INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACTIONS has engendered a deep crisis. The capitalists are now trying to make the working closs pay for the consequences of this crisis. For that the capitalists have prepared a basic attack on the workers. The generalization of unemployment and layoffs and the attacks on the workers living standards are the two fundamental manifestations of this offensive. It has on overall character; it is generalized throughout the state and affects all the workers. Throughouf the autumn and winter the workers will mount strong resistance to this capitalist aggression. But it will be impossible to defeat that aggression if the resistance is disorganized and isolated in each factory and each zone. More than ever before, the necessity of a united mobilization against unemployment and the deterioration of the living standards of the workers is the precondition for an effective struggle. In this sphere also, the united action of the workers parties is urgent and indispensable. Only such acfion will be capable of assuring a sufficient coordination of the mass movement. It alone is capable of forging a united framework for the struggles. By their nature and composition, neither the Junta nor the Convergencia are capable of providing this united framework for the struggles. The very programs of these organizations offer nothing in this respect. We are aware of the fact that it is not possible to realize and stabilize on Anticapitalist United Front beFore the workers parties have broken their agreements and pacts with the bourgeoisie. But we think that this does not mean that it is not possible and necessary to arrive at a united agreement among them for the strugOTAEGUI Notra Dame gle against unemployment and for the improvement of the living standards of the workers. We believe that such an agreement is possible and that it is even indispensable to assure the united mobilization of the working class. The preparation and stimulation of a general strike throughout the territory of the state as the backbone of these objectives taken together appears today as the central task of all the workers parties. Carrying out this task requires the united agreement and action of all the workers parties, regardless of the existing political differences. In the present political situation in our country, this general strike, pushed forward in a united manner, can in fact be transformed into a definitive offensive of the mass movement to put an end to the Francoist dictatorship. That is why just as it is an absolute priority to organize and stabilize a united committee of all the workers parties throughout the territory of the state, it is also indispensable to give this accord a concrete form in each province, zone, and workers center, following the example being ser by the strike committees in Euzkadi today. We therefore propose the immediate calling of a meeting of all the workers parties throughout the state to decide on the concrete forms of our united activity. Attached is an initial proposal for a date and place. Communist Greetings, United Political Bureau of the LCR/ETA-VI September 5, 1975 GARMENDIA SAUVENS LESIX signing to save the wes or Garmendia and Otaeg
SPAIN
London Since the announcement of the opening of the Burgos War Council against Otaegui and Garmendia, and in spite of the unfavorable date (of the end of August, when the workers are still on vacation), the European workers and revolutionary movement has mobilized to respond in the most massive possible way to prevent the condemnation and execution of the Basque nationalist militants by the Francoist hangmen. In Britain, many leading trade unionists and Labour party members protested to the Spanish authorities when the death sentences were announced. On the initiative of some leaders of major unions (fransport workers, miners, metalworkers) a petition was widely circulated demanding the immediate suspension of the sentences. On September 10 nineteen revolutionary militants occupied the offices of Iberian airlines in London. They were all arrested for trespassing! There were demonstrations of 500-600 people in London on August 23, August 30, and September 13 (organized by the revolutionary left and the Spain Committee). A permanent picket line was organized in front of the Spanish embassy by the Committee Against the Death Penalty in Spain, a front that includes the FRAP, the LCR/ETA-VI, and the Spanish CP. In Holland there were demonstrations in Amsterdam on August 29 and September 1(300 people); they were called by the Spanish CP and other organizations based among the Spanish immigrants and were supported by the Dutch left and far left. There was also a demonstration in Eindhoven on September 13. Militants of the Spanish CP went on hunger strike in front of the embassy when the death sentences were announced. In Utrecht the Spanish House, a sociocultural center financed by the Francoist government, was occupied for several days by a number of revolutionary groups. Other actions have been planned for coming days. In Sweden there were several solidarity demonstrations and actions in Stockholm and Gateborg. A united demonstration (CP and the revolutionary leff) in Gateborg drew more than 500 people on September 3. There were 12 six demonstrations in front of the Spanish embassy in Stockholm between September 4 and 9, each drawing several hundred people. Spanish immigrants went on hunger strike for several days in front of the embassy. In Denmark a united demonstration was organized on September 11 in solidarity with the Chilean workers and Spanish political prisoners. The demonstration, which drew 6,000 people, marched from the Spanish embassy to the Chilean consulate. In addition, militants of the Spanish CP and the ETA-V went. on hunger strike in front of the Spanish embassy. In Switzerland there were two demonstrations in Geneva and Zurich on August 28 and 29, each drawing 2,000 people. On August 30 several hundred people marched in Lausanne and Bern. On August 31, a Sunday, churches were occupied in Bienne and Zurich. There was a demonstration in Basel and a second united demonstration (far left, SP, and CP) in Zurich. On September 5 and 6 meetings and united demonstrations were held in Geneva at the call of a committee that includes reformists and revolutionaries. There were also mobilizations in Tessin and Argovie; the cathedral in Basel was occupied by militants of the Ligue Marxiste Révolutionnaire. On September 19, after the announcement of the five death sentences against the FRAP militants, the Spanish consulate in Bern was occupied by anti-Francoist militants. In France the mobilization grew throughout the week after the announcement of the death sentences against Garmendia and Otoegui. On August 28 there was a united demonstration of 2,000 in Bayonne. In Avignon the Geneva-Barcelona express train was covered with anti-Francoist slogans. On August 30 there were two demonstrations in Paris, one of 2,000 called by the French CP and one of 3, 000 called by the Eva Forest Committee, supported by the Lique Communiste Révolutionnaire, the Parti Socialiste Unifié, Révolution, the LCR/ETA-VI, the PSOE, the MCE, and others. On September 1 about 150 militants occupied the towers of Notre Dame cathedral, rang the bells, distributed leaflets, and draped signs and red banners over the church. That night there was a new demonstration of 8, 000 people called by the Eva Forest Committee and the far left. United initiatives were organized throughout France, especially in the regions of Toulouse and Bayonne. A new demonstration took place September 3 in Paris; it drew 10,000 people, called by revolutionaries. The mobilization is continuing. In the rest of Europe, in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Rome, Milan, there were many demonstrations and solidarity actions. Since five new death sentences have just been handed down against militants of the FRAP, it is more than ever necessary to develop the broadest and most united solidarity with the workers and revolutionaries of Spain and the Basque country.