Building a new economy on the — ashes of fascism By JONAS ARTABAN LISBON — Building up the Portuguese economy from the terrible legacy of 48 years of fascist oppres- sion and rampant monopoly exploitation is going to be an. extremely difficult task for the Portuguese people. The range of problems is wide: controlling -inflaticn, dealing with inadequate investment, allevi- ating unemployment, eliminating domestic shortages, increasing output and productivity, winning contracts and export markets, improving state controls and the accuracy of economic indicators, and, of course, developing the material welfare of the working people. The Tribune talked with several working econom- ists about these problems and their daily work in building the economy. Problem of Unemployment _ Most of the economists were very conscious of the general problem of the power of domestic and inter- national monapoly and the serious impact monopoly By MICHAEL SAND A deep understanding of the dangers of nuclear weapons and of United States imperialism, which used these weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, was manifest at the 20th World Conference _ Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. Held from 2-9 August in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki under the auspices Of the Japan Council Against A&H Bombs (Gensuikyo), the Conference stressed the role of Gensuikyo activists in building up the mass campaign against the extension of U.S. nuclear weapons based in mainland Japan and Okinawa. It condemned the Japanese government’s policy of collaboration with the U.S. and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, in whose ‘framework this collaboration takes place. The Conference demanded that the Liberal Demo- cratic (Conservative) government of Premier Tanaka - enact stronger relief measures for the several hundred _ thousand survivals of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts, now suffering serious after-effects. _ The final resolution. “Hiroshima Appeals to the Whole World” called on all nuclear weapon states and all governments to put an immediate stop to the test- ing, use, manufacture and stockpiling’ of nuclear weapons. The 47 overseas delegates, special guests and observers from 13 countries and 7 international Crganizations, as well as ten thousand delegates representing people from all parts of Japan form part of the movement developing internationally for a total ban on nuclear weapons. The speeches of three among many participants in- _ dicate the intensity of struggle and analysis on the part of the Japanese movement. __ In his report on the struggle to remove U.S. nuclear bases from Japan, Masayoshi Nagao, Chairman of the Kanagawa Prefecture Peace Committee, pointed out that Japan, including Okinawa, is still the keystone of the U.S. imperialist strategy of aggression in Asia PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1974—Page 6 decisions had on the economy. One group of econom- ists, members of the Union of Economists, were especially worried about the growing unemployment problem. Although the capitalist economies generally were heading into a recession, they felt that unem- ployment in Portugal was rising more rapidly than in the normal cycle. It was about 5%, or well above the usual level of about 2%. They predicted that there would be even higher unemployment, unless the Pro- visional Government was able to counteract the present trend, by the time vacations were over and work was back to the usual pattern in October. The economists were agreed in pointing to the cause of the immediate problem: a withholding of investment and orders by big firms. Hard to Prove One economist concerned with this decline in in- vestment said that the sabotage was hard to prove directly because it was “sabotage through the mar- AFTERMATH ATOMIC |WAR and the Pacific. Japan in Particular is portant Asian base of the U.S. Navy. In spite of strong mass protests of o iti position, th nuclear-propelled attack aircraft-carrier Midway. the Fleet, has made the : home port. A of Washington’s “forward develonment” shi eae the most im- f * time provide excuses, but this hides nothing. _sion, which was established by Washingt ’ ; re ketplace”. The sabotage might mean_ there aie fewer ships being sent fcr repair to Portuguese yards, or fewer factories being built, or fewer el nical improvements being made. The big firms ing their orders or their capital elsewhere ¢ ey acting against the interests of the Portuguese F™ and the Provisional Government. need Two of the economists worked directly in t erally | motion of Portuguese exports. Both were 8€M iu. optimistic about the prospect for increasing ges ee including the development of trade with the 5° countries. at of SU The Ministry of Economy has a departme econo ply and Pricing. The Tribune met with some the area of fresh vegetables. and fruit. ein Margarida Cardosa, was specialized in the wines. ‘ At the same time, the operational area of # Fleet has been expanded westward to cover ay Indian Ocean, and the stationing of the MidW other ships in Yokosuka is pivotal to U.S. exercise control over this ocean. : the M! Nagano presented new data showing that sorted y way and the seven other U.S. warships homeP cat weapons in Japan, the Tanaka governments, si predecessors, violates Japan’s “non-nucle ciples”, which however have always taken place under the LDP to the requirements ° ist global strategy. mine , ntl Agreements on Indochina were signed’, cera Nagano, “but the fact that the supersoni’r | Kad missions day and night over the Southern an ern territorial air space of Vietnam © ee irrefutable violation of the Paris Agreem@.) military re-intervention in Vietnam : by for “ administration is not merely a_ possibility js StAB future but is going on all the time, even at he concluded. d a. On the subject of the Hiroshima and Naghster i asters, the Rev. Gyotsu Sato, a Buddhist M™ 6 ator member of the Gensuikyo executive, call bombings “a large scale biological expet re first ° Jepanese people and on Japanese cities, he if in preparations for a future nuclear wat - S He branded as criminal not only the ; if tion of civilian populations in the two oa the activities of the Atomic Bomb Casua