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A dossier of weekly information published by the International
********************** INTRODUCTION: We are dedicating a large part of this issue to an interview with Daniel Gluckstein, the coordinator of the ILC. The ILC was present at the National Democratic Convention, called by Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, on September 16 in the central plaza, the Zócalo, of Mexico City. Over a million delegates voted to reject Felipe Calderón, a president imposed by electoral fraud, and they declared López Obrador president of Mexico. We are publishing: -- An interview with Daniel Gluckstein, who led the delegation of the ILC at the National Democratic Convention; -- An appeal for international solidarity with the Mexican people, launched by the invited international delegates to the National Democratic Convention in Mexico, on September 16; We are also publishing a new contribution of the Bureau of the ILC concerning the "International Trade Union Confederation." This text continues the discussion begun at the 13th ILC Geneva Conference, which met last June. In this issue, you will also find the conclusions of the International Commision of Inquiry concerning New Orleans and a text concerning corruption and scandals in China, a country whose economic development the mainstream media does not cease to praise. Support the ILC, subscribe the ILC International Newsletter! ----- TABLE OF CONTENTS: p. 1: Introduction ***********************
A Contribution by the Bureau of the ILC Dear Comrades, In line with the decisions taken by the participants of the June 11, 2006 ILC Geneva Conference, we have published in the ILC International Newsletter our first contributions to the ongoing discussion. The formal and informal documents and speeches of the future leaders of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) add to our apprehensions concerning the nature of the trade union unification and the aimed for objectives. Let us recall the founding congress of the ITUC is set to take place in Vienna on November 1, 2006. On July 20, 2006, we wrote: "The creation of a united trade union organization is a priori a good thing. Nevertheless, a reading of the published preparatory documents raises several important questions." The documents published by the Organizational Committee of the ITUC since July have not quelled our worries concerning the proposed role and function of the future ITUC inside the institutions of globalization. In relation to the title and agenda of the new organization, it appears that the name International Trade Union Confederation has been already chosen. Secondly, during the formal conferences preceding the Vienna congress, the role of the French CGT, acting as a go-between between the unions that are still affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions and the leaders of the ICFTU and the WCL, constituted into an organizing committee, has seemed to been determining for the future orientation of the ITUC. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that despite the plans of the CGT, putting forth the special place that they occupied in the Stalinist apparatus of the WFTU, before 1989, some doubts are being expressed in this organization. These doubts were expressed at the 15th Congress of the WTUC in Havana. * The draft statutes of the ITUC do not put forward anything particularly new. The status of the international sectoral trade union federations, of the ICFTU or of the WCL, is still not clearly defined. Certain international federations are unifying. Things are far from being clear. Important federations, such as the FIOM (international metal workers union), categorically reject any fusion with the WCL's corresponding organization. The FIOM envisions the creation of an international federation that the clothing, leather, furs and shoe industries. For its part, the UNI occupies an important space in the fusion process of international trade unionism. It was its proposal that the ITUC statutes only recognize one sectoral international trade union federation. This is an important question. From our point of view, this orientation heads toward union monolithism. It is possible to envision the ITUC eventually only recognizing one trade union organization in each nation. For our part, union pluralism -- which, we repeat, is not contradictory with unity in action -- is a historic conquest, inseparable from democratic freedoms. Will "merged unionism," as supported by the CGT, carry the day in Vienna? * In a document of August 28, 2006, the Organizing Committee of the ITUC presented a draft programmatic resolution, to establish the political perspectives of the ITUC for the coming years. A reading of the draft, confirms the worries we have often expressed in regards to the ITUC and its relationship with globalization. In its draft resolution, one finds the following quote: "It is essential that, to implement the permanent objectives of the Confederation, the neo-liberal free market policies and the manifest disrespect for the international community in relation to the current process of globalization, be transformed into a governance of the world economy that: -- Combines the three pillars of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. -- Guarantees the universal respect of the fundamental rights of workers. -- Generates decent work for all. -- Helps to lower mass poverty and substantially lower inequality inside nations and between them. -- Encourages growth, with a fair distribution of revenues." It is worth noting that, not