April
4,
2015
-
No.
14
Quebec
Montreal, April 2, 2015
• Denounce Brutal Police
Assault on Protesters!
Montreal Police and Couillard Government Must Be Held to
Account!
- Marxist-Leninist
Party of Quebec -
A New Direction for the Economy
• Quebec Budget 2015-2016
Further
Destroys Public Services
• Nova Scotia Finance
Minister
Delivers Pre-Budget Speech
- Kevin Corkill -
• Letter to Editor Re:
Sales Tax
Plebiscite Fraud in BC
Politicization
of
Private
Interests
• John Baird Continues
His Work for Private Monopolies
- George Allen -
Nineteenth
International
Seminar
"Parties
and
a
New
Society"
• Political Parties
Gather in Mexico
to Deliberate on
Unfolding Developments
In the News
• Iran Vows Decisive
Response to Any
Threat
• U.S. Military to Launch
Special
Force for Latin America
Cuba-U.S.
Relations
• Talks on Human Rights
• Cuban Consulate in the
U.S. Still
Without Banking Services
- Jorge Legañoa, Granma International -
• U.S. Removal of
Entities Linked to Cuba from
Sanctions List
25th
Anniversary
of
the
Independence
of
Namibia
• Presentation by Jorge
Risquet
Valdés
Coming Event
• Climate Action March
at Premiers'
Conference in Quebec City
Quebec
Growing Resistance to Austerity Agenda and
Nation-Wrecking
Montreal, April 2, 2015
Across Quebec, a broad movement that opposes the
austerity agenda of the
Liberal government of Philippe Couillard continues to grow. The
Couillard
government was brought to power through an electoral coup on April 7,
2014.
Its claim to have a mandate to step up the destruction of social
programs and
put Quebec's resources at the disposal of global private interests has
been
challenged from the start. On May Day 2014, less than a month after the
election, thousands of workers and students were in the streets of
Montreal and
Quebec City to express their resistance to this spurious agenda.
This movement is imbued with the broad social
consciousness expressed
by the youth and students in the protest movement that led to the
defeat of the
Charest government in 2012. This consciousness rejects the dismantling
of
social programs, privatization of health care, attacks on the most
vulnerable,
sellout of natural resources, the oil monopolies' pipeline projects,
disregard for
the natural environment and the use of police violence, back-to-work
legislation and the courts against those affirming their rights.
In Montreal, weekly demonstrations on Saturdays at 2:00
pm began on
March 21. The actions, which begin at Emilie-Gamelin Park, have been
called
by Printemps 2015 (Spring 2015), a coalition of action committees that
oppose
various aspects of the austerity agenda and the imposition of monopoly
right.
Demonstrations and other actions, including local strike
actions in the
health care sector, continue to take place in all regions of Quebec.
Strike votes
will continue to take place throughout the coming period in the public
sector
where spontaneous walk-outs are also a regular occurrence as nursing
and
other health care workers reach their tether's end.
Amongst the students, strike votes took place over the
last two weeks of
March as part of a campaign organized by the Association pour une
solidarité
syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ) for a "social strike against
austerity" to force the
Couillard government to back off in its anti-social offensive.
ASSÉ is holding
a strategy meeting this weekend to decide whether to continue the
strike
movement or prepare for a campaign in the fall that will coincide with
the
beginning of the public sector workers' collective bargaining. Public
sector
collective agreements expired on March 31 and negotiations for a new
contract
will take place in conditions where the government is already carrying
out
massive spending cuts. Negotiations will also take place in the wake of
Bill
10, which gave the Minister of Health special powers, eliminated dozens
of
local health care agencies and imposed a restructuring of trade union
organizations across the system.
Since its election, the Couillard government has
continued to harp that
"Quebeckers live beyond their means" and that "everyone must do their
part"
to reduce the national debt and balance the budget. It specifically
targets public
sector workers who have "better salaries and working conditions than
most"
as it prepares for public sector negotiations in the fall.
Minister of Finance Carlos Leitão tabled the
Quebec budget on March 26,
which sets the lowest spending growth in the history of Quebec in order
to
"eliminate the deficit." The government's plan is to eliminate a $2.4
billion
deficit in one year with the overall spending growth limited to 1.2 per
cent in
2015-2016 -- 1.4 per cent in health care, 0.2 per cent in education and
a
decrease of 1.1 per cent in all other programs. The budget also
allocates $10.5
billion to pay the rich through debt servicing. In advance of the
budget and its
drastic cuts to education, Leitão said that it was a budget
written "with the
youth in mind" because it reduces the burden on their future by paying
down
the national debt. The youth gave this a fitting reply with a militant
mass
action in Quebec City on March 26 and another in Montreal on April 2,
boldly rejecting this attempt to blame the people for the debt
and to expose the fraud that increased debt-servicing is for any
purpose other
than to pay the rich.
April 2 Mass Action
Close to 70,000 people
marched in the
streets of Montreal on April 2 to tell the Couillard government that
the
anti-social austerity agenda will not pass. The march was called by
ASSÉ with
the slogan "No to Another Austerity Budget -- Our Social Assets Are
Worth
More than Their Profits." The demonstration consisted of students in
the main,
joined by many contingents of workers, including members of Unifor, the
United Steelworkers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, and from
the
public sector, teachers, hospital workers and municipal employees.
There was
a strong contingent of Université du Québec à
Montréal (UQAM) teachers
from the Syndicat des professeurs de l'UQAM, on strike that day because
of
stalled negotiations with an administration that has taken up the
austerity
agenda, and also to denounce the administration's threats to expel UQAM
students for their participation in strike actions.
College students came from across Quebec and the march
included banners
from Alma, Chicoutimi, Saint-Félicien and Drummmondville, Vieux
Montreal,
de Maisonneuve and many other Cégeps. At the time of the
demonstration,
approximately 150,000 students were on strike across Quebec.
The ideological offensive of
the state and the monopoly media has been
accompanied by police violence, intimidation and reprisals. The
Couillard
government, just like the Charest government in 2012, has declared that
nothing will stop the wide-scale transfer of Quebec's social wealth to
private
interests and that students must "obey the law." In the days preceding
the April
2 action, Education Minister François Blais called on university
administrations
to "make an example" by targeting "a few" students participating in the
strike
for disciplinary measures, including temporary or permanent suspension.
The
April 2 demonstration was brutally attacked by police. The Montreal
police
declared the demonstration "illegal" using the notorious P6 city bylaw
adopted
in 2012 in an attempt to deter the students' nightly and mass protests.
P6
requires the organizers of demonstrations to provide an itinerary of
the march
to the police in order for the action to be considered "legal."
Students have
refused to concede on this attack on the right to assembly. A new
placard has
appeared in the anti-austerity protest marches: "Mr Couillard, you did
not provide
the itinerary for your austerity agenda."
March 30 Strike by Medical Students
Medical students across Quebec voted for a one-day
strike on March 30 to protest Bill 20 that seeks to impose quotas on
doctors as a so-called solution to the lack of family doctors. Family
doctors who don't meet the quota of weekly patient visit will have
their pay docked up to 30 per cent. The Quebec federation of family
doctors has denounced the dehumanizing effect of imposing "assembly
line" medicine instead of making the necessary investments to attract
young doctors to family medicine. More than 79 per cent of medical
students at Laval University voted to strike on March 30, with an
historic high participation rate of 70 per cent. Students at the
University of Montreal, the University of Sherbrooke and McGill
University also voted to participate in the one-day strike.
"Because I want to take
the necessary time to know the person behind the disease I am
treating." "Cutting health care and education deprives the people."
March 26 Demonstration Against the Budget
Students in action against
austerity, Hull, March 27, 2015.
On March 26, the day the
Couillard government tabled its budget,
hundreds of students and workers took to the streets of Quebec City to
demand
an end to the government's austerity agenda. During the demonstration
police
charged protesters and a student was shot in the face with tear gas
from a
canister less than a metre away. Minister of Public Safety Lise
Thériault said
she was shocked by the pictures of the injured student but continued to
defend
her government's law and order approach. She claimed the police are
taking
into consideration the recommendations of the report of the Special
Commission to Examine the Events of Spring 2012, which blames the
Charest
government and the police for how they handled the crisis. So how does
she
explain what happened in Quebec City on March 26 and other recent
protests
where many arrests continue to be made?
March 21 March Launches Weekly Action Against
Austerity
More than 5,000 people took to the streets of Montreal
on
Saturday, March 21 to launch the weekly marches against "the austerity
measures of the Liberal government of Philippe Couillard that are
threatening
the society."
After rallying at Place Émilie-Gamelin,
demonstrators marched through the
downtown core to the Stock Exchange Tower. Workers, families and
environmental groups walked shoulder to shoulder with students, who
made
up the majority of the contingent, and included youth from the
Cégep du
Vieux-Montréal. A delegation of students from the Cégep
de Sainte-Foy, from
the Quebec City region, was also present. The police, out in full
force, invoked
the P6 municipal bylaw to detain protestors wearing masks.
Also on March 21 Premier Couillard, who is the MNA for
Roberval, was
greeted in Alma by nearly 500 people -- mostly workers -- who rallied
to
denounce the austerity agenda in front of Complexe Jacques-Gagnon in
Roberval where the Liberal Party forum was being held. Around 30
demonstrators managed to enter the complex chanting "Stop Couillard" to
the
forum delegates before being removed by police. According to the press,
the
50 or so participants at the forum were then locked down in the room
for
"their security," while the Sûreté du Quebec, aided by
their Roberval
counterparts, attempted to silence the protest.
