News From the Soviet Union
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| Rafael Martinez |
Dear comrades, friends and readers of NSC and dear members of the International Council!
It is with deepest indignation that we observe the ongoing cooperation and agreement between the US and the Russian governments. President Putin is to be held directly responsible for the tragic and dreadful consequences of this cooperation. The most direct expression of the results of these terrible deeds has become the massacre of thousands and thousands of Afghani civilians. The world has been shocked by the photographs of dismembered bodies of women, children and elderly, victims of the vicious and aggressive campaign by U.S. Imperialism for control over such a strategic region for the transport of gas and oil to the East.
The progressive minded people of the world might wonder why on earth the government of Putin has given such a helping hand to the aggressive campaign of U.S. Imperialism? By doing this, President Putin has allowed US troops to be stationed in some former Soviet republics, thus letting the U.S. troops as close to the borders of Russian Federation as they have ever been.
The bloody and vicious campaign in Afghanistan has to do with the control over the transit of gas and oil. It is no secret that the Russian monopolies are also interested in controlling a chunk of this business. They believe that by cooperating with the U.S., they will acquire an advantageous position with respect to other powers. In particular, it is also no secret that this bloody campaign has deepened even more the economic and military contradictions between the U.S. and Europe. At the end of the day, this military campaign has helped the U.S. to push away all the competition from European oil and gas companies. With its massive military presence in this region, the U.S. companies will be favored over the European ones.
The Europeans have frequently criticized the methods and military goals pursued by the U.S. military campaign. The EU has on more than one occasion accused the U.S. of not being interested in restoring order there, or at least such an order that would allow the entire "international community" to enjoy the same privileges as the Americans. There have been instances when European troops stationed in the region refused to engage in the fighting in Afghanistan. This is not publicized in the media at all.
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PUT-IN |
The Russian government and Russian monopolies seem to be happy with the idea of expelling the Europeans from the business of oil and gas. The stability of Putin’s regime depends to a large extent on the revenues obtained from the export of gas and oil. Putin’s bid for political and social stability in Russia goes through the high export prices. On the contrary, the drop in oil and gas prices on the international markets has devastating results for the Russian budget. By suppressing all competitors, Putin believes that the Russian monopolies will obtain higher profits. The Russian government thinks that with this new correlation of forces in the area, Russian monopolies will be better off in the Caspian area and will strengthen their dominant role in the transfer of gas and oil of the Caspian area to the East.
By doing this, Putin’s government is compromising even more the national security of Russia and its independence.
But Putin is absolutely wrong if he thinks that the oil and gas will save feverish capitalism in Russia. High gas and oil prices have eased somewhat the state of quasi-bankruptcy of the Russian budget; however this will not be enough to prevent the near and impending new economic crisis that will lead to social and political convulsions. The organized working class in Russia has by far not given up the struggle, much to the contrary; a new strike movement is on the rise again throughout Russian territory and other republics of former Soviet Union.
High oil and gas prices have not eased the terrible economic conditions of the Russian working class, nor the unbearable state of affairs in the Russian economy. High revenues from oil and gas mean more profits for the Russian bourgeoisie, but do not change the state of affairs of the Russian economy. The Russian bourgeoisie is planning a new military campaign over Chechnya. Again and again, the aggressive forces of capitalism try to boost the military spending at the cost of thousands and thousands of innocent lives and the misery of tens of millions of workers and ordinary people.
Putin is wrong in believing that capitalist Russia will survive and that the working class will be fooled by the restoration of the Soviet Anthem (with changes to the wording – Editor) and other Soviet symbolism by his government. The collapse of capitalism in Russia is unavoidable; the Russian working class will prove Putin wrong!
From the Moscow Times
Looking deeply into the eyes of Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush famously concluded that Russia’s president is "a man America can do business with."
That observation proved to be truer than most people predicted, especially on issues dear to Bush’s heart, such as oil and war. Putin, however, said no such thing about Mr. Bush, preferring to take a more, shall we say, sober approach to dealing with the leader of the world’s remaining superpower.
Putin was right to refrain from such a snap assessment. Bush, by deciding last month to impose punitive tariffs and quotas on steel imports from a host of countries, including Russia, not only acted on the fringes of legality, but also single-handedly pushed the world toward a potentially disastrous trading war.
Bush also exposed himself as a political panderer who will compromise his "free trade" doctrine to protect ailing and inefficient companies just because they helped pay for his election campaign and happen to employ thousands of swing-state voters without whose support he would still be in Texas.
