Vol. 76/No. 37      October 15, 2012

Members of the Revolutionary Socialist Alliance, a newly formed campus club at the university, joined with Socialist Workers Party campaign supporters at a literature table in the Student Union selling the Militant and urging people to come to the first meeting of their group where the featured speaker was Steve Warshell, SWP candidate for Congress in the 18th District from Houston.

Pan American is known for an overwhelmingly working-class student body. More than 85 percent are Mexican or Chicano and over 80 percent receive financial aid.

“We aren’t interested in reforming a capitalist system, we are interested in replacing it completely,” Roxanne Carrion, one of the central organizers of the event, told the Militant. “Our goal is to spark political discussion on campus that’s outside of the two-party system.”

Carrion explained that she was introduced to the Militant by UTPA instructor David Anshen, who had taken a small bundle to show around at Occupy McAllen actions.

“I liked the information inside and I identified with the working class point of view, so I subscribed and started to show it around to friends of mine involved in a socialist discussion group,” Carrion said. “When we formed the club two weeks ago, we contacted the SWP for a speaker to give a revolutionary viewpoint.”

“The lives of hundreds of millions worldwide are being devastated by a crisis the likes of which we have never seen before,” Warshell told the meeting.

“Capitalism is functioning the only way it can; the crisis is a product of its natural and lawful workings,” he added.

The socialist candidate outlined the gains of the Cuban Revolution and the U.S. government frame-up of the Cuban Five. “The railroading of the Cuban Five was one more attempt by the U.S. billionaire class to punish revolutionary Cuba for having the audacity to make a socialist revolution and set an example for working people worldwide fighting against exploitation and oppression.”

The socialist candidate urged everyone to join in explaining how defending the five is also a defense of democratic rights here in the United States. “Winning their freedom will be a victory for all working people,” he said.

Some 45 people packed into the room Sept. 25, and more stood in the hallway to hear the talk and participate in the discussion, which continued for three hours until the building closed.

A literature table staffed by students and supporters of the Socialist Workers Party campaign sold 11 subscriptions to the Militant, along with three copies of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power; three copies of The Cuban Five: Who They Are, Why They Were Framed, Why They Should Be Free; two copies of Women in Cuba: The Making of a Revolution Within the Revolution; and three copies of The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning.

Students and campaigners met to continue the discussion until midnight at a nearby restaurant. A number of them decided to take extra copies of the Militant and a package of sub cards to win new readers.
 
 
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