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.
I N T E R N E T ' S M A O I S T BI-M O N T H L Y
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
XX XX XXX XX XX X X XXX XXX XXX XXX
X X X X X X X XX X X X X X X
X V X X X V X X X X X X X XX XXX
X X X X X X XX X X X X X
X X XXX X X X V XXX X XXX XXX
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT
MIM Notes 91 August, 1994
MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the
world's oppressed majority, and against the
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in
the service of the people. support it, struggle
with it and write for it.
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. FOUR EASY STEPS FOR MAINTAINING U.S. IMPERIALISM IN HAITI.
2. LETTERS
3. IMPERIALIST PEACE IS WAR
4. CONDESCENDING SAVIOR CRUCIFIED IN BERKELEY
5. GIULIANI'S BAD LIEUTENANTS: BREAKING THE PIGGY BANK
6. PIG EXECUTION, WITH A TWIST
7. HENDRICKS COMMITTEE EXPANDS
8. OCCUPATION, PARTITION, INVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS
AMERIKA'S INSIDIOUS ROLE IN KOREA
9. RICH HISTORY OF U.S. PROVOCATION
10. KOREA: SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT DAY
11. KIM IL SUNG DIES
12. PRISONERS FORCED TO PROMOTE PATRIOTISM
13. SECOND-HAND SMOKE SINKS PSEUDO-FEMINISTS
14. HIV+ AMERIKAN PRISONER SEEKS ASYLUM IN CANADA
15. CALIFORNIA PRISONERS FORCED TO REVEAL TEST RESULTS
16. FASCISM FIRST; WOMEN SECOND
17. TRUTH IN REPRESSION
18. TUBERCULOSIS RISES IN ADVANCED CAPITALIST COUNTRIES
19. SAVE THE WHALES, FIGHT CAPITALISM
20. AMNESTY FOR IMPERIALISM
21. SOCIAL-FASCISTS IN ITALY FREE THEMSELVES
22. UNITED AIRLINES PROVES MIM RIGHT AGAIN
23. UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS
24. BOOK REVIEW: PERU: TIME OF FEAR
25. SPECTACLE OF DECAY
26. TRUE LIES
27. BELLE ŠPOQUE
28. GO FISH
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
* * *
FOUR EASY STEPS FOR MAINTAINING U.S. IMPERIALISM IN HAITI.
by MA307
"Comrade! Friend! You have problems? Your life is in danger, you
are persecuted...Don't go in the boats!...If you fulfill the right
conditions you can go to the U.S.!...Economic reasons?...They
won't let you in...They'll make you return! An empty stomach has
no ears (you can't think straight), and you know that! Don't go in
the boats. Taking the boats equals death!"
--A radio announcement broadcast in Haiti set to "traditional
music", paid for by the U.S. government.(1)
To remedy the "crisis" in Haiti, the Clinton regime would have you
believe it is not necessary to examine the political and economic
conditions in Haiti. Rather than give serious consideration to how
the crisis in Haiti can be resolved within Haiti, the U.S. is
following a simple formula of manipulating conditions in the
international community in order to "restore democracy" to Haiti:
Impose economic embargo.
Repatriate Haitians fleeing "economic conditions."
Threaten military intervention.
Continue as long as possible by waffling and backpedaling.
This is what the Amerikan government submits as the solution to
the Haitian crisis. The intention of the Clinton regime is
anything but the restoration of Democracy to Haiti. To review each
in turn:
Impose Economic Embargo
At the end of June, the last flight from Haiti left Port Au
Prince. Further flights are banned as part of the "economic
embargo," except for three flights per week by Air France.(1)
CitiBank and Bank of Boston closed their Haitian branches as part
of the U.S. plan to block economic connections to the
international community. These banks re-opened for business as
usual when the Coup government threatened "legal action." This
aggressive backpedaling is reminiscent of what the major oil
companies did last year: threatened with legal reprisal from the
Haitian government, the oil companies continued to trade with the
Haitian government.(1)
The U.S. published a list in June of individuals in Haiti with
blocked bank accounts. The list included "some coup supporters,
some regular citizens, some democratic individuals, some children
and even some dead people."(1)
In spite of the "embargo," 60 companies continue to conduct
business out of Haiti, protected and encouraged by other U.S.
edicts which include the Carribean Basin Economic Recovery Act
(CBERA) and another known as the General System of Preference.
Included among the businesses still trading with the U.S. is Star
Sports of Miami (the largest importer of baseballs), owned by the
Bahamian company Champions, which is in turn co-owned by wealthy
coup-supporter Fritz Mevs. He paid $100,000 to the Washington firm
Williams and Connolly to lobby for preservation of the loop
hole.(2)
Additionally, the coup members, the military, and paramilitary
organizations like FRAPH (Front pour l'Avancement et le Progres
Haitien) are profiting from illegal gas trading via the Dominican
Republic, extortion, and all the other ills associated with the
Haitian crisis. The embargo is doing exactly what it was designed
to do: perserve the existing conditions of poverty in Haiti.
Repatriate Haitians fleeing "economic conditions."
Around 5,000 repatriated "economic refugees" have been summarily
executed after their return since the coup.(3) The bodies of some
repatriated Haitians have been recovered, among them, Yvon Claude,
cousin to Bishop Willy Romilus and former nobel peace prize
candidate, who died of injuries sustained during FRAPH captivity.
Even if these people were fleeing conditions of poverty when they
attempted to escape, the government definitely considered them
polticial enemies upon their return. Finally, according to the
Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations, women are the
"preferred target" of FRAPH and army political terror, rape,
kidnapping, torture, and murder.
Given this climate of systematic repression, it is impossible to
not agree with exiled President Aristide: because "of the extreme
violence perpetrated by the coup leaders against Haitian
citizens...it is immoral to return refugees to Haiti and it is
immoral to suggest that the Haitians ought to remain in Haiti."(1)
To that, one might add that it is impossible to refer to any
civilian fleeing conditions of pervasive and brutal repression as
"economic refugees."
Nevertheless, 16,000 beds have been set up on ships and on land,
including at the re-opened U.S. GuantÛnamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba,
to receive the Haitians interdicted at a rate of 1,000 per day and
a cost of well over $250,000 per day. At these places, interdicted
Haitians are processed in a matter of an hour and 45 minutes,
during which time their status as a "political" or "economic"
refugee is decided.(1)
Threaten Military Intervention
This slow-breaking development in the Clinton regime's policy
towards Haiti has yet to develop beyond the preliminary fore-play
which usually involves the military occupation of a country. The
Clinton administration is likely hoping for a "surgical" strike.
National Public Radio assures us that it will be a quick invasion,
and that its purpose would not be to topple the military
dictatorship, but merely to "restore democracy."(4) This
distinguishes the mission from the bungled situation in Somalia.
Given the summary executions of refugees and dissidents, the
cheapening of labor and human life which accompanies political and
economic repression, and the fact that business as usual can be
conducted without having to transform the situation, the U.S. will
step carefully to avoid damaging a situation favorable to the U.S.
empire.
Continue this as long as possible by waffling and backpedaling
Haiti, the home of the most successful slave rebellion in history,
has been marked by a post-revolutionary elite which sought to run
the country and extract its wealth through trade with France,
England and the U.S. This type of economic development has as its
necessary condition the immiseration and repression of the people
as their land and labor are expropriated for the profit of a few
on the markets of developed nations. In many ways, Haiti is the
longest-standing example of the need for post-colonial countries
to move beyond the creation of a national elite to the conditions
necessary for socialist revolution.
Notes:
1. Haiti Info., 7/2/94
2. Haiti News Digest, 4/25/94
3. Haiti Communications Project, 4/25/94
4. National Public Radio, 7/15/94
* * *
LETTERS
PUERTO RICANS ORGANIZE ON BEHALF OF PRISONERS
Dear Friends at MIM Notes,
As most of the Puerto Rican political prisoners begin serving
their 15th year in U.S. prisons, the campaign to urge the
president to release them continues. We enclose an article for
publication about how their continuing imprisonment violates not
only international law, but U.S. law, since the U.S. signed on to
the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights. We hope
you will make this information available to your readers.
PUERTO RICO, ITS POLITICAL PRISONERS, AND THE INTERNATIONAL
COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
*The right to self-determination
*The right to a fair hearing by an impartial tribunal
*The right to be free from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
*The right to hold opinions without interference
*The right to peacefully assemble
These rights are taken for granted in the United States, right?
Not if you happen to be involved in the Puerto Rican independence
movement. Not even after the United States Senate in 1992 ratified
an international treaty guaranteeing such rights--the
International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. The treaty
provides for a new signatory to report to the United Nations on
what it has done to comply with the treaty. The U.S. has yet to
make this report. And so Ofensiva '92, on behalf on the campaign
for the release of the Puerto Rican political prisoners held in
U.S. prisons, recently submitted a repost to the Clinton
administration pointing out its failures to comply with the treaty
and, of course, seeking compliance, beginning with the release of
the prisoners.
The Clinton administration, sworn in during the United Nation's
International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, inherited
the last direct colony in the world, Puerto Rico. To date, it has
taken no steps to comply with the first and most fundamental right
articulated in the treaty--self-determination. While State
Department spokespeople boast of their president's profound
commitment to human rights which include self-determination, this
administration, like previous administrations, blithely ignores
the mandates of international law and United Nations resolutions
recognizing the Puerto Rican people's right to self-determination.
But since the Senate ratified the treaty in 1992, making it part
of U.S. law, the continued colonial domination of Puerto Rico now
violates U.S. as well.
U.S. disregard for international law has not been passive or
benign in the case of Puerto Rico. The U.S. and cooperative
colonial adminstrations have disrupted, neutralized and attempted
to destroy the independence movement, with conduct ranging from
illegal spying on political gatherings and collecting dossiers on
participants to intervening in elections to forming death squads
and assassinating activists. The highest colonial court recognized
that the government treated the belief in independence as a crime.
Today, almost two dozen Puerto Rican women and men are in prison
for their actions against the crime of colonialism. Most are
entering their 15th year in prison on politically punitive and
lengthy sentences, after trials which violated the treaty and
under conditions which violate the treaty. While the treaty calls
for trial before an impartial, independent tribunal, these men and
women were tried before anonymous juries poisoned by vitriolic
media coverage and tainted by unprecedented courthouse "security"
and sentenced by judges who, resenting their unapologetic
commitment to the freedom of their people, gave them sentences far
longer than those handed out to people convicted of any other
criminal charge. If they had committed mere anti-social acts, they
would have been released long ago, as the average time served for
homicide is around 7 years. Instead, they have served twice that
long, and those who have sought release on parole have been told
they must serve another 15 years before such release would even be
considered.
As if the lifelong sentence were not enough punishment (in one
trial, 10 women and men were sentences to an average term of over
70 years), prison authorities, ignoring the treaty's prohibition
of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, have placed them in
prisons designed to break the human spirit, committed acts of
physical and psychological violence against them, and punished
them for their continuing dedication to the independence of their
country.
President Clinton's human rights staff boast not just of their
leader's abstract commitment to human rights, but also assert that
he is a man of action. His 'firmly held beliefs' have not yet led
him to grant the fundamental right of self-determination to Puerto
Rico, or to release those in prison who sought to exercise that
right. Last fall, Ofensiva '92 sent him a formal application for
the prisoners' immediate and unconditional release. The pending
application provides a unique way for the U.S. to make a gesture
of good faith and come into compliance with the provisions of this
newly ratified treaty. Call the president at 202/456-1111 and ask
him to release the Puerto Rican political prisoners as the first
step in meeting the requirements of the treaty.
For more information, in the U.S. contact the National Committee
to Free Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners,
1112 N. California, Chicago, IL 60622, (312)278-0885; in Puerto
Rico, Ofensiva '92, Apartado Postal 20190, Ri'o Piedras, PR 00928.
MIM responds:
Tactical campaigns pressuring the government to release the Puerto
Rican political prisoners provides an avenue not just to release
them from prison, but to build public opinion about the conditions
for the masses in Puerto Rico. It is these conditions - U.S.
colonialism - that has lead to an independence movement and the
eventual imprisonment of the political prisoners held in Amerika.
The independence movement is a direct attack against U.S.
imperialism and that's what makes it so dangerous since national
oppression is the principal contradiction in the world today. It
is no surprise then that the Puerto Rican government treats
independence movement supporters as criminals or that the U.S.
hand these political prisoners held in Amerika absurd sentences
and impose harsh prison conditions.
* * *
IMPERIALIST PEACE IS WAR
Revolutionary war between contending classes in the Philippines
has raged for 25 years. From June 10-14, the National Democratic
Front (NDF) demonstrated its deep commitment to the cause of a
just and lasting peace at peace talks in the Netherlands with the
Philippine government. The talks underscore the NDF's genuine
interest in achieving a just peace. The Filipino people see the
difference between the leadership of those who are willing to die
for national liberation and peace and those who are only buying
time for a dying capitalism as the cities are slowly surrounded by
class-conscious, armed peasants and workers.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the NDF and the New
People's Army (NPA) are fighting a protracted people's war to
liberate the Philippines from the jaws of Amerikan, Japanese and
European multinational corporations.
In a March 26, 1994 statement the Central Committee of the CPP
noted that: "The NPA has thousands of full-time guerrilla fighters
with automatic weapons; excluding the more numerous forces of
local guerrillas, militia and self-defense units with inferior
weapons. They operate in guerrilla fronts which cover 25 percent
of the villages ... and substantial portions of more than 60 of
the 73 provinces."
In the liberated base areas, the NDF practices land reform which
includes rent reduction and elimination of usury. The NPA and
dozens of mass organizations representing the various interests of
all the anti-imperialist classes and groups are allied in the NDF
under the guidance of the Maoist CPP.
The peace talks produced a ten-point statement addressing issues
standing in the way of peace negotiations. In the statement, the
NDF calls for ending the GRP treatment and persecution political
prisoners as common criminals; the GRP denies that there are
political prisoners. The NDF will furnish a list of political
prisoners held by both sides. The NDF endorses claims by victims
of the Marcos dictatorship for at least 30 percent of the money
recovered from the Marcos' Swiss bank accounts; the GRP will think
about it.
