People Before Profit blog

International notes

Fri, 30 Jan 2004 05:14:00 +0000

U.K.: Childcare key to overcoming poverty

A report released Jan. 25 by the Trades Union Congress and Daycare Trust says the lack of affordable childcare is trapping many larger families in a life of low income and low expectations.

The report credited the government with progress in lowering poverty and creating more childcare places, but said a further shift in government policy is needed if all families are to be freed from poverty.

The report points out that though only one-third of all children are in large families of three or more children, they account for half of all poor children. Some minority ethnic groups, including Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian families, are especially affected.

Childcare costs continue to rise, the report said, while government subsidies do not factor in the extra costs of three or more children. Patchy, inflexible and expensive childcare prevents women from returning to work or forces them to work fewer hours, while the corporate drive for longer hours creates special problems for large families.

India: Working women map fightback

A two-day national convention brought together women, both unionized and unorganized, from various economic sectors, at Kolkata Jan. 10-11. Issues included workplace discrimination against women, weaknesses of laws, problems of union organizing, as well as leadership training and promotion of women in decision-making bodies of trade unions. Participants included 240 delegates from 15 states and five fraternal delegates from the Bangladesh trade unions.

Gurudas Das Gupta, general secretary of the All-India Trades Union Congress, called on India’s trade union movement to take the lead in fighting for justice for women workers. AITUC Secretary Amarjeet Kaur said women workers are threatened with long distance job transfers, job freezes, downsizing and outsourcing, while economic reforms are pushing women into unhealthy and nonunion work environments in the Export Promotion Zones and Special Economic Zones.

Bolivia: Labor federation calls strike

The Bolivian Workers Central, the country’s largest labor federation, is calling a nationwide strike for Feb. 21 to protest the government’s anti-labor policies and demand the closure of Congress.

Federation President Jaime Solares said that among other actions, the strike will include blocking roads across the country to protest the government’s proposal of a 3 percent salary increase for government workers. The Workers Central is calling for a monthly minimum wage of $820 – up from the current $55.

Just three months ago, massive street protests over export of vast natural gas reserves and the government’s “free trade” policies forced the resignation of President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. Solares said the new president, Carlos Mesa, “has been nothing but the continuation of the toppled president.”

Japan: ‘Spring Struggle’ seeks pay hike

This year the People’s Spring Struggle will focus on wage increases for all workers, an increase in jobs without corporate restructuring, protesting against sending Self Defense Forces to Iraq, and opposing negative changes to the Constitution and the pension system, the 2004 Joint Struggle Committee said last week. The committee is made up of the National Trade Union Confederation (Zenroren) and unions with no national affiliation.

Japan Press Weekly quoted Kimagai Kanemichi, Zenroren’s president and joint committee director, as saying this year’s struggle is more important than ever, as one-fifth of major corporations are expecting record profits, based in part on intensified exploitation of workers.

In a report issued late last year, the Japan Business Federation advocated freer trade in goods, labor and funds to assure the biggest gains for multinational corporations, and called for wage cuts, a discriminatory wage system, rigorous performance-based standards and weakened labor laws.

Angola: Oil union protests dismissals

Domingos Joao Luis, secretary-general of the Trade Union for Petroleum, Chemical and Metallurgic Companies (SIPEQMA), last week accused oil companies operating in Angola of unjust labor policies. Among foreign oil firms active in Angola are ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, Total Fina Elf, BP Amoco, and Royal Dutch/Shell.

Domingos Luis said oil companies have unjustly dismissed workers, and have been unfair in payment of workers’ salaries and subsidies. When workers leave exploration areas to get the rest they are entitled to after an intense period of work, they do not get paid for these off-duty days, he charged.

In addition to correcting these injustices, he said, “It is necessary that we fight also for better hygienic and security conditions, better efficiency in supervision and an end to uncertainty in employment.”

SIPEQMA held its meeting under the motto, “Let us defend the dignity of workers for the consolidation of peace.” The organization is preparing for its first congress, March 19-20.

International Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel (cpusainternat@mindspring.com).

Hot topic on web Voting machines

Fri, 30 Jan 2004 04:52:00 +0000

Barbara Jean Hope’s feature story, “Who is counting your vote? Diebold & Bush vs. the public interest” (PWW, 1/17-23), has generated considerable interest among our readers and on the World Wide Web. The article details the potential dangers of moving to electronic voting machinery and Internet-based voting, and the close links between some of the manufacturers of these machines, the Bush administration, and several personalities in the intelligence community.

