Missing articles: intro article, "Inaugural ball is a blast for Iraq", "Under Lock and Key" "Chuck sets an agenda in political funk" and an article on Palestine and Hamas.
                                                                                                                               
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         THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT

  MIM Notes 73                      FEBRUARY, 1993 

MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the 
world's oppressed majority, and against the 
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in 
the service of the people. support it, struggle 
with it and write for it.


IN THIS ISSUE:
1.  THIRD WORLD LEFT OFF THE INVITE LIST: ANOTHER PRESIDENT, 
    ANOTHER BOMBING
2.  LETTERS
3.  VULTURES CIRCLE SOMALIA
4.  LOOKS LIKE AMERIKKKA!
5.  AZANIAN PAC STEPS UP ATTACKS
6.  BOMB AMERIKA?
7.  WE BELIEVE HER ... SOMETIMES
8.  HITMAN, WALKMAN
9.  HOLIDAY GIFTS
10. EAST TIMOR UNDER ATTACK
11. VIOLENCE AGAINST VIOLENT "CRIMINALS"
12. REPRESSION IN PERU 
13. JUST THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW
14. REVISIONISTS DEFEND "FREE" SPEECH
15. WHO KILLED JIMMY HOFFA?  WHO CARES!


The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is a 
revolutionary communist party that upholds 
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, comprising the collection 
of existing or emerging Maoist internationalist 
parties in the English-speaking imperialist 
countries and their English-speaking internal 
semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging 
Spanish-speaking Maoist internationalist parties 
of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of 
the U.S. Empire. MIM Notes is the newspaper of 
MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-
speaking parties or emerging parties of MIM.

MIM is an internationalist organization that works 
from the vantage point of the Third World 
proletariat; thus, its members are not Amerikans, 
but world citizens.

MIM struggles to end the oppression of all groups 
over other groups: classes, genders, nations.  MIM 
knows this is only possible by building public 
opinion to seize power through armed struggle.

Revolution is a reality for North America as the 
military becomes over-extended in the government's 
attempts to maintain world hegemony.

MIM differs from other communist parties on three 
main questions: (1) MIM holds that after the 
proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution, 
the potential exists for capitalist restoration 
under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within 
the communist party itself. In the case of the 
USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the death 
of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's 
death and the overthrow of the "Gang of Four" in 
1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural 
Revolution as the farthest advance of communism in 
human history. (3) MIM believes the North American 
white-working-class is primarily a non-
revolutionary worker-elite at this time; thus, it 
is not the principal vehicle to advance Maoism in 
this country.

MIM accepts people as members who agree on these 
basic principles and accept democratic centralism, 
the system of majority rule, on other questions of 
party line.

"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is 
universally applicable. We should regard it not as 
dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is 
not merely a matter of learning terms and phrases, 
but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of 
revolution."
-- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208


* * *

THIRD WORLD LEFT OFF THE INVITE LIST: ANOTHER PRESIDENT, ANOTHER 
BOMBING

As William Jefferson Clinton--Amerikkka's new armed warlord--came 
into office, he repeated, about bombing Iraq: "There is no 
difference between my policy and the policy of the present 
administration."(1)

During the campaign, some MIM critics argued that a little change 
for the better was better than no change at all. To these people, 
MIM asks: how about a little change for the worse, a more 
sophisticated liar, and a white nation that's more united and more 
blood-thirsty than before?

The Clinton charade is part comedy. But it's much more deadly. For 
revolutionaries, it is a source of inspiration to wipe this 
hypocrisy off the face of the Earth. For those who mistakenly 
supported him, it should be an opportunity to learn from past 
mistakes and weigh in on the side of the people.

Clinton rode a wave of big lies and little lies to power. The big 
lie was that he represented a fundamental change for Amerikan 
politics.

Amerikan elections can't stop the oppression of the U.S. 
imperialist patriarchy and pay off 500 years of bad debts--only 
revolution can do that. So MIM doesn't try to give advice to the 
occupation enemy government. Instead we work to build the 
independent power of the oppressed to overthrow imperialism.

* * *

LETTERS

ARMED STRUGGLE UNNECESSARY IN DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST EL SALAVADOR

ITAL In response to the article "FMLN Negotiates Surrender" in the 
December issue of MIM Notes, MIM received the following letter END

...[W]e're publishing official FMLN documents with the hope that 
readers do not get confused as to the actual course of the 
democratic and socialist revolution in El Salvador, since there 
are still some political movements which have characterized our 
revolution as a "negotiated surrender" (see the Maoist line 
article).

The Internationalist Maoist Movement not only misunderstands the 
reality in El Salvador, but also does not take into account the 
dialectics of Revolutions. As Commander Shafick Handal has said: 
"a war that ends without victory of one over the other ends with 
agreements that mean great changes for the country, as much in the 
political life as in the social, as much in the area of social 
justice as in that of daily life, because a country that for sixty 
years has suffered military domination, and an enthroned 
militarism in all areas of life is now going to be alleviated by 
this burden. The agreements are going in this direction. And next 
is a period of fulfillment of the agreements, it will have, let us 
say, a first balance sheet in 1994, when there will be general 
elections. Every elected office in El Salvador will be up for 
election: the President of the Republic, member of the Legislative 
Assembly, Municipal Councils. All the country's forces are now 
getting ready for such a balance sheet, for this development."

The Salvadoran Revolution now takes on a political dimension, but 
it is still a class struggle. It is far from over. It is not a 
capitulation to imperialism, as the MIM affirms. How could it be 
when the FMLN has already become a legal party-movement which is 
entering a broad electoral alliance alongside other forces of the 
left with the objective of defeating the ARENA party in the ballot 
box? Armed struggle was a legitimate form of struggle during the 
past 22 years, but at the moment it is out of context unless there 
is an armed aggression from the Salvadoran army. But this is 
unlikely, given the level of United Nations presence in El 
Salvador.

The MIM seems to view Revolutions as being just about taking the 
power of the state by revolutionary war. Armed struggle is valid 
at some point in history and according to specific circumstances, 
but currently in El Salvador it is not the case because after 22 
years of war there was a stalemate in which no side could win. And 
for this reason, the prolongation of war could only bring about 
more death and destruction upon the poorest sectors of Salvadoran 
society.

Hence, it was necessary for the FMLN to address the needs and 
aspirations for peace of the people. It was the oligarchy and the 
military who opposed peace in El Salvador. For 11 years, a long 
time before the political changes in Eastern Europe, the FMLN kept 
the negotiations' door open, but the adversary refused to oblige. 
After the 1989 FMLN military offensive, realizing that the FMLN 
was a real power, the Salvadoran government was forced to sit down 
at the negotiating table. The United Nations also became involved 
in mediating between the two sides and after 24 months of hard 
bargaining the two sides finally reached an agreement that was 
both positive and realistic.

