pdf - The Militant

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THE
MILITANT
In Reply to Castro's
A tta c k on "Trotskyism"
Published in the Interest of the Working People
— See page 4 —
V o l. 30 - No. 5
M onday, J a n u a ry 31, 1966
P rice 10c
D. A. Presents Case
In Malcolm X Trial
B y H e rm a n P o rte r
N E W Y O R K , Jan. 25 — The
tr ia l o f the three men accused of
m u rd e rin g M alco lm X began w ith
th e opening statem ent b y the pros­
ecution, presented to the ju r y on
Jan. 21. V in ce n t J. D erm ody, the
assistant
d is tric t
a tto rn e y
in
charge o f the prosecution, e x p la in ­
ed th a t an opening statem ent in
w h ic h the prosecutor states w h a t
he expects to prove in the case is
re q u ire d b y la w . A sum m ary of
D erm ody’s statem ent fo llo w s:
In 1952 M alco lm X became a
m em ber o f the B la ck M uslim s,
w h ic h was un d e r the leadership o f
E lija h M uham m ad. M alco lm X be­
came a m in is te r and established
Mosque No. 7 in H arlem . On Nov.
23, 1963 M a lco lm X was suspended
fro m his duties as a m in is te r and
rem ained suspended thereafter.
In M a rch 1964 M alco lm X broke
aw ay fro m the B la ck M uslim s and
form ed his ow n organization. I t
was kn o w n as the O rganization of
A fro-A m erican U n ity and also as
the M u s lim Mosque Incorporated,
and had its headquarters at the
H o te l Theresa. H e attracted m any
people in c lu d in g B la ck M uslim s.
He h e ld w e e kly rallies, in v a ria b ly
at the A udubon B allroom .
Describes Events
On Feb. 21, 1965 a t about 3 p.m.
M a lcolm X started to address an
audience o f about 200 people at
the A udubon. The three defen­
dants, a ll active mem bers o f the
B lack M uslim s, w ere in the au­
d ito riu m . Talm adge H a ye r (also
kno w n as Thomas H agan) and
N orm an (3 X ) B u tle r w ere seated
together, each w ith an autom atic
pistol. Thomas (1 5X ) Johnson
was seated alone, w ith a shotgun.
B y a prearranged plan, H a ye r
and B u tle r created a disturbance.
H ayer shouted about B u tle r t r y ­
ing to p ic k his pocket. A t th is
p o in t Johnson approached the
stage and fire d p o in t b la n k at
M a lcolm X . In the confusion,
H ayer and B u tle r rushed to w a rd
the stage and each fire d shots in to
the prone body o f M a lco lm X .
Johnson dropped the shotgun on
the flo o r and slipped away. H ayer
and B u tle r w ere pursued b y sev-
LBJ Steps Up Drive
Against Viet Forces
B y D ick Roberts
M a lc o lm X
eral people b u t B u tle r managed
to escape. H a ye r was shot in the
leg; he was caught and beaten.
Police rescued him .
A n autopsy showed th a t M a l­
colm X died o f pellets fro m a
shotgun, and bullets fro m a .45
ca lib e r autom atic and a 9 m m
autom atic. Police recovered the
weapons and ballistics experts w ill
te s tify th a t th e y w ere the ones
used to k i l l M a lco lm X .
B u tle r was arrested Feb. 25,
1965, and Johnson was arrested
M arch 3.
*
*
*
The defense attorneys have the
option o f also m a kin g an opening
statement. O n ly P eter L . F. Sab­
batino, H a y e r’s la w y e r, chose to
do so. In b rie f, Sabbatino said
th a t he w o u ld show the fo llo w in g :
H a ye r was arrested on Feb. 21
and held incom m unicado fo r al­
most three weeks. He was n o t a r­
raigned o r b ro u g h t in to a co u rt
o f la w fo r several weeks. He was
not allow ed to see an a tto rn e y o r
(C ontinued on Page 3)
JA N . 25 — In the m id st o f w h a t
gives a ll appearances o f being a
s p lit in the ru lin g class o ver how
best to prosecute the w a r in South­
east Asia, one p o in t has emerged
over w h ic h there is absolutely no
disagreement in W ashington — to
continue th e ir campaign to destroy
the forces o f the N a tio n al L ib e ra ­
tio n F ro n t o f south V ie tn a m in the
shortest possible tim e, and to
b u ild up an in v in c ib le stronghold
o f U. S. m ilita r y bases.
U n d e r the cover o f the so-called
peace offensive, U. S. troops have
been p o u rin g in to south V ietnam
b y the thousands, b rin g in g the
to ta l land forces to over 190,000.
A t the same tim e, saturation
bom bing o f the countryside has
continued w ith o u t le t-u p , and
plans are un d e rw a y to increase
the num ber o f B -52’s, w h ic h have
been fly in g fro m Guam to targets
near Cambodia every day since
the Christm as truce.
Congress is about to pass a $4
b illio n supplem ental a p propria­
tions b ill to finance the w a r
th ro u g h June. Defense Secretary
M cN am ara announced on Jan. 17
th a t the Defense D epartm ent
w o u ld seek a new increase o f
113,000 men in the strength o f the
arm ed forces. This increase, over
and above th a t sought last sum­
mer, w ill b rin g the to ta l m ilita ry
strength up to 3,093,000 m ilita ry
personnel and 1,093,000 civilia n s.
M cN am ara’s request fo llo w e d by
eig h t days the statem ent fro m the
d ire c to r o f the Selective Service
System, L t. Gen. L e w is B. H e rshey,. th a t plans fo r n e x t year’s
d ra ft w o u ld p ro b a b ly n o t exceed
those o f the K orean W ar. The
highest d ra ft in 1965 was a lit tle
over 40,000. The K orean W a r level
registered m o n th ly d ra ft calls as
h igh as 80,000.
T he present designs o f W ashing­
ton in south V ie tn a m w ere sum­
med up in one sentence b y the
U . S. M A R IN E stands guard on w om en, c h ild ren and o ld people
in south V ie tn a m villag e. W ashington is escalating w a r against
south Vietnam ese.
C hairm an o f the J o in t Chiefs of
S taff, G eneral E a rl G. Wheeler,
te s tify in g before a congressional
h earing Jan. 22: “ O u r objective
out there,” W heeler stated, “ —
and th is is G eneral W estm ore­
land’s strategy — is to defeat, to ­
gether w ith the Vietnam ese fo r­
ces, the m a in -fo rce V ietcong units
and the N o rth Vietnam ese forces
th a t have been introduced.”
The disagreement in W ashing­
ton, w h ich was b ro u g h t to a head
Jan. 24 by Senator J.W . F u llb rig h t’s
a tta ck on the a d m in istra tio n ’s
V ie tna m policy, centers on the
question o f w heth er to resume the
bom bing o f n o rth V ietnam , and to
appear to leave open the door fo r
negotiations w ith H anoi, o r w he­
th e r to drop the w hole “ peace o f­
fensive” and re-escalate the w a r
against n o rth V ie tnam im m ediate­
ly. There is no disagreem ent over
the decision o f in d e fin ite occupa­
tio n and continued m ilita r y b u ild ­
up in south V ietnam .
Since Jan. 21, Johnson and his
chie f appointees have been in the
process o f easing o u t o f the “ peace
offensive” w ith about the same
am ount o f concern fo r tr u th th a t
they displayed in opening th e o f­
fensive a m outh ago — none w h a t­
soever. The P resident h im se lf set
the tone o f th e propaganda he
wants to see used in a n o t too
(Continued on Page 2)
Answer to the " Peace Offensive" — Bring the GI’s Home!
B y F re d Halstead
One effe ct o f the so-called
“ peace offensive” has been the
spreading o f the illu s io n th a t the
U. S. escalation o f the w a r has
been ha lted a t least te m p o ra rily
by the suspension o f the bom bing
in n o rth V ietnam . B u t th is is an
e n tire ly false illu sio n .
Suspension o f the re g u la r bom b­
in g o f n o rth V ie tn a m is n o t the
same as de-escalation o f the w ar.
I t is nothing m ore than suspension
o f the bom bing o f n o rth V ietnam .
F o r th e a n tiw a r m ovem ent in
the U. S. to adopt an a ttitu d e o f
assuming th a t unless and u n til the
bom bing o f n o rth V ie tn a m re ­
sumes, the escalation o f the w a r
has n o t resumed, w o u ld be dan­
gerous fo lly . The unassailable facts
are th a t under the cover o f a
smokescreen propaganda campaign
about “ negotiations,” the U. S. has
proceeded w ith a gigantic escala­
tio n w h ich already has 190,000
U. S. troops in south V ie tn a m and
the preparations proceeding fo r
sending 113,000 more.
In spite o f these facts, there has
been som ething o f a l u ll in the
a ctivitie s o f the a n tiw a r m ove­
m ent w ith in the U . S., due in p a rt
a t least to a w a it-and-see a ttitu d e
to w a rd the so-called “ peace o f­
fensive.” A w idespread m ix tu re o f
suspicion and hope has pre va ile d
w ith in the ranks o f th e a n tiw a r
m ovem ent in th is co u n try since
Christmas.
In th is s itu a tio n i t is the clear
d u ty o f the a n tiw a r movem ent,
and especially o f its p ro m in e n t
spokesmen and leaders, to expose
the falseness .of these hopes by
te llin g the tr u th about the escala­
tio n in the south, and to prepare
the m ovem ent to escalate its ow n
a ctivitie s in the most effe ctive pos­
sible way.
C le a rly the most e ffe ctive an­
sw er to the c u rre n t escalation is
the demand to b rin g the troops
home fro m V ie tn a m now. F o r th is
sim ple, easily understood, and
broadly p o p u la r demand hits, the
central problem rig h t on the head.
No am ount o f tw is tin g b y th e w a rmakers can get around i t th e w a y
th e y get around the demand fo r
“ negotiations” and even tu rn i t to
th e ir ow n advantage.
I t is also clear th a t as long as
U. S. troops re m a in in V ie tn a m
the self-determ ination o f the V ie t­
namese people is being violated.
No am ount o f d o u b le ta lk b y John­
son, Rusk, etc. w ill change th a t
fact. Even those w ith in the U.S.
pow er stru ctu re w ho advocate, a
m ore “ moderate” course in V ie t­
nam m a in ta in — along w ith
Johnson — th a t U. S. troops must
rem ain in south V ie tn a m u n til a
governm ent acceptable to the U.S.
is fir m ly established there. The
e d ito ria l in the Jan. 23 New York
Times, fo r example, speaks of
“ achieving a representative adm in­
is tra tio n in Saigon p rio r to A m e ri­
can w ith d ra w a l.” T h a t is, a gov­
e rnm ent determ ined b y the pres­
ence o f U. S. troops and represen­
ta tiv e o f U. S. interests.
There are no end o f commen­
tators and advisers these days
p o in tin g o u t th a t on the face o f it,
the statements b y W ashington and
H anoi and even the south V ie t­
namese N a tio n al L ib e ra tio n F ront,
are not v e ry fa r apart. T hey a ll
say they are fo r “ self-determ ina­
tio n ,” fo r the Geneva agreements,
etc. B u t a w o rld of differe nce re­
m ains: fo r the Vietnamese self-de­
te rm in a tio n means the w ith d ra w a l
o f fo re ig n troops, and fo r the U. S.
governm ent “ self-determ ination”
means leaving the U . S. troops
there.
I t is in this context th a t the
re p o rt b y Staughton L y n d and
Thomas Hayden on th e ir recent
tr ip to H anoi should be viewed.
As published in the Ja n u a ry is­
sue o f V iet Report, i t says: “ On
the one hand, as w e w ere to ld
over and over again, the N L F
and D R V [D em ocratic R epublic
o f V ie tn a m ] req uire, as a precon­
d itio n to negotiations, an unam ­
biguous decision b y the U nite d
States to w ith d ra w a ll its troops
fro m V ietnam . On th e oth e r hand,
they w o u ld seem to be prepared to
leave the U nited States consider­
able freedom in choosing how to
dem onstrate b y concrete steps th a t
th is decision has been made. E v­
e ry in d ic a tio n is th a t there is no
e x p lic it requirem e nt o f the ph ysi­
cal w ith d ra w a l o f a ll U n ite d States
troops p rio r to negotiations.”
A ssum ing th a t L y n d and Hayden
have here co rre ctly sensed the
Vietnamese position does this
mean th a t the a n tiw a r m ovem ent
in the U. S. should re fra in fro m
dem anding the im m ediate w ith ­
d ra w a l o f U. S. troops?
A b so lu te ly not. The Vietnamese
m ay feel i t necessary to seek an
end to the fig h tin g u nd er con­
ditions w h ich are short o f f u ll
(Continued on Page 2)
T H E M IL IT A N T
Page Two
Monday, January 31, 1966
... Drive to Crush Vietnamese
400 subway m otorm en w ere the
f ir s t members o f the T ra n sp o rt
W orkers U nion to hear a re p o rt on
the contract s till being negotiated
w ith the N ew Y o rk C ity T ra n s it
A u th o rity .
A lth o u g h the N ew Y o rk tra n s it
s trik e is o ver the T W U and the
T A are s till negotiating on how to
d ivid e
the
m oney
“ package”
agreed to.
O th e r tra n s it w orkers w ill p ro b ­
a b ly receive s im ila r b rie fin g s at
separate meetings instead o f hav­
in g the e n tire contract aired at a
general m em bership meeting.
F o llo w in g these b rie fin g s at
w h ic h no votes are taken, tra n s it
w o rkers w ill vote on the contract
v ia a m a il b allot.
*
“I n
a ve ry
*
*
fo rth rig h t fashion,
the 400 delegates to the recent
B.C. [B ritis h C o lum bia] Federa­
tio n o f La b o r convention took
issue w ith the top o ffic ia ls o f the
A F L -C IO fo r th e ir support o f the
P resident Johnson p o lic y in V ie t­
nam and the D om inican R epublic.
“ In the resolution w h ic h passed
unanim ously, th ey urged the E x­
ecutive C ouncil o f the CLC [C a­
nadian L a b o r Congress] to use
th e ir in flu e nce to dissuade the
A m erican leadership o f the A F L C IO fro m co n tin u in g th e ir dan­
gerous anti-social position. T hey
also proposed th a t a ll differences
between countries be re fe rre d to
the U n ite d N ations and con­
demned the use o f u n ila te ra l force
and u n ila te ra l in te rv e n tio n in the
a f f a i r e o f independent nations.”
Quoted fro m Dec.-Jan. On The
Level, m o n th ly paper o f V an­
couver, B.C. Local 452 Carpenters
U n io n and Local 1928 M illw o rk e rs
U nion.
*
A
grow ing
*
*
labor shortage re­
s u ltin g fro m increased w a r pro­
duction and stepped up d ra ft calls
Weekly Calendar
A D RATES
The r«t» for advertising in this col­
umn is 40 cants a line. Display ads are
$2 a column inch. There is a ten^ per
cent discount for regular advertisers.
Advertising must reach us by th e M on­
day prior to the date of publication.
C H IC A G O
IM M E D IA T E W IT H D R A W A L VS. NE­
G O T IA T IO N S . A socialist view o f the
debate in the antiwar movement. Lew
Jones,
national
committee
member,
Young Socialist Alliance. Friday, Feb. 4,
8 p.m., Debs Hall, Rm. 204, 302 S.
Canal. Ausp. Friday N igh t Socialist
Forum.