The NDF demanded that the GRP not enter into talks with any person
or entity pretending to represent the NDF or any of its
organizations. The GRP refused. The NDF objected to the GRP
position that the bourgeois Constitution of the Philippines govern
the peace negotiations. Both sides agreed to safety guarantees for
those participating in the talks. A working agenda was set for the
next round of talks, scheduled for later this year.
Maoists know from experience that the imperialists and their
marionettes will never surrender economic or state power until the
masses forcibly dispossess the rich and ugly. Nonetheless, the
goal of the communists is universal and lasting peace.
In the Philippines, the soldiers of the Ramos regime bomb peasant
villages daily. The regime seeks to further underdevelop and cash-
crop the workers and peasants to death. That is capitalist
"peace." The revolutionaries are working to deny the capitalists'
transformation of Filipino labor into commodities for Amerikan
markets.
The Filipino people are cooking up a just peace today on the
flames of revolutionary war. The NDF has nothing to fear from
peace talks based on the ever-growing military might of the armed
people. The counterrevolutionary arms of the government and the
CIA are financing weak replicas of the NDF organization in Europe.
They pay traitors in Manila to pose as communists and they reward
degenerate peasant leaders with cushy jobs in non-governmental
organizations and fund-raising trips to Amerika.
If Ramos and his lackeys live to see genuine democracy and peace
in the Philippines, they will only have lived to die serving the
people in useful productive activities under a new socialist
system. The day that capitalist social relations are finally
buried is also the day that world peace is born.
Notes:
Joint CommuniquÈ of the GRP/NDF, 6/14/94.
Press Statement of Jose Maria Sison, 6/20/94.
Press Statement of the NDF National Council, 6/14/94.
* * *
CONDESCENDING SAVIOR CRUCIFIED IN BERKELEY
The National Congress of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng
Philipinas/Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP) expelled
Jaime Tadeo as Chairperson and Member of the BAYAN-affiliated KMP
on November 24, 1993. Tadeo and his supporters were condemned by
the above-ground KMP as factionalist schemers.
Tadeo was charged by the KMP in a bourgeois court with embezzling
$105,000 from the KMP treasury. The Ramos regime dropped the
charges; the money vanished. On Wednesday, July 13, 1994 Jaime
Tadeo surfaced at a fundraiser in Berkeley, California.
The event was sponsored by the Forum for Philippine Alternatives
(FOPA), a group of anti-communist academics, CIA assets and
social-democrats dedicated solely to undermining the international
solidarity work of CPP and NDF supporters.
In a series of embarrassing exchanges with both Maoists and
Filipino patriots, Tadeo exposed himself as an inconsistent
opportunist and a tool of imperialism and the Ramos regime.
After being expelled by the KMP, Tadeo formed a facsimile group,
called the Democratic Peasant Movement of the Philippines (DKMP),
under the sponsorship of the Department of Agriculture of the
Philippines and Western corporations promoting "Philippines 2000."
This Ramos scheme plans to "newly industrialize" the Philippines
by extending favors to Amerikan and Japanese monopolists and
intensifying the expropriation of peasant lands.
International poverty pimps
Walden Bello, a leading theorist for FOPA, (who also works as a
paid consultant overseeing issuance of Filipino visas for the US
Immigration and Naturalization Service) functions as an
international mouth-piece for Philippines 2000 while promoting the
collaboration of Filipino grass-roots organizations with Ramos'
neocolonial policies.
Bello, Tadeo, and an Amerikan named John Gershman have joined
forces to set an anti-communist political agenda for Filipino
patriots living in North Amerika by spreading misinformation and
propaganda calling for "village-level empowerment" of workers and
peasants in the Philippines through "intensification of rural
industrial initiatives," "state subsidies for agriculture,"
"set[ting]-up a national peasant electoral institute," and "the
politics of meaning: culture, media, psychology, spirituality,
values, ethics."
The avowed enemies of FOPA and DKMP are "the vanguard party, and
Marxist-Leninist theory and methodology." What FOPA and DKMP
attempt to obscure is that their enemies do indeed posses the
correct line for the Filipino masses. To this end, FOPA sponsors
"cluster-groups" in Amerikan cities geared towards sucking guilt-
dollars out of white liberals, remnants of the CP, USA and the
deceased Line of March organization. Tadeo and his phony DKMP are
overtly dedicated to destroying the class-conscious movement of
millions of Filipino peasants--the backbone of the People's War.
In Berkeley, Tadeo delivered a sermon on the "benefits" of
electoral reform, social-democracy and capitalist development. The
embezzler was sharply confronted by the Philippine-American
Workers International Solidarity (PAWIS). PAWIS distributed
excerpts from the KMP's exposure of Tadeo/DKMP in the June issue
of the KMP organ Peasant Update Philippines--not to be confused
with the DKMP's new organ: Philippine Peasant Update.
PAWIS asked Tadeo why he was expelled from the KMP and if he
planned to return to the KMP the $105,000 he stole? A livid Tadeo
claimed, ridiculously, that the KMP no longer exists, and that he
himself is the sole leader of the Filipino peasantry. He then
waved around a piece of paper from Ramos exonerating him of
stealing funds from the anti-Ramos KMP.
PAWIS pointed out that 25 years of socialist land-reform--led by
the CPP/NDF/NPA--and ever-expanding movements for territorial
independence from the predatory Philippine state have proven to be
the most efficient vehicles for decreasing the misery of the
peasants. Tadeo--who wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan
"Farms not Arms"--slid into a tirade against "centralism," "the
correct line," and "Leninism." He claimed, paradoxically, not to
be a "reformist" and then proudly stated three times that, "The
DKMP is duly registered with the Philippine Securities and
Exchange Commission!"
Ignoring the blood-lessons of Vietnam, China, Korea, Albania, Peru
and dozens of 20th century revolutions, Aquino-apologist Tadeo
claimed that the "Total War Policy" of the Ramos regime has
destroyed all possibilities of armed revolution in the
Philippines.
A Filipina in the audience said: "Ka Jimmy, seven years ago you
told me that if reforms continued not to work that the peasantry
would have no alternative but to take up arms against the state.
Have you changed? Are you now what you used to despise: a social
democrat?"
Tadeo became visibly confused as to his own ideology and said,
"no." He then went on to explain that social democracy is the
program of the DKMP. Feeble cheers from Tadeo's white leftist
supporters eventually subsided into sullen looks of dismay. Their
newly purchased icon's intellectual credibility collapsed in the
face of simple questions of consistency delivered by concerned
Filipino patriots who remembered Tadeo from the bygone days when
peasant masses flocked to his delivery of the very thing he now
opposes: the correct line. The audience dissipated-- many
clutching PAWIS literature and MIM Notes for comfort.
Notes:
Resolution No. 01, 4th National Congress of the KMP, November
1993.
Philippines Peasant Update, KMP, June 1994.
Philippines Peasant Update, DKMP, January 1994.
Philippine Alternatives, March 1992, September 1992, February
1993.
* * *
GIULIANI'S BAD LIEUTENANTS: BREAKING THE PIGGY BANK
The Mollen Commission recently issued a report from a two-year
investigation of New York City police corruption. By MIM's
standards, the report was astonishingly honest. The New York Times
cited "a 'willful blindness' to corruption throughout the ranks of
the New York City Police Department [which] has allowed highly
organized networks of rogue officers to deal in drugs and prey on
black and Hispanic neighborhoods."(1)
MIM conducted an independent investigation of the problems of
police corruption and druglordism in a housing project in 1993,
but we did not do anything with the information at that time. We
found the people willing to name names and problems. But we saw no
method to unleash the people's struggle against druglords and
corrupt police.
The Mollen report, a bourgeois investigation of the same problem,
spurs us to sum up what we have learned: a real anti-drug campaign
cannot begin without a People's Army.
Commission Report exposes long history of corruption
The Mollen report and New York Times coverage included the
history of the problem and did not try to pretend that it was a
matter of isolated incidents. "Twenty years ago, the most common
form of corruption was relatively minor. Officers of all ranks
took bribes to allow gamblers, prostitutes and others to avoid the
law and escape arrest. These 'grass-eaters,' as the Knapp
Commission called them, constituted the majority of cops in the
department at that time; serious corruption, committed by what the
Knapp Commission called 'meat-eaters,' was relatively rare. Today
the situation is reversed."(2)
The report acknowledges a twenty-year cycle of anger over police
corruption. The cycle began with outrage, which led to study, then
to recommendations, then to little action, which will lead to
quiet until the next outburst of public opinion.
In this case, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has
acknowledged the report, but denied the Mollen Commission's
recommendation for an independent Police Commission to check
police corruption . This Police Commission would not be
subordinate to the Police Department. Giuliani is a former
district attorney and his election in New York City was a result
of his popular anti-crime image among whites. This "anti-crime"
image has nothing to do with fighting police corruption; it's just
a matter of stoking white nationalism in the name of fighting
crime.
Although the Mollen report is fairly accurate in its collection of
the facts and in its recognition of patterns of facts, it will be
a failure in the long run, just like previous reports and
recommendations. The report says police corruption "is a multi-
faceted problem" and goes on to list aspects of the problem, such
as the fact that police are taught to value loyalty to each other
more than integrity. It does not see the underlying connections in
all these patterns. This is not surprising because the report was
put together by five members of the ruling class--five high-
ranking judges and prosecutors. So even though they name the
symptoms of the problem, they cannot accurately describe the
problem or its cause--capitalism--and they can't come up with a
serious solution.
MIM's conclusion: build the party as a foundation for the People's
Armies
When MIM investigated conditions in one inner city housing project
for a period of months in 1993, it was obvious that the people
felt they needed allies to open the fight against drugs and
corruption. Every time the people tried to expose the situation,
the police invented criminal charges against them.
Quite frankly, MIM received this information, and we stalled and
sat on it. In other housing projects MIM works in, we have also
shunted aside the issue of how to handle drug-dealing enemies of
the people, sometimes because they were too small to bother with,
often because we did not see the means to unleash the struggle.
Independent media are not sufficient
It is possible to resist the cops and druglords tactically through
the media, especially independent media like MIM Notes. However,
this alone leads to losing battles. The vicious combination of
druglords and cops cannot be defeated with mere words, no matter
how pure in spirit. In Boston, the Rev. Eugene Rivers' house was
shot up, after he devoted the last 10 years to fighting drugs. The
shooting has made him an object of national media attention. The
Reverend's approach can have some influence, but it cannot win.
Pacifism on this question will bring defeat and demoralization.
Right now there is no People's Army in Amerika. In the short run,
there will be two main obstacles to creating a People's Army. The
oppressed will have to wage national liberation struggles to evict
the imperialist occupiers, and form Maoist vanguards to create the
political conditions for a People's Army. Otherwise, efforts at
change will repeat past failures.
Even the People's Army led by the oppressed people's own
proletarian line will become corrupt if we do not root out
capitalism. Under capitalism (production for profit), there will
always be money to bribe people and things to buy with that money.
No people can remain uncorrupted in such a situation.
Even the Colombian prosecutor in charge of the drug war in
Colombia can see how profit means corruption: "'In Colombia, a
kilo of 90 percent pure cocaine costs $2,000,' he said. 'That same
kilo sells wholesale in New York for $20,000, in London for
$45,000.' The difference, he said, 'pays for the corruption of
police, of customs agents, of airport authorities.'"(3)
The people know what the problem is and even some of the ruling
class can recognize the facts. MIM has concluded that it will not
wage a detailed campaign against police-druglord corruption,
because it would lose many battles without a People's Army. It is
ultimately a betrayal of the international proletariat to squander
revolutionary forces on losing battles. It is up to the people to
build the Maoist International Movement, and new Maoist parties
for each nation, as well as the struggle for national self-
determination. The oppressed nations of North America already know
that they need a generation or two of dedicated work in the
interest of the people just to make up for the damages done in the
last few years. They can't afford to support people working for
bribery. They have the power to dedicate themselves to
independence and nation-building--reconstruction--while they
eliminate the material basis for individualism and theft. With a
strong Maoist party, a people willing for national independence
and a People's Army, the cops and drug-dealers could be fought--in
detail and with victory assured.
Notes:
1. New York Times, July 7, 1994, p. 1.
2. New York Times, July 7, 1994, p. b2.
3. New York Times, July 8, 1994, p. a4.
* * *
PIG EXECUTION, WITH A TWIST
On February 7, Springfield, MA police murdered an innocent Black
man, Benjamin Schoolfield. Schoolfield was driving a vehicle that
allegedly resembled one reported stolen at gun point earlier that
evening. An unmarked police car stopped in front of Schoolfield,
and two non-uniformed white cops got out with flashlights glaring
and guns drawn. There was no indication that these men were even
police officers. Schoolfield put his van in reverse, and was then
shot in the head from behind by officer Donald Brown, who had
approached the van from the rear.
Predictably, Brown was cleared by an internal investigation, and
an all-white grand jury chose not to indict him on criminal
charges. The execution was deemed an "accidental shooting." An
F.B.I. investigation into whether Schoolfield's civil rights were
violated is still pending.
The pattern is repeated over and over: the pigs work the front-
lines between Amerika's wealthy white majority and the domestic
oppressed nations. The pigs' prime task is to intimidate Black,
Latino, and Indigenous communities into political passivity
through random violence and mass-incarceration. In the words of
the Black Panther Party, "we ourselves are controlled by the
racist police who come into our communities from outside and
occupy them, patrolling, terrorizing, and brutalizing our people
like a foreign army in a conquered land."(1)
But the Schoolfield case is especially twisted. After officer
Brown was cleared, 200 people, including 100 police officers,
attended a celebration for Brown. The invitations to the party
said "come join friends and co-workers and congratulate Don on a
job well done (keep up the good work)." At the party, Brown was
presented with a ham, which is a southern custom for rewarding the
killer of a Black person. This sick gift is clear evidence of Ku
Klux Klan mentality if not membership in a large sector of the
Springfield police force.
