MIM Notes ***

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 1

MIM Notes

May 1, 2002, Nº 257

The Official Newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)

Free

INSIDE: Three more pages on Israel/Palestine * Una Página en Español...

SAN FRANCISCO

April 21

ell over 20,000 people marched

from the Mission District to
City Hall yesterday to protest

U.$. militarism and imperialism. The
crowds vociferously denounced the
recent Amerikan-supported Israeli
aggression in the West bank. Any call of
"Free free Palestine!" during a lull in the
chanting received a loud response from
dozens to hundreds.

The contingent of Maoist

Internationalst Movement (MIM) and
Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League
(RAIL) activists was very visible and
well-received, in large part to a half-
dozen very artistic posters designed by
RAIL comrades. One poster showed U.$.
President Bush pulling the strings on his
puppet, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon;
another juxtaposed a starving African
infant with an Amerikan SUV underthe
slogan, "The majority of the world's
people can't live with imperialism, can
you live without it?" All of these posters
received favorable comments from other
marchers.

Some MIM and RAIL comrades also

participated in a feeder march organized
by BAYAN-International USA, a national
democratic organization of Filipino
sojourners. This march was quite
boistrous; the chant leaders did a good
job pumping up the crowd and writing
hip, original chants (a nice break from
the "One two three four..." and "Hey hey
ho ho..." standards). The chants were on
target politically as well. They included
"Stop the U.$. war machine, from
Afghanistan to the Philippines" and
"Bush, you fascist, don't think you can
outlast us!"

Activists from RAIL and BAYAN contingents meet up in the mission district.

Santa Cruz

cultural event

succeeds

SANTA CRUZ, CAL.

April 6

articipants had an enthusiastic

response to a proletarian-led event

in Santa Cruz titled "Culture

against War," opposing the U.$.

intervention in the Philippines. The day's

speeches and cultural activity stood in

stark contrast to the "war on terrorism"

rhetoric from Washington, DC.

Three hundred people attended a sunny

afternoon picnic on a lawn overlooking

the Pacific Ocean. They saw bands,

dancing, political theater and speakers.

Most people took a copy of the April 1st

MIM Notes and a Santa Cruz committee

working on Mumia Abu-Jamal's case

helped pass out some older MIM Notes

on U.$. military action in the Philippines

at their table.

MIM interviewed several people as

they exited the event to see what their

reaction was. The speakers had

condemned U.$. interference in other

countries' affairs across the globe. The

speakers condemned the chauvinism

against northern Korea, Iraq and Iran

stirred up by President Bush and others

recently. The audience learned the details

of the renewed U.$. military presence and

activities in the Philippines.

Terry Valen asked "what does U.S.

militarism mean for the . . . native

peoples. [It means] stolen land. . . . [It

means] displacing indigenous peoples in

Mindanao."

The organizers of the event obviously

put in great effort and succeeded in

bringing out people new to politics. Some

teenage activists not only attended but

also set up tables to explain various

causes. At one table, MIM interviewed

the Cesar E. Chavez National Holiday

Campaign participants. Cesar Chavez

was a union leader who organized truly

super-exploited farmworkers, mostly

from Mexico.

MIM asked the Cesar Chavez National

Holiday Campaign activists what is the

connection between their issue and the

issues addressed in speeches that day.

The three wimmin agreed, "there is no

connection." Then MIM asked, "how

come you're here then?" One activist

replied, "I'm the Sargent of Arms." Then

MIM asked, "how did you decide to

come here today?" and still there was a

reply "I don't think there is any

connection."

The "Asian & Pacific Islander

As we report on page six, prisons

in at least 38 states censored MIM

Notes over the last 18 months -- and

the count may be more, as some states

we have no information on may have

completely cut off communication

between MIM Notes and prisoners.

We temporarily stopped sending

MIM Notes to at least one prison

because they have refused every paper

we sent there over the last year. At

The march organizers also did a good

job promoting internationalism. They
had chants and flags supporting the
Palestian struggle for self-determination.
The march began in the heart of the
immigrant Latino Mission district, and
speakers referred to the area as "occupied
Aztlan" while proclaiming their
solidarity with the struggles of Latinos.
A RAIL placard at the rally read:
"Abolish all illegitimate borders."

An 89-year-old veteran of the Abraham

Lincoln Brigade marched in the larger
rally. The Communist-organized
Abraham Lincoln Brigade fought in the
Spanish Civil War against the Nazi-
backed nationalists. "I am proud to fight
against fascism and oppression, whether
it's in Spain, Nazi-Germany, or Israel,"
he said.

MIM is happy too see hear such

comments and see so many marching
against Amerikan imperialism and
expanding fascism from an
internationalist perspective. We are well
aware, however, that such sentiments
remain in the minority in the United
$tates (see articles on protests in Santa
Cruz and at San Francisco State
University on this page and pages four,
five and eight).

While at the rally MIM and RAIL

comrades distributed MIM Notes and
collected signatures on petitions
opposing restrictions on prisoner
visitation rights (see page three) and
demanding the attorney general release
information on the over 1000 people
detained since September 11, allegedly
on suspicion of terrorism.

Notes:
San Franciso Chronicle, 21 Apr 2002.

Thousands protest Amerikan

militarism, Israeli aggression

the same time, MIM's work and the

work of its allies -- especially many

dedicated prisoners -- lifted bans in

prisons across the continent.

Prisoncrats censor MIM Notes

because of its political content --

hypocritically, since if they applied the

same standards to Amerikkka's

"founding fathers," Abraham Lincoln,

and the bible, they would have to

censor them as well. This is one of

the reasons MIM scoffs at the claim

that Amerikkka is a "free country"

(the fact that Amerikkka has the

world's highest imprisonment rate is

another).

Please turn to page seven to see how

you can get involved in the struggle

to end this censorship and provide

prisoners access to an important

educational tool and vehicle for

vibrant debate.

Continued on page 8...

MIM Notes: Most

CENSORED

Newspaper in Amerikkka

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 2

MIM Notes

The Official Newsletter of The Maoist Internationalist Movement

MIM Notes is the bi-weekly newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement. MIM

grants explicit permission to copy all or part of this newspaper for any reason. Please
credit MIM Notes where appropriate. The paper is free to all prisoners. Overseas airmail
is $2 per issue. MIM Notes is the official Party voice. Material in the paper is the Party's
position unless noted to the contrary. MIM Notes accepts submissions and critiques from
anyone. The editors reserve the right to edit copy unless permission is specifically denied
by the author. Back issues of MIM Notes are available for $1 per issue. A bound volume
of the original MIM Notes 1-34 and MIM Theory 1-13 (old numbering) is available for
$15, post-paid. MIM has a complete literature list of progressive books and pamphlets.
Send $2 for a copy. MIM's ten point program is available to anyone who sends in a
SASE. MIM is an underground party that does not publish the names of its comrades in
order to avoid the state surveillance and repression that have historically been directed at
communist parties and anti-imperialist movements. MCs, MIM comrades, are members
of the Party. RCs are RAIL Comrades. The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL)
is an anti-imperialist mass organization led by MIM. MIM runs a books for prisoners
program which provides Maoist and general political material to prisoners for free. Make
checks or money orders payable to "Books for Prisoners, Inc." Federal EIN: 04-3475938.
Send to: Books for Prisoners, Inc. c/o the address below. Donations and books can be
sent to the address below. Send cash or check payable to "MIM Distributors".

MIM

P.O. Box 29670

Los Angeles, CA 90029-0670

eMail: <mim@mim.org>

WWW: <http//www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext>

What is MIM?

The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is 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 Maoist Internationalist
parties in Belgium, France and Quebec and the existing or emerging Spanish-speaking
Maoist Internationalist parties of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of the U.$. Empire.

MIM Notes is the newspaper of MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-speaking
parties or emerging parties of MIM. MIM upholds the revolutionary communist ideology
of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and is an internationalist organization that works from the

vantage point of the Third World proletariat. MIM struggles to end the oppression of all
groups over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possibly 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 humyn history. (3) As Marx, Engels and Lenin formulated and MIM has
reiterated through materialist analysis, imperialism extracts super-profits from the Third

World and in part uses this wealth to buy off whole populations of oppressor nation so-
called workers. These so-called workers bought off by imperialism form a new petty-
bourgeoisie called the labor aristocracy. These classes are not the principal vehicles to

advance Maoism within those countries because their standards of living depend on
imperialism. At this time, imperialist super-profits create this situation in the Canada, Quebec,
the United $tates, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland,

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Israel, Sweden and Denmark. 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.

Editor, MC206; Production, MC12

MIM is looking for distributors and

sponsors to step forward. Sponsors pay for
papers; distributors get them onto the
streets and officers do both distribution and
financial support:

Distribute

Cost per year

12 (Priority Mail)

$120

25 (Priority Mail)

$150

50 (Priority Mail)

$280

100

$380

200

$750

900 (Express Mail!)

$3,840

900 (8-10 days)

$2,200

If you know you have some good places

distribute, we suggest starting at 200 and
working your way up. If you are not willing
to distribute, just send money. If you are
not willing to pay, then request papers after
somehow proving to the party that you are
serious (words won't count). You who will
cough up/raise the money to distribute 900
papers each issue and then do the
distribution -- you are what drives this party
forward.

Make anonymous money orders payable

to "MIM." Send to MIM, attn: Camb.
branch, PO Box 400559, Cambridge, MA
02140. Or write mim3@mim.org.

A call for MIM Notes sponsors and distributors!

Did you know?

There are more

than 200 back

issues of MIM

Notes available

on the MIM

website? Not only

can you browse

more than 15

years of the

newspaper, you

can also keep up

with the very

latest on MIM

agitation

campaigns,

prisoner news, all

the latest on the

U$ war, and much

more. MIM's

website is an

indispensable tool

for the

revolutionary

movement. Get

involved!

www.etext.org/

Politics/MIM

Attention subscribers

MIM now sends MIM Notes

subscriptions to individuals in monthly

mailings, third class mail. If you have a

subscription and would like a refund for

the remaining months, please write to

MIM,PO Box 29670, Los Angeles, CA

90029-0670.

New PIRAO campaigns on several

fronts are in motion. MIM Notes

circulation and web readership are still

up since September 11th. Current

experiments are aimed at figuring out

how much money and in what places it

is best to spend money to increase MIM

readership on a regular basis.

MIM studies what works and does not

work without sacrificing radicalism.

