A very incomplete review of the radical press New Socialist (Dec-January) Che Guevara was no more on the side of the poor than Princess Dianna, according to the latest magazine from Canada's New Socialist Group. Ernest Haberkern identifies Che Guevara as "the most outspoken defender" of the "disastrous choice" to use Cuba's guerrilla army as "the base of a new dictatorship." Indeed, Guevara was more important than Fidel Castro himself in this fossilisation of the revolution. Curiously, Haberkern, Director of the Center for Socialist History in Berkeley, California, claims that this vision of Cuban history is "buried in hard-to-find, out-of-print books "From the beginning until his departure from Cuba Che was on the side of those who wanted to turn the regime into a police dictatorship as soon as possible. He was the harshest opponent of any concession to the material needs of the people.. "Those Cubans who grieved for Che "were just as deceived as the tens of thousands of people who mourned Princess Diana or Mother Theresa in the mistaken belief that they were on the side of the poor. Catholic saints have performed the same function for centuries. Icons providing consolation for 'the poor' lest 'the poor' decide to fight for themselves. Other articles in this December-January issue focus on struggles by students and teachers in high schools and universities across English Canada, and the recent postal workers strike. Against the Current #73 A dossier marking International Women's Day includes an interview with Tatau Godinho (Brazil) on The Status of Women; an interview with Edna Bonacich, who has been working with women artists and intellectuals in a group called Common Threads, which supports women garment workers in the Los Angeles area an interview with Stephanie Coontz, author of The Family As It Really Is; an article by Johanna Brenner on Poverty & Oregon's Welfare Reform and interviews with three activists around poverty and Welfare reform. Other contents include a 15 page study of the Asian economic crisis. Against the Current #72 In an ambitious and impressive project to mark the 150 anniversary of the Communist Manifesto, a range of US Marxist thinkers responded to questions on specific aspects of the Manifesto, and its relevance for struggles today. Extracts will be printed in a future issue of International Viewpoint. Other articles deal with repression and ecological diaster in Indonesia, and. inevitably, the situation facing the Teamsters union. Socialist Register 1998 Reflections on the meaning of the Communist Manifesto, Marxism, the class struggle and everything from Sheila Rowbotham, Sheila Cohen & Kim Moody, Peter Gowan, John Bellamy Foster, Peter Osborne, Paul Thomas, and Rob Beamish. Edited by Leo Panitch & Colin Leys To order or subscribe contact: Monthly Review Press, 122 West 27th Street, New York, NY, 10001, USA or Merlin Press, 2 Rendlesham Mews, Rendlesham, Nr. Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 2SZ, Britain. Email: MerlinPres@aol.com BIDOM#140 The January-February issue of the US magazine Bulletin In Defense of Marxism argues for outspoken defense of 36 International Viewpoint #297
Teamster leader Ron Carey, and criticises left writers who have "conceded unnecessary ground to the government's attacks." Paul Le Blanc and Frank Lovell discuss the Labor Party and the trade union movement, and Le Blanc reports on the divergent and sometimes suprising views expressed by Stalinists and Fourth
Internationalists at the Paris conference to mark the 80th anniversary of the 1917 Russian revolution.
Single issues US$3.00, subscription $24 (Canada $37,
Europe $54, Asia Pacific $64) from BIDOM, PO Box
1317, New York, NY 10009, USA Murros#10
[Articles marked" available in English on website]
Eighty years ago, the Finnish working class revolted, but lost in the civil war duing which the country became independent from Russia. This month's editorial asks how different this situation is today.* Editor Juhani
Lohikoski, argues that the working class struggle for the rights denied under the Czarist regime was largely selfdefensive, and the People's Representative Committee did not take advantage of the initiative it gained during the first weeks of the war. This is why the Finnish bourgeoisie was able to crush the workers revolution, he argues. Though without German military aid, this bourgeois victory would have been impossible.
Other articles report on student strikes in Germany and Stop-IME
Clips, essays, updates and urgent actions relating to the International Monetary Fund. Moderated by Friends of the Earth and Essential Action, this new list will focus on:
• the U.S. congressional battle over the request to allocate $18 billion to expand the IMF
• NGO positions and campaign activities around capital account liberalization
• information about the IMF's attempt to expand its Articles of Agreement in order to control capital account liberalization programs and country specific positions on the issue
• IF reform proposals or alternative strategies to decrease volatility of international capital flows.
The Labour Channel is a joint effort by trade unions in North America, Europe. Asia and Africa to use the latest "push" technology to distribute labour news through the Internet.
Labour Channel webcasts are available through Microsoft Internet Explorer Active Channels, Netscape Netcaster, and PointCast Connections.
Among the trade broadcasting on the Labour Channel are COSATU in South Africa, the TUC in Britain, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, based Brussels, and many more. visit the Labour Channel's home page:
www.solinet.org/LEE/labour_jump.html Multiple manifestos
Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, German, French, Catalan and Basque versions of the Communist Manifesto, plus the predictable photos and links.
easyweb.easynet.co.uk/-socappeal/150years
Sweden, unemployment in France and Finland, and the counter-demonstration outside the Presidential Palace on
December 6th Independence Day.
Subscription costs $12/£8 for six issues, including selected English translations, posters and leaflets.
Exchange with other magazine welcome.
Contact: PL 288, 00171 Helsinki, Finland. Tel: 358-9-278
2244. E-mail: mailto:komnuor@dic.fi Internet:
www.dlc.fi/~komnuor/murros.html Bandera Roja
The February issue of this Puertorican magazine focuses on the campaign to stop the privatisation of the
Mayaguez Health Centre. Other articles cover privatisation, ecology, public sector trade unionism, and struggles in Europe to reduce the working week.
www.bandera.org or contact < info@bandera.org>
European Marches News
The latest issue of the EuroMarch against Unemployment newsletter was published in mid-February. Available in
English and French from 104 rue des Couronnes, Paris
75029 France. Cost £10/US$15 for ten issues. E-mail
<marches97@ras.eu.org>