The
Marxist
Volume: 15, No. 01
Jan-March 1999
On
the
Current
International
Situation
Harkishan
Singh
Surjeet
International
developments
since
the
disintegration
of
the
Soviet
Union
have
vindicated
the
analysis
made
in
the
14th
Congress
of
the
CPI(M)
(Madras
1992).
The
political
resolution
of
the
Congress
stated
that
The
international
situation
in
the
period
after
the
13th
Party
Congress
has
been
a
stormy
and
difficult
one
for
the
forces
of
socialism,
national
liberation
and
the
working
class
movement.
The
reverses
suffered
by
socialism
in
the
Soviet
Union
and
earlier
in
Eastern
Europe
have
altered
the
world
balance
of
forces
in
favour
of
imperialism
for
the
present.
The
process
of
restoration
of
capitalism
in
the
countries
of
Eastern
Europe,
the
course
of
dismantling
socialism
in
the
Soviet
Union
and
the
break
up
of
the
USSR
in
its
old
form
are
accompanied
by
a
new
imperialist
offensive.
This
has
grave
repercussions
for
the
socialist
countries
and
the
Communist
movement,
the
struggle
to
safeguard
national
independence
of
the
third
world
countries
and
for
the
forces
of
peace
and
democracy.
It
is
in
such
an
adverse
situation
that
the
revolutionary
and
progressive
forces
must
work
to
overcome
the
present
difficulties.
Cataclysmic
developments
took
place
in
the
early
1990s—the
living
conditions
of
the
working
people
deteriorated
sharply,
and
the
disarray
in
the
international
communist
movement
enabled
imperialism
to
launch
a
new
all-out
offensive.
Today,
however,
there
are
encouraging
signs
that
working
class
movements
across
the
world
are
reviving.
It
is
clear
that
although
capitalism
remains
dynamic
in
terms
of
its
ability
to
change
and
reorient
the
global
economy,
including
our
own
economy,
it
is
failing
more
and
more
obviously
to
address
the
needs
and
hopes
of
the
vast
mass
of
the
people.
In
spite
of
the
immense
resources
world
capitalism
has
at
its
disposal
and
its
tremendous
capacity
for
world
domination,
it
is
still
exhibiting
its
intrinsic
contradictions
and
inevitable
limitations.
Identifying
the
characteristics
of
modern-day
imperialism
and
the
current
features
of
the
international
situation
are
of
great
importance
in
outlining
the
tasks
which
today
face
all
progressive
and
democratic
forces,
including
communists.
World
Capitalist
Economy
The
world
economy
is
tending
towards
greater
regulations.
The
imperialist-driven
globalization,
as
well
as
the
effects
of
technological
progress
on
the
world
scale,
result
in
the
weaker
countries
having
to
surrender
more
and
more.
Most
of
them
are
forced
to
privatize
their
core
industries,
their
infrastructure
and
their
productive
sources,
at
the
cost
of
sacrificing
their
sovereignty.
What
is
termed
economic
‘reform’
is,
in
fact,
robbing
their
economic
sovereignty.
Following
the
collapse
of
the
socialist
countervailing
power,
US-led
world
imperialism
has
tried
desperately
to
establish
its
hegemony,
and
has
embarked
on
an
offensive
in
the
political,
economic,
and
cultural
fields.
This
period,
however,
has
also
seen
the
intensification
of
all
the
four
fundamental
contradictions.
In
the
15th
Congress
of
our
Party
(Chandigarh
1995)
we
had
analysed
and
illustrated
the
character
of
the
four
contradictions
when
the
US
has
mounted
sustained
pressure
on
the
third
world
countries
and
the
remaining
socialist
countries.
While
globalization
has
led
to
the
unhindered
circulation
of
transnational
finance
capital
all
over
the
world,
the
16th
Congress
(Calcutta
1998)
underlined
that
the
overall
development
in
the
world
capitalist
system
is
marked
by
contrasting
developments
of
a
degree
not
seen
earlier.
The
development
of
regional
economic
blocs
noted
by
the
15th
Congress
reflects
the
existence
of
three
major
centres
of
world
capitalism,
their
mutual
rivalries,
and
their
attempts
to
consolidate
their
positions.
The
European
Union,
with
its
drive
to
achieve
monetary
union,
is
one
bloc.
The
other
is
NAFTA,
led
by
the
US,
which
is
trying
to
extend
it
southwards
into
Latin
America.
The
third
bloc
is
led
by
Japan,
and
it
seeks
to
expand
its
sphere
of
influence
in
East
and
South
East
Asia.
However,
even
with
the
existence
of
these
three
rival
blocs,
the
US
maintains
its
hegemonistic
role
in
the
imperialist
system.
In
fact,
US
imperialism,
strengthened
by
the
current
revival
of
its
economy,
is
seeking
to
further
consolidate
its
global
hegemony.
The
expansion
of
NATO
eastwards,
with
the
objectives
of
encircling
Russia
and
including
Poland,
Hungary
and
the
Czech
republic
as
members
of
NATO,
is
a
glaring
expression
of
US
designs.
The
United
Nations,
instead
of
promoting
peace,
disarmament,
development,
political
solutions
to
conflicts,
and
international
cooperation,
has
increasingly
become
an
instrument
of
the
hegemonistic
policies
of
the
US
and
its
allies.
The
IMF,
World
Bank,
WTO,
NATO
and
UN,
manipulated
by
the
US
and
other
imperialist
powers,
constitute
the
main
pillars
of
the
new
order
that
seeks
to
impose
the
imperialist
global
economic
agenda
through
manifold
pressures
and
military
interventions.
These
institutions,
designed
to
serve
the
global
interests
of
the
multinational
corporations,
today
form
a de
facto
‘world
government’.
The
democratic
restructuring
of
the
UN
and
its
Security
Council
is
urgently
called
for.
The
real
picture
of
the
world
resulting
from
this
globalization
bears
no
resemblance
to
the
fantasies
peddled
by
the
neo-liberal
free
market
advocates.
The
‘miracle’
economies
of
East
Asia
are
in
shambles.
Poverty
rates,
unemployment
and
inequality
are
increasing
in
the
third
world
on
a
huge
scale.
The
US
attitude
towards
free
markets
is
illustrated
by
its
taking
recourse
to
embargoes
and
sanctions,
apart
from
invisible
political
and
economic
pressure,
as
weapons
against
a
host
of
third
world
nations,
including
Cuba,
Guatemala,
Yugoslavia,
North
Korea,
and
India.
All
this
radically
violates
the
doctrine
of
free
trade.
Most
sanctions
since
the
Second
World
War,
around
130
cases,
have
been
initiated
by
the
US
alone.
The
international
situation
is
taking
new
turns
rapidly.
For
the
first
time
since
the
Second
World
War,
Germany
has
gone
to
war
last
week
(German
fighter
jets
were
pressed
into
service
as
part
of
the
NATO
strikes
in
Yugoslavia).
In
the
last
week
of
March,
on
the
pretext
of
a
North
Korean
spy
boat
intruding
into
its
territorial
waters,
Japan
(another
member
of
the
Second
World
War
Axis
Powers)
has
declared
its
objective
to
equip
its
naval
destroyers.
This
stage-managed
show
has
resulted
in
a
rushing
through
of
an
about-turn
in
the
Japanese
defence
policy,
much
to
the
chagrin
of
both
domestic
and
international
public
opinion
(including
its
neighbours
China
and
North
Korea).
The
USA
and
other
imperialist
powers
refuse
to
destroy
nuclear
weapons,
thus
sabotaging
all
efforts
to
achieve
universal
nuclear
disarmament.
There
was
much
propaganda
that
the
end
of
the
Cold
War
would
see
a
marked
reduction
in
armament
expenditure,
resulting
in
a
‘peace
dividend’
benefiting
entire
humanity,
but
this
is
far
from
materializing.
World
imperialism
led
by
the
USA
is
today
not
only
seeking
to
increase
its
dominance
internationally,
it
is
also
enforcing
its
intrusion
into
the
local
domain.
It
invades
every
aspect
of
human
life
in
every
country.
The
aggressive
pervasiveness
of
capital
defines
our
times.
