimes says it wants to build socialism and
advance the gains of the Bolshevik revolution. But then again,
Vice President Yanayev, who assumed the role of president after
kicking out Gorbachev on August 19, also told the British
Broadcasting Corporation in July that, "There are no differences
between the President and the Vice President and the Prime
Minister [who also took part in the coup] ... All the key ministers
are all pulling together as a single team."(1)
Gorbachev
After being deposed, Gorbachev was heralded as a great world
leader, though not for the first time. But Gorbachev and his
government are the direct political descendents of Khruschev,
products of a regime that took power from a proletarian
democracy--albeit a deteriorating one. Gorbachev and his line in
the party took power in a coup from above.
Although Gorbachev often proposed freezes in nuclear testing and
even the elimination of all nuclear weapons, these changes never
came about. To this day, neither the United States nor the Soviet
Union has ever reduced nuclear weapons capacity, not even by one
warhead.
And while Gorbachev is praised for allowing the Berlin Wall to
come down and countries such as Czechoslovakia to fly farther out
of the Kremlin orbit, these do not represent systemic changes.
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Yugoslavia and other
satellite areas operated under the same capitalist system that the
Soviet Union had. Power does not change hands, from one class to
another, peacefully. There is no such thing as a peaceful
revolution.
Gorbachev can only be called an economic reformer to the extent
that economic changes were necessary to manage the old party
capitalist empire and keep it in the hands of the old party. He
made strategic concessions in order to keep the boat upright, with
no essential changes in the class structure.
Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin, whose "popularly elected" mandate is the drum of
reform on which the Bush Administration and its media puppets now
beat, is the New Deal capitalist. He is a Russian nationalist who
recognizes that the biggest and richest republic (where the
majority of natural resources reside) has the most to gain on its
own.
He is logically anti-party and pro-civil war as this is how his
demands can be met. But these demands offer nothing for the Soviet
masses, only for the Russian capitalist class presently held back
by old party capitalism.
We can only expect the national conflict to become more intense.
As Stalin said, when the class struggle takes the back seat, the
national question comes to the fore. The various republics realize
that the center and the party are only out for their own
monopolistic interests.
What MIM said
Last December, MIM warned readers that Gorbachev's 500 Days
program, a plan to transform the Soviet Union into a more free
market economy, had fallen apart. Fourteen republics had declared
their independence from the central government. Several military
leaders said the military would back the "socialist state" against
a popular uprising.
What MIM said then: "The Soviet Union is increasingly headed for
class warfare as the entrenched bureaucratic elite fights for
power with a younger generation of capitalist roaders. The
transition from state capitalism to free market capitalism would
undermine a host of bureaucrats who have grown fat off their
positions and pave the way for a new breed of capitalist
entrepreneurs who could fight it out with each other instead of
the state. Neither of these choices provide any hope for the
masses."(2)
The New Federation
In this light, it is no surprise that the old bourgeoisie in the
party felt it had to move on the day before the Russian
Federation, headed by President Yeltsin, and the Central Asian
republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, were going to sign a
treaty that reformed the Soviet Union into a decentralized
federation.
The remaining 15 republics were due to sign the treaty, which was
to drop the word "socialist" from the country's name, a few weeks
later. In effect, there was going to be a negotiated dissolution
of a very powerful party clique. This was not to happen without a
fight from the losing side.
Revolutionary opportunity
MIM does not know of any Maoist party organized for revolution in
the Soviet Union. The masses should reject both sides of this
inter-capitalist struggle and forge ahead with socialist
revolution. The vanguard would have to be a Maoist party, because
only Maoism recognizes the possibility of capitalist restoration
under the communist party, and the need for continued revolution
under socialism. Without such a party, the people of the Soviet
empire will only continue to suffer, either from the existing
oppressive regime or a new one.
It was the opening of a civil war that allowed the Bolsheviks
under Lenin's guidance to win victory in Russia in 1917. And it is
a lesson both sides remember well. The media pundits in the United
States have been rebuilding the lost image of the Czar.
Revolutionaries should take the openings provided by these
struggles equally seriously.
We saw a period of profound change with the U.S. war against Iraq,
one that could have yielded a revolutionary opening here as it did
abroad. The verdict is not yet in on the realignment in the Middle
East.
Similarly, when the other superpower is on the verge of going down
the drain, and the nuclear threat revived, the world again comes
to a juncture where revolution is possible.
Notes:
1. BBC World Service 8/20/91.
2. MIM Notes 47 12/90, p. 7.
* * *
CANADIAN COURT SLAPS MOHAWK NATION
The Mohawk Nation is again under attack--this time in the Canadian
courtroom. Two major upcoming trials will throw "criminal" charges
at the Mohawks for defending their land and people against
foreign imperialist invasion.
On July 11, 1990, near Oka, Quebec, Mohawks defended their
territory at Kanesatake against attempted expansion of a
golfcourse, and against invasion by the Quebec Provincial Police
(QPP).
Joseph Deom, a Mohawk defendant, said, "They don't have
jurisdiction over our territories, our people. We acted in self-
defense in protecting our land from incursion and attack, and we
were within our rights to do what we did. We don't believe the
Canadian courts have the right to try us for those actions."
The Mohawk nation does not recognize the borders of the
imperialist nations of Canada and the United States. They will not
receive a "fair trial" in the courts. MIM supports the Mohawks'
struggle for independence and self-determination.
CANADIAN EMPIRE TRIES MOHAWKS
by MC42
On the summer of 1990, the Mohawks defended their land against
capitalist expansion and invasion by the Quebec Provincial Police
(QPP), at Kanesatake, near Oka in Quebec, Canada. Pointing to this
and other acts of Mohawk self-defense, the Canadian and U.S.
governments have imposed harsh conditions on the Mohawk Nation;
including police occupation and harassment, and economic
oppression. Both governments have also filed many criminal charges
against the Mohawks and their supporters.[see MIM Notes 43, 44]
Two major trials will take place in the next few months. The
"Cross" trial of Ronald Cross (Lasagne), Gordon Lazore (Noriega)
and Roger Lazore--who are accused of involvement in the death of a
police officer last summer--is tentatively scheduled to begin
October 1. The "Montour" trial of 40 defendants should have
finished jury selection on September 25, according to Mohawk
defense attorney, Owen Woung.(1, 2)
The Mohawk Nation, whose seven communities extend from Quebec and
Ontario into New York State, does not recognize the Canadian-U.S.
border, or the Canadian courts' jurisdiction over its people.
Joseph Deom, a Mohawk defendant in the Montour trial, explains,
"We are in court because if we don't appear in court, they're
going to chase us and hound us down forever. We have to confront
them in their courts, and state our case from our point of view.
If we get jailed--we become political prisoners."
All the defendants are charged with rioting, many are also charged
with possession of a weapon; and some are accused of assault of a
police officer. If convicted, the defendants--especially those in
the Cross trial--could face prison sentences of ten years or
more.(2)
Pre-trial battles
The court proceedings, many challenged by the defense, raise
important legal and political questions. The prosecution's method
of "direct indictment"--unsuccessfully challenged by the
defense--means there is no preliminary inquiry or discovery
process; the defense cannot question witnesses in advance and this
affects their ability to prepare for the trial.(2)
Direct indictment has been used mainly against defendants on trial
for organized crime; including The Hell's Angels and drug
rings.(3) Using it now implicitly links the Mohawk Warriors with
these "criminals." The proceedings compound the problems of the
Mohawk defense, already at a disadvantage in jury trial because of
adverse public opinion generated last summer around the Oka
crisis.
The impending trials will add to the heavy financial burdens now
facing the Mohawk Nation. Hiring defense lawyers is expensive, and
since the group trial of 40 people could last from three months to
a year, none of the defendants will be able to work during that
time. Roema General, a Mohawk at Akwesasne, told MIM Notes, "We've
been really affected financially. The legal costs are
tremendous--up to millions of dollars for defense. We're trying to
help the families with family members who have gone to prison."(4)
Struggle for self-sufficiency
Both the Canadian and U.S. governments are working on financially
destroying the Mohawk Nation--through police occupation and
continual attacks on Mohawk territories and businesses.
"They claim reasons for coming into our territory like the tobacco
trade, super-bingos, gambling, tax-free fuel. All of these are new
forms of economic development for our people. The traditional
forms of economic development are no longer practical," says
Kakwirakeron, a spokesperson in Akwesasne for the Mohawk Warrior
Society, and a Warrior himself. "The reason these [new forms of
economic development] are being attacked by both U.S. and Canadian
governments, is that ... economic empowerment leads to political
empowerment. Neither government wants to see this political
development and empowerment occur, so they must destroy the
economic development. That's what they've done for the past 200
years."
Well aware that providing gambling for white people is not
economic self-reliance, Kakwirakeron added, "... if we can sustain
a reasonable amount of sovereignty to pursue those forms of
economy, it would be only a stepping stone to other types of
economy that can sustain us further in the future."
Occupation strangles Mohawk economy
On May 1, 1990, 2,500 troops surrounded the Akwesasne territory,
after two Mohawk men were killed in a shootout with police.(6)
Claiming to have come to investigate the murders, there are
hundreds of police in the territory today (including FBI
undercover surveillance) and no investigation or criminal charges
have been made during the 15 months of occupation.(4)
By "harassing white patrons and stopping them on the highway,"
police presence has hampered Mohawk businesses.(3)
Both governments profit
Big profits are at stake for both the Canadian and U.S.
governments. While the expansion of a golf course was the
immediate issue at Oka last summer, Quebec's desire to push ahead
with the immense waterworks of James Bay II may have been the
larger issue.
