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 122 SEPTEMBER 15, 1996
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.
* * *
WHAT IS MIM?
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
* * *
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. KOREAN STUDENTS TAKE ON IMPERIALIST PAPER
TIGERS
2. KKKLINTON PROSPERS FROM CHILD ABUSE
3. ISRAEL INCREASES EXPLOITATION OF IMMIGRANT
WORKERS
4. LETTERS
5. RCP-USA: ABDICATION AT HOME, HEGEMONISM ABROAD
6. ALBANY MASSES EXPOSE BRUTALITY
7. MOVE VICTORY PARTIALLY OVERTURNED
8. FRENCH PIGS ARREST IMMIGRANTS
9. FBI'S POWER GROWS AROUND THE WORLD
10. IMPERIALISTS BUY COLOMBIAN ARMED FORCES TO WAGE
WAR ON THE OPPRESSED
11. CAPITALISM IS ABOUT PROFIT, NOT DISARMAMENT
12. CUT OFF THE PENIS AND THROW THE MAN IN PRISON
13. BAD RIVER CHIPPEWA STOP TOXIC TRAINLOAD
14. AMERIKAN KULTURE: SUCK IT, FEEL SELF-PITY AND
PERPETUATE PATRIARCHY
15. CPP STATEMENT: IN SUPPORT OF THE INDONESIAN
PEOPLE AND IN CONDEMNATION OF THE SUHARTO
REGIME
16. UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND
PRISONS
* * *
KOREAN STUDENTS TAKE ON IMPERIALIST PAPER TIGERS
August was a month of anti-imperialist protests and
clashes with the government by students in southern
Korea calling for the withdrawal of US troops from
southern Korea, unification with the north, and
repeal of the National Security Law which bans
contact with the north. On August 20th a police
raid of Yonsei University, the location of the
biggest protest this month, ended in the arrest of
thousands of students, but the demonstrations and
activism by these anti-imperialist students are far
from over.
The month of August is typically marked by pro-
unification demonstrations in southern Korea, and
activism is strongest among the university
students. These students are led by the outlawed
radical Federation of Student Councils or
Hanchongnyon. The leaders of the student councils
are the most radical of the campus activists. As
MIM Notes reported in July of last year, leaders we
spoke to all professed their support for socialism
and Marx. The elections of these student councils
is a democratic process that expresses the support
by the study body for these activists in positions
of leadership.
TAKEOVER OF YONSEI UNIVERSITY
The protests this August started as a peaceful
three day festival at Yonsei University calling for
unification with northern Korea and the withdrawal
of the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in the south.
This festival was outlawed and after police troops
tried to break up the gathering of thousands of
students, the students took shelter in a University
building. On August 15th over 6,000 students
gathered at Yonsei to mark the 51st anniversary of
the end of World War II that liberated Korea from
Japanese colonial rule but led to the colonization
of southern Korea by Amerika imperialism. Police
again stormed the University and this led to a five
day standoff between riot troops and students which
ultimately ended in the arrest of close to 6000
students over the course of the seven days of
protests.(1) At press time 462 student activists
were formally charged as leaders in the protests,
most for violence, interference in police duties
and unlawful intrusion. Thirty-six members of the
Federation of Student Councils (an outlawed
organization) received added charges of violating
the National Security Law which bans contacts with
northern Korea.(1)
PRESIDENT KIM LICKS AMERIKAN BOOTS
Southern Korean President Kim Young-Sam attacked
the student protesters saying "I will not tolerate
pro-North Korean and violent student groups
advocating communism." Kim, elected in 1993, is a
former dissident himself who participated in the
protests against the previous dictators of southern
Korea but he makes a distinction between the "pro-
democracy" protests of the past and the pro-
unification protests of today which he now calls
"pro-communism". While Kim may be among those
lackeys of Amerikan imperialism who had an interest
in overthrowing the previous rulers so that they
could get some of the Amerikan privileges for
themselves, the Federation of Student Councils has
always led a strong radical student movement in
favor of unification and against Amerikan
imperialism.
Kim said "Their line is identical with North
Korea's, their action is not considered pure campus
activism but must be condemned as a violent
revolutionary pro-North Korean guerrilla operation.
Such pro-North Korean violence will be sternly
punished."(2) It is no surprise to hear a former
protester of the repressive policies of southern
Korea become a repressive dictator himself once he
has been offered the privilege and benefits of
working for Amerikan imperialism. The perseverance
and continued strength of the student protests
speak to the true sentiment among many southern
Koreans opposing imperialism and supporting
unification.
Kim tried blaming the country's educational system
for the protests and ideology of these radical
students. He called on educators to correct the
thinking of students who sympathize with northern
Korea saying "those students follow north Korea
ideology blindly..." ''Frankly speaking, some
universities have virtually given up student
guidance programs over the years.'' He said
educators should revise anti-communist education
that is no longer effective, although he did not
elaborate on how this should be done.(3) Kim is not
saying that southern Korea needs to give more
information to its students so that they can make
informed decisions, he is saying that they need to
step up their efforts to brainwash their students
into believing that imperialism is great and
communism is evil. But MIM has found that southern
Korean students are very well educated, no thanks
to the courses offered in the universities. They
spend many hours studying communist theory and
history and many of them agree with MIM that north
Korea is not communist but that unification of the
north and the south and the ending of Amerikan
imperialist rule over the south is an important
battle to fight.
Southern Korea underwent something of a democracy
facelift after the overthrow of the U.S. backed
dictator Roh Tae-woo and his military leader Chun
Doo-hwan, most famous for their crackdown on a pro-
democracy protest in 1980 remembered as the Kwangju
Massacre. Kim, the new imperialist-backed leader,
was supported as a more democratic President. Both
Chun and Roh are awaiting the verdict of a trial
for corruption and treason.(4) [They were convicted
-ed] But this facelift clearly has not led to any
substantive changes and the student protesters
understand this and their demands correctly reflect
what will be necessary to begin fundamental change:
the expulsion of Amerikan imperialism and the
reunification of the north and the south. The
leaders of this movement will go even further and
are clear about the need for revolutionary struggle
to achieve the final overthrow of imperialism in
the struggle for communism.
STUDENTS ON THE SIDE OF THE OPPRESSED
Two southern Korean students sent by Hanchongryon
to Pyongyang began an indefinite hunger strike
August 21st in the truce village in the
demilitarized zone in north Korea. Before fasting
Ryu Se-Hong and To Jong-Hwa issued a statement
denouncing the Seoul government for "ruthlessly
violating human rights." They said "(Kim's
administration) should stop walking away and
detaining the largest number of people ever in
history and immediately release the students who
fought a righteous fight."(2)
The large student protests and the strong
repression by the southern Korean government speak
to the lack of democracy and free speech for the
people of southern Korea. In spite of Amerika's
claims, southern Korea remains a dictatorship: a
dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. This dictatorship
is run by lackeys of Amerikan imperialism and the
37,000 Amerikan troops stationed in southern Korea
are a constant reminder of the continued occupation
of this supposedly free country. MIM supports the
radical students in southern Korea who are on the
front lines of the struggles against imperialism.
Alongside the proletariat they represent a
formidable force that is a strong ally of the
oppressed of the world.
NOTES:
1. Agence France Presse, 8/22/96.
2. Agence France Presse, 8/21/96.
3. United Press International 8/21/96.
4. The Guardian, 8/21/96, p.1
* * *
KKKLINTON PROSPERS FROM CHILD ABUSE
by a RAIL comrade
August 23 -- Bill KKKlinton signed a federal law
modeled after 'Megan's law' to keep records of all
pig identified sex offenders paroled and the
locations of those individuals. This law exposes
the fact that the Amerikan injustice system
incarcerates prisoners but makes no pretense about
attacking the root cause of child abuse.
Within six months, all police departments in
Amerika will have a registry program tracking all
prisoners convicted of sex crimes in every state
they go. States will be required to inform each
community when a person previously convicted in
Amerika's kkkourts of a sex offense moves to their
neighborhood. By mid-1999, the FBI will add the
fingerprints and DNA of all "convicts" to this
registry. Klinton supports the law "so that parents
and police have the warning they need to protect
our children"(1).
Rather than attack the root cause, Amerikan
solutions are aimed at individuals. Furthermore, it
isn't *all* sex offenders who go to prison, only
those who benefit the system least -- oppressed
minorities. This political farse ignores that child
abuse happens within the family more often than in
any other situation. The patriarchal system that
eroticizes submissiveness and helplessness remains
intact. The belief in domination and ownership of
youth stays intact. Both perpetuate child
molestation.
The patriarchal family is the sacred institution of
a patriarchal society. Within the overall power
structure, the patriarchal family is supposed to
mimic in small scale the ideology of the whole.
Parents own their children like pieces of property
and treat them like an investment. If you give the
little heirs a good bourgeois education and instill
the correct values, those values and the family
name will carry on. Instilling bourgeois values
ensures that the status of the Amerikan family will
continue to rise within the ladder of Amerikan
settler privileges stolen from the Third World.
Inherent to this ownership is the dehumanization of
the children and the complete power dominance by
the parents. Kids can't economically support
themselves, have no organized mechanisms for self-
sufficiency and have to obey all that is passed
down from their parents who have the entire system
to back them up. In these ways what goes on in the
family is no longer up for debate, it is a mirror
of the entire system.
When parents force their children to have sex with
them they are teaching children a real lesson about
patriarchal society and the way that people are
defined by their sexuality. Even while the majority
of sexual abuse of children happens in the family,
this patriarchal institution is being cherished and
supported in society. No one out there is going to
admit that just because children are powerless it
is OK to molest them, but by the pure fact that the
environment that the abuse takes place in, the
patriarchal family, is cherished and supported in
this society, then the acts within it are never
even questioned.
Amerikans do not question gender oppression. It
never comes to KKKlinton's or Amerikkka's arguments
that our society eroticizes youth, submissiveness
and powerlessness. Neither ever wants to answer to
the contradiction between advocating that the
patriarchal family is at one instant a furtherance
of Amerikkka's good values while at the next exempt
from its oppressive practices -this law is not
aimed at parental abuse of children it is aimed at
the mythological child molester lurking in the
playground.
KKKlinton's advocacy of such a law is purely a ploy
to get more votes from Amerikkkans. It instills the
fear in people that anyone around the corner could
be the one to get your kid. But does Amerikkka
really care? Children aren't even considered human
beings and are of absolutely no use to the system
as youth. By supporting such a reactionary bill,
KKKlinton and the rest of Amerikkka manages to
expose itself one more time as oppressors of
society. They support the physical, psychological
and emotional torture that abused children endure.
In the end the "get-me-re-elected" patriarchal
Christian values talk that KKKlinton is spitting
out is only going to give slack to all Amerikkkan
parents who want to re-establish a "safe family
environment" and imprison more poor men. Rather
than look to the real culprits (mothers, fathers,
uncles, friends) and the overall oppressive system
that allows for such unmentionables to happen,
white Amerikkka is going to applaud pseudo-
"protection" of our children.
If you really want to stop sexual violence and the
overall oppression of groups, including youth, the
system needs to be overthrown, not just a few more
poor people thrown in jail. The youth of today have
the ability to join with the oppressed masses
because they can see what kind of future Amerikkkan
decadence is creating for them. Youth rise up!
Reject assimilation into decadent, rotting
imperialist patriarchy!
NOTE: Boston Sunday Globe, 8/25/96.