once, does the draft of the ITUC statutes, evoke the creation of surplus value and its distribution,limiting itself to the concept of "equality" as per the social doctrine of the church concerning "what is just," all in the name of the struggle against inflation and in the name of the defense of the interests of finance capital. In the paragraph titled, "Changing Globalization," putting aside the usual posturing about the need to have a "sustainable globalization,." the orientation of the ITUC is to integrate into the structures of globalization as an active member, not as a challenger to the capitalist system, but based on integrating into it, as a part of "accompanying unionism." For our part, we cannot participate in such a project. We, the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples, think that workers' unionism means defending the specific interests of all those who, whatever be their place in the relations of production, more than ever, and often in awful conditions, are obliged to sell their physical or intellectual labor power to survive. It consists of mass class organizations, opposed to the interests of the capitalists, who buy labor power. It is regrettable that it no place does the ITUC acknowledge that society remains divided into social classes with antagonistic interests and that the role of unions consists of defending the class interests of its members, that is, the workers. We will return to this subject before November 1, 2006. The Bureau of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples September 14, 2006 ********************
More than a million delegates meet on September 16 in the Zócalo of Mexico City, in the National Democratic Convention "The Convention recognizes Obrador as the president of the Republic": An Interview with Daniel Gluckstein Introduction On September 16, the National Democratic Convention (CND) took place in the downtown Constitution Square (Zócalo) of Mexico City. This gathering marks a new step in the mobilization of the Mexican people against the massive electoral fraud and for the recognition of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as the President of Mexico duly elected on July 2. A delegation from the International Liaison Committee participated in the National Democratic Convention -- at the invitation of López Obrador. The delegation members were Alan Benjamin (United States), Julio Turra (Brazil) and Daniel Gluckstein, national secretary of the Workers Party of France (PT) and coordinator of the ILC. The following interview with Daniel Gluckstein is reprinted from Informations Ouvrières (Labor News), the weekly newspaper of the French Workers Party. --- Question: You were at the Zócalo, the central plaza of Mexico City, on September 16. Tell us what happened there. Daniel Gluckstein: The Zócalo was bursting with delegates. It was so full they had to fan out, four or five blocks deep, to all the streets connecting with the Zócalo. The masses were there in full force, more than 1 million strong -- and they stayed from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., or later. A torrential rain prevented the opening of the convention, but the people didn't move. They stayed and chanted, "Llueve, Llueve, y El Pueblo No Se Mueve!" (It's Raining, It's Raining, And the People Are Not Moving!") It was a powerful concentration of workers, peasants, students and indigenous peoples. Many of the delegates had traveled for up to two days in buses, often without eating. Entire villages were represented. It was a mass of men, women, poor, unemployed, workers -- all of them propelled into action by the destruction of all their social conquests at the hands of the preceding governments. It was the Mexican nation in all its diversity and deep roots. The people were riveted to all the speeches, sometimes reacting positively, sometimes negatively. One slogan, chanted throughout the convention, stood out above all others: "Obrador, President!" For the delegates in the Zócalo, and for those they represented across Mexico, this demand had one clear meaning: "Obrador is the duly elected president; Obrador must now take the presidency into his hands." It was a demand directed at all the people on the dias of the Convention with one unequivocal message: "We, the Mexican people, are telling you, who are standing there before us, and especially you, López Obrador, that we elected you, that we are at your side in rejecting the fraud, and that in our name you must take power to solve the urgent problems facing our nation." Question: What urgent problems? D.G.: I'll give you one example: The delegates applauded and cheered loudly the speech to the Convention by the president of the Electrical Workers Union of Mexico (SME). He was the only speaker to address the gathering in his trade union capacity. He stated: "We will not allow our national electrical network and grid to be privatized to line the pockets of U.S., French or Japanese energy corporations; we will not allow them to take control of our network and our sovereignty." References to the defense of public education also were heavily cheered, expressing a rejection of privatization. Also applauded were all the references to the continuity with the Mexican Revolution of 1917, to the proud legacy of nationalizations and other measures in defense of national sovereignty adopted by the government of Lázaro Cárdenas in the late-1930s. This profound aspiration to social change imbued the chant of "Obrador, President!" Also heard throughout the afternoon was a chant that expressed the masses' repudiation of the dirty campaign