ship, whith rules Brazil, has in-
tensified its crimes against the
people.

Driven to despair by the grow-
ing resistance of. patricts and
democrats, enmeshed in the eco-
homic, social and political crises,
which have descended on the
whole country, the dictatorship
openly resorts to anti-commun-
ism in an attempt to split the
unity of the anti-fascist forces
and, thus, to eliminate the con-
tradictions which eat at it.

To pursue its policy of starva-
tion and to give the country’s oil
to the international monopolies,
, 25 it has already done with our
j uranium resources, and other es-
sential branches of the national
;economy, the dictatorship viol-
j ently lashes out against the Bra-
} zilian Communist Party, assas-
j Sinates its leaders and activists,
j4nd tortures and murders work-
7 TS, students, journalists and
J members of the Brazilian Demo-
, cratic Movement, the only oppo-
4 Sition party, tolerated by law.
¢ By means of terror and anti-
ycOmmunist hysteria it actually
s1S preparing the means for new
gand greater restrictions against
| the political activities of the pat-
jtiotic and popular forces who
fresist the tyranical and anti-na-
| tional policy of the regime.

% Discarding the pretense of the
defence of democracy which he
ghad used during the first months

of his rule to deceive the people,
y dictator Ernesto Geisel is now
directly using the language of
threats and has assumed direct
jcommand of the whole fascist
jrepressive apparatus. He imple-
7 ments in Brazil an anti-commun-

ist policy which was backed by
g the Pentagon, the CIA and also
nby the representatives of Pino-
, chet and other Latin American
‘dictators at the recent confer-
pence of Latin American Armed
y Forces. Thus, dictator Ernesto
pceisel bears the major responsi-
_ bility for the crimes committed
"in the torture chambers of the
/ different police and military

t

The military fascist dictator-

organizations throughout ~the
country. .

During the 20 months of his
rule thousands of patriots have

been arrested and _ tortured.

_Among others, they have mur-

dered members of the Central
Committee of, Brazilian ‘Com-
munist Party: David Capistrano
da Costa, Joao Massena Melo,
Walter Ribeiro, Luis Ignacio Ma-
ranhao Filho, Elson Costa, Jamie
Amorim Miranda, Hiran Lima
and Itair Veloso. All of them

had been kidnapped. The dicta- .

torship has refused to release
any information concerning their
fate.

At this time among hundreds
of others:democrats and patriots
are imprisoned, their lives
threatened because of the hatred

the fascist regime bears toward

them: Afonso Celso Nogueria,
ex-state deputy, of the Socialist
Party in Rio de Janeiro State;
Jose Montenegro de Lima, ex-
president of the National Union
of Technical Students, leader of

- the Brazilian Young Communist

Commission attached to the C.C.
of the B.C.P.; Jayme Estrela Jr.,
ex-president of the Students
Centre in Santos, a member of
the Communist Youth; Miguel
Urbano Filho, student and son
of the journalist Miguel Urbano
Rodrigues member of the C.C.
of the Portuguese Communist
Party; Antonio Bernardino des
Santos, leader of the longshore-
men, member of the State Com-
mittee of Brazilian Communist
Party in Sao Paulo; Emilio Bon-
fante Boiteaux de Maria, Com-
mander of the Brazilian Merch-
ant Marine and leader of the
trade-unionists of that sector;
Jose Constantino and Jose Fer-
reira, President and Secretary
of the Trade Union of the Metal
Workers of Sao Caetano, Sao
Paulo; Aldo Fedro Dietrich, lab-
or lawyer of the Trade Union of
the miners of Criciuma in Santa
Catarina; David Capistrano Fil-
ho, physician and famous stu-
dent leader. The first three have
“disappeared”, showing the in-

International solidarity can stop fascism

Brazil repression worsens

tention of the dictatorship to as-
sassinate them.

However, the fascist terror de-
scended on Brazil could not
silence the protest nor put a stop
to the struggle of the commu-
nists and people against the re-
gime, which imposes famine on
the majority of the population
and surrenders the country to
the international monopolists.
The opposition of the people to-
ward the regime, which had al-
ready been demonstrated clearly
in the election campaign last
year, has now reached a new
stage, with indignation and. re-
vulsion on a_national- scale,
against new crimes of the dic-
tatorship. The Brazilian people,
through the voice of the trade
unions, students, press and three
main religious organizations of
the country — Catholic, Protest-
ant and Jewish — intellectuals
and other political forces and
politicians, raise their vigorous
protest against the tortures and
murders committed en masse by
the regime.

