[El The victory of ultra-right General Carlos Romero…]

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El The victory of ultra-right General Carlos Romero in last month's Presidential election in the tiny Central American republic of El Salvador was a foregone conclusion.

His party, the Party of National Conciliation set up by the army in 1962, won the last election by naked ballot rigging.

And it did the same again. Aside from the fraudulent count, working clas voters in the capital San Salvador were forced to travel several miles if they wanted to cast their vote.

The left wing parties of the Socialist Bloc boycotted the Election.

The result (announced by the radio before the count) provoked a wave of protest from the working class. There have been numerous strikes and demonstrations. At one time a demonstration of 15,000 occupied the main square of the capital.

This movement of protest has been attacked by the greatest brutality by the police and army.

According to opposition sources 200 people have been killed by the authorities in the three weeks since the election.

Romero has suspended all constitutional rights and is now set to rule through terror alone.

Bhutto Prime Minister Ali Bhutto's People's Party was returned to power in Pakistan's first elections since 1970 with well over the two-thirds Parliamentary majority which he needs to suspend the constitution.

The campaign was marked by huge rallies for the opposition Pakistan National Alliance led by Air Marshall Azghar Khan, whoss only policy was opposition to Bhutto.

There was an evident lack of enthusiasm for Bhutto's arrogant demagogy Every press reporter the spot has reported gross violations of the electoral law, including the packing of ballot boxes with false votes.

Bhutto, who has now dropped his former pretensions to "Islamic Socialism legitimacy he has failed to get the political sought through the election.

Having nothing in his policies to meet any of the needs of the impoverished masses of Pakistan, Bhutto will be forced to rule through crisis measures as workers and peasants search for a political way to solve their probiems.

Already they have begun to launch numerous protests against Bhutto's dictatorship, including a one-day general strike.

In response police have shot dead a number of demonstrators, arrested at least 1,000 oppositionists and banned all demonstrations.

If Indira Gandhi wins the Indian election on March 16th then no honest witness will believe that the results are genuine.

The Congress Party leadership are past masters at the art of ballot rigging, something which they do with more finesse than their counterparts in neighbouring Pakistan.

Congress controls the broadcasting services completely, though many sections of the press have shown their hostility and 40,000 journalists went on a one-day strike during the campaign to demand higher wages, the first strike since the emergency was partly lifted.

POLITICAL PRISONERS Gandhi has kept 30,000 opposition political prisoners in jail throughout the campaign.

And 200 battallions of troops have been withdrawn from the borders to keep , 'law and order' during the election.

Whoever 'wins' the ballot, Gandhi's Congress or the opposition alliance of right-wingers and reformists, the masses have been showing what they think of the dictatorship, and India will remain in a state of political crisis until it obtains a government which represents the interests of workers and peasants.

In a meeting promoted by the US foreign office as a bid to end antagonisms between two NATO "allies" leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities arrived at an agreed formula last month.

With the Turkish government under severe pressure from a US military and economic embargo aimed at forcing them into concessions, the Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash put his name to the following four proposals:

1. Cyprus will be an independent two-part federated republic.

2. The land held by each.community will be discussed and consideration given to the productivity and economic sufficiency of that land.

3. Freedom of travel, of residence, and the right to possessions to be the subject of negotiations.

4. Both administrations will respect the independènt and dual character of the state.

So while the document states the "independence" of Cyprus, it says not a word about withdrawal of the foreign troops on the island -Turkish, Greek, US and British. Such "independence" is clearly a fraud.

DIVISION

Both sides however were agreed on this position. The disagreement centres on the division of the island. While Denktash claims 36% of the island, Makarios for the Greek Cyprots opened the negotiations offering him only 20%.

Another concession fought for by Makarios was for the right of