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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1983)
i ,* , 9 a 1 ' I • * -s September 21,1983 EDITORIAL/OPINION Are the Russians coming? vv ÿ 'i • S ÿ jl »•Vu V r r' .» 4» •? 1? , ’ •3 ! h / J 4, * » < î ■j •M .■ ¡ >• The Olympic Game* could be the next victim o f the anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up by the Reagan administration and others. Already some Congressmen have suggested denying visas to the Soviet team. This might insure a U.S. victory, but it could also be the death nell o f the Although U.S. athletes are still traveling to the U .S.S.R ., some invitations to Soviet athletes to compete in this country have been cancelled by the U.S. and others have been withdrawn by the Soviets due to public hostility. The Soviet basketball team's tour o f the U.S. has been can celled and the soccer team's tour is in danger. The phenomenon is not limited to athletes — visas to tourists and performers have also been removed. The future o f the Olympic Games may well be at stake. In 1980, the U .S. boycotted the games and in 1976 the African nations stayed home. So far no boycott of the L .A . games has developed. Apparently, the African nations will overlook U.S. involvement with South African athletes. There are legal questions: I f the U.S. were to bar any country, would the games be moved or cancelled? There is also a great deal o f dissatis faction in other nations with the Los Angeles site. There are serious concerns over the poten tial effect o f L .A .’s smog on athletes* health and an even more serious concern over the city's high crime rate and the inability o f the authori ties to protect the athletes from robbery and as sault. Many o f the Third World nations are dis mayed by the high price they will be forced to pay for their athletes’ room and board. There are others who decry the extreme com mercialization o f the games, with official Olym pic candy bars, pop, toilet paper, etc. There are many questions to be raised about the 1984 Olympic Games and one o f them should not be whether the Soviet athletes are welcome to participate. I f the Soviets are barred from the games they will be joined by many o f the socialist nations and the U.S. will be left to compete with the small Third W orld nations and a few athletes from Western Europe. It will be like the Pan American Games without Cuba — lots o f medals for the U .S. but not much in the way o f athletic competition. Those who are interested in the future o f the Olympics and those interested in an economic success in L .A . should fight any attempt to bar the Soviets. Support schools The voters across Oregon have approved school levies to insure the operation o f their schools. The Newport schools can be reopened and many other will remain open. Those who continuously vote against school levies and other taxes should search their hearts and remember what the taxes o f others have done for them. W e pay very little for the advan tages we receive and appreciate them very little until they are gone. You will usually find that most of the com plaining about high taxes comes from those with the ability to pay and those who have benefited most. The gift of life The latest scheme to get rich o ff o f illness and misery is the proposal to buy and sell body parts. W ith the discovery o f new drugs that pre vent rejection o f transplanted organs, trans plants will become more and more routine. The only problem now standing between the patients and recovery is the shortage o f available organs and the high cost. Across the nation many suffer and die because an organ cannot be found or because the cost is too great. Rather than allow the sale o f body parts on the market like a slab o f beef, the medical pro fession should launch an educational campaign and an all-out effort to obtain donors. Only when the public is willing to participate like it has in the call fot blood donations can there be a supply o f organs available free or at low cost that will insure the latest in medical care to those in need. You can provide the gift o f life. Call the Health Science Center’s donor program. 1 s ì • f- j ¡ i •t ■ 1 ‘TÄejr don’f f/vv Aortes like they used te." i Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Portland Observer o»*' ‘,O „ '« M l- Ths f o r l l i n i l O t i t r r n IU S P S 959 SSO) i t pu blish ed «very Thursday by C«W Publishing Company. Inc . 2201 North Killings worth, Portland. Oregon 972 1 7 Pott O tb c t Bo« 3137 Portland. Oregon 97709 Second elate pottage p a id al Portland Oregon The Portland O t n m t r w e t eetablithed In 1970 Subacnpttona SIS 00 par year et the Tn County area Poet m aa ta r Sand addraat changaa to the P w r U -rf O t a m w p o Bow 3117. Portland. Oregon 97208 A lfredL . Henderson. Editor/Publisher A! Williamt. Advertising Manager 283 2486 N a tio n a l A d v ertis in g R ap raeantatlve A m a lg a m a te d Publlehare. Inc New York Puerto Rico and Black America by Dr. Manning Marable Last month, the Puerto Rico Soli darity Committee requested that I present an address before the United Nations on the urgent necessity to free Puerto Rico from American control. For eight years, the Puerto R k o Solidarity Comm ittee has lob bied at the U N 's Special Committee on Decolonization, and the issue has rapidly acquired worldwide tup- port. particularly among Third W orld nations. W ithout hesitation. 