Page 2 Soction I Portland Observer, December 21,1963
The remaking of Grenada
EDITORIAL/OPINION
by B ill Bigelow
Artists should refuse blood money
In spite of the efforts of the Special Com m it
tee, many entertainers continue to perform in
South Africa. The Committee is publishing reg
isters of these performers and asking that they
be boycotted.
Among the prominent Americans on the list
are: Shelly Berman, Cher, Joe Henderson,
Frank Sinatra, Francis Grier, Willis "G a to r”
Jackson, Curtis Mayfield, the America Country
Rock Group, Ray Charles, Shirley Brown, Glen
Campbell, the Beach Boys, Johnny Mathis,
Telly “ Kojak” Savalos, Efron Zimbalist, Ann
Margaret, Kenny Rogers, the Staple Singers,
Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Shirley Scott, Jimmy
Smith (singer), Stanley Turrentine, Dolly Par-
ton, Linda Ronstadt.
These people, their products and the products
they endorse should be boycotted. American ci
tizens must push our government to act on the
U .N . Resolution 2396 ( X X I I I ) of December 2,
1968, that requests "all States and organizations
to suspend cultural, educational, sports and
other exchanges with the racist regime and with
organizations and institutions in South Africa
which practice apartheid."
An increasing number of artists, writers, play
wrights, entertainers and other cultural person
alities are placing their commitment to humanity
above dollars and are refusing to travel to South
Africa.
For years the cultural boycott of South Africa
has been an important part of the international
campaign against apartheid. In the past four
years the South African regime has undertaken a
massive effort, through false propaganda about
•■reforms," and exhorbitant fees, to lure artists
to South Africa.
A big role in this effort is being played by
"Sun C ity,” a gambling and entertainment
complex in the bantustan of Bophuthatswana.
Bophuthatswana is one of the "homelands"
that South Africa tries to label as "indepen
dent," a designation not accepted by the govern
ments of the world.
However, some entertainers have seen
through this ploy. " I have a moral commitment
that supercedes money," said Roberta Flack,
who reportedly turned down a $2.5 million of
fer. Eddy Ams of the British group The Real
Thing, said, “ Sun City is an Afrikaner’s para
dise in a Black man’s nightmare."
ÎXD YbUR PARENTS LET YoU WATtH W
Television show a & xjt nuclear war ?
wttfcr
fa . rt made 'WA scared ?
YEAH - AMD THEY WERE THE ONES
W 6öT SCARED
THE PART WHEN 1 ASKED THEM WHAT
THEY WERE 6 o \ n 6 T o D o ABOUT \T
The State Department assures
that Grenada is now safe for A m eri
can tourists as Reagan's "restora
tion of democracy” begins to take
shape.
Though the nominal head of
state. Sir Paul Scoon, is in charge o f
restructuring Grenada, reporters on
the scene say that real power lies
with U.S. Ambassador Charles G il
lespie and U.S. military commander
M ajo r General Jack Farris. In addi
tion to the 300 Caribbean policemen
who accompanied the American in
vasion, about 1200 U .S. troops still
remain on the island. According to
the Reagan Administration, U.S.
military forces will be cut to around
400 by Christmas. U .S. ships still
patrol o ff Grenada's coast.
The strategy of the United States
appears to be to wipe out all in flu
ence o f the New Jewel Movement
(the political party o f assassinated
Prime Minister Maurice Bishop), es
tablish a government allied w ith—
if not actually controlled by— the
U .S ., and turn the Grenadian econ
omy away from the socialist pro
jects it had begun.
O n November 10, Governor Gen
eral Scoon gave himself broad emer
gency powers, including ihe right to
censor the press, ban public gather
ings and authorize warrantless ar
rests. Over a thousand people have
been at least temporarily detained
— an estimated 60 to 200 remain im
prisoned without charge.