However, MIM would like to stress to

those who think they are more

"moderate" that it benefits all progressive

causes to have a large MIM presence. A

movement can only seem "moderate"

next to something that is not.

One thing for sure: MIM is more

effective than most organizations. Ross

Perot proved that if you want to change

public opinion in Amerikkka, you have

to pay for it, but the question is how

MIM Theory calls for articles and

testimonials

MIM's theory magazine is preparing

for future issues. We are looking for well-

researched articles on Nazi Germany and

eastern Germany, especially in the 1945

to 1953 period. Please follow some

footnote format.

Another area we are working on is

research on psychics. If you stopped

paying psychics, please send us a letter

telling us how you did so and give us your

permission to use your statement as a

testimonial. We also would appreciate

any statistical research or articles on the

subject of the effectiveness of psychics.

much. The environmental movement

spends $9 billion a year with little result

because of its apolitical and cross-

cancelling nature. MIM is much more

directed and if you manage to send $9

billion to MIM, you can be sure a whole

lot of earth-shaking and change is on the

way.

If you or anyone you know would like

to fund a MIM advertisement in your

favorite place, contact, mim3@mim.org,

the Web Minister. Instructions on how

to send secret messages appear at: http:/

/www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/faq/

security.html

If you have an ad in mind send it along,

or if you just want to send money, and

let MIM spend it, send anonymous

money orders to MIM, PO Box 290670,

Los Angeles, CA 90029. Keep the money

order stub for yourself.

PIRAO campaigns

move forward

MIM

THEORY

We constantly update

MIM's coverage of the U.$.

war on our web site, with

news and opinion,

agitation materials,

articles in English,

Spanish, French, Chinese

and Russian!

Read and distribute the

newspaper --

and get the latest:

www.etext.org/

Politics/MIM

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 3

MIM Notes has seen a big spike in

circulation since the "war on
terrorism" began. It's not surprising:
MIM Notes is a free and independent

newspaper. Yes, there are especially
now knee-jerk patriots who believe
everything Bush says and pass by a

chance to read MIM Notes. There are
other patriots and internationalists
who realize that at this time papers

like MIM Notes can undo the huge
spectacle that Uncle Sam is creating
for its own benefit.

Sure, you have seen MIM Notes

around, but MIM Notes needs people
to do two simple things: 1) Pay for it

(postage and printing), 2) Distribute
it!

MIM is looking for sponsors,

distributors and officers. Sponsors pay
for papers; distributors get them onto
the streets and officers do both

distribution and financial support.

Distribute # Cost per year

12 (Priority Mail)

$120

25 (Priority Mail)

$150

50 (Priority Mail)

$280

100

$380

200

$750

900 (Express Mail!)

$3,840

900 (8-10 days)

$2,200

If you know you have some good

places to do distribution, we suggest
starting at 200 and working your way
up higher. If you are not willing to do

distribution, just send money. If you
are not willing to pay, then request
papers after somehow proving to the

party that you are serious (words
won't count). You who will cough up/
raise the money to distribute 900

papers each issue and then do the
distribution, you are what drives this
party forward.

A call for MIM Notes

sponsors and distributors!

Make anonymous money orders payable to "MIM." Send to MIM,

attn: Camb. branch, PO Box 400559, Cambridge, MA 02140. Contact

MIM in regards to this campaign by writing mim3@mim.org

The Department of Corrections is

proposing changes to the visiting rules

in California. These changes will make

it very difficult for people to visit their

relatives and friends in prison, and

restricting expression of comfort or

emotion, and cutting off visitation

entirely for inmates with more severe

sentences. Among the changes being

proposed:

* All inmate visitors, including minors,

shall provide a completed CDC Form 106

and obtain institution/facility approval

before they may be permitted to visit with

an inmate.

* All minors over the age of 7 shall

present picture proof of identity before

being permitted to visit (only legal Id's,

as with adult visitors)

* Family visits shall not be permitted

for higher custody and life sentence

inmates, those in segregation or secure

housing units, or who have been found

guilty of violating certain regulations.

These restrictions are counter to any

notion of rehabilitation as studies have

shown that regular visits reduce

recidivism among prisoners. These rules

will only help expand what is already a

huge growth industry across the country:

the criminal injustice system. In fact the

changes to the regulation make clear the

new position towards visitation. While

the old regulation opens with the

sentence: "The value of visiting as a

means to establish and maintain

meaningful family and community

relationship is recognized and

encouraged." The new regulation starts

with: "Visiting is a privilege." This is a

dangerous shift to a focus on using

visitation rights for punishment. The rules

for prisoners in restrictive custody will

specifically punish the politically active

behind bars because they are the ones who

get locked up in SHU and segregation as

punishment for demanding their legal

rights.

Prisons in this country are used as a tool

of social control. MIM and RAIL fight

for reforms to the conditions in prisons

while working to dismantle the criminal

injustice system and replace it with a

system of real justice run by and for the

people.

Protest these changes to the visitation

rules, Write, fax, or e-mail the

Department of Corrections at:

Department of Corrections

Regulation and Policy Management

Branch

P.O. Box 942883

Sacramento, CA 94283-0001

fax: (916)322-3842

e-mail: pmchenry@executive.corr.ca

.gov

And Join the MIM and RAIL

contingent at a demonstration against the

repressive practices in California state

prisons (this demonstration is sponsored

by the All People's Coalition against U.S.

Terror and Occupation):

Friday, May 3, 2002, Noon

San Quentin and Soledad Prisons

Contact the Maoist Internationalist

Movement (MIM) or the Revolutionary

Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL) for more

information at PO Box 40799, San

Francisco, CA 94140 or

mim124@mim.org.

The U.$. Navy resumed bombing

exercises on the Puerto Rican island of

Vieques on April 1. By April sixth 14

protesters had been arrested for

attempting to enter the Navy's restricted

zone to disrupt the bombing exercises.

Five of those arrested refused to ask for

bail because they do not recognize the

authority of the U$ federal court in Puerto

Rico. The arrests came with increasing

violence against the demonstrators

including firing of tear gas canisters as

peaceful demonstrators and journalists,

pepper spraying of protesters after arrest,

and firing rubber bullets into crowds of

demonstrators.

Even the Puerto Rican police are

protesting the U.$. Navy's violence,

debunking the Navy's claims that they

are only firing tear gas in response to

rock throwing. "They are provoking the

situation," Puerto Rican police auxiliary

superintendent Col. Cesar Garcia said of

the Navy security personnel. "I

witnessed the incident, and there was no

rock throwing. Right now, my superiors

are on the phone to complain to the Navy

about the situation."

MIM stands with the Puerto Rican

people in demanding that the united

states end all military operations on

the island, pay for clean up of

Vieques, and grant the people of

Puerto Rico the right to control their

own land. This is just the first step

in the fight for independence and

self-determination for the Puerto

Rican people.

Notes:

Weekly News Update on the

Americas, Issue #636, April 7, 2002.

wnu@igc.org.

In March MIM and RAIL hosted a

forum on detentions and the criminal

injustice system which featured the

organizer of the Iman Network, a Bay

Area organization devoted to fighting

hate crimes and discrimination against

Muslims and Arabs. The speaker began

by pointing out that there have always

been groups in the united states that are

discriminated against: From First Nations

whose land was stolen and who were

massacred en mass to African slaves to

Japanese in internment camps.

The September 11 attacks on the U.$.

have led to a dramatic rise in attacks on

and discrimination against Muslims and

Arabs, but this is not something new to

the united states. A report by the Council

on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)

showed 240 reported cases of

discrimination against Muslims in 1997.

This increased 15% to 322 in 2000. Since

September 11 Muslims and Arabs have

faced verbal abuse on the streets, physical

assault, FBI harassment, police brutality,

arrest and even murder.

The speaker converted to Islam two

years ago and remarked on the difference

in the way she is treated now that she

Defend California prisoners visitation rights

U.$. Navy resumes bombing Vieques in Puerto Rico

covers her head. People in stores assume

she can't speak english, people on the

streets look at her differently. She noted

that this country is made up of

immigrants [though MIM points out that

the First Nations were not immigrants]

but yet it is not tolerant of differences.

After September 11 Muslims and

Arabs have been afraid to go out to

protest. They don't want to experience

the attacks. Some students stopped going

to classes or dropped out entirely. To help

the community break the silence the Iman

Network established the Hate Crime

Hotline on September 13, 2001. The

organizer has put her life on hold, living

off savings, to staff the hotline full time.

She considers this a matter of principle

saying "until I can walk on the street and

feel safe and the community accepts us

the way we are I have to do this."

The hotline has taken calls ranging

from verbal abuse to police harassment

to physical assault. To date they have

logged 133 calls seeking help. 29 of these

were cases of FBI and INS harassment.

They also include police harassment, job

discrimination, verbal and written

harassment, assault and attempted

Detentions and harassment of

Arabs and Muslims continue

Continued on page 6...

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 4

Throughout April, as Israel continued

its massacre of the Palestinian people,

protests around the world grew. It is no

wonder that the people of the world are

standing up to oppose the blatant and

violent oppression of the Palestinian

people. In Jenin, Israeli bulldozers

destroyed houses in the refugee camp

under the cover of live ammunition from

tanks and helicopters. The Israeli army

also prevented ambulances and medical

personnel from reaching the sick and

injured.(5) There is no possible purpose

to the destruction of these houses other

than the complete annihilation of the

Palestinian people. This is a goal that

Prime Minister Sharon shares with the

46% of Israelis who favor "transfer" --

that is, ethnic cleansing or genocide --

as a final solution to the "Palestinian

problem."

Protests in the first week of April

throughout Latin America expressed

solidarity with the Palestinian people and

denounced the Israeli attacks. On April

4 over 1,000 Brazilians marched to the

U$ consulate in Sao Paulo to condemn

the Israeli attacks on Palestine. The same

day 500 people took part in a similar

demonstration in Rio de Janeiro and in

Brasilia a group of people marched to the

U$ embassy after an overnight vigil at

the Israeli embassy. On April 5 more than

1,000 people marched through Uruguay.

The next day 1,000 Chileans protested

the Israeli assault. In Ecuador 100 people

protested in front of the Israeli embassy.

