PEOPLE'S VOICE
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PEOPLE'S VOICE
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Internet Edition: June 1-15, 2004 Published by the Communist Ghadar Party of India |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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Hail the victory won in the struggle against privatisation! The new Congress-led coalition government has announced a list of public corporations that will not be privatised, including the telecom, steel, oil and gas companies. It has also announced that the Ministry of Disinvestment will be disbanded. This represents an important victory, although partial, for the working class. It is the united and determined struggle of workers across all sectors which has pushed the bourgeoisie into a defensive position on the question of privatisation. While this partial victory deserves to be celebrated, at the same time the working class must beware of the attempts of the Congress-led coalition to push forward the privatisation program in various other sectors of the economy, under the signboard of “selective privatisation”. According to this concept of “selective privatisation”, while profitable public enterprises will remain in the public sector, those that are ‘loss making’ must either be privatised or closed down. This leaves room, for instance, to continue to push the privatisation of the power sector, with the justification that it is a loss making sector. It also leaves room for the bourgeoisie to deliberately convert a profitable enterprise into a ‘loss making’ one, so as to justify its privatisation, as was done in the case of Modern Foods. If a publicly owned enterprise is making losses, the first question that arises is the diagnosis of the problem. Why is it making losses? Who or what factors are responsible? Once there is a clear and indisputable answer to this question, the appropriate solution can be found. In the power sector, for instance, privatisation of electricity generation and distribution was pushed as the solution to the problem, starting with Orissa in 1996 and followed by a number of other states. This approach was pushed with World Bank assistance, based on the ideological bias that public ownership is responsible for the losses and private ownership is the solution. The facts, however, have completely exposed the fallacy of this prejudiced view (see Box).
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Hail the victory won in the struggle against privatisation! Capitalist companies, which by their nature are geared to maximise private profits, can be efficient only when each of them faces the pressure of a competitive market. Life experience shows that in a monopolistic market, capitalist companies make things worse by raising the price charged to the consumers without any improvement in quality or efficiency. Based on these lessons from experience, it is clear that the working class and people must not accept the formula of Manmohan Singh and company – that ‘loss making’ public enterprises can be privatised. It is not acceptable because of the damaging results of cases such as Orissa power and Modern Foods. The privatisation program is geared to serve the private interests of monopoly capitalists at the expense of the interests of the workers and of society as a whole. Hence it cannot be justified in any sector, under any pretext. To compromise with the slogan of “selective privatisation” means to give up the battle and allow the bourgeoisie some space to once again push its anti-social program. Society has reached a stage when the process of production of goods and services is highly socialised. The problem is that a large and growing part of the means of production is privately owned and controlled; and even the part that is under public ownership has been looted by private interests, as is most obvious in the power sector. The solution to the problem has to be in the direction of socialising the ownership and control over the means of production, so as to halt the loot and plunder. Privatisation represents a move in the opposite direction, not towards progress but towards retrogression. The working class must step up the united and uncompromising struggle to halt and reverse the privatisation program. Those who are advocating a compromise with the Congress Party’s slogan of “selective privatisation” must be opposed and defeated. There must be no compromise with the privatisation program! Public assets that have been handed over to private companies must be handed back to public ownership, and the private owner must be made to pay for any damages caused to the workers’ interests or to the general social interest. There must be no further transfer of public assets into private hands, irrespective of whether those public assets are deemed to be ‘strategic’ or not, or to be ‘profitable’ or not. There must be no privatisation of any form, whether outright sale or gradual transfer, in the name of ‘disinvestment’. This has been, and must continue to be , the unshakable stand of the working class. It is this united stand that has won us the partial victory against privatisation. In order to win complete victory, we must safeguard and strengthen our fighting unity and irreconcilable stand. We must oppose those who advocate compromising the class position for the sake of supporting a ‘common minimum program’ with the bourgeoisie. |
