(The following articles are from the Jan. 16-31, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

1) ALL OUT JAN. 29 IN HAMILTON - PEOPLE VS. US STEEL

By Liz Rowley

            Across Ontario, Labour Councils and local unions are mobilizing for the "People vs US Steel Rally" being organized on January 29 by Local 1005 USW, whose 900 members and 9,000 Hamilton pensioners have been locked out since November 7.

            Local 1005 President Rolf Gerstenberger says the union, the whole community and the country are under attack by this giant US transnational corporation. It's nation‑wrecking on the one hand, vs. the dignity and rights of workers to decent pensions and jobs on the other. It's everybody's issue, says Gerstenberger.

            The Local is calling on supporters across Canada to pass motions in support of the locked out workers, and to get their unions to put buses on the road to Hamilton.

            As he did for striking miners and smelterworkers in Sudbury last spring, and for the G8/G20 protests in Toronto last June, OFL President Sid Ryan is calling on the labour movement in Ontario to load up the buses. The OFL is working closely with Local 1005, the Hamilton and District Labour Council, and the CLC to make Jan. 29 one of the biggest rallies ever. The rally starts at 1 pm at Hamilton City Hall, followed by a march.

            The immediate issue in the lock‑out is the Local's refusal to accept the de‑indexing of pensions affecting the living standards and purchasing power of 9,000 retirees. US Steel also wants to replace the defined benefit (DB) pension plan with a defined contribution plan - a jumped up RRSP-type savings plan that guarantees no income security to workers in their retirement years. But it does offer big savings ‑ and increased profits ‑ to companies which use pension funds to gamble on the stock markets. The winnings go to the coupon clippers, while the losses are always collected by pensioners, as Nortel Networks retirees know only too well.

            The other big issue is Canadian sovereignty and control over the key sectors of the economy, and primary and secondary industry, and manufacturing in the first place. Two decades after the first Canada‑US free trade deal was signed, and since the foreign takeovers began in mining and steel, there is very little left in these industries that is not already foreign-owned or controlled. Further, these multi‑nationals are operating in Canada with virtually no controls.

            In less than 10 years, Canada's steel industry has been completely taken over by foreign companies. Stelco in Hamilton was the last Canadian-owned steel company in the country. After a raid on the assets and pension plan by predators in bankruptcy proceedings, US Steel bought the plant three years ago, agreeing with Investment Canada to maintain employment and production levels in Hamilton. Almost immediately, the company began dismantling operations, laying off workers, banking coke ovens, moving equipment, and then shutting down the blast furnaces, which take months and millions of dollars to restart.

            The union thinks US "Steal" has no intention of re‑starting the blast furnaces or any other part of basic steel production in Hamilton. US Steel's own documents in court proceedings admit to price fixing by reducing and then eliminating production in Canada.

            It's become obvious that the real reason for the purchase of Stelco was to mothball the operations, turning Canada from a basic steel producer to a marketplace for US Steel products.

            But the union is challenging that "future", demanding that governments take action to protect the city and community, its workers and retirees, and its industrial base.

            Foreign ownership and monopoly control is the elephant in the room, and the union is demanding that federal and provincial governments act immediately to prosecute US Steel for price‑fixing and for reneging on its obligations under the purchase agreement.

            The union also wants to maintain the previous collective agreement for another three years. That means the workers go back to work under the existing contract, and the company drops its pension demands.

            But US Steel isn't having any of it. Nor are the federal or provincial governments. Collectively they would rather leave workers on the picket line, waiting them out like Vale Inco did for 12 months in Sudbury, and continues to do in Voisey's Bay. Meanwhile the profits continue to roll in south of the border, and a new blast furnace has started up state‑side as well. 

            Local 1005 is right: this fight won't be won at the bargaining table. It will take a whole community, and the whole labour movement to defeat US Steel, and all the other corporations waiting to see what happens in Hamilton. 

            The Communist Party fully supports the union's demands, and further, calls for the nationalization under public democratic control, of US Steel operations in Hamilton. Canada needs a domestic steel industry that's publicly owned and controlled, and able to produce steel needed to build an industrial base and strategy for Canada, and industrial, manufacturing and construction jobs for Canadians. If there was any doubt before, the actions of US Steel in Hamilton are the proof of this today.

            The CPC is also calling on the provincial government to compel US Steel to return to the bargaining table to negotiate an early and just settlement with Local 1005.

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2) BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN GROWING IN MONTREAL

PV Montreal Bureau

            "Pseudo‑intellectuals, fanatics, radical‑leftists, extremists, and a poor excuse for a public servant who should resign." These are just some of the cheap insults aimed at local Montreal residents organizing with Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU), who have been braving the cold for the past several months, pushing back against products from the Israeli‑apartheid regime being retailed in local stores.

            Their campaign aims to make St‑Denis Street, a popular shopping place in central Montreal, "Israeli apartheid‑free". They received a boost this winter when a member of the Quebec National Assembly joined the picket‑line outside PAJU's first target store. The participation of Amir Khadr, Quebec Solidaire's MNA, has acted as a lightning rod for pro‑Zionist media criticism.

            "Just because a business is in my riding, I am not going to abandon my principles," Khadr told the Montreal Gazette recently. Le Marcheur retails a brand of Israeli shoes made by Rishon Lizon. It is located in Mercier (which was also the riding of Fred Rose, federal Labour Progressive Party MP many years before). Both PAJU and later Khadr made written appeals in advance to the owners to drop the product.

            News stories have been particularly sharp, with coverage also in the pages of Israeli and Toronto papers. "Khadr should stop running around with his mates from the Communist Party," harangued one editorialist. "He should just resign," said another.

            Montreal's corporate media appears to have a problem with Khadr and shoes. Last summer, they howled that he had lost dignity by hurling a shoe at a picture of George Bush, during a protest against a visit to Canada by the former president and war criminal.

            What they can't stand is that polls show the MNA from the left-wing party has a 45% approval rating, making him the most popular politician in Quebec.

            The picket line is not PAJU's first participation in the growing international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign. Last fall, the group also helped host a major cross-Canada conference on BDS in Montreal, featuring international speakers. The group has also celebrated ten years of Friday mid‑day pickets outside Chapter's Indigo bookstore. 

