i

Irish workers uniting
for peaceful solution

British direct rule of Northern
Ireland (Ulster) imposed by the
Tory government of Prime Min-
ister Edward Heath was imme-
diately criticized by the Com-
munist Parties of Ireland, and
Britain. The CPI said that it
“has continually called for the
suspension of the Stormont
(Northern Ireland) administra-
tion. It opposes direct rule from
Britain. The CPI demands has
been for replacement of Stor-
mont by a democratic adminis-
tration composed of representa-
tives of people’s organizations
and not by a hand-picked Lon-
don commission.”

The Irish Communists demand-
ed release of all those held in
Northern Ireland internment
camps, enactment of a Bill of
Rights which would include re-
peal of the Special Powers Act,
introduction of proportional re-

presentation, democratically-re- -

drawn electoral district boun-
daries, and equal democratic
rights for all. “There can be no
basis for a democratic political
solution until these minimum
conditions are met,” the CPI
said.

“In the present tense situation,
the CPI calls for maximum unity
of the working class to ensure
‘security for all the people. This
is a time for non-violent and
peaceful political action to guar-
antee a democratic administra-
tion in Ulster,” the CPI said. It
urged all Irish workers to reject

the incitement of anti-working .

class elements, “such as William
Craig and Company.”

“The situation is grave,” it
warned, “Any extension into a
civil conflict would find its vic-
tims among the ordinary Protes-
tant and Catholic workers, not
among the members of the Bri-
tish government, the leadership
of the Unionist Party” in Ulster,
“or of the Lynch government”
in the Republic of Ireland (Eire).
The CPI urged a mobilization of
workers’ strength to find a peace-
ful solution “rather than divi-
sion among the working people.”

Craig, the leader of the reac-
tionary Ulster Vanguard, de-
clared in Belfast, “We have been
betrayed by our friends and rob-
bed of our rights. We intend to
fight and win them back!” It was
not an idle threat in the opinion
-of informed Irish sources, since
it is backed by a well-armed

Members of

trade unions and politica

underground army of more than
100,000 organized in the Ulster
Force (UVF), the armed wing
of the UV. The UVF and Craig
both have close ties with the
British Army and Stormont re-
gime, and their weapons are re-
gulation British Army and police
types.

The Irish Republican Army
(IRA), generally referred to as
“the Officials” in the capitalist
press, stated that since it “is
not engaged in an aggressive
military campaign, there is no
need for a truce. If the British
Army ceased its terror, the need
for military action from the IRA
would not exist.”

- splinter-group, are divided on the

truce issue.

Last week’s crippling strike in
Ulster tended to show that the
Protestant working masses are
fearful of what British “direct
rule” may bring, and Craig’s re-
actionaries are taking full advtn-
tage of these fears. Walk-outs
by Protestant workers in Ulster-
government controlled sectors
were nearly complete: the police
walkout snarled traffic, buses
were not running, and telephones
were not working. Rail and air
transport was almost completely

. paralyzed and government-run

power stations were shut down.
In the “private sector,” workers

at. Belfast’s important shipyards |

also walked out.

The Northern Ireland trade
unions generally have taken a
good, but somewhat cautious
stand on the present conflict. In
a February conference in Bel-
fast, the trade unions’ leadership
called for a peaceful solution and
a Bill of Rights based on the
United Nations Declaration of
Human Rights adopted in 1948,
and suggested that it was up to
the rank-and-file to give the lead
toward implementing such a pro-
gram. Zee

Fact of biology

A Montreal bio-chemist re-
cently told members of the
Canadian Club of Montreal that
“there’s a biological reason for
strike and violence in our so-
ciety.”

He may have accidently stum-
bled on the fact of biology that
people must eat. .

| parties, including the

AKEL are shown participating in the largest meeting in the history
of Cypress. The meeting was organized to counteract the continued
pressure for the violent overthrow of President Makarios by the
Greek military junta and their NATO allies. The AKEL (Progressive
Party of Working People) supports Makarios and his policy of a
peaceful solution of the Cypress problem on the basis of a unitary,

foreign aggression. :

PACIFIC,TRIBUNE—FRIQAY, APRIL 7, 1972--RAGE 8. 5

independent, sovereign state'and is working for unity of the broadest
masses for the. mobilization, of the Cypress people to counter any

Teo ee ee a re

By MEL DOIG

Meeting at a time of grave
social and political crisis in
Italy, the 13th Congress of the
Italian Communist Party, held
March 13-17 in the great indus-
trial working-class city of
Milan, made its main work the
defining and approval of the
party’s policy and tactics in the
country-wide election campaign
that opened the day before it
convened.

_Thirty-five million Italians are.
eligible to vote May 7. These
are the first national elections
since the Liberation to take
place before the constitutional
time limit, in this case one year
earlier. On the Sunday morning,
March 12, the fraternal delegates
visited a number of cities and
towns in the Milan district.
‘Cheering Italian Communists
waved to us as they stood wait-
ing for the town halls to open
so that they could inscribe their
party’s lists of candidates before
those of all other parties. Tradi-

tionally the Communists’ names .

are always the first on the
ballots.

