CINA

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CHILE: CLASS STRUGGLE

AGAINST STATE TERROR

Despite the increasing police violence(on the other side the new elected president promised a strong investigation of the last riot cop attacks against protesting/striking students) student, supported by trade unions and many civic organisations, decided to continue the struggle until the govt. will meet their demands.

Yesterday's Guardian(GB) published following article about the student struggle in Chile:

Protests paralyse Chile's education system

· Student-led strike is largest in country's history
· First major test for Bachelet's government

The nascent government of Chilean president Michelle Bachelet is facing its first major challenge with riots, strikes and a countrywide boycott by more than a million students.
A national strike called by the Coordinating Assembly of Grade School Students paralysed the Chilean education system on Monday. Teenagers occupied schools, barricading the entrances with desks, while riots raged for 10 hours in Santiago as police used tear gas and water cannon on marching students. Around 370 people were arrested.

The students, who raised their complaints four weeks ago, are demanding free use of public transport, lower fees for college entrance exams and a voice in government policy. At the base of their protest is the demand for a potent upgrade of the public school system.

A full 50% of high school graduates fail the college entrance exam. In private schools, 91% of students pass the exam and have the opportunity to continue studying.

Last night, the Chilean senate was meeting in a special session to hear students' complaints. President Bachelet, who came to power three months ago, has already offered an emergency spending bill of some $60m (£32m) in response to protesters' demands. The offer was rejected by students, who, in addition to extra finance, are demanding a prominent voice in education policy.

Monday's strike was the largest in Chilean history. Authorities were stunned by the organisation of the protest, now widely known as "the march of the penguins" - in reference to the protesters' school uniforms.

Using the internet and cell phones, the students have rewritten the rules of dissent with their ability instantly to organise marches and make collective decisions. The organisers are very young, with an average age of 16, and their support goes all the way down to 11-year-olds, who organise forums and debate the right to a free education, turning their break into a civics lesson.

Hundreds of colleges are occupied and classes have been cancelled for the past 10 days. Alliances between poor students at state schools and pupils in the private education system have erased the usual class lines that mark Chilean social protests.

"In any other country, the fact that 5,000 students are marching through the streets demanding a better education would be the object of national pride," said María Jesús Sanhueza, 16, a spokeswoman for the students. "The government should be thanking us, not beating us down."

Admiration for the students is nearly universal, with some 87% of Chileans polled saying they support the movement. "These are not crazy revolutionaries," wrote Patricio Fernández, an influential columnist in the Clinic newspaper. "Their parents support them. Their cousins, their neighbours, their old aunts. They are bored that the wealthy schools educate those who will be boss, while their school trains them to be workers. More than combating Chilean authorities, they are convincing them."

Despite government efforts to reach a quick agreement, students are digging in. In a sign that the movement is spreading, most universities also shut down on Monday and the teachers' union went on strike. Thousands of shop owners refused to open in solidarity.

Complaints of brutal police tactics at recent marches have heightened the tension between Carabineros de Chile, the national police force, and the public, leading to further violence.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/chile/story/0,,1791899,00.html

Please read more about the developments here:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-5-31/42179.html

http://www.americas.org/region_22

http://www.newsocialist.org/index.php?id=872

The latest informations, but just in Spanish, you can get here:

http://santiago.indymedia.org/ (IMC Santiago de Chile)
 

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The bourgeois S. Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo reported following:

Protesters usher in trade talks with a noisy Washington rally

The semi-official new agency Yonhap wrote this:

Protest in Washington against S. Korea-U.S. trade pact proceeds peacefully

Hundreds of South Korean protesters marched through downtown Washington on Sunday to oppose a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) they say will destroy the livelihood of farmers and workers.

No violence or injuries were reported during the 80-minute rally. Protesters said they will hold rallies daily until Friday.

6.1 Minjok-Tongshin(USA) wrote following(in English)..

Korean and American Workers, Farmers and Legislators Voice Opposition to

As trade negotiators from the United States and South Korea begin free trade talks on June 5, American and Korean workers, farmers and legislators will voice their opposition to the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at a congressional press conference on June 7, 2006, 10 AM at the Cannon Terrace, Washington, DC.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), sponsor of the briefing, says, "Once again Washington is ready to pass another trade agreement that benefits multinational corporations at the expense of workers and the environment. It is urgent that we end this race to the bottom and work for trade agreements that respect workers' rights, human rights and environmental principles. I look forward to the briefing and working to stop this bad trade agreement." Reps. Marcy Kaptur (OH) and John Conyers (MI) are also slated to address the bi-national delegation.