            For that reason the spirit on the picket line is up‑beat and firm, despite frosty temperatures and misinformation by aggressive Zionist bloggers. "My mother went to the store," wrote one blogger and "was greeted by about a hundred threatening Arabs with Hezbollah flags shouting anti‑Semitic slogans and blocking the street completely."

            People's Voice supporters have joined the picket repeatedly since it began in October. We have seen an orderly event of twenty to fifty people, from all walks of life, including trade unionists, students, Jews and Palestinians. They've chosen to respect the law, marshalling on the sidewalk, but not blocking traffic. Despite police efforts to remove them, they hold banners high, fly a few Palestinian flags, and distribute a graphic leaflet on BDS.

            "Help the owner make the right decision!" the leaflet says. "If the owner decides to remove the shoes made in Apartheid Israel, we will encourage everyone to choose to shop at Le Marcheur for having sided with solidarity and social justice. Since 2005's historic call from Palestine for a comprehensive, international movement for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid, we have seen many important victories for this movement in both Canada and Québec. The past two years have seen growing numbers of Québec civil society organizations taking up the call for BDS. We can continue on this momentum and put an end to Israeli Apartheid!"

            It's a just call.

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3) MY BEEF WITH STEPHEN AND DON

By Kimball Cariou

            It's been an interesting week since Hockey Fans For Peace hit the media radar. As co-founder, I've watched the small membership of our Facebook group suddenly triple, and I've done some major radio sports talk show interviews.

            Overall, the response has been great. Hockey fans across North America have contacted us, delighted that a group of fans has formed to speak out against the war in Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, there have also been some negative reactions, especially from avid supporters of Hockey Night In Canada commentator "Coach" Don Cherry.

            This whole thing was largely sparked by Cherry's ugly rant at the inauguration of the new city council in Toronto. Cherry supporters argue that he simply "supports the troops." That claim was demolished over Christmas in Kandahar, where Cherry fired off artillery, autographed bombs, and bragged about "chasing the Taliban."

            But many hockey fans across Canada have been disturbed by a larger trend - the strategy of the Harper Conservatives to turn athletes and the Canadian Armed Forces into props for their war-making agenda.

            It's difficult these days to find a major sports event which does not incorporate reference to "our brave troops in Kandahar." For me, the most gut-wrenching was at the Oct. 31 Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. B.C. Lions game at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. The entire half-time show was devoted to the military. Hundreds of troops paraded across the field, as the announcer continually told us to stand in support of the mission in Afghanistan to allegedly "defend our freedoms in Canada." As an exercise in jingoistic propaganda, this hit a new low. (No, I didn't stand.)

            The psychological aim of this strategy is to sow divisions among Canadians, particularly among the solid majority who want an early return home for the troops in Afghanistan. "Real" hockey fans and "real" Canadians, we are urged to believe, all "support the troops" and therefore back the alleged aims of the military mission.

            Anyone who questions this reasoning is immediately under suspicion. Such individuals are somehow not considered true fans or "patriotic" Canadians. Supposedly we "spit in the faces" of the troops. We are even accused of being "Taliban recruiters." (A Toronto Sun writer hurled this absurd slander at me on Jan. 7 during a call-in on 640 AM's "Opie Show"!).

            For fans like me on the Left, such outrageous lies are easy to dismiss. My credentials as a lifetime "true fan" of sports at every level are impeccable. I bleed Roughrider green when I cut my finger, or else the "bleu, blanc et rouge" of les Canadiens. I have a letter signed by New York Mets manager Casey Stengel, sent to me when I was just eight years old. I stop to watch Mabel League women's slo-pitch games at my neighbourhood ball diamond, and volleyball at Kits Beach. I go to every game of my son's Special Olympics soccer team. You get the idea. Bullies like Don Cherry and Stephen Harper aren't the boss of me. Nobody can tell me I'm not a genuine sports nut.

            But for many Canadians who consider themselves sports fans, this campaign of intimidation can be stifling. That's why launching Hockey Fans For Peace was so important. We are showing the world that people can love hockey and speak out against the war. We won't let right-wing bullies dictate our beliefs and actions. We will keep cheering for our favourite teams, and we will continue to demand the immediate removal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan.

            So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Don and Stephen!

    (Readers can find Hockey Fans For Peace on Facebook.)

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4) CHILD POVERTY REMAINS HIGH IN B.C.

           BC Campaign 2000 has released its latest annual report on child poverty. The child poverty rate in British Columbia dropped to 14.5% in 2008, according to Statistics Canada. The number of poor children was 121,000 ‑ one of every seven BC children.  For children under age six the poverty rate was 19.6%, or one in five young children.

            The 2010 Child Poverty Report Card was prepared by First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition and the Social Planning and Research Council of BC.

            "Child and family poverty simply won't disappear on its own," said Adrienne Montani, provincial coordinator of First Call. Montani said 2008 could have the lowest poverty figures of the decade. The recession that started in late 2008 is almost certain to produce higher poverty figures in 2009 and 2010. Indicators such as increases in 2009 and 2010 in food bank use and families on income assistance signal this anticipated rise.

            Other key findings include:

* The risk of poverty for female lone‑parent families is 31%, two and a half times greater than for children in 2‑parent families, but the majority of poor children (67%) live in two‑parent families.

* The vast majority of BC's poor children live in families with some income from paid work, with over one third having at least one adult working full‑time, full‑year.

* The gap between the incomes of the richest 10% and poorest 10% of families with children grew from a ratio of 11 to 1 in 2007 to 14 to 1 in 2008. Families in the three lowest income groups (deciles) saw an actual decline in their incomes between 1989 and 2008.

            The provincial Liberal government has regularly denied the severity of the problem, and promised for over a year that a "cross-ministry initiative" will be coming soon. Poverty has yet to become an issue in the BC Liberal leadership race. The NDP has called for the government to introduce a poverty reduction plan with targets and timelines, but has yet to put forward the details of their own plan.

            The Report Card calls for commitment to reduce the before‑tax child poverty rate in BC to seven percent or less by 2020, and outlines a range of policy changes and investments to reach this target, including increases in the minimum wage, welfare rates and child tax benefits; enhanced employment insurance benefits and eligibility; universal access to high‑quality, affordable child care; and improved access to post‑secondary education for low-income students.