Readers have commented on the article’s timeliness and comprehensiveness, and several readers have posted the story to Indymedia news web sites around the country, including Cleveland, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City. Even Vancouver, Canada, is now running the story.

We encourage our readers to do so elsewhere, not only with this story, but with future articles from the People’s Weekly World and Nuestro Mundo.

International notes

Fri, 23 Jan 2004 07:15:00 +0000

New Zealand: Protesters highlight U.S. use of facilities

Participants in a weekend of actions Jan. 16-18 organized by the Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC) are demanding the government’s satellite station in Waihopai Valley near Blenheim be closed. ABC spokesperson Murray Horton called the base New Zealand’s most important contribution to “America’s wars,” and said action against the station would be part of a nationally coordinated antiwar movement.

The two satellite interception dishes at Waihopai are said to be part of the worldwide Echelon system which intercepts telexes, faxes, e-mail and computer data communications.

“Phone and e-mail intercepts from Waihopai are automatically fed to partner agencies, particularly the U.S. National Security Agency,” Green MP Keith Locke said in an interview last week. “There is no question this information is used by the Bush administration for foreign policy objectives very different from our own.”

India: Tests show Coke is toxic

The Indian Parliament has banned the sale of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products in its cafeteria, following tests, including by the government, that found high concentrations of pesticides and insecticides, CorpWatch said last week. Some samples tested showed concentrations of toxins more than 30 times the standard allowed by the European Union.

The watchdog organization also said communities near Coca-Cola bottling plants experience severe water shortages as a result of the plants’ taking huge amounts of water from the common groundwater source.

As Coca-Cola’s public relations efforts have failed to cover up the problems, more and more communities are protesting against the giant multinational. CorpWatch said these demonstrations are increasingly met with force. Last September, armed security forces attacked a peaceful protest in Uttar Pradesh, seriously injuring some demonstrators. In August in Kerala, 13 activists were arrested during a peaceful protest and a movement leader was severely beaten by police.

South Africa: YCL emphasizes elections, public education

At its first meeting, the National Committee of the newly reconstituted Young Communist League highlighted the importance of youth participation in the upcoming national elections, and called for a Campaign for Free Quality Public Education.

“The ANC Election Manifesto is a strong basis and foundation upon which the needs, interests, concerns and aspirations of young people can be met,” the YCL said. “By registering as voters and taking part in the election campaign and process, young people will be ensuring that their concerns and views are also taken into account after the elections.”

The YCL is concerned about economic barriers to education for poor and working-class youth, about consolidating and increasing public funding of education, and about the growing impact of big business interests on education, the statement said.

Venezuela: Chavez says include Cuba

When he returned from the Extraordinary Americas Summit last week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for Cuba to be included in the inter-American system of nations.

“Why isn’t Cuba part of it? Who was consulted to exclude it? It is right that we should ask the countries of the region why Cuba isn’t there and not keep quiet when it is attacked in those forums,” Chavez said.

Responding to recent claims that Cuba and Venezuela are promoting political destabilization in Latin America, Chavez said he and Cuban President Fidel Castro are indeed destabilizers – of hunger and death. “Fortunately, we are not the only ones. Each day the destabilizers of death are more,” he said.

Chavez said the integration relations between Cuba and Venezuela can be viewed as an alternative to the neoliberal model promoted by advocates of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and reiterated that neoliberalism coming from the International Monetary Fund is the real political destabilizing force in the region.

U.K.: Union seeks to organize call center workers

The United Kingdom’s leading banking union, UNIFI, is preparing to organize among workers in India employed by Britain’s High Street banks, The Hindu reported earlier this month. UNIFI, representing 158,000 workers in the U.K., is working with the global trades union congress, Union Network International, to organize over 50,000 workers in call centers and data processing operations, the union said.

“We are very keen that when U.K. jobs go overseas, the people who get them can join a trade union,” said UNIFI National Secretary Rob O’Neill. “We can help to improve their terms and conditions through negotiation.”

Union Network International has already held meetings in Bangalore and Hyderabad to publicize the services provided by unions, and officials said the response was positive.

Staff at Indian call centers generally receive about 10 percent of the wages for similar work in the U.K., but that is more than comparable jobs usually pay in India.

International Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel (cpusainternat@mindspring.com).

