Many of the demonstrators, according to the People's Weekly World (the Communist Party USA paper) are "right wing extremists [staging] provocative demonstrations to destabilize" a so-called "united front/socialist government."

But how many of the protesters are right-wing extremists?

I do know that demonstrators have been filmed carrying the U.S. flag, which represents, in my opinion, the exploitation and oppression of working people, racism, sexism, and imperialist war.

On the other hand, the government of President Milosevic, a Stalinist hack, is certainly not a socialist government, as the CPUSA claims.

And where is the CIA? How many of the marchers work for them? It is surely no coincidence that the U.S. has placed itself on the side of the demonstrators.

So just what in the hell is going on?

Nicholas Brand

Loretto, Pennsylvania

`Peacé in Guatemala
The living standards of the majority of Guatemalans, if you can call that living, have been driven down by regimes that throughout history have been led by the military and sponsored by the wealthy who control the economy - capitalist groups like UNARGO and CACIF, among others.

Throughout 36 years of war the hardest hit have always been the peasants, students, workers, and indigenous peoples, who are the ham in the bosses' sandwich. Their conditions of life are worse today than when the war began, and they won't be resolved by the signing of the peace accord, even if all the heads of state and Mother Teresa herself are present.

Those who used to claim to be class enemies are now converging. On December 29 they will sit at the same table -from the lion king to the buzzard king - to jointly manage the affairs of the bourgeoisie.

The URNG [Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity], like the current government, is trying with smoke and mirrors to win the support of the civilian population, as if the people had historical amnesia.

They are trying to deny them the truth and prevent justice from being administered for the crimes committed by the army against the civilian population, especially in 1978-83, when entire villages were massacred.

No society can live in peace with such pain, mourning, and attempts to ignore the past. Neither the government nor the URNG has the moral right to decide whether to pardon or not; this right belongs exclusively to the people.

For those of us involved in revolutionary movements around the world, this "peace accord" in Guatemala does not represent a victory or a defeat. It confirms once again the lack of leadership in Latin America and the fact that Stalinism is rapidly weakening.

These peace accords are a mockery of our comrades who were mowed down in the streets, on the battlefield, of those who were imprisoned and tortured, of those who were condemned to live in exile, of all those who shouted the truth in the face of the enemy.

But the people of Guatemala will resist and organize themselves. And after the signing of the peace accord, "more than one worker, student, or peasant will return home and nostalgically contemplate the image tacked on the wall: a bearded youth in the mountains holding a rifle."

Leonel Cabrera

Atlanta, Georgia

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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