•
DETROIT
TH E DETROIT S C H O O L S . Panel dis­
cussion: Gwendolyn M allett, M ary Ellen
Riordan, Evelyn Sell. Fri., Feb. 4, 8 p.m.
Debs H all, 3737 W oodward. Ausp. Fri­
day N igh t Socialist Forum.
•
LOS ANGELES
THE W R ETC HE D O F THE EARTH:
How th e People of the Colonial W orld
Live and W h y They Must Revolt. Based
on the book by Franz Fanon. Speaker:
Theodore Edwards, KPFK socialist com­
mentator. Fri., Feb. 4, 8:30 p.m., 1702
E. 4th St. Ausp. M ilitan t Labor Forum.
is the topic o f research b y the
n e w ly created fe d e ra l M anpow er
Requirem ents Com m ittee. In a
p ilo t study o f M ilw aukee, Wis., i t
noted th a t the “ n o rm a l” s k ille d
la b o r force had been exhausted
and th a t u n skille d service w o rk ­
ers w o u ld have to be b ro u g h t in to
s k ille d jobs.
Im p lic it in the re p o rt was the
fe a r th a t th is change in jobs
w o u ld generate increasing pres­
sure fo r wage increases.
Despite th is increasing shortage,
the U.S. L a b o r D epartm ent re­
ports th a t unem ploym ent in Negro
com m unities such as W atts, H a r­
lem , and West O akland is “ dan­
gerously hig h .”
*
*
*
10,695 charges o f u n fa ir labor
practices w e re file d w ith the Na­
tio n a l L a b o r Relations B oard last
year. The N L R B says m ore 'th a n
70 percent o f the charges i t han­
dles in v o lv e ille g a l fir in g o f w o rk ­
ers engaged in u n io n organizing
campaigns.
A ccording to the Jan. 19 W all
Street Journal, th is is an in d ica ­
tio n o f g ro w in g company cam­
paigns to keep unions o u t o f th e ir
plants. One o f the p riv a te organi­
zations used b y the bosses in th e ir
anti-union campaigns is the A m e ri­
can
Association
of
In d u s tria l
Management. Included in its dis­
cussion meetings are ways “ to
com bat union organizing drives.”
Attendance a t these m eetings by
com pany executives has risen to
1,000 compared to some 400 in
1963.
The Journal reported on the
successful e ffo rts o f the C arpenter
Steel Co. to defeat an organizing
campaign b y the U n ite d Steel
W orkers in Reading, Pa. In the
tw o days p rio r to the election, the
com pany president gave seven
anti-union speeches at d iffe re n t
p la n t locations. “ In a d d itio n ,” said
the Journal, “ the p la n t’s 2,000-odd
w o rke rs w ere bombarded w ith
letters, b u lle tin board messages
and posters alleging a ll the ad­
vantages o f non-unionism .”
A n o th e r
anti-union
g im m ic k
used b y the Consolidated A lu ­
m in u m Co., Jackson. Tenn., was a
phonograph record o f a p la n t
manager’s voice w h ic h was dis­
trib u te d to w orkers fo r p la y in g in
the home. I t w arned w o rke rs not
to gam ble th e ir fu tu re on the
unions and give up “ o u r freedom
fo r the co n tro l o f un io n bosses.”
(Continued from Page 1)
c a re fu lly phrased re m a rk to re ­
porters w h ile cru isin g to In d e ­
pendence, Mo., in the P residential
a irp la n e Jan. 21.
“ I th in k every schoolboy knows
th a t peace is not u n ila te ra l,”
Johnson to ld the reporters aboard
the plane. “ I t takes m ore than one
to sign an agreement. I t seems
clear to a ll th a t w h a t is h o ld in g
up peace in the w o rld today is
not the U n ite d States,” the P resi­
dent continued. “ W hat is holding
back the peace is the m istaken
v ie w on the p a rt o f the aggressors
th a t w e are going to g ive up o u r
principles, th a t we m ay y ie ld to
pressure, o r abandon o u r allies,
o r fin a lly get tire d and get out.”
One th in g you have to a d m it
about Johnson’s grade-school in ­
te rp re ta tio n o f the w a r is th a t
there’s n o th in g ambiguous about it.
F irs t, you see, there’s the U nited
States in V ie tn a m and then there’s
the aggressor (H a n o i); second, any
agreem ent th a t the U. S. makes
m ust be between i t and the ag­
gressor; and th ird , the U. S. is go­
in g to stay p u t in V ie tn a m no
m a tte r w h a t the aggressor hopes
or thinks.
Spelled O u t
Just in case anyone missed the
point, however, Secretary o f State
Dean Rusk spelled i t o u t a lit tle
more d ip lo m a tic a lly in a W ash­
in g to n news conference about the
same tim e Johnson was headed
to M isso u ri to pay trib u te to his
o ld bu d d y H iro sh im a H a rry . Rusk
opened the news conference by
stating th a t there had been no
response fro m H anoi to the 29-day
“ peace” campaign.
Reporters pointed o u t th a t the
U N Secretary General, U Thant,
had indicated th a t i f the U. S.
w o u ld make a concrete proposal
a llo w in g the N ational L ib e ra tio n
F ro n t a place in the postw ar gov­
ernm ent o f south V ietnam , i t
w o u ld lead to actual negotiations.
Rush re plied:
Double T a lk
Local 301, In te rn a tio n a l U nion of
E le c tric a l W orkers w e n t on s trik e
against the G eneral E le ctric Co.
in Schenectady, N.Y., on Jan. 20.
The s trik e rs w ere protesting
against p oor w o rk in g conditions
and the suspension o f tw o w o rk ­
ers b y the company la st Novem ­
ber.
“ W ell, I th in k th a t o u r v ie w is
th a t the governm ent o f south V ie t­
nam is a m a tte r w h ic h should be
determ ined by the people o f south
V ie tn a m themselves. We, o u r­
selves, have supported and con­
tin u e d to support the idea o f free
elections in w h ic h the south V ie t­
namese people can m ake these de­
cisions ra th e r than have these de­
cisions made fo r them by im p o ­
s itio n fro m the outside. W h a t is
needed here is a proposal fro m
H anoi . . .”
H o w Rusk’s and Johnson’s fla ­
g ra n t d is to rtio n o f the facts is
supposed to square aw ay w ith the
detailed sum m ary o f the situ a tio n
in V ie tn a m in the M ansfield Re­
port, is anybody’s guess. A ccording
to M a n sfie ld ’s statement, w h ic h
was the re s u lt o f an extended
stu d y b y the Senate Foreign Re­
lations C om m ittee, the present
force o f the People’s A rm y o f
n o rth V ietnam in the south is
14,000. .
The to ta l strength o f the Saigon
____________ EAST COAST
EAST COAST_____________
*
M o re than
*
*
10,000 members o f
SOCIALIST EDUCATIONAL WEEKEND
FEBRUARY 5-6
In N ew York
•
N E W YORK
B IO L O G IC A L A N D C H E M I C A L
W A R FA R E RESEARCH a t the University
o f Pennsylvania. Reporter: Robin Martin,
of the Philadelphia Area C om m ittee to
End the W a r in Vietnam. Fri., Feb. 4,
8:30 p.m. 873 Broadway (a t 18th S t.).
Contrib. $1, students 50c. Ausp. M ilitant
Labor Forum.
*
*
*
Save the Fridays of Feb. I Ith 4 18th
fo r Memorial Meetings for Malcolm X.
Speakers: G eorge Breitman, Clifton De­
Berry, Robert Vernon and Tapes o f M a l­
colm X.
•
T W IN CITIES
IN D IA — LA N D O F F A M IN E . Speak­
er: Charles Scheer. Fri., Feb. 4, 8:30
p.m. 704 Hennepin Ave., Rm. 240 Ausp.
Friday N ig h t Socialist Forum.
SPEAKERS:
GEORGE NOVACK
Author of Origins of Materialism, on
"SOCIALISM: ITS PROBLEMS A N D PERSPECTIVES"
HERMAN PORTER
Staff writer, The Militant, on
"IM PACT OF VIETNAM W A R O N THE U.S. EC O N O M Y"
JACK BARNES
National Chairman Young Socialist Alliance, on
" W H IC H W A Y FOR TODAY'S RADICAL YOUTH?"
Registration at 10 a.m. at 873 Broadway (a t 18th St.)
For further information: YSA, P.O. Box 471, Cooper Sta., New York, N. Y.
10003. Phone 982-6051 or YSA in your area.
No Recruits
In Danang A re a
E x p la in in g
to
New
Y o rk
H erald Tribune correspond­
ent B e v e rly D eepe w h y U.S.
forces are bottled up in the
D anan g area, a U.S. o ffic ia l
said: “T h e biggest headache
is th a t w e can’t m ove our
V ietn am ese troops and c a d re '
out of this 20 -sq u are-kilo m eter collection of ham lets
u n til w e have villag ers here
w ho can defend th e area.
T h e re ’s not one young m an
here betw een the ages of ten
and 36 w h o m w e can re c ru it.”
A rm y is over 600,000, and th a t o f
the U. S. forces, in c lu d in g th e o ff­
shore N avy, over 200,000. T h at
comes to 800,000 troops against
14,000 “ aggressors” — 800,000
troops w h ich have been supported
by n a v a l-a rtille ry bom bardm ent
o f coastal areas and by saturation
bom bing o f the in te rio r on a scale
never before kn o w n in w ar. There
is som ething phony about th is a r­
gument, and one guesses th a t
“ even a school boy” could fig u re
i t out.
The fa c t o f the m a tte r is th a t
Johnson has no in tentions o f ad­
m ittin g the tr u th about the w ar,
nam ely th a t i t is a w a r p rim a rily
against the N LF , w h ic h its e lf is
supported b y the vast m a jo rity o f
the south Vietnamese people. The
“ people o f south V ie tn a m ’’ w hom
Johnson and Rusk are re fe rrin g
to w hen they speak o f “ selfd e term in ation ” and “ free elec­
tions” are the tin y m in o rity of
c o rru p t land lords and m ilita ry
cliques w ho ru le Saigon — pres­
e n tly headed b y a fascist a ir
m a rsha ll named Nguyen Cao K y.
A w eek ago K y a ll b u t a d m it­
ted th a t his governm ent w ould
collapse i f the U. S. w ith d re w sup­
port, w hen K y launched a v ir u ­
le n t a ttack on the “ peace o ffe n ­
sive.” Rush — the same man
quoted above — made an em er­
gency tr ip to Saigon to assure K y
th a t no m a tte r w h a t happens, the
U. S. w ill continue to support his
governm ent. A nd on th is point,
there’s no disagreement between
the W ashington policy-m akers.
The M ansfield R eport stated,
“ Despite the great increase in
A m erican m ilita r y com m itm ent, it
is d o u b tfu l in vie w o f the accelera­
tio n o f V ietcong e ffo rts th a t the
constricted position now held in
V ietnam b y the Saigon govern­
m ent can continue to be held fo r
the in d e fin ite futTtre, le t alone
extended, w ith o u t a fu rth e r aug­
m entation o f A m erican forces on
the ground.”
W here M ansfield and F u lb rig h t
disagree on V ietn am p o licy w ith
the view s expressed by Johnson
and Rusk is on the question o f
how long to m a in ta in the peace
offensive and how to go about it.
H ig h ly conscious o f the over­
w h e lm in g opposition to the V ie t­
namese w a r b y the masses o f peo­
ple a ll over the w o rld , M ansfield
and F u lb rig h t feel th a t i t is' nec­
essary fo r the Johnson adm inis­
tra tio n to m ake some sort o f con­
cession tow ards peace, a t least b y
no t resum ing the bom bing o f n o rth
V ietnam .
T hey are w e ll aw are o f the hyp­
o critic a l stance o f the “ peace o f­
fensive” and have urged Johnson
to m ake approaches to the N L F
itself. T h e ir concern w ith p u b lic
op inion is p ro b a b ly heightened by
the feeling expressed in the M ans­
fie ld R eport th a t any force re a lly
capable o f crushing th e N L F w ill
in v o lv e a gigantic escalation o f
troop com m itm ent, an escalation
w hich w o u ld no doubt reinforce
the a n tiw a r feelings o f the A m e ri­
can people as d ra ft calls cu t deep­
er and deeper in to the ranks o f
young men.
No W o rd on South
W h ile leaning tow ards an e x ­
tension o f the “ peace offensive”
fo r these reasons, however, th is
group o f Democrats has not said
one single w o rd against the con­
tin u a tio n o f the w a r in south V ie t­
nam. They fa v o r in d e fin ite U . S.
occupation o f th is country, and
they w ill go along w ith such re in ­
forcements o f ground troops as th e
Pentagon feels is necessary to
m ainta in U. S. bases.
T his m ilita r y occupation w ill
guarantee th a t a p ro -U . S. d icta­
torship can be m aintained in Sai­
gon, and w ith o u t saying so, they
know th a t i t w ou ld give U. S.Saigon forces tim e to roundup a ll
supporters o f the N L F and e ith e r
m u rd e r them o r th ro w them in
prisons. T h is was the course fo l­
lowed by the U. S.-backed South
K orean d ictatorship d u rin g the
heavy U. S. m ilita r y occupation
o f th a t co u n try a fte r the Korean
W ar.
The advantages to W ashington
o f voicin g a t least p a rt o f th is
debate in p u b lic are obvious. They
hope i t w ill sid e -tra ck some of
the c ritic is m o f the Democrats’
fa ilu re to te ll the tru th about V ie t­
nam.
... Bring Troops Home
(C ontinued fro m Page 1)
sovereignty — as the y d id in the
o rig in a l Geneva agreements. T h a t
is up to them since i t is th ey w ho
are un der the napalm . B u t i t is
another m a tte r fo r A m erican c iti­
zens in the a n tiw a r movem ent in
th is co u n try to give any credence
whatsoever to the claim s by the
U. S. governm ent th a t i t has any
rig h t to negotiate a n yth in g about
the fu tu re o f V ietnam .
E q u a lly im p o rta n t is the fa c t
th a t the d u ty o f the A m erican
a n tiw a r movem ent is to be as ef­
fe ctive an in stru m e n t fo r b rin g in g
massive pressure against U. S. in ­
volvem ent in the w a r as possible.
The decisions o f the movem ent
should be made on th is crite rio n ,
and not on the c rite rio n o f w h a t
the diplo m a tic m aneuvering o f the
m om ent m ay be.
A ll wars, o f course, end in
some sort of negotiations, and in
th a t sense no one is opposed to
negotiations as such. B u t i t is im ­
p o rta n t to note th a t the effective­
ness o f the a n tiw a r m ovem ent —
to be an im p o rta n t fa cto r in ending
the w a r — does not depend on its
a b ility to advise the a dm inistra­
tio n as to w h a t face-saving devices
m ay exist in this or th a t d ip lo ­
m a tic m ove or negotiations p ro ­
cedure. Its effectiveness depends
on its a b ility to appeal to masses
o f A m ericans to oppose the w ar,
and to create an objective fa ct
o f massive opposition w h ic h can
help force a decision fo r U. S.
w ith d ra w a l.
There are those w ith in the peace
m ovem ent in th is co u n try, how ­
ever, w ho are bending e very ef­
fo r t to have the m ovem ent devote
its energies to “ g a ining the ear”
o f the a dm in istra tio n , to concen­
tra tin g on appealing to the lib e ra l
po liticia n s to come o u t a lit tle
m ore b o ld ly fo r “ negotiations.”
