Italian Stalinists Under Pressure

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New cracks and fissures have once more begun to appear across the facade of the fragile edifice of capitalist rule in Italy.

One of these showed up last week across the face of the ruling Christian Democratic Party.

The former Industry. Minister Donat Cattin, who recently transferred to be Deputy. General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Party, has launched a bitter public attack on his proposed successor.

To succeed Cattin, Premier Andreotti has appointed a well-known Bologna University economist called Romano Prodi.

He is not a member of any political party but is believed to have been appointed by agreement with the Communist Party, by whom he is regarded as a "sympathetic Christian Democrat"

Cattin's anger reflects his rapid move to the right of the party.

Right wingers are now arguing for a sharp break in the Christian Democrats' alliance with the CP which allows Stalinist leader Berlinguer to " nominate ministers in exchange for parliamentary support.

Restive

The Stalinists are themselves beginning to show restiveness about the present arrangement.

Top Stalinist spokesmen, after some months of silence on the issue, have once again started publicly to demand seats in the cabinet.

As on the previous occasions it has been made, this demand reflects the speed with which the Stalinist leaders see the control of Share of power If , ever "Share of intend to manner impose the capitalism on the mass movement slipping from their grasp.

The immediate sign of this is a new wave of strikes -especially in the public sector-in support of wage demands and in protest against all the restrictive economic policies of the CPsupported Andreotti government.

But the strategy of the Stalinists remains the same as ever-to attempt to hold the workers' movement by holding in front of it the prospect of "a share of power"

Of course, the leaders know that this is only "a delaying action.

they get their power" they use it in the of the British government-to demands of the working class.

•Their only alternative would be for them to lead the defence of the interests and conditions of Italian workers.

Destruction But that they will never do because they know that a real struggle of that kind cannot stop short of the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism-an event which would inevitably also bring with it the destruction of the bureaucratic Stalinist leadership itself.

But it is the growing rift between the masses "of Italian workers, seeking a way to fight for their own interests, and the Stalinist bureaucrats, fighting to hold down the struggle for those interests, which now represents for Italian capitalism the most dangerous fissure of all. "democracy" under the protection of Franco's police and army.

Their demonstrations are designed to shift attention from the real opponents of democracy in Spain-the Francoist .UCD and its repressive apparatus-by FREE A!

Months of speculation that Yugoslavia would extradite four Germans wanted for "terrorism' in exchange for Serbo-Croat nationalists held in West Germany ended last weekend with the announcement that the four were to. be set The decision is unexpected because the Stalinist regimes have increasingly co-operated with capitalist countries on the question of terrorism and in particular the question of aircraft hijackers from the West.

The decision to release the four was based on the legal merits of the case according to the Yugoslav authorities.

The decision comes at a time when Astrid Proll, also wanted in West Germany as a suspected terrorist remains in custody in Britain awaiting extradition proceedings, despite the fact that friends have now raised

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A secret meeting of fascists in a council com munity centre in Oxford was urUKen up and hamm lamme dispersed by a united front of political groups -including the WSL last week.

The meeting was the third this year that members of the National Front have called under the name of the Albion Club in the Donnington Community Centre.

There were fewer than a dozen fascists present and they were caught totally unprepared when up to 100 anti-fascists stormed the meeting.

The fascists were bundled out of 'the room and much of their racist and fascist propaganda was set fire to outside the hall. NARA suppo some memb remov state hile members and irters or ine voL lana • so do A 2004 aL.

of the SWP's own ers) carried out the ral of the fascists on the standing that forces of the