BY MAURICE WILLIAMS

Massive demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people protesting the regime of president Slobodan Milosevic have swept the Yugoslav republic of Serbia for two weeks. Some 100,000 protesters marched in Belgrade, the capital, December 2 demanding the resignation of Milosevic after he moved to annul municipal elections held on November 17.

The mass actions "have virtually paralyzed the center of Belgrade and several other big cities," the British Economist magazine reported. In Nis, tens of thousands of workers marched in the streets while students and professors occupied all that city's university buildings. The demonstrations mark the largest and most sustained challenge to the Stalinist Milosevic regime since he took power in a 1987 coup.

Other mass protests, including a march of 100,000 people in 1992, were organized against the Serbian government after Milosevic launched a war against Croatia in 1991. Six months of fighting in Croatia that year ended with 10,000 people killed.

The recent protests were sparked when Milosevic canceled the results of voting where his opponents won city government elections in 15 of Serbia's 18 largest cities, including Belgrade. The Serbian government held new elections on November 27, which were boycotted by the opposition coalition, known as Zajedno. More than 50,000 people protested those elections. Economic crisis in Serbia
Working people in Serbia are experiencing a severe economic crisis. In 1990, 320,000 people lived below poverty line; by 1994 this figure was eight times higher. According to London's Financial Times, the average monthly wage is about $125. More than half the work force is unemployed, while one-half of the factories are closed.

In Nis, an industrial city of 200,000, wages that a decade ago averaged $800 a month have now fallen to $40, and are generally three months late.

The U.S. has led the political and economic sanctions imposed on the Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro. Previous sanctions that blocked capitalist investment and trade with Serbia were lifted by the United Nations Security Council as part of last year's Dayton "peace" accords, which partitioned Bosnia. However, Washington continues to maintain a so-called "outer wall" of sanctions that denies the Belgrade regime access to loans from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other aid programs sponsored by the United Nations.

Opponents of Milosevic seek to tap the discontent of working people and youth disgusted with deteriorating living conditions. They have called for a series of strikes to start December 2. "We will begin a wave of strikes ... spreading to all the universities, schools, and factories," declared Zoran Djindjic, president of the Democratic party.

Opposition politicians have organized meetings with union leaders, including officials of the transport unions, in an effort to build support for general strikes. They say the support of workers in Belgrade is crucial to driving Milosevic from power.

"Our main task now is to bring workers in Belgrade into the protest," the New York Times cited one unnamed "opposition leader" as saying. Workers in Nis and some other industrial cities have joined the protests, while in Belgrade working-class support has been minimal, according to press reports.

A larger, more explosive confrontation is looming as the Serbian regime beefs up its police force in Nis. The government deployed 5,000 cops from an elite unit formerly stationed in Kosovo to the back streets of the city. Belgrade has a well-armed police force of 80,000 men. Government halts news broadcasts
Reflecting its fear of the mobilizations, the regime pulled all news programs off the airwaves November 27 to eliminate coverage of the demonstrations. The government also restricted the press run of Blitz, the only major newspaper to report on the protests.

Pro-capitalist opponents of Milosevic, hoping for imperialist intervention, have expressed disappointment with Washington's response. Ilija Djukic, an adviser to the Zajedno coalition and a former foreign minister, tried to rally support in a meeting with several ambassadors. "They said very little," he complained. "They need Milosevic. He is guaranteeing the Dayton agreement for them."

The Clinton administration has been generally mute on the protests, while keeping options open to expand its military role in Yugoslavia. "We are urging that the decision to annul the municipal elections be overturned by President Milosevic," State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said November 26.

At a November 29 news conference in Bosnia, U.S. defense secretary William Perry said an "instantaneous" reassessment of the situation could require bringing in additional forces if a crisis erupts. "We see the stabilization force as facing a very difficult mission."

Clinton had announced earlier in November that a scaled down U.S. occupation force of 8,500 troops will remain in Bosnia until mid-1998. Perry added that the size of the U.S. force in Bosnia may have to be temporarily increased again next year.

Meanwhile, the big-business media has begun floating the idea of military combat involving U.S. soldiers as well as Washington maintaining its occupation force in the Balkans beyond the 18 months announced by Clinton on November 15.

"There are going to be some surprises like Desert Storm [in Iraq]," the New York Times quoted from Sgt. Arlee Robinson, a GI stationed in Bosnia.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home