>about the people of East Timor than they do about the poor >and oppressed here. So in a Sept. 18 article from Djakarta, >he clued in the U.S. "business community" on why they should >be interested in Cohen's trip: > >"Commercial disputes have ... divided Washington and Jakarta >in recent months. In Indonesia, U.S. business deals struck >during former President Suharto's 32-year-long rule continue >to come under attack from nationalists and reformers alike. >U.S. officials have been particularly critical of >Indonesia's refusal to abide by contracts to buy electricity >from a number of U.S. power companies. Some in Jakarta >maintain that the contracts were detrimental to the country >because they involved allegedly corrupt arrangements with >members of Mr. Suharto's family and their cronies--charges >Washington and the U.S. companies deny. > >"Disputes over mining, oil and gas, and telecommunications >ventures have also caused diplomatic friction. In one >instance, U.S. officials have threatened Mr. Wahid's >government with expropriating Indonesian assets overseas >should Jakarta fail to pay out a $290 million insurance >claim lodged by the U.S. government's political-risk >insurer, the Overseas Private Investment Corp.... > >"Repeated public criticism of Indonesia's government and >military by U.S. Ambassador Robert S. Gelbard has also >rankled lawmakers and bureaucrats. Among other things, Mr. >Gelbard has openly voiced U.S. concerns over the security >situation in West Timor, rising terrorism in Jakarta, and a >deteriorating business environment. He has also complained >that some Indonesian government officials were acting in an >'anti-American' fashion." > >Washington is now paying lip service to democracy and clean >government after having lived comfortably with Suharto's >fascist rule for 32 years. > >This is the real issue: the new Indonesian government's >inability or unwillingness to sustain a "business >environment" suitable to Western billionaire corporations. >There are strikes and demonstrations every day against the >starvation wages paid by foreign corporations. There's a >rising tide of resentment at the dictates of foreign >capital. Meanwhile, Cohen is telling the new Indonesian >government not to reexamine the sweetheart deals its >predecessor made with U.S. corporations. > >WHERE WERE THEY IN 1965? > >It has been abundantly proven that Suharto took power in >1965 with the support and connivance of Washington. This >fascist military takeover led to a bloodbath in which at >least a million people were massacred and hundreds of >thousands were herded into concentration camps. In recent >years, some of the CIA officers involved in the Indonesian >slaughters have even bragged about their role there. > >At the time, officials in the Lyndon Johnson administration >could barely conceal their glee. They were hoping this >"accomplishment" in Indonesia would set a precedent for a >similar victory in Vietnam, leading to the decimation of the >communists and progressive nationalists. > >As soon as "stability" was restored in Indonesia, U.S. >corporations like Uniroyal, Union Carbide, Freeport Sulphur, >Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Alcoa, Atlantic Richfield, Mobil >and Tenneco descended on Indonesia like vultures. They >thought it a bargain to let Suharto and his family take a >personal cut as they gave away Indonesia's natural >resources. The general's wife was jokingly referred to as >"Madame Tien Percent" in the businessmen's clubs. > >Where is the source of this corruption? Doesn't it begin >with the web of corporations, Pentagon planners and >government insiders who, by conspiring with and then arming >a few key military men, take over the economies of poor >countries all over the world? Yet this monumental crime, >which results in profits for a few and misery for hundreds >of millions of people, is so commonplace in the era of >monopoly capitalism and imperialism that it is considered a >clever business practice. > >But what about East Timor? Isn't there some concern in >Washington over Indonesia's oppression of the Timorese >people? > >East Timor, which in 1974 had risen up against hundreds of >years of Portuguese colonial rule, fell under the iron heel >of Indonesia's fascist generals because the U.S. government >was afraid it could become another Cuba in the south >Pacific. The Gerald Ford administration gave Suharto the go- >ahead to invade East Timor in 1975. The troop ships were >actually launched while Ford and Secretary of State Henry >Kissinger were in Djakarta toasting Suharto at the end of a >state visit. > >That invasion ultimately cost another 200,000 lives, or one >third of the East Timorese population. > >So powerful is the imperialist media, however, that the >current administration in Washington thinks it can get away >with pretending to be an indignant protector of small >peoples--like in Kosovo. > >HOLBROOKE YET AGAIN > >Which brings us to Richard Holbrooke, an architect of the >Clinton administration's war on Yugoslavia and now U.S. >Ambassador to the United Nations. Holbrooke was Assistant >Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs during >the Carter administration. From 1978 to 1980, when >Indonesia's suppression of Fretilin, the East Timor >liberation front, reached genocidal proportions, he >recommended an increase in U.S. military aid and weapons >sales to Indonesia. > >An article in the March 6, 1980, Christian Science Monitor >described the attitude of the State Department when >Holbrooke headed the section dealing with Indonesia and East >Timor: > >"Francisco Fernandes, a Roman Catholic priest who served for >several years as head of the Timorese refugee community, >said he knew of no attempt by U.S. officials to seek out and >interview any of