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Support the struggle of the Iraqi people to oust the occupation forces! Following the exposure of the war crimes committed by the US led occupation forces against women and men prisoners incarcerated in the torture chambers of Abu Ghraib and other prisons, the Anglo-American imperialists' "coalition of the willing" stands extremely isolated and condemned in international public opinion. Not only the whole of Iraq, the whole of mankind has expressed its outrage at the crimes committed by the imperialist occupation forces. Meanwhile, the occupation forces are bombing mosques and residential quarters all over the country, killing and injuring people in the hundreds and thousands, revealing the barbaric face of US imperialism to the whole world. The mask of US imperialism being the "defender of human rights" and "defender of democracy" lies in tatters. Trying to retrieve lost ground, George Bush is resorting to intensifying the policy of repression of the patriotic forces. He is at the same time trying to gain some legitimacy for the occupation by establishing a puppet regime, which will be sovereign only in name. In a speech to Americans on May 24, George Bush outlined these plans. Shorn of rhetoric, what is the American plan? It is to establish a caretaker government called a "Governing Council" under UN (i.e. US) auspices by June 30. This "new" Governing Council will be different in composition from the present "Governing Council" which has lost all credibility in the eyes of the Iraqi people. Occupation forces under US command will continue to be the real power center. Most importantly, the new Governing Council will have to declare an amnesty to occupation troops for their war crimes. A resolution has been placed by the US in the UN Security Council to this effect. Hectic behind-the-scenes maneuvers are on, to get UN approval for this plan. This "new" American plan is unlikely to bail the imperialists out of their crisis. The Iraqi people, with one voice, have denounced Bush's speech and his plans. The situation has come to such a pass that the handpicked leader of the present governing council, Ahmed Chalabi, has denounced the plans of his masters, after his residence was raided by American forces in the name of looking for "terrorists"! The desperation of Bush and Blair to get immunity for their war crimes reveals the depth of the crisis of the imperialist occupation forces. The powerful, courageous resistance of the Iraqi patriots has been the main factor in thwarting the plans of the occupation forces. The worldwide democratic movement in support of the Iraqi nation, against the imperialist aggressors, has been another major factor. All this has led to the sharpening of contradictions amongst the imperialist states in general as well as amongst the "coalition of the willing". In powerful demonstrations throughout the country, including the most recent one held in Lucknow, the Indian people are expressing their solidarity with the fraternal Iraqi people in these difficult times, as well as their outright opposition to the US occupation forces. The imperialist forces must quit Iraq immediately! The Iraqi people will restore their sovereignty, arms in hand, by defeating and throwing out the occupation forces. The Indian working class and people, who have expressed, time and again, their full solidarity and support for the Iraqi people, must force the Indian government to take a clear-cut stand against the occupation forces. The Manmohan Singh led government must condemn the war crimes of the occupation forces in no uncertain terms, and demand an end to the occupation. It must publicly refuse to be party to the maneuvers of the US and other imperialist powers to deprive the Iraqi people of their freedom. It must publicly support the brave people of Iraq in their struggle for freedom and liberation. |
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External debt and foreign exchange reserves of the Indian State In Part - 1 of this series of articles on the fiscal deficit, we pointed out that while one camp of the bourgeoisie argues that the fiscal deficit is too high and should be cut back, another camp argues that it is not too high and is required for economic and employment growth. But, neither side questions the merits of an economic system that is based on piling debt on the backs of the entire people. In this installment, we examine the foreign exchange reserves and the external debt of the Indian state. It is evident that the Indian bourgeoisie uses both the external debt and its foregn exchange reserves in the interest of big monopoly and finance capital. It is the people who are made to bear the burden of the accumulating national debt, so that the bourgeoisie can pursue its imperialist vision and the greed of finance capital can be fulfilled. The Indian government has been boasting on the one hand of accumulating huge forex reserves, while at the same time it keeps borrowing externally. This policy of the Indian State, of borrowing from external moneylenders, has been pursued from colonial times. Under the colonial rule of the British, the Indian state was indebted to British finance capital, and the growing external debt was used as a convenient conduit whereby the surplus expropriated by the colonialists from the sweat and blood of the Indian people was transferred to the colonial exploiters. The Indian State continues this policy of indebting the Indian State in the interest of big finance capital. At the end of December 2003, the external debt of the Indian state amounted to $112.5 billion. On a per capita basis, this works out to Rs 2530 per family of five. At the same time, the international reserves