* * *
ISRAEL INCREASES EXPLOITATION OF IMMIGRANT WORKERS
by MC12
In 1989 there were about 180,000 non-Israeli
Palestinians with permits to work in Israel. But as
part of Israel's increased oppression of the
Palestinian nation, under the cover of the bogus
"peace process," Palestinians are increasingly
prevented from working within Israel's illegitimate
borders. There are now only about 32,000 non-
Israeli Palestinians with Israeli work permits.(1)
But in a rich country like Israel, there are many
low-paid jobs to be done, and few Israelis to do
them -- like an Amerikan suburb. This shows
Israel's parasitic settler character, like Amerika
and South Africa, among others. So they
increasingly rely on immigrants from outside of
Palestine. The country issues about 100,000 legal
work permits for immigrants per year, and there may
be at least that many working on expired tourist
visas. There are now up to 60,000 foreign laborers
living in Tel Aviv alone. There are at least 74,000
foreign construction workers in the country.
Altogether, non-citizens make up almost 5% of the
population.(2)
The greatest numbers of immigrant workers come from
Asia and Africa, as well as Arab countries. Others
are from Eastern Europe and Turkey, and South
America. The immigrants have been brought into
employment niches: Filipinos work in elder care
and other domestic work, Rumanians work in
construction, Thais work in agriculture, and so on.
In the Ghanaian community, families pool money to
set up daycare so that the Ghanaian wimmin have
time to take care of the children in Israeli
families.(2)
The companies that hire these immigrants frequently
take their passports, and then when they don't want
them anymore turn them in to be deported, without
paying their last paychecks, and with no punishment
to the companies. Many workers also pay a deposit
or fee for their jobs, but are legal hostages
because if they leave the job - or are fired - they
lose their legal status. Changing jobs also leads
to the loss of legal status. The majority live in
poor conditions without many basic services, in
their attempts to make money to send home or save
to bring their families.
Some Jews who want a more theocratic state and
religiously-defined nation object to this trend,
and opportunistically use the bad conditions and
pay to beef up their reactionary case. What really
bothers them is that the new immigrants sometimes
bring their families, they have children, and, to
quote the dramatic words of one magazine, "The
Jerusalem Report has learned that groups of legal
and illegal workers are forming to demand full
social benefits -- including health coverage, and
schooling for their children."(2)
One member of parliament was quoted as complaining:
"We established a Jewish state, not a refuge for
Africans and Asians" (apparently Eastern Europeans
are not so bad, from his perspective).(2)
The Jerusalem Report (whose story appeared the week
before the New York Times ran a story with the same
facts and angle), described the immigrants as
"phantoms," adding, "The phantom Israel will be
non-Jewish. It's children may lack even basic
inoculations. And it could, eventually, become very
angry about its status." These "phantoms" and their
"phantom children," the article says, have many
Israelis and the government "spooked."(2) Children
of non-citizen immigrants born in Israel are not
citizens.
Non-Jewish immigrants are "acting less like sort-
term guests -- and more like people who have moved
in." The Israeli public was happy to see them come
-- because Palestinians are feared and reviled --
but now they are upset that the religious basis for
the nation will unravel. "I don't go out after
eight at night anymore and I don't let my children
out," one womyn is quoted as saying. "These people
have to be removed."(2)
The case of immigrants in Israel shows the
relationship between nation and class in settler
societies, as nationalities work in separate jobs
and sectors of the economy. The result is a labor
aristocracy in the settler society -- separated
from the proletariat by their privileges, pay and
non-productive work -- and a proletarian class made
up of oppressed nationalities. The government has
made a public show of dealing with the "panic,"
promising to cut down the number of legal work
permits. But non-Israelis will continue to be the
backbone of the real workforce as long as Israel
remains a parasitic settler nation. The
imperialists will attempt to pacify the labor
aristocracy with get-tough language on illegal
immigrants -- whether in Israel or North America --
but they know they need these low-paid workers in
the current economic structure. Their continued
presence is thus guaranteed, and the only question
is how much they will be made to suffer in the
"host" countries.(2)
National borders used to enforce economic
inequality are immoral, and as communists, all
Maoists seek open borders as a step toward
equality. In this case, we oppose the ejection of
Palestinians from their jobs -- which increases
economic deprivation in the Palestinian nation in
the absence of their national self-determination --
as well as the exploitation of poor immigrants from
other countries. In both cases Israel uses its
power as an imperialist proxy to increase its
wealth at the expense of the international
proletariat.
NOTES:
1. The New York Times, Aug. 19, 1996. p. A7. Many
details in this story are lifted without
attribution from the Jerusalem Report article.
We're glad to see that competition among the
capitalist press leads to such innovation!
2. Jerusalem Report, Aug. 22, 1996, p. 20.
* * *
LETTERS TO MIM
PRISONER URGES ANALYSIS OF STATUTORY RAPE
Dear Comrades,
I just wrote a few days ago to let you know I
received MIM Notes and to let you know of my new
address (I was transferred out of the Supermax
control unit).
I am prompted to write again after reading your
rape/sex analysis in the May Day issue in which you
equate all sex with rape and do an interesting
demonstration which shows just how blurry the lines
can be between which people think they know about.
I just wish you would have included an age-based
analysis as well. For example, while many people
would consider an 18 year old boy and a 17 year old
girl a "normal" boyfriend/girlfriend relationship,
if they had sex the boy could be charged with
statutory rape. If the girl did not want to testify
against her boyfriend, the state could then move in
with all its oppressive power and threaten to jail
her for contempt of court, as has happened many
times, or she succumbs to the pressure and the boy
goes to jail for 5, 10, or 20 years. And it doesn't
even matter if the boy is 18, he could be a minor
himself, as you know from the current case in
Calif. of the 6-year-old boy being jailed on
attempted murder charges. He does not even have to
be older than the girl, as I recall a case of a 7
year old charged with attempted rape of a 12 year
old. With 18 as the age of consent in most
jurisdictions but average age at first intercourse
in Amerikkka being 15 (meaning that many start at
12, 13, 14, etc.), we are defining our average
citizens as rapists and giving the oppressive state
apparatus the means by which to go after just about
whomever they arbitrarily choose. If you do happen
to be in a state where the age of consent is 16 (or
even 14 in a couple) and have sex with someone that
age and take a picture of it, then the feds will
come and get you for producing "kiddie porn" and
you'll still go to prison for 10 years.
I know these law are applied in a racist way but I
am a white man who was brought up as part of the
middle class. I came of age in the 60's ever since
I have considered myself a revolutionary. What
many, especially white, people do not understand is
that this can be used as a wedge to go after white
people who understand and fight state repression. I
have seen the need for revolution in this country
for many years....
--A confused prisoner in CT
June, 1996
MIM REPLIES: Revolutionary greetings! It is fitting
that we received your letter at this time, as we
recently completed a congress in which we addressed
the very issue of statutory rape. Age is indeed an
important factor to include in a comprehensive
analysis of rape, especially as Dole and others are
rallying for renewed enforcement of the reactionary
statutory rape laws to feed the fire of repression
of the oppressed.
MIM opposes all rape and we are fighting for a
society in which equality in relationships is
possible and people are truly capable of giving
consent. While doing this we recognize that under
capitalism the rape laws are used to lock up the
oppressed while ignoring one of the most common
forms of rape (even by bourgeois standards) that
happen in the home between parents and children.
Under capitalism we concluded that supporting
lowering the age of consent to 13 for statutory
rape laws is a good way for MIM to expose these
contradictions while fighting a potentially
winnable battle that would reduce the number of
people being locked up by the criminal injustice
system.
We do not recognize a consistent difference between
16 year olds, 15, 14 and 13 year olds that should
contribute to one age serving as the dividing line
for inability to ever consent to sex with an
"adult". A high age of consent serves the
reactionary purposes of the state in several ways.
It gives the imperialists one more justification
for locking away even more people. And it
encourages a paternalist view of teenagers by
suggesting that maturity is impossible. A large
proportion of youth, 13 and even younger, are
already sexually active. MIM does not think that
one or two power differentials should be given
special consideration for these youth who are
capable of thinking and acting as adults. We do not
think that teenagers are qualitatively less capable
of making decisions for themselves than adults with
regard to sex, at least when the sex partner is not
a parent or caregiver.
We also reject the fantasy notion that young
people's first time having sex should be perfect,
which the paternalists say the state must protect
them for. Though MIM maintains that in an unequal
society, real consent is impossible, we work to
reform the notions of bourgeois consent to decrease
imprisonment and illuminate gender contradictions
more clearly.
MIM has pushed for an analysis of the problems of
gender under imperialist patriarchy. Look to MT2/3-
-Gender and Revolution for a start. MT9--Psychology
and Imperialism goes further into how age is
related to gender. Use them and MIM Notes as tools
to write your own articles dealing with gender, and
help us chart new ground.
SUPPORT BOOKS FOR PRISONERS
Dear Comrades,
I would like to join your Book Club. I don't have a
million dollars so here's one book. "Solidad
Brother" for the brothers under lock and key. I
challenge the other MIM supporters to send 999.99
more!
Power to the people,
--A reader in the southwest.
MIM REPLIES: Thanks for the contribution! For MIM
readers who are unaware, our Book of the Month has
two options: you send us a book a month which we
will send to one of Amerika's prisoners, or,
alternatively, you send us a million dollars and
we'll send a book to a million of the prisoners in
Amerika's gulags. Choose from a wide variety of
Maoist, Black nation, First Nation, Latino
classics. Join today!
SUPPORT MIM TRANSLATION WORK!
Revolutionary Greetings,
First of all, I would like to thank MIM for
answering my letter and sending me the latest issue
of MIM Notes. I commend your effort in establishing
a media that reveals the truth about the constant
enslavement of third world countries at the hand of
the imperialist pigs. I recently wrote a letter to
MIM regarding my interest in actively participating
in your organization. I am a twenty year old
college student with lots of opportunities to reach
a young audience. Furthermore, I live in one of the
countries largest Latino population. Being an
immigrant myself, I am aware as to how the
political slime in the disguise of republicans and
democrats, ignore our needs and only show their
lying, disgusting faces during election time. I am
very fluent in Spanish, being my native language
and would love to help with Notas Rojas. Please let
me know if there is anything that I can help you
with. In particular, I am interested in aiding in
the translating of documents. I am not aware if you
engage in any letter writing campaigns but if so, I
would be interested in helping out. Once again,
thank you for your time and I look forward to
hearing from you.
-- A comrade in the east
MIM REPLIES: Thanks for the letter. We're happy to
hear you want to get more involved in working with
MIM. Here's some ways that you can get involved:
Your Spanish skills can be put to good use helping
with Notas Rojas. If you see things going on in
your community that should be reported, or anything
in the media that you think should be reported on,
please write stories for Notas Rojas. We need help
covering more news, especially in places we are not
yet covering. If you don't want to write stories,
you can help out by translating any current stories
in MIM Notes or Maoist Sojourner. Enclosed are
copies of the latest issues. You can pick which
stories you want to translate and just let us know
which you are doing (anything but Under Lock and
Key, poetry and letters is OK). If you are willing
to take on bigger translation projects, MIM Theory,
the theoretical journal of the Maoist
Internationalist Movement, really needs help. We
could assign you a whole journal (usually 100
pages) and you could work at your own pace. Just
pick which of the above interests you and dive
right in.
We'd also like your help getting MIM's publications
out to the people in [your state]. If we could send
you a box of MIM Notes, Notas Rojas and Maoist
Sojourners to distribute that would be great. You
can leave these for people to pick up on local
campuses, in stores (if they will let you), in
laundry places, in the projects, in cafes and
wherever else people will pick them up. You can
also hand them out on the streets, or, if you want,
you can sell them on the streets. If you can help
us by covering the cost of producing the papers, we
do ask for $20 for a bundle of 200. If you can't
help we'll still send the papers if you will
distribute them. Just tell us how many we can send
and we will start mailing them out.
