>Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 21, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >VIETNAM LEADER ADDRESSES SUPPORTERS > >By Paddy Colligan and G. Dunkel >New York > >On Sept. 8, before an audience of overseas Vietnamese and >U.S. friends, President Tran Duc Luong of Vietnam discussed >the country's economic, social and political accomplishments >over the past decade under the leadership and guidance of >the Vietnamese Communist Party. > >President Luong was in New York for the United Nations >Millennium Summit. He spoke to friends and supporters in a >Manhattan hotel ballroom rented for the occasion. > >"The gross domestic product of Vietnam doubled from 1991 to >2000. Our average growth rate was 7 percent," Luong said. > >The economic crisis in Southeast Asia had a real effect on >Vietnam's economy, since most of its markets are in the >Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. >But "since our economy has different financial structures," >he went on to say, "we did not suffer a crisis." Instead of >growing at a 7- to 9-percent rate, Vietnam's economy grew at >a rate of 5 to 6 percent. > >Vietnam has become a major rice exporter. The rise in >national income has meant significant improvements in >people's livelihoods. > >"Hunger is no longer a problem, though poverty is," Luong >said. Thirty percent of Vietnam's people lived below the >poverty line in 1970, during the war; 13 percent lived below >the poverty line in 1999. > >Even though Vietnam is one of the poorest countries in the >world, it now has universal primary education and plans to >achieve universal secondary education in the decade to come. >Some 1 million people a year enter its universities. It has >conducted mass campaigns against malaria, tuberculosis and >for pediatric vaccinations. > >Summing up the aims of Vietnam's economic and social policy, >President Luong said that Vietnam intends to modernize the >country greatly by 2020. > >EFFECTS OF WAR FELT FOR GENERATIONS > >Vietnam joined ASEAN six years ago and has taken an active >part in its work with the aim of building friendly, >cooperative relations with its neighbors. It also wants >good, normal relations with China, Japan and the United >States that will benefit all sides. > >Luong said there were about 300,000 Vietnamese MIAs in the >war and that his country hopes for technical aid that would >help to identify their remains and resolve this very intense >human issue. > >As for Agent Orange, the defoliant widely used by the U.S. >forces in Vietnam, its effects on both the land and >inhabitants will last for two or three generations. Given >the vast and long-lasting suffering caused by the war, Luong >said that Vietnam still feels that the United States owes >reparations for the damage it did. > >After his speech, Merle Rattner, a longtime activist in >solidarity with Vietnam, welcomed President Luong to New >York. He then took questions from the audience. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <020b01c0209b$7971e160$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] U.S. steps up plan to topple Yugoslav gov't >Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 07:36:08 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 21, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >AS ELECTIONS LOOM: U.S. STEPS UP PLAN TO TOPPLE YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT > >By Pat Chin > >With elections set for Sept. 24 in the Federal Republic of >Yugoslavia, the United States and its junior partners in >Europe have intensified efforts to topple the government of >President Slobodan Milosevic as a first step toward turning >Yugoslavia into a colonial country. > >The destabilization campaign is in full swing. It's a no- >holds-barred full court press that includes covert >operations involving assassinations; open funding for >opposition parties; economic strangulation; media >manipulation; and psychological warfare, including the >threat of another NATO war should Milosevic be returned to >office. > >Milosevic enjoys popular support for standing up to NATO. >But the West's big-business media have been giving prominent >play to Democratic Opposition of Serbia presidential >candidate Vojislav Kostunica. > >Other opposition leaders, like Vuk Draskovic and Zoran >Djindjic, have already discredited themselves by their close >relations with the U.S. and NATO forces. While Kostunica >hasn't yet openly embraced NATO, it's obvious he's >Washington's favorite. > >The media claim that Kostunica, who represents a group of >allied opposition parties, is the clear frontrunner >according to polls. The surveys, however, are being done by >anti-Milosevic institutions inside the country. > >Serbian Science Minister Branislav Ivkovic recently >denounced the polls, accusing the CIA of "direct >involvement." It's "business as usual," said Ivkovic, "so >when the surveys turn out to be false, they will say the >vote was a fraud and will call for a rebellion." (Nedeljni >Telegraf weekly) > >A known anti-communist, Kostunica told a Sept. 1 rally in >Belgrade that, if elected, he will "persistently and >patiently strive to get our country back into the >Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and >restore its rightful membership in the United Nations and >the world's leading financial institutions." (Associated >Press) > >The European Union has been scheming with the U.S. to unseat >Milosevic so that a puppet government can be installed that >would subordinate the country's economy to Western corporate >interests. > >EUROPEAN UNION OFFERS BRIBE > >A meeting of the EU on Sept. 4 offered to lift imperialist- >imposed economic sanctions if people vote Milosevic out of >office. The 15-member cabal announced that it had postponed >a review of the sanctions until after the elections, adding >that a "proposal" will be unveiled just before the >balloting. > >"The victory of democracy would lead to a radical revision >of EU policy towards Serbia in all its aspects," said French >Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine. "The Serbs will have to >make a very important choice in the elections." (Reuters) > >Of course, like most election promises made by capitalist >politicians, there's no guarantee that they'll be kept. >Vedrine's goal is to open up the Yugoslav economy to Western >corporate exploitation. > >Around the same time, La Stampa, an Italian newspaper, >reported that former NATO chief Javier Solana had said, >"There are three possible outcomes of the Yugoslav election: >Milosevic wins, Milosevic cheats, Milosevic loses." The >first two outcomes are "negative," warned Solana, and will >meet hostility from NATO forces. > >This blatantly manipulative and arrogant display of >interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country >has reached a fever pitch. Solana wants the message to be >that if the Yugoslavs don't unseat Milosevic, they'll not >only face economic suffocation, they might also get bombed >again. > >Such an attack, however, would arouse the already growing >opposition within the NATO countries to the unjustified >pressure on Yugoslavia, and could provoke splits within >NATO. At this moment the military threats should be seen >mainly as an attempt to intimidate the Yugoslavs into voting >against Milosevic. > >The U.S. recently barred Yugoslav federal government >officials from attending the United Nations' first global >gathering of parliamentary leaders and the Millennium Summit >by denying them visas. But Montenegrin President Milo >Djukanovic was allowed to attend the latter. > >While there, he met with the presidents of Croatia, >Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. These >countries, backed by Berlin and Washington, broke off from >the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia starting >in 1991. > >According to the opposition Freeb92 news outlet, the leaders >"sent a message to the Yugoslavian public that their >countries will propose that the international community lift >sanctions against Yugoslavia if the Serbian Democratic >Opposition achieves victory in the forthcoming elections." > >Yugoslavia now consists of the republics of Serbia and >Montenegro, whose president has become a puppet of >imperialist interests. Djukanovic has, in fact, threatened >to declare independence if Milosevic is re-elected. > >On Sept. 7, after meeting with him, U.S. Secretary of State >Madeleine Albright added grist to the propaganda mill by >declaring that she feared for his life. > >"There are ongoing concerns about his safety," she intoned. >When asked if upcoming joint U.S. and Croatian military >exercises off Montenegro's coast were a show of force, >Albright replied, according to Reuters, that they were >"naval exercises planned as part of the Partnership for >Peace," an organization that links NATO with former Warsaw >Pact countries. > >Two days later, Kostunica visited Montenegro where he met >with government officials there opposed to Milosevic. >According to a press report, "both sides emphasized that the >future of Serbia and Montenegro depended on democratic >changes within Serbia." > >Meanwhile, in embattled UN/NATO-occupied Kosovo-Metohija >(Kosmet), Serbs, Roma and progressives of other ethnic >groups plan to vote on Sept. 24. Organizers say they will >prevail. They'll conduct the polling in private homes, since >they've been barred from using public buildings by >occupation head Bernard Kouchner. NATO also recently >announced plans to increase the number of troops in Kosmet >for the election. > >Murderous attacks against Serbs and others have continued >under the watchful eye of the occupying forces. But the >Serbs are fighting back. And more news is beginning to >surface exposing the lies about "defending human rights" >used to justify the imperialist aggression against >Yugoslavia, and NATO's trumped-up indictment of Milosevic as >a "war criminal" based on the myth of mass graves containing >Albanian victims of Serb genocide. > >EVIDENCE OF KLA WAR CRIMES > >On Aug. 17, for example, NATO officials admitted that their >estimate of Albanians allegedly killed by Yugoslav forces in >Kosmet was much higher than the actual number of exhumed >bodies. This admission, coupled with the fact that many of >the corpses showed no sign of "Yugoslav troop atrocities," >was carried by the Aug. 18 British Guardian. But the U.S. >capitalist media deliberately ignored it. > >The same is true of a Sept. 3 piece in the British Sunday >Times. Headlined, "KLA faces trials for war crimes on Serbs, >Inquiry turns on Albanians," it described five sites in >Kosmet "where war crimes were allegedly carried out by >members of the KLA" against the Serbs. > >"The investigation could radically alter the international >perception of the conflict, in which Albanians were seen as >the largely innocent victims of Serbian aggression," >concluded the article. "After a year of growing concern >about hundreds of revenge killings of Serbs by Albanians in >the province, there are signs that the public relations >pendulum may begin to swing the Serbs' way." > >The London Daily Observer also reported Sept. 11 that U.S. >officials in Kosmet are obstructing a UN investigation of >former KLA commander Ramushi Haradinay, who is suspected of >assassinations, drug smuggling and war crimes. U.S. soldiers >reportedly removed evidence from a crime scene involving >Haradinay before whisking him away to their camp and later >to a U.S. military hospital in Germany. > >Meanwhile, Serbs in the southern province continue to >protest the NATO take-over of the mineral-rich Trepca Mines. >And the government in Belgrade has announced that a war >crimes trial of NATO leaders involved in last year's 78-day >blitzkreig against Yugoslavia will start on Sept. 18. > >The Yugoslav people can best defend their sovereignty and >livelihood by uniting to resist NATO, which is really much >weaker than it appears. There's growing opposition to >another military strike against Yugoslavia inside NATO and >worldwide, and people are organizing against the embargo. If >an independent government is dropped for the imperialists' >promise of a "better" life, all social benefits still being >enjoyed despite the harsh sanctions could be lost. > >Yugoslavia could, in fact, become another Bulgaria, which >has shown the world that submitting to the imperialist West >is no guarantee of avoiding poverty for the mass of the >population. > >With respect to the elections, it's important to remember: >All that glitters is not gold. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > > > > >Message-ID: <021301c0209b$902a87e0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] U.S. blocks Palestinian right of return >Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 07:36:46 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 21, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >U.S. BLOCKS PALESTINIAN RIGHT OF RETURN > >By Sara Flounders > >No issue is more fundamental to the future of the >Palestinian state than the right of over 4 million >Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. Yet no >issue has received less attention in the corporate media and >possibly even in the secret Camp David negotiations. > >Why? > >Could it be that all sides in the negotiations for the >future Palestinian state realize that the greatest >impediment to this most basic right comes from the U.S. >government--the supposed "neutral arbitrator"? > >The Clinton administration and the U.S. ruling >establishment, which today masquerade as concerned referees >between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian >Authority Chair Yasser Arafat, are hardly neutral when it >comes to the rights of the Palestinian people. > >The state of Israel could not survive for one week without >the massive, guaranteed infusion of millions of U.S. dollars >every day. > >Israel, with 7 million people, has a smaller population than >the city of New York. Yet it receives an incredible $10 >million a day in U.S. military and economic aid. > >According to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, >U.S. aid to Israel has totaled more than $90 billion since >1949. > >That's more than the total U.S. aid to sub-Saharan Africa, >Latin America and the Caribbean combined. > >These figures expose just how strategic Israel is to >Washington's domination of the entire oil-rich Middle East. > >U.S. military aid has created a garrison state that is a >continuing source of instability in the region. The economic >aid is designed to keep the whole Israeli economy afloat >with an artificially high living standard for the Zionist >settlers while the Palestinian population remains >impoverished. > >RESETTLE THE REFUGEES > >The demand for the right of return is not only just, >righteous and guaranteed by international law. It is also >the only reasonable solution for genuine peace. > >If every one of the over 4 million Palestinian refugees-- >descendants of those expelled in 1948, 1949 and 1967-- >returned and settled again in their homeland, the population >density of Palestine would still be lower than the >Netherlands or Belgium. > >The issue is not that there are too many people. > >The difficulty of resettling refugees is entirely solvable >if the resources and the political will exist. This >seemingly intractable problem could be solved quickly if the >$10 million a day now spent to keep Israel afloat and >stocked with weapons were spent to resettle the Palestinian >refugees, build housing, and develop infrastructure and >industries. > >Why aren't such reasonable solutions even discussed? > >DIVIDE AND RULE > >The U.S. government represents the interests of Wall Street >banks and corporate monopolies. Its first priority is to >defend not human rights, but the right of a small corporate >elite to make the highest possible rate of profit. > >The first concern of each administration, whether Democratic >or Republican, is to protect the profits of the giant >military contractors, banks and corporations that control >the global oil markets. > >The small capitalist elite that controls this global empire >and that profits from the brutal suppression of the >Palestinians is not concerned with the rights of Jewish >people, either. Many in the financial elite's top circles >are deeply anti-Semitic. They are interested in maintaining >Israel as a dependent, militarized garrison state that >exists in a continual state of war. How many people--Arab or >Jewish--die is not their concern. > >This is the old policy of divide and rule. Fifty years of a >constant state of war in the Middle East has meant an >unending stream of profits for the U.S. ruling class. > >U.S. imperialism is also deeply afraid that a viable >Palestinian state, even a small one, would become a center >of revolution in the Middle East. It would inspire millions >of people throughout the Arab world to resist the >International Monetary Fund's demands and U.S. corporate >control of their economies. > >The Palestinian cause was hurt in the 1980s and 1990s by the >demise of its allies in the USSR and Eastern Europe. That is >one source of the current negotiations. > >But ultimately, Washington has today been forced to act as >an arbitrator because Israel has proven unable to defeat the >heroic Palestinian struggle, even after decades of >relentless repression. > >Over the past decades the Palestinian struggle has inspired >millions of people worldwide because of its dynamism and >revolutionary fervor. The struggle has been reborn time and >again after horrendous Israeli repression. This repression-- >no matter how extreme--is always financed and supported by >U.S. imperialism. > >The renewed struggle for the Palestinian right of return, >coming at this juncture in the stalled negotiations, may be >the first sign of a new level of struggle capable of winning >new victories. It deserves the enthusiastic support of all >progressive humanity. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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