It
has
become
clear
that
capitalism
today
is
incapable
of
solving
a
single
problem
that
humankind
faces.
It
has
absolutely
no
progressive
potential
left.
Lenin’s
characterization
of
imperialism
as
the
‘moribund
stage
of
capitalism’
is
truer
today
than
ever
before.
Real
Face
of
Globalization
At
the
same
time
that
mass
starvation,
disease,
illiteracy,
unemployment,
malnutrition
are
increasing
phenomenally
in
the
third
world
countries,
they
are
forced
by
the
IMF
and
World
Bank
to
introduce
savage
austerity
budgets
to
finance
their
loan
repayments.
On
the
other
side,
merely
225
people
have
wealth
of
$
1.7
trillion
(17
with
12
zeroes
after
it),
which
is
more
than
the
annual
income
of
nearly
half
(47
per
cent)
of
the
world’s
population.
That
is
to
say,
2.5
billion
people
have
less
to
live
on
than
the
225
richest
people.
Marx
had
written,
with
characteristic
foresight,
150
years
ago:
‘There
must
be
something
rotten
in
the
very
core
of
a
social
system
which
increases
its
wealth
without
diminishing
its
misery’.
It
will
not
be
out
of
place
here
to
quote
what
Fidel
Castro
had
to
say
at
the
international
conference
of
economists
on
globalization
at
Havana
in
January
this
year:
What
type
of
globalisation
do
we
have
today?
A
neo-liberal
globalization;
that
is
what
many
of
us
are
calling
it.
Is
it
sustainable?
No.
Can
it
survive
for
much
time?
Absolutely
not.
A
matter
of
centuries?
Categorically
not.
Will
it
only
last
a
few
decades?
Yes,
only
decades.
But
sooner
or
later
it
will
have
to
come
to
an
end.
Maybe
you
think
I’m
a
kind
of
prophet
or
fortune-teller?
No.
Do
I
know
much
about
economy?
No.
Virtually
absolutely
nothing.
To
affirm
what
I
said
it’s
enough
to
know
how
to
add,
subtract,
multiply
and
divide.
Children
learn
that
in
elementary
school.
How
is
the
transition
going
to
come
about?
We
don’t
know.
Through
widespread
violent
revolutions
or
great
wars?
That
would
seem
improbable,
irrational
and
suicidal.
Through
profound
and
catastrophic
crises?
Unfortunately
that
seems
the
most
likely,
almost
inevitable
outcome,
and
it
will
come
about
in
many
diverse
ways
and
through
many
forms
of
struggle.
What
kind
of
globalization
will
it
be?
It
couldn’t
be
any
other
than
jointly
shared,
socialist,
communist,
or
whatever
you
want
to
call
it.
Does
nature
and,
with
it,
the
human
species,
have
much
time
to
survive
the
absence
of
such
a
change?
Very
little.
Who
will
be
the
creators
of
that
new
world?
The
men
and
women
who
people
our
planet.
What
will
be
the
essential
weapons?
Ideas,
minds.
Who
will
sow
them,
cultivate
them
and
make
them
invincible?
You.
Is
this
about
a
utopia,
one
more
dream
among
so
many
others?
No,
because
it
is
objectively
inevitable
and
there
is
no
alternative.
It
was
already
dreamed
not
so
long
ago,
only
perhaps
prematurely.
As
Jose
Marti,
the
most
enlightened
of
the
sons
of
this
island,
said:
‘The
dreams
of
today
will
be
the
realities
of
tomorrow’.
It
is,
as
Marx
said,
the
‘soil’
of
real
life,
of
society
and
its
productive
relations,
that
constitutes
the
core
of
our
understanding
of
the
past,
present
and
the
future.
He
wrote
in
Civil
War
in
France:
Wherever,
in
whatever
shape,
and
under
whatever
conditions
the
class
struggle
gains
any
consistency,
it
is
but
natural
that
members
of
our
Association
[the
First
International]
should
stand
in
the
foreground.
The
soil
out
of
which
it
grows
is
modern
society
itself.
It
cannot
be
stamped
out
by
any
amount
of
carnage.
To
stamp
it
out
the
Governments
would
have
to
stamp
out
the
despotism
of
capital
over
labour—the
condition
of
their
own
parasitical
existence.
The
New
World
Order
has
been
exerting
all-round
pressure
on
the
remaining
socialist
countries
which
are
committed
to
the
path
of
socialism.
They
have
to
reconcile
to
the
new
situation,
reform
their
economic
course
of
action
in
order
to
defend
the
socialist
gains.
The
upkeep
of
socialism
is
a
crucial
responsibility
they
are
successfully
discharging
in
a
very
difficult
situation.
Response
of
Socialist
Countries
China,
which
has
undertaken
economic
reforms,
has
emerged
as
a
strong
economic
power
with
rapid
progress
registered
in
every
field
of
the
economy.
This
development
will
have
an
important
bearing
in
the
future
on
the
resistance
to
imperialist
domination.
The
reforms
have
integrated
the
Chinese
economy
with
the
world
economy
to
a
greater
degree
and
impact
of
this
is
being
felt.
The
Asian
financial
crisis
which
has
dragged
for
more
than
one
year
with
no
end
in
sight,
has
had
its
effects
on
the
Chinese
economy,
including
foreign
investment
and
foreign
trade.
Anticipating
the
fall-out,
the
Chinese
government
has
been
trying
to
counter
it
by
adopting
a
series
of
measures
including
scheduled
financial
reforms.
When
the
financial
storm
swept
across
Russia,
China
was
a
safe
island
in
the
centre
of
the
storm
playing
a
significant
role
in
stabilizing
Asian
and
the
global
economy.
Since
the
late
1970s,
when
China
adopted
reforms
and
the
opening-up
policy,
it
has
enjoyed
annual
economic
growth
rates
of
9.8
per
cent
from
1979
to
1997
leading
to
a
tripling
of
its
Gross
National
Product
in
less
than
two
decades.
China’s
impressive
growth
has
also
resulted
in
new
problems,
growing
unemployment
and
regional
disparities.
These
have
to
be
addressed
while
resisting
the
constant
pressures
to
interfere
in
China’s
internal
affairs.
The
Clinton
administration
cannot
afford
to
jeopardise
relations
with
China
and
continues
to
strengthen
trade
relations.
However,
the
anti-China
lobby
in
the
US
is
actively
raising
bogus
issues
to
hamper
further
relations.
Apart
from
leveling
charges
about
human
rights,
allegations
of
China
stealing
nuclear
missile
technology
secrets
is
sought
to
be
whipped
up.
On
the
other
hand,
China
has
warned
the
US
not
to
place
any
nuclear
missile
systems
in
Taiwan
under
the
new
theatre
missile
development
programme
which
the
US
is
initiating
in
the
East
Asian
region.
The
financial–monetary
crisis
in
South
East
Asia
has
turned
into
an
economic
crisis
that
not
only
has
a
drastic
impact
on
the
economies
of
the
region
but
on
the
global
economy
as
well.
According
to
the
Vietnamese
Prime
Minister
Phan
Van
Thai,
Vietnam
cannot
steer
away
from
the
whirl
of
this
economic
typhoon.
Due
to
its
impact,
the
markets
for
Vietnamese
products
have
shrunk,
prices
have
fallen
with
weaker
competitiveness,
foreign
investments
have
gone
down
and
the
commercial
activities
have
been
on
the
decline.
In
order
to
restrict
the
impact
of
the
crisis
the
Vietnamese
authorities
are
advocating
further
boosting
of
economic
renovation
in
combination
with
necessary
reforms.
This
is
to
bring
into
full
play
all
resources,
first
and
foremost
internal
resources,
with
a
focus
on
the
domestic
market,
along
with
the
further
expansion
of
international
markets
and
cooperation.
In
an
address
to
the
recent
session
of
the
national
assembly,
Phan
Van
Thai
asserted
that
the
year
1999
would
be
a
year
of
continued
renovation,
stronger
industrialization
and
modernization,
first
and
foremost
of
agriculture
and
the
rural
economy.
