Workers Movement. On July 16 and 22, the Daily group successfully helped organize demonstrations in solidarity with the Korean mass struggle. This has sharpened the conflict between the followers of the Maoists and the anti-Maoists on the campuses. The battle between Maoism and Trotskyism has only just begun. If is not unreasonably optimistic to predict that the Maoists, whose only weapon is slander, will ultimately lose the battle. Nor is it unreasonably optimistic to predict that with its revolutionary orientation and practice the revolutionary Marxist movement is bound to grow rapidly. capitalism has been produced by the exhaustion of the internal resources that had allowed for the accelerated growth of the postwar period and by the social effects of this growth. (See INPRECOR, No.7, interview with Y. Sakai.) The rise of regional struggles against Japanese imperialism is a side effect of the failure of the U.S. military escalation against the Indochinese revolution and of the consequent reorientation of American strategy in Asia. The peoples of Asia feel, even if in a confused way, that this reorientation of Washington's policy is proof of its essential weakness. This is all the more true in that the network of dictatorial regimes through which American imperialism has assured its domination of this region of the world has been knocked off balance. The prolonged resistance of the Vietnamese, Lao-
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Rally of more than 1,000 militants concludes 74 Asian Youth Conference. tian, and Cambodian peoples will permit a bridge to be built between the second wave of the Asian revolution -- which was marked by the birth of North Korea, the Peoples Republic of China, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, but also by defeats in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the establishment of the dictatorships in South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand -- and the current new rise of class struggle. Washington does not feel capable of fulfilling the role of cop all by itself under these conditions. That is why it is calling for peaceful coexistence and has agreed to pay a price for it: reintegration of China into world political society. That is also why it is asking Tokyo to play a larger counterrevolutionTokyo are creating new ferment for mobilizations and central- ary role in the region. But by doing this, Washington and ization of anti-imperialist struggles. Japanese imperialism is now the greatest investor -- or at least one of the greatest investors -- in the countries of East and Southeast Asia. It is one of the main supporters of the local dictatorships. The peoples of Asia have not forgotten Tokyo's military invasions of the 1940s. Japanese imperialism has thus become a primary target of the current struggles. Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka had some unhappy experiences with this during his January 1974 trip through Southeast Asia. He was met by demonstrations in Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Djakarta (Indonesia), the Djakarta demonstration quickly turning into a riot. It is in this context, marked by a deep convergence of objectives of struggle, that coordination of the anticapitalist struggles in Japan and the anti-imperialist struggles throughout Asia has become a priority for revolutionary Marxist militants. The importance of the first Asian Youth Conference must be seen in that same context. 28
FT FINNE
ASIAN Si The uneven state of sectarian degeneration of a significant part of the Japanese far left prevented the participation of many national political organizations in the conference. Ne ertheless, militants representing a remarkable range of movements of struggle currently going on in Japan actively partic ipated in the conference in various ways. A leader of the Sar rizuka Peasants Association greeted the conference and calle for preparing the coming struggles against the opening of the new Tokyo International Airport. (See INPRECOR, No.7, interview with Y. Sakai.) Korean militants (from the community of one million permanent immigrants in Japan) and activ members of the mass organizations against the Park dictatorsh made decisive contributions to the debates and discussiors. Militants of the Buruku liberation movement explained the battle of the Japanese "lower castes, Japan, who are still subjected to severe discrimination. "the "untouchables" of Some radical trade-union movements participated in the con ference too -- the Roken, a regional class-struggle tendenc in Sendai, a city north of Tokyo, and the third trade union the Mitsubishi shipyards in Nagasaki. In addition, there we militants of the antiwar movement, antimilitarist groups, cor mittees against pollution, and so on. Also participating in the work sessions and the meetings that followed were representatives of two revolutionary organiza tions of Hong Kong, an Indian militant from the South Asia Marxist Review, a leader of the Malayan student movement (who, unfortunately, arrived just at the end of the official conference), and observers from France and the United State The first result of the conference -- achieved thanks to mar study sessions, general assemblies, and workshops will be to better prepare Japanese militants for the struggle agains! their own imperialism and to support the other Asian move-
ments. Examples: the affirmation of solidarity with the strikes in the textile industry in Bangkok, an industry that is owned 80 percent by Japanese capitalists and 20 percent by Taiwanese; the analysis of the superexploitation of the female work force and the export of the most polluting industries to South Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia; the denunciation of the organization on a mass scale of a very special sort of "tourism" arranged from Japan and designed to enable customers of the big Japanese travel agencies to sample the joys of prostitution throughout Asia. At the end of the conference a meeting was organized in Tokyo attended by more than 1,200 people. There were later about half a dozen meetings in the provinces. But the work of the conference was mainly centered on preparing international campaigns for the release of political prisoners in Asia. This is to begin with the defense of militants threatened by death or life imprisonment by the bloody South Korean dictatorship, people like the poet Kim Chi Ha, bishop Chi Hak Sun, and the members of the National Federation of Democratic Youth and Students. At the end of the conference an international delegation, protected by many defense squads, was sent to the South Koreun embassy to demand the immediate release of political prisoners. Two days of action, September 18 and 19, were also planned to continue this campaign. Obviously, the problem of South Korea is not an isolated one. The conference intends to organize solidarity with all political prisoners throughout the region during the