Prize-Winning Joke in Democratic Party 14 Tories Hunt for Issues on Eve of British Election -- by John Walters ae ener co ae Germans Fail to Salute McNamara Scheme......... 16 Soviet Intellectuals Protest Any Move to Rehabilitate Stalin . 1s The Bell Still Tolls in Hiroshima .. ras mon ae Iranian Courts Substitute Witch-Hunt for Fastics eateth—. ' 18 Committee Set Upto Defend Iranian Political Prisoners. , 19 Venezuelan Leftists Released from Prison ie 19 After the Tricontinental Conference we oy Livio Matten 42 oo as . ais dee _ 20 Documents: Yugoslavs Score ‘the Tricontinental. Gant eEence owt iors The Cubans Answer ‘Belgrade - od ee.
WORLDWIDE DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST JOHNSON'S WAR IN VIETNAM
The demonstrations _ that were held around -the world .on March 25-26 to protest U.S. escalation of the war in Vietnam constituted a big step forward in the struggle to halt the drift toward a wider conflict in Asia with all its potential ARveetEepite consequences. :
The turnout in New York was symptomatic. It. was much bigger than previous demonstrations, better organized and more militant. The committee in charge put the actual parade. at 21,800 participants according to a count made by four professors who used-automatic count-
New York, N. Y. 10010. Sx
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ers. The police, evidently trying to minimize the size of the protest movement, gave as their estimate "more than 15,000."
However, at the Central Park Mall where the paraders congregated to hear speakers, the crowd swelled enormously. Many of them joined the parade in the last few blocks; others came directly to the Mall. Radio commentators gave 50,000 as the lowest estimate; and reported that news correspondents considered 100,000 a more accurate figure. In its nationwide TV newscast, CBS said that the crowd at the Mall was between 75,000 and 100,000. .
The difference in the number who participated in the parade and those who showed up at the Mall is ascribable to lingering fear from the days of McCarthyism. People in the U.S. are still reluctant to stand out prominently in parades where they might be attacked by reactionary bystanders or where they might be easily identified and fired from their jobs as a result of taking a political stand. One of the leaders of the march, a former Marine Corps master sergeant who was disabled in World War II, gave as his reason for refusing. to identify himself to a newspaper reporter ‘that it could mean his job.
These facts are of significance ‘in estimating the size of the underlying mass opposition in the United States - to Johnson's escalation of the war in Vietnam.
While the ‘giant damoristration ‘was occurring ‘in New York, tens of thousands of participants were marching in scores of other American cities. Taken as a whole; these demonstrations represented one of the most significant potitical developments in the United States since the thirties.
A decided increase in the militancy of the slogans was observable in the demonstrations. In New York, for instance, earlier demonstrations were dominated by demands for "negotiations" or simply for "peace" in Vietnam. The majority of the slogans in the March 26 parade called for withdrawal of American troops.
One of the most encouraging aspects of the development of the movement: has been the: shift. away from red-baiting and the. banning of certain groups. In pacifist parades only a few years ago, it was routine procedure for such leading organizations as SANE to demand the exclusion | ‘of militant groups.
In the current demonstrations there has been little of this. The principle of "nonexclusion" has become generally accepted. As a result it has been easier to generate enthusiasm and the parades : have shown a great variety of slogans, reflecting the heterogeneous political views of the participants, who nevertheless realize the ~ need for a.united front :-on an’ issue as basic:as this. This was _ stressed by the veteran pacifist battler A.J.Muste in his opening remarks as chairman of the meeting at the Mall.
Only in Chicago was a sour note struck in this respect. The SANE representatives and some others refused to participate on the grounds that the Young Socialist Alliance and similar groups were
involved. (They were among the most active organizers of the demon-' stration:) “9. | eee mn
In a speech in New York at the Mall, Donald Duncan, the Vietnam veteran who skyrocketed to fame recently with his exposure of the brutal methods inculcated and practiced by the Pentagon in Vietnam, referred to this. He said that he did not know who the sponsors of the parade were, nor did he care. In Chicago, he said, some groups withdrew because "Trotskyites" were active in the work. This, he maintained, was wrong. There Should be no exclusion and no: “guilt by association. :
One of the most important aspects of: the demonstrations was. their international character. Simultaneously, all over the world, wherever it was possible, Similar marches and meetings were being held. It was a genuine instance of "hands across the sea" in a huge international protest movement against the drive of the Johnson administration toward another world war.
Among the outstanding © characteristics of the protest parades were the following:
(1) They came in.the face of, and as a countertendency to the deepening division between Moscow and Peking, the two. presumed centers of world Communism. As against the incapacity or unwillingness “of Moscow and Peking to form a united front, the masses in many countries are seeking forms of coordination against the escalation of the conflict in Southeast Asia and the threat of a wider war.
(2) The initiative for this movement came from within the stronghold of American imperialism itself. It began among the university students, professors and other intellectuals shortly after Johnson ordered the bombing of the Democratic Republic’ of Vietnam in February 1965. It has now. spread through the United States, involving other age levels and social layers although it has not yet directly cangnt on in the organized labor movement.
~ (4) The protest movement in its international extension has begun to affect Communist parties that up to now have refrained, out. of deference to the Kremlin's line of "peaceful coexistence," from engaging in significant protest actions against the U.S. imperialist coursé in Vietnam. Thus the Italian Communist party was reported to have decided to” stage a big demonstration in Rome. -on March 22.
(4) The widespread protest movement appears to have encouraged not only the freedom fighters of the National Liberation Front, who are defending their country against an imperialist invader arms in hand; it appears to have inspired resistance among still broader circles in south Vietnam. Thus while as many as 100,000 were actively protesting in New York, the radio reported a demonstration of 20,000 in the south Vietnam city of Hué which demanded an end to Ky's military dictatorship and a return to civilian rule. Another coronene tion, involving student forces, was reported in Saigon itself.
These developments offer the greatest encouragement to revolu-
tionary socialists throughout the world. A fresh breeze is blowing... ; “It can serve to counter the grave setbacks and defeats experienced . the past few years in a number of colonial countries.
138,000 IN TOKYO RALLY