Witch-Hunt Case in Nigeria

This article was cut at the top of the page the printed contents gives it, because its headline could not be found in the machine-read text. Its opening may carry the end of the article before it.

WITCH-HUNT CASE IN NIGERIA

The Balewa government, which was rocked by a general strike in the first two weeks of June [see World Outlook, September 11, for eyewitness account], has responded in its own way to the vast working-class movement that swept Nigeria. It has begun a witch

A number of arrests were made, including leading trade unionists, following the strike. Then four of the victims were singled out for trial on charges of "sedition,"

Among the four was Dr, Victor Leonard Allen, senior lecturer in Industrial Science at the University of Leeds and a specialist in trade-~union studies, who was in Africa collecting material and interviewing trade-union leaders, Placed on trial with him were Sidi Khayam and Jonas Kiomasekenagh Abam, both trade unionists, and Olushegun Adebayo, a teacher,

They were accused of "conspiring" between March 1 and June 10 of this year to overthrow the Nigerian federal government by subversive means, with having drawn up "plans" for this purpose, and with having in their possession certain seditious publications,

The publications included an alleged "programme of the Communist Party of Nigeria" and an alleged "Constitution of the Revolutionary Socialist Party."

The Communist party document was said to have declared: "Today Nigeria is a semi-independent, feudalist, capitalist society in the midst of a national democratic revolution nearly two decades ola."

The Revolutionary Socialist party document was said to have declared that. members were "duty bound to understand Marxist theory and follow the country's political trend," The aim of the organi-~ zation was to "prepare and mobilize the working class and other toiling masses\ for the establishment of a workers-farmers Government and for the building of a socialist society."

The trial\ is still dragging on. Almost half the proseoution's case so far has been taken up with arguments and evidense relating to the admissibility of a statement made to the police by Sidi Khayam, Tha defense has argued that the statement is not admissible "because\it was not voluntary."

In a letter tO a friend in England, Allen said: "From my own observations and pxperiences I knew the police were lying yet the magistrate went gut of his way to say that he believed as true the very things I ew were lies. , . I lost all faith in the court and now expedt the worst,"

In another letter three weeks earlier, Allen described a visit to the British High Commissioner. "I put to him details concerning bribery -- said there was strong evidence that he [the magistrate] had actually accepted a bribe as well as having had the government instructions. . . said he could do nothing’ about the matter," ,

The manner in which the prosecution is seeking "evidence" to bolster itscase can be gathered from the following: On Septem» ber @ the Daily Times of Nigeria reported the protest “of counsel for the defense that one of its witnesses. Babu Omojola had been arrested by the police. Two days later the Daily Times reported that "all the accused persons now facing sedition charges. .. were rigorously searched in the early hours of yesterday morning by a team of CID," .

Gerry Jones, a mathematics teacher in Ghana, who decided to visit Victor Allen while visiting Nigeria, was seized by the police, They apparently thought he might be convinced to serve as a witness for the prosecution, Upon returning to Ghana, Jones wrote to a friend in Britain, describing his experience:

"T was taken from the office where I was being questioned at 1:30 a.m approx, JI was taken to a nearby room, which was @ conference room, by three Nigerian officers. When inside one asked me why I was wasting their time; why wasn't I answering their questions. He slapped my face, pushed me against a wall, pulled me back and slapped me again, Two of them then grabbed a hand each and started twisting my thumbs, fingers and wrists, The third was ‘behind hitting my elbows with something wooden, Then he hit my back, pinching and slapping my face and trying to pinch my fingers with a bulldog paper clip.

"By this time I found myself half sitting or lying across one of the benches. The first two still had my hands. The third now got hold of my hair ~- he was careful to gather in as much as he could in one hand. He then pulled me back so that I was lying on the bench, while the other two were exerting pressure to make me rise, The third started banging my head on the bench and punch ing me in the throat. All the time they were shouting questions and- insults at me, Then they started to knock and punch me towards the door, the third man punching and pulling at my testicles, Upon reaching the door I was taken back to the first room for more questioning. I should estimate I was in the room 20 minutes,

"Bruises and broken bruises on back, Cut on neck, throat painful, head bruised, right hand sprained. ..."

ste

Allen and his fellow defendants are in need of help, both financial and moral. Protests about the case should be sent to

Pod

the Nigerian High Commissioner, 9 Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C.2. ,

Money should be sent directly to Victor Alien, % Barclay's Bank, DCO, 40 Marina, Lagos, Nigeria.

Messages of support should be sent to Victor Allen, % Office of United Kingdom High Commissioner, Lagos, Nigeria.

PUT A STOP TO DANGEROUS SPECULATION!

_The cagerness of the strategists of U.S, imperialism to ex= ploit the Sino-Soviet dispute for their own reactionary aims was underlined once again by fresh revelations made in Washington Octo-~ ber 1, According to Reuters, it was learned "authoritatively" that the U.S. government sent out feelers to Khrushchev last year "to draw up joint plans to prevent Communist China from developing a nuclear capability." .

"The U.S. bid for Soviet cooperation to thwart China!ts entry into the nuclear club was made. personally to Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev by Averell Harriman," The probing operation was oarried out by the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs when he was in Moscow to negotiate the partial nuclear-test-ban treaty in August 1963,

Harrimants success in negotiating the test-ban treaty apparently cnoouraged the millionaire diplomat to go further in seeking: collaboration against the Peoplets Republic of China,

Khrushchev, however, did not respond to the overtures, Ho “merely stated that ‘the Russians had ended their nuclear weapons assistanoe to Peking in 1959~60,"

Harriman suggested that the "development of China's nuclear capability might load to grave trouble in Moscow-Poking relations." However, Khrushchev “reportedly remained silent" to these insinua~. tions and Harriman did not press the matter,

Why these revelations at this time? Apparently Washington's strategists are making a new probe as to Moscow's possible attitude in the event the U, S, escalates the war in South Vietnam, Some — "top U.S, government experts," according to Reuters, believe that the Soviet leaders "might be happy to see China involved in local troubles" but would "put aside" the Sino-Soviet rift “if the destruction of the Chinese Communist regime was involved,'

A firm indication from the Soviet government of full support to the Peoplets Republic of China in any conflict with impcrialisn, local or otherwise, is needed to put a stop to dangerous speoulation of this kind in Washington, Let no one there believe they might got away with a gamble to spread the war in South Vietnam!

rom iste

COUNTRYSIDE STIRS IN INDIA

By Kailas Chandra

BOMBAY ~- A call for “Bharat Bandh Hartal" {a voluntary. stoppage of business throughout the country] on September 25, issued by. the Samyukta Socialist party_[SSP] and its two tradeunion wings -- the Hind Mazdoor Sabha [HMS] and the Hind Mazdoor Panchayat ~ CHMP] -~ as a’ national protest against the food polloy of the Congress government proved a total flop in most states,

The sponsors of the “hartal" were themselves responsible for the fiasco, In the first place, the petty~bourgeois leader. ship of the SSP was opposed to any fsndustrial action"; i.e., a general strike by the working class, Its appeal was confined to small traders and businessmen to close shop and to students to abstain from classes, The response was negligible. -

The SSP rejected a suggestion that all the left parties and central trade~union organisations controlled by them should issue a joint call for a day's token general strike on a national scale September 25, The SSP declared that it would not enter into any “united front" arrangement with the "Communists" (with their alleged "extra-territorial loyalties")!