And in Nicaragua 2,000 people marched

to the UN office to demand withdrawal

of the Israeli army from Palestinian

territories.(1)

In Morocco a crowd of more than one

million people gathered in Rabat to

The National Democratic Front of the

Philippines condemns the Israeli

aggression against the Palestinian people

and its flagrant refusal to follow the UN

Security Council resolution ordering it

to withdraw its military forces from

Ramallah and other Palestinian cities and

towns. By arrogantly flaunting this

decision of the UN Security Council and

rejecting the peace proposal of Saudi

Arabia's Crown Prince that was approved

by the Arab League Summit, the Sharon

government unmasks itself as a big

obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

True to its record of supporting Israel

in its aggression against the Palestinian

people and other Arab nations, the US

has in effect taken the side of the Sharon

government by concentrating its attacks

against Chairman Yasser Arafat of the

Palestinian Authority. Despite the US

representative's signing of the UN

Security Council Resolution 1402

[demanding an immediate Israeli

denounce Israel's crimes against the

Palestinian people. Recognizing the role

of Amerikan imperialism in supporting

Israel, people burned American flags.

This march culminated two weeks of

independently organized protests and

strikes by high school students across the

country.(2)

In Cairo people protested outside the

emergency meeting of Arab foreign

ministers. In Lebanon there were seven

consecutive days of rallies, the largest of

which turned out more than 15,000

people. And in Indonesia four days of

protests ended with thousands clashing

with police in Jakarta after throwing

rotten vegetables at a heavily fortified U$

embassy. (3)

In Rome, 50,000 people marched

through the center of the city. Italy's three

main unions decided at the last minute

not to participate in the march.(4) This

position by the unions does not surprise

MIM. We have long seen that unions in

imperialist countries line up on the side

of the imperialists when it comes to

issues of war and plunder of wealth. This

is because they are protecting their

material interests: They are benefiting

from the exploitation of the Third World

peoples. But even the relative wealth of

Italy did not stop the people of that

country from coming down on the right

side of the battle in Palestine.

In Bahrain police killed a protestor

during a demonstration outside the U.$.

embassy. In Switzerland more than 9,000

people demonstrated in Bern. And in

Australia more than 5,000 activists

marched to the Israeli and U$

consulates.(3)

Throughout France demonstrators

showed strong support for the Palestinian

people. In Paris more than 20,000 people

marched, ripping up Israeli and Amerikan

flags and chanting slogans. And

thousands demonstrated in the cites of

Nantes, Rennes, Rouen, Lille, strasbourg,

Metz, Genoble and Marseilles.(3)

Rallies across the country in Germany

drew more than 5,000 people.(3) On

April 9 Germany announced that it had

suspended arms sales to Israel to protest

it's incursions in the West Bank(6) This

action by the German government

demonstrates the potential power of

protests by the people. If sufficient

pressure from within is put on imperialist

governments, we can sometimes win

battles like this. Stopping military aid to

Israel, or any other government that is

fighting a war against the people, is a

significant help to the people. MIM

encourages people to participate in such

a campaign -- see for example the flyer

and petition on page five demanding that

the University of California divest from

Israel. MIM joins the many other

progressive groups across the globe in

calling on the people to fight the Israeli

attacks on Palestine and in demanding the

right of self-determination for the

Palestinian people.

Notes:
1. WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE
AMERICAS, ISSUE #636, APRIL 7, 2002,
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF
GREATER NEW YORK, <wnu@igc.org>
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/
middle_east/newsid_1915000/1915813.stm
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/
middle_east/newsid_1915000/1915507.stm
4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
articles/A7497-2002Apr6.html
5. The Palestine Monitor, A PNGO Information
Clearinghouse, April 6th, 2001,
www.palestinemonitor.org
6. Washington Post, April 9, 2002.

Worldwide protests denounce Israeli aggression

withdrawal from Palestinian cities]

yesterday, US President George W. Bush

has not taken a firm stand against the

Israeli occupation of Palestinian cities

and towns and current acts of Israeli

aggression.

The Sharon government bears the

responsibility for the death of more than

400 Palestinian children and close to one

thousand other Palestinians, since the

start of the second Intifida 18 months ago,

which Sharon himself provoked with his

visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque with 2,000

Israeli troops. This is the same Sharon

who is accused of causing the Sabra and

Shatila massacres of thousands of

Palestinian civilians in Beirut in 1982.

His militarist action, now set to expand

to the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip,

has ignited a spiral of violence that has

claimed many civilian lives on both sides.

It threatens to cause a conflagration of

conflict throughout the whole region.

The Palestinian people have the

inalienable right to their homeland and

to national self-determination. These

inalienable rights have been recognized

and upheld by numerous United Nations

resolutions, which the Israeli government

has repeatedly refused to implement with

impunity, relying always on the support

of the US.

The denial of these inalienable rights

of the Palestinian people through the

continued military occupation of

Palestine and the continuing exploitation

and oppression of the Palestinian people

by the Israeli government lie at the root

of the violent conflict between the

Palestinian people and the Israeli

government.

The National Democratic Front of the

Philippines, representing the

revolutionary forces who are fighting for

national and social liberation against U.S.

imperialism and the local reactionaries,

expresses its firm solidarity with the

National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)

condemns Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people

heroic Palestinian people. It supports all

progressive efforts to seek a just solution

to this violent conflict in the Middle East,

a just solution that must include respect

for the Palestinian people's inalienable

rights to their homeland and to national

self-determination.

On behalf of the NDFP National

Council:

Luis Jalandoni

Member, NDFP National Executive

Committee

31 March 2002

The National Democratic Front is an

underground alliance of revolutionary

organizations waging protracted

people's war for the liberation of the

Philippines from imperialism, feudalism,

and crony capitalism. It is led by the

Communist Party of the Philippines.

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 5

On April 4, 2002 a signer of the Courage to

Refuse statement, Tamir Sorek, spoke in San

Francisco. Courage to Refuse is a movement of

reserve soldiers in the Israeli military who have

signed the statement refusing to fight in the

Occupied Territories where Israel is currently

waging a brutal invasion. There are now over

four hundred signatories, and Sorek claimed there

are more than ten times as many reservists who

support the movement but have not stood up due

to social and familial pressures. He reports that

some local officials are refusing to hire anyone

who signs.

On the date of the event, 21 reservists were in

prison for refusing to serve in the Occupied

Territories. Many more have done time for

refusing to serve, as refuseniks are usually

released after 7-10 days.

While representing the Israeli petty

bourgeoisie, Sorek made statements that were

relatively revolutionary given the current

situation in Israel calling the state racist and

recognizing that the "occupation is to perpetuate

our control over the Palestinian people."

Sorek was a willing combatant for years who

began to question his participation in 1996 when

Israel broke the Oslo accords, making it clear [to

him] a transition to peace would not happen. But

it was not until recently, when he was presented

with the threat of being called to serve in the

occupied territories, that he took the stand he is

taking.

Clearly the peace movement in Israel is not

just based on moral indignation, but it is a

struggle in the self-interest of those whose lives

are threatened in battle as well as in their day-to-

day lives as civilians. The Israeli war machine is

able to use this fear to build support for the

invasions of Palestine, but some will be more

rational. Despite his belief in a just war against

"extreme Arabs" [he gave no concrete examples],

Sorek recognizes that there is no way to combat

the attacks on Israel militarily because these

attacks are in fact caused by the occupation,

University of

California: Divest

from Israel!

We call on the University of California to

investigate the companies it invests in and

does business with for ties to the Israeli

apartheid state. It should divest from those

companies with large investments in Israel -

especially those inveolved with the Israeli

military. This divestment should continue at

least as long as Israel refuses to withdraw

from the territory it occupied in 1967.

Name City State/Country

1.
2.
3.

Mail completed petition to MIM, PO Box

29670, Los Angeles CA, 90029-0670

University of California:

Divest from Israel!

Sudents at the University of California
have the opportunity to re-claim a proud
legacy -- that of student activists
demanding that their administrators
financially account for the investment of
university money in companies doing
business with oppressiveregimes. In the
1960s and 70s, it was the University's
investment in the U.S. war machine in
Vietnam. In the 1980s, the white
apartheid government in South Africa. In
the 1990s, Third World sweatshops.
UCLA students should now take up the
cause of divestment from the state of
Israel.

With its declaration of "all-out war" against the
people of Palestine, Israel's recent military
invasions into all the major cities in the already
occupied West Bank including Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus and Hebron -- has meant
mass dislocation, unwarranted search, seizure, thousands of arrests and detentions, and the
deaths of hundreds, many of whom died as ambulances were prevented from reaching
them, or literally were left to rot in the streets.

With such actions, Israel takes its place alongside apartheid-era South Africa and the
others, and should be subject to the same financial sanctions. In an escalating cycle of
military repression and civilian counter-attack the death toll rises every day. For the sake
and future of humanity, economic sanctions should be employed against Israel to help
break that cycle.

The University of California invests hundreds of millions of dollars in companies like
General Dynamics Corp., General Electric Capital Corp., Honeywell Corp., Lockheed
Martin, Raytheon and United Tech Corp., each of which invest heavily in Israel and
provide it with helicopters, jet engines, F-16 fighters, M1-A2 tanks, avionics control
systems, rocket launchers, aircraft missiles, launch systems, other missiles and more.

The University of California should investigate the companies it invests in and does
business with for ties to the Israeli apartheid state. It should divest from those companies
with large investments in Israel especially those inveolved with the Israeli military. This
divestment should continue at least as long as Israel refuses to withdraw from the territory
it occupied in 1967.

Sign and circulate the petition with these demands

Contact slala12@mim.org or go to www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext.

Flyer produced by the Maoist Internationalist Movement, PO Box 29670 Los Angeles CA, 900290670

Opposition to occupation builds in Israel

oppression and humiliation of the

Palestinians.

The current war situation in the Middle

East has put moderate elements such as

the Courage to Refuse movement on the

progressive side of fighting for peace.

The importance of this movement is

indicated by reports of efforts by Israel

to sabotage their organizing efforts in the

United $tates. MIM continues to voice

our support for the Courage to

Refuse for as long as they remain

on the side of the proletariat anti-

imperialist camp.

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 6

Anti-censorship
campaign: Illinois

The Tamms C-Max (Control-

Maximum Security) in Illinois is

censoring the newspaper MIM Notes,

books sent in as part of MIM's Free

Books for Prisoners program, and

correspondence from individual

prisoners. The prison has generally not

disclosed why it stopped certain

materials.

We fear that the mailroom staff is

capriciously discarding mail, especially

mail to and from MIM and Men Against

Control Segregation (MACS). MACS

organizes against the abuses of control-

unit facilities.

Control units like Tamms are prisons

under permanent lock down. Prisoners

typically spend 23 hours of every day

alone in a 6' by 8' cell. Beatings by guards

are common. Control units are designed

to isolate prisoners -- stopping contact

with the outside in one way this happens.