Iran reinstates 200 election candidates

Fri, 23 Jan 2004 07:07:00 +0000

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s unelected and ultra-conservative Guardian Council, which earlier this month disqualified thousands of potential candidates in next month’s elections, reversed the disqualifications of 200 candidates on Jan. 20 and promised that more would be reinstated soon. But the move did not allay anger among reformists.

Reformist lawmakers vowed to continue daily sit-in protests at parliament until the Guardian Council reverses all the disqualifications.

The council’s decision earlier this month to bar more than 3,000 potential candidates from running – including 82 pro-reform lawmakers – sparked a political crisis in Iran, as reformists denounced what they called an attempt by hard-liners to regain control of parliament in the Feb. 20 elections.

The Islamic Participation Front of Iran, one of the groups opposed to the disqualifications, said that such measures “weaken the pillars of republicanism within the system and damage the country’s international credibility.” It said the lawmakers’ actions amounted to resistance against a “silent coup d’etat.”

The Front hailed the sit-in of the reformist elements in parliament, and urged them to take advantage of all legal means to reinstate the candidates and to defend free and fair elections.

The Tudeh Party of Iran also condemned the Guardian Council’s “blatant anti-popular acts,” and declared its support for the all the protest movements against them. It accused the ruling regime of trying to demoralize the electorate and of plotting to seize legislative power.

The Tudeh Party called for mass actions to frustrate such maneuvers, noting that “the protests and the sitting-in by a number of the members of parliament can only be effective when the political and social forces of the country, through coordinated and organized actions, broaden the protests against these illegal action across the society – not allowing the reactionary leaders to accomplish their sinister plans.” It urged “all popular and freedom-loving forces in Iran” and across the world “to join the protest and struggle against the conspiracies of reaction.”

The council’s Jan. 20 move to reinstate candidates came after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, intervened to ease the crisis and ordered members to reconsider the disqualifications.

“So far, we have approved some 200 people who had been disqualified. This trend will continue,” said council member Abbas Kadkhodaei.

Kadkhodaei said in a statement on the council’s web site that the disqualifications were being re-examined on orders from Khamenei. The statement did not identify the reinstated candidates.

The Guardian Council originally said the disqualified candidates failed to meet legal criteria. Most of the protesting lawmakers maintain they were disqualified because of their criticism of the unelected hard-liners in open sessions of the parliament.

Among those disqualified were some of the top leaders in parliament of the reform movement, which seeks to lift political and social restrictions under Iran’s Islamic government. Conservative clerical elements, who control unelected bodies that hold ultimate sway in the country, have stymied attempts at reform.

Khamenei chooses the Guardian Council’s 12 members, and some reformist legislators have said the members would not have ordered the disqualifications without his approval. Protesting lawmakers were not moved by the council’s partial reversal and planned to continue sit-ins in the lobby of parliament.

“That they are reversing disqualifications is a positive step, but definitely not sufficient,” Rajabali Mazrouei, one of the lawmakers barred from running for re-election, told The Associated Press.

“We don’t think that a major breakthrough is developing. Either they have to reverse all politically motivated disqualifications or expect a boycott of the elections,” he said. On Jan. 18, reformist Deputy Interior Minister Morteza Moballegh, who is Iran’s chief of elections, warned he would not allow the legislative elections to proceed unless hard-liners retracted their mass disqualifications. The reformist lawmakers holding sit-ins also began dawn-to-dusk fasts.

President Mohammed Khatami has condemned the disqualifications and warned he might resign if they are not reversed.

The Feb. 20 elections are seen as a test for Iran’s reformers, whose popularity has waned because of their perceived failure to deliver on promises of liberalization. Over 46 million Iranians are eligible to vote, more than 7 million of them young people just reaching the minimum voting age of 15.

FTAA is bad for your health

Fri, 16 Jan 2004 08:27:00 +0000

It was exciting, informative and uplifting, despite the heavy police presence. I’m referring to the anti-FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) meet in Miami the week of Nov. 16 – 20, which gave progressive organizations the opportunity to meet others from the same movement.

I attended a standing-room-only forum organized by the SEIU Health Services Union at Temple Israel. Panelists discussed the impact of everything from tobacco to water management on the health of the people of developing nations.

The tobacco industry hopes to raise the consumption of tobacco in the Americas by 40 percent, according to Dr. Erica Frank. “The fight now is focused on excluding tobacco from the FTAA in order to allow countries to maintain their anti-tobacco legislation,” she said.

