Voice of Revolution

All Out for May 1 Actions

Fighting for the Fraternal Unity of the Peoples

Immigrant workers and their sons and daughters in their hundreds of thousands are standing firm in their demand for rights. As one, they are opposing criminalization of undocumented workers and demanding amnesty and full rights for immigrants and all workers. Their actions across the country, uniting all workers - from many nationalities, both documented and undocumented - represent the fraternal unity of the peoples. Voice of Revolution urges everyone to join in fighting to strengthen this fraternal unity by standing up for immigrant rights and rejecting government efforts to divide the peoples. These can be seen in the planned immigrant laws and in the U.S. efforts to impose a North America of the Monopolies on the peoples of the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The current anti-immigrant and anti-worker legislation being debated in Congress, in both the House and Senate, are direct efforts to divide the workers and increase competition among them. The Senate bill, for example, divides undocumented workers into three categories, depending on their length of time in the country. Each category is treated differently, with the more than one million immigrant workers here less than two years to be immediately deported. It is similar to efforts by the monopolies to pit senior workers against new hires, or those currently working against pensioners. The bill has nothing to do with defending the rights of immigrant workers and everything to do with increasing divisions and repression against immigrants and all workers.

This legislation to criminalize undocumented workers and all those who support them is also aimed at dividing the workers while trying to terrorize those who defend them (see BF 10.11). It is an effort to isolate and criminalize the undocumented workers, depriving them of any rights, so as to then do the same for all workers. The bill requires special identification requirements for immigrants and for all workers. Decisions on providing the identification will be up to the dictate of the monopolies and the government agencies.

The brutality of the bills are such that families can be separated, millions immediately deported and all workers can be targeted and arbitrarily branded as "undocumented" because they do not meet the identification requirements. It does not take much to imagine that the same ID cards needed for work will also then be needed for voting, for bank accounts, for federal aid programs, for using public transportation, and so forth. In this manner, the mechanisms for banishing people from civil society - a civil death - is being developed. Much as slaves were rendered as non citizens and deprived of rights, and Katrina survivors face a similar situation, immigrants are being targeted, with all workers threatened with this same civil death.

The battle to defend immigrant rights is taking place while the U.S. also seeks to extend its annexation of Canada and Mexico and create a North America of the Monopolies. President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and President Vincente Fox of Mexico met in Cancun right while the massive demonstrations were occurring in the U.S. The U.S. is attempting to impose a "Security and Prosperity Partnership," (SPP) that will put the natural and human resources of all three countries at its disposal in its drive for world domination. The joint statement -issued after the meetings shows that concrete measures are being taken to further drag Canada into its wars of aggression and more fully integrate the Canadian armed forces into the U.S. military. The U.S. is trying to do the same with Mexico.

Bush, for example, made a point of praising the Canadian government for its involvement in the war against Afghanistan. The joint statement, in the name of "North American Emergency Management," includes plans for "a common approach to critical infrastructure protection, coordinated responses to cross border incidents and coordinated training and exercises with the participation of all levels of government in our countries." This clearly includes use of the U.S. military and Homeland Security to protect "critical infrastructure" like ports, airports, oil refineries, gas pipelines and so forth. Consistent with this, the Mexican Foreign Minister announced a proposal to have U.S. officials establish "consular offices" in Mexican airports. The officials will have full autonomy and diplomatic immunity to monitor passengers, check baggage and cargo and so forth, all as part of the SPP.

The joint statement also spoke to "North American Smart, Secure Borders," including what it called "a single integrated North American trusted traveler program" and "swift law enforcement responses to threats posed by criminals or terrorists." In this manner, the U.S. is seeking to trample on the sovereignty of Canada and Mexico, using "threats" and protecting the "borders" as justification for use of military and police forces in both countries. At the same time, the "trusted traveler" program will be used to force the peoples of all three countries to submit to a single identification system, in the hands of the U.S. military. It is a mechanism to both police the peoples of all three countries while striving to minimize their friendly relations and exchanges by making travel between the countries more difficult.

The summit also established a North American Competitiveness Council made up of representatives of the big monopolies from all three countries. The Council is to provide "recommendations on North American competitiveness." Life has already shown that the demand of the monopolies for global "competitiveness" against rivals gives rise to war.

U.S. militarization of the continent and use of its peoples and resources in its drive for world domination means disaster, for Canadians, Mexicans, Americans and all the world's peoples. What is needed is the flourishing of the cooperation and fraternal unity among the peoples. The fight being waged against the SPP, for the sovereignty of the peoples and for their rights, as immigrants, as workers, as human beings, is a vital fight for all.