Kakwirakeron predicts that "there is some other large development
going to take place here in conjunction with the James Bay Phase
II ... perhaps here in Akwesasne ... like an international port. We
feel that's the reason the authorities have come down so hard and
are spending tens of millions of dollars to suppress and oppress
us and destroy our economic development."
He added that "both governments wanted to crush the Mohawks in
1990 so that the Cree ... would not be tempted to stand up for their
rights in 1991." The Cree are fighting the government and logging
companies in Alberta, Canada.
Although the land issue at Kanesatake is still unresolved, and
police brutality by Quebec police at Kahnawake has increased,(4)
the Mohawks have made progress in their sovereignty movement. They
are furthering ties with other Indian Nations in Central and South
Amerika and with countries overseas.(5)
The Mohawk Warrior Society has also helped protect the community
at home. Due to the unfortunate connotation "Warrior" has taken
on, a more accurate description is Rotiskenrenkehteh, "the bearers
of peace." According to Mohawk defendant Joseph Deom,
"[Traditionally, it has been] the job of the males of the
community to protect the rights of the community." But the Warrior
Society is now made up of all segments of the community; including
women, men and children.
Prepared to use armed defense if necessary, Kakwirakeron said that
"the ultimate aim is to have a united front amongst the Indian
nations in North, Central and South Amerika that will enable each
nation to move toward being actually recognized as a sovereign
people."
Notes:
1. Prison News Service May/June 1991.
2. Interview with Owen Woung, defense lawyer for Mohawks, 8/13/91.
3. Interview with Joseph Deom, Mohawk defendant, 8/15/91.
4. Interview with Roema General, Mohawk at Akwesasne, 8/14/91.
5. Interview with Kakwirakeron a.k.a. Art Montour, Mohawk Warrior
and spokesperson for The Mohawk Warrior Society, 8/15/91.
6. MIM Notes 43.
* * *
SEPARATISTS FIGHT TO DEVIDE YUGOSLAVIA
Separatist conflicts rocked Yugoslavia as nationalist groups in
Slovenia and Croatia advanced their bids for independence. The
federal government responded with direct military action and
support for Serbian resistance to Croat police forces. Yugoslavia
can ill-afford to lose the strong economies of Slovenia and
Croatia, who must leave the state-capitalist federation to pursue
their free-market agendas in Europe.
Slovene militias delivered embarrassing defeats to the Yugoslav
troops as the Slovenians defended control of borders with Austria
and Italy. The Croat resistance, smaller and more poorly
equipped, was slaughtered in August as it engaged Serbian groups
backed by federal tanks.
SLOVENIA AIMS FOR FIRST WORLD STATUS
by MC18
Slovenia and Croatia-- Yugoslavia's wealthiest two republics--
declared their independence from the Yugoslav federation on June
25.(1) The declaration, executing a joint ultimatum from the
beginning of June, resulted in widespread violence involving
federal troops, territorial militias of the two republics, and the
Serbian minority in Croatia which opposes secession. The
federation, formed of the remnants of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
after the liberation of the Balkan States from Axis occupation in
WWII, has declared the separatist movements illegal.
It is not surprising that the republics are attempting to break
away from the Serbian-dominated federation, and into the European
Community (E.C.). The republics have established trade with
Austria and Germany, and are seeing the profits of that trade
redistributed through the central Yugoslav government. The entire
federation relies on revenues from the northern industrial base,
and from Slovenia's border crossings with Italy and Austria.
The health of the national economy on which the people in the
south depend will only be further undermined by the wealthy
republics' secession. The Yugoslav federal government--socialist in
name only--has brought Macedonia, Montenegro, and the other
southern republics to a state of economic dependence while
pursuing a path of capitalist "reforms" through the wealthier
republics.
Imperialist response
The E.C. is divided on how best to preserve its financial
investments in Yugoslavia; support is divided on purely economic
lines. Austria and Germany support the secessionists. France and
Britain side with the Yugoslav federal government. Italy is
uncommitted.(4) For Austria and Germany, secession would mean the
promise of building trade relations--ultimately prying open those
markets for imperialism.
The United States, without significant investments to consider,
produced typically hypocritical rhetoric. President Bush quipped:
"What we don't need is more violence in the world. We do need some
more peace and tranquility and people sitting down and talking
about their differences."(2)
NATO mirrored the U.S. position: "The recourse to violence should
stop. All parties should respect human rights and arrive through
dialogue at a peaceful and democratic solution."(3)
"Slovenia is at war."
In late June, Slovenian militias took control of borders with
Italy, Austria and Hungary. The Yugoslav People's Army (YPA)
mobilized, but retreated after failing to penetrate Slovenian road
blockades.(5) The federal government offered immediate
negotiations among all six republics. Slovenia and Croatia both
refused to attend.(2)
The YPA regained control of some of the borders after establishing
control of airspace. Over 100 people were killed within the first
few days of combat. The Slovene forces proved their effectiveness
by inflicting costly damage to federal forces.(6) Slovenia's
Defense Minister, Janez Jansa, was blunt: "To put it briefly,
Slovenia is at war."(5)
After two short-lived cease- fires failed to stop fighting by the
end of June, the YPA became increasingly uncooperative. YPA Chief
of Staff General Adzic explained: "under the existing
circumstances, a truce is no longer possible."(6)
The E.C. mediated an agreement giving the federal government
control of borders, with Slovenia obtaining border control after a
three month transitional period.(9) Slovenia's parliament speaker
criticized the YPA's integrity in the pact: "I fear that we have
no guarantees that the Yugoslav side will honor the agreement ....
We had to accept. The alternative was that the war would go
on."(10)
Croatia in conflict
The federal army failed to control Serbian violence in Croatia
sparked by the republic's declaration of independence. The
predominance of Serbs in the army and especially in the high
command positions make federal claims of impartiality
questionable. In late June, both the YPA and Serbian rebels
engaged Croat police forces with some casualties.(2) On July 2,
escalation involved Croats and federal troops, as YPA soldiers
opened fire on a crowd of 1,000 demonstrators, killing several
civilians.(8)
Croat Parliamentary Speaker Zarko Domljan accused the federal
forces of confounding Croatian actions: "cooperation with the
federal army is no longer possible. It is no longer our protector.
The army knows full well what is happening and when to protect the
terrorists."(10) Violence continued throughout July. Croatian
leadership rejected a federal peace plan on July 23, citing YPA
assistance in Serbian attacks on Croatian police. Federation Chair
Stipe Mesic and Croatian President Tudjman refused to sign,
demanding unconditional withdrawal of YPA troops.(11)
A July 31 Croatian counter-proposal conceded issues of home rule
and local Serbian police forces.(12) By this time it was apparent
that the ill-equipped and outnumbered Croats were losing the
war.(13) On August 2, 80 Croat soldiers were killed in three
cities on the Croat-Serb border. Croats claimed that army tanks
joined in the attacks.
On August 5, after several stalls in negotiations, Serbian rebels
and the Croatian government accepted a federal cease-fire
agreement, involving withdrawal of troops beyond mortar range.(14,
15, 16)
"All resistance will be crushed."
The YPA is nominally accountable to the federal presidency. The
presidency, due to rotate a Croat into the chairmanship, was
neutralized by Serbian opposition to the Croat choice, Stipe
Mesic, a Croat nationalist. The military ran itself under the
command of General Kadijevic in conjunction with Federal Prime
Minister Ante Markovic(2) until Mesic was permitted to accept the
chair. Mesic seeks to bring the military under presidential
control, but it has proven impossible to mobilize the army against
Serbian interests.(17)
General Konrad Kolsek, a Slovene, is the YPA commander in
Slovenia. He declared his support for central rule in the most
practical terms: "We will act in accordance with the rules of
combat. All resistance will be crushed."(3)
The army's miserable performance in Slovenia failed to enforce
Kolsek's iron-fisted rhetoric. It is clear that the central
command sees the embarrassment delivered by the Slovenian militia
as intolerable. Desertions--over 1,500 by early July (18,19)--low
morale and incompetence inspired the YPA command to replace 150
officers. Further strengthening of the military is bound to follow
and control of the countryside will tighten.(20)
Notes:
1. New York Times 6/26/91, p. A1.
2. NYT 6/28/91, p. A7.
3. NYT 6/29/91, p. A4.
4. NYT 7/3/91, p. A5.
5. NYT 6/28/91, p. A1.
6. NYT 6/29/91, p. A1.
7. NYT 7/1/91, p. A1.
8. NYT 7/3/91, p. A1.
9. NYT 7/8/91, p. A1.
10. NYT 7/10/91, p. A4.
11. NYT 7/24/91, p. A4.
12. NYT 8/1/91, p. A3.
13. NYT 8/2/91, p. A2.
14. NYT 8/3/91, p. A3.
15. NYT 8/7/91, p. A3.
16. NYT 8/6/91, p. A3.
17. NYT 6/26/91, p. A6.
18. NYT 7/9/91, p. A6.
19. The Economist 7/6/91, p. 45.
20. NYT 7/16/91, p. A5.
* * *
LETTERS
STUDENT VOLUNTEERS TO DISTRIBUTE MIM NOTES
Dear MIM,
I am a Marxist and a college student at XX, and an avid reader of
MIM Notes. I am thoroughly disgusted at the abuses and neglect
capitalism perpetuates on the poor and minorities. There is an
audience for your newsletter in the students of XX and these
discontented and oppressed minorities of which I just wrote. I am
requesting any information you would be generous enough to give,
and perhaps, if possible, distribute your revolutionary paper to
the enlightened students and disgruntled underclass. One day the
glorious revolution shall purge humanity of its base capitalist
elements, until then continue the fight!
