Foreign debt crisis Over 300 Latin American and Caribbean trade unionists attended a recent conference in Havana on the region’s foreign debt, totalling over $300-billion (U.S.) The parley : unanimously approved a document calling for the debt to . be written off. Cuban president Fidel Castro attended all the sessions of the four-day gathering. This photo by Tribune Caribbean correspondent Norman Faria shows the Cuban leader discussing a point with delegates dur- ing a break in the proceedings. On his left is Roberto Veiga, head of the Cuban Trade Union Federation. Poison gas in El Salvador The troops of the El Salvador junta have begun using poison gas against the patriots and civilian population, said Radio Venceremos, the station of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). The poison gas was dropped from junta helicopters — supplied by the U.S. — on July 17 in the towns of La Joya, Mozote and El Rincon in Morazan province. One woman was killed and numerous others including 11 children left in critical condition. Canada’s links to U.S. nuclear Strategy | Canada is second only to West Germany i in its support ~ of U.S. nuclear war preparations, and is host to nearly eighty nuclear war related installations. This is the finding of top U.S. nuclear weapons expert William M. Arkin in his new book Nuclear Battlefields, co-authored with Richard Fieldhouse. Arkin’s book is largely devoted to a little-known as- _ pect of the nuclear war danger: the vast network of war-fighting facilities that are designed to provide com- mand, control, communications and intelligence-gather- ing functions (in military shorthand, CI) in the midst ofa nuclear crisis. é ““Weapons,”’ writes Arkin, ‘‘are only one part of the nuclear infrastructure, a complex made up-of thousands of obscure research, testing, electronic and command facilities. Virtually every military laboratory, test range, military base, warning radar, and communications transmitter contributes in some way to preparations for nuclear warfare. Military exercises and manouevres, communications, surveillance and testing keep the sys- tem alive’. Canada, Arkin says, “‘is unique in the thoroughness of its support of the U.S. nuclear infrastructure.’’ Some of the more significant elements of Canadian involvement in nuclear war planning: e Canadian airfields will be used by the Strategic Air Command as dispersal and refuelling points for its nuc- lear bomber force in the event of a “‘crisis’’. Under the- NORAD agreement, U.S. bombers and refuelling air- craft may fly without restrictions over Canadian airspace on their way to the Soviet Union. Canadian airbases such as Cold Lake, Goose Bay and Namao will simply be taken over to support Strategic Air Command opera- tions. e Although Canada — as far as is known — does not actually harbor any nuclear weapons on its soil at this time, it does take part in a number of U.S. nuclear war planning programs, including the North American Air : Defence Master Plan, and the Strategic Defence Archi- tecture 2000 Plan, both of which are linked to the Penta- gon’s Nuclear Weapons Employment and Acquisition Master Plan. Arkin quotes U.S. Defence Department documents that say the goal of these plans is to achieve “enduring air defence — something that you could actually have in place that would actually last through a nuclear strike’’. ; e The new ‘‘North Warning System’”’ will incorporate 6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, AUGUST 21, 1985 Guadaloupe city paralyzed Frustration sparks unrest Last month’s civil unrest in the French Caribbean colony of Guadeloupe, which left the main commercial city of Pointe-a-Pitre paralyzed for four days, under- scores the extremely tense situation in the region’s French possessions. The shutdown of the town of 100,000 brought about by - setting up of roadblocks with cars and debris was sparked by the refusal of French authorities to release a jailed black independiste activist who had been involved in a racial incident with a white teacher. About two dozen people were injured but unlike the situation in recent months, no bombs were exploded and no one was killed. The disturbances were organized by the ‘‘People’s Union for Guadeloupean Liberation (UPLG)’’, a small outfit led by a group of lawyers and other professionals whose main demand is immediate independence from France. -While in Cuba recently on assignment I had the occa- sion to interview top leaders of the main trade union federations in both Guadeloupe and Martinique who _ were in Havana for the Conference of Latin American Trade Unions on the Foreign Debt. Among the matters . brought up were the recent events in Guadeloupe, a typical Caribbean island of 1078 square kilometres with 320,000 people whose economy is based on agriculture (sugar cane, citrus, bananas) and tourism. “The people are getting fed up and want to take mat- ters into their own hands. The CGTG is behind the people in any campaign forjustice and democracy,” said Dorothee Lynn, the International Relations Secretary of the