The Lohiaite section of the SSP nevertheless approached Com-~ munist leader S.A,Dange in his capacity as general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress, which is controlled by the CPI [Communist party of India » proposing that he should convene a conference of trade-union leaders to plan an all-India action by the working class on September 25,

Dange refused to respond, ostensibly because there was "no sufficient agreement" among the left parties on the question of a general strike. He was content with the "satyagraha" campaign of token defiance of the law by CPI members in typical Gandhian style in different states. (Dange himself courted arrest and was de-~ tained by the Bombay police for a few hours,) —

Only in West Bengal did all the parties, including the SSP, both wings of the CPI [pro-Khrushchevist and pro-Chinese], the RSPI [Revolutionary Socialist party of India], RCPI [Revolutionary Communist party of India], join together to issue a united call for a day's token general. strike on September 25 in that state, The response was not up to the expectations of the sponsors. The West Bengal state government moved into retaliatory action and arrested more than 2,500 political workers and trade unionists on the eve of the strike,

Chief Minister P.C.Sen boasted in the West Bengal legisla-~ tive assembly on September 25: “If the May 20 general strike was fifty per cent successful, today's strike was only twelve per cent

successful"

Sents statement was of doubtful accuracy. On September 25 industrial activity in Calcutta came to a virtual standstill although the strike was not as demonstrative as the May 20 strike called by the left parties. (Likewise to protest the government's food policy. )

There is no doubt that the September 25 “hartal" looked like an antiolimax to the growing militancy of the masses all over the country in recent months, The bourgeois press was gleeful over the "leftist fiasco." The Free Press Journal, a liberal bourgeois newspaper of Bombay, commented September 28: "The waning popular attraction to repetitive tbandhst [closures] in many urban areas, as re~ flected in the response to the 'Bharat Bandh! organised by the leftist parties to spotlight attention on foodgrain shortage and spiralling prices, is quite understandable, Carried to the extremes the unvarying pattern of such agitation can scarcely be expected to become the spice of life. It tends to lose novelty and to blunt the edge of emotional excitement. .."

The newspaper was certainly wrong in "accusing" the tradi-~ tional left parties of carrying the struggle to "extremes," On the contrary, the SSP and the CPI were half-hearted about the whole affair, There is, however, some truth in the contention that the masses are losing interest in the ritualistic "bandh" calls. This is not because they tend "to lose novelty," etc, They have not been effective in chanellising the growing popular discontent, The Leadership is lagging behind. The masses are seeking higher forms of struggle. An all-India general strike, with adequate organisa~ tional preparations, would certainly have given new energy to the movement (or "emotional excitement" for the petty bourgeoisie), The reformist leadership of the SSP and the opportunist Dange leadership of the CPI combined to betray the possibility. Perhaps both of them knew that a national general strike would unleash forces which they were not confident of "controlling" or which might have shattered the reformist and class-collaborationist illusions they have fostered,

But the Free Press Journal knows better, It warned the rul~ ing class and its state that "to criticise such agitation and its | organisers is not to deny that popular dissatisfaction and discon tent over the slow and inadequate progress on the food front cscontinue to simmer and sizzle, Official complacency can thus be woefully misconceived. . . When the gilt is taken off the gingorbread, the stark fact may stare an impartial observer in the face that noisy and explosive discontent, long confined to politically con~. scious cities, is slowl erhaps imperceptibl seeping through mofussil Lsmallest} towns and the remote hinterlands of the countr [Emphasis added.

The Journal draws the attention of the government to the

sporadic outbursts, in the form of food riots and looting of shops,. that occurred in many parts of the country, significantly enough on September 25, It points out: "Friday's happenings in some parts of Mysore, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra, Assam and Cooch-Behar are calculated to give such an impression [of explosive discontent] though some of the volcanic violence which.attended them in some places will be deplored and denounced, How far breaking of the godowns [warehouses] and indulgence of violence are due to political instigation, to exploitation by hooligan elements, or to the extremity of popular distress, is hard to determine, But it is imprudent to soft-pedal the existence of distress,"

The “existence of distress" (dcspite Union Food Minister Subramaniamts assertion in parliament that the food situa tion in the country had improved in récent weeks) caused sporadic and unorganised demonstrations in most states, not in the politically conscious cities but in the remote towns. .

Newspaper headlines on September 25 and subsequent days offer eloquent testimony to the "extremity of popular distress," Here are a few of the "incidents" reported in the daily press:

© "One person was killed and one injured when the police opened fire [September 25] at two places in Bellary [Mysore state] even as the looting of foodgrains godowns continued well past mid-~ night. Mobs roamed the market areas which remained closed in response to the 'Bharat Bandh! call by the SSP and the OPI,"

® "Two persons were killed in a police firing on a mob of demonstrators at Kishangang in Purnea district [Bihar]... Nearly 25 persons and 11 policemen and officers were also injured ina clash between the demonstrators and the police at the Kishangang Sub-Divisional Officer's Court, following the arrest of Lakhan Lal Kapur, joint secretary of the SSP, in connection with the 'Ghera Dalot [literal meaning: surround government offices] agitation launched all over the State on Sept, 25,"

® "An unruly mob of over 2,000 led by SSP workers was alleged to have attempted to enter the Malhargang grain market Lin Indora, Madhya Pradesh]. They were also said to have looted some vegetable vendors. The District Magistrate has promulgated a ban on assembly of more than five persons,"

° "Seven persons were injured, two.of them seriously at Marakpur, 60 miles from Kurnool Landha Pradesh] when police opened fire to quell a riotous mob in a procession taken out Sept, 25 morn-~ ing. According to the police, the crowd indulged in looting of | grain shops," - oo

Such "incidents" continued to occur in subsequent days, again in the rural areas and small towns and not in metropolitan areas like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Delhi:

wL7-

e "Three persons were killed and four_injured when the police opened fire at two places in Guntakal [Andhra Pradesh] to disperse mobs looting foodgrain godowns and shops, according to an official report,"

® “Nineteen persons were arrested on the charge of looting foodgrains from three shops in Baldevgang Mandi [Agara, Uttar Pradesh|,"

® "The police fired shots in the air to disperse a mob which attempted to raid foodgrain godowns in Akkalkot town [Mahar~ ashtra] on Sept. 29. Sixty persons have been taken to custody. The mob later went to the local mamlatdar!s office where it demanded jowar [local coarse grain],"

There are too many “incidents" of this type, of hungry people acting on their own in a sporadic manner, without any organised leadership, all over the country!

