Free Rafael Taveras

Scan page 14

The following letter from the delegations of the Dominican Left Front (FID) and the Socialist Bloc (BS) in Europe is reprinted from the Sept. 17 International ViewThree days previously the military high command of the country had accused the left of conspiring against the security of the state, and having received funds from Libya and North Korea for this purpose. These serious accusations, totally unfounded, put into danger the life of the revolutionary leader Fafa Taveras and mark the start of a new wave of repression against leaders of the popular moveThe repression, which has already brought about more than 100 deaths, 500 wounded, and 4000 imprisonments, remains the only official response to the rise in protests against the starvation policy imposed by the government on the recommenPeriodico La Noticia, Julio Vernes 14, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. in Ireland (which does not have a youth group) sent three members and two observers. One representative came from each of the sections in the Antilles, Bolivia, Iceland, Quebec, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Israel, and Chile.

Coming from the United States were two members of Socialist Action, as well as two members of the Young Socialist Alliance, the youth group associated with the Socialist Workers Party.

The well-organized program of the camp included a general presentation each morning on a selected topic. One workshop, for instance, covered the intensified effect of the world economic crisis on youth. In the afternoon, smaller groups gathered for further discussion on such subjects as the reactions among youth to the economic crisis, the Abra Quinn, a member of Socialist Action who graduated from high school last June, represented Socialist Action at the Fourth International Youth Camp. point.

Rafael Taveras, known as Fafa, an FID leader and Socialist Bloc, was arrested on the evening of Aug. 29.

ment.

dation of the International Monetary Fund.

Given the seriousness of the charges made public opinion to demand that Fafa Taveras respected in the Dominican Republic.

Send protest telegrams to:

Salvador Jorge Blanco, President Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Send a copy to: by the government, we call on world be set free and that human rights be Republic, Nacional,

Scan page 15

Here today, gone Monday Ever have a blue Monday when nothing seems to work? Employees showed up at a Detroit warehouse one morning and found that nobody could work! Their company had moved over the weekend to Indiana. "We regret we could not give the employees prior notice,, said Carl Patterson, president of Slater-Standard Wallcovering, Inc. He emphasized that the move was made clandestinely because of "concern for the security of our computer sysOut of the sweet goodness of their hearts U.S. corporations owning factories in Mexico have begun "to pay workers above the Mexican minimum wage of $4.80 a day,' the Wall Street Journal reports with some astonishment. "One company is considering giving watches to workers with good attendance and longevity records. Another is giving out Michael Jackson albums."

High school graduate and former cheerleader Ronald Reagan led his own pep rally last month before a group of seventh graders in Washington, D.C. Reagan advised the youngsters not to worry about the lack of modern facilities at their inner city school. "I attended six elementary schools myself, said Reagan, who grew up to become a top-of-the-line drummer for Boraxo soap. "In So what if Reagan chops wood and invades Grenada and wears a cowboy hat and talks dirty to the Russians? "On male issues Mondale is solid" insists Democratic Party campaign advisor Robert Strauss. 'Mondale is sort of a man's man... He likes to sit around and have a drink in the evening with his shoes off and a Pope John Paul II wound up his crusade for responsible sex education last month with a stinging rebuke to Catholics who plan to limit the size of their families. His Holiness asserted that amorous couples often display "an ignorance of the theology of the body, of the magnificent plan of God for conjugal union."

Of course, a person might speculate about the magnificent for feeding and caring for additional children. We expect the can will send the answer in a plain brown wrapper.

If Proposition 41 passes this Nov. 6, child abuse will become legal in the state of California. Income support (AFDC) for an unemployed mother and her two children will plummet from the current $555 per month to $330 or even less. For many children this will mean a severe cut in their food supply. AFDC families are already living below the poverty level. Deliberate starvation of children certainly comes under the heading of child abuse.

Other effects of Proposition 41, if it passes, will be the following: Medi-cal cuts by more than one-third, affecting 700,000 elderly, blind, and disabled people; foster care cut by one-half, affecting 27,000 abused and neglected children; and support for already needy families cut by one-half, bringing deprivation and hunger to 1 million children who are already at the bottom of the What a social system! The rich wallow like pigs in while ballot initiatives like Proposition 41 attempt to dren and old people into an ever-increasing condition Homeless roam our streets looking for a place to lay their heads. Little children wear door keys around their necks. Politicians give parties costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, such as the ones thrown by Willie Brown and San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein during the Democratic Party convention.

The $500,000 that went into just these two parties could have built childcare centers. It could have increased the food supply for the elderly. It could have been used for shelters for our homeless. Callous politicians tend to fiddle while our cities burn. We should Proposition 41 is disaster on the march. Stop it! Join Californians Against Prop. 41, 2936 McClure Street, Oakland, CA, 94609.

Socialist Action candidate for. San Francisco Board of Supervisors bipartisan austerity drive the UUILAIU JULIAISe ALUUN .V • DU BUX 411 Calneurai rinance • иус пиити TEsE i "gIna NULIaUSI ALUUI Inside out..

tem." none of them was there a library." cigar in his mouth.

As long as there's a strong woman right? economic heap.

and degradation. remind them of what happened to Nero.