The main targets o f the round-up
are former members o f the Peoples
Army and the m ilitia. But in addi
tion to these. New Jewel members,
trade unionists, activists in the mass
organizations (such as the National
Youth Organization and National
Women's Organization) have also
been held for interrogation. Ken
drick Radix, and N U M founder,
was arresied by the U .S. military lie-
cause he was "an instigator in
spreading bad will among the people
in public places," according to a
U.S. captain.
U.S. forces have tried to silence
all voices but their own on the
island. The Washington Post re
ports that the sole radio station is
entirely manned by U .S. Navy per
sonnel and "public service an
nouncements” directed by special
ists from the U.S. Arm y Psychologi
cal Operations Battalion. This one-
hundred-person crew has also plas
tered the island with pro-American
and anti-New Jewel Movement pos
ters.
U.S. troops are ferreting out all
centers of opposition to the new or
der. For example, soldiers ran
sacked Pope Paul's Ecumenical
Center, an educational and commu
nity service project. Calling it a
"center for communist propagan
d a ." The "evidence" he found con
sisted of books on Central America,
a map o f Puerto Rico, Cuban litera
ture and " a list o f Spanish-type
names.’’ The center's staff was
evicted and the building occupied by
armed guards. The Center for Pop
ular Education, Grenada's highly
successful adult education program,
has also been closed down, the di
rector deported.
In nearby Barbados another criti
cal voice was suppressed when
Prime Minister Tom Adams ordered
newspaperman Ricky Singh deport
ed. Singh was the editor o f the C ar
ibbean Contact, a newspaper pub
lished by the Caribbean Conference
of Churches, and ecumenical organ
ization o f twenty churches in the re
gion. Singh’s crime: writing articles
critical o f the U.S. invasion of
Grenada and the role played by Bar
bados in that action.
Shortly after the invasion, Rea
gan promised speedy elections for
Grenada. But the U.S. is now w or
ried that holding elections too soon
could bring the New Jewel Move
ment back to power. Governor
General Scoon hopes to avoid this
by having all former N JM members.
and would-be candidates, screened
by a special commission to check
their ideological credentials. In any
event, a date for elections has not
been set and they likely w on't be
held for quite some time.
On this matter, Scoon has run
into opposition from his own ap
pointees. Attorney General Antony
Rushford resigned i t disgust De
cember 5th, complaining o f Scoon's
"to ta l indifference and lack o f co
operation" with Rushford’s efforts
to establish a civilian government.
Rushford lashed out at Scoon, de
claring that, " I have never known a
situation in which a governor-gener
al appoints himself savior o f his
people, calls in foreign armies and
then does very little to bring about
the restoration o f constitutional civ
il government." N o replacement has
been found for the departed attor
ney general.
Economically, the halting of
work on the new international air
port and suspension o f the tourist
trade has pushed the island's un
employment rate to an estimated 25
percent Reagan has announced an
economic aid package of $15 million
(in addition to $15 million in m ili
tary equipment and training). He
has also met with U.S. businessmen
to encourage investments in the
"new Grenada.’’ and has urged
Grenada to revise its tax code to
make the spice island more attrac
tive to U.S. capital.
But will the American aid pack
ages and new foreign investment pa
cify Grenadians who had benefited
from the social changes initiated by
the New Jewel government in their
four-year tenure? Free education,
free health care, enhanced union
rights, access to new farm land,
participation in grassroots organiza
tions, respect for women’s rights—
whether or not people will allow
these to be buried and forgotten re
mains to be seen.
Washington Hot Line
by Congressman Hon Wyden
Reducing the federal deficit top priority for 1984 session
District 1 Viewpoint
/>>' Boss Danielson
Democratic District Leader
As the year comes to an end, tax-
pacing Democrats find themselves
searching through receipts and loose
change, wondering if they have
made their JSO.Oo worth ot cam
paign contributions to qualify for
1983 income tax credits. (Qualified
campaign
contributions
up
to
$50— $100 for couples— may be
subtracted from income tax.)
l olks who have not made their
’83 campaign contributions are
likely to end the year searching out
their freferred candidate, political
action committee, or political party
to make a last minute 1983 contribu
tion. I've even heard of people bor
rowing money to make their contri
bution, knowing that they could pay
it back in reduced taxes or larger tax
returns next spring.