This is indeed not a very happy situation, No one would idolise unorganised mass violence of this kind, not. the revolutionary Marxists at any rate, of looting of foodgrain shops and godowns. But they are symptomatic of what is happening in the country. While the masses are acting thus, the Congress governments, despite their protestations of “socialism," are acting in different states in. the most trigger-happy and ruthless manner in relation to the masses, and not against the foodgrain hoarders and the bankers who cover them,

Indeed farces are being enacted in some states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh where a few traders have been arrested (and promptly released on bail) for not declaring their foodgrain stocks; and some godowns have been raided by the police to seize hoarded grain stocks,

Despite the complacent claims made by New Delhi that there has been "improvement" (Union Food Minister Subramaniam has gone to the absurd extent of accusing the left parties of creating a "mentality of food scarcity" in the country!), the food situation is becoming more and more acute; contributing to unbridled inflation and shooting up of prices of essential commodities,

The only way the Shastri government hopes to solve this problem is to import additional foodgrains from the United States. New Delhi signed a new contract September 30 to import 4,380,000 tons of U.S. food during 1964-65 under Public Law 480 at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,900,000,000 [one rupee = $,21]. (This brings the total aid received by India from the U.S. under Public Law 480 since 1956 to Rs. 13,700,000,000, sufficient to give U.S. imperialism a stranglehold over the Indian economy, )

An equally complacent attitude has been adopted by the tra-

ditional left parties in face of the growing mass unrest. The policy is one of inaction at a time when the working class in the major cities, the white-collar wage earners, the students and the rural poor are being drawn into the vortex of gigantic struggles, The working~class parties find themselves virtually paralysed and incapable of initiative.

The ultra reactionaries are moving forward in this situation, The Madhya Pradesh police recently opened fire on an assembly of mine workers, who were staging a rally in support of their tradeunion demands, and killed three workers. Even an atrocity like this has gone unnoticed by the organised trade-union, movement in the country. The Congress governments in the states continue their trigger-happy policy in relation to the masses without even serious protest from the left,

The present situation in India has great revolutionary potentialities, But if the energies of the masses are sapped by futile and chaotic outbursts instead of being co-ordinated into a national upsurge to sweep away the capitalist society which has outlived itself, only the better organised reaction would take | .advantage of the situation, The working-class parties must seize the initiative by organising united action of the working class on a national scale for immediate economic demands Linked with wide political demands,.

The Indian bourgeoisie cannot possibly solve the basic problems presented by the masses, either on the economic or politi-~ cal fronts, Every mass movement today poses the problem of political power, The bourgeoisie in India is entering a new phase of continuous political crises. It is resourceful enough to meet them by resorting to military dictatorial means sooner or later, with. the help of U.S. imperialism, unless the working class intervenes effectively and in time.

This poses a new challenge to the working class parties, who are still suffering from reformist parliamentary illusions, They can face this challenge only through united action of the masses, not by their present manoeuvres for electoral alliance: as in Kerala, The working class must be educated to create a new leadership on the basis of workers! councils in factories and work~ shops to be co-ordinated on a regional and national basis, Trade unions must build workers! guards before the reaction gets ready to strike,

The first requisite is a strong revolutionary vanguard with. a correct perspective, This is sure to emerge in the course of the coming upsurge of the masses,

Fort Bragg in the Spotlight

THE PUZZLING DEFEAT IN SOUTH VIETNAM

By Joseph Hansen

Why isn't the U.S. winning in South Vietnam? The White House, the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon have no answer. They avoid admitting this, however, by forecasting, if not victory, at least ultimate attainment of a position of strength from which to negotiate,

The mystery of Americats incapacity to win was pointed up again by the uprising of the Montagnards, the. primitives in the hills whom American Special Forces teams have been training for the past two years in the modern techniques of fighting Communism,

On September 20, these tribes suddenly revolted. Armed | with bows and arrows, according to a Saigon report, they arrested their American advisers and seized the Ban Me Thuot radio station,

To appreciate the effect of this news in Washington, you need to know something about the training received by the Speoial Forces teams, An inside story on this recently appeared in the weekly London Observer [August 2], Written by Andrew Wilson, the account begins as follows:

Politics and Psychology

"tThis is survival training,! said the colonel, offering me a snack of fox and racoon meat cut into small dry cubes. Out side the grass shelter. the sun shone on a pine wood where there were frequent explosions and gunfire,

"We were visiting. the United States Army Special Warfare Centre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which trains specialists in counter~subversion and guerrilla tactics for the war in Vietnam."

Fort Bragg, continues Wilson, is concerned primarily with Vietnam, "though it could as readily provide counter~subversion teams for the Arctic." Among other things, Fort Bragg contains "a replica of a Vietnamese village for demonstrating Vietcong tactics and a classroom where pretty Asian girls from the Berlitz language school teach basic Vietnamese in six weeks."

The Special Forces trainees, who "wear commando~style berets," learn every trick in the trade. First comes basic training in "unarmed combat and underwater demolition." Then specialization in “political and psychological warfare." ss

How thorough Washington is in schooling its men in this kind

of warfare can be gathered from the following:

‘Since political warfare must be waged in the field, students are trained to feel at home at an 'tunderdeveloped! level. They learn how to kill a man with one's bare hands, how to bite off the head of a snake, and how to manufacture propaganda leaflets with kits made from boot polish and jungle berries."

With such training in political and psychological warfare, the Americans should be sure winners in Vietnam. Yet no one seems to be betting on them,

"at Fort Bragg," reports Wilson, "one cannot help asking why, with all this diligence and tough training, the war in Viet~ nam is going so badly? Officers reply wryly that it's not the fault of the Special Forces but the unwillingness of the South Vietnamese to follow good advice,"

The Special Forces in Action

. Let us now turn to what happens in the field, We are indebted to three American officers for the latest facts, In Saigon, on September 29, Col. John Freund, an artillery officer, Brig. Gen, William EZ. Denny, assistant chief of staff, and Col, Irving Wendt, who was daily ferried with messages in and out of the camp of the mountain tribesmen, granted a. press conference, The three officers made no criticisms, either "implied or direct," of the Special Forces teams.

"But under questioning," reports Peter Grose, special cor- ~— respondent of the New York Times, “facts about the rebellion emerged showing how little control or even knowledge the Americans living at the camps can have over crucial political developments around them,"

As extraordinary as this may appear, in view of the training they received at Fort Bragg, the full story is even more astoundinge

"Tt also seemed that the Special Forces troops were powerless to prevent being used for pro-Communist purposes by the Montagnards.

