Dear 'Militant' readers and distributors,

Supporters of the socialist press have a challenge and an opportunity between now and June 11 to sign up new readers to the Militant and the Spanish-language Perspectiva Mundial, and sell the New International magazine. With less than three weeks left in the 10-week campaign, we have sold just under half of the international sales goals. To complete the circulation campaign on time and in full, supporters need to sell 1,518 subscriptions to the Militant, 346 to Perspectiva Mundial, and 633 copies of New International. The political opportunities to do so are there for the taking.

Workers and farmers across Latin America are striking and demonstrating against government austerity measures and assaults by the employers on their wages and living standards. Young communists in Cuba are reaching out for solidarity around the world and building the August "Cuba Lives" international youth festival. Supporters of self- determination for Ireland - in Northern Ireland, Ireland, England, the United States, and elsewhere - are taking the initiative in the fight to end the British occupation and division of Ireland. Mine workers from Window Rock, Arizona, to Mt. Isa, Australia, have pushed back attacks by the bosses on their unions.

Thinking workers, young people, and others who want to stand up against the effects of the worldwide crisis of the market system need to know about these struggles and need to know how they can be part of the fight to get rid of capitalism and build a new society. They need to read the Militant and other socialist publications.

Over the next few weeks, the Militant will feature first- hand reports by correspondents traveling to Argentina, Cuba, Haiti, and Uruguay. It will also feature coverage on how defenders of the Cuban revolution and other young people are building the 'Cuba Lives' festival, which begins August 1 in Havana. This gives an added incentive not to miss a single issue.

Successfully reaching the goals in the circulation campaign is a big job, but it is completely possible. It means making maximum use of the international target week announced in last week's Militant, which will run from May 27 through June 4. Supporters of the socialist press internationally need to use that week to gain momentum in the drive. At meetings during Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams's tour of the United States, activities in defense of the Cuban revolution, picket lines, rallies against police brutality, and many other events, supporters have sold hundreds of single copies of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial. Now is the time to follow up with these readers to sign them up for a subscription.

Militant supporters in Atlanta, who are at the top of the sales chart this week, faxed in a detailed schedule for the target week. Their plan includes contacting the more than 20 young people who have already subscribed to the Militant in the area to introduce them to the in-depth articles found in New International, as well as to let them know how they can get involved in building and attending the 'Cuba Lives' festival. This is the kind of work supporters in other cities can emulate.

The items that follow give an idea of some of the sales experiences Militant supporters have had over the last week. If you would like to help with the international effort to get out the papers that tell the truth about working people's struggles, please get in touch with the nearest distributor listed on page 12, or contact the Militant at (212) 243-6392.

In Solidarity,
Paul Mailhot
Acting Editor
 

BY MAURICE WILLIAMS
A sales team of Militant supporters traveled to Window Rock, Arizona, on the Navajo reservation May 18-19 to talk to miners at the P& M surface mine who recently returned to work following a successful nine-day strike. Team members sold 32 single copies of the Militant and two subscriptions at three shift changes at the mine gate. The team also interviewed local union officers, one of whom purchased the Pathfinder pamphlet Genocide Against the Indians by George Novack. Many of the miners who bought the paper were familiar with the Militant from previous teams that sold at the mine, including just prior to the recent strike.

Miners expressed particular interest in the fight to free Canadian gold miner and union activist Roger Warren, who is serving a prison term on frame-up charges, and in the articles on the struggle for land by Maoris in New Zealand.

The team also went to the Santa Fe railyard in Gallup, New Mexico, just a short distance from the mine, and sold one subscription and six single issues of the Militant to brakemen and engineers. Some of the rail workers loaded coal at the P&M mine, and were interested in the outcome of the recent strike.

A Black Santa Fe worker from Winslow, Arizona responded enthusiastically when supporters told him the Militant is a paper that supports workers who stand up against the bosses' attacks. "That's what I've been doing my whole life," he said. Another worker gave the team a photocopy of an article in the union newspaper that reports on the Santa Fe's threat to lock out engineers if they won't accept Santa Fe's offer of a maximum three percent wage increase in the next contract.

Supporters of the Militant in Greensboro, North Carolina report that one activist bought a subscription to the Militant after participating in a recent picket line protesting former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's visit to the state.

Supporters cite new opportunities for selling subscriptions to the Spanish-language magazine Perspectiva Mundial. Hundreds of workers from Mexico and Central America have recently moved to the area. A sales team is being organized to visit Morganton, where Guatemalan workers recently struck a poultry processing plant. Plans are being made to organize supporters to sell the Militant in textile areas and plants during the target week.

Supporters of the socialist press in Atlanta are contacting 21 youth who subscribe to the Militant to consider buying the Marxist magazine New International. A sales team, which will include a member of the Young Socialists, will also travel to the coal fields in Alabama for several days.

Militant supporters will participate in the national Rainbow Coalition conference in Atlanta May 24-27, a youth concert and a Caribbean festival over the Memorial Day weekend, a meeting protesting the U.S. Army School of the Americas, and a meeting with garment workers fighting for a contract in Union Point, Georgia.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams attended two meetings in Philadelphia, a book signing and a fund raising dinner that included several hundred participants.

At both meetings, supporters of the Militant participated in discussions, distributing statements in support of the Irish struggle. More than 20 copies of the Militant, one subscription to the Militant, and a copy New International no. 10 were sold to participants at the gatherings.  
 
 
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