Another way to get involved is to start working
with the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League
(RAIL). This is an organization formed by MIM for
anti-imperialists. People get experience doing
organizing work and learning revolutionary theory
while being organized on a continental scale
through RAIL. People in this organization agree to
RAIL's line and actions being led by MIM and agree
with the need for revolutionary armed struggle. If
this interests you, you are welcome to join RAIL
and get involved. Among other things, RAIL now has
it's own newspaper that is currently printed inside
MIM Notes every other month (a copy of this is
included). RAIL carries out campaigns that include
petitioning and holding educational events and
protests. One big project that many RAIL branches
have taken on is the prisons campaign. This has
involved campaigning against repressive conditions
in prisons, trying to win small reforms while also
educating people about why we think prison
repression will not end until capitalism is
overthrown. We have petitions and posters that we
could send you so you could start doing this
agitation in your city.
We also encourage you to subscribe to MIM Notes and
MIM Theory. MN is $20 for a year (published twice a
month) and MT is $5 per issue or $18 per year (4
issues a year). These are great educational
materials and MIM needs the financial support to
continue the work we do.
Let us know which of the above things you want to
get involved with or if you have other ideas, share
those with us too. We look forward to hearing from
you soon.
* * *
RCP-USA: ABDICATION AT HOME, HEGEMONISM ABROAD
ABDICATION AT HOME
As regular readers of MIM publications know, MIM
and others have been working to unmask a police
operation aimed at disrupting the work of the
Communist Party of Peru (PCP, "Sendero Luminoso" in
the bourgeois press), its supporters, and its
potential supporters.(1) This operation has
operated under many names. The most widely used
have been "MPP-USA (Peru People's Movement, USA),"
"The New Flag/La Nueva Bandera," "Luis Quispe" and
"Marcelina Ccorimanya."
Having noticed the silence of the Revolutionary
Communist Party, USA (RCP-USA)'s newspaper, the
Revolutionary Worker, on the question of this
Queens, New York-based police plot, a MIM supporter
recently asked an active RCP supporter, "Do you
guys have a position on the so-called 'MPP-USA'?"
The RCP supporter replied, "No."(2)
It is perhaps in the RCP-USA's interest to take
this "non-position" position. Police provocateur
Agent Quispe's entity serves as a second line of
defense for the RCP-USA-led Committee of the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (Co-RIM).
The position of the RCP-USA and Co-RIM serves U.S.
imperialism and U.S.-backed Peruvian fascism by
treating capitulationists as though they were still
part of Peru's vanguard party after they issued
their call for capitulation. Agent Quispe sometimes
wears a mask which criticizes the RCP-USA and the
Co-RIM. But Agent Quispe's actual practice is to
defend the Co-RIM by refusing to break with it
organizationally, and by denouncing those who do
break with it as glory-seekers, police agents,
smelly, long-haired drug-users, and of course,
splitters.
MIM joins with others in support of the March 1996
Call for a World Mobilization Commission to defend
the Peruvian revolution, which reads in part, "The
opportunist leadership of Co-RIM, is the main cause
of immobilism in the international movement in
support for the People's War in Peru. Since October
1993 their nefarious activities have been geared to
paralysing any show of support for the People's War
and to cast doubts upon the revolutionary condition
of [PCP] Chairman Gonzalo. Both bureaucratic
organisms, the Co-RIM and the IEC [the Co-RIM-
affiliated International Emergency Committee to
Defend the Life of Abimael Guzma'n (Chairperson
Gonzalo's birth name)], are not in any way
politically and morally capable to call upon the
masses and political organisations to the defense
of the Peruvian revolution."(1)
So with Agent Quispe acting as a second line of
defense for the crypto-Trotskyist RCP-USA and its
circles, it is perhaps understandable that the RCP-
USA would refuse to denounce Agent Quispe's police
plot. It is not excusable, however. The RCP-USA's
abdication is at best the worst imaginable display
of sectarianism, placing the RCP-USA's narrow
interests above that of the masses. The RCP-USA,
for instance, has expressed its support for Julian
Salazar Calero, a Peruvian citizen now living in
the U.S. who is threatened with deportation to the
hands of the fascist Peruvian government which
accuses Calero of being a "terrorist."(3)
Calero, however, was apparently arrested as a
direct result of snitch work by Agent Quispe. On
May 10, only twenty days before Calero was
threatened with deportation, Agent Quispe
boastfully announced on the Internet's Marxism-list
that one of his phony "MPP-USA"'s supposed members
was wanted by the Peruvian authorities, and
described the details of this supposed "MPP-USA"
member's case: the crime he was charged with and
the location in Peru from which he came.(4) When
Calero was thereafter arrested and the facts of his
case became publicly known, it turned out that the
facts of his case matched precisely those details
previously announced by Agent Quispe.
Currently, Agent Quispe is fairly pathetically
trying to cover his tracks by exploiting the fact
that he didn't name a name when he fingered Calero.
Agent Quispe's defense is essentially that it
wasn't Calero he was fingering; he was fingering
someone else! In related news, Agent Quispe's
friend Dan Axtell recently admitted that he had
contact with Calero before Calero's arrest.(4) What
this illustrates is that those like the RCP-USA who
give Agent Quispe's operation continued life
through their silence are doing great harm to the
masses. The longer the RCP-USA goes without
condemning Agent Quispe's police operation and
without making self-criticism for tolerating it,
the more the RCP-USA will earn suspicion that its
positions have a material basis more sinister than
extreme sectarianism.
HEGEMONISM ABROAD
Worse still, while the RCP-USA takes the
abdicationist position of "no position" on Agent
Quispe, it continues to follow its hegemonist logic
(a logic contrary to Mao's theory and practice)
abroad to new depths. As the Call for a World
Mobilization states, "Since October 1993 their [the
leadership of Co-RIM's] nefarious activities have
been geared to paralysing any show of support for
the People's War and to cast doubts upon the
revolutionary condition of Chairman Gonzalo."(1)
When this statement was written in March 1996, the
Co-RIM's doubt-casting was veiled. But now it is
out in the open. For no good reason, the RCP-USA
and the Co-RIM now issue a poisonous weed. The RCP-
USA version of the weed reads:
"With the regime controlling all access, it is
still impossible to confirm with certainty that
Chairman Gonzalo is in fact supporting the Peace
Accord line, but this possibility has increased and
revolutionaries have to face up to it -- in order
to really strengthen the correct political position
of opposing this right opportunist line of ending
the War.
"There have been developments since the Peace
Accord proposal was first announced that cannot be
easily explained by the analysis that Chairman
Gonzalo's role in this is a "hoax". This "hoax"
explanation was the initial sense of many
revolutionaries, and this was a position announced
in a document released by the Central Committee of
the PCP shortly after the Peace Accord proposal was
first made public by the regime....
"But while the final word is *not* in, the
possibility is growing that Chairman Gonzalo has
taken a wrong turn, away from the revolutionary
direction he charted for the PCP before his
capture....
"...We would be overjoyed if it turns out that, in
fact, he is not supporting this Peace Accord line.
Or, if he is supporting this line, we would welcome
a change in his views. But we first and foremost
have to deal with this line, and, as part of that,
we have to be prepared for the possibility that
Chairman Gonzalo is its main proponent."(5)
The Co-RIM version of the weed is essentially the
same, except that it presents the supposed evidence
that "the possibility is growing" that Gonzalo has
capitulated. MIM does not have reliable information
about most of the details of concrete conditions in
Peru. As Maoists, we oppose hegemonism, and
therefore do not claim to know better than the PCP
about concrete conditions in Peru. (Conversely,
activists in the imperialist countries should not
wait for permission from Peru before breaking with
the imperialist-country-based Co-RIM or Agent
Quispe. The PCP cannot be expected to know the
details of what is done in its names by police
agents and opportunists in the imperialist
countries.)
Agent Quispe has been spreading the idea that MIM
seeks to "traffic" in the revolution in Peru. Since
this doubt spread by Agent Quispe has not been
contradicted by the Central Committee which leads
the PCP while Chairperson Gonzalo is in prison, MIM
respects the possibility that the PCP might oppose
independent reporting by MIM on conditions in Peru.
Therefore, we do no such reporting, except in cases
where universal questions of Maoism are principal
over questions having to do with national
conditions, such as our condemnation of the Canto
Grande capitulationists who purged themselves from
the PCP.
Our policy of not taking a stand on concrete
conditions in Peru applies to conditions which the
Co-RIM cite as their reason for spreading doubts
about Chairperson Gonzalo. We will not take a stand
on these questions without authorization from the
Central Committee of the PCP, but we are perfectly
willing to take a stand on the Co-RIM's
presentation of the supposed facts.
THIS IS THE STORY AS THE CO-RIM TELLS IT:
In March 1995, "Margie Clavo was arrested in Peru
along with a number of others accused of being
leaders or members of the Communist Party of Peru.
She was accused of being 'Comrade Nancy,' a leading
member of the PCP Central Committee.
"Shortly after her arrest, Clavo was presented to
the press. At that time she called on the party and
the masses to 'Persist, Persist, Persist' in the
People's War....
"It is thus a most unpleasant duty to inform
comrades and friends that it appears that Margie
Clavo has abandoned her previously correct position
and has been won to support the call for a peace
accord....
"An article appeared in the Peruvian press which
quotes at length from her interview. Of particular
note is Clavo's claim to have spoken on several
occasions with Chairman Gonzalo whom she 'credits'
with winning her to support the peace accords.
"In the aftermath of the Clavo interview,
supporters of the right opportunist line in [sic]
the PCP of seeking a peace accord have circulated a
leaflet claiming that Chairman Gonzalo has issued
another 'instruction' to supporters abroad
commenting on the Clavo interview and including a
paragraph quoting Clavo which did not appear in the
press accounts in which she makes a 'self
criticism' for allegedly 'deceiving the RIM' about
the nature of the peace accords...."
"It is hardly necessary to point to the seriousness
of this situation. First of all, the fact that a
major leader of the Central Committee has changed
her position and is now supporting the right
opportunist line is itself a significant blow to
the Party leadership. Moreover, her claim to have
met with Chairman Gonzalo further strengthens
suppositions that Chairman Gonzalo is indeed
proposing the line of seeking a peace accord."
But are we sure that Clavo is a member of the PCP's
Central Committee(CC)? And if a CC member (or
"major leader") openly breaks with the CC on the
major issue of "peace accords", can that person
really still be referred to as a CC member? The Co-
RIM article fails to address these important
questions. This is the surface problem with the Co-
RIM article. The supposed evidence as presented by
the Co-RIM could be questioned as a possible
psychological warfare operation. But while the Co-
RIM does not consider this possibility, they do
consider that "the possibility has increased" that
Gonzalo is a capitulationist.
As the Call for a World Mobilization Commission
says, "Revisionists and opportunists, together with
those agents directly linked to the Peruvian
police's Secret Services, share the same
objectives:...[including] 3. To depict Chairman
Gonzalo as a vulgar capitulationist who, from
inside his cell, is leading the 'peace agreement'
plot...."(1) Objectively, the Co-RIM is spreading
psychological warfare propaganda.