Alma, March 21, 2015
Other Actions
Against
Austerity
March 29, 2015: Quebec
City demonstration against police brutality, in solidarity with
student shot in face at close range with tear gas on March 26.
March 28, 2015: Montreal
march in defence of public health care.
March 28, 2015: Ahuntsic
and Montreal North march against austerity.
March 28, 2015: Montreal
weekly demonstration against austerity.
March 26, 2015: Montreal
demonstration at Sainte-Justine Hospital in defence
of public health care and against Bill 10.
March 26, 2015 (top to
bottom): Baie-Comeau, Sept-Iles and Rimouski.
March 25 and 28, 2015
(top to bottom): Montreal night-time marches.
March 24, 2015: University of Montreal students and
teachers.
March 23, 2015: Launch of
student strike movement. Left: Cégep Saint-Jérôme;
Right: Laval University in Quebec City.
Denounce Brutal Police Assault on Protesters!
Montreal Police and
Couillard Government
Must Be Held to Account!
- Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec -
The Marxist-Leninist Party
of Quebec (PMLQ) vehemently
condemns the
brutal assault by Montreal police with night sticks and tear gas on the
tens of
thousands of demonstrators denouncing the austerity agenda on April 2.
We
unequivocally condemn the police service and the Couillard government
for
the use of violence against students, workers and members of community
organizations denouncing the anti-social austerity agenda and defending
the
rights of all. The police and Couillard government must render public
account
for their assault against those, especially
the youth, who
are fighting for the rights of all. We also condemn the monopoly media
who
shamelessly lie, saying that so-called police action was necessary to
disperse
protesters who refused to leave after the event was over.
The facts are as follows. The demonstration brought
together tens of
thousands of people and was composed mainly of youth, mostly
Cégep
students (from Alma, Chicoutimi, Saint-Félicien, Drummmondville,
Vieux
Montreal, de Maisonneuve and many others), as well as university and
high
school students. At the time of the demonstration, approximately
150,000
students were on strike across Quebec. Also present
at the
demonstration were many contingents of workers, including members of
Unifor, the United Steelworkers, the United Food and Commercial
Workers,
and from the public sector, teachers, hospital workers and municipal
employees. There was a strong contingent of teachers from the
Université du Québec
à Montréal (UQAM), members of the Syndicat des
professeurs de l'UQAM on strike that
day because of stalled negotiations due to the
administration implementing the austerity agenda, and also to
denounce the
administration's
threats to expel UQAM students for their political actions. Their
placards read, "No to
Authoritarianism!" The event also included several contingents of
community
organizations defending the rights of the poorest people who are most
drastically
affected by
service cuts and fee increases. The purpose of the demonstration was to
send
a clear message to the Couillard government that the collective
struggle of the
people against the anti-social austerity agenda will inevitably grow
despite the
retrogressive budget and the threats, intimidation, police violence and
reprisals
which are the response of a government unfit to govern.
After a few speeches, the march began at
1:30 pm from
Victoria Square. The spirit was one of resolute struggle
against the
anti-social austerity agenda, but no one sought any confrontation,
physical or otherwise,
with the
police. At one point the
demonstration turned east onto Maisonneuve St., and when
the
demonstrators reached Papineau St., a cordon of riot police blocked
them and demanded that the demonstrators turn south. At one point,
without
warning, the police started beating the demonstrators on the
front
lines and then beat those who came to the aid of their colleagues on
the
ground. Police launched tear gas in two waves on demonstrators on
the
front lines, despite the risk of serious injury, and also into the
middle of
the crowd.
Later, at the end of the demonstration, which reconverged to the
west,
police charged at demonstrators to force them to disperse.
The PMLQ calls on all the workers and organizations to
strongly denounce
the police assault and the wave of criminalization against the students
to try
to crush and demoralize them. The Couillard government and its crass
goons,
like the so-called Minister of Education who called on universities to
expel
students for their political activities, must be condemned. It is the
Couillard
government
that is primarily responsible. It uses the political violence of its
majority
dictate to impose an agenda on the people that it knows the people have
denounced as a broad attack against society as
a
whole. It is not an agenda decided on by the people but in the private
backrooms of the monopolies and their institutions, such as ratings
agencies and
the like.
Violence against protesters demonstrates political
cowardice and the lack of
rational arguments on the part of those whose only weapon is mass
repression when the people
stand up for their rights.
The demonstration, as expressed by all the speakers and
demonstrators with their placards and slogans,
showed that the
austerity agenda is an attack against the whole of society, and that
the struggle
will continue until its repeal. The most popular sign of the whole
event was
a tiny sign held by a demonstrator strategically placed for all to see
that said
"Couillard out!" More than ever, this spirit imbues the people who will
not be silenced!
Long
Live
the
Struggle
of
the
People
Against
the
Anti-Social Austerity
Agenda
and for Their Rights!
Hands Off the Youth!
The Police and Couillard Government Must Be Held to Account!
A New Direction for the Economy
Quebec Budget 2015-2016 Further Destroys
Public Services
Quebec Finance Minister Carlos
Leitão presented the Couillard
government's 2015-2016 budget on March 26. Many characterize this
budget
as one with the lowest spending growth for public
services and social programs in Quebec history. In response, the
government declares
itself proud
of the budget's "balance" and "financial stability, a crucial condition
for
economic growth and prosperity."
In fact, nothing could be more "unbalanced" than this
budget, or more
one-sided. The dismantling of public services will take place at an
even
quicker pace than last year, which will make the situation untenable
with
regard to the services themselves and for the workers who provide them.
By the government's own admission, during the two years
since the
2014-2015 budget, $7.274 billion in budget cuts have been made,
$6.095 billion of which are in government spending. Of that, over
$2.4 billion in cuts have been made to the budgets of government
ministries and
agencies, plus salary cuts of $500 million as part of the overall
staffing
freeze in the public sector, $300 million in cuts to municipal budgets,
and
$200 million as a result of modifications in the organization and
governance
of the health care and social services network.
Researchers at the Institut de recherche et
d'informations
socio-économiques demand to know where any stimulus measures are
to be
found: "For this year, $120 million in new investments or 0.12 per
cent of
government revenue. Concentrated where? The 'key sectors of the
economy.'
In short, business subsidies [i.e., for the Maritime Strategy] to
encourage the development of the [Saint Lawrence] Seaway and its
surroundings represent the
largest
amounts."
For months, health care and education workers joined by
the entire public
sector have been holding demonstrations and strikes, sometimes even
illegal strikes, to serve notice to the government that its
cuts to the
public sector are creating an increasingly unsustainable situation. But
the
Couillard government is committed to plunging Quebec into chaos with
its fixation on balancing the budget to pay the rich. According to the
government, only by transferring more and more social wealth to
privileged
private interests can prosperity be created. This nonsense must not
pass!
Lowest Spending Growth in Quebec History
Minister Leitão
confirmed that the 2014-2015 budget ended with a deficit of
$2.350 billion
and that the 2015-2016 budget will be deficit-free. According to
analysts, the
nominal consolidated expenditure growth in 2015-2016 will be one of the
lowest in Quebec's history, at 1.5 per cent.
Consolidated expenditures include Ministerial
program
or departmental spending, special funds (Labour Relations Board,
Commission of
Occupational
Injuries Board etc), non-budgetary agencies (Quebec Housing
Corporation,
National Library and Archives of Quebec etc), health care, social
services and
education entities, as well as debt servicing.
In the fiscal year 2014-2015, the growth of consolidated
expenditures
excluding debt servicing was 2.9 per cent, and in 2013-2014, 4.7 per
cent. From 2015-2016
to 2019-2020, the nominal annual growth will be only 1.5 per cent.
The situation is dire if one considers what is called
program or
departmental expenditures. For 2014-2015, growth in program
expenditures is
estimated at 2.1 per cent compared to 3.3 per cent in 2013-2014, and
will be 1.2 per cent in
2015-2016, 2.2 per cent in 2016-2017 and 2.8 per cent from 2017 to 2018.
According to the workers in these
sectors, the mere continuation of
programs from the perspective of fixed and other expenditures demands a
nominal annual growth of at least 3-4 per cent. That rate does not
include the new
and growing needs of the population for which budgets must allocate
value or
the amounts necessary to restore to health programs previously cut.
The 2015-2016 budget revives what the government calls
the "safety
lever." This neo-liberal trickery, disconnected from the needs of the
people or
economy, requires any new spending to be offset by an equivalent
reduction
elsewhere in the system. This austerity gimmick all but guarantees a
weakening of the economy, especially programs and services to the
public.
The 2014-2015 budget planned a 3 per cent increase in
health care spending and
2.2 per cent in education, which resulted in a real cut for both
sectors given their
growing needs and regular price inflation. But the cut is even deeper
for the
coming year, a record low level according to many, with nominal growth
of
1.4 per cent in health care, 0.2 per cent in education and a decrease
of
1.1 per cent in all other
programs. Already workers in health care and education have made it
clear that
their sectors will simply become impossible to maintain under
conditions of
forced austerity. The government refuses to listen and repeats its
mantra that
public sector workers, who are already barely sustaining the system and
doing
so at the risk of their physical and mental health, must continue
"their efforts"
without additional funding.