These elements — and they include
the C om m ittee fo r a Sane N uclear
P o licy and the C om m unist P a rty
— have been invo lve d in a de­
term ined cam paign to muzzle the
demand fo r im m ediate w ith d ra w a l
o f U. S. troops w ith in the move­
ment, on the grounds th a t this de­
mand is too “ ra d ica l.”
W hat they re a lly mean is th a t
the demand fo r im m ediate w ith ­
d ra w a l is too unequivocal to be ac­
cepted b y the lib e ra l c a p ita list po l­
iticia n s w ho w a n t to have th e ir
cake and eat i t too, w ho w a n t to
pretend to be sym pathetic w ith
the a n tiw a r m ovem ent w h ile they
are supp orting the w ar. F o r the
movem ent to ta ilo r its demands to
those lib e ra l po liticia n s w o u ld be
to become tr u ly irre le va n t.
... Malcolm X
(Continued fro m Page 1)
any m em ber o f his fa m ily d u rin g
th a t tim e.
H a ye r denies categorically that
he was a m em ber o f the M u s lim
m ovem ent, said Sabbatino. He
w e n t to the A udubon B a llro o m
alone and out o f cu rio sity. The
person w ho shot h im , Sabbatino
said, had a c r i m i n a l record
and w o u ld n a tu ra lly seek to claim
in self-defense th a t H aye r shot
M a lco lm X . The id e n tific a tio n of
H a yer as one o f the assassins was
b y a mob, he concluded.
Testim ony o f the fir s t im p o rta n t
eyewitness, C ary Thomas, began
th e same day, a fte r a presentation
o f diagram s o f the b u ild in g and
a u d ito riu m in w h ic h the shooting
to ok place. Cross-examination of
Thomas is n o t ye t com pleted a fte r
his th ird day on the w itness stand.
In response to D erm od y’s ques­
tions, Thomas te s tifie d th a t he had
witnessed the m u rd e r and seen i t
u n fo ld ju s t as D erm ody’s opening
statem ent said i t had. Thomas said
he knew the three defendants to
be M uslim s and had seen each of
th e m several tim es in H a rle m ’s
Mosque No. 7.
Thomas to ld the fo llo w in g story:
he had se'en Johnson s ittin g at the
back o f the b a llro o m w hen he a r­
riv e d at about 2:20 p.m. on Feb.
21. H e w e n t over to Reuben F ra n ­
cis a fte r he saw Johnson. W hen
M a lcolm X began to address the
audience Thomas was seated in a
booth on the le ft side o f the chairs
w h ic h faced the stage. H a ye r rose
fro m his ch a ir d ire c tly in fro n t
o f w here Thomas was sittin g .
H a ye r said: “ M an w h a t are you
doing w ith y o u r hands in m y poc­
k e t,” to B u tle r w ho was seated
n e x t to H ayer. H a ye r had an au­
tom atic pisto l in his hand. He
tu rn e d and faced Thomas d ire c tly .
Then there was a gunshot and
Thomas saw a m an standing near
M alco lm X facing the stage. The
m an tu rn e d around and Thomas
saw i t w a s ' Johnson h o ld in g a
sawed-off shotgun.
A fte r that, H a ye r and B u tle r
ra n to w a rd the stage. Thomas saw
them both a t the stage w ith th e ir
backs to w a rd him . Each was m a k­
in g the same p um p in g m otion
w ith his hand, as i f fir in g a gun.
T hough he had never a ctu a lly seen
a gun in B u tle r’s hand, he saw
“ shells being ejected fro m the
p istol fa llin g on the flo o r.”
*
*
*
C ary Thomas has stuck to this
s to ry th rough a ll the cross-exam­
in a tio n so fa r. Though he is dog­
gedly certain about his observation
o f these events and his m em ory
o f them, his know ledge o f the
other' circumstances surrounding
the assassination is e xtre m e ly
fa u lty and his m em ory o f almost
e v e ryth in g else connected w ith the
case about w hich he was ques­
tioned is outrageously bad.
Thomas described his back­
ground under questioning b y the
defense: He has also been know n
as A b d u l M a lik and C ary 2X. He
is 35, m arried, w ith fo u r children,
b u t had not seen his w ife d u rin g
the tw o years before the assassina­
tion.
He has owned a t least one gun
ever since he was 15 and u su a lly
c a rrie d one on his person. He had
one w ith h im at the Audubon b u t
d id n o t use i t then. He was in
the a rm y fro m 1947 to 1953 and
was co urtm artialed some 10 times,
sometijnes fo r serious crimes lik e
possession o f a pistol w ith in te n t
to do b o d ily harm . He was given
an a d m in istra tive discharge fo r
bad conduct.
He was a user o f he ro in fo r
three years, and a pusher. H e was
convicted o f possession o f narco­
tics in 1961 in Boston. The tw o
year sentence was suspended and
M alcolm X Speaks
O u r re g u la r featu re , e x ­
cerpts fro m the book M a l­
c o lm X S peaks, was not ru n
this issue because o f space
problem s. W e w i ll resume
this fe a tu re n ext w eek.
Page Three
T H E M IL IT A N T
M onday, January 31, 1966
U.S. PRESS SILEN T
Trial
he was placed on probation.
Thomas said th a t he jo in e d the
B la ck M uslim s. He te s tifie d firs t
th a t he joined o ffic ia lly and re ­
ceived his X fro m Chicago in
December 1963, and le ft in No­
vem ber 1964. L a te r he 'said he
d id n ’t re ca ll the date he joined. A t
another tim e he te s tifie d th a t he
had never been in Mosque No. 7,
w here he was a m em ber, a fte r
N ovem ber 1963.
He te stifie d th a t he couldn’t re ­
m em ber w h e th e r M alcolm X was
the m in is te r w hen he joined. There
w ere several m inisters he said,
b u t he couldn’t rem em ber the
names o f any o f them . One tim e
he said he attended m eetings fo r
about one year before he joined.
A n o th e r tim e he stated th a t he’d
been going fo r tw o years.
Thomas declared th a t he le ft
the B la ck M uslim s w hen M a lco lm
X did. He said he was a mem ber
o f M a lco lm ’s organization fo r
about a year. (M a lco lm X was
k ille d n o t qu ite one year a fte r he
broke w ith E lija h M uham m ad.)
B u t Thomas never discovered th a t
M alcolm form ed tw o organizations
— one religious, the M u s lim Mos­
que Inc., and one non-religious
b u t dedicated to w in n in g “ free­
dom, justice ■and e q u a lity ” fo r
b lack people in A m erica, the O r­
ganization o f A fro -A m e rica n U n ity .
H e s till th in k s they are the same
organization — th a t the O A A U
was p a rtly religious — even
though M a lco lm X made the dis­
tin c tio n repeatedly. The O A A U
was n o t form e d u n til m any m onths
a fte r the M u slim Mosque, w h ic h
was an orthodox Is la m ic organiza­
tion.
P ecu liar M u slim
Though Thomas claim ed to be a
m em ber o f the B lack M uslim s,
his testim ony showed he d id n ’t
act lik e one. He rem ained separ­
ated fro m his w ife and c h ild re n
d u rin g the e n tire period, even
though the M uslim s place stress on
the im portance o f fa m ily life . He
te s tifie d he was sent to B ellevue
H o sp ita l (w h ic h is often used fo r
p sych ia tric observation) because
he was d ru n k . T h is in c id e n t oc­
c u rre d in 1963 a fte r he supposedly
jo in e d the M uslim s. M uslim s have
a s tric t taboo against alcohol.
The m ost im p o rta n t contradic­
tio n in Thomas’ testim ony reveal­
ed so fa r involves a reversal o f
the role o f the defendants in his
story. A ccording to records read
a t the tria l, Thomas te s tifie d be­
fo re the grand ju r y on M arch 3,
1965, th a t Johnson and B u tle r, not
H a ye r and B u tle r, rushed to w a rd
the stage a fte r the shotgun blast.
Thomas claim s th a t th is was a
s lip made because he was nervous
and in fe a r o f his life . A t the tim e
o f the assassination, the police
to ld the press th a t Hayer was the
one w ho had fire d the shotgun.
W hen th e y changed th e ir m inds
is not clear.
In his testim ony before the
grand ju ry , Thomas id e n tifie d
H a ye r as a m em ber o f the Jersey
C ity mosque. U nder cross-exam­
in a tio n he revealed th a t the o n ly
basis fo r th is was th a t he had
seen H a ye r w ith members o f the
Jersey C ity mosque several times.
He could not re ca ll the dates, even
ap p ro xim a te ly, w hen he had seen
any o f the three defendants in the
H a rle m mosque, though he claim ed
to have seen each o f them several
times.
Thomas was picked up on M arch
2, 1965, and held by police as a
m a te ria l w itness in a c iv il ja il.
W h ile in the c iv il ja il he was
in dicted fo r arson and tra n sfe rre d
on June 4 to a re g u la r prison in
Queens.
\
How Cuba Uprooted
Race Discrimination
B y H a r r y R ing
16 pages
15 cents
M e r it Publishers
5 East T h ird
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N e w Y o r k , N . Y . 10003
Blood Bath in Indonesia
B y F red H alstead
Since la st October the Indonesian
a rm y and rig h t-w in g te rro rists
have perpetrated one o f the w o rst
peace-time fra tric id a l blood baths
in h is to ry . I t is com parable —
though on a la rg e r scale — to the
reprisals taken b y the French
capitalists against the P aris w o rk ­
in g class fo llo w in g the P aris Com­
m une in 1871.
“ M ore than 100,000 Communists
and th e ir sym pathizers have been
k ille d in Indonesia in the last
three months, according to in fo r­
m ation available here,” reported
A n th o n y L e w is fro m London in
the Jan. 13 New Y ork Times. The
Sunday Times o f London on Jan.
2 said th a t “ fig u re s given o f the
nu m b e r k ille d v a ry betw een 20,000 and 200,000 b u t f a ir ly conser­
va tiv e estimates b y W estern d ip lo ­
mats p u t the figures a t around
100,000.”
The London re p o rt continues:
“ European engineers, businessmen
and oth e r fo re ig n tra ve le rs re tu rn ­
in g fro m up-country speak o f
riv e rs fille d w ith flo a tin g decapi­
tated corpses . . . I t is re lia b ly re­
ported th a t on the island o f B a li
alone between 3,000 and 4,000 were
k ille d in the past ten days . . .
There is no sign at present th a t
the a rm y intends to take over
fo rm a lly , though in practice its
w r it runs n o m in a lly everyw here
outside o f Jakarta. In Sum atra
there is in e ffe ct a m ilita r y state
w ith in a state.”
Indonesian P resident Sukarno
a dm itted Jan. 15 th a t 87,000 per­
sons w ere know n to have been
k ille d since Oct. 1 in the chain
o f islands th a t m ake up the coun­
try , alm ost a ll o f them members
o r sym pathizers o f the Indonesian
C om m unist P a rty (P K I) o r o f
mass organizations a ffilia te d w ith
it. S ukarno said the death to ll
“ was bigger than th a t in the cu r­
re n t V ie tn a m w a r.”
On the basis o f these figures
the te rro r in Indonesia constitutes
the w o rst o rgy o f counterrevolu­
tio n a ry p o litic a l m urders any­
w here in the w o rld since H itle r.
A ll th is b lo o d le ttin g against c iv il­
ians has taken place w ith o u t the
slightest protest fro m the govern­
ments o r the press in the ca p ita list
w o rld , in c lu d in g the U nited States.
This is in sharp contrast to the
o u tp o u rin g o f o ffic ia l statements,
headlines and e d ito ria ls protesting
the execution o f a mere 500 con­
victed m urderers and to rtu re rs by
the re v o lu tio n a ry Cuban regim e
in 1960.
Distinct G ain
On the co n tra ry, the New York
Times comments th a t the In d o ­
nesian developments are view ed
in W ashington as a d is tin c t gain
fo r U.S. foreign policy.
The w ave o f c o u n te rre vo lu tio n ­
a ry te rro r was begun b y the a rm y
a fte r an unsuccessful coup on
Sept. 30 b y a fe w so-called le ftw in g officers headed b y L t. Col.
U ntung, in w h ich six rig h t-w in g
generals and a sm all num ber o f
o ther persons w ere k ille d . The
a rm y h ie ra rch y responded w ith a
coup o f its own, ta k in g pow er in
fact, i f n o t fo rm a lly , th roughout
most o f the country, and d e live r­
in g a devastating b lo w to the P K I.
The P K I was the largest single
p a rty in the country, the largest
C om m unist P a rty in the ca p ita list
countries, and held posts w ith in
S u k a rin ’s co a litio n governm ent.
The P K I was aligned w ith P ek­
ing, and its leaders had operated
un d e r the lin e o f “ re v o lu tio n b y
stages.” F o llo w in g th is p o licy, th e y
form ed coalitions and blocs w ith
the “ n a tio n a l bourgeoisie” and re­
strained the w o rke rs and peasants
fro m proceeding w ith re v o lu tio n ­
a ry measures th a t w o u ld be ob­
jected to b y the n a tive capitalists
and landlords. Each tim e the
masses surged fo rw a rd , the P K I
leadership sought to channel the
struggle against the single target
o f fo re ig n im p e ria lism . Since the
Sukarno governm ent m aintained
frie n d ly relations w ith C hina and
M ao Tse T un g
s tru c k a generally a n ti-im p e ria list
pose in in te rn a tio n a l relations, the
P K I leadership supported it, took
re s p o n sib ility fo r its actions, and
avoided pressing the class strug­
gle in te rn a lly w ith in Indonesia fo r
fe a r o f breaking up th e coalition.
This lin e was described last
A p r il b y P K I C hairm an D. N.
A id it in an in te rv ie w w ith W ilfre d
G. B u rc h e tt reported in the Dec.
18 National Guardian. B u rch e tt
asked A id it about the P K I’s posi­
tio n on land reform , and A id it re ­
plied:
“ T h a t is a big question. We con­
sider the tw o m ain tasks o f our
period: the struggle against im ­
p e ria lism and th a t against feud al­
ism. P rio rity is fo r the struggle
against im perialism . T his means
not o n ly the te r rito ria l aspects of
im p e rialism , b u t also the struggle
against its economic bases inside
the country. The governm ent, o f
w h ic h we are a p art, is u n ite d on
th is aspect, those w ho are against
i t do n o t dare to oppose i t openly
in any case. T his is the p o in t on
w h ic h m a xim u m u n ity is possible.
To place too m uch emphasis on
the anti-feu dalist struggle w ould
weaken this u n ity w ith in the coali­
tio n governm ent.
“ The governm ent is lik e a twola y e r cake w ith progressive and
reactionary forces co-existing, b u t
sometimes one la y e r or top, some­
tim es the other. The reactionary
forces are s till v e ry strong and
active; b u t the rela tio nsh ip is
changing in fa v o r o f the progres­
sive forces. Even so, i f i t had been
le ft to p a rlia m e n ta ry debate and
cabinet decisions, w e w ould never
have been able to c a rry out the
three great waves of e xp ro p ria tio n
o f im p e ria lis t p ro p e rty . . . These
w ere genuine mass actions; the
people moved and ju s t took over
the im p e ria lists’ property, facing
the governm ent w ith a fa it ac­
com pli w h ich was then confirm ed
b y p residential decrees. T his could
have been done — and ou r p a rty
and its a ffilia te d organizations
played a leading ro le — because
i t fe ll w ith in the fra m e w o rk o f
the p rio rity task o f a n ti-im p e ria l­
ism . . .
“ To have carried out the antifeudal struggle in a s im ila r w ay
w o u ld have been ina p pro p ria te i f
n o t impossible, and th is applies to
the th o rn y question o f land re ­
fo rm .”