Subjectively, at best, the hegemonist line of the
RCP-USA has led it to a new low. The line of the
RCP-USA is that its Co-RIM is "the embryonic
political centre of the RIM," while the RIM is the
"emerging world centre" of the international
communist movement. This notion is not consistent
with Maoism. Mao Zedong spoke out against
hegemonism in general, and in particular against
the Comintern's hegemonism. It is not for no reason
that he did not work to reconstitute the Comintern
after it was dissolved in the 1940s. It is
Trotskyism, not Maoism, which seeks to constitute a
new International body with democratic-centralism.
The RCP-USA should make self-criticism for its
history of crypto-Trotskyism, including its
hegemonist deviation from Maoism.
CONCLUSION
The RCP-USA's willingness to speculate about events
in Peru about which they should not speculate --
and about which they admit they are only
speculating -- makes its unwillingness to denounce
the already-exposed police plot of Agent Quispe all
the more galling. Likewise, the RCP-USA's
willingness to abdicate on the question of Agent
Quispe makes its willingness to speculate about
events in Peru all the more galling. The RCP-USA
needs to speak out against the New York-based
police plot, shut up about concrete conditions in
Peru, and make self-criticism for opportunism,
liberalism, abdication, crypto-Trotskyism and
hegemonism.
NOTES:
1. See the June 1996 Maoist Sojourner and/or the
June 15, 1996 MIM Notes, especially the former.
Send $2 for either.
2. Los Angeles, Aug. 23, 1996.
3. RCP-USA's Revolutionary Worker, Aug. 11, 1996,
p. 11.
4. via world wide web: do a search for "Marxism
List". via gopher: go to
jefferson.village.virginia.edu under public
discussions lists under "spoons."
5. Revolutionary Worker, Aug. 4, 1996, pp. 7-10.
* * *
ALBANY MASSES EXPOSE BRUTALITY
by MC12
Residents of Albany, NY reported seeing police pick
up Jhamel Clark and slam his head against the
ground, causing him to lose consciousness. The
attack occurred on North Swan Street in Albany on
Sunday, August 18. Police reported that a crowd of
some 100 residents jeered them and threw rocks and
bottles at the pigs carrying out their assault.
One womyn who independently called the Albany Times
Union to report on the beating said "they took this
boy, beat him on the head, slammed him on the
ground." Clark, 19, came to when revived by medical
technicians. The pigs later accused Clark of faking
his injury to draw attention, and said that
residents exaggerated the story to play up police
brutality.
MIM is not interested in comparing the pigs'
version of this story to the masses'. The important
question is not whether or not anyone is playing up
police brutality, but why there is police brutality
in the first place. The Black Panther Party pointed
out that the police occupy oppressed communities
within U.S. borders "as a foreign troop occupies
territory."
The pigs do not exist to protect and serve the
oppressed, but to hamper and restrain national
minorities from realizing national self-
determination. If the pigs' had only beat Clark and
not knocked him unconscious, this incident would
still be a product of the imperialist relationship
between pigs and the oppressed nations, a
relationship which is necessarily brutal.
Clark had been on probation for a drug charge, and
was being arrested for possession of crack when the
beating took place. So even though the so-called
crimes Clark was accused of were nonviolent, his
punishment is being beaten up by police, plus more
jail time for "resisting arrest" and "disorderly
conduct."
While some drug dealers (including those who sell
drugs that are currently legal) may need to be
harshly punished, people who have drug problems
need help. The oppressed have to deal with drugs in
addition to poverty, inferior medical care and
housing, inadequate employment and other mechanisms
of imperialism. A people's government which
recognizes the coincidence of all these problems
will be the only authority fit to solve these
problems.
The imperialists look in one direction to profit
from running drugs, and then turn the other way to
imprison oppressed people who use drugs.
Imperialism has no interest in stopping harmful
drug use, only in increasing state and capitalist
power.
MIM looks forward to the day when the Albany police
force will receive its justice at the hands of a
proletarian government. We work to expose the
crimes and illegitimate authority of the state, and
to organize for a revolution against the "order" of
oppression.
NOTE: The Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) August 19,
1996, p. B1.
* * *
MOVE VICTORY PARTIALLY OVERTURNED
August 27 -- a federal judge overturned part of the
victory members of the MOVE organization won in a
legal battle against the government. In the legal
battle MOVE sued for damages from the 1985 fire
bombing of their Philadelphia home which killed 11
people and destroyed their house along with 60
other homes. This fire bombing was not provoked by
an armed standoff, contrary to the report in the
New York Times and those carried in many other
reactionary bourgeois media sources. The MOVE
members were unarmed and after the fire, no guns
were found. The attack on MOVE was purely
political: this anti-imperialist organization of
revolutionary nationalists fought against police
brutality and other imperialist evils, threatening
the state in a way that a few guns in a house could
not have done.
The new ruling says that Philadelphia's former
police and fire commissioners will not have to pay
damages to MOVE bombing survivors or relatives. The
June 24th federal jury verdict had ordered
Philadelphia to pay $1.5 million to Ramona Africa,
the only adult survivor of the bombing, and
relatives of two dead MOVE members. In addition the
jury ordered the former Fire Commissioner and
former Police Commissioner (who were in charge and
who ordered the bombing) to pay Ramona Africa token
damages of $1 a week for 11 years.(See MIM Notes
118, July 15, 1996). The judge overturned the
latter part of the ruling, freeing the men in
charge of paying even token damages for their
murderous actions. As Ramona Africa said, this
verdict "literally, let them get away with murder."
The judge who overturned the jury ruling said that
the fire and police commissioners were legally
protected from punishment as public servants unless
"official misconduct" was found. This misconduct he
defined as actions that were knowingly improper and
he said they did not act maliciously or in
violation of orders from superiors. MIM's not
surprised by this interpretation of the law. After
all, the fire and police commissioners were acting
on orders from their imperialist bosses who put
them in power in order to maintain order over all
who fight against imperialism. And the actions of
the fire and police commissioner were not
"knowingly improper" because it is proper in this
country to murder the enemies of imperialism as was
seen historically in the destruction of the Black
Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and
currently in the continued repression against
members of revolutionary organizations. In fact,
the nationality alone of the MOVE members was
enough to merit this bombing by Amerikan standards
which say that attacking and even killing oppressed
nations is justified as a means of maintaining the
great Amerikan way.
In spite of this set back, the publicity gained by
this whole trial and the $1.5 million the City has
to pay remain as victories for the MOVE
organization and for the oppressed.
NOTES: The New York Times, 8/29/96, p A21
* * *
FRENCH PIGS ARREST IMMIGRANTS
by MC53
French immigration pigs suited in riot gear rounded
up 210 African immigrants and locked them in a
military detention center August 23rd.(1)
The oppressed nationals from French neo-colonies in
Africa had stayed at the St. Bernard's Church,
which pigs raided in the middle of mass, since the
end of June. Ten have been on a hunger strike since
July 4 and continue to demand that the French
government grant residence permits to 300 African
immigrants. After the raid, the hunger strikers
were forcibly taken to a military hospital.(1)
The oppressed nationals, including 68 children,
were released within a couple days because the pigs
did not have proper warrants for the raid.(2) The
pigs did not have permission of the parish or the
Archbishop of Paris to enter the church and capture
the immigrants.(1)
The raid came one day after Prime Minister Alain
Juppe's announcement that the government would
continue to crack down on immigration and ignore
the demands of the protesters.(3) Following this
announcement, the protesters reaffirmed their
dedication to continue the struggle.
The protesters continued their fight against
deportation even after the hunger strikers were
taken away by the pigs because of their protest
earlier. Their struggle against deportation
illuminates the contradictory interests of
imperialism. Previously, French imperialism had
welcomed immigration from its neo-colonies in
northern Africa. On the one side, emigration from
the colonies helped to disguise the unemployment
and poverty caused by French exploitation. On the
other side, immigration to Paris provided the
French with the necessary cheap labor to maintain
its status of wealth.
The government's crackdown on immigration in recent
years has resulted from higher unemployment within
France and pressure from the French labor
aristocracy. Just like the Amerikan labor
aristocracy's general support for attacks on
immigrants, this reactionary sentiment is fueled by
national chauvinism. The parasitic French masses
support the immigration crackdown because they want
to ensure maximization of their share of super-
profits from the African neo-colonies.
Following the arrests, immigration pigs flew four
men from the group back to Mali along with 52 other
Africans rounded up by immigration.(2) In the first
half of 1996, over 7,000 Africans had been forcibly
deported from France.(1) The French imperialists
make no claim to take responsibility for creating
the conditions which economically forced the
Africans to emigrate in the first place, but will
continue to deport a sufficient number until the
labor aristocracy is happy and the number of
immigrants balances out with the number needed for
dirt cheap jobs.
The heightening of this struggle between the
immigrants and the French government points the
path to revolution and the death of imperialism.
Imperialists cannot continue to mooch off of Third
World labor indefinitely and cannot cover their
parasitism through temporary liberal immigration
policies. Deportation will further the
contradiction between imperialist France and its
neo-colonies in northern Africa leading the way to
revolution. Just as with the borders of the united
states, the borders of the French territory will be
opened following revolution so that those who have
built up the wealth of France will then have access
to what has been stolen from them.
NOTES:
1. The New York Times, Aug. 24, 1996, p. A4.
2. The New York Times, Aug. 27, 1996, p. A4.
3. The New York Times, Aug. 23, 1996, p. A4.
* * *
FBI'S POWER GROWS AROUND THE WORLD
by MC12
The FBI's relentless quest for greater power in the
service of Amerikan imperialism goes on. The agency
now plans to increase the number of special agents
abroad from 70 to 129 -- in 46 cities, double the
current 23. Under the plan support personnel would
increase from 54 to 79. That's all in addition to
Drug Enforcement Agency, CIA, and various other
organizations running around the world in the
service of empire.
The FBI says their work in the new cities will all
be in support of U.S.-based law-enforcement
investigations into terrorism or drugs. But we know
that terrorism and drugs are also stand-ins for
political persecution, whether within U.S. borders
or not. In particular, the new offices will work
with investigations into political ("extremist,"
"terrorist," etc.) groups that are connected to
overseas organizations. The first four offices are
scheduled to go into Beijing, Tel Aviv, Islamabad
and Cairo.
Other cities to be added include: Seoul, Singapore,
Lima, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Ankara, Copenhagen,
Tallinn, Prague, Warsaw, Kiev, Bucharest, Tblisi,
Lagos, Pretoria, Riyadh, Almaty, Tashkent and New
Delhi.
They already have offices in: Hong Kong, Manila,
Bangkok, Tokyo, Canberra, Mexico City, Ottawa,
Panama City, Bogota, Caracas, Bridgetown
(Barbados), Santiago, Montevideo, London, Brussels,
Bonn, Madrid, Rome, Athens, Moscow, Paris, Bern and
Vienna.
The agency wants $80 million for the expansion
plan, and Congress has been receptive. President
Clinton also supports it, as part of the effort
against "forces of destruction that know no
national boundaries." He should know. And despite
some inter-agency squabbling over turf, the CIA and
FBI appear ready to create a virtual merger in such
operations, further consolidating the powers and
reach of the repressive state. Maoists and all
revolutionaries oppose expansion of the police
state and its militarist expansions around the
world.
NOTE: Washington Post, 8/20/96, p. A1.
* * *
IMPERIALISTS BUY COLOMBIAN ARMED FORCES TO WAGE WAR
ON THE OPPRESSED
Oil companies in Colombia are buying the Colombian
army -- literally -- to protect their investments
from guerrilla attacks by the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation
Army. Until a recent upsurge in guerrilla attacks,
the oil industry was the target of an attack on the
pipelines once every 8 days.(1)
MIM is not familiar with the armed movement in
Colombia, although we can see why the oil companies
make an obvious target. Petroleum products are the
largest industrial export in Colombia.(2)
Imperialists monopolize the ownership soaking up
the resources of Colombia to export the profits
back home. In addition to making the First World
wealthier, the Colombian lackey government is paid
out of the profits to bolster its military and
repressive powers.