Here are the facts as. put together by Grose:

"Tt was disclosed that an American Special Forces captain had been disarmed and made to accompany three jeeploads of Montagnard agitators into the Darlac province capital of Ban Met Huot to distribute mimeographed pamphlets denouncing ‘American imperialists! and using Communist terminology in putting Montagnard demands for autonony.

216

"Presumably, with an American along, Montagnard jeeps would not be stopped,

"Similarly, it was stated that no warnings or hints of rebellion had been reported from any of the five camps that participated in the uprising.

Namericans were living at each of the camps but were apparently unable to detect strangers moving in and out of the camps to coordinate planning in the days or even hours before the revolt,"

What Went Wrong?

If there were any extenuating circumstances, these were not revealed, For instance, the Special Forces teams may have run out of boot polish, a necessary ingredient in putting-out propaganda leaflets with jungle berries, This could explain much about the unfortunate breakdown in the situation.

On the other hand, they may have produced an abundance of such propaganda leaflets, the effect of which nevertheless turned out to.be limited due to an unforeseen advance in technology in the area, If the New York Times account is accurate, these bow-andarrow primitives seem to prefer material produced on a mimeograph. In fact, some way or other, they have discovered how to operate a mimeocgraph themselves, thus outmoding the role of boot polish and jungle berries in their politics and psychology. Seemingly they have also learned how to drive American jeeps, using them to transport their mimeographed pamphlets, On the other hand, the fact that display of a Fort Bragg alumnus is held by them to make a journey safer shows that they have not completely transcended the fetish level,

It could also be that in carrying out political and psycholog-= ical warfare in accordance with what they learned at Fort Bragg, the Special Forces teams failed in the snake decapitation ritual. This might not necessarily be due to any sag in morale. It could be due to a sag in the supply of snakes. The low supply of snakes, in turn, could be due to natural causes, or it could be an unexpected side effect from chemicals used in defoliating the jungle, This obviously deserves investigation,

Nowever, it could be that the source of the trouble does not Lie in the Pleld at all, It could be that some of the theories at Fort Bragg are at fault. Perhaps certain parts of the training should be re-examined, In feeding trainees, for instance, is it meally | good practice to supply fox and racoon meat in "small dry cubes" iixactly why should a dehydrated product be put in their Sishes? ‘The literature offered by manufacturers of other lines of

dog food might be referred to for valuable suggestions, including savings: to the American taxpayers, -

One item in particular in the Fort Bragg curriculum might be made the subject of inquiry -- by a responsible body, of course, like the House Un-American Activities Committee, This is the six weeks basic Vietnamese taught by "pretty Asian girls,"

Just what does the "basic Vietnamese" taught by these "pretty Asian girls" include? It is understandable, naturally, that young men on their way to the swamps and jungles of Southeast Asia, should be "trained to feel at home at. an 'underdeveloped! level"; but in what area are the wily Communists more likely to practice infiltrathan where "pretty Asian girls" are used? Shouldn't Congress make it mandatory that basic Vietnamese be taught to unsophisticated trainees solely through phonograph records officially checked and supervised by the FBI?

Another alternative, of course, is just to get the hell out of South Vietnam and let the Vietnamese run their own affairs. However, the strategists who conceived the Fort Bragg program appear unwilling to draw such a conclusion. Perhaps they are right. To become a modern nation, every people at one point or another must learn how to throw out intruders, The American Special Forces teams appear to be teaching the Vietnamese in the South useful lessons in this just as the French troops before them hetped teach the Vietnamese in the North,

FREEDOM NOW PARTY NOMINATES CANDIDATES

By Evelyn Sell

The all-Negro Freedom Now party [FNP] has nominated thirtyseven candidates in Michigan for state and national posts.

Three national offices are being sought by the FNP: a seat in the United States Senate and two seats in the U.S.House of Representatives,

The party had attempted to get the ex~Muslim leader Malcolm X as their candidate for U,S.Senate, Election laws allow nonresi-~ dents to run for such an office but Malcolm has been in Afrioa since midsummer and plans to stay there during the remainder of the elec~ tion period, The black nationalist spokesman wants the African nations to bring charges against the United States in the United Nations because of the racial oppression in this country.

The FNP's main strength lies within the Detroit area whioh is a part of Wayne County. All of the county posts are being sought by FNP candidates but the hottest campaigning will probably center around the race for Wayne County prosecutor. The present prosecutor Olsen has earned the hatred of the Negro community with

his refusal to stop police brutality and harassment of minority groups, Attorney Henry Cleage, editor of the militant Illustrated News, will oppose Olsen. Attorney Cleage received 11,516 votes, running eighth in a field of fourteen, when he appeared on the non= partisan ballot for judge of Recorders Court during the September primary election,

The nomination of these thirty-seven FNP candidates was something of a minor miracle, The Michigan FNP has had to overcome considerable difficulties in order to arrive at this point. First of all, in order to get on the ballot almost 15,000 signatures are- required from areas scattered around the state, The FNP, hampered by organizational inexperience and the hostility of police and state officials, was able to gather about 22,000 signatures, Once they secured a * place on the ballot, the FNP’ was faced with critical internal and external problems . Internally, the party had to cope with setting up an organizational structure and reaching programmatic clarification -- a job which is still unfinished, Externally, the FNP was confronted with attacks by Democrats and Republicans, the respectable Negro leaders and even left-wing group ings such as the Communist party.

The FNP members were called "racists in reverse" because they insisted on an all-black organization. They were accused of trying to split the Negro vote so that racists could win office. .

Even more formidable than these outright attacks is the prevailing pro-Democratic party sentiment which still pervades the Negro sconmmunity.

"The Freedom Now party in the state of Michigan is at the crossroads," stated Rev, Albert Cleage, FNP candidate for Governor, after the party gained ballot status. "We are pointing out a new direction for 22,000,000 Negroes. . . People are looking at us to see whether or not it will work, Other Negroes in other cities are wondering, 'Do Negroes have sense enough to build a black political party? Are Negroes dedicated enough to spend the time necessary to build a Freedom Now party? Are Negroes willing to contribute the money necessary to build a Freedom Now party? Because you cannot build a political party and a political campaign on nickles and dimes, The Negro has got to be ready to build in terms of his time, of his effort and of his money,"

FNP members in Michigan well know that their campaign, their success in obtaining a significant number of votes in November will have profound repercussions within the embryonic Freedom Now groups in other areas, When the call for an independent all-black party was made in August 1963 a number of enthusiastic individuals across the United States set up meetings to discuss such a project, It was only in Michigan, however, that the idea became a reality,