Call (415) 893-0945.

sylera Werns SOCIALSE WHERE TO FIND US ACTION Chicago Socialist Action Boston Socialist Action P.O. Box 1046 GMF Chicago, IL 60614 Boston, MA 02205 (312) 248-1094 Ruffaln Snrialict Actinn DA Dn• 2022 P.O. Box 275 Cincinnati, OH 45201 Buffalo, N.Y. 14207 (513) 242-9043 around to pick up plan Vatitheir wealth reduce chilof hardship •0a1 • ••• Cleveland Socialist Action P.O. Box 6151 Cleveland, OH 44101 (216) 429-2167 Houston Socialist Action University of Houston Box 551, 4800 Calhoun Box 80 B 2520 N. Linco Houston, TX 77004 (713) 643-2030 Los Angeles Socialist Action Cincinnati Socialist Action 18653 Ventura Blvd Dau 917 Los Angeles, CA 91356 (213) 343-4511 A clarification Dear Editor, I am outraged by the appearance of a letter in the September issue of Socialist Action written by • lt Zaslow. Those responsible for publishing this letter without first sending me a copy of it for my comments made a mistake.

The Zaslow letter distorts Cochran's position on the necessity of building a revolutionary party here in the United States. In April 1953, the time from which Zaslow quotes, some seven months before Cochran and his associates were suspended from the Socialist Workers Party, he could hardly have received a hearing from the membership without advocating the building of a party.

By the medium of transference, Zaslow has attributed to Cochran what was probably his own position, that is, of wanting more of a party-like structure, a position that ultimately led to a split between those who agreed with Cochran and those who agreed with Zaslow.

To settle this I will give a brief quote from Cannon taken from his book, "Speeches to the Party,' (Pathfinder Press, New York, 1973, p.179). Here is what Cannon said in summing up the nature of the Cochran group:

"Nobody can imagine these people even daring to contemplate the idea of launching a new party and an agitational paper. First of all, they don't believe in their own capacity to build a party. Second, they don't believe in the capacity of anyone to build a party. And in the third place, they don't believe in a revolutionary vanguard party. So they are not going to confront us with a rival party claiming to be the Trotskyist vanguard and the nucleus of the future mass party of the revolution."

Milton Alvin Los Angeles Charles Post's "Lesser evil won't work this time either" (September Socialist Action) provides good reasons for why workers shouldn't support either Democrats or Republicans this November. The problem with the article, the way I see it, is that it doesn't have good suggestions for what workers can do People who work for a living need their own political party. How else can workers hope to fight back against the Michigan Socialist Action P.O. Box 4523 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Minneapolis Socialist Actio P.O. Box 14087 Dinkytown Station Minneapolis, MN 55414 New York Socialist Action P.O. Box 20209 Nathadunl Dinanar 693 Columbus Ave New York, NY 10025 ruling rich are leveling against us through their government?

The labor unions need to organize their own party that can speak for all workers in the elections. A labor party would give the unions the leverage they need to unity and fight for the working class as a whole.

The labor unions have the organization, the membership, the size, and the resources to realistically launch an independent political party. Labor could start right now by using the millions of dollars of COPE (Committee on Political Education) funds to help finance a labor party. Such a party is long overdue in American politics.

A positive electoral action workers can take in this election is to vote for the Socialist Workers Party campaign of Mel Mason for President and Andrea Gonzalez for Vice President. These socialists are running against both capitalist parties, against U.S. intervention in Central America, for the rights of women, for Black liberation struggles and minority rights, and for the idea of a labor party.

Carole Seligman San Francisco Copper miners Dear Editor, My trip CliftonMorenci, Ariz., over the Labor Day weekend was tiring but exciting. The trip was arranged by the Copper Miners' Support Committee. Forty-seven of us took off on Saturday night and arrived at Clifton at 10 a.m. on Sunday. On the trip down, music filled the bus; union songs and radical Latino songs.

We found Clifton to be an old town with narrow streets and broken windows that no one bothered to repair. We went straight to the Union Hall, where there was real excitement at our arrival. Miners came in to greet us. The solidarity of these miners Phoenix Socialist Action P.O. Box 5161 Phoenix, AZ 85010 (602) 894-0055 Pittsburgh Socialist Action P.O. Box 10769 Pittsburgh, PA 15203 Puast Sound Sorialist Artion P.O. Box 2903 Olympia, WA 98507 SOCIALIST ACTION after 15 months of struggle amazed us.

In the afternoon, there was a Labor Day celebration. I was one of the speakers. But more important were the speeches of one miner after another expressing the solidarity of miners whose families had worked in the mines for generations. Our busload just added to the celebration of solidarity of these magnificent fighters.

I asked a leader's wife how they could remain so solid after such a long struggle. She took me to the graveyard and pointed to the monuments: "Our fathers worked the mines. They are buried here. Here are the graves of our grandparents, and in many cases, our great-grandparents. This is our land."

She then took us to the pit. It must be three-fourths of a mile across and about one-half mile deep. What a rape of the land! The multinational corporation takes no responsibility for what it has done to this mountain land.

While there is a great feeling of solidarity in Clifton, there is also great tension. There is a real line between the scabs and the townspeople. The scabs are primarily imports from other areas, and the anger boils over into stores, schools, churches.

The town is ringed by D.P.S. (state cops) cars. Hundreds ring the town. Here is a classic example of a "liberal" Democratic governor, whose velvet glove covers an iron fist. None of the so-called liberals like Rep. Morris Udall have helped the miners. They offer sympathy in words while remaining "neutral."

Hatred for the D.P.S. is intense. : It's interesting that wherever a group of striking miners gathers, the favorite cry is "Union! Union! Union!"

Dave Cooper Los Angeles We welcome letters from our readers. Please keep them brief. Where necessary they will be abridged.

San Francisco Socialist Action 3435 Army Street, Rm. 308 San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 821-0458 Washington Socialist Action P.O. Box 3467 Washington, D.C. 20010 (202) 232-1481 West Viroinia Sonialict Antinu P.O. Box 701 Fairmont, WV 26555-0701 OCTOBER 1984

----- pull-quotes -----

Calif. proposition 41 cuts welfare to the poor