Colombia is the fifth largest oil producing nation
in Latin America, but it is by far the fastest
percentage growth. Last year's oil production was
589,000 barrels a day, or 30% more than in 1994.
With installations spread throughout the mountains
and pipelines running for a total of about one
thousand miles from Ca-o Lim-n and Yopal to the
Gulf of Mexico, the oil companies are an
appropriate target economically as well as
politically for struggle against imperialist and
comprador domination of the people.(1)
A special war tax funneled $250 million last year
from the oil industry into the coffers of the
comprador government. On top of paying the war tax,
the oil companies also negotiate individual
agreements with the Colombian military for
protection. British Petroleum (BP), which
discovered Colombia's largest oil reserves
estimated at 3 billion barrels, "has just signed a
three-year agreement with the Defense Ministry
valued at $54 million to $60 million to create a
battalion of 150 officers and 500 soldiers to
protect expansion and construction of sprawling
production sites."(1)
"Oxy Colombia, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum
of Bakersfield, Calif., is creating two platoons
totaling 80 soldiers to bolster security.... The
company expects its bill for military and police
protection will increase to $7 million next year
from $3.9 million this year."(1)
Last year BP spent $8 million on "development"
projects along its pipeline to attempt to buy off
the local populace and "stave off attacks by
leftist guerrillas".(1) MIM does not know the
specifics of these projects although we suspect
that they are similar to other projects used by
repressive comprador governments to disguise their
true strategies from the people.
Florida political science professor Eduardo Gamarra
summed the situation up well: "It's the
privatization of the Colombian Army."(1)
Other oil companies which already pay for "housing,
medical, food and logistical support for the
military assigned to protect them" are complaining
that the British Petroleum deal will not only
siphon off the best trained soldiers from the
portions of the Colombian army that serve the other
foreign oil companies, but will inflate the prices
charged to these companies for protection.(1) MIM
suspects that this and not the unconstitutional
nature of the agreement with BP, is the real reason
that this article made it into the New York Times
and earned the front page.
The New York Times noted that while the specifics
of the BP agreement are secret, it would appear to
violate a January ruling of the Colombian
Constitutional Court, which declared the private
hiring of police and military to be
unconstitutional: "It is intolerable for the
legislature to establish categories of people who
benefit from the essential services of the police
to a special degree, according to their capacity to
pay for a service that by its nature must be free."
This is an interesting ruling because the purpose
of the police and the military under capitalism is
to defend the status quo, and therefore the haves
against the have-nots. The military do not defend
the interests of the Colombian peasants against
exploitation by landlords or defend workers from
exploitation by foreign multinational corporations.
The military and police instead work to defend
foreign companies and the Colombian government
itself from the wrath of the people.
The Colombian Constitutional Court is not attacking
the bourgeois system, rather it is advocating a
more equitable relationship among the bourgeoisie.
According to the Court, it's not fair that really
big capitalists can out-bid the slightly smaller
multinationals when it comes to purchasing the
government. According to the New York Times, rumors
of a possible military coup have given greater
leeway to the military to negotiate it's own
practices, as the government fears provoking that
coup.
While this greater infusion of cash into Colombia's
general anti-guerrilla effort will no doubt aid it
in the short run, such tactics taken by
imperialists can only have a short term effect.
Professor Gamarra exposed this well:
"I think a lot of people are going to be upset when
you have BP's army killing guerrillas, killing
Colombians. Take this to its extreme form, and you
can say: 'These soldiers are BP's mercenaries. Who
do they owe allegiance to -- BP or the Colombian
state?'"(1)
As Lenin argued in *Imperialism: The highest stage
of capitalism* as capitalism develops in the
imperialist countries, capitalist enterprises merge
with the state to form state monopoly capitalism.
Ever more firmly united, the bourgeoisie and their
executive committee (the state) can most
efficiently carry out the exploitation of the
working people. In the oppressed countries, the
governments are controlled by compradors -- big
bourgeoisie who control businesses who depend on
the imperialists, or those who simply subsist from
coordinating the imperialist exploitation of their
people.
In the oppressed countries, national liberation
when it is not led by communists leads to neo-
colonialism. Colombia won it's independence from
Spain in 1819, but it is not free of imperialism.
The fight for national liberation and ultimately
communism is the only way the Colombian people, and
the rest of the oppressed of the world, will
liberate themselves from monopoly capitalism.
NOTES:
1. The New York Times 8/22/96, p. A1, A16.
2. World Almanac and Book of Facts 1993, Pharos
Books, New York, p. 744.
* * *
CAPITALISM IS ABOUT PROFIT, NOT DISARMAMENT
The United States Enrichment Corporation(USEC) is
an Amerikan government owned corporation set up to
buy nuclear material from Russian nuclear weapons
and then resell it to nuclear power plants as fuel.
The idea is to try and take as much nuclear
material off of the market as possible, to keep it
out of the hands of "terrorists" and "rogue states"
(read: Third World countries not directly under the
Amerikan thumb).
The problem is that the USEC -- which is about to
be privatized -- "turned down repeated requests
this year to buy material from Russia sufficient to
build 400 Hiroshima-size bombs." The cause is that
Russian nuclear material from dismantled weapons
isn't as profitable to sell as fuel the USEC makes
from Amerikan uranium.
While pressure from Senator Pete V. Domenici (NM-R)
forced the USEC to buy all the Russian uranium
offered, the incident shows the connections between
individual members of the bourgeoisie, and way in
which the relationship subsidizes the bourgeois to
the detriment of its stated goal.
Instead of working to advance nuclear disarmament,
the USEC is working to expand it's profit margin.
The more profitable the company, the more money
that can be made from it's initial public stock
offering, and the wealth and power USEC executives
will have from controlling the newly privatized
corporation.
A safer world without weapons of mass destruction
will only come about when the laboring masses
control their own futures. In the later stages of
socialism and in communism, people will have no
need to have weapons designed to obliterate
millions of people from a different sector of the
globe. Until then, the capitalists will preserve
and expand these weapons -- while symbolically
dismantling mostly inferior models -- as they
continue World War III against the world's
majority.
NOTE: The New York Times, 8/28/96 p. A1, D3.
* * *
CUT OFF THE PENIS AND THROW THE MAN IN PRISON
by MC53
California Governor Pete Wilson and the California
State Legislature are in the final stages of
passing a law which will require forced injections
of Depo-Provera into male prisoners convicted twice
in the white man's courts of child molestation.
These injections are considered "chemical
castration" because they are supposed to reduce a
man's sex drive. This law also applies to prisoners
convicted of child molestation for the first time
if the court decides that the crime is
"sufficiently egregious." So if the court sees that
a public lynching is called for in a given case, it
will require injections for first-time convictions.
Governor Wilson has built up a picture of deviant
horny bastards "who stalk our young" and must be
stopped. Stopping molestation includes chemically
controlling or castrating, and locking up men
convicted of molestation. (Prisoners can
"voluntarily submit to surgical castration.") The
settler masses are thus assure that their governor
is protecting their children's virginity and safety
on the streets. But this law only amounts to
covering one contradiction in patriarchal society
with another, and in the process creating more
extensive powers to control prisoners.
Violence against children in Amerika is a product
of unequal power in this patriarchal capitalist
society. Children do not have political or economic
power and are subject to adults' interests.
Oppression of children is pervasive; incidents of
violence and physical abuse are only the most
obvious expressions of this power differential.
Bourgeois standards of abuse sanction many forms of
children's oppression. The Amerikan bourgeoisie
endorses the sale of young Filipinas as house
slaves and sexual objects for Amerikan men. Is this
violence simply acceptable against Third World
children? The United Snakes military set up
brothels during the imperialist conquests of
Vietnam and the Philippines to satisfy Amerikan
soldiers. Is the rape not repulsive if an Amerikan
soldier is buying his victim? The most overt form
of child abuse is pornography. Is this not
repulsive abuse because the corporations are making
enough money and the youth are in fashionable
jeans?
Drawing attention to molestation by strangers masks
the overwhelming majority of child sexual abuse
which happens within the family. While the majority
of child abuse happens in the home, the pigs gloss
over the patriarchal roots of this problem and
champion the family as a sacred institution.
Castrating men convicted of molesting children is
not principally a means of ending sexual abuse of
children, but of exerting social control over the
oppressed. Social workers and pigs patrol oppressed
nation territories, making them much more likely to
uncover criminals among the oppressed than in the
white nation. As MIM reported in MIM Theory 2/3,
"Gender and Revolutionary Feminism," the white
nation also exhibits gross bias in reporting crimes
-- making oppressed nationals much more likely to
be accused, convicted and castrated for
molestation.
MIM supports any reforms in the bourgeois legal
sphere which lower the age of consent to 13, as
this will mean less people being put in prison. In
considering chemical injections, lowering the age
of consent would mean fewer prisoners being
subjected to the experiment in California. It would
at least mean that the bourgeoisie will have to
face the masses and explain why a 15 year old is
not capable of consent and in the same
circumstances an 18 year old would be. MIM opposes
all abuse of children, but we also know that
patriarchy causes child abuse and so we work to
destroy patriarchy rather than punish individuals
who are convicted of abuse.
Ultimately MIM works to create a society much like
revolutionary China, in which violence will be
punished in a way that attacks the root source of
the violence. Individuals will be engaged in
productive activities which teach them their
importance in society as well the value of other
humans. People will learn these lessons through
productive and social activities and struggle
against reactionary ideas like the eroticization of
power. Because we are building revolution within
the belly of the beast, we expose the fact that the
bourgeoisie has no interest in ending the cause of
oppression and we oppose any means that the
bourgeoisie uses to further oppress the masses.
NOTE: The New York Times, 8/27/96, p. A1 and A8.
For a more extensive analysis of oppression of
children under patriarchy, check out MIM Theory 9
"Psychology and Imperialism" for $5 from the
address on page two. For a detailed account of
Maoist prisons, check out *Prisoners of Liberation*
by Allyn and Adele Rickett.
* * *
BAD RIVER CHIPPEWA STOP TOXIC TRAINLOAD
by MCB52
For two weeks, a group of Bad River Chippewa called
Anishinabe Ogitchida (Protectors of the People)
have blocked the tracks of a train loaded with
sulfuric acid headed for a waste sight near Lake
Superior.(1) The Chippewa rely on the waters for
their sustenance, fish, and therefore are refusing
the highly corrosive acid's passage across their
land to Ontonogan, Michigan.
The Ogitchida have tried legal strategies to stop
the toxic trainload. According to one leader,
Lawrence "Butch" Stone, "Through the 'paper war'
between the tribe and the EPA [the Environmental
Protection Agency], they haven't gotten anywhere so
far, and it was time to take some action.
Therefore, we're here."(1)
Dozens of First Nation people have gathered in a
camp and are holding ceremonies on the train
tracks, preventing the train from passing.
Remarkably, the Wisconsin masses are largely
supportive of the blockade.(1) Less than three per
cent of the Wisconsin population is employed in
fishing, agriculture, and forestry combined, and
for Michigan less than 2% are.(2) Still those small
communities mobilize strongly against the fishing
rights of First Nations. But unlike the Chippewa
demands for fishing rights, where Amerikans in
Wisconsin and Michigan compete with First Nations,
they all stand to lose if Lake Superior is
contaminated.