Illinois prisons have a history of

censorship. Tamms, for example, banned

the receipt of reading material from

traders Smith and Ricardo. This

represents a major split within the

imperialist camp. This unilateral

Amerikan decision will surely lead to

retaliation by other imperialist powers.

[Japan (for example) denounced the

tariff. The tariff will also hit south Korea

hard, and the south Korean government

also complained to the United $tates. The

Korean steel industry depends on foreign

markets to survive, as it produces more

murder. This does not count the Muslim

and Arab organizations which have all

been receiving phone and e-mail threats.

In the Bay Area alone there have been

over 350 cases of some kind of threat or

discrimination against Arabs and

Muslims since September 11 reported.

Obviously this does not count all cases

that go unreported because the victims

don't expect to gain anything by

reporting the incidents.

Like everyone working against the

detentions of Arabs and Muslims [by the

federal government since September 11,

allegedly on suspicion of "terrorism"],

the speaker was frustrated to be unable

to give any solid information about who

is being held or where. She said that there

are many people in detention, some

known and some unknown. And they

seem to be transferring the detainees to a

variety of jails and prisons across the

country. In the Bay Area the arrests are

made in the city and the prisoners are then

sent to Oakland for a night and then

transferred all over the country.

Noting that the prisons are not prepared

to deal with Muslims she cited one case

where a Muslim man was detained, left

for a night to sleep on the bare floor and

given pork daily in spite of this being

against his religion. In another case a

judge ordered the release of a man who

was then held for 9 days. When the prison

was asked why they were still holding

someone whose release had been ordered

by a judge the prison official responded

that because he was from Yemen it takes

much longer to process the release since

September 11.

MIM pointed out that harassment and

torture is not unusual for Amerikan

prisons and in fact the Arab and Muslim

prisoners may not be receiving worse

treatment than the average prisoners. The

reality is that the Amerikan criminal

injustice system is not fit for any people.

It is inhumane. The difference with the

Arab and Muslim detainees now is that

the government is refusing to release any

information about the people being held

and they are not being released, even

when there are no charges or when the

only charge is a visa violation which

should result in a relatively quick

deportation.

Detentions and harassment of

Arabs and Muslims continue

Continued from page 3...

than enough to meet domestic needs. In

the past, the United $tates tolerated the

Korean steel monopolies and even

opened up its market to them for geo-

political reasons. Now, with the collapse

of the Soviet Union and China clearly on

the capitalist path and its own economy

in a bit of a downturn, the United $tates

does not want the competition.

This is one of the reasons the "Asian

tigers" like south Korea and Taiwan are

not development models for the rest of

the Third World. As inflated as it is, the

U.$. market is not big enough to suck up

surplus product from more than a few

select countries - and those that base their

economies on serving the U.$. market are

dependent on its whims.]

Domestically, it is obvious the

president's objective is to bribe the

Amerikan labor aristocracy with jobs at

inflated wages funded by imperialist

exploitation of the Third World.

We cannot look at the United States'

decision and the inter-imperialist rivalry

which it will encourage in isolation from

the global imperialist war on the Third

World. The United States is at present

waging a war on several fronts. In the

Philippines, Afghanistan, Colombia, and

Iraq the U.S. arms, aids, "advises" and

fights imperialist wars to guarantee

access to cheap raw materials and even

cheaper labor. The U.S. is also waging a

proxy war against the Palestinians via its

puppet I$rael.

As Hitler learned, a war on many fronts

friends and family members. Prisoners

in Illinois are waging a class action

lawsuit against this kind of censorship.

MIM is calling on all readers to protest

the censorship by Tamms officials and

throughout the IDOC. You can address

complaints to:

Warden George C. Welborn

200 East Supermax Road

P.O. Box 400

Tamms, IL 62988

Director Donald Snyder, Jr.

Illinois Department of Corrections

1301 Concordia Court

Springfield, IL 62794

Governor George Ryan

Office of the Governor

207 Statehouse

Springfield, IL 62706

Please send MIM a copy of all protest

letters you send.

Anti-censorship
campaign:
Pennsylvania

For almost the last year, the

administration at SCI-Greene prison in

Pennsylvania has kept MIM Notes from

prisoners there.

SCI-Greene holds journalist Mumia

Abu-Jamal and is infamous for restricting

media access to prisoners. This is a clear

attack on the ability of people like Mumia

and the writers in MIM Notes to criticize

the Amerikan prison system and express

wider political views.

We are asking that readers send in

letters or call to protest this censorship

to:

Conner Blaine, Jr., Superintendent

169 Progress Drive

Waynesburg, PA 15370

(724) 852-2902

Anti-censorship
campaign: Wisconsin

The Waupun Correctional Institution

in Wisconsin censors MIM Notes on the

grounds that it "teaches or advocates

behavior which violates the laws of

Wisconsin" or "teaches or advocates

violence and presents a clear and present

danger to institutional security." Waupun

does not justify these claims, nor does it

argue why the writings of the "founding

fathers" or Martin Luther King should

not also be censored on the grounds they

advocated breaking the law.

We ask readers of MIM Notes to send

protest letters, faxes and phone calls to

the addresses below. Also send a copy of

your protest letters to MIM Notes.

Captain Muraski

Waupun Correctional Institution

PO Box 351 Waupun, WI 53963

and

Warden Gary McCaughtry

200 S. Madison St

PO Box 351 Waupun WI 53963-0351

Phone: 920-324-5571

Fax: 920-324-4478

What questions do YOU have?

Wasn't Mao a butcher? Why do you spell it "Amerika"? Shouldn't you try non-violence first?

What is internationalism? Isn't hating white people reverse racism? Why don't you leftists
work together? Why don't you tone it down? What is a cardinal principle? What is your

program? What is necessary to join MIM? What concrete actions can I take? How do I write

articles for MIM? What is your copyright policy?

Go to http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/faq

and get real answers to these and other questions.

by mousnonya@yahoo.com

The United States has decided to slap

a 30 percent tariff on steel imports. [A

tariff is a tax on imports. All tariffs make

it more difficult for other countries to sell

goods or services to the country placing

the tariff.] That decision is however a

violation of the U.$. treaty obligations

under the World Trade Organization. It

is also a complete rejection of capitalist

economic theory exemplified by free

is a recipe for eventual defeat. Imperialist

overstretch will eventually result in

defeat. The imperialist labor aristocracy

has something to lose [besides their cushy

jobs], namely their children. Several U.$.

soldiers already died recently when their

helicopter was shot down. These dead

shall not have died in vain: For each death

of an Amerikan leads to a greater

likelihood of opposition to the war. Sadly

this is only the beginning of needless

death provoked by imperialist greed and

propped up with imperialist lies. The

imperialists are already encircled by an

impoverished desperate third world. And

the imperialists even admit the third

world international proletariat has

"nothing to lose".

The inter-imperialist rivalry which

Bush is planning to unleash not only

reflects theoretical incoherence on his

part and the bankruptcy of capitalist

economic theory by practical

contradiction. It also presents the risk of

a global trade war. A global trade war

would however plunge the world into a

recession again, just as it did in 1929,

and might even lead to inter-imperialist

war.

If you want to work for real peace and

prosperity instead of buying the

imperialists' greed induced lies you

should work for MIM to tell the truth

about greed and war and how one drives

the other. Write, paint, sing, do whatever

is necessary to build independent media

to fight against imperialism.

U.$.A. seeks to bribe labor aristocracy: slaps tariffs on steel

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 7

by the Prison Minister

This is the second of our regular reports

on incidents where prisoncrats censor

MIM Notes, correspondence between
MIM and a prisoner, or revolutionary
books MIM sends to prisoners. As

before, the accuracy of this list is limited
by the nature of state repression. For
example, when a prison censors MIM

Notes, that prison is not always required
to send notification. In order to
distinguish between conscious

censorship and bureaucratic SNAFUs --
prisoners are moved often, making it
difficult to stay in touch, and some

prisoners just stop writing -- MIM sends
letters to prisoners who may have been
censored explaining the situation and

letting them know how they can fight to
get their MIM Notes. More and more
frequently, even these letters are

censored.

States which have censored MIM

Notes or MIM Theory within the last six

months to eighteen months are marked
on the map on this page.

States which censored MIM Notes in

the past six months: Arizona, Arkansas,
California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana,

Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New
York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma,

Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas,
Washington, Wisconsin.

States not listed above which censored

MIM Notes in the last eighteen months
(we may have no evidence of censorship
in these states over the last six months

either because they cleaned up their acts
or the managed to sever communications
between prisoners and MIM): Kentucky,

Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New
Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia.

Of particular note, MIM recently

stopped sending newspapers to the SCI
Green prison in Pennsylvania because the

administration there consistently
censored them. Several prisoners, tired
of receiving rejection notices and not

getting any response to their grievances
to the administration, asked us to stop
sending MIM Notes to save money. One

prisoner has started to work on a lawsuit
to stop the prison's censorship.

Censorship is nothing new at SCI

Green. The prison houses Mumia Abu
Jamal and created new regulations to
deny him access to media interviews.

SCI Green is one of the prisons that

admits it censors MIM Notes because of
its political view that armed struggle will

be necessary to eradicate oppression --
although it does not admit the hypocrisy
in that position (see article at right).

A prison in Oregon rejected MIM's

journal on anarchism and communism
because of symbols on its cover. A

Washington prison rejected an issue of
MIM Notes because it contained

States which censored MIM Notes in the last six months are in black. Those

which censored MIM Notes over the last 18 months are in gray. We have no

evidence that states in white censored MIM Notes.

Exerpted from a resolution by the MIM

2001 Congress.

President George W. Bush is not being

censored in prisons despite his

philosophy of violence as demonstrated

in his bombing of Iraq [and now

Afghanistan]. [N]ewspapers quoting

Bush or endorsing him or his opponent

[Al Gore] who also favored the war in

Iraq--these papers and television stations

are not so often censored. Hence when

prison wardens say we should be

censored for threatening "security"

through our "philosophy of violence,"

they are attempting selectively to oppose

violence of the oppressed and exploited.

In addition, prison wardens are

contradicting the stated beliefs of the

authors of the "Declaration of

Independence" and Abraham Lincoln,

who said explicitly in his first inaugural

address that the people have a

"revolutionary right to dismember or

overthrow" the government.(1)

[Such hypocricy] is inherent to the

injustice system as the Mumia Abu-

Jamal case proves. The prosecutor

against Mumia pointed to Mumia's

quoting from Mao Zedong that "political

power grows out of a barrel of a gun" as

evidence against Mumia in his court case.