Co-organized by the Korea Policy Institute and the Oakland Institute, prominent Korean leaders representing labor, farm and parliament will speak on the impact that the proposed trade agreement will have on Korean society and economy.?/font>

"The proposed FTA will dramatically expand the failed model of NAFTA," says Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of the Oakland Institute and trade expert, "wreaking havoc on American and Korean workers, farmers, and their families. We have come together to form a unified front to stop the free trade agenda from moving forward without people's consent."

"Unless the proposed FTA includes significant labor, agriculture, and environmental protections, it is difficult to imagine how the FTA could possibly benefit workers and family farmers in either nation" says Dr. Thomas Kim, Executive Director of the Korea Policy Institute. "Extensive and organized opposition is already building in Seoul, and they are finding willing partners to take up the fight in Washington." Koreans will be joined by U.S. representatives from the 35,000-member United Electrical Workers Union and the National Family Farm Coalition.

The Korean delegation to address Congress, which is still awaiting U.S. visas to be issued includes: Young Koo Heo, Vice President, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions; Jai Kwan Choi, Policy Chair, Korean Peasants League; Jeong Ok Yi, General Secretary, Korean Women Peasants Association; Ki Kab Kang, Member of Parliament, Korean Democratic Labor Party.

For more information, visit the Oakland Institute at www.oaklandinstitute.org or the Korea Policy Institute at www.kpolicy.org.

The latest article in Korean from them you can read here:

Korean protesters in the "heart of the beast", in Washington.. And no riots, no revolution..oops

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..^^..

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According to BBC World, 6.2, between at least 200,000 and 500,000 people joined the mass rally in Kathmandu, organized by the CPN-M, held on Friday.. Their demands.. from a democratic republic to the continuing struggle for a classless society, aka the Communism..

IHT, NYT published yesterday following article..

Nepal's Maoists come out of the jungle, into the mainstream

Ten years after waging war from their jungle redoubts in the hills, Nepal's Maoists are tiptoeing out onto mainstream political turf, raising hopes for an end to the deadly conflict but also clouds of uncertainty about the country's future.

Maoist cadres are openly organizing meetings in town squares and trolling for what they call "donations" for their party coffers.

Senior leaders who have spent most of the 10 years underground are holding news conferences. A series of rallies across the country culminated with a giant gathering Friday in the capital, Katmandu.

For Nepal, the challenge of reintegrating the rebels could not be more important. The country stands on the brink of historic change and the rebels, in large measure, hold the key to whether it treads the path of war or peace.

The rebels have already scored important victories. In late April, after three weeks of nationwide protests, King Gyanendra ceded control of the state to an interim government. Bowing to a central Maoist demand, a newly reinstated Parliament abolished the king's control over the army. The interim prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, says the government will also hold elections to draft a new constitution, another major rebel demand.

The government and the guerrillas held a first round of peace talks. But the challenge now is to see if the rebels can be brought into the fold of Nepal's politics, military and society.

For the time being, the rebels live in limbo, and so does Nepal.

Take the rebels' preparations for the rally Friday. A former guerrilla spent a hot afternoon last weekend emblazoning the walls of this ancient city on the edge of Katmandu with pictures of his commander, nicknamed Prachanda, "the fierce one." He had exchanged his fatigues for a jersey and jeans. His weapon was a paint roller and a bucket of glue. No longer did he have to paint revolutionary graffiti under the cover of dark, as he had only months ago, or dodge the police. Already, he had spent a year in jail.

But asked for his name, the young man was unsure whether to give his real name (Rakesh Bati) or the one he had adopted during his four years underground (Comrade Rahul Shrestha). Either way, the erstwhile Comrade Rahul crisscrossed the narrow lanes of Bhaktapur, slapping up rally posters.

A fellow party worker, Ram Rajkhal, doled out leaflets and collected contributions. Elsewhere, he could be mistaken for a schoolboy selling raffle tickets.

"In the past, they destroyed telephone towers and electricity lines," Bidur Giri, a worker at the timber yard, said quietly from the sidelines. "Now they are saying they'll do something good. I don't know."

A baker studied a poster that had been pasted next to his shop.

"After 10 years of war, there's hope for peace," Bhimsen Sapkota volunteered. "I want to hear what they say. I've never heard them speak." He said he would attend the rally.

