>------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 5, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >SOCIALIST CANDIDATES ON R.I. BALLOT > >Special to Workers World >Providence, R.I. > >For the second consecutive presidential election, Workers >World Party candidates Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva >are on the ballot in Rhode Island. > >Party members and volunteers from Rhode Island, >Massachusetts and New York donated their time and energy >this summer to collect voters' signatures. One thousand >signatures are needed to qualify. The petitioners gathered >over 1,750 signatures in all, reaching out to working-class >people at malls, supermarkets, demonstrations and even a >free outdoor concert by the popular alternative rock group >the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. > >In 1996 the Moorehead/La Riva campaign kicked off at Dorcas >Place, a literacy center in Providence. > >This year Moorehead will be in Rhode Island twice while >touring New England from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3. > >On Sept. 28, Moorehead will speak at the University of Rhode >Island Multicultural Center, Kingston Campus, at 12:30 p.m. >That evening she will talk live with Arlene Violet on WHJJ >Radio 920 AM from 5-6 p.m. Violet's program is the number- >one radio talk show in the state. > >That evening Moorehead will also tape a radio program with >George Castro of the "Minority Monitor" show to be aired >Oct. 1 at 6 a.m. on WSNE Radio 93.3 FM. Castro's listeners >stretch from Maine to Cape Cod, Mass., to northern >Connecticut. > >Then on Sept. 30, there will be a program devoted to >Moorehead at the Davey Lopes Recreation Center at Dudley >Street in Providence at 6 p.m. The center is in the heart of >Providence's African American community. The Rhode Island >WWP Campaign Committee expects a large turnout from the >Black and Latin communities due to the high-profile work >done by Party members against police brutality following the >shooting death of Sgt. Cornel Young Jr. The committee is >printing and distributing 5,000 flyers to publicize this >event. > >A photo of Moorehead and information on the WWP campaign >will be included in the League of Women Voters' "Rhode >Island Voters' Guide '00," a publication which will be >distributed free throughout the state. This gives the >campaign the potential to reach up to 50,000 voters who may >otherwise never hear of the Moorehead/La Riva ticket, due to >the big business media's restricted coverage of non- >capitalist candidates. > >Moorehead will also take part in activities in the Boston >area that weekend, including a teach-in on Mumia Abu-Jamal >at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sept. 29 and a >protest outside the first Bush-Gore presidential debate Oct. >3. > >Check the Web site www.vote4workers.org for updates on the >New England portion of this exciting socialist campaign. > >- 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: <01f501c02ae5$e9ebdc80$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Vieques protesters brace for new confrontation >Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 09:54:12 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 5, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >VIEQUES PROTESTERS BRACE FOR NEW CONFRONTATION > >By Berta Joubert-Ceci >Washington > >"We are here not to ask, but to demand peace for Vieques--to >tell President Clinton that we are not willing to continue >living under a state of war." > >Those were the words of Ismael Guad alupe, spokesperson of >the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, >during a Sept. 23 rally in Washington. The rally was >organized in solidarity with the people of Vieques, a small >island of Puerto Rico that has been used as a U.S. Navy >bombing range since 1941. > >This, the largest rally for Vieques held in Washington so >far, took place outside the White House. It comes at a time >when both the United States and Puerto Rico are immersed in >deceitful bourgeois election campaigns. > >It's also a time when the U.S. Navy has taken on the so- >called "good neighbor" policy towards Vieques, trying to >instill the island's residents with a favorable view of the >Pentagon and shift the outcome of a referendum in favor of a >continued military presence. > >But those at the rally spoke of the determination of the >Viequenses to oust the Navy once and for all. As Guadalupe >said, "The struggle in Vieques is not for sale." > >Speakers said presidential candidate Al Gore's statement a >day earlier--calling for the Navy's early withdrawal from >the island and supporting President Bill Clinton's directive >for a military withdrawal after three years--was an >opportunistic attempt to win the votes of Puerto Ricans in >the United States. > >Congressperson Luis GutiÈrrez of Illinois said: "The U.S. >military are a bunch of liars. We will not stop our fight >until the people of Vieques tell us that the Navy is gone." > >There was also international solidarity at the rally. Father >Jeonghyeon Mun came from south Korea representing the >struggle against U.S. bombing at Maehyang-ri. > >Mun said: "We have strong solidarity for each other. Vieques >is not isolated. The people have many friends in the world >and we are among them. U.S. troops out of Korea and >Vieques!" > >EL GRITO DE LARES SPARKS SOLIDARITY > >That day Lares, Puerto Rico, saw the largest ever held >demonstration to commemorate the anniversary of "El Grito de >Lares," the 1868 armed uprising against Spanish colonial >domination. For the first time in 30 years, all the pro- >independence forces united in a single massive >demonstration. > >The struggle of La Isla Nena--"the Baby Island," as Vieques >is known--has been the spark for unity among these groups. > >The struggle in Vieques has reached a mature stage. The >cause has been taken up by community organizations through >out the Big Island of Puerto Rico. > >During this week of solidarity with Vieques, a group called >Florecer Vie quense (Blooming Vieques) crafted hundreds of >paper flowers made by residents from poor communities in the >northern part of Puerto Rico. Group spokesperson Zoraida >Figueroa explained that "poor people cannot afford much, but >wanted to be part of the struggle, so they made flowers, >each representing the solidarity of one person in the >community." > >The Citizen's Commission for the Rescue of Caimito, a group >fighting speculators, developers and governmental agencies >that build luxury neighborhoods at the expense of the poor >and the environment, has also joined the surging movement to >oust