He
said
that
the
efforts
of
the
entire
Party
and
people
would
be
brought
into
full
play
to
overcome
the
difficulties
and
challenges,
maintain
socio-economic
stability,
focus
on
development
of
certain
sectors
and
areas,
especially
products
with
a
better
competitive
edge,
raise
the
efficiency
and
competitiveness
of
the
national
economy,
and
create
the
necessary
climate
for
further
development:
We
should
be
well
prepared
to
face
bigger
difficulties
and
challenges,
but
in
any
circumstances,
we
should
know
how
to
make
the
most
of
the
chances
and
competitive
edges,
with
a
fighting
spirit
and
a
confidence
in
our
capability
of
marching
forward,
since
we
have
got
very
great
and
very
fundamental
internal
advantages,
i.e.
the
large
potential
of
internal
resources
is
far
from
properly
developed;
the
people’s
land
and
labour,
resources
and
capital
along
with
their
dynamism
and
creativity;
the
capabilities
of
many
sectors
and
services
still
to
be
tapped
to
the
full.
Cuba, which has been the relentless target of US imperialism and subjected to economic blockade and subversion, has today reorganized its economic relations and is courageously defending the social achievements which are the fruits of the socialist system. They have undergone the tough experience of the revolutionary period specially during the last ten years confronting the most powerful force on earth under very difficult circumstances and achieved what seemed impossible. The catastrophic situation is over, but difficulties remain. Standing face to face with USA, being in the forefront of the anti-imperialist struggle, Cuba is confident of overcoming all the obstacles in future too.
From
the
very
triumph
of
the
Cuban
revolution
four
decades
ago,
the
US—which
was
already
the
most
powerful
imperialist
power
and
Cuba’s
neighbour
only
90
miles
away—has
not
ceased
for
an
instant
in
its
efforts
to
destroy
it.
The
current
exposures
give
proof
of
incredibly
dirty
methods
of
subversion
and
sabotage
used
by
US
imperialism
against
Cuba,
which
has
also
been
the
target
of
an
intense
slander
campaign.
However,
Cuba
is
gathering
more
support
internationally
despite
the
US
efforts
to
isolate
it.
In
Latin
America
and
the
Caribbean,
except
for
a
handful,
all
other
countries
have
established
normal
ties
with
Cuba.
Baring
three
countries,
all
others
in
the
last
UN
General
Assembly
session
supported
the
resolution
calling
for
lifting
of
all
sanctions
against
Cuba.
The
Democratic
People’s
Republic
of
Korea
is
also
fighting
a
tough
battle
for
the
survival
of
socialism.
The
food
shortages
after
successive
failure
of
crops
and
floods
are
causing
serious
problems.
More
than
four
years
have
elapsed
since
the
publication
of
the
DPRK–US
Agreed
Framework
but
its
implementation
has
made
no
progress
because
the
US
has
persistently
resorted
to
delaying
tactics.
Any
incident
occurring
in
the
Korean
peninsula
is
conveniently
used
as
a
pretext
for
abrogating
the
agreement.
The
US
economic
blockade
has
caused
great
damage
to
DPRK.
If
the
construction
of
a
nuclear
power
industry
had
been
promoted
as
scheduled,
it
would
have
been
completed
by
now
and
DPRK
would
not
have
suffered
a
power
shortage
and
the
difficulties
it
faces
today.
Attack
on
Yugoslavia
The
last
Central
Committee
meeting
of
the
CPI(M)
(March
1999)
has
noted
that
in
the
present
world
situation,
where
the
United
States
is
economically
in
a
relatively
better
position
that
its
rivals
Germany
and
Japan,
the
US
administration
is
chalking
out
belligerent
plans.
In
a
recent
speech
President
Clinton
has
outlined
a
foreign
policy
of
active
intervention
around
the
world
for
the
remaining
two
years
of
his
presidential
term.
Whether
it
be
Kosovo,
the
Israeli–Palestinian
issue,
Iraq,
or
North
Korea,
in
all
these
matters
the
US
can
be
expected
to
step
up
its
hegemonistic
activities.
The
Pentagon
budget
for
1999
has
seen
a
marked
increase
in
allocations
for
these
activities.
The
recent
NATO
attack
on
Serbia
threw
to
the
winds
the
charter
of
the
United
Nations
and
the
established
international
law.
It
even
went
contrary
to
NATO’s
own
post-Cold
War
doctrine.
At
a
summit
of
its
leaders
in
Rome
in
1991
NATO
clearly
stated
that
‘the
alliance
is
purely
defensive
in
purpose;
none
of
its
weapons
will
be
ever
be
used
except
in
self-defence,
and
it
does
not
consider
itself
to
be
anyone’s
adversary’.
After
enforcing
a
settlement
on
the
Bosnia
question
and
the
stationing
of
US
and
NATO
troops
there
and
in
other
segregated
countries
of
Yugoslavia,
the
US
and
its
European
allies
had
been
aiding
and
abetting
with
money
and
arms
the
separatist
Albanian
forces
in
the
Kosovo
province
of
Serbia.
Having
failed
to
impose
the
terms
dictated
by
the
imperialist
powers,
NATO
inflicted
aerial
attack
on
Yugoslavia
causing
a
lot
of
damage.
The
United
States
sees
the
Yugoslavian
government
as
a
main
obstacle
to
its
domination
of
the
region.
Russia,
China,
India
and
many
other
countries
opposed
the
NATO
action
on
Yugoslavia.
Differences
seem
to
have
arisen
within
and
among
European
NATO
members.
Imperialism’s
interests
in
Yugoslavia
are
manifold.
Kosovo
can
be
another
useful
base
from
which
military
strikes
against
the
oil
producing
countries
can
be
launched
to
the
South
should
they
take
it
in
to
their
heads
to
challenge
imperialist
rights
to
drain
their
oil
wells
at
prices
largely
dictated
by
imperialism.
It
can
strategically
serve
imperialism
equally
as
a
useful
military
base
to
strike
Russia
to
the
North.
Yugoslavia
and
in
particular
Serbia
stands
on
the
most
favoured
route
of
an
oil
pipeline
to
supply
Caucasian
oil
to
the
West.
It
is
therefore
crucial
for
them
that
Serbia
be
governed
by
a
government
responsive
to
imperialist
demands
as
has
been
sought
from
many
other
weak
countries.
The
imperialist
forces
are
also
interested
in
exploiting
the
rich
mineral
resources
of
Kosovo
and
Serbia.
Should
Yugoslavia
be
disintegrated
and
subjugated,
the
entire
Eastern
Europe,
Russia
and
central
Asian
republics
remain
totally
vulnerable
to
imperialism.
NATO:
Instrument
for
US
Hegemony
NATO’s
intervention
into
what
is
clearly
a
domestic
dispute,
its
use
of
crude
threats
and
subversive
pressures
is
intended
to
force
a
sovereign
government
to
accept
an
‘agreement’
which
has
a
binding
clause
of
stationing
NATO
troops
on
the
soil
of
a
non-NATO
country
and
also
to
further
disintegrate
Serbia,
a
federal
republic
of
Yugoslavia.
The
US
imperialist
interest
lies
in
expanding
NATO
eastward,
right
up
to
the
Russian
border,
to
control
the
oil
and
gas
pipeline
that
goes
from
the
Caucasus
region
through
Serbia
and
to
control
the
strategic
area
for
Southern
Europe.
This
interference
keeps
open
the
danger
of
wider
escalation
in
the
neighbouring
States
which
has
a
large
number
of
ethnic
minorities
including
Albanians
and
Serbs.
In
order
to
perpetuate
the
turmoil,
the
NATO
powers
have
encouraged
the
separatist
Kosovo
Liberation
Army
with
money
and
arms
for
the
last
few
years.
This
will
rekindle
all
kinds
of
narrow
nationalism
and
chauvinism
and
fuel
separatist
movements
throughout
the
Balkans.
NATO’s
apparent
concern
over
the
plight
of
the
Albanians
stands
in
sharp
contrast
with
those
of
the
Kurds
in
Turkey—a
NATO
member
that
has
its
own
aims
in
the
Balkans.
The
recent
integration
of
Hungary,
Poland
and
the
Czech
Republic
into
NATO
to
fulfill
the
new
‘strategic
concept’,
the
militarization
of
European
Union
contrary
to
the
aims
of
disarmament,
collective
security,
and
world
peace.