Rachel Perez of the No to Big Tobacco Coalition came with several other students from San Francisco City College. Their message: “Make sure tobacco is out of the FTAA. No child labor, no deforestation. Put public health before trade.”

Marco Aurelio Pereira, from the Union of Pharmacists of Sao Paulo, Brazil, said, “FTAA represents a threat to Brazil’s people” and the country’s guaranteed SUS public health system. This popular system is accountable only to the people, says Pereira, and has saved the country $1 billion because of preventive measures to treat AIDS. “Care is a human right based on need and accountability,” he said.

The Americas already face critical threats to health. The Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement is likely to worsen these problems. We have the strength to stop these out-of-control policies, which come out of our own White House.

If you would like to read more information on the FTAA’s impact on health, go to www.cpath.org or call (415) 933-6204.

Let’s keep the pressure on.

– Gabe Falsetta (gfalsetta@pww.org)

International notes

Fri, 16 Jan 2004 07:35:00 +0000

Italy: Transit workers strike over pensions

Air traffic controllers held a one day strike Jan. 8, and transit workers followed on Jan. 9, in a sharpening dispute with the government of President Silvio Berlusconi over proposed state pension reforms that would force workers to contribute for 40 years instead of the current 35 years.

The controllers’ strike halted hundreds of domestic and international flights, while the train, bus, tram and metro workers tied up traffic in cities around the country.

Union leaders warned they might also call a one-day general strike, such as the one last October. Though more talks were to take place this week between the unions and the government, Welfare Minister Roberto Maroni claimed formal talks on the substance of the reform would “only lose time. The positions are too far apart.”

Iraq: IFTU headquarters remains closed

Over a month after U.S. occupation forces attacked the temporary headquarters of the Iraqi Federation of Workers’ Trade Unions (IFTU) in the premises of the Transport and Communication Union in Baghdad, the IFTU headquarters remains closed. Without giving any pretext, the U.S. troops on Dec. 6 ransacked and destroyed the IFTU’s possessions, took documents and smashed windows. Eight union leaders and members were briefly detained and then released.

The IFTU said last week that it had met with Iraqi Governing Council member Dr. Mohammod Uthman, and had also demanded an apology from the local U.S. military commander responsible for the attack. “Unfortunately, nothing has so far happened,” the IFTU said last week. “Our head office is still closed.” The IFTU expressed appreciation to organizations in the international labor movement who expressed their solidarity, including the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Labor Organization.

Indonesia: Unemployment rising sharply

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea said last week that the number of unemployed people would rise by some 2.5 million to over 45 million this year. He warned that the millions of unemployed could be a serious threat to political stability and the legislative and presidential elections coming up later in the year. “Most of the newly unemployed will be young people, mostly elementary and high school dropouts as well as university graduates who will not be able to find jobs,” he said.

Jacob said that of the current 42.7 million unemployed workers, 10.8 million had no job, and 31.9 million were in the informal sector or were part-time workers. The government is developing labor intensive programs in agriculture, training programs for workers in the tourism sector, and programs to provide nets and vessels for fishermen, Jacob said. It also hopes to send 1 million Indonesian workers to the Middle East and other areas.

Nigeria: Unions protest fuel tax

The Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) has given an ultimatum to the government to reverse a fuel tax it has imposed. If the government does not rescind the tax by Jan. 20, the NLC said, it will start building up for a nationwide protest. The first rally would be in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s home area, Abeokuta, capital of the western state of Ogun, the union said. Next would be the capital city, Lagos, and other state capitals.

NLC President Adams Oshiomhole said the Jan. 20 deadline was set to give National Assembly members time to “deliberate on the matter and take position by declaring the tax as illegal.”

The NLC is also demanding that the government take control of the country’s oil industry in order to avoid unnecessary price increases such as the one last year which saw gas prices rise to 50 cents from 34 cents a liter, after the government privatized the oil industry.

Venezuela: U.S. delegation criticizes ‘disinformation’

A delegation of African American activists visiting Venezuela last week said the commercial media’s coverage of developments there amounts to a “disinformation campaign” against the democratic process of change now in progress and against elected President Hugo Chavez.

At a press conference in Caracas Jan. 9, Bill Fletcher, president of the TransAfrica Forum, said the U.S. people are being deluged with “innuendo, lies and half-truths” about Venezuela, and said the Bush administration was not only involved in the brief coup attempt against Chavez two years ago, but continues to support activities aimed at overturning the elected government.