Now the FMLN could put an end to the war, and actually determine 
the agenda for the profound reforms and political transformation 
of Salvadoran society. Despite the ultra-rights' boycott of the 
peace accords, the agreements are leading towards the 
democratisation and demilitarisation of society which will give 
the FMLN the opportunity to freely engage in national politics 
without having to allocate its budget for military purposes. Now 
the FMLN can organize and run for the next elections and, if it 
wins, form a popular government that can bring about the desired 
structural transformations which will benefit the broad majority 
of Salvadoran people.

The FMLN, alongside the popular and democratic sectors of society, 
has already begun this political battle. It has to be pointed out 
that the FMLN does not pretend to set up a one-party state or the 
"dictatorship of the proletariat," once the core of orthodox 
Marxist theory, now quite obsolete and dictatorial (which is still 
the basis of Maoist ideology). What the FMLN is on about is 
building up democracy for the majorities and human rights for the 
minorities. Marxism has to be updated and redefined, and for it to 
make sense it is necessary that political movements take into 
account the reality of their own societies and not outdated 
theoretical or ideological models.

This commentary represents the viewpoint of the author. IT IS NOT 
the official position of Radio Farabundo Marti or the FMLN.

--FMLN supporter
December 1992

MC17 responds,

The above letter is mostly accurate in its description of the 
Salvadoran situation. It does a lot to demonstrate the differences 
between the FMLN and MIM.

The FMLN believes it can affect change through elections after 
negotiating a settlement with the government, assuming that class 
struggle can take place in the ballot box. MIM says, historically 
this has never happened because the capitalists will not allow 
their power to be voted away. The FMLN belief in the negotiated 
settlement is ahistorical idealism. We can look at the recent 
example of the FSLN in Nicaragua (who actually did seize state 
power, unlike the FMLN) as an example of what happens when 
revolutionaries try to win at the ballot box.

The FMLN characterizes "orthodox Marxism" as obsolete and 
dictatorial. MIM again has to ask the author what advances have 
been won through elections. All countries are not the same, and 
struggles must be adapted to the relevant conditions of each 
country, but at the same time revolutionaries must have a 
materialist analysis of history. Armed revolutions, many of them 
Maoist or Maoist influenced, have liberated the oppressed masses 
in many countries and improved the living conditions for those 
masses. Elections do not have this historical legacy of success.

ITAL MIM received the following in response to the same critical 
article about the FMLN END

I find it difficult to respond to articles like [this] one. I 
think it's a terribly arrogant thing for us in the North to 
qualify developments in El Salvador as a victory or capitulation. 
We haven't been seeing our relatives killed in a bloody stalemate 
for 12 years. We haven't been trying to feed our families despite 
the economic devastation that war brings.

Whoever thinks that El Salvador, under ARENA or the FMLN or 
whoever, can survive without paying attention to what the IMF, the 
World Bank, and the U.S. thinks, sure wasn't paying attention in 
the eighties when Nicaragua was slowly but surely strangled by OUR 
actions (the actions of those of us who live in the North, as 
expressed by OUR governments and OUR multi-lateral institutions).

To say that the Salvadoran peace accord is capitulation because 
the FMLN has recognized that it can't defeat the IMF all by itself 
is the height of ideological arrogance. It's the sort of 
ideological arrogance that only us Northerners can indulge in, 
because our comfortable lives don't force us to face the reality 
of war or economic dependence.

If our "comrades" are worried about what might happen in El 
Salvador, I suggest they involve themselves in a sincere way in 
their local Central American solidarity committee. Then, instead 
of writing self-centered diatribes against the FMLN or trying to 
win the committee over to their particular ideological line, they 
could work to change the understanding of people in the North 
towards Central America.

Then maybe we could start to work on the enemy that threatens us 
all in the North and South: the IMF, the World Bank, and the 
overwhelming concentration of wealth in a few hands.

--Northern supporter of the FMLN
December 1992

MC17 responds,

This author makes a mistake common to many anti-imperialists 
working in the First World: s/he substitutes identity for 
analysis. S/he says that just because we are not Salvadorans 
living in El Salvador we cannot analyze what is happening there. 
By this reasoning we cannot objectively analyze what is going on 
in any country other than our own. This just throws materialism 
out the window: we have to listen to whatever the oppressed people 
tell us, even when they tell us they are not oppressed. This 
author would be forced to believe what Buthelezi and the Inkatha 
Freedom Party are saying in South Africa because they are Black 
South Africans who have suffered much under apartheid and so know 
better than we do what is appropriate for the masses in that 
country.

MIM disagrees with this reasoning. We believe that an objective 
analysis of material conditions is possible for anyone with enough 
information. The FMLN negotiated a settlement with the Salvadoran 
government to give up armed struggle: such a settlement has no 
history of success for real improved conditions for the masses, 
whereas armed revolution does. Recognizing that you need 
international support to ultimately defeat the IMF/World 
Bank/imperialists is one thing, deciding that you need to work 
with your imperialist-supporting government to fight this battle 
is another.

Ironically the author accuses MIM of ideological arrogance when it 
is s/he who seems to lack faith in the masses power to make 
history. The author takes an arrogant view of the power of the 
imperialists and those in the imperialist countries when s/he 
accepts that the FMLN cannot defeat the Salvadoran government by 
itself. For this comrade and others MIM offers reading material on 
the historical struggles of the masses in the Third World, 
(Eritrea, Viet Nam, Albania, China, Cape Verde and Ginnea Bissau, 
Cuba, and Korea to name a few), where they did liberate themselves 
and defeat the imperialists through armed struggle--a struggle 
fought by the masses in those countries.

MC12 adds: In January, the Salvadoran government announced that he 
will not be "purging" the minister and vice minister of defense, 
the two generals who topped the list of those to be fired as part 
of the deal under which the former rebels surrendered their arms. 
The two generals are among eight top officers on the list who will 
keep their posts after all. Of the other 74 who were to be 
removed, 38 others are remaining on active duty but without formal 
assignments, seven are going to work for foreign embassies, and 
just 23 are actually being fired. Leaders of the FMLN said they 
are satisfied with the unilateral change in the government's 
plans: another nail in the coffin of the FMLN-led stage of the 
Salvadoran revolution.(New York Times 1/7/93, p. A11.)