Fight for Fraternal Unity by Defending Rights!

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National Call to Action May 1

The Great American Boycott 2006

- National Immigrant Solidarity Network -

"Un dia sin immigrante" "A day without an immigrant"

"We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty for all undocumented workers."

Nationwide Immigrant General Strike

Immigrants contribute $7 billion in social security per year. They earn $240 billion, report $90 billion, and only are reimbursed $5 billion, so where is the $85 billion? They also contribute to the U.S. economy $25 billion more than they receive in healthcare, etc. According to the anti-immigrant politicians and hatemongers, "Immigrants are a drain on society." If this is true, then during the day on May 1st the stock market will surge, and the economy will boom. If not, we prove them wrong once and for all. We know what will happen!

Therefore, the "March 25th Coalition against HR4437 in Los Angeles," the organizers of the mega march of almost 2 million on March 25, has called for an emergency video conference meeting on April 8 between Los Angeles and any city that wishes to join the efforts toward "El Gran Paro Americano 2006." The same meeting will take place in Chicago on April 22. We ask that all who wish to participate and be a part of a national effort on May 1st and beyond, to attend by finding facilities in your areas that can hold the meeting technologically.

The points of unity are: No Work, No School, No Sales, and No Buying, and also to have rallies around symbols of economic trade in your areas (stock exchanges, anti-immigrant corporations, etc.).

Cities across the United States have marched during the week, therefore, in essence observing a regional boycott, which is only felt regionally. The March 25th Coalition against HR4437 calls for these regions to develop a national network that will "connect the dots." We believe with numbers we have power, the power currently necessary to keep the pressure on the White House to propose provisions that are just and fair for all immigrants.

We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and dignity for the millions of undocumented workers presently in the U.S. We believe that increased enforcement is a step in the wrong direction and will only serve to facilitate more tragedies along the Mexican-U.S. border in terms of deaths and family separation.

Please organize in your area and join this monumental event that will put our mark on U.S. history.

More details to come. Keep your eye on www.nohr4437.org or write to granmarcha2006@hotmail.com. Donations (tax deductible) should be made to: La Hermandand Mexicana, 7915 Van Nuys Blvd. Panorama City, CA 91402.

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Divisive Measure Proposed

Senate Immigration Bill

As Voice of Revolution goes to press, news reports indicate the Senate may have reached a compromise on an immigration bill. A fight is still going on as to whether the compromise will be voted on as is, or amendments will be allowed. As well, it is possible that a few Senators will filibuster in order to prevent passage before the Senate recess, which occurs at the end of the day, April 7.

The bill does not embrace the demands of the people for amnesty, broadly represented in the massive demonstrations across the country during March and continuing in April. Instead, the main feature of the bill is an effort to divide the immigrant workers, based on how long they have been in the country. According to reports, immigrants who have been here 5 years or more could become citizens if they meet strict requirements. Those with 2-5 years would be forced to return to border-crossing areas, where they can most easily be deported, in order to apply for temporary work permits and become eligible for permanent residency. They would have to wait an even longer period for the possibility of citizenship. They have no guarantee of getting either the permits or citizenship, even if they meet the requirements. The workers and families who have been here less than two years would be deported. This includes well more than a million immigrants and their families. It is not clear if these workers would be criminalized for failure to do so.

All of the immigrants would still be required to meet special identification requirements, undergo background checks by Homeland Security, and have to remain employed. This means they are subject both to the whim of their employers and the arbitrary actions of Homeland Security. Both can target workers who are organizers, who demand their rights, who have participated in the demonstrations, and so forth. The threat of deportation for all the undocumented workers remains.

The proposed bill must still pass the Senate and then be reconciled with the House bill, HR 4437. The conflicts in Congress on the issue are such that the Senate Democratic leadership is calling on President Bush to intervene to force Republicans, in the House and Senate, to vote in favor of the Senate version.

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Harper, Fox & Bush Summit - Cancun, Mexico

Oppose the Security and Prosperity Partnership!

No to United States of North American Monopolies!

- Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) -

The executive branches of government of Canada, Mexico and the United States met in Cancun, Mexico March 30-31. This was the second annual meeting under the auspices of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) that was launched last year in Texas. The summit was organized against a backdrop of furious anti-immigrant provocations in the U.S. Congress and Toronto where national minority communities are being targeted by state-organized, anti-worker attacks and the growing opposition of the united peoples.

For Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush this was also a war summit, to discuss the further annexation of the Canadian military into the ongoing U.S. wars of aggression and occupation. Harper relished in his new role as war Prime Minister sporting the army fatigue vest he wore in Afghanistan while visiting the Canadian hostile army of occupation.

Along with Mexican President Vincente Fox, Bush and Harper took various decisions to strengthen the SPP at the ministerial level and establish a permanent committee of chief executive officers of the main monopolies of the three countries.

The basis for a political union of the executive branches of the three countries is the economic union established under the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The economic union within NAFTA and the political union within SPP are the creations of the most powerful monopolies on the continent. The agenda of those monopolies is to annex Mexico and Canada into the U.S. Empire in a United States of North American Monopolies. The combined strength of the continent's natural resources, means of production, working class and military are to go into battle to establish U.S. imperialism's hegemony over the entire world.

To win victory in the worldwide competition and war for empire and hegemony, North American monopolies need a powerful stable base from which to attack, conquer and maintain their domination of the world. Stability in the home base is an expression of political and police control by the financial oligarchy over the working class and people. Stability for the monopolies requires the negation of the political will of the people to unite in action to defend their rights based on common interests, which are the opposite of the financial oligarchy on all political, economic, social and cultural affairs.

The ruling elite does everything to split workers into warring factions based on race, nationality and skills and set them at each other's throats. The hateful bills in the U.S. Congress to criminalize national minority workers and their supporters are an expression of the will of the monopolies to split, attack and exploit the peoples of North and Central America, especially the working class. The equally hateful deportations of immigrant workers in Toronto and elsewhere also reveal the profoundly inhuman and backward soul of the financial oligarchy.

Political deceit and demagogy extolling monopoly competition, ideological subversion and brutal repression and terror are used to prevent workers from uniting in political organizations in their own image and from forming trade union collectives that negate the competition of the labor market and give full expression to the working class will for unity and cooperation to restrict monopoly right, competition, exploitation and war.

Political control by the financial oligarchy over the people requires institutions that maintain an iron grip on all political affairs and set an agenda that the people are encouraged to support. Electoral political parties and the multi-party system of representative government are the frontline to subvert the will of the people. The multi-party system of representative democracy and the electoral political parties are the gatekeepers of power subjecting the people to the rule of the monopolies.

The crisis of representative democracy and the demands of empire-building and war are such that increasingly the financial oligarchy is acting outside the traditional systems in Canada and the U.S., imposing arbitrary rule by executive decree and the authority of institutions such as the SPP and its organs full of the chief executive officers of the most powerful monopolies.

The people and in particular the working class are blocked from developing their own political institutions and agenda that are independent of those of the monopolies. The blockage comes mainly from tradition and the ideas of the ruling class which attack working class unity and cooperation. The mass media and pop culture constantly excuse, justify and even praise monopoly competition, empire-building and war, and ridicule the dignity and competence of the working class portraying it as incapable of an independent nation-building project, and the peoples of the world as backward, incompetent and unworthy of being sovereign.

Propaganda from the ruling elite still has hold of many workers and their leadership, negating and diverting their political will into chasing an idle dream of capturing parliament and running the capitalist system better than the chief executive officers of the financial oligarchy and its well-paid political representatives. In opposition, the working class and its leadership must uphold a view that sets practical political tasks for the class so that concrete gains are made in vesting sovereignty in the people and constituting the working class as the nation.

The formation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America is to fortify monopoly rule on the continent by attacking the unity of the people and increasing the weapons of repression. The more the three executive branches of the financial oligarchy unite, the more the unity of the peoples and their rights will come under attack. The SPP is designed to stabilize the imperialist base by disrupting the unity and cooperation among the working classes of the three countries and brutally suppressing any opposition to the growing danger of open fascism.

The biggest problem for the monopolies in stabilizing the North American base to serve expansion worldwide is to subvert the natural tendency of the working class for unity and cooperation to build an alternate world without monopoly competition and war. The antithesis of monopoly competition is working class unity and cooperation. The monopolies attack and try to neutralize working class unity and cooperation by manipulating the capitalist labor market in the interests of the monopolies and to split the working class of North America into warring factions and to line it up behind particular monopolies. To this end the three states have mobilized their organs to attack immigrant workers, reorganize the North American labor market to better serve the monopolies with sub-classes of workers criminalized and indentured, and to line up the peoples generally behind a most backward chauvinism extolling monopoly competition, empire-building and war.

It must not pass!