B u rc h e tt
says,
paraphrasing
A id it: “ He said the basic question
o f land tenure had n o t been
touched because th is w o u ld have
bro u g h t headlong ‘co n fro n ta tio n ’
between the tw o layers o f the
cake. He indicated th a t Sukarno,
w h ile w illin g to go to any lengths
in the a n ti-im p e ria lis t struggle,
w o u ld have been cool to drastic
measures re garding peasant-landlo rd relations.”
A id it continued: “ W hat we have
done is to organize the peasants,
educate them, m ake them clearly
see w herein la y th e ir problems.
We introduced, and had accepted
b y P a rlia m e n t ce rta in measures to
a lle via te th e ir lot, such as cancel­
ing back debts and fix in g a ceil­
in g on land rents. T he peasants
kn o w a ll about this, fo r them w e
are ‘th e ir p a rty .’ The m ain th in g
is th a t they are organized and
among the m ost p o litic a lly con­
scious elements o f the population.”
I t was th is lin e o f “ peaceful
coexistence” w ith the Indonesian
ca p ita list class and landlord s prac­
ticed b y the P K I leaders w h ic h
fa ile d to prepare the w o rkers and
peasants to struggle against th e ir
ow n Indonesian oppressors, and
paved the w a y fo r the success o f
the co u n te rre vo lu tio n a ry d rive .
The in fla tio n and p o ve rty con­
tinued to worsen and the economic
and social crisis could n o t be re­
solved b y the Sukarno co a litio n
because the solution re qu ire d
measures opposed b y the w e a lth ie r
M uslim s, the landlords and capi­
talists. M eanw hile the arm y, cen­
te r o f cou n te rre vo lu tio n a ry forces,
was being q u ie tly strengthened b y
the U.S. On Oct. 1, i t made its
m ove to begin resolving the crisis
in fa v o r o f reaction b y d ro w n in g
the mass organizations o f the
peasants and w orkers in blood. In
this h ou r o f need, Sukarno proved
to be no help w hate ver to the
P K I and he stood b y w h ile the
slaughter proceeded. The P K I i t ­
self, having fa ile d to prepare the
w orkers and peasants fo r such a
struggle, was unable to even de­
fend itself.
Believed K ille d
“ The b e lie f among in fo rm e d
analysts here,” reports L ew is fro m
London, “ is th a t v ir tu a lly a ll the
leaders o f the once p o w e rfu l Com­
m u n ist P a rty o f Indonesia have
been k ille d or captured b y the
Indonesian m ilita r y forces. W h ile
there is no d e fin ite w o rd o f the
p a rty ’s chairm an, D. N . A id it, i t is
thou ght th a t he is dead.”
The to ta l m em bership o f the
Indonesian CP was once reported
a t three m illio n , the largest in the
ca p ita list w o rld . L ew is says i t is
now dow n to 150,000. The p a rty
also used to have three m illio n in
a People’s Y o u th w in g and a fo l­
lo w in g o f 20 m illio n in mass or­
ganizations o f w orkers, peasants,
women and governm ent w orkers.
T his is a large force, o f w h ic h
considerable m ay rem ain. The re v ­
o lu tio n a ry m ovem ent in the colo­
n ia l and sem i-colonial countries
has seen m any instances since
the Second W o rld W a r o f re m a rk­
able resurgence a fte r p a rtia l de­
feats. The defeat in Indonesia m ay
no t prove to be a long-range one,
b u t in term s o f lives lost alone,
i t is already one o f the w o rst
tragedies ever suffered b y a w o rk ­
ers’ movem ent.
A ll the m ore reason th a t i t
should be c a re fu lly studied, the
facts honestly faced, and the costly
lessons learned. B u t there has been
a p la y in g dow n o f the news, not
o n ly in the ca p ita list w o rld , b u t
b y news m edia fro m the Chinese
and Soviet-bloc countries as w e ll.
A n d in the news releases and pe­
rio dicals coming in to The Militant
office, there has as ye t been no
re p o rt o f campaigns o f protest b y
the w o rld ’s C om m unist parties
over the slaughter in Indonesia.
INDISPENSABLE
If you want to deepen your own
understanding o f socialism and want
a first-class piece o f writing to In­
troduce others to the ideas o f social­
ism, get yourself several copies o f
the recently reprinted
A m e ric a ’s R oad
To Socialism
By James P. Cannon
50 cents
PIONEER PUBLISHERS
Five East Third St.
New York, N.Y. 10003
T H E M IL IT A N T —
Page Four
THE
MILITANT
In Answer to Castro's Attack on "Trotskyism"
E d ito r: JO S E P H H A N S E N
M anagin g E d ito r: B A R R Y S H E P P A R D
Business M anager: K A R O L Y N K E R R Y
P ub lished w e e k ly , except d u rin g J u ly and A ugu st w h en published b i-w e e k ly ,
b y T h e M ilita n t P u b lis h in g Ass’n., 873 B ro ad w ay. N e w Y o r k , N . Y . 10003. Phone
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rep resent T h e M ilita n t's views. These are expressed In editorials.
Vol. 30 - No. 5
<*^^>345
Monday, January 31, 1966
The Havana Conference
The documents approved by the Tricontinental Conference,
which ended in Havana Jan. 15, are not yet available in New
Y o rk. From the reports, however, it is possible to form a pre­
lim in ary judgment O f this gathering. There is no doubt that it
marks a step forward for the revolutionary struggle in Latin
America.
Some 430 delegates, representing all kinds of groups from
74 countries of Asia, A frica and Latin America participated.
Both Moscow and Peking sent representatives.
One of the main values of the conference was the opportunity
it offered g uerrilla fighters from a number of countries in Latin
Am erica to discuss th e ir problems and to exchange experiences.
Together w ith their Cuban hosts they set the tone, which • was
extrem ely m ilitan t, the emphasis being on “armed struggle” as a
requisite for success in the battle for national freedom and
socialism. The organization of effective aid for the Vietnamese
freedom fighters also occupied the delegates.
The fervor of the conference can be gathered from the
declarations of figures noted up to now for their avoidance of
“armed struggle.” Thus Cheddi Jagan, form er prim e m inister of
B ritish Guiana, declared that “the w ar in Vietnam and the
Dominican crisis prove to us that the peaceful road is closed . . .
the only road le ft open to us is armed struggle.”
Salvador Allende, leader of the Frente Revolucionario de
Accion Popular, who was defeated in the last presidential elections
in Chile, was moved to say that “the possibility is not excluded
of an insurrectional struggle in Chile.”
O f more interest was the stand taken by the K rem lin ’s
delegation. They did not spare words in favor of “armed struggle.”
The delegations of the pro-Moscow Communist parties in
L atin America toed the line. U n til very recently the concept of
“armed struggle” was viewed in these circles as an unfortunate
q uirk of Castroism, if not a “Trotskyite provocation.”
Even the delegates of the pro-Moscow B razilian Communist
P arty, long notorious for its opportunism, joined in supporting the
line of “armed struggle.”
The leaders of these parties, along w ith Cheddi Jagan and
Salvador Allende, can be expected to do little about converting
their leftist phrases into action. B ut it is a different m atter w ith
the rank and file who expect words to be matched by deeds.
The crisis which many of these parties have been undergoing
can be expected to deepen, w ith the chances considerably im ­
proved for an outcome in the revolutionary direction.
The Cuban hosts of the conference succeeded in getting both
Peking and Moscow to subordinate their differences for the sake
of displaying a. united front on the main theme of unity against
the im perialist enemy. This aim was considerably facilitated by
the complaisance of the Moscow delegation in verbally going
along w ith the sentiment for armed struggle. M aladroit attempts
of the Chinese delegates at factionalism m et w ith rebuffs.
As Cedric Belfrage put it, “U n ity against imperialism t r i­
umphed over internal L e ft disputes . . .” W ritin g from Mexico
C ity, the form er editor of the National Guardian said:
“In Peru the guerrillas’ leadership (including the original
leader Luis de la Puete, killed in action) is ‘Trotskyist’ ; in
Guatemala, guerrillas led by Luis Turcios (who headed his
country’s delegation) have split w ith those led by Yon Sosa,
whom Turcios accused of harboring ‘Trotskyist elements.’ But
neither those matters nor Moscow and Peking ‘lines’ were raised
in the conference h all . . . The absence of ideological dispute
was above all due to the Vietnam shadow hanging over the
deliberation.”
The effort to m aintain a facade of unity in a conference
where deep differences were present was highly dubious in our
opinion. The m ajor aim of the conference — to strengthen the
struggle against imperialism and for socialism — m ight have been
better advanced by clearly acknowledging from the beginning
that differences did exist but that the conference was being held
on a nonexclusionist basis w ith provisions made for discussion of
the differences in panels or workshops for those interested. This
would have opened the way for a free discussion and a greater
clarification of some extrem ely im portant issues.
As it was, the effort at presenting a united front of all
tendencies was broken fin ally by no one less than Fidel Castro
himself, although in a speech delivered after the conference
and w ith no opportunity provided for examination of the facts
or a reply by those under fire. (See the articles in this issue
concerning Castro’s assertions about “Trotskyist elements.” )
The conference as a whole, however, gave no satisfaction to
Washington. The delegates from the 27 L atin Am erican countries
who were present w ill return to their battle fronts freshly inspired
and heartened. The Vietnamese, who have been standing up so
heroically against the imperialist effort to deny them victory in
their struggle for freedom, w ill certainly feel less isolated. And
we in the U nited States who are fighting for socialism can take
encouragement from this strengthening of the front in the entire
area south of the Rio Grande.
By Joseph Hansen
U n fo rtu n a te ly , 1 have not yet
been able to obtain a copy o f the
speech made b y F id e l Castro at a
mass m eeting Jan. 16, fo llo w in g
the T ric o n tin e n ta l Conference in
Havana, a speech in w h ic h he a t­
tacked
“ T ro tskyism .”
Due
to
W ashington’s blockade o f Cuba it
is not easy to obtain m a te ria l
q u ic k ly fro m the nearby island
w here the fir s t great re v o lu tio n ­
a ry socialist success was w on in
the W estern Hemisphere.
C onsequently 1 m ust re ly on the
quotations
and
in te rp re ta tio n s
provided b y a special dispatch
fro m Havana published in the
Jan. 23 W orker, the voice o f the
A m erican C om m unist P a rty , a no­
to rio u s ly u n re lia b le source.
In extenuation, i t is n o t lik e ly
th a t the W orker le ft o u t m uch on
th is point, w h ic h i t handles as i f
i t w ere about a ll Castro had to
say in his speech, and as i f i t w ere
the most im p o rta n t th in g th a t
happened a t the T ric o n tin e n ta l
Congress — as indeed i t m ay have
been fro m the v ie w p o in t o f A m e r­
ican S talinism .
W hy Guevara’s Silence?
Introduced w ith a fe w para­
graphs about the u n ity achieved
at the gathering, the account ca r­
ries the headline, “ Castro H a ils
U n ity Gained A t T ric o n tin e n ta l
Conference.”
The emphasis placed by the
W orker on w h a t Castro said about
“ T ro tskyism ” is understandable.
Since the heyday o f the Moscow
fram e-up tria ls in w h ic h T ro ts k y
and his fo llo w e rs fig u re d as the
m ain victim s, the most v ile ly
slandered v ic tim s in a ll histo ry,
the struggle o f the W orker against
“ T ro ts k y is m ” has become arduous
indeed w h a t w ith th e revelations
at the T w e n tie th Congress about
S ta lin ’s monstrous crimes. A n at­
tack lik e th is b y no one less than
Castro is no sm all w in d fa ll. B u t
w h y d id Castro lend h im se lf to
such needs?
Castro’s attack against “ T ro ts k y ­
ism ” appears com pletely d ispro ­
p o rtionate on the face o f it. Some
“ elements,” allegedly o f “ T ro ts k y ­
ite ” persuasion, spread the ru m o r
th a t Che Guevara was m urdered
b y Castro. W h y d id n ’t Castro send
a message to Che re p o rtin g the
ru m o r and the damage i t was do­
in g to the good name o f the Cuban
governm ent? Che, ta k in g a page
fro m the w orks o f M a rk T w a in ,
could have d ra w n up a statem ent
to be read a t the T ric o n tin e n ta l
Conference saying, “ The re p o rt o f
the circum stances o f m y alleged
death have been g re a tly exag­
gerated . .
A n d Che could have added a
fe w w ords about the significance
o f the H avana conference and his
esteem fo r F idel, n o t to m ention
the im portance o f organizing guer­
rilla s th ro u g h o u t L a tin A m erica.
W ouldn ’t th a t have been a m uch
m ore appropriate, credible, and in ­
s p irin g answ er to the ru m o r than
the
not-very-original
nonsense
about “ T ro tskyism ,” a “ v u lg a r in ­
s tru m e n t o f im p e ria lism and reac­
tio n ,” being at the bottom o f i t
all?
Flim sy "Proofs”
The “ proofs” cited b y Castro to
back his assertions are equally
flim s y . The jo u rn a ls th a t attracted
his attention includ e Marcha of
M ontevideo, I I Nuovo Mundo of
Rome and the M onthly Review of
N ew Y ork. B u t n o t a single one
o f these publications is “ T ro t­
s k y ite ” — Castro a n d /o r the
W orker to the co n tra ry. The N o rth
A m erican audience m ay n o t easily
be able to judge fo r themselves
w ith regard to Marcha and I I
Nuovo Mundo. T h ey can, however,
ru n a spot check on the Monthly
Review w ith o u t m uch trouble.
The Montjily Review is an un a f­
filia te d socialist magazine. U nd er
the influ ence o f the Cuban R evolu­
tion, w h ich i t stro n g ly supports, i t
has become increasingly independ­
ent in recent years. The articles
b y A d o lfo G illy published b y the
M onthly Review c e rta in ly d id no
h a rm to eith e r the Cuban or
G uatem alan revolutions.
W h ile one could disagree w ith
G illy on specific points, the articles
w ere perceptive and in fo rm a tiv e
and fo r th a t reason alone o f value.
There can be no doubt a t a ll th a t
the a u th o r is a lo ya l suppo rte r of
the L a tin A m erican re v o lu tio n as
a w hole and an active p a rtic ip a n t
in it. H is articles w ere m uch ap­
preciated — and n o t o n ly b y N o rth
A m erica n socialists.
I f G illy made a statem ent in
Marcha th a t was open to m isin ­
te rp re ta tio n or was even w rong,
he could be answered in a rea­
soned w ay, as Castro attem pts to
do in considering Cuba’s capacity
to do m ore fo r the D om inican re v ­
olutionists than -was done. W hat
purpose is served by dragging in
“ T ro tskyism ” as an e p ith e t in a
w ay rem iniscent o f S ta lin is t prac­
tices before the T w e n tie th Con­
gress? I t can o n ly in ju re the cause
o f u n ite d action against the com­
m on im p e ria lis t, foe.
The reference to “ A lb a G uante”
and the p la y given h im b y E l
Universal, one o f the m a in b ou r­
geois papers o f M exico C ity , is
even shakier. Agence France-Press,
re p o rtin g Castro’s use o f E l Uni­
versal as a source, lists his name
as “ A lva h u a n te ” and says he
claim s to be a “ fo rm e r secretary
o f Leon T ro ts k y .” A lva h u a n te or
A lb a G uante is n o th in g o f the
k in d . W hat in te re st th is in d iv id ­
ual has in g iv in g h im se lf a “ T ro t­
skyist” past and presenting h im ­
self as a c u rre n t “ T ro ts k y is t lead­
e r” rem ains obscure. Even m ore
obscure is the interest o f the M exi-
The 'Worker' Report on Castro's Speech
The following is the report from
Havana printed in the Jan 23
W o rke r, on what Fidel said about
“Trotskyism.”
