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A dossier of weekly information published by the ------ Introduction France: Next October 18, the European Summit of 27 heads of state is scheduled to adopt the new European treaty. With goal of letting readers decide for themselves, we are publishing part three of an analysis of this new draft treaty. Great Britain: The Northern Rock bank is bankrupt. Hundreds of thousands are threatened with losing everything. Belgium: Every day, Belgium sinks deeper into crisis. Three months after the June 10 legislative elections - while the leaders of the victorious political parties try, in vain, to form a "coalition government" - this crisis threatens to break up Belgium itself and all the federal social conquests, particularly Social Security. Mexico: The ILC has been informed of the serious threats of the Baja California state government against the teacher unionists, whose only "crime" was to fulfill their mandate as independent trade unionists. The ILC expresses its deep preoccupation in the face of this undermining of union rights and individual guarantees and the goal of the authorities to transform social protest into a crime. France: The provisional committee for a working class party is preparing its national convention of next November 24 and 25. You will find a report below. Burma: A report on the ongoing events in Burma. Subscribe to the ILC International Newsletter! ----- TABLE OF CONTENTS p.1: Introduction ----- Contact Informations internationales ***************************
What Has Not Been Taken From The Draft Constitution
As can be noticed, the new draft Reform Treaty includes the whole content of the former draft Constitution, except the word itself. The reason is not far to seek. At the end of the European Summit of June 21st, 22nd, 23rd, the German Presidency of the EU explained: "The negative referenda outcomes were perceived in some Member States as an expression of citizens' fears of a European super state. This fear needed to be addressed. The 27 Member States were in agreement from the beginning of the Summit that the term "constitution" was no longer to be used. The European Treaties will instead be reformed by an amending treaty. The new treaty basis will also contain no references to state-like symbols or an anthem." In other words, dropping the "symbols" was clearly the result of the NO votes in France and the Netherlands. In fact a headline in Le Monde read: "The symbols of the Constitution
have disappeared, the fundamentals remain." In June there was a lot of media hype about the fact that French President Sarkozy had allegedly scored a victory as the Summit had accepted his bid to drop the planned reference to "free and undistorted competition", the phrase that had in a way symbolized the victory of the No vote. However that is only a trick since all the articles of the existing treaties have been preserved, especially article 105, which keeps as one of the union's key objectives: "the principle of an open market economy with free competition." Furthermore, to avoid any ambiguity, Protocol N°6 (which, it must be remembered, has the same legal standing as the Treaty) is devoted to this subject and says: " CONSIDERING that the internal market as set out in Article [I-3] of the Treaty on European Union includes a system ensuring that competition is not distortedŠ" The primacy of EU law Formally the primacy of EU law over national law was not written as such in the EU Treaties. The 2004 draft Constitution intended to establish it explicitly. To satisfy Britain, the expression was dropped from the new Treaty But as will be noticed it makes no difference. First of all, Amendment N°8, in passing, cancels a phrase that was included in the present treaties, in Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union, and stated: "The Union shall respect the national identities of its Member States". Obviously it was nothing more than an expression. But it is not insignificant that it should be abandoned. More than that, Declaration N°29 states categorically:" The Conference recalls that, in accordance with well settled case law of the EU Court of Justice, the Treaties and the law adopted by the Union on the basis of the Treaties have primacy over the law of Member States, under the conditions laid down by the said case law. The Conference has also decided to attach as an Annex to this Final Act the Opinion of the Council Legal Service on the primacy of EC law." And it goes on to quote the opinion of the Council Legal Service of 22 June 2007: "It results from the case-law of the Court of Justice that primacy of EC law is a cornerstone principle of Community law. According to the Court, this principle is inherent to the specific nature of the European Community. At the time of the first judgment of this established case law there was no mention of primacy in the treaty. It is still the case today. The fact that the principle of primacy will not be included in the future treaty shall not in any way change the existence of the principle and the existing case-law of the Court of Justice." That clinches it. That Declaration N°29 on the primacy of EU law over the law of member states encapsulates in a way the whole draft "Reform Treaty" which, as has been shown, takes up all that was rejected on May 29th, 2005.