of lies promoted by all of López Obrador's opponents: "Es Un Honor, Estar Con Obrador!" ("It's An Honor to Be with Obrador!") Question: But, officially, hasn't Felipe Calderón been declared President? D.G.: In the Zócalo, many of the delegates told us, "We must do anything and everything to prevent Calderón from taking office as President of Mexico!" (Officially, Calderon is slated to take office on December 1, 2006.) A young woman who had come with her child and her mother, told us, "For us, this struggle is about our children and our grandchildren; there's no way we will let things go on as they were before." Her words expressed the deep aspiration of a people who have said, "Enough is Enough!" It's a people who will no longer accept the implementation of policies of privatization and "free trade" that have destroyed the nation's infrastructure and its industrial and agricultural base, dismantling the Mexican nation. They have had enough of the policies implemented by Fox over the past six years -- policies which Calderón has vowed to continue and deepen. For them the massive fraud against López Obrador was the straw that broke the camel's back. Question: More than 1 million people: Was it is a homogeneous assembly? D.G.: It was both homogeneous and heterogeneous. It was homogeneous in that everyone shared the view that it is no longer possible to accept the injustice and the fraud. This was underscored by the fact George W. Bush was the first foreign head of state to congratulate Calderón after his supposed victory on July 2. At the same time, each of the different social sectors represented at the Convention is calling upon López Obrador to wield the full mantle of the presidency to address the specific demands and needs of their sector. But, as we were able to observe, this often has led to contradictions between the movement and some of the leaders of the opposition coalition that ran López Obrador for president. To illustrate this point: We met with delegates from the People's Assembly of Oaxaca (Asamblea Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca, or APPO). This state has witnessed a powerful uprising of its people following a strike of teachers and education workers that began last June and that has faced severe repression at the hands of the state governor. But the repression has only fueled the resolve of the people and led them to unite around the teachers, healthcare workers and popular organizations in the formation of this People's Assembly. Now the main demand of this Assembly is the ouster of the current governor: Ulises Ruiz. One of the main leaders of the People's Assembly told us: "There is a contradiction: Democracy means rejecting the fraud. That's why we're here at the Democratic National Convention, to support López Obrador. But democracy means kicking out our corrupt state governor, who is organizing the repression against us. But the problem we face is that all the country's state governors are supporting Oaxaca Governor Ulises Ruiz-- and this includes Alejandro Encinas Rodriguez, the PRD governor (1) of the Federal District [Mexico City], who is here on the dias of this National Democratic Convention, at the side of López Obrador." Question: More than 1 million people. This must have been a convention of a special kind. In what sense was it different from a political rally? D.G.: People will rightfully ask how it was possible for more than 1 million people to gather as a convention. But in a very real sense, it was a convention. The CND organizers submitted many resolutions for a vote of the delegates, often with alternative, or contradictory, proposals. The first vote was extremely significant: The more than 1 million delegates voted a resolution that stated, "We refuse to recognize the usurper Felipe Calderón as the President of the Republic." The second vote adopted the following statement: "The delegates call for the abolition of the present institutional system, which is based on corruption and privileges." And the fourth vote declared, "The National Democratic Convention proclaims López Obrador as the President of Mexico." This last vote was most interesting because there was a contradictory vote put to the delegates: Should López Obrador be recognized as President of Mexico, or, instead, should he be proclaimed Coordinator of the Resistance? The vote was almost unanimous that he should be proclaimed President. Another decision affirmed that López Obrador should be sworn into office as Mexico's President in the Zócalo of Mexico City on November 20, the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. Another resolution adopted a political program that not only calls for the defense of Mexico's natural resources -- including Mexico's water and forest resources -- but actually proposes the renationalization of oil, natural gas, electricity, public education, healthcare, and Social Security. It's a program that affirms the independence and sovereignty of the Mexican nation. Yet another resolution called for "holding a referendum, or plebiscite, aimed at convening a Constituent Congress (or Assembly) mandated to establish new political institutions for and by the people." It also was decided to convene the next National Democratic Convention on March 21, 2007. Consistent with Vote No. 4, López Obrador is mandated to constitute a cabinet and to establish a new government, whose seat will be in Mexico City. Question: What are the political attributes of this presidency and "government"? D.G.: First and foremost, there is the rejection of the electoral fraud. This is an elementary democratic