"Supporters of freedom of the press, immigrant rights, and civil liberties have launched an international campaign to win restoration of Calero’s rights," the resolution concluded. "WFDY endorses this campaign. The U.S. government is carrying out similar attacks against thousands of immigrant workers in that country. This is part of Washington’s war on workers’ and democratic rights in the U.S. as they carry out a drive towards imperialist war against Iraq. It’s an example of the violence that the U.S. government has used against the working class and other popular sectors in that country for decades. Progressive youth around the world have an interest in pressing for the restoration of Calero’s rights as well as the rights of thousands of other immigrants facing similar attacks. A victory in Calero’s case would be a victory for all young people fighting imperialism around the world."

Leaders of the Union of Young Communists of Cuba, Young Socialists and Young Communist League in the United States, and Casa de la Juventud in Paraguay collaborated in drafting and presenting the resolution to the Assembly.

More than 150 youth leaders from around the world attended the gathering, representing 81 organizations in 70 countries (see article on page 7. Among them, delegates from 31 WFDY affiliates in 30 countries on all five continents signed up as endorsers of Calero’s antideportation fight. They include representatives of Casa de la Juventud of Paraguay, Youth of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front of El Salvador (JFMLN), National Union of Algerian Students, All India Youth Federation, Korean Youth League of Japan, Communist Youth League of China, Young Communist League of the United Kingdom, Socialist Youth Association of Germany, African National Congress Youth League of South Africa, and the General Union of Palestinian Students.

A number of these youth leaders described similar struggles they’ve been involved in against deportations and harassment of immigrants by the U.S. and other imperialist governments.

Humace Oodit, national coordinator of the Progressive Youth Organization of Guyana, affiliated with the ruling People’s Progressive Party in that country, for example, pointed to the experience of thousands of Guyanese immigrants living in the United States who are facing increased harassment from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "Last year," he said, "260 Guyanese immigrants in the U.S. were deported back to Guyana, mainly for minor convictions that are fifteen or twenty years old. The Guyanese government received a letter from Washington earlier this year stating that we should be prepared to accept another 2,000 deportees in 2003. Most of these people have lived in the United States the majority of their lives and already served their time."

Oodit stated that the Guyanese government initially refused to accept the deportees, on the grounds that there is not gainful employment for them in Guyana, where the economy is largely based on agriculture. In retaliation, Oodit said, the U.S. embassy in Guyana stopped issuing visas for entry to the United States to all Guyanese residents. "This move forced the government to accept the deportees."

Elías Romero of the Youth of FMLN immediately identified with Calero’s case. "Many Latinos in the United States are in the same situation," he said, "so it’s important to keep fighting and to win international solidarity." He took a stack of brochures with him to distribute to his organization in El Salvador and also to send to his friends and political collaborators in the United States.

Ignacio González of Casa de la Juventud, who helped win backing for the Calero fight at this meeting, described a campaign in Paraguay to press authorities to drop frame-up charges of kidnapping against leaders of the Patria Libre party. The WFDY assembly included support for this defense effort in one of its resolutions.  
 
Attacks on Koreans in Japan
Calero’s case also struck a chord with the delegates of the Korean Youth League (KYL) in Japan. "There have been more than 500 attacks and threats against Korean residents in Japan since September," said Moon-Dal Seung, a vice chairman of that organization. The KYL set up a display during the assembly with information on their activities and photos of the attacks. Ri Sang Yong, a chairman of the KYL, described some of the photos to Militant reporters. They included that of a bullet shot into the national headquarters of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, the parent organization of the KYL; a threatening letter sent to the offices of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan; a photo of the remains of a Korean-language school after it was burned down in an act of arson; and a picture of the uniform of a Korean-language schoolgirl that was torn by a Japanese military officer, according to Ri.

Moon-Dal explained that the spate of attacks against Korean residents in Japan comes after a minister of the Japanese Security Agency announced in September, in response to the escalating threats against north Korea by the U.S. government, that the General Association of Koreans in Japan would be targeted by Japanese national security forces as a threat to Tokyo’s national security. "In addition to the official policies of discrimination against Koreans by Tokyo," he said, "Japanese government officials have stated that Koreans living in Japan should live as Japanese, not as Koreans." Korean residents in Japan, the overwhelming majority of whom are descendants of Koreans forcibly taken to Japan to fill labor shortages during the Japanese imperialist occupation of the Korean peninsula before and during World War II, are not considered Japanese citizens as many as three generations after their family’s emigration. In addition to explicit policies of discrimination in housing, education, job, and language rights, Korean residents in Japan must carry noncitizen identification cards with them at all times, Moon-Dal stated, or face a fine equivalent to $1,700 or jail time. "Most Koreans living in Japan are victims of Japanese imperialism, just as all Koreans living on the Korean peninsula are victims of Japanese and U.S. imperialism."

The KYL has organized protests against these attacks and has solidarized with Koreans elsewhere in the world who face similar challenges. Moon-Dal pointed to recent marches in south Korean cities, and in Los Angeles and New York, against the U.S. military presence on the Korean peninsula. These erupted last fall after two U.S. GIs were acquitted by a U.S. military court of killing two Korean school girls with a tank. "The threats and violence against Koreans living in Japan are a direct result of Japanese and U.S. imperialism’s policies of hostility toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and of the Japanese government’s policies of discrimination against Koreans living in Japan," Moon-Dal said. "Similarly, the case of Róger Calero is a direct result of U.S. imperialism’s policies of discrimination against immigrants living there."
 
 
Related articles:
Workers in Detroit back fight to stop Calero’s deportation
Step up Calero defense effort
Ohio students support Calero fight
International youth leaders discuss response to imperialist war  
 
 
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