It
is
heartening
to
note
that
Russia,
China
and
a
large
number
of
third
world
countries
have
lodged
their
strong
protest
against
the
aggression
on
Yugoslavia
by
NATO.
Big
protest
demonstrations
have
also
swept
the
European
capitals.
NATO
is
going
to
observe
its
50th
anniversary
next
month.
The
question
must
naturally
hang
over
the
celebrations:
now
that
the
Cold
War
is
over
what
is
NATO
for?
The
premeditated
aggression
on
Yugoslavia
dispels
any
remaining
illusions.
The
NATO
will
be
the
spearhead
of
the
US
drive
for
hegemony
in
the
Balkans
and
Eastern
Europe.
Attack
on
Iraq:
Control
of
Gulf
Resources
The
hegemonistic
drive
of
the
USA
seen
in
the
attack
on
Yugoslavia
was
preceded
by
the
aerial
bombardment
of
Baghdad
and
other
places
in
Iraq
since
December
1998.
Waves
of
cruise
missile
attacks
and
heavy
bombing
by
planes
was
conducted
with
impunity
by
the
United
States
and
its
ally
Britain
which
caused
tremendous
damage
and
casualties.
Already
Iraq’s
sovereignty
has
been
curtailed
with
two
no-fly
zones
enforced
by
the
US
in
Northern
and
Southern
Iraq
which
cover
60
per
cent
of
its
territory.
This
blatant
aggression
against
Iraq
bypassing
the
UN
was
met
with
universal
condemnation.
Unlike
the
time
of
the
1991
aggression,
the
Security
Council
permanent
members,
Russia,
China
and
France
criticized
the
action.
During
the
latest
attacks,
Egypt
and
Saudi
Arabia
declared
that
they
will
not
allow
their
countries
to
be
used
as
the
base
for
aerial
attacks.
Even
after
the
calling
off
of
the
aerial
attacks,
in
the
name
of
self-defence,
in
the
no-fly
zones,
practically
every
day
American
planes
are
dropping
bombs
alleging
that
Iraqi
radar
and
military
installations
are
targetting
them
with
hostile
intentions.
Since
the
December
operations
in
Northern
Iraq,
at
least
86
laser-guided
bombs
have
been
dropped
till
the
end
of
February
1999.
The
United
States
continues
to
impede
and
obstruct
any
effort
to
lift
the
sanctions
against
Iraq
which
had
accused
the
UNSCOM
(Inspection
Commission
of
the
UN)
teams
of
conducting
espionage
for
the
US
and
being
actively
involved
in
undermining
the
Iraqi
government
before
they
were
asked
to
leave.
Revelations
in
the
United
States
made
recently
show
that
a
number
of
CIA
men
had
been
infiltrated
into
the
Inspection
Teams
and
they
were
actively
collecting
intelligence
and
indulging
in
activities
which
had
nothing
to
do
with
the
UN
Team’s
mission.
To
overthrow
the
present
Iraqi
leadership
and
replace
it
with
one
of
their
choice
constitutes
the
main
objective
of
US
policy
on
Iraq.
Latin
America:
CIA
Crimes
Startling
materials
about
the
CIA
machinations
that
throw
light
on
the
imperialist
subversion
in
Latin
America
are
being
exposed.
A
flood
of
democratic
protests
across
Latin
America
led
to
the
digging
up
of
the
recent
past.
Now
comes
an
apology
from
the
American
President
for
the
way
CIA
teamed
up
with
the
rightist
forces
and
the
military
to
install
a
government
in
Guatemala
that
killed
tens
of
thousands
in
a
four-decade
long
civil
war.
General
Pinochet
of
Chile
was
just
one
beneficiary
of
this
policy.
The
American
President
has
also
admitted
to
their
crimes
in
El
Salvador.
Similar
American
designs
encompassing
a
wide
range
from
Argentina
deep
down
to
Chile,
Bolivia,
Brazil,
Colombia
and
Central
America’s
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Costa
Rica
and
Nicaragua
have
already
been
unmasked.
In
the
name
of
tackling
Leftist
guerrilla
campaigns
time-tested
counterrevolutionary
movements,
terror
and
torture,
infiltration
and
intelligence
and
above
all
a
notoriously
ruthless
apparatus
were
provided
by
the
United
States.
A
month
ago
a
Guatemalan
commission
released
its
findings
on
the
murders
and
disappearance
that
had
taken
place
during
the
military
regime.
All
these
materials
are
contained
in
official
documents.
The
report
brought
to
light
the
US
game
of
money,
arms
and
training
to
Guatemalan
forces
that
committed
acts
of
genocide
against
Mayans
and
Leftist
groups
and
other
extreme
human
rights
abuses
during
the
conflict
which
began
in
1960.
American
training
of
Guatemalan
military
officers
played
a
significant
role
in
the
torture,
kidnapping
and
execution
of
thousands
of
civilians.
Declassified
documents
also
put
on
view
that
President
Nixon
in
1970
ordered
a
foolproof
operation
to
conduct
a
coup
in
Chile.
The
most
revealing
exposure
details
relates
to
the
vigilant
killings
often
by
death
squads
composed
of
off-duty
policemen.
Almost
all
of
these
countries
witnessed
security
men
moonlighting
as
gangsters.
Nobody
will
believe
Clinton’s
promise
last
month
in
Guatemala
city
that
the
US
will
no
longer
take
part
in
campaigns
of
repression,
and
will
instead
support
peace
and
reconciliation
processes.
He
announced,
in
the
midst
of
brutalization
being
carried
out
even
today
in
different
Latin
American
countries
that
‘we
are
determined
to
remember
the
past
but
never
to
repeat
it’.
While
the
US
will
not
loosen
its
grip
over
any
of
the
Latin
American
countries,
the
democratic
forces
in
Latin
America
who
have
been
suppressed
by
economic
and
physical
repression
are
rising
and
uniting
to
assert
their
sovereignty,
human
rights
and
livelihood.
It
is
in
this
context
that
Fidel
Castro
has
consistently
been
exhorting
the
Latin
American
and
Caribbean
countries
to
stand
up
firmly
against
the
aggressive
designs
of
the
US.
That
is
why
the
US
does
not
like
the
existence
of
MERCUSOR
for
it
is
an
important
embryo
for
an
alliance,
which
may
become
wider
and
grow,
as
a
step
towards
regional
alliance
among
South
America,
the
Caribbean,
and
Central
America.
Since
1996,
in
many
Latin
American
countries
the
governments
which
imposed
structural
adjustment
policies
and
‘austerity’
measures
have
lost
elections.
The
political
instability
is
an
expression
of
the
discontent
of
the
people
affected
by
neo-liberalization.
In
the
third
world
countries,
the
US
administration
opposes
industrial
development
that
infringes
upon
US
interests.
Not
only
is
independent
development
guided
by
domestic
needs
obstructed,
even
efforts
to
pursue
the
democratic
and
peaceful
means
required
by
international
law
arouses
fury
and
threats
from
the
US
administration.
For
instance,
in
Haiti,
the
democratically-elected
President
was
removed
by
the
US
administration
in
view
of
his
refusal
to
abandon
his
popular
mandate
through
US-trained
military
thugs.
There
are
scores
of
such
events
in
the
history
of
Latin
America.
Nothing
will
satiate
the
imperialist
lust
to
dominate
the
whole
region.
Nor
will
the
US
rest
until
the
military
is
under
Washington’s
control,
a
crucial
element
of
US
policy
towards
the
third
world,
particularly
Latin
America,
for
the
past
fifty
years.
If
Allende’s
Chile,
Sandinista
Nicaragua,
Arbenz’s
Guatemala
had
succeeded
in
consolidating
their
position,
the
US
foresaw
the
danger
of
other
Latin
American
countries
following
the
same
course.
Controlling
the
economy
and
making
the
Latin
American
countries
more
and
more
shackled
to
USA
under
the
new
world
order
is
the
new
doctrine
so
as
to
subjugate
the
region.
The
crises
in
Mexico,
South-East
Asia,
and
Russia
have
had
a
serious
impact
on
Brazil.