--MA51
July 1991
Dear MIM,
First, please send your packet "What is MIM?"
Please note enclosed article, we would be extremely interested in
a "Maoist critique" and/or any personal ideas/comments/etc.
MIM Notes appeared at XX university about 4 months ago. We would
be interested in linking up with member(s) here in XX but (for
good reasons or not) your XX distributor keeps an ultra-low
profile.
If you have any name or number we here could get to contact this
person, we would be grateful.
Your paper is one of the best I've seen. Keep it up.
ÁLa Lucha Sigue!
--A friend in the East
July 1991
MC17 responds: There are still places where MIM does not have a
representative or distributor. If the distributor in your area is
keeping an ultra-low profile, chances are that person is only in
town for the day to distribute and does not do regular political
work there.
Many of these are areas in which MIM distributes the paper only by
virtue of a long drive. If the paper is already distributed in
your area that does not mean MIM doesn't need your help.
PRISON LIBRARY REJECTS MIM NOTES
Dear Sir,
Several months ago, I wrote asking that 25 copies of MIM Notes be
sent to me for distribution through our Inmate Library. This was
based on sample copies of the publication.
Now that it has begun arriving, I realize that it is, after all,
inappropriate for our needs here. Please remove Hendry
Correctional Institution from your list.
--Hendry Correctional Institution
June 1991
MC17 responds: What could it possibly be in MIM Notes that is
inappropriate for the prisoners to see?
MIM NOTES INACCURATE
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to you to express my frustration with MIM Notes in
its coverage of the Mt. Pleasant/Adams Morgan riots in issue 53.
When I first read another issue of your paper, I thought that you
were a breath of fresh air, but in your coverage of the DC riots,
you showed that you are just as capable of media distortion as the
capitalist press you abhor. As a gay person, I also have many
problems with your international movement.
In your coverage of the Mt. Pleasant riots you state that
"residents rioted for two nights." It is true that two nights of
rioting took place. But witnesses such as myself and many of my
friends will tell you that the first night's riots were dominated
by Latino residents, but the second night was primarily staffed by
non-Latino teenagers from outside the neighborhood who saw a good
chance to do some looting.
You also support the gossip-legend that began the riots, that the
police were beating Daniel Gomez or someone in his party and that
he was handcuffed when he was shot. It is not generally believed
in the neighborhood by other gossip-legend that he was handcuffed.
You report the incident as fact, quoting a bourgeois capitalist
newspaper, while the reality is that almost nobody knows the true
chain of events leading up to the rioting except that a hundred
versions of the incident spread through the neighborhood in a
matter of hours. (Incidentally, I support the use of gossip, the
only medium of the disenfranchised).
You also state in your article on the DC riots that rioters
destroyed "other property not owned by Latinos." This is
completely untrue. As I walked down the street the day after the
riots, a majority of the stores which had been looted or had
windows smashed were majority owned businesses. Look at the papers
a few days after the rioting and see the names of the people in
the local business association who complained that the police did
not do enough to stop the looting--many of them were Latinos.
"MC17," who wrote the article, does not seem to have been there or
to have interviewed anyone who was. Most of the sources are from
the bourgeois media. The situation which brought up the riots was
very complex and I feel that MIM Notes purposefully omitted this
in order to support its own agenda at the expense of truth.
Because you sacrifice truth, I feel that people in our
neighborhood who have genuine grievances have been exploited by
your organization. You criticize other media for
misrepresentation, yet you do it yourselves. You have lost all
credibility as far as I am concerned.
As a gay person I must also question MIM on the international
scene. Gay men and lesbians have always been persecuted in China,
and the period of the cultural revolution was no exception. Maoist
guerrillas in Peru have been targeting gay people for torture and
death. Don't think that we don't know this or that we are willing
to accept it.
--A reader in DC
August 1991
MC17 responds: This author demonstrates well why MIM is always
asking its readers to help out by writing articles or sending
information to be used in articles. MIM researches all articles
with the best information available. Unfortunately, this sometimes
means using bourgeois media sources because others are not
available and MIM does not have a reporter in every city.
When the choice is between writing an article with limited
information and not writing an article at all, MIM chooses to
inform its readers on all possible topics. Sometimes this leads to
inaccuracies, and on these MIM welcomes correction.
The author claims that MIM did not have the correct information in
an article on the D.C. riots, and MIM appreciates that the time
the author took to write. MIM also hopes that this person will be
willing to write the article next time there is an event to be
covered in D.C.
Rather than saying that MIM has lost all credibility, the author
should ask if MIM is interested in printing the correct
information, and should offer to get this information to MIM. MIM
welcomes criticism on its articles from those who are willing to
put effort into correcting the errors.
It is not in MIM's interest to misrepresent events. MIM is very
serious about its task of exposing the lies of bourgeois culture
and believes that an accurate portrayal of all events in the world
can only help demonstrate the validity of its theories. Only by
understanding the material nature of events in the world can MIM
arrive at the most effective way to work for revolution. MIM's
pages are open to all who wish to write about events around the
world from the point of view of the oppressed.
The author claims that gossip is the only medium of the
disenfranchised. The burden is on the author to explain why they
should not use an internationally distributed newspaper to spread
information rather than the provincial, unreliable, and often
harmful method of gossip.
MIM refuses to print unsubstantiated speculation in its paper. The
article on D.C. relied on a number of sources, some of which were
not bourgeois media, in an attempt to print the most accurate
description of events.
Because the author criticizes bourgeois media, MIM presumes that
the source of the accusations of China and the Senderos are from
other more reliable media. If this is so MIM asks the author to
send these so that MIM may investigate further. Until now MIM has
only found unsubstantiated accusations in the bourgeois press. MIM
does not wish to help with this slander of revolutionary movements
by reprinting such accusations.
* * *
REPORT ON MATH SCORES SLANDERS OPPRESSED NATIONALITIES
by MA20
A news release in June regarding United States students' math
status indicated that U.S. students do poorly in math.
The test score results are being used to spread racialist myths
about national "minorities" and their perceived role in slowing
down U.S. educational progress.
Wayne Sanstead, North Dakota's state school superintendent, said
that his state's high test score was, in part, due to North
Dakota's ability to "escape some of the problems that drag down
test scores in other states, such as lack of parental
supervision."(1) Bill Honig, the California school superintendent,
said "[California's lower-than-expected scores] could be partly
attributed to a much higher pattern of minorities and low
socioeconomic groups."(1)
The myth of oppressed nationalities' educational inferiority is
used by imperialist ideologues to justify and excuse the
oppression meted out by U.S. imperialism--be it in the schools, on
the job or elsewhere. People who are "intellectually inferior," of
course, should be expected to live as 20th century slaves--if one
follows this racist logic. Reports on these test scores are then
used to blame Blacks and other oppressed nationalities for the
"poor state" of Amerikan public education.
To honor the racist myths of oppressed nationality student
inferiority with a response is unnecessary and unwarranted.
Suffice it to say, the bourgeoisie is ignoring Black scholastic
progress at the high school level. For ideological and political
purposes, the government does not want to let the true story be
told.
"While the percentage of white or Hispanic students who finish
high school has shown little improvement for two decades, the
percentage of blacks who do has been on a constant rise. The Black
completion rate has improved ... much faster than that of whites ...
The good news about the black progress is one that some educators
resist advertising ... When the National Center for Educational
Statistics first published a report on dropout rates in 1989,
researchers drafted a news release that highlighted the black
progress. But aides to Educational Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos
asked that it be reworked, to stress instead the continuing
problems of Hispanic Americans."(2)
According to the New York Times, the reason for the selective
reporting of the facts was that "it would undermine efforts to
bring increased attention and money to the schools."(2)
National oppression of Blacks, Latinos and others is most obvious
in the educational process through standardized achievement test
scores and college enrollment rates.
International competition between capitalist nations is a key
reason for the concern over math progress in the U.S. schools,
since the real purpose of education is to provide students with
the development of skills and indoctrination into the ideals
needed by the U.S. imperialist nation.
"...Computers and advanced technology will demand much more
sophisticated skills in the work place."(3) If this is the case
and if "...most high school seniors perform below the eighth grade
level [in math] and only five percent are prepared for college
math," then the U.S. governmental goal "to be the first in the
world in math and science by the year 2000"(3) will not be
achieved. Math and science skills are necessary for a variety of
work place tasks, including the development and refinement of
technology.
As long as education and society are organized around the profit
motive (capitalism) and are not organized around the needs of the
oppressed and working people then the various controversies about
U.S. schools will have little impact on improving the world.
Advancing the cause and need for socialism through the Third World
Revolution is a key task required to change this situation.
Through this, education can begin to have some relevance and real
importance for humanity.
Notes:
1. Wall Street Journal 6/7/91.
2. New York Times 6/9/91.
3. Washington Post 6/791.
* * *
PIG RIZZO OINKS HIS LAST
Ex-Frank Rizzo, ex-police chief and ex-mayor of the City of
"Brotherly Love," dropped dead in the July heat and had a funeral
on July 19. Cardinal Bevilacqua, pig-priest, praised Hangman Frank
as "God's answer to the call of the needy." The hell with God
then.