            BC Campaign 2000 is part of a cross-Canada network that marks the anniversary every November 24 of the 1989 pledge by the House of Commons to work to end child poverty by the year 2000.

            For details, visit the website at http://www.firstcallbc.org/.

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5) VOISEY'S BAY TALKS COLLAPSE

Special to PV

            Negotiations to resolve the strike at the Voisey's Bay nickel mine collapsed on Jan. 6 after Brazilian-based mining giant Vale walked away from talks. The 130 workers at the Labrador nickel mine, members of the United Steelworkers, have been on strike since August 2009. A larger strike against Vale by 3,000 USW members in Sudbury ended last summer.

            "We are incredibly frustrated and disappointed at this turn of events," said Boyd Bussey, a United Steelworkers staff representative involved in the negotiations. "After more than 17 months, we came to these talks hoping to finally see a mutual commitment from Vale to reach a fair settlement and bring an end to this dispute."

            Steelworkers Local 9508 and Brazil‑based Vale last met at the bargaining table in October. Talks resumed on Jan. 5 with the assistance of a mediator appointed by the Newfoundland and Labrador government. But Vale walked out before the Jan. 7 release of an industrial inquiry commission report ordered by the provincial government. The commission recommends that the parties "compromise" to end the dispute, saying that their differences are not "insurmountable".

            The length of the new contract has been a stumbling block. The union wants a five‑year deal. Vale originally offered a three‑year deal. The commission recommends four years, and suggested compromises on other issues, such as bonuses. Both sides had already agreed on a wage increase of 65 cents an hour over three years.

            The transnational has accused the Steelworkers of being manipulative, by insisting on a five‑year contract that would expire at a time that would "align with a potential strike in Sudbury.".

            "Already they are planning for the next strike, rather than our future shared success," a company news release said.

            But the company has done everything possible to break the resolve of its Canadian workers over the past two years, from employing scabs to hurling wild accusations about the "greed" of the workers. Meanwhile, Vale reported profits of a staggering $6 billion for the third‑quarter of 2010 alone, or more than $2 billion per month.

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6) ROB FORD SHOWS ANTI-ENVIRONMENT STRIPES

By Michael Oosting

            Toronto's new mayor, Rob Ford, is keeping true to his right‑wing inclinations with his recent announcement to the National Post that he intends to do away with the so‑called "bag tax". The tax drew international headlines when it made Toronto the first place on earth to enact a fee on plastic bags in order to promote the use of environmentally friendly reusable bags. The practice has since become standard across the province.

            Ford claimed his motivations were due to a "large amount" of e‑mails and phone calls from outraged Torontonians. His spokesperson Adrienne Batra claims that the day the story broke, Ford's office received several calls and e‑mails, the majority of which were allegedly in support of Ford's decision.

            Yet when Global Toronto broke the story the next day, their reporters took to the streets to take in the opinions of Torontonians. Of more than a dozen people interviewed, only two actually supported Ford's plans, one of them adding that despite the cost, it does however help the environment, and can't be considered entirely bad. Hardly the majority Batra spoke of.

            Ford, of course, has a reason behind his decision. It was not to reflect the opinions of the people that elected him, but to appease the sole vocal critic of the bag tax - and Ford's true constituent - the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. CFIB president Catherine Swift, recently released a statement saying that "retailers are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the bag tax".

            Swift went on to say, "[retailers] are being criticized for taking it in and making money even though it was forced on them in the first place". So, it isn't shoppers who are becoming fed up, but the retailers who claim to be getting a bad reputation. And it's only the retailers that Ford is listening to.

            The bag tax has been responsible for a 71% drop in plastic bag waste in Toronto since its enactment, a huge improvement for a city still desperately trying to cope with the loss of its main landfill across the border in Michigan. Also, the cost to the average family is very minimal; bags cost only 5 cents under the legislation.

            This is just another knot in the string of Ford's right‑wing "reforms" since he took office, coupled with his recent actions against Toronto's unions and public transit. Ford has been well at work making enemies, to which he is about to add environmentally conscious Torontonians. The new mayor's "historic turn to the right" as Maclean's referred to it back in early December, may turn into something that Torontonians soon regret.

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7) THE CONSEQUENCES OF HATE

People's Voice Editorial

The Jan. 8 massacre at a "meet the voters" event held by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has ripped the mask from the face of ultra‑right demagogy. It is clear that the bullets fired by Jared Loughner were aimed at several targets: women who dare to challenge the misogynist ideology of male supremacy, immigrants and racialized people, and anyone who disputes the rabid "Tea Party" line. Perhaps the most critical target is the concept of democracy itself.

            This is not to argue that the United States is a genuinely democratic society, or that Rep. Giffords is truly a "progressive". But for many years, ultra-right forces have made increasingly overt threats against any opposition. The election of a non‑Republican African‑American president and the adoption of even some timid measures to expand health care coverage have inspired this neo-fascist movement to mobilize against the limited forms of democracy which remain in the USA. Far from being a grassroots reaction, this movement is funded by the most reactionary, aggressive, militarist sections of US finance capital. One vicious example is Sarah Palin, who emerged from the murky ranks of the "militia" movements to the top leadership of the Republican Party, with the backing of energy and arms industry corporations. A website linked to Palin implicitly urged this crime, placing gunsights on a map of the districts of 20 Democratic politicians, including Gabrielle Giffords.

            The smug idea that "it could never happen here" is disproven by Canadian history. But the drift towards the destruction of democracy is not inevitable. What's needed is a powerful mass movement, led by the working class and its allies, to win a program of truly progressive and democratic social reforms. This, not despair or cynicism, must be our response to the murders in Tucson.

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8) WHERE'S ROBIN HOOD WHEN WE NEED HIM?

People's Voice Editorial

            The news that bank bosses in Britain have scored astonishing bonuses has enraged working people and the labour movement in that country. As the UK Morning Star wrote, "The City streets ran green today as banking bosses bathed in the expectation of yet more record bonuses." Top UK bank executives are forecast to rake in 7 billion pounds in "performance‑related" cash in the latest round of payouts, even as they continue to rely on the security of vast taxpayer bailouts. The profits of Britain's top five banks soared to 37 billion pounds in 2010, and are predicted to rise to 51.7 billion pounds this year.