Workers and their organizations must negate monopoly competition and war and build working class fortresses of unity and cooperation to defend the rights of all and oppose war.

Forward with those political tasks that make concrete gains in vesting sovereignty in the people and constituting the working class as the nation.

Down with Monopoly Competition and War!
Long Live Working Class Unity and Cooperation!

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For Your Information

Document of 2006 Security and Prosperity Partnership

President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and Mexican President Vincente Fox issued a joint statement March 31 at the conclusion of their summit. The following includes excerpts from that statement.

"This Partnership has increased our institutional contacts to respond to our vision of a stronger, more secure, and more prosperous region. In June 2005, our three governments released detailed work plans identifying key initiatives that form an ambitious agenda of collaboration. We ask our Ministers to build on this momentum.

"Today, we exchanged views with private sector leaders on how to enhance the competitiveness of North America."

Strengthening Competitiveness in North America: "We are pleased to announce the creation of a North American Competitiveness Council (NACC). The Council will comprise members of the private sector from each country and will provide us recommendations on North American competitiveness, including, among others, areas such as automotive and transportation, steel, manufacturing, and services. The Council will meet annually with security and prosperity Ministers and will engage with senior government officials on an ongoing basis.

"We are convinced that regulatory cooperation advances the productivity and competitiveness of our nations and helps to protect our health, safety and environment. For instance, cooperation on food safety will help protect the public while at the same time facilitate the flow of goods. We affirm our commitment to strengthen regulatory cooperation in this and other key sectors and to have our central regulatory agencies complete a trilateral regulatory cooperation framework by 2007."

North American Emergency Management: "A disaster - whether natural or man-made - in one of our countries can have consequences across national borders. Our vision for a North American response, relief and recovery strategy would ensure that critical equipment, supplies and personnel can be deployed expeditiously throughout North America. We commit to develop a common approach to critical infrastructure protection, coordinated responses to cross border incidents, and coordinated training and exercises, with the participation of all levels of government in our countries."

Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza: "Given the highly integrated nature of our economies, an outbreak of pathogenic avian flu or human pandemic influenza in any one of our countries would affect us all. Today, we have agreed to develop a comprehensive, science-based and coordinated approach within North America to avian influenza and human pandemic influenza management."

North American Energy Security: "A sustainable, secure and affordable supply of energy is key to fueling the North American economy. Collaboration in the areas of innovation, energy efficiency, and technology development, including moving these technologies to market, promotes energy security. Our governments renew their commitment to [...] market facilitation as a means to meeting our shared goals of energy security and sustainable development."

North American Smart, Secure Borders: "Our vision is to have a border strategy that results in the fast, efficient and secure movement of low-risk trade and travelers to and within North America, while protecting us from threats including terrorism. In implementing this strategy, we will encourage innovative risk-based approaches. [...] These include close coordination on infrastructure investments and vulnerability assessments, screening and processing of travelers, baggage and cargo, a single integrated North American trusted traveler program, and swift law enforcement responses to threats posed by criminals or terrorists, including advancing a trilateral network for the protection of judges and officers.

"The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America represents a broad and ambitious agenda. We instruct our Ministers to develop options to strengthen the SPP and present them next June as part of the second report on progress of the SPP."

President Fox and President Bush were pleased to accept, on behalf of their countries, Prime Minister Harper's invitation to host the next trilateral leaders meeting in Canada in 2007.

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Reject Single I.D. for North America

New York Border and "North American Traveler Program"

New York Senator Charles E. Shumer is cosponsoring legislation calling on the government to issue a 24-hour day pass for Americans to enter and leave Canada. It would also allow people under 18 to travel to Canada without a passport if accompanied by a parent.

The Shumer proposal comes in the face of implementation of the "Border Security Act" of 2002, requiring all Americans, including infants and children, to have a passport to enter and leave Canada. Currently, while passports can be requested, other proof of citizenship, such as birth certificates and military cards, are accepted, as are drivers' licenses. About 70 percent of Americans do not have passports and about 60 percent of Canadians do not.

The government's new ID requirements will go into effect on January 1, 2008. The requirements are already expected to have a negative impact on the many friendly exchanges by the peoples of the two countries, as well as the students and workers who commute regularly, tourists at Niagara Falls and so forth.

The government also has plans to issue new PASS cards, utilizing biometric identifiers, like eye scans, and including more information about each individual than current passports. It is also demanding that Canada and Mexico meet the same requirements to travel into the United States. Indeed, in recent comments by U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins on the new system, he said Canada could devise a card, acceptable to the U.S. that "could be identical," to the U.S. cards.