Oil
prices
have
fallen
recently,
the
currency
has
been
devalued
steeply
and
estimated
capital
of
$
160
billion
has
fled
the
country
since
last
August
and
the
Brazilian
stock
market
has
lost
60per
cent
of
its
value.
As
Brazil
accounts
for
45per
cent
of
all
Latin
American
output,
if
it
were
to
collapse,
the
rest
of
Latin
America
goes
down
with
it.
The
situation
in
Argentina
has
worsened
badly.
The
neo-liberal
globalization
has
shifted
the
nature
of
imperialist
domination
to
a
far
more
brute
basis.
The
collapse
of
the
Soviet
Union
in
1991
triggered
a
great
shift
in
the
balance
of
military
power.
World
imperialism,
led
by
USA
with
its
economic
weapon
in
the
form
of
IMF,
World
Bank
and
WTO
and
military
hegemony
with
NATO,
has
turned
towards
‘gunboat
diplomacy’
against
the
third
world
countries.
The
development
of
militarism
and
the
intensification
of
imperialism’s
intervention
and
aggression
tends
to
consolidate,
strengthen
and
extend
to
the
whole
world
the
domination
of
the
main
imperialist
powers.
For
decades
imperialism’s
aggressive
aims
were
sought
to
be
justified
by
so
called
Soviet
threat.
But
the
Warsaw
Treaty’s
dissolution,
the
break-up
of
USSR,
and
the
end
of
the
Cold
War,
instead
of
leading
to
a
peaceful
and
safer
world,
have
created
a
grave
situation.
It
is
further
aggravated
by
the
refusal
of
the
US
and
other
imperialist
powers
to
destroy
nuclear
weapons,
the
persistence
of
the
‘nuclear
deterrence’
theory
and
the
aim
of
ensuring
a
monopoly
of
such
weapons;
disputing
in
the
traditional
neutrality
and
non-alignment
of
several
countries
and
pressurizing
them
into
joining
the
policy
of
blocs;
the
militarization
of
Germany
and
Japan
and
the
elimination
of
constitutional
barriers
to
the
intervention
of
the
armed
forces
outside
the
territories.
In
their
aggressive
policy
the
USA
and
other
imperialist
powers
use
the
pretext
of
what
they
call
new
threats:
terrorism,
drug
trafficking
and
other
organized
crimes
in
which
incidentally
they
also
participate.
As
smokescreen
they
cynically
invoke
the
safeguard
of
‘human
rights’,
the
alleged
right
of
‘humanitarian
intervention’
and
‘peace
keeping’.
Imperialist
Intervention
in
Third
World
Imperialism
is
constantly
at
work
to
secure
economic
and
strategic
positions,
to
kill
off
any
resistance
to
their
imperial
policies,
to
block
the
road
to
any
national
liberation,
progressive
and
revolutionary
processes,
to
impose
puppet
regimes,
to
weaken
the
sovereignty
of
states,
to
pave
the
way
for
unbridled
exploitation
by
transnational
corporations.
In
this
path,
they
exacerbate
ethnic,
religious
and
border
conflicts,
instigate
wars
of
extermination,
breed
extremely
reactionary
and
obscurantist
forces,
support
repressive
and
bloody
dictatorships,
slaughter
civilians
and
cause
the
mass
exodus
of
populations,
taking
entire
peoples
hostage
by
famine,
and
in
many
cases
carrying
out
a
true
policy
of
state
terrorism.
It
is
an
ominous
feature
of
the
post-1991
era
that
imperialism
which
‘recolonises’
erstwhile
socialist
territory
uses
ethnic
and
religious
nationalisms
to
carve
up
spheres
of
influence.
The
US
invasion
of
Somalia
and
its
intervention
in
Haiti,
the
French
intervention
in
Rwanda
and
other
African
countries,
the
imperialist
interference
in
the
Balkans,
with
direct
NATO
intervention
and
imposing
the
Dayton
‘pax
americana’,
the
US
blockade
of
Cuba,
Israel’s
crimes
in
Palestine
and
Lebanon,
the
genocide
of
the
Kurdish
people,
the
occupation
of
East
Timor
by
Indonesia
and
Western
Sahara
by
Morocco,
the
carnage
in
Afghanistan,
the
blockade
against
the
Iraqi
people
and
the
US
bombardments
in
Iraq,
the
provocations
against
Libya,
the
trauma
on
the
people
of
Angola,
the
pressures
and
threats
against
the
DPR
of
Korea,
the
dangerous
rekindling
of
Taiwan’s
ambitions,
are
all
glaring
examples
of
the
aggressive
policy
of
imperialism
and
its
tools
and
allies
at
a
regional
level.
It
is
US
backing
which
emboldens
Israel
to
violate
the
terms
of
even
the
unequal
peace
agreement
to
deprive
the
Palestinians
of
real
autonomy
and
block
the
formation
of
an
independent
Palestinian
State.
USA
continues
with
its
military
maneuvers
in
West
Asia
and
inhuman
sanctions
against
Iraq.
Libya
is
also
subject
to
sanctions.
The
brazen
and
unilateral
missile
attacks
on
Sudan
and
Afghanistan
by
US
imperialism,
once
again
reveals
its
hegemonistic
designs.
The
recent
events
confirm
that
the
USA
uses
all
reactionary
and
terrorist
forces
to
advance
its
objective.
In
the
Indian
subcontinent
the
US
design
for
destabilization
has
continued
for
decades.
The
central
Asian
Republics
have
now
become
another
strategic
area
for
USA.
The
‘Dayton
Accord’
provided
the
basis
for
US
intervention
in
the
Balkans.
The
US
is
actively
working
to
subvert
and
suppress
progressive
and
revolutionary
forces
in
Nicaragua,
El
Salvador
and
other
Latin
American
countries.
Currently,
imperialism
adopts
two-way
tactics.
In
the
first
place,
intensifying
persecution
against
revolutionary
and
progressive
forces
and
enabling
the
most
reactionary
and
obscurantist
forces
to
capitalize
on
popular
discontent.
On
the
other,
developing
international
and
supranational
instruments
of
coercion
and
intervention—economic,
political,
cultural,
ideological
and
military.
The
G-7
forum,
the
World
Bank,
the
IMF
and
the
WTO
work
out
financial
and
commercial
policies
that
suit
the
great
powers
and
the
multinationals.
They
define
the
lines
of
combat
against
workers’
social
gains
and
rights,
and
administer
their
implementation.
In
pursuance
of
the
neo-liberal
globalization,
NATO
develops
military
mechanisms,
operational
forces,
sophisticated
arms
with
a
view
to
intervening
wherever
the
USA
and
its
allies
deem
their
interests
to
be
challenged.
NATO’s
expansion
to
Eastern
Europe
and
the
Mediterranean,
as
well
as
the
activation
of
WEU,
considered
as
the
European
Pillar
of
NATO,
and
the
creation
of
the
Joint
Combined
Forces,
significantly
enlarge
the
role
of
this
aggressive
military
alliance.
Alongside,
the
UN,
instead
of
promoting
peaceful
solutions
to
conflicts,
disarmament,
development
and
international
cooperation,
tends
to
become
an
instrument
of
the
hegemonistic
policies
of
the
US
and
its
allies.
The
IMF–WB,
WTO,
NATO
and
UN
constitute
the
mainstay
of
the
New
World
Order,
whose
construction
contains
many
other
aspects
such
as:
revision
of
principles
enshrined
in
international
law;
resort
to
special
politically-motivated
‘Tribunals’;
enhanced
Secret
Services
and
their
close
cooperation,
with
the
creation
of
supranational
intelligence
services;
control
over
information
technologies
and
domination
of
the
media,
massively
used
as
an
instrument
of
misinformation
and
mass
manipulation;
creation
of
sophisticated
instruments
to
neutralize
and
take
over
social
organizations
and
movements,
or
integrate
them
into
the
system;
creation
of
allegedly
‘humanitarian’
organizations
to
cushion
the
devastating
effects
of
neo-liberal
policies
and
imperialist
aggressions.
The
strengthening
of
imperialism’s
national
and
supranational
structures
(formal
and
informal,
public
and
private)
aims
at
harmonizing
a
common
global
strategy
on
the
economic,
political,
military
and
ideological
levels
and
is
driven
by
capitalism’s
globalization
process
and
its
need
for
transnational
monopolist
regulation.
