[The following greetings were sent by the Fourth International to the July 19 celebration of the first anniversary of the Nicaraguan revolution.]
The Fourth International sends its warmest revolutionary greetings to the workers and peasants of Nicaragua and the revolutionary fighters of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) on the occasion of the first anniversary of the heroic victory over the imperialist-backed Somoza tyranny.
Since July 19 last year the Nicaraguan revolution has continued to deepen with major advances being made to reconstruct the country in the interests of the Nicaraguan toilers. Under the leadership of the FSLN, the Nicaraguan workers and peasants have taken big steps forward in strengthening their class organizations, increasing their participation in the control of the factories, enlarging the agrarian reform, and strengthening the institutions for the defense of the revolution-such as the militias and the Sandinista Defense Committees. Among the most significant of the social measures taken to improve the lives of the working masses is the literacy campaign being waged to teach more than half the population to read and write.
The revolutionary overthrow of Somoza and the social advances made by the Nicaraguan people since then have aroused the hostility and hatred of the Nicaraguan exploiters and their imperialist masters in Washington. They fear that Nicaragua will become a "second Cuba," by which they mean that it will become the second country in the Western Hemisphere to free itself of capitalist exploitation, oppression, and imperialist domination. They are alarmed that the courageous example of the Nicaraguan revolution will inspire the other oppressed peoples of the rest of Latin America to rise up and throw out the dictators imposed on them by Yankee imperialism.
In response the imperialists have sought to strangle and blackmail the Nicaraguan revolution by withholding the massive material aid needed to overcome the devastation left by their henchman Somoza. In striking contrast to the meager aid given to Nicaragua, the Yankee imperialists have shown no hesitation in sending millions of dollars worth of arms and hundreds of military advisers to the blood. stained junta in El Salvador. They are trying to lay the groundwork for sending in their own troops to El Salvador under the figleaf of the Organization of Ameri can States. They have sought to whip up a hate campaign against the Cuban revolution and staged aggressive military maneuvers in the waters around Cuba. In Jamaica they have launched a CIA "destabilization" program like that used to bring down the Allende government in Chile in 1973. And most recently they have attempted to murder the leaders of the Grenadian revolution. The Fourth International calls on the workers movement throughout the world to mobilize to resist these aggressive moves by imperialism, and to aid the peoples of Central America and the Caribbean in their struggles for freedom and socialism.
The Fourth International has set as its central international campaign the building of the broadest movement of aid and solidarity with the Nicaraguan revolution. The building of a massive international campaign would be a powerful weapon against the criminal maneuvers of imperialism. We call on the mass parties and organizations of the workers movement in all countries to mobilize in support of the Nicaraguan revolution.
The struggle of the Nicaraguan people and the FSLN has set an inspiring example for workers, anti-imperialist fighters, and revolutionists throughout the world. The Fourth International pledges to do all it can to aid and defend your revolution.
Immediate aid to Nicaragua!
Imperialist hands off Central America and the Caribbean!
Solidarity with the Nicaraguan and Salvadoran Revolutions!
Long live the FSLN and the people of Sandino!
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