However, in advancing nuclear power over oil and gas as a more productive, less wasteful, and less polluting source of energy, the editorial signals a shift by the Militant from its previous position on the question of nuclear energy itself. For example, I note in its Feb. 12, 2001, editorial, under the title “No to nuclear power,” the paper argued, “nuclear power is not a straightforward alternative to oil, coal, and other methods of power generation. It is inherently dangerous.” Recent advances in nuclear production technology which have greatly reduced radiation and pollution dangers, while acknowledged in the editorial, did not sway it from this unqualified rejection.

If the Militant now argues for nuclear power as a positive good in the struggle to raise humanity out of darkness, rather than purely a weapon of defense imposed by necessity (in regard to Cuba’s construction of its nuclear power plant, for example), what caused it to change its mind?

Peter Anestos
San Francisco, California
 
 
1965 Dominican revolt
I recently got a copy of the book, The Dominican Crisis: The 1965 Constitutionalist Revolt and American Intervention. The author is Piero Gleijeses. The Militant recently ran a number of excerpts from his book, Conflicting Missions.

The Dominican Crisis was originally published in French in 1973. Then an expanded version was published in English in 1978. Similar to his other work, Gleijeses interviews a large number of the actors in the events from the assassination of the dictator Trujillo in 1961; the election of the bourgeois nationalist Juan Bosch to the presidency in 1963; his overthrow nine months later; the 1965 constitutionalist revolt centered within the military; the desertion (sometimes temporary) of all leadership as masses of rank-and-file soldiers, workers and peasants fought in the streets of Santo Domingo; Francisco Caamaño’s conversion from reluctant constitutionalist to anti-imperialist fighter, inspired by those same masses; and U.S. military intervention against the “infelices,” as the toilers were called.

He gives a detailed accounting of all the political parties at each stage and quotes extensively from U.S. embassy communications with top government officials in Washington during the crisis.

With Washington’s current campaign against the Chávez government in Venezuela and the upcoming fortieth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic, The Dominican Crisis contains a lot of important lessons. The book is out of print, but well worth the search for used copies.

Candace Wagner
Bronx, New York
 
 
Small farmers in Canada
The June 19 edition of the Montreal daily Le Devoir reported on a special convention of the Union des producteurs agricoles, the main organization of farmers, both large and small, in Québec. It gave a glimpse of the plight facing farmers.

In 1992 Québec farms declared Can$80 of debt for every $100 of revenue; in 2002, it was $142 of debt for the same $100 of revenue.

The farmers are squeezed between the corporations that charge them high prices for their supplies and those, sometimes the same capitalists, that pay farmers low prices for their produce.

Last January, it cost 73 cents to produce a liter of milk that sold for 60 cents. It cost $4.13 to produce a kilo of beef that the farmer sold for only $2.89. Le Devoir noted a common expression among farmers: “We produce at the retail price and sell at the wholesale price.” Companies like Better Beef and Cargill have reaped huge profits from the U.S. “mad-cow” embargo on Canadian beef. Taking advantage of the glutted Canadian market these corporations “dramatically lowered” the prices paid to farmers for cattle while the price of beef in stores remained as high as ever.

Across Canada, the approximately 250,000 farms had a total negative revenue of 312 million dollars.

Al Cappe
Montreal, Quebec

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people.

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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