demand that gives its legitimacy to the López Obrador government. But this demand is linked to very concrete questions. I found it noteworthy, for example, that the first speech to the National Democratic Convention was delivered by renowned Mexican author Elena Poniatowska, who rooted the legitimacy of this movement and this new presidency in Article 39 of the Mexican Constitution, which states that "sovereignty resides with the people and only the people," and later affirms that "the people have the right to change their political institutions when these no longer serve the interests of the people." She went on to explain that 85% of the population earns less, and often much less, than 5,000 pesos (US$480) per month. She then proclaimed, "It is impossible to allow things to continue as they are!" I already mentioned the speech by the leader of the Electrical Workers Union, who spoke about the fight to end privatizations and to renationalize those industries and services that have been fully or partially privatized. It is also important to hightlight the speech to the Convention by López Obrador himself. He denounced President Vicente Fox as a "traitor to the nation" and called the country's political institutions "illegitimate and corrupt." He told the Convention: "I hereby assume the Presidency of the Republic." He then went on to explain, time and again, that the Mexican people cannot, and will not, accept the fraud and the injustice. And López Obrador spelled out what he meant by this. He said: "We do not accept -- and we will not accept -- the privatization of public education, electricity and oil. ... We reject the implementation of articles in the NAFTA treaty that seek to impose the mass introduction of U.S. beans and corn, which would completely destroy our country's agricultural base. "We can no longer stand by while millions of children are left in more and more unbearable straits. We can no longer accept that an increasing number of our citizens are forced to emigrate to the United States." And speaking on a more personal note, he declared: "I will not accept being transformed into a leader of the 'opposition.' I am not a leader of the 'opposition.' I am the duly elected President of Mexico, and I fully assume this mandate from the people." Question: What is going to happen now? D.G.: This is a very difficult question. The morning of September 16, one of the country's main newspapers, La Jornada, ran the following banner headline: "One Country, Two Independence Proclamations! ["Un País, Dos Gritos!" -- See accompanying story.] It is clear that within the camp of right-wing -- that is, among the supporters of Fox and Calderón -- there has been a very strident reaction against López Obrador and his proclamation as President. Threats of violence are commonplace. This has led some sectors in the party of López Obrador, the PRD, to vacillate and to urge López Obrador to pull back. Everything points to a growing crisis in all three political parties that are part of the López Obrador electoral coalition. For their part, the people who have backed the López Obrador campaign are rooted in thousands of political networks, local chapters of the coalition political parties, union locals, social and community groups, and indigenous organizations. But they are only loosely organized in these various regroupments. What binds them together, so to speak, is one common aspiration and demand: "López Obrador, you must take power to address our needs." The very morning of the National Democratic Convention, a high-ranking member of the Fox administration, José Abascal, issued a direct warning to López Obrador. "Be careful," he said, "not to marginalize yourself from the nation's institutions." Obrador replied later that afternoon in his speech at the Zócalo. He said: "There is something that cannot be asked of me -- and that is that I consider myself the leader of the 'opposition.' I cannot do this, because I was elected by the people to serve as their President." On the Zócalo, there were signs that read, "There are two presidents, one was elected, the other is attempting to take office through fraud; that's one too many." Today, two political leaders are claiming the presidency of Mexico. One has announced he will be sworn in on November 20, the other on December 1. The question of the unity of the nation is posed. For historical reasons, the opposition between Mexico's south and north never really disappeared. Now indigenous populations are being pitted against the rest of the country, and the rural and urban regions are being pitted against each other. It is clear that U.S. imperialism is fueling policies aimed at splintering and dismantling the Mexican nation, such as the Puebla-Panama Plan. They are aided in this effort by the misnamed Zapatistas in the state of Chiapas. To this, the people gathered on the Zócalo replied with one voice: "From the south to the north, we all are with López Obrador!" This expresses in the fullest sense the unity of the nation. Workers present in the Zócalo told us: "Abascal says we need a united nation. Everyone is for that. But isn't the only guarantee of a united nation the respect for democracy? Isn't it necessary, therefore, that there be a full recount -- vote by vote, ballot by ballot, of the July 2 vote?" It was striking to note that many people talked about the need for a Constituent Congress, or Assembly. Of course, everyone does not agree on what this means. Some leaders speak about convening such a Constituent Congress some time in the future -- say in a year, maybe three. But leaders and activists