Transfer of Social Wealth to the Rich
The main feature of
the budget is the full-fledged attack against public services and
social
programs. The hidden hand behind the austerity budget is the
accelerated
transfer of the social wealth produced by the workers to the rich. One
specific
measure in this regard is the acceleration of payments towards Quebec's
national debt. The government is on track to reduce Quebec's debt to 45
per cent of
GDP for the year 2015-2016. To facilitate payments to owners of the
debt, the
government uses funds people pay for electricity, the
tax on
alcoholic beverages, and beginning in 2015-2016, the entire government
revenue from mining.
Global moneylenders holding Quebec's debt appear
dissatisfied with the
current return and want their social wealth freed up for investment
elsewhere
in the world where greater profits beckon. Parking social wealth in
government
debt is safe and profitable for a time for the rich. However, given the
uneven
development of global capitalism, paying down the public debt is a way
to put
funds at the disposal of private interests to invest in various
projects that
appear more profitable. Both increasing and decreasing public debt are
methods to pay the rich given the concrete conditions.
According to Minister Leitão, the anti-social
budgetary measures should
be looked at as part of the restructuring of the delivery of services.
In addition
to cuts, one method is to privatize public services and sell off public
assets.
If one could closely follow the money from paying down the national
debt,
undoubtedly one would find some of it used by private interests to buy
and
gain control of public services and assets.
What "Balance?"
Minister Leitão says he is proud of the
return to "balance" in the budget, as are most neo-liberal politicians
across
Canada, including Harper's finance minister. Leitão also enjoys
speaking of a
return to "stability," another generic term grossly manipulated for
self-serving
purposes.
The Oxford Dictionary provides several general
definitions of
the word "balance." Here are a few:
"A situation in which different elements are equal or in
the correct
proportions; A counteracting weight or force; Harmony of design and
proportion; Establish equal or appropriate proportions of elements;
Remain in
a steady position."
What balance is Leitão referring to? With regard
to the budget, he is
talking about balance between two columns of figures, between the
revenue column and the expenditure column. To obtain balance,
Leitão says
he has two different elements of the budget in equilibrium: revenues
and
expenditures. The balance reveals that two different elements are equal
in
some third way, in this case not weight or volume but money.
This delirium about balance when dealing with such
complex issues as the
national public revenue and expenditures makes a mockery of government
and
on this issue alone proves the Couillard Liberal Party unfit to rule.
Reducing
the public budget to seeking a balance between complex aspects of an
economy through a revenue column and an expenditure column is to carry
out
disinformation aimed at covering up the damage being done to the
economy
overall and the attacks on the well-being and security of the people
under the
banner of austerity to pay the rich.
Reducing investments in public services and social
programs is profoundly
anti-social, for which the Liberal government must be held to account.
Public
services and social programs are crucial building blocks of a modern
economy.
Public sector workers create enormous social wealth from which all can
benefit and affirm their humanity.
Opposition to the anti-social austerity agenda will
inevitably continue to
grow amongst public sector workers, students and the population at
large. The
Couillard government and its austerity agenda to pay the rich are in
contradiction with the needs of Quebec society. The March budget shows
that
the system of cartel parties allows powerful private interests to
impose their
will in defiance of the popular will. It also shows that it is up to
the working
class of Quebec to constitute itself as the opposition and mobilize
everyone
around a pro-social alternative. It can be done!
Stop Paying the Rich!
Increase Funding for Social Programs!
Nova Scotia Finance Minister Delivers
Pre-Budget Speech
- Kevin Corkill -
Where public
interest feels the pain, private interest is sure to
gain
Diana Whalen, Minister of Finance for the Liberal McNeil
government of
Nova Scotia, delivered a pre-budget speech to the Chamber of Commerce
of
Halifax on March 25, 2015. She began with some truths: fewer
working age people live in Nova Scotia; and, in her words, "The status
quo
is really not working for us."
Fair enough, but who is the "us" for which the status
quo is not working?
Her government is attacking the claims of public sector workers on the
value
they produce. Her government is privatizing public services resulting
in social
wealth being diverted away from the public and into the pockets of
private
interests. The McNeil government is wrecking social programs Nova
Scotians
rely on and need for their well-being and security. Her government does
not
hesitate to give subsidies and other handouts to global monopolies.
This status
quo of continually paying the rich, attacking the living standard of
workers,
privatizing public services and wrecking social programs is not working
for
the vast majority of Nova Scotians, "the fewer working age people who
live
in Nova Scotia" because so many are forced to leave in search of work.
The "us" yearns for pro-social change away from the
neo-liberal status quo
and forward in a new pro-social direction for the economy and politics.
Her
idea of "us" is not the working people and those on fixed incomes for
whom
the status quo is not working but rather an elite group of the rich,
maybe many
of those sitting in her audience, who yearn for even more backward
anti-social
measures to consolidate their class privilege and private interests.
Attacking the Social Contract and Public Interest
Whalen's
idea of the status quo that needs to change is the social contract with
the
working class, part of which is the system of fair collective
bargaining and a
public authority that delivers universal public services and social
programs to
the vulnerable.
Her government is busy attacking what it views as the
status quo by firing 11 child welfare workers in Guysborough and
Barrington
Passage and firing 58
workers with the closure of Visitor Information Centres in Pictou and
Digby
and turning all seven other provincial parks into what it calls
"self-service."
It
plans to privatize three Registries of Service Nova Scotia: Land
Registry,
Motor Vehicles and Joint Stock Companies including the transformation
of the
NS Tourism agency into a private sector-led Crown corporation.
To this end of attacking the social contract, which she
conflates with the
status quo, Whalen says we "simply cannot afford to continue doing all
of the
things that government has been doing." Just what the doctor ordered
for all
those owners of social wealth who refuse to invest in new production
and
services and would rather pillage existing public services and have
government
guarantee profitable service delivery contracts through public-private
partnerships (P3s) and other neo-liberal schemes.
Whalen continues her anti-status quo speech by promising
to open the
door to more privatizations and lauding the possibilities of a flurry
of P3s. P3s
line the road to private riches as governments take the risk while
private
interests reap the rewards. Case in point, Whalen revealed that the
government
has granted permission to the Waterfront Development Corporation to
purchase Halifax land from the federal government for $6.5 million
which will
then be used to build an "Ocean Innovation Centre." This centre will
become
a hub not to further the public interest with vigorous marine research
and
public enterprise for the benefit of all but a means to enrich select
private
sector businesses and research at the government's expense. The status
quo of
class privilege is secured but this is not the
status
quo in the government's sights.
Speaking to the plan to
privatize Service Nova Scotia Registries, Whalen
states, "If private partners can deliver high quality services on our
behalf, it
will allow government to focus on doing better in our core areas like
health
and education." With this logic why does government do anything at all
in any
areas let alone core? Governments across the country are wiping their
hands
clean of having to meet the needs of the people precisely in the core
areas of
health and education under the hoax that "private partners can deliver
high
quality services on our behalf." Core or non-core, what is the
difference when
the logic is to destroy the public authority and open all public
services for
private business to profit? The logic is not to serve the people and
the public
interest; the logic is to serve class privilege and narrow private
interests.
Denounce the Attacks on Public Services and the Workers
Who
Defend Our Collective Well-Being
The heart of Whalen's speech is
a vicious attack on the livelihoods of public sector workers and the
services
they provide. She says, if we are going to improve our prospects then
"we all
have to feel some pain." In this case Whalen's "we" to feel the pain is
public
service workers and the people of Nova Scotia who need those services.
The
pain begins with layoffs, cuts to services, wage freezes for public
sector
workers and the elimination of the Public Service Award (severance).
The neo-liberal assault on workers and their claim on
the value they
produce begins in earnest with the customary line that workers are a
cost to
the privileged class of owners of social wealth. "The largest cost that
we have
for the provincial government," Whalen says, "is the wage bill that we
pay.
Which amounts to $4.9 billion of our expenditures and that's almost 60
percent
of our program spending."
Workers hand over to their employers their capacity to
work; they work
and give rise to value; they produce a good or service; they claim a
portion
of the value they produce in return for having given to their employer
their
capacity to work; and they are damned as a cost! A cost to whom!
Workers
produce the social wealth from which all claims are met!
Whalen goes further in her abuse of public sector
workers, attacking the
modest raises they received in the previous three-year collective
agreement:
2 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent. Minister Whalen decries the
obligation
of her government and future governments to pay these raises saying
with
much sighing and exasperation: they add up to $700 million per year! Oh
my
God!
Public sector workers reject Whalen's neo-liberal line
that their wages and
benefits are a "cost" to the economy. Furthermore, it is an affront for
her to
act like the wage increases of the past three years are an act
of
greed by public sector workers. Public sector workers produce new value
for
the economy, reproduce the value they claim in wages and benefits, and
preserve the value of the public assets and material they use while
working.
It is a gross lie and distortion to suggest that the economy loses the
value
public sector and other workers reproduce in the form of wages,
benefits and
pensions.
