Cuba is a socialist country where working people are in power. In Venezuela, a revolution is underway within a capitalist system, with tenuous changes so far but with possibilities for radicalization that would benefit the worst off social classes. The two countries have united in this project, initiating what in the future will become the norm for relations between the peoples of the Americas, who are so desperate because of the neoliberalism imposed by the United States and the plunder by the multinationals they have been victims of.

ALBA, which should bury the moribund Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, guarantees mutual development and equality of benefits and generalizes aid to other countries in such important areas as eliminating illiteracy and implementing a universal health-care plan.

The essence of this alternative is to guarantee the most beneficial and complementary production plan, allocation of resources, expansion of employment, access to markets, sustainable development, etc. in mutual solidarity that takes advantage of the productive potential of both countries.

Implementation of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas could become the motor force that would propel the development of our impoverished nations in the Americas and lead to improvements for the working classes that are so necessary.

José Martínez
Miami, Florida  
 
Socialists visit coal mines
A coal team of socialist workers from Pittsburgh and Boston spent two days in West Virginia at the end of December.

Highlights of the team’s efforts were sales of the Militant at mine portals at mines organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), including the Pine Ridge mine in Prenter, owned by Peabody Coal; the Hobet mine near Danville, owned by Arch Coal; and the Rockspring mine owned by Foundation Coal in Wayne County.

At the Rockspring mine, workers, many in their 20s and 30s, voted for the UMWA over a year ago, but the election results are still being appealed before the National Labor Relations Board.

The team also visited UMWA pickets across from the Cannelton mine and processing plant, owned by Horizon Coal until the company went bankrupt last year and closed the operation. Now coal giant Massey Energy, which has to date kept the union out of all of its mining operations, has bought the mine and plant and is bringing it back into production as a nonunion operation. The UMWA pickets are part of an effort to get the workers’ jobs back and keep their union.

The socialists sold a total of 34 copies of the Militant during the trip, which included a sale at a Wal-Mart in Logan.

Maggie Trowe
Boston, Massachusetts  
 
Tsunami and Cuba
In the tsunami following the earthquake off Indonesia, over 30,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka 1 hour and 55 minutes after the quake. In Somalia, a full 7 hours and 30 minutes after the quake, at least 110 were killed.

In a socialist world, many of these people would have survived. As soon as the quake was registered, all attention would have been given to communication about the dangers in beach areas, using helicopters, if necessary, to inform and evacuate people, even in remote areas of the globe.

In the hurricanes last summer in the Caribbean and the eastern United States, hundreds were killed. The island of Cuba sustained the full force of the storms, yet suffered virtually no fatalities. In even unplanned natural disasters, only a socialist society can respond in the interests of humanity.

Allan Grady
West St. Paul, Minnesota

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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