who we met in the Zócalo said: "The vote we just took to affirm López Obrador as our President requires that we help him have the means at his disposal to implement the political objectives he has announced. This has to be done as soon as possible by convening a National Constituent Congress. This will make it possible for delegates elected by the people to come together and give López Obrador the political and legal basis to govern the country according to the mandate he's been entrusted with." Question: What is today the concrete meaning of the votes that were cast in the Zócalo on September 16? D.G.: Again, it is difficult to answer this question today. The future will tell. One of the members of López Obrador's team told me: "This proclamation of López Obrador is largely of symbolic value. This is a long-term process aimed at strengthening the civilian resistance over a one- to three-year period, after which we will be able to succeed." But workers to whom I paraphrased this comment replied: "One year? Three years? What's that all about? We are here today so that matters can be settled today -- not in one year, much less three years!" A peasant organizer chimed in: "In my village, they already have privatized most of the local communal land [ejido]. I'm here to say they need to give us our land back, otherwise we will all die. We cannot wait a year. Three years will be too late." Others joined this impromptu discussion and insisted on speaking their minds: "Where we live," said one worker, they are destroying public education. López Obrador is now the president. He said so himself. Now he has to stop the privatization of our schools. Now -- not in three years!" A student spoke out: "For us at the university, the privatization process is in full swing. Now is the time -- with López Obrador as president -- to block any further attempts to destroy our universities; the longer we wait, the harder it will be." How will this debate conclude? Once more, I don't have a crystal ball. It will be the relationship of forces between the social classes that will determine the outcome. But what I would like to underscore here is the power of the mass movement that was expressed in this gathering at the Zócalo. This is a gigantic force to be contended with. I also should point out that the National Democratic Convention voted a calendar of actions and events to build and strenghten this fighting movement: On September 27, there will be a National Day of Action against the usurpation of power by Calderón and against the privatization of electricity -- for the re-establishment of low electricity rates for all. And then on October 2-12, there will be a National Week of Action against the usurpation of power and against the destruction-privatization of public education. Question: What was the significance of the invitation sent to the International Liaison Committee to attend this Convention? D.G.: The international delegation was welcomed at the National Democratic Convention (CND) by representatives of its Organizing Committee. The next day, we held an important meeting with these representatives. In the course of that meeting, Jesusa Rodriguez -- who was both the coordinator of the CND's Organizing Committee and the convenor of the CND itself -- as well as Elena Poniatowska and other Organizing Committee members, put forward a very clear proposal to reach out broadly to the international workers' and democratic rights movements around the world to build solidarity with the Mexican people and their struggle for democracy and justice. It must be clear that a huge international campaign is now being orchestrated to denigrate and isolate López Obrador. Bush, for example, was the first head of state to recognize the "electoral victory" of Calderón. And following closely in Bush's footsteps were the Socialist Party leader in Spain, Prime Minister Zapatero, and the leader of the Workers Party of Brazil, President Lula. On an international scale, only Chávez in Venezuela and Morales in Bolivia have not followed suit. This concerted policy to isolate López Obrador was responsible for the limited character of the international delegation present on September 16 at the National Democratic Convention. I was surprised to see, for example, that none of the parties of the Socialist International, to which the PRD of López Obrador is affiliated, sent representatives. Nor did any of the big parties of the "Left" send delegates to the Convention, as far as we could tell. The international delegates present at the CND thus issued a Call For International Solidarity with the Mexican People, which is presented below. This call invites personalities, politicians, union leaders and activists, and democratic rights supporters the world over to endorse this Call and to join us in affirming that López Obrador is the legitimate President of Mexico. We also have proposed, with the full agreement of the Organizing Committee of the CND, that on November 13, exactly one week before López Obrador is officially sworn in as President of Mexico, there be an International Day of Action in Solidarity with the People of Mexico. On this date, we will ask supporters of this Call to send broad-based delegations to the Mexican embassies and consulates the world over to make known both to the Mexican government and to world public opinion our support for López Obrador. It is obvious that the International Liaison Committee has a major role to play in promoting this international campaign in support of the Mexican people's struggle for justice and democracy. --- Endnote: PRD: Party of the Democratic Revolution. This is the party of Andrés Manuel López Obrador --------------------
