December 24, 1971
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Over 1,200 Chicanos marched and
rallied here November 20 to protest the almost daily
beatings Chicanos have been suffering at the hands of
police. The march also protested the fact that 10 Chicanos
have been murdered by police in 1971 alone.
The marchers, starting out about 500 strong, gathered strength as they marched five miles through the predominantly Chicano West Side of San Antonio to the Alamo. Organized by Mario Cantú, (a Raza Unida Party supporter and owner of Mario's Restaurant in San Antonio), Father Edmundo Rodríguez of Guadalupe Parish, and the Brown Berets, the demonstration attracted support from other areas, including Crystal City, Houston, Dallas, and the Rio Grande Valley.
The demonstration had a great impact on Chicano by- standers. Hundreds joined as the march progressed including a number of GIs, who heard the shouts of "Raza Sí, Guerra No!" and "Raza Sí, Gringo No!" and joined the rally at the Alamo.
The rally, which was held in Spanish and chaired by
Mario Cantú, included as speakers Gregoria McCumber; Dr.
Jorge Lara Braud, a priest and professor at Our Lady of
the Lake College; José Morales, leader of the San Antonio
Brown Berets; and Mario Obledo, director of the Mexican-
American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDELF) in
California.
December 21, 1946
Secretary of State James Byrnes officially admitted
before the United Nations General Assembly December 13
that 96,000 American troops are still garrisoned in the
Philippines. This is more than two-thirds the size of the
active standing army in the United States in the interval
between the two world wars.
Why is Washington holding these huge forces in the Philippine Republic a half year after the declaration of Philippine "independence"? One objective is to threaten the Philippine people with Wall Street's armed might if they attempt to carry forward the rebellion against the native landlords and capitalists that reached heroic heights during and after the Japanese occupation. Another obvious objective is to make sure Wall Street retains its imperialist grip on the islands' economy.
The day before Byrnes admitted the enormous size of the garrisons in the Philippines, the press reported Washington "has been pressing for a dozen first-rate military and naval bases in the Philippine Republic".
These "major positions" would be tied together with a
network of smaller stations, converting the islands into a
tightly woven military area for operations throughout the
North Pacific and the Asiatic mainland.
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