MAOIST STUDENT WRITES FOR "WHAT IS MIM?" PAMPHLET

Dear MIM comrades,

I am a student at X college, I am active in student government, 
holding positions on several committees, and I am also a Maoist. I 
can not claim to be fully aware of the complexities of Marxist-
Maoist thought, so I would greatly appreciate your 12 page 
pamphlet. I have enclosed the one dollar and a stamp to help 
lessen costs.

I would eventually like to start building a Maoist base here in X 
city, unfortunately the only "communists" here are sell-out 
Trotsky-opportunists dedicated to nothing more than flirting with 
the Anglo-Bourgeoisie. I am trying to start a Maoist orientated 
forum on campus, I will keep in contact.

Thanks,
A new friend in the south
December 1992


BOURGEOIS RIGHTS MOVEMENT HATES MAOIST WICKEDNESS

Dear MIM,

We have studied much of the details of the Peoples War in Peru and 
other places and we think you should be held to the standards you 
profess for others. The ends justify the means, you say for 
worldwide revolution we say for stopping worldwide revolution. You 
count heavily on those who oppose you being constrained by what I 
suppose you would call bourgeois values but which is decency, but 
not everybody is so constrained, as you will discover. We hope you 
enjoy being on the receiving end of the wickedness you profess to 
love and favor. We will see you within the year.

MAIM [Movement Against International Marxism]
October 1992


MC17 responds,

The only clear ideological point in this letter is one that MIM 
agrees with: that we should be held to the standards we profess 
for others. And for those who are serious about politics in the 
interests of the masses, we hope you will call us out on any 
failure to live up to the standards to which we hold others. MIM 
does not count on our opponents being constrained by "bourgeois 
values;" we take security precautions to protect ourselves against 
a state (and many individual supporters of that state) that only 
acts in the interests of imperialism, not decency.

* * *

VULTURES CIRCLE SOMALIA

by MC86

Hundreds of angry Somali citizens laid siege to the United Nations 
compound in capital city Mogadishu on Jan. 3, trapping reporters 
and officials inside for hours.

At the demonstration, Somalis tore down the United Nations flag 
and replaced it with the Somali flag. When the people dispersed, 
they left behind fliers that read, according to the New York 
Times, "No Egyptian Farmers in Somalia," and "We, the people of 
Somalia, want the U.S. armed forces to stay in our country and 
help us rebuild our nation."(1)

The "Egyptian Farmer" is United Nations Secretary-General Boutros 
Boutros-Ghali, who began agitating for a U.N. invasion of Somalia 
upon taking office in January 1992. Boutros-Ghali serves 
international financial interests as well as the interests of his 
own country: Egypt, which invaded Somalia in the nineteenth 
century and has been siphoning off trickles of Somali wealth since 
World War II.

But Somali leaders are professional politicians with experience in 
playing imperialist powers off against each other. The "pro-
Amerikan" flier is an example of their opportunism in this area.

Amerikkka responds

The Amerikan press claimed that the Jan. 3 demonstration was 
mounted by the Aydeed faction of the Somali national bourgeoisie. 
Although the different bourgeois groups in Somalia are competing 
among themselves for whatever power and money they can squeeze out 
of the situation at hand, they also share a common interest in 
driving foreign troops from their land.

The Somali people have maintained their national coherence in the 
face of successive invasions and economic impositions by Italy, 
Britain, Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the USSR and the United 
States--none of which has been able to keep a grip on Somalia.

In apparent retaliation for the demonstration, on Jan. 7 the 
United States concentrated its technical evil against one of 
Aydeed's outposts in northwestern Mogadishu. Amerikan fire-power 
destroyed a city-block and incinerated many brave Somali freedom-
fighters.

Although the invaders will probably knock out a few more Somali 
militias--before being forced into retreat--it remains a true 
irony that the pre-invasion destruction of the Somali economy by 
food "aid," the historic underdevelopment of the Somali 
infrastructure, and the people's armed repudiation of U.S. 
comprador Siad Barre in 1991, spells the doom of the Amerikan-led 
invasion in 1993.

"Peace Talks" in Ethiopia

On January 14, the Somali leaders meeting under U.N. auspices in 
Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, were said to have signed an 
agreement for an immediate cease-fire, followed by surrender of 
their heavy weapons to the United States. The agreement was also 
said to include the formation of a committee to decide which 
leaders would attend a more comprehensive conference later this 
year. At the talks, Boutros-Ghali remarked, "No one is interested 
in Somalia now;" and he scolded Somali leaders for "mistakenly 
think[ing] that the Horn of Africa still has geo-political 
significance that would prompt the great powers to become involved 
in their future as they did during the Cold War days."(3)

Who does Boutros think he is kidding? Now that Soviet social-
imperialism has withdrawn from the Third World, all the lesser 
players are rushing in to pick up whatever pieces the United 
States can't immediately absorb. Whatever combination of forces 
effectively occupies the Horn of Africa can control vital land 
trade routes and oil shipping lanes, as well as fertile and 
productive land and a population of some one hundred million 
potential super-profit-generating wage-slaves.

Boutros-Ghali is maneuvering to turn the presence of Amerikan 
forces into a cheap way to build export-oriented infrastructure 
for the use of his capitalist constituents. Eighteen countries, 
from Australia to Zimbabwe, have joined the U.N. occupation forces 
in the hope of securing solid investments--at Amerikan expense.(4) 
But a major force stands in the way of Boutros-Ghali's plan: the 
Somali people.

Disarming the revolutionaries

The United States, whose customary genocidal viscousness has been 
slightly tempered by the constraints of its "humanitarian" public 
relations cover, has held back from wholesale slaughter of the 
Somali masses due to fear of fighting. According to the Christian 
Science Monitor, "Each movement of the heavily-armed Marine forces 
pushes a wave of lawless violence ahead of it ... And a Marine force 
that passes through a village or community without leaving a 
detachment behind to maintain security leaves a power vacuum in 
its wake that freelance bandits are quick to fill."(5) Luring the 
enemy in deep, and then harassing his rear, is an axiom for waging 
a successful people's war.

In a move reminiscent of its Operation Phoenix assassination 
program in Vietnam, the "Pentagon will send more than 1,500 
special-operations soldiers to Somalia, including as many as two 
battalions of Green Berets, a large contingent of civil-affairs 
specialists and psychological warfare teams."(6) Unlike in 
Vietnam, however, these spooks and hitmen will not find a 
compliant local army--or powerful puppet government--or a local 
media capable of running interference. There are only 6,000 
telephones, two small AM radio stations, and very few radios in 
Somalia.(7)

In 1993, the U.S. is compelled to keep its satellite eyeballs and 
hair-triggers trained on Central America, the Maoist-led 
revolution in Peru, the Philippines, East Timor, Iraq, Los 
Angeles, Miami-- everywhere that the 4 billion people who have a 
vested interest in the permanent demise of Amerikan economic and 
political power live.

