Saved from the gallows
Spanish poet in Toronto

Marcos Ana, the Spanish poet who spent 22 years in prison. under
the Franco regime, will fly from Paris where he lives in exile to
attend the Canadian Conference for Amnesty in Spain to be held in
Toronto, October 22, 23 and 24. As well as talking about political
prioners he will give readings of poetry he wrote in jail.

Born in Salamanca in 1921, of a poor peasant family, Ana earned
his living as a boy in the trade of pedlar. The Spanish Civil War
changed his entire life. During the war his father was killed and, in
1939, at the age of 18 years, he was arrested with men of the
Republican army trapped at the French border. Ana spent two years
in prison before being brought to trial and was sentenced to death.
Because of his youth, the death sentence was commuted to 30 years
imprisonment. Later, following discovery of a clandestine news-
sheet in his cell, Ana endured a long period of solitary confinement,
a new trial and a new sentence of death. On hearing of her son’s
new death sentence, Ana’s mother collapsed and died.

Marcos Ana began writing in prison and gradually became known
abroad, notably in Latin America where his poems were first pub-
lished. After spending 22 years in jail, he eventually was released
at the age of 40 as a result of consistent pressure from abroad.
Since his release he has beén living in Paris.

Here is one of his poems translated from the Spanish by Chloe

Vulliamy and Stephen Sedley:

A SHORT LETTER TO THE WORLD

Gripped in a crossbow’s teeth
I am held and cannot fly.

My soul is torn

by its struggle to break free
but I cannot pull out these bolts
that have been shot home through my breast.

More than seven thousand times
the moon has passed across my sky;
golden liberty has passed

across my dreams as many times.

For me the sun makes flowers grow
—yet why? if sterile I can see

how silently within the walls

my blood is being stripped from me.

Urge world disarmament actio

By JOHN PITTMAN

UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. —
Foreign Minister Andrei Gromy-
ko presented to the 26th Gen-
eral Assembly the Soviet Union’s
imaginative new plan for mak-
ing disarmament an urgent con-
cern of all nations.

The Soviet plan not only
reflects the continuity of Mos-
cow’s efforts in the United
Nations for peace but is devised
to win maximum support in the
face of obstructionist and diver-
sionary tactics of the imperialist
powers and their client states.

To those who would question
the wisdom of yet another
forum for airing disarmament
questions, on the ground that
the UN and its agencies are al-
ready dealing with disarmament,
Gromyko conceded that “it
would be wrong to _ believe
nothing has been done to curb
the arms race.”

He listed among positive
achievements the ban on nuclear
arms tests in the atmosphere, in
outer space and under water;

and averting—so far—the dan- .

ger from placing weapons of
mass destruction in outer space
and on the sea-bed and’ the
ocean floor. He reported increas-
ing support for banning under-

- ground nuclear weapons tests,

for establishing nuclear-free
zones in different regions of the
world and for dismantling for-
eign military bases in alien ter-
ritories.

He took note of efforts to ban
and eliminate bacteriological
weapons which are nearing cul-
mination in a Convention. He
observed that a recently achiev-

the possibility that this state of
affairs would continue until “the
- policy of states, above all that
of large states, truly pursues
peaceful objectives.”

Taking into account these
weaknesses and shortcomings of
the world organization, the
Soviet Union, he said, consider-
ed that ‘“‘a- radical solution’ of
disarmament questions naturally
requires a united effort by all
states, whatever the size of their
territory and population or their
level of military might and eco-

“4 ye
Because of the immens:
the tasks facing such
Disarmament Conferen¢
plan envisages giving
ference the character 0 f
manent forum” or a forum
tioning over a long Pe )
time, holding regular
and giving first priority !
tions of prohibiting a” :
ating nuclear weapons. I i
nuclear arms race tha fn
ing the greatest concert
peoples, Gromyko said, ° ‘i
“human . conscience E
tolerate their use. a
The World Disarmame?
ference should be. ee)
“outside the framework 0
United Nations so tha
be attended by all states, ;
ther they are membelS © jig”
United Nations or nol oh
no way should it impiné
diminish the significance»
isting forms and channe
armament negotiations:
Curb Arms Rat® i
Another characterise '
Soviet plan stands ee
Gromyko and the te
Soviet draft resolution ihe

i
bly is asked to express
viction. that «especiil

and :

question of banning is 2
ating nuclear weapons wget’! Ph
ter of expediency and the

It is asked to call om
ernments of all nucle iy
powers to find a “SP ,
tion” to the questions 2 Ga
disarmament. It asks its Gun,
al Assembly to state ,

in
that the World Dist fh

ae

You do not know what a man is
torn and bleeding in a snare.

If you knew it you would come
on the waves and on the wind
out of every borderland

with your hearts melting and sick
aN an holding up your fists aloft

aa ‘ come to rescue what is yours.

nomic potentials.” Conference be held if

Soviet leaders’ visit
pursue peace purpose

countries, took sociale
side the boundaries © yd 70s
try, turning it into 4 ;
tem. That signified
turn in the correlation |
in the world arena @

ed U.S.-U.S.S.R. accord (the hot
line) realizes the need to pre-
vent accidental or deliberately
provoked incidents involving the
use of nuclear weapons. He
stressed the importance of the
Strategic Arms _ Limitations
Talks (SALT) for meeting the
interests of the Soviet and U.S.
peoples and of world peace.
‘Only a Threshold’

But he declared, “What has
been achieved in. the field of
limiting the arms race is only a
threshold to disarmament. Im-

If one day you come too late

and you find my body cold,

if you find my comrades dead
white as snow among their chains,
pick,our banners up again

and our anguish and our dreams
and the names upon the walls.