coming year: the prisoners of Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia and the Philiprevolutionary marxist journal in polish The first issue of Na Lewo (To the Left), a revolutionary Marxist review in the Polish language, has appeared. (Copies can be obtained from Société Internationale d'Edition, Département d'Europe Orientale, 10 Impasse Guéménée, 75004, Paris, France.) The name of the bulletin is a reference to the revolutionary current in Polish communism during the 1930s, a current that was linked to the International Left Opposition. Its best known representatives were Isaac Deutscher and A. Stawar. The bulletin hopes to contribute to the rehabilitation of Marxism as a theory and guide to practice in the eyes of the Polish people. "Marxism" has been falsely identified in the so-called socialist countries with the ideology of the bureaucrats in power. The bulletin must therefore explain the abyss that separates the method of Marx, Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, and Trotsky from the caricature of Marxism that the bureaucracy uses to justify its domination. The news that will be provided on the revolutionary left in pines, and India and Sri Lanka, not to mention the 200,000 prisoners being tortured in Thieu's jails in South Vietnam. Toward this end the conference decided to set up an Information Center in Tokyo, which will centralize the work, distribute an English-language bulletin, and give maximum information to help in the waging of campaigns in Japan, throughout Asia, and, if possible, in other areas of the world. Special mention was made of the continuation of the struggle of the three peoples of Indochina and of the necessity of continuing action until their final victory. But the objectives of this Asian Youth Conference were not limited to the organization of solidarity movements, as was the case for another conference that had been held earlier by the old militants of Beheiren, the Japanese left pacifist movement. Obviously, the solidarity movements are important. But they must provide an initial framework for unity of action of the movements of struggle and the revolutionary currents of various orientations that are now active in Japan and in the region. The framework of unity in action must also be a framework of political confrontation and clarification of perspectives. Coming developments in the Asian revolution will require a growing capacity for understanding, coordination, and centralization on the part of militants of the region. This must be tested in practice beginning right now in order to lay the basis for a real united front of anti-imperialist Asian youth. A second conference has been scheduled for next summer to act on this perspective. the West and the antibureaucratic opposition in the countries of the East can aid in breaking down the feelings of isolation and powerlessness of the dissenting movements in these coun tries. The bulletin is open to all those who agree with its orientation and also to those who, while disagreeing with us, understand the importance of creating a field of free discussion on the basis of an opposition of the antibureaucratic lert. The principle that will guide the polemics that may appear in the bulletin will be: March separately, strike together. The first issue of Na Lewo includes the following articles:
--The situation of women in Poland
-- Is ideological science possible?
-- The Lisbon Spring
-- The presidential elections in France
-- Vladimir Bukovsky: Declaration of an oppositionist
--Ernest Mandel: On the "Gulag Archipelago"
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revolutionary militants
ITALY workers conference of the gor About 150 worker militants and sympathizers of the Italian Trotskyist organization attended a workers conference held at the beginning of July in Turin by the Gruppi Comunisti Rivoluzionari (Revolutionary Communist Groups), Italian section of the Fourth International. About half the workers present (eighteen cities were represented in all) were industrial workers from factories including Fiat, Lancia, Face Standard, Honeywell, Kelvinator, Imperial, Italsider, Italcantieri, Pignone, Petrochimicade Marghera, Idra, Mamoli, Michelin, Alfasud, and Kodak. About 70% of the participants were members of the GCR; 30% were sympathizers. Delegations from the Front Communiste Révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Communist Front) of France, the Ligue Marxiste Révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Marxist League) of Switzerland, and the International Marxist Group of Great Britain also participated in the work of the conference. IRELAND arrested Four members of the Revolutionery Marxist Group (RMG), Irish supporters of the Fourth International, one RMG sympathizer, and one member of People's Democracy were tried in Belfast
August 20 on trumped-up charges of "riotous behavior. " The six militants had acted as stewards at an August 11 march to protest internment. The arrests -- and the prosecution's attempts to turn the cases into political show trials -- were part of British attempts to intimidate organizers of mass protests in the North of Ireland against the continuing internment of political militants. In fact, the arrests were preceded by a number of provocations during the march itself.
ANUE CIVIL 5-DENOE
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The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the political framework in which the autumn struggles will develop and to determine clear perspectives for the intervention in these struggles by revolutionary Marxist workers. In addition to holding debates and discussions in the general assembly, the conference organized workshops on the two major problems confronting workers in the present situation: inflation and unemployment. The analyses and perspectives elaborated at the conference are generally explained in the GCR political resolution published in this issue of INPRECOR Despite the still limited strength of the Italian revolutionary Marxist organization, this conference testified to the significant progress the GCR has made during the past year in developing a base in the factories and allowed for better preparing revolutionary Marxist workers to intervene in the confrontations that are on the agenda for this autumn. The march was the most successful anti-internment activity of the month, larger than either the demonstration called by the
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (supported by the
Official Sinn Fein and the Communist party of Ireland) or the one called by the Provisional Sinn Fein. Some 2,000 people took part. The demonstration marched from Andersonstown and forced the British army to close down the main auto route out of Belfast when participants tried to pass through back gar dens and onto the motor route in an attempt to proceed to the Long Kesh concentration camp. August 11. More than 2,000 march against internment.