This last minute flurry o f 1983
green stuff is an optimistic begin
ning for 1984, a year o f great chal
lenge for Democrats who depend on
many small contributions by w ork
ing people to match the easy wealth
of the Republican establishment.
Letters to the Editor
To the editor:
I appreciated Nathaniel Scott's
article on Sisters of the Road Cafe.
The reporting was accurate, and I
recognized myself in the quotes, an
— -
■ ■ ÍO 'P q t i'i
« F ■
■ u SB p,'i
i
B
il
tfl
experience not always achieved after
an interview. This is a critical time
for the Cafe, so thank you for the
coverage!
Gmn v Nelson
The Observer welcomes Letters to
the Editor. Letters should be short,
and must contain the writer's name
and address /addresses are not p rin t
ed). The Observer reserves the right
to edit f o r length.
“ ™ ™ ™ ™ ™ ™s ™ lâ iT -ô w ^eT n e wspaptr.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
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«itociat.on • Pounded 1M5
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duced the call for more advisory
type commissions to report on ways
to balance the budget. I support
these efforts, but at the same time I
think the basic answer to the ques
tions is obvious: W e must he willing
to put all government programs on
the operating table and squeeze,
squeeze, squeeze until we produce
further economies.
The defense budget, the largest
government spending program ever
this year at some $249.8 billion this
year, cannot he considered a sacred
cow. We cannot afford a “ buy
everything” policy for defense now
or in the future.
In short, if we are serious about
cutting deficits, and I believe we
must be, every aspect of federal ex
penditure must come under scrut
iny. That is the only way we can re
duce deficits, and the only way we
can do it fairly.
T h r l ‘n r lla n il It h s e r t r r IU S P S 959 6 8 0 i i , published
T h u 'v id , by I lie Publishing Codipenv Inc 2201 North Killings
wtnrth Portland O ib q o ii 97217 Post Office H o i 3137 Portland
O n -lio n 9720« Sec oral c lass posiagp pent at Portland Oregon
A lfred I Henderson. Editor/Publisher
A l H illiams, Advertising Manager
■ “ “
approached the task o f balancing
the budget doomed the project to
failure.
Most obviously, all the cuts were
in social programs and specifical
ly social programs which aided the
poor and near poor. Medicaid
spending was cut 5 percent, food
stamps 10 percent. Aid to Families
with Dependent Children 13 percent
and the major subsidized housing
project was brought to a halt.
The list goes on to include jobs
spending, child nutrition, education
aid for the poor and college student
aid. The point is fairly clear: social
programs have suffered in the last
three years under the banner o f re
ducing deficits, yet the deficit has
tripled under ihe current Adminis
tration.
The
Reagan
Administration's
failure to decrease deficits has pro
Portland Observer
The I* eila nil Observer wes established in 1970
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MEMBER
When Congress reconvenes in
January, 1984, several issues will be
screaming for attention. Yet none
will be as important for the long
term health of our nation as cutting
the deficit.
In the three years since the Rea
gan Administration assumed con
trol of the national government,
many citizens in all parts o f the
country have been called upon to
make sacrifices and expect less from
their government. In short, we have
asked to bite the bullet to advance
the cause o f a balanced budget.
The sacrifices have been made,
the benefits cut, the bullet bitten,
but the budget has not been bal
anced In fact, it is looming close to
$200 billion a year for the next sev
eral years.
I would suggest the lack o f fair
ness with which (he Administration
P o H la n d O b s e rv e !
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B in 3 1 3 7
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» 'i.rti.i ul O rn u irit 9 7 2 U 8
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