This is hypocrisy, pure and simple, especially coming from a man whose minions scour the Earth, urging nations to open their markets to U.S. goods. Under these circumstances Russia has every right to retaliate.
But without legal means in the WTO to retaliate, it would take Russia years to resolve this problem, by which time Bush would be in his re-election campaign and the damage done to Russia’s steel industry and its 750,000 employees would be catastrophic.
In this light, Russia’s decision to ban chickens imported from the U.S. seems correct. After all, over 70% of the chickens consumed in Russia come only from the United States. Even so, we should look into the question of the quality of the chickens we import from the U.S. – no one has ever produced a study, what the quality and potential health hazards are from U.S. chickens that have been fed in their lifetime chemically altered steroid-pumped super birds and what it does to a person.
To use the Olympic analogy – Russia’s steel team is out of the metal contention, but its poultry team now looks like a contender, as the favorite has just been disqualified for doping. Maybe it will get one of those golds left behind in Salt Lake City.
Keep in mind that the Moscow Times is a private business newspaper. They could have drawn an even better conclusion. But, the article is great!
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| Nina A. Andreeva |
By All Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks
The press and the declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Korean Peoples Democratic Republic on January 31, 2002: America, in its unrestrained drive for world dominance, intends not only to continue, but also to strengthen its adventurist policy of political and military gangsterism against sovereign states, that do not want to live under the heel of the USA.
In his yearly State of the Union message, President George Bush provocatively declared that "he is not ready to let the most dangerous regimes in the world threaten the USA with the most destructive arms in the world." Under the tag of countries "threatening the USA," he named the Korean Peoples Democratic Republic, calling it by a new name of 'the countries of the axis of evil". By this, Bush has somewhat forgotten that the Korean Peoples Democratic Republic decreed a moratorium on all production of long range missiles and is following an earlier agreement between the USA and the KPDR. The USA intended to renew the dialogue with the KPDR about the non-proliferation of nuclear and missile technology and about the reunification of North and South Korea.
The slow but continuous fall of the indices of business activity in the leading centers of the imperialist world, the rise of unemployment, the bankruptcy of a row of formerly successful businesses, this is witness to a new protracted economic crisis in the whole imperialist world. President Bush feverishly looks for a way out of the pre-crisis economic situation in the USA. He wants to solve the crisis, eliciting local wars, declaring the whole world "the zone of vital interests of the USA." But the "golden rain" a doping for the economy of the USA in the form of more than $350 (officially only) billion dollars from the collapse of the USSR has dried up.
The former president of the USA, Bill Clinton, recently declared in the press that "terror existed in the USA for hundreds of years" and that "the USA was formed as a nation, that used slave labour." He also remarked that "a significant part of the original native population of America was killed and chased from their land, with the sole aim of taking their land and resources, not regarding them as people anyway. And today we are paying for that."
It is still much too early to talk about the kind of "bill" that America will pay for what it did. But the events of September 11th, 2001 until now have not taught to the lesson the USA, as we can see by the actions of Bush and his State of the Union message. These events may be the beginning of a holy war of the Arab world against the "Big Satan." (The reaction of the spiritual leader of Muslims Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "the American president talks like a blood thirsty man. The world knows that the U.S. is the 'Big Satan.' Iran is proud to elicit the anger of this hated satanic force." – Reuters.)
The Americans have probably forgotten, they lost the Korean War of 1950-1953 against the then very young Korean Peoples Democratic Republic. Now the situation is different. Vietnam obviously did not teach them a lesson. The USA is thoroughly wrong in supposing that a military provocation or even more, an aggression, would remain unpunished for the USA. They are wrong too in thinking that in this world one can buy everything for money.
We condemn the reckless adventurist policy of the USA towards the sovereign states and appeal to all people on earth, who want to live and save civilization, to raise their voices of protest against the aggressive policy of the USA.
May the people of the world unite in the struggle against the imperialist globalization, in defense of the right of every nation to an independent choice of their historical path!
Nina Andreeva
Secretary General
All Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks
In an
excellent and fiery speech against the trial judges, even though he is often
interrupted and his microphone is switched off, Slobodan Milosevic defended
himself with courage, facts and stamina, much to the surprise and despair of the
judges and their foreign NATO backers. He will go down in history as the
Dimitroff, who turned the accusations against him in Germany, towards his
accusers. The movement in opposition to this injustice is spreading all over the
world now.
Even the former Russian Prime Minister and the Russian Duma have made protests. The only question to ask of them is: where were you before, when Yugoslavia was being bombed and dismembered, when Milosevic was abducted-kidnapped? These questions will be asked of you people when the time comes for the reckoning, never fear!