Greeted b y storm y applause was
Castro’s denunciation o f the T ro tskyites as agents o f im p e ria lism .
W hat the F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l
com m itted, he declared, was a
c rim e against the re v o lu tio n a ry
m ovem ent, in te n d in g to isolate i t
fro m the rest o f the people b y
c o rru p tin g i t w ith stupidities.
He said his ire was aroused by
T ro ts k y ite articles “ accusing Cuba
o f not g iv in g E rnest Guevara a
h earing and even m a kin g the v i­
cious in sin u a tio n th a t Castro, his
comrade in arms, m urdered h im .”
Castro cited articles b y A d o lfo
G illy in the Monthly Review o f
N ew Y o rk , in Marcha, the Spanish
T ro ts k y ite w eekly, and in Nuovo
Mondo, the Ita lia n T ro ts k y ite
newspaper, as w e ll as an a rticle
b y Felipe A lb a Guante, the M e x i­
can T ro tskyite , in E l Universal.
G illy , in his a rtic le Oct. 22 in
Marcha had claim ed th a t Che
G uevara had le ft Cuba because
o f differences w ith Castro over
the Chinese question.
Castro, in his speech revealed
th a t Guevara had an understand­
in g w ith the Cuban re vo lu tio n ists
fro m the v e ry outset th a t “ w hen
the struggle was com pleted in
Cuba he w o u ld have o ther duties
to f u l f i l l in another place, and we
always gave h im o u r w o rd th a t
no state interest, no n a tio n a l in ­
terest, no circumstances w o u ld
lead us to ask h im to rem ain in
o u r co u n try o r h in d e r h im fro m
c a rry in g out th a t w ish, th a t de­
sire, and w e f u lly and fa ith fu lly
k e p t th a t prom ise made to Com­
rade Guevara.”
C uba’s enemies, Castro said,
have m ounted a w o rld w id e cam­
paign to d iscre d it Cuba b y using
G uevara’s departure as a pretext.
I t was necessary fo r Che to de­
p a rt secretly, he noted, and th is
gave the im p e ria lists a chance to
use this circumstance. Then Castro
held up a new s-clipping, as one
ite m among m any, and said:
“ T h is ite m is a U P I cable dated
Dec. 6, 1965, w h ic h reads, ‘Ernesto
G uevara was m urdered b y Cuban
p rim e m in is te r F id e l Castro fo l­
lo w in g orders fro m the USSR, de­
clared Felipe A lb a Guante, leader
o f the M exican T rotskyite s, in a
statem ent made to El Universal.’
He adds th a t Che Guevara was
liq u id a te d because he insisted on
a lig n in g Cuba w ith the Chinese
line. This set the tone o f a cam­
paign w h ic h T ro ts k y ite elements
began to launch everyw here sim u l­
taneously.”
Castro considered A d o lfo G illy ’s
accusation th a t Cuba did n o t sup­
p o rt the D om inican R epublic to
be p a rtic u la rly v illa in o u s. He
pointed o u t th a t G illy said this
at the v e ry m om ent when the
U.S. au th o ritie s sought to ju s tify
in te rv e n tio n b y cla im in g
th a t
L e ftists and C om m unists heading
the D om inican re v o lu tio n w ere
tra in e d in Cuba.
Castro on G illy
Castro spoke o f G illy ’s a rticle
in the Monthly Review as “ v il­
lainous.”
“ T his person,” he said, “ had the
vileness to accuse the Cuban re v­
o lu tio n o f n o t h aving given active
aid to the re v o lu tio n in the
D om inican R epublic,” he said
(s ic ).
“ W hat does ‘active a id ’ mean?
D id they expect th a t Cuba, whose
weapons and resources are w e ll
know n, could stop th e la n d in g o f
U.S. troops in the D om inican Re­
public?
“ Cuba has weapons to defend
its e lf and has these defense weap­
ons in an in fin ite ly in fe rio r num ­
ber w ith re la tio n to the im p e ria l­
ists, and these gentlem en are so
despicable, so shameless th a t they
blam e Cuba fo r n o t ha vin g pre­
vented the lan ding , because w h a t
else does ‘active support’ mean?
“ A ll th a t Cuba could do under
those circumstances, a ll th a t i t
could have done and should have
done, i t d id .”
He added th a t asking Cuba to
p revent th is la n d in g “ is lik e ask­
in g Cambodia in Southeast Asia
to p revent bom bings o f N orth
V ie tn a m and to prevent the occu­
pation o f South V ietna m b y Y an­
kee im p e ria lism .”
Cuba, he said, does n o t have
“ m illio n s o f men un d e r arms, i t
is n o t a c o u n try h a vin g nuclear
weapons, because here o u r weap­
ons are m oral and the n um b e r of
m illio n s is n o t in fin ite , the num ­
ber o f m en is n o t in fin ite , b u t
the d ig n ity and the decorum o f
th is people is in fin ite .”
Castro assailed the “ in filtr a tio n ”
o f T ro tskyite s in to th e Guatem alan
re v o lu tio n a ry m ovem ent. One, he
said, became the e d ito r o f a news­
paper w h ic h copied the program
o f the F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l “ fro m
head to ta il.”
“ W hat the F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l
thus com m itted,” he thundered
fro m the ro stru m to the delegates
fro m three continents, “ was a tru e
crim e against the re v o lu tio n a ry
m ovem ent to isolate i t fro m the
masses b y c o rru p tin g i t w ith the
stupidities, the dishonor and the
repugnant and nauseating th in g
th a t is T ro tskyism today w ith in
the fie ld o f politics.
“ I f T rotskyism , a t a certain
stage represented an erroneous
position b u t a position w ith in the
fie ld o f p o litic a l ideas, in la te r
years i t became a v u lg a r in s tru ­
m ent o f im p e ria lism and reaction.
“ These gentlem en reason that,
fo r instance, w ith regard to South
V ietnam , w here a vast re v o lu tio n ­
a ry fro n t has u n ite d the immense
m a jo rity o f the people and has
closely grouped d iffe re n t sectors
o f the population around the lib ­
eration m ovem ent in the struggle
against im p e ria lism , to T rotskyites
th is is absurd, i t is counter-revolu­
tio n a ry .”
day, January 31, 1966
Page Five
stro's A ttack on "Trotskyism"
L E O N T R O T S K Y in 1921, w h en h e was head o f Red A rm y o f
young S o viet R ep u b lic, w ith some o f his s ta ff.
can bourgeois press in g iv in g
prom inence to his declarations,
w h ic h could n o t in ju re the w o rld
T ro ts k y is t m ovem ent m ore i f they
w ere de lib e ra te ly planted by the
C IA .
T h e Posadas G roup
Castro’s references to “ in filt r a ­
tio n ” b y “ T ro tskyite s” in to the
G uatem alan g u e rrilla movem ent
in v o lv e a com plex situation. Gen­
u in e differences over perspectives
exist among the g u e rrilla leaders.
The differences hinge on th e ir at­
titu d e to w a rd the so-called “ na­
tio n a l bourgeoisie.” U p to now,
Y on Sosa has stood fo r complete
independence. H is opponents, e v i­
d e n tly under the in flue nce o f the
G uatem alan
C om m unist P a rty,
have pressed fo r a softer posture.
The issue is c le a rly one th a t af­
fects the re v o lu tio n a ry struggle in
.m any countries besides Guatemala.
I t is in fa c t o f decisive im portance
to success, as the course o f the
Cuban R evolution w e ll illustrates.
A com plicating fa c to r in the
Guatem alan s itu a tio n is the role
o f representatives o f the Posadas
group. This is a s p lit-o ff fro m
the F o u rth
In te rn a tio n a l,
the
w o rld p a rty o f socialist re v o lu tio n
founded b y Leon T ro tsky. The
Posadas group calls its e lf “ T ro t­
s kyist” and even makes out th a t
i t constitutes the “ F o u rth In te rn a ­
tio n a l.”
The leader o f the group, J.
Posadas, holds th a t a n u clear w a r
is in e v ita b le and even desirable.
“ The n u clear w a r is a t th e same
tim e the re v o lu tio n ,” he w rite s
ty p ic a lly in the December 1965 is­
sue o f Red Flag. He predicts th a t
N ew Y o rk and London w ill be an­
n ih ila te d in the com ing nuclear
w a r and th a t th is w il l touch o ff
What theTrotskyist Press Said
About Guevara's Leaving Cuba
The following article on Guevara’s departure from Cuba
is typical of the statements made by the Trotskyist press. I t
has been translated from the December issue of the Argentine
magazine Estrategia, edited by Nahuel Moreno:
As we w ent to press, w orld public opinion was surprised
by Ernesto Guevara’s letter resigning his Cuban citizenship
and his posts in the Cuban government and in the Communist
P arty of that country.
W e came to two conclusions over the news:
First, against the campaign of the w riters in the pay of
imperialism and the exploiters, w e reject any insinuation that
Guevara was “purged” by the Cuban regime and its undisputed
leader, Fidel Castro. In our opinion, as we characterize the
regime and its leader, the persecution of revolutionary militants
or leaders, whether Cubans or foreigners, is excluded.
Second, if “Che” Guevara is in another country helping
the revolutionary process, as can be gathered from his letter
and Fidel’s report, we can only say that as always Guevara is
showing that he is a revolutionist to the marrow, acting in ac­
cordance w ith his concepts to death itself.
The editors of this magazine feel impelled to make these
two observations because for years w e have polemicized w ith ­
in the revolutionary Castroist ranks themselves, of which we
are proud to count ourselves a part, against the public concep­
tions of the Cuban leadership and specifically Che Guevara (see
Estrategia No. 2 in p artic u la r).
This means that once more we must repeat that we con­
sider Fidel and “Che” Guevara as the greatest victorious rev­
olutionary leadership — speaking m orally and politically —
that history has given us since the leadership of Lenin and
Trotsky.
the re vo lu tio n . “ W hen the masses
o f the w o rld w ill see, w ill learn
th a t ‘N ew Y o rk is destroyed’ a ll
the fa ith in the c a p ita lis t system
and in the bourgeoisie and in the
strength o f capitalism w ill van­
ish.”
Posadas holds th a t an attack on
Moscow w ill fu rth e r strengthen
the re v o lu tio n : “ On the o ther hand
as w e have said the bom bardm ent
o f Moscow w ill be the ris in g of
the w o rld p ro le ta ria t and w il l p ro ­
voke the. revenge o f the w o rld and
European p ro le ta ria t.”
The th re a t o f ra d io a ctive fa ll­
o u t does n o t w o rry Posadas v e ry
m uch. He agrees th a t i t is “ nec­
essary to fin d measures to combat
ra d io a c tiv ity . . . to tr y to localize
the centers o f ra d io a c tiv ity . .
B u t the solution to the problem ,
as he conceives it, should not
prove to be o v e rly d iffic u lt. As
the nuclear w a r develops in to re v ­
o lu tio n, committees o f the people
m ust be set up. A m ong th e ir tasks
w ill be: “ G oing fro m zone to zone,
in o rder to e lim in a te pests, insects,
cockroaches, flies, ty p h o id and
ra d io -a c tiv ity .”
Such “ stu p id itie s” have been
u tiliz e d b y the S talinists to smear
the T ro ts k y is t m ovem ent. They do
n o t m ention Posadas, since th a t
w o u ld give the game aw ay too
easily. T hey give cre d it, instead,
to the phony “ F o u rth In te rn a ­
tio n a l” label used b y Posadas.
Castro’s
references
to
the
“ F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l” are o f th is
nature. Posadas happens to have
a fe w fo llo w e rs in both Cuba and
G uatem ala whose u ltra le ft s tu p id i­
ties do isolate them fro m the
masses. To say th a t th e y consti­
tu te a “ vu lg a r in s tru m e n t o f im ­
p e ria lism and reaction” is, h ow ­
ever, a slander.
G u evara’s A ttitu d e
Is Castro w e ll in fo rm e d about
the a ttitu d e o f the w o rld T ro t­
s kyist m ovem ent to w a rd the Cuban
R evolution? In his speech d id he
s im p ly u n c ritic a lly u tiliz e m a­
te ria ls prepared fo r h im b y grad­
uates o f the S ta lin is t school of
fa lsifica tio n ? T here is n o t m uch
purpose in speculating about this.
The p o in t is th a t Castro should
k n o w better. Che Guevara, fo r in ­
stance, took the tim e to gain ac­
curate know ledge o f the a ttitu d e
o f the w o rld T ro ts k y is t m ovem ent
to w a rd th e Cuban R evolution.
Guevara, o f course, d id n o t be­
come a T ro ts k y is t. B u t fro m an at­
titu d e depreciative o f T ro tskyism
as a whole, he d id change. The
Posadas group, w h o m he knew
fir s t hand, gave h im a v e ry bad
impression. H is view s about T ro t­
skyism altered as he gathered
m ore facts and ta lke d and argued
w ith genuine representatives o f
the F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l.
Thus i t was th a t Che Guevara
said o f H ugo Blanco, the P eruvian
peasant leader w ho has n ow spent
some three years in prison w ith ­
out a tr ia l:
“ H ugo B lanco is the head o f one
o f the g u e rrilla movements in
Peru. He struggled stu b b o rn ly
b u t the repression was strong. I
don’t k n o w w h a t his tactics o f
struggle w ere, b u t his fa ll does
n o t s ig n ify the end o f the m ove­
ment. I t is o n ly a m an th a t has
fa lle n , b u t the m ovem ent con­
tinues. One tim e, when we were
p re p a rin g to m ake o u r la n d in g
fro m the Granma, and w hen there
was a great ris k th a t a ll o f us
w o u ld be k ille d , F id e l said: ‘W hat
is m ore im p o rta n t th a n us is the
exam ple we set.’ I t ’s the same
th in g . H ugo B lanco has set an
exam ple, a good example, and he
struggled as m uch as he could.
B u t he suffered a defeat, the pop­
u la r forces suffered a defeat. I t ’s
o n ly a passing stage. A fte rw a rd
w ill come another stage.”
Che Guevara said th is in A lg ie rs
in an in te rv ie w J u ly 23, 1963, th a t
was published in the Aug. 3 issue
o f E l Moudjahid. He was n o t ta lk ­
in g about a fo llo w e r o f J. Posadas
b u t o f one o f the leaders o f the
F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l.
I t w o u ld be in te re stin g to know
w h a t F id e l Castro’s view s are
about this statem ent b y Che
Guevara praising a genuine T ro t­
s k y ist leader w h o has been held
w ith o u t tr ia l fo r alm ost three years
in the prison at Concepcion be­
cause he sought to fo llo w the
exam ple set b y the leaders of the
Cuban R evolution.
Castro, i t m arks a de parture fro m
the p rin c ip le d p o litic a l course he
has sought to fo llo w u p to noW.
I t w o u ld in dicate th a t Cuba’s posi­
tio n has become g re a tly weakened
vis-a-vis the K re m lin .
(2)
I t was designed as “ camou­
flage” fo r th e decided emphasis
placed b y the T ric o n tin e n ta l Con­
W h y D id C astro D o It?
