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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1983)
Page 2 Portland Observer, October 26, 1963 Labor's concerns cross borders by Robert Lothian Contrary to Reagan adminutra- tion claims that its Central A m eri can policy is bringing democracy and human rights to that war-torn area, a delegation o f Central A m eri can trade unionists says the repres sion continues, and is especially vi cious against labor activists. According to Miguel Angel Albizures, general secretary o f G ua temala's largest labor organization, the National Committee for Trade Union Unity, over 100 labor leaders have been assassinated in his coun try in the last three years, and hun dreds o f rank and file members. A l so, he said, 47 nuns have been m ur dered, 17 priests and 300 teachers during the same period. The words "sindicato" (union), and "huelga" (strike), are outlawed, according to Albizures. "W h en you live in a country like Guatemala, there is no choice but to struggle," he told an audience of 100 gathered at the Retail Clerk's H all Sunday night. In El Salvador's civil war, accord ing to M arta Alicia Rivera, a leader of A N D E S , the El Salvadoran teacher’s union, 309 teacher*, have been assasinated, 4,300 teachers have become internal refugees, and 4,000 are in exile in other Central American countries and the U .S. In addition, she said, U.S.-m ade heli copters supplied to the El Salvador an military have bombed and de stroyed over 1,000 schools. Educat ing children under such conditions is nearly impossible, she said. After 30 years o f military dicta torships, repression, assassinations and massacres, said Rivers, "T he people have said enough— the peo ple are organizing." But the re sponse o f the government, she said, s the machine gun. " N o one can wall me a liar when I speak out about the barbarian repression of our peo ple.” In M ay o f 1979, Rivera herself was kidnapped, severely tortured and left for dead by the El Salvador an National Guard. In 1980, while participating in a peaceful protest march, she received a bullet wound to the leg when police Tired into the crowd. She now lives in the U.S. and has applied for asylum. Sebastian Castro, intei national representative o f the Sandinista W orker’s Confederation, painted an entirely different picture when he spoke o f life in liberated Nicaragua. W ith the revolution, he said, "our people have found freedom for the first time in our history. Religion is protected, and all the political par ties can organize themselves freely.” Conditions have improved im mensely for Nicaraguan workers, said Castro. They can now organize themselves freely without fear o f re pression. They receive full wages when sick, and companies subsidize half the cost o f workers* lunches. Throughout the country, he said, literacy campaigns, health cam paigns and reconstruction projects uan » Calling for a halt to the deploy ment o f Cruise and Pershing I I mis siles, several thousand people ■arched through Portland streets ist Saturday before assembling for he area's largest political rally in years. The Jazzmin Marching Band led the way. The "Euromissile Rally” was just one o f 150 events in the U.S. coor dinated with actions in Europe and Canada. Over a million people dem onstrated throughout Europe: 200,000 to 400,000 in London, 300,000 in Bonn, 500,000 in Rome, and so on. The purpose o f the massive rally, according to organizer Margot Beutler, was " to educate the people of Oregon on the issues surrounding the current nuclear arms build-up. and to join in an international ex pression of opposition to the de ployment o f U.S. Cruise and Per shing II missiles and Soviet SS-20 missiles in Europe." Master of Ceremonies Herb C aw thorne emphasized the immediate ness o f the issue for people o f all races and classes. Cawthorne told the crowd that the Euromissiles will force (he Soviets to decide within a six-minute period whether or not to launch a "counterattack" once any indication that a Cruise or Pershing II has been launched Both the American and Soviet Bantu Dry Cleaners/Coin-operated Laundro-mat 18th Cr N.E. Dekum •283-0176 W E E K L Y S P E C IA L S W inter Coats.................................................................................................... »5 00 Skirts & Slacks ......................................................................................... . 