Africa Bid to Rescue Smith

Scan page 2

The imperialist powers have launched a new offensive to rescue the white racist regimes of Southern Africa from their approaching doom.

British Foreign Secretary David Owen has unveiled a new British-American plan to stop the Zimbabwean liberation movement from sanith into a compromise po far Smith Into a Dower. sharing agreement with Bishop Muzorewa's African National At the same time, a delegation representing the US, Britain, France, Canada and West Germany visited Namibia.

Their task was to try to persuade South African Premier Vorster to make some "democratic" concessions in his constitutional plans for South Africa's occupied neighbour.

At present the constitution, agreed in negotiations at which the blacks were "represented" by their traditional chiefs and from which the South West Africa People's Organisation •(SWAPO) was excluded, allows the territory's 100,000 • white settlers a more or less complete political future.

The whites last week overwhelmingly voted 'yes' in a referendum on this constitution, which may never be implemented it Vorster is forced to compromise.

In his meeting in Austria with US Vice President Mondale, however, Vorster was completely uncompromising, rejecting the cynical offers of the Carter administration for complete suport in exchange for concessions on the question of black "human rights" in South Africa.

In the face of this intransigence the main hope the imperialists now have for holding back the liberation struggle in Southern Africa is to force its leadership into a compromise.

That is the main purpose of the presence of US delegate to the United Nations, Andrew Young, at last . week's UN conference on Namibia and Zimbabwe held in the Mozambique capital, Maputo.

SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma had obviously done some behind the scenes deal with the US since he abandoned his original speech INTO KILLINGS attacking imperialist efforts "rescue racist South Africa" to give a very watered-down version.

He converted SWAPO's long held • unconditional demand for "South African troops out of Namibia" into a call for South Africa to "commit itself to their future withdrawal."

There was also a significant gain for the imperialists and the racists when the "Marxist" President of Mozambique, Samora Machel, gave guarded support for the imperialist moves on Namibia which would contribute to the acceleration of the resolution of the conflict."

Machel said that Britain's initiative "can constitute a positive factor in the liquidation of the colonial racist system... so long as these initiatives have as a sincere objective the complete independence of Zimbabwe.

If that had been the sincere objective of British Labour governments since 1964 then Zimbabwe would have got rid of racist rule years ago.

Machel can only be guilty of conscious opportunism •by this Police fire on the crowd in Istanbul even been getting their wages.

The Bank of Turkey retains gold reserves of only $600 million-as against a trade deficit now totalling $2 billion. There are insufficient reserves even to cover the $l billion required for immediate imports-and the IMF is refusing any credit unless there is a 70% devaluation of the Turkish lira!

in such dire straits there are obviously no solutions to the problems facing Turkish workers other than the all-out struggle to gesture which, if carried on, spells betrayal of the liberation There are signs that the war in Zimbabwe has intensified in the last few weeks.

Smith has launched a series of pre-emptive raids into Zambia and Botswana which are both areas of Zimbabwean guerrilla camps.

President Kaunda even went so far as to declare war on lan Smith but was firmly warned against taking any action by Britain's David wen.

FIGHTING

None of these diplomatic erforts to soften the blow to racist rule, however, have yet stopped the Zimbabwean guerrillas from fighting.

And there is also news in the last month of new outburts of resistance from the workers and students of Soweto outside Johannesburg against massive rent increases imposed as a punishment for damage done in last year's uprising. workers' control over the economy.

For this reason the elections must be used. as a platform for independent working class policies.

25 candidates of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (which is banned from participation in the elections) are standing as independent candidates. These must join in a united front with Turkish Labour Party candidates on a socialist There must be no vote for Evecit's party from workers or peasants-but a campaign to suport

INDIA

Indira Gandhi and her closest supporters have regained control of the Congress Party at national level. But in the provinces the Party is experiencing a haemorrage of opportunists, resigning to join the ruling Janata Party in order to get seats in the forthcoming regional The Desai government has disolved these assemblies in many areas where they were still Congress dominated so that the Janata candidate can win the presidential elections due in June (The President is elected in a-ballot of all members of regional and national parliaments).

Stanislaw Pyjas a student member of the Workers Defence Committee was found dead in unexplained circumstances on May 7. His funeral was the occasion for a huge silent demonstration which the Stalinist authorities called "political provocation". They have replied by stepping up the arrest of Workers Defence Committee members, two of whom have been reported killed in a "motor accident"

SAN SALVADOR

The body of the Foreign Minister, Mauricio Bargonono Pohl, kidnapped and then killed by the Popular Liberation Forces, was found last week. Gangs of right wing thugs, with government backing, immediately began a campaign of reprisals against known left-wing sympathisers. Their first victim was a Jesuit priest.

SAYI:1 2 MAYIS 1977 ENTERNASYONEL İŞÇİ SOSYALİST BİRLIĞI (WSL) YAYINIDIR 20p The first issue of "International', the first openly Trotskyist bulletin to t e published in Turkish.

Available from WSL, 31, Dartmouth : Hill. London NW5 1HR.