Actor Danny Glover added that he wants “to listen and learn, not only from government and opposition politicians, but to share with the people, those who are promoting the changes in this country and we want to be in contact with those who benefit from those changes.”

International Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel (cpusainternat@mindspring.com).

Bias alleged in new security checks

Fri, 16 Jan 2004 06:54:00 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security’s latest addition to airport security checks has been greeted by a chorus of disapproval, both from domestic groups and internationally.

All 115 U.S. airports that handle international flights, as well as 14 major seaports, have implemented the new system, which has been titled the “U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology” or “US-VISIT.” The new security measures involve the fingerprinting and photographing of every foreign national entering the U.S. using a visa, affecting roughly 24 million people a year.

Those entering the United States using the “visa waiver program” are not affected by these new checks. This exclusion has prompted some to point out the discriminatory nature of the new measures, as 27 nations, including most of Europe as well as Australia and Japan, are among the countries that are included in the visa waiver program.

The General Accounting Office termed the US-VISIT program “a very risky endeavor” in a report published last year, citing its size, complexity, cost and management as potentially serious failing points of the system. Setting up the new program cost $362 million last year, and its extension to the 50 busiest land border crossings this year will cost at least $330 million this year.

Adding to the international criticism, a federal judge in Brazil has ordered that all U.S. citizens entering Brazil will be photographed and fingerprinted, following an official complaint by a Brazilian government office concerning the US-VISIT program. Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva described his ruling as less a matter of retaliation, and more “a question of international rights.”

Tackling claims that the new program will replace previous discriminatory security practices, Timothy Edgar of the ACLU said “contrary to assertions by the Homeland Security Department, the US-VISIT program is an addition to – not a substitute for – the notorious special registration program that singled out Arab and Muslim men because of their national origin and that continues to subject them to special and confusing requirements.” He went on to say, “Arab and Muslim men are still subject to different requirements than other visitors.”

People who have previously registered under the NSEERS (National Security Entry Exit Registration System) program, mostly Arab and Muslim men and youths, are still subject to a confusing array of restrictions on where and how they can leave the United States. Although the government implies that the NSEERS program is no longer active, registrants will still find themselves penalized for breaking any of the rules that NSEERS applied to them.

Despite the Department of Homeland Security’s assertion that the information gathered through the US-VISIT system will only be available to “authorized officials on a need-to-know basis” in actuality the information is potentially available for use by customs and immigration officials, Homeland Security transport officers, various other federal, state and local officials as well as foreign governments. This wide dissemination of information about millions of travelers has many worried. Timothy Edgar of the ACLU Legislative Council described the US-VISIT program as “a large privacy violation waiting to happen, with records garnered under the program likely retained even after you’ve become a citizen.”

The use of “biometrics” in the US-VISIT program has also caused widespread concern. The photographs taken of each visitor are to be run through facial recognition software to compare them to images of known terrorists; just how accurate these systems are is unknown. Tests conducted at Boston’s Logan International Airport between January and April of 2002 showed a 38 percent failure rate for positive matches by the facial recognition software being used there, demonstrating just how fallible this kind of technology can be.

In 2001 the usage of biometrics within the U.S. attracted significant criticism when it became public that Tampa police had used facial recognition software to scan the fans attending the Super Bowl without their knowledge or consent.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.

International notes

Fri, 09 Jan 2004 06:32:00 +0000

Iraq: ICFTU calls for trade union rights

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) is calling for support of the trade union movement now re-emerging in Iraq. At the close of a two-day meeting in Amman, Jordan, last month, the international labor body called on the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council to give more attention to the problems facing Iraqi workers. ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder called for labor laws consistent with international standards to protect workers from exploitation and allow for development of legitimate trade unions, as well as for reconstruction of the economy and development of democracy in Iraq.

The meeting brought together Iraqi unionists, teachers’ and journalists’ representatives as well as delegates from the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unionists and ICFTU affiliates from Arab countries, Europe and the U.S. It was organized after Iraqi workers appealed for international support following two attacks by U.S. occupation forces against unionists and union premises in Baghdad.

Colombia: New Bogota mayor takes office

On New Year’s Day, former trade union federation leader Luis Eduardo Garzon was sworn in as mayor of the capital city, Bogota – considered the country’s second most important political post after the presidency.

Garzon’s election last October was one of the biggest electoral victories for democratic forces in Colombia, and marked a resounding defeat for right-wing President Alvaro Uribe, a staunch Bush administration ally.