The U.S. ruling class faces an insolvable dilemma in Somalia. The 
Somali people shake the right hands of the troops and draw them 
ever deeper into the countryside with their left hands. Cowardly 
Amerikan storm troops are incapable of advancing without air 
cover. The United States is likely to be smothered by a 
combination of hungry children, smiling "warlords," and the 
people's well-aimed bullets--long before it can construct 
supportable airbases, highways, or an indigenous puppet police 
force for which it and the U.N. yearns.(8)

The U.S. vultures are caught between a rock and a hard place. If 
the United States turns control of the occupation over to Boutros-
Ghali's administration, Amerika will lose the battle for control 
of the Horn. If it remains in Somalia, the Somali people will 
pluck out baby-blue Amerikan eyes one by one.

Notes:
1. New York Times 1/4/93, p. A1.
2. National Public Radio, Morning Edition 1/15/93
3. NYT 1/6/93, p. A3.
4. Christian Science Monitor 12/22/92, p. 9.
5. CSM 1/5/93, p. 18.
6. Newsweek 12/21/92, p. 27.
7. CIA World Factbook.
8. "In the 1960s, under democratic governments (sic), American 
Peace Corps advisors helped the [now defunct] National Police win 
universal respect and broad cooperation."(CSM 1/5/93, p. 18)

* * *

LOOKS LIKE AMERIKKKA!

Clinton promised to return the government to the people. In the 
words of Vice President Gore, to "take power away from the 
entrenched bureaucracies and special interests that dominate 
Washington;" to cut taxes for "the middle class" (meaning mostly 
the white working class); to grant Haitian refugees asylum until 
"democracy" was restored in Haiti; to reduce the deficit by half 
in four years; to reduce government bureaucracy; etc.(2)

Once elected, Clinton packed his administration with Amerikkkan 
hard-liners and conventional warlords: rigid supporters of the 
decrepit and dying system of Amerikan imperialism, dedicated to 
protecting and extending U.S. domination.

Take the Haitians: In May, Clinton criticized the policy of 
intercepting Haitians at sea and returning them to the island 
without granting them an asylum hearing. He said it was "another 
sad example of the [Bush] administration's callous response to a 
terrible human tragedy," and claimed he would reverse the policy 
if elected. ("At least he'll be better on the Haitians!" cried MIM 
critics.)

Shortly after winning the election, he called for a Coast Guard 
blockade of Haiti, with orders to return all refugees immediately 
into the hands of the dictators on the island.(3)

Clinton promised that his cabinet and staff would "look like 
Amerika." Does it ever.

* Secretary of State Warren Christoper: a long-time "insider," 
former Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy Attorney General. The 
New York Times claims he is "universally touted as a man of 
integrity." He was shown to have allowed illegal Army surveillance 
of domestic political opponents.(4)

* Treasury Secretary Lloyd Benson: oil baron, Texas Senator, the 
favorite son of Republican and Democrat imperialists. Talk about 
insiders: he was nominated by his own committee, unanimously, 
without a hearing.

* Commerce Secretary Ron Brown: the former head of the Democratic 
National Committee who promised to turn the Democrats into the 
party of the pro-police majority in Amerika. He is a long-time 
lobbyist for foreign companies in their fights against U.S. 
protectionism: an internationalist imperialist. A multi-million 
dollar bash for Brown, paid for by his former corporate clients, 
was cancelled to prevent a scandal.(2)

* Attorney General Zoe Baird: former Aetna insurance and General 
Electric corporate lawyer, admitted to the illegal practice of 
hiring undocumented Peruvians as domestic servants without 
required insurance and Social Security. (When the story broke, 
journalists and politicians alike in Washington had to admit they 
all do it, so no one could complain.)(5)

* Education Secretary Richard Riley: former South Carolina 
governor, partner in a law firm that specialized in protecting 
major industrial polluters.(6)

* And so on.

Notes:
1. UPI 1/14/93.
2. WP 1/15/93, p. A1.
3. WP 1/15/93, p. A16.
4. NYT 1/12/93, p. A18.
5. WP 1/15/93, p. A14.
6. WP 1/12/93, p. A11.

* * *

AZANIAN PAC STEPS UP ATTACKS

by MC17

On January 1, the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), the 
armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), announced that it 
will increase attacks against whites in 1993 as a part of its 
campaign to oust the white minority government of South Africa.(1)

"Time has come for the Pretoria regime to bury its own dead," said 
the APLA communique from the group's officials in Tanzania.(1) 
APLA coordinated attacks on a country club in King Williamstown 
and another attack in Queenstown in December, where a number of 
whites were killed and injured.

The African National Congress (ANC) and the de Klerk government 
plan to resume their negotiations over a new constitution in the 
coming months. The PAC has opposed these talks with the apartheid 
government, correctly pointing out that the talks are packed with 
a majority of apartheid supporters and lackeys and are devoid of 
revolutionary potential. But the PAC has talked with the apartheid 
government outside of the official constitutional negotiations.

Dennis Brutus, a prominent South African opponent of apartheid who 
has worked with the ANC (and other resistance movements) in exile, 
has been speaking in Amerika of the conditions in South Africa 
that he saw in his visit there this past summer. Some of Brutus's 
lectures were sponsored by MIM.

"What we see in South Africa now, and what I saw this year when I 
went back as a visiting professor, admitted only as a visitor for 
a limited time because they still would not concede that I am a 
citizen, what I saw was more homelessness, more shack dwellers, 
more shanty dwellers. I saw Black teenage unemployment at 80%, I 
saw Blacks sleeping on the street, they were untrained, they had 
no jobs, they had no skill for jobs, and they had no hope for ever 
getting jobs.

"You have a situation so desperate that it is literally explosive. 
People survive through crime, through robbing each other ... I was 
mugged in the streets of Johannesburg with a knife in my stomach ... 
these things happen because people are desperate. You can't even 
get mad at the people who rob you because you know that their 
survival depends on it...

"I see nothing in South Africa that has changed except the 
rhetoric, we are told that apartheid is dead, we are told there is 
more opportunity, we are told that the universities are now open 
to everybody. In fact if you can't afford to get into a university 
it is as bad as if you were excluded anyway, it doesn't make any 
difference. In my own view the situation has steadily worsened and 
I can see nothing, in spite of the lifting of sanctions, I see 
nothing that has made the situation a more just society."(2)

Although Brutus is a strong critic of the ANC and the closely 
affiliated South African Communist Party (SACP), MIM does not 
agree with Brutus' conclusions that the ANC still has the 
potential to make the negotiations "succeed."