These
extend
across
all
three
worlds;
the
developed
industrial
powers,
the
developing
countries
of
the
South,
and
some
of
the
former
socialist
states,
now
largely
returning
to
their
third
world
origins.
Nevertheless
it
does
not
abolish
or
tame
the
contradictions
within
the
imperialist
camp.
On
the
contrary,
the
rivalries,
conflicts
and
contradictions
among
the
great
powers
have
not
abated.
They
have
even
shown
a
tendency
to
grow
and
become
exacerbated.
Among
many
reasons
some
stand
out:
capitalism’s
uneven
development,
with
brutal
US
pressures
to
impose
its
hegemony
world-wide
and
assert
at
all
costs
its
supremacy
within
the
imperialist
camp;
the
creation
of
great
areas
of
economic
integration
and
free
trade
with
an
increasingly
bitter
struggle
for
raw
materials,
markets,
spheres
of
influence,
positions
of
geostrategic
importance;
a
new
imperialist
carve-up
the
world
in
a
framework
that
they
themselves
call
‘filling
the
strategic
void’
caused
by
the
disappearance
of
the
USSR
and
socialism
as
a
world
system.
In
relation
to
Eastern
Europe,
the
Balkans,
the
Middle
East,
Asia,
Africa
and
even
Latin
America,
there
are
multiple
areas
of
considerable
conflict
among
the
great
powers,
frequently
involving—by
‘proxy’
or
otherwise—other
countries
aspiring
to
be
regional
powers.
The
US
aim
of
imposing
its
world
hegemony
increasingly
clashes
with
the
expansionism
of
‘greater
Germany’
(particularly
towards
Eastern
Europe
and
the
Balkans),
France
(namely
in
Africa),
and
Japan
(especially
in
Asia).
Influence
in
the
Middle
East
and
the
Mediterranean
region
is
becoming
an
arena
for
serious
dispute,
specifically
between
the
US
and
the
great
powers
of
the
European
Union.
Twenty
five
years
since
the
invasion
by
Turkey
in
1974,
the
Cyprus
problem
remains
a
major
dispute
in
the
sensitive
Middle
East.
38
per
cent
of
the
island
still
remains
under
Turkish
occupation
in
defiance
of
the
United
Nations
resolutions
of
unequivocal
substance.
The
atrocities
of
the
invaders
include
rape,
systematic
torture,
savage
and
humiliating
treatment
on
thousands
of
people
as
well
as
looting
and
robbery
on
an
extensive
scale.
It
has
become
one
of
the
most
highly
militarized
areas
in
the
world.
The
goal
of
unification
of
the
island,
the
only
acceptable
solution
proposed
by
the
Security
Council
has,
however,
been
repeatedly
frustrated
with
the
USA
pursuing
the
line
of
delaying
the
solution
for
the
Cyprus
division,
to
placate
Turkey,
its
trusted
ally.
The
West
Asian
situation
continues
to
be
precarious
because
of
the
non-fulfillment
of
the
1993
agreement
on
the
part
of
Israel,
backed
and
instigated
by
USA.
Following
the
disintegration
of
USSR,
the
Palestinian
struggle
for
their
statehood
had
naturally
got
weakened
which
helped
USA
to
take
full
control
of
the
situation.
The
objective
of
dividing
the
Palestinian
movement
also
succeeded
to
an
extent,
and
has
found
expression
in
the
developments
following
the
agreement.
It
is
a
well-known
fact
that
Israel
has
been
used
by
the
USA
as
a
strategic
area
and
it
is
the
USA
which
dictated
Israel
to
disobey
all
the
agreed
resolution
of
the
United
Nations
and
the
Security
Council
for
the
last
five
decades.
The
United
States
systematically
blocked
the
international
consensus.
The
Security
Council
and
the
General
Assembly
of
the
United
Nations,
as
always,
had
been
eliminated
from
the
diplomatic
scene
by
the
continuous
US
veto,
despite
the
fact
that
the
NATO
allies,
the
socialist
countries,
the
third
world,
and
the
Arab
States
had
long
been
united
in
advocating
the
political
settlement
along
the
lines
adopted
by
the
General
Assembly
by
151
–
3
votes
in
1989.
USA’s
deep
commitment
to
the
rule
of
force
in
world
affairs
is
glaringly
evident
in
the
case
of
Palestinian
question.
The
Israel
government
is
making
determined
efforts
to
scuttle
the
rights
of
the
Palestinian
people.
The
relentless
Israeli
attack
on
southern
Lebanon
which
it
has
occupied
for
the
past
seventeen
years
continues.
A
number
of
Arab
intellectuals
and
even
religious
leaders
articulate
the
conviction
that
the
United
States
stubbornly
thwarts
democracy
in
the
region,
as
one
of
them
writes,
because
‘it
is
much
simpler
to
manipulate
a
few
ruling
families—to
secure
fat
orders
for
arms
and
ensure
that
oil
price
remain
low—than
a
wide
variety
of
personalities
and
policies
bound
to
be
thrown
up
by
a
democratic
system.’
Elected
governments
are
generally
committed
to
reflect
the
popular
will
of
the
people
for
self
reliance.
Hence
the
USA
props
up
dictatorships
in
the
region.
Besides,
as
divisions
in
the
Arab
world
and
Arab
people
are
perpetuated
by
the
deep-laid
designs
of
US
imperialism,
prospects
for
peace
in
East
Asia
are
far
from
bright
in
the
near
future.
Most
Arabs
accuse
the
United
States
of
not
placing
sufficient
pressure
on
Israel
to
implement
the
peace
accord.
Though
not
so
critical
as
before
against
foreign
intervention
in
East
Asia,
the
league
of
21
Arab
States
could
not
but
express
their
anger
at
the
United
States
for
not
taking
a
active
role
in
attaining
real
peace.
Indonesia
In
Turmoil
The
turmoil
in
the
South-East
Asian
financial
markets
that
began
in
1997
in
Thailand
spread
swiftly
across
the
region
in
the
following
months.
The
contagious
chain-effect
eventually
became
impossible
to
contain.
Indonesia,
which
has
always
been
affected
by
regional
strife,
is
worst-
affected
with
growing
political
unrest.
Suharto’s
ascent
to
power
by
a
US-engineered
military
coup
was
marked
by
a
ruthless
militarization
of
all
the
spheres
of
social
and
economic
life.
Practically
all
important
seats
of
the
government,
including
justice,
state
and
private
enterprises,
were
occupied
by
military
generals
or
officers
of
the
armed
forces.
The
beginning
of
Suharto’s
military
dictatorship
was
marked
by
the
rise
and
omnipresence
of
the
military
and
the
killing
of
at
least
600,000
communists,
progressive
and
democratic-minded
people.
Political
activities
remained,
in
practice,
banned
throughout
the
Suharto
reign
and
the
draconian
military
rule
mastered
the
creation
of
an
authoritarian
State
controlling
political
parties
and
mobilizing
fundamentalist
forces.
Two
political
formations
were
allowed
to
function
within
the
framework
of
military
stipulations.
Social
and
political
discontent
burst
out
in
public
outrage
against
the
military
rule
and
in
favour
of
democracy
that
in
1984
culminated
into
the
killings
of
a
large
member
of
people.
Limited
democracy
was
allowed
after
the
change
in
the
world
situation
in
the
nineties.
The
general
election
of
1997
was
overshadowed
by
the
public
anger
aroused
against
the
government’s
efforts
to
curb
opposition
to
the
ruling
party.
The
Suharto
regime
suppressed
all
opposition,
and
the
consequent
violence
claimed
more
than
250
lives.
The
other
two
contesting
parties
were
United
Democratic
Party
defending
Islamic
interest
and
Indonesia
Democratic
Party
representing
democratic
and
national
aspirations
of
the
people.
The
landslide
victory
of
the
government
party
was
made
possible
by
widespread
electoral
manipulations
and
fraud.
The
repression
that
continued
till
the
fall
of
Suharto
regime
was
directed
mainly
against
followers
of
Megawati
Sukarnopurti
and
radical
journalists,
writers,
artists,
politicians,
student
and
trade
union
leaders.
