Protests Gairy’s dictatorial manoeuvers

Grenada’s opposition walks out

By TOM MORRIS

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada —
The official opposition People’s
Alliance walked out of Grenada’s
parliament recently in protest
against the Gairy government's
dictatorial methods of running the
country. The People’s Alliance,
which holds six of the 15 seats in
parliament, charges that Gairy’s
actions both inside and outside
parliament add up to a rapid ad-
vance toward fascism.

Grenada is part of the Wind-
ward chain of Caribbean islands
and has a population of 119,000. It
achieved independence from Bri-
tain in 1974. Gairy’s Grenada Un-
ited Labor Party government has
been under attack in recent
months both at home and abroad
for its pro-imperialist leanings and

open friendship toward the Chi-
lean fascist junta.

Chilean naval units visited
Grenada last year to cement
cooperation between the two
countries and Chile has accepted
troops and police from Grenada
for training. The country has also
signed over fishing rights to South
Korea, accepted huge loans from
the U.S. and was the site of the
last meeting of the Organization
of American States (OAS).

The right wing Gairy regime
lost five seats in the Dec. 1976
election giving the People’s Al-
liance status as official opposi-
tion. Since that time Gairy has
taken severe measures to curb
democratic rights including com-
plete bans on demonstrations,
stepped-up searches of private

Report”, March 29, 1978.

Parliament.

no certainty of control.”

t tions for future generations.

{NDP critic hits Danson’s
complacency over N-bomb

TORONTO — Mr. Andrew Brewin, the NDP member for To-
ronto Greenwood, and his party’s defence critic, was surprised
and dismayed to hear the Minister of National Defence, Mr.
Danson’s comments about the neutron bomb on “The Watson

Danson’s remarks about what he has called “an enhanced
radiation warhead” implied acceptance of a weapon the use of
which is still under discussion by NATO. Brewin expressed his
apprehension that a vital decision has been made on this
dangerous weapon without consulting the Canadian

Brewin said that “‘neutron bombs are small tactical weapons
which carry a spray of lethal radiation” that quickly kills people
who are near the bomb. Those persons who are not in the
immediate target area “do not die immediately. They linger
around for a week and die slowly with convulsions, vomiting
and diarrhea. The result is that they die in great-pain.”

Brewin asserted that this tactical weapon was not only “par-

ticularly inhuman” in its misplaced emphasis upon property
rather than human lives, but the effect of its use might well be
“to blur the distinction between nuclear and conventional
weapons, and that once the threshold is crossed there will be

Unequivocally opposed to the use of such a weapon, Brewin
asserted that the government cannot be allowed to give de.
facto acceptance to a weapon that has such disastrous implica-

ae,

Imperialism vs imperialism

The Toronto Globe and Mail has
raised a very important question as to

homes, banning of opposition
newspapers, and an open attack
on the trade unions.

The regime has also imposed
murderous tax increases on the
working people without consult-
ing parliament and taken arbitrary
steps to ban strikes.

The latest outrage which trig-
gered the parliamentary walkout
by the People’s Alliance came
when the Gairy government
brought 17 bills before parliament
and demanded they. be passed,

through all stages, within three -

hours. This, says the People’s Al-
liance, was demanded despite the
fact Gairy refused to provide the
opposition with copies of the
proposed bills.

The PA says that Gairy’s con-
tempt for parliament is shown in
the record: only 5 meetings of par-
liament have been called in the
past 15 months — one sitting each
three months — despite standing
rules requiring the House to meet
at least once per month.

The People’s Alliance is a coal-
ition of the Grenada National Par-
ty, the United People’s Party and
the New Jewel Movement, the
country’s Marxist-Leninist Party.

The PA as been fighting on a
program for the working people of
the island and to repatriate the
economy. Huge multinationals,
American, British and Canadian,
control the major sectors of Gre-
nada’s economic life.

A high unemployment rate

* (some 50%), mass corruption and
-soaring living costs are the result

of this foreign control and the
Gairy regime’s complete
servitude.

Skyrocketing prices are shown

by the following: the Grenadian |

dollar ($1 Grenadian = 43 cents
Can.) which in 1970 was worth
100 cents, Grenada, is today
worth only 31 cents. Sugar has
risen from 15 cents per pound in

ili

1971 to 67 cents in April 1977; rice
from 21 cents to 75 cents; flour
from 13 cents to 49 cents and
kerosene from 54 cents per gallon

- to $2.03.

A widespread movement has
begun for wage increases to try to
keep up with the inflation rate.
This struggle has run smack into
Gairy’s anti-democratic measures
and sharp struggles are seen as
inevitable.

“The Gairy gang has aban-
doned all pretences of democ-
racy,’’ says a People’s Alliance

: declaration. ‘‘It is now rule by

naked dictatorship’. The PA
calls on the people to prepare
themselves for a new level of
struggle around a
‘Democracy yes! Fascism No!”’

Guild aids South
African writer

The Newspaper Guild has set
up a fund for jailed South African
journalist Phillip Mtimkulu.
Mtimkulu and Zubeida Mayet,
former officers of the Union of
Black Journalists were charged
with ‘“‘theft’’. The pair had closed
the union’s bank account after the
UBJ was banned by the gov-
ernment.

