All working people should oppose the military intervention by New Zealand and Australian forces on Bougainville, which began in mid-November.

Initially, under the guise of peace-keeping, 136 unarmed military personnel from New Zealand and 92 from Australia will be on the ground. These unarmed troops have plenty of firepower at their fingertips. Just offshore, New Zealand's forces will include the frigate Canterbury, two other naval vessels, Hercules aircraft, and three Iroquois helicopters...

These imperialist forces are intervening - as they did unsuccessfully in October 1990 and October 1994 - to try to quell the struggle being waged by the people of Bougainville for self-determination. They also stand as a deadly threat to working people in Papua New Guinea.

The people of Bougainville, led by the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, have fought a nine-year war for independence. They have defeated the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Defense Force, which are backed by Canberra and Wellington, including with equipment and personnel...

Until independence in 1975 Canberra ruled Papua New Guinea as a colony. Since then Australian corporations -particularly mining companies - have continued to profit from PNG's rich natural resources. The country is a neo-colony of Australian imperialism, and a key form this takes is the massive and unpayable debt owed to Australian and other imperialist banks.

In March 1997 the PNG government of then Prime Minister Julius Chan was deeply shaken by a rebellion in its armed forces and mass mobilizations, which forced him to step aside. This upsurge was sparked by Chan's decision to employ foreign mercenaries in a new offensive on Bougainville. The conditions of austerity, social crisis, unemployment, and poverty that fueled the March rebellion remain today - in fact they have been accentuated by the deep famine that is driving many Papua New Guineans to the point of starvation.

At the same time as Wellington and Canberra join forces to oppose these freedom fights, they clash with each other as competitors in the race for markets, raw materials, and sources of cheap labor in the region...

The toilers of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea have shaken the basis of imperialist domination with their rebellions. Working people, especially in New Zealand and Australia, have a real stake in their struggles, which further weaken our common enemy - the warmakers and exploiters in Canberra and Wellington. Miners in Australia, confronting a union-busting drive by Rio Tinto, the owner of the Panguna mine, can more easily identify with the aspirations of the people of Bougainville....

The rulers will use their interference on Bougainville to soften us up, to get us used to the idea that workers, farmers, and youth should be sent to intervene militarily in the affairs of other peoples on behalf of Australian and New Zealand big business. But our interests don't lie with "our" governments or rulers...

New Zealand and Australian forces out of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea! PNG forces off Bougainville! Cancel PNG's foreign debt! No intervention! Independence for Bougainville!  
 
 
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