*Former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov of Russia offered to appear as a defense witness for Slobodan Milosevic at his Hague trial, praising the ex-president for his role in the Balkans.
"I can testify that Milosevic behaved in a most positive manner and enabled a peaceful outcome. I am thinking of Bosnia, where the bloodletting stopped, thanks to Milosevic and his incontestably positive role in Kosovo", he told ORT public television.
"To my mind the trial of former Yugoslav leader is becoming one-sided," he said.
But not a word condemning NATO attack on Yugoslavia at all – Editor.
*The Russian State Duma expresses deep concern regarding the work of this International Criminal Tribunal.
The Criminal Tribunal has not made a legal assessment of this aggression against Yugoslavia. It has refused to hold responsible the NATO leaders who have committed this aggression. This Tribunal has not made the proper judgment of the activities of the Albanian extremists and terrorists who did commit the Kosovo crimes.
We request from the President of Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, that he consider initiating in the Security Council of the UN, a discussion establishing the precise time frame which the Tribunal can discharge this jurisdiction, and also abolishing the detention of Slobodan Milosevic, so that he can prepare his defense.
Signed
G.N. Seleznev, Speaker of the Russian Duma
How nice…my heart’s aflutter! But, where was the Duma when NATO invaded Yugoslavia? Where was Putin? Where was Russia, which has a veto in the Security Council together with China? Why didn’t they use their veto power? Where is a Russian Judge on this so-called "International Crime Tribunal"? Or is Russia no longer counted as part of the international community? It’s a bit too late to close the barn doors, because the horses are already stolen. Besides…Mr. Seleznev, the Speaker of the Russian Duma, is a member of the Communist Party of Russian Federation! – Editor.
Proletarskaya Gazeta, No. 15
In the city of Syzran a strike began on the morning of August 6, 2001, at the Conserving Plant and the plant came to a standstill. Night shift workers blocked the gates to the plant. The workers demanded a 20% increase for September and they also demanded that the owners of the plan negotiate with their trade union "Zashchita" and sign a collective agreement. The average monthly salary of the workers is equal to $26.70 per month, only half the subsistence level allowed.Because of the lack of workers control, the system of bonuses was always misused by management. There was retaliation against the most active organizers for union rights, while bribing other workers. The unjust distribution of income deepened the discontent of the workers.
During the strike, the workers elected representatives to conduct the negotiations. The director of the plant refused to enter into discussions with the workers. But, seeing the unity and solidarity of all the workers, he was forced to negotiate with the workers. Timing was just right and the management saw that their profits would soon disappear, since this is a canning factory and seasonal work is a must.
The manager tried to deceive the workers by trying to make certain that the workers worked to full capacity while he was negotiating with the union, thus hoping to stretch this out until the canning season was over and then he would discontinue contacts with the union.
The strike committee foresaw this tactic and even though the manager fired the top union organizer, a women was elected by the workers, a mother of 6 children who, if she lost her job, would not be able to feed her family.
The workers of many districts supported this strike. The threats of management and police did not frighten the union members. The management saw that it was hopeless to threaten the solidarity of the workers and thus he was forced to sign a wage increase and contract with the workers.
But the director then called for a formation of a new union, in order to dislodge "Zashchita – Defense." He then tore up the wage increase and collective agreement and replaced it with bonuses that would be paid at the whim and convenience of the management. Because of the desperate plight of the workers who needed the job to feed their families, they did not join the union again. The trade union committee tried legal actions, but to no avail. The union was not large enough and did not have the necessary experience.
The same situation is happening in many enterprises. The economic struggles might be partially or fully defeated. However, regardless of the outcome, these strikes give clear and practical experience.
The workers know more and more that you cannot trust the promises of the capitalist class or their stooges. The exploiting class always resorts to tricks and lies. Therefore, it is necessary to transform any struggle or discontent amongst the workers into an effective organizational strike, especially in the present state of the economic struggles.
Only organized workers are able to bring the economic struggle to a successful conclusion. A union is only one form in this struggle.
Only a political struggle can result in the solution to the social-economic problems of the exploited class. Therefore, we should give priority to the political initiatives of the workers collectives. Today this is the main task of the organized workers.
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| Galina Sawchenko |
In the last issue we wrote about this political prisoner in former USSR. Below is a statement regarding this political prisoner in Ukraine.