By ALFRED DEWHURST J

Marxism-Leninism in Today’s World

4
j

Despite government bans on demonstrations Grenada’s population
protests growing violations of worker’s rights in the country.

slogan: |

mass of the people struggling to co”
solidate their unity, national integtl)

a

Korea jumps
ahead during
6-year plan

PYONGYANG —_ The
People’s Democratic Republic of
Korea has completed’ constru®
tion of a 3 million ton blast fur
nace. This now enables them 10_
produce 4 million tons of steel an
nually compared with 5,000 tons
after their liberation from the
Japanese in 1945. 7

During the past six-year pla?
the Koreans fulfilled their obje
tives by producing such moder
excavation equipment as 5;
metre drills, 300 hp. bulldozer
heavy excavators, 50,000-kv4
generators and 200,000-kva trans
formers; their rolling stock indus
try produces 60-ton freight carss
and a new model diesel locom?”
tive is ready for use. a

In the next plan emphasis wil
be placed on the development 0
the shipbuilding industry,
strengthening the merchait!
marine and the fishing fleet, a
cluding the building of factory 2
refrigerator ships and the co
struction of 100,000 ton
freighters.

what is imperialism. In its April 5 issue
an editorial titled ‘‘Export: war’ the
Globe declared: ‘‘Imperialism is im-
perialism, and Fidel Castro is its latest
practitioner.

The editorial goes on to state that
Cuba ‘‘can be fairly called a developing
min-empire’’ because it “‘can appa-
rently afford to send tens of thousands
of soldiers overseas to swell the blood-
shed in Angola’s civil war’’. And it con-
tinues to say ‘‘that after Angola plung-
ing deeper and more inexcusably into
the defence of the peculiarly bloody-
handed regime in Ethiopia’.

* * *

Leaving aside the ‘‘peculiarly
bloody-handed”’ tone of the Globe’s
outburst against the national and social
liberation movement, and its deliberate
distortion of the facts in respect to
Ethiopia, let us first put the question of
imperialism in proper focus.

To define imperialism as does the
editorial is, to say the least, misleading.
In political science the usage of the term
‘‘imperialism”’ has to do with a particu-
lar stage of capitalist accumulation and
expansion. Imperialism is the highest
and last stage of capitalism.

en ee

Imperialism is monopoly capitalism.
It is the era of finance capital when the
export of capital as distinguished from

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—April 22, 1978—Page 10

the export of goods has acquired excep-

tional importance. It is that stage of

capitalism when international
monopolist combines (multi-nationals)
share the capitalist world among them-
selves as areas of intense exploitation
of the working people.

The political features of imperialism
are reaction and violence all along the
line, national oppression, a striving for
annexations and violation of national
independence, and the elimination of
free competition.

~ * *

That is imperialism which, before
socialism came onto the world scene
with the victory of the socialist revolu-
tion in Russia in 1917, completely
dominated the world. Today the scene
has changed remarkably. Socialism is
now a world system embracing one-
third of mankind. In addition, the colo-
nial system of imperialism has col-
lapsed. Hundreds of millions of people
have emerged from colonial rule and
have won national independence.

Other millions of people have carried
through social liberation struggles and
have: embarked on the path of the
socialist revolution. It is this feature,
ie., the passing over of the national
liberation struggle to the social libera-
tion struggle, that impels the champions

of imperialism like the Globe to come to
the defence of world imperialism which
stands condemned before the people of
the world of the most monstrous
‘peculiarly bloodyhanded’’ crimes
against humanity.

* * bd

The Globe chooses to hide the real
face of imperialism behind the false no-
tion that socialism, like imperialism, is
an exploiting system. This attempt at
diversion will not wash, for those that
peddle it cannot cite any instance on the
part of any socialist country exploiting
the working people of any other coun-
try. It is only capitalism that does this.
Neither does socialism export war.

Cuba assisted Angola against im-
perialist intervention in its social rev-

olution via the apartheid regime in-

South Africa and groups of mer-
cenaries, in response to the expressed
request of the Angolan government.
This was a practical expression of the
real meaning of socialist
internationalism.

* * *

What is the truth about Ethiopia?
What took place in that country was the
successful overthrow of a corrupt re-
gime and the establishment of a
government supported by the great

~ to slow down, block and finally divel

and independence. A people struggling
to establish a completely free society
devoid of exploitation, oppression,
justice and differences based on relig”
ion, tribe or sex: a society where peace
justice, equality and social progress wil |
prevail. -
This is not to the liking of imperialist
circles in Britain, the USA and othé,
NATO countries. With the help § i
reactionary Arab circles they inspil@
and backed Somalia to invade EthioPy
under the pretext of blocking an alleg?™

Ethiopian invasion of Somalia!
* * * ;

Imperialism, as a result of the vgs
tories won by the people of Africa ip
their historic struggle for freedom, B
attempting through various stratege™

including indirect military intervent!

this historic struggle into ‘‘salé
channels. 3 Hi
However, they cannot succeed. F0
the demand for freedom, social PX
gress and unity. will not be denied. Ast
those reactionary and imperialist ol
cles who would prevent the attainme™
of the just aims of the African peop!
will be denied their reactionary goals
For the African people have pow¢
allies in the forms of internationalis™~
socialist and working class — and i
anti-imperialist unity. Sag