W hy did Castro decide to cap ference bn the need fo r “armed
struggle.” The extrem e m ilita n c y
the T ric o n tin e n ta l Conference w ith
an a tta ck against “ T ro tsk yism ” ? o f the declarations made a t th is
A s w e have indicated, i t is not ga therin g are alm ost certain to be
estim ated in m any quarters, iialik e ly th a t he did i t u n w ittin g ly ,
clu d in g the K re m lin , as a step In
m e re ly because his “ ire was
the d ire ctio n o f T rotskyism . What
aroused” b y m a te ria l com piled by
b e tte r w a y o f countering such ac­
one of the agencies o f the Cuban
governm ent o r possibly the delega­ cusations than b y opening an A t­
tio n w h ic h the G uatem alan Com­ tack on “ T ro tskyism ” ?
The tro u b le w ith th is is th a t i t
m u n ist P a rty keeps in Cuba. T w o
o ther possible explanations re­ does n o t p u ll the w ool over tpe>'
eyes o f the Moscow bureaucrats.
m ain:
(1 )
I t was a p o litic a l conces­B u t I t does tend to sow confusion
sion made in the K re m lin ’s dire c­ and d is u n ity among the m ilita n ts
in
th e
re v o lu tio n a ry
tio n . Peking, too, i t should be engaged
struggle.
noted, is receptive to attacks on
“ T ro tskyism .” D. N. A id it, head of
W hatever C astro’s reasons, the
the Indonesian C om m unist p a rty, m ove in ju re d the e ffo rts to achieve
was given to occasional diatribes
u n ity on a correct program in the
against “ T ro tskyism ” in the days
d iffic u lt b a ttle against im p e ria lis t
before he led his p a rty to disaster.
in te rv e n tio n and aggression. I t is
These diatribes w ere c a re fu lly re­ to be hoped th a t he w ill soon see
ported b y P eking’s news media.
the necessity to re c tify h is stand
I f th is was w h a t m otivated
on th is im p o rta n t question.
Fourth International Asks
Castro to Rectify Assertions
The United Secretariat of the Fourth International sent the fol­
lowing letter to Fidel Castro protesting an attack against “Trotskyism"
made by the Cuban prime minister in a speech Jan. 16. The letter,
sent from Paris, is dated Jan. 20 and signed by Pierre Frank in behalf
of the highest body of the world Trotskyist movement.
*
*
*
To Comrade F id e l Castro, P rim e M in is te r o f S ocialist Cuba, F irs t
Secretary o f the C entral C om m ittee o f the Cuban C om m unist P a rty .
D ear Comrade,
F ro m the Jan. 18 issue o f Le Monde, w e learned about y o u r polem ic
against “ some T ro ts k y is t elements w ho, according to the bourgeois press
o f M exico, Guatem ala and Ita ly , re p o rte d ly stated th a t ‘Che’ Guevara
was assassinated b y the Cuban governm ent.”
F ro m an Agence F rance- Presse dispatch o f Jan. 17, w e also learned
th a t one A lvahuante, w ho is com pletely u n know n to us, b u t w h o claim s
to be a “ fo rm e r secretary o f Leon T ro ts k y ,” was quoted b y you as
asserting th a t “ Che Guevara was liq u id a te d b y the C astroist regim e.”
W e m ust m ake clear th a t o n ly the F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l represents
the c o n tin u ity o f the thou ght o f Leon T ro tsky and th e organization
founded b y him . I t has no th in g in comm on w ith scattered in d iv id u a ls
and irresponsible groups. I t has never departed fro m an o bje ctive at­
titu d e w ith regard to tendencies and governm ents th a t cla im to be fo r
the p ro le ta ria t; i t w ill c e rta in ly n o t do so in th e case o f socialist
Cuba w h ic h i t has n o t fa ile d to defend en ergetica lly in a ll countries
w here i t has sections o r frie n d ly organizations.
We state th a t a t no tim e o r in any place have w e published
slanders such as those alluded to b y you. O u r press handled th e de­
p a rtu re o f Comrade Guevara fro m Cuba in a com pletely d iffe re n t w ay,
ve ry responsibly, as you can judg e fo r yo u rse lf fro m the enclosed
a rticle , “ ‘A N ew F ie ld o f B a ttle ’ fo r Che G uevara,” w ritte n b y ou r
frie n d J. Hansen, e d ito r o f The M ilita n t in N ew Y o rk , w h ic h was re ­
p rin te d in o u r o ffic ia l magazine Q uatriim e Internationale (N ovem ­
be r 1965).
M ore than once, Comrade F id e l Castro, you have proclaim ed quite
c o rre ctly th a t th e re v o lu tio n needs the tru th . Y o u r declaration against
the T ro tskyists a t the end o f the T ric o n tin e n ta l Conference was w id ely
reported in the w o rld press. In the name o f the tr u th w e ask you to
re c tify y o u r declaration and to m ake clea r th a t these accusations were
n o t aimed a t the F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l. The la tte r has alw ays stood a t
the side o f the Cuban re vo lu tio n ists in th e ir struggle fo r socialism and
fo r the L a tin -A m e ric a n re vo lu tio n .
W ith our internationalist Communist greetings,
F or the U nited Secretariat of the Fourth In ternatio n al:
P IE R R E F R A N K
Peking
vs.
Moscow
The Meaning
O f the G re a t D ebate
By William F. Warde
T li* flir t comprehensive appraisal of
th * Sino-Sovlat dispute from a
Marxist standpoint
50 cents
PIONEER PUBLISHERS
5 East Third St.
New York, N. Y. 10003
Back in Print
Uneven and
Combined
Development
In History
By William F. Warde
60c
Pioneer Publishers
5 East Third St.
New York, N.Y.. 10003
THE MILITANT
P age S ix
Monday, January 31, 1966
Lessons of the New York Transit Workers Strike
By Farrell Dobbs
Young people today have had
little chance to perceive the in­
herent social power of the work­
ing class. All their lives they have
seen the unions dom inated by a
gang of bureaucrats who truckle
to the capitalist class. These misleaders of labor support the brutal
im perialist foreign policy of the
ruling class. They give only lip
service to the Freedom Now strug­
gle of th e Negro people, the vast
m ajority of whom are workers.
A t the point of production the
bureaucrats act to cripple the
union power, usurping w orkers’
democracy to impose th eir own
dictatorial rule over the union
membership. They keep labor tied
to capitalist politics, leaving the
governm ental power in the hands
of greedy banks and corporations.
Under these conditions doubts
arise as to w hether organized la­
bor is really capable of playing a
progressive social role. Such
doubts are also sowed by wouldbe theoreticians who claim th at
the unions can never again play
th e ir one-time m ilitant role. Citing
the lafior bureaucrats’ default in
organizing w hite collar workers
they falsely in terpret it as “proof”
th at the unions have nothing to
offer th at growing, category of
wage earners.
Detractors of labor point to
statistics about a relative decline
of industrial w orkers in propor­
tion to the population as a whole.
Like a con man short-changing his
victim, they juggle these figures
George Meany
around in an effort to show that
history is rendering unionism, im ­
potent. Again, and once again, the
M arxist view of the revolutionary
potential of the working class is
proclaimed obsolete.
History itself has a way *of re­
futing such theoretical fantasies.
A graphic exam ple is the New
York tran sit' strike th at stands
forth as a high point in union
struggle after m any years of rela­
tive labor quiescence. There are
im portant lessons for young peo­
ple, both workers and students, to
learn from the exam ple set by the
tran sit workers.
Some 36,000 strikers tied up
public transportation in a city of
eight million and the powers-thatbe couldn’t move a single train
or bus in public service during the
walkout. Clearly it was not the
sheer weight of numbers that gave
the transit workers this impres­
sive strength. The decisive factor
was the key functions they per­
form within the city’s economic
structure. Similarly in national
terms, it is not the relative nu­
merical weight of the workers in
terms of the population as a whole
th at determines their strength as
a social force. It is their strategic
role in the total economic com­
plex, plus their distinctive char­
acteristics as a relatively homo­
geneous social class.
Numerical strength has prim ary
importance in term s of class
solidarity among the workers in­
volved in a given struggle, rath er
than in the relative size of the
em battled force. The problem of
solidarity begins w ith the strikers
themselves, and it extends from
there to a quest for broader labor
support according to the needs of
the fight. As we shall see, it was
in the broader union sphere, espe­
cially among the top AFL-CIO
bureaucrats, th at class solidarity
with the transit workers was
crim inally violated.
\Vithin the Transport Workers
Union the ranks stood solid
throughout the strike. Not a peep
came from inside the TWU that
Republican Mayor Lindsay, or his
Democratic collaborators at City
Hall, could use to sm ear the
strike. It was a case of aroused
workers who fought for just de­
mands and who stood united in
their common needs as class broth­
ers. They fought off strikebreak­
ing attem pts of the kind that,
especially in recent years, have
nipped in the bud m any efforts
by w orkers to defend their inter­
ests.
This time the TWU officials
didn’t capitulate w ithout a fight
as they have done before. Instead
of making a deal for a union con­
tract on City H all’s terms, they
fought at least until the union
had won a partied victory. Some
TWU officials even showed a
spark of the militancy they prob­
ably had in earlier times before
they got on the bureaucratic gravy
train. Mike Quill, for example,
uttered a tru th when he said, “It
is about tim e th at someone, some­
where along the road of labor
ceased to be respectable.”
Fine words, indeed, but it
doesn’t follow th at the power of
the strike should be attributed to
a sudden break w ith bureaucratic
“respectability” by TWU officials.
While giving them due credit for
the way they stood up to City
Hall, it is im portant to recognize
the real reason w hy they did so.
Like everybody else in the line of
fire, the TWU officials were up
against an aroused membership
th at w asn’t about to hold still for
a fast shuffle from anybody,
either inside or outside the union.
They had to fight, or else.
What a fight the transit work­
ers made! They brushed aside a
court injunction based on an anti­
labor state law and went on strike
in defiance of the judge and the
A m erica 's Revolutionary H eritage:
John Brown — Guerrilla Leader
only conditions of which are per­
petual imprisonment, and hopeless
servitude or absolute exterm ina­
tion . . . ”
In the sum m er of 1859 Brown
began to assemble his men on a
small farm near H arper’s Ferry,
at the juncture of the Potomac
and the Shenandoah rivers. They
planned to take the arsenal, free
slaves in the area and re tre at into
m ountains of Virginia to begin
operations into the South.
By L eslie Evans
He captured Harper’s Ferry w ith his nineteen m en so true;
He frightened Old Virginia till she trem bled through and through.
They hung him for a traitor, them selves the traitor crew,
B ut his soul is marching on.
— "John Brown’s Body”
It is m ore than a century since
John Brown and his small band
captured the United States arsenal
a t H arper’s Ferry, Virginia. Dec­
ades of historical falsification,
which have sought to depict the
rebellion of the Southern slavocracy — the Civil W ar — as a re ­
grettable misunderstanding, have
strived equally to tarnish the
memory of John Brown, labelling
him criminal, fanatic and lunatic.
John Brown was none of these.
John Brown came from a verybid New England family. His roots
in America date back almost to
the Mayflower landing. His grand­
father died in the American Rev­
olution, his father was an ardent
Abolitionist and a conductor on
th e Underground Railroad. His
sons after him w ere fighters in
the Abolitionist cause. Coming
from generations of deeply reli­
gious P rotestant pioneers, John
Brown was rem arkably like his
father and grandfather in char­
acter and outlook.
Born in 1800 in Connecticut,
and raised in Ohio, he worked at
various trades, being successively
a tanner, surveyor, shepherd,
wool-merchant and farm er. He
*Iived in m any of th e N ortheastern
states, m arried twice, and raised
a large family, all of whom w ere
committed to t h e fight against
slavery.
For m any years Brown believed
with W illiam Lloyd G arrison th at
slavery could be abolished peace­
fully. His father was a trustee of
Oberlin College, th e first college
in the United States to adm it Ne­
groes, and he had hopes that
Negro education would put an end
to slavery.
The passage of the Fugitive
Slave Law in 1850 convinced John
Brown th a t only arm ed action
could effectively dissuade the
slaveholders from hunting down
fugitive slaves. In 1851 he founded
the League of the Gileadites in
New York, a society of armed
Negroes who rescued fugitives
who had been captured by South­
ern slave-catchers.
For some years he had planned
a project for establishing a moun­
tain stronghold in the Southern
Appalachians from which to
launch raids into the South to
free slaves. W hile in Europe in
1851 in connection w ith his wool
business, he inspected fortifica­
tions, read widely on m ilitary tac­
tics and studied guerrilla warfare.
He visualized a string of m ountain
fortresses from which an armed
force of freed Negroes would
stage guerrilla sorties to liberate
large num bers of slaves.
It was not in Virginia, however,
but on the W estern plains that
John Brown’s first armed clash
w ith slavery was to take place.
In 1854 five of his sons set out
for the Kansas T erritory to help
win it for the Free Soil party.
While the free soilers were in a
clear m ajority in the territory,
arm ed gangs of Southerners te r­
rorized the area and sought by
any means to establish slavery in
Kansas.
Brown’s sons appealed to him
to come w ith arms to help organ­
ize resistance among the fright­
ened settlers. In the spring of
1855 when elections w ere held for
the territorial legislature, thou­
sands of arm ed pro-slavery South­
erners came over the border from
Missouri, took over the polls and
elected a pro-slave legislature for
Kansas! In the late fall John
Brown rode into Kansas w ith a
wagonload of guns and ammuni­
tion.
The Free Soilers refused to ac­
cept the rigged election, set up
their own legislature and declared
Lawrence as their capital. In May
of 1856 the slaveholders burned
Lawrence, killing a num ber of its
defenders. John Brown, now Cap­
tain of a volunteer militia at
Trapped A fter Victory
John Brown
Ossawatamie, captured five of the
leaders of the pro-slavery gang
and killed them. W ar broke out
between the pro and anti-slavery
forces that was to give the ter­
ritory the name of “Bleeding K an­
sas.”
Brown was declared an outlaw,
but he commanded tremendous
sympathy and adm iration from
thousands in Kansas and through­
out the North. He carried on guer­
rilla w arfare, leading attacks
against the pro-slavery forces, and
making raids to free slaves into
Missouri, until the intervention of
Federal troops ensured Kansas as
a free state.
John Brown emerged from
Kansas as a steeled revolutionary
soldier. He was now determ ined
to return to his original plan of
mountain guerrilla w arfare. In
1858 he called a convention of free
Negroes in Canada where he an­
nounced his plans and a consti­
tution was drafted under which
his forces were to be governed.
The constitution said in part,
" . . . Slavery, throughout its en­
tire existence in the United States
is none other than a most bar­
barous, unprovbked, and unjusti­
fiable w ar of one portion of its
citizens upon another portion; the
On Monday, Oct. 17, John
Brown with twenty-two men cap­
tured the town of H arper’s Ferry.
Delaying their retreat too long,
they w ere trapped in the engine
house at the arsenal. Slaves who
had joined them were slaughtered,
ten of Brown’s men, including
two of his sons, were killed and
Brown himself and the survivors
w ere captured by U.S. Marines
under the command of Robert E.
Lee. Accused of treason, it was
his captors, jailers and judges
who were to prove themselves
“the traitor crew,” and in less
than two years at that.
Rushed to trial and condemned
to death, John Brown rose to his
full stature in his impassioned de­
fense which was a burning indict­
m ent of slavery: “Had I inter­
fered . . . in behalf of the rich, the
powerful, the intelligent, the socalled great, or in behalf . . . of
any of that class — and suffered
and sacrificed w hat I have in this
interference, it would have been
all right; and every man in this
court would have deemed it an
act w orthy of rew ard rath e r than
punishm ent.”