The public response has been limited. The NAACP organized a well-
attended public meeting at which grievances were aired, and an
additional public rally two days later on the steps of city hall.
The day in between saw a rally in front of the police department
organized by the Friends and Relatives of Benjamin Schoolfield.
MIM attended the latter two events, and spoke with some of the
participants.
One woman who attended the police station rally, though angry
about the events, stressed a Christian pacifist approach to
reforming the police department. This line is characteristic of
the NAACP approach to playing down the revolutionary basis for
overthrowing white-nation supremacy. The NAACP has demanded more
"sensitivity training" for the Springfield police, in the hopes
that the "few bad apples" on the police force can be "cured" of
their racism. This viewpoint fails to acknowledge the systemic
nature of the exploitation of oppressed-nation masses. The pigs
will only change as the entire class and national structure of
Amerikan society is overthrown.
However, a man who attended the same rally told MIM that "enough
is enough," that he wanted "an eye for an eye." He stated
unequivocally that pig Brown "deserved the death penalty," and
that he was willing to carry out the sentence himself. Though MIM
does not advocate armed actions at this stage in the struggle for
national liberation and socialism, popular justice for the enemies
of the people will become a reality once our revolutionary
movement becomes strong enough.
In the meantime, we must not fall into reformist traps which try
to channel the masses' just anger away from revolution. Because of
its poverty and racial segregation, the state has identified
Springfield as a likely place for an urban "riot" similar to that
in L.A. Therefore the city government has taken special measures
to quell the people's rage. One city official who spoke at the
NAACP's city hall rally offered a "civilian review board" which
would monitor police conduct. However, he said it will not have
the power to conduct investigations, issue subpoenas, or impose
disciplinary actions on officers.
Its purpose would be to fool the people into thinking that things
will change for the better while leaving intact white-nation
control of the economy, and the "justice" system.
In contrast to this reformist approach, the Black Panther Party
organized for community self-defense by having their own patrols
which would monitor police conduct on the spot and intervene if
the pigs were acting in any way unacceptably. This program was
designed to bring immediate relief from pig oppression. In
addition, they built political solidarity around just demands such
as the following "Petition Statement for Community Control of
Police:"
"SUMMARY OF POLICE CONTROL AMENDMENT THAT MUST BE ESTABLISHED IN
THE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF AMERICA TO END FASCISM
"This amendment to a City charter would give control of the
police to community elected neighborhood councils so that those
whom the police should serve will be able to set police policy and
standards of conduct.
"The amendment provides for community control of police by
establishing police departments for the major communities of any
city; the Black community, the predominantly White area, the
Mexican American Communities, etc., etc. The departments would be
separate and autonomous. They can by mutual agreement use common
facilities. Each Department will be administered by full time
police commissions. (Not single police chiefs.) The Commissioners
are selected by a Neighborhood Police Control Council composed of
fifteen members from that community elected by those who live
there. Each department shall have five Community Council divisions
within it. (Or number of departments ratioed to population.)
"The Councils shall have the power to discipline officers
for breaches of Department policy or violations of law. (Against
the people). They may direct their police Commissioner to make
changes in department wide police policy by majority vote of the
said department commissioners. The Council can recall the
Commissioner appointed by it at any time it finds that he is no
longer responsive to the community. The community can recall the
council members when they are not responsive to it.
"All police officers must live in the department they work
in, and will be hired accordingly."(2)
This type of proposal is far more effective than the weak
"civilian review board" put forth by the Springfield city
government. Obviously, the state would never allow the Panthers'
just proposal. The Panthers were aware of this, but building
support for revolutionary demands which are then frustrated by the
establishment is an important part of building a revolutionary
movement. An uncompromising line must be taken if popular justice
is ever to be served, in the Schoolfield case, or in the next pig
execution.
Notes
Springfield Union-News, July 7, 9, 11
1. Black Panthers Speak, Philip S. Foner ed., p. 178. MIM
distributes Black Panthers Speak for $10, make checks out to ABS.
2. Ibid., p. 179
* * *
HENDRICKS COMMITTEE EXPANDS
A MIM comrade spent July 4th at a Wampanoag pow-wow in Mashpee on
Cape Cod, MA. It was fitting that on the 218th anniversary of the
U.S. declaration of independence from England, MIM spent the day
with a colonized people discussing recent events. The central
arena for cultural events flew a large banner calling for freedom
for Leonard Peltier, so this was a cultural event with a touch of
direct political action.
We spoke with the father and mother of David C. Hendricks, who was
killed by police in 1988.(1) The district attorney who tried the
case never tried to get the cop convicted of murder.
Since MIM reported on the case last year, Hendricks' parents have
written a letter to the Justice Department requesting that the
case be opened on federal charges. The Justice Department took
eight months to respond, and then only asked the family to fill
out some paperwork.
Hendricks' parents now hope a new local district attorney will be
elected to replace the one who refused to try the case honestly. A
candidate named Lawless has promised to open the case first thing
if elected. Unfortunately, the majority of people who elect the
district attorney are Euro-Amerikans. Their class position
translates into a fascist view of crime, in which police violence
is justified and oppressed nationalities must be locked up at a
higher rate than in colonial South Africa, as long as white
people's property is protected. A platform of bringing the cops to
justice is not likely to get anyone elected.
In the past year, the David Hendricks Committee for Human Rights
has expanded its political horizons to include several cases
involving police harassment of First Nations youth--including
cases of sexual and racial harassment.
David Hendricks' father Lawrence expressed his support for the
idea of national self-determination. He gave specifics on how
Wampanoags used to police themselves until recently when the U.S.
federal government denied the Mashpee group recognition as a tribe
and whites took over municipal governance in Mashpee.(1) "I always
thought when we had our own police force things were pretty good,"
Mr. Hendricks said.
While Lawrence Hendricks misses the days when the community of 400
to 600 people governed itself more than it does now, he does not
take a narrow view of politics, focussing only on local issues.
Speaking of other cases of oppression in the region, Hendricks
made it clear that the Hendricks Committee is involved wherever
First Nations people need help. The Committee bails people out of
jail, and keeps an eye on the cops. "They need help, and some
people don't want to support it if it's not local; our group is
100 percent different."
Notes: MIM Notes 79 8/93, p. 3.
* * *
OCCUPATION, PARTITION, INVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS
AMERIKA'S INSIDIOUS ROLE IN KOREA
Since February, the United States has vacillated between
preparation for war and diplomatic talks with the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or north Korea). Whichever
tactic Amerika chooses, its goals remain the same: to secure U.S.
access to Korea's raw materials, markets and labor force.
Beginning with the Korean War, Amerika has used a combination of
military occupation, forced partition and economic domination and
division to enforce its own hegemony over the Korean peninsula.
The United States seems to have returned to negotiations with the
DPRK for the moment with the opening of U.S.-north Korean talks in
Geneva. This is a shift in U.S. policy following several months of
rallying Amerikan popular support for war in Korea.
MIM supports the free unification and self-determination of the
Korean people, but we know that this will not come about as long
as the United States has effective military control of the
peninsula. We do not support the current north Korean government
as a beacon of self-determination. The DPRK's willingness to
establish China-type "free economic zones" and its use of its
nuclear program to bargain for concessions from the imperialists
demonstrate that it has deviated from the socialist path and is a
state-capitalist country which is capitulating to imperialism.
U.S. hypocrisy: restricting the right to deal arms
The United States claims to be working to decrease the risk of
nuclear war in Korea and around the world by preventing north
Korea from developing nuclear weapons. This claim justifies U.S.
threats of economic sanctions and military intervention in north
Korea. It is ridiculous to claim that the United States is anti-
militarist, given the U.S. nuclear warheads in Korea. Amerika uses
north Korea's nuclear program to justify its World Cop role. As
General Colin Powell said in 1991, "I'm running out of villains.
I'm down to Castro and Kim Il Sung."(1)
The talks between the United States and Korea, which started in
Geneva before north Korean president Kim Il Sung's death, are part
of an effort to bring north Korea around through diplomatic
tactics rather than the threat of sanctions or military action.
Recent speculation that Kim Il Sung's son, Kim Jong Il, will
accede to the presidency has centered on the younger Kim's role as
the "reformist element" in north Korean politics. The United
States and capitalist powers in Asia are hoping that north Korea
will follow state-capitalist China's path, opening the country to
foreign investment.
The DPRK has encouraged this hope, upholding revisionists like
Erich Honecker and outright capitalist lackeys like Mikhail
Gorbachev as being in the forefront of the fight for socialism.(2)
North Korea has never repudiated the restoration of capitalism in
China or the Soviet Union.
* * *
RICH HISTORY OF U.S. PROVOCATION
To read an Amerikan newspaper, one would think that north Korea
makes a practice of suddenly and viciously threatening south Korea
with nuclear destruction. Yet the U.S. media ignore the history of
U.S. military provocation. Even ignoring the years of U.S. attacks
on Korean autonomy in the Korean War, the U.S. resumÈ of military
intimidation is impressive.
The United States has had combat-ready troops occupying south
Korea since the 1950s. The U.S. army also built a 24-foot-high
wall across the peninsula, which, according to a recent visitor,
"makes the Berlin wall look like a kindergarten." U.S. and south
Korean forces regularly carry out "Team Spirit" exercises: mock
invasions of north Korea. Over 200,000 troops, B-1 bombers, and
warships capable of nuclear strikes are regularly involved in
these exercises.
The first time North Korea threatened to withdraw from the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in March 1993 was in
response to "Team Spirit" exercises carried out in February 1993.
The United States and north Korea then entered talks in April
1993. North Korea announced that it would suspend its withdrawal
from the Non-Proliferation treaty and resume talks with the IAEA,
while the United States and south Korea agreed to refrain from
nuclear threats.(1)
U.S. and south Korean forces proceeded to carry out at least seven
large-scale military exercises between August 1993 and January
1994--the largest involving almost 700,000 troops.(1) In February,
north Korea denied IAEA inspectors access to a nuclear reactor in
Yongbyon. In April the United States sent Patriot missiles to
south Korea, in spite of south Korean protests that the move was
too provocative.(3) In May, north Korea removed fuel rods from the
Yongbyon reactor and again threatened to withdraw from the IAEA.
The plutonium in the fuel rods could be used to fuel a nuclear
weapon.(4)
North Korean nukes?
North Korea has been close to developing a nuclear device for
three years. But spies in both Washington and Moscow have said
that they doubt north Korea actually has a device. It has
conducted no tests, which are considered essential to the
development of a nuclear device. Many bourgeois analysts think
that north Korea is using the possibility of nuclear weapons as a
bargaining chip to get diplomatic and economic concessions from
the United States. According to them, concessions are the goal,
not weapons-development. Having the weapons would likely be
counter-productive, because the United States would be less
inclined to bargain.(1)
War, sanctions, and reunification
The DPRK has repeatedly pushed for reunification and free travel
across the Demilitarized Zone since the partition of Korea in
1953. The U.S. repeatedly turned down north Korea's offers, until
recently when it looked like the DPRK was beginning to capitulate
to imperialism. Admiral Ronald J. Hayes, ex-commander of the U.S.
military in the Pacific, explained this new U.S. concessions as
follows: "Offer... increased contacts, expanded dialogue; reduce
the embargo; support the North's objective of establishing free
economic trade zones; and grant diplomatic recognition."(1)
Members of south Korea's capitalist class also favor the "soft"
approach. They have expressed concern over a sudden reunification
which could follow tough economic sanctions. North Korea's economy
remains small and unstable. South Korean studies have suggested
that the costs of re-unifying the country under the southern
government would be far greater than the costs of reunifying
Germany. South Korea is not anxious to foot that bill.(5) The
south wants to make reunification as cheap as possible by avoiding
war and stiff economic sanctions.
Notes:
1. "Is North Korea our next battlefield?" Leaflet published by the
American Committee on Korea, P.O. Box 901630, Kansas City, MO
64190.
2. "Korea moves towards unity," MIM Notes 59, December 1993, p. 7.
3. Time, 4/4/94, p. 60.
4. New York Times, 6/1/94.
5. NYT, 6/12/94.
* * *
KOREA: SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT DAY
by MC5
After months of leading an international campaign against north
Korea's possession of nuclear weapons, the New York Times has
found it fit to write an unusually critical article about South
Korea. In the story, the New York Times reports that the elected
so-called democratic regime in the South still forbids visitors
from going to North Korea and it also outlaws any praise of the
government there.
On July 13, the U.S.-allied regime in south Korea arrested dozens
of students planning to go to north Korea to attend mourning
exercises for Kim Il Sung (see obituary). Supposedly in a
capitalist-Liberal-democratic society, there is freedom to weigh
various ideas for oneself, but even the New York Times has noticed
that this isn't true in South Korea. Before the recent arrests,
four people already languished in prison just for visiting north
Korea.
The Western press wonders why north Korea seems so "closed" to the
outside world--so "mysterious." The only kind of visitors that the
West really wants to send to north Korea are investors and spies,
including the spies sent to observe north Korea's nuclear program
and spies sent to obtain military information. The press can't
understand why north Korea--which has lost millions dead this
century thanks to imperialist intervention--would want to kick out
western spies.
Any Third World country that wants to receive its friends and not
just spies and imperialist exploiters has MIM's sympathy.
Likewise, any victim of imperialism--state capitalist or just
ordinary capitalist--also has MIM's sympathy for keeping out the
spies and exploiters.
Notes:
New York Times, July 15, 1994, p. a2.
* * *
KIM IL SUNG DIES
by MC5
On July 8th, Kim Il Sung, leader of the Korean Revolution and
president of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
died. He headed one of the few remaining societies claiming to be
Communist-led. One of his last official acts as president was to
meet with ex-U.S. President Jimmy Carter regarding nuclear weapons
in Korea and U.S. threats against Korea.