Fourteen thousand settlers queued up to watch the dead hambone
rot.
"Why all these people came to the viewing and funeral says as much
about their lives and Philadelphia as it does about Frank Rizzo
and his dual reputation as both a tough police official with a big
heart and also as a racist."(1)
Yes it does.
--MC86
Notes: New York Times 7/20/91, p. 6.
* * *
SALVADORAN 'FREE MARKET COMPETITION'
MIM is reprinting the following information from the Weekly News
Update on Nicaragua and the Americas, a publication of the
Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339 Lafayette
St., New York, NY 10012. The analysis is not necessarily that of
the Solidarity Network.
On Aug. 1, the Salvadoran government illegally shut down the Food
Regulatory Institute (IRA) which was responsible for the
purchasing, pricing and distribution of basic foodstuffs.
According to ASTIRA, the IRA workers union, the closing was "a
result of pressure from agro-industrial sectors." Government
authorities say that production will now be dependent on the laws
of market competition through the government's basic grains
policy. In the language of the capitalists this means that,
without price controls, those who are already hungry will get
hungrier so that those who are rich can get richer.
--MC17
Notes: Issue 80, 8/11/91.
* * *
U.S. MILITARY AID TO EL SALVADOR CONTINUES
On July 24 the Senate defeated the Dodd-Leahy amendment to the
foreign aid authorization bill which would have withheld half of
all military aid to El Salvador.
--MC17
Notes: Issue 79, 8/4/91.
* * *
GUATEMALAN GOVERNMENT PROMISES DEMOCRACY
On July 25 the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG)
signed an agreement with the Guatemalan government on the
democratization of Guatemala. Both parties agreed that civilian
rule must prevail over the armed forces; repression and electoral
fraud must be eliminated; there must be unrestricted respect for
human rights; the identity and rights of indigenous people must be
respected; and that the national economy, as well as the
political, social and cultural life of Guatemala, must be
democratized.
--MC17
Notes: Issue 79, 8/4/91.
* * *
NICARAGUAN RECONTRA ATTACKS
In Nicaragua, 80-150 rearmed contras, known as recontras, attacked
the Sandinista commanded police station in Quilal’ on July 25. The
Sandinistas sent in reinforcements of 200 police and the
Sandinista Popular Army (EPS), in response to the attack. This was
the second attack at Quilal’; the previous assault occurred on
June 27 and involved 40 recontras.
The Sandinista station Radio Ya reported on July 31 that a plane
from Honduras supplied the recontras in Matagalpa. The Honduran
government denied the charges the next day.
--MC17
Notes: Issue 79, 8/3/91.
* * *
NICARAGUA NEWS DISTORTION
Many of the recontras say they have taken up arms because of
Sandinista abuses. There are groups working both in Nicaragua and
in the United States to spread the recontras' stories. The
Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ANPDH) was founded by the
U.S. State Department in 1985 ostensibly to monitor human rights
abuses by the contras; it now operates six offices in Nicaragua,
with jeeps, computers, fax machines and at least eight full-time
attorneys.
The Nicaraguan Council of Evangelical Churches reports that ANPDH
"has aggressively sought out evidence of Sandinista human rights
abuses, and ignoring and, in at least one incident, actively
covering up evidence of contra violations."
On July 18, the U.S.-based human rights group Americas Watch
issued a press release announcing the publication of "Fitful
Peace," its report on Nicaragua. The press release--which
journalists are more likely to read than the full 54-page
report--focuses on those sections which might put the Sandinistas
in a bad light while consistently omitting any evidence that would
give a different picture (including the report's strong criticism
of U.S. government policy). The release refers to the deaths of 53
ex-contras; and the report itself discusses 17 of the killings,
attributing most of them to armed confrontations or drunken
brawls.
--MC17
Notes: Issue 80 8/11/91.
* * *
POINTS OF ATTENTION GUIDE MAOISTS
When asked recently what the rules and regulations that governed
the conduct of the Filipino New People's Army (NPA) were, a 30
year old member of peasant origin dutifully recited: "Be
respectful when you are talking to the people, return everything
you borrow, pay the exact amount of your purchase, pay for what
you've destroyed, do not destroy the crops of the people, do not
exploit the women, and do not harm captives."(1)
These rules are almost exactly the same as Chinese Communist
Party's (CCP) eight points of attention for its members: "Speak
politely; pay a fair price for your purchases; return what you
borrow; give compensation for any damage you do; do not beat or
insult people; do not trample on crops; do not importune women; do
not mistreat prisoners."(2)
The Maoist-inspired Black Panther Party of the 1960s took the
CCP's eight points of attention wholesale.(3)
--MC67
Notes:
1. Philippine Resource Center Monitor 1/3/91, p. 13.
2. Jean Esmein, The Chinese Cultural Revolution, Anchor Books,
1973, p. 69.
3. Philip S. Foner, ed., The Black Panthers Speak, J.B. Lippincott
Co., New York, 1970, p.6.
* * *
PEOPLE ARE CHEAPER
The war against Iraq left hundreds of thousands dead and dying.
Less than 0.1% of those killed were Amerikan soldiers. That's what
made it all worthwhile for imperialist cheerleaders. That and the
oil.
But now the Pentagon released the final figure of those Amerikan
troops who were officially killed by their own brothers and
sisters in uniform: 38 out of 145 dead, or almost 24%.
They said the unprecedented ratio resulted from advanced
technology, which was also the reason given that so few Amerikans
died at all. The equipment was the show in the Persian Gulf.
Not one person deserved to die in that war. Those Amerikans killed
by their own were no more wasted than those few the Iraqis killed.
But the justification is a chilling one. It shows again the cold
calculation of costs between people and machines. When the people
are the nation's oppressed anyway--most of those killed by
"friendly fire" were ground troops--the cost-benefit analysis is a
breeze for the Pentagon computer-accountants.
--MC12
Notes: New York Times 8/15/91.
* * *
WHAT'S THE SCOOP, GORBY?
No one ever accused the fascist state capitalists who attempted to
seize power from the "resting" Mikhail Gorbachev in the USSR last
month of telling the truth.
A month before the coup Vice President Yanayev--hand-picked by
Gorbachev-- told the British Broadcasting Corporation: "There are
no differences between the President and the Vice President and
the Prime Minister ... All the key ministers are all pulling
together as a single team."
Yanayev became the official front-man in the coup (the one who
expressed such sympathy over his leader's ill health). Asked by
the BBC in July to explain a position of his government, replied:
"I often imagine myself in Mr. Gorbachev's position ..."
--MC12
Notes: BBC World Service 8/20/91.
* * *
SWITCHAROOS
"The U.S., a prime model of a colony that won its independence,
now is firmly on the side of preserving the world's last great
colonial empire: The Soviet Union."
"Bush ... warned the colonies seized by Russia's czars and
Communists to avoid suicidal nationalism and ... urged that they
focus on winning freedoms from the empire's rulers in the Kremlin
rather than gaining independence.
"In an extraordinarily harsh statement, the government of the
republic of Georgia complained that "the president ... calls on the
enslaved republics to hang a millstone about their own necks, to
sign their own eternal enslavement, to give up their most sacred
right."(1)
MIM recommends that our Soviet comrades form a Marxist-Leninist-
Maoist Party, seize state power, mount successive cultural
revolutions, and, incidentally, support the upcoming revolutionary
armed struggles of all the oppressed nations.
We might even beat you to it.
--MC86
Notes: Wall Street Journal 8/12/91, p. 8.
* * *
MEET THE PRESS
During the war against Iraq (and most other times), the media
reporters at presidential news conferences make it a point to
avoid difficult questions, or questions they couldn't answer
themselves. And the main rule is to go along with the assumptions
of the government.
So if Bush says the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq was "naked
aggression," the reporters would have to ask: "what is our policy
toward this naked aggression?"
So it was good to see the Soviet reporters learning from their
Western counterparts.
After placing Gorbachev under house arrest and seizing power, the
coup leaders told the press the president was sick. One reporter,
not wanting to rock the boat but wondering if they might not just
go ahead and off Gorbachev, put the question this way to Vice
President Yanayev: "Can you provide a guarantee ... that Mr.
Gorbachev will continue feeling better?"
--MC12
Notes: New York Times 8/20/91, p. A8.
* * *
INFO INDUSTRY SPITS OUT FIRST WORLD PROPAGANDA
Looking at the international information industry today, we see
the "big four" news agencies--United Press International (UPI),
Associated Press (AP), Agence France Presse (AFP) and
Reuters--cover over 90% of the international news printed by the
world's newspapers.
"The Third World, which represents over two-thirds of the world's
population and area, accounts for only 25% of reports from the
four agencies--unless there are wars, famine, etc."(1) For
instance, in May of this year, the Ethiopian People's
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in Ethiopia, a country of
over 50 million people in North Africa, overthrew the Mengistu
regime there--a client of Soviet social imperialism. The "big four"
did not report the process regularly until a few days before the
actual overthrow. Since then, they have barely touched the
aftermath.