The efforts by the U.S. to impose a single system of identification that it controls for all of North America is part of its plans to annex Canada and Mexico and create a single North American perimeter and what is called a "Security and Prosperity Partnership." Plans for a "single integrated North American trusted traveler program," were part of recent discussions by the leaders of the U.S., Canada and Mexico in Cancun..

These measures are being taken in the name of securing borders from "criminals and terrorists" and to speed up the flow of people and goods through the borders. Currently border traffic flow is not a major problem at land border crossings like Buffalo and Windsor. Programs such as NEXUS and Free and Secure Trade (FAST) have been established, creating a category of "secure" travelers and commercial transporters.

With the NEXUS program, travelers who commonly cross the border by land, sea or air are able to get a simplified entry process. For example, special NEXUS lanes have been set up at some major land border points to avoid backups. To obtain a NEXUS pass, a person must submit a passport, fingerprints, undergo a background check and pay the necessary fees.

The FAST program was designed for the trucking transport industry. It is a joint Canada-U.S. initiative involving the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The program expedites border clearance for pre-approved, "low-risk" truck drivers, carriers and importers. FAST is available to those participants who have demonstrated a history of compliance with all relevant legislation and regulations, and have acceptable books, records and audit trails.

Establishing a North American "trusted traveler identification program" would not speed up border traffic. The slowdown at border crossings such as Buffalo and Windsor are a result mainly of U.S. Customs decisions to spend more time on checking trucks, as well as the policy of racial and other forms of profiling which target people of Arab origin and Muslim faith as well as political activists.

A new form of identification involving background checks, fingerprinting, iris scanning or other biometrics would serve to hand over information to the U.S. military and policing agencies. It would not change the requirement of U.S. Customs to check cars, boats or transports if they suspect illegal or dangerous substances being smuggled across the border. It would, however, give U.S. Customs the ability to strengthen their system of racial profiling and the targeting of travelers based on their national origin and ideological or religious beliefs as it would provide more information for them to use in targeting specific sections of people. It would completely close the door for travel to or through the U.S. for targeted sections of the Canadian and Mexican people without any recourse.

Having a common North American form of identification means the people of all three countries must have a form of identification acceptable to the United States, beyond the internationally recognized use of the passport. These new forms of identification provide more information to Homeland Security and the military to do as they please. They could also include electronic tracking mechanisms which are quite common today and would permit U.S. authorities to monitor the whereabouts of both citizens and foreigners. When coupled with plans for all workers to have special ID, also with biometric identifiers and possibly tracking mechanisms, it positions the government to keep track of and spy on virtually everyone.

These measures are not for security. They are for profiling, harassment and broad suppression of the peoples.

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Latin America: Broad Opposition to U.S. Dictate

Protests Against Free Trade Agreements

Mexico

Protests were held last week in Mexico to oppose the summit of the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States. The presence of U.S. President George W. Bush unleashed protests not only in Cancun, the venue, but also in the capital and other cities with U.S. consulates. There is also broad opposition to U.S. plans to place U.S. agents in Mexican airports, with diplomatic immunity to spy on and detain people and cargo.

"He is absolutely not welcome here. His presence is an insult to the Mexican people," said Ana Rodrigo, a young professor who represented the sentiment of the Mexican people.

Ecuador

Protests are continuing in Ecuador against a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. Campesino and indigenous groups are on their way to Quito to protest the FTA and defend national sovereignty. Hundreds of native people from Guayaqui, Guayas province, and farmers from the El Coca and Rumichaca regions have departed for the capital. These actions precede a nationwide indigenous protest slated for mid-April, agreed at the assembly of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) on March 31.

CONAIE president Luis Macas called for the suspension of talks last week and for the convening of a popular consultation over the issue. He warned that protests against the FTA will continue "until the voice of the people is heard by the government."

"CONAIE stands by its rejection of an agreement which will put national biodiversity and our indigenous population at risk," he said. He urged the government to be democratic and convene a popular consultation over the pact so that the people can decide on whether they want the FTA.

On April 3, Deputy Salvador Quishpe of the Pachakutik indigenous movement said that groups of rice and banana producers and fishermen and members of the Chamber of Agriculture are holding an Amazonian summit April 6-7 in Nueva Loja to outline actions against the deal. These organizations disagree with the way in which the FTA talks are being carried out and support the proposal for a referendum on the agreement, he noted. He said that indigenous organizations are calling on all to unite efforts against the FTA.