Kim's contemporary friends
A review of the condolence statements indicates who are Kim Il
Sung's friends in the world. Topping the list is Prince Sihanouk
of Kampuchea (Cambodia). Despite U.S. pressure, Sihanouk extended
diplomatic recognition to north Korea in the 1960s. According to
Sihanouk, Kim was his "best friend, a veritable brother and my
most loyal supporter."(1)
State-capitalist Chinese officials proclaimed "eternal glory" to
Kim Il Sung. Deng Xiaoping took time to send Kim a note. Probably
for reasons of international security, Korea informed China before
the rest of the world of Kim's death.(2)
Vietnam and Cuba also sent notes, with no hint of any divergence
among the countries on how to build socialism. The Vietnamese made
sure to mention north Korea's support for their own revolution.(3)
In its own way, the south Korean bourgeoisie also misses Kim Il
Sung. The stock index in Seoul closed down 7.54 points (less than
1%) after news of his death. The Korean bourgeoisie hopes that
long-term effects of Kim's death will be good for them, "but so
little is known of the politics of north Korea it is difficult to
guess at this stage," one broker said.(4) Kim seemed open to
letting the south Korean bourgeoisie take an ever larger economic
role in the north and help north Korea evolve toward open free-
market capitalism. Some of the south Korean bourgeoisie is nervous
that the next leadership may not be so disposed. However, MIM has
no evidence that this should be a concern for the south Korean
bourgeoisie.
Marxism-Leninism
Like MIM, Kim Il Sung upheld Marx, Lenin and Stalin. In addition,
as a contemporary of Mao Zedong, Kim was quite friendly to Maoism
and the Chinese people during their revolution. He and tens of
thousands of comrades joined the Chinese Communist Party after
1928, because the COMINTERN dissolved the Korean party, which had
formed in 1925--since it was operating in Manchuria.(5)
Despite these apparent similarities between MIM and Kim Il Sung,
MIM only gives Kim a rating of 50 percent correct. Band-wagon
jumpers like the ex-Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party are more
pro-Kim than we are. While the beginning of Kim's revolutionary
career was indeed glorious, as time went on, he failed to keep
pace with world developments and ended up on the side of
counterrevolution.
Russian and Chinese Revolutions
To understand the Korean Revolution, one must understand the
geography of the borders of China, Korea and the then Soviet
Union. Hundreds of thousands of Koreans could be found outside
Korean borders in Manchuria alone, not to mention Siberia and
Japan. Manchuria in northeast China. In 1910, the total population
of Korea was about 20 million. Today it is closer to 70 million.
Kim Il Sung's parents and grandparents dedicated themselves to
Korean patriotism, which meant opposition to Japanese occupation.
Japan had annexed Korea in 1910 and Kim was born in 1912.
A point of national pride for the Koreans is that they helped the
Soviet Union defeat the Japanese in Siberia when the Japanese and
other imperialist powers invaded in 1918, during the so-called
Civil War in the Soviet Union following WWI.(6) From the
beginning, the great breadth of the Leninist revolution engaged
Koreans.
Throughout the border areas of China, Korea and the Soviet Union,
the Koreans engaged in armed struggle against the Japanese. In his
autobiography, Reminiscences, published in English in 1992, Kim
says that he engaged in acts of armed struggle even as a child to
assist his father and his father's friends. It appears from Kim's
chronology that the Koreans may have engaged in armed struggle
more seriously than the Chinese in the years immediately following
1917. Grinding poverty and Japanese repression exacted a heavy
toll.
The Korean communists originally had three separate organizations,
though they tended to agree on the need for Korean independence
and the role of national liberation struggles against imperialism.
Kim Il Sung's father denounced the divisions among the communists,
and Kim always advocated unity and opposed "factionalism and
flunkeyism."
By the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Korean nationalists had
separated from the communists to such an extent as to copy the
Guomindang's massacre of communists in China in 1927. Kim lost
many of his comrades to factional fighting and Japanese savagery.
Yet the Koreans managed to do good work. Zhou Enlai said that "the
Koreans played a leading role in paving the way for revolution in
northeast China."(7)
As time went on, according to Kim, he followed his father's
footsteps and took up the cause of communist and nationalist
unity. Kim worked with the younger generation, which he hoped
would be less divided than the previous generation. In the late
1920s, Kim agreed with Mao on the bad influence of an ultraleft
line amongst both Chinese and Koreans. (The Chinese were accepting
Koreans as members of their own party by this time.) In
particular, he opposed calling for insurrections which sounded
good for sloganeering purposes, but which resulted in setbacks to
the revolution because the conditions were not ripe. According to
Kim, an ultraleft line set back the Korean revolution several
years in the late 1920s and the 1930s.(8)
Juche
Kim separated himself from many of those calling themselves
nationalist or even communist with his strong notion of the self-
reliance of peoples--"Juche." Using the Juche concept, the Koreans
would not wait for the Americans, the Russians or even the Chinese
to support their efforts against the Japanese.
Kim recognized that only an ideology that strongly mobilized
workers and peasants could be a genuine nationalist ideology. Like
Mao, Kim targeted the "comprador" capitalists, the landlords and
the imperialists, though he linked up with any class that would
fight for nationalist goals. For much of his early career, he and
other Koreans enjoyed key material support from both the Chinese
and Korean national bourgeoisie--which fed, sheltered and legally
protected communists in their battle against Japanese imperialism.
To this day, Juche retains great relevance because Korea never
reunified as a country once the Cold War ended. It is still
divided up between a regime in the north that practiced Juche and
a regime in the south, which relied on U.S. imperialism.
Kim Il Sung's teachings regarding the foundation of the Korean
party also ring true for the present. Kim urged that comrades not
spend all their time placating high leaders of the COMINTERN. He
preferred that the comrades go ahead and prove their merit to the
world by going amongst the masses.
Family
Much has been made of the fact that Kim Il Sung has groomed his
own son Kim Jong Il (also Kim Chong-il) for years to become his
successor. From the Reminiscences, we learn that Kim Il Sung took
the Korean family very seriously.
Kim's family elders made very heavy sacrifices for the revolution.
His own father died at age 31 from the poor conditions in Japanese
prisons and overwork for the revolutionary movement.
In the West, we can become preoccupied with the decay of our own
family and its evident problems. In Korea, the strong bonds of the
family continue to be very important relative to the family in
North America.
There is no doubt that Kim parlayed the loyalties surrounding
family into a political loyalty of the current generation. It will
not be easy to forget the millions of martyrs from the anti-
Japanese war, and later against U.S. imperialism in the Korean
War. Each family has its martyrs to recall.
While Kim Il Sung dedicates a chapter to a woman independence
fighter of the 1920s named Li Gwan Rin, no doubt Western feminists
would not be pleased by his passing acceptance and engagement with
the role of family in Korea. We can chalk up part of this
divergence to cultural differences and the role of the family in
Korea as compared to the U.S. or other Western countries. But
part of the Western feminist response also stems from material
conditions. Western feminism treats gender as the principal
contradiction; this is not a viable position for Koreans at this
time and certainly not at the time of the Korean revolutions. The
family shares a relevance to Korean conditions with the concept of
Juche, because Korea still does not have national sovereignty, let
alone the ability to address all of its internal contradictions.
Youth
While Kim Il Sung did not favor wasting too much time trying to
gain recognition from the COMINTERN, he did insist on the
importance of study. "I emphasize even now that study is the first
duty of the revolutionary."(9)
In this way, he minimized the role of "experienced" leaders from
the older generation who found themselves ensnared in
factionalism. He did not advocate know-nothingism, and instead
insisted on a brisk educational pace for the youth.
In the end, Kim took a unique stand on the role of youth in
Korea's revolution. "We defined the young people and students as
constituting the fully-fledged main force of the revolution, thus
breaking away from the old viewpoint according to which the motive
force of the revolution had been defined with the main emphasis on
the workers and peasants."(10)
Not stuck in formalism in the least, Kim insisted there needed to
be a vanguard, but it's name didn't matter. In the case of Korea,
Kim says a youth organization of communists (Young Communist
League) played the vanguard role.(11)
Mao
Upholding Marx, Lenin and Stalin, Kim Il Sung would appear to be
much like the late Enver Hoxha of Albania. They both shared the
mistake that they did not believe there was a bourgeoisie in the
party under socialism as Mao warned.
Previously, MIM gave Hoxha a rating of 70 percent. Kim's rating is
not so good, because while he made some of the same mistakes, he
never clearly took China's side against the Soviet revisionists
like Hoxha did. Instead, preaching nationalism and a middle
course, Korea stayed between the Soviet social-imperialists and
Mao. From his own writings we can infer that he considers himself
to the left of Deng Xiaoping and to the right of Mao Zedong.
By talking nationalism during the Sino-Soviet split, Kim avoided
the question of the universal validity of Mao's theory of
continuous revolution. By default, Kim went with Stalin's
erroneous views of class struggle. Kim never acknowledged that
revisionist party leaders eventually took over in a number of
societies. This is why the world's remaining revisionist
government leaders in China, Cuba, Vietnam and Kampuchea all
salute him.
We could have hoped that by the end of his life Kim would
recognize who openly restored capitalism in Russia, Albania and
Eastern Europe generally--the leaders of the communist parties
there, the bourgeoisie in the party. The restoration of capitalism
in these countries is not a matter of splintering of the provinces
of the USSR or Amerikan influence. Rather than recognize the
traitors within the international communist movement, north Korea
gave counterinsurgency support to Peru--aiding the Fujimori
regime's attempt to destroy a Maoist revolution. North Korea ends
up siding with the enemies of the people against the genuine
soldiers of communism.
Notes:
1. BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, July 11, 1994.
2. BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, July 12, 1994.
3. Ibid.
4. Extel Financial Limited, AFX News, July 11, 1994.
5. Kim Il Sung, Reminiscences, vol. 1 (Pyongyang, Korea: Foreign
Languages Publishing House, 1992), p. 6. Reminiscences, vol. 1.,
p. 50.
7. Reminiscences, vol. 1, p. 70.
8. Reminiscences, vol. 2, pp. 3, 30, 32.
9. Reminiscences, vol. 1, p. 226.
10. Reminiscences, vol. 1, pp. 240-1.
11. Reminiscences, vol. 1, p. 256.
* * *
PRISONERS FORCED TO PROMOTE PATRIOTISM
Amerikan reactionary nationalism is built on super-exploited
labor. That connection is clear at the women's prison in
Framingham, MA. Prisoners spend 30 hours a week sewing Amerikan
flags for 50 cents to $1 an hour.
Some prisoners oppose making the flags. "I hate these flags," said
one prisoner. They are "supposed to symbolize the American dream
and a better way of life. And the criminal justice system is just
not that way."
For the bourgeoisie and the labor aristocracy, the stars and
stripes do represent a better life. The white nation Amerikan
standard of living demands a repressive conglomerate of prisons
and police within Amerikan borders, and armed occupation in
Amerika's colonies. For the majority of the world--including the
oppressed nations within the United States--the stars and stripes
represent the nationalism of their oppressors.
--MC234
Note: AP 7/4/94.
* * *
SECOND-HAND SMOKE SINKS PSEUDO-FEMINISTS
"Employees that smoke are absent from work 50% more than non-
smokers""Smoking causes more than $1000 of property damage and
maintenance costs per smoker per year""Smoking generates more than
$230 of extra medical costs per smoker per year"
"Every year, cigarette smoking costs American companies more than
$65 billion."
3,000 non-smokers die annually from second-hand smoke-caused lung
cancer according to the EPA, Jan., 1993, and the Center for
Disease Control, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
--MC5
Note: Dana Farber Cancer Institute (funded by Mass. Dept. of
Public Health) ad in Boston Globe, June 30, 1994, p. 23.
* * *
HIV+ AMERIKAN PRISONER SEEKS ASYLUM IN CANADA
Kevin Borkowski is trying to convince the Canadian government to
grant him asylum because he is HIV+ and he cannot get experimental
drugs in Amerikan prisons.(1) Borkowski hopes that the drug d4T
would prolong his life by seven to eight years. He stated that he
had been put in solitary confinement and brutalized because he is
gay.
Borkowski escaped from Amerikan authorities and fled to Canada in
August, 1993. He hid there under an assumed name until he was
arrested by Canadian immigration officials in February.
Borkowski's chances of asylum are slim; a Canadian federal court
ruled years ago that solitary confinement is not cruel and unusual
punishment and that certain maltreatment in prison does not
constitute persecution.
Many prisoners in Amerika are HIV+ and do not get proper medical
treatment. Most prisoners in Amerikan prisons have little access
to medical treatment for any illness. Third World people in
Amerika in general do not have access to medical treatment. Escape
to Canada might work for one individual, but the only real
solution is a complete redistribution of access to medical care
after a successful socialist revolution.
Notes: Vancouver Sun, 7/5/94, p.A2.
* * *
CALIFORNIA PRISONERS FORCED TO REVEAL TEST RESULTS
Prisoners in California who are convicted of rape will be required
to reveal their HIV status to victims as part of a 1994 California
Crime Package.(1) The federal Crime Control Act of 1990 requires
states to adopt this type of legislation or lose anti-drug abuse
funding. Critics note that mandatory testing requirements would be
used to discriminate against HIV+ people and not to help victims.
Mark Senak, planning director for AIDS Project Los Angeles stated
"the bottom line is that the only medical test that matters is
your own."
California Assemblywoman Paula Boland who supports the law said "I
really don't care about his rights. This is a convicted criminal.
Once they chose to break the law, they lost all their rights."
Boland is a perfect example of pseudo-feminism fighting against
the interests of the masses. She wants to strengthen state control
over oppressed people in the name of protecting women. She ignores
the fact that when women lend authority to imperialism they help
increase oppression for the majority of women in the world.
Instead of focusing on prisoners' supposed choice to break the
law, MIM focuses on the fact that men convicted of rape are part
of a capitalist patriarchy. MIM blames the society that teaches
all people that sex and power are hopelessly intertwined for the
existence of rape.