of the Indian state now stand at nearly $120 billion. The question that poses itself is - if there are sufficient reserves, why does the Indian state continue to be a debtor, and even worse, continue to borrow from external moneylenders? Is it not the right time now to impose a moratorium on external debt servicing, now that the Indian state has enough external reserves, and to use this money saved in eradicating poverty and hunger? Is it not the right time now to use this reserve to protect the interests of the Indian workers and peasants against enslaving trade agreements which have snatched away the livelihood of millions of toilers? The bourgeoisie does not think so. It has all along argued that for import of raw material and capital goods required for economic growth, it needs to borrow from external financiers. The trends in external balance of payments in recent years shows that this argument is a sham, meant to hide the real purpose behind indebting the country to foreign moneylenders. While there has been an adverse trade balance in recent years, requiring dollar reserves, there have also been huge remittances from Indian people living abroad. Not only that, during this period, due to the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, there was a net valuation gain of $ 1.8 billion, which further increased the reserves. So, the adverse trade balance could have been easily taken care of from the money received by our own people living abroad and from gains in appreciation of the rupee. But, instead of reducing the loans, during this period the Indian State contracted additional loans of $ 1.7 billion in the form of external commercial borrowings, short-term credit and external “assistance”. Inebriated by the recent increase in foreign reserves, the Indian state has been going all out to facilitate Indian big capitalists in investing capital abroad so that profits will flow into their pockets from external exploitation as well. The Indian bourgeoisie is a moneylender state in the SAARC region. The Indian capitalists have been using the foreign reserves to step up their entry into foreign markets, particularly in software, oil exploration and pharmaceuticals. Thus, external debt is being used both ways by the Indian bourgeoisie. It borrows from imperialist credit institutions such as the World Bank and IMF as well as in external commercial markets to benefit finance capital in India and abroad, through huge payouts in the form of interest payments. It has also been using its comfortable foreign exchange reserves to step up its plunder of other countries and emerge as an imperialist power. Communists must organise the working class and people to demand that the Indian state, in planning its expenditures, should give first priority to providing livelihood for all and improving the material conditions of the vast majority of the people. This is entirely possible without the nation becoming more and more indebted, by cutting back on unproductive expenditures and by raising additional resources by taxing the rich exploiters. Communists must call for a moratorium on debt service payments to the money lending institutions. They must demand the confiscation of all unaccounted wealth and black money in the economy. They must also demand that the Indian state stop pursuing its policy of enslaving smaller countries through its external aid. These demands will put a brake on the Indian bourgeoisie and its government pursuing their policy of enslaving the Indian people to advance their own imperialist vision and fulfil the needs of Indian and foreign finance capital.
(To be continued)
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Lok Raj Sangathan (Maharashtra Committee) calls on you to support the just struggle of the MSEB workers! Citizens! The first major step towards privatization of the electricity supply is likely to be taken by the state government soon. By not later than June 10th, the Maharashtra Government is seeking to trifurcate the MSEB into three separate companies – one each for Generation, Transmission and Distribution. Going by the experience of other states, it is clear that trifurcation is a prelude to privatization. It is well known that many foreign and Indian monopoly houses, e.g. the Tatas, Reliance, etc. are looking at the power sector as a source of super profits, as the notorious Enron did earlier. How convenient for the big capitalists! However, all the unions and associations of MSEB workers, staff and officers have decided to unitedly oppose this move. Our organization, the Lok Raj Sangathan, fully supports them and calls upon the Maharashtra government to halt the process of privatization immediately. The LRS has steadfastly opposed the privatization of PSUs as an anti-people and anti-national step and thoroughly exposed the real motives of privatization – to serve the demands of Indian and foreign monopolies to hand over all the lucrative public assets cheaply to the private monopolies for plunder. The move to privatize MSEB has the same motive. The Maharashtra government is accusing the MSEB employees of opposing trifurcation and privatization out of selfish motives. “Divide and Rule” has been the usual tactic of the government, and it is using the same in this case too. It is trying to isolate the electricity employees. However, apart from electricity employees in Maharashtra, lakhs of people and dozens of people’s organizations have actively opposed privatization. The experience of the power sector the world over, including in India, has been extremely negative for ordinary