At first glance it would seem that Michigan would be the

_24-

last state to launch an independent Negro party because Negroes here have been well integrated into the Democratic political machine, This situation followed from the fact that Negroes had become integrated within the labor movement which plays an important role in Michigan's Democratic politics, Negroes run as candidates, are active at the grass-roots level of the party and hold important political offices within the state, As an example of their influence and weight within the state's party structure it can be noted that the largest group of Negro delegates attending the Democratic national convention came from Michigan, Negroes in Michigan had the very best situation in the country within the Democratic party. The very best situation -- and it wasn't good enough! Militant Negroes like Rev, Albert Cleage and the members of Group on Advanced Leadership [GOAL] became convinced that the best that the Democrats had to offer was not good enough, In the national party dominating influence was wielded by the Southern racists; the acute problems of the Negroes throughout the nation remained unsolved; and those Negroes within the Democratic party had to accommodate themselves to the political expediencies of the Democratic party as a whole,

Michigan, therefore, was the logical birthplace of a functioning FNP because it was here that Negroes could best learn the limitations of working within the Democratic party. As Rev, Cleage stated, however, building a new party demanded Negroes who were _ dedicated, willing to give of their time, effort and money, Although the group gathered around Cleage and GOAL was not exception-~ ally large it did furnish the dedicated workers who were able to put the party on the ballot and carry it along to this point, It was not an easy job and it is not a finished job -- but it is more than exists any other place in the country and deserves the support of all people interested in advancing the cause of the Negro,

The only other Freedom Now candidate in the country is Paul Boutelle who is running for a seat in the New York state senate, The district which Boutelle is trying to represent lies within Harlem, the world's largest Negro ghetto. The latest reports on his candidacy, however, indicate that the state officials will rule him off the ballot. The New York City officials have already haiipered his election work by refusing to allow him to hold meetings within Harlem, He has been arrested twice for trying to address public meetings in Harlem. As Boutelle stated, "My two arrests for trying to exercise my right of free speech exposes American 'democracy! as being a damn lie,"

HONEST GOVERNMENT?

The U.S. government owns 512 lie detectors, worth $425,066, operated by 639 employees, paid $4,300,000 a year, who gave 19,122 tests in 1963, This doesn't include the CIA or National Security Agency, who aren't talking.

a25—=

_ CHILE -= FATLURE OF A POLICY

[The outcome of the September 4 elections in Chile has be-~ come the subject of.intensive discussion among left-wing circles throughout Latin America, The following contribution represents the views of the Movimiento Revolucionario Liberal of Colombia, It has been translated from No, 26 of the biweekly MRL publication Vanguardia which is printed in Bogotd,.]

Chilets presidential election correctly aroused the highest expectations of the year among Latin-American leftists. This was not just a routine electoral event, It was not just another case of balloting in the long farce of the "representative democracies" of our continent. At stake was: something of keenest interest to all the revolutionary movements. In brief what was posed was the possibility of a candidate of the left coming to power along the electoral road, by peaceful and "democratic" means, That is, whether the domestic reactionaries and North American imperialism would permit a. victory in accordance with their rules and using their own arms, ,

The reformists throughout the world were certain that Salvador Allende would win. The program of his government was already being converted into laws and decrees, The secretary of the Communist party, on the eve of the election, declared that the issue was no longer the. nationalization of the copper industry but the form of expropriating the Gringo companies. In the previous election,. Allende had been defeated by only 535,000 votes, which were probably fraudulent, It was going to be proved, for” the first time in history, that the socialist: revolution could come to power through elections, But Allende was defeated by half a million votes, The calculations of the reformists ended in a stunning failure, The road was opened for the new face of the right in the continent -- Christian Socialism,

Only incorrigible idealists could advance the hope that the oligarchy and imperialism would permit themselves to be defeated with pieces of paper. How would the victory have been defended if it had been gained? How would the bourgeois state machinery have been destroyed in order to construct the machinery of a new state? It was fortunate for them they weren't caught in such a compromising situation, It was a big victory for revolutionists the world over to see it confirmed once again that only by demolishing the bourgeois state is it possible to open the road to the new society.

It would be very interesting for the Colombian reformists to say something. about the illusions they advanced in this respect in our country. The possible utilization of elections as a form of agitation cannot be confounded with the false illusion of winning a change in the social structure along the electoral road,

THE GAINS IN THE CHI DBAN ELECTION

[The following is the conclusion of the text of a speech by Fidel Castro begun in last week's World Outlook, In the first part, Castro discussed Cuba's record in medical care, In this section he takes up a current topic of special interest in Latin America ~the Chilean election -~ and then ends up with some words to the first generation of doctors formed completely under the Cuban Revolution. The speech was delivered September 10 and has been translated from the Spanish text published in the September 11 issue of the Havana daily Revolucién. |

rh)

% : We revolutionists must have a very clear understanding of our path and solid confidence in victory.

We have lived through five and a half years of revolution, five years of learning, five years of doing or trying, five years of trying to create and of creating, We have gone through different stages, different situations, some easier, others more difficult, We do not yet know what the future has in store for us in the way of tests.

I think that right now the ideological battle between the Cuban Revolution and imperialism is reaching its most feverish point, They have launched a struggle against us on every level -economic, political -- following various policies. They have employed every kind of means, including armed action, They have employed the whole arsenal of news reports and lies, They have employed ideological weapons. All imaginable means, But this battle between revolutionary ideas and reactionary ideas is now at

breadth of a whole continent,

They, with all means at their disposal, with an alliance of all the reactionary interests, try to look at things through "rose-~ colored" glasses, But we know that all that is becoming more and more "rose-colored" is the ideas of the peoples.

They work skillfully enough, at times they surpass us in their skill, at times they wield certain means better, at times they appeal to illusions, and at times they even weave false illusions.

“It is very interesting to see all that has taken place around the episode of the Chilean elections, The advance of the popular forces, the growth of the revolutionary movement in Chile ‘has been so great in the last years that it virtually aroused genu-+ ine panic among the reactionary circles there and among the imperjialist circles, The result was that whereas in the last election the various political forces were divided behind numerous candida-

oy ole

cies, on this. occasion the tremendous rise of the revolutionary forces in Chile caused all the reactionary sectors -- which are still powerful there ~~ to unite, no longer behind a program of the extreme right, as at first when there were three candidates; that is, a candidate of the revolutionary forces of the left, a candidate of the reformist forces and a candidate of the rightists, That division would inevitably have led to a. victory for the revon lutionists, ;

And so the elements of the extreme .right swung over to the reformists, And all the news media and all the resources of imper= ialism were thrown behind the reformists to block the triumph of: the revolutionists, Objectively, the reactionaries lost ground. © ‘The reactionaries had to abandon their extreme rightist positions in order to support a reformist candidate and prevent the victory of the revolutionists, Blocking the triumph of the revolutionists became the fundamental objective of imperialism and reaction; and they pressed for the victory of the reformists, : The president-elect is, in revolutionary language, a reformist. He is a partisan of limited reforms of a social and economic character, whereas the revolutionists are partisans of radical changes, Thus, for example, the reformists proclaim that the oopper industry need not be nationalized, while the revolutionists proclaim the need to nationalize the North’ American enterprises which have long exploited the country's natural resources. . And thus while some advocate reforms, ‘the others advocate radical changes.

