ship.
Looking to Cuba — a number of guerrilla leaders travelled there in the mid- 1960's these Guatemalan agreed that armed struggle was the only way of waging the fight against the misery and oppression of the vast majority of Guatemalans.
Valuable Guatemala had provided the Cubans with valuable lessons as to the limitations of a democratic revolution which stopped halt-way. Cuba now offered Guatemalans the example of the first successful socialist revolution in the Americas important section Guatemalan revolutionary leadership The ary of communist menace in Guatemala is intended ro prepare the people of the i nited States for more Us intervention in Central America incluaing possibie use of US troops.
times nave changed.
American official is reported co have Whal we'd give to have an Arben/ now?' people in the United States aiso have stake Guatemalan people's tight misery oppression, murder, and ex ploitation Like and peasants in El Salva or, !he; are rais. ing the banner of freedom for all of us against the Wail Street billir ires The struggle pouple uf Guatemala should become a call ti action for millions of working people in the United states to oppose a nev Vietnam in Central America.
From a correspondent ON the night of 31 May, the police and army of Sri Lanka launched of terror on the Tamil city of Jaffna.
The state forces carried out both ponnically specific murders, destroyed and centres and burnt and looted large parts of the city.
Sri Lanka's present United National Party regime is essentially a right wing dictatorship nue trace union dismantled LIC wollare Slale previous governments, away LEC bowe the Lankan parliament; and runs Luc conomy. on me avice ol the World Bank, to the benefit of the multinationals from the US, South Korea, Japan and of course Britain.
It is now planning to give the US navy rest and recreation facilities.
It has also developed a unihired thlegs and ressed plain style repression Bank.
This reflects a growing sensitivity the handedness of the US government as it tries to contain the developing revolutionary ferreign clothes police who attack civil rights demonstrators, trade unionists and parliamen tary opponents the government. with all this it has also proved be Cultud chauvinist against sri Lanka's Tamil minority.
Franchise
It has consistentiv chauvinism (started by British divide and rule policies) which taken has kept the tea workers. who al c isolated from workle Class This year 50 years of universal franchise celebrated, though hundreds of thousands of Sri workers, Tamils from the plantations, have been divested of the right to vote.
Meanwhile the Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka -Tamil majority areas SEVERAL Caribbean governments have rejected the USA's proposal to bar Grenada from its share of a $4m American grant to the Caribbean Development faced systematic pickets, and have been made scapegoats for economic failure.
They have faced discrimination in education and jobs, and addition blatantly recognised language. The government has also imposed 'colonisation' settling Sinhala Tamil areas.
fanned In 1979 emergency was declared in Jaffna, sparked off, it was said, by plantation the murder of a policeman but Tamils; governmene campaigy of Tamil preceded the rest of the harassment Anti-Terrorism Act Within days being alu Lankan to 'eliminate the menace of terrorism'. followed, torture and security forces were common occurrences.
The Tamils have in the last have harassment back through political ding secession Tamil official tionary policy of parliamentary which involves the amul families in won month north.
sion of Pretext draconian was passed tions In the six months that indiscriminate ar- Jafina.
murder by sent to the town the elections.
organisations almost all of which are now demanThese range from revoluyouth and student leagues who reject Sri Lankan democracy United Liberation Front which has contested and most of the seats in the The TULF sees the proviDistrict Development ing of Tamils. Councils by the government as a worthwhile compromise.
selves Ironically it was the elecwhich provided the pretext for last month's police invasion of policemen were officially, to tinued. maintain law and order during The police in Sri Lanka are Bat of INDIA Rengal TRINCOMALEE COLOMBI Sri Lanka mainly Sinhalese with a sprinklIn many ways an they act like a colonial force but sparked off the violence on 31 May was a shoot out among the police themOn 2 June the government declared a state of emergency in Jaffna. A curfew was imposed and through it all the police arson, looting and assaults conThere were at least three murders by security forces, one of a worker on his way home and two of TULF activists.
14 June - the day of the DDC elections of TULF leaders including Mr A Amirthalingam the Parliamentary Opposition Leader They were later released without being charged.
As for the elections, polling booths were often closed dur ing voting time and some ballot boxes never reached the counting stations The TULF is now boycotting parliament demanding the withdrawal of Sinhalese police from Tamil areas, the removal of the army from Jaffna, and international enquiry into In Sri Lanka, anti-Tamil chauvinism has served the inTeress ol ine ruling class for years by dividing the : workers, out the events in Jaffna show that as imperialism tightens its grip the regime is setting out to communily • because represents group solidarity and resistance which is a potental threat to the pro-imperialist dictatorship.