users, for the working people. The background Until 1948, electric supply was completely in private hands in our country, and hence it was supplied to only a few cities where it was profitable to do so. The Electricity Act was passed in 1948 in Parliament. Apart from the many other aims of the Act, one clearly stated aim was “to ensure electric supply to all consumers at rates affordable to them”. As per the figurers available, till 2001, 5 lakh villages and 125 lakh pump sets were electrified. In various Five-Year Plans, Rs.3 lakh crore were spent to establish electricity generation and distribution. In 2001 the market value of these assets was at least Rs.12.5 lakh crore. All this would not have been possible if electric supply had been left in the hands of the private sector, whose sole motive is profit. After the formation of Maharashtra on May 1, 1960, the MSEB was established on June 20 of the same year, in accordance with the Electricity Act, 1948. Until 1992, along with the MSEB, a few private companies that existed in 1960, like Tata Power and the BSES, continued to operate. In 1992, the first Act of the Electricity privatization drama was unfolded, when the Maharashtra government invited Enron Corporation of the US. The people of Maharashtra know very well the thoroughly anti-people role that the Congress, BJP and Shiv Sena have all played in this drama. Since then the Enron Company has gone out of business following the exposure of its corrupt deals in the US, leaving the Maharashtra government, the MSEB and many other government institutions in India with thousands of crores of rupees of wasted expenditure. All this resulted in massive people’s opposition to the privatization of power in Maharashtra. The opposition was so intense, that on December 13, 2002 a tripartite agreement was reached between the employees’ organization, the MSEB management and the Maharashtra government, to the effect that the trifurcation and privatization of the MSEB would not be done without the consent of the MSEB employees. Similar opposition all over the country was jeopardizing the electricity privatization drive. A surreptitious deed in the parliament In the last summer session of parliament, the Electricity Bill, 2003 was surreptitiously introduced at 11 in the night! This bill of such importance was passed without any debate! According to it, all the state governments have to complete trifurcation of generation, transmission and distribution within one year. Otherwise, as per the Act, there would be no Electricity Board from June 10, 2004, since this new Act annulled the Electricity Supply Act of 1948! Instead of “the supply of electricity to all people at rates affordable to them”, the Central and State Governments seem to want to “supply the monopoly capitalists with super profits through squeezing the people!” The manner in which the Electricity Bill, 2003 was passed once more brings up the most important question of decision-making. Who should decide such important issues? How should they be decided? The LRS has often pointed out that even our elected representatives should not have the mandate to take such major decisions on our behalf. It is only the people as a whole, by way of informed debate and discussion, who should have the right to take such decisions. Such consultations and referendums have been held in many countries even on issues like electricity privatization. Experience of Privatization is invariably bitter for the common people Apart from Maharashtra’s experience with Enron, other states like Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan have had bitter experiences with electricity privatization. In Orissa the first trifurcation was done in 1996. The generation and distribution were handed over to big Indian and American companies, while transmission was kept with the state government. When the rising power prices resulted in mass anger and a popular upsurge, the government had to appoint the Kanungo Commission. The Commission in its report clearly stated that the electricity losses had remained the same as before, that the losses had increased despite increased tariff, that the private companies did not make any new investments, and that the debt of the government transmission company increased from Rs.820 crore to Rs.3300 crore. The American distribution company AES ran away without paying hundreds of crores of rupees to the transmission company of the Orissa government. The experience in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh has been no different – privatization has led to steep increase in the tariff, more losses to the state exchequer, and more problems for the common consumers like workers and peasants. In Andhra Pradesh in 2001, lakhs of people came out on the streets to protest the massive increases in their electricity bills. The State responded with brute force and fired on the demonstrators, killing 19 people in Hyderabad. What is the root of the problem? No one can claim that everything is fine with the way the MSEB functions. Not only the common people, but also the MSEB employees acknowledge that ills like theft of electricity, unpaid bills, transmission and distribution losses, etc. need to be eliminated. However proponents of privatization blame the employees for these ills and say that the solution to these ills is privatization. This is completely wrong. The reason for bankruptcy of the SEBs is that although they were supposed to provide for the larger public good, in actual fact the big capitalists, landowners and other vested interests, using their political and