Sentenced to die, he was ex­
ecuted by hanging on Dec. 2, 1859.
In his last testam ent, w ritten the
day he died, he said: “I, John
Brown, am quite certain th a t the
crimes of this guilty land will
never be purged away but with
blood. I had, as I now think vain­
ly, flattered myself th at without
very much bloodshed it m ight be
done.”
whole City Hall gang. When their
top negotiators were jailed as
“law breakers,” a second team
stepped in to speak for the union.
The strikers rem ained solid in the
face of court proceedings intended
to impose massive fines on the
union. They stood up against
savage sm ear propaganda in the
capitalist news media and against
a rising capitalist clam or to call
out the National G uard against
them.
A t a crucial point in the strike
the TWU ranks m et the capitalist
attack by dem onstrating their
solidarity and fighting spirit
through a mass picket line at City
Hall. Significant bodies of work­
ers from other unions supported
the demonstration. Even some
bureaucrats from other New York
unions, who had slowly and tim id­
ly come out in support of the
strike, turned up a t the demon­
stration. Many local bureaucrats
did nothing, and a few openly
finked on the TWU. The main
thing, however, was th at the TWU
ranks w ere solid and th a t they
were winning rank and file sup­
port from other unions.
Unable to break the strike w ith
injunctions, jailings and threats of
fines, Lindsay appealed to “re­
sponsible” to p ' officials of the
AFL-CIO for help in stopping the
strike. If it w asn’t stopped, he
said in effect, the bureaucrats
need have no hopes of getting
legislative crumbs from the cap­
italist table. Friends are friends,
but after all the “friends of labor”
in the Democratic and Republican
parties are against strikes.
George M eany responded by
approving the jailing of the TWU
leaders w ith the rem ark th at Mike
Quill “wanted to go to jail.” As
though th at scabby comment
wasn’t criminal enough, he added
th at Mayor Lindsay, who was
trying to break the strike, was
“handling himself very well.”
A fter the strike W alter R euther
proved his “respectability” with a
statem ent th at “society can’t tol­
erate stoppages” like the transit
strike. Silence among other union
bureaucrats about the rem arks of
M eany and Reuther makes them
parties to this crime against the
working class. ■
Despite all obstacles the transit
workers won a partial victory by
forcing concessions from City Hall
that it hadn’t intended to make.
The fact remains, however, th at
the settlem ent fell far short of the
workers’ just demands and they
remain victims of gross wage in­
equities. Unmoved by the serious
economic problems still plaguing
the TWU ranks, President Johnson
denounced the gains they did win
as a violation of his wage “guideposts.” Such flexing of the Presi­
dential jawbone can mean only
one thing: he obviously w anted
City Hall to try harder to break
the strike. Johnson left no doubt
about th at when he followed
through w ith a call for fu rther
anti-strike laws.
Both the Republican Mayor and
the Democratic President proved
themselves enemies of the transit
workers. The strikers got nothing
they didn’t fight for and even then
the lackeys of capitalism cheated
them out of a just settlem ent. It
shows th at labor can place no
trust in capitalist politicians. The
workers will get only w hat tfyey
can w in through m ilitant use of
the union power at the job level
and through mobilization of their
class political strength in an in­
dependent labor party.
Labor’s inherent capacity to
take that road is dem onstrated by
the transit strike, as is the work­
ers’ growing desire to do so. Many
workers throughout the country
face problems as pressing as those
of the TWU ranks and they are
developing an increasing urge to
fight in defense of th eir class in­
terests. The main thing standing
in their way is a crisis of union
leadership, and the time is grow­
ing nearer when the w orkers will
set out to correct th at situation.
THE MILITANT
Monday, January 31, 1966
L
e
t
t
[This column is an open forum
for all viewpoints on subjects of
general interest to our readers.
Please keep your letters brief.
Where necessary they w ill be
abridged. W riters’ initials w ill be
used, names being w ithheld unless
authorization is given for use.]
Jim Crow
i
Plentywood, Montana
Is there a complete history of
Negro slavery from the beginning
until the present tim e — a true
account?
A t home we have never hated
the Negroes. Many of my fath er’s
people were killed in the Civil
War. My dad’s father was killed
a t the B attle of Shiloh. His boy
was fighting there and he saw
him loading his gun w ith his fin­
gers shot off hanging by the skin
w ith blood running down the gunJ IU IU IIIIIH IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIO M IIIIIM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIM IIIIIIIM IIIM IIIIIIII^
20 Years A go
In The M ilitant
jf t it m ii iii ii iiM i iii iii in i ii iii iii m H i ii m iii iiH i iM ii iii n ii iii im ii ii iii im ii in i r
GI DESCRIBES HOW SOL­
DIERS ON OKINAWA ORGAN­
IZED MASS PROTEST DEM­
ONSTRATION — Okinawa, Jan.
13 — The inform ation th a t came
over the radio a few weeks back
th at GIs in M anila had staged a
demonstration against the demobi­
lization snafu had a tremendous
effect here.
Every place you went, w her­
ever there were two or more sol­
diers, the subject was: “L et’s call
a m eeting” ; “L et’s go on strike” ;
“They did it there, we can do it
here.” A rash of mimeographed
leaflets sprang up. A couple of
men w ere busted for mim eograph­
ing pamphlets.
Then on Jan. 9, an inpromptu
meeting of about 1,000 GIs was
held . . . The next night there was
an American Veterans Committee
meeting that I attended. There
w ere about 100 present, including
a colonel . . . A couple of GIs
got up and spoke. They said they
had received permission to hold
the meeting, but the subject of
demobilization was not to be dis­
cussed . . .
Yesterday, the new G eneral in
command of Okinawa m ade a
speech over the radio . . . It was
full of such favorite bywords as
“The Team,” (i.e. the A rm y),
“The Team ” (i.e. the A rm y),
said he needs men to set up in ­
stallations and warehouses. A nd
not one word on demobilization.
The men got burned up about
it. Especially about the p art w here
he mentioned the “honored dead
of Okinawa graveyards.” The way
they figure it — w hat the hell
did he know about the honored
dead?
So came this afternoon, a t two
o’clock. We had to drive a jeep
about 20 miles to get there . . .
They m ust have received perm is­
sion to talk about demobilization,
however, as the chairm an of the
m eeting got up and said: “I u n ­
derstand some of you men have
something to say about demobi­
lization.” There was a roar from
the 12,000 throats. They took any
man from the audience who w ant­
ed to speak and gave him a m ax­
imum of two minutes. Well they
took off — but good. They ripped
into the G eneral’s speech.
Speaker after speaker said: “We
can’t trust the War D epartm ent,”
“We can’t trust the brass hats in
W ashington,” “We have to take
things into our own hands.” They
asked a lot of em barrassing ques­
tions. They quoted the 13th
amendment to the Constitution. A
bunch of Negro soldiers got up
and said their piece, to the effect:
“We’re all in this together, for
better' or worse.” They got a big
hand. The m eeting broke up after
a num ber of telegram s w ere sent
to Congress. — Feb. 2, 1946.
e
r
s
f
r
o
barrel. In a little while he was
lying on the ground dead.
It has been a puzzle to me that
the Negroes did not start killing
the slave traders. I am reading
H arriet Tubm an in The M ilitant
and she was th e most outstanding
woman in United States history.
Also about Nat T urner and John
Brown.
There is a man here th at was
raised in Florida. He hates Ne­
groes and would like to kill them.
This m an said w hat he would
most desire would be the separa­
tion of the whites and blacks,
not to make voters or jurors of
Negroes, not to allow them to hold
office or interm arry, and so on.
You no doubt have heard all of
that, so I will not dwell on it.
I think the freedom movement
has done very well considering
the way the Negroes were ground
down and w hat they went
through.
Wayne La Grange
W e 're Genuinely Grateful
Baltimore, Md.
Although a little late, I am send­
ing $2.10 to help support the So­
cialist Education Fund.
I know th a t w hat I am sending
is very small, but I only get $54
a m onth Social Security and my
w ife only gets $20 making a total
of $74 to buy our own fuel and
keep up our house—and no fringe
benefits.
W.C.
IL A Bosses in Saigon
Detroit, Mich.
It is hard to conceive of a more
abysmal disgrace to the American
labor movement than the “aid”
now being given by “veteran
dockw orkers” in expediting the
unloading of w ar m ateriel in the
ports of Saigon, Vietnam.
According to the Jan. 15 AFLCIO News, stevedores from the
International Longshoremen of
America “patriotically” answered
governm ent call and now have
begun to install a new cargohandling system which will make
it possible to unclog the ports. As
of early December, Saigon was
tied up with m ountains of food,
supplies and ammunition.
Thanks to the ILA “patriots,”
the U.S. governm ent can hope to
clear the w ay for more men and
shipments to be used against the
popular revolution now sweeping
southern Vietnam. The ILA is
paying for a six-month tour of
duty for at least four men, which
w ill cost the union — not the
governm ent — some $50,-$60,000;
the ILA also plans to pay for costs
to bring Vietnamese dockworkers
to the U.S. for on-the-job training.
President Thomas Gleason of
the ILA says the new system
should cut ship “tu rn around”
tim e from weeks to days or hours.
U.S. “labor” thus brings more
productivity to Vietnamese labor
but does not even bother itself
w ith the fact th at it will be tu rn ­
ing th e south Vietnamese w orker
back to a b ru tal antilabor regime
which, as Emil Mazey of the UAW
months ago pointed out, does not
allow free trade unions even to
exist.
Gleason and the other “patriots”
also do not bother themselves with
the fact th at they are aiding the
suppression of a movement of the
working and farm ing population
of Vietnam, by the same ruling
class th at wants to hold down
American w orkers’ wages and
m
O
Page Seven
u
r
R
e
a
d
e
autom ate their jobs out of ex­ demn it in the eyes of every
civilized person on earth. Every­
istence.
“Saigon is an old port,” Glea­ one is for peace. No one for war.
son said, patronizingly. “They’ve Yet for a decade we have been
been operating it lazy for a thou­ bankrupting the country and
making debt slaves of the people
sand years or so. When you try
to change customs, you’re not and their children for untold gen­
too welcome. But w e’re getting erations to come in preparing for
a w ar th at no one wants. How
through to them .”
Gleason w asn’t in Saigon a foolish can we get?
thousand years ago so maybe he - The problem is not easy. Today,
doesn’t realize th at the Viet­ in our country about ten percent
namese dockworkers are “lazy” of our labor force is employed in
today because they don’t w ant to preparing for this w ar that no one
unload bullets to kill their broth­ wants. A nother ten percent serv­
ices those who are already en­
ers. If you were in the same
predicament, and you didn’t dare gaged in w ar in Vietnam. Add
this tw enty percent to the already
organize, you’d be “lazy” too.
Perhaps it takes such an 'Utter unemployed in this country and
betrayal of labor solidarity as'th a t you can readily see th a t the re­
of the ILA in Vietnam before sult would be really serious. No
American workers will realize that w onder the Washington govern­
they should be hesitant about m ent is more afraid of peace than
cooperating w ith the executioner of war.
World W ar II solved the un­
of their colonial brothers. They
m ust turn for inspiration to the employment problems of the
exam ple of the Seattle w orkers in 1930s. Shall the present problem
1919 who struck rath e r than ship be solved only by a third World
m ateriel to suppress the Russian W ar th at would m ake the other
Revolution. But their responsibil­ two look like Sunday School pic­
nics in comparison? It is a sad
ity is even greater in 1966.
Jan Garrett indictm ent of our economic sys­
tem when, apparently, we cannot
Think It O ver
have prosperity and good times in
Fort Bragg, Calif. this country w ithout w ar or prep­
If there were no other argu­ arations for war.
m ents against the insanity and
I will ask my readers to reflect
futility of w ar the terrible waste a moment on the figures below
of resources, money and m an­ and ask themselves if the untold
power would be enough to con- billions of dollars we are spending
r
s
on w ar and preparations for a
bigger w ar could not be used for
a better purpose. Here is w hat
the cost of one heavy bomber
would do:
Build
two
modem, ' fully
equipped hospitals.
Build two electric power plants,
each serving a city of 60,000 peo­
ple.
Build a modern school in each
of th irty cities.
The cost of a single destroyer
would build enough homes to
house 60,000 people. We pay for
a fighter plane w ith half a million,
bushels of wheat.
Remember, if a third world w a r
would come w ith the m odem
weapons we have today half the
people would be crem ated w ithin
hours and only a barbaric, brutal­
ized form of life would rem ain
in which the living would envy
the dead. THINK IT OVER.
Jack Odom,
Route 2 Box 208,
For Bragg, Calif. 95437
Renewal
Manati, Puerto Rico
I am enclosing $1 for a sixmonth subscription to your paper.
Becoming acquainted w ith The
M ilitant while living in Jersey
City I would really like to receive
it once more.
So please send me the paper as
soon as possible.
AG.
It W a s R ep o rted in the P re s s
McCarthyism Revisited ■— On
Jan. 14 ABC carried a program
in which actress Jean M uir was
perm itted to tell the chilling story
of how she was driven out of
broadcasting during the McCarthy
era after being labelled a “Com­
m unist” by Red Channels, a lucra­
tive red-hunting publication of the
time. However, after Miss M uir
taped the show ABC deleted a
few things from it. Among the
facts taken out were the name of
the sponsor that fired her (General
Foods), and the name of the
broadcasting system that went
along w ith it (NBC). Otherwise it
was quite a daring expose of
McCarthyism.
News of the Week — A con­
fessed bomber of a Negro home
in Jacksonville, Fla., named five
Klansmen as conspirators to the
bombing. They w ere tried and
acquitted. The judge said racial
feelings of the jurors played a
part in the verdict.
Dim View — Prof. Gerhard
O. W. Mueller of New York Uni­
versity Law School takes w hat
some might interpret as an unAmerican view of the benefits of
the profit motive. Testifying on a
proposed New York law to com­
pensate the victims of criminal
violence, he offered two argu­
ments against it. He said crim­
inals would tend to take the same
“nobody-gets-hurt” view of rob­
bing individuals as they now do
of banks, etc. He further argued
th at a psychological relationship
often existed between the crim­
inal and victim in which the vic­
tim often unconsciously invited
attack. The possibility of compen­
sation for the victim’s family, he
said, m ight increase the invita­
tions to homicide.
tary, “The World of the TeenAger,” New York Times television
critic Jack Gould commented: “In
an hour’s consideration of the
m atters on minds of high-school
students, there was not one word
about Vietnam and the draft.”
Homey — A survey of swank
M anhattan town houses and apart­
ments shows th at rich people pre­
fer their kitchens simple, reports
the New York Times. For ex­
ample, when a Mr. and Mrs. Mi­
chael Tucker designed “their spa­
cious ground-floor kitchen and
their second-flogr serving pantry
(larger than most kitchens), they
stuck to such tried and true ap­
pliances as stainless steel ranges,
sinks, refrigerators and freezing
cabinets.” At the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Irw in Donenfeld, “the equip­
m ent is standard. There is quite
a lot of it, though — two dish­
washers, two stainless steel sinks,
two electric ovens, a restaurantsize refrigerator and a six-burner
gas range.”
O.K. For Foreigners — The fed­
eral government is making sure
that the tobacco industry is com­
pensated for any possible loss re­
sulting from the required health
warning on cigarette packages.