Brutus warns against elements of a new constitution such as 
"sunset clauses" which would allow the apartheid regime to retain 
some of its power for a number of years before being phased out. 
He points out that this did not work in Zimbabwe where the ruling 
class is now as well off as they were before the so-called 
reforms.

"Often the byproduct of [sunset clauses] is that you do not change 
the society, in fact you allow that period of time in which they 
simply regroup and rearrange their economic and political power 
and find Black collaborators to assist them in that process..."(2) 
said Brutus.

MIM goes further: at the end product of such negotiated surrenders 
society is not changed. For this reason we can not support the 
talks between the government and the ANC, and believe that the 
actions of the PAC, namely armed struggle, are more likely to 
liberate the masses of Azania.

Brutus aptly summed up MIM's historical analysis of the SACP when 
he said, "When there were strikes in South Africa in the gold 
mines it was the SACP who organized the protest marches that said 
things like 'white workers of the world unite.'... or 'workers of 
the world unite to keep the South African labor force white.' 
These were actually white workers in the mines who had the 
supervisory positions and were opposed to Black mine workers being 
promoted to supervisory positions. They didn't mind them digging 
in the rock face, but they didn't want them to be the supervisors. 
And they organized massive strikes to prevent Blacks from becoming 
supervisors or holding supervisory jobs."(2)

The opportunism of the SACP and the ANC, who now sell out the 
masses in exchange for a Pretoria-written constitution rather than 
real power for the masses, will be opposed as it shows its face 
more and more clearly to the masses. The rhetoric of change can 
not be substituted for food, clothing, shelter, and a real 
government of the people.

Notes:
1. Associated Press, 1/2/93.
2. Talk by Dennis Brutus at UMass, Amherst, 12/5/92.

* * *

BOMB AMERIKA?

Clinton's first official act, before formally taking power, was to 
order a blockade of Haiti to stop refugees from fleeing the 
island.

A true humanitarian, Clinton also forced Haitian president-in-
exile Jean Bertrand Aristide to back his policy: Aristide 
released, and then (one arm-twisting later) retracted a statement 
condemning Clinton's violation of international law.

Before Aristide returns to "power" in Haiti--if Clinton and the 
Haitian military can agree on the terms--Clinton will make good 
and sure Aristide has no plans to liberate Haiti from decades of 
Amerikan economic, political and military domination.

The Clinton/Bush policy, incidentally, violates a United Nations 
ban on returning boat people without a hearing. Still, at press 
time, there appeared to be no plans to bomb Amerika in response to 
such blatant violations of U.N. mandates.
--MC12

Notes: Washington Post 1/15/93, p. A16.

* * *

WE BELIEVE HER ... SOMETIMES

Carol Moseley Braun, the Black woman elected senator from Illinois 
after she championed Anita Hill against Clarence Thomas, will have 
to take a rain check on shaking up the status quo. As Clinton 
packs his top positions with all the same faces, Braun is right 
behind.

* The working-single-mother-against-the-system-candidate wasted no 
time in renting a $3,000-per-month apartment on the Chicago 
waterfront right after the election.

* She took a month-long trip to Africa with her boyfriend (also 
campaign manager) Richard Williamson, returning by Concord from 
Europe and flying to Chicago on a private jet.

* She let Williamson off the hook when two campaign workers 
accused him of sexual harassment. (She also demanded that the two 
immediately identify themselves and detail their charges, which 
MIM supports. Why not hold Anita Hill to the same standard?)

* She hired a senate staff of 15, 10 of whom were from the office 
of the incumbent she swept from power in her revolutionary surge.
MIM didn't even need to know this to condemn Braun as an anti-
Black imperialist wanna-be. MIM also understands that this kind of 
personal transgression is of minor importance compared to the 
crimes Braun is poised to commit in the Senate.

It is funny to see her pseudo-feminist and pseudo-leftist friends 
perform summersault to defend her, or pretend to be surprised and 
shocked when she (and Clinton) turns out to be nothing but more of 
the same old thing.
--MC12

* * *

Hitman, Walkman

On Nov. 15, 1992 in Hayward CA, a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) 
cop shot and killed a young Black man who may have participated in 
the theft of a Walkman radio.

Jerrold Hall and his friend, John Owens, got off the BART train 
and apparently fit the description of two young men who were 
accused over the telephone of a robbery. When the cops told the 
two men to stop, Owens did but Hall kept walking, and the cop shot 
him. Hall died. Owens has been charged with a felony and is in the 
Santa Rita jail, held on $10,000 bail. Meanwhile, the person who 
called in the alleged robbery has not surfaced. There is no 
evidence that the two were armed. There is no precedent for such a 
small crime to go down as a felony. Unless the intention is to 
justify murder.

On Dec. 17 a meeting was held with five members of the BART board, 
as well as the family of Jerrold Hall and a slew of community 
activists who wanted answers and a least some acknowledgement of 
guilt for the murder from BART. The directors said they "felt bad" 
and passed the buck to a committee to deal with.

Some witnesses say that a man had a bag full of Walkman radios and 
was trying to sell one to Hall and Owens. Another witness called 
the police several hours after the supposed robbery and said that 
he was approached by a man who asked what he should do if he were 
robbed on a BART train. The second witness refused to give his 
name to the police.

If you are a young Black man and there are cops nearby and you are 
suspected of taking something valued at $60, does that mean that 
your life is over? It very well might.
--MC99

Notes: San Francisco Bay Guardian 12/23/92, p.12.

* * *

HOLIDAY GIFTS

"Announcing the decision [to invade Somalia] just before 
Thanksgiving, America's annual festival when the majority is 
reminded of its Christian heritage, Washington was able to limit 
the controversy over the invasion initiative. Couched in terms of 
a moral obligation to save lives, the announcement appealed to 
religious values. A carefully prepared press campaign pushed for a 
'lifesaving' military intervention and was helped by Reverend 
Jesse Jackson's declaration that, for the first time ever, he 
agreed with Bush."

Unfortunately, most of the Amerikan settler left has joined hands 
with Jackson in support of the invasion. The Trotskyite Workers 
World Party, and others, joined demonstrations on December 21 
calling for "U.S. Troops Out" but stipulated that continued 
"emergency aid" was acceptable. The actions of the Workers World 
Party demonstrate the degeneracy of a political line which places 
the lives of Amerikan death-troops over the lives of the Somali 
people who are dying as a result of foreign "aid."
--MC86

Notes: Africa Confidential 12/4/92, p. 9.