economic clout, were draining them. For example it is reported that a big monopoly capitalist, in one of his factories in Madhya Pradesh, had installed a special magnetic device, which would counter the electricity meter of the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board and show minimum consumption of electricity in his factory! Power thefts, unpaid bills and transmission and distribution losses, which are the real reason for the bankruptcy of the SEBs, are the direct result of the collusion of these vested interests with the top officers and management of the SEBs. The power sector is already being run for the private interests of the very rich. The aim of the privatization program is to bring about a change from one form of private loot and plunder to another, more openly private, form. The root of the problem of electricity supply is the type of economic and political system that operates in India. Fifty of the biggest business houses in India – the Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis etc. – control 20% of India’s total Gross Domestic Product. It is these big capitalists who dictate the economic policies. At the time of India’s independence these capitalists were not big enough and did not have the capital to invest in electricity, transport, telecommunications, railways etc. Through the Congress Party, which they controlled, a policy of public investment in these sectors was implemented immediately after India’s independence. The government invested massive amounts of people’s money to develop these sectors, the infrastructure and economic backbone of the country. At the same time conditions were created for the rapid growth of the big capitalists. The output of the public sector units was made available to the big capitalists at highly subsidized rates. Now after more than 50 years, the Indian big monopoly capitalists have grown big enough and want to take over these industries, built with the people’s money, for a song. For example, the first Indian public sector company that was sold was Modern Foods, which was sold to the multinational Hindustan Lever for just 106 crores rupees, when the value of the land and machinery of the over twenty factories of Modern Foods located in all the major towns of India is over 2000 crores of rupees! Fight for empowerment of the people! The solution to the problems of the power sector lies in empowering the people. If the masses of workers, peasants, working intellectuals, women and youth take charge of the affairs of society, they can ensure that the State fulfills its duty of guaranteeing sukh and suraksha to the people. They can ensure that all necessities including power supply are made available in adequate quantity and quality and at affordable rates to all the people. They can ensure that corruption and theft of all kinds are eliminated. The Lok Raj Sangathan calls upon all the citizens and organizations to demand that * MPs and MLAs should not be allowed to take decisions on such vital issues. * Only the people should decide on matters of vital concern to them. * The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly pass the necessary legislation before June 10, 2004. * The immediate recovery of arrears from, or else disconnection for, all the big customers who have defaulted in paying their dues, starting with factory owners, private institutions, public agencies and the rich farmers, be carried out. Support the struggles of public sector employees everywhere against privatization in their respective industries! Unequivocally oppose the trifurcation and privatization of the MSEB! The times are calling for the Indian people to develop a new vision for India, a vision consistent with the 21st century, an India whose economy is oriented towards fulfilling the needs of the majority of its people, the working people - the workers, peasants, scientists, teachers, doctors, office employees, nurses, etc. -- and not an India where only the rich minority grows richer at the expense of the working people. Lok Raj Sangathan calls on all organizations to come together to realize this vision by putting forth a program around which we can rally all the working people and challenge the rule of the rich! |
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Massive protests against tightening of economic blockade of Cuba Over a million Cuban people led by their leader President Fidel Castro took to the streets of Havana on May 14 to protest against the measures announced by the US government to tighten the 45 year old blockade of Cuba. Just before the march started, President Castro addressed the people. He read an open letter to US President Bush. Fidel Castro declared that Cuba could be erased from the face of the earth, but it would never become another neo-colony of the United States. The new repressive measures adopted by the White House were included in the nearly 500-page report of the so-called “Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba”, delivered to George Bush on May 6. The Bush administration will budget more than $60 million to strengthen radio and TV transmissions to the island aimed at inciting counter-revolution, give more support to its mercenaries, and step up international propaganda against the island. The anti-Cuban measures will limit the length of a visit by Cubans living in the US to their homeland to14 days, and also cut the amount of money US visitors can spend in Cuba. A large number of Cuban economic emigrants live and work in the US. Many of them also send money to their families in Cuba as well as