To heap shame and guilt on public sector workers Whalen
declares, "Last
year, we had the slowest growing GDP and the highest public sector wage
increases. Those two things just don't add up." They do not add up,
Minister
Whalen, because the status quo of class privilege is blocking Nova
Scotia from
a dynamic new pro-social direction for the economy. Class privilege
wants
more wrecking and transfer of wealth from the people to the rich; it
loves the
anti-social status quo dominated by the global monopolies and does
everything
in its power to stop the people from moving the economy in a new
pro-social
direction.
Whalen and the McNeil government are setting the stage
to destroy public
services and attack the wages, benefits and pensions of public sector
workers
beyond what they have already done. They are doing this by attacking
public
opinion on the question of the necessity of public services and social
programs
in a modern economy. They are attacking public opinion on the issue of
the
rights people have by virtue of being human and the key role of
government
in guaranteeing the rights of all. They are attacking public opinion on
who
creates the value, the social wealth, in a modern economy -- the
working
people.
Whalen is setting the stage
as to what Nova Scotians can
expect from their
government and that is the further destruction of public assets and the
promotion of narrow private interests. This includes privatizing
valuable public
assets to pay the rich and to meet their need for profitable areas to
invest with
government guarantees at the expense of the interests of Nova Scotians.
She
says, "this is the expression of our faith in the private sector," and
"government needs to get out of the way and let the private sector
lead."
Our duty is to question why this McNeil government
bothers to exist at
all if it wants to "get out of the way" and let the private sector
determine the
direction of the economy and society. In effect, she is calling for an
open
dictatorship of the rich over the people, a dictatorship that serves
the narrow
private interests of a privileged few.
"Governments critical role is to clear the way and
create an environment
that sets the stage for businesses to invest, produce, compete and grow
[...] our
role is to create the right conditions for economic success." For whose
economic success Minister Whalen? If Minister Whalen's idea of the role
of
government is to meet the needs of private interest at the expense of
the public
interest they should not be in government.
The McNeil government is proving that it is not fit to
govern and does not
have the best interests of Nova Scotians at heart; rather it holds high
the
narrow interests of the ruling capitalist elite. The Nova Scotia
government's
role should be to provide a direction for the economy that is aimed at
meeting
the needs of the people for livelihoods and assure their well-being,
and to
guarantee the services they need to live and thrive. Attacking public
sector
workers, their livelihoods and the services they provide is an obvious
step in
the wrong direction for Nova Scotia.
Stop the McNeil
Government's Attacks on the Public Authority
and Public Interests!
Stand Up for the
Public Interest, Public Services and Public Sector Workers!
Stand Up for Yourself
and All Nova Scotians Against the Neo-Liberal Assault of the
Privileged Capitalist Elite on Our Rights and Society!
Letter to Editor Re: Sales Tax Plebiscite Fraud in BC
I was very glad to see the article in TML Weekly,
March
28
"Vancouver
Sales
Tax
Plebiscite
Fraud"
by
the
Workers'
Centre,
CPC(M-L).
[...]
In the TML Weekly article the plebiscite that
is ongoing in BC
at present is correctly identified as a "sales tax plebiscite fraud"
rather than a
"transit plebiscite," thereby rejecting the deceptive and misleading
terminology
of the ruling capitalist elite which always seeks to cleverly confuse
the
electorate, including even the progressives and leaders among them,
into voting
and acting against their own interests. After reading the article, it
is obvious!
This plebiscite is not about transit primarily, but is an attempt by
the
monopoly capitalists and their representatives and spokespersons to
promote
yet another of their concealed pay-the-rich schemes.
Despite the deceptive title
of this plebiscite, numerous people see through
it enough to reject the call by the ruling elite for the electorate to
acquiesce to
an increase in the sales tax -- something people in BC did vehemently
and successfully during the campaign to end the Harmonized Sales Tax
(HST)
in 2010. But, by continuing to call it a "transit plebiscite" -- i.e.,
accepting the
terminology and frame of reference of the capitalist elite -- they are
in a
defensive position, having to constantly clarify "but I am in favour of
a better
transit plan." This is an example of what TML identifies as
the
working class and its allies needing to develop their independent
thinking and
theory in order to be an effective workers opposition to the
neo-liberal
thought, deception, lies and distortions and destructive behaviour of
the ruling
elite, while working for the strategic overall aim.
As is pointed out in the TML Weekly article,
not all opposition
to this proposed sales tax and transportation plan is progressive. Some
members of the ruling elite or their spokespersons, like the Canadian
Taxpayers' Federation, oppose the proposed sales tax but are in
agreement that
eventual transportation infrastructures should be built using finance
capital,
headed by private companies, benefiting the ruling elite rather than
the
producers who will be actually building it. Much of the arguments
against the
"yes" vote are tinged with this thinking -- that there is no
alternative to the
status quo of the ruling elite taking the lead and accruing the
benefits. The
most that citizens can do is "lobby" against, for example, the Broadway
subway being built to Arbutus St. and the hidden agenda of a subsequent
development of massive towers and condos that would ruin their
neighbourhood.
[...]
Many of the arguments against a "yes" vote focus on "bad
management"
by Translink -- the public corporation set up by the NDP and then
privatized
under the Liberals: they have taken over two years and still can't get
the
Compass card right, or the gates to prevent "fare evasion"; no good
throwing
good money after bad; there are too many levels of bureaucracy -- five
different sub-organizations; the CEOs and
underlings are paid way
too much, etc. What these arguments fail to acknowledge is that this is
how
capitalism works -- virtually every company, institution, enterprise
(including
political parties and government) is run like that. Due to various
specific
agenda by the persons using such arguments, they fail to acknowledge
that it
is the economic and political system that is at fault. Thus, people do
not gain
any understanding about the matter.
Other arguments express mistrust of both the municipal
and provincial
governments. Or the lack of a guarantee or a concrete plan. Some point
to the
Christy Clark government off loading responsibility for transport onto
the
municipalities. Many contributors to the discussion focus on the issue
of
congestion, saying that it cannot be solved or it must be accompanied
by road
pricing to work. Some point out the sprawling nature of suburbs and the
need
for cars (again, this is how things are developed under capitalism:
anarchically).
The Need for Discussion
So what is the thing to do that
favours the interest of the working class and people in this situation?
To
advocate for a "no" vote? As pointed out in the TML Weekly
article, what is needed is discussion, in a manner that helps people to
understand the economy and how it is working under capitalism, and how
it
could work under the leadership of the working class. If there were an
organized campaign for a "no" vote (a bit late for that now), it would
have to
have been in the framework of this kind of discussion that advances
peoples'
understanding and participation. In that situation, working for a "no"
vote
could help to advance things, similar to how the "no" vote in the
Charlottetown Accord showed people that they have political strength as
a
collective.
[signed]
A reader in Vancouver
Politicization of Private Interests
John Baird Continues His Work for Private Monopolies
- George Allen -
On March 25, Stephen Harper's former Minister of Foreign
Affairs John
Baird was hired by the Barrick Gold monopoly to sit on its
international
advisory board. Canada's conflict-of-interest legislation theoretically
prevents
cabinet ministers from negotiating future employment while in office.
Baird's
resignation from Parliament only took effect on March 16, yet everyone
is to
believe that the Barrick offer was made during the nine days between
March
16 and 25. The Hamilton Spectator reported on March 30, that
while Baird was in charge of Foreign Affairs, Barrick sent a lobbyist
to
discuss international relations, mining and trade with him several
times, most
recently in May 2013. Baird's compensation has not been announced but
former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, the chair of Barrick's
international
board, makes about $1 million a year. On March 30, the Canadian Pacific
Railway monopoly hired Baird to sit on its expanded board of directors
for
which he will receive an annual salary of $235,000. Then, on April 2,
the Globe and Mail reported that Baird had been hired
as an adviser
for Hong Kong and Canada-based billionaire Richard Li. Among the
holdings
in Li's empire are the Pacific Century investment group, Pacific
Century
Regional Developments Limited and another telecommunications firm, PCCW
Limited. Li had previously bid for large stakes in Bell
Canada
and Air Canada but was unsuccessful.
Far from leaving government to pursue a "post-political
career," facts show
that Baird's service to the private monopolies is part of the
government's
politicization of private interests and how the state has been turned
over to
those interests. As a rule, the neo-liberal state which dismantles the
public
authority is run by and for the private monopolies. Baird served those
interests
during his 25-year career as an Ontario MPP, federal MP and in federal
cabinet posts. Baird did yeoman's work for these private interests as
Canada's
jingoist Foreign Minister putting Canada on war footing against their
competitors. Baird is continuing on the same career path but with more
lucrative rewards, bringing all the experience of the state to assist
private
interests to better overcome and smash public right and uphold monopoly
right
in Canada and around the world.
The experience of the Canadian people fighting under the
conditions of the
Harper government and the monopoly dictate it has unleashed; and the
experience of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America defending
themselves against the monopoly right of Canada-based private
monopolies
show exactly what Baird is up to and its significance.
Harper Government's Support of Railways' Monopoly
Right
Demonstration by CP
rail workers against back-to-work legislation, May
29, 2012.
|
What might be Baird's credentials to join the board of
CP Rail?