Their voices echo widely in:

the Parliament, the courts and
even in the Armed Forces.

The Brazilian Communist Par-
ty, which has endured hard

blows from the dictatorship in’

recent years appeals to all fra-
ternal parties around the world,
to all socialist and democratic

governments, democratic parlia- _

ments, courts, international and
national organizations of work-
ing class, churches, all forces
which ‘struggle against fascism,
for peace, democracy, national
independenté’ and socialism, to
reinforce their already valuable
condemnation of the crimes of
the Brazilian fascist dictatorship,
to strengthen their solidarity
with our people with all those
imprisoned and tortured, and
with the families of the murder-
ed.

Fascism in Brazil must be
stopped, and will be stopped
through our people’s struggle
and with the help of interna-
tional solidarity.

ey

IWY laid

basis for

By NAN McDONALD

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S YEAR witnessed the United
Nations call to governments and the people of the world .
for special action in the struggle against human exploita-
tion, and in particular the inequality of women. Welcomed
with growing support from most countries, International
Women’s Year, with the themes equality, development and
peace, gave fresh impetus to forces struggling for an end
to discrimination, for social advance and for world peace.
Women stepped up their activities in the struggle for the
relaxation cf world tension, security of nations, national
independence, cooperation and the class struggle as a whole.

International Women’s Year gave Canadian women the
opportunity to participate in world conferences, and provin-
cial and local meetings to examine the source of their
inequality and exploitation. It was a great success to the
growing movements concerned with problems arising from
the special oppression and inequality women encounter in
the class System as opposed to development and advance-
ment of women in the socialist countries.

e e e@.

CANADA MET International Women’s Year in a time of
deep economic crisis. While the federal government gave

tacit support to the United Nations call, setting aside $5-

million from the public purse and establishing the “Why
Not” slogan, it continued to protect the root cause of
Canadian women’s inequality — the capitalist system of
exploitation. Armed with the phoney issues of women’s
right to become bank presidents, doctors or lawyers, govern-
ment spokespeople waged a campaign to counter the real
issues of concern to women. :

The Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and other pathetic head-
line hunters, in their analysis of 1975 as International
Women’s Year, distorted and played down the success of
the UN declaration. They fail to grasp that the struggle
against women’s inequality, as a struggle in isolation from
the overall working-class struggle, is self-defeating. Thus
they see, with the end of 1975, the end of the struggle
against women’s exploitation and inequality.

e e ice Eid

BUT THIS IS NOT SO for working-class women. Their
struggle continues as long as inequality, poverty, price and
rent gouging, exploitation and the threat of war continues.
Trade union women look forward to a conference on

“women’s issues, sponsored by the Canadian Labor Con-

gress, and upcoming this month. This will give every union
local the opportunity to send delegates to discuss form and
action in the fight for equality. Leading trade unionists such
as Grace Hartman, recently elected president of the
Canadian Union of Public Employees, representing close
to 200,000 workers of whom one-third are women, should

' play a leading role in debate at the conference.

Provincial federations of labor are also preparing for con-
ferences. where working women will discuss the issues and

_ plan action for the struggles ahead. In Quebec, the Quebec

Federation of Labor, Confederation of National Trade
Unions and the Teachers Corporation have formed a Com-
mon Front to fight on issues of concern to Quebec women.
The recently formed Toronto women’s trade union coalition
is now preparing for its founding.convention, taking place
Jan. 24-25. Part of their proposed constitution reads as
follcws: ‘“‘We seek out our common problems though our
places of work and though our occupations. differ. We .
realize the necessity of unity so that we can effectively
defend the interests and improve the conditions of women
workers ... and to those women now without the benefit
cf a collective bargaining agency, offer a centre of informa-
tion and help to bring them into the organized labor
movement. International Women’s Year stirred something
that was there all along. We must see that it continues
and grows.” :

Working women are on the right track. With the support
of organized labcr, they are on sound ground. Democratic
organizations such as the Congress of Canadian Women
welcome the progressive steps made in 1975 and resolve to
work for closer ties with trade union women, professionals
and cther democratic organizations in the fight for women’s
rights. eS :

; e. 6 &

THIS BRIEF REVIEW of action both in Canada and on a
world scale, shows a notable advance in the struggle for
wemen’s equality. 1975 laid a solid foundation as the

opening year: for a Decade for Women — 1975-85 — =

proclaimed by the United Nations. This will form an
integral part of the forces fighting against imperialism, for .

_ national liberation struggles, and the advance of the forces

for world peace and socialism.

PACIFIC. TRIBUNE—JANUARY 16, 1976—Page 9

Women's Decade —