the Navy from Vieques. > >In Mayaguez, on the west coast of Puerto Rico, 50 people >started a walk through the northern part of the island in >support of Vieques. They hope to reach Fajardo, the point of >departure for Vieques on the east coast, by Oct. 1. > >Along their walk the group has met with students and others, >spreading the word that an important demonstration will take >place on Vieques Oct. 1. > >Military practice scheduled > >That day, the U.S. Navy and NATO plan to resume military >practice. Two battleships stationed in Virginia are >scheduled to practice bombing in Vieques. > >But the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico are preparing to >stop them. As Carlos ZenÛn said at the Washington rally, >"Three times the Navy wanted to bomb Vieques [this year] and >three times we got in and stopped them." > >This time the activists are better prepared than ever >before. They plan a massive rally with many different >components, including acts of civil disobedience both in >Vieques and throughout Puerto Rico. Plans are being laid to >transport activists from the Big Island to Vieques. A >flotilla of dozens of fishing boats will sail there from >Fajardo. > >The government is also preparing. It wants to make this >protest as difficult as possible for the activists. > >Norma Torres, from the Vieques Wo men's Alliance, told >Workers World that the government had reduced the number of >ferryboats carrying passengers between Puerto Rico and >Vieques to only one. > >The struggle of the people of Vieques won't be stopped by a >lack of ferryboats. When their own lives and those of their >loved ones are endangered daily by the impact of Navy >practices--be it poisoning of their water and soil or >ordnance falling from the sky--they have made it clear they >will make whatever sacrifices are necessary to get the U.S. >Navy out. > >- 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: <01fd01c02ae6$18ee77e0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] U.S. shelters Haitian death squads >Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 09:55:31 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 5, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >More attacks on vote count > >U.S. SHELTERS HAITIAN DEATH SQUADS > >By G. Dunkel > >Over 100 supporters of the Tonton Macoute death squads held >a public meeting in Brooklyn, N.Y., Sept. 10 to promote >former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier as a >candidate in Haiti's November presidential election. > >Toto Constant, wanted in Haiti for complicity in the murders >of 3,000 people, lives the peaceful life of a real-estate >broker in Queens. > >Still the United States complains that Haiti's May 21 >parliamentary elections were "flawed" even as it shelters >some of the most vicious fascists Haiti has ever known. > >The Macoutes are a fascist organization that engaged in >torture and murder to repress Haiti's people during the >decades long Duvalier family dictatorship. > >Both the New York Daily News and Newsday gave prominent >coverage to the Macoute meeting. The gathering was widely >seen as a maneuver by Duvalier supporters to influence the >elections, rather than a serious bid for Duvalier's return, >which would almost surely ignite a civil war. > >During Duvalier's rule and that of his father, over 40,000 >Haitians were killed by the Macoutes and billions were >stolen from the national treasury, without the U.S. >government saying more than "tsk-tsk." > >Constant was the head of FRAPH, an organization set up by >the Haitian Army to do the work of the Macoutes during the >1991-1994 coup against Aristide. Constant has admitted that >while heading FRAPH he was also on the CIA payroll. > >WORKERS, PEASANTS BACK ARISTIDE > >Last spring's elections saw 18 of 19 contested seats go to >Ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party. >Since Aristide's political strength is based on his support >among the impoverished workers and peasants, Washington >would prefer to see his opponents win. > >All summer the United States conducted a political pressure >campaign to force the Haitian election board to count the >May 21 vote the way it feels it should be counted, not as >Haitian authorities consider proper. The U.S. State >Department says it does not consider this to be interference >in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation, but rather >"promoting democracy." > >The rule in Haiti is that a candidate needs 50 percent plus >one vote to be declared the winner without a runoff >election. The way this is calculated by the Haitian board of >elections is to take the votes of the top four candidates, >add them up and see if one of the top four has 50 percent >plus one. The U.S. position is that they have to count the >votes of all the candidates. > >There were between 15 and 25 candidates for each seat. >Washington's position would have meant 10 runoffs out of 19 >seats. > >Generally, the people knocked out of the runoffs by this >rule would have been U.S. backed candidates. The opposition >wouldn't have won many, if any, more seats. It would have >cost more, let the U.S. meddle more and frustrated the >people with having to go to the polls again and again. > >Both the United States and Canada, Haiti's two largest >foreign aid donors, threatened to cut off assistance if the >vote was not recounted. The Organization of American States >sent a mission to Haiti in early September to add further >pressure for a recount. > >The OAS failed to change the tally. So U.S. Ambassador to >the OAS Luis Lauredo announced Sept. 5 that Washington will >send all development aid to private organizations, not to >Haiti's government. > >The United States also threatened to withhold hundreds of >millions of dollars in pending loans from international >financial institutions. > >Forwarding the aid to private groups allows Washington to >claim that it has not cut off aid to the Western >Hemisphere's poorest country. At the same time it puts >tremendous financial pressure on Haiti. > >New York's Haitian community responded strongly Sept. 7. >Hundreds turned out for a street protest to support Haitian >sovereignty from foreign interference while President RenÈ >PrÈval gave his address to the United Nations Millennium >Summit. > >The increase in world oil costs has hit Haiti hard, abruptly >raising prices for many goods. The sudden spike of >inflation, together with U.S. financial and political >pressure, will make the situation in Haiti even more >unstable. > >- 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. 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