Baird served as Harper's Minister of Transport between October 30, 2008
and
August 6, 2010. Furthermore, CP and other rail monopolies have had the
full
backing of the anti-worker Harper government. On May 31, 2012, the
government passed back-to-work legislation to end the nine-day strike
of 4,800
CP Rail locomotive engineers, conductors, yardmen and others. It did so
using
the pretext of national security and the "fragile economic recovery" to
criminalize the right of CP Rail workers to resist the company's
demands to
gut their pensions and retiree health benefits, and to back up their
demands for
safe and healthy working conditions and scheduling. Similarly on
February 15,
the Harper government was preparing to pass back-to-work legislation
against
3,000 striking CPR locomotive engineers and other rail workers but the
strike
went to arbitration the following day. This is part of the neo-liberal
agenda of
the government to see that monopoly right trumps public right, where
public
safety in communities traversed by rail lines is to be managed as a
"cost" to
the monopolies, such that they be given a free hand to establish and
enforce
their own demonstrably lax safety regulations.
Harper Government's Role in Promoting Barrick
Gold
Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation is the world's
largest
gold mining company by output, with projects in Argentina, Australia,
Canada,
Chile, Dominican Republic, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Saudi Arabia, the
U.S.
and Zambia. Peter Munk, whose family escaped Hungary during the Second
World War on Rudolf Kastner's train,[1] founded Barrick
as a privately-held
oil and gas company but after huge financial losses, took the company
public
in 1983 as a gold mining firm.[2] The name was changed
to Barrick Gold
Corporation in 1995, and since then Barrick has grown through takeovers
of
other mining companies, both in Canada and abroad. Munk retired as CEO
in
April 2014 after failed negotiations to merge with U.S. mining giant
Newmont
but his son Anthony is still a Barrick director. Barrick has struggled
in recent
years with financial losses and high debt levels and its stock trades
for less
than half what it did in 2012. On February 18, Barrick announced a
fourth
quarter net loss of $2.85 billion.
Barrick's international advisory board is made up of 10
external advisors
from the ruling circles who meet to advise the board of directors and
management on "geopolitical and strategic matters." Brian Mulroney
chairs the
board, which also includes former U.S. and German defence officials; a
former
prime minister of Spain; former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker
Newt
Gingrich; and Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida, brother of former
U.S. President George
W.
Bush and a potential Republican presidential candidate. Past board
members
include George H. W. Bush, another former U.S. President and former
head of
the
CIA,
and international financier Nathaniel Rothschild.
Baird and the Harper
government have some very cozy connections with
Barrick. In August 2012, Baird leapt to the defence of Harper's former
Chief
of Staff Nigel Wright when Wright was asked to account for lobbying
reports that stated he had contacted Barrick three times in May 2012 to
discuss
"international relations and international trade," a reference to
Barrick's
operations in Argentina. Wright has known Peter Munk for years and is
godfather to Munk's grandson. Baird was also lobbied directly by
Barrick on
May 16, 2012. Wright's contact with Barrick resulted in an
investigation by
the Ethics Commissioner initiated in November 2012. In May 2012, Baird
attended a ceremony at the Canadian Museum of Nature in honour of
Barrick's
$1 million contribution to the institution. In May 2013, Baird was the
main
speaker at the Munk School of Global Affair's conference to promote
regime
change in Iran. In January 2014, Baird was one of the Canadian
politicians
who met with Canadian business leaders, including Peter Munk, at the
World
Economic Forum in Davos.
Also noteworthy is that four and a half months after
Baird became Foreign
Minister on May 8, 2011, it was announced that the Canadian
International
Development Agency (CIDA) was "partnering" with Barrick on a project in
Peru, a country where the mining monopoly faced growing protests. CIDA
agreed to fund the project 50/50 with Barrick, while the private U.S.
evangelical NGO World Vision would manage the project.[3]
The Harper
government announced the subsidy as a "corporate responsibility
project" to
"reduce poverty." In fact, its real purpose is a pay-the-rich scheme to
give
direct financial aid to a private monopoly to fund its foreign mining
project.
The CIDA-Barrick project is part of the Harper government's neo-liberal
strategy that includes privatization of the host country's development
through
a foreign company, with a foreign NGO usurping the role of the
sovereign
state. The Peruvian people were not fooled by this phoney "aid
agreement" and
continue to protest Barrick's mining practices.
It is quite reasonable to assume that in his new
position as a Barrick
director, Baird will be shamelessly promoting this private monopoly
which has
been accused of human rights and environmental abuses around the world.
Regular yearly protests have been held outside and inside its spring
shareholders' meetings since 2007. Many of Barrick's abuses are
well-documented on the Mining Watch Canada site:
- A settlement was announced on February 6 of claims
brought by
Tanzanian villagers alleging that African Barrick Gold and its
subsidiary were
liable, through complicity, for the killing and injuring of locals by
police
guarding the North Mara mine.
- New evidence was released November 27, 2014 that
Barrick Gold's
dealings with victims of violence by mine security and police at mine
sites in
Papua New Guinea and Tanzania are primarily designed to protect the
company from legal action, rather than to provide fair remedy for women
who
have been raped and men who have been hurt or killed by mine security.
- On June 5, 2014, the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (an
international
initiative established in 1979) found the Canadian state guilty for its
role in
human rights violations in Latin America as a result of its efforts to
spur,
sponsor and protect Canadian mining investments abroad, along with five
Canadian mining companies, including Barrick Gold.
- In May 2013, the Chilean government fined Barrick $16
million because
discharge from its Pascua-Lama Mine contaminated the local water
supply.
- In February 2010, lawyers for Barrick Gold threatened
to sue Canadian
publisher Talonbooks for defamation if it published the book Imperial
Canada
Inc.:
Legal
Haven
of
Choice
for
the
World's
Mining
Industries
by Alain Deneault.
- In February 2009, Norway's Government Pension Fund
dropped its
shares in Barrick Gold as a result of Barrick's questionable operations
at the
Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea.
- Throughout 2009 and into 2010, Barrick Gold's Cortez
Hills project in
Nevada was the subject of litigation brought by the Te-Moak tribe that
the
project would cause visual harm to sacred Mount Tenabo and create a
substantial burden on the Western Shoshone tribe's ability to exercise
its
religion.
- In April and May 2008, Indigenous leaders from four
countries opposing
large-scale gold mining on their lands described the adverse impacts of
Barrick's operations, referencing Barrick's tactics in "suppressing
dissident
voices, dividing communities, and manipulating local and national
politics."
- In February 2007, more than 3,000 people rallied
against Barrick's
presence in the district of Quiruvilca in Peru protesting that the
company
reneged on jobs for local residents.
- On October 4, 2005, the provincial government of
Marinduque in the
Philippines sued Marcopper's parent company, Placer Dome, for $100
million
in damages due to massive environmental damage from the abandoned
Marcopper Mine. Placer Dome was bought in 2006 by Barrick Gold and the
lawsuit is still unresolved ten years later.[4]
With his move from one department of the ruling elite to
another, Baird's
role will be to use the international connections he made during his
time in
Harper's government to try to "persuade" foreign governments to cave in
to
Barrick's demands to set up profitable mines in their countries,
ignoring
human rights and environmental concerns. Baird's joining of the Barrick
Gold
monopoly also fits right into Harper's "New Economic Diplomacy" which
centres on the direct involvement of privileged private interests in
government.
Just as members of the Foreign Service are to work directly to promote
the
global private interests of the most powerful monopolies within the
United
States of North American Monopolies, former members of the Foreign
Service
like Baird can do the same from their new positions within the
monopolies
themselves.
Baird's direct employment by private industry at Barrick
Gold and CP Rail
and at the service of billionaires like Richard Li immediately after
leaving
Parliament shows once again the unity between officials of neo-liberal
governments and the private business interests which they serve. It is
another
expression of the spurious neo-liberal conception that private business
interests
are one and the same with the public interest and the national economy,
which
must be rejected with the force of the people's unity in action for a
new
direction for the society and the economy.
Notes
1. See "Why Raoul
Wallenberg? Who Was He? What Did He Do?," TML Weekly,
February 7, 2015 - No. 6.
2. Munk's charitable foundation donates heavily to
University of Toronto
where his money established the Munk School of Global Affairs and the
Munk
Debates. His foundation's latest contract with U of T was shrouded in
secrecy.
According to Linda McQuaig's 2010 book The Trouble with
Billionaires, Munk's latest donation came with strings attached to
ensure
that the school would "fit with the political views and sensitivities
of Peter
Munk." David Naylor, who was president of U of T when the Munk School
was set up, is now a Barrick director.
3. The founder of World Vision, Robert Pierce, used
movies as his main
marketing tool. With titles like "The Red Plague" and "The Poison of
Communism," they spewed anti-communist cold war rhetoric and promoted
Christian missionizing as a counter to communism. Ian Buchanan, author
of Armies Of God: A Study In Militant Christianity
(2010), suggests
that World Vision is effectively an arm of the U.S. State Department.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as well as many members
of his caucus,
are evangelical Christians and rabid anti-communists.
4. Mining Watch report on Barrick, click here.
Ninteenth International Seminar "Parties
and
a New
Society"
Political Parties Gather in Mexico to Deliberate on
Unfolding
Developments
From March 12 to 14, the Nineteenth International
Seminar
"Parties and a New
Society" was held in Mexico hosted by the Workers' Party of Mexico
(PT).
More than 300 participants representing 132 political
parties from 40
countries exchanged views and deliberated on unfolding events. They
were
joined by Mexican delegates from different states of the Republic.