Negotiators for both countries held talks for more than a week in Washington during the 14th round of negotiations. The negotiations on the FTA have now been suspended until late April. "This round is not over yet, it has been suspended, just like Colombia and Peru did before, to resume in three weeks," Enrique Proano, spokesman for President Alfredo Palacio, told reporters on April 3.

Uruguay

In Uruguay, President Tabare Vazquez has rejected a proposal by some leaders and media in the country to sign a FTA with the U.S. During a recent visit to Venezuela, Vazquez told the press that such a pact is not part of his government's agenda. He said that there is no one in Montevideo who would say that his statements on the FTA are unclear, adding that discussions on the issue would continue.

The president's statements received the support of the Plenary of the National Broad Front in the government.

Bolivia

The government of Bolivia ratified its decision to nationalize hydrocarbons on March 30. Minister of Hydrocarbons Andres Soliz also ruled out any objection by Brazilian Petrobras to the measure and considered it logical that it cut off investments.

Soliz refused to make any comment about what he called "media versions" of remarks made by CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli about the country's hydrocarbon policy, and said Bolivia will exercise its right to nationalization, as recognized by the UN.

On Gabrielli's announcement about a suspension of investments by Petrobras, the minister said it was logical for the firm to take such a step while it waits for a renegotiation of terms of operation in Bolivia after the nationalization. He added that Brazil is very important to Bolivia, and Bolivia is Brazil's most important, competitive gas option, as it increasingly depends on Bolivian supply.

Honduras

Honduran humanitarian bodies predicted that the implementation of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will increase unemployment in agriculture and in small and medium-sized companies.

A document signed by the Mutual Support Group, the centers for Justice and International Law and for the Human Rights Promotion, among other groups, noted the region is unable to compete in similar conditions with the world's largest economy. It warned that nearly 400,000 producers of rice, corn and beans will be forced to leave their work. The groups identified irregularities in environmental, labor, health and phytosanitary areas as well as in supervision of the financial sector, copyright laws and others.

In the report, they made it clear that CAFTA will devastate local economies and affect employment of Central Americans, as most nations like Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala depend on agricultural products.

Guatemala

The main highways of Guatemala were blocked March 29 following numerous protests the day before in the grand national march of indigenous peoples and farmers for land and against mining monopolies.

Guatemala City Central Park saw the arrival of 600 farm families, whose brutal dislocation from farms in the southwest 19 months ago resulted in the death of 13 people, including four children, as well as dozens of arrests.

The families intend to camp in front of the National Culture Palace (the seat of government) until President Oscar Berger receives them and heeds their demands. Juan Tiney, leader of the National Indigenous and Farmer Coordination (CONIC), said that numerous social and union organizations will participate in the march to insist on meeting with the three state powers. So far, only the legislature has agreed to see them. He noted that agrarian demonstrations are taking place in the south, east and central parts of the country.

The United Farm Committee is -organizing an 81-mile march in Solola Department. The Pacific Highway to Mexico was closed by protesters from the Agrarian Platform who are opposing the mining monopolies and the free trade treaty with the United States. Transportation was also interrupted in the eastern Chiquimula Department by farmers condemning the agricultural debt.

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Embracing Cheap Workers, Ignoring Their Welfare

- Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service -

United Nations - The top 10 countries hosting the largest number of international migrants have neither signed nor ratified a 1990 UN convention aimed at protecting the rights of migrant workers worldwide.

"It is obvious," says a senior UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, "that these countries don't want to be held accountable for the welfare of their migrants."

The ten countries - the United States, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, France, Saudi Arabia, Canada, India, United Kingdom and Spain - accounted for over 102 million migrants in 2005, according to a new UN report released Tuesday.

The United States was host to 38.4 million migrants last year, followed by Russia (12.1 million), Germany (10.1 million), Ukraine (6.8 million) and France (6.5 million).

The number of international migrants worldwide rose from about 175 million in 2000 to 191 million in 2005. And six out of 10 - about 115 million - live in rich countries where they are deprived of basic rights, while seven out of every 100 migrants are refugees.

According to the report, nearly half of all migrants are female, and female migrants outnumber male migrants in developed countries. Additionally, three-quarters of all international migrants are concentrated in just 28 countries - and one in every five lives in the United States.

The report says the 1990 convention is the third major instrument on migrant workers and establishes "the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms that all migrant workers and members of their families should enjoy."

The convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1990 and entered into force in July 2003. But as of last month, it had been ratified by only 34 of the 191 member states.