powerful General Confederation of Workers of Guadeloupe (CGTG). Lynn, who is also a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Guadeloupe, nevertheless cautioned that the present conjuncture in her homeland was acomplex one and called for clear headed leadership that doesn’t raise slogans divorced from reality. Lynn told the Tribune that the CGTG was in favor of Backgrounder | 4 Fred Weir 52 radar sites, with upgraded technology capable of de- tecting low-flying aircraft and Cruise missiles. The whole system is being designed to function through a nuclear war situation, and will be run from a special hardened command centre at North Bay, Ontario. To supplement this, Arkin notes, Canadian technicians are also being trained to operate the E-3A AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems) aircraft for NORAD. e It is well known that the U.S. Airforce uses Cana- dian territory to test the air-launched Cruise missile be- cause, as a Pentagon spokesman puts it, Northern Canada offers terrain ‘‘like that we might encounter in enemy territory’’. It is less well known that the U.S. Army also uses Canada for cold weather tests of its nuclear artillery shells. e A large number of nuclear-related communications programs, as Arkin‘ points out, are researched, de- veloped, tested, or operated in Canada. For example, the Strategic Air Command’s Northern Area: Commu- nication System, called **‘Green Pine’’, for communicat- ing with bombers and tankers in northern latitudes, has stations at Argentia, Newfoundland, and Melville Air Station, Labrador. The Pentagon’s nuclear war surviv- ing Ground-wave Emergency Network (GWEN) is planned to extend into Canada to improve the nuclear survival capabilities of Canadian Air Defence Forces. Canada also participates in a good deal of nuclear war-re- lated space and satellite research. e Canada is heavily involved in U.S. anti-submarine warfare (ASW) plans. This is particularly important be- cause future breakthroughs in anti-submarine warfare may be critical in creating a viable first-strike capability for the United States. The U.S. Navy operates a major ASW data processing centre at Argentia, New- foundland, and Canada operates a number of ASW bases on behalf of the U.S. The U.S. Navy tests anti-sub- marine weapons, including the nuclear-capable ASROC .centres around the world, and supply targeting data oF From the Caribbean political independence from France but felt the islanders supported the movement towards a popular, democrati¢ stage of autonomy. which would lead towards full independence and socialism. The Guadeloupean trade union leader said that net the CGTG nor the CPG were part of the UPLG or grou of other ‘‘bourgeois nationalists’’. f She also condemned the recent spate of bombings the island which was made an Overseas Department France in 1946. | ‘‘We are not in favor of violence for violence’s sake: Nor are we for individual terrorism. We are opposed t0 terrorism. However, it must be noted that colonialism has driven people to violence in some instances,” shé said. Lynn’s views were shared by Camille Jacaria, thé General Secretary of the General Confederation 0 Workers of Martinique (CGTM). Jacaria, howeve fy touched on the chronic economic problems wracking homeland similar to that of neighboring Guadeloupe. ‘* At one time, Martinique used to have a healthy suga! sector with several factories. Now the industry has a! most closed down. The only factory (now operating} produced 9,000 tonnes of sugar this year. This is 3,000 tonnes short even for local requirements,”’ he said. ‘‘Our lack of industries,’ he continued, ‘‘which is on@ of the leading characteristics of neo-colonialism ha! turned Martinique into a consuming society and not# | producing country. It has turned Martinique into a larg? market for French products.” Primrose Lake citi CAD IN TTalree ting iran art and SUBROC systems, at the Nanoose Bay testi 6 range in British Columbia. Canadian ASW operation Soviet submarines to the U.S. Navy and intelligencl community’’. e Two sites in Canada, notes Arkin, “Yellowknife: NWT, and Red Lake Ontario, host seismic detectio! stations of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Region® Seismic Test Network. Along with three other such st@” tions in the U.S., they are used in researching the seismic signal characteristics of nuclear tests for future use i poten information on Soviet nuclear weapon tests” 4 e The Pentagon’s Nuclear Weapons Deployme! Plan — news of which Arkin was instrumental in brea ing to the media last January — provides for th ‘“‘emergency”’ basing of nuclear weapons in Canada: even though the Canadian government has never agree" to it. Nor, until it appeared in the press, had our leade? ever even been informed of it! 4 These are some of the ways, fully described in Arkin ° new book, that Canada has become heavily involved al locked into the U.S. nuclear infrastructure. As such, are an intrinsic part of U.S. nuclear war planning, * participant —and a target — in any nuclear conflict t 7 might arise.