During the three-day seminar, delegates were asked to
give their views on
three specific topics:
1. The counter-offensive of imperialism against
governments and
alternative nation-building projects -- coups d'états of a new
type.
2. Consolidation, defence and counter-attack of
governments and
alternative nation-building projects in opposition to imperialist
aggression.
3. Present-day topics such as the challenges of a new
multipolar world and
the peace process in the world.
The delegation of the Communist Party of Canada
(Marxist-Leninist) led by the First Secretary of the Central
Committee made a
presentation, the aim of which was to oppose the illusion that a just
society
can be created by following the neo-liberal road. This presentation
also
provided analysis and criticism of the neo-liberal position on
inequality and the
promotion of Thomas Piketty's book Capitalism in the Twenty-First
Century. The presentation concluded by elaborating on the need to
develop human-centred economic theory as an alternative to
capital-centred
economic theory.
The seminar's three days of deliberation were marked by
a great spirit of
internationalist unity against imperialist manoeuvres and aggression in
the
world. Participants denounced the recent threats of U.S. imperialist
aggression
against Venezuela and issued a statement expressing unanimous support
for the
Bolivarian Revolution, President Maduro, his government and the
Venezuelan
people.
Presentations were made on the situation in Ukraine,
Syria and
Palestine.
Resolutions adopted included ones that support the struggle of the
peoples of
those countries against imperialist aggression and in support of
non-interference in the internal affairs of the peoples of those
regions.
Opening of the Nineteenth Seminar by
Alberto
Anaya, Member of
Parliament and Leader of the Workers' Party of Mexico.
A representative of the families of the 43 missing
student teachers from
Ayotzinapa also took the floor to demand the return of their children
alive, and
also to denounce state terrorism, forced disappearances and
assassinations faced
by activists and the Mexican people in their struggle to defend their
rights.
Other resolutions adopted included ones in support of
the Cuban people
in the context of the return of the Five Heroes and the opening of
talks to
restore
diplomatic relations with the United States; against the militaristic
escalation
of imperialism and NATO; in support of the right to self-determination
of
Puerto Rico and for the release of Puerto Rican political prisoner
Oscar López
Rivera, held for more than 33 years in U.S. prisons; and in support of
the
Workers' Party of Korea and the Korean people in their efforts to build
a
prosperous and powerful state, establish peace and security, and to
reunify the
country.
The seminar concluded with the convening of participants
to the Twentieth
Seminar to be held in March 2016 in Mexico City.
Resolutions
Resolution in Solidarity with Syria and Peoples
Who Are Resisting
Imperialist Barbarism in the Region
- Presented by Leila Ganem, President of the Social
Forum in
Beirut -
The strategy of the U.S. and NATO against Syria, as well
as that of Israel
and the reactionary countries of the Gulf have reached an unprecedented
level
with financial support of $2 billion in 2015 and the recruitment of
5,000 new
mercenaries to send to Syria.
The statements of the International Alliance against the
Islamic State are
a collection of lies. The United States wants to keep DAESH [ISIS] far
from
its borders and those of the Gulf oil countries while continuing with
its goal
to implode Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen.
The conversion of the Islamic State into the second
biggest oil exporter in
the region (after Saudi Arabia) serves their interests while the
decline of the
price of oil mainly affects Venezuela, Iran and Russia.
But their criminal objectives will not pass because the
peoples of the
Middle East resist the barbaric imperialist offensive. They are winning
battles
on all fronts against a large concentration of imperialist and Zionist
forces.
This resistance is that of humanity as a whole and also
yours here in Latin
America.
These people need your solidarity and that of your
people.
We therefore declare at this International Seminar our
full support to the
resistance of the peoples of the Middle East against the barbarians.
Declaration in Opposition to Imperialist Interference
and in
Defence of Venezuelan Sovereignty
The 132 political parties from 40 different countries
assembled at the
International Seminar, "Parties and a New Society," held in Mexico City
on
March 12-14, 2015, would like to inform international opinion of the
following:
We energetically reject President Obama's "Executive
Decree" given
March 9, in which he declares that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
is an
unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign
policy of
the United States.
We declare that whatever threat exists it is the one
affecting the national
security and sovereignty of Latin America and the Caribbean and of all
the
peoples of the world and this threat comes precisely from the
imperialist
aggression of the United States in its desperate attempts to maintain
its
hegemony in decline and its control over the planet's strategic
resources.
We consider this order of the United States to be a
declaration of war
which violates not only the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela but of all Latin America and the Caribbean, a peaceful region
which defends staunch anti-imperialist and anti-colonial positions.
We demand of the government of the United States that it
respect the
self-determination of the peoples as well as non-interference in the
internal affairs
of other countries according to international law and our spirit of
freedom and
independence.
We militantly stand as one with the Venezuelan people
and give our firm
and unconditional support to the Bolivarian and Chavista government led
by
comrade President Nicolas Maduro.
Resolution on Puerto Rico
- Presented by the Hostosian National Independence
Movement
(MINH)
and the Socialist Front of Puerto Rico -
The Nineteenth International Seminar "Parties and a New
Society" held in
Mexico City from March 12-14, 2015:
1. Reaffirms its support for the Puerto Rican people in
their struggle for
self-determination and national independence.
2. Recognizes that the independence of Puerto Rico, the
Caribbean and
Latin American nation, is essential to achieve the noble goal of full
independence of our America.
3. Demands that the U.S. government immediately release
Puerto Rican
political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, who has been deprived of
his freedom
for over thirty-three years for his role in the struggle for the
independence of
Puerto Rico.
4. Oscar López Rivera is the oldest political
prisoner in our America. The
demand for his immediate release is supported by all the people of
Puerto Rico
and by large sectors of the international community.
Resolution on Cuba
Participants in the Nineteenth International Seminar
"Parties
and a New Society"
held in Mexico City March 12-14, 2015, support the process of
implementation
of the "guidelines for the economic and social policy of the Party and
the
revolution" led by the Communist Party of Cuba, in unity with its
people,
with the aim of updating the Cuban economic model and to ensure
continuity
and irreversibility of "prosperous and sustainable" socialism, the
country's
economic development and raising the standard of living of the people.
The Party leadership in permanent contact with the
people, systematically
analyzes the measures to be adopted to preserve the social gains and
make the
changes that will produce the necessary social and economic
transformations.
We express our deep appreciation for the return to their
homeland of the
five Cuban anti-terrorist heroes, who have been unjustly imprisoned in
the U.S.
for over sixteen years.
We welcome the beginning of a process of the restoration
of diplomatic
relations between the U.S. and Cuba as a result of the firm resistance
of the
Cuban people and the international solidarity that has isolated the
U.S.
government in its own attempts to isolate our sister country.
We condemn the economic, financial and commercial
blockade of the
United States government against Cuba. We reiterate the urgency of
ending it.
Without justification, this genocidal blockade was imposed fifty-five
years ago
against the Cuban people, through which imperialism has tried
unsuccessfully
to break the irrevocable decision of the Cuban people to defend their
right to
build their future as a sovereign people.
We also demand that Cuba be removed from the U.S.
Department's list of
countries sponsoring terrorism.
In the News
Iran Vows Decisive Response to Any Threat
Iranian Defence Minister,
Brigadier General Hossein Dehqam,
sharply criticized his U.S. counterpart on April 2 for
threatening military action against Iran amid diplomatic efforts
to reach a deal on Iran's nuclear program. The Islamic Republic
will respond "decisively" on the battlefield to any threat, he
said.
Minister Dehqam stated that recent comments by U.S.
Secretary of
Defense Ashton Carter are aimed at undermining the ongoing
negotiations between Iran and Russia, China, France, Britain, the
U.S. and Germany (known as the P5+1) on Iran's nuclear
program. On March 31, Carter said that using military force
against Iran is an option if the negotiations between Iran and
the P5+1 fails to produce an agreement on Iran's nuclear
file.
"This of course will have no effect on Iran's
documented,
logical and fair positions on the nuclear issue," Foreign
Minister Dehqan said, adding that the comments are aimed at
sensationalizing the issue to influence the "logical climate" of
the ongoing nuclear talks.
"Such empty remarks, always repeated by some U.S.
officials,
are a sign of their frustration and have no value," Dehqan
added.
The U.S. Defense Secretary has clearly forgotten the
U.S.' past and recent defeats in the Middle East and the world,
said Dehqan.
U.S. Military to Launch Special Force
for Latin America
The United States military
will deploy a new special force for Latin
America, according to an April 1 report on the website Defensa.com.
The 250-troop force will be deployed to the U.S.
military base Soto Cano
in Palmerola, Honduras. The deployment includes four armed helicopters
and
the JHSV Spearhead amphibious vessel.
The special force will work in a way similar to the U.S.
African task force
Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa, a
combat
unit
designed to intervene in critical situations.
The new unit is expected to become operational between
June and
November.
Earlier this year, it was announced that over 3,000 U.S.
marines would be
deployed to Peru in September, to participate in joint operations.
The announcement of the new U.S. special force comes
after Ernesto
Samper, the Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations
(UNASUR), requested that the forthcoming Summit of the Americas
consider
banning U.S. military bases in Latin America.
