: } : i i : i Lialaeapasimnrpirht annie In paying tribute to the work of Dolores Ibarruri, its president, on the occasion of her 90th birthday, Dec. 9, the Communist Party of Spain has established a Commit- tee of Homage and has planned a mass public event in Madrid. In a letter inviting greetings, the CPS recalls Ibarruri’s role during the Spanish Civil War and her world-wide rallying call for the defence of the Spanish Republic against fascism. 4 birthday a greetings to “Dolores is not exclusively > : “b DOlOreS [orm oS Se ctones oa = peoples, since she is part of the ibarruri international revolutionary herit- age and the history of the com- munist movement ...”’ this proud and happy occasion, the Communist Party of Canada writes: “‘La Pasionaria, as she was known throughout the world, electrified world public opinion by her outstanding defence of the Republic of Spain when the fas- cist Axis and General Franco undertook the destruction of democratic Spain. Her call never to bow the knee to fascism, to unite and fight, became the battlecry of all democratic and anti-fascist forces throughout the world. This call remains pertinent today when the forces of reaction and of war strive to turn back the wheels of history. ‘‘La Pasionaria will always be remembered for her revolution- ary fervor, her humanity, her utter devotion to the cause,of the oppressed, the cause of socialism. “In greeting her we believe we speak for hundreds of thousands of Canadians who would want to join in saying ‘Happy Birthday Dolores Ibarruri! Continued long life!’ ‘Like her, we hold high the banner of proletarian .:inter- nationalism and of international solidarity, which today is an abso- lute essential to the forward march of the peoples for peace, democracy, and socialism. ‘‘Again, happy birthday and continued long life to an outstand- ing personality who has left her mark on the pages of history.” ‘LA PASIONARIA’ In its greeting to Ibarruri, on ‘We believe all steps should be taken to _ break the vicious circle of the arms race’ MOSCOW (APN) — The development of world events has approached the stage when especially re- sponsible decisions are required, when the lack of action or delay is criminal; for the point at issue today is the preservation of civilization and life itself, Mikhail Gor- bachev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Com- mittee, said at a session of the USSR Supreme Soviet Nov. 27. ‘‘That is why we have believed and continue to believe that all necessary measures should be taken to break the vicious circle of the arms race, so as not to miss a single chance of reversing the course of events for the better. “The Soviet Union was striving to interact in the interests of peace with a great number of states,”’ the speaker continued. ‘‘We have been and are proceeding from the view that the period of dangerous tension can be ended only by the efforts of all countries, big and small. Cooperation with states that have rid themselves of col- onial oppression, that participate in the Non-Aligned Movement, assumes a broader nature. Important steps have been taken in the development of relations with many of those countries. This is a factor of great im- portance in the turbulent ocean of present-day inter- national relations, a factor that operates in favor of peace, equality, freedom and independence of peoples. ‘‘While giving a firm rebuff to the U.S. line of disrupt- ing the military-strategic equilibrium, the Soviet Union advanced large-scale peace initiatives, displayed re- straint and constructiveness in its approach to the key issues of peace and security,’’ Gorbachev pointed out. “The Soviet proposals met with broad and positive re- sponse in the world. They are backed by the prestige of the Warsaw Treaty member-states that unanimously supported our constructive stand. Joint statements of leaders of six countries — Argentina, Mexico, Tanzania, India, Sweden and Greece are largely consonant with our approach. “‘At the same time, the U.S. counterp abasats are intermediate and largely inequitable proposals. They are based on a one-sided approach and are clearly prompted by a striving for military superiority for the United States and NATO as a whole. But the main thing is that the United States’ stand does not envisage a ban on the creation of space strike weapons. Quite the contrary — it seeks to legalize their creation. The stand assumed by the U.S. side on the question of ‘Star aes is the main obstacle to agreement on arms control. “Yet we decided in favor of meeting the U.S. Presi- dent. We took that decision because we had no right to disregard even the slightest chance to reverse current dangerous world developments,’’ Gorbachev said. ‘*The meeting was, undoubtedly, a significant event. It was a direct, clear and concrete talk and the opportunity to compare positions was useful. But we are realists, and we must say outright that solution of the most important questions connected with an end to the arms race was not achieved at the meeting. The unwillingness of the U.S. leadership to give up its program of ‘Star Wars’ has made it impossible to achieve concrete arrangements in Geneva on real disarmament and, above all, on the cardinal problem of nuclear and space weapons. “There remain major differences between the USSR and the United States on a number of other issues of principle concerning the situation in the world and developments in individual regions. But