Throughout the world, the people want democracy, self-determination and national sovereignty to be respected. Today, the Mexican people are standing up to defend these principles. The struggle of the Mexican people for their sovereignty is the struggle of all the peoples and nations for their sovereignty. The Mexican people's refusal to accept an unelected president is just and legitimate. Their call for a vote by vote, ballot box by ballot box recount of the July 2 election results -- a call that went unheeded by the Mexican authorities -- is just and legitimate. Seeing as this demand of the Mexican people has not been respected, we consider just and legitimate the decisions of the National Democratic Convention -- which met in the Zócalo of Mexico City on September 16, with the participation of over one million delegates from all states of the country -- to (1) refuse to recognize Felipe Calderón as the elected president of Mexico, (2) proclaim Andrés Manuel López Obrador president, and (3) affirm, based on Article 39 of the Mexican Constitution, that sovereignty lies with the people and the people have the right to change their form of government. In this sense, we consider just and legitimate the decision of the National Democratic Convention to pave the way for the convening of a National Constituent Assembly, through which the Mexican people -- without foreign interference -- can define for themselves the institutions that will guarantee democracy, self-determination, measures of social progress, and the defense of national sovereignty. For our part, with full respect for the sovereignty of the Mexican people, we solemnly pledge to spread the news widely in our own countries about the real situation in Mexico and to call for international solidarity with this just cause of the Mexican people. * The defense of the sovereignty of Mexico is the defense of the sovereignty of all nations! * The respect for democracy in Mexico is the respect for democracy in all nations! International delegates present at the National Democratic Convention Alan Benjamin (*), Editor of The Organizer newspaper, member of the National Steering Committee of U.S. Labor Against the War, and member of the Executive Committee of the San Francisco Labor Council (United States) Daniel Gluckstein, National Secretary of the Workers Party of France and International Coordinator of the International Liason Commitee of Workers and Peoples Julio Turra (*), National Executive Director of the United Workers Confederation of Brazil (CUT) Julio Yao, President of the Peace and Justice Service in Panama, Coordinator of Panamanians of Peace and Citizens' Action for the "No" (*) titles listed for id. only ******************** Support Coupon for the International Call for Solidarity with the Mexican People [ ] Please include my name on the list of signers of the International Call for Solidarity with the Mexican People [ ] I agree to participate in a delegation to the Mexican Embassy or Consulate in my country NAME ORGANIZATION AND TITLE (please list if for id. only) ADDRESS CITY COUNTRY (Please fill out this coupon and send to <eit.ilc@fr.oleane.com> AND to <solidaridadcnd@yahoo.com.mx> ) ********************
Informational Newsletter Number 269 The mainstream media does not cease to speak of the economic development of China. We have already published numerous documents concerning the situation of the workers and peasants and their resistance movements. In this issue, we are publishing news on the scandals and corruption. Zhang Rongkun, a multimillionaire by the age of thirty, needs money to invest in the construction of a highway. He is the majority shareholder of the Fuxi Investments corporation, one of the biggest companies of Shanghai, whose slogan is "sincerity." Its fields are construction, infrastructure, and, mostly, toll highways, with rights to profits for 20 to 30 years. But it also controls close to 10% of Shanghai Electric and a few other things in insurance. So Zhang Rongkun has power, despite his young age: He is close to the CP leaders of Shanghai, specifically Qin Yu, the governor of a neighborhood of Shanghai and, above all, Chen Liangyu, the former 2002 mayoral secretary and now the all-powerful CP Secretary of Shanghai. He is also close to the head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Zhy Junyi, who is also a member of the Permanent Committee of the National Popular Assembly. The latter controls the funds of Social Security and pensions in the city. When the thirty-year old multimillionaire asked to borrow money, Zhu Junyi told him that he could take out 3,2000 million yuans (320 million Euros) from the pension funds to do favor for his friend. This represented about a third of the pension funds he controlled. The investigators have dug into this dirty world of corruption, and have interviewed the building promoters of the city and the financial leaders about their links to the institutions of social protection in Shanghai. Zhu Junyi has been fired from his duties in the National Assembly. The three main leaders of Shanghai Electric have been fired. In March 2004, the introduction of private capital, of a sum of about 20% in the state enterprise, Shanghai Electric -- the number one electric company in China -- was okayed by the city CP and was presented as "the prelude to a future restructuring of the state enterprises of the city." (China Daily, March 3, 2004). The CP leaders asked for Zhang Rongkun and his company, along with others, to enter into the