COUP
The marchers walked on for several miles despite regular stoning by Loyalist elements posted on overlooking hillsides, elements that were largely ignored by the strong British army presence. The march was finally halted by a roadblock set up by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and backed up by troops in riot gear. After a meeting in which speakers from the RMG stressed the need for unity in fighting repression, the march turned back. But as it reached Andersonstown, the British army launched a series of provocations. The side road from the auto route to the estate was blocked by a line of troops in full riot gear. Rubber bullets were fired and a small-scale clash resulted, during which army squads seized two stewards who were attempting to restore order. The main body of the march was forced to climb a fence and re-form in a neighboring strees. But at the head of the road it was again confronted by soldiers of the Black Watch, a notoriously brutal Scottish regiment of the British army. The army at first allowed the march to pass, then stopped it again, then lined the roadside and observed marchers as they were allowed to pass. One hour after the march dispersed, four RMG members were arrested by a mobile patrol of the Black Watch and taken in two armored cars to the British army's Fort Monagh in Andersonstown, where they were held and questioned for five hours
Black Watch troops on Andersonstown Road August 11.
before being handed over to the Royal Ulster Constabulary and taken into custody -The following day, one RMG member appeared in court and was sentenced, solely on the basis of testimony given by a member of the Black Watch, to six months in prison. The sentence was suspended "reluctantly" by the magistrate. The five other militants remained in custody. During bail applications the prosecuting barrister attempted to introduce the "political implications" of the case, charging that the defendants were all linked by their "Marxist and Leninist views. " He said they were not stewards but rather the organizers of the march. One RMG member, an Englishman, was singled out as a "foreign agitator." In the magistrate's court later on, however, the evidence given by several British soldiers was so transparently fraudulent that the cases against two of the militants were dismissed; charges against a third were dropped, while two others were given two-month sentences suspended, again on the basis of testimony from British soldiers. The incidents underlined the need for unity among the anti-imperialist groups in defense of militants and of the whole anti-unionist population. The tempo of repression will undoubtedly increase with the developing accommodation to the Loyalists. It can be expected to become generalized against the whole anti-unionist working class. Joint action by the anti-imperialist groups is the only effective answer.
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EDITORIAL BE 3 PAIGE guinea-bissau We salute the accession to independence of the state of Guinea-Bissau, formalized by the agreement signed in Algiers on August 26 by the Portuguese government and the African party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands (PAIGC). We likewise salute the courageous eighteenyear struggle. led by the PAIGC and waged by the people of Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands. The situation opened up in Portugal since the end of April was the product of the rise of struggles throughout Europe and in Portugal as well as the consequence of the armed struggle led by the PAIGC, the MPLA, and FRELIMO. Undermined by the colonial war, the fascist Salazarist regime was finally brought down, thus confirming the prediction made ten years ago by the late Amilcar Cabral, foully murdered in January 1973: "While the fall of fascism. may not lead to the end of Portuguese colonialism, we are sure that the liquidation of Portuguese colonialism will bring with it the destruction of fascism in Portugal." To be sure, the new Portuguese government, closely watched over by imperialism, is still not prepared to settle the problem of Angola and Mozambique, as these countries are located in that part of Africa where the racist regimes of Rhodesia and South Africa are now feeling the initial blows of the oppressed African masses, both within their own borders and on their frontiers. The unity of the African peoples in struggle and the indispensible support of the international workers movement will more than ever be necessary in foiling all the maneuvers of imperialism, which will seek despite everything to maintain the status quo by resorting to forcible or neocolonialist solutions.
Editeur responsable: René Groslambert, 34 Rue Nothomb, 1040-Bruxelles. Imprimerie spécial de l'éditeur. 32
PAIGC Nafl Support t independent! Slowly but surely the rise of the African masses in struggle will move forward. This first victory, won arms in hand (not granted peacefully as during the 1960s in some African countries), is the reflection of this tendency for the African peoples to burst onto the political scene to determine their own future against imperialism and its faithful subjects, the neocolonial regimes. At a time when the Spínola government is trying to whip the Portuguese workers into line (by limiting their right to strike, for example), no one can ignore the fact that the struggle of the peoples of the colonies is integrally linked to the struggle of the Portuguese proletariat and that in face of all the maneuvers of the Portuguese regime aimed at rejecting immediate and unconditional independence for Angola, Mozambique, and the Cape Verde Islands, the victory of the workers remains the surest guarantee of liberation from the colonial yoke. Revolutionary Marxists, especially the comrades of the Liga Comunista Internacionalista, Portuguese section of the Fourth International, are conscious of this and are working for the total destruction of colonialism and for the socialist revolution in Portugal today. LONG LIVE