MIM asserts that under patriarchy, all sex is rape. Distinguishing
between different types of sex as good and bad directs people
toward individualist strategies, such as mandatory HIV testing of
prisoners in the name of protecting women. Trying and convicting
some men of rape in a patriarchal court system is another good
example of individualism. Even men who have done what the courts
say they did and get put away for rape often wonder what exactly
they did that was so different from what any normal man would do
in bed. Television, movies, books and magazines publish endless
fantasies glorifying the combination of power and violence with
sex. It's no wonder convicted "rapists" are occasionally surprised
that the same bourgeoisie that publishes all that crap would turn
around and imprison them for learning from it.(2)
Ultimately, calling on the state to protect women reinforces the
power of the patriarchy--the very thing pseudo-feminists like
Boland claim to be opposing. Women and men can only control their
sexualities by eradicating the basis for power of groups over
groups of people: nations, classes and genders.(2)
Notes:
1. Los Angeles Times, 7/3/94, p.B1.
2. Order MIM Theory 2/3, "Gender & Revolutionary Feminism" for
more on MIM's gender line. Send check or money order for $4.95
made out to "ABS" to the address on p.2.
* * *
FASCISM FIRST; WOMEN SECOND
Several states in Amerika have instituted regulations which
require a woman who has been raped to file a police report before
she can receive any medical treatment.(1) This is another piece of
evidence for MIM's argument that the Amerikan police, social
workers, etc. don't give a damn about women's well-being and are
much more interested in increasing their control over oppressed-
nation communities.
MIM quotes lots of statistics showing that higher prosecution and
incarceration rates for rapists and batterers do not reduce rape
or battering--they do increase the number of oppressed-nation men
in prison.(2) Amerika defends wealthy rapists and pornographers
through a justice system in which racist judges and juries let
white men with money go free and disproportionately imprison Black
men. Amerika enforces the rape, exploitation and starvation of the
majority of the world's women through imperialism. It is a grave
mistake to rely on this country--which wages war against
revolutionary movements for the liberation of all oppressed
peoples--for protection from rape. The US government is one of the
biggest enemies of the struggle to end women's oppression.
Talk of protecting women does not hide Amerika's intention to
suppress Third World men. True feminists cannot point to the
Amerikan state as a tool for ending women's oppression. Those
working for real liberation of women within Amerika's borders and
abroad must incorporate revolutionary anti-imperialism into their
feminism.
--MC206
Notes:
1. National Public Radio, All things Considered, 6/24/94.
2. MIM Theory 2&3, Gender and Revolutionary Feminism, esp. pp. 29-
36, 91-93.
* * *
TRUTH IN REPRESSION
June 29- Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan signed a "truth in sentencing"
crime bill which law experts say is tougher than the "three-
strikes-and-you're-out" statutes adopted in California and
Washington. The bill insures that people convicted of violent or
non-violent crimes will serve 50 to 80% of their sentence. Once
you're in, it will be much harder to get out. (1) The clutches of
the state close even tighter around oppressed nationalities. As
MIM has previously pointed out, Blacks comprise 48% of Amerikkka's
prison population, but 12% of the country's population. This is
the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world.(2)
Readers of the Under Lock & key sections of past MIM Notes will
easily see the fascist purposes of these crime bills: increased
political control of oppressed nationalities and the creation of
an even larger slave labor pool to quench multi-national capital's
ever -increasing thirst for surplus value.
--MAZ10
Notes:
1. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 30 June 94, PP. 1,7
2. MIM Notes, April 94 , p. 8
* * *
TUBERCULOSIS RISES IN ADVANCED CAPITALIST COUNTRIES
Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease which can be fatal if not
properly treated, has increased in recent years in North Amerika
and Britain. The disease has particularly infiltrated oppressed
communities within these countries, and reactionaries have used
this fact to slander those communities as inherently "diseased."
TB in LA
In June, the Los Angeles Times found it necessary to run a series
of long puff pieces--ego-assuaging "lifestyle" stories and
profiles--to restore the image of La Quinta High School, where 17
active cases of tuberculosis have been found in addition to many
positive skin tests.(1)
In late May, Debi French, a Los Angeles La Quinta student, had to
have a piece of her lung removed because of TB. In a public speech
on June 10, French apologized to her peers for the bad publicity
her school is getting.(4)
MIM finds it absurd for a student to apologize for bringing bad
publicity to La Quinta just because she is ill. Local pride,
provincialism, and reactionary nationalism are partly to blame for
the backlash of La Quinta students against their public image.
Just as there is a kind of Black nationalism that bristles when
Black people are spoken of as poor, there is an Asian parallel
occurring in connection to the TB outbreak. Such reactionary
nationalists blame the poor for being poor instead of blaming the
capitalists, and they blame the ill for being ill instead of
blaming the sick system of imperialism.
La Quinta High has gone from being a white middle-class school to
a mostly Asian school where 40 percent of the students receive
subsidized lunches because of their poor economic status.(4)
Therein lies the reason for the outbreak. TB is found
disproportionately among the poor. Furthermore, within the United
States, so-called "Asian-Americans"-- people of Asian descent--
have the highest prevalence of TB of any group. (7)
While the upper classes of China, Korea and Vietnam fled communist
revolutions to the United States, poor people, workers and
peasants from Vietnam, Kampuchea and other countries also
emigrated to North Amerika. These immigrants on the absolute
bottom of the totem-pole-- refugees and "boat people." These are
the people with the highest rates of TB.
TB in England
Tuberculosis was thought to be virtually eliminated in England.
However, in East London, tuberculosis is on the rise, mostly
because exploited and superexploited workers from Asian countries,
Africa, and the Caribbean are immigrating there.(2)
Fascists in East London typically harass Asian-descendants, but
the rising danger of illness among "their own" has caused even
these racists of the British National Party (BNP) to join their
former enemies to oppose the closing of a government-funded
surgery in the "Isle of Dogs' biggest housing complex."(3) The BNP
activists are currently campaigning against the surgery cutback.
TB attacks the truly oppressed
Tuberculosis is the quintessential capitalist disease. The list of
social groups at risk for TB reads like MIM's social base, which
is not surprising because MIM bases itself among the truly
oppressed: "The increased morbidity occurs largely in specific
epidemiological groups, including racial and ethnic minorities as
well as foreign-born persons. . . .Tuberculosis is concentrated in
groups characterized by disproportionately greater percentages of
blacks and Hispanics, increased prevalence of HIV infection,
crowded living conditions, and inadequate access to health care.
Infection with M. tuberculosis is found in as many as 50% of
homeless persons. . . . Prison inmates and migrant farm workers
are also at increased risk for tuberculosis. From 1980 to 1990,
the incidence of tuberculosis in New York state prisons increased
six times to 134 per 100,000, more than 12 times the national case
rate. Tuberculosis case rates in U.S.-born blacks who are migrant
farm workers are more than 3000 times the national rate and are
higher than those in foreign-born Hispanic migrant workers,
suggesting that tuberculosis in this group is an occupational
problem rather than an imported one." (5)
A break down of the occurrence of TB in Amerika helps shed light
on the situation:
New cases of TB (1985) Per 100,000
White, non-Hispanic 8,453 4.5
Hispanic 3,134 18.1
American Indian 397 25.0
Black 7,719 26.7
Asian 2,530 49.6(7)
(The annual number of cases has since increased. In 1984, there
were 22,201. In 1991, there were 26,283. (5))
The rise in homelessness in the 1980s also contributes to the
resurgence in TB. It is also found in coal-miners and other
workers from Industrial Revolution factory conditions. In the
Third World, where the bulk of such exploited and superexploited
work is done, tuberculosis is much more widespread than in the
United States. Therefore, immigrants and their families suffer
disproportionately from tuberculosis.
The fight against TB demands revolutionary internationalism
Progressive-minded doctors realize why the struggle against
infection has to be a struggle without borders--an
internationalist fight. No one, even members of the coddled
Amerikan middle-class, is immune from infectious disease. TB had
been steadily declining, especially among whites, for decades.
However, now decades of progress are at risk of being wasted
because the international TB fight was not strong enough. The
fight appears to be weakening in China where capitalism has
returned since the death of Mao in 1976. According to UNICEF,
North Korea, China and Malaysia have actually regressed in their
vaccination of newborns for polio, TB, diphtheria, whooping cough
and measles.(6)
Fascists play on the fears of the Euro-Amerikan people with regard
to disease, employment and crime and say that immigration should
be stopped and immigrants sent back to their native lands.
Condemning them for being "diseased" is part of a hate-mongering
effort against these people, to bias white-nation Amerikans
against them. Fascist demands are unrealistic because Amerika as a
settler nation relies on these Third World workers'
superexploitation to maintain its inflated standard of living.
Ending Tuberculosis is something everyone has an interest in, but
nationalism gets in the way. This is one reason to organize the
masses for revolution against their oppressors, for only a
communist state will protect them with health care guided by
humane standards instead of the profit motive.
Notes:
1. Los Angeles Times, June 23,1994; June 22, 1994. "Series:
Seasons of La Quinta/Portrait of a School in Evolution."
2. The Independent (England), June 14, 1994.
3. The Guardian (England), June 23, 1994, p. t16.
4. Los Angeles Times, June 23, 1994.
5. Peter F. Barnes, MD and Susan A. Barrows, MD, "Tuberculosis in
the 1990s," Annals of Internal Medicine, September, 1993, p. 400.
6. InterPress Service, June 21, 1994.
7. Hans L. Rieder, et. al., "Epidemiology of Tuberculosis in the
United States," Journal of the American Medical Association, vol.
11, 1989, p. 85.
* * *
SAVE THE WHALES, FIGHT CAPITALISM
Paul Watson now faces charges of criminal mischief for intervening
against drag trawler operations on the Grand Banks of
Newfoundland. The Canadian government has charged him with three
counts that are punishable with a life sentence.
Paul Watson broke from Greenpeace in 1977 in order to form the Sea
Shepard Conservation Society, an organization that had fewer
bureaucrats and no incessant obsession with profit instead of
their conservation goals. The Sea Shepherd has sunk nine whaling
ships, rammed several pirate drift netters and confiscated 35
miles of nets. The Sea Shepherd enforces already existing
international laws governing the slaughter of whales and other
mammals of the sea.
The Sea Shepherd's goal is to damage the ships and cause enough
losses so that the recovery costs are higher than the profits from
continued illegal killing of whales. "We injure them economically
and we undermine their morale but we have never drawn any blood."
The Senet, a Norwegain whaling ship, was the last ship that the
Sea Shepherd has sunk. The Sea Shepherd waited until the ship was
back in Norway to sink it in order to educate local citizens about
illegal whaling activities in the South. It has specifically
targeted Norwegian whaling ships because of their failure to
comply with the moratorium on commercial whaling. The sinking of
the ship caused $120,000 in damage and "the cost of insurance
premiums and security costs have sharply risen again. 1994 looks
like another year of profits lost for the pirate whalers of
Norway."
The magazine Sea Shepherd Log does a good job of exposing
hypocrisies of international bureaucratic capitalists and
illustrating their economic and political interests. The Norwegian
government made a demand in Belgium to be given a special
exemption from European law and international treaties in order to
continue their whale killing. As Norway seeks membership in the
European Union it must also convince the Union of the importance
of Norway's special status. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry spent
$1.5 million in 1993 to promote whaling around the world. After
the European Commission and Parliament rejected the special status
for Norway, Norway turned to Clinton and his environmentalist vice
president for help. The Sea Shepherd Log states that the Clinton
administration was "sympathetic to the claims [of Norway] and that
opposing Norway's demands is 'cultural imperialism'."
The Sea Shepherd Log makes a small note on the fishing industry's
exploitation of Third World labor. The increasingly Indonesian
crews exist because of their cheaper wages. Since the Sea Shepherd
recognizes that the cause of the slaughtering of whales and
dolphins is the profits that the capitalists reap,MIM thinks that
the Sea Shepherd should join with MIM in the fight against
capitalism, to end the degradation of the environment and the
exploitation of the international proletariat.
The Sea Shepherd states that "it is far more noble to fight and
perhaps die for the salvation of the environment and for species
diversity than to kill and die for some sheik's oil wells or
someone else's real estate." While MIM finds the sincerity of the
Sea Shepherd a better alternative than the legislative monopoly
games of Greenpeace, the guerilla tactics of the Shepherd are
being used to enforce laws that were not created by the masses of
oppressed people. The struggle of the Sea Shepherd illustrates the
fact that international laws are made and enforced only to serve
the interests of the capitalists. This contradiction creates
opposition, and in order to survive, the capitalists must imprison
their opposition. MIM believes that the seizure of state power by
the masses is the only way to effectively create and enforce laws
that promote self-determination as well as respect for the
environment.
Note: Sea Shepherd Log, 1994
For more information on the anti-whaling campaign and efforts to
stop seal bashing by combing baby seals instead, write: 3107A
Washington Blvd. Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 or call 310-301-SEAL.
* * *
AMNESTY FOR IMPERIALISM
Amnesty International's 1994 annual report informs us that the
Clinton Administration has asked Congress for $5.4 billion for
1995 in foreign economic and military aid to governments that
engage in torture. A majority of the aid is intended for Israel
and Egypt. Other governments to receive Amerikan funding include
Turkey, Bolivia, Peru and Colombia.
