Workers World Party
candidates
A stop in jail on campaign
trail
George
W. Bush and Al Gore, representing the interests of the capitalist establishment,
were speaking at $1,000 plate fundraisers. But Workers World Party national
candidates Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva were being arrested on April 15
along with 676 other protestors in Washington who were demanding "Shut down the
Prison-Industrial
Complex."
Moorehead
and La Riva spent nearly 20 hours in Washington jails but still made it to the
Ellipse on April 16 to participate in the mass actions against the International
Monetary Fund and World
Bank.
Moorehead
and La Riva were held along with 33 other women in a small room adjacent to the
General Hospital. The room was splattered with dried blood and vomit. There was
no clean water or food. Their personal bags were destroyed by the police, who
cut them with knives. They were handcuffed
throughout.
The
conditions were bad but the spirit of the women was strong. They took part in an
impromptu and serious political discussion. Everyone
participated.
Workers
World Party vice-presidential candidate Gloria La Riva described how Moorehead's
political remarks were enthusiastically received by the women, most of whom were
in their early
twenties.
"Monica
praised the women for their contributions to these historic actions against the
IMF and the Prison-Industrial Complex," LaRiva stated. "She pointed out that
capitalism and U.S. imperialism are responsible for the suffering of working and
poor people around the globe. She also emphasized that it was vital that the
movement not fall into the anti-communist and chauvinist campaign directed
against the admission of the People's Republic of China into the World Trade
Organization."
Moorehead's
comments received a foot-stomping "applause" from the handcuffed women when she
concluded that "The enemy of our movement is not China but U.S. imperialism and
militarism which is the greatest violator of human rights in the world."
--Brian
Becker
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
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