Coup leads to ceasefire

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The declarations of the new military regime in Mauritania have already shown the force of the dilemma that threatens to wreck these new bonapartist rulers of the impoverished north African state.

For the last two years, Mauritanian troops have been engaged alongside Moroccan forces in the attempt to conquer and partition the former Spanish colony of the Western Military expenditure has been colossal in proportion to the diminutive economy, but the war has also increased old problems and created new ones.

83% of Mauritania's foreign currency earnings are derived from iron ore. This trade has been severely hit by the slump in world demand, caused by the elements through a show trial, in which Ginsburg was accused of having:

"financed the hostile activities of criminal elements' including professional members of gangs and henchmen of the German fascists who took part in mass shootings during the war"

None of these "criminal elements" was named. But the charges were dutifully publicised by the official news agency TASS.

Yet the Kremlin leaders know that these two individual dissidents cannot themselves challenge or threaten their position: The only motive for such show trials must be the anxiety of the bureaucracy to head off growing opposition tendencies within the working class inside the Soviet Union, which is in a position to challenge their control, their privileges, their special shops, their country houses, limousines, perks and patronage.

The trals and the long sentences àre designed to intimidate all opposition forces, and to link them all with imperialism.

It is above all for this reason that the trials and crisis of steel production internationally.

At the same time, attacks by the Polisario Front on the mining and transport installations of the industry have added further crippling blows.

Restricted

The French-owned company which holds the mining concessions has declared that it can pay no taxes to the Mauritanian government this year.

These taxes amount to 10% of the country's entire budget!

The burden of the war also restricted the availability of funds to offset the catastrophic problems of agricultural production.

Mass starvation

Inefficient techniques, droughts and bad harvests have combined to resulț in mass starvation, and a huge exodus to the already overcrowded shanty-towns around the capital, Nouakchott.

In these intolerable conditions, there emerged widespread opposition to the one-party regime.

But the toppling of President Ould Daddah was accomplished by a group of army officers led Salek.

The new 'Committee for National Rehabilitation' has proclaimed its desire for peace in the Sahara.

It could scarcely do anything else, It IT Is Io gain any credibility with the embittered masses of Mauritania, or within the army itself, demoralised as it is by the humiliating, defeats inflicted by the Polisario Front.

But the Committee also declared its intention of maintaining Mauritania's links with Morocco and its imperialist allies. Again, they had little choice in the matter.

There are 9,000 Moroccan troops in Mauritania-ostensibly as part of the war against the Polisario, but in fact to prevent any popular uprising and maintain a client government.

King Hassan's appetite to swallow Mauritania as part of 'Greater Morocco' may have fallen off of late, but it could easily be whetted again by any display of Mauritanian independence.

Hassan has in fact already pronounced his "full support' fan tha nau anime shilo tha for ine new reyime, win te Polisario Front has declared a temporary ceasefire 'as a gesture of goodwill' But, willing or (more likely) not, there is little chance that officers will advance the right of the Saharoui people to self determination.

Italian CP leader Berlinguer US Secretary of State Vance!

Build parties

The greatest blow we can strike against the Stalinist bureaucracy is through building revolutionary parties in Britain and internationally for the overthrow of capitalism, thus ending the isolation of the workers states on which the Kremlin parasites rest.

Defend the USSR!

For political revolution! said defiantly it would protect "every grain of sand of the national territory"

Two days later the South Yemenis were reported as saying that the Northern invaders had been repulsed.

Whatever the truth of power in Aden"

The labour movement must take whatever measures of solidarity are possible to assist the masses of South Yemen who are threatened with imperialist invasion.