Emphasizing that Bogota is a city with extremes of wealth and poverty, Garzon took as his slogan, “Bogota without indifference.” He said he would open food banks in schools and communities in the poorest neighborhoods, and would oppose aspects of the government’s campaign to destroy the popular insurgency, particularly the mass arrests of those suspected of guerrilla activity.

China: Gov’t says pay migrant workers promptly

Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan Jan. 2 called on governments at all levels to increase regulation of the construction market and make sure defaulted or delayed payments to migrant workers are recovered. An investigation in 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities found that about half the delayed wages to migrant workers had been made up by the end of last year, but some regions fell far behind and Zeng said coordination needed to be improved. He noted that about 80 percent of the country’s 38 million-plus construction workers are migrants, and delayed payments have affected their lives and incomes. A survey late last year of 19 construction units in Nanning and Guigang cities in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region showed that 41.4 percent of construction workers had suffered from delayed payments, and over one-third of the workers were still owed wages.

International Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel (cpusainternat@mindspring.com).

Huge rally marks 1804 Haitian revolution

Fri, 09 Jan 2004 06:23:00 +0000

Many tens of thousands of cheering Haitians flooded the streets surrounding the National Palace in Port-au-Prince on New Year’s Day in celebration of the 200th anniversary of their country’s independence.

They came to hear President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and international guests such as South African President Thabo Mbeki, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and actor Danny Glover pay tribute to the victorious slave rebellion led by Toussaint L’Ouverture that resulted in the defeat of Napoleon’s troops and the founding of the first Black republic in 1804.

Mbeki told the crowd, “We celebrate the Haitian revolution because it dealt a deadly blow to the slave traders who had scoured the coasts of West and East Africa for slaves and ruined the lives of millions of Africans.” He said the revolution “communicates an important message to all of us that the poor of the world can and must act together decisively to confront the common challenges they face – poverty, underdevelopment, discrimination and marginalization.”

The rally had a distinctly contemporary theme as well. Besides commemorating the bicentennial of the revolution, the enthusiastic crowd was also demonstrating its support for the programs of embattled President Aristide.

Aristide, 50, says his government has made advances in reducing the infant mortality rate, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, and poor housing, but much more needs to be done. Haiti is the poorest country in the hemisphere, with the overwhelming majority of its 8 million people living in extreme poverty. Less than 40 percent have access to safe drinking water, and 85 percent are illiterate. Unemployment is at 70 percent, and the average income is less than $1 a day. Life expectancy is only 53 years.

Most of the nation’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a tiny, lighter-skinned bourgeois elite.

Aristide and his Lavalas movement have sought to address these inequities, thereby winning widespread support from the poorest sectors of the population. This has frustrated the wealthy elite in Port-au-Prince and their patrons in Washington and Wall Street, who would prefer to return to the policy of systematic neglect of the popular masses that prevailed under former President François “Papa Doc” Duvalier.

Aristide broke with that legacy in the early 90s. In 2000, he and his allies were re-elected in a landslide victory. However, almost immediately thereafter the United States denounced the election as flawed and led an international campaign to financially blockade the country. Since then, over $500 million in development and humanitarian aid funds has been withheld by the U.S., the European Union, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has spoken of the withholding of this humanitarian aid a way to “leverage” a more desirable political outcome – from his point of view – in Haiti.

In an effort that is eerily reminiscent of the campaign against Allende’s Chile in the 1970s or against Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela today, the U.S. government has bankrolled anti-Aristide political groups, including the so-called “Democratic Convergence,” with tens of millions of dollars. It has sought to paint Aristide as incompetent and unstable, and urged him to resign. Violence is also escalating: more than 30 Lavalas members and supporters have been killed by anti-government paramilitaries over the past year.

The State Department and the U.S. media have played up demonstrations against Aristide, while huge outpourings of support for him, like a Dec. 16 rally that turned out 50,000 people, have gone largely unreported. And because the opposition knows it can’t win in democratic elections, the Democratic Convergence and others have sought to block scheduled legislative elections this year.

At the bicentennial rally people chanted, “Elections, yes! Coup d’etat, No! Aristide for five years!” Aristide’s term is scheduled to run until 2006.

Rep. Maxine Waters expressed support for Aristide, and brought a proclamation from the Congressional Black Caucus. “I believe this celebration sends a message around the world about the will of oppressed peoples to fight for freedom,” she told the Miami Herald.