Meanwhile, MIM has yet to hear of

anyone being accused by prosecutors of

distributing the New York Times despite

its backing of numerous wars and coups

and quoting from people like George

Bush Sr. and Jr. who bombed Iraq.

As a matter of compromise, MIM

would agree not to send its present

literature to a prison if a prison warden

concerned with rehabilitation only

allowed pacifist literature into prison. We

would accept that as a principled

compromise, but there is no prison

warden proposing or implementing such

a policy.

Notes:

1. www.bartleby.com/124/pres31.html.

Amerikan prisons censor MIM

Notes, MIM correspondence

Amerikkkan prisons censor MIM Notes

"propaganda re: anti-imperialist mass
organization of prisoners."

Of course, not every prison admits it

censors for political reasons. Some hide
behind asinine regulations.

For example, a prisoner wrote to us

explaining how the "two book" rule at
the Delaware Correctional Center is a

form of "Cruel and Unusual
Punishment". First it turns out that for
no reason the administration confiscated

a reference book on criminal law that he
ordered from a publisher for $250.00.
Upon complaining about this the

administration cited a "two book" rule
and proceeded to confiscate religious and
political books in the name of this rule.

He says: "I can't practice my religion
because of this rule. I showed them cases
where courts have deemed 25 books to

be an adequate amount to have for
religion and that as long as a prisoner's
case is in court there should be no limit

on law books but they didn't care."

Oregon prisons deny materials from

MIM, claiming they only allow books

"from the publisher." Prisoncrats recently
denied MIM permission to send in books
(although Amazon.com has permission,

even though they are not a publisher). A
United Struggle from Within prisoner is
leading the battle to get materials besides

MIM Notes into Oregon prison.

Some victories

Prisoners in some states have fought

and won battles against the censorship
of MIM Notes or MIM Theory -- with

the help of MIM and its allies. (This does
NOT mean that censorship within the
state has been stopped entirely.)

For example, an Oregon prisoner

recently wrote, "On 10 October, a hick-
town oinker that worked in my housing

unit confiscated the 1 Sept & 15 Sept
issues of MIM Notes because he thought
that they were `gang-related' and

constituted a threat. I went the normal
route, not expecting to get them returned,
and what a surprise it was when I did

receive them: in November! The only
reason I'm telling you about this is
because my accomplishment using the

tools of the regime was an extreme rarity.
(I can't emphasize the word `extreme'
enough.) A minor victory, but victory

nonetheless."

Sometimes prisoncrats do not relent,

even in the face of strong public pressure.

A member of the MIM Supporters Group
writes, "We collected almost 1000
signatures to oppose the censorship

within Michigan prisons. The response
received only reiterated the statements on
the rejection notices. The rejection

notices typically stated that `MIM Notes
is a threat to the security and good order
of the facility.' Receiving a reply which

merely repeats this statement and ignores
the request to justify how MIM Notes is
a threat only underscores the MDOC's

position as weak. MIM Notes does not

pose a threat to the MDOC in the way
that the prisoncrats indicate -- that it
could cause violence among prisoners or

towards staff -- but it does pose a threat
to the brainwashing practices within the
MDOC. There is now a different director

of Michigan's DOC and MSG intends on
continuing the pressure to lift Michigan's
ban on MIM Notes and stop the MDOC's

frequent tampering of mail sent by
political organizations."

The work prisoners do to improve

MIM Notes' circulation is not without
costs. A prisoner in Maryland who had
been receiving MIM Notes took it upon

himself to begin circulating MIM Notes
in the prison and get other prisoners tuned

into Under Lock and Key. In his own

words he explains the backlash he
experienced against his political activism
by the prison officials and the censorship

of MIM Notes: "They held my mail for
anything from two weeks to a month and
they told my family that they could not

visit. But what really made me hot was
when the C.O. used my MIM Notes as a
mop to clean up some water. I didn't even

get to read them."

We've reprinted information on some

of our ongoing anti-censorship struggles

on the opposite page. For other
information, visit http://www.etext.org/
Politics/MIM/agitation/ or write to the

address on page two.

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 8

This RAIL poster met with

widespread approval at the march in

San Francisco (see story page 1).

Poll: 39%

admit

I$raeli

terrorism

A poll of Amerikkkans shows that

finally 39% have admitted that what

I$rael is doing is "also" terrorism--

attacks on civilians; however, MIM

cautions readers that at the same time,

support for I$rael is increasing amongst

the Amerikkkan population--which is

itself a settler population. Amerikkkans

are prepared to admit that what they are

doing politically will increase the

likelihood of "terrorism" and that what

they support is also "terrorism." It does

not mean that Amerikkkans have backed

away from supporting U.$. or I$raeli

terrorism.

For Amerikkkans to change their mind

in a positive direction on the Mideast the

equivalent of a Vietnam War would have

to happen--and in fact it is already

underway. As it stands now,

Amerikkkans act as if they would have

to be nuked once or twice before they

would pay attention to the rest of the

world that Uncle Sam is waging war

against. The notion that oppressed

nationality peoples could retaliate

violently against Amerikkkan violence

has yet to sink in. The reason for that is

the military preeminence of U.$.

imperialism and the grip that parasitism

has on the majority of the Amerikkkan

population. Military power and the

standard of living combine to create

arrogance of the sort we see today on the

Mideast.

Specifically it is none other than us

Maoists who again have to lead a

successful movement to shake the

foundations of Amerikkka. The heroic

Palestinian people are single-handedly

throwing a wrench into the U.$./I$raeli

war machine.

While the "moderate" "Arab Anti-

Discrimination Committee," the Muslims

and the like will have their say, a true

shift in public opinion on this question

requires that MIM Notes step up its

distribution to establish a revolutionary

proletarian pole. There is nothing within

the existing parameters of Amerikkkan

debate that can solve the problem of

peace in the Middle East. What is lacking

is not the "moderate" Arab or Muslim

voice, but the determined and loud

proletarian voice. We seek new

supporters to step forward and try to alter

Amerikkkan public opinion through

MIM Notes by giving money to increase

its distribution. While the Palestinians

give their blood, it is the least that can be

done in Amerikkka--support of an

expanding MIM Notes circulation.

Note: http://www.usatoday.com/

usatonline/20020409/4009119s.htm

Coalition Against War" in contrast made

a point of issuing a leaflet at the event

"in solidarity with the people of

Palestine." The leaflet attacked "state-

more in their "war on terrorism."

By February 21 the Colombian air

force was bombing FARC held territory.

The military used U.$.-supplied airplanes

(including Black Hawk helicopters) and

Israeli supplied K-Fir planes, flying out

of the base were U$ troops are

stationed.(1) Taking another lesson from

their imperialist masters, along with the

bombs the Colombian military dropped

flyers urging the rebels to turn themselves

in which read "welcome to freedom".(1)

Reports of civilians, including

children, being killed by the Colombian

military bombing are leaking out of the

area, but media is banned from the region

and the scale of the deaths is difficult to

confirm. Claiming that the guerillas are

dressing as civilians to fool the military,

the armed forces chief justified the

attacks on civilians.(1)

U$ support for terrorism

On February 22 U.$. Secretary of State

Colin Powell announced that the U.$.

government will share satellite

intelligence information with the

Colombian Government. And the White

House is seeking to get congress to lift

restrictions that currently bar U$ military

Forwarded to MIM by Colombia Peace

Association.

08.04.2002 (By Alfredo Castro,

ANNCOL Colombia) The Swiss

government has refused to label the

FARC-EP guerrilla organisation in

Colombia as terrorists thus further

illustrating the divide between

Washington and Europe over the civil

war in Colombia.

According to Jacques de Watteville,

chief of the Swiss foreign ministry's

economic and financial affairs division,

"We have ordered the freezing of 69

accounts of the Taliban or its

accomplices, identified by the Sanctions

Committee of the UN Security Council,

but we don't subscribe to the

recommendations of certain countries

about supposedly terrorist

organisations."

To explain the decision by his

aid from being used in the war against

the rebels. Aid currently has to be

earmarked for fighting the drug war

because the united states is afraid of

embarrassment if they openly financed

the right-wing paramilitary operations so

well known for human rights violations

in Colombia. In reality the distinction

between the drug war and the war on the

rebels is irrelevant as the Colombian

government claims the rebels are the

main source of drug cultivation. The

attacks on February 21 which used U.$.

airplanes were clear demonstration of

this.

In preparation for all out involvement

in the Colombian war, the U$ changed

FARC's designation from an "insurgent"

group to a "terrorist" organization.(1)

Demonstrating their stellar human

rights record, rightwing paramilitary

forces kidnapped Colombian union

leader Gilberto Torrez Martinez on

February 25. He is general secretary of

the United Union of Workers which

represents workers at the state-run oil

company Ecopetrol. More than 5,000

Ecopetrol workers responded to the

kidnapping by launching an open-ended

general strike the next day.(2)

Last November 24, paramilitaries

murdered seven indigenous leaders in

central Colombia's Riosucio

municipality. Paramilitaries attacked the

Cubera-Chami reservation of Canamomo

and Lomapricta, tying up several leaders

then executing them. Community

members were beaten and some of the

leaders' daughters were kidnapped

during the attack.(7)

President Andres Pastrana's has not

only failed to put a stop to the

assassinations of indigenous leaders,

Pastranas government has turned a cold

shoulder on the cries for help, neither

taking actions to stop the massacres and

oppression, nor acknowledging the

genocidal situation. The truth is, the

paramilitaries have close ties to the

Colombian military and enjoy not only

their silent complicity but also their

support.

On the other hand, even the imperialist

media admits that the rebels are attacking

infrastructure rather than people. After

peace talks were stopped by the

government the rebels stepped up attacks

on electrical towers, bridges, municipal

waterworks and highways.(3) But still

the imperialist mouthpieces complain

about the terror imposed by cutting off

electricity and phone service to cities and

towns across the country while failing to

mention the vicious torture and murder

carried out by the government military

and paramilitaries.

The rebels control nearly a third of the

country in southern and central

Colombia. This impoverished area is

home to farmers who can no longer make

a living producing food after imperialist

economic involvement in the country

destroyed the market for traditional

domestic crops.(5) After ending peace

talks the Colombian government

declared this territory a war zone,

granting the military authority to impose

curfews, regulate the operation of

businesses, register civilians, and

prohibit weapons in the area.(3)

War for oil

The so-called war on terrorism in

Colombia is a new face to the same war

the U.$. has been financing for years.

