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By TONY AMBATIELOS

The Junta in Greece has reshuffled
its “Cabinet” again. :

This manoeuvre will not help it, but
it is a sign of the Junta’S difficulties
in face of the increasing movement of
resistance among the Greek people—a
movement which has developed since
April 21, 1967, when the “black colo-
nels,” seized power.

In those days in Greec€ we knew
that a coup was being planMed, to take
place before or after the €lections if
reaction felt that victory fot the demo-
cratic forces would be a céTtainty.

It was well known then that at the
heart of this plot against democracy
was the King with some of Sis generals.

But while the King and His generals
were organizing their coup» the C.LA.
was organizing its own cOUp with its
own agents, who, unfortunately for
Greece, were colonels in the Greek
army.

So secretly did they plas? their coup
that even the King and Bis generals
were taken by surprise. The King’s own
aide de camp was manhand€d. Kannel-
lopoulos, the Prime Minist€t, trying to
talk to the King on the telephone, found
himself cut off.

Members of the government were led
off by force. Andreas Pap@Ndreou had
his leg broken, as it was said then,

ing to escape.
ge eS of active peOple in the
Left and Democratic mov@ment were
seized and rushed away to Prisons and
camps. at

Yet, in spite of all that, w7ithin a few
days of the coup, the PatriOtic Front,
a broad movement of resistance, went
into action.”

It was organized right down to local
level, where people came tog®ther with-
out waiting for any special instruction
or even meeting anyone from a higher
level of the movement.

They acted swiftly with 1€aflets, slo-
gans, calling for resistance tO the Junta.

Since that time the Patriotic Front
has been very carefully or@anized, at

‘street, factory, office level, in groups
of from three to five people And a front
leadership at town and are@ level.

It took some little time fo? the orga-
nization to grow in the smaller provin-.
cial towns because there t® vigilance
of the police is easier and sore close.
But even in those conditions the re-
sponse was magnificent. .

Because of the courage of the people
and the way in which the movement
is organized, the Junta m@Y catch a
group here or there, but it Cannot go
further, it cannot dislocate the move-
ment. : oS :

It is a sign of the speed With which
people reacted that within a Short time
of taking over, the col@fels were
threatening punishment fOt those
spreading “rumors” about the Junta
or about the financial ané economic
life of the country.

Not that they leave it at t#reats. The
Junta has mobilized the mes#tal resour-

ces and expertise, the crimi*al experi-

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 6, 1968—Page $
jee tact es ep Se ee

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ence gained with the nazis or in the

Korean war, to try and crush the mili-
tancy of the people.

All over Greece there are several
thousand police stations and these are
full each day with people called in for
interrogation, beatings, torture, to get
them to support the Junta.

At the same time, a vicious manhunt
goes on for leaders of the movement
of resistance, at all Jevels. When it has
been successful, it has not been due
to ability on the part of the Junta’s
agents, but sometimes by pure luck,

Tony Ambatielos is one of the
known Greek revolutionaries. It
was he who first associated the
Greek Seamen’s Union with the
International Seamen’s Union in
Cardiff, England.

- Because of his work for the
Communist Party in Greece, in-
cluding work in the resistance
against the Nazis, he spent sev-
eral years in prison. In prison, he
refused to renounce his princi-
ples, which could have freed him.

In 1964, he was released from
Prison and resumed his work in
the Greek trade union movement.
When the coup came in 1967, he
escaped arrest and began to
work in the underground resis
tance movement.

He was recently authorized by
the Patriotic Front to work in
countries outside Greece in order
to build support for the resis-
tance forces.

and sometimes perhaps by a slacken-
ing of the strict rules of resistance
work.

There were people arrested by acci-
dent—as was the case with my bro-
‘ther. By pure luck, and not due to the
skill of the police, I had one or two
narrow escapes.

