encarta etimentieatileatiec, => fp | home I ee I nh LOOSE TY IS Sa 3 WORLD De 8. A x I J t _ Chilean alliance’s Minimum Program The following is a declaration issued Feb. 16, 1984 by the ational Council of the Popular Democratic Movement M), an alliance formed by the Communist Party of Chile, Socialist Party of Chile, Revolutionary leftist Movement and PU Workers and Peasants. Pinochet's dictatorship has ordered the arrest of Dr. Manuel Almeyda, president of the National Council of the PDM be- cause of the content of his speech to the first national assembly of the PDM held in Santiago Jan. 4-5, 1984. The accusation of the dictatorship was, ‘Dr. Almeyda’s intent was to promote a national strike’’ _Indeed, Doctor Almeyda established the Chilean people’s right to demand the quickest end to this regime which has caused deep damage to the country and its people. That isnot a subversive”’ or “violent act’’. In actual fact it was the junta that committed a subversive and violent act against Salvador lende’s government. All of this reinforces the legitimacy of the PDM’s Minimum gram for a provisional government, which has to replace € existing regime. The essential points are: © The election of Constitutive Assembly, e The repeal of the 1980 Constitution and all of the repressive egislation and dissolution of all repressive measures, t) Clarification of the human rights violations and the ap- _Propriate punishment for the criminal element, 0 put an end to the exile; the liberation of political prison- €rs; restoration of labor, social, political rights, ¢ A deep restructuring of the armed forces, e An emergency economic plan to put an end to un- _ employment, ¢ To put an end to the military intervention at the uni- th Versities, The PDM expressed its unrestricted support to the national strike that has been prepared for a large number of labor, Political and other organizations aiming at ending the regime. We express our firm solidarity with our president, Dr. Al- meyda, and call all democrats, all the people, to express solidarity with him. '. Almeyda is still being confined in the public prison in Santiago Chile. The PDM asks for international solidarity with - To demand his release, democratic organizations etc., ~ Should send telegrams to the Minister of the Interior, Sergio La Moneda ‘Palace, Santiago, Chile. Onofre Jarpa, Repression against peace movement Military savagery in Turkey A military court, consisting of three officers appointed by the Turkish Chief of Staff has im- posed savage sentences on 23 members of the Turkish Peace Committee (TPC) following a two-year trial held under the country’s ‘“‘war time emergency measures” law. Peace Courier, journal of the World Peace Council, reports that by its attack on the nation’s only peace organization, ‘“Turkey has effectively criminalized the peace movement’. The tribunal sentenced 18 members of the Turkish Peace Committee to 8 years hard labor to be followed by 32 months in- ternal exile under surveillance and five: members to five years followed by 22 months of exile in remote parts of the country. Public outcry against these sen- tences focuses particularly upon the inhuman treatment of 68 year-old Mahmat Dikerdem, president of the Turkish Peace Committee who is suffering from cancer and whose condition is deteriorating, Peace Courier re- ports. Numerous observers from many countries who attended the trial, held in a prison compound in Ankara, agreed it was a political show trial, a result of the 1980 coup which installed a military re- gime and brought fascism to Turkey. The Guardian newspaper cal- led the conclusion, ‘‘one of the most savage sentences handed down by a Turkish Martial Law tribunal.’ Also condemned are the medieval prison conditions which, prisoners’ families say, are ‘‘designed to rot the younger ones and kill off the older Peace Committee members.” CANADIANS IN NICARAGUA - TPC prisoners include some of Turkey’s best known journalists, poets, © painters, writers, academics and politicians. There are today some 6,000 prisoners in Turkey for whom the regime is asking the death sentence. | TRIBUNE PHOTO — FRED WEIR Re a se TORONTO — The Canadian volunteer brigade to Nicaragua deli- vered its official reportback ata public meeting here on April 2. The highlight of the evening was a slide show which followed the adventures and activities of the brigade through its 30 days of cotton-picking and travel inside Nicaragua last February and March. The gathering was addressed by Wally Majesky, chair- person of the Metro Toronto Labour Council, an organization which has given