public enterprise. And, from inside, under the pretext of more and more needed investments, private capital installed itself and took advantage of the instruments built by the community and benefiting it, up until the introduction of private capital. In our documents, one can read about all this, and to what ends these operations serve: The aim to is to appropriate the fruits of the community and to pillage without shame anything that could be used for the pensions of the workers. According to a recent study of the National Office of Statistics, only 220 of the 500 big Chinese companies, remain under state control. The other 280 are either collective companies -- that is, under the control of local administrators -- or companies that have been sold off to private capital. At the end of July, an important three day meeting took place. Leaders of six official institutions, including the Ministry of Commerce, put forward a proposal hidden for over a year. Should the Carlyle Group -- a U.S. investment company, linked to the Bush administration -- take over the main Chinese company for construction and public works, for the price of 488 million U.S. dollars? The question has not yet been answered, but on August 11, the Ministry of Commerce published a new regulation concerning the acquisition of Chinese enterprises by foreign companies, which allows for the buying of shares (the access to the interior market of shares will make things easier for foreign corporations), but all acquisitions of companies that could "affect national economic security, change the control in an important enterprise or a famous Chinese brand" must be examined previously by the Ministry. This examination will decide the question. This is also applicable to all the enterprises that employ more than 2,000 workers. Because of this, an investment fund run by the U.S. bank Goldman Sachs was prevented, in mid-August, from taking over the main Chinese meat enterprise, Shineway Group. How has Zhang Rongkun, a simple go-between in the textile industry, been able to accumulate such a fortune in such little time? The U.S. financial magazine Forbes classified him as the 16th richest man in China in 2005 (his fortune, at that time, was estimated to by 490 million Euros). How has a thirty-year old been able to establish such important political connections? These questions have not been answered, but it is interesting to see how the pillage is organized. The financial magazine Caijing (Issue 166, August 21), an open partisan of the market economy, has made it clear. Here's what it says: At the beginning of the 1990s, the Shanghai Social Security fund, which had just been founded, invested in housing operations that failed, resulting in considerable financial loss for some. Thus, in 1994, the municipality asked the Development Bank of Pudong to administer the funds of the fund, giving it a loan of 400 million, but with high interest rates, obliging the bank to assume risks. These funds -- that were supposed to head toward the public good, let us recall -- estimated to be one billion Euros, were channeled into housing speculation and projects. The central bank of China approved these plans. There were no less than five huge housing projects, which millions of yuans were put into, under the order of the Shanghai municipal government, that were illegal ... but neither Social Security, nor the Pudong Bank, said anything. For example, one of the projects, of 47 million Euros, was a 1994 plan with a naturally dishonest but well-connected private investor: Tianyi Immobilizer. It was all illegal: No company was present, there was no contract. In 1996, the Bank takes fright and aims to impose the law. Thus, in 1998, the investor decides to get rid of that law. Brought into court by the bank, the investor wins, because the Shanghai judges declare that a commercial bank doesn't have the right to be promotor-constructor. Nevertheless, the investor was forced to repay 54.8 million Euros to the Bank. As the works were ended midway, it is the municipality that has to pay the bank; the continuation of the works will be done by a state enterprise. It was not until after 1997, that the Central Government of Peking prohibited Social Security from investing in anything other bonds, with the profits guaranteed by the state. When Zhu Junyi took over the leadership of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in 1998, he decided to end a whole series of housing investments. But there were still 55 million Euros tied into the construction of a giant commercial center, Wandu Center, in a zone of economic development in the city. It is said that the investor took the money, but not to build the commercial center. He, once again, did what the CP Shanghai leaders approved of: using the money from Social Security to finish the works. Since 2002, the Pudong Bank has repaid all the funds. End of story? Well, no. In 2003, new institutions substituted the united fund: the Center of Social Security and the Center of Complementary Pensions, which administers billions of yuans. Thus, Zhu Junyi and his friends returned to administer building and highway development, with the complementary pensions. In May, 2004, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, passed a provisional regulation aimed at promoting a "private-style administration" of the complementary pension funds, but -- Caijing laments -- the Minster of Labor and of Social Security still decides. ********************