However, the fact that the Ogitchida are the ones
taking action illustrates their greater stake in
the waters and fish. According to Stone, "A lot of
people are good at talking the talk. However,
they've got nowhere. We have environmental
organizations talking against mining, against these
chemicals, against the destruction to out water,
the air, the animal nations, the plants, but they
don't take no action. We are a sovereign people. We
have the inherent right to protect and preserve all
that our Creator has given to us to protect and
preserve. We are carrying out our duties as
Ogitchidas."(1)
While MIM does not use this notion of "animal
nations," or the concept of a "Creator" we agree
with this sentiment as a whole. We look forward to
local control over the environment on the part of
the oppressed.
NOTES:
1. News from Indian Country, Aug 12-19, 1996, pp.
A1 and A6.
2. US Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of
Population and Housing Summary CD-ROM, May 1993.
* * *
AMERIKAN KULTURE
SUCK IT, FEEL SELF-PITY AND PERPETUATE PATRIARCHY
Review by a RAIL comrade
ani difranco
*DILATE*
Righteous Babe Records
The first thing to notice about Difranco's new
album is the I'm-a-weak-womyn crouching on the
front cover. Was this supposed to be a symbol of
the position wimmin are unwillingly born into in
society? Or is this what Difranco herself is
advocating? After listening to the album, the
latter is unfortunately the case.
In "Done Wrong" she takes the old love theme and
metaphorically compares mending a broken heart to
rain falling. "i guess that makes me the jerk with
the heartache/ here to sing to you about how i been
done wrong/i am sitting, watching/ out the window
of the coffee shop/ and i'm waiting, waiting/
waiting for it to let up." Her creativity ends with
the metaphor as she just rehashes the grief
stricken womyn syndrome.
Wimmin don't have to be waiting around pondering
the trials and tribulations of sex and romance,
wimmin are quite capable of leading successful
revolutionary movements. Revolution is not made by
individuals indulging in self-pity, but by the
oppressed using scientific analysis of history and
present material conditions, and by taking that
analysis and developing a revolutionary practice
strong enough to topple the capitalist patriarchal
system. Difranco only perpetuates the myth that
wimmin are incapable of fighting for revolution. In
doing so, she carries on the tradition of gender
aristocrats whining about the status quo but doing
nothing because in the end, the gender aristocracy
benefits from patriarchal relations.
SEEKING THE PERFECT FUCK
In "Untouchable Face" she sings about a one night
stand with an already coupled person. She says "I
see you and i'm so perplexed/ what was i thinking/
what will i think of next/ where can i hide". And
in essence blaming herself for the pointless
endeavor. The person supposedly won't recognize her
if they meet again, and Difranco says "who am i/
that i should be vying for your touch". She is
doing exactly what the patriarchy advocates for
wimmin. She continues to look for perfect
relationships that don't exist in a coercive
system. She proceeds to blame herself, thereby
individualizing the scenario and ignoring the
systematic treatment of wimmin as sexual objects
and the systematic passive reaction to
objectification.
When it comes time to face the problem what does
she say? Simply, "so fuck you/ and your untouchable
face/ and fuck you/ for existing in the first
place". That solves absolutely nothing. Making
herself feel better about the one night stand, she
says nothing of changing her compliance with
patriarchal norms. She is ultimately saying that
the power differences that show their faces in
society are beyond the power of change that wimmin
hold, so she concedes to patriarchy.
When it comes time for actual action on her part,
individual men become the blame for the power
differences, not the overall capitalist patriarchal
system. In "Going Down", talking about oral sex
with men, she sings "you can't get through it/ you
can't get over it/ you can't get around/ just like
in a dream/ you'll open your mouth wide to scream/
and you won't make a sound/.../you can't believe
you're here/ and you're not gonna get through it/
so you are going down". So just keep doing it until
it really reaches the point when she's "just about
done/ with the oh-woe-is-me shit". She is saying
that she hasn't gotten everything she wants out of
this servile relationship yet, so she'll stick
around for a little while longer. She tries to
preserve the sex that is benefiting her for the
time being, then when it isn't she says "and i want
everything back/ that's mine". That doesn't sound
much like rocking the patriarchal boat to really
gain power. Instead she is rowing right along with
it.
In "Outta me, onto you" she says "some people wear
their heart/ up on their sleeve/ i wear mine
underneath/ my right pant leg/ strapped to my boot/
don't think 'cuz i'm easy, i'm naive/ don't think i
won't pull it out/ don't think i won't shoot". This
shows the contradiction in her own line. At one
instant she advocates looking and waiting for the
perfect mate while also being prepared at any
instant to shoot if they "push too hard" or "go too
far." This reactionary and limited line is
representative of the power that the patriarchy
creates for wimmin. The system says wimmin have no
choice or alternatives to complacency or individual
reaction. There is another option though, the
option to cease power through proletarian
revolution where the entire system would be smashed
and the oppression along with it.
HOW TO REALLY FIGHT PATRIARCHY?
Patriarchy and all of it manifestations will not be
abolished unless wimmin organize for complete
revolution. By what Difranco is saying, she doesn't
seem to mind. Like most white wimmin privileged
enough to make up the gender aristocracy in the
First World, as long as she gets the revenge she is
seeking on all the men who haven't given her the
sex that was beneficial to her, she'll live just
fine with the concession given to her on the backs
of Third World wimmin.
With this reactionary position, she comes to
conclusions like that of the song "Napoleon" where
she says "i knew you would always want more/ i know
you would never be done/ 'cuz everyone is a fucking
napoleon/ yeah everyone is a fucking napoleon"
implying that all the oppression of the world is
rooted in the natural human inclination toward
greed. Relying on such reactionary theories will
obviously not end oppression and will for that
matter only support it. If it is just human
instinct to oppress other humans, why bother
reforming your own practice and try to create
change? The human nature approach protects her own
anarchistic line.
Difranco's politics only lead young wimmin's eyes
away from overthrowing the entire system with the
power all wimmin do possess. In "Shameless", she
proposes that the answer to unequal relationships
is same sex relationships. Though her analysis is
correct saying "they're gonna wanna know/ how we
plan to get out" and "they're gonna be mad at
us/and all the things/ we wanna do" and "i gotta
cover my butt 'cuz i covet/ another man's wife",
focusing on the patriarchy seeing a threat in
homosexuality, she still fails to realize that
power differentials exist in all relationships.
Engaging in homosexual relationships is not wrong,
but the belief that they escape the coerciveness in
society is incorrect.
If totally equal relationships is what Difranco is
seeking, she is going to have to work for communism
which would abolish the oppression of groups over
groups. If she really wanted to take a blow at
patriarchy, she should advocate asexuality. The
next best choice being forever monogamy which
reduces the threat of someone leaving for a
"better" sex. But to advocate either of these,
Difranco herself would have to give up the fun in
the power games she plays and can benefit off of.
Instead of accepting the power that the patriarchy
concedes to wimmin, wimmin should fight for real
power. By siding with the proletarian masses who
don't have the choices like birth control and
economic self-sufficiency that First World wimmin
do, wimmin can throw out imperialism and the gender
differences that go along with it. Revolutionary
feminism, real feminism, gains power that includes
real determination over one's sexuality through the
overthrow of the voyeuristic coercive society.
* * *
IN SUPPORT OF THE INDONESIAN PEOPLE AND IN
CONDEMNATION OF THE SUHARTO REGIME
The Communist Party of the Philippines, the New
People's Army, the National Democratic Front and
the broad masses of the Filipino people, condemn
the brutal actions carried out by the Suharto
regime against the people in Indonesia in recent
weeks, on July 27 and 28 and subsequently.
The current barbarities expose to the entire people
of the world the rottenness of a long running
regime built on the corpses of more than a million
Indonesians massacred in 1965 and on the unceasing
flow of blood and sweat of the broad masses of the
Indonesian people who are subjected to intolerable
oppression and exploitation.
The Indonesian people are seething with just anger
at the unbridled reign of greed and terror of a
military and bureaucratic clique that has a big
comprador-landlord class character and that is
subservient to US, Japanese and European monopoly
capitalists. The "New Order" of Suharto is a regime
of military fascists within the framework of
neocolonialism.
The brutal suppression of democratic rights in
Indonesia has allowed the Suharto ruling clique and
its imperialist masters to plunder the oil and
other natural resources of Indonesia and exploit
Indonesian cheap labor in mineral extraction,
plantations and export-oriented sweatshops (where
the wage rate is US$ 2-3 per day).
We support all the Indonesian democratic forces and
people for waging resistance against the Suharto
regime. We congratulate them for the upsurge of
their militant mass actions. We are deeply pleased
with the increasing militancy of the toiling masses
of workers and peasants. We admire the youth for
striving to realize their revolutionary potential
in the service of the people and under the
leadership of the working class.
A broad legal democratic mass movement is necessary
in order to arouse, organize and mobilize the
broadest range of forces against the narrowest
target, the fascist enemy. The broad masses of the
people must shatter more than three decades of
fascist terror. At the same time, the proletarian
revolutionary party must grow in strength in the
underground to serve as the core of the
revolutionary mass movement.
True to its military fascist character, the Suharto
regime employs the most barbaric and deceptive
means to criminalize and suppress the legal
democratic movement or to weaken it from within as
in the case of the Indonesian Democratic Party
headed by Megawati Sukarnoputri. The enemy himself
reminds the entire Indonesian people that the way
to national liberation and democracy is to wage
revolutionary armed struggle and overthrow the
Indonesian military fascists.
As in the case of the Marcos fascist regime in the
Philippines, the Suharto ruling clique can be
overthrown when there is a convergence of a grave
social crisis, the advance of the revolutionary
mass movement, severe contradictions among the
reactionaries within the bureaucracy and the
military and the decision of the imperialists to
change puppets.
The launching of a protracted people's war in
several islands in Indonesia is possible and
necessary not only to induce a change of ruling
clique within the social system but also to effect
the change of social system ultimately. The
revolutionary forces in the Philippines have
demonstrated that they can keep up a protracted
people's war in an archipelago with a smaller
geographic scale.
Indonesia has much larger islands than the
Philippines and therefore has a much larger scale
for people's war. And the Suharto military fascist
regime has already made the conditions favorable
for this by having excessively exploited the
Indonesian people and overused anticommunist
hysteria to rationalize state terrorism, corruption
and puppetry. The time for the Indonesian people to
render final judgment on the Suharto regime and on
dual-function military fascism is long overdue. The
multitudes of victims of the 1965 massacre and more
than three decades of extreme oppression and
exploitation cry out for revolutionary justice.
The Indonesian people can achieve the new
democratic revolution only through a protracted
people's war and a broad united front of democratic
forces under the leadership of the working class
through the Communist Party of Indonesia.
Guided by proletarian internationalism, the
proletariat and the people under the leadership of
the Communist Party of the Philippines have a
common interest with the Indonesian proletariat and
people under the leadership of the Communist Party
of Indonesia in the advance of both the Indonesian
and Philippine revolutions.
We are confident that the Indonesian people and
revolutionary forces will continue to push further
the upsurge of the revolutionary movement as a
result of the rapidly worsening crisis of the
domestic ruling system, that of the world
capitalist system and the new world disorder. We
look forward to the day when the Indonesian
proletariat and people win victory in their new-
democratic revolution and reclaim their prominent
role in the global revolutionary movement against
imperialism and for socialism.
Unite to isolate and destroy the power of the
military fascists! Carry forward the broad
democratic mass movement Down with the Suharto
military fascist regime! Long live the Indonesian
revolution! Long live the Communist Party of
Indonesia!