"Twelve regions, that is 470 settled villages and towns which are without electricity, water or heat. In the apartments or homes it is only 5 degrees C [about 40 degrees Fahrenheit]. Children are freezing. But no one takes responsibility for this tragedy in Ukraine. They blame winter, but were there no winters during Soviet times?! But we never sat through any lack of light, heat or water.
Over 8 million Gm. did not arrive in the Carpathian region of Ukraine for buildings promised to be built that suffered from the terrible floods last year. Six million people are destitute due to the Bank of Ukraine declaring bankruptcy. No one was held responsible for this.
In the schools there came an epidemic of food poisoning because of unsanitary production of food. There is no money for food control or improvement. But where is the promised money? The statistics officially admit that over 147,000 children do not attend school... but we know that the figure is much higher. Every month 600 people are infected with AIDS, there is a catastrophic growth of invalids.
The political and economic terrorists ruling Ukraine now have put in jail a Major of the Soviet Army, Yuri A. Petrovsky who tried to do something about this situation. They sentenced him to 6 years in all and to lose his army rank as a Major. He is in a hard labour colony.
The courts did not listen to 120 witnesses who stated that they were never approached by Petrovsky to get armed for an uprising. The map supposedly in possession of Petrovsky, showing the location of arms units, storage facilities etc. was debunked by an expert army cartographer who characterized this evidence as a fake. There are no army bases in Chernigo or in Nezhine.
The court of course ignored all the evidence; they sentenced him strictly on political grounds. Yuri Petrovsky did not break any laws against the state.
Freedom to him!
Yuri Petrovsky is 42 years old, graduated from the Orlov Officers School; after that he finished the Army Academy run by the KGB. Now it is understandable why the present Ukrainian government sentenced Yuri – this dedicated Soviet Officer. For six years they took this heroic patriot away because he did not want to support the blue and yellow Bandera flag of Ukraine and is dedicated to the sacred oath he took to the Soviet Union and the Soviet Army.
Glory to you Yuri Petrovsky!
This document was signed by:
Galina Savchenko, Lilia Mazurkevich, Galina Striha, Tatiajana Pushkareva, Liudmila Snitkina, Margarita Surikova, Tamara Ponomarenko
Members of the "Movement for USSR in Ukraine"
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We, workers of Latvia, are outraged at a new act of repression against workers and activists in Russia. This time the victim is Sergei Matsurov, the Deputy of Astrakhan. His only crime was to stand solid in his dedication for the rights and the interests of the working class, who are now degraded and deprived of the most elementary rights by your regime.
Sergei Matsurov was viciously beaten by the local police officers, following orders of their superior. After these vicious attacks, which were enough to bring these criminals to justice, who were dressed in police uniforms, the local police have the insolence to threaten Sergei with confinement in a mental institution. This preposterous insolence bears surprising memory of the times of Brezhnev, when there were serious breaches of law which were covered up by the label of "enemy" of the state. This shows that the law for the elected deputies does not mean much, since all these laws are governed by the criminals themselves.
This is not the first example of savage repression against the workers in present bourgeois Russia, This happens even when the workers resort to methods of struggle which are legal even in bourgeois democracy. The most vibrant expression of this state of affairs under this present Russian capitalism was the vicious repression of the workers of the Viborg factory.
In the past we have called upon you to bring to justice those responsible for the bloody tragedy, for which we provided you with lists of suspects. According to our sources, nothing has been done so far. On the contrary, the victims of this tragedy have been subjected to more physical and psychological terror.
All of this points to the fact that you, Mr. Putin, hold personal responsibility for all the systematic violations of elementary workers rights that are even acknowledged by the present Constitution of the Russian Federation, and, therefore, you cannot fulfill the duties of a president and therefore you should resign.
We are not indifferent to our class brothers in Russia. Therefore, we are entitled to adopt measures we deem necessary, to support fully the Russian working class, and we declare your regime anti-worker and anti-democratic.
Club of Latvian Workers-Marxists
"Orion"
According to the Norway Post, a permanent Norwegian base for C-130 transport planes is being established at Manas, Kyrghizia, a former Soviet republic.
Around 75 Norwegian Air Force personnel are stationed at the base, according to Mr. Dag Aamoth, spokesman for the Norwegian Central Military Command.
The Norwegian transport planes will be part of an allied air transport unit, which will operate in and around Afghanistan under the U.S. command.
Norwegian Hercules transport planes have already for some time made trips to this region, bringing in supplies, among other things for the Norwegian personnel serving in the international force (IDAF) and in the United States-led operation "Enduring Freedom".
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