In this respect too, the new draft European Reform Treaty repeats what was advocated in the draft Constitution since the first amendment deals with the preamble of the Treaty on European Union to which is added the following:" "Drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe" Š and further down in Amendment 28 about churches and religious associations or communities " Recognizing their identity and their specific contribution, the Union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with these churches and organizations." The co-optation of the trade union movement Again, Amendment 112 specifies: "The Union recognizes and promotes the role of the social partners at its levelŠThe Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment shall contribute to social dialogue." This Tripartite Social Summit was introduced a few years ago. It is held on the eve of the Spring Summit of European heads of State and Government. On that occasion, the ETUC, the European employers and the European Commission cooperate in the planning of the EU' s anti-working-class policies. The incorporation of this Social Summit into the text of the Treaty represents another development in the attack aimed at co-opting trade union organizations. ----- The Official Calendar - June 22-23, 2007: The European Summit of 27 heads of state and government,
headed by Angela Merkel, adopted a specific plan for the new European
treaty; the mandate was given to a intergovernmental conference to prepare
the future treaty. ************************* GREAT BRITAIN The Northern Rock Bank is bankrupt: Hundreds of thousands are threatened with losing everything Northern Rock, the fifth largest British lending bank, with 1.4 million clients, is bankrupt, a consequence in particular of the collapse of the so-called "sub-prime" loans in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of clients are threatened with losing everything. The European Union, which did not hesitate to give 250 billion Euros to save the speculators, prohibited in this case any measures in support of the clients, who often have modest incomes. This is a situation that once again puts on the agenda the demand of the renationalization of the banks and the break with the European Union and the European Central Bank. On Friday, September 13, in the morning in Brighton, the last delegates of the TUC congress took to the road to return home. To reach the station, they passed in front of the local branch of Northern Rock where, as in all other towns in the country, a line of customers looking to take out their savings was already formed before the bank opened. In light of this line, a delegate exclaimed: "When I see that Gordon Brown just told us that he wants to limit the rise in wages to 2% for public and private sector workers and as I watch all these folks losing their savings, I ask myself where we are headed." Northern Rock is the fifth largest lending bank in the country, with 1.4 million customers. Originally a private mutual fund, Northern Rock was transformed into a "construction company" in the framework of the privatization of housing implemented by Thatcher and continued by Blair, substituting for the municipalities in the construction of houses. Toward this end, in 1997, Northern Rock took the final step by leaning on a law passed at the time that permitted it to "demutualize" itself, to become a bank and enter the stock exchange. In order to pump billions into speculation, Northern Rock specialized in a British form of "sub-primes," loans given to working families with modest means who are forced to buy housing because of the massive privatization of social housing. These modest families are the first victims of the crash. One of the largest shareholders of Northern Rock is the Scottish investment bank Baillie Gifford, which controls - among other things - the funds of the workers of the big John Lewis stores and the Cheshire communal workers. The pensions of millions of workers are equally affected by the financial collapse of Northern Rock. The total sum that Northern Rock loaned out to modest families was three times as much as the bank possessed. It was to avoid having the whole system collapse like a house of cards that Gordon Brown ordered - against the advice of the Bank of England, which became independent in the framework of the Maastricht treaty - that the British government guarantee the Northern Rock deposits. Who will pay? In addition to those whose retirements already flew away, in addition to the thousands of workers of the banks whose employment is threatened by a risk of bankruptcies in the chain, it is the taxpayers as well as the million of borrowers that are going to pay. According to a company specializing in the study of credit, the average British adult is more than 40,000 Euros in debt. Parallel to this, the European Commission - an instrument of the European central bank - decided to file an investigation to find a possible obstacle on free competition in the banking market, adding that, in any case, if the coverage by the British government is judged exceptionally compatible with the Maastricht treaty, this guarantee should only last six months. And Yves Mersch, member of the administrative council of the European Central Bank, added that it is necessary to wait a year to judge the depth of the phenomena. Isn't it common sense to call for the renationalization of the banks and the return to national sovereignty over the policies of the Bank of England? Isn't the only way to offer a future for the thousands of concerned workers to break with the European Union and its central bank? Correspondent ----- "Like in 1929Š" Last weekend, long lines arose from customers demanding their deposits be returned. The media noted that, "the images of lines were similar to October 1929." October 1929 was the tremendous Wall Street crash that plunged the United States, then the world, into a deep depression, with unemployment, and generalized poverty for millions. "In Cambridge, London, Leeds, Edinburgh, Reading, or Glasgow, thousands stormed the tellers on Sunday to take out their deposits. Thursday night, the announcement that the fifth largest British housing lender - a victim of the American credit crisis - demanded the help of the Bank of England created a true panic," writes Le Figaro (September 17, 2007).