* * *

EAST TIMOR UNDER ATTACK

by a comrade, with help from members of the East Timor Action 
Network of Rhode Island

On November 20, 1992, Xanana Gusmao, the leader of the East Timor 
resistance movement, was arrested in Dili and, according to the 
Indonesian government, was "undergoing intense questioning." 
Gusmao is the leader of the Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM) 
and FALINTIL (its armed wing).

CNRM is a recently formed coalition between FRETILIN (a 
revolutionary nationalist organization fighting for the 
independence of East Timor) and UDT (a more centrist group). 
According to TAPOL, the Indonesian Human Rights Campaign, 
"[Gusmao] has led the resistance movement with great courage, 
foresight and determination since 1980, having restored the 
movement's fortunes after the severe defeat it suffered in the 
late 1970s. Xanana has long been the symbol of resistance for both 
the older and younger generations of East Timorese."(1)

The weeks leading up to Gusmao's arrest also marked the first 
anniversary of the Nov. 12, 1991 massacre -- in which Indonesian 
forces massacred East Timorese peaceful demonstrators attending a 
funeral for resistance fighters killed by the Indonesian 
government.  The mourners, who were killed with Amerikan-made M-16 
rifles, were carrying pro-independence banners and calling for 
self-determination.

Last November, on the anniversary of that bloody massacre, the 
military carried out Indonesia's biggest military exercise in the 
nation's history, a two week operation involving over 15,000 
troops. The army conducted house to house identity checks, 
arresting at least one thousand East Timorese and bringing them in 
for "questioning." Anyone found to be outside of his or her 
district was made to return home within 24 hours, and anyone 
wishing to visit the Santa Cruz cemetery to pay homage to loved 
ones on the anniversary of their death had to register with the 
military police.

Explaining the recent clampdown, General Syafei remarked, "I must 
be realistic. [The East Timorese] are also looking for the right 
moment to do something ... I would be deceiving myself if I did not 
consider those dates as moments for them to use. I don't want them 
to run away with the idea that we are vacillating, still less that 
we are weak."(2)

Syafei is correct, the masses are looking for the right moment to 
do something, they are fighting for their lives in a country that 
most people don't even know exists, and they will take any 
opportunity they can find to resist and overthrow their 
imperialist colonizers. In Amerika we must do all we can to 
support and publicize the struggle of the East Timorese people.

Since the 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor, just a few 
months after the Portuguese finally withdrew as colonial occupiers 
of East Timor, more than 200,000 people (1/3 of the population) 
have died as a result of the Indonesian occupation.

Many thousands of people were murdered in the first days of the 
occupation, as Indonesia attempted to subdue the population of 
East Timor into quiet integration as their 27th province. Since 
that time any sign of conversation on a street corner is 
provocation enough for further Indonesian genocide. The Indonesian 
Ministry of Education and Culture recently ordered the drafting of 
a "history of East Timor" to teach the East Timorese about "the 
struggle of their parents for integration with Indonesia."(3)

The United States interest in this region is due to large oil 
fields off the coast of East Timor. After its independence from 
Portuguese colonial rule in early 1975, a leftist popular movement 
(Frelimo) was expected to win elections to form the first 
independent government. To forestall this, Indonesia invaded the 
island with explicit U.S. blessing (Ford and Kissinger had been in 
Djakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the day before the invasion). 
Indonesia itself has been a client of the United States since 
1966, when General Suharto took power in a U.S.-backed military 
putsch and proceeded to slaughter millions of communists.

Because of the violent and genocidal policies of the Indonesian 
government, funded and armed by the United States, every day 
represents the anniversary of the disappearance, abuse, 
starvation, murder, or massacre of East Timorese people. The 
November, 1991 massacre was only unusual in that it was witnessed 
by western journalists who survived and went on to publicize the 
Indonesian occupation and genocide against East Timor. 

For more information on East Timor send $5 to MIM for a packet of 
literature or see the book "East Timor Indonesian Occupation and 
Genocide," Antonio Barbedo de Magalhaes, February 1992,  Oporto 
University, Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 4211, 4003 PORTO CODEX, 
PORTUGAL.

For more information on the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) write 
c/o PIDA, Box 1930, Brown University.

Notes:
1. TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, Press Release, 20 
November 1992:TAPOL CALLS FOR RELEASE OF EAST TIMOR RESISTANCE 
LEADER.
2. 10/27/92 JAKARTA, Indonesia (UPI).
3. Cahaya Siang (Manado), Oct 18, 1992.

* * *

VIOLENCE AGAINST VIOLENT "CRIMINALS"

The number one funding priority slated for the Amerikan 
government's National Institute of Mental Health in 1994 is a 
Nazi-style program called the National Violence Initiative.

"Under the Initiative, researchers will use alleged genetic and 
biochemical markers to identify potentially violent minority 
children as young as five for biological and behavioral 
interventions--including drug therapy and possibly psychosurgery--
purportedly aimed at preventing later adult violence."(1)

Amerikan scientists are paid to invent fictitious medicines for 
the disabling of rebellious groups. These Nerds of Death hide 
behind fancy titles, research grants and pretensions to creating a 
"pure science" that stands above group relations of oppression. It 
is well-documented that in the late 1970s scientists at the 
National Institutes of Health turned advances in cancer research 
into a viral weapon for use against groups despised by patriarchal 
culture.(2)

It is no accident that AIDS began as an epidemic among gay men who 
had been injected with what they believed to be a vaccine against 
Hepatitis B in 1978. Nor is it an accident that small-pox 
vaccinations administered by the World Health Organization in 
Africa unleashed the HIV virus among at least 100 million 
Africans. It is no accident that prisoners and Black men and women 
in Amerika's internal colonies are dying from AIDS at vastly 
disproportionate rates.

When the class struggle results in victory for the oppressed, 
production for profit is subordinated to production for use. 
Scientific research and technology turn into their opposites and 
become useful methods and tools for serving the betterment of the 
whole people.(3)

Becoming a scientist is not a question of innate intelligence--it 
is a matter of education. Capitalism mystifies the processes of 
science in order to maintain a monopoly on its benefits for the 
few. Surely, science is much too important a social endeavor to be 
left in the hands of those who turned the splitting of the atom 
into a knife at the throats of the people.

If a propensity for violence is to be the criterion for genetic 
experimentation, than it is only logical to use the most violent 
groups in the world for guinea pigs. The government, the army, the 
police ...

