HANDS OFF NORTH VIETNAM!
[The following declaration was issued by the United Seoretar~ iat of the Fourth International on August 5 at the height of the ° erisis created by the U.S. assault in the Gulf of Tonkin.]
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The aggression of North American imperialism against the People's Republic of North Vietnam was not taken as a "reprisal" following a rumored naval engagement in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was deliberately and systematically prepared for a long time. Politically it represents a desperate attempt by imperialism to delay the downfall of the hated pro-imperialist Saigon government which the heroic freedom fighters are bringing closer and closer to defeat despite the enormous help in money, matériel and personnel granted by Washington since it was set up.
The aggression is being directed against the Vietnamese people and the heroic revolutionary masses, against all the peoples of Southeast Asia, Its main objective is the liquidation of the revolutionary upsurge. It could well constitute a base for aggression against the great Chinese Revolution, The Pentagon war masters seek revenge for the humiliation they suffered at. the time of their military defeat in Korea. -
Once again imperialism is displaying its readiness to resort to arms, if necessary, against any new success of the revolution. Once again it is showing that the slogan of "peaceful coexistence" is only a lure that creates illusions. among the. masses on the nature of im. perialism, that diverts them from the urgent necessity of disarming | imperialism; that is, defeating it in its own centers in order to save humanity from a spiral of wars that can end in a nuclear holocaust,
The United Secretariat of the Fourth International appeals to the workers of all countries to express their active solidarity with the Vietnamese Revolution and the People's Republic of North Vietnam which imperialism is seeking to crush in order to again enslave the Vietnamese people and place them under the rule of the landlords and money lenders.
Organize meetings everywhere to protest ‘the aggression of ‘American imperialism,
Demonstrate before the American embassies and consulates to show your disapproval of the imperialist aggression,
Through warning strikes, prevent Washington's imperialist, oligarchical and bourgeois nationalist allies from joining in this ageression -against the Vietnamese people.
The United Secretariat of the Fourth International appeals to the governments, the Communists, the revolutionary militants and the workers of all the workers’ states to grant speedy, generous and unconditional aid to the Vietnamese people and the People!s Republic of North Vietnam, victim of imperialist aggression. The necessary, progressive discussion within the world Communist. movement must not become an obstacle to such aid. The Communists of all countries must demand that Khrushchev does not resort to the pretext of the Sino« Soviet conflict in order to evade granting elementary solidarity to North Vietnam or to dole out aid with an eye-dropper,
A hesitant attitude, or a retreat in face of the imperialist aggression, would only encourage Washington to undertake further aggressive moves,