Under Clinton the white house signed a

$1.3 billion aid package in 2000, Plan

Colombia, aimed at fighting the so-called

drug war. But in addition to supplying

the vast majority of the cocaine in the

united states (according to the CIA),

Colombia, along with Venezuela and

Ecuador, supplies the united states with

more oil than all the Persian Gulf

countries combined. According to Stan

Goff, a former united states Special

Forces intelligence sergeant who retired

in 1996 from the unit that trains

Colombian anti-narcotics battalions,

"Plan Colombia's purpose is defending

the operations of Occidental, British

Petroleum and Texas Petroleum and

securing control of future Colombian

fields. The main interest of the United

States is oil."(4,6)

Only 20% of Colombia's potential oil

reserves have been explored due to the

war with the rebels. Exxon, Shell,

Occidental Petroleum and other U.$.-

based transnational oil corporations have

big interests in Colombia and are joining

the fight for U.$. military aid to

Colombia. In 1996, BP Amoco and

Occidental joined Enron and other

corporations to form the U.S.-Colombia

Business Partnership. Joined by big oil-

industry donations to political

candidates, the partnership has lobbied

hard for increased aid to Colombia.(4)

The situation has not changed since the

Clinton administration: the top source of

cash for Bush's presidential and Texas

gubernatorial bids was Enron and its

employees.(4)

MIM believes that Comrade Gonzalo

of Peru has blazed the correct path

forward for much of Latin America - that

of protracted people's war for liberation

from imperialism and the establishment

of self-reliant socialism.

Notes:

1. WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON

THE AMERICAS 630, 24 Feb 2002.

2. WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON

THE AMERICAS 631, 3 Mar 2002.

3. New York Times, 4 Mar 2002.

4. www.americas.org, 1 Feb 2001.

5. MIM Notes 171, 1 Oct 1998.

6. See MIM Notes 212 for more detail

on Amerikan interests in Colombia.

7. Weekly News Update on the

Americas 618, 2 Dec 2001.

U.$. expands terrorist war in Colombia

MIM Theory 2 and 3

Gender &

Revolutionary

Feminism

MIM's in-depth explanation of gender

oppresion, especially in the First World. A

classic collection of articles that no

revolutionary feminist should be without. 200

pages.

Send $5 cash, check, or stamps, or money order to:

MIM Distributors, PO Box 29670, Los Angeles CA 90029-0670

government, de Watteville gave examples

of the Lebanese Hezbollah party and the

FARC, insisting that "we don't define

them as terrorist organizations."

According to Colombia's El Tiempo

newspaper, "the US Justice Department

had sent the Swiss government a list of

terrorist organisations against which it

asked for the freezing of their bank

accounts." Switzerland -- along with

France, Norway, Spain and Cuba -- is

one of the `Group of Friendly Countries'

that has been attempting to work with the

FARC-EP and the smaller ELN guerrilla

organisation to build peace in Colombia

through conversations with the

Colombian government. However, in the

case of the process with the FARC-EP at

least, the Colombian government has

broken off all contact and refused to

continue in the search for a negotiated

settlement.

[MIM adds: This demonstrates what

Lenin called "inter-imperialist rivalry."

If Switzerland always followed U.$.

dictates, it could only do as much

business as the United $tates wanted. By

Swiss reject U.$. pressure on "terrorist" label

claiming to differ, Switzerland can cut

itself in on a bigger piece of the business

pie.

MIM believes that Comrade Gonzalo

of Peru has blazed the correct path

forward for much of Latin America.]

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 10

MIM on

Prisons & Prisoners

MIM seeks to build public opinion

against Amerika's criminal injustice sys-

tem, and to eventually replace the bour-

geois injustice system with proletarian jus-

tice. The bourgeois injustice system im-

prisons and executes a disproportionately

large and growing number of oppressed

people while letting the biggest mass mur-

derers -- the imperialists and their lack-

eys -- roam free. Imperialism is not op-

posed to murder or theft, it only insists that

these crimes be committed in the interests

of the bourgeoisie.

"All U.S. citizens are criminals--

accomplices and accessories to the crimes
of U.$. oppression globally until the day
U.$. imperialism is overcome. All U.S.
citizens should start from the point of view
that they are reforming criminals."

MIM does not advocate that all

prisoners go free today; we have a
more effective program for fighting
crime as was demonstrated in China
prior to the restoration of capitalism
there in 1976. We say that all prisoners
are political prisoners because under
the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, all
imprisonment is substantively
political. It is our responsibility to
exert revolutionary leadership and
conduct political agitation and
organization among prisoners --
whose material conditions make them
an overwhelmingly revolutionary
group. Some prisoners should and will
work on self-criticism under a future
dictatorship of the proletariat in those
cases in which prisoners really did do
something wrong by proletarian
standards.

Under Lock & Key

News from Prisons & Prisoners

Rhode Island
increases censorship

Here at the Adult Correctional

Institution of Rhode Island the

Department of Corrections has just

banned virtually all publications which

are deemed to be anti-establishment. The

new Assistant Director of Activities, Jake

Gadsen, has put out a inter-department

memo to all wardens, and mail room

correctional officers. The said memo

bans by name the following publications:

The Five Percenter, Source, Vibe, Feds,

XX-L, URB, Skin Art, Stuff, FHM,

Maxim, Paradem, Spin, Arena. In

general, any publication which speaks

about demonstration, saying how to

organize for such are banned.

Also, any publication which is deemed

to be counter to the rehabilitative

philosophy of the Department of

Corrections. Also publications depicting

nudity have been banned, in regards to

any speaking of or having pictures which

can be deemed to report sexual acts. Fox,

Hustler, Cherry, Club, Penthouse, Swank,

Genesis, Live Young Girls, etc.

The only publications which were

deemed to be appropriate for admittance

were, Time, Newsweek, People, and

Playboy. Also all books must come from

the publisher only and must be paid for

by the prisoner out of his inmate account.

No one is permitted to purchase

subscriptions for prisoners to have them

sent to them.

This new directive smacks dead against

the first amendment. However the

Department of corrections has little to

fear from the courts. The Federal Court

which has jurisdictions over the courts

these matters in Rhode island has

consistently given rulings in favor of the

D.O.C. The law library is no longer a

right but a privilege if convenient for the

D.O.C. to provide the time and service.

The D.O.C. is engaged in a policy of

racial profiling against Blacks and

Latinos via the literature they read.

Everything is considered gang material,

even is its cultural. Also MIM books have

been confiscated and not delivered, stated

reason "used books not allowed." This

does not appear on any policy as reason

for non-deliverance. The real reason is

the political viewpoint is not liked. A few

of us here have now filed a class action

lawsuit against this censorship. We need

your support. Please send letters of

protest and outrage against this

censorship to [and send a copy to MIM]:

Director Ashbel T. Wall 40 Howard

Ave. Cranston, RI 02920

Jake Gadsen 40 Howard Ave.

Cranston, RI 02920

--A Rhode Island prisoner, March,

2002

Censorship in NV

Thanks for the literature.

Unfortunately, I was only able to receive

the Mao and BPP pamphlet. The MT

[MIM Theory 14] and the Karl Marx

Selected Writings were denied me, the

reasons: the MT being a back issue

(again!) and Karl Marx being used. I

grieved the issue all the way to the

warden and once again a discretionary

and loosely exercised policy was used as

a roundabout way to censor my literature.

The next day a comrade of mine received

a used Bible from E-Bay! So you see this

policy is exercised in a very

discriminatory fashion. There is no

policy regarding pamphlets, including

prior approvals, so that's why I couldn't

be denied that except by direct and overt

censorship.

[...]

--A Nevada prisoner, 7 April 2002

GA prisoner collects
362 anti-censorship
petition signatures

A prisoner in GA collected 362 names

for a petition opposing censorship in MI

prisons. This serves as an example of how

prisoners can organize within prisons and

also how a large number of prisoners are

willing to support the struggle against

criminal INjustice system policies.

The petition reads:

"We, the undersigned, request that the

Michigan Department of Corrections

stop unjustified censorship of mail to

prisoners.

As outlined in the cover letter, MIM

Notes, letters to prisoners from MIM,

MIM Theory, RAIL Notes, and letters in

Spanish from MIM as well as prisoners'

family members have been censored

unjustly. Your previous correspondence

has indicated that these pieces of mail

"advocate violence and/or could be

considered a threat to facility security."

No place within these rejected mailings

will you find that they advocate that

prisoners engage in violence, or violate

facility policy or state and federal laws.

They also do not advocate that prisoners

jeopardize the security of prison

facilities. In fact, MIM encourages

prisoners to engage in study for self-

education, improvement and the

betterment of conditions. MIM

encourages prisoners to steer clear of

confrontations and discourages prisoners

from participating in any violent

activities.

We request that you lift the ban on

MIM Notes and other above mailings.

Furthermore, we have requested without

receiving a response, that you show

exactly what parts of the above

publications "advocate violence and/or

could be considered a threat to facility

security. We are still awaiting your

response."

Fighting DNA
collection in Oregon

Comrades in Oregon,

As most of you probably already know,

the Oregon Department of Corrections

has begun collecting DNA samples from

all "convicted" prisoners within their

custody. These ODOC actions are in

response to recent legislation requiring

this DNA collection. There has been well

founded alarm and consternation as to

what our "rights" are concerning these

DNA collections.

Our so-called "legal" rights as

permitted under the imperialist heel

provide no authority for protection

against these DNA collections. In 1995

in the case of Rise v. Oregon, 59 F3d

1556 (9th Cir. 1995) the federal courts

permitted collection of DNA samples

from prisoners for database storage,

because it was/is not considered a

"search" and because the DNA database

storage was/is likened to fingerprint

taking and storage. In Landry v. Reilly,

66 Crt 2125 (2000) the U.S. Supreme

Court denied review of a Massachusetts

case contesting the forcible compunction

of DNA sample collecting for database

purposes. In other words the law of the

imperialist land is such that OCOD can

take your DNA by force should they

choose to do so.

We recognize rights other than so-

called "legal" rights. However, I cannot

recommend any inflammatory action on

your part. Your personal decision as to

how to handle your DNA situation is your

own. The imperialist agents do not have

any right to apply "unnecessary force"

in any situation, courts will uphold

obvious claims of "unnecessary force."