--CENTRAL COMMITTEE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE
PHILIPPINES, AUGUST 5, 1996
* * *
UNDER LOCK & KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS
SOUTH CAROLINA STEPS UP ITS REPRESSION OF PRISONERS
**Below are four letters from 3 different prisons
in South Carolina. (The 3rd and 4th letters are
from the same prison.) Each describes how new
policies have increased the torture of our brothers
in struggle. This does not mention the repression
and torture that may be going on in KCI, in which
prison officials have severed contact between MIM
and prisoners there.**
SOUTH CAROLINA INCREASES REPRESSIVE TACTICS
Greetings Comrades
I'm an Afrikan confined in the belly of the beast
at Evans Corruption Institutional, in the home
states of one of the founding fathers of white
supremacy, South Carolikkka! I would like to pass
on to the people some information, concerning the
situation in these gulags in South Carolikkka.
In January of last year the grand dragon of this
state's governors, KKK David Beasley hired a New
Director named Michael Moore, KKK from another
great white supremacy, blood sucking state, Texas!
Some of our comrades in the gulags of texas are
familiar with his tactics while he was employed
there.
On arriving his first mission was to stamp out all
conscious New Afrikan's who he felt would be in
opposition to his programs, of oppression and
intimidation. [He did this] by labeling us under
the (STG) label or with non-compliance to his new
grooming policy which says all hair must be cut
short at all times.
These two policies were aimed strictly at the
Rastafarians and the 5% Movement, who are at the
forefront in the Afrikan Liberation Struggle in
these gulags. Using these tactics the prisoncrats
has moved to negate all opposite to his plan, by
placing everyone in administrative segregation
lockdown, no leadership, no opposition.
Most of the New Afrikans were later shipped to a
new isolation Kamp. These prisoncrats-gangsters
have now implemented: (1) Control movement
throughout the system, (2) No work release programs
for violent offenders, (3) Mandatory work for
everyone at slave wages. If you resist, [you get]
23 hour lock down.
We New Afrikans who are still in administrative
segregation lockdown and continue to resist have
now been charged with "substantiated security
risk". This designation means that all "necessary
and appropriate" restraints will be placed upon us
whenever we are allowed out of our dungeon, which
is only for shower and rec.
Plus we have been subject to a food embargo for the
last seven days. It is called a new too-low diet.
They don't understand this has only built
solidarity among the New Afrikans and the
resistance will be continuous. As Fanon said, we
must ask ourselves three questions: Who am I? Am I
really who I am, and Am I all I ought to be? These
are questions of culture and history. I hope we as
New Afrikans have now answer them for ourselves.
Forward with the revolution with the Spirit of
George Jackson, Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner,
Sojourner Truth, My Comrades....
--A South Carolina Prisoner, June 18, 1996.
PRISONERS REBEL AGAINST NEW SOUTH CAROLINA
COMMISSIONER
I am currently being held hostage in a South
Carolina prison. One of the most racial states in
the U.S. The prison system in South Carolina is
undergoing major changes due to a new commissioner
(Michael Moore). Mr. Moore was once over in the
Texas prison system, but he was run out of Texas.
With him and South Carolina governor David Beasley
the prison system here is nothing but a state with
slave camps.
Mr. Moore is very racist and thrives on control.
Upon coming here to head the prison system, he
ordered all people a part of the Nation of Islam
(5%) to be placed in lock-up. They have remained on
lock up since May of 1995 for no apparent reason
except their beliefs.
I am a white prisoner, but when I see brothers
being oppressed for what they believe in, it makes
me sick. Do or don't you have freedom of religion
in this country? Apparently not in South Carolina.
Mr. Moore has already put his slaves to work, by
bringing the chain gang back to the prison system.
I'm not saying South Carolina has the worst prison
system, because compared to some we have it good.
One of the worst things Michael Moore has done is
take away college education programs. He feels
South Carolina doesn't need smart criminals, or
strong ones. That is why weights were taken away
also. He does not realize weight release pressures
inmates have. Nor does he realize without education
ex-prisoners turn back to crime. But maybe he wants
more people to control. [MIM believes prisoncrats
do realize what they are doing. They want to
control and break prisoners because it is
profitable-ed.]
When Mr. Moore first started here a riot broke out
at Max. Prison. Some guards were assaulted and some
were taken hostage. Mr. Moore stated he was not
concerned with his officers safety, he wanted the
inmates taken down. After the inmates surrendered
and released the hostages unharmed the inmates were
taken down. Three of the inmates have been to court
an will be in prison the rest of their lives. For
what? Standing up for their rights that were being
violated. [Who is the real criminal?--MIM]
I hope to get MIM circulated through the whole
South Carolina Prison system so that when it is
time the oppressed will no longer be oppressed by
the oppressor.
--A South Carolina Prisoner, June 20, 1996.
NEW PROGRAM OF TORTURE IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Peace, to everyone at MIM and I hope that you all
have been maintaining in the struggle. Since my
letter in March, I also sent along...a description
of the New Segregation Program that has been
implemented by the Director of the South Carolina
Department of Corrections. This program is designed
to physically torture those of us who are long term
"ASU" Prisoners. I stipulated this in my last
letter to you however it is very necessary that I
explain in more detail the punishment we have
endured in this ASU lock- up.
Well to begin with this program has purposely
trampled the rights that are protected by the
Nelson Degree (Substantive Human Rights) which
protects the prisoner from arbitrary force,
wrongful treatment and humane prison
environment/living conditions. This program has by
the enforcement of the officials caused many
[prisoners] to become emotionally unstable. One has
actually taken his life. Also there have been other
attempts of prisoners trying to take their lives.
This program and its Draconian rules were
specifically enforced to break the prisoners' will
as we are being locked down all day and night with
only two to three to hours of recreation a week,
which is in violation of the Degree herein
mentioned.
The monitor's of the decree are not helping at all.
They try to answer every question with their dry
words but never change the immediate situation. To
be honest, I think they really don't care, as they
cast off this impression as though they are really
trying to help. It has been nearly three months
since this program has been in effect. One person
has killed himself and many have attempted to [kill
themselves]. There still has not been any change in
the situation.
The CO's try to cause even more stress by the
mistreating and disregard for prisoners' requests.
We have to request paper, envelopes and pens nearly
a week in advance before we are allowed any ...
sometimes we don't get the materials, there is just
not enough.
At this time I must let you know that I am limited
to only two letters per week so sometimes my
response letters may be late and even hindered by
these nasty, CO's. Our condition here has not
really changed in fact it has taken a turn for the
worse. Now we have a "nurse" orchestrating our
recreation, telling the official if it's too hot
for us or not [to go outside]. Sometimes they only
use this to their advantage just to treat us
unseemingly. There is nothing that can be done when
your behind the door, they are at liberty to do
what they want. No one is doing anything to see
that the ASU prisoners are getting what they are
supposed to and not being mistreated. No one, I
mean no one cares. I am saying this as if I
expected someone to, even though I halfheartedly
did, now I realize that there isn't anyone.
There is also another element of this program that
has me even put on edge. That is the fact that we
have to be up and out of bed by 7:00 am until 7:pm,
which is five days a week, 60 hours per week. This
has become a bother for me due to an accident I had
in 1995...in which...I injured my back. Now because
of the twelve hour refrain from resting in the bed
my condition has worsened. I am in constant pain
and medical will not give me a bed pass. Nor will
they assist in the proper treatment for my back
under these conditions....
...I don't think that they are going to let any of
the 5%'s into level three simply because we are on
long term lockup. Our situation is the same as the
level one prisoners, they are just selling us a
dream. I can only hope that things change for the
better for all of us, but somehow I know that it
won't unless we stick together is struggle....
--A third South Carolina Prisoner, June 25, 1996.
NEW PIG PROGRAM CAUSES SUICIDES IN SOUTH CAROLINA
... We continue to be repressed herein this
putrid/forlorn component. In fact there have been
three suicides since fascist Michael Moore started
his control of prisoner movement program in all of
the state's ad-seg units. Everyday they strip and
place someone in the chair for eight hours....
In Struggle --A fourth South Carolina Prisoner,
July 3, 1996.
MIM NOTES CENSORED IN INDIANA, UTAH, CALIFORNIA,
PENNSYLVANIA, SOUTH CAROLINA AND NEW YORK
**MIM has received a number of letters resembling
the one following. MIM Notes is a tool to expose
the repression by the state and its pigs, we are
not surprised that the state has a double standard
for 'free speech' - it is not the only double
standard applied against the oppressed.**
Dear Sirs,
I am currently incarcerated at the State
Correctional Institution at Retreat in Hunlock
Creek, Pennsylvania and recently subscribe to MIM
Notes.
The institution has confiscated the two issues that
you mailed to me stating that your publication was
disapproved because of the following reason:
"Writings that advocate violence, insurrection, or
guerrilla warfare against the government or any of
its institutions, or which create a clear and
present danger within the extent of the
correctional institution."
Is there anything that can be done legally to stop
the institution for confiscating my copies of MIM
Notes? I would appreciate any information that you
can provide me with because I would like to start
receiving you publication here at the institution.
Your time and attention in this matter is much
appreciated.
-- A Pennsylvania Prisoner, July 3, 1996.
MIM RESPONDS: We get many of these letters every
week and we rely on the prisoners and our allies on
the outside to fight these battles through the
legal system whenever possible. Sometimes these
legal battles can be won and censorship is stopped
temporarily in one prison. Filing an appeal is a
good first step by any prisoner who has his or her
mail censored. The Washington State ACLU has
recently taken up a legal battle on behalf of MIM
Notes and a few other publications frequently
censored in the prisons and we hope that these and
other efforts will win us some more access to the
prisons.
LETTERS OF PROTEST CAN BE SENT TO:
State Correctional Institution, R.D. #3, Box 500,
Hunlock Creek, PA 18621-9580.
Indiana State Prison, PO Box 41, Michigan City, IN
46361-0041.
Utah DOC, Central Utah Correctional Facility, 255
East 300 North, PO Box 550, Gunnison, UT 84634.
Elmira Correctional Facility, Box 500, Elmira, NY
14902-500.
KCI-MSU, 4344 Broad River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210.
PRISONER IS NOT DISCOURAGED BY CENSORSHIP
Dear Comrades,
Yesterday, I received a notice of publication
restriction from the Pelican Bay State Prison
mailroom for MIM Notes #115 and #116. This is due
to the passing of Senate Bill 1260 (Presely)
resulting in the changes to penal code section
2600. As you may already know Pelican Bay has a
history of racist violence and political
repression.
The passing of this bill gives the authorities the
right to stop any material that is deemed a threat
to the safety and security of the institution.
Euphemistically, this means any material that
speaks about the oppression of Black people and
other oppressed nationalities, or the state i.e.
judges, police, and other civilian employees who
help maintain the present order, etc.
Whatever the case may be, the articles in the paper
must have been good, because Pelican Bay will stop
any publication that exposes their dirt and the
dirt of other Federal, state and local law
agencies. But I always say that dirt can't hide
from intensified Tide.
MIM keep up the good work in exposing the system.
The main area you want to cover is those on the
outside. These seem to be the people who can't
quite understand that prisons are about profit and
war on crime is about the state mechanism
criminalizing the poor.
When I see these publication restrictions, I do not
get discouraged, although that is their [the pigs]
sole purpose. One can not discourage a person who
is class-conscious by stopping a publication. One
only allow them to become fully aware again. You
become fully aware that capitalism breeds a society
where there are anti-socio-personalities. V.I.
Lenin said, "When we go to hang the capitalist,
they will sell us the rope." Keep struggling
because eventually we will win through.
