Who exactly is an international criminal.
Yet I wonder: doesn't the Militant support the arrest and
conviction of the killers of Matthew Shepard? If so, who would
try the person arrested but a judge representing a capitalist
court? It seems to me that the degree of justice achieved
depends on the agitation around an issue before, during, and
after a trial - that this is the best guarantor of justice,
short of a revolution. This principle seems to make sense, both
in domestic and international situations.
Albert Fried-Cassorla
Melrose Park, Pennsylvania
Pinochet arrest II
Your article on Pinochet in this week's Militant states
that: "The arrest warrant was issued by Spanish judge Baltasar
Garzón, a social democrat who is notorious for prosecuting
Basque independence fighters. The proceedings against Pinochet
were initiated by the Left Unity, a parliamentary group led by
the Spanish Communist Party, in Madrid and the Commission of
the Disappeared in Chile."
However, this doesn't appear entirely correct. An article in the "Guardian" today [Oct. 23, 1998] indicates that in fact, Garzón was involved in investigating government hit-squads which eliminated Basque independence fighters. Garzón has in the past also been responsible for jailing ETA (Basque Homeland and Liberty) members.
While the equation which the right-wing liberals make between Pinochet and Castro is totally reprehensible, there is every chance that he will actually be released. Blair has a long record of dancing to the tune of the Baroness and [Margaret] Thatcher has spoken. The fact that her pronunciamento was given prime spot on the morning news and that the Archbishop of Canterbury called for "forgiveness," indicates that there is strong ruling-class pressure to led the old butcher go home.
Tomorrow there is a picket of the hospital called by Chilean refugees. I would like to go and argue that Pinochet and his cronies should face justice, but also argue that the very capitalist governments that supported him in 1973 cannot dispense it.
John Laurence
London, England
Need proletarian discipline
Before reading the article, "The struggle for a proletarian
party" in the Militant of Oct. 19, 1998; I had stapled an
article of the former Militant, "The coal miners fight for
safety" on the union board. One of my co-workers saw me and
said: "More newspapers!" What that meant was that the time is
right to put the Militant and other communist teachings up on
the union boards.
As there is an urgent need to build a proletarian- disciplined "fraction of coal miners" for Socialist Workers Party, it's more than ever necessary to build upon coal miners' resistance and fight-backs as is being reported by the Militant - and also bringing onto light the case of Roger Warren, a coal miner from Yukon in Canada who has been framed up and is currently serving a long sentence. It's only in this manner that it is possible to gain the trust of the militant miners towards the worker-bolshevik fractions. His life story and his militancy will inspire young workers; and his fight in the prison cell won't go unheard.
If we see that the great opportunities for communist work among working people is more than any other time in the past decades is possible, then we have no right to be at a rally and be short of the Militant, Perspectiva Mundial, New International, and other published materials by Pathfinder. Because if we miss the era and the challenge then we will miss the opportunity to attract young and militant fighters to the perspective of world revolution. And lastly, the Militant Labor Forum has to start exactly on time as we go to work on time. Militant workers who become interested in revolutionary ideas and want to participate and taste the water for becoming a proletarian-disciplined revolutionary love to see their meetings on time.
As someone who has followed and read the Militant for two decades, and has truly believed in the general line of this irreplaceable Marxist newspaper I really do appreciate if the ones who proofread the paper be more patient and cautious. Of course you'll understand that this comment is to make my beloved paper more attractive to its readers even from a technical point of view. And as the Cubans say, "Yes, we can do it."
Some of my Spanish-speaking co-workers are already thinking of participating at the December 10 rally in New York to support the cause of the Puerto Ricans for self determination and their independence. I would appreciate if you run something in the Militant/Perspective Mundial so we could post them on the union boards.
Let's get the Militant and New International and other revolutionary literature out, NOW!
Morteza Gorgazadeh
Downsvies, Ontario
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