In the face of totalitarian assault know

that you, the individual, are a ray of light

in the wilderness and you are not alone.

Salutations,

USW Prisoner X, April 2002

Lockdown at
Corcoran CSATF

I am on lockdown and have been since

December (Crips since December and the

rest of population since January 7th).

They claim that we (Crips) were plotting

something so they could place us on a

lockdown. Then on January 7th they let

us off, until they claimed that a large

number of Black inmates assaulted

several pigs. I don't know exactly what

happened because they never got around

to releasing my building. But I do know

that not a single shot was fired, and

Corcoran is a trigger-happy facility. So

to me this story simply doesn't add up.

-- a prisoner in CA Substance Abuse

Facility 14 April, 2002

Corcoran SHU:
massive search and
seizure

On February 14, 2002 there was a

sweeping search of the prison. Almost

all prisoner property was confiscated

including important legal documents

from some prisoners, myself included.

The purpose of this massive search was

to "bring you prisoners up to code." The

only personal property admitted in the

SHU is one personal book, a magazine

and six envelopes of legal property. In a

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 11

Facts on U$ imprisonment

The facts about imprisonment in the United $tates are that the United $tates has been the world's leading prison-state per capita for the last

25 years, with a brief exception during Boris Yeltsin's declaration of a state of emergency.(1)

That means that while Reagan was talking about a Soviet "evil empire" he was the head of a state that imprisoned more people per capita.

In supposedly "hard-line" Bulgaria of the Soviet bloc of the 1980s, the imprisonment rate was less than half that of the United $tates.(2,3)

To find a comparison with U.$. imprisonment of Black people, there is no statistic in any country that compares including apartheid South

Africa of the era before Mandela was president. The last situation remotely comparable to the situation today was under Stalin during war
time. The majority of prisoners are non-violent offenders(4) and the U.S. Government now holds about a half million more prisoners than
China; even though China is four times our population.(5)

The rednecks tell MIM that we live in a "free country." They live in an Orwellian 1984 situation where freedom is imprisonment.

Notes: 1. Marc Mauer, "Americans Behind Bars: The International Use of Incarceration 1993," The Prison Sentencing Project, 918 F. St. NW, Suite

501, Washington, DC 20004 (202) 628-0871 Reference: SRI: R8965-2, 1994
2. Ibid., 1992 report.

3. United Nations Development Programme, "Human Development Report 1994,:" Oxford University Press, p. 186.

4. Figure of 51.2 percent for state prisoners there for non-violent offenses. Abstract of the United States 1993, p. 211.
5. Atlantic Monthly December, 1998.

move to bring a bit of camp X-Ray to

Corcoran prisoners are escorted to

doctors' and other appointments in full

restraint gear, including leg shackles!

There are signs that prisoners are at

least willing to voice their discontent with

this brutal form of open oppression and

disrespect. In our particular section/

building prisoners are refusing to perform

the usual tasks, such as cleaning the

showers and accepting canteen unless it

is processed according to the rules. And

prisoners are lending support to each

other by filing group appeals. We are

attempting to put together a multi-racial

legal team to address the systematic

abuses and other conditions we are all

subjected to on a daily basis. Of course,

there is much work to be done, especially

so when most prisoners are conditioned

to look at each other as the enemy!

However, as a class themselves,

prisoners possess a wealth of power.

Nothing that is being done to us today

could be successful if we didn't in some

way contribute to it. The rise of the "rat

and the stoolie" demands that we double

our efforts.

The Bush War on Terrorism only

validates comrade George's piece on

fascism: everyone oppressed anywhere

in the world has the right to resist, by

any means necessary. So get up, stand

up. Stand up for your rights. Fascism

won't relent even if you do. Keep pushin.

-- a prisoner in Corcoran SHU, 14

April, 2002

MIM responds: The only answer to

the problem of "the rat and the stoolie"

is as Lenin said: comrades earn our trust

and their own proletarian prestige by their

practice. There is a lifetime of

revolutionary activism to be done by

anyone with the will, and we as leaders

must know our priorities and be prepared

to put younger (or greener) organizers

directly to work.

George Jackson knew that study was

key to advancing the national revolution

and that without advanced theory the

revolutionary army he envisioned would

be led down a blind alley. "To seize

power for the people and relegate fascism

to the history books the vanguard must

change the basic patterns of thought. We

are going to have to study the principles

of people's movements. We are going to

have to study them where they took place

and interpret them to fit our situation

here. We have yet to discover the

meaning of people's war, people's army."

Still, this analysis could not be mistaken

for a mindless acceptance of violence as

a tactic: "It may serve our purpose to

claim nonviolence, but we must never

delude ourselves into thinking that we

can seize power from a position of

weakness, with half measures, polite

programs, righteous indignation, loud

entreaties."

MIM knows that for us in the First

World, it is not our turn yet for

revolutionary armed struggle. That task

still falls to the people of the neo-colonies

in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Imperialism remains too strong within

these borders, and our subjective

conditions with the overwhelming

majority of u.$. citizens belonging to the

exploiting and allied classes are very

wrong for armed struggle. We must

advance our struggle through building

public opinion in opposition to

imperialism, and through winnable

battles like this prisoner describes.

Readers can investigate and protest the

situation at Corcoran SHU by writing or

calling: Warden George M. Galaza, 4001

King Avenue, P.O. Box 8800, Corcoran,

CA 93212-8309, (559) 992-8800

with support for death-squad military regimes

across the globe? Does the relative freedom
of the rich minority count more than the
repression of the poor majority?

4. Do you generally believe what people

say when they have their arms twisted behind
their backs? Is a battered womyn really "free"

to say that she still "loves" her batterer? What
does it mean? We communists do not put
much stock in that statement of "love" except

relative to previous times in history such as
"feudal society," when humyn relations had
an even more coercive nature generally

speaking.

Do you believe what a country other than

the United $tates says in an election when the

choice is a pro-Yankee candidate and an anti-
Yankee candidate? Do you still believe it after
the United $tates invades the country, as in

the Dominican Republic in 1965? Do you
believe it after the United $tates funds
murderous thugs such as the contras in

Nicaragua in the 1980s? We communists do
not believe it. We do not believe things people
say with guns to their heads. The twisted and

predominant opinion in the West is exactly
that -just on a large scale: believing what
people say with guns to their heads and

putting an emphasis on that instead of the
coercive conditions.

5. Have you ever asked yourself about what

communists have been saying about the
relationship of freedom to exploitation? Were
you aware that Stalin and Mao are both

responsible for leading their socities into
doubling the life expectancy of their
peoples--yes including all their violent

repression? Did you really believe China got
to be a billion people with Mao shooting every
other persyn the way the reactionaries make

out? Do you believe any free people or persyn
dies before his or her time by choice? How
often? Sure, sometimes people take the

chance to die in war, sometimes in heroic duty,
sometimes even while driving a race car.
These are chances a minority of the

population likes to take.

How often do you think it happens, because

if you think it happens often your idea of

humyns is more "altruistic" and "idealistic"
than ours. However, widespread death occurs
in countries that are supposedly "free." These

"free" countries have historically done poorly
with life expectancy from a lack of a decent
environment, proper education, proper public

healthcare, food, shelter and clothing. The
only "free" countries that do relatively well
in these areas are those that are robbing the

rest of the world.

The rich touting their kind of "freedom"

would tell us that the world's poor die because

they are the equivalent of race-car drivers--
taking risks from choice, a kind of "freedom."

They put a glorious spin on their exploitation

leading to death, by telling us exploitation and
freedom are separate issues.

We communists ain't buying it. People do

not die ahead of their times voluntarily, but
they do in the tens of millions each year.
Hundreds of millions of people have died

from the improper and coercive organization
of society, something that Stalin and Mao did
much to fix in their countries. The life

expectancy statistic is an excellent measure
of the coercion in a society-- the freedom or
lack thereof in that society. People are forced

into dying from a lack of food. They do not
starve to death in conditions of freedom. Of
course there are drawbacks to the life

expectancy statistic, but those excuses are not
a reason to live without insistence on
measurement of freedom and coercion.

It's funny that the leisured society such as

the United $tates long ago accepted that sports
have to have rules and final ways to measure

who won or lost. Yes referees definitely make
mistakes. How far should the home-run fence
be in baseball? Should there be three points

allowed for long-range shooting in basketball
and where should the line be? All these
questions exist and many more, but people

are scientific enough that they agree how to
measure something and decide who won or
lost. What would be the equivalent in sports

of having the highest imprisonment rate and
then still claiming to be the "champion" of
"freedom"? Would denouncing Stalin and

Mao be like saying Michael Jordan did not
deserve any of his six championships?

We should not make the perfect of our

minds the enemy of the good. We suggest that
at this time in history there is no better single
statistic to measure the coercion level within

society than the life expectancy statistic;
although of course it should also be used with
an understanding of history. The biggest

drawback of the life expectancy statistic is
not exclusion within a particular country: it's
biggest drawback is that high life expectancy

countries may do well themselves while being
the main prop of repression in the rest of the
world. The United $tates is the main political

force behind all types of coercion in the world
today.

When the history of the 20th century comes

up for examination hundreds of years from
now-- if the humyn species survives capitalist
militarism and environmental degradation--

historians will record that Stalin and Mao did
more than any other leaders in the 20th
century to advance freedom. It will be horrible

to recall how they had to repress and go to
war with those who stood opposed to basic
health care, food, clothing and shelter rights.

Yet as inevitable as that horror will be for
future citizens of a more civilized future to
recall the 20th century, it will be inevitable

that these citizens will be able to see that
Stalin and Mao cleared the way through
selective violence for a vast improvement of

freedom, the opposite of coercion. We are
confident that the boasting, rhetorical
quibbles and subjectivism of the current

bourgeois opinion will not last. The scientific-
minded people of the future will insist on
measurement of coercion. When civilized

citizens of the future do look back, it is
inevitable that those proclaiming "freedom"
the most loudly now, and with the willing help

of the spineless capitalist media regurgitating
their every word, are those who will be seen
as the most backward, hypocritical and lying

leaders of the 20th century.

by Web Minister, January 11, 2002

If you are like most people of the

industrialized countries of the "West," such
as the United $tates, England, France,

Germany, Canada, Switzerland etc. then you
have bought into a twisted idea of "freedom."
The present author is no exception in

originally believing that the "democracies"
were "free" countries and that communist
countries did everything through absolute

control known as "totalitarianism." To even
contemplate another opinion is a fearful
matter, so wretched and unsubstantiated is the

brainwashing of the West.