we are also far from belittling the significance of the Geneva accords: These are, above all, the common understanding, 16 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, DECEMBER 18, 1985 Gorbachev at Supreme Soviet reflected in the joint statement, that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought; the pledge by the USSR and the United States to build their relations proceeding from this indisputable truth, and not to seek military superiority. ‘‘There is a real chance today to dramatically lessen the threat of nuclear war and subsequently to remove altogether any possibility of such war,’’ Gorbachev emphasized. The speaker noted that interaction with the non- aligned movement, including comprehensive co- operation with India, ‘‘for the people and leaders of which we have profound respect,’’ has a great role to play in the improvement of international relations. ‘*The Soviet leadership attaches serious importance to the Asian and Pacific region. The Soviet Union’s longest borders are in Asia; we have there loyal friends and reliable allies, from the neighboring Mongolia to socialist Vietnam. It is extremely important to ensure that this region is not a source of tension and an area of armed confrontation. We stand for the broadening of political dialogue among all the states in the region in the interests of peace, goodneighbourliness, mutual trust and co- operation,’’ said the Soviet leader. ‘‘We stand for better relations with Japan and it is our conviction that this is possible. It stems even from the mere fact that our countries are neighbours. Also, the interests of the USSR and Japan cannot help coinciding in the vital matter of removing the nuclear threat. ‘‘We have established relations of equal cooperation with many states of Latin America, Africa and the Mid- dle East. The Soviet Union will continue to work pur- posefully to develop these relations. We value especially our close contacts with socialist-oriented countries in different continents.” Following the report, the Supreme Soviet noted in a resolution that at the present crucial stage in inter- national relations, in conditions when humankind faces the choice between survival and annihilation, the Soviet-American summit meeting was necessary and useful. Considering the special responsibility of the USSR and the United States in the cause of preserving peace, the Supreme Soviet regarded as very important the mutual understanding, reached by the leaders of the two powers and expressed in the Soviet-American joint statement, that nuclear war should never be unleashed, that there can be no victors in it. Also of principled importance is the acknowledgement by both sides of the importance of averting any war between them — nuclear or conventional, and the proposition that they will not strive for the attainment of military superiority. The resolution noted that it had not proved possible at Geneva to find solutions to the key issues connected with the task of ending the arms race and strengthening peace, and major differences on principled problems continue to exist between the Soviet Union and the United States. But the results of the meeting, it noted, create the possi- bility of moving on from the present state of dangerous confrontation to a constructive search of ways of normalising Soviet-American relations and improving the international situation as a whole. To facilitate this are the accords on continuing meet- ings between the leaders of the USSR and the United States and on invigorating the dialogue at other levels, exchanges and contacts in bilateral relations, on stepping up work at the Geneva talks on nuclear and space arms with the aim of averting an arms race in outer space and stopping it on earth, on imparting new impulses to efforts along other directions of limiting and reducing arms. The Soviet Union will do all it can to translate these accords into practical deeds and expresses the hope that the United States will display a similar responsible ap- proach, the resolution said. The Supreme Soviet contends that what is pressingly needed today is mutual restraint, renunciation of any actions that would create obstacles in the way of the talks, a strict and conscientious observance of existing agreements in the field of arms limitation and first of all of the 1972 agreement between the USSR and the U.S. on the limitation of ABM systems which is an important basis of strategic stability, of the entire process of limit- ing and reducing nuclear arms. Keeping outer space free of weapons is of decisive importance for achieving agreements on radical reductions of nuclear arms and, in the long term, their full liquidation by all nuclear states, it says. ‘ The Supreme Soviet confirmed the USSR’s readiness to extend the moratorium it has imposed on all nuclear tests if the United States takes a similar step, and also to start immediate talks on the conclusion of an inter- national treaty on the general and complete prohibition of nuclear tests. It declared that the Soviet Union will further pursue its principled course of removing the nuclear threat and developing international relations in the spirit of peaceful coexistence and detente. The resolution expresses the hope that all govern- ments, parliaments and peoples will multiply their efforts in the struggle against the arms race, especially for avert- ing it in outer space, for the cause of peace and inter- national security.