Coalition calls April 13 national antiwar actions

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Nicaragua etections. See_pp. 7-9 this Sight will WASHINGTON, D.C.-A call for national demonstrations on April 13, 1985, against U.S. intervention in Central America was issued here on Oct. 23 by a broad range of peace, religious, and antiwar organizations. The demonstrations are being planned for Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver.

Other activities being organized in conjunction with the April 13 demonstrations include teach-ins at schools and campuses around the country on April 12 and local lobbying during the week prior to April 13.

In addition, in Washington, D.C., there will be a candlelight vigil that will encircle the White House in the evening after the demonstration. On Sunday, April 14, religious groups are planning inter-faith services for peace in Central America. Finally, on April 15, "a day of çitizen protest" will occur, which will include non-violent civil disobedience and lobbying.

The Oct. 23 meeting endorsed the three major themes for the demonstrations agreed upon by an initial meeting of these groups last Sept. 25. These are "No U.S. intervention in Central America and the Caribbean," "Money for jobs, not for war, and "No nuclear weapons."

The meeting also approved a motion to add a fourth theme to the demonstration, calling for "opposition to U.S. support to apartheid in South Africa."

A national call for mobilization is being written which will incorporate the main demands adopted.

The groups present at the Oct. 23 meeting included the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Mobilization for Survival, American Friends Service Committee, SANE, U.S. Peace Council, Grey Panthers, National Freeze Campaign, Vote Peace Campaign, Reform Church, United Church of Christ, and various Nicaraguan and Guatemalan solidarity groups. The coalition will select a name for itself at its next meeting on Nov. 29 in Washington, D.C.

Representatives from the Emergency National Conference Against U.S.

VUIAR ES "Voting is a duty; Choosing is a right!"

Intervention in Central America and the Caribbean, which initiated the call for national April demonstrations at a conference in Cleveland on Sept. 14-16, attended the meeting to present their ideas on broadening the coalition structure beyond the initial groups in attendance.

Build local coalitions

A report by one of the Emergency National Conference representatives on coalition building in San Francisco was well received. Several national groups volunteered to contact local San Francisco Bay Area affiliates about joining with the initial efforts taken by Al Lannon, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 6, to build a broad coalition for the San Francisco demonstration.

Yet, unfortunately, some problems remain. The meeting did approve a procedure for involving other national groups in its structure. But the majority sentiment was to keep the steering committee small. In fact, the People's Anti-DERELHU:

Roberta Lichtman/Vision Fotos February rally in Masaya, Nicaragua.

war Mobilization (PAM), a coalition that played a central role in the May 3, 1981, demonstration of 100,000 people in Washington, D.C., was denied a spot on the steering committee.

Jim Lafferty, a representative of the Emergency National Conference, spoke against excluding PAM or any other organization that supported the demands of the call. He stressed the need for a broad, independent, and non-exclusionary movement.

Suzanne Kelly, a staff representative and past president of the Virginia Education Association, proposed that each local coalition have one spot on the national steering committee. But this proposal was tabled.

Socialist Action calls on its readers and supporters to help build local coalitions for the April 13 demonstrations. They offer an opportunity for hundreds of thousands of people to express their opposition in the streets to the U.S. war in Central America in the most powerful and effective way. All out for April 13!