81 00 S P E C IA L S E VER Y W EEK Nice, clean facilities Energy Conservation, Health and You ”BPA will not ignore the potential health effects of its programs. Neither should you.” G ayle H igh Pine o f P o rtlan d C e n tra l A m e ric a n S o lid arity C o m m itte e (P C A S C I; M ig u e l A n g el A I blzures o f G u a tem a la: S eb astian C astro of N ic a ra gua; M a rta A licia R ivera o f El Salvador: and J a m ie are succeeding because of (he re newed vitality of the people. But repression against Nicaragua continues externally, he said, in the form of a "secret w ar” conducted by remnants o f the Somoza N ation al Guard organized and financed by the C IA . "There is a concrete invasion and intervention in our country," he said, "w ith the most sophisticated acts carried out by the C IA . includ- "W e will not step back," said Castro. "T h e freedom o f the people is not discussed, it is defended with the arms in your hand." Albizures dropped out of school in Guatemala City at age 14 to go to work. He worked his way up through the ranks to become a lead ing organizer o f the Guatemalan National Worker's Confederation. In 1976, he led an international campaign to defend the rights of striking Coca Cola workers, who eventually won the right to have a union. But the government and right-wing death squads responded with fierce repression, and three successive Coca Cola union presi dents were assassinated. In Guatemala, he said, "D eath is present every minute, every hour. The machine gun has replaced d ia logue. the army has destroyed whole towns." 143,000 Guatmalans have been driven to refuge in Mexico. U.S. economic and military dom i nation o f Guatemala is responsible for the repression, said Albizures. Helicopters and planes used to bomb villages come from the U .S ., he said, and U.S. advisers train the Guatemalan security forces. "W h a t we don’t want in Guate mala, in El Salvador, in Nicaragua, P artrid g e o f P C A S C . discuss p ers e c u tio n o f tra d e union a c tiv ity in C e n tra l A m e ric a . (P h o to : R ich ard J. B ro w n ) is intervention by the U.S. You must transform the foreign policy o f the United Stales to help our people." he told the audience. Rivers began teaching in 1972 Through A N D E S , she organized slum dwellers to demand better liv ing conditions, and by 1973 had be come a regional secretary o f (he union. Like Albizures, she sees U.S. in tervention as the main threat to peace and democracy in the region “ W c don’ t want another Viet Nam in our country," she said. "W e hope for solidarity with the North American people. We are struggling for what Nicaragua has.” Sebastian Castro was born into a poor farmworker's fam ily in a small Nicaraguan town. He became a shoemaker and eventually a director o f the National W orker’s Confeder ation, which after the revolution be came the Sandinista W orker's C on federation now representing over 704V of Nicaraguan workers. " I f it wasn't for the intervention of foreign governments, the prob lems in these countries would be set tled by now ," said Castro. "T h e revolution is the most sa cred thing that we have, we think that with liberty, we have (he ability mg the destruction o f ports, bridges and direct attacks." The war makes it that much hard er to rebuild a country "to tally de stroyed" by the revolutionary war, and saddled with a $1.7 billion debt inherited from Somoza. he said. " A ll the conditions o f misery in our country are worsened now that we have to Tight a w a r," said C a stro. In addition, he said, "w e are running the risk that our whole peo ple might be assassinated." Thousands protest Euromissiles by Chuck Goodmacher If you w ant to save t t t t t t armed forces have gone to “ alert” status in the past because of human or computer errors showing attacks in progress. Since the Cruise and Pershing Ils will be only six minutes from their targets, the margin of er ror is drastically reduced. Thus, said Cawthorne, these missiles pose a grave, immediate threat to us all. Ada Sanchez, o f the People's Test Ban National Clearinghouse, re minded the crowd o f our individual and collective responsibilities to use every means available to stop our government’s preparations for gen ocide and planning for aggressive war. Citing the Nuremberg Princi ples. Sanchez noted that when a government engages in acts against humanity, then it is the good citi zen's duty to oppose his govern ment, even if a lesser law must be vi olated. “ It moves us from balance of ter ror to terror without balance, or sta bility— from perceiving war as un- winnable to perceiving it as win nable— if one strikes firs t," said Jess Frost, representative to the N a tional Freeze Campaign for the Northwest. British film maker Peter Watkins spoke o f how propaganda put forth by the government and repeated by the mass media makes war seeming ly inevitable. Constantly, we are told o f the militant stance o f the So viet Union and its allies. Watkins, whose film , The War Game, was banned for years, is now working on a film to show the affects o f nuclear war on "typ ica l" families around the globe. Speaking on a more sombre note was Johann Galtung o f the Norwe gian International Peace Research Institute of Oslo. Galtung depressed the crowd with his assessment that nuclear war between the (wo super powers is now inevitable. The only question, said Galtung, is when it will occur. Besides escalation o f the arms race itself, Galtung claims the increasing deterioration o f social structures in the U.S. and the Soviet Union bring us closer to war. Entertainment was provided by a diverse assortment o f musicians and actors. Billy Rancher, Sheila, and a number o f performers with P A N D (Performing Artists for N u clear Disarmament), were