nae

A mixture of sadness and joy

as lbarruri returns to Spain

MOSCOW — “The Spanish
People, the working people, the
Progressive forces ‘of Spain will
never forget the great role played
m their struggle against fascist
dictatorship by the fraternal assis-
tance and solidarity of the Soviet
People,’’ said Dolores Ibarruri at
a press conference here on the
-€ve of her departure for home.
“La Pasionaria’, Chairman of
the Communist Party of Spain,

_ has returned to her country after

almost 40 years.

: Ibarruri told the Soviet people,
‘I am torn by conflicting emo-
tions at this dramatic moment in
my life. I feel-joy at returning
home to my motherland, but I feel

’ Sadness at the same time because

T am leaving the Soviet Union
where I have lived for nearly 40
years.

“Together with your people, I
experienced the hardships of the
war against Hitlerism; suffered
together with you, fought side by
side with you and shared the joy
of victory,’ she said. Dolores
Ibarruri’s son was killed fighting
as a Soviet officer at Stalingrad.

“‘T have admired and continue
to admire how quickly the Soviet
people healed the wounds of the
war and restored the ravaged
economy. You have achieved
spectacular successes. These
successes have great importance
for the liberation struggle of the
peoples of the whole world.

‘‘The Spanish people,’ Do-
lores Ibarruri continued, *‘regard~
the peoples of the land of the
Soviets as their long-standing and
true friends. This friendship was
strikingly manifested in what was
the most difficult time for us. And

Delores Ibarruri, chairman of the Communist Party of Spain, has
returned to her country after over 38 years in exile. Seated beside her is
Santiago Carrillo general secretary of the party. :

now every Soviet person, upon
meeting Spaniards, cannot but
feel their sincere love and sym-
pathy. This means that our
friendship has a great future,
which cannot be destroyed by
anyone.”

Answering questions about
prospects for the democratic de-
velopment in Spain, Ibarruri
stressed that far-reaching changes
are now taking place in the coun-
try. ‘‘These changes were_pre-
pared by a prolonged struggle of
the working class, of all democra-
tic forces against Francoism in all

its forms. This struggle has never
ceased.’’ Dolores Ibarruri ex-
pressed. confiderice that these
changes in Spain will continue
‘‘for Spaniards have no desire to
return to the grim past.”’

In conclusion, La Pasionaria
said, ‘‘I would like to convey
good wishes to the Soviet people.
I wish the Soviet people happi-
ness, successes in all spheres,

fulfilment of the grand tasks of

by the party of Lenin and prosper-
ity of the homeland of the Great
October Socialist Revolution.”’

International campaign mounted
for release of Uruguayan patriot

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay —
A renewed and urgent plea to

Rampersaud
trial reset

GEORGETOWN, Guyana —
The Arnold Rampersaud murder
re-trial ended April 21 after 25
days. The jury was deadlocked
after deliberating nine hours and,
as a result, the 35-year-old father
Of five is committed to stand trial
for a third time. At his first trial in
Nov. 197¢ the jury also failed to
altive at a verdict.

persaud’s case has been

€nup internationally with calls:

to the Bumham government to

drop the charges against him.

© government has chosen to

Make Rampersaud an example to

Guyanese who struggle for

Socialism,’’ said his defence
Committee recently.

He was arrested in July 1974

and was not brought before the |

Courts until November 1976. Dur-
ing his long imprisonment he was
Tutalized and his health has suf-
fred. Rampersaud is a_long-
Standing member of the People’s
gressive Party. The Defence
Ommittee is demanding this
arce should cease and he be
Spared the ordeal of a third trial.

save the life of Jaime Perez has
come from Latin America. Perez,
member of parliament and leader

‘of the Communist Party during

the imprisonment of Rodney
Arismendi, was arrested on Oc-
tober 24, 1974.

Since that time, he has under-
gone severe tortures, been trans-
ferred from prison to prison. His
friends and comrades have raised
real fears for his life. Last seen by
his wife during a brief visit, Perez
looked thin, old and extremely
weak. Dressed in the same dirty,
torn clothes he wore five months

. JAIME PEREZ

before, he bore signs of the tre-
mendous physical and psycholog-
ical suffering he was enduring.

‘ Jaime Perez is 48 years of age.
He became active in trade unions
at the age of 12, working in the
leather trades. In the unions and
later in the Communist Party,
Perez’s work was of increasing in-
tensity. He was elected to local
municipal government in 1954.

The same year he became a
member of the Central Commit-
tee of the Uruguayan Communist
Party and Party leader in the capi-
tal, Montevideo. In 1961, during
an attack by fascists on the Par-
ty’s headquarters, Perez was se-
verely stabbed and hovered near
death for several days.

In 1971, with the establishment
of the popular front (Frente
Amplio) Jaime Perez was elected
to the national parliament after
having served 17 years in local
government. In that capacity he
spoke out against the growing
trend to the right and the rise of
fascism.