            The story is basically the same in Canada, where the highest‑paid 100 CEOs somehow managed to weather the first round of the capitalist recession with earnings 155 times higher than the average Canadian income earner. These captains of industry racked up an average of $6.6 million during 2009, compared to the total Canadian income of $42,988. This disparity is much wider than a decade ago, when the top 100 CEOs were paid "only" 104 times the pay of the average Canadian worker.

            Even more appalling, these CEOs have another $1.3 billion of stock options to cash in. Canadian taxpayers - that would be you, dear reader - will heavily subsidize this particular ripoff. Since stock options are treated as capital gains and taxed at a lower rate, this will mean $360 million in foregone federal taxes.

            With the help of the corporate media, Stephen Harper and other Tory cabinet ministers keep posing as the best stewards of the Canadian economy. Too bad we don't have Robin Hood and his merry band around to return this massive pile of loot stolen from Canadian working people. Looks like that will have to be the job of the working class and progressive movements.

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9) "KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND AND YOUR EYES ON THE STARS"

As the Communist Party of Canada begins its 90th anniversary year, we launch a series of articles on famous Canadian communists with the story of Tim Buck.

            Speaking to thousands of public meetings over the course of five decades, Tim Buck was a powerful "public tribune" for the Canadian working class during the critical struggles of the Depression and the post-war era.

            Born in 1891 in Beccles, England, Tim Buck was trained as a machinist. Entering the workforce before his 12th birthday, he came into contact with the rising socialist movement. After completing his apprenticeship in 1910, he emigrated to Canada, which was cheaper than going to Australia. Hired at the John Abell Co. in Toronto, a plant producing steam tractors, he quickly became involved in the labour movement. In 1913 his fiance Alice Ayres arrived in Toronto, and the young couple had several children, including sons Ronald and Edward (Ted), and daughter Olive.

            Those were years of tumultuous activity by radical organizations, such as the Socialist Party of Canada, Socialist Labour Party, Social Democratic Federation, Industrial Workers of the World, and others. Tim joined the Socialist Party, which was home to many revolutionary-minded trade unionists. He was among those who saw the need for a broad, united struggle for social change, and the necessity for a solid Marxist analysis of capitalism. When World War One broke out, Tim and other left-wing Socialists knew that "this was just a predatory war in which the great states were fighting for immediate material advantage.... all this talk about it being a war for democracy was deception."

            The 1917 revolution in Russia had a decisive impact on these debates. By taking power under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, the workers, peasants and soldiers of Russia pointed the way towards a revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist order. The Great October Socialist Revolution convinced socialists in Canada of the need for a united revolutionary party to challenge the domination of the Canadian ruling class.

            In 1921, Tim Buck was among the delegates at the famous meeting in Guelph, Ontario, which formed the Communist Party of Canada, operating in public as the "Workers' Party", before emerging openly as the CPC in 1924. During the "Roaring Twenties," Tim Buck was leader of the Trade Union Educational League, which campaigned for policies of militant class struggle, industrial unionism, and mass action.

            As the upsurge of 1917 temporarily waned, illusions emerged in the working class movement and the Communist Party. Some claimed that the expanding capitalist economy made the U.S. and Canada "immune" to serious crises. Others sided with the minority in the Bolshevik Party who claimed there was no realistic possibility of building socialism in the Soviet Union.

            Tim Buck argued forcefully against the reformist "North American exceptionalism" concept, and supported the historic efforts of the Soviet working class to build socialism in their country. A complex series of events resulted in Buck being elected General Secretary in June 1929, followed by more sharp internal party struggles. The stock market crash in October 1929 proved that Buck and his supporters had been correct.

            As the Depression deepened, the Conservative government of R.B. Bennett feared the potential for a major fightback. On August 11, 1931, the Communist Party offices were raided, and Tim Buck and other party leaders were charged with "sedition." They were imprisoned in Kingston Penitentiary, where Tim Buck was the target of an assassination attempt in his cell. A huge civil rights campaign ultimately won Buck's release, and Bennett's ban on the party was lifted. Riding a wave of popularity, Buck ran for Toronto Board of Control in 1937, winning 45,000 votes, losing by about 200 votes due to a frenzied anti-communist campaign by the media, the Church, and right-wing politicians.

            The 1930s saw a wide range of important struggles led by the Communist Party: industrial organizing, the On to Ottawa Trek, solidarity with the Spanish Republic against fascist aggression, and the struggle to block fascism and war.

            Early in the Second World War, the Communist Party was banned again, this time by the Liberal government of Mackenzie King. Many communist leaders were interned, and Tim Buck was among those forced underground or into exile in the United States. But the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 changed the situation, eventually leading to the release of the detainees, and the return of Buck from exile. Even so, to function legally the CPC had to reorganize as the "Labour Progressive Party," which built a membership of nearly 20,000.

            The post-war period saw new anti-communist attacks, from blacklisting to the drive to expel left-led unions from the major labour federations. This campaign was a key element of the strategy by the ruling class to profit from closer integration of the Canadian economy with U.S. imperialism.

            Tim Buck was a vocal opponent of this sellout of Canada, a process which was later accelerated by the "free trade" deals. As he wrote in Thirty Years: 1922‑1952, The Story of the Communist Movement in Canada: "Now the battle for Canadian independence does have to be fought again, but against a new form of servitude... Canada is being sold into United States control by `her own' ruling class; the parasitic, speculative, Canadian manipulators of stock market deals, politics and governmental concessions, who are enriching themselves by trading the national future of Canada for junior partnerships in the United States monopolies."

            Tim Buck retired as General Secretary in 1962, but remained active in the party's leadership until his death in March 1973, at the age of 82. His legacy is highly relevant to this day, particularly his contributions to struggles for militant trade unionism, for working class and democratic rights, and for defence of Canadian sovereignty.

            Tim's focus on achieving theoretical clarity on the basis of Marxism-Leninism is his other historic contribution. As he said, "the Communist Party must be a revolutionary party or it will cease to be a Communist Party." This concept was critical to defeat attempts in 1929 and 1956 to liquidate the Communist Party. A similar struggle broke out again in the early 1990s, when much of the CPC's leadership succumbed to pressures to move in a reformist direction. The fact that the Communist Party is now celebrating its 90th anniversary is a tribute to Tim Buck, and to the party's membership which remembers his famous advice: "Keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars."