all there As tired as the rally organizers seemed, it was clear that the many hours or hard work had paid off. to reconstruct our country. But there is something we cannot repro duce— that is to slop the interven tion of the U.S. government. That is your jo b ," he told the audience. If other governments want to help, "have them send technicians to reconstruct our country like the Cuban people are d o in g ," he said. The three unionists visited Port land on a lour o f 14 West Coast cities sponsored by the West Coast Labor/C entral America Solidarity Network, the U.S. Committee in Solidarity with the people o f El Sal vador, and the National Network in Solidarity with the people o f Guate mala. They are meeting with labor leaders, unionists, and the public to bring a deeper understanding of the Central American situation to the U.S. labor movement. So stated Peter I Johnson, BPA Administrator BPA is tak ing a long hard look at the ef fects of expanding its home weatherization program, the most extensive in the U S . to provide "tightening" m ea sures lor more electrically heated ho nes But these measures (storm windows and doors weather- stripping etc ) could lower a home s indoor air quality by retaining existing pollutants inside the house Will the additional energy savings realized be offset by the adverse public health im pacts7 Io help answer that question. BPA has written a draft environmental Im pact statement and is soliciting public comment on how to expand the program and on the draft EIS itself Your comments can be given In person at any of the meetings listed, or in writing or by telephone until Nov 14, 1983 Write Anthony R Morrell. Environmental M anager BPA PO Box 3621-SJ. Portland OR 97208 Or. c a ll: Public In volvement Office Portland 230-3478, elsewhere in Ore- gonl-800-452-8429; North west states 1-800-547-6048 (B e tw e e n R ita's R eck ft 37th) I v taken close to live .years Incom plete a tut» phase, m ull ttin I lio ii dt'lla r im provem ent program al Bess kaiser Medic al ( enter another example «>* our ongoing com m itm e nt to provide quality health care to the community I he results of our efforts. You’ll nonce we've kept exterior cosm etic changes to a m inim um , putting our renovation budget where n really counts inside Efficient as well as com fo rta b le . the Center has Vour choice *1 ■ e pair M o n . Set. 10-6 • S un. 12-6 Bem em ber, w e ’re listening W hat you say counts. Bonneville Power Administration ( «M»e c r k h r e lt tkttf • • l i t XI I I I H X l’ P E S IS » .- Sunday V nrinhtr 2« l*R < 12 ncMtn III 4 p m k j i w r t V r m jn r n tr His; o n a l (Met Wtim \ In lr rv la lr V r n u r K w tlanri l i t ¿llh rrrn m g s Hh««J R v w jrv I h A x » KlsexJ Ix fN If Kcsptrjhwx himtMWi \ i i iih h h in v itin g the co m m u n ity Io a Health Happening" on Sunday. November 2(1 at K a is e r-I’e rm a n e n te ’s RegiiMi.il ( XI ice From noon til 4 p m . y o u 'll enjoy all kinds ol exhibits, m ini workshops and health screenings, with entertainment provided lor kids Check the box to the left lor details, and come c »in the tun there’s no charge' h a 4 ,u tin in « Zfi been remodeled to accom modate today 's so p h is ti cated technologies Com p u tc n /c d diag nostic and treatment equipment such as a CT scanner and angi ography suite Increased support services Andmorv In the midst ol all the new. however. y o u 'll lind th a t o n e th in g h a s n 't changed The commitment ol out stall They're canng people liMiking bjck with pride , and forw a rd w ith renewed ilcdicalion Ready to care tor you \n invitation to members and friends. As |u rt ot our Bess Kai ser "Rededication to Excel lence" celebration, we re We ll he more than happy to send you our special ho 4 lei 0 t Booths A Ik m n tis ira ffn n x A x i'/cn JtlkrcnE cxhtHfs irxIixJ •nv K tH r pM urv K a K safe ,mU J m K 'I k eduAjlHMi plus tseipvs and »ampR' <4 nu(niN<uv hnfeilax NV4K Mint-Wiwkxhop* on the new Hess Kaiser Medical Center I n x ii H o l land. call 280-2999; from Vancouver, call 694-8445 and ask I im our Information K a is e r P E R M A N E N TE HEALTH CARE PROGRAM 00 M ittovia - Wednesday Oct 2 ( Village Red Lion Blocklool Room 700 W Broadway lurlay — Thursday Oct 27 Burley Inn Patio Room 800 N Overland Eugene — Tuekdoy Nov I Eugene Hilton Joplin Room 66 E Sixth Portland — Wedneeday Nov 2 BP* Headquarters Bldg BP* Auditorium 1002 NE Hollodoy Soaltle — Thursdoy Nov J Seottie Center Center House Coni Center Rm A Mezzanine Level Norm I I xen tx's C o a tu m a je w e lry Over 300 pairs of earrings in stock Rickland - Monday Oct 24 Fodorol Bldg Auditorium 825 JOdwin Spokane — Tu.vday Oct 29 Covonougn Inn Clearwater Room N 700 Division Our Bess Kaiser Medical Center renovation is now complete. S p rtia l h r i i m \ l*«4 at the "H rnrs I kMiser M a n «if M M n n '' exhibit forhw a tm<v extensile Jispljx nsngx at the < H esrvxm I S< k k * ix 3616 N.E. Broadw ay REGISTRATION 7 PM MEETINGS 7 3 0 PM G ood news for Kaiser members. lx«« ( >wiHt*i I Valmy vAtih Pam M v a lih Hvhuvi.vf Ac lax a lu m Glad's of Hollywood M U T IN O SCHEDULE