Executive Director of Amnesty International, Bill Schulz, reports
that it is Amnesty's belief that in Turkey, "U.S.-supplied arms
were directly used to bomb Kurdish villagers." In Colombia, funds
earmarked for counter-narcotics operations are being diverted to
counterinsurgency efforts. Peru's fascist Fujimori government is
allotted $42.3 million to continue its war against the Peruvian
Communist Party (PCP) and the masses of Peru.(1)
The Amnesty report is indeed material sufficient to indict
Amerikan foreign policy. The regimes which the U.S. supports are
responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. Those
who are suffering are the masses of the impoverished and exploited
Third World. As Mujawamariya, a survivor of the bloodshed in
Rwanda stated, "for human beings to have value, it seems that they
need to have dollars, or belong to a particular ethnicity or
race."(2)
Another example of Amerikan hypocrisy is the School of the
Americas (SOA), which is purportedly run to promote democracy in
Latin America. The Amerikan government pours $3 million into this
school annually. The school claims to give "human rights
training," but as retired U.S. army major Joseph A. Blair said, "I
never heard of such lofty goals as promoting freedom, democracy
and human rights" when he was there. Past students of SOA include
Panama's Manuel Noriaga, and Salvadoran right-wing leader Roberto
D'Aubisson. More than two thirds of the 69 officers cited for
human rights violations by the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador
attended SOA.(3)
Aside from indicting Amerika on its international crimes, Amnesty
also cited the United States government for human rights violation
on a national level for the execution of 38 prisoners.(4) Amnesty
cited five other murders committed by Amerikan forces in New York
City. Johnnie Cromartie died in custody after police "reportedly
kicked him while he was lying face down with his arms handcuffed
behind his back." Ernest Sayon died in custody on Staten Island
after cops inflicted "torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment in violation of international standards." Federico
Pereira in 1991, Dane Kemp in 1990, and Kevin Thorpe in 1989--all
died by suffocation at the hands of the NYPD while being
restrained. No cops are serving time for these murders.
Amnesty International finds Amerika guilty of torturing and
murdering people at home and around the world.
Speaking with Joshua Rubenstein of the Amnesty, MIM learned that
Amnesty's solution to these crimes is to "expose the truth." By
exposing the truth, Amnesty believes that the road to ending all
violations of human rights around the world will become clear. MIM
knows that the road is already clear; it is the road of Marxist-
Leninist-Maoist revolution. Amnesty takes no explicit political
stands and makes no distinctions between the violence of fascist
and imperialist governments and the struggles of people's
movements. For example, in their report, Amnesty is critical of
the Zapatista movement and the Communist Party of Peru (which
Amnesty refers to as the "Sendero Luminoso").(6)
Amnesty provides valuable information on Amerikan imperialism, but
Amnesty is guilty as well. It fails to develop a political line
that will truly lead to global justice. Since its own members have
a material interest in maintaining imperialism, they fail to use
their information toward a revolutionary cause. The group tries to
exist in a vacuum, ignoring the relationship between imperialism
and human rights violations. Amnesty's reformist tactics (like
writing letters begging fascists for small, individual
concessions) are doomed because "the system" cannot exist without
oppression. MIM understands that the deaths and torture will not
end until imperialism and capitalism are crushed. MIM will refer
to and publicize much of the information Amnesty gathers which
indicts these oppressive systems, but will not fall short of
acting on this call for revolution.
Notes:
1. Boston Globe, 7/7/94, p.2.
2. Inter Press Service, 7/7/94.
3. Boston Globe, 7/3/94, p.1.
4. Los Angeles Times, 7/7/94, p.6.
5. Newsday, 7/7/94, p. A27.
6. Interview with Joshua Rubenstein of Amnesty International.
* * *
SOCIAL-FASCISTS IN ITALY FREE THEMSELVES
The decades-long Cold War against the Soviet Union under the guise
of anti-communism is now bearing ample fruit--strong fascist
movements in Eastern Europe and a fascist government elected in
Italy in March. For 50 years, the U.S.-imperialist bloc
governments and media glorified every little nationalist noise out
of Eastern Europe in an effort to run down the Soviet Union, first
as a socialist country and then as a contending imperialist. Now
that the competitive threat from the Soviet Union has receded, we
see the cracks in the motley coalition the imperialists put
together in Italy--the Church, the Mafia, the Christian Democratic
Party and the so-called Socialist Party.
The U.S. bloc had to cover up and distort every progressive legacy
of the Soviet Union during World War II, which even Clinton says
shaped this entire century. As a result, fascist movements and
fascist histories were whitewashed, because the communists did the
most to crush the fascists in World War II.
None of this surprises MIM, but there is a new level of openness
to it all. It turns out that the reformist Socialist Party [so-
called] of Italy fell from state power because of its links to the
Mafia for 40 years, as did the Christian Democratic Party, which
shared power with the Socialists since World II.The masses threw
out both parties when they found out about the Mafia connections,
through which politicians received millions in bribes every year.
Fascists admiring Benito Mussolini came to power in March, 1994.
MIM has always said that the ballot power of the masses, even in
imperialist countries, is not as great as the financial power of
the capitalists. The entire history of the post-World War II
government in Italy is proof.
The rise of the Italian fascists is also proves that these kind of
"Socialists" are exactly what Stalin called them: "social-
fascists", wimpy "socialists" who cover for fascists. The former
Socialist Prime Minister Bettino Craxi turns out to be both a
major suspect in the Mafia bribery and a close friend of Mr.
Silvio Berlusconi, the new Prime Minister and leader of the
fascist coalition that swept to power. The New York Times mentions
this and the fact that Berlusconi managed to build his media
empire while Craxi was in power--but only in passing in a long
article. This "socialist" friend of Mussolini-admirers is the same
famous politician that social-democrats around the world told us
to admire. In the United States, his counterparts were the
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), who pointed to him as a
model.
So when are fascists not fascists? Only when it's time to release
their own from prison. A government decree proposed by the
fascists could release 2,000 people accused in the Mafia scandals.
This proposal would help the Northern League's Umberto Bossi.
Bossi is Berlusoni's brother and most wayward coalition partner.
Meanwhile, the Mafia has made its presence felt by bombing the
government, cultural relics and the Catholic Church. The glue
holding the ruling class together in Italy--the Cold War--is gone.
Now we get a closer look at what politics there are really like.
Notes:
New York Times, July 15, 1994, pp. a1, a8.
* * *
UNITED AIRLINES PROVES MIM RIGHT AGAIN
by MC5
On July 12, the labor aristocracy has won a major battle for
control of the airline industry in the United States when two
unions purchased 55 percent of the United Airlines. The deal made
it the largest employee-owned company in the world. (1) It is
further proof--despite the wishful thinking of white-chauvinist
leftists--that the imperialist alliance with the labor aristocracy
is far from dead. In the airline industry, there is not only an
alliance--there is outright dominance by the labor aristocracy,
while the labor aristocracy is usually the junior partner in other
sectors of the economy.
United Airlines thus joined Northwest Airlines, which is already
majority-owned by employees(2) and TWA which is 45 percent owned
by the employees(3). United Airlines is the second-largest airline
carrier in the United States.(1)
In return, the workers granted $4.9 billion in contract
concessions over six years. It marked the end of a seven year
battle in the company. New executive officers came aboard to
reflect the reorganization.
The two unions which bought the company are the International
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Airline
Pilots Association. The only other union at United Airlines did
not become an owner because it didn't see a clear alliance between
the imperialists (multinational corporate owners) and themselves
as Amerikan workers. The deal allowed the use of foreign flight
attendant crews and hence the Association of Flight Attendants has
not joined the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) yet. Some
flight attendants nonetheless expressed support for the deal.(4)
Typically in the imperialist countries, if the labor aristocracies
do not receive an exclusive deal from the imperialists that ices
out the foreign competition, the labor aristocracy is not
interested. The example at United Airlines proves once again that
it is not possible to represent the class interests of the labor
aristocracy without giving in to Amerika-first chauvinism--either
consciously or unconsciously. The deal reflects that the workers
in the airline industry always had enough power to be in an
ownership position, and were not exploited as most so-called
leftists try to tell us. Instead, the airline workers are partners
in appropriating Third World labor.
The capitalists are inclined to offer ESOPs in many situations--
where business is small or where the competition between
multinational corporations is very stiff with losses common, as in
the case of the airline industry. In these situations, and when
the minority-ownership capitalists think they can make higher
profits from better public relations through ESOPs, the
capitalists permit ESOPs. A poll by one company shows that 60
percent of the public believes that employee-owned companies
provide better services. (5) It stands to reason that a
capitalist who makes use of this belief by the public may be able
to increase sales and profits in exchange for only holding
minority ownership.
For this reason there are already 10 million employees involved in
the ESOPs. Two to three thousand companies already have employees
as majority owners--including the grocery chain Kroger and the
consumer electronics firm Tandy. Far from fretting about this, the
ruling class is elated. Clinton's Labor Secretary hailed the
agreement as a way to preserve jobs.
Notes:
1. Daily Telegraph, July 16, 1994, p. 4.
2. The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), July 14, 1994, p. 3b.
3. The Financial Times Limited, July 15, 1994, p. 22.
4. Reuter Business Report, July 15, 1994.
5. The Chicago Sun Times, July 14, 1994, p. 49.
* * *
UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS
Washington State D.O.C. censors MIM Notes
Department of Corrections
Offender Mail Rejection
Facility: Clallam Bay Corrections (sic) Center
Date: 6/20/94
The mail contains plans for activities in violation of facility
rules, or for criminal activity. Mail contains information and
activities against the government, prisons, etc.--Not allowed per
policy.
Ohio to Build Super-Max Prison
In the wake of the April 1993 rebellion at the Southern Ohio
Correctional Facility (SOCF) which left 10 dead, Ohio prisoners
and prison activists had hoped the state would examine its
policies which resulted in Ohio having the highest level of
overcrowding in the nation at 178%. The state's response has been
one of more repression.
The state has announced plans to build a super-max prison similar
to the facilities at Pelican Bay in California and the federal
penitentiary at Marion, IL. These super-max prisons have prisoners
locked in their cells 23 hours a day, deprived of human contact
and virtually all communication with the outside world. These
prisons have been criticized by human rights groups and are the
focus of extensive litigation concerning both conditions of
confinement and brutality that occurs within them.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) has
formed a committee to develop plans and recommend a site for the
new super-max prison. If the general assembly approves the funds,
the prison will have 550 beds. Since Marion became a lockdown
prison in 1983, some 37 states have built super-max prisons. This
trend is now reaching Ohio which already has a super-max control
unit at Lucasville.
--reprinted from Prison Legal News, 3/94
Stop the Ohio Super-Max!
...To put a stop to the construction of a super-max prison in
Ohio, and to suggest that taxpayers' money be allotted to
rehabilitative programs instead, write the chairman of the Ohio
general Assembly and any or all of the below:
Ohio General Assembly
c/o The Chairman
State Office Tower
Columbus, OH 43215
Reginald Wilkinson, Director
Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr.
1050 Freeway Dr. North
Columbus, OH 43229
Paul Mifsud
Governor's Chief of Staff
State Office Tower
Columbus, OH 43215
--Prison Legal News, 4/94
What is a Control Unit?
Control Units, otherwise known as "Supermax" prisons or "maxi-
maxis", unequivocally violate the major provisions of the United
Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
Control Units are defined by three primary features:
1. permanent lockdown--prisoners are locked in cells approximately
23 hours a day, alone, without any access to work or educational
programs, group dining or group religious worship in violation of
Articles 71 and 72, 77, 78, 41 and 42 respectively of the Standard
Minimum Rules;
2. isolation/sensory deprivation--prisoners are stripped of most
sensory and social stimulus, at times even sunlight, in violation
of Articles 29, 30, and 31. As Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Grassman
has testified, this constitutes "psychological torture";
3. administrative classification--prisoners are transferred to
Control Units on the basis of administrative, not disciplinary
criteria, thus enabling prison authorities to persecute outspoken
and non-conformist prisoners. Thus, one finds in Control Units
across the country a disproportionate number of politically active
prisoners, political prisoners, prisoners of war, and jailhouse
lawyers in violation of Article 6 (1). Black prisoners in
particular are targeted by predominantly white authorities in
violation of Article 6 (1).
In control Units, a pattern of physical torture has been
documented, including the use of mechanical restraints as
punishment in violation of Article 33, strapping prisoners spread-
eagle to concrete or steel bed-frames in violation of Article 34,
routinely gassing, beating, and firehosing prisoners in violation
of Article 10, stripping prisoners of clothing and confining them
to "strip cells" on inadequate diets in violation of Article 32,
the list goes on...
In Control Units, denial of medical and psychological care
combined with the systematic abuse of mentally unstable prisoners
is a documented pattern in violation of Articles 22, 23, 25, and
26.
--by the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Pelican Bay: "The Same, Only Worse"
...Prisoners from each of the four facilities investigated
reported that the level of daily harassment and abuse has
continued despite the dramatic public testimony in the Madrid v.
Gomez civil rights trial. The brutal cell-extraction procedure is
carried out twice a week on average. This is the same frequency
that was criticized as grossly excessive during the trial.
Cell extractions are still being carried out for trivial reasons
such as talking back to a guard, kicking the cell door in protest
of a severe cold draft in the pod, or refusing to exit the cell
for even an optional hearing. The extraction team is used
routinely against prisoners with mental disabilities who are
acting out.
Prisoners gave multiple reports of separate incidents when men
fully shackled and restrained were beaten by guards and men in
full restraint chains were thrown down the tier stairs. One
prisoner was shot at point-blank range with the gas gun that fires
rubber bullets 1 1/2 inches wide. Then he was rushed and beaten
unconscious with truncheons and boots by the "goon squad" dressed
in body armor and helmets--the 21st-century version of Nazi Storm
Troopers.
Guards push and pull prisoners during the walks outside the
living-unit pods. Prisoners are fully shackled with handcuffs
attached to waist chains and hobble chain connecting the ankles.
Guards grab on the chains and move the prisoner around just to
show who is the boss and deliver a little humiliation.
Prisoners continue to be hogtied and left for hours in such a
state, despite recent testimony by the Attorney General's office
that hogtying had stopped at Pelican Bay. The hogtied prisoner is
first shackled with handcuffs and anklecuffs. Then the chains
between the cuffs are attached to each other, drawing the hands
and feet together. Prisoners have recently been hogtied (hands and
feet in front) in a stand up holding cell, causing the prisoner to
be sitting for hours on the floor of the cell with hands and feet
upward in a V position.
Other men report being "suitcased." During suitcasing a prisoner
is hogtied face down with hands and feet behind. The chain used to
attach the hand to the ankle is then used as the suitcase handle
to lift and carry the prisoner, causing extreme pain as his legs
and arms bent backward supporting his weight.