UPI, the biggest of the agencies, spends 71.2% of its coverage on
North Amerika. In the Third World it devotes 5.9% of its coverage
to Asia, 3.2% to Latin America, and 1.8% to Africa.(2) North
Amerika had a 1989 population of just under 300 million people,
while the latter three regions, beneficiaries of UPI coverage
totalling only 10.9%, totalled about 4 billion people together.(3)
--MC67
Notes:
1. Third World Resurgence 8/91, p. 18.
2. Third World Resurgence 8/91, p. 16.
3. 1989 World Population Data Sheet, Population Reference Bureau
4/91.
* * *
MOVIE REVIEW: THE DOCTOR
Don't see this movie for any reason. But since this anonymous
comrade wasted the money to go, MIM readers may as well know that
the most powerful special interest group of all--white men--is still
well represented in Hollywood's new specialized market.
This movie involves the exploration of the bourgeois soul--the
search for lost humanity. The thrill is supposed to be that we
discover that even obnoxious, rich, death-peddling heart surgeon
(William Hurt) has a place in God's heart; but the best thing is
how hard the movie has to try to find humanity in the walking
corpse of Amerika's oppressor class personified.
Yes, even the worst doctor, the most evil, malpractice-evading,
conceited doctor on earth could still be afraid of dying. But when
he sees the light after a brush with cancer (which never
threatened his life, but might have cost him his vocal chords!) he
learns to be a "good doctor."
That means a doctor who smiles, and treats his patients like
people. That's great. It really is. But it's just such a pitiful
expression of humanity that it has to come so hard, and accomplish
so little--accept maybe another Oscar and a few more million bucks.
--A comrade
* * *
MIM NOTES SUPPLEMENT: LESSONS FROM THE ATTICA PRISON UPRISING:
1971-91
by a prisoner
Sept. 13 marks the 20th anniversary of the uprising at Attica
Correctional Facility in New York. It is a good time for prisoners
to ask, "Why an Attica Day?" There are several good reasons.
First, it is important for prisoners still working for progress to
honor their comrades who have fallen in the struggle for justice.
Second, it is essential for us on the inside to understand the
lessons of Attica, both positive and negative, so that such losses
can be minimized in the future. Third, the uprising at Attica
represents a symbol of resistance and the birth of a greater
prisoners' movement.
To appreciate the events at Attica, it is first necessary to put
them in proper political and historical context. Today many
prisoners view justice as nothing more than a cop's bullet in the
back or as endless years of meaningless confinement. That's
bourgeois justice. What the brothers at Attica were fighting for
is proletarian justice, which is an end to the system that
perpetuates the destructive cycle that imprisonment represents.
They wanted us to see their rebellion as one battle in a
continuous struggle waged on an international level, not just one
isolated incident.
The Attica uprising was a spontaneous event. It happened because
the material conditions for resistance were ripe. There had been
political study groups in most of the major wings, and prisoner
consciousness had been developed to a point where the entire
population could act as a single fist. Sam Melville, an Attica
prisoner, had been publishing a little underground paper he wrote
by hand, with as many carbon copies as he could make. It was
called the Iced Pig.
Well-thought-out demands had been drawn up and submitted to the
state's corrections bureaucracy for resolution. When no action was
taken by officials, prisoners backed their demands with a ten-day
peaceful work strike. The strike ended with a shopping cart full
of pious promises that were never honored. Then, on Aug. 21, 1971,
when George Jackson was murdered at San Quentin, Attica cons wore
black armbands and boycotted the mess hall for a day. All of these
actions reflected a high degree of political unity.
On Sept. 9, 1971, less than a month after the boycott, a fight
broke out in one of the wings. Through an unusual combination of
circumstances, such as prisoners inadvertently gaining access to
an important gate, the fight erupted into a riot and takeover of
sections of the prison, including D-Yard. Even though the
rebellion was not planned, D-Yard prisoners quickly and
efficiently organized themselves into a commune. They had no
weapons to speak of and their level of outside support was
negligible.
The rebelling prisoners seemed to be aware of their weaknesses, as
they immediately called upon cons in other New York prisons and
the progressive community on the outside to back their play. This
call was made through the mass media, the presence of which was a
precondition to negotiations. Another precondition was the
formation of an observer team selected by the prisoners. These and
other threshold demands indicate how conscious the prisoners were
of their vulnerability; they also reflect a deep level of
understanding as to what was necessary to overcome their
weaknesses.
The observer team consisted of liberals like Tom Wicker of the New
York Times and leftist political organizers like Jesse Jackson.
While the media and observer team were successful in terms of
winning a substantial amount of public opinion in favor of the
prisoners, the men in D-Yard needed more than moral support. No
other prisons went down. And the left did nothing to support the
brothers.
To top it all off, when push came to shove, when the state told
the observer team to clear the yard so they could launch their
attack on the prisoners, these observers, the same men who had
been championing the cause of the prisoners in the press, left the
yard and thus exposed the brothers to the guns of the state. They
were slaughtered at the hands of the state police and prison
guards behind those guns. Forty-three people were killed.
Besides leaving the prisoners vulnerable by not joining them in
the yard, the radicals and left leaders failed to mobilized the
extensive progressive community in New York City. These people and
the loved ones of the men inside could have surrounded the prison
in a non-violent vigil until it was resolved. Moreover, due to a
long and deeply entrenched tradition of opportunism, the left did
not possess the capacity to defend people like the Attica brothers
with all levels of support.
Given these weaknesses, it is easy to see why Gov. Nelson
Rockefeller thought he could get away with ordering the Sept. 13
military attack on the unarmed prisoners.
The tactic implemented by the prisoners of Attica, although it
exposed the naked violence of the state to a complacent public and
raised prisoners consciousness to a higher level, was political
defeat--and a very expensive one at that. This is not to say that
D-Yard prisoners were all wrong. There were both positive and
negative aspects to the uprising. In order to glean the lessons,
however, we must examine the negative, the weaknesses, in an
effort to transform weakness into strength. That's what the
struggle is all about; fight, learn, fight some more, learn some
more, and so on until victory.
One central weakness of Attica stands out: the general absence of
prisoner organization until after the uprising was accomplished.
Of course people sometimes erupt into spontaneous and violent
resistance to their oppressors-- who can blame them? But if the
object is to win, as it must be, then political action should be
organized and disciplined and guided by advanced political theory.
And when these things exist, it is not necessary to resort to such
self-destructive tactics as those used at Attica.
The high degree of political consciousness possessed by the Attica
rebels is reflected in their demand for transportation to a non-
imperialist country. Yet, either because of a lack of patience or
allowing unfolding events to get ahead of them, they did not build
any formal organization prior to the revolt. With the necessary
organization and theory, they could have organized themselves,
then other state institutions, developed outside support networks,
and otherwise set the stage for a long-term mass struggle.
Naturally it is easier to view past events from the comfortable
perspective of hindsight than it is to actually participate in a
complex experience like the uprising at Attica. Nothing said here
should be construed to detract from the strong spirit of the
comrades who made those terrible sacrifices in D-Yard. But since
Attica did happen, future generations of prisoners can learn from
the experience. The Attica cons went too far, too fast; moving
without taking the time to build a broad base of support. The
state's response was to ruthlessly smash these budding efforts to
resist, a job that was made easier through the exploitation of
prisoners' weaknesses.
As mentioned earlier, this Sept. 12 marks the twentieth year since
the massacre at Attica, an anniversary that should be honored by
prisoners everywhere. These 20 years have not been good ones in
terms of progress for prisoners. Dozens of prisons have
experienced riots and hostage takings during this period; most of
which ended in the loss of prisoner lives (either by their captors
or, as in the case of New Mexico, at the hands of their fellow
prisoners). There is little to indicate that the lessons of Attica
have been learned, let alone internalized.
As a result, the situation today is far worse in most respects
than it was then. There is no decent level of outside support.
Prisoners are not organized by institution, let alone on a
statewide or national level. And the current degree of political
sophistication on the inside is shallow at best; in most joints
downright reaction reigns supreme. It doesn't appear as if this
will change any time soon.
Who is to blame for today's material conditions? If one puts the
finger on opportunist leadership they would probably not be far
off the mark. But a more important question to ask is where to go
from here? This writer has not run across anyone with all the
answers. Still, a few general lessons can be drawn from past
experience.
The advocates of "off the pigs" and "burn it to the ground" should
have their perspectives examined in the light of reality. They
burned McAlester down in the early 70s, but has that improved the
lot of prisoners there? No! The same for New Mexico. Prisoners in
those joints are still overcrowded, degraded, powerless, and no
nearer to making forward progress. Similarly, prisoners in
California have been killing guards (when they aren't busy
murdering each other) for years without any substantial change
resulting from it. Instead of acts against low-level flunkies or
quickly replaced prison property, people should prepare for the
long-range struggle that lies ahead.
One area of important work that can be done now is the formulation
of study groups aimed at deepening our understand of progressive
political theory. Prisoners' Legal News will soon be offering
books on the philosophy of dialectical and historical materialism.
Unlike organizing on the inside, studying politics in an area of
activity protected by the First Amendment. Building such study
groups will be an important step for those who would hope to pick
up and carry the banner of Attica.
MC11 adds: MIM agrees with the author's analysis: as a Maoist
revolutionary party, we follow the strategy of building public
opinion through forums like study groups and this newspaper in
order to create a broad base of support for revolution. We
struggle with people on the outside over many of the same issues
the author raises--both those who want to take up arms immediately,
despite the inevitability of defeat, and those who waste time
trying to reform the oppressive system rather than preparing to
overthrow it.
