Date: Sun, 2 Mar 97 10:41:15 UT From: "James Hillier" <Jim_Hillier-AT-msn.com> Subject: M-I: What is the function of marxism-international? Just so nobody gets me wrong right from the start, I am not a member of the Workers World Party, I am not a sympathiser of the WWP, and I do not belong to an organisation that has international ties to the WWP - or any other Trotskyist organisation. And I am not forwarding this post in order to start a tide of third party forwarding. But when marxism-international was created, I thought it was going to be a forum where marxists from different parts of the world could debate and keep each other informed about what was going on. Where we could rationally discuss what is going on, why, and what the nature of the different political forces at play are. I think the old m-1 did this pretty well during the Turkish Hunger Strike. Some comrades do use the list for this purpose - I won't give a list because it will obviously be partial. But the vasy majority of posts on the list have nothing to do with the international struggle of the working class and the peasantry. They are instead to do with the personal vendettas and petty personal concerns of petty bourgeois leftists in the imperialist countries. The Internet is an amazing resource that the US bourgeoisie has created for us, unwittingly. To squander it in this manner if unforgivable. Now, there are people on the list who must know more about what has been going on in Ecuador than I do, and who will have something meaningful to say on these - and other - developments. In Turkey, Zeynep, if she has the time, has plenty to comment on and to keep us informed about. And since we all come from different backgrounds, this can lead us into concrete, constructive debates in which marxism is used as a tool for understanding the world, in order that we can learn to change it. And if it can't, then I can see no real purpose for this list. I am sick and tired of the amount of veryone's time that Jerry Levy, for one, is wasting. I am particularly sick of the amount of time Louis P is spending on it, since when he devotes himself to more seriousmatters - for example the Cuban Revolution - was can all benefit. I'd have preferred to see him - or anyone else who considers themselves Castroite (as he once did on this list, or m-l) answer Adolfo's and Luis Arce Borja's firce critique of their methods and their goals. These critiques from Peruvian communists could have provoked a discussion on Castroism - its origins, its development, etc. Instead we ended up with endless waste of bandwidth thanks to Jerry L and Paul Z. Maybe I am wrong, and it is marxism-news that should carry this kind of reports. Trouble is, the only thing I seem to get from it is the occasion advert telling me that New Worker Online, a new service for the working class, is available for my perusal. It's nice to know, of course, and I'm not knocking it, but I'd prefer to also be hearing about the FPMR comrades who are on hunger strike in prison, for example. Anyway, enough moaning from me. For communism Jim CAG London Forwarded message: BEHIND THE FIGHT FOR ECUADOR'S PRESIDENCY By Andy McInerney In the wake of mass demonstrations that toppled a president, the labor unions and popular forces in Ecuador are struggling to consolidate their gains. But the bankers and industrialists and their political parties have maintained the upper hand in the developing political situation. And they are striving to continue their program of economic austerity. Politics as usual was shattered when 2 million people walked off their jobs on Feb. 5 in a "civic strike." That demonstration was the culmination of weeks of protests against President Abdala Bucaram's austerity program. Gas prices had soared by 350 percent. Telephone rates went up by 800 percent after Bucaram slashed subsidies to public services. Demonstrations began in early January, when thousands of students took to the streets against the austerity measures. The Single Workers' Front (FUT), Ecuador's main union federation, also held mass demonstrations in the capital city Quito and the biggest city, Guayaquil. Hundreds were arrested and dozens wounded in clashes with the police. By February, all social classes had joined the protest movement. United in a coalition called the Patriotic Front (FP), over 500 groups joined called for the impeachment of Bucaram. The coalition included the FUT, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), women's and student's groups and other mass organizations, as well as the Catholic Church. But the Chambers of Production and Commerce, representing the interests of industrialists and merchants, were also in the coalition. All traditional political parties outside of Bucaram's Roldoista Party joined the Front. Motivations for opposing Bucaram reflected each sector's class interest. Workers and students fought his government's austerity policies aimed at satisfying international bankers. Meanwhile, the political and business elite was appalled at the corruption and nepotism of the Bucaram regime. Workers wanted an end to cutbacks and belt tightening. Bosses wanted the austerity program applied efficiently. The protests' social force was concentrated in the FUT and the CONAIE-- which mobilized a million indigenous peasants and paralyzed the entire countryside. But the political leadership was concentrated in the traditional bourgeois parties, especially the FP. On Feb. 6, the Congress voted to oust Bucaram on the grounds of "mental incapacity," referring to his outlandish public persona, and named Fabian Alarcon president. On Feb. 7, the FP called on the population to demonstrate in support of Alarcon--a call that the FUT rejected. The motion to oust Bucaram was introduced by Franklin Verduga of the right-wing Social Christian Party (PSC). Bucaram defeated the PSC's candidate in the 1996 presidential elections by running a populist campaign against the previous PSC administration's privatization and austerity program. After his election, Bucaram turned around and carried this program even farther than the PSC had. In a settlement brokered by the Ecuadorian military, Vice President Rosalia Arteaga assumed the presidency for three days until the Congress voted Feb. 11 by a 57-to-two margin to re-install Alarcon. U.S. ABANDONS BUCARAM Bourgeois opposition to Bucaram in Ecuador might have been held in check if not for the open intervention of the United States in dumping the president. On Jan. 21, Ecuadorian generals met with Wesley Clark, head of the U.S. Southern Command, and Ambassador Leslie Alexander. They discussed "problems the country was having," in particular corruption, according to the Quito-based business newspaper El Comercio. The Ecuadorian press widely reported comments Alexander made days before the mass demonstrations about corruption in the Bucaram regime. "Unless a dramatic attack is initiated against the systematic corruption which afflicts this country, it will be my responsibility to officially notify Washington of the dangers in investing here," he said on Jan. 29, according to the Guayaquil newspaper El Universo. On Feb. 14, after meeting with newly appointed Alarcon, Alexander said that U.S. companies operating in Ecuador were "very happy," according to Peru's La Republica newspaper. The initial Congressional acts after Bucaram's ouster reflected the strength of the working class in the popular movement. They included a call for a Constitutional Assembly, canceling the austerity measures, respect for labor rights, a review of privatizations, and preparing for a National Council of Development of Indigenous and Black Peoples. The Congress also declared a moratorium on payments of the foreign debt. CAPITALISTS CONSOLIDATE, WORKERS ORGANIZE The new government immediately began to pull back on these promises. "Our country must fulfill its international commitments," Alarcon said Feb. 15. The privatization of the state telecommunications operation would continue, he pledged on Feb. 16. In a Feb. 17 interview with El Comercio, new Finance Minister Carlos D=A0valos Rodas pledged that while the austerity measures would end, the new government's basic orientation would remain the same. The priorities would be controlling inflation, renegotiating the country's $14- billion foreign debt, reducing the budget deficit, and stabilizing the economy. The FUT has pledged to pressure the government to honor the popular mandate it gained in the course of the Feb. 5 mobilization. Forces within the broader Patriotic Front announced on Feb. 23 that they were discussing calling street demonstrations or a May 1 strike if the Alarcon government turns its back on the popular forces. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww-AT-wwpublish.com. For subscription info send message to: ww-info-AT-wwpublish.com. Web: http://www.workers.org) --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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