On March 13 the ICP Con-
gress opened. The 1,042 deleg-
ates representing the 1,500,419
members of the Italian Com-
munist Party unanimously
adopted the main report submit-
ted by Enrico Berlinguer, whom
they elected as the new general
secretary of the party. Berlin-
guer replaces in this post. the
ailing Luigi Longo, named by

the 13th Congress as the party

chairman,

In the packed sports arena
- where the Congress met, a single
slogan high above the presidium
announced the party’s call to
action: ‘‘Forward to the building
of working-class and popular
unity; for a government with a
new democratic direction; for
the renewal of Italy on the path
to socialism!”

The unexpected announce-
ment of national elections, ‘and
the consequent reduction from
seven to five days for the Con-
gress, determined the nature of
-the main report delivered on the
opening afternoon. Certain ideo-
logical questions; the world
anti-imperialist struggle; the
depth of the developing crisis
within imperialism and its ef-
fects on Italy; these and other
questions, dealt with in the
November 1970 Central Com-
mittee report for discussion
throughout the Italian Commun-
ist Party, could only be touched
on at the 13th Congress. From
its outset the delegates unanim-
ously agreed that the Congress
had to equip and mobilize the
party for electoral battle at
once, and that on short ‘notice
and in.the.midst;of a: particular-

Fad

ect wm Italy's Communists gird for

ly complex and dangerous situa-
tion. Less than 48 hours before
the Congress opened, “leftist”
and police provocations in the
streets of Milan attested to
reaction’s efforts to create an
atmosphere of violence and fear
among the people during the
elections. :

The economic crisis today
sees 1,000,000 unemployed in
Italy. Only one in three persons
can find a job. Many plants are
curtailing production. While
standards of living are drastical-
ly. declining for most of the
people, immense riches are be-
ing accumulated by a small
minority.

The political crisis today is
marked by increasing loss of
democratic rights, by govern-

mental incapacity and the rising.

discontent of working people
and farmers, discontent that the
forces of reaction and of fascism
are seeking to turn to their
advantage.

For 10 years Italy’s govern-
ment has been the Centre-Left
coalition of four parties, the
two principal ones being the
Christian Democrats and the
Socialists with 264 and 62 seats
respectively in the 630-member
Chamber of Deputies elected in
1968. The Communists, who
were not in the Centre-Left, had
166 deputies elected.

With the collapse of the
Centre-Left, the Christian Demo-
cratic party has assumed shaky
‘governmental power. The im-
mediate, determining cause of
Italy’s present parliamentary
crisis has been the decision of
the Christian Democrats to
move the right, to encourage
the most reactionary forces in
Italian society.

Berlinguer’s report declared:
“The main reason for the poli-
tical crisis that has paralyzed
. . . parliament lies in the fact
that Christian Democracy-. . .
has swerved its strategy to the
right, thus blocking the rein-
forcement of democracy.”

Affirming that the working
class of Italy has become “the
decisive force in the life of the
nation,” the ICP general secret-
ary stated in his concluding
speech, “The alternative we now
propose is not the enlargement
of the Centre-Left but getting
rid of it . . . of fighting for
participation of Communists.”
The process of attempting to go
ahead with the Centre-Left, he
said, is impossible. To the
cheers of the Congress deleg-
ates, Berlinguer declared, “Now
is the time for Italy to go ahead
with the working class and
democratic forces.”

Communist trade union leaders

who spoke called on the party to,

- exert still great

rat lor
- responsibility is great i;

trade unionists, preseM’s
ized in three centres, tne
being the Communist-le6 aa
Links with the Socialis! fa
have become stronger,
representative address”
13th Congress with aie
unity in action with tis
munist Party. Other p4 ut i
movements of the left, iy

Cc
.
\

Congress. aaa AS

In the main report “hes Wi
as in a number of Spe im.
leaders of the ICP, 8° aly
was placed on a “neW gh,
and how the Italian COM Gy
Party sees it. “The gt@4 af
tive is to construct “ig
Europe,” Berlinguer $4 if
fic and democratic,
towards socialism . --

Italian Communists sind
only towards the WOM?) afl j
of our own country, "orc or

“all the democratic

our continent.”

Of the 1,042 deleg
were industrial work
farm laborers and peatiy
croppers; 96  studem
clerks; 43 technicians
intellectuals. One hut
forty-six delegate tweet
25 years of age; 171 1 afd pe
and 30; 247 between 3 sel

There were 50 rater &
ations at the 13th Co Hy
cluding all the socl®.” ji,
tries, with China 4?

invited but absent.

471 control syd

MOSCOW — At a Pigg
ference for Soviet on oF ate
journalists, held i0. a of Na
of the State Committ of x
USSR Council of Mim pal
Science and Technology Wy
Zhimerin, first dep i'M
man of this committe 446 "Bhi
at present the uss, gift A
control systems 0% fveliBii
purposes. During t Sal yy
period (1971-1975) the. Uke
will increase six ae
2,000 computing cent ss
ped with new compPt of
be put into operation. — teh)
ber of electronic co™ ind
the consumer g00 5 ed: ?
will be more than tP. ‘be,

In the report On Dl
CPSU Congress Leo of fi.
nev, general secretae
CPSU Central Comm |
that in the future 4” bath
state automated syst® of Ae
lection and process! 6
mation is to be
formulation of this
to the great potent!
Soviet, economy...

task Mle