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Jones: –coming in to discuss projects with us. This place must be very, very clean. I ask and uh, request and demand that public services get on as much as possible immediately–
[Tape edit]
The news of the day.
Prime Minister [Forbes] Burnham to give assurances to the Guyanese living in Great Britain, England, or the United Kingdom, said when it is indeed evident that in the oppressive conditions of England, your life is no bed of roses. It has brought considerable wrath from the British in what they consider an intrusion into their affairs. The lackey of the USA. That was the advice they got from the prime minister, Forbes Burnham, who has been consistently faithful to the causes of blacks and other minorities throughout the world. Mr. Burnham, as you know, visited some time ago the Soviet Union, North Korea, East Germany and England. Burnham’s call to the Guyanese and other black Caribbeans and Indian Caribbeans in England was to tell it like it is to the world. His letter was read to nearly one thousand people at the Kensington town hall in London, gathering of blacks and Asians, Indians, minorities, who are protesting the mounting racism and neo-fascism that is sweeping United Kingdom or England. As you know, the prospects are likely that there will be a conservative government, the Labor Party will be put out in the fall, meaning that one white woman, Margaret Thatcher, has promised the electorate that she will expel all people of color from her country and bar any immigrants of color into England. A fascist, reactionary measure of the first magnitude.
Anyway, Britain came back with firm criticisms and stated that life under Dr. Burnham and his PNC, Peoples National Congress, was no picnic. England criticized power failures that the Guyanese people had suffered some weeks ago, which have not been very evident of late. Prime Minister Burnham fired back that while he had been in London, there were a series of blackouts at the hotels and in the sector of London, one of the major modern capitals of the world, where he stayed and his delegation stayed. He said the risk of crime to the persons of his delegation was higher than in Georgetown, the poverty was noticeably more because of the terrible weather that USA and England has, the old people were suffering considerably more than this so-called modern capitalist state that has been exi– in existence almost since time immemorial.
They referred also to the policy of Burnham banning certain food imports which Guyana can produce locally. Some food items would not appear again on the shelves in Guyana, said English newspapers in scathing attacks against Burnham. England and USA are close allies, as you know, thus indicating the mood no doubt of the reactionaries in USA. The English papers said that such commodities would never be available again. Burnham said they can be produced and will be produced in Guyana. Prime Minister Burnham said a country like Guyana had no right to import salt fish from white rich corporations when it has vast marine resources, and with its agricultural resources, should and will have no future food problems, while England will be faced with real dire emergencies in food. Black eye, he said, had once been imported into Guyana. When its importation was stopped, black eye was grown both for local consumption and for export. And that’s borne out today in Guyana news with 3000 bags coming in from the interior to J.P. Santos, one of the largest distributors and friends of Peoples Temple, for utilization of uh, people in Georgetown area. Prime Minister Burnham said Guyana ha– as a developing nation with her socialist perspective, will not sit down and merely complain. Guyanese in Britain, as you know, recently presented Prime Minister Burnham with a plaque to mark the deaths of 11 Guyanese who died when a CIA element sabotaged a Cubana airliner, which plunged into the sea off Barbados, killed 73 persons, on October o– over a year ago, in 1976, in fact.
Other news. The government of the PNC with its new referendum in hand, giving it the power to strengthen its constitution and establish a socialist government with firm power to rule, has ha– given the high court judge a mandate to deal harshly with all people caught stealing from public agencies. Comrade Bacchus, one of the people in the Demerara Tobacco Company that was formerly held by white capitalists and now is owned by the government of Guyana, the people of Guyana, is said– is saying that the lack of collective concern has resulted in a substantial loss of production in the tobacco industry, a problem that some see here, in Jonestown, who have littleconcern, it seems, for your own property, when you can see more direct results than any collective on earth, and it’s really dreadful.
You’re cutting yourself off from all kinds of opportunities. Movies, entertainment, music, it could be gotten, increased variety of foods, because you do not work at your capacity, and you will not take responsibility for the waste that goes on. In uh, surveying last evening, I hear that there’s waste in many areas, that some mechanics replace new parts that could be actually rebuilt. That we have waste in the fields has been heard for days, where people will pass over, do damage, cut vital plants. We must demand, and do, an urgent review as the Demerara Tobacco Board, nationalized by the socialist government, is demanding with a increase in production beyond all of the previous records, even when it was privately owned.
Guyana is celebrating a national holiday tomorrow, the birthday of the African freedom fighter and all of those held in political exile in Union of South Africa and Rhodesia. Particularly, tomorrow is the birthday of one Nelson Mandela, that has been held without trial, no jury trial, imposed dictatorship, the Union of South A– Africa has placed one Nelson Mandela in jail in 1964, and he has never had a review by the courts. This horrible fascist regime is being taken on– head on in more brave manners than we have seen heretofore in Guyana. The Guyana Broadcasting Network called the regimes of Rhodesia and of Ian Smith, white who’s imposing his rule on blacks, even though they’re outnumbered, whites, 14 to one, the same in [Union of South] Africa, where 87 percent, nearly nine out of ten are people of color. Guyana called the regimes of Smith (briefly turns head from mic) and [Johannes] Vorster, dictators, the dictator of South Africa, Smith, the dictator over Rho– Rhodesia, that is rightfully called Zimbabwe, where the true government is the Patriotic Front under Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe. Guyana Broadcasting Network calls them oppressive and fascistic.