"No to the break up of our rights and the country!" Every day, Belgium sinks deeper into crisis. Three months after the June 10 legislative elections - while the leaders of the victorious political parties try, in vain, to form a "coalition government" - this crisis threatens to break up Belgium itself and all the federal social conquests, particularly Social Security. Behind what the international press presents as a "communitarian" conflict, there is in reality all the policies of social destruction that the European Union and the capitalists defend. The intervention of the working class united in and with its organizations is the only force, in these conditions, capable of offering a way out. It is with this perspective that the following appeal was launched by 10 Flemish labor activists and 10 Walloons labor activists. To the workers, to the youth, to the trade unionists: The moment is serious. What is at stake in the current political crisis are our social rights! What force can end this march to dislocation and the destruction of our rights? From the north to the south of the country, they are in the process of conditioning the people for the break-up of Belgium. What is the goal of all this?
The president of the FGTB, Rudy De Leeuw, was right to say: "Who will benefit from a big communitarian reform? I am still waiting for somebody to show me how such a reform would serve the interests of the workers. If they break up Social Security, poverty will increase in Walloons; but in Flanders, too, the gap between the rich and the poor will rise. I do not see any advantage for the Flemish economy. Most of the Flemish proposals for a state reform come from the Flemish employers. These folks rarely mobilize for social improvements. When the VOKA calls for regionalization of unemployment benefits and pre-pensions, you can well imagine what it is going to collect." (September 4, 2007) Careful, we're in danger! Wages, collective bargaining contracts, the right to work, and Social Security are threatened. That is why it is the duty of the leaders of the SP and the SP.A to refuse to associate with a "reform of the State" that would go against the objectives of the FGTB. The union would benefit greatly from bringing together the leaders of these two parties to demand that they pronounce together, clearly and publicly, this perspective. Neither the plague nor cholera Today, those who prepare for the break-up of Belgium want to make us choose between the plague and cholera: Either a governmental agreement to break up our social rights, while pretending to "save Belgium" (for a short period: the country would not survive a long time if the federal social rights are dismantled) or the immediate break-up of Belgium, with the effect of directly getting rid of our social rights guaranteed nationally. That we have reached this point is the result of the policies of social regression dictated by the European Union and the European Central Bank, which is subordinate to the American financial markets in crisis, as the recent news demonstrates. All the parties willing to "negotiate" are situated on the respect of the demands of the European Union. Already, the essence of the laws voted on in Belgium are only the transcription of European directives. For years, we have seen a serious social retreat in Belgium, as in all of Europe. Today, the European Union, as a relay for the financial markets, wants the governments to go even further and get rid of all the social conquests. But this objective comes up against the Belgian working class. Of course, the workers have suffered blows, but they have not lost their strength - close to 3 million workers are unionized in our country. That is why the current political offensive aims to dismantle the working class to more effectively dismantle its rights. In our opinion, the same people who want to break up the unity of the Belgian working-class and its conquests are the same people who, throughout Europe, threaten the existence of nations, which are the framework in which all the collective and social conquests have been won. Are we exaggerating? Asked by Le Soir (August 14), a researcher of the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (Paris) responds to the question: "Why does the European Union not react against these separatist drives?" The researcher responded: "The European Union has a rather ambiguous attitude. This movement of ethnic secession does not really handicap a liberal Europe, which is nothing other than a big market. It does not see this as an important obstacle. Š At the end of the day, the result will be the break-up of social and national cohesion." Bart de Wever, of the NVA, confirms this analysis by responding to a question of the Telemoustique weekly (September 5), which asked him: "Do you want to see Belgium disappear?" De Wever responded: "In my opinion, it has become superfluous in our European context, without which I would not support the autonomy of Flanders. Belgium will dissolve very slowly, like a pill in water, because the era of borders is past and because it is wedged between the power of regions calling for autonomy and the supranational structures in Europe. Now that the Euro has replaced the Belgian franc, there is no more natural barrier to this natural evolution." What force can end this drive to dislocation, the destruction of our most essential social rights? We note that the leadership of the FGTB clearly has taken a position in defense of the federal social rights. The leadership of the CSC has been led to do the same. The very existence of the FGTB as a national union federation, bringing together into one organization the workers of Flanders, Walloons, and Brussels, incarnating the unity of the working class of