Sincerely,
-- A California Prisoner, July 17, 1996.
LETTERS OF PROTEST CAN BE SENT TO:
Pelican Bay State Prison, 5905 Lake Earl Ave,
Crescent City, CA 95531.
PRISON LABOR BEHIND THE OLYMPIC SPECTACLE
**"Even if you can't throw the shot or synchronize
swim, Massachusetts motorists can still help the
US-Olympic team by putting on the new Olympic
Spirit license plate on their cars...the
multicolored special plates cost $80.00, of which
$50.00 will go to the US-Olympic Committee to
support athletes in Atlanta and future
Olympics...The plates were unveiled yesterday at
the State House by Governor William F. Weld."**
(Boston Herald, "Bay State Plates Help Carry the
Olympic Torch", July 20, 1996)
What this quote doesn't reveal is the fact that
currently the prison: MCI-Walpole, where these
"Olympic Spirit" plates are manufactured is
undergoing a Pseudo-lockdown, imposed by Larry
Dubois, Massachusetts Department of Corrections'
Commissioner and the self same person who
implemented the locking down of USP-Marion.
Out of the general prison population only 30
prisoners are employed in the prison industry which
has been curtailed down to only the plate-shop.
Most other prisoners are confined to their
respective cells 23 and one half hours daily. The
rest are herded like chattel into the big grassy
prison-yard. There is no shade...A set of plates
cost $80.00; prisoners make $1.00 per hour (6 hours
daily). There is a rate of 21,000 sets of plates
made daily. Simple math shows that capitalism
herein America is the "Olympic in Spirits" The 13th
Amendment to the US Constitution lets Slavery
Exist.
-- A Massachusetts Prisoner, July 23, 1996.
ALL PRISONERS ARE POLITICAL PRISONERS
Dear Comrades,
I am writing in response to the letter which
appeared in issue #116, June 15, 1996 issue of MIM
Notes from the "worker in the New Afrikan
Independence Movement." and the definition of a
"political prisoner". The writer utilized
terminology like the "national Liberation struggle"
yet failed to correctly analyze the role of
prisoners in that struggle. I agree that we have
Prisoners of War which dedicated their lives and
liberty to waging war against the Capitalistic
elite in this racist/capitalistic monster currently
called "Amerikka". Yet, he/she failed to make an
objective analysis of the prisoner and the role of
the prisoner in the national liberation movement.
The prison front of the movement is just as
essential as any other front. And you will never
unify the lumpen proletariat by creating a lot of
class distinctions among the prison class. Any
intellectual and student of revolutionary science
knows the difference. Therefore, you must utilize a
broad definition of the term Political Prisoner
(P.P.) which will incorporate those in that class
into the prisoner front of the movement.
I think that for the purpose of propagandizing the
prison population that the MIM definition is broad
enough to incorporate the entire prison class and
define the relationship between that class and our
common enemy which is "Monopoly Capitalism". All
POW's in this country know who they are and the
special status and relationship they enjoy among
tendencies that share our common beliefs. They are
to be emulated by the prison class and all in
society. Yet, we do not need to create class
controversies among the prison class because
technically speaking, we are all "political
prisoners" under the yoke of the same imperialistic
monster.
Every different political tendency in this country
has its own definition of P.P.'s and we shouldn't
waste valuable time and resources in MIM Notes and
other propaganda vehicles debating things which are
trivial. In sum, let's stop bickering and debating
b.s. and let's organize, agitate and educate so we
can liberate. I am.
Yours in Solidarity,
--An Illinois Prisoner, July 28, 1996.
MIM RESPONDS: We agree with this comrade that all
prisoners are political prisoners. But we disagree
that this is not worth debating in the pages of MIM
Notes. The words we use are important because of
the political meaning behind them. If some people
do not believe that prisons are political
institutions used to lock up people for politically
defined crimes then this reveals a larger
disagreement that is worth struggling over. It is
through this struggle that we can all advance our
political analysis and move forward in greater
unity and strength.
"Class" as used by Marxists is a scientific term
which does not accurately apply to prisoners as a
single group. Prisoners in Amerikkka's gulags are
in fact composed principally of two classes: the
proletariat and the lumpenproletariat. Marxist
terminology refers to prisoners as a "stratum," and
to the plural of such non-class, non-national, non-
gender groupings as "strata". For a more thorough
analysis of this issue and more, check out MT11 for
$5 from MIM in which we address the gulags in
Amerika.
PENNSYLVANIA PIGS TORTURE PRISONER IN RETALIATION
FOR LAWSUIT
...I am currently trying to save the life of a
death row inmate. His name is Mr. X and he is truly
an innocent man on death row.
To find out more about his case, look for the essay
"Until Justice is Served" under the Death Penalty
section of the Bruderhof web site (I am not a
Bruderhof member).
Recently Mr. X was transferred from Greene
Correctional Institute in Pennsylvania to
Pittsburgh because the guards there were caught
torturing Mr. X. They poured acid on his arms,
kicked in his rib cage and threw him repeatedly
down a flight of 14 steps.
Why, you ask?
Because GCI was sued by Mr. X and he won. He
charged them with deliberate indifference. He was
born with Celiac Disease, a pre-existing condition
that dictates a certain diet to remain healthy. On
the street, you can stop it from ever rupturing. In
prison, you have to have special foods not on their
menu in order to sustain yourself.
Mr. X was denied medication and food by this prison
to where he sued them and WON! But the prison
guards decided to take matters into their own hands
and they beat him. Luckily a warden was on duty and
caught the guards. And now he is in another prison.
But his health his still in trouble and he is still
in danger of being hurt...
I just wanted people to know that even on Death
Row, there are still cruel acts being carried out,
even in maximum security prisons like this...
-- A friend of a Pennsylvania prisoner, July 15
1996.
PRISONS ARE NOT DESIGNED TO REHABILITATE
I am currently a prisoner in the Michigan
Department of Corrections (Chippewa KTF). I have
become a true believer that these prisons are not
designed to rehabilitate inmates. The prisons here
in Michigan promote hostile atmospheres for the
inmates to reside in, by stacking inmates (full
grown men) on top of each other. For example, here
at KTF, 120 men are housed in a pole barn, which is
designed to hold only 60 inmates.
These facilities offer hardly anything positive for
the inmates to involve themselves with. Then, when
an inmate joins an organization to give himself
something positive to occupy his time with he gets
harassed and accused of belonging to a gang! The
institution does not allow these organizations to
participate in any positive activities. All
proposals submitted are being denied. It seems like
the DOC is no longer interested rather if an inmate
receives rehabilitation, nor the education he/she
needs to become a productive member of society upon
his/her release.
Instead, Governor Engler stopped inmates from
receiving financial aid to further their education.
An inmate is only allowed the luxury of obtaining
his GED in this facility...and we all know that is
only the beginning of the road to success
concerning education.
They are constantly passing new policies which are
making it more and more difficult for inmates to
communicate with the outside world, which is a
vital part of rehabilitation. They have restricted
our telephone calls by giving us only 10 phone
numbers to call. These numbers can only be changed
every six months. These phone calls are being
recorded and monitored. The have done the same
thing with our visits. They have made us send our
loved ones visitor applications which invade their
personal lives with questions that are not
applicable; although required to answer if they
wish to visit.
These prisons in Michigan are nothing more than an
economy saver. While us prisoners in Michigan are
steadily working for slave wages. We are also being
subject to all kinds of diseases by being forced to
live in such crowded quarters. Then when an inmate
request health services, he usually does not get
the attention he needs until he has naturally
recovered! If an inmate does not have financial
support from the outside world, he is a lost cause!
These people know this, that is why they are making
it so hard for a person to have contact with the
outside world.
--A Michigan prisoner, Mar. 11, 1996.
NEW NEWSLETTER FOR PRISONERS: DAILY MAIL
We have started a prison pen pal organization and
would like your help in spreading the word. We are
a pen pal service for prisoners. We are writing
organizations like yours to let you know we are a
new newsletter published quarterly, dedicated to
information and enrichment and to helping prisoners
help themselves receive daily mail. Seeking
prisoners who would like a copy of our newsletter
or prisoners who would like an application to place
a free ad in our newsletter. For a free newsletter
or an application for an ad in our newsletter,
please send us a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope,
(SASE) If you want both a newsletter and an
application to be in our newsletter send two
SASE's.
--Daily Mail, 8139 Sunset Avenue, Suite 190, Fair
Oaks, CA 85628.
***WHAT NON-PRISONERS CAN DO TO SUPPORT
PRISONERS***
*1. Struggle with, work with, finance and join MIM.
The best way to support prisoners is to overthrow
the system under which capitalists profit from the
exploitation of prisoners. History shows that the
best way to do this is to build a Marxist-Leninist-
Maoist party. The oppressors will not give up their
power without a fight.
*2. Finance MIM's prison work. Our biggest bill
each month is postage. Most of the prison comrades
who read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it. So
if you have money, send what you can afford. Every
cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us.
*3. Distribute MIM Notes and Notas Rojas. Bring the
voices of prisoners and their supporters to as
large and wide an audience of people as possible.
Contact MIM for bulk rates and distribution tips.
*4. Start or join a prison support group. MIM can
provide advice and resources to help you build
public opinion for prisoners and their struggles.
*5. Fight censorship, beatings, torture and other
fascist outrages. Under Lock and Key often features
the addresses of prisoners' friends and enemies.
Work with the friends and let the enemies know
you're watching. (Don't expect to win the fascists
to the side of humanity, however. See #1 in this
list).
*6. Stay in touch. Keep us informed of pro-prisoner
work you do. Our readers might find it educational
or inspirational.
***WHAT PRISONERS CAN DO TO BUILD MIM***
*1. Start a study group. This is the best way to
share materials and ideas. In groups, prisoners can
better benefit from the limited resources MIM has.
*2. Get MIM Notes and MIM Theory into your library.
This allows one copy of the paper to be seen by
many comrades.
*3. Contact people on the outside. MIM needs
comrades and allies everywhere. Maybe you know
people on the outside who want to subscribe to MIM
Notes or distribute it.
*4. Share materials. If MIM sends books or
periodicals, please make sure that as many people
as possible get a chance to read them.
*5. Write MIM at least every three months.
Otherwise, you will be dropped from our mailing
list. There are many cases where your keepers throw
out MIM Notes, so we need to know that you actually
get it. Also, comrades are moved around a lot,
especially those who are known to be political.
Please let us know of any address changes as soon
as you know them.
*6. Make MIM Distributors an official distributor.
Many prisons require registration before MIM can
send books or other materials. Usually we can
comply with these bogus rules. It helps immensely
to have someone there do the reasearch and send us
the proper forms.
*7. Send money or stamps. Our biggest bill each
month is postage. Most of the prison comrades who
read MIM Notes have no way of paying for it. So if
you have money, send what you can afford. Every
cent helps, and stamps are as good as cash to us.
Please make all checks payable to "MIM
Distributors."
*8. Write for MIM Notes or Notas Rojas. Prisoners
write almost all of Under Lock & Key. We don't
care if you know how to spell or write good English
or Spanish. Write on any topic you like, it does
not have to be a prison story.
*9. Translate. If you can read and write English
and another language fluently, let us know. Any
translation work you do will help us make Maoist
ideas accessible to more people.
*10. Fight censorship. When you know of censorship
of books or newspapers, investigate. Write to MIM
to confirm what has happened, then see what you can
do about it.
*11. Keep in touch after your release. Many
comrades stop doing political work after their
release. Write to MIM as soon as you know where
you'll be so we can hook you up with comrades on
the outside.
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