But MIM takes the author's assertion of the need for political
education and organization a step further--we contend that such
activities need to take place under the guidance of a
revolutionary party in order to be effective in working for
revolution. A study of the history of attempts at revolution shows
that in addition to having a mass base of support, the leadership
of a communist party is necessary to achieve success. The party
also distributes books by Marx, Lenin and Mao free to prisoners.
This article, written by a Washington state prisoner, will be
published in the September issue of Prisoners Legal News, a
monthly newsletter written and produced by prisoners that contains
valuable information and analysis on prisons. For subscriptions to
PLN, write to P.O. Box 1684, Lake Worth, FL 33460.
* * *
ATTICA CHRONOLOGY
The chronology below describes the main prison-related events
preceding, during and immediately following the Attica prison
uprising in September 1971. Although Attica has become a symbol
for the prisoner liberation movement and the lengths to which the
state will go to crush it, it is important to remember that it was
not an isolated incident. The Attica uprising took place in the
context of an anti-imperialist movement that was sweeping the
United States in the late 1960s and early 70s, and the state's
reaction is reflective of the repression that was brought to bear
on all factions of the revolutionary movement during those years.
October 1970: Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George
Jackson is published. There were at least 16 prison protests
during 1970, and Jackson, a member of the Black Panther Party who
did ten years in prison for stealing $70 from a gas station,
served as an example to many prisoners of how to fight from behind
the walls.
January 1971: Russell Oswald appointed New York State Commissioner
of Corrections Services by Neslon A. Rockefeller. Oswald was
considered a liberal who wanted to bring dramatic reforms to the
prison system.
May 1971: The Attica Liberation Front forms within the prison, and
sends a manifesto of 27 demands to Oswald. Members of the Black
Panther Party, the Young Lords, the Weatherman, and other anti-
imperialist groups are in the prison and Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
study groups are taking place.
July 1971: Having received no response from Oswald, five prisoners
send another letter reiterating the original demands.
Aug. 22, 1971: George Jackson shot to death at San Quentin prison
in California.
Aug. 23, 1971: 700 Attica prisoners wear black armbands and fast
in honor of Jackson. Says Herbert X. Blyden, a leader of the
Attica revolt in a 1990 television documentary: "George Jackson's
death I think impacted on me in such a way that even Dr. King's
death didn't impact on me... So I think what I had to do at that
point was to show that we can be strong even during trials and
tribulations, much as George was strong to the death."
Sept. 3, 1971: Oswald responds to the ALF's demands in a tape-
recorded message played over the prison radio system. He says he
will institute some reforms but they would take time.
Sept. 8, 1971: A confrontation between guards and prisoners leads
to two prisoners being dragged from their cells to another unit.
Other inmates tell guards if anything happens to them, there could
be reprisals.
Sept. 9, 1971: 8:50 a.m. A fight breaks out between a guard and
the prisoners who threatened the guards on Sept. 8. With several
guards distracted, prisoners seize the opportunity to break down a
gate and gain access to all four main cellblocks.
10:30 a.m. 1,281 prisoners assemble in D-Yard. They have 39
hostages and maintain control of half the prison. Prisoners elect
a negotiating committee. Others are delegated to deal with
security, clean-up, medical care, and communications. They ask 13
journalists, government officials, and political activists to come
and observe the situation in the yard, and extend the invitation
of safe passage to anyone who wants to come in.
12:00 p.m. State police assume attack positions outside the yard.
2:00 p.m. Oswald visits the yard. He is given a list of demands,
including improved living conditions, payment of minimum wage for
prison labor, passage to a non-imperialist country for those who
wanted it, and amnesty.
Sept. 10, 1971: 33 observers visit D-Yard twice, speak with
prisoners and prison officials. With Oswald, the observers draw up
a compromise document. It does not include amnesty. News that
prison guard William Quinn, injured during the takeover and
surrendered by the prisoners so that he could get medical care,
has died leaves prisoners at risk of the death penalty without the
promise of amnesty. They reject the compromise proposal.
Sept. 12: Observers plead with Governor Rockefeller to come to
Attica. Commissioner Oswald issues a statement to prisoners
telling them to release the hostages and continue negotiating on
"neutral ground." Observers visit the yard again. Rockefeller
refuses to come.
Sept. 13: 7:40 a.m. Oswald reads an ultimatum to the prisoners,
telling them to release the hostages and "join with me in
restoring order to the facility." He demands a reply within the
hour. The prisoners discuss the ultimatum. Only one speaks in
favor of accepting it. In an effort to forestall the impending
assault, the prisoners bring eight blindfolded hostages to the
catwalks. Eight prisoners stand behind them with knives at their
throats.
9:45 a.m. State troopers drop gas on D-Yard from helicopter. A
task force of 211 state troopers begin firing from the roofs.
After five minutes of heavy fire, 32 prisoners and 10 hostages lie
dead or dying. Hundreds are wounded.
Afternoon. Prison guards regain control of the prison and begin to
torture the prisoners, some in public, some in private. Frank "Big
Black" Smith, a leader of the uprising, describes the aftermath of
the massacre in a television documentary: "They ripped our clothes
off. They made us crawl on the ground like we were animals.... And
they lay me on a table, and they beat me in my testicles. And they
burned me with cigarettes and dropped hot shells on me.... They
set up a gauntlet in the hallway and they broke glass up in the
middle of the hallway and they made people run through the
gauntlet. They had police on each side with the clubs they call
nigger sticks and they was beating people."
October 1971: The New York State Special Commission on Attica
releases its report calling for massive reform of the prison
system. "With the exception of the Indian massacres in the late
nineteenth century, the State Police assault which ended the four-
day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between
Americans since the Civil War," the Commission said.
Sources:
Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson, Bantam
Books, New York, 1970.
Erik Olin Wright, The Politics of Punishment, Harper Torchbooks,
New York, 1973.
Attica: The Official Report of the New York State Special
Commission on Attica, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1972.
Eyes on the Prize, video from Blackside Productions, 1990.
Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer, editors, Voices of Freedom: An Oral
History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the
1980s, Bantam Books, New York, 1990.
* * *
TWO DECADES LATER, PRISON REFORM FAILS
by MC11
On Sept. 13, twenty years after New York state troopers gunned
down 32 defenseless prisoners in the D-Yard of the Attica
Correctional Facility, prisoners in New York, Maryland and New
Jersey who continue their comrades' struggle against political
repression and brutal conditions will commemorate the Attica
uprising by refusing to participate in any activities, MIM prison
comrades say.
"In collaboration with the New York and New Jersey prisoners (whom
I correspond with) we (all soldiers/comrades in the prisons) will
not go to school, work, shop, etc. on Sept. 13, [1991] in
commemoration of Attica," a Maryland prisoner writes. "We want to
give honor to the martyrs and warriors who suffered, and are still
suffering, under the suppression of the American prison system."
People on the outside will remember Attica on Sept. 13 as well: a
watershed event in a turbulent period of Amerikan history, the
uprising and subsequent massacre produced big headlines and moral
outrage as Amerikans got a rare look at the realities of their
criminal justice system. Commemorative ceremonies are planned in
New York City, Buffalo, N.Y., Washington D.C., and Ann Arbor, MI.
But as liberals, shocked by the brutality of the state that was
exposed in the Attica massacre, gear up to commemorate the
uprising that left in its wake a trail of guilty consciences,
bleeding hearts and reformist promises, prisoners in contact with
MIM have one message for the would-be reformers: nothing's
changed.
"On the question of the Attica uprising, it's the same situation
over and over. Just the time and place are the only differences,"
a midwest prisoner writes.
Liberals vow reform
In 1972, the New York State Special Commission on Attica,
appointed to investigate the slaughter, concluded, among other
things, that overcrowding, inhumane conditions, and lack of
educational and other rehabilitative programs were at the root of
the uprising.
"If the state is to take seriously its stated commitment to
rehabilitation, and not custody alone, dramatic innovation is
inescapably necessary," the Commission said in its report, hailed
by the New York Times as a "superb document, sweeping in scope ...
an urgent call for correctional reform."(1)
Some of the reforms recommended by the Commission and other
liberal crusaders may have filtered into the prison system over
the last 20 years. There may well be more "rehabilitation"
programs and the pretense of more prisoner input into how the
institutions are run. There may be more job training, and more
intricate grievance procedures.
Certainly, the Department of Corrections (DOC) and some reformist
prisoners' rights groups claim to have made great strides. The New
York State DOC is commemorating the Attica massacre with a special
propaganda packet on the improvements it has implemented in the
prison over the last two decades. A special prison tour for
interested representatives of the media is also in the works.
Prisoners, on the other hand, say the system of guard brutality
and miserable living conditions remains the same.
"The oppressors have gone so far as to name A-block South Africa,
and they thrive on oppressing, beating and living up to the
expectations that the oppressors in South Africa represent," an
Attica prisoner wrote in a letter to MIM in August.
Imperialism doesn't stop for bleeding hearts
But whether or not the "dramatic innovation" called for in the
aftermath of the massacre actually took place over the last 20
years is not really the point. The Attica prisoners in 1971 were
not asking for the sort of reforms liberals then and now are so
anxious to implement in order to make themselves feel better. The
Attica prisoners recognized the criminal justice system as a
powerful weapon in the arsenal of the capitalist class, and they
wanted to turn that weapon on their oppressors.
"We have discovered ... the frustration of negotiating with a
political system bent on genocide," the prisoners wrote in a
statement smuggled out during the week following the massacre.