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10) "WE SHALL BUILD A FUTURE OF JUSTICE, EQUALITY, PEACE, HOPE AND JOY"

Excerpts from the Final Declaration of the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students, held in December 2010 in South Africa.

            We the delegates to the 17th Festival of Student and Youth, BUILDgathered from 126 countries, more than 15,000 in numbers, have met under the theme "Lets Defeat Imperialism for a world of Peace, Solidarity and Social Transformation" on the shore of the majestic, dynamic and vibrant South Africa. Here we have fought for decades, side by side, from all walks of life to bring down the tyranny of the Apartheid system, fostered to increase the hold of Imperialism on our people. We fought with the people of South Africa and today we meet here to further our struggle against, all injustices and discriminations.

            We meet in South Africa on the eve of the Centenary of the Liberation movement, the ANC, in 2012. This we do to take stock with our comrades on how far they have come in building a non-racial, non‑sexist, democratic and prosperous Society, fighting with every fiber in their beings to defeat imperialism in all its forms. We have come to celebrate the hosting of the festival in South Africa, aware of the magnificent role played by its movement to bring about democracy to South Africa, aware that the ANC YL was amongst the founding members of the Festival movement and the 1st African President of WFDY. We have come here to pay tribute to the contribution of Andile Yawa and all the festival veterans for giving to us a tool for Solidarity, brotherhood and an agent for change through the festival movement. We have dedicated this festival to the struggle and legacy of two heroes, who have made it possible for us to speak about Solidarity and World Peace: Commander Fidel Castro and Madiba Nelson Mandela. We thank them for their tireless spirits.

            63 years after the WFYS Movement was initiated in Prague, we highlight the important role that the Socialist camp has played in the support of this top event of the anti‑imperialist youth. The location of the WFYS itself is a statement of solidarity with the struggle of its people. The WFYS is an expression of the struggle against imperialism and the struggle against the exploitation of man by man. Of particular importance is the contribution of Socialist Cuba, not only because it has hosted twice the festival, but also because by doing so in 1997 it helped the Festival movement to be re‑launched despite the difficulties of the international anti‑imperialist and working class movements in the 1990s. We congratulate WFDY on its 65th anniversary for its contribution to the struggle for peace, justice and the Festival movement, in this year that we celebrate also the 65 years of the peoples' victory against Nazi Fascism.

            As the anti‑imperialist movement of the youth and of the people developed its struggle, the imperialists also seek to consolidate their forces and to fortify their structures. They use all mechanisms in their hands such as NATO, AFRICOM, EU, IMF, WB, WTO and all ways of intervention such as blockades, sanctions, embargos, conflicts, military intervention, wars and occupations against sovereign states and progressive movements. The new strategic concept "NATO 2020", decided in Lisbon earlier this year incorporates all the changes made in its structure of the previous years (12 new member‑states, utilization of the "Partnership for Peace" in its plans)...

            The crisis of the capitalist system is inherent to the deepening of its inner contradictions, unveiling its historical incapacity to achieve progress for mankind. This crisis provides the ground for emerging imperialist forces that in the past have either clashed with the USA or EU, or have been their allies, to use the different timing in the manifestation of the crisis to increase their influence in the imperialist pyramid, to hold a bigger piece in the capitalist struggle for markets and exploitation. It is not a result of the administration models of the economy or the corruption of the system; it is now expressed all around the capitalist world in both neoliberal and social-democrat led countries. We are in a phase of deepening of the crisis; the recuperation in the following years will be minuscule: the rights of the youth will continue to be attacked at social, economical and cultural level every day. It demonstrates the historical limits and the failure of the capitalist system to answer to the peoples' needs and aspirations; it highlights the need for the creation of a society and a mode of development that will strive to fulfill the youth's and the peoples' needs and rights.

            The youth generations' human rights and liberties are violated categorically in every corner of the planet. The "capitalist globalization", the system of exploitation and control of the people and resources is pushing masses of young people into the margins of society. They are the first victims of the social inequalities at all levels. The 212 million people unemployed, in a world where precarious, temporary occupation is the rule, are proof of this... Due to the economic crisis, even more jobs were lost, condemning more people to misery and poverty. We struggle against the elimination of the majority of labor rights, especially those of young workers who suffer more the effects of unemployment. An entire generation of young people is being transformed into a generation without rights.

            We highlight the role of young women in the struggle for their emancipation as part of the general struggle against imperialism. Women, who are even more strongly attacked by the imperialist policies, deserve our appreciation and full support to end all abuses and discriminations existing in our world as part of our combat to defeat imperialism.

            The "external debts and deficits" that have become a reality for many countries are results of the policies followed by the capitalist forces in all countries independently of their position in the correlation of forces. They reflect the unequal development and the division of work in the capitalist system. They are utilized so that the dominant class in both loaner and loaning countries becomes more potent while the people suffer from the load of the crisis on their backs. In the international imperialist system there is no place for equal and respectful relationships between the states and the peoples, it is another proof of the need for revolutionary social transformation of the system that bears inequality and misery.

            The imperialist profit drive and unbridled exploitation of planet's natural resources follows the logic of destruction and is the main threat to the environment and to the future of the planet. The environmental issue is taking on an alarming dimension due to the production of genetically modified (GM) organisms, which are jeopardizing humankind's future. Water all around the globe is being more and more a target to the exploitative nature of capitalism and is being used as a strategic and political weapon by imperialism. Imperialism's strategy is to pass the responsibilities for the environmental problems onto the people, individualizing what are presented as solutions in order to increase even further the big companies' profits through the so called "green" products.

            Imperialist warmongering policies produce such crises as refugees, millions of people who are compelled to leave their homes, lands, jobs and families. We strongly condemn the imperialist economic policies, interventions and occupations that have produced millions of immigrants, we uptake the struggle in the defense of the rights of the immigrants in work, education, social services. No human being can be illegal.

            Imperialist policies attack the full development of education and of the young people, preventing them from accessing a free and quality education that is a school of freedom and commitment with peace. We defend and struggle for education as a public and social good, a universal human right, which gratuity must be ensured by the state. We reject the intentions of privatization that several public institutions of different levels are being victims of. We demand the withdrawal of education from the agreements of the WTO ‑ education is not commodity!