Katrina: International Commission of Inquiry International Commission of Inquiry Concludes Fact-Finding Trip to Gulf Coast and Calls on the World Community to Build the International Tribunal on Hurricane Katrina On August 25-31, 2006 -- on the occasion of the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina -- a broadly based International Commission of Inquiry on Hurricane Katrina (ICI) travelled to New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., to gather testimony and substantiate claims that the U.S. government has committed a series of systematic crimes against humanity in relation to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The ICI was hosted by the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition (PHRF-OC), the Black Activist Coalition on Katrina, and the U.S. Human Rights Network. It was a first, fact-gathering stage in the work of the International Tribunal on Hurricane Katrina. The decision to convene this Tribunal on Katrina was taken by the 500 delegates from throughout the Gulf Coast gathered at the Peoples Assembly in Jackson, Mississippi, on December 8-9, 2005. The Tribunal is tentatively scheduled for April 2007 in New Orleans. Members of the ICI were Kali Akuno and Malcolm Suber on behalf of PHRF-OC; Edenice Santana de Jesus, leader of the Black Women's Movement and the United Trade Union Confederation (CUT) of Salvador, Bahia (Brazil); Jesus "Chucho" Garcia, International Relations Director of the Afro-Venezuelan Network (Venezuela); Samy Hayon, representative, Workers Party and International Liaison Committee (France); and Tiyani Lybon Mabasa, Convenor of the International Tribunal on Africa and President of the Socialist Party of Azania (South Africa). Delegates from Algeria, Mexico, Guadeloupe and Bermuda had planned to participate in this Commission of Inquiry but were unable to attend at the last minute because of visa and other problems. Statements in support of the International Tribunal on Hurricane Katrina were sent by leading political organizations and trade unions in 26 countries to the August 29 Flood Commemoration rally in New Orleans and to PHRF-OC. For seven days, the ICI visited the districts in New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., most affected by the floods. The ICI took testimony from survivors, many of whom had returned to the Gulf Coast for the first time since their evacuation. The ICI met with Survivors Councils and other New Orleans and Gulf Coast related relief and reconstruction organizations. It also examined the status of the "reconstruction" process, including the levees and water management systems, and collected mounds of data and reports from the various government agencies in charge of overseeing the "reconstruction" process. The ICI also participated in various forums and commemoration activities marking the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. On the basis of all the testimonies and facts gathered in the course of an intense, round-the-clock week of activity, the ICI affirms that the nine main charges contained in the Call for the International Tribunal on Katrina -- titled "A Day of Judgment" -- have merit. The ICI found evidence of wholesale violations of fundamental human rights in relation to (1) the pre-Katrina status of the African American and other oppressed communities of the region, (2) the Katrina "rescue" and evacuation operations, and, equally, if not more important, (3) the post-Katrina so-called "reconstruction" period. The ICI will be submitting a comprehensive report of its findings to the International Tribunal on Hurricane Katrina. In the interim, the ICI affirms that the International Tribunal on Katrina is needed urgently to expose to the world the racism and lawlessness of the federal, state and local governments in the ongoing Katrina tragedy. It is needed to mobilize world public opinion to pressure the U.S. government to halt the ethnic cleansing policies it is pursuing to this day, one year after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, in relation to the African American population of New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities. One year after Hurricane Katrina, the Black population in New Orleans only constitutes 35% of the total population, whereas it represented 67.9% before the hurricane. Through countless means, the powers-that-be are doing everything possible to prevent the Black majority from returning to their homes and communities. The estimated 645,000 to 1 million people still displaced by Hurricane Katrina have the right to return to affordable and safe homes, quality schools, jobs with dignity, quality healthcare and recreational facilities. The ICI -- in collaboration with PHRF-OC -- will continue to function as a permanent fact-gathering body up until the moment the Tribunal is convened. The ICI calls on all survivors and community activists and organizers in the Gulf Coast region to submit further testimonies and documents to the Tribunal. All documents should be sent to PHRF-OC, 1418 N. Clairborne #2, New Orleans, LA 70116 or to Chokwe Lumumba at <clumumba@aol.com>. The ICI also calls on all organizations, individuals, and elected officials in the United States and around the world to sign on as endorsers of the International Tribunal on Katrina, and to contribute time, resources and funds to organize this important undertaking. For more information, please visit www.peopleshurricane.org. (In our last issue, No. 200, we published a report on the International Commission of Inquiry as well as an interview with Edenice Sant'Ana, a Black women's organizer in Brazil.) * * *
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Open World Conference of Workers