By BERT WHYTE
MOSCOW — Premier Alexei
Kosygin’s visit to Algeria and
President Nikolai Podgorny’s
visit to Vietnam were frontpag-
ed in all Moscow newspapers.

evoluti :

Marcos Ana will be one of the speakers at a public meeting in
Toronto on the evening of Oct. 22. He will open discussions at two
of the workshops of the Canadian Conference for Amnesty in
Spain which will take place Oct. 23 and 24 at the Ontario Institute
for Studies in Education at 252 Bloor St. W. Other speakers taking
part will include Julio Alvarez Del Vayo, foreign minister in the
Spanish Republican government, Carlos Elvira of the Spanish
Workers’ Commissions, David Archer, president of the Ontario
Federation of Labor, and members: of parliament Andrew Brewin,

David MacDonald, and Ian Wahn.

The conference has a wide list of supporters including Pierre
Berton, Prof. Chandler Davis, Dr. James G. Endicott, Gloria Montero
Fulton, Hon. Sidney Green, M.L.A. of Winnipeg, William Kashtan,
W. A. Kardash, Stephen Lewis, Laurier LaPierre, and Prof. Mel-

ville Watkins.

Further information about the conference can be obtained by

phoning 921-6595 (Toronto).

Murder in Madrid protested

PRAGUE—The World Federa-
tion of Trade Unions has sent
the following telegram to the
Spanish Minister of the Interior:

“The WFTU has learnt with
profound -indigation of the
murder by civil guard forces of
the militant worker Pedro Patino
while he was distributing leaf-
lets in Madrid calling for a
Strike of building workers.

“We most vigorously protest
against this crime committed
against a worker engaged in a
perfectly legitimate activity in
defence of the industrial de-
mands of his class brothers.

“The WFTU calls for legal

proceedings to be opened against
those responsible for the mur-
der. It calls for respect of the
right to strike, civil and trade
union rights and freedoms, an
end to the repression of striking
workers and the release of those
in prison”.

The WFTU also sent a mes-
sage of solidarity to the exter-
nal delegation of the Spanish
Workers’ Commissions asking
them to convey condolences to
the family of Pedro Patino and
his comrades, the Madrid build-
ing workers.

The WFTU will submit a
complaint on this matter to the
LO

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1971—PAGE 4

portant as it may be, to stop
here would mean evading the
solution of the fundamental
problem.” And he added:

“.. . nobody should forget
that disarmament talks are tak-
ing place at the time when the

arms race is not only continu- .

ing but is gaining speed as well.
This is in fact something like a
vicious circle. But this circle
can be and must be broken. The
supreme interests of mankind
demand it.”

Clearly, what the UN is doing
to curb the arms race is not
enough. More effort is required
to end “this squandering of ma-
terial and intellectual values...
at a time when many millions of
people have no bread with which
to assuage their hunger or a
roof over their heads . . . and
when more than a third of the
world’s population is illiterate.”

Nuclear Powers

Gromyko reported the rejec-
tion by Peking of Moscow’s pro-
posal to convene a conference
of the five nuclear powers, but
asserted that the last word
had not been. said, since “nu-
clear disarmament can only be
achieved with the participation
and consent of all the five nu-
clear powers and . they
cannot surrender that responsi-
bility.”

He deplored the failure of the
Security Council to perform its
functions as outlined in the UN
Charter, but he squarely faced

Soviet-Algerian relations ex-
tend far beyond economic ties:
they include political cooperation
in the Struggle for world peace
and settlement of the Middle
East crisis.

“There are no political prob-
lems in our relations that stand
in the way of the development
of our cooperation,”
stressed at a dinner given in his
honor by Houari Boumediene,
“Our efforts are aimed at en-
suring a swerve towards a re-
laxation of tensions in the world.
To achieve this it is necessary
to liquidate seats of American
aggression in Indochina and of
Israeli aggression in the Middle
East. The Soviet people solidar-
ize with the Algerian people in
their struggle against imperial-
ism and in the building of a new
life in Algeria.”

In Hanoi the first secretary of
the Vietnam Workers Party, Le
Duan, in “a. speech welcoming
the Soviet party and govern-
ment delegation, lauded the So-
viet Union’s “resolute support
and heartfelt assistance to the
Vietnamese people in _ their
struggle for national liberation
and in the building of socialism.”

Le Duan continued:

“The heroic exploit of the So-
viet army and the Soviet people
in the Second World War saved
humanity from. the fascist
plague, created conditions for

the victory of revolution in a~

number of Asian and African

Kosygin _

result, the world © Fa
cluding three streal fest Mi,
over to all-round
against imperialism. :
Le Duan went on ' ae Nu!
Soviet assistance # wept! 8
the people and serv") gil iM
Vietnam as a W One
forward undaunted ia
tory over the Amen sf
sors. The struggle Cag, F §
three fronts—the mi
tical and diplomatic. nf aN}
Nikolai Podgorny
admiration for the
namese people “wh0 den
dering the main re the?
liberation struggle O76 60
ples of Indochina - - thing |
e

Union will do every u :
sary for the just ©") 295 “a
peoples of Vietnam, 1V
Cambodia to score | tio
We take into consid? i
the war is still cont +f
that Vietnam needs iqita)
munition, various i
terials ..< ae
Soviet policy 1 jeah
Asian problems 15 hag
gorny said—firm supP peo
battled Vietnam, thé °
Laos and Cambodias, ira
demand for the wit
American troops tion
china; fraternal rele ag!
Mongolia and ae)
friendship with PeoP 2 1
readiness to normal pub
with the People’s sts
China in the interé sie

peoples of both coun