The D epartm ent of Agriculture is
paying W arner Brothers $106,000
to insert scenes designed to stim u­
late smoking in a travelogue to be
shown overseas. The D epartm ent
is also putting up $210,000 to sub­
sidize cigarette advertising in J a ­
pan, Thailand and Austria.
I. Q. Test — Manuel Yellen,
board chairm an of the Lorillard
tobacco company, doubts th a t the
health w arning on cigarette pack­
ages will have any significant im­
pact on sales. He said: “I think
the American public is too intel­
ligent to pay any attention to
that type of warning.”
•■'.Y'
G reat Pacifier — Asked if busi­
ness would tu rn against Johnson
because of some price restraints,
Paul Wren, president of Boston’s
Old Colony T rust Co., commented:
“There isn’t any open w arfare and
there won’t be any as long asthose good profits hold up.”
— Harry R ing
~ l
FO R
N
E
W
R
E
A
D
E
R
S
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Complete Coverage — After
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MILITANT
873 Broadway
Ne\y York, N. Y. 10003
Thought for the W eek
“The only people in south Vietnam who have staked their lives
on Am erican support have been the cliques and coteries of businessmen
and m ilitary m en of south Vietnam who have lived for 11 years off
Am erican m oney and support. That is w hy we hear K y reject negotia­
tions w ith the north; that is w hy this tyrannical little tinhorn dictator
of south Vietnam — w hom we financed and set up — is most eager
that American bombing of North Vietnam be resumed." — Senator
W ayne Morse, Jan. 19, 1966.
Name
Street
City ................................................. State
Zip..
|
Page Eight
th e
MILITANT
M onday, January 31, 1966
JU LIAN BOND
Veterans Plan Protest
An Atlanta 3rd Party Possibility In Capital on Viet War
B y A le x H a rte
J u lia n Bond, the Negro Repre­
sentative-elect w ho was refused
his seat e a rly th is m o n th in the
G eorgia legisla ture on grounds o f
his opposition to the V ie tn a m w a r,
m ay ru n as an independent can­
didate instead o f a D em ocrat in
th e Feb. 23 special election to f i l l
his vacant seat.
'‘•O bviously m y philosophy does
h o t agree w ith e ith e r the Demo­
crats o r Republicans,” said Bond,
Whose seat was challenged a fte r
he declared support to a Jan. 6
statem ent against the w a r b y the
S tudent N o n vio le n t C oo rd in a tin g
C om m ittee. Bond, w h o was elected
by an overw h e lm in g vote in a
p red om inate ly b la ck d is tric t in A t­
lanta, is p u b lic ity d ire c to r fo r
SNCC.
A ccording to a Jan. 24 A P dis­
patch, Bond hasn’t y e t decided
w h a t designation he w il l use in
th e Feb. 23 election, b u t he says
a th ir d Pa rty based on A tla n ta ’s
black popu lation and supported
b y SNCC appears lik e ly .
'SNCC chairm a n John L e w is said
SNCC leaders d id n o t expect the
Bond controversy, b u t th a t now
th a t i t has broken out, i t “ pre­
sented an o p p o rtu n ity to s ta rt o r­
ganizing in A tla n ta ” along lines
already mapped out in parts of
A labam a.
I n Low ndes and Greene Coun­
ties in A labam a, SNCC has backed
th e fo rm a tio n o f the “ B la c k Pan­
th e r” p a rty. Negroes outnum ber
w hites in b oth counties and w ith
re g istra tio n d rives now underw ay
m ay be able to m uster m ore votes
a t the polls than the w h ite racists.
Julian Bond
The day a fte r Bond was re­
fused his seat, SNCC released a
statem ent sup p o rtin g h im and de­
c la rin g th a t SNCC and its allies
plan to “ Convene w ith in the near
fu tu re an e x p lo ra to ry conference
to discuss the fe a s ib ility o f fo rm in g
a freedom organization, s im ila r to
the M ississippi Freedom Democra­
tic P a rty (M F D P ) b u t in no w ay
aligned w ith o r supporting the
re g u la r D em ocratic P a rty .”
The M F D P had organized in ­
dependently o f the state Demo­
c ra tic P a rty, b u t had supported
the n a tional D em ocratic P a rty
candidates and sought to replace
the ra cist M ississippi delegates in
the n a tio n a l D em ocratic P a rty
convention in A tla n tic C ity in
1964. The M F D P was re b u ffe d on
this.
A le a fle t d is trib u te d by SNCC
in pre p a ratio n fo r organizing the
B la ck P an th e r p a rty in A labam a,
ca rrie d the sym bol o f the Demo­
cra tic P a rty o f A labam a w ith the
statem ent: “ Is th is the p a rty you
w ant?” The sym bol is a w h ite
rooster labeled “ w h ite suprem acy.”
The le a fle t declared: “ T his is the
p a rty o f: George W allace, A1 L in ­
go, B u ll Connor, S h e riff James
C la rk and a ll the o ther racists in
Alabam a . . . [as w e ll as o f] L y n ­
don Baines Johnson, President of
the U n ite d States. T h e y a ll oper­
ate together, in A labam a and in
W ashington . . . I f Alabam a doesn’t
w a n t to repeat w h a t happened
to the M ississippi Freedom Demo­
c ra tic P a rty then Alabam a doesn’t
have to.” On Jan. 22 the A labam a
State D em ocratic Com m ittee re ­
moved the “ w h ite suprem acy” slo­
gan fro m the p a rty b a llo t emblem
in an a tte m p t to head o ff the new
movem ent.
A ll-N e g ro Gov’t
Speaking o f the B la ck P anther
p a rty , L e w is re ce n tly said “ in some
instances i t m ig h t be necessary to
have all-N egro governm ent before
you can have a w o rka b le in te r­
ra cia l governm ent.” R ichard H a­
ley, Southern regional d ire c to r fo r
the Congress o f R acial E q u a lity
said CORE w ould support a ll­
b lack slates o f candidates in some
counties w here blacks are a ma­
jo r it y and w here there w ere no
w hites w h o w ere not racists w ill­
in g to run.
In Tuskegee, A labam a recently,
signs have appeared among Negro
dem onstrators s a y i n g : “ Macon
C ounty is 85 percent Negro; Ne­
groes should ru n the governm ent.”
N EW Y O R K — The Veterans
and Reservists to End the W a r
in V ie tn a m here have scheduled
a dem onstration fo r Feb. 5 in
W ashington, D. C. w here members
o f the group w ill re tu rn th e ir
discharge papers and campaign
ribbons to P resident Johnson in
protest against the V ie tfta m w ar.
Others w ill fo rm a suppo rting
p ic ke t lin e in fr o n t o f the W h ite
House.
The dem onstration w ill take
place on the fir s t anniversary of
the s ta rt o f the bom bing o f n orth
V ietnam . The c a ll fo r the demon­
stra tio n declares:
“ The U n ite d States was created
by a group o f men w ho treasured
th e ir independence and w ere be­
in g s tifle d b y a repressive govern­
m ent thousands o f m iles away.
W hen reasoning fa ile d they chose
re vo lu tio n to get w h a t th e y knew
were th e ir ju s t righ ts. T he V ie t­
namese people have an equal rig h t
to choose fo r themselves how they
shall liv e and be governed . . .
“ O u r co u n try has been dis­
honored b y its [th e U. S. govern­
m en t’s] arro gant disregard o f the
w ill of the Vietnamese people, by
its creation and support o f a ser­
ies of dictatorships in south V ie t­
nam, by its fre q u e n t attem pts to
deceive the A m erican p u b lic . . .
We call fo r a ll Am ericans, par­
tic u la rly veterans and reservists,
com m itted to freedom and in te r­
n a tion al justice to support the ac­
tio n we are ta kin g and jo in us in
dem anding o f the President and
o u r governm ent an im m ediate end
to th is dishonorable w a r.”
The m eeting place o f the dem­
onstration in W ashington is L a ­
fayette P ark, d ire c tly opposite the
W h ite House on P ennsylvania A ve­
nue, a t 11:30 a.m. Feb. 5. Those
in the N ew Y o rk area m ay take
chartered buses a t $7 per round
tr ip tic k e t, fro m 5 Beekm an St. at
6:00 a.m. th a t m orning. There
w ill be a m eeting o f the N ew Y o rk
p a rticip a n ts a t 8:00 p.m. on Feb.
3 at the com m ittee’s headquarters,
5 Beekman St. Room 1033, New
Y o rk, N . Y . 10038.
NSA Supports
St. Johns' S trike
N E W Y O R K , Jan. 26 —
Thousands o f m em bers of th e
N a tio n a l S tudents Associa­
tion plan to picket S t. John’s
U n iv e rs ity h ere Jan. 28 to
support th e 31 teachers dis­
missed last m onth because
o f th e ir stand in fa v o r of
academic freedo m and union
organization. N S A m em bers
w ill come here in buses fro m
cities on th e eastern seaboard.
T h ey w i ll appear at th e St.
John’s campuses in B ro o klyn
and Queens. T h e U n ite d F e d ­
eratio n of College Teachers
has been on s trik e a t St.
John’s — th e c o u n try’s la r ­
gest C atholic u n iv e rs ity —
since Jan. 4 in protest against
th e 31 dismissals.
W a ll Street M aps Plan To Go Underground
[T h e following are- excerpts
from an article in the January 12,
1966 W a ll S treet Jo u rn a l.]
Q u ie tly, and sometimes secret­
ly , m any o f the na tio n ’s biggest
companies are b u ild in g a lternate
headquarters safe fro m nuclear
attack. B u rie d underground o r
dispersed aw ay fro m b ig target
cities, th ey w o u ld be v ita l in keep­
in g the economy fu n c tio n in g i f
ever H-bombs fa ll.
N ear here, fo r exam ple, [H u d ­
son, N .Y .] a m am m oth corporate
b u n ke r lies hidden in the hollowed-out core o f Iro n M o u n ta in
— p ro tected1fro m blast, heat and
ra d ia tio n b y countless tons o f
rock, soil and iro n ore. A 28-ton
steel door in the m o u n ta in side
swings open, and a v is ito r w an­
ders th ro u g h offices, kitchens,
dorm itories, com m unications fa c ili­
ties. N ew Y o rk , 115 m iles to the
south, could be incinerated b u t
Iro n M o u n ta in offers protection
against a ll b u t a near-direct h it
b y a m ulti-m egaton weapon . . .
I t is a second home fo r several
companies, among them S tandard
O il Co. (N e w Jersey), M anufac­
tu re rs H anover T ru s t Co. and
S hell O il Co. M ost o f Iro n M oun­
ta in ’ s 700 “ customers” o n ly re n t
storage space fo r v ita l records and
documents, a common enough
practice in the nuclear age. B u t
toe three firm s named m a in ta in
elaborate subterranean headquar­
ters, as w e ll, w here selected ke y
employes and other corporate
bom b su rvivo rs w o u ld liv e and
w o rk a fte r an attack . . .
“ I t ’s safe to say now th a t alm ost
a ll o f the 500 top corporations
have some sort o f alternate head­
quarters arrangem ents,” says V ir ­
g il L . Couch, assistant d ire c to r
fo r in d u s tria l p a rtic ip a tio n in the
O ffice o f C iv il Defense . . .1
Some o f these command posts
are spartan indeed; a records
storage va u lt, a sm all o ffice w ith
tw o or three desks, a fe w cots,
perhaps a camp stove and some
canned o r dehydrated food. B u t
others are designed as fu ll-fle d g e d
nerve
centers
cram m ed
w ith
fa c ilitie s and capable o f housing
scores o f employes fo r extended
periods . . .
Jersey S tandard’s fa c ility , fo r
example, can accommodate 200
people in 50 bedrooms and d o r­
m ito rie s . . .
Once inside, i t is hard to te ll
th a t the headquarters are u n der­
ground. W alls are painted in a
v a rie ty o f b rig h t colors, and v iv id
p rin ts adorn them . O ffices lo o k
m uch lik e those in modern sky­
scrapers. T here is also a lounge
area, a m edical section complete
w ith e x a m in in g room and hospi­
ta l beds, and a “ m usic” room,
w here easy chairs and a red-andgold couch in v ite com fortable
lis te n in g to piped-in concerts . . .
The entrance to S hell O il’s bun­
k e r is lin e d w ith a rtific ia l flow ers
and colored spotlights. The m ain
o ffice contains about 40 ye llo w
desks w ith stylish wooden tops,
and the e n tire la y o u t has a cozy
“ co u n try ” a ir. S hell is no w busy
in s ta llin g a w o rld -w id e com m uni­
cations system in the b u n ke r and
has already p u t executives through
d ry runs as practice fo r ru n n in g
the fa c ility . . . .
So has M anufacturers Hanover,
w h ic h dispatched ten o f its o f­
ficers to Iro n M o u n ta in 16 months
ago fo r an exercise. There they
“ reconstructed” the accounts o f a
branch bank w h ic h th e o re tica lly
had been destroyed. U sing d u p li­
cate records stored in the a lte r­
nate headquarters, they had com­
plete success in id e n tify in g cus­
tom er accounts and came up o n ly
$6,800 sho rt in tra cin g the branch’s
outstanding loans . . . .
O the r concerns already have
selected key employes. T h is raises
a k n o tty problem : W ho shall the
chosen people be? Some com­
panies hope to be able to m an
th e ir centers at the fir s t sign th a t
w a r m ig h t come. Thus, those
forew arned w o u ld have a fa r bet­
te r chance o f staying a liv e than
those deemed unessential and le ft
in the c ity to brave the bomb.
A nd even i f the selection is made
i
a fte r an attack, those picked
w o uld be m ore lik e ly to s u rvive in
underground safety than those
le ft outside . . . .
Jersey Standard, w h ic h plans to
house fam ilies, has faced the prob­
lem b y assigning skeleton crew
functions to certain jo b slots, not
to in d ivid u a ls. So i t ’s possible fo r
a m an to get a prom otion and
fin d he no longer has a desk at
Iro n M ou ntain. “ I have n o th in g
against vice presidents,”
says
Chester O. French, .assistant se­
c u rity a d m inistrator, “ b u t w e need
operating specialists to ru n the
operation . . .”
Though companies s triv e to
avoid the appearance o f special
p rivile g e fo r those selected, i t ’s
perhaps in e vita b le th a t a skeleton
crew assignment has become a
status sym bol com parable to the
executive washroom ke y — at
least at some concerns. “ Listen,
you’re a nobody in th is corpora­
tio n i f yo u r name isn’t on a desk
at alternate headquarters,” says
an executive o f one fir m . . . .
H o w to get them there? T his
m a tte r plagues m a n y companies.
C e rta in ly all-out nuclear attacks
on U.S. cities w o u ld m ake trans­
p o rta tio n a nightm are, and com­
panies w ith alternate headquar­
ters concede th a t m any o f th e ir
key personnel m ay n o t be able to
fin d th e ir w a y o u t o f the con­
fusion — i f the y su rvived the in i­
tia l attack . . . .
Such d iffic u ltie s help convince
some companies th a t an alternate
headquarters
isn’t
w o rth
the
trouble. “ I don’t see how you’re
going to get people there before
a nuclear a ttack — there p ro b ­
a b ly w o n ’t be m uch w a rn in g —
o r afterw ards. F o r another, i t ’s a
a p re tty agonizing th in g to decide
w ho is going to s ta ff a s u rv iv a l
headquarters,” says an executive
o f one b ig m a n u fa ctu re r w ith no
s u rv iv a l center. A n o th e r executive
adds: “ I f the bombs come, there
w on’t be a n yth in g le ft to adm inis­
te r.”