--MC86
Notes:

1. Covert Action #43, p. 30.
2. Alan Cantwell, Jr., M.D., ITAL Aids and the Doctors of Death, 
END Airies Rising Press, Los Angeles, 1988.
3. ITAL Science for the People, China: Science Walks on Two Legs, 
END Avon Books, 1974.

* * *

REPRESSION IN PERU 

by MA343

Peru's "anti-terrorist" police force arrested Alfredo Crespo, the 
lawyer of Abimael Guzman, Chairman of the Communist Party of Peru 
(PCP), on Jan. 11. Found with "propaganda materials and documents" 
associated with the PCP, Crespo will now be tried for treason by a 
secret military tribunal.(1)

Before his capture in September by the U.S.-backed Peruvian 
"security forces," Guzman predicted that the peoples' war of 
liberation would soon assume a more democratic character as 
members of Peru's national bourgeoisie react to intensified 
government repression and increased U.S. imperialist involvement.

Since dictator Alberto Fujimori staged a coup in April 1992, 
dissolving the Peruvian congress and courts, Guzman's prediction 
has been coming true. Colegio de Abogados, the largest association 
of lawyers in Peru, was banned by Fujimori after it protested 
against Guzman's perfunctory trial by a black-hooded military 
court.

During Guzman's trial, Crespo was prevented from calling witnesses 
or responding to the government's charges individually, and was 
granted only limited consultation with Guzman. Peruvian lawyers 
are now permitted to take only one political prisoner case each, 
effectively limiting the rights of the growing number of prisoners 
accused of "terrorism" or "apology for terrorism" to legal 
representation.(2)

Teachers are also under attack. A new law passed in November 
states that teachers "... using their role to influence their 
students in justifying terrorism will be considered authors of 
treason against the fatherland, with the maximum punishment of 
life in prison." Such offenders will be tried by military courts. 
Peru's National Teachers Union, with a membership of more than 
260,000, called the new law "fascist" and pledged to have it 
struck down.

This crisis in Peru's national bourgeoisie reflects the deeper 
crisis facing the majority of Peru's peasants and workers, as the 
doomed Fujimori regime struggles in vain to hold on to power amid 
an ever-growing popular revolution, led by the PCP. To prop up his 
failing government, Fujimori has put Peru at the mercy of severe 
austerity programs prescribed by the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF), and U.S. military forces masquerading as "drug warriors."

Recently, members of Fujimori's cabinet, including the Economy and 
Finance Minister, Carlos Bolo–a Behr, and the Transportation, 
Communication, Housing and Construction Minister, Alfredo Ross 
Antezana, resigned over disagreements with the economic policies 
imposed on Peru by the IMF. The new loans Peru has just received 
from the IMF to repay interest on Peru's growing debt to foreign 
banks were contingent upon acceptance of IMF-authored economic 
policies that will further bankrupt Peru while serving the 
interests of foreign capital.(4)

In the United States, the U.S. Congress' Congressional Research 
Service met on December 16 in a behind-closed-doors conference at 
the Library of Congress to discuss "The Role of the United States 
and other Hemispheric Countries in the Peru Crisis." Fifty masked 
protesters, wearing Guzman's prisoner number "Peru 1509" and 
chanting, confronted conference-goers.(3)

On December 10, the Peruvian magazine ITAL Caretas END interviewed 
Gordon McCormick, a counter-insurgency expert with the U.S. 
Defense Department's RAND Corporation. McCormick stated that the 
State Department and the CIA view the capture of Guzman as a great 
victory for the Fujimori regime, signifying the defeat of the PCP-
led revolution. But McCormick and the Defense Department hold a 
different view: the revolution in Peru is as strong as ever and, 
barring any changes in policy, the PCP is destined to succeed in 
gaining control of Peru.(3)

"I don't believe Sendero [PCP] is going to be split up because it 
was built from the bottom up, and it has a very clear line of 
leadership that makes it possible for Guzman to be replaced. It is 
very different than the cases of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua or 
the FMLN in El Salvador, who were different groups that came 
together out of need ... They by their nature can be fractured. 
However, Sendero is not going to break up, because it is a very 
disciplined force, which has been built in the image and likeness 
of Guzman, so that if Guzman is missing, the chain of command will 
seek out somebody to replace him.(3)

" ... Sendero Luminoso is a rural force, which comes from outside 
Lima in order to attack it. The armed forces attack Sendero when 
they come into the city, but they (Sendero) rebuild their forces 
outside of the city, and come back in when it's necessary.(3)

"[Finally] ... the socio-economic conditions in Peru, which gave 
rise to Sendero, still exist ... The only thing Sendero has to do to 
win, is to continue doing what is has been doing up to now."(3)

Notes:
1. Reuter News Service 1/11/93.
2. IEC bulletin #19, December 26, 1992. 
3. IEC bulletin #20, January 3, 1993.
4. Headlines for stories in Peruvian newspapers covering the 
resignations confirmed the influence of the IMF in Peru: "IMF 
opposed to changes in program." (Gestion, 1/6/93), "Change of 
Ministers obeys necessity of revitalizing productive and social 
sectors" (El Comercio 1/6/93), and "Politicians affirm that 
reforms must continue" (Gestion 1/6/93).

* * *

JUST THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW

According to the National Association of Chiefs of Police, 140 
cops died in the line of duty in 1992, with the highest death 
counts in Texas, Florida and New York. This is down from 142 in 
1991, and 147 in 1990. The association's executive director 
attributes the decline in pig deaths to better training and 
increased use of bullet-resistant jackets, rather that a decline 
in dangerous situations.

The 140 deaths included 60 involving firearms, eight line-of-duty 
heart attacks, two deaths from aircrashes, two stabbings, two 
deadly assaults, one drowning and eight attributed to causes 
ranging from inhalation of toxic fumes to explosion of confiscated 
fireworks.

According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, the average age of an 
officer killed in the line of duty is 27, and the most dangerous 
day of the week is Thursday. Most officers are injured or killed 
between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.

Approximately 60,000 officers were injured on the job in 1992. 
This averages 164 pigs injured in the line of duty every day of 
the year.

--MC251

Notes: UPI 12/31/92.

* * *

REVISIONISTS DEFEND "FREE" SPEECH

by MC17

At a recent symposium on feminism hosted by the University of 
Michigan law school, one artist was censored for her exhibit on 
pornography, which a number of the participants opposed because of 
its portrayal of women in pornographic art. MIM will not defend 
the actions taken by the symposium organizers, nor do we work for 
censorship under capitalism. (In fact, in the case of our prison 
work, we are involved in anti-censorship struggles.) But MIM is 
compelled to respond to the Jan. 1, 1993 issue of the Workers 
Vanguard (WV), in which the Spartacist League offered their 
reactionary analysis of pornography and culture as they reported 
on the events at Michigan.