But since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, continental politics as a whole have shown and expressed for certain the influence which our revolution has had in the continent and on the positions of all the politicians. And thus the: struggle in Chile is no longer between the extreme right and the extreme left, between revo~ lutionists and reactionaries -- in the most exact sense. of the word -- but between reformists and revolutionists,

he candidate of the extreme right received a very small votes; all the forces of the right were deployed behind the reformist candidate, The imperialists undoubtedly knew what the outoome. of the elections would be, Nowadays it is not difficult to determine the outcome of some elections in advance, We Cubans know this, And we Cubans know very well even how many votes can be influenced by the administrative apparatus of the state. We Cubans well know how the state apparatus here used to mobilize at least a million voters in any election through various means of pressure, through various means of control, .

However, they tried to arouse false expectations, a false uncertainty, in order to beat the drums afterwards, proclaiming it to be a great victory, although in reality what was involved, at

23m.

bottom, was only a retreat from reactionary ideas, a retreat from:: the positions of the ultrarightists and the need to resort to the banners of a reformist program to block the triumph of the revolutionists,

“and what they are trying to cover up is the fact that even in these circumstances, with all the resources. in the hands of reaction -~ the resources of the state, the resources of imperialism ~~ the revolutionary forces obtained almost three times more votes than in the last election, Thus from some 350,000, their vote increased to almost a million, a million votes cast in favor of the revolutionary program; a million conscious votes cast for it, marking an indisputable rise in the revolutionary consciousness of the continent; a rise manifested in street actions and in the demonstrations of the Uruguayan students and workers against the break» ing of relations with Cuba. ws .

The acid test, the real test now facing the reformists in Chile is the test of reality and the test of deeds. Because the reforms can be more or less radical, but any really serious reform, any really far-reaching reform, can only be made in behalf of the exploited classes and to the. detriment of the exploiting classes,

And we shall see what happens there when any serious reform is attempted -- if it is attempted ~~ that affects the interests of the oligarchy, that affects the interests of the landholders, that affects the interests of the exploiters, and that affects the means by which the exploiters maintain their positions as classes, as exploiting classes against exploited classes,

Because either they intend to undertake some serious re~ forms to sustain. the hopes instilled in the moderate or reformist layers of the population, which would signify a clash with the interests of the'oligarchs and monopolies, or they have sordidly defrauded the people, And that will be the decisive test, If they attempt to carry out truly serious reforms in Chile, we shall see what happens. We shall see whether the oligarchs fold their arms, we shall see whether the "gorillas" [reactionary officer caste] do not step into the arena, We shall see whether a military coup d'état is not put on the agenda, as has occurred in other countries in response to measures that came nowhere near being serious reforms, And we revolutionists will take our seats and see what happens,

The imperialists are chanting victory and saying that a revolution that maintains freedom is about to be made. What do they mean by a revolution that maintains freedom? A revolution that maintains freedom for the monopolies, a revolution that maintains freedom for the exploiters, a revolution that maintains freedom for the swindlers and deceivers of the people.

For we well know that long before the word socialism was

uttered here, and long before the word Marxism was used, an agrari-~ an reform which limited landholdings to thirty caballerias, that is about 400 hectares [one hectare = 2.47 acres], immediately aroused a counterrevolution, immediately spurred organization of the invasion at Playa Girén, and set in motion all. the reactionary forces, We would like to know whether it is true that an agrarian reform . can be made in Chile limiting landholdings to thirty caballerias and whether the oligarchs, the landholders, are going to fold their arms, We would like to know whether they are going to pass laws like those advanced by the Goulart government against the Yankee monopolies, against remittances.of profits, against the iniquitous exploitation of Brazil; measures advanced to contain inflation, to bring the Brazilian people out of the inflationary spiral, and which gave rise to the cuartelazo [military coup d'état] of the Noorillas," We shall see whether the landholders in the senate vote in favor of such a law, We shall see whether the exploiters in congress vote in favor of laws that seriously injure their ow interests, Because if they do not seriously injure their inter~ ests, they can pass twenty laws opting for a lesser evil. But we would like to see the oligarchy committing this hara-~kiri. We would like to see this self-immolation of the oligarchy in the name of Christianity, of the most holy doctrines of the Apostolic and Roman Church, We want te see what the oligarchs do, and what the “gorillas” do, and what the monopolies do.

For it is clear, there is never any lack of purveyors of good advice in the United States ready to write an editorial, saying: "Good; he is going to carry out some reforms but he is for the West, He is going to do this and that and much more, as some people are demanding,"

But, what happens when these interests are really injured? And we are going to watch how this revolution is made; we are going to watch how they liquidate illiteracy. We are going to watch how they carry out a program of medical care -~ like. the program of our Revolution. We are going to watch how they attempt to reconoile interests of the exploiters and the exploited. We are going to watch this because it should be very interesting. .

And we are going to see whether the oligarchic, feudal struc ture of a country can be changed with wishes, with good intentions, and we are going to see what happens there, For we are very inter~ ested and very curious about what happens there, and we must try to get the news from there, to see whether with the help of the Alliance far Progress, and without any economic blockade, and without harassment, and without maneuvers in the OAS [Organization of Ameri-~ ean States], and without military threats, without any of that, they can get to first base after all the achievements of the Cuban Revo» lution. LApplause.]

And if they can do it, we will be very happy, but very happy, because it will be the first case of self-immolation committed by

the exploiters and reactionaries, If they do it we will feel happy for the Chileans, If they do it with the full help of imperialism, we would be astonished, for imperialism would really be helping a revolution, We would be astonished and we would say: “What virtues were in this Cuban Revolution to have brought the imverialists to carry out in other areas the very same things we did in Cuba and which won us their hostility!"