The rebels refuse to disarm before elections, out of distrust of the military. But they have said they will sequester their troops under international supervision so long as the military agrees to do the same. Second, the rebels insist that their troops should be integrated into a new national army, a move about which the government is still reticent. Third, they demand that Parliament be dissolved and oppose the restoration of local government institutions in the countryside, much of which they effectively control.

On Thursday, the Maoist spokesman, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, threatened to pull out of peace talks if the last two conditions were unmet.

Both sides want the United Nations to monitor the cease-fire accord and possibly broker talks.

"I'm a confused optimist," said Kanak Mani Dixit, editor of Himal Southasian, a news magazine, and among Nepal's most prominent journalists. "Confused because we need to decide on so many matters now. How to bring the Maoists in, that's the immediate problem - but also how to restructure the state."

In the twilight between war and peace, Nepal remains on edge.

Demonstrations break out in a flash. One day in May, the death of a patient at a hospital in Katmandu prompted a band of protesters to rough up hospital workers and try to set the hospital on fire. The same day, transportation workers erupted in a strike.

The daily disorder is a measure of what is arguably the government's most pressing challenge: to restore stability and assure a restless, still enraged citizenry that the state security forces remain loyal to the state. The army and the police are still widely viewed in this country as having violently repressed the pro-democracy protests in April.

The government suspended three senior commanders of the security forces last month. "The government is looking at security forces with suspicion, the security forces are looking at the government with resentment," said one foreign diplomat in Katmandu, who asked not to be identified to avoid being perceived as meddling in Nepal's internal affairs. "The most essential thing for the political parties now is to realize that things may very, very quickly break down."

The Maoists, meanwhile, have not exactly abandoned their old ways.

Although the number of killings and abductions has plummeted, reports of Maoist violence continue to pour in from the countryside.

In the southern town of Chitwan, the rebels abducted and killed a man they accused of claiming to collect money in the name of the Maoists, according to the independent human rights group Advocacy Forum; his body was dumped in a field.

In the western district of Surkhet, six schoolteachers accused of rape were abducted; one of the kidnapped men escaped, only to be hounded for cash, also according to Advocacy Forum.

Young members of the People's Liberation Army, interviewed during a public rally in the southern village, said they remained prepared for war. "How can you say it's safe or unsafe? There's still uncertainty," said a hotelier, Pratap Tulachan, in the southern town of Butwal. "People are still scared of those days."

Maoist operations have certainly become less furtive. On a Friday afternoon in late May, in the picturesque hillside town of Palpa, a veteran party leader, Pampa Bhusal, sipped tea with comrades and made preparations for a rally to be held the next morning in the main town park.

Bhusal, a central committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), was a lawyer in the capital and a fiery student leader before slipping underground over a decade ago to join the rebellion.

On this day, she could hardly contain her delight at the prospect of returning to Katmandu. Only once in her years underground had she gone home to the city. "One month ago, I worked only underground," she said. "Now I work underground and over ground also."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/02/news/nepal.php 

The Nepalese bourgeois eKantipur reported following..

Tens of thousands attend Maoist mass meet in capital

Tens of thousands of people assembled at the Khulla Manch in Kathmandu to attend the mass-meet of the Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist (CPN-M) on Friday.
The entire Tundikhel, Bhotahity, Ratna Park areas and the areas in front of Bir Hospital were jam-packed with people.

People from within and outside the capital assembled to attend the much-publicized mass meet, on a public holiday in the Kathmandu valley to mark the religious festival of Bhote Jatra. 

Coordinator of the Maoist team for the government-Maoist talks, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, other members of the rebel team Dinanath Sharma, Dev Gurung, central member Pampha Bhusal, deputy commander of the Maoists' Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA), Prabhakar, and leaders Agni Sapkota , Lekh Nath Neupane and Pawan Kumar Shrestha addressed the gathering.

Addressing the mass-meet, the Maoist leaders said the people's movement would continue until the "ultimate goal" was achieved. 

Terming the reinstatement of the House of Representatives (HoR) as a "betrayal,” the rebel leaders repeated their stand on the HoR not being able to meet the "esteemed goals" of the historic people's movement.

Maoist spokesperson Mahara blamed the seven-party government for sticking to its “old agenda” after the reinstatement of the House of Representatives.

“Our party had objected to the move to reinstate the old House which has no relevance in the present context, as it doesn’t represent the aspirations of the popular mass movement,” said Mahara, adding, “The seven parties are trying to move ahead with their own agenda, which is unacceptable to us.”  

Mahara, who is also the head of the rebel negotiating team, said that his party is still appealing to the seven parties to “withdraw their stance and join the talks to translate the people’s wishes.”