"Killings are being committed not only in VietNam, but in Bengla
Desh, Africa and South America. Is it not so that our Declaration
of Independence provides that when a government oppresses the
people, they have a right to abolish it and create a new
government? And we at 'Attica' and all revolutionaries across the
nation are exercising that right! The time is now that all third
world people acknowledge the true oppressor and expose him to the
world!!''(2)
Whatever the extent of prison reform, prisoners still experience
the same political repression and daily brutality that triggered
the Attica uprising, because capitalism still requires prisons to
perform the same function as they did 20 years ago. Indeed, as
U.S. imperialism is increasingly challenged by its imperialist
competitors and its Third World colonies, its internal system of
repression will only become harsher.
Same repression, different decade
Direct criminal justice expenditures for state, federal and local
governments in the United States totaled $7.5 billion in 1968.(3)
In 1990, federal and state prisons alone spent $15.4 billion just
to operate their existing facilities, a figure that doesn't
account for the $35 million slated for federal prison
construction, the hundreds of millions states are spending to deal
with their rapidly increasing population of prisoners, or the
massive expenditures on local jails.
For example, New York City allocated $770 million on jail
operations in 1991, up from $120 million in 1981, while New York
state, which has opened 27 prisons in the past seven years, will
spend $3 billion for prison operating and constuction costs in
fiscal year 1990-91.(4)
And in case anyone was harboring any illusions, the consistent
increase in prison funding over the years hasn't been sunk into
decorating prison cells. It's being spent on repression, in all
its varied forms.
When the all-white staff of Attica prison guards stormed the yard
on Sept. 13, several yelling "save me a nigger!" the racist,
imperialist ideology underpinning Amerika's prison system was hard
to overlook.(5)
New York Times associate editor Tom Wicker, a quintessential
liberal, had been invited by the prisoners to observe the events
that transpired in D-Yard, and he dutifully reported, with a
healthy dose of moral outrage, the blatant racism of the
situation.
"Certainly, the situation in D-Yard could not be separated from
the racial divisions and animosities of a society throughout whose
history the black-white line had been as insurmountable as a
Berlin Wall of the mind," Wicker wrote in his book-length account
of the uprising which he dedicated to "the dead at Attica."(6)
Correcting the racial balance has been a prime target of prison
reformists over the years, wracked as they were with white guilt
in the aftermath of Attica and stuck on the mistaken belief that a
few more dark-skinned people in pig uniforms would somehow make
things better. A whopping 2% of Attica's 600 guards are now non-
white. But the color of their skin does not prevent them from
beating and harassing the prisoners.
Similarly, much horror was expressed in the New York State
Commission's report at the blatant exploitation of prisoners'
labor reflected in their salaries of 35 cents a day or less. Yet
today, after 20 years of inflation, prisoners' salaries range from
98 cents a day to $6.35--except for the lucky (and tiny) percentage
of those rented by the state to work for private industries. They
get a top salary of $25.24 a day.
But the most telling comparison of the present with the past is
that the prisoners that populate the Attica of 1991 are pulled
from the same class and the same oppressed nations as were those
behind the prison's bars in 1971. Although there are no available
statistics on the income level of Attica prisoners, their
educational level--a fairly accurate barometer of class--has
remained virtually the same over the last 20 years. DOC statistics
show that 80% of the 1971 prison population had not completed high
school, compared with 77% in 1991. And the percentage of prisoners
from oppressed nations within Amerika still far exceeds their
corresponding proportion in the U.S. population: in 1971, 64% of
the prisoner population were oppressed nationalities, compared
with 81% today. The only difference over the last two decades is
that even less whites are being locked up in Attica.
Not surprisingly, Amerika's capitalist ruling class has continued
to identify its enemies as the poor and the members of its
internal colonies. The U.S. prison population has more than
tripled since 1970 to its current peak of more than one million.
Twenty years later, the capitalists have not lost sight of the
benefits of keeping a substantial number of people from these
groups incarcerated.
"Every prison is Attica."
"That the explosion occurred first at Attica was probably chance,"
the New York State Commission wrote in its report. "But the
elements for replication are all around us. Attica is every
prison; and every prison is Attica."(7)
Such stirring words were meant to inspire--and did, in fact,
inspire--a wave of reform that would prevent the replication they
foretell. But the level of violence in the prison system today
reflects the failure of reform efforts. The Commission's warning
still holds true, as does the warning they didn't utter. Just as
the conditions that caused the Attica prisoners to rise up still
exist, so do the conditions that caused the state to shoot them
down. And it happens all the time.
Despite the lack of revolutionary support on the outside, or
perhaps because of that lack of support, prisoners still resort to
risking their lives by staging rebellions and protests in attempts
to resist and change their oppressive conditions. According to the
New York state DOC, 2,849 Attica staff members were involved in
"unusual incidents" from 1985-1990, more than 15% of whom reported
some sort of injury related to the "incident." For example, MIM
Notes 43 and 44 reported on the May 1990 murder of Attica prisoner
James Charles, as well as the prisoner protest and guard
retaliation that followed.
Nationally, the frequency of prison uprisings also remains high.
The June 1991 edition of Corrections Compendium lists 138 "inmate
riots or disturbances" in the state and federal prison systems
between 1988 and 1990, most involving well over 100 prisoners.
Although there are many examples of recent uprisings that
demonstrate the failure of two decades of prison reform, the May
1991 uprising at Southport Correctional Facility, another New York
state prison, is particularly compelling in its almost eerie echo
of the Attica script on a smaller scale.
Southport prisoners seized control of a prison yard, took
hostages, issued a set of grievances and demands for more humane
conditions, and called in media observers. The prison
administration negotiated with them for a day, then called in the
state troopers to retake the prison by force.(8) And, following
the pattern of events at Attica, prisoners involved in the protest
were subjected to severe retaliation after the T.V. teams left.(9)
A report issued in June by the Prisoners' Legal Services of New
York states:
"It is clear that just as in the aftermath of the Attica uprising,
20 years ago, no plans were made for the provision of appropriate
medical care or other necessary services following the ending of
the uprising, resulting in much needless suffering by inmates who
had nothing to do with the disturbance."(10)
At Attica, immediately following the massacre, prisoners were
forced to strip and run through a gauntlet as guards beat them
with nightsticks. In the weeks following, they were burned,
beaten, shot and denied medical care.(11)
At Southport, prisoners were beaten, denied medical care, forced
to live in grossly unsanitary conditions and submit to several
other forms of abuse in the weeks following last May's
uprising.(12)
Unfortunately, Prisoners' Legal Services, an organization formed
as a result of the Attica uprising, confined itself to the same
sort of reformist conclusions in its report on Southport as the
New York state commission did in its report on Attica: more
educational services, better medical care, expanded visitation
rights, etc.
Liberals and reformers who intend to use the 20th anniversary of
the Attica uprising to push for more reforms or celebrate those
that have already been made would do well to look at where reforms
have gotten prisoners over the last 20 years.
"These brothers whose lives were taken by Rockefeller [ex-New York
governor] and his agents did not die in vain. Why?" the Attica
prisoners wrote in their statement following the massacre.
"Because the uprising in Attica did not start here nor will it end
here!"(13)
To continue the revolutionary struggle that the Attica prisoners
were a part of, those both outside and inside the walls must adopt
a revolutionary strategy. Twenty years later, that much should be
glaringly clear to those who would like to count themselves in
solidarity with the Attica prisoners and the prison struggles that
continue today.
Notes:
1. Attica: The Official Report of the New York State Special
Commission on Attica, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1972, p.8.
2. Berkeley Tribe Vol. 6, no. 8, Oct.1-7, 1971.
3. Op. cit. 1, p.xxiii.
4. The Correctional Association of New York
5. The Nation 3/25/91, p. 364.
6. Tom Wicker, A Time to Die , New York Times Book Co., New York,
1975, p. 146.
7. Op. cit. 1, p.xii.
8. MIM Notes 54.
9. MIM Notes 55.
10. Southport 1991: Conditions Before and After the Uprising, A
Report By Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, June 24-26, 1991.
For a copy, write to: PLS,102 W. Street, Ithaca, New York, 14850.
11. Op. cit. 1, p. 443.
12. Op. cit. 9.
13. Op cit. 2.
* * *
UPRISING LEADER: 'THE STATE LEARNED FROM ATTICA, TOO.'
The class-action suit brought by the Attica prisoners against
former New York State Correction Commissioner Russell Oswald,
former Superintendant Vincent Mancusi and former Assistant Deputy
Superintendent Karl Pfeil--held up in Amerika's "justice" system
for 17 years--is scheduled to come to trial late this month in
Buffalo, N.Y.
Although a federal judge ruled in 1988 that the estate of former
New York state governor Nelson Rockefeller could not be held
accountable for the massacre he ordered, the surviving prisoners
will try this month to convict the three remaining defendants of
their crimes during the aftermath of the massacre--such as standing
by while hundreds of inmates were beaten and brutalized, and
failing to provide adequate medical care for the prisoners gunned
down and gassed by state troopers and guards.
Akil Aljundi, a former Attica prisoner injured in the state's
assault on D-Yard, is the chief plaintiff in the suit. MC67 spoke
with Aljundi by phone last month. Below is a partial transcript of
the interview.
MIM: What is your hope for the outcome of the trial?