The means used by the police are
based on the most modern means. The
means used by the Resistance have
also to be at this level and a great deal
of care is given to this. ;

But the great resource of the move-

Greek

In Komotine, a tobacco grow-
ing centre in Greece, tobacco
workers are being faced with
full scale unemployment. Their
means of living cut off, they
face the threat of being left
without medical care and losing
their rights to pension because
of inability to pay the insurance
companies the appropriate dues.

This is only one case of the
generally unbearable living con-
ditions facing Greek workers.
These conditions are so bad that
even the fascist junta’s puppet
trade union leaders have been
forced to ask the labor ministry
to “show interest” in the de-
mands of textile workers, me-

ing workers, stokers, food work-
ers, printers, garment workers
and others. In short, the over-
whelming majority of Greek
workers,

_ Frightened by a likely flare-up
in the strike movement and un-
employed demonstrations, the

tal workers, electricians, build- -

i @ i 7
Junta_is taking urgent action
which they try to cover up be-
hind demagogic claptrap about
“the right to strike.”

The “right to strike” that they
talk about is granted only to
unions recognized by them, but
On no account to workers out-
Side their company: unions.
These strikes may take place
Only in situations which will not
bear upon “national economic
interests.” Thus, they may ban
Virtually any strike.

Should all these measures fail
to keep labor “satisfied,” they
are considering making it legal
for employers to lock out work-
ers and providing proper protec-
tion for scabs. > :

Then of course, if worse
comes to worse—there is always
the ace card up the sleeve —
the “civil mobilization,’ law
under which companies, where
acute labor disputes occur, may
call out the army to take over
Production processes. —Prayda

. cooperate.

’ ment is the solidarity and self-sacrificg

of the common people — who make
every effort to shelter and protect péo.
ple hunted by the police. ‘

The situation begins to recall that
the occupation, where every hous
no matter what the politics of the
mily—is open to Resistance fighters.

There are informers. The Junta trie.
to turn everybody into an inform&,,

<

the Junta’s resources and efforts th
success in obtaining informers is mi
nute. :
I would like here to express on’
own behalf and on behalf of all Resic
tance fighters our gratitude to the co
mon people in Greece, those unkn
heroes, men, women, youngsters,
ignoring the consequences, do Nip
duty to Greece—their duty to huma,
integrity. :
It is the quality, the scope, the s 7
of this movement of resistance whim.
has brought the politicians of even bet
Right and the Centre into oppositig,
to the Junta. . ’
The difficulties of the Junta indica,
how politicians even at the lowest leVe,
of their party structure have refused

This has obliged the Junta to mak.
use, in very important government Pe
sitions, of men who are either |
known, or known as social failures. “a

Never in the modern history o,
Greece, since her national revolution
1821, has our country had such ludj,
rous people as her government.

You can see this in the stories tha,
circulate among the people. :

There was Matheos, the Minister
Agriculture who, being asked about th
decision by Papadopoulos to “aboli
the debts of the peasants replied: “Q)
I didn’t know that myself.” q

When asked where the money won)
be found, he replied: “I hadn’t though”
of that. We’ll have to see, I'll make
statement.” \

The people say: “Papadopoloy,
barks. Pattakos bites.” ~

They are ludicrous. But they are Via
cious in their attempts to crush the
people with the help of NATO weap0oy
and the tolerance of certain goveNy”
ments.

Because of lack of confidence in
economic policy of the Junta, there ;s
a continuous deterioration in the coy”
try’s financial situation, y

To counterbalance this internal de
terioration the Junta has Opened th ~
door wide to foreign monopolies fae
investment on colonial terms—a situ. * |
tion deeply offensive to the Greek Pe.
ple, for it prolongs the lif of the Jun
and the suffering of the Greek peopl@

The people of Greece will not forgy,
and they will pay back in the samh>
coin when the time comes.

Our struggle will be hard and it wy),
not be a short one. But the People, wh *
are ready for all forms of struggle, wy)
eventually overwhelm the Junta «
restore democracy to Greece. __

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