Socialist delegation to tour Soviet Union
1989 1989-03Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 11 →
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meetings...is largely in the hands of district election commissions that have been set up in almost complete secrecy." (New York Times, Jan. 23, 1989)
Elections-Gorbachev style The election process now coming to an end caps a four-year campaign to revamp the antiquated command style of government. In its wake, it has created limited openings for Soviet citizens to speak more freely and organize more openly than at any time in decades.
Not waiting for the sacrosanct formality of official recognition, thousands of political, social, and cultural clubs have recently sprung up all over the Soviet Union. Pravda reports that 30,000 of these informal associations exist.
Many of these are dissident working-class and socialist groups searching to discover and reclaim the original political and social goals of the 1917 Russian Revolution. The founding principle of the revolutionary state, long ago repudiated by the corrupt Stalinist apparatus, was the achievement of mass participation in all aspects of government.
In their efforts to find their way to genuine MARCH 1989 Walnut Publishing Co., in conjunction with Socialist Action, is sponsoring a 10day tour to the Soviet Union by a delegation of American socialists.
The delegation will discuss the political and economic changes in that country with leading dissidents, anti-Stalinist historians, victims of Stalin's purges, and many others.
Delegation participants are Susan Weissman, noted Sovietologist and radio host of KPFK (Los Angeles) "Portraits of the U.S.S.R."; Paul Siegel, co-chair of the U.S. Moscow Trials Campaign Committee and author of several books including "The Meek and the Militant: Religion and Power Across the World"; Carl Finamore, a member of the National Committee of Socialist Action and staff director for the San Francisco Bay Area Mobilization for Peace, Jobs and Justice; and Ralph Schoenman, past Executive Director of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation and author of numerous books incluling "The Hidden History of Zionism."
The delegation will also present a letter to the Soviet government on behalf of Esteban Volkov, Leon Trotsky's grandson, and his daughters.
Future issues of Socialist Action will report on the results of this important tour.
A 12-city national speaking tour is also planned for the fall.. U.S. tour speakers Will also include Pierre Broué, director of the Leon Trotsky Institute in France, and Esteban Volkov, Leon Trotsky's grandson.
Tour organizers estimate that the total cost of the Soviet trip and U.S. tour will be over $30,000. Funds are urgently needed to meet the tour's objectives. Please send contributions—large or small-to help defray costs. Make checks payable to Walnut Publishing Co. and send to 3435 Army St., Rm. 308, San Francisco, CA 94110.