He also claimed that the people have accepted the Maoists to take up the leadership in the political mainstream.  

The mass broke into fervent clapping whenever the speakers expressed their commitment to peace or spoke against the erstwhile royal regime.

Another leader Dinanath Sharma said that his party Chairman Prachanda should lead Nepali politics in the coming days. “We cannot say that our chairman comrade Prachanda will lead Nepali politics for the time being, but we want to assure you that the day has come for him to take up the responsibility for the sake of the nation,” Sharma said.

Maoist women’s leader Pampha Bhusal said that “the government to be formed next should give emphasis on women’s empowerment and bring about a revolution in guaranteeing women’s rights.”

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eKanthipur wrote this yesterday, 6.1..

Maoists promise biggest ever mass meet Friday

Claiming that the government is engaged in its own roadmap rather than with the ongoing peace process, Maoist rebels on Thursday warned the government to be sincere towards the talks.
Speaking at a press conference organized on the eve of Friday’s mass gathering, expected to be the largest one since the rebels declared a ceasefire and announced to join the peace process, head of the rebel negotiating team and Maoist Spokesman, Krishna Bahadur Mahara today said that the government, by sticking to its “old agendas” is reluctant to resolve the political crisis.

“The government by going against the spirit of the 12-point understanding is attempting to move ahead alone after the reinstatement of the old House of Representatives,” said Mahara, “This House doesn’t represent the aspirations of the pro-democracy movement.”

He also accused the army of spreading misinformation about Maoist extortions and abductions.

“The anti-democratic forces are engaged in spreading rumours accusing us of forcing people to pay donations,” he said. "We have totally stopped asking for donations after reaching the 25-point Code of Conduct with the government," he added.

Mahara also said that the Maoists in the next round of talks with the government would take up the political agenda.

“We hold that a broad national political conference should be organized and the present government, Constitution and House of Representatives, be dissolved to form an interim government and constitution,” the head of the Maoists’ negotiating team said.

The Maoists also expressed their unease over the deployment of the Nepal Army in the capital in the last few days.

“The government has to stop this before the second round of talks begins,” Mahara said, adding, “It’s against the Code of Conduct reached recently.”

The Maoists have said their Friday mass meeting will be the largest one ever.

The rebels have been organizing similar programmes outside the capital for the last few weeks after the government reciprocated their three-month-long truce and entered the peace process.

“I cannot say as to how many people will attend the gathering but appeal to all the people to participate in it,” said Mahara.

Dozens of vehicles ferrying in Maoist cadres from various parts of the country have already entered the valley.

Traffic management
The government has restricted traffic flow around the programme venue to maintain security.

In a public notice today, the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Office said vehicles in and around the Khulla Manch, where the Maoists are set to hold the gathering, have been prohibited for the programme period.

Parking for those who will be attending the programme has been arranged at the playground in front of Sahid Gate, in the compound of National Trading Limited and vacant areas of Bhrikuti Mandap, the statement said.

Meanwhile, talking to eKantipur over the phone, the Maoists' Central Incharge, Ananta said that they are taking out rallies from six separate parts of the capital.

"Rallies will be taken out from Chabahil, Naya Baneshwor, Balkhu, Lagankhel, Balaju and Gongabu before converging into a gathering at Khulla Manch at 12:30 p.m.," Ananta said.

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=75384 

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eKantipur published following yesterday..

Nepal urges Maoists to drop extortion practices

CPN-UML General Secretary, Madhav Kumar Nepal on Sunday urged the Maoist rebels to drop the practice of use of force to extort money to manage its army.

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2006 FIFA WORLD CUP

DIE WELT ZU GAST BEI FREUNDEN

Before last week the Italian newspaper La Stampa wrote that "German Neo-Nazis are preparing for the big showdown for the World Cup".

Since the last week the racist attack against "non-white" foreigners are increasing in Germany, especially in the East.

Since last Tuesday in Wismar, Weimar(here about 20 nazis were attacking a small party by four Africans. Witnesses said that the fascists were called by neighbours..to kick them out.. During the "very brutal attack", so the daily newspaper TAZ, no-one wanted to help the attacked people, even no-one called the police. "The neighbours and by-passers were just watching"), Berlin... foreigners, mainly from Africa and Asia, but also Afro-Americans were physically attacked by German fascist gangs. And according to Neo-Nazi websites "this will be just the beginning"..