It was natural, therefore, that
Jaime Perez, Communist leader
and people’s representative, was
among the first arrested by the
junta. The international campaign
to secure the release of this
Uruguayan patriot, as it secured
the release of Arismendi,

‘continues. ~

CARIBBEAN COMMUNIST PARTIES MEET ON LIBERATION

HAVANA — Communist and Workers’ Parties of the Caribbean
met here recently and in a joint statement issued May 4 noted “a
growing tendency toward socialism which has been victoriously man-
ifested on the African continent and also expressed in the Caribbean.”

Parties represented were the Communist Party of Cuba, the
Guadeloupe CP, People’s Progressive Party of Guyana, the Unified
Party of Haitian Communists, Martinique Communist Party, Puerto

’ Rican Communist Party and the Dominican Communist Party. The CP

of Venezuela took part as an observer.

‘DIFFERENT LAWS FOR RICH AND POOR
NEW YORK — The U.S. Communist Daily World commented
editorially on the contrast betwetn the treatment of Patty Hearst whois
free on $6,000 bail on kidnapping, terrorism and robbery charges and
that of the Wilmington Ten who languished in jail (282 years combined
sentences) on framed-up charges brought by witnesses who have since

admitted they lied.

“Judge Callister’s (Hearst’s judge) decision highlights the fact that in
the U.S. the courts are rigged to favor the rich at the expense of the
worker and the racially oppressed,’’ wrote the Daily World.

NEW USSR POPULATION FIGURES RELEASED

MOSCOW — At the beginning of 1977 the Soviet Union had a
population of 257.9 million, according to a new edition of ‘‘Data About
the USSR”’ published here. Seventy-five percent of the USSR’s people
live in cities and 25% in rural areas. Moscow is the largest city with
7,819,000. Leningrad has a population of 4,425,000; Kiev, 2,079,000;
Tashkent, 1, 689,000. Baku, Gorky, Kuibyshev, Minsk, Novosibirsk,
Odessa, Omsk, Sverdlovsk, Tbilisi and a number of other cities have

over one million.

’ ISRAELI RIGHT WING WINS IN NATIONAL VOTE

TEL-AVIV — The right wing Likud party won 41 seats in the new
parliament upsetting the 29-year rein by the scandal-ridden Labor
Party. Led by Menahem Begin, the Likud party campaigned on the
slogan ‘‘not one inch’’ of occupied lands will be returned. With incom-
plete returns in, the standing is: Likud 41 seats; Labor Party 33;
Democratic Movement for. Change 14; National Religious Party 12;
Communist Party 6; Agudat Israel 3; United'Arab List 1; Shlomzion
party 2; Flatto-Sharon 2; Shelli party 2 and Civil Rights Movement 1
Reaction from neighboring Arab states was swift: Syrian and Iraqi
radio both called Begin a ‘‘notorious terrorist who advocates the
, : : establishment of a greater Israel at the expense of Arab territory’ "= He
communist construction outlined has jong advocated the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip
together with their population of one million Palestinian Arabs.

ABOR ™ BRIEF

‘OVERTIME LAW
CHANGED IN MAN.

WINNIPEG — A bill restricting
the use of compulsory overtime to
emergencies, or where it is written
into an agreement, was read for
the second time in the Manitoba
legislature last week after a sharply
divided NDP caucus debate.

Manitoba Federation of Labor
president Nels Thibeault welcomed
the bill as far as it goes in introduc-
ing the concept of voluntary over-
time into law, but indicated the
MEL would continue pressing for a
complete ban on overtime in collec-
tive bargaining legislation.

PSAC HITS GOVT. .
WITH BAD FAITH

OTTAWA — The Public Serv-
ice alliance of Canada last week
charged the federal Treasury
Board with negotiating in bad
faith in refusing to move from its
6% wage-cutting guideline in con-
tract talks with the PSAC’s 18,000
-member General Labor and
Trades group.

The 125,000 member PSAC
took its stand in the fact of the

federal .government’s hard
headed determination to blud-
geon the GLT’s with the wage-
cutting legislation.

BELL WORKERS
WILDCAT

MONTREAL — Reluctance by
the leadership of the Communica-
tions Union of Canada to release
the details to its members of a con-
tract settlement May 18, with Bell
Canada has prompted walkouts by
350 of 470 operators here.

The strike which began May 10,
with 45. operators walking out in
Montreal has since spread, with 55
workers joining the protest in
Chicoutimi, Quebec May 19.

RUBBER WORKERS
VOTE TO STRIKE

KITCHENER — With a con-
ciliation meeting planned for May
19, more than 1,270 members of
the United Rubber Workers at
Uniroyal Ltd., here voted last
week to strike to back up their
contract demands for a settlement
in line with similar settlements in
the rubber industry this year.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 27, 1977—Page 9