Speak up, Mike!

Your silence condones
U.S. gunboat diplomacy

See open letter to Pearson

Withdraw U.S. Marines—

Page 12

mY: MAY 7, 1965 Eo 10¢

L.
—. 26, NO. 18

Halt U.S. intervention

Hands off

Dominican
Republic

By MAURICE RUSH

Resorting once again to the “‘big stick’’ policy in Latin America President
Johnson has ordered more than 15,000 U.S. Marines and paratroopers into the
Dominican Republic to put down a popular revolt seeking to restore constitutional
government on the Caribbean Island.

Acting at first behind the
smokescreen of “protecting
American nationals,” the U.S,
soon switched its line to *fight-
ing Communism” as the extra-
ordinary, large number of US,
combat troops poured into the
Caribbean Republic and entered

the fighting on the side of the mili-
tary junta,

The anti-Communist pretext
has also become widely dis-
credited as on-the-spot report-
ers and leaders of the rebels
indicated that the aim ofthe rebel
movement was the restoration
of the democratic constitution
which was overthrown by the
military with U,S, backing along
with the first elected president,
Dr, Juan Bosch, in 1963,

The American intervention in
the Dominican Republic brought
immediate denunciation around
the world and particularly from
Latin American countries, The
U.S, action was in open violation
of Articles 15 and 17 ofthe Chart-
er of the Organization of Ameri-
can States, These deny the right
of any state “for any reason
whatever” to intervene in the in-
ternal affairs of another Western
Hemisphere state,

The U,S, intervention was ac-
companied by a statement of
policy from President Johnson
that the U,S, will intervene in any
state in the Western Hemisphere
if it thinks events there could
lead to establishment of a gov-
ernment of which it does not
approve,

Lashing out at the U,S, action
the president of Chile, Eduard
Frei declared in Santiago: “We
will defend without weakness non-
intervention and the free deter-
mination of Latin American
peoples,” In Caracas, the Vene-
zuelan Foreign Minister sum-
moned the U,S, Ambassador to
protest officially at the American
landings,

In Lima, Peru both houses of
the Peuvian Congress approved
motions rejecting the presence

of U,S, troops in the Dominican
Republic and demanding their
immediate withdrawal, News-
papers in Brazil declared Presi-
dent Johnson had committed a
grave political error,

At the meeting of the Security
Council this week, held at the
request of theSoviet Union to deal
with the U,S, intervention, the
Uruguay delegate assailed the
“Johnson Doctrine” and suggest-
ed the Security Council ask “an
immediate cessation of all uni-
lateral action” in the Dominican

- Republic,

The Soviet delegate to the
Security Council, Dr, Nikolai
Fedorenko, Monday called on the
Security Council to condemn the
open American aggression and
demand the withdrawalofthe U.S,
troops, The Council is meeting
this week on the request,

The U,S, action was met with
bitter criticism Tuesday night
at the meeting of the Vancouver
Labor Council. (Gee full story
on page 3,) An emergency * Hands
Off the Dominican Republic” rally
was called for Thursday night in
the Pender Auditorium by the
Vancouver Committee of the
Communist Party,

*The sending of Marines into
the Dominican Republic is in the
worst tradition of U,S, policies
towards its southern neighbors—
the tradition of the ‘big stick’ and
of ‘gun boat diplomacy’ against
Nicaragua in the twenties, Guate-
mala in the fifties, and Cuba in
the sixties,” said e statement
issued this week by the National
Executive of the Communist
Party of Canada,

’ The statement continues:

See AGGRESSION, pg. 3