Belgium, is a conquest. In these conditions and because the moment is extremely serious, we feel that the leadership of the FGTB has a major responsibility. It is up to it call for a mass mobilization to prevent a disaster. We address all the leaders of the FGTB to say: Call on the workers to take to the streets, call for a huge national demonstration in Brussels, uniting the workers of Flanders, Walloons, and Brussels (and propose that the CSC join), around the demands: - No to the break-up of our social rights and the country! As the FGTB demands in its May 2007 memorandum: There can be no doubt the workers and youth would respond massively to such an appeal. This is the only path to stop this march to dislocation and the destruction of our social rights. First signers: Eddy Baert, délégué ACOD Iris ; This appeal was launched by the Committee for Unity CONTACT: Yves Eeckman - Rue Georges Raeymaekers, 13, 1030 Bruxelles - yves.eeckman@skynet.be ----- The motion adopted by the federal committee on pensions of the FGTB As a proposal of Antoine Ruggieri (president of pensions committee of the metal sector) a motion was adopted, which declared the following: "Š We note that, every day, the political situation gets worse and they are leading us into a wall. We cannot wait any longer to defend what it has taken us a life to win (Social Security, the right to work, collective conventions) nor to defend our immediate demands (for example, linking social payments to living standards, which would allow us to lively in a dignified manner and not drown in precarity). Consequently, we address the leaders of the federal FGTB to ask them to organize, as soon as possible, a big federal demonstration (as a common front, if possible, or, if not, with FGTB alone): - To maintain federal solidarity and, thus, oppose - as demands the
manifesto of the FGTB - any regionalization of Social Security, collective
conventions, and the right to work. September 24, 2007." ************************
Stop the repression against the teacher unionists in Baja California, Mexico Communiqué of the ILC The ILC has been informed of the serious threats of the Baja California (Mexico) against the teacher unionists, whose only "crime" was to fulfill their mandate as independent trade unionists. The ILC expresses its deep preoccupation in the face of this undermining of union rights and individual guarantees and the goal of the authorities to transform social protest into a crime. The education workers of Section 2 of the SNTE (the National Union of Education Workers of Mexico), united in a large national movement, have been mobilizing for months in marches, pickets, work stoppages, since the month of April to defend their social security and union democracy, faced with a new law imposed which privatizes pensions and retirement (entrusting the savings of the workers to the foreign assurance companies and private banks), which encourages the privatization of health care and which destroys solidarity social security. In the face of the depth of the protests, the state government, supported by the federal government, used repression. On August 26, the teachers were violently removed from their union headquarters, which remain occupied by the repressive forces. On August 31, their demonstration was violently repressed; the teachers were beaten, mistreated, and threatened with death by the police and the members of the army. Rosendo Álvarez Santoyo, Julio Rodríguez, Alfonso Ávila Báez, Virgilio Mayagoitia, Sergio Quiroz, María Guadalupe González, Tonantzin Medina Romo and Ignacio Gastélum Ruiz - teacher unionists from Mexicali, Baja California - have been called to court. We know that similar actions have been taken against movement leaders in Tijuana, Ensenada, Rosarito, Tecate and San Quintín. Arrest orders were sent out. The ILC rejects the criminalization of education workers for respecting the rights of those they represent. We call on all activists and all labor and democratic organizations to demand that the Mexican authorities drop all the charges against the leaders and members of the resistance movement and respect their democratic and labor rights! Stop the intervention of the authorities in internal union affairs! Police out of the union! Meet the demands! Union democracy! ----- URGENT APPEAL IN DEFENSE OF TEACHER UNIONISTS IN BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO * Felipe Calderon Dear Sirs, We, the undersigned, hereby express our outrage at the decision by the authorities in the State of Baja California, Mexico, to use police force in an attempt to silence and put down the legitimate struggle of teacher unionists in defense of their ISSSTE pension, healthcare and social security plans -- in opposition to the World Bank and IMF directives, implemented by the Mexican government, aimed at privatizing and dismantling this giant conquest of the state workers in Mexico. We have been informed that on August 26, 2007, police and military troops forcefully dislodged the militant teachers of Section 2 of the SNTE, who have been organized in the Movimiento de ResISSSTEncia, from their union headquarters in Mexicali, severely injuring many teachers. We also learned that five days later, on August 31, police and military forces were again unleashed against the teachers and their supporters, who had mobilized by the thousands along the Mexico-U.S. border as part of a nationwide Day of Action to defend their ISSSTE plans. Again, teachers were brutally beaten by the cops. The organizers of the Movimiento de ResISSStencia have informed us
that eight people face serious charges -- and possible jail sentences
-- for their involvement in this just struggle to defend their rights
and gains. The eight people are: Rosendo Álvarez Santoyo, Julio