            The increase in use of drugs in young people is a dangerous phenomenon that proves the decay of the capitalist system. Millions of young people live with AIDS, mostly in Africa and Asia. The big pharmaceutical trusts monopolize the production and distribution of needed medicine are profiting from pandemics instead of providing the means of treatment. Children are being abused and forced into military operations, prostitution, and drug trafficking; the number of street children is increasing.

            Despite this offense the progressive and peace loving forces have been resisting, conquering important victories and growing stronger. The struggle for peace has been very important along the years and with these recent actions we try to raise the consciousness of the youth masses and focus the struggle against the enemy of peace, imperialism. The fight at national level plays a central role in the fight against the specific measures affecting the youth. We highlight the importance of the victories achieved by the struggles of the students, workers, peasants, indigenous and women's movements in times as these. We underline the importance of several electoral victories and other positive results of progressive parties and coalitions...

            We, the youth and students of the world gathered in this historical festival, raised our voices against all the ills generated by imperialism, which is undergoing its greatest global crisis. The imperialist world order is driving humanity to the verge of a global confrontation, with the ever‑present danger of a nuclear war, through its hegemonic policy that will determine the present and future of the mankind.

            It is time to continue the struggle for youth development and our economic, social and cultural values and not those of a decadent system they are trying to impose on us. We shall build a future of justice, equality, peace, hope and joy for humanity. The future of a new stage of history is in our hands and it depends on the peoples, working masses and world youth and their power of transformation, to build a world of peace and solidarity, where the power and the produced wealth will belong to the peoples and the youth of the world.

            We thank the people of South Africa for welcoming us to their country and celebrating with us the opportunity to see South Africa change. We commit to you that we the youth of the world will never let our guard down in pursuance of a world free of imperialism. Let us start getting ready for the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students!

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11) WESTERN SAHARA HIGHLIGHTED AT YOUTH FESTIVAL

By Stephen Von Sychowski

            The 17th World Festival of Youth and Students, hosted last month in Tshwane, South Africa, shone a spotlight on the struggle of Western Sahara, Africa's last colony. Delegates from the Polisario Front national liberation movement addressed the Festival's Anti‑Imperialist Court to denounce the crimes of Morocco, which has brutally occupied Western Sahara for decades.

            The origins of the Polisario Front go back to 1971, when Sahrawi university students in Morocco organized The Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el‑Hamra and Rio de Oro. In 1973, the group relocated to Spanish‑occupied Western Sahara and prepared for armed rebellion. On May 10 of that year, the Polisario Front was formed with the aim of forcing an end to Spanish colonialism through armed struggle.

            In 1975, the fascist Spanish government of Francisco Franco began negotiations with Morocco and Mauritania to hand over its colonial subjects to its regional friends. By 1976, the Madrid Accords had been signed between the three countries. Spain departed Western Sahara while Morocco and Mauritania moved in.

            The Polisario Front continued its guerilla war against the new occupiers, refusing to accept the notion that one set of occupiers is better than another. They also guarded fleeing refugees escaping occupied cities. The Polisario's strength grew immensely during this period, despite Morocco's bombing of refugee camps, and the assassination of Polisario leader El Ouali.

            Meanwhile, Mauritania struggled to hold on to control. They received a helping hand from French imperialism in the form of air force attacks on Polisario columns. But Polisario attacks both within Western Sahara and Mauritania ultimately wore down military morale and crippled Mauritania's economy, leading to a coup d'état.

            The coup leaders moved to sign a cease fire with the Polisario Front. By 1979, a peace treaty led to the departure of Mauritanian forces and recognition of the rights of the Sahrawi people. King Hassan II of Morocco then moved unilaterally to annex the territories previously occupied by his formed ally.

            During the mid‑1980's, desperate to fend off Polisario attacks, Morocco erected a massive wall protecting the main economic centres of Western Sahara. The wall was then staffed by a military force nearly a large as the Sahrawi population itself. The wall separated families and physically closed the Sahrawi out of the economy of their own country. Despite this, the struggle for liberation continued and attacks against the occupying forces did not end.

            In 1991, a UN sponsored cease‑fire came in to effect with the promise of a referendum the following year on the question of Western Sahara's independence from Morocco. But the referendum has never been held and the process remains stalled.

            Meanwhile, the Polisario Front continues to carry out a campaign of peaceful struggle against the Moroccan occupation. More recently, the Moroccan government put forward a new proposal in 2007 that "self government" could be granted through its Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs governing the area with a degree of autonomy. Naturally this proposal quickly garnered the support of imperialist powers such as France and the United States, but has not won over the Polisario Front which continues to demand full independence.

            Since 1979 the Polisario Front has been recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the people of Western Sahara, although Polisario's real legitimacy comes from the mass support of the Sahrawi people.

            South Africa and over 50 other countries today recognize the legitimacy of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which exists across the areas of Western Sahara not behind Morocco's wall. Included in these countries are socialist Cuba, and all the socialist countries of the world.

            Missing from the list is our own country, Canada, which shamefully claims neutrality on the issue.

            Last October, thousands of Sahrawis left the occupied city of Laayoun and established the Gdaim Izik protest camp by setting up tents in the desert. The camp soon swelled to 25,000 people and quickly garnered international attention.

            On October 30, Tiago Vieira, President of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, along with several journalists and elected representatives from Spain, was detained and expelled from Morocco upon attempting to visit the camp to witness the situation first hand. No journalists or independent observers have been allowed by Moroccan authorities to visit the camp. This is probably due to the fact that it has been subject to attacks by Moroccan forces which killed at least one and wounded hundreds. Eyewitnesses state that Moroccan security forces targeted women, children, and the elderly in particular. But despite violence and repression, the struggle continues.

            Western Sahara has been relatively unknown to most people in Canada and many other countries. Perhaps its prominent place in a massive gathering of over 15,000 youth and students from around the world will help to change that and add more voices to the struggle for freedom in Western Sahara.