Also continuing unchecked is the frequent use of lethal force by
guards at Pelican Bay. Prisoners hear the order to lay down on the
ground in the A and B Yards on an almost daily basis as the threat
of dum-dum bullets being fired at them from the towers becomes the
horror of Pelican Bay's lethal excess.
Less dramatic, but just as brutal, is the daily, petty harassment
by the custody, administrative, and health care staff. Guards
hassle the prisoners over the details of daily life, especially in
the Security Housing Unit (SHU). A prisoner might need more toilet
paper or have a question about canteen items or have a legitimate
complaint he wants heard. The guard will stall and put the
prisoner off each day by saying, "OK, I'll do it" and finally ask
the prisoner to remind him "when I get back from my days off."
Guards verbally abuse the prisoners and taunt them, using racial
slurs and even loud-talking about confidential information
concerning the prisoner's crime or prison history. False rumors
are started by guards in attempts to soil a prisoner's reputation
or create hostility among prisoners. Jailhouse lawyers and convict
leaders are commonly slandered in such a manner. Prisoners who
complain about the conditions are labeled troublemakers by staff
and given especially brutal treatment. Many times they are moved
to another cell with a violent or crazy person.
One of the prisoners who was a named plaintiff in the civil rights
suit had a bucket of cleaning solution thrown in his face while he
was standing in a holding cell.
Mentally ill prisoners continue to fill the SHU. These disabled
men suffer more verbal and physical abuse than others, including
more frequent cell extraction. The denial of medical care for
ongoing illness, with 6-8 week waits for regular doctor visits,
continues, as brought up in the testimony of medical experts in
Madrid v. Gomez. Delays in dental care are three months long....
Pelican Bay prisoners continue to flood the courts with legal
protests over their conditions of confinement and classification.
The intense jailhouse legal effort is accomplished through
communal action among prisoners of all races and backgrounds....
But such activities have harsh consequences, as the lead witness
in the Madrid trial found out. On his return to prison from the
courtroom, his TV and property were "lost" for more than two
weeks. His single cell status was rescinded. Finally, while cuffed
behind his back, he was bodyslammed into his cell door and shoved
around during a very unusual procedure for obtaining nailclipper
use.
While being shoved, he slipped and fell on the floor, which had
been made wet by the flooding caused by a mentally ill prisoner on
the tier above. The escort guard fell on top of him and charged
him with assault on staff and took him to the Behavioral Control
Unit (BCU).
This old timer spent nine of the most horrible ays of his life in
a strip cell listening to the screams of the men around him. He
had no eating utensils for three days and no comb, towel, or
shower for five days. The cell floor was always wet from the
flooding and contaminated with the excrement of the insane men
housed in BCU. Such is the price of protest at Pelican Bay State
Prison.
Yet protest continues, and the men of Pelican Bay endure the
abuses of their confinement with dignity, perserverance and honor.
--from the Pelican Bay Prison Express (PBPE), 5/94. PBPE is
published by the Pelican Bay Information Project, 2489 Mission St.
#28, San Francisco, CA 94110, (415) 821-6545.
California guards routinely shoot, kill unarmed prisoners
ACT-UP San Francisco has heard from several unrelated sources that
guards at Corcoran State Prison (CSP) routinely shoot and often
kill unarmed prioners, supposedly to prevent gang violence. Recent
visitors reported hearing shots nearly every day. One inmate, who
has filed a federal class action lawsuit, alleges that sixteen men
were shot on one day, of whom seven died. Shoot-to-kill is
presently approved policy in at least three California prisons.
Several human rights violations have been reported as having
increased in both frequency and severity: beating; hog-tying;
deprivation of water, heat, clothing, blankets, and toilet paper;
and routine medical negligence occaisonally leading to death. CSP
has been sheltered from public scrutiny by its isolation, situated
between Fresno and Bakersfield.
Despite the $3 billion prison budget, health care at CSP and other
California prisons remains scandalously inadequate, particularly
in light of burgeoning HIV/AIDS and TB.
Moreover, prisoners with illnesses complain of discrimination: at
CSP any inmate is confined to the punitive Security Housing Unit
(SHU) upon a diagnosis of HIV+. In the SHU, their fragile immune
systems are endagered by the total absence of medical care, and by
being housed with psychiatric inmates who scream all night,
mutilate themselves, and defecate on walls and floors, letters to
ACT-UP assert. Also described were repeated, brutal "cell
extractions" performed on a prisoner with AIDS suffering from
dementia, who was held illegally past his release date. In a
federal lawsuit, another inmate alleges that in February 1994, a
man who collapsed in his cell was ignored, despite calls for help
from nearby prisoners. The collapsed man was removed the next day,
dead.
ACT-UP and the Prison Activist Resource Center are demanding the
following measures to restore the "rule of law" to California
prisons:
- Stop the shooting of prisoners
- Outside investigation of shootings and prosecution of officers
involved
- An independent audit of Corrections budgets to determine why
appropriated monies fail to secure acceptable health care for
prisoners.
- Establishment of ongoing, aggressive, legislative and community
oversight to investigate and correct civil rights and health care
violations throughout the system.
** Any attorneys interested in assisting in the class action suit
are URGENTLY NEEDED and encouraged to contact PARC. **
Resources:
- ACT-UP has prepared a 3-page digest of the two 75-page lawsuits
alleging the above abuses, and several inmates have expressed
willingness to speak to media.
- The Correctional HIV Consortium has received corroborating
letters. Phone 805-899-3820
- Director of Corrections, James Gomez: 916-445-7688
- CSP Warden George Smith: 209-992-8800
- ACT-UP San Francisco, PO Box 14844, San Francisco, CA 94114,
phone: 415-677-7998,fax: 415-775-1560
Prison Activist Resource Center, P.O. Box 3201, Berkeley, CA
94703, fax: 510-845-8816
- Prison Activist Resource Center in cooperation with ACT-UP San
Francisco, 23 June 1994
Supreme Court rejects prisoner's case; prisoner rejects the system
Dear MIM,
I must have been suffering from delusion to believe that the
wicked mother would chastise or correct her evil child.
I have been fighting the prison officials and the conditions of
this control unit prison here in Baltimore, and I have just come
to the realization that I have been beating my head against the
wall of the system that will not yield. Politically I can see that
the prison officials and the courts have closed their eyes and
ears to the calls for equality and justice.
I have several cases in court, one of which I go to court for on
July 14th. But the one that opened my eyes was the one that I had
been fighting for over three years concerning placing a man in
isolation for a day while nude or practically nude, while in leg
irons, handcuffs, black-box and waist-chains. They even hogtie
guys. The United States Supreme Court denied my petition for a
writ of certiorari.
That case and other things that have been happening to me over the
past few months have administered a wake-up call.
For instance:
1. On March 5, 1994, I was assaulted--beaten--by two correctional
pigs while I was in chains, handcuffed from behind. I did nothing
to provoke this, unless asking Sgt. Russell about showers is
provoking him. I think not!
2. I received segregation time for the above beating and all
privileges such as TV and radio have been taken away. I say "so
what!"
3. On June 5, 1994, Sgt. Presbury, Captain Lee, Lt. West and
several other pigs put me in isolation, nude while in full body
restraints, alleging that I threatened Sgt. Presbury and called
her a bitch. I did none of those things and I have affidavits from
other prisoners stating her allegations never happened. I also
received segregation time for this.
4. On June 14, 1994, I was removed from lock-up--I guess because
they needed the cell. That same afternoon, my personal property,
not allowed on segregation, was brought to me, at least what they
didn't take. 17 items they alleged were lost. Among them were:
- a Georgetown Law Journal
- approximately 75 legal envelopes
- ten clasp envelopes
- two ink pens
- books
- copies of cases I've filed. U.S. Supreme Court case included.
- ink erasers
- soap, toothpaste, tobacco, Magic Shave, lotion, etc., etc., etc.
They are playing hardball with me because I refuse to lay back and
take these inhumane prison conditions; because I refuse also to
keep my mouth shut when I see or hear of the beatings that occur
behind these walls on a regular basis.
Things have gone from bad to worse. We have been on lock-down for
over a year now. When I first came here in 1990, there were four
to six men recreating together at one time. After the lock-down,
there was only one-man recreation, but he was still allowed one
hour to rec. and shower. As it stands now, we will be lucky to
receive two showers a week for ten to fifteen minutes.
I knew when I started to fight legally against the conditions of
this control unit mess that it might result in retaliation from
prison officials. It probably will get worse. Nevertheless, the
struggle must continue!
I have nothing else to give these people. If they want my soul,
they cannot have it. When a man is brought to prison, he is
stripped of everything except:
1. His mentality. His ability to reason and think.
2. His honor, based upon his principles, religious or otherwise.
3. His dignity or self-respect.
4. His humanity.
These control unit prisons are designed to strip you of those as
well. I refuse to allow such a thing. As George Jackson said, "I
refuse to be counted among the broken men."
Two other things I should mention. 1. This is my last piece of
writing paper; sorry for the messy letter. 2. Death row prisoners
are now going to be housed here at MCAC.
Later, I'm out of here.
--a Maryland prisoner, 6/23/94
Behavior modification challenged in Vermont
On December 13, 1993, lawyers from the National Prison Project of
the American Civil Liberties Union, together with Vermont attorney
Mitchell Pearl of Langrock, Sperry and Wool, filed a class action
lawsuit against the State of Vermont on behalf of all Vermont
prisoners. Filed in federal district court in Burlington, the
suit, Goldsmith v. Dean, seeks an end to the unconstitutional
deprivation of such basic human needs as medical and mental health
treatment and safe environmental conditions. The case also
challenges two behavior modification programs as sadistic and
pseudotherapeutic....
Among the behavior modification programs challenged in the law
suit is the Vermont Treatment Program for Sexual Aggressors
(VTPSA). According to the complaint, it is forced on many
prisoners who have never been convicted of, or even charged with,
a crime of sexual aggression. The complaint alleges that prisoners
in the program must periodically submit to having their genitals
attached to a penile plethysmograph, a gauge to measure their
sexual arousal, while they are subjected to slide shows and
soundtracks portraying "deviant" sex acts, such as violent rapes
and sex with children. Prisoners in the VTPSA are also required to
masturbate until ejaculation while voicing "acceptable" sexual
fantasies, and then to continue masturbating for an additional
hour while voicing "deviant" fantasies.
These sessions are tape-recorded and played to other inmates and
staff. If prisoners' "deviant" fantasies are deemed to be
insufficiently graphic or lewd, then VTPSA staff accuse them of
being "in denial" and therefore ineligible for parole. Prisoners
are further required to confess to sex crimes, unproven and
uncharged, with no grant of immunity from prosecution, and are
considered "in denial" if their confessions do not conform to the
"correct" versions dictated to them by staff.
--Prison Legal News, 5/94
MIM Notes gets into Potosi again, thanks to lawsuit threat
Dear comrades,
I just received your letter. It's good to hear from you. Yes, I
have received one issue of MIM Notes since issue 86 was censored
and confiscated. I received MIM Notes 87.
The prison officials wrote and told me that they have their
lawyers looking at issue 86 to determine if they can *legally*
censor it. If not, it still won't be given to me because I refused
to sign documents stating that I would not sue....
I believe in *true* socialism--power in the hands of the
oppressed, not in the hands of the oppressors. I support the
people's army of Peru.
We recently won a victory against the oppressors here, when one of
our Native American brothers won the right to practice his
religion and grow his hair long. For years, Missouri's Department
of Corrections (sic) has denied us our First Amendment right to
practice our religion. Prisoners growing long hair as part of
their religious practices have been attacked and beaten, then
dragged to the barber, forcibly shaved, and later charged with
assauling the guards who actually attacked them. This is a battle
won for Missouri's prisoners.
I would like to receive your theory journal, and or some material
on Malcolm X speeches.
I appreciate your letter.
Yours in struggle,
--a Missouri prisoner, 6/8/94
* * *
BOOK REVIEW: PERU: TIME OF FEAR
By MC432
Peru: Time of Fear, co-authored by Deborah Poole and Gerardo
Renique, was published in late 1992. Late 1991 to early 1992 was a
critical moment in the civil war in Peru, when the Peruvian state
seemed likely to fall at any moment. The book must be taken in the
context of a situation where "neutrality" did not exist.
Despite the polarization in Peruvian society, Poole and Renique
conceived a "third way" for Peru, maintaining that neither the
dictatorial state nor the PCP present the best future for Peru.
Rather the "Peruvian people" have a political practice and mass
organizations that will build a just future.
Social-democracy or Communism
No one disputes the poverty driving class divisions that wrack
Peruvian society. Consequently, Poole and Renique's rejection of
the PCP would be absurd if they did not also propose a solution to
Peru's social inequities. Poole and Renique's social-democratic
posture is essential to lure those sympathetic to the plight of
the oppressed.
Refuting the social-democratic view is imperative in order to
avoid its false program for the Left. To that end, the following
quote from Poole and Renique sums up their view most succinctly:
"In their struggle to define a solution to their country's many-
faceted crisis, Peruvians will have to steer a course between the
competing authoritarian projects of Sendero Luminoso and a state
willing to sacrifice democratic principles and the welfare of the
majority to the debt payments and profits demanded by a handful of
multinational banks." (1, p. 29)
Much of Poole and Renique's "dirt" on the current Peruvian state
is accurate. The capitulation to imperialist capital, the
devastating consequences of "Fujishock" on the Peruvian masses,
the oppression of the indigenous population, the impunity of the
Peruvian military in their bloody persecution of "subversives."
Despite this, Poole and Renique maintain that overthrow of the
Peruvian government is unnecessary; that the state can be reformed
through existing "popular" organizations. But they illustrate with
their own examples the absolute unwillingness of successive
Peruvian governments to concede meaningful reforms.
None of these sectors has done anything but effect measly social
programs and state repression in order to manipulate the masses
into political passivity. The state has always opted for open
military dictatorship when the mass movements pose too great a
threat.
Revolutionary or Reactionary Violence?