If they do it, we will be seeing a kind of miracle that has never been seen before. For there is nothing so elementary and so substantial, so certain and so real, as the fact that social olasses exist, and that the interests of the exploiting classes and the interests of the exploited are antagonistic and irreconcilable, and that either the interests of the exploiters or the interests of the exploited must prevail, And in Chile it will be put to the test: if the interests of the exploited prevail, well then, it will be converted into a genuine revolution. Ah! But then the imperialists will not support it. Ah! But then the oligarchs and the "gorillas" will stab it in the back, And this will all be seen in time,

| Seemingly the imperialists want to present Chile as an ex» . ample counterposed to our example: seemingly they want to point to the Chilean experiment for emulation as against the Cuban experi-~ ment, Very good! We are delighted at such competition! And even: though we have the imperialists against us, with all their means and all their resources and their whole blockade; and even though the imperialists are supporting the other experiment with all their resources, without interposing any blockade or obstacle in the way of the other government, we accept the challenge. We are pleased to accept the challenge. Let's see which country will advance the most, which experiment will go farthest, which will solve the main real problems of the people, and how long it takes to solve them,

Still more -- we Cuban revolutionists feel inspired to struggle harder, to work harder, to demonstrate the justice of our case and the virtues of our revolutionary path. In face of the hostility of all the reactionaries, in face of the hostility of. the imperialists, the "gorillas," the pen prostitutes; in face of the hostility .of the exploiters of this continent, what people has ever had a more honorable task, what people has ever had a greater cause to defend; what people has ever had a more beautiful history to write on this continent than the history that fell to us, than the history that became ours to write?

- There is no doubt that the Guban people will prove equal to the height ofthis history, to this task:‘that has come their way, that has fallen to them to achieve,

And therefore I said that the ideological battle has reached its most feverish point; but this battle will not be won merely through philosophic conviction, It must be won with real achieve-

n3la -

ments, It must be won through deeds, .It must be won in practice, It must be won day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, on every front in our work, in each task each day, overcoming our deficiencies, improving our methods, bringing ever more effectiveness and opeativenesa to our revolutionary efforts.

And we must do this without becoming discouraged and with~ out measuring the difficulties and obstacles, For if impatienoe is a virtue of revolutionists, confidence in success is another virtue of revolutionists. And being able to say that nothing is impossible is another virtue of revolutionists; because for the revolutionist there's no such thing as "I can't," For. the revolutionist there is no obstacle that can't be overcome. For the revolutionist, there is no impossible social task; and many examples teach us this "fact, this truth, in many ways.

And thus we can recall when we decided to undertake the. struggle against illiteracy and to liquidate illiteracy in. one year; when the struggle was undertaken to raise those who had learned how to read and write to higher levels; when the. struggle was undertaken for keeping on; when each and every one of the tasks of the Revolution was undertaken. And those who have no faith, those who are quick to say "I cantt" or "It cantt be done," may be good people, they may be very meee but ‘Shey will never be revolu~. tionists,

And this must be the spirit of our approach. A revolutionist does not attempt impossibilities; a revolutionist undertakes what is possible, But so,far as determination is concerned, a revolutionist never stops at what is only thought to be possible, The question of determination is involved, the question of firmness, the question of conviction, the question of confidence, People who look at things only from the rational point of view, who do not bring in determination, cannot be revolutionists; they are not revolutionists., Revolutionists approach things rationally and carry them out through determination. And this force, this stubbornness, this determination is what is characteristic of the revolutionist, Because a revolutionist is not just someone who proclaims himself to be a revolutionist, or someone who understands a problem only theoretically, -but someone who is capable of carry~ ing things through in a practical way, in a real way.

Consequently, a ‘pevolutionist develops in a double senso, He develops in understanding, in consciousness; he develops in experience, in capacity for action, And at each stage -- at each new stage ~- new tasks; at each stage, new slogans, Hence the importance of individual training, the training of the people as a whole, the training of the youth, technical study, the acquirement of technical skill, Without this nothing can be done; because while there is the problem. of means of production, there is an even more crucial problem: the capacity to use these means, the capa-~ city to apply science, the capacity. to apply technology, the capa-~

Bon .,

city to apply correct methods,

. This is the reason for the importance that we place on the training of the youth, the: education of the youth, the preparation: of the youth, This is the reason for the importance of the univer= sities, the importance of technological institutes, the teaching centers, This is the reason for the identity that exists between the student and the Revolution, the close and ever more solid union between the people and the Revolution,. between workers, peasants, students and technicians; because, in addition, each day more and more university students and students of all levels -- more. and more all the time -- will. come from the most humble layers of the people,

But the Revolution, our Revolution, was forged in this close union, was born in this close union, .This was the way the students participated in it, the peasants participated in it, the workers participated in it and paid their tremendous quota of sacrifices and blood, And this identification was characteristic of the Revo~ lution, this union that has made possible the great tasks being carried out, How could illiteracy have been liquidated without the students? -

This union that opens up the future for our country, the |: promising future in all fields, that gives rise to the emotion felt at graduation exercises Like this, made it possible to bring to- © gether in this hall, workers, university students, teachers, graduates, students in various fields, students of the Nursing Schools, It is this union that has made possible the invincible force, the stirring. future opening before our country. -And we. must do every~ thing to strengthen it, working, studying, doing research -~ because we must labor in the field of research =-- and in the field of research we will soon have resources, the means, the tools, for scientific research and medical research, Very soon, at the beginning of the coming year, we expect to-have one of the best equipped research centers in all of Latin America to engage in seientific research, in medical research.

The ignorance of centuries, the lack of technical knowledge,

the lack of knowledge of the resources of our own country and the possibilities in our own country, we have to overcome these through study and research, And you will see, as you go out into the world -~- the comrades who are graduating and those who are going to graduate -- you will see how the various fields link together, how the medical field will link up with the field of economics, the field of agriculture and the field of industry -- how Preventive Medicine will tie in with the technical level in agricultural production, how Preventive Medicine will tie in with the people's standard of living, how the disease rate will drop in proportion to the rise not only in doctors but in the daily intake of protein, minerals and vitamins and the improvement in working conditions. And how the decline in ill health will parallel the rise in sanitation in the cities, the number of aqueducts, the number of decent homes,

=33m

the means by which every human being will enjoy better material living conditions, How Preventive Medicine goes hand in hand with general education, general culture, with teaching at all levels, How, moreover, Preventive Medicine concerns not only the doctors, not. only the. ‘Ministry of Public Health but also the Ministry of Education, the. Mass Organizations, How the children must be reared, how to teach. them, how to educate them, what habits must be in~ stilled in them, what kind of deve Lopment to foster, the knowledge of hygiene that "must be inculcated, how they must be taught even about foods --~ because every child; from the time he learns to read, must be taught a whole series of elementary things in school, How the field of education ties in with the economy in many ways, not only in providing skills, but in the formation of consumer habits, because we have many things to learn,

Many consumer habits among our people are completely inadequate, We must change many habits and develop a healthier diet, of better quality, as we emerge from being an underdeveloped country and as our productive capacity grows, above all our capacity in the production of foods,

On occasion we have offered doctors a, book, which happened to appeal a lot to us, on agriculture. Some will ask what has agriculture got to do with medicine? Well, this book is called Soil, Plants, Sugap Cane. This suggestive title indicates rather forcefully the existence of a relation between food and health, between deficiencies in certain essential elements and certain ill~ nesses, In view of this, in talking with some comrades, we have said that medicine and agriculture will join together some day in biochemistry and the soil, although I know that the word biochemis~ try touches off certain conditioned reflexes among our students, (Applause.) And when I see their sensitivity over biochemistry, their horror over biochemistry, I ask them: “How is this possible, seeing how interesting, how marvellous and useful biochemistry is?" And it's hard for us to understand their reaction, perhaps because we haven't had to pass these examinations in biochemistry. (Laughter, ) Well, all right, I'm not going to give that as the reason, and I believe that in the future, even if there is no examination, and above all when you don't have to take an examination, you should look into biochemistry.

