May Day focus of anti-war resistance
By
Vanessa Lewis
Workers in many European countries used May Day--the
international workers' holiday--to organize militant protests
against the U.S.-NATO war against Yugoslavia.
Anti-war protests took place throughout Greece on May
Day.
In the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece,
protesters blockaded the city's port gates for 24 hours. In
doing so, they blocked NATO from transporting military
equipment to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where
it would be used in the war. Three thousand people also marched
on the U.S. consulate in that city.
On April 29, in Solinka, Greece, a NATO convoy got
lost on its way to Macedonia, when members of the city's
"anti-war committee" switched road signs to direct them away
from the port. The workers then blocked all ways to the port
until May Day, when thousands rallied in Aristotle Square in
solidarity with the peoples of Yugoslavia.
Ten thousand anti-war demonstrators marched to the U.S.
mission in central Athens to protest the war. They
burned U.S. flags and an effigy of President Clinton as they
chanted, "Imperialism won't pass."
Anti-war demonstrations also took place in Piraeus
and Patras, the Athens News Agency reported.
National polls showed that more than 95 percent of Greeks
oppose the NATO war against Yugoslavia.
Other May Day demonstrations also pointed to the growing
anger over the U.S.-NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
Some 15,000 workers in Sofia, Bulgaria demanded the
"urgent cessation of the U.S. and NATO aggression against
neighboring sovereign Yugoslavia and for the government not to
allow NATO the use of Bulgarian corridors for the military
operations against Yugoslavia."
Speakers at the rally demanded the resignation of the
government of Ivan Kostov for sending to parliament a draft
accord with NATO allowing its planes to use Bulgarian air space
to bomb Yugoslavia.
While the vote in parliament is expected to pass, Reuters
reported on May 3 that there is widespread opposition by the
majority of the Bulgarian public, "especially following an
incident three days ago when a stray NATO rocket wrecked a
house in a Sofia suburb."
A million march in Cuba
More than a million people marched on May Day in Havana,
Cuba . At the rally, Pedro Ross--the head of the
Confederation of Cuban Workers--condemned the "barbaric
genocide" that the U.S. and NATO partners are committing
against Yugoslavia.
"The bombing by Washington and NATO on Yugoslavia brings to
mind the terrible nightmare of fascism," Ross told the massive
audience.
Serbians and Austrians marched through downtown Vienna,
Austria to protest the war. In front of the Parliament
building demonstrators released 800 black balloons in protest
of the criminal attacks on Yugoslavia.
Tens of thousands of workers in over 60 towns in
Spain demonstrated against the war drive, and expressed
resolute solidarity with people of Yugoslavia. Banners at many
of the protests read, "No to NATO--bases out!"
Trade unions and political organizations held May Day events
in Paris along with many other cities in France,
criticizing "Euro-federalism and American hegemony, and most
vehemently condemning U.S.-NATO's war."
Workers in cities throughout Italy--including at
NATO's southern command headquarters in Naples--rallied
in the tens of thousands to stop the aggression.
In Moscow some ten thousand rallied in the pouring
rain to denounce NATO air strikes and to show solidarity with
Yugoslavia.
The same day, more than 25,000 took part in another rally in
the city organized by the Moscow Trade Union Federation. In
addition, speakers at May Day protests across Russia
also protested NATO's war drive.
Throughout Germany and Belgium, May Day
demanded an immediate end to the criminal bombardment of
Yugoslav towns.
May Day in Yugoslavia
The May Day protests in Yugoslavia were dazzling
displays of resistance in the face of imperialist
aggression.
In Belgrade, Serbian television said workers were going
ahead with May Day rallies in defiance of NATO air strikes.
Appeals sent from numerous rallies of workers throughout
Yugoslavia --Bor, Kraljevo, Arandelovac, Krusevac,
Podgorica and many other towns--appealed to workers of the
world to raise their voice against the fierce bombing of
Yugoslavia.
A May Day statement by the Socialist Party of Serbia read,
"Heroes of labor have become the heroes of defense--that is how
we mark May 1, the international labor holiday. With their
beastly bombardment, NATO murderers have destroyed many
companies in our country.
"Our workers--fighters on the day of this international
holiday--are defending authentic values of freedom and
work.
"By defending the freedom of our country, we are defending
freedom and the right to work and are creating conditions for
eliminating the consequences of the aggression, for renewing
the country and making possible its further development."
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