However, none of the 34 "was a major receiving country" of migrants, says the 48-page report titled "International Migration and Development."

The ratifying countries include some of the largest sources for migrant workers, including Mexico, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the Philippines, Algeria, Senegal, Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana and Mali.

The study, which addresses the demographic, social and economic aspects of international migration, is being discussed at the current one-week session of the UN Commission on Population and Development scheduled to conclude April 7.

In 2004, official migrant remittances amounted to over $226 billion, $160 billion of which went to the world's poorer nations.

The amount of migrant remittances to developing countries is currently larger than official development assistance (ODA) from the rich to the poor, and which has averaged about $55 - 60 billion annually.

The main remittance-receiving countries were India ($21.7 billion), China ($21.3 billion), Mexico ($18.1 billion) and the Philippines ($11.6 billion). In some countries, says the report, remittances constitute one-quarter or more of gross domestic product (GDP).

As a proportion of GDP, remittances were also most significant in Tonga (31 percent), Republic of Moldova (27 percent), Lesotho (26 percent) and Haiti (25 percent). Actual remittances, however, could be much larger since these estimates do not include transfers through informal channels.

But the study warns that the emigration of skilled personnel can be detrimental to the development prospects of countries of origin, especially small developing nations, losing high proportions of their skilled citizens to the rich.

"However, skilled migrants who maintain ties with their countries of origin may stimulate the transfer of technology and capital," the report said.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, -executive director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS that the "brain drain" of health workers, for example, from poor to rich nations requires urgent responses from the international community.

"Many developing countries, especially in Africa, are experiencing more severe shortages of doctors, nurses and other health workers, due to the loss of personnel," she said.

This is devastating for countries most affected by HIV/AIDS. Brain drain threatens their ability to meet the development goals of improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS.

To deal with this problem, Obaid argued, receiving countries could direct part of their development assistance towards education and training, particularly for health workers, in countries from which they draw migrants.

She also said that women are playing an increasing role in migration, accounting for about half of all migrants.

"Many of them tend to be concentrated in gender-segregated and unregulated sectors of the economy that put them at greater risk of discrimination, violence and abuse."

Therefore, she said, nations should urgently integrate gender and human rights into migration policies and cooperate to stop trafficking and prosecute traffickers.

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Warning to Venezuela and Cuba

U.S. Launches Major Military Exercises in the
Caribbean as Warning

- Jorge Martin, Hands Off Venezuela, March 30, 2006 -

According to a press release by the U.S. Southern Command on Monday, March 27: "A U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group will deploy from the U.S. east coast to the Caribbean Sea to conduct Operation Partnership of the Americas from early April through late May 2006." The strike group will be composed of "aircraft carrier USS George Washington with embarked air wing, Cruiser USS Monterey, Destroyer USS Stout, and Frigate USS Underwood." This means that the U.S. Navy will be sending 4 ships, one of them carrying 60 fighter planes, and a total of 6,500 soldiers on a major military exercise in the Caribbean starting in the next few weeks.

The stated aims of this exercise are: "enhancing military-to-military relationships with regional partner nations, improving operational readiness, and fostering good will." By "fostering good will" what is meant is sending a strong message to Venezuela and Cuba. The commander of the U.S. Southcom General Bantz Craddock has on many occasions attacked the Venezuelan government.

The decision to send this unusually large force to the Caribbean was announced just two weeks after General Craddok spoke at a U.S. Senate committee hearing in which he called the Venezuelan government a "destabilizing force" because of its moves in the international arena, as well as ongoing efforts to purchase weapons, particularly from China. "The purchase of military equipment has not been a transparent process. This is a destabilizing factor in a region where nations are making joint efforts to face international threats, rather than fighting each other," he stated. And he added: "We are not fully convinced that such ample and large purchases have an origin in Venezuelan national defense concerns."

In a press conference during his visit to Uruguay in June 2005 he was even more specific: "I do not see Cuba as a military threat to the United States, I do not see Venezuela as a military threat to the United States, what I do see is an influence in Latin America that creates, potentially creates instability and uncertainty, because in Cuba, obviously it is a totalitarian state, a communist state, and in Venezuela it appears that democratic processes and institutions are at risk. That has great opportunity to create, again, instability and uncertainty throughout the region if those processes are exported. So we are concerned, and we believe the neighbors in the region should also be concerned." In a thinly disguised threat of military intervention, General Craddock added: "The military aspect is to create conditions to allow other solutions to work - economic, political, social."[1]