1 agreed to add my presence to those o f other Americans who advocate independence for Puerto Rico Not surprisingly, the U.S. Ambassador boycotted the presentation. A fter tracing the heritage of slav ery and political oppression which led to Puerto Rico’s evolution under Spanish rule. I focused on the racism and corporate exploitation fostered by the U .S. Puerto Ricans who actively denounce oppression are subjected to U.S. repression, not unlike that aimed at Black civil rights activists. In October, 1977, progressive trade union leader Juan Rafael Caballero was kidnapped, (ortured, and executed. The next year, two independence leaders were butchered in a police ambush in Puerto Rico. In November, 1979, Angel Rodrigues Cristobal was beaten to death while in custody in Tallahasec, Florida. Grand jury re pression continues to mount: in 1993, criminal contempt charges with demands for lengthy prison terms were brought against "inde- pendentistas” who have refused to cooperate in the suppression o f their freedom movement. Tw o different concerns were raised in the discussion before the Special Committee. W hy docs the U .S. insist upon maintaining that Puerto Rico is an integral part o f this country? And what is the rele vance o f Puerto Rico's status to Black America? The ambassadors from Cuba, the African nations and Latin America could quickly answer the first ques tion. W ith the advent o f the Reagan administration. U .S . policy in the Caribbean and Central America de manded that Puerto Ricans be used as cannon fodder and as a strategic tool against liberation forces. In 1941 and 1942 the Puerto Rican National Guard took part in war maneuvers along with U .S . and N A T O troops. These war maneuvers were designed to develop the capacity o f military intervention against Cuba, Nicaragua and Grenada. In February. 1943. the National Guard was sent into Honduras. Simulta neously, the Reagan administration openly violated U .S. laws by con ducting a vicious campaign against Nicaragua, which involved the C IA , Somocista and counter-revolution ary terrorists. The crucial function o f the Puerto Rican Guardsmen is to play the role o f a Spanish-speak ing Foreign Legion, buttressing local dictatorial regimes. W hy is Puerto Rico relevant to Black America? The A fro -A m eri can community is also the historical product o f slavery and racism; we intimately understand the weight o f political repression which has been placed against our own leaders. W e have experienced high rates o f unem ployment, the lack o f adequate human services, inferior schools, and the racist attacks which Puerto Ricans face, here and in their island. The greatest Afro-Am erican scholar. W .E .B . DuBois. took a special interest in the plight of Puerto Rico. DuBois supported Puerto Rican rights activists, and championed the independence o f the island a half century ago. Black Congressman Ron Dellums has in troduced a bill in the House, which calls for the "Transfer o f Powers to Puerto Rico" in compliance with U N requirements. In the bill. Con gressman Dellums openly states that "th e move toward the elimination o f colonialism and all vestiges o f co lonialism is now irreversible. The practices followed by the U .S. with respect to Puerto Rico have been de veloped in open contradiction to the principles upon which this nation was founded. Puerto Rico consti tutes a full-fledged Latin American nation." W e have an international respon sibility to unite with oppressed peo ples o f color across the world. As M alcolm X noted, the United Nations is the most appropriate forum to charge the world's chief perpetual or o f oppression, the U .S ., with crimes against humanity. We must seize every opportunity to de velop international links with others, and in doing so, we will advance our own liberation struggle. Syria: Crossroads of history The Syrian Arab Republic is an ancient land in the heart o f the M id dle East at the juncture o f Asia, A frica and Europe. Syria it located in a limestone plateau with moun tains on the western tide. Its main river is the Euphrates. Other rivers are the Assi, which flows from the Beqaa Valley to the Mediterranean, and the Barada which waters the oasis surrounding the capital city, Damascus. An important crossroads through out history, Syria has been the site o f several ancient civilizations. Ils cultures were contemporary to and rivals o f those o f the neighboring Mesopotamia. The w orld’s oldest alphabet, written on clay tablets in cuneiform script, was discovered in Ugaret. From 1200 B .C . to 634 A .D . Syria was the battleground for many struggles. The Hittites, Assyrians. Chaldeans, and Persuns all marched through Syria. Then came Alexander the Great, the Romans, the