The principal question that occupies Poole and Renique throughout
their evaluation of the PCP is its violent tactics. Their view on
political violence is idealist and inconsistent, and is the best
refutation of their own social-democratic line.
Peru's infant mortality rate for one year is higher than the
number of casualties from PCP-led violence over fourteen years.
Poverty is the direct cause, and the Peruvian state is the direct
cause of much of the poverty. The state can reasonably be held
responsible for this inexcusable violence.
The violence of poverty is more destructive and less justifiable
than the proletarian violence of a revolution aimed at eliminating
poverty.
Poole and Renique's accounts of political violence are highly
journalistic--they indulge in the lurid details of individual acts
of violence with the intention of repelling a pacifist audience
from PCP tactics. Because none of their sources for these
incidents are independent of the government, there is no potential
for these sources to reflect PCP tactics honestly.
They do quote a captured PCP comrade who describes their tactics
in carrying out executions: when asked why an engineer at a state-
run agricultural co-op was killed, the comrade replied, "He was a
functionary representing the government. He put the government's
policies into practice. But they're not killed just like that.
They're given warnings and they're only killed if the don't obey
them." (1, p. 67)
No revolution with such widespread support as Peru's could sustain
itself on intimidation of the masses. Gordon McCormick's analysis
of the PCP for the RAND Corporation and the U.S. State Department
gives a more dispassionate account of PCP tactics. The
"coordinated use of posted death threats and selective
assassination" is implemented by rounding up those targeted "and,
after a brief trial," they are executed "for their crimes against
the people." (2, p. 19-20)
The PCP builds a new political order in place of those executed.
The New Power, in which prohibitions against "theft, adultery,
wife-beating, corruption, [and] failure to cooperate in communal
work projects" are enforced. (1, p. 62) The PCP carries out land
reform in these liberated zones. Even in the midst of civil war,
the PCP effects political change to build popular support.
McCormick states that "Most of the civilian casualties suffered in
the war thus far have been blamed on the Shining Path, but the
Army has committed the majority." (2, p. 44) Whereas the state
uses indiscriminate violence against the people, the PCP's
civilian targets are exclusively representatives of the state
which Poole and Renique claim to oppose. Their social-democratic
position allows the bourgeoisie to take its own sweet time in
deciding whether it should sacrifice its wealth and power, with
predictable results. The daily suffering of the proletariat will
not permit them such an undeserved luxury, nor should it. The
social-democratic position obliges the proletariat to grovel for
"glasses of milk," when it has the political power to control the
cow.
Upholding What Then?
Although Poole and Renique repeatedly mention the terrible
conditions in Peru which cause people to uphold the PCP program
(e.g., see p. 61). But they still strain to portray the PCP as
inept and malicious. The alleged ineptitude is based on one or two
anecdotes. These are portrayed as typical of PCP effectiveness.
This type of logical error hardly constitutes reason to oppose the
PCP.
Poole and Renique portray the PCP's political strategy as a
malicious gambit for power. This, they say, is achieved through
intentional provocation of military repression, which will further
polarize Peruvian society in favor of the PCP. The allegedly
arbitrary assassination of popular leaders is only the crowning
stratagem sinisterly described as collusion between the PCP and
the government against the "Peruvian people."
Any armed struggle, growing out of the people's desire for
liberation, will meet with state repression. To say that such
polarization is the "goal" of the PCP is foolish. The polarization
is a consequence of civil war. When Poole and Renique call it an
"internal war" or a "dirty war," they are only trying to mask the
fact that the PCP leads a revolutionary movement with territory,
independent political organization, and a large population base.
These characteristics classify it legally as a "belligerent"
rather than "insurgent" force within Peru. It is an emergent new
state within the old. The PCP's goal is to resolve those
contradictions of class, nation and gender which have constantly
wracked Peruvian society. Those advocating less decisive measures
will allow that polarization to continue indefinitely.
The PCP is leading the first stage in an essentially anti-
imperialist, anti-feudal revolution. It attracts diverse groups
representing social classes in addition to the proletariat and
peasantry. As both Poole and Renique and McCormick attest, the PCP
operates nearly a dozen "party-generated organisms." Groups
specifically composed of women, of students, lawyers, workers, or
peasants.(1, p. 40) Even McCormick admits that "SL's level of
influence within organized labor is generally thought to be
significant," (3, p. 31) indicating that the PCP is not an
isolated, rural movement as Poole and Renique imply.
The PCP leads a popular revolution, even though it doesn't take
its political line from existing mass-organizations. Poole and
Renique attempt to portray the PCP's attacks against social-
democratic leaders of the Left as violations of the "Peruvian
people." But upholding the power of the bourgeoisie over the
Peruvian masses is itself an act of violence much more shocking
than the most brutal of the PCP's executions.
Poole and Renique have indeed established a "third way." Rather
than throwing their weight behind the PCP in order to contribute
the energies of their noble spirits to the communist cause, Poole
and Renique reject the PCP outright in favor of reformist limbo.
But the state's contempt for the Peruvian people, combined with
its brutal anti-communism, is a bit much for these liberals to
stomach. So they prop up the same failed strategies of reformist
organizations as a more "palatable" path.
* * *
SPECTACLE OF DECAY
Retired football star O.J. "Orange Juice" Simpson stands charged
with the murder of his ex-wife and her young male friend.
Political discussion regarding the case centers on a few tried and
true dead-ends that have proven incapable of solving our society's
crime or domestic violence problems.
The participants in this discussion include open patriarchy-
supporters and pseudo-feminists. Both are committed to paternalism
and neither will admit that Amerikan romance culture is
fundamentally flawed. The patriarchs say Amerikan culture is fine,
except for a few criminals who can't fit in. The other says there
are many criminals--some convicted and some average men on the
street--but prisons and psychiatry programs that work on domestic
violence and crime can end crime. Neither the open male
chauvinists nor the pseudo-feminists have any concept of how to
reduce crime. They can't because they refuse to admit that
inequality between men and women precludes a healthy society.
The Liberal approach
As MIM Notes goes to press, O.J. may yet change his plea to
"temporary insanity." As usual, MIM is the only publication
bothering to ask or answer why the United States has the third
highest murder rate in the world.(1) The question is why do people
go temporarily "insane" in the United States more frequently than
elsewhere?
Faced with the fact of disproportionate violence in the United
States, the conservatives will argue their knee-jerk position for
tougher punishment of criminals. It is possible that O.J. will be
killed by the state following a conviction. Yet bourgeois study
after bourgeois study has been forced to admit that the death
penalty does not stop crime.
Some more patriarchy-minded conservatives will say that O.J. is
not the kind of person to commit murder. After all, he
demonstrated his strength of moral character on the football field
as a star running back. Certainly someone who had such a solid
work ethic and who was such a successful athlete could not be the
type to commit murder, reason these conservative Liberals. In
their minds, criminals are non-conformists with "weak characters."
MIM asks these conservative Liberals if they mean that the people
of North America then have the weakest moral character in the
world, because the U.S. government imprisons a higher percentage
of people than any other government in the world.(See MIM Theory
#4)
MIM does not believe that Amerikans are inherently any more evil
than other peoples, but our opponents seem to think that locking
people up is the solution to Amerika's problems. In contrast, we
believe North Amerika needs to be rid of its most evil system:
imperialism.
Mandatory arrest fails: pseudo-feminists raise the banner anyway
Liberals farther to the left are also working on patching a failed
and dying system. In reference to Simpson's "no contest"
conviction for wife abuse a couple of years ago, the Boston
Globe's offers the pseudo-feminist analysis that "jail time and
treatment programs have proven successful in forcing abusers to
change."(2) MIM suggests a more thorough review of the evidence on
batterer treatment programs, which demonstrates that the Boston
Globe is wrong about the solution for domestic violence.(See MIM
Theory #2/3 on domestic violence)
Another exalted media organ of women's liberation, the New York
Times, pointed out that in 1992, 1,431 women were killed by their
husbands or boyfriends.(3) The Times did not report the number of
men killed by wives or girlfriends, because that would pierce the
alliance of the open patriarchy supporters and the pseudo-
feminists.
The figures show that women and men kill each other in
approximately equal numbers. Neither side likes these numbers
because they prove that women are not helpless and passive
victims, and that they too are consumed by the romance culture
which dramatizes and eroticizes murder. The logic of each side
rests on seeing women as helpless. Recognizing women as actors
with a role to play in shaping their own conditions means
understanding that women will abolish patriarchy. For the Liberal
pseudo-feminists, seeing women as actors threatens the continuing
search for ways to make patriarchy cosmetically more appealing.
For the conservative Liberals, admitting that women and men are
equally homicidal domestically erodes the logic of their criminal
justice system, which imprisons men for being violent. It also
begins to eat at their social service programs, which force women
into social work and therapy to convince them that they only need
to adjust better to society and stop feeling angry.
MIM works for the end of contradictions between groups of people.
These contradictions give rise to the kind of violence and
irrationality that reveal the sickness of capitalist society.
Capitalism has the power, but not the authority to punish people
for failure to conform. Because capitalist society causes people
to act irrationally, this society is unfit to judge those who step
outside its boundaries. The only accurate judgment of crime under
capitalism will come from the international proletariat, which has
a genuine interest in seeing capitalism destroyed.
Notes:
1. John Hagan, Crime and Disrepute (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge
Press, 1994), p. 24.
2. Boston Globe, June 21, 1994, p. 12.
3. New York Times, June 18, 1994, p. 10.
* * *
TRUE LIES
Arnold Schwarzenneger's long streak of movies with (accidentally)
progressive themes ended with True Lies. He is no longer against
the establishment. No longer are cops or the government the enemy.
There aren't even strong women shooting guns and saving humanity
like in T2.
This xenophobic film is action-packed to the point of being
absurd, and very entertaining (especially if you like your sex
mixed with lots of violence). The Arabs are the enemies--crazy
terrorists from whom the world has to be saved. The U.S.
government and it's detachment of "omega sector: the last defense"
agents are the good guys, out to save the world. The women are
floozy puppets; the female lead can't even shoot a gun in a movie
where more people are killed than left alive.
After the revolution, this movie could serve as a useful
commentary on the eroticization of violence in patriarchal
society. In True Lies, violence breeds romance; a mushroom cloud
is the backdrop of a passionate kiss. But under patriarchy, this
movie is reactionary junk that encourages misogyny and white
national chauvinism. Don't get caught in this reactionary film
without a revolutionary analysis to apply. Read MIM Theory 2/3
(the one on revolutionary feminism) cover to cover before you hit
the theater. MIM can not guarantee your political sanity
otherwise. (Of course, this film might convince some people that
all sex is rape under capitalism. If that happens, all will not be
lost.)
--MC17
* * *
BELLE ŠPOQUE
This Spanish movie is a refreshing alternative to the ten Amerikan
films in the theaters at any given time with the same five actors
in all of them. Set during the revolutionary war in Spain, the
plot is less than revolutionary. The underlying theme caricatures
the elevation of individualism to a principal; watching the power
of individualism to wreck people's politics can serve as a good
lesson for revolutionaries. In Belle Špoque, individualism compels
characters to abandon any political principle in exchange for
personal advancement, personal security or sex. The film provides
several examples of how insidious the effect of individualism on
politics can be.
The main character is a deserter from the Republican army. He left
the Republicans out of fear that they might lose the fight against
fascism, or that he could be captured in the fighting. He ends up
at the house of the best character in the film--an old man who
opposes the state, the church and fidelity, but who says he cannot
act on any of these beliefs. The old man is of course an
individualist himself, but offers satirical commentary on the
other characters' individualism throughout.
When the old man's four beautiful daughters arrive for a visit,
the young man decides to stay for a while. One daughter fucks the
ex-revolutionary after a great scene of gender role mockery; she
was raised as a man and acts the part. The morning following sex,
she disavows it as meaning nothing to her, breaking the main
character's heart. Another sister follows, also having sex with
and then dumping the ex-revolutionary, something of a gender role
reversal. This commentary on gender roles was one of the main
virtues of this film.
--MC17
* * *
GO FISH
Can I Watch productions
1994
Rose Troche, director and co-screenwriter of Go Fish describes the
movie as "[pointing] out what universal experiences love, sex and
acceptance are." The film seduces viewers into accepting values
that will sustain, not undermine, patriarchy.
Go Fish runs down a lot of standard debates in lesbian politics.
Some of the commentary is funny and incisive, but it never gets
into serious analysis.
The movie puts forth the typical "can you call yourself a lesbian
and still sleep with men? can bisexual women be trusted?"
discussion. Go Fish accepts the standard interpretation of these
questions--focusing on women's ability to be sexually loyal to
other women. But what about asking: why are women who sleep with
men seen as a threat to lesbians? Is this an inevitable condition
of sexual relations or could it change with the abolition of
patriarchy?
Go Fish looks at other sexual-political issues through a variety
of relationships. There is one "monogamous" relationship, one
tramp, one woman who just wants a girlfriend, and one relationship
in which the partners have not seen much of each other for two
years.
We see the contradiction many Latinas find between their national
community and their lesbian identity. Go Fish offers with the
standard resolution in favor of a colorblind lesbian community.
The assorted contradictions in Go Fish underscore MIM's argument
that under patriarchy, where coercion pervades all relationships,
no sex is truly consensual. This is why MIM advocates forever
monogamy for people of all sexual orientations as the best sexual
practice under patriarchy.(1) We say this in the context of our
work to end all forms of oppression and coercion: the only lasting
means to create consent within sexual other relationships.
Note: MIM Theory 2/3, "Is Monogamy the best practice for lesbians
and Gays?"(pp. 137-138).
![[About]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_about.gif)
![[Contact]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_contact.gif)
![[Home]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_home.gif)
![[Art]](/archive/etext/gifs/art.jpg)
![[Movies]](/archive/etext/gifs/movies.gif)
![[Black Panthers]](/archive/etext/gifs/blackpanther.gif)
![[News]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_hotnews.gif)
![[RAIL]](/archive/etext/gifs/0_rail.gif)