Ask yourself these questions about your

idea of "freedom." Then ask yourself whether

you really have gone into this question deeply
enough.

1. Were you aware that the United $tates

is the leader in the world in imprisonment per
capita? It means that the United $tates is the
world's leading prison-state, with a higher

percentage imprisoned than any other country.

2. Were you aware that our newspaper

"MIM Notes" is censored across the country

when we attempt to send it into prisons?

3. Are you aware that the United $tates does

more to arm and train fascists in the Third

World than any other country? How does
giving "freedom" to the rich of the West tally

What is freedom?

MIM Notes 257 · May 1, 2002· Page 12

Notas Rojas

mayo 1, 2002, Nº 257 Fragmento del Periodico Oficial del Movimiento Internacionalista Maoista Gratis

¿Que es el MIM?

El Movimiento Internacionalista Maoísta (MIM) es un partido revolucionario

comunista que ejerce el Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoísmo. El MIM es una organización
internacionalista que trabaja desde el punto de vista del proletariado del Tercer Mundo;
es por esto que sus miembros no son amerikanos sino ciudadanos del mundo.

El MIM lucha para acabar con la opresión de todos los grupos sobre cualquier otro,

naciones por naciones, clases por clases, y géneros por géneros. La revolución es una
realidad para los Estados Unidos mientras su ejército continúa extendiendose en su
esfuerzo por asegurar la hegemonía mundial.

El MIM difiere de otros partidos en tres puntos basicos: (1) El MIM sostiene que

después que el proletariado conquiste el poder estatal, existira aún el potencial para una
restauración de tipo capitalista, bajo la dirección de una burguesía nueva dentro del
mismo partido comunista. En el caso de la Unión Soviética, la burguesía se apoderó del
gobierno después de la muerte de Stalin, en 1953; y en China después de la muerte de
Mao y del derrocamiento de la llamada "banda de los cuatro' en 1976. (2) El MIM
sostiene que la Revolución Cultural en China es la fase ms avanzada a la que llegó el
comunismo en la historia. (3) El MIM afirma que la clase trabajadora blanca de los
EE.UU. es primordialmente, una élite trabajadora no revolucionaria en el presente. Es
por esto que no es el principal vehículo para avanzar el Maoísmo en este país.

El MIM acepta como miembro a cualquier individuo que esté de acuerdo con estos

tres puntos basicos, y que acepte al centralismo democrtico, el método de gobierno por
la mayoría en lo que se refiere a cuestiones de línea del partido. El MIM es un partido
clandestino que no publica los nombres de sus miembros para evitar la represión estatal
dirigida históricamente contra los movimientos revolucionarios comunistas, y anti-
imperialistas. Si Ud. desea una suscripción para cualquiera de nuestros periódicos o
libros teóricos, en español o en inglés, por favor mandar dinero en efectivo o un cheque
al nombre de MIM a esta dirección:

MIM · P.O. Box 29670 · Los Angeles CA 90029-0670

El 13 de febrero, la Liga

Antiimperialista Revolucionara organizó

un foro en la Universidad de Berkeley al

que asistieron por lo menos 60 personas.

El evento se inició con una impactante

obra oral instigando a que la gente se

incorporara a la lucha por la humanidad.

Los discursos presentados por el

Movimiento Maoísta Internacionalista

(MIM), el Comité de los Derechos

Humanos de Filipinas (CDHF) y el

BAYAN de la bahía de San Francisco

fueron intercalados por presentaciones

musicales de la banda activista filipina

Diskarte Namin. Este foro importante

desencadenó en la universidad un

creciente movimiento de oposición al

imperialismo estadounidense en las

Filipinas. Los estudiantes expresaron su

intención de movilizar a la gente de la

Universidad de Berkeley mediante

campañas educativas y una actividad

política en solidaridad con la lucha del

pueblo filipino por su autodeterminación.

El orador del MIM inició el foro

mencionando que las 600 tropas

estadounidenses que habían sido

mandadas a las Filipinas mas 100

millones de dólares en ayuda militar

prometidos en enero, son las últimas

pruebas del dominio de EE.UU sobre las

Filipinas.

[La presencia de las tropas

estadounidenses en el territorio filipino

supuestamente se debe a la necesidad de

entrenar a las fuerzas militares filipinas

en su lucha contra la pandilla Aby Sayaaf

que, según EE.UU.¸ tiene conexiones a

Osama bin Laden. Sin embargo, según

un orador del CFHF, el mismo gobierno

filipino no piensa que los restantes 60

bandidos sean significantes. El

periodista Nocholas Kristof del periódico

yaqui New York Times que apenas podría

considerarse un antiimperialista radical,

sostiene que la presidenta filipina Gloria

Macapagal-Arroyo "aprovechó el

contexto del 11 de septiembre para hacer

pasar a Abu Sayyaf por terroristas

internacionales con fin de obtener más

ayuda militar de EE.UU." (1)] La

llamada "guerra contra el terrorismo"

sirve de pretexto para la actual invasión;

sin embargo, los mismos EE.UU. es una

organización terrorista, sin mencionar a

los gobiernos clientes de las Filipinas e

Israel. Según el Departamento de Estado

de EE.UU., la definición de terrorismo

incluye "el uso de agentes biológicos,

químicos o armas nucleares, armas de

fuego o explosivos con la intención de

poner en peligro, de una forma directa o

indirecta, la seguridad de una o más

personas o causar daño de carácter

considerable a la propiedad". (2)

Dentro de un contexto más global, el

orador del MIM además abordó varias

formas de participación de EE.UU en

asuntos interiores de otros países, lo cual

incluye tanto el colonialismo directo

como indirecto o neocolonialismo. Los

ejemplos dados variaban desde golpes de

estado contra gobiernos elegidos

democráticamente hasta apoyos

financieros y militares con fin de minar

a gobiernos populares y llevar a cabo

agresiones militares así como respaldar

a gobiernos títeres. Esta participación

militar y económica en asuntos interiores

de otros países es lo que llamamos

imperialismo- una etapa del capitalismo

que se caracteriza por un colonialismo,

un monopolio de corporaciones y una

exportación del capital al extranjero con

fines lucrativos. El ser una corporación

capitalista ejemplar significa importar

muchas ganancias mediante la fundación

de maquiladoras en países con un fácil

acceso a recursos naturales, donde las

tasas de salario son mínimas, donde no

existen leyes laborales ni tampoco

regulaciones sobre medio ambiente. El

orador del MIM señalo que el estándar

de vida en EE.UU. sobrepasa el del tercer

mundo de una forma significante a causa

de todas esas ganancias importadas. Sin

embargo, el MIM cree que ninguna

nación del mundo debería enriquecerse

a costo de otras naciones. Eso es lo que

se llama internacionalismo. El

internacionalismo se opone al racismo y

el chovinismo nacional. El

internacionalismo implica que los

ciudadanos de este país que se benefician

de la explotación y opresión de los

pueblos del mundo, tienen la

responsabilidad de respaldar las luchas

justas de los pueblos oprimidos por su

autodeterminación. El orador del MIM

rogó que el público pensara en cómo

podría manifestar su internacionalismo

mientras que escuchaba las

presentaciones sobre la situación en las

Filipinas. Los oradores del CDHF

esbozaron las causas de la intervención

yanqui en las Filipinas. Un orador habló

sobre la riqueza de recursos naturales y

la posición estratégica que convierten las

Filipinas en un blanco deseable. [Las

Filipinas están situadas en la parte sureste

del Océano Pacífico. Las islas fueron

utilizadas como un escenario estratégico

durante la guerra en Vietnam, lo cual

podría repetirse en el caso de que EE.UU.

lancen una guerra en contra de Corea,

China o el Sureste de Asia.] Además se

abordó la larga historia de gobiernos

lacayos que habían firmado tratados

cediendo a EE.UU. el derecho de ocupar

el territorio filipino con fin de

promocionar los intereses

estadounidenses, lo cual ha resultado en

una tremenda pobreza del pueblo filipino.

El orador del CDHF discutió el

movimiento nacional democrático de las

Filipinas que lucha por reformas agrarias,

una indusrialización nacional, una

liberación del dominio extranjero así

como cambios en el liderazgo del

gobierno. [El clandestino Partido

Comunista de las Filipinas que encabeza

esta lucha está llevando a cabo una guerra

popular con fin de derrocar al gobierno

reaccionario de la República de las

Filipinas y establecer una base para la

construcción del socialismo.]

Ha habido una respuesta fuerte a la

reciente invasión de las tropas

estadounidenses en las Filipinas. El 18

de enero, unos grupos democráticos

nacionales organizaron en Manila un

rally impresionante oponiéndose a la

presencia de las tropas estadounidenses

en el territorio filipino. [A finales de

enero, el Partido Comunista de las

Filipinas divulgó un comunicado

condemnando tanto "la descarada

intervención de tropas americanas en las

Filipinas como el carácter sinvergüenza

del régimen servil Macapagal-Arroyo".

"El Partido entero está determinado por

frustrar semejantes pasos y está listo para

encabezar la resistencia popular a la

intervención militar de EE.UU. en todas

las direcciones y mediante cualquier

recurso", dice el comunicado. "Está listo

para hacer que el régimen Macapagal-

Arroyo pague caro por su transparente y

absoluto papel de títere y su traición a la

patria".]

Todos los oradores señalaron que la

presente situación en las Filipinas es una

de emergencia. La gente muere por causa

del imperialismo yanqui. Esta última

invasión podría convertirse en una guerra

de agresión- una guerra contra el pueblo

filipino que está reclamando sus derechos

a la paz, comida, vivienda,

medicamentos, educación, cultura

nacional, independencia territorial y

autodeterminación. La gente debería

tener un derecho a la lucha armada para

la autodefensa, y eso es lo que han hecho

muchos. El movimiento revolucionaro

de las Filipinas que representa los

intereses de más de 90% de la población

ha tenido éxito y sigue creciendo. La

gente de EE.UU. tenemos la

responsabilidad de exigir que EE.UU.

aparte sus garras imperialistas de las

Filipinas.

Traducido por Células de Estudio para

la Liberación de Aztlán y América Latina

Bibliografía:

1. New York Times, 8 de febrero 2002.

2. www.state.gov/www/global/

terrorism/fto_info_1999.html.

El foro californiano sobre las Filipinas moviliza al

pueblo estadounidense bajo el lema "¡Fuera ahora!"