Arguing that the people who led the censorship campaign were 
allies of Catharine MacKinnon, the Spartacists labeled the 
organizers "right-wing feminists," for their supposed "alliance" 
with the religious right on the subject of censoring pornography. 
MIM also differs from MacKinnon on supporting the censorship of 
pornography at this time, as such laws would not be used by the 
patriarchy to help women.(1) But this is not the concern of the 
Spartacist League.

The Sparts begin by quoting The Michigan Daily, the student run 
newspaper of the University. The Daily editorial, entitled 
"Freedom from Speech" condemned the removal of the "offensive" art 
as a "reprehensible act of censorship," a position which the 
Sparts upheld. But the Daily editorial board opposes "censorship" 
on the grounds of a right wing civil libertarian defense of the 
first amendment, not because its members share a socialist 
perspective.

The Sparts criticize MacKinnon for believing that "the blame, or 
'responsibility,' for violent criminal acts can be pinned on 
books, videotapes or pictures ..." They claim "There is no known 
link between violent crime and pornography ..." Would the 
Spartacists claim that culture in general has no effect on 
people?(2)

MIM challenges the Sparts to explain why people rape. If rape 
cannot be attributed to social relations and a culture which 
eroticizes violence, how are we to explain rape? Is rape merely a 
result of class contradictions? This doesn't explain why the vast 
majority of rapes happen within classes, or why the patriarchy 
persists after socialist revolution, nor does it explain lesbian 
and gay rapists. Only by looking at the influence of patriarchal 
culture can we explain why people are taught to enjoy rape and 
eroticize violence.

The Sparts quote themselves in an old issue of WV: "It is, of 
course, true that many films, magazines and books perpetuate the 
image of women as simply sexual objects and are genuinely 
offensive in this regard. But state censorship of sexual fantasies 
and of personal relationships between consenting adults is not the 
solution to women's oppression. Abolishing women's oppression 
requires uprooting the oppressive and deeply corrupt bourgeois 
state through socialist revolution."

Sidestepping the question of why people rape, the Sparts dismiss 
pornography and other forms of sexual violence as "sexual 
fantasies and personal relationships between consenting adults," 
and hide behind the need for socialist revolution. MIM rejects the 
distinction between "consenting" relationships, sexual fantasies 
and rape. Furthermore, MIM does not reduce gender struggles so 
easily to class. The patriarchy is deeply intertwined with 
capitalism, but it will not disappear with the abolition of class 
contradictions.(3)

Bourgeois culture contains the contradictions of class, nation and 
gender, and is used by the ruling class to reinforce its power. 
There is a material connection between women's acceptance of 
submission and patriarchal culture. There is a material connection 
between men's desire for power and control over women and 
patriarchal culture. The patriarchy uses culture, and so must the 
proletariat. There is no point fighting to give the patriarchy 
more power to censor culture while they have power, but once the 
proletariat seizes power they must use this power to replace 
reactionary culture with revolutionary culture.

Notes:
1. For more on what MIM supports as valuable contributions to 
feminist theory from MacKinnon as well as our critique of her 
practice order MIM Theory 2/3 on gender and revolutionary 
feminism.
2. For further information on the subject of rape culture and 
eroticized violence MIM recommends Catharine MacKinnon's ITAL 
Feminism Unmodified. END In particular see p. 264, cite 9, for 
studies linking pornography to rape. Send $12 to MIM for a copy.
3. See MIM Theory 2/3 on gender and revolutionary feminism for 
more on this.

* * *

WHO KILLED JIMMY HOFFA?  WHO CARES!

Hoffa

1992

If you knew anything about the Teamsters or Jimmy Hoffa before 
seeing this piece of fiction, you could only know less after 
seeing it. That said, MIM can still engage this film on the terms 
it sets for itself, as it has some valuable insight into the 
elevation of the white working class in Amerika.

"I have led the Teamsters, and the Teamsters have led the American 
working man right into the middle class! [Cheers from white 
working class audience] And we intend to stay there!" [Roars from 
audience...] says Jimmy Hoffa.

MIM couldn't have said it better. The "labor movement" in the 
United States has succeeded in uniting all white people, across 
class lines, to better trample on and exploit Third World nations 
and internal colonies. It has won a middle-class lifestyle for 
white workers--on the backs of Black, Latino, Indigenous and Asian 
workers. This has rendered the white working class a parasitic and 
non-revolutionary labor aristocracy, aligned with Amerikan-apple-
pie-imperialism against the interests of the majority of the 
world's peoples.

Hoffa saw collective bargaining as the purpose of labor unions. 
Collective bargaining is the means by which the white working 
class got its seat at the table and worked out its bargain with 
the white capitalist class. Hoffa had no intention of attacking 
capitalism or the Amerikan government, though he occasionally 
squabbled with leading imperialists such as Robert Kennedy. Of 
course, this was all in the interest of gaining white workers a 
better deal with white capitalists.

ITAL Hoffa END is interesting for its depiction of labor 
organizing in the 1930s, and for the amusement of seeing Hoffa 
chew out Robert Kennedy in front of a Senatorial committee. The 
committee is investigating the Teamsters for links with the Mafia, 
as well as with communists. When Senator Kennedy accidentally 
implies that Hoffa might be a communist, Hoffa responds angrily, 
insulted at the insinuation. He assures Congress that he has no 
connection with anything communist, and that he's a patriotic 
Amerikan just working to better the condition of (white) labor. 
Another interesting moment is when Hoffa leads a group of striking 
workers into battle with police. A reporter asks him if he's 
worried about casualties. He replies, "In every conflict there are 
casualties. The question is: What has been lost and what has been 
gained."

Overall the movie is marginally interesting for its depiction of 
organizing among the white working class. But it leaves the viewer 
wanting more information; there's not much detail even on the 
subject matter it claims to cover. The movie is a good example of 
the phenomenon in Amerikan culture of being obsessed with the 
personalities of individual celebrities and heroes. Hoffa is no 
must-see movie, even for people interested in organizing the white 
working class.

(For a thorough class analysis of Amerika, send MIM $12 for a copy 
of the groundbreaking book ITAL Settlers: The Mythology of the 
White Proletariat END by J. Sakai, or send $4 for MIM Theory 1: "A 
White Proletariat?" which explains the political economy of the 
white working class. Make checks out to "ABS.")

--MC251