New socialist group in South Africa,

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Maintain sanctions until apartheid is abolished!

S. African students protest police attacks. Mass revolt forced regime to free STop KILLING -CK VOL. 8, No. 7 Mandela Poland See pp. 6-7.

JULY 1990 50 CENTS From the streets of Harlem to the Oakland Coliseum, people gathered by the hundreds of thousands to greet Nelson Mandela, deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC). This massive turnout reflects the strong determination of people in this country to back Mandela's call to maintain full sanctions against South Africa until apartheid has been abolished.

African Americans, in particular, have See page I1.

been inspired by Mandela's years of struggle. They link the fight against apartheid by millions of Black South Africans with the fight against racism in the United States. Many have compared Mandela to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Sensing Mandela's immense popularity, the representatives of the ruling rich-the Democratic and Republican politicians— lined up to be photographed shaking his hand. The ANC leader was given a standing ovation at the Capitol; in the last 200 years, he was only the second private citizen ever to address a joint session of Congress.

President Bush wined and dined him at the White House, top corporate executives sat down with Mandela at the World Trade Center, and even the Empire State Building was lit up with the colors of the ANC.

What a change! Only two years ago, the ANC was on the U.S. State Department's list of "terrorist organizations"-the only such organization in Africa. And a new president, George Bush, was elected who was once the head of the CIA, the U.S. spy outfit that fingered ANC leader Nelson Mandela and turned him over to the South African security forces in 1962.

What accounts for this turnabout? Have the same people who ordered the invasion of Panama that killed thousands and violated a nation's sovereignty had a change of heart? Have the people who ordered the bloody invasion of Grenada or armed the Nicaraguan contras changed their stripes? Obviously not.

Writing on the wall The U.S. ruling class has simply read the writing on the wall. The continued mobilizations of millions of Black South African workers throughout the 1980s raised the specter of revolution.

The white minority regime and its international allies realized that apartheid has outlived its usefulness and created a political situation so explosive that capitalist rule itself is in danger. So they opted for a "negotiated settlement" that would ensure a smooth transition to a stable, capitalist post-apartheid South Africa.

By promoting Mandela, and basking in the South African hero's much-deserved limelight, U.S. policymakers are simply saying, "We want to have a say in the future of South Africa. Help us secure a negotiated solution in South Africa that meets our interests and you can count on us for support."

But what would such a negotiated solution look like? The contours of the ruling-class (continued on page 3, in “Mark Curtis Defense Committee target of second frame-up trial”)