periodically visit their homeland. The new measures restrict and limit which of these Cubans can travel to their homeland. It also restricts who can receive money, which can no longer be sent to individuals but only to a single household. Bush has declared that he will cut back Cuban-Americans' family visits to the island from once a year to once every three years. Cuba has been a thorn in the flesh of US imperialism for over four and a half decades now. The revolution in 1959 overthrew the US-backed police state of Batista. Since then, the US imperialists have kept up attacks, both military and economic, against the Cuban people. Washington has organized an invasion, assassinations, terrorist attacks against civilians, systematic economic sabotage and an economic blockade for over 45 long years. The US imperialists wish to restore the neo-colonial domination of the island, which they exercised during the first half of the 20th century. The tightening of the economic embargo on Cuba by the US imperialists has only further strengthened the resolve of the Cuban people and their leadership to resist these enormous pressures. Fidel Castro in his speech said that it is almost laughable to hear the U.S. president talk about the alleged violation of human rights in Cuba - a country where people are guaranteed free health care and education. He noted that "this is one of the few countries of the hemisphere where there have been no cases of torture, no death squads and no government leader who has become a millionaire." In the letter to US imperialist chieftain Bush, Castro noted, "In the world that you seek to impose on us today, there is not the slightest notion of ethics, credibility, standards of justice, humanitarian feelings or the elementary principles of solidarity and generosity. Everything that is written about human rights in your world - and in the world of your allies who share in plundering the earth - is an enormous lie.” He said that Bush has no moral authority to talk about freedom, democracy and human rights. He charged the Bush administration with attempting to impose a worldwide tyranny, ignoring and destroying the United Nations, violating the rights of sovereign countries and launching wars of conquest to take over the earth's resources. Throughout Latin America, there have been expressions of solidarity with the Cuban people. More than 10,000 people marched through the streets of Mexico City on May 12 to express their solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. People’s Voice hails the resolute determination of the Cuban people and government in the face of the brutal measures and provocations of the US imperialists. |
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Brutal Israeli demolitions and attacks in Gaza With great anger, People’s Voice condemns the grave war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine. It calls upon the government of India to vigorously demand that the Israeli forces immediately end their occupation of Palestinian territories. Since May 11, 2004, when the Israeli military forces began their biggest and most brutal offensive in recent years, they have caused enormous destruction of Palestinian homes, displacing thousands, and injuring and killing several innocent people. Israeli military forces turned Gaza into a virtual prison by closing its entry points for six consecutive days, and launched a large-scale ground, sea and air offensive against the Palestinian people. The area of the Gaza Strip measures 360 square kilometres and is the home of about a million Palestinians. The latest destruction brings to 17,594 the total number of Palestinians who have lost their homes in the Gaza Strip, making it the most intense period of destruction in a long time. Throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Palestinians marked May 15 as the 56th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) which coincides with Israel's founding. The creation of Israel in 1948 doomed about two-thirds of the Palestinian population to exile. More than five million Palestinian refugees live outside, while more than 300,000 live displaced inside Israel itself. Over three million more remain under Israeli occupation since June 1967, including a large number of refugees living in refugee camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There have been massive protests not only within the occupied territories of Palestine, but even within Israel itself. On May 15, over 100,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv demanding that the Israeli military forces pull out of Gaza. The war crimes being committed by the Israeli forces have the full support of the US imperialists. US imperialist chieftain Bush endorsed Israeli war criminal Ariel Sharon’s plan for a war of extermination against the Palestinian people on April 14, when they met in Washington. The maintenance of the Israeli State as a fascist gendarme is an integral part of the strategic policy of US imperialism. The US consistently uses its veto power in the UN Security Council to block all resolutions requiring corrective action by the Israeli State. At the same time that Israel is trying to crush the Palestinian people with its armed might obtained from the US, massive operations are underway in Iraq to pave the way for a regime pliant to the interests of the Anglo-American imperialists. This twin-pronged attack in the region, designed to extinguish by force the right of the peoples to self-determination and sovereignty, must be opposed by all forces which value justice and peace in the world.
