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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the March 2, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Workers around the world

By Andy McInerney

LEBANON
Mass protests target U.S., Israeli occupation

A wave of protests swept Lebanon after the Feb. 8 U.S.-backed Israeli bombing of Lebanese power plants. Twenty-two Lebanese civilians were wounded in that bombing. The student-led protests laid the blame for the attacks and the ongoing Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon squarely on U.S. imperialism.

The latest round of demonstrations began on Feb. 15. Hundreds of students in Beirut and Sidon targeted the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Satterfield. "Expel the arrogant U.S. ambassador," students chanted. "No to American spies!"

Students also carried models of bombs--the type dropped by Israeli warplanes--labeled "Made in the USA."

At the American University of Beirut, protests were prompted by Satterfield's presence on campus. That sparked two days of demonstrations. "Keep the university clean," one sign read. "No to the hypocritical U.S. ambassador."

By Feb. 17, the demonstrations had mushroomed. Thousands gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, burning U.S. and Israeli flags and battling with police guarding the embassy.

On Feb. 18, the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers convened one of the biggest demonstrations against U.S.-Israeli collusion in recent years. Over 15,000 workers, students and others marched to the United Nations Headquarters in Beirut. That march had support from a wide range of political parties, ranging from the Hezbollah (Party of God) to the Lebanese Communist Party. A recurring slogan in the demonstrations was "We are all the resistance."

Later in the day, close to 1,000 students marched to the CNN station bureau in Beirut to protest biased U.S. media coverage of the Lebanese struggle against Israeli occupation. A delegation met with station chief Brent Sadler and presented a list of demands.

The protests come at a time when the Israeli government is trying to posture as a peacemaker, carrying out talks with both the Syrian government and the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. government, Israel's major backer, is pushing for neighboring Arab states to make agreements with Washington's long-time client state.

The recent air strikes in Lebanon and the continued occupation of 10 percent of Lebanese territory show the character of the "peace" that Washington is trying to impose. But at the same time, the mass protests have elicited support for the Lebanese struggle in the Arab world.

On Feb. 19, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Beirut for the first time ever. He denounced Israeli aggression against Lebanon. Mubarak--himself a major U.S. ally in the region--joined Lebanese President Emile Lahoud in condemning the "latest aggressions, which targeted civilians, infrastructure, and the economy of Lebanon."

King Abdullah II of Jordan canceled a visit to Israel to protest the bombings.

"The Arab world is beginning to wake up in the face of Israeli aggression, which passed all limits with the attacks on Lebanese power plants," reported the Syrian daily Tishrin.

PERU
Fujimori unleashes prison massacre

Starting Feb. 6, prisoners at the notoriously brutal Yanamayo prison complex in Peru staged a protest for better conditions and political status. Although President Alberto Fujimori claimed to have resolved the crisis quickly and peacefully, there are reports that up to nine prisoners died at the hands of the DINCOTE secret police.

Yanamayo houses political prisoners from both the Communist Party of Peru (PCP) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). U.S. activist Lori Berenson is also jailed in Yanamayo on charges of working with the MRTA.

One of the PCP prisoners' key demands was to meet with imprisoned leader Abimael Guzman. Peruvian security forces captured Guzman, also known as Chairman Gonzalo, in 1992.

Both MRTA and PCP members gave interviews to local reporters during the takeover. They demanded improved prison conditions and prisoner-of-war status, which under international treaties carries strict norms of treatment.

Hours after Fujimori announced that the takeover had been ended, prisoners hung a banner emblazoned with a red hammer and sickle out of the window. Since then, there has been no word of the prisoners' well-being.

News bureaus like the French News Agency AFP reported at least one person killed. Other sources reported between two and nine dead. Fujimori refused to allow human-rights groups to visit the prison after the takeover.

The PCP and the MRTA are waging revolutionary armed struggles against the Fujimori dictatorship. Both have suffered in recent years from captures of top leaders.

The Peruvian military works hand in hand with the U.S. Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency.

Protests vs. Fujimori's re-election bid

Thousands of workers and students clashed with riot police in Lima Feb. 17 as they protested Fujimori's efforts to win a new term as president. Riot police and military units blocked the protesters from reaching the presidential palace.

Fujimori was first elected to the presidency in 1990. In 1992, he staged a "self-coup" with the aid of the military and the U.S. government, seizing dictatorial powers to fight the revolutionary movements. Since then, he has also restricted the traditional ruling-class parties, clamping down on the media and bourgeois political opponents.

In the past year a democratic movement against Fujimori has begun to emerge. The labor-union federations, whose members have been hurt by Fujimori's pro-International Monetary Fund economic policies, have played an important role in these mobilizations.

Elections in Peru are scheduled for April 9. Many expect Fujimori to use his dictatorial powers to rig the ballots in his favor.

BRAZIL
Protest hits rightist attack on gays

The Diversity Association, a network of 15 Brazilian lesbian, gay, bi and transgender rights groups, held a vigil in Sao Paolo on Feb. 12 to protest recent attacks against gay men. The Association organized the "Embrace for Peace" in the Republic Plaza in Sao Paolo to commemorate the murder of Edson Neris da Silva on Feb. 7.

Brazil is often touted as a gay-friendly country. But right-wing skinheads--who shave their heads and dress in outfits resembling Brazilian military fatigues--have staged attacks on those that they consider to be gay. Transgender groups have been at the forefront of organizing against these attacks.

RUSSIA
Money for war, not for workers

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, successive Russian governments have been unable to resolve a fundamental social issue: wages for workers. Millions of Russian workers go for months without seeing a paycheck.

But money for the war effort in Chechnya is readily available.

That, at least, is the response workers in the Astrakhan region received when they petitioned the Russian Duma, or parliament.

Five hundred Astrakhan workers walked off the job Feb. 5 after working nine months without a paycheck. Local authorities have refused to negotiate with the independent Zaschita trade union.

Oleg Shein, Duma deputy for the region, sent a letter outlining the workers' plight to the Russian Finance Ministry. The response: The workers should not expect any payments until Fall 2000. The money is needed to finance the war in Chechnya.

GERMANY
Thousands march for Mumia

Over 8,000 people took to the streets of Berlin Feb. 5 to demand that the life of U.S. political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal be saved and the death penalty be abolished. The demonstration, organized by the National Coordination of Mumia Abu-Jamal Support Groups, marched past the U.S. embassy behind the banner "For the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners! Abolish the death penalty!"

Many participants pointed to rampant racism in Germany as well as the United States. Among the groups that participated in the march were the Party of Democratic Socialism and the International Initiative for the Release of Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan is the leader of the Kurdish Workers Party who is on death row in Turkey.

Abu-Jamal was an outspoken Black journalist and activist until his arrest in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1981. He was sentenced to death for killing a cop, although he has always maintained his innocence. His supporters charge that he was framed because of his political activity.

Since then, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been a symbol around the world of the racism and repression in the United States. From Colombia to Nepal, from Japan to Germany and France, millions have joined the campaign for Abu-Jamal's freedom.

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