AROUND THE WORLD
AROUND THE WORLD CUBA A sinister page in history GRANMA's editorial July 9 on the execution of four Cuban officers for drug trafficking confirms — if there were any longer any need for that — that the Castro leadership has just written one of the most sinister pages in its history. In a style we had thought belonged to the past, the editorial writer assailed as "counterrevolutionary vermin," those who dared to doubt that this trial "was the cleanest that could be imagined," which should be self-evident because "when the party speaks, not a single word, not a single comma departs from the truth."
In a telegram sent on July 11, we (Claude Llabres, Gilles Perrault, Claude Poperen, Giovanni Russa Spena, François Maspero, Massimo Gorla, Janette Habel, Siné, Alain Krivine, Felix Damette, Michael Loewy) called for a stay of execution. This appeal reflected our doubts and questions.
When the death penalty has been abolished by capitalist governments, the leadership of a country that claims to be socialist has not hesitated to shoot four of its former military leaders. Is the Cuban revolution so besieged, is a civil war at the gates, is foreign intervention imminent?
Justice was summary. According to Granma, Ochoa's involvement in drug trafficking was only discovered on June 12. He was executed on July 13. Contrary 1o what Fidel Castro said, the guarantees of a democratic and fair trial were not assembled. Neither the Military Court of Honor made up of 47 gencrals and admirals nor the Court Martial nor the Council of State in which sit 30 of the country's main leaders made it possible to guarantee the rights of the defense. Everyone spoke. But not a single voice raised the slightest doubt about the justification of this procedure.
First of all, why was there a need for a special court, for summary jurisdiction, as in time of war? It is true that Ochoa did not protest. In terms that sent a chill down our spines, he absolved "the supreme commander, the party, the government and the armed forces and promised that his last thought would be for Fidel and the revolution."
The big play given over TV to the dra8 matic hearings (where Ochoa's children were present) was inhuman and indecent, International Viewpoint #168 • July 31, 1989 to say nothing of being a perversion of democratic openness. There were many questions we would have liked to see put to Ochoa. For example, what did he mean precisely when he said, "You mumble when you get an order, and the time comes when you think that every order that comes from a superior officer is bad. On this slippery slope, you develop an independent way of thinking and end up believing that you are right."
What was the purpose of this drug trade? Did Ochoa act for strictly personal or for military reasons? How could the authorities have been unaware of this for two years?
The monopoly of power held by the Castro leadership, its rejection of any challenge, the arbitrariness in judicial decisions, the lack of critical reporting and the conformism of the main leaders cannot but inspire doubt and scepticism. Historical experience weighs too heavily for any leaders to be taken at their word, even Fidel Castro.
Never has the powerlessness of the workers - denied any possibility for monitoring the actions of the regime — been so clear. In seeking to control a proliferating bureaucracy but also control the masses, to fight against corruption without changing the political mechanisms that have engendered it (the single party, rejection of political pluralism, encouragement of "yes men"), Fidel Castro is trying to square a circle.
The threat of exemplary execution even of the most corrupt officials is only a confession of weakness. To solve the contradictions he faces, the leader maximo up until now has been able to count on his prestige and charisma. Everything indicates that this has come to an end. *
Janette Habel SOUTHAFRICA Upington 26 resolution A DRAFT resolution has been launched by the Upington Support Committee, which was formed to assist 26 people given savage sentences on the basis of a vague charge of association (see /Vs 165 & 166). The committee is calling on organizations throughout South Africa to adopt it. The text is as follows:
The Upington 26 trial was the result of protests by the inhabitants of Paballelo,
Upington, in November 1985 against the high rents, inadequate housing, inferior education, lack of jobs, low wages, social injustices, racial victimization and high-handed action of the "authorities"
A peaceful protest meeting was broken up by teargas. This led to the police shooting and the death of a pregnant woman, Miriam Blaauw, who was on her way home from the shop after buying bread and milk. This incensed the community and a huge crowd was further angered after a policeman, "Jetta" Sethwala, shot an 11-year-old boy in the neck. He was set up and was found to have been killed by the butt of his own gun.
The use of the highly controversial doctrine of "common purpose" at the extremely lengthy trial of the Upington 26 that finished in May 1989 led to 14 of the accused being sentenced to death, 6 to lengthy jail sentences, and the restriction and detention of many others. The "common purpose" doctrine has sinister implications in that anyone present at any event deemed illegal, whether a passer-by or otherwise, may be convicted. It has the effect of undermining and smashing any democratic protest or demonstration if an "illegal" common purpose can be found.
• We pledge our solidarity with the just and democratic demands of our fellow oppressed in Paballelo in their struggle against all injustices.
• We note that the case of the Upington 26 is not an isolated one: the Sharpeville 6, the Addo 4 and the Bisho 12 were all tried under the controversial doctrine of "common purpose"
• We call on all the oppressed and exploited to rally in support of the Upington 26 and to assist their families and dependents with financial, educational, material and moral support in their time of need.
• We demand the immediate and unconditional dropping of all charges and the release of the Upington 26, the Sharpeville 6, the Addo 4, Bisho 12 and all political prisoners and detainees.
• We demand an end to capital punishment.
• We resolve to rally all sections of the oppressed around these demands and to fight for a democratic, non-racial society free of exploitation and oppression.
To get in touch with the support network in South Africa, contact: Upington 26, c/o The Rural Worker, SACHED, 5 Church Street, Mowbray 7700, South Africa. *
Scenes from the year 2000.
The last elephant hides in the last ram forest
AROUND THE WORLD 4