Byzan tines and the Persians. The A rab conquest o f Syria came in 636. only two years after the death o f the prophet Muhammad. In 661, M uaw iyah iba Abu Sufyan became the fifth Caliph, or succes sor to M uham m ad, and chose Damascus as his capital, thus mak ing Syria the center o f the spreading Islam. Between 661 and 7S0 A .D ., under the Um mayad Dynasty, Syria was the center o f a flourishing trade. Muslim A rab armies pushed across North A frica into Spain and France, conquered central India and reached the borders o f China. In 750 A .D . the capital was moved to Baghdad, Iraq and the prominence o f Syria declined. It fell prey to petty invaders, including the Crusaders, and in 1516 was con quered by the Turkish Ottom an Empire which ruled it for 400 years. The Syrians hoped for indepen dence after the defeat o f the O tto mans during W orld W ar I, but in stead were placed under French mandate. Revolts were frequent and bloody but independence was not achieved until the French British left after W orld W ar I I . and G o v e rn m e n t Following independence, in 1945, Syria had several weak governments. In 1958 it joined with Egypt in the United Arab Republic but this alli ance was ended by a military revolt in 1961. The Revolution o f March 8, 1963, led by the Ba’ath Socialist Party, began a new era in the country’s history. The Ba’ath party has worked for a socialist transforma tion o f economic and social condi tions to achieve political stability and a higher standard of living. The Constitution o f 1973 pro vides for three branches o f govern ment — legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative authority is embodied in the People’s Assembly, chosen for a term o f four years through direct general elections. The system o f government is re publican, with the president heading the executive branch. On November 16. 1970 General Hafez al-Assad be came Prime Minister and he was later elected President. The presi dent is chosen by popular referen dum for a term o f seven years after being nominated by the People's Assembly on the recommendation o f the Ba’ath Party. The president appoints the prime minister and members o f his cabinet. The judicial branch is indepen dent and the Constitutional Court determines the constitutionality of laws. The national administration is as sisted by Peoples* Councils, which carry out local administrative duties. The councils include organi zations elected by the people, who thus are able to participate in the administration o f their local affairs. The political leadership is em bodied in the National Progressive Front, which was established in 1974 and includes five political par ties. The N P F decides issues o f war and peace, approves the state’s five- year economic plans, debates eco nomic policies and directs the coun- Portland’s largest black-owñetTnewspaper. I I I I I I I I I » I I I I I I iPORTWND OBSERVER Nevus fo r and about you. try’s general political orientation. The Constitution vests the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party with the lea dership functions in the state and society. The President is the secre tary-general o f the Party and is the leader o f the N PF. E co n om y Syria is ranked among the devel oping nations but It is one o f the few Third W orld nations that has no population problem (9 million resi dents) and whose development po tential is equal to future needs. Syria's extensive agriculture, its oil and mineral wealth, and its in dustrial potential, a population open to progress, and its strategit location guarantee economic devel opment. Economic and social plans are im plemented through a series o f five- year plans that began in I960. Petro leum is the country’s major export and its primary source o f hard cur rency. The phosphate industry is second and the textile industry third. Thirty-two percent o f the population is engaged in agricul ture. The new Euphrates Dam al Tabaka is the cornerstone o f devel opment. It irrigates 640.000 hectares and produces 900,000 kilowatts of electrical energy, some o f which is exported to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Twenty-three new industri al projects were spawned by the dam and others are planned under the 1981-1985 plan. E d ucation There are nearly 1.9 million stu dents in Syria. Primary education, to the 6th grade, is compulsory. The aim o f the education system is to in crease the literacy rate and open ed ucational opportunities to all. The overall objectives emphasize the need to nurture a sense of Arab unity among the young, encourage scientific development and widen the scope of technical and vocation al education. There are four majoi universities and 40 colleges. Govern meni scholarships are provided for students studying abroad. *1 Subscribe today! I 9 Yea. I w o u ld Ilk a a s u b s c rip tio n ! to th e Portland Observer. □ I hava endosad my chack or i ® money order for 818, for a ■ one-year subecriptk PLEASE PRINT to Pon land Observer Box 3137 P o n tin o Oregon 97204 N a m r ________ A d d res s C i t y ____ .S ta te . -Z ip