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12) GLOBAL MIGRANT NUMBERS TO HIT 400 MILLION

By Sanjay Suri, InterPress Service

            The population of migrants worldwide could rise above 400 million by 2050 if present rates of growth continue, says a report by the International Organisation for Migration released in late November. The report says that "if the number of international migrants, estimated at 214 million in 2010, continues to grow at the same pace as during the last 20 years, it could reach 405 million by 2050."

            "The world itself is becoming a hotspot for migration," Peter Schatzer, chief of staff of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), told IPS. "It's no longer the traditional migration routes to Europe and the U.S. alone that will see pressure. Now the emerging economic powers also attract migration, such as Brazil, South Africa, India, China." Governments everywhere are ill prepared to deal with the new migration explosion, Schatzer cautioned.

            "Most governments do not have a systemic and systematic approach, they do not have even a single ministry dealing with migration," he said. "It may be the labour, health, interior ministry and so on. What we suggest is the need to coordinate and have a dialogue between countries that send migrants, transit countries, and destination countries in order to get a handle on this." The report warns that without such action the world "will be taken by surprise by the relentless pace of migration."

            The report, "The Future of Migration: Building Capacities for Change", says demographics, economic needs and environmental change are driving the growing numbers of international migrants. One reason for this steep rise will be significant growth in the labour force in developing countries from 2.4 billion in 2005 to 3.6 billion in 2040, the report says. This could accentuate the global mismatch between labour supply and demand. The economic crisis has hit migrants hard. Remittances to developing countries declined by 6.0 percent in 2009 due to the economic crisis, the report says, "although some countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines benefited from an increase in remittances between 2008 and 2009."

            "In the developing world, between 2005 and 2014, 1.2 billion people will newly move into the labour market," Schatzer told IPS. "At the same time in the developed world populations are aging. This requires new types of work that cannot be filled by jobs by the indigenous population, but clearly the developed world cannot offer more than a billion jobs to the developing world; most jobs have to be resolved in the countries of origin."

            The mismatch is becoming ever more serious, Schatzer said. "This is a tremendous challenge for countries of the South because young people today have a lot of information. The globalisation of information has also let a lot of people in the South know how one could live, what conditions exist in destination countries. Dealing with these expectations will be a major challenge for the governments in the South."

            "It is easy to say people should go away," he added. "But people don't necessarily follow that if they don't see a future for themselves. We must give people a future in their own countries." Recent moves against migrants in several European countries could be excessive, Schatzer said. "Such actions are a reaction to a perceived or real malaise; they are also part of the response to an economic crisis where migrants are blamed, not necessarily justifiably, for competing for jobs with the local population."

            In the EU, Frontex has become the controversial strong arm of immigration control. Such organisations have a limited role to play, Schatzer said. "Frontex is the European agency trying to help European governments control their borders better. It is an effort to coordinate these approaches, but border guards or walls cannot solve such problems because when one area is controlled, smugglers and traffickers move somewhere else."

            Beyond the headline‑grabbing migration moves into Europe, South-South migration is becoming increasingly an issue, the report says. "The emerging economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America are becoming ever more important countries of destination for labour migrants, emphasising increasing South‑South movements of people and the need for those countries to invest in migration management programmes and policies." Not all new migration is for economic reasons. Emerging patterns of irregular migration involve "growing numbers of unaccompanied minors, asylum‑seekers, victims of trafficking, or those seeking to escape the effects of environmental or climate change but for whom there is currently little international protection," the report says.

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13) BEHIND IMPERIALISM'S GANG-UP ON THE IVORY COAST

By Asad Ali

            According to the capitalist press, Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbago is a dictator who lost the election to Alassane Ouattara, and the AU (African Union), ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) and the rest of the world should force Gbago to step down. Except that the election results were declared for Gbago by the country's Constitutional Court, which is the deciding body, not the purely administrative Independent Electoral Commission.

            France and the United States, among other imperialist countries, want us to ignore the Ivory Coast's constitution and pick and choose the winner they like. The writer Leo Gnawa in his article "Ivory Coast: Obama is Wrong" finds a parallel with the Bush vs Gore US election of 2000, which was also decided by a court and not administrators. Would Americans have accepted NATO or UN troops intervening for Gore?

            Ouattara is a former IMF (International Monetary Fund) Deputy Director who was Prime Minister under President Felix Houphouet-Boigny. Gbago was a leading dissident and political prisoner against Houphouet‑Boigny, later founding the FPI (Ivorian Popular Front). Houphouet‑Boigny favoured French businesses and helped overthrow his neighbour Kwame Nkrumah, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize and independence hero of Ghana, the first non‑Arab African country to be decolonized.

            Before the Ivory Coast's independence from France, Houphouet-Boigny was a French MP leading other African MPs in alliance with the PCF (French Communist Party). He broke with the communists under pressure from socialist Francois Mitterrand (later French President) saying "I, a bourgeois landowner, I would preach the class struggle?". In 1985 Ivory Coast was the first non‑Arab African country to restore ties with Israel.

            In 2002 Gbago survived a coup attempt followed by a civil war, when France intervened with troops to get concessions for the rebels while recognizing Gbago's right to be President. Some commentators fear that if Ouattara is allowed to seize power from Gbago he will again favour the IMF and French businesses, whereas Gbago would require competitive bidding in the Ivory Coast's favour, giving equal opportunity to Chinese and Russian investors.  If the AU and ECOWAS intervene in the Ivory Coast on behalf of France and imperialism, it could be a dangerous example threatening the sovereignty of other African countries under international pressure such as Zimbabwe or Sudan. 

            Ouattara called for ECOWAS special forces to invade, predicting Gbago "will start running away. I know him well." The Communist Party of neighbouring Benin issued a statement rejecting any intervention "whatever the excuse" and that it was "inadmissible for any patriot and a democrat" to call for the trampling of Ivorian sovereignty.  Meanwhile Gbago has stood firm in the face of a visit by Nigerian ex‑President Obasanjo, who an unnamed Ouattara advisor has said was going to give an ultimatum "in a mean way."

            The Ivory Coast was also abandoned by its US lobbyist and ex-Clinton aide Lanny Davis, on the grounds that Gbago would not take Barack Obama's phone calls so that he could be "presented with options."