the more than 2,000 such refugees who have >been living in Portugal for the past several years. > >"Even today, with the magnitude of the East Timor problem >better known, refugees going directly to the State >Department in Washington with their stories find that most >officials here give the benefit of the doubt to the >Indonesians. > >"'He acted like a lawyer for the Indonesians,' said one >refugee after talking with a State Department official >recently. . . ." > >And here's what Holbrooke himself had to say about the >Indonesia of General Suharto, when asked to comment on the >problem of East Timor: > >"Indonesia, with a population of 150 million people, is the >fifth largest nation in the world, is a moderate member of >the Non-Aligned Movement, is an important oil producer-- >which plays a moderate role within OPEC--and occupies a >strategic position astride the sea lanes between the Pacific >and Indian Oceans. > >"President Suharto and other prominent Indonesian leaders >have publicly called for the release of our hostages in >Iran. Indonesia's position within the Association of South >East Asian Nations--ASEAN--is also important and it has >played a central role in supporting Thailand and maintaining >the security of Thailand in the face of Vietnam's >destabilizing actions in Indo-China [sic]. > >"Finally, Indonesia has provided humane treatment for over >50,000 Indo-Chinese refugees and taken the initiative in >offering an island site as an ASEAN refugee processing >center. Indonesia is, of course, important to key U.S. >allies in the region, especially Japan and Australia. We >highly value our cooperative relationship with Indonesia." >(From Foreign Assistance and Related Programs: >Appropriations for 1981. Hearings Before a Subcommittee of >the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, >96th Congress, June 1980.) > >Now Holbrooke is a leading player in the cabal of >imperialist "statesmen" who threaten Indonesia with >sanctions and other pressures in the name of democracy and >human rights for East Timor. Yet all sides, the generals as >well as the reformers, know that the real issues between the >United States and Indonesia are the oil and gas--some of >which lies offshore East Timor--the electric plants, the >rubber, the gold, the sulfur, and all the other riches of >the Indonesian archipelago. > >- 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: <00a001c02513$a85ac060$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Workers around the world: 9/28/2000 >Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 00:04:06 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD > >NETHERLANDS: GAY MARRIAGES LEGALIZED > >The struggle for democratic rights of lesbians and gays >gained an important victory on Sept. 12. The parliament in >the Netherlands overwhelmingly approved a bill granting >"same-sex partnerships" as marriages. The new law sharply >narrows the differences between same-sex and straight >couples' legal marriage rights. > >The bill passed 107-33. > >Dutch lesbians and gays already had the right to legally >register as same-sex couples, allowing partners to claim >pensions and other social benefits allowed to partners in >straight marriages. But the new legislation extends those >rights, allowing divorces and adoptions. > >The vote is an "absolute first in the world," gay activist >Henk Krol told the Associated Press. > >Several countries grant legal protections to gay couples. >South Africa's post-apartheid constitution prohibits >discrimination against citizens on the basis of sexual >orientation. But the vast majority of lesbians and gays in >the world--including in the United States--face oppression >rooted in centuries of patriarchal capitalism. > >ECUADOR: GROUPS PROTEST U.S. AT MANTA BASE > >Members of several Ecuadoran people's organizations marched >on the Constitutional Court in Quito Sept. 13 to protest the >government's involvement in the U.S. war against Colombia. >"We don't want to be a U.S. colony," they chanted. > >Elsie Monge, president of the Ecumenical Commission on Human >Rights, presented a document charging that the agreement to >grant the United States military takeoff and landing rights >at the Manta Airbase was illegal. Former President Jamil >Mahuad signed the agreement in 1999. Mahuad was deposed in >January after a mass uprising. > >"We believe that the agreement violates 30 legal norms," >Monge told the Pulsar news agency. Allowing the Pentagon to >use the Manta base "involves us in a conflict that could >possibly expand to a regional level, affecting the >sovereignty of our country." > >Washington has made a tremendous effort over the last year >to get countries neighboring Colombia to open their >territory for U.S. military use. While the Fujimori >dictatorship in Peru has also offered assistance to its >backers in Washington, the Manta Airbase is the Pentagon's >biggest plum so far. > >Antonio Vargas, head of the Confederation of Indigenous >Nationalities of Ecuador, and leaders of the Coordinating >Committee of Social Movements also attended the protest. > >ISRAEL: ARAB WORKERS FIGHT FIRINGS,DISCRIMINATION > >Hundreds of Arab workers living in Israel battled with cops >for two days beginning Sept. 11. The unemployed workers >charged that the Nazareth City Council shut down the quarry >where they worked, leaving them jobless. > >Cops attacked the workers on Sept. 11 and Sept. 12. On Sept. >11, Arab parliament member Abdel Malik Dahamshe was wounded >in the police attack. > >The workers blocked roads into Naza reth, complaining of >discrimination against Arabs. At least six were arrested as >they set up flaming barricades in the streets. > >NIGERIA: HOSPITAL WORKERS WIN STRIKE > >Following a two-week strike that crippled the largest state- >run hospital