considerable aid and supportto the brigade. Fern Valin, one of the leaders of the brigade, spoke of the significance of the experience to those who took part in it, and the importance of sharing what they learned about Nicaragua’s struggle for inde- pendence with the Canadian public. Phil Cournoyer, a chairperson of Canadian Action for Nicaragua (CAN) described the latest U.S. military threats against Nicaragua, and spoke of the urgency of mobilizing public opinion against intervention. Photo: Canadian volunteers in the cotton fields. ww MWS YOUT)hlUR Be SO SE Se ee eee International Focus Tom Morris It’s raining Medals! Since no one else on earth will honor them, the United fates Army honors itself. Last week it awarded 8,612 medals to U.S. military per- sonnel who took part in the in- vasion and occupation of Gre-- nada. Heroes all, according to the U.S. Defence Department. The self-congratulations, _ While fitting in perfectly with their image of ‘our boys fighting for freedom’’, raised Some questions: only about V0 military personnel ever Set foot on Grenada. Assuming, then, that every °S. soldier gets a medal, that Still leaves 1,1612 unaccounted Or. News reports ‘say that HAve Some /[ / pu GBLE gon some troops sitting at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, waiting to embark were also to receive awards. Other medals went to Pentagon planners. The boys at Fort Bragg may have received the Presidential Citation for Nervous Tension; the ones in Washington, the Reagan Award For Sneak At- tack. Various other valiant acts committed by U.S. troops in beating up a defenceless island with armour, helicopters and warships undoubtedly led the army to award this incredible number of medals. “‘It’s good for morale,’’ one army spokesman explained. Perhaps .included were medals for treachery which could be given to Jamaica’s Edward Seaga, Barbados’ Tom Adams and Dominica’s Eugene Charles for their role in aiding Reagan. Governor- General Sir Paul Scoon might receive the Quisling Award. What about one for the Commander-in-Chief who heroically led the troops from his California ranch? Another of Reagan’s men Reagan’s administration is not only inept, it’s riddled with appointees who have been caught feathering their nests and those of relatives and cronies. Several have resigned in disgrace. The latest scandal involves Presidential Counsellor Edwin Meese who Reagan has nom- inated for (imagine?) U.S. At- toryney General — the coun- try’s top cop. Meese is under investigation for a number of things: helping ~ friends get government jobs, failing to report personal loans and stock purchases, getting special treatment by shifting his Army Reserve status and failing to disclose knowledge of how the Reagan campaign came to possess Carter cam- paign documents in 1980. Clearly, he will make a fine Attorney General for Reagan. Last week, Meese added to the pot by trying to keep a pair of jade and gold cufflinks given to him by the South Koreans. According to U.S. law, all gifts over $140 in value must be turned over to the government. While cooling his heels awaiting the investigation, Meese’s position as Reagan’s right hand man still gives him extensive power. An old Reagan croney from _ his California days, Meese carries clout which even former Secretary of State Alexander Haig found disturbing. In his new book, Caveat: Realism, Reagan and Foreign Policy, Haig writes, ‘‘I had sensed in Meese a tendency to assume an unusual measure of authority ...”’ He was also stealing. Two views of space Two approaches to the use of outer space collided last week. In Washington, the Reagan administration pressed ahead for its plan to militarize space in a report signed by the presi- dent to build an ‘‘anti-satellite weapon’’, which will rule out any international treaty prohibiting space weapons. Such a treaty has long been ad- vocated by the USSR, the latest proposal coming at this session of the United Nations. While Reagan signed his “‘Space Wars’’ bill, the USSR added another landmark to space exploration April 3 when an Indian cosmonaut, accom- panied by two Soviet space- men, blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Central Asia as part of a joint Soviet-Indian space agree- ment. PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 11, 19849 The USSR to date has taken cosmonauts aloft from the GDR, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, Cuba, Vietnam, Bulgaria and Mongolia. Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma (bottom) with Soviets Yuri Malyshev (centre) and Gennady Strekalov during training sessions.