The
financial
crisis
sparked
off
nationwide
revolt
against
the
military
regime.
The
military
was
not
able
to
contain
the
mounting
revolt
and
it
climaxed
in
the
ouster
of
Suharto’s
32-year
reign
in
May
1998.
Habibie,
who
succeeded
Suharto,
is
regarded
by
many
as
a
transitional
leader
for
holding
general
election
and
ushering
in
democracy.
Meanwhile
there
has
been
outbreak
of
social-ethnic
and
religious
conflicts
engulfing
the
entire
country.
It
is
in
this
context
general
election
is
going
to
be
held
in
June
this
year.
The
army
which
has
been
supervised
by
US
imperialism
is
not
in
a
position
to
exercise
its
old
authority
but
is
still
active
to
take
control
of
the
situation
if
need
be.
The
Indonesian
Democratic
Party
led
by
Megawati
Sukarnopurti
is
gathering
considerable
support
from
the
people.
The
Islamic
fundamentalist
forces
are
also
very
active.
One
section
of
the
army
apparently
critical
of
the
former
regime
is
also
trying
to
garner
support.
A
new
situation
has
developed
in
East
Timor
as
a
result
of
the
Indonesian
crisis.
East
Timor
which
has
been
under
forcible
occupation
of
the
Indonesia
regime.
The
people
have
been
fighting
for
the
independence.
In
the
past,
the
process
of
elections
held
in
East
Timor
had
always
been
manipulated.
The
results
have
always
been
contrary
to
the
wishes
of
the
majority
of
Timorese.
The
presence
of
the
parties
was
a
mere
formality.
Ultimately,
the
soldiers
compelled
the
Timorese
to
vote
for
the
government
party.
70per
cent
of
Indonesian
economy
is
in
the
hands
of
the
military.
After
the
invasion
of
East
Timor
in
1975,
the
coffee
production
in
the
region
fell
into
the
hands
of
three
generals
who
were
instrumental
for
the
occupation
in
direct
contact
with
the
CIA.
In
the
19
years
since
1975,
200,000
Timorese
have
been
killed.
Women,
the
aged
and
the
children
were
concentrated
in
camps
where
they
do
forced
labour
and
many
starved
to
death.
With
the
support
of
US
administration
Suharto
regime
had
violated
all
the
resolutions
of
the
United
Nations
and
Security
Council
which
recognised
the
rightful
demand
of
self-rule
and
independence
of
East
Timor.
Now
the
new
government
is
forced
to
come
to
a
negotiating
table
and
agrees
to
provide
self-rule
as
an
interim
arrangement.
The
Habibie
government
was
forced
to
recognise
the
principle
of
self-determination
for
East
Timor.
However,
the
military
and
the
ruling
circles
will
maneouvre
to
engineer
conflicts
with
the
liberation
movement
through
their
armed
militias.
Indonesia
is
a
classic
example
of
how
a
big
country
which
adopts
neo-colonial
policies
and
authoritarianism
at
the
service
of
imperialism
reaches
a
dead-end
with
the
very
existence
of
the
multi-national
state
being
endangered.
Conflicts
In
Africa
As
the
next
century
approaches,
almost
the
whole
of
Africa
is
in
great
turbulence:
much
of
sub-Saharan
Africa
is
in
ferment,
incessant
conflicts
plague
the
Horn
of
Africa,
most
of
the
Central
Africa
and
parts
of
Southern
and
Western
Africa.
Ethiopia
and
its
tiny
neighbour
Eritrea,
both
are
favourites
of
US
administration,
are
at
war
for
the
last
one
year.
Ethiopia
has
different
nationalities
that
have
been
demanding
right
of
self-determination
after
the
overthrow
of
the
Mengitsu
regime.
The
USA
set
up
the
two
countries
to
overthrow
the
government
in
neighbouring
Sudan.
At
the
mediation
of
US
administration,
both
agreed
to
a
cease-fire
in
mid-1998
but
it
was
short-lived.
Eritrea
took
hold
of
the
entire
coastline
of
Red
Sea
thus
making
it
difficult
for
Ethiopia
to
channel
its
export
and
import
through
the
Eritrea
port
of
Assab.
Ethiopia
had
a
long
coastline
till
a
few
years
ago.
Now
it
has
to
rely
on
Port
of
Djibouti,
another
small
neighbour.
Eritrea
captured
last
year
the
port
so
far
used
by
Ethiopia.
The
Organization
of
African
Unity
mediated
in
last
November
and
put
forward
some
proposals
which
Eritrea
did
not
comply
with.
Large-scale
fighting
erupted
recently
along
the
one
thousand
kilometer-long
border
between
the
two
poorest
countries
in
the
world
with
both
sides
using
fighter
planes
purchased
from
Russia
and
East
European
countries.
Having
suffered
heavily
in
the
war,
Eritrea
unilaterally
announced
that
it
would
accept
the
peace
initiative
of
Organization
of
Arab
Unity.
The
tensions,
however,
remain
in
the
Horn
of
Africa.
The
USA
has
been
active
to
keep
OAU
away
from
the
scene
and
take
the
centre-stage
in
this
strategic
area.
The
persistent
ethnic
war
in
Uganda,
Rwanda,
Angola,
Zimbabwe,
Namibia
and
Democratic
Republic
of
Congo,
all
very
rich
in
gold,
diamond
and
other
minerals
is
also
causing
concern
for
the
non-aligned
movement.
Cargo
planes
loaded
with
arms
and
essential
supplies
from
Russia
and
other
republics
of
erstwhile
USSR
are
pouring
into
the
hands
of
rebels
and
the
governments.
In
Congo,
the
rebels
control
almost
half
of
the
country’s
territory
and
are
pillaging
immense
mineral
wealth
of
the
country.
The
foreign
multinational
corporations
are
also
active
in
exploiting
the
situation
for
the
pursuit
of
their
profit.
The
rebels
are
blaming
the
government
for
allegedly
allowing
Zimbabwean
and
Angolan
businessmen
plunder
the
precious
materials
in
the
government
controlled
area.
Uganda
and
Rwanda
are
providing
all
support
to
the
rebels,
while
Zimbabwe,
Angola
and
Namibia
are
assisting
the
government.
At
the
initiative
of
Namibian
President,
the
five
countries
tried
to
bring
about
a
cease-fire.
But
it
did
make
a
little
headway.
The
rebel
organization
in
Angola
National
Union
for
the
Total
Independence
of
Angola
(UNITA)
has
sent
in
its
troops
to
the
side
of
Congolese
rebels.
Rwanda
government
is
said
to
be
also
assisting
Congolese
Tutsi
ethnic
rebellion.
Opposed
to
Tutsi,
the
Hutus
ethnics
constitute
90
per
cent
population
in
both
Rwanda
and
Burundi.
The
entire
area
of
this
part
of
Africa
is
disturbed
because
of
the
internecine
warfare:
thousands
of
people
were
killed
and
lakhs
of
people
have
already
been
displaced
by
the
civil
war.
In
about
20
years
of
almost
continuous
civil
war,
about
a
million
Angolan
have
been
killed
and
another
10
million
rendered
homeless.
Peace
in
Angola,
world’s
one
of
the
most
heavily
mined
countries
is
the
key
to
the
stability
of
Southern
and
Central
Africa.
An
accord
signed
in
1994
between
Angola
government
and
UNITA
failed
to
bring
about
any
change.
The
diamond
rich
Angola
is
being
plundered
by
the
UNITA
aided
by
the
some
neighbouring
countries.
In
Sierra
Leone
too,
the
rebels
staged
a
comeback
recently
with
the
help
of
neighbouring
Liberia.
A
poorest
country,
rich
in
mineral
and
agricultural
wealth,
inhabited
by
4.5
million
people,
most
of
them
poorest
in
the
true
sense
of
the
term,
Sierra
Leone
is
deserted
by
4,40,000
people
who
fled
to
neighbouring
countries.
Nigeria
and
Ghana
helped
the
rebels
to
be
driven
out,
but
after
much
damage.
Morocco,
a
close
ally
of
USA,
annexed
Western
Sahara
24
years
ago.
