Indonesia butcher to visit Thatcher

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Amnesty International picket of Indonesian Embass The scheduled visit to Britain this month of Indonesia's Butcher President Suharto comes against a background of an increasing political and economic crisis within Indonesia, the world's fifth most populous country.

Suharto's regime was established in 1965 by a military coup which was followed by the The supposed "relaxation of the 15-year old Brazilian military dictatorship, apparently signalled by the return from exile of the aged Communist Party leader Prestes and the opportunist Lionel Brizola, head of the Labour Party, over the last few weeks, has been revealed as nothing more than a charade.

The regime of General Figueiredo did not hesitate to move against the second major strike called by the Sao Paulo metalworkers this year.

Assassinated

Following the mass stoppage at the end of October at least 700 trade unionists have been arrested and Santo Dias da Silva a leader of the Christian Democratic National Workers League, was assassinated on a picket line by the police.

The strike had been on the point of collapse with only 40% response. This was clearly due to the enormous demands made of the workers in the last two largest massacre of CP members and supporters ever to occur.

The policy of the Pekingbacked Indonesian Communist Party had been a classic restatement of the basic errors of Stalinism: seeking an alliance of the working class and peasants with the army and the Indonesian capitalist class.

Unprepared

This policy left the communist organisations completely 65-100,000 OF IN I DONE SIĄ major stoppages, late in 1978 and this summer, which had been sold out by the bureaucratic leadership headed by Joaquim dos Santos Andrade, president of the union.

United But the brutal actions of the police drew a remarkably united and impressive response from the workers.

Over 30,000 marched in a demonstration through the centre of Sao Paulo bringing all activity to a halt.

The police were forced to step back, and pickets were strengthened.

The death of da Silva has caused an outcry from the church hierarchy, which is now supporting the strikers' demands for an 85% wage increase as "just" and contesting the regime's accusation of "encouraging subversion"

But this, although it reflects the broad popular opposition to the government's new 'stabilisation plan" , Will scarcely alter matters.

The metal workers are in the vanguard of the Brazilian proletariat and have put considerable unprepared for the coup and the ensuing bloodbath, in which one million communists are thought to have died.

Within a few months the largest non-governing Stalinist party in the world, with three million members and twenty million in its affiliated organisations, was totally destroyed.

Since then Indonesia has remained a country where the independent organisation of the working class is virtually nonexistent.

Although the regime has shown itself to be incapable of solving any of the pressing problems of the Indonesian masses, the power of the army on the one hand, and of the Islamic church on the other have combined to prevent widespread revolt.

Resistance has occured, such as the guerrilla struggles by peasants in south-west Java, and the student riots in Jakarta in 1974; but Suharto has ruthlessly deported whole sections of the population to the wild outer islands.

He has also been waging a genocidal war against the people of East Timor, which he wishes to incorporate into indonesia.

The war has produced a famine every bit as bad as that now much publicised in Kampuchea, but no so much known because Suharto is a trusted friend of Western imperialism.

The Indonesian economy has received massive "aid" from the US and Japan, mostly in the form of loans and aid tied to purchases of goods from the donor country.

Foreign owned

The net result has been to create a modern economic sector which is almost wholly owned by foreign imperialist interests-the remaining share being held mainly by Suharto's own family.

It has also brought Indonesia close to the position where its whole GNP goes to repay interest charges on loans, and dividends to foreign capitalists.

Although the US owns most of the oil and mining sector, Japan has recently become the more significant financial and military supporter of the regime.

The main public opposition to Suharto is from the Islamic extremists who want an Islamic republic.

Their support is particularly strong outside the mainland island, Java.

Churches

Many Javanese who are opposed both to Suharto and Islam have grouped themselves since the coup around the Buddhist and Christian churches because these are virtually the only legal organisations.

There is also resistance from students and intellectuals to the extreme suppression of democratic rights.

And sections of the army and capitalist class have on occasion been sufficiently outraged by the corruptjon and arbitrary economic decisions of Suharto to break the censorship laws and threaten to withdraw support from Suharto.

Meanwhile since last year's 33% currency devaluation, inflation has risen to 25% and workers have initiated a series of struggles to defend their living standards.

Unfortunately the CP has learnt nothing from the events of 1965 and is still proposing a "democratic alliance" of all those opposed to Suhartowhatever their class interests.

In the coming struggles against the Suharto dictatorship Suharto it will be very important to appreciate and relate to the political significance • of apparently "religious" conflicts.

But this does not mean in any way compromising on the need for the independent mobilisation of the workers and peasants around a party fighting for a programme for the defence of their interests.

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