Rodríguez, Alfonso Ávila Báez, Virgilio Mayagoitia,
Sergio Quiroz, María Guadalupe González, Tonantzin Medina
Romo and Ignacio Gastélum Ruiz. Sincerely, UNION/ORG (list if for id. only) CITY STATE COUNTRY PLEASE fill out this form and return it ASAP to <ilcinfo@earthlink.net>. You can also send your own protest letter, using this text as a guide, to the following email addresses: * Felipe Calderón: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx * Alejandro W. Martinez Luna: awmartinez@baja.gob.mx *********************
The provisional committee for a working class party met on Sunday, September 30, in Ivry-Sur-Seine Report After the report of Aimé Savy on the activity of the committee since its last meeting on June 30 and a communiqué by Gérard Shivardi proposing to use the upcoming municipal elections to defend the communes and public services, the discussion began. Following Gerard Shivardi, several people spoke to underline the stakes of these municipal elections, in which it is possible to formulate the concrete demands of the people. These elections can be a privileged means for the committees to advance on the construction of a real working class party, combining intervention in the class struggle with the defense of the demands of the communes. This will be one of the proposals that the provisional committee will make to the committees that are being built throughout the country. Each of the participants came to this meeting with new membership cards from the week. At the opening of the discussion, 3,956 cards were paid and 4,589 were announced by the committees. The discussion on the activities showed that there was agreement concerning the situation: If it is uncontestable that we would like to have more cards paid by this day, all the speakers reported on the considerable echo of the initiative taken to (re)build an authentic working class party. Each of the participants expressed their opinion on the modification in the political situation and all agreed on one thing: the working class is looking for the means to realize its unity to stop the policies of the European Union, which the Sarkozy government is pushing through in all domains - pensions, social security, food, etc. At the same time, the working class is confronted with obstacles, which leads us to the destructive policies of the European Union. This institution is completely subordinated to the interests of the Bush administration, as the proposals of the government concerning the monetary crisis and Iran demonstrate. Undoubtedly, the Sarkozy government is not sure it can frontally successfully attack the majority of the citizens, whose No vote in the 2005 referendum remains always present. That is why it multiplies the efforts to advance toward a corporatist society, where the working class no longer has independent organizations, parties, and unions. Each of the participants in the meeting demonstrated their attachment to the independence of the working class and its right to defend its own interests, as well as the reciprocal independence of parties and unions, a condition for democracy. In this context, the constitution of committees for an independent working class party, fighting for the rupture with the European Union and refusing to submit to the undermining of all the conquests is the best point of leverage we can provide for the resistance of the workers of this country. The deep echo of the appeal of the provisional committee For Unity, for the Reconquest of the Social Security of 1945 - which has already received more than 11,000 signatures - testifies that this appeal poses the question of the need for a working class party. The meeting of the provisional committee ended with several proposals to the committees, published on the site of the provisional committee. Among these proposals, was one to write a draft of the Manifesto for a Working Class Party, explaining the kind of working class party we want to (re)build. Another proposal was to organize public event and a national event. There was also a proposal to the committees to deepen the signature collection of the appeal for unity to reconquer the social security of 1945, for the return of the 220 billion in bosses exemptions, the defense of the special pension regimes; the provisional committee will provide for the local committees the arguments and facts needed to reestablish the truth concerning the pensions, Social Security, the deficit of the country, etc. Considering the multiplication of committees and membership cards, the provisional committee proposes several practical measures, such as the constitution of liaison committees in the departments, mandated to gather delegates and proposals for the convention. At the conclusion of the meeting, the committee decided to meet again on Sunday, November 4. (This report was published on the web site of the committee.) ----- Timeline -- On April 10, 2007, Gerard Shivardi, mayor of Mailhac and general councilor of Ginestas (Aude), and Daniel Gluckstein, national secretary of the Workers Party, launched an appeal posing the question: "Hasn't the time come to rebuild a real working class party?" -- On May 6, after the announcement of the results of the presidential election, Gerard Schivardi and Daniel Gluckstein, in a declaration, affirm: "It is time for reconstruction." -- On May 7, the first discussion bulletin is published. -- On June 3, the provisional committee for a working class party met for the first time in Ivry. It decided to call a Workers and Socialist Convention. -- As of October 2, the organizing committee announced that it had centralized 4, 027 membership cards. Contact: Organizing Committee: For financial contributions, make all checks payable to Micheline Guillemette.