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14) LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR ARGENTINA'S EXECUTIONER

From L'Humanité, Dec. 25, 2010

            Jorge Videla, ex‑dictator of Argentina, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 11 "disappeared persons". Impunity has suffered a setback. But the ideology of state terrorism continues to legitimate its horrors.

            For a few seconds, and finally now, forever, the bodies of 31 persons who "disappeared" during the Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983) have reappeared. By pronouncing the sentence against Videla, aged 85, ex‑general of the first military junta, the federal tribunal of Cordoba swept away, on Dec. 20, more than thirty years of impunity.

            In the box for the accused sat 29 other officials of the regime charged with murder, torture, and kidnapping. Ex‑general Luciano Menendez also received a life sentence for crimes against humanity.

            Until now, Videla had bragged about the political generosity he had enjoyed. In 1985, he had already been condemned to life imprisonment, during the well‑publicized trial of nine members of the junta, launched during the presidency of Raul Alfonsin, who was anxious to bring an end to the leaden years in which more than 30,000 persons "disappeared", were tortured, or thrown to their deaths from airplanes on "death flights".

            The penalty was quickly buried by two laws, "duty to obey" and "final period" promulgated in 1986 and 1987 under pressure from senior officers of the military. To these symbols of denial of truth and justice in the case of crimes of the dictatorship, the ex‑head of state Carlos Menem declared, in 1990, a presidential pardon. It was only in 2007 that this pardon was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court, following the abrogation, two years earlier, of the law of amnesty.

            Jorge Videla was placed under house arrest in 1998, before being transferred to prison for two other sinister affairs. One was the "war bounty" of babies stolen from their parents who were later killed, the babies being offered to favoured members of the regime. Another was for his participation in "Operation Condor", a multinational criminal organization commanded by the dictators of that period (Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay) in order to exterminate "subversive elements" in South America, with the cooperation of the CIA.

            During the trial in Cordoba, Videla found justifications for everything, acknowledging "I fully carried out my responsibilities, and my subordinates were content to obey my orders." In the image of the ex‑dictator of Uruguay, Gregorio Alvarez, who denied the existence of violations of human rights in his country, the Argentine executioner showed unfathomable disdain in legitimating his acts.

            "I have no intention of speaking of a dirty war," he dared say. "I prefer to speak of a just war that is not yet over."

            Defending his barbaric acts in the name of "the honour of victory in the war against Marxist subversion," Videla even went so far as to question the tribunal, which, to his mind, "lacked competence and jurisdiction" to judge him, in view of his rank, and the "acts of war" for which he was tried.

            At the verdict, the families of victims and the associations for human rights exploded with joy. "This is an important advance in law, for truth and justice," rejoiced Argentine Nobel Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel. "At last a judicial power and a political decision to advance the process of establishing responsibility for the crimes committed against the people, so that this can never happen again."

            On Dec. 21, in Buenos Aires, and in Mar del Plata, 19 people responsible for similar crimes received heavy sentences. In 2010, 14 trials of this nature put 66 authors of crimes behind bars, while 800 others await trial. If Argentina figures as a pioneer in Latin America in the battle against impunity, the work to establish reparations is not yet accomplished.

            The Association of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, still searching for their "disappeared" children and grandchildren, have called for an "ethical and political" trial of those who violated the preaching of Jesus.

            "During the dictatorship, the priests and bishops legitimated the genocide, blessed the torturers, presided over sessions of torture ... Many of these persons are still members of the Church," recall the courageous mothers whom the regime treated as "crazy."

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15) RAPA NUI PEOPLE ATTACKED BY CHILEAN POLICE

            Chilean police recently attacked Rapa Nui activists on Easter Island, wounding 24 people in an effort to dislodge indigenous families from a disputed area. According to Indian Country Today, police shot at protestors and beat some with batons on Dec. 3.

            The attack follows a long history of disputes over indigenous rights and land issues between the Chilean government and the Rapa Nui people. Easter Island is famous for its giant "Moai" stone statues, which are sacred sites for the Rapa Nui.

            After Rapa Nui families started to occupy contested areas last August, other incidents were reported. Then on Dec. 3, Chilean riot police arrived to enforce a court order mandating the removal of people occupying various sites.

            Spokespeople for the Rapa Nui, Susana Hito and Santi Hitorangi, reported after the attack that "Leviante Araki, the president of the Rapa Nui Parliament was shot twice about his hip and rib cage and is being air lifted to Santiago for medical care... A young man, Richard Tepano, was shot at short range in his right eye and is now in critical condition in the hospital. Maori Pakarati was shot above his right eye and in his arm, a rubber bullet remains encrusted in his arm. Zita Atan was shot in the head, and Pia Vargas was shot in her right leg. Honu Tepano was shot in his shoulder. As the Chilean troops were charging towards the fleeing Rapa Nui Claudio Tuki was hit in the forehead, and Enrique Tepano was shot in his face."

            Documentary filmmaker Hitorangi was shot in his right leg and in his back as he attempted to film the situation. The following day Hitorangi stated that "What happened yesterday is their way of trying to stop any attempt of the Rapa Nui people to reassert their right to the land. All we're asking for is title to the land. It's a rightful claim. We are not asking the government for anything else."

            This assault follows a distinct pattern of violence against the indigenous people of the island which was "annexed" by Chile in 1933. The Rapa Nui were first forced off their ancestral lands and confined to a section of the island called Hanga Roa. People who left the designated area were often brutally punished or exiled to a leper colony. These violent evictions enable Chile to lease the island to private enterprises. It was only in 1966 that the Rapa Nui people were allowed to travel throughout the island. More explicit repression of the Rapa Nui began during the Pinochet dictatorship, and continued after the return to democracy. The abuses continued even after government officials created a Rapa Nui Working Group last August. Before the working group finished its deliberations, Chilean police executed a series of evictions. The latest family to be evicted was the Tuko Tuki clan who were violently removed Dec. 3.

            In October, a Request for Precautionary Measures was filed before the Inter‑American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of 28 Rapa Nui clans. The Commission has not yet issued a protection order, and the Chilean government has not responded to the Commission's request for information.

            "There is nothing on this island that can say or tell us the rights of the Rapa Nui," said Mario Tuki, spokesperson of the Tuki Clan. "This is the struggle of the Rapa Nui today, a struggle of what is ours, what belonged to our grandfathers and grandmothers."

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