"A good point on the new agenda of relations [in Latin
America] would
be the elimination of U.S. military bases," the former Columbian
president told
news agency EFE. He added that the bases were "a leftover from the days
of
the Cold War and other clashes."
Samper also criticized the U.S. for its practice of
taking unilateral steps to
pursue its goals in Latin America. The latest example is the U.S.
declaration
of Venezuela as a threat to its national security, he said.
"In a globalized world like the present one, you can't
ask for global rules
for the economy and maintain unilateral rules for politics. No country
has the
right to judge the conduct of another and even less to impose sanctions
and
penalties on their own," he stressed.
Cuba-U.S.
Relations
Talks on Human Rights
Pedro Luis Pedroso, head
of the Cuban delegation to the Cuba-U.S. human rights talks in
Washington, addresses press
conference, March 31, 2015.
On March 31, delegations from Cuba and the United States
met in
Washington to discuss human rights. Pedro Luis Pedroso, Deputy Director
General for Multilateral Affairs and International Law at the Cuban
Foreign
Affairs Ministry and head of the Cuban delegation, explained at a March
26
press conference in Havana that Cuba proposed the meeting in July 2014.
The
offer was repeated and agreed to by the U.S. in January in the midst of
talks
to restore diplomatic relations.
Pedroso explained that Cuba's aim is for discussion on
human rights to
develop in a constructive environment and on a reciprocal basis,
without
conditions or discriminatory treatment, and with full respect for
sovereign
equality, independence and non-interference in the internal affairs of
the
parties.
He added that Cuba does not consider itself to be
perfect and recognizes
that there remain important goals to achieve. However, he noted the
recognition the country received at the last Universal Periodic Review
of the
UN Human Rights Council, where the international community praised and
commended Cuban achievements in areas such as education, health and
access
to cultural rights, and the contribution the island has made in those
same areas
in other countries.
Pedroso added that the dialogue will also be an
opportunity for Cuba to
raise its concerns regarding the human rights situation in the U.S. and
elsewhere where the U.S. has a direct impact.
"These talks are an indication of Cuba's willingness to
address any subject
with the U.S. despite our differences, based on equality and
reciprocity," he
said. "We are conscious of our profound differences with the U.S.
government
in terms of political systems, democracy, human rights and
international law,
and at the same time we maintain the unwavering will that both
countries
interact in a civilized fashion in recognition and respect of these
differences,"
he added.
Asked about possible friction on specific topics such as
political rights,
Pedroso said that Cuba maintains that there are different political and
democratic models, and does not accept that a single model be
established as
the reference.
He also emphasized that international law recognizes the
right of each
country to establish the political system it considers most appropriate
in
accordance with its conditions, specific characteristics and
historical, economic
and social history.
Posted below is the statement of the Cuban delegation
following the
March 31 meeting.
Statement of Cuban Delegation to Human Rights Dialogue
with
U.S.
March 31, 2015, the first meeting took place between
delegations from the United States and Cuba on human rights issues, as
was
proposed by Cuba in July of 2014, and accepted by the U.S. in January
this
year. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor Tomasz Malinowski and Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy
Director General for Multilateral Affairs and International Law Pedro
Luis
Pedroso Cuesta led their respective delegations which held dialogue in
a
respectful, professional environment.
Cuba's representatives expressed their interest that the
dialogue contribute
to addressing the issue of human rights effectively and without
discrimination,
with full respect for sovereign equality, independence and
non-intervention in
the internal affairs of the parties.
The Cuban delegation likewise emphasized the necessity
of addressing an
adequate balance of questions within the area of civil and political
rights and
that of economic, social and cultural rights. The Cuban delegation
conveyed
with equal emphasis its profound concern regarding guarantees for and
protection of human rights in the U.S. -- in particular the worsening
of police
brutality and abuse, following a discriminatory pattern, and
limitations on the
exercise of labor rights and internationally recognized trade union
freedoms.
At the same time, Cuba emphasized violations of human
rights in the
so-called war on terrorism, including torture, extra-judicial
executions with the
use of drones, espionage, and extraterritorial surveillance.
Conscious of our profound differences with the U.S.
government in the
arena of political systems, democracy and international law, Cuba
reaffirms its
invariable intention that the two countries relate to each other in a
civilized
manner with recognition of and respect for these differences, as well
as its
willingness to address any issue whatsoever with the United States,
within a
framework of equality, respect and reciprocity.
Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Cuban Consulate in the U.S. Still
Without Banking Services
- Jorge Legañoa, Granma
International -
For over a year, the lack of access to banking services
has hindered
normal operations and the provision of full consular services
Carlos Núñez had to travel some 1,500
kilometers from Miami to
Washington, DC in order to process some urgent paperwork in the only
Cuban
consulate in the United States.
Cuban Consulate in
Washington, DC.
|
His story is similar to that of thousands of others who
have been affected
by the impossibility of accessing banking services for the Cuban
diplomatic
mission, which would allow for full consular services to be provided.
"I came for some documents because I'm going to get
married in Cuba
and I'm in the process of legalizing the paperwork. I hope the banking
issue
is resolved soon because it's complicated traveling so far and also
having to
pay for all the documents in cash," Núñez, who has been
living in the U.S. for
35 years, tells us.
On the trail of this issue, we traveled to the Cuban
Consular Office on
16th Street in Washington, where we talked with several Cubans who,
despite
the low temperatures, had made the journey to obtain their paperwork.
María Cantero has been living in the U.S. capital
for eight years and told
us that sometimes, due to the constraints of the banking system, she
has been
forced to send her paperwork to be processed through a travel agency in
Miami, resulting in higher costs, given the absence of any consular
services in her area.
"It's disrespectful that banks do not provide this
service to Cubans," she
said.
Despite repeated requests, the Cuban diplomatic office
in the northern
country has not found a substitute for M&T Bank, which terminated
its
services to the mission in November 2013.
According to statements by U.S. authorities, they
have worked for
months to replace M&T, but it has been very difficult to find
another bank
that will work with Cuba due to the various sanctions imposed by
Washington
on the country.
The restrictions involve more work for banking
institutions, which are
exposed to constant scrutiny from the authorities and face high fines
for any
irregularities.
"From that moment we took on the task of finding a new
bank with which
to work and to this day it has not been possible because they all
respond that
they can not do business with Cuba as it's included on the list of
countries
sponsoring terrorism and there are regulations against Cuba due to the
list,"
Juan Lamigueiro, deputy chief of the Cuba Interests Section in
Washington
explained.
For over a year, consular services have continued to
operate but are only
directly processed for "humanitarian cases" and payments are made in
cash,
which has hurt the entire Cuban community in the U.S. and hinders the
normal
work of our personnel there.
"What once was carried out via a bank transaction, an
electronic
movement, today has to be in person at the consulate and paid in cash.
This
has had a strong impact not only on our working conditions, but also on
our
living conditions, because it forces us to make all our payments in
cash," the
diplomat added.
On Friday, March 27, the Cuban Interests Section decided
to extend its
services once again until June 30, 2015, which it will continue to
process
through travel agencies with ties to the Consular Office or directly to
its
headquarters in Washington, while reiterating that requests based on
humanitarian grounds continue to receive prompt attention.
Hazards for Agencies
Costamar Travel is a travel agency
based in New Jersey -- one of the U.S. states with the highest number
of
Cuban
residents -- which agreed to talk with us on the subject.
Caridad Ludgarda García Monteagudo, a Cuban who
stands out for her
Caribbean flair in the midst of an icy Washington, is a representative
of the
agency and we talked about some of the difficulties she faces in her
work.
"It's very difficult, complicated, but especially risky
to handle such a
volume of cash, which we have to take along with us when traveling
monthly
to the consulate in Washington, for a scheduled appointment," she said.
Yoandra Pérez, president of the Caribbean Service
& TravelCorp agency,
based in Florida, told us a similar story: "Today we traveled with
about 60,000
dollars in cash, and I imagine that the charterers (airlines that
manage travel
to Cuba) come with much more, which is very dangerous, risky and a huge
constraint."
"Before all the payments were made through company
checks sent by
regular mail and it was quick and easy. We need this to change and for
Cuba
to have access to a bank in the U.S. which can facilitate consular
services,"
she added.
When asked whether these new circumstances have led to
rising prices,
García Monteagudo, who has been working as a travel rep for 27
years,
assured us that companies located in states further away from the
capital have
had to raise prices for the processing of passports, documents and
legalizations, although they have tried to ensure this does not affect
clients.
"But it is almost impossible, it's a big risk," she said.
For Cuban lawyer, Manolo Gómez, a U.S. resident
since 1961, it is
inconceivable that travel agents have to travel to Washington literally
carrying
a box full of cash for consular processing, an issue that hinders
everything.
"In Miami the issue is complained about, that this must
be solved; it
makes no sense," Gómez said, adding that staff at the consulate
must be going
crazy, handling these huge amounts of cash.
"They have even had to reduce the amount of passports
that can be issued
and a number of other things that an office of this type usually
processes, and
either they can't do things or they take much longer," he said.
Fellow Cuban lawyer and U.S. resident, Luis Rumbaut,
similarly
comments: "In the broader context we are talking about the whole
country,
which is not small. If you are in Florida, Chicago, California, Oregon,
it is no
small thing to have to travel to Washington."
Decades ago, Cuba had consulates in various parts of the
country and
today there is just one under the conditions we have described.