In the recently released Strategy for National Security 2006 document Washington clearly sees Venezuela as a target: "In Venezuela, a demagogue inundated with petrol money is undermining democracy and trying to destabilize the region."[2]

It is clear that the current military exercises must be seen in this context. An article in the Virginian Pilot newspaper quoted a few of them: "The presence of a U.S. carrier task force in the Caribbean will definitely be interpreted as some sort of signal by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela," said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, a pro-defense think tank in Washington, who added: "The fact we are doing it now will be interpreted by Castro and Chavez as indicative of some sort of U.S. plan, or initiative, or whatever you want to call it."[3]

The U.S. Southcom already has a number of military bases within reach of Venezuelan territory. These include smaller "Cooperative -Security -Locations" based in Aruba and Curaçao off the coast of Venezuela, in Manta, Ecuador and in El Salvador, together with larger bases in Soto Cano in Honduras, Guantánamo in Cuba and in several locations in Colombia. Southcom has just issued a new "theater command strategy," part of which has been declassified. Objective number one is to guarantee that "regional energy supplies will flow freely into international markets and will not be targets of aggression." Essential to meeting this security objective, says Southcom, is improving the ability of "partner nation security forces to protect critical infrastructure" of the energy industry in the region. This clearly affects Venezuela, which is the third largest supplier of oil to the United States.

A number of objectives have not been declassified, but number six is to "prevent rogue states from supporting terrorist organizations." Considering there are no "rogue" states in Latin America, this can only be a reference to Venezuela, which Washington has accused, without presenting any proof, of supporting the Farc guerrillas in Colombia (described by Gen. Braddock as "narco-terrorists").

Usually the corporate media dismisses President Chavez's warnings of the danger of a U.S. military intervention against the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. But information publicly available shows that this is a very real danger. Washington is not likely to start an open war in Venezuela at this particular time, when they are bogged down in a war they cannot win in Iraq, but they are certainly making preparations. One way in which military intervention can take place is by artificially fostering autonomist demands in Zulia, the oil-rich Venezuelan state on the border with Colombia. Local politicians in this region (one of only two with an opposition governor) have been busy demanding a referendum on autonomy. A scenario could be envisaged in which they declare independence unilaterally and ask for foreign intervention to guarantee their "democratic rights." Such an intervention would be easier to justify and could even take place under the guise of "peace-keeping" (as is currently the case with the imperialist intervention in Haiti).

This would obviously not be an easy task. Chavez has already pointed out, correctly, that the day after military intervention by the U.S. against Venezuela, the whole continent would be in flames. Latin America is witnessing a shift to the left with mass movements, general strikes, insurrections, elections of governments which are seen as being left wing by the masses, etc.

The United States is seriously worried about the impact the Venezuelan revolution is having in the rest of Latin America. They are accusing Chavez of interfering in the election campaigns in Peru and Mexico, as they accused him of interfering in the elections in December in Bolivia in which Evo Morales won a landslide victory. The accusation that the Venezuelan government is directly financing candidates in other countries is obviously wrong. But what is certainly true is that the Bolivarian revolution has raised the hopes of the masses of workers and peasants throughout the continent and beyond. It has provided an example that it is possible to challenge the policies imposed by Washington. In previous decades a familiar pattern would take place in Latin America. The masses of workers and peasants went on the move and elected a progressive government which would soon be overthrown by a military coup engineered from the U.S. This had a demoralising effect on the mass movement in the continent. The Bolivarian revolution has also changed that with the defeat of the military coup against Chavez in April 2002 by the mass movement of the people in the streets.

And the effect is not only in Latin America but also in the United States where millions of Latinos live and work, many of them keeping links with their countries of origin. The enormous hundreds of thousands of Latin American immigrants in the United States who have been demonstrating and going on strike for their rights in the last few weeks would not remain idle if the U.S. staged a military provocation against Venezuela.

All this makes the Bolivarian revolution even more dangerous to the ruling class in the United Sates. They are carrying out careful preparations to put an end to it. These include a campaign of relentless pressure, through the media, through diplomacy and economic sabotage, trying to prevent the purchase of weapons by Venezuela, etc. And the current military exercises in the Caribbean are clearly part of these preparations, both as a threat and as a concrete preparation for future military intervention.

For these reasons it is more important than ever to redouble the efforts of the solidarity movement. Hands Off Venezuela!

Notes

1. http://montevideo.usembassy.gov/usaweb/paginas/431-00EN.shtml.

2. http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html.

3. GW strike group will head south for training, Jack Dorsey, Virginian Pilot, March 28, 2006.

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