Actor Danny Glover, who is working with Ron Daniels, chairman of the Haiti Support Project, to bring medical and educational supplies to Haiti in August, stressed the importance of solidarity with the Haitian people. Haiti’s victory in 1804 changed the course of history, Glover told the rally. “It’s not just Haiti’s victory,” he said. “It’s a victory for all those who cherish justice and freedom, even more so today than ever.”

The author can be reached at malmberg@pww.org.

Earthquake wreaks massive devastation

Fri, 09 Jan 2004 06:03:00 +0000

The catastrophic effects of the Dec. 26 earthquake in Bam, Iran, and the surrounding areas are enormous. Eighty percent of the city has been destroyed, with at least 30,000 dead (some say this figure could reach 50,000) and more than 100,000 homeless.

Given the widespread poverty in Iran and lack of effective assistance from government authorities, many of the survivors are currently facing hunger, destitution, and death.

The disaster has exposed major structural weaknesses in the country’s emergency rescue and recovery operations. According to many eyewitnesses, the rescue has been chaotic and ineffective. The tragedy has also revealed the extent to which Iran’s construction companies have evaded codes that make buildings more earthquake-resistant.

Obviously, dealing with a disaster of such magnitude is a challenging undertaking. Thousands of Iranian volunteers and many international aid agencies rushed in to help. This has been accompanied by a deep sense of grief and massive support and donations given by ordinary people in Iran.

The number of popular initiatives to organize volunteers, to raise funds and to collect urgently needed supplies is unprecedented.

By way of contrast, the ruling theocratic regime initially tried to deal with the tragedy by maintaining silence. Further, because of the regime’s fear of a political backlash in Bam, it initially barred nongovernmental rescue teams from other parts of Iran, and even international teams, from going there. It finally relented and let them in.

Nonetheless, the regime’s endemic corruption and structural mismanagement are well known, and many Iranians fear that all of the aid will not reach those in need.

Other fundamental questions are being raised and angrily discussed among the people and in some of the reformist papers: Why is it that in Iran so many natural disasters frequently turn into horrifyingly large tragedies? Why in many other parts of the world a 6.5 Richter-scale earthquake leads only to a small number of casualties, but in Iran a similar earthquake can wipe out an entire city? Why in a country so rich with natural resources as Iran are the authorities so incapable of reducing the scale of the casualties?

Property ownership and building construction are among the most lucrative activities in Iran. Both are dominated by the private sector and powerful organizations with strong links to the regime’s elite. With a culture of corporate greed and a rush to turn a quick buck, safety measures and regulations are usually ignored through bribery and corruption.

Widespread evasion of preventive, anti-earthquake building codes obviously contributed to the death toll. Not only traditional, mud-walled houses collapsed, but new buildings – such as hospitals and government office complexes – were also devastated.

Many people understand that the severe consequences of these natural disasters are man-made. They know the root cause of the problem is the ruling regime in Tehran. This is why President Mohammed Khatami’s pledge to rebuild a new Bam within two years is ridiculed as another hollow promise. Similarly, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s pledge to restore the city to its former glory evokes widespread disbelief.

Undoubtedly the political aftershock of Bam’s earthquake will further intensify the Iranian people’s outrage toward the tyrannical regime.

Bam’s tragedy has led to a sudden conciliatory overture by the U.S. administration towards Iran’s regime. Obviously, humanitarian aid, reductions in tension and a change in the aggressive militaristic behavior of the Bush administration are to be welcomed.

But Secretary of State Colin Powell says he sees “the beginnings of a new attitude in Iran.” Powell’s statement raises the question: What change in attitude is he speaking about?

As far as the Iranian people and the progressive forces can see, this regime is still obstructing any efforts towards democratic changes. And its neoliberal economic policies, combined with high-level corruption, are intensifying poverty and misery across the country.

The ruling dictatorship in Iran is extremely unpopular and is facing a growing challenge from a popular movement for democracy. It is seeking a way out of its current crisis – internally, by repressing the democratic movement, and externally, by expanding its diplomatic ties with the U.S. and British governments.

The U.S. has a policy of propping up undemocratic regimes. The tragedy in Bam may have inadvertently provided a window of opportunity for a “compromise” between the Bush administration and the regime in Iran.

Nima Kamran is a correspondent from the Tudeh Party of Iran and can be reached at pww@pww.org.