End the occupation of Palestinian territories now!
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Venezuela's government and people foil US imperialist sponsored terrorist strike The US imperialists have turned the Caribbean region into a hotbed of intrigue and terror in an effort to drown the growing anti-imperialist and democratic movement of the peoples of the region. Apart from Cuba and Haiti, Venezuela has drawn the attention of the US imperialists for a number of reasons. Chief amongst them have been the fact that the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez has been critical of US imperialism and the entire history of imperialist colonization of the Americas, and has emerged as a popular figure in the anti-imperialist movement of the peoples of the Americas. Furthermore, Venezuela is a country rich in oil resources. These two factors, apart from Venezuela being within what US imperialism considers its "backyard", have contributed to the desperate moves of the US against the regime of Hugo Chavez. It is being openly talked about that the US is funding terrorist groups in Venezuela to organise a regime change through assassinations and economic sabotage (destruction of oil installations), as well as the general spread of anarchy and violence. Several Colombian paramilitary personnel were captured on May 9 on a country estate near the capital Caracas belonging to one of the bourgeois opposition leaders whom the US is sponsoring to take over from Chavez. (Colombia is a country neighbouring Venezuela ridden with anarchy and violence.) These Colombian armymen, were operating as terrorists, clothed in battle dress and waiting to receive arms before being transported to different locations in the country. Some hours later 32 more arrests were made outside Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. The goal of the mercenaries was to assassinate President Chavez. Chavez said that paramilitary activity is "the brain child of the Colombian oligarchy," and stated that some of those in Venezuela who oppose his government were responsible for organizing and supporting the paramilitary incursion. President Chavez denounced the U.S. government as "an invader and assassin imperialist force which marginalizes the United Nations in order to humiliate the dignity of millions of human beings." On May 17, 2004, thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas to protest the terrorist acts of the foreign mercenaries and to condemn US interference in their country's internal affairs. People’s Voice condemns the blatant interference of US imperialism through agents and mercenaries in the affairs of Venezuela. |
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Condemn the US provocations against Syria! US President George Bush imposed new sanctions on Syria on May 11, 2004. These sanctions are aimed at punishing Syria for her support to the Palestinian and Iraqi people. The sanctions include a ban on US exports to Syria and the power to freeze Syrian assets in the United States. These sanctions constitute a grave crime against the people of Syria and must be resolutely opposed. Syria has been accused of “supporting terrorism” and of trying to build "weapons of mass destruction" and missiles. Syria has also been accused of “undermining United States and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq." The statement of Bush noted in particular Syria's support for Palestinian groups fighting for national liberation, such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. The US imperialists have been resorting to military and economic blackmail to force all governments and peoples of West Asia to submit to their dictate. They forced the UN to adopt sanctions against Iraq after the first Gulf War. These sanctions caused great hardships to the Iraqi people, depriving them of many essential items, leading to the premature death of many thousands of children due to malnutrition and lack of medication. The same practice is now being adopted as a weapon against the government of Syria. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri said the sanctions are "unjust and unjustified", while parliament speaker Mahmud al-Abrash said "We in parliament consider the US action a humiliation". He accused the United States of constantly putting pressure on Syria, and stressed that Syria "will never submit" to Washington's will. The US imperialists are the greatest enemies of all peoples who stand firm in defence of freedom and independence, all peoples who dare to decide their own destiny. The barbaric deeds committed by the US forces in Iraq, the consistent support to the Israeli Zionists in their attempts to annihilate the Palestinian people, and the sanctions now imposed on Syria are part of one plan to establish their unbridled domination over the Arab peoples. It is necessary for all governments and peoples who value their independence, who have a sense of justice, to resolutely oppose such acts of the US imperialists. People’s Voice hails the resolve of the Syrian people to defend their sovereignty in the face of the grave provocations by the US imperialists. |
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