in Nigeria's capital, Lagos, junior doctors and >nurses declared victory on Sept. 16. They struck after not >receiving paychecks for two months. > >The strike at Lagos University Teaching Hospital paralyzed >most basic services. While senior doctors and management >tried to keep the hospital running, patients were evacuated >to other facilities for treatment. > >"The strike cuts across all departments," one senior doctor >told the French News Service AFP on Sept. 7. > >When it became clear that the hospital workers would not >relent, the government coughed up funds to give the workers >all their back pay. > >- 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: <00a101c02513$b3b713a0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Gov't report shows death penalty is racist >Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 00:04:52 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >RENO FEIGNS SURPRISE: GOV'T REPORT SHOWS DEATH PENALTY IS RACIST > >By Monica Moorehead > >On Sept. 12, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno called for an >"investigation" into why the federal death penalty is >applied in a racially biased way. Reno was responding to a >newly released Justice Department report. > >The statistics speak for themselves. According to the >Justice Department, there have been 713 capital punishment >cases since the federal death penalty was reinstated in >1988. > >Since 1995, when a formal review process was established to >examine the nationality of each defendant, 682 people have >faced federal capital charges. Of those 682 defendants, 80 >percent were people of color. > >U.S. attorneys recommended the death penalty for 183 of >those defendants, 74 percent of whom were people of color. > >African Americans make up 15 percent of the U.S. population >and Latinos less than that. > >Reno said she was "sorely troubled" by the hugely >disproportionate number of people of color that are singled >out for the death penalty. (New York Times, Sept. 13) > >But she added that since the study did not bring into >question the guilt of the defendants, a moratorium on >executions was not warranted. > >The study also confirmed that out of 894 victims in cases >where the death penalty was considered as punishment, 53 >percent of the victims were Black, 31 percent were white, 13 >percent were Latino and 3 percent were other nationalities. > >In cases where the defendant was of another race than a >murder victim, 55 percent of defendants were Black, 25 >percent were Latino, 11 percent were white and 8 percent >were of other nationalities. > >NAACP Chair Julian Bond stated: "This is the worst sort of >racial profiling with the worst result. This argues strongly >for a federal moratorium until there can be assurances this >can be applied fairly." > >White House spokesperson Jake Siewert responded: "At first >glance, those numbers are troubling. We need to know more >about exactly what's behind the numbers." > >Well, Mr. Siewert, there is no mystery behind those numbers. >It's racism. > >The statistics are neither an accident or a surprise. Racism >is a main pillar of capitalist society, and nowhere is that >starker than in the United States. > >The use of the death penalty in the United States is not >about guilt or innocence. > >Rather, the question that must be asked is, which class >benefits from the death penalty? > >In the United States, it is the super-rich ruling class-- >whose members never receive death sentences--that benefits >from this form of racist repression. > >It is the ruling class that creates the laws in order to >keep the masses terrorized and in check. The cops, courts, >prisons, etc., comprise the repressive state that protects >the private property of the ruling class. > >The death penalty is one example of putting the >responsibility on the masses for the anti-social actions >arising out of unemployment, homelessness, drug addiction >and much more. This is what capitalism is all about. > >Of course, capital punishment also serves as a political >weapon against opponents of capitalist exploitation and >racism. The case of former Black Panther and revolutionary >journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal is a prime example. > >Those convicted under the federal death penalty do not come >close to the number that received the death sentence under >state law. The states legally lynched 4,400 people between >1930 and 1999. The federal government executed 33 people >during the same period. > >On state death rows, 3,433 women and men await execution, >while 19 sit on federal death row. > >CROCODILE TEARS > >The false concern and crocodile tears from Reno, Siewert, >Clinton or any other representative of the capitalist state >should not fool anyone. > >If they were genuinely concerned, they would have eradicated >the federal death penalty after Clinton took office in 1993. > >But in fact, between 1994 and 1996, Congress added 40 new >offenses to the list of capital crimes with the >administration's blessing. > >It was Clinton himself who signed the Effective Death >Penalty Act of 1996 as part of the Anti-Terrorism Bill. The >EDPA severely limits the right to a writ of habeas corpus-- >an independent federal review--for death row inmates >appealing state convictions. > >These numbers may embarrass the Clinton administration. But >it will take a mass struggle to force this or any other >capitalist administration to issue a moratorium. > >Winning a moratorium on federal executions would be a >gigantic step forward towards getting rid of the racist and >anti-poor death penalty once and for all. > >Moorehead is Workers World Party's 2000 presidential >candidate. > >- 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. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