When
Spain
withdrew
from
Western
Sahara,
then
named
Spanish
Sahara,
Western
Sahara
was
usurped
by
the
dictatorial
regime
of
Morocco
for
settlement
to
outnumber
Western
Saharawis.
The
Polisario
Front
started
liberation
struggle
in
Western
Sahara,
rich
in
phosphate
and
marine
life.
Mauritania
had
also
annexed
part
of
territory.
After
the
debacle
of
socialism
in
USSR
and
Eastern
European
countries,
the
independence
struggle
in
Western
Sahara
got
weakened
in
retrospect.
United
States
brought
Morocco
and
Polisario
Front
to
an
agreement
signed
in
Houston
in
1997
with
Polisario
Front
making
concessions.
The
UN
endorsed
the
agreement
but
it
has
not
been
adhered
to
by
Morocco.
It
did
not
allow
even
a
UN
peacekeeping
force
in
the
Morocco-occupied
part
of
Western
Sahara.
Many
deadlines
put
forward
by
the
UN
were
ignored
by
Morocco,
obviously
with
the
tacit
support
of
US
administration
which
is
not
in
favour
of
independence
of
Western
Sahara.
After
many
debates
and
meetings,
elections
are
set
to
be
held
in
December
this
year.
Saharans
feel
that
the
mandate
can
only
be
accepted
if
it
is
absolutely
free
and
fair
and
not
rigged
by
Morocco
the
Authority.
Despite
the
adverse
international
situation,
the
end
of
apartheid
regime
in
South
Africa
was
a
signal
achievement.
However,
with
the
main
levers
of
the
economy
in
the
hands
of
the
whites,
the
South
African
government
faces
immense
difficulties
to
usher
in
basic
changes
in
keeping
with
the
long-held
aspirations
of
the
people.
The
tasks
of
the
National
Democratic
Revolution
being
unfulfilled,
the
African
National
Congress
and
the
alliance
that
exist,
have
to
work
in
a
very
complex
situation,
both
with
and
against
the
profit-making
logic
of
the
white
dominated
monopolies.
It
will
never
be
a
linear
advance
for
the
alliance
which
was
forged
70
years
ago
to
achieve
national
independence
and
emancipation.
The
African
people
continue
to
face
many
serious
problems
including
poverty,
illiteracy,
disease
and
food
shortages.
The
neo-liberal
global
economy
imposes
further
deprivation
to
the
African
nations.
Territorial
disputes
have
led
to
frequent
wars
between
nations
and
ethnic
rivalries
continue
to
divide
many
countries.
The
revolutionary
movements
suffer
most
because
of
this
strife.
A
continent
with
extraordinary
natural
weather
had
long
been
regarded
by
MNC’s
as
a
mighty
realm
of
limitless
potentialities.
This
consideration
influences
African
policy
of
American
imperialism
which
is
so
explicit
and
systematic
that
it
is
hard
to
miss.
What
is
important
is
to
integrate
vast
African
world
into
the
global
movement
against
the
New
World
Order
of
imperialists.
The
prospect
for
a
strategic
partnership
between
Russia
and
China
has
brightened
with
the
recent
efforts
of
both
countries
to
improve
relations
on
major
issues
confronting
the
present
day
world,
which
has
the
potential
of
a
counter
weight
against
US
domination.
The
two
said
they
would
strive
to
establish
a
just
and
rational
new
international
political
and
economic
order
and
will
make
an
effort
to
maintain
regional
and
world
peace,
stability
and
development.
On
regional
and
international
issues
of
common
concern
both
China
and
Vietnam
have
come
closer.
In
Europe,
Socialists
and
Social
Democrats
are
ruling
either
alone
or
in
coalition
in
almost
all
the
countries,
particularly
in
13
of
the
15
member-states
in
the
European
Commission.
The
June
10
European
Parliament
elections
is
expected
to
give
a
new
orientation.
Some
leading
politicians
who
pushed
for
the
European
Union
and
economic
integration
with
the
introduction
of
Euro
are
out
of
power
now,
casualties
of
voter’s
anger
against
relentless
budget
cutting,
especially
on
social
welfare
programmes,
against
rising
unemployment
and
crime.
There
has
been
a
vital
shift
in
the
balance
of
power
within
the
institutions
of
the
European
Union
since
then.
The
Euro,
if
stabilized,
will
surely
pose
a
danger
to
dollar
dominance.
The
left,
democratic
and
communist
parties
of
Europe
met
several
time
to
raise
common
issues
affecting
the
people
and
organise
general
campaign
on
such
issues
during
the
June
10
elections.
On
certain
international
issues,
the
members
of
the
European
Union
seem
to
be
adopting
contrasting
positions.
The
working
class
movements
across
the
Western
Europe
are
trying
to
formulate
common
strategy
of
struggle
against
the
neo-liberal
globalization.
In
Eastern
Europe,
the
counter-
revolutionary
forces
are
facing
chorus
of
sharp
attack
from
the
people
who
are
glowingly
impoverished
at
the
WB–IMF
prescriptions.
The
IMF–WB
institutions
are,
in
their
own
words,
not
in
a
position
today
to
provide
any
alternative
to
the
on-going
financial
crises
that
encircled
the
vast
domain
of
South-East
Asia,
Russia
to
Brazil.
Japan
which
accounts
for
17.4
per
cent
of
global
GDP
whose
economy
is
as
big
as
that
of
Germany,
France
and
UK
combined,
witness
sluggish
growth,
plunging
stock
market,
falling
output,
fragile
banking
system
and
reduced
investment
in
productive
capacity.
The
European
Union,
Japan
and
the
USA
are
engrossed
in
frequent
trade
conflicts
which
show
further
the
insoluble
capitalist
crisis.
In
such
an
international
situation
working
people
of
all
countries
confront
the
executioners
of
neo-liberal
policies
in
the
national
level,
and
alongside,
and
increasingly
so
economic,
political
and
cultural
onslaught
of
imperialists’
New
World
Order.
Of
particular
importance
is
the
ideological
struggle
across
the
globe
against
the
preachers
of
‘end
of
ideologies’
and
the
‘end
of
history’
against
the
divisive
and
separatist
role
of
the
reactionary
circles
of
all
hues
backed
by
their
foreign
mentors.
The
strong
anti-imperialist
solidarity
in
all
forms
is
the
prime
need
of
the
next
millenium.
Unlike
the
situation
at
the
turn
of
the
nineties,
by
the
end
of
the
decade,
there
are
emerging
positive
features
which
provide
the
basis
for
growing
resistance
to
imperialist-driven
globalization
and
US
hegemonic
attacks.
The
world
capitalist
system
has
entered
a
period
of
instability
and
recession
engendered
by
the
volatility
of
parasitical
finance
capital.
This
is
creating
the
objective
conditions
for
new
conflicts
within
the
system
and
resistance
by
the
working
class.
The
IMF-World
Bank
prescriptions
are
being
criticized
by
capitalist
circles
themselves.
The
political
fall
out
of
these
developments
will
be
felt
in
the
advanced
capitalist
countries
too.
Unlike
the
earlier
period,
the
US-led
alliance
whenever
it
attacks
third
world
countries,
it
is
meeting
with
greater
opposition.
Both
the
recent
attacks
in
Iraq
and
Yugoslavia
did
not
have
the
sanction
of
the
Security
Council
due
to
the
opposition
of
Russia
and
China.
The
growing
might
of
China
and
the
steps
for
a
strategic
partnership
between
China
and
Russia
will
prove
an
effective
counter-weight
to
US
hegemony
in
the
future.
This
period
has
witnessed
the
worldwide
resistance
to
the
attempt
by
imperialism
to
impose
its
unequal
order
and
intensify
exploitation
that
were
manifest
in
the
significant
protest
actions
against
the
attacks
on
social
welfare,
the
rights
of
the
working
people
and
the
growing
abandonment
by
the
State
of
its
social
responsibilities.
As
we
have
said
in
the
16th
Congress
the
CPI(M)
considers
itself
an
integral
part
of
this
struggle
and
solidarity
against
imperialism.
As
a
party
based
on
proletarian
internationalism
it
will
ceaselessly
mobilize
the
Indian
people
to
play
their
due
role
against
imperialist
order
and
for
democracy
and
socialism.