Aljundi: We never put our trust in the judicial system, but we
feel we have one of the best suits that's been put together, and
if we can put forth our side of the case, I think the jury will
find them guilty.
MIM: The New York State special commission that investigated the
circumstances around the uprising concluded that poor conditions
such as overcrowding and idleness was the motivation behind the
uprising. Is that the case? Would easing overcrowding and
improving conditions have prevented the uprising from taking
place?
Aljundi: I don't think overcrowding or idleness were any two
factors for what happened on September the ninth, 1971 at Attica.
And I don't see how less overcrowding could solve anything. A
couple of months ago they had an incident that happened here at
another prison near Elmira, New York [Southport prison] and one of
the questions that came up there was a question of
overcrowdedness.
See, overcrowdedness tends to be an easy way out for some folks to
look at stuff as opposed to having to deal with the real
conditions that affect prisoners and inmates. So instead of
really dealing with the problem which calls for people to do
something concretely, they say, oh, overcrowdedness. If you keep
saying overcrowdedness it allows for certain legislators to
allocate more money for the building of more jails and more
prisons. And once you build a prison or a jail you must populate
it, so more people get taken off the street, as opposed to dealing
with the real problem.
MIM: Do the same problems exist in the prison system today as
existed at Attica in 1971?
Aljundi: In a lot of ways it's gotten worse. What has happened is
the state has had an opportunity to learn off of Attica, so
they've adopted measures that are more repressive and in a lot of
cases they've given prisoners things that look like panaceas, you
know, quick-solution stuff which basically is to keep people from
stating what the problems really are. So nothing has really gotten
better. There are more prisoners in prison, more younger
prisoners than before, people are growing up with more time, less
people are getting released from prisons, and they have to fend
for themselves when they get out--the prison counselors are
certainly not finding jobs for anybody.
MIM: Could Attica happen again today?
Aljundi: At any time, prior to Attica and since Attica, any prison
can go up.
MIM: In Peru, several years ago, the government massacred several
hundred prisoners who were members of the Maoist party there,
known as the Sendero Luminoso. But at the same time, Sendero has
taken over several prisons, and freed hundreds of prisoners. That
may be a far cry from what can happen today in the United States,
but its something to think about if you have a strong organization
on the outside.
Aljundi: Yeah, sadly, we're not at that stage in the United
States. See I think that a lot of that should be credited to the
role of COINTELPRO. [The FBI's counterintelligence program against
groups and individuals deemed subversive and dangerous to the
United States government--MC11]. At one time there was a strong
prison movement in the United States, and that movement was as
strong as the respective movements outside were. Not to say that
there aren't some strong movements now. But I think what's
happened is the state has become more sophisticated, they've got a
better grasp on some of us, they've done more intelligence, more
investigations, and they've set up a lot of obstacles.
So we are not as as sophisticated in the United States on a lot of
levels as we should be. Not to say that we won't be, but we
currently aren't. I know we can learn from the lessons of other
forces outside the country. We just haven't got to that stage yet.
At one time we thought we were getting close to that, but we're
not there now.
MIM: What lessons should be drawn from the Attica uprising?
Aljundi: Never trust the state. Always be prepared to look for the
worst to happen. Be firm in your demands. Be clear in your
objectives. But also realize that the state can be vicious.
* * *
BIG BUSINESS, BIG MONEY INVADE PHILIPPINES
by MC67
On June 13, Filipino President Corazon Aquino legalized measures
aimed at drastically removing obstacles to foreign investment.(1)
Aquino is now giving foreign investment a central role in the
country's development strategy--a method employed by the previous
Marcos military dictatorship.
The current underground economy and heavy debt crisis will be
intensified when investment from Amerika and Japan soon invades
this East Asian island nation of 65 million. The new legislation
will magnify contradictions between U.S. and Japanese imperialists
and the neo-colonial nation and probably serve to bolster the
revolutionary New People's Army (NPA), engaged in armed struggle
against the Aquino regime.
The main elements of the new investment legislation include
curtailing the power of the Board of Investments (BOI). The move
is designed to break down protectionist policies that the Aquino
Administration considers obstructive to economic development in
the Philippines.
The BOI was established in 1968 to control foreign investments in
the Philippines by protecting important areas of industry and
commerce from foreign control. Since the 1986 coup which overthrew
Marcos and established the elite constitutional regime under
Aquino, the BOI has tried to prevent a foreign investment
invasion, despite increasing pressure from capitalists and members
of the Aquino government to soften its stance. The new legislation
has dealt a blow to BOI's authority.
The Aquino administration now wants to substantially increase the
number of areas and industries in which foreign investment can
participate and eventually control.(2) While the Filipino Congress
was unified in squelching BOI's authority in the hopes that
foreign investment will save the Philippines, the details of the
legislation were heavily debated in the country's House and
Senate, with the former seeking a shorter restrictive list of
areas open for foreign investment. In the end, the House version
won, so the only areas untouchable to foreign investment are land
ownership and utilities, both embedded in the 1986
Constitution.(1)
Even with the past discretion of the BOI, direct foreign
investment increased from $17 million in 1984 to over $500 million
in 1988.(3) The new export-oriented economic policy will now
dramatically increase foreign investment. The United States and
Japan will continue competing for cheap Filipino laborers, whose
wages are the lowest in East Asia after China.(4)
Japan, facing high costs of production and a domestic labor
shortage, has searched in the last several years for offshore
manufacturing bases. Economically and geographically, the
Philippines is a good bet for Japanese imperialists, now that the
Congress has lifted foreign investment barriers.
Filipino Economy
The crumbling economy was the main impetus for the Filipino
Congress and the Aquino Administration to invite foreign capital.
The debt crisis and the underground economy are important
indicators among the array of statistics that demonstrate the
dependency and deterioration of the economy. While the Aquino
government boasts that the Gross National Product (GNP) growth
rate has increased by several percent in each of the last three
years, it does not mention where this growth came from.
In 1988, the GNP was $37.5 billion, while the debt was $30.2
billion--almost as much as the GNP.(5) According to World Bank
figures, the debt as a percentage of the GNP tripled from 21.8% in
1970 to 62.6% in 1988.(7) The GNP per capita in 1981 was $790, but
in 1989 it actually dropped to $590.(5,6) Thus, as the country
incurred more debt, real personal income actually declined. In
1988, the Philippines owed $12 billion of its total $30 billion
debt to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
"development" bank agencies run by imperialists.(8)
The tax-to-GNP ratio was 12.9% in 1988, the lowest in East
Asia.(9) This low ratio stems from the substantial underground
economy, whereby transactions go unreported and are therefore not
taxable by the government. One reason why the government is so
bankrupt and wants foreign investment is because it does not get
enough tax revenue from the masses.
The underground economy provides income for people, which is then
pumped into the economy, stimulating GNP growth. Although the GNP
is growing from this consumption, the debt crisis continues
unabashedly since there is no tax revenue.
One source of income for the Philippines is overseas contract
workers, who often work underground. More than 250,000 Filipinos
work in Kuwait and Iraq as construction and oil-rig workers.(11)
Between 1985 and 1990, the number of overseas contract workers
increased by 34%.(10) According to the Philippines Resource Center
Monitor, "the estimated $1.7 billion that they [overseas contract
workers] sent to their homeland via official and informal channels
in 1987 came to about 18 percent of the Philippine's foreign
exchange earnings of $5.7 billion."(5)
Women and Prostitution
One especially glaring example of imperialist oppression in the
Philippines is the widespread existence of prostitution,
unfortunately a major source of income for Filipinas. Amerika
retains military bases in the Philippines--a nation devastated by
U.S. imperialism since its 1898 conquest--in order to protect U.S.
interests in the Third World. For lack of economic alternatives,
women come to urban centers like Olongapo, a city of 270,000 which
is located just outside the Subic Bay U.S. Naval base, to work as
prostitutes, forced to sell their sexual labor.
Samar and Leyte are two of the poorest provinces in the
Philippines, and most of the women who come to work in Olongapo
are from these provinces.(12)
Although prostitution is illegal in the Philippines, 10,000 women
are registered at the mayor's office for a permit as "hospitality"
women or waitresses and entertainers.(12) These more acceptable
forms of prostitution are allowed by the government.
In order to retain permits, prostitutes must be tested for
venereal diseases and for AIDS every other week, and Amerikan
sailors often ask the women for the permit to make sure they are
"clean." With a permit, these Filipinas are "protected" from
police arrest. Ten thousand more prostitutes in Olongapo are not
registered at the mayor's office.(12)
With so much of Filipino income coming from "hospitality" industry
and other such underground economies and overseas workers,
government tax revenue is suffering. This national insecurity and
debt is forcing the Philippines to encourage foreign imperialist
investments to "help" its economy. This help will only draw the
country further into dependence on imperialist nations like the
United States and Japan who will continue to suck its resources
and cheap labor dry.
Notes:
1. Far Eastern Economic Review 6/27/91, p.59.
2. FEER 4/25/91, p.58.
3. Philippine Resource Center Monitor 2/90, p.6.
4. PRCM 2/89, p.6.
5. PRCM 2/89, p.1.
6. Population Reference Bureau, World Population Data Sheet,
Washington D.C. 1989.
7. World Development Report 1990, International Bank for the
World Bank, p. 222.
8. PRCM 2/89, p.5.
9. FEER 6/13/91, p.40.
10. FEER 6/13/91, p.38.
11, PRCM 11/90, p.2.
12. PRCM 1/90, p.6.
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