And you will see how everything fits together, how every~ thing becomes interdependent, and how the realization of the revolutionary destiny of a country demands an advance in all fields, on all fronts, and how the task of training technicians has to aocom~ pany the great tasks of economic development, how education influences production and how production influences education -- this interdependence which you will see more and more clearly.

I dontt want to finish without saying something that the Comrade Minister of Health asked of me and which he will possibly criticize me for if I forget. He wanted me to speak to the gradu-

ates about certain items on which campaigns have to be made, For example, how some doctors are remiss in'their work in polyclinios, in outpatient consultations; some are more interested in special cases, in hospital work, Many of the things that patients go to the doctor for, he said with much truth, are not serious problems, Medical attention is required for small things most of the time, And he asked me to say something to the comrades who are graduating, and to the medical students, in favor of concern for these things and the development of an awareness of the need and importance they have for the people, along with outpatient work.

This shows how multifaceted the problems of life are, how it is not enough to have a lot of medical students and a lot of medical graduates and a lot of revolutionary=minded doctors, for. . then there also comes the problem of how to distribute them, what work each one should do, and how we must constantly seek to overcome the deficiencies in order to meet all the needs.

I am complying with this comradets wish, but I believe that it's up to the Ministry of Public Health to do the main job in this; they can do better in discussing with doctors and convincing them than I can here tonight,

So then, to the comrades who are. graduating, we genuinely appreciate your feelings on this occasion, the importance to you of this evening, this stage in your life. We have seen comrades in the revolutionary struggle studying, comrades we knew in the Sierra, in revolutionary activities, who, after many years with~ | out seeing them, we now find graduating; other comrades who are studying, “comrades who had very important tasks in the Revolution, and who then willingly decided to complete their studies, under-~ standing the Revolutionts need for doctors, These are really moving things, And such things are important in life, this labor that is so often quiet and self-sacrificing and yet which gives greater satisfaction than anything else and which has greater merit than anything else, And it always makes a big impression on me :.«- these comrades who return to their studies, because it seems to me that they are offering proof of the importance of study, they are demon= strating it by their conduct, how they understand it, and how after leaving off their studies for years they begin a new stage, begin a new task, And I can see them there in the countryside, there in the mountains: the satisfaction that will be theirs, relieving pain and anguish, the happiness they will bring to homes and people. in agony, the. satisfaction they will feel in the importance of their work, the generosity of their work, the humanitarian character of their work; in the places where they are going to serve and where they will come to understand the people still better, where they are go-~ ing to teach and to learn, where they are going to give and to receive,

-°I know what this change means to any young person, this new stage, this integration into a task, this beginning of a new phase

of life, of generous and fruitful work, where they will continue to learn, where their knowledge will continue to grow, and where they will one day understand that work combined with constant study will teach them more than all they learned in the university, because in another ten years the knowledge of today will be doubled or tripled; within twenty, within thirty years, incalculably more will be known than today, because there is much to be known, there is much to investigate, there is much to discover. And even when medicine has advanced extraordinarily, everyone will understand what immense fields were unknown today, What things in life, what things in nature, what. things to penetrate, what things to understand better! And never at any time in the past has science advanced with such. giant steps as it is advancing in these modern times.

And a whole world is before us to know, a whole world of experiments, a whole world to be learned, And each atom of knowledge that is acquired must be of use for others,

Thousands upon thousands of persons during your lives will | look to you for relief from pain, will look to you to bring them health, will look to you many times for miracles. And more than once you will suffer something worse than biochemistry, something more fearful than biochemistry, something more painful. These wiil be the times when you feel you can't do anything to help; when you feel impotent in face of illness, incapable of meeting someone's hope in you, And this of course will not dighearten you but spur you to new efforts, to study even more,

This is a profession of the highest nobility, a humanitarian work to which the Revolution brings the most noble conditions, the healthiest conditions, which the Revolution redeems from all egotism, from everything mercenary; which the Revolution surrounds with respect, which the Revolution surrounds with encouragement, which the Revolution surrounds with appreciation, And in these conditions, you == the first generation of doctors -~ formed entirely under the Revolution, the first generation of doctors, go forth to work bear~ | ing the seal of a new epoch,

This is not to depreciate the other generation, This is not to depreciate any doctor. All of us are needed, all of us are useful, all of us have to help each other, With the help of your professors you acquired the knowledge you possess today, and they feel proud of your work, of your success,

And the contingent of doctors will grow bigger and bigger, they will become more and more numerous, and we will have more and more human and material resources to form them,

With this, comrade medical graduates, we welcome you, ‘The Revolution, the people, duty, receive you with open arms,

Patria o Muerte, Venceremosl [country or death, we -will wint] (Ovation.) —

Toler ie . : *}

EW DISPLAY IN PHILIPPINE SHOW WINDOW

In face of the mighty postwar upsurge. that swept through China, Indoehina, Indonesia and the rest of the colonial world, the U,S, government decided to grant the Philippines their ‘longpromised political independence in 1946, and Truman recognized the republic as a self-governing nation, Not to have done so would have risked development of a revolution striking out for economioe independence for the archipelago,

In addition, the U.S. imperialists wished to present tne Phillipines as a "show window" that would offer favorable publicity for the masters. on the American mainland, The strategy has worked fairly well for almost two decades,

But on October 2 something new was seen in the "show window,’ A thousand young Filipinos in Manila marched down Roxas Boulevard to the American Embassy demonstreting for more favorable relations, They carried signs reading: "Parity Is Poverty"; "Down with Neocolonialism’: "Uncle Sam Be Fair,” ; _ .

They milled around the heavy Embassy gate. Some tried to scale the barrier. When guards pushed them back they hurled signs and torches over the top and set out for Malacanang Palace where President Diosdado Macapagal resides, Guards using rifle butts injured several of them, . ,

Under the sowcalled "parity" clauses forced on the Philippines, speolal rights were granted to American investors, These were publicised at the time as necessary to “stimulate" American investments.

A young “Filipino news paperman was quoted as saying that many people in the Philippines are-"now convinced that these clauses were forced through your Congress by lobbies for big American companies who wanted to go on exploiting our markets,"

Direoteur-Gérant: Pierre FRANK. . oitéditeur),