Furthermore the
consulate is a small place, "because we have not managed to find a
larger
space," Rumbaut said, adding that, "when people arrive to file their
papers the
building fills and huge queues form."
However, lawyer Manolo Gómez, despite noting that
procedures are much
slower, had words of praise for the island's diplomats: "Despite all
the work,
they are doing an excellent job to carry out all the services required
by the
community."
Cuba ensures that all diplomatic missions on the island,
including the U.S.
Interests Section, enjoy banking services. However, the Cuban office in
Washington has been unable to access the services of any institution,
despite
the U.S. authorities claiming they are working on it.
Josefina Vidal, director general for the United States
at the Cuban Foreign
Ministry, has reiterated the need for this issue to be resolved as soon
as
possible and for all conditions stipulated by international treaties to
be met, in
recent conversations with U.S. representatives.
The absence of these services for the Cuba Interests
Section
in Washington,
which has spanned more than a year, is one of the main obstacles to the
restoration of diplomatic ties and the reopening of embassies in
Washington
and Havana.
U.S. Removal of Entities Linked to Cuba
from Sanctions List
International monopoly media have been making a great
fuss over the U.S.
Treasury Department's latest routine review of the so-called Specially
Designated Nationals List. The review is conducted regularly to remove
companies and institutions that have disappeared, as well as
individuals who
have died.
Granma explains that the Specially Designated
Nationals List
is a kind of "undesirables list" including persons, companies and
institutions that have functioned in the name of countries subject to
U.S. economic
sanctions, such as Cuba, with which no individual or incorporated
entity under
U.S. jurisdiction may conduct economic, commercial or financial
transactions.
The possessions of those on the list have been confiscated and their
bank
accounts frozen. Paula Martínez Alonso, in a March 25 Granma
article writes:
"According to published reports, as a result of the most
recent review, the
Treasury Department removed from the list 45 Cuban or Cuban-linked
entities,
including 28 companies, 11 boats and six individuals, in their majority
linked
to tourism. The media outlets which have reported this news have not
taken
the time to verify if these companies actually exist or if these people
are still
alive.
"Those who may think that this is a decision of
important scope, related
to changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba, should carefully read what an
unidentified source at the Treasury Department said to the AP news
agency.
The representative specifically stated that the amendment of the list
came as
a result of an internal review, and is in no way related to policy
changes
recently announced by President Obama.
"What the functionary and the media do not report is
that the blockade of
Cuba remains in place, continuing to affect more than 11 million Cubans
and
thousands of companies and institutions. The damage done as a result of
its
extra-territorial application in other nations continues.
"The most recent evidence of this fact is the $1.7
billion fine levied on
Germany's Commerzbank, March 12 -- the second largest fine ever imposed
by the United States -- for violating sanctions on Cuba, Iran, Sudan
and
Myanmar."
25th Anniversary of the Independence of
Namibia
Presentation by Jorge Risquet Valdés
Poster printed in
California in support of SWAPO and Namibian independence. The slogan
"One Namibia, One Nation," was a rallying cry to all Namibians to unite
to defeat apartheid.
Posted below is a presentation by Jorge Risquet
Valdés made on March 31
at the Casa de la Amistad, Cuba, to mark the 25th anniversary of the
independence of Namibia. Risquet Valdés was Cuba's chief
diplomat in Africa
from the 1970s to the 1990s and the chief negotiator for Cuba in the
talks that
ended apartheid in South Africa.
***
Dear compatriots:
March 21 a quarter century ago was one of the happiest
days of my
life.
Such emotion to see the South African President De
Klerk, lowering the
flag of the odious apartheid regime and Sam Nujoma hoisting the banner
of
the independent Namibia, led by SWAPO, the embattled organization that
led
the heroic struggle of its people for freedom!
We shared the excitement with Cuban Commander of the
Revolution Juan
Almeida Bosque, President of our delegation and General Leopoldo Cintra
Frías, the victorious leader of the Cuban troops that alongside
Angolans and
SWAPO defeated at Cuito Cuanavale, T'Chipa and Calueque the racist
forces
of Pretoria.
Jorge Risquet
Valdés, during a visit to Toronto, September 2013.
|
The identification and mutual trust between Cuba and
SWAPO was such
that our ambassador to the nascent republic, Angel Dalmau presented his
credentials hours before the flag ceremony, marking the emergence of
the
Republic of Namibia.
Of course, our current ambassador to Namibia, Giraldo
Mazola, was also
part of this delegation.
As if that were not enough emotion on that victorious
day, we were able
to embrace Nelson Mandela, barely a month after being released from his
long
and cruel imprisonment, who attended the unforgettable joyful event.
On Friday, March 27, our television station featured the
Estela Bravo film The Last Colony, which includes the
beautiful
words that Mandela
spoke on the decisive role of Cuban troops in defeating the racist
invaders, the
political implications of which led to the end of apartheid in South
Africa.
"Cuito Cuanavale marks the turning point in the struggle
to free the
continent and our country from the scourge of apartheid.
"[...] I and my colleagues had been in prison for almost
30 years and that
period appeared to us to have been remarkably short because we knew
that we
had strong friends almost everywhere in the world. And one of those
friends
who has been very consistent and whose voice has been very clear has
been
that of comrade Fidel Castro.
"We have never doubted that in him and in Cuba we have a
dependable
friend. From the point of view of size and population Cuba is a small
country.
But it is exercising an impact on world affairs which is similar to
that of a
super power. And Cuba has shown that it is just not a question of the
size of
a country but its policies and the calibre of its leaders that is
important.
"We have benefited tremendously from the lessons of the
Cuban revolution
and from what Cuba is doing, especially in Africa, and we, in this part
of the
continent, were tremendously impressed by the role which Cuba played in
the
liberation of Angola. ... The entire world and particularly South
Africa will
never forget the lessons of Cuito Cuanavale because that was the
turning point
in the military situation in the region.
"We also feel that Namibia's independence would have
been very difficult
to achieve if Cuba had not acted so courageously and decisively in
Angola.
...We are therefore indebted to Cuba. We would like to thank Comrade
Fidel
Castro and the people of Cuba for the support they have given us."
Comrades:
Thinking of Namibia, we recall a very sad day. On May 4,
1978, after
murdering over 650 children, women and elderly, the South African
paratroopers fled, avoiding combat with Cuban troops from Chamutete on
their
way to the Namibian refugee camp in Cassinga at the cost of 16
compatriots
dead and 76 wounded by fire from the South African air force and by
land
mines placed on the path by the cowardly enemy.
The arrival of the brave fighters of our Regiment based
in Chamutete
interrupted the genocidal racist work, saving the lives of more than
350
refugees with serious injuries and hundreds of defenceless Namibians
who had
fled to the neighbouring forest.
Thousands of Namibian children, including one hundred
survivors of
Cassinga, were brought to Cuba to fill the schools built for them in
the Isla de
la Juventud, along with the youth of Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia,
South
Africa, Zimbabwe, South Yemen, Frente Polisario, Nicaragua and other
countries. Schools, in the words of Nyerere, built on the Isla de la
Juventud,
the most beautiful place in the sun.
At the time of the implementation of Resolution 435 for
the independence
of Namibia, which called for elections to choose the rulers of the new
state,
all Namibians in Cuba of voting age who had left their country made up
a
vanguard -- youth, with political education and a high cultural level
-- and
were decisive in the victory of SWAPO in the elections.
Cuban
internationalist troops fight side
by side with the Angolan people, 1980.
Cuba sent many volunteers
to fight with the peoples of southern Africa against
colonialism and the Apartheid regimes.
We must remember that the racist South African
government opposed the
implementation of Resolution 435.
But it was forced to accept it as a result of the
four-party talks: Angola
and Cuba, South Africa and the United States as a "mediator" and friend
of the
racists.
In the first of these four-party talks, held in London
in early May 1988,
Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, in the presence of Raul, instructed:
"When
you speak, ask the South Africans if they agree with the immediate
implementation of Resolution 435. If they say no, you get up, you end
the
meeting and you leave the room."
The South Africans were forced to accept the
implementation of
Resolution 435 as it was a sine qua non for the start of the
withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola.
[Earlier this month] the Cuban delegation led by Miguel
Díaz-Canel, First
Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers, participated in
events
in Windhoek for the 25th Anniversary of the Independence of Namibia and
the
installation of the new President of the Republic, Hage Geingob.
It is noteworthy that in his inaugural speech, the third
Namibian President
(after Nujoma and Pohamba) Hage Geingob made reference to Cuba as the
brotherly people who shed the blood of their sons for the independence
of
their country.
So it is. The brotherhood between Cuba and Namibia is
indestructible.
Patria
o
Muerte
Venceremos
Country Or Death
We Shall Overcome
Coming Event
Climate Action March at Premiers' Conference
in Quebec City
Saturday,
April
11
--
1:00 pm
March begins at the Hotel le Concorde, 1225 Cours du
Gnral de
Montcalm
For information: act-on-climate.ca
Representatives of First Nations, labor and
environmental organizations,
social movements, students and community organizations have announced a
major rally, the Climate Action March, in Quebec City to fight against
climate
change and to oppose the expansion of the tar sands. The action
coincides with
a meeting of provincial Premiers in Quebec City to discuss climate
change.
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