Actually the only answer should be:

BOYCOTT FIFA WORLD CUP 2006!!

or better.. BOYCOTT GERMANY!!

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eKantipur reported yesterday following..

Govt-Maoist talks: Both sides agree on 25-point Code of Conduct

At the end of the first day the government-Maoist peace talks, both sides have agreed on a 25-point Code of Conduct to go for the constituent assembly elections.

The talks ended at 10:15 p.m. after more than six hours of closed-door negotiations between the two parties at Gokarna Forest Golf Resort in Kathmandu on Friday.

Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Krishna Bahadur Mahara, heads of the government and the Maoist negotiating teams respectively signed the Code of Conduct.

The 12-point understanding reached between the seven-party alliance (SPA) was also discussed during the negotiations today.

Both sides also agreed to hold another round of talks after reaching the agreement today.

The government on Thursday had given full shape to its team headed by Home Minister Sitaula and formally called the Maoists for negotiations while the Maoist preparatory talks team headed by the party spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara had arrived in Kathmandu last week; another member Dev Gurung arrived on Thursday. 

HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE: The government (right) and Maoist (left)

negotiating teams pose for a photograph during the first round of

preliminary talks at Gokarna Resort, Kathmandu, on Friday.

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2006 FIFA WORLD CUP

DIE WELT ZU GAST BEI FREUNDEN

NOTE to the racist attack, last Friday(5.19) against the German-Kurdish politician Giyasettin Sayan(a member of the Berlin parliament, Leftparty/Links Partei)..

Last Monday a team of the Berlin regional TV station rbb was visiting the area where G. Sayan was attacked three days before. In a short report they wanted to show the daily reality in this area. Partly the TV team was together with Christiane Emmerich, the district mayor of Berlin Lichtenberg.

In the beginning everything was fine. A nice reconstructed street in East Berlin... full in spring sunshine. Many shops, the houses beautiful painted, some signs of the latest citizens street party...

And the TV team started to ask people on the street - mostly people who are living and working there – what they’re thinking and feeling about the attack against G. Sayan(the case of the attack was reported in all Berlin newspapers, TV and radio stations..). The most of the older people gave no answer..

Three youngsters, two young women and one man, asked about the issue said that they are not interested, not at all.. One women: „It’s not our problem. We’ve nothing to say about it.“ The man: „Hey, he’s a foreigner... What he had to do here. He should stay at least in Kreuzberg(NOTE: Kreuzberg is a district of Berlin with a majority of so-called foreigners, mainly Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic), or better he should go back to his country. If he really was attacked here.. it was his own guilt!“(NOTE: G. Sayan Has a German passport, he is living in this area and a elected representative of this area in the Berlin parliament).

During the report the TV team made a interview with Chr. Emmerich, the district mayor of Lichtenberg.. in the same street. Just after the beginning of the interview on man on a bicycle passed by and attacked verbal Chr. Emmerich: „Go home.. We never will tolerate foreigners here! Foreigners out!“

Another young man, a young trainee, said that „all this foreigners, who are running around here, are just stealing our, the Gemans, work places.“ And „so it’s no wonder that the Geman youth is defending themselves“. Finally the TV team was invited by some workers into their car.. There they, the reporters, must listen to hard-core racist slogans and were threaten with some kind of physical attacks if they would continue to report about this issue there.

Meanwhile in the follwing night in Hellersdorf, another district in East Berlin, "unknown people", so the media, attacked the Babylon House, a inter-cultural youth center, with fire bombs. The attackers painted swastikas(Hakenkreuze) and slogans such as „White Power“ on the walls.
Babylon House is a center especially for young people from Russia and Poland.

A very strange report by the German magazine Der Spiegel .. but just in German .. you can read here..

"Potsdam war die Hölle".. potsdam was the hell..

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/debatte/0,1518,416919,00.html

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The protest by textile workers in

Bangladesh is escalating

The German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reported yesterday, 5.24, that masses of workers, armed with bamboo sticks burned down at least 14 factory buildings in the industrial town of Ashulia and in the capital Dhaka. Before the police were attacking demonstrators, demanding higher wages, the payment of overtime and at least one day off per week.
According to the trade unions in Bangladesh the workers over month are not getting holidays and many companies are paying the wages not regularely... just when ever the capitalists want.

Now the government anounced to crackdown strongly any "violent protest" - aka state terrorism (I would describe this...).

The textile industry is the backbone of the national economy in Bangladesh. And the most of this goes in the export to the so-called developed countries in Europe, to the US, but also to S. Korea.