Quebec nationalism
I fail to see why the SWP would support the Quebec
Nationalists and print some of the articles provided from
Quebec with their strange distortions of the "history" (?)
of their treatment in Canada. What would be your attitude
to a balkanization of the U.S. and how would that benefit
labor?
Setting up their own little racist state (see their comments on those who voted "no") would only benefit their own local elite.
Robert J. Sheehy
Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada
Immigrants in Greece
On November 11 in Hania' on the island of Crete a public
discussion took place on the topic of the economic crisis
in Greece and the rights of immigrants. The discussion was
organized by the group "Initiative Against Racism" and the
main speakers were representatives of a) the Initiative,
b) the Movement in Defense of Social and Political Rights,
c) the International Forum, and d) the Pan-African
Association of Greece.
It is worth noting that this was the first time that such an event was organized in Crete and that it had important results even on the practical level: immigrants acquired the possibility of joining labor unions regardless of whether they have a residence permit or not. The Initiative has made an effort around the same question in the town of Réthymno, without response from the labor center there and the labor misleaders.
María Plessa
Hania', Greece
Canadian imperialism
The myth that Canadian imperialism is "gentler and
kinder" than other powers has enabled Canadian soldiers to
be accepted in many parts of the world as "peace-keepers,"
often with the approval of anti-imperialist leaders and
workers. The Somali people found, to their grief, that the
Canadian army there served the interests of imperialism,
suppressing working people through torture and murder. The
Canadian ruling class has been as brutal as any other, but
because of its relative weakness, it is unable to play as
heavy a cop role.
Canada was an accomplice in the slaughter of the Vietnamese and took part in the horrific "turkey shoot" bombing of the Iraqi people.
When the Cubans went to the aid of the ANC in the struggle to defeat apartheid, Canada cut off all loans to Cuba. Canadian UN officers in Rwanda have admitted being aware of the impending bloodbath, but say they "could do nothing" and kept silent! Canadian troops took part in the invasion of Korea.
Internally, Canada has committed genocide against our Native people and continues to do so, albeit less overtly. (The apartheid South African government used our Indian Reservation system as a model for the Bantustans.)
When the Quebecois nation began to demand the right of self-determination in the early '70s, the War Measures Act was invoked, giving the cabinet absolute power, and the army was sent into Quebec. Police were given unlimited power to arrest and hold "suspects" without trial throughout Canada. The draconian cuts to our social wage, as well as restrictions to our democratic and economic rights embodied in the projected "Omnibus Bill," are typical of a ruling class intent on helping to crush all worker resistance both nationally and globally when its interests are threatened.
Bea Bryant
Blenheim, Ontario
Lies on Che Guevara
In Miami it's a regular occurrence for some of my
coworkers to repeat fabricated stories about "how Che
Guevara was betrayed by Fidel Castro" - and not only
during the political and military campaign in Bolivia. The
stories are so preposterous (and heinous) that, while I am
explaining the truth, I sometimes find myself asking,
"Where do you get this stuff?," even though I know the
answer.
But then I read the response by Mary-Alice Waters to the latest round of lies by Thomas Lipscomb published in the New York Times (Dec. 2), claiming that a political division existed between Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, and her unedited letter with the accompanying article by Steve Clark in the Dec. 18 Militant (as well as Steve Clark's Dec. 25 Militant article on Daniel Collier's rebuttal in the Times). These exchanges make it even clearer how broadly this falsification has been disseminated.
Further, as Karl Marx wrote in 1843 in the German newspaper Rheinische Zeitung, "Strange how at the moment a factual newspaper lie is condemned, it is factually lied about."
Janet Post
Miami, Florida
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