How can the people of Burma win democracy and sovereignty? The demonstrations continue against the dictatorship. The military regime faces rising anger from the population. There is protest after protest in Burma. Despite violent repression, the people are demanding the end of the reign of the military junta, which has run a bloody dictatorship for twenty years. How can the people of Burma win democracy and sovereignty? Beginning in the summer, more and more massive demonstrations took place in Burma, despite the terrible repression. The people of Burma want to end the regime of the dictatorship, which has crushed them for 20 years. Through strikes and demonstrations, the people aim to win democracy and sovereignty. Its revolt is legitimate. The military regime is facing the accumulated anger of all sectors of the people. In twenty years, the army, which consolidated its domination in 1998 by crushing a popular insurrection, has killed over 3,000, guaranteeing the pillage of the country by the corporations, most of which are North American. This earned it the support of all the "big powers" and the U.N. The result: payments of billions of dollars to "foreign investors" and the ruin of the country. This summer was marked by a true collapse of the economy, with the immediate result of a spectacular rise in basic goods (500% in the case of fuel). Protests spread throughout the country. At their head were, at first, students and activists of the democracy movement. They led larger and larger sectors of the population into struggle. By the end of the month of September, the Buddhist monks - in agreement with the heads of the church - massively joined the demonstrations. This uprising of the people of Burma has received the justified support of the workers, peoples, and youth of the whole world. But the imperialist government and their international institutions, such as the U.N., have demonstrated nothing but hypocrisy. For twenty years, the military dictatorship in power in Burma has oppressed, tortured, pillaged, and stayed in power either through electoral fraud or through ignoring the results of the elections when they were against the regime. All this occurred and silence abounded. But today, in Washington, Paris, the U.N., there has been the miraculous discovery that Myanmar, the new name of Burma, is governed by an anti-democratic regime. In the words of The Economist (September 29), "the Western regimes rival each other in denouncing the Burmese regime." Bush made a point about Burma in his speech to the United Nations. And the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sarkozy - the good "French doctor" Kouchner - made similar proclamations, failing to be disturbed by the fact that in 2004 he wrote for the company Total a memorandum demonstrating that this multinational perfectly respected "human rights" under the military regime. The counterpart of the silence concerning the dictatorship is that the multinationals (including Total, Chevron, and Nippon Oil) can continue to work in Burma. While the military regime shoots on the demonstrators, a representative of the U.N. was send to discuss at the same time with the generals and the heads of the opposition. They are looking for a "transition"Š One thing is certain: The people of Burma, the workers, the youth, want to end the dictatorship. They want to be free and sovereign. And it is not Bush, the executioner of the Iraqi people, nor the governments and international institutions that supported the Burmese dictatorship for 20 years who will give a positive response to the legitimate aspirations of the people of Burma. Correspondent ----- Background Burma is located at the heart of Southeast Asia. It has a population of more than 50 million and borders on China, Thailand, India, Laos, and Bangladesh. It is a former British colony and has been independent since 1948. The country has been governed by the military since 1962. In 1988 there was a bloody crushing of a protest movement. The military regime's control intensified after the elections gave the majority to the opposition. Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. The "sanctions" imposed by the big powers do not affect the
big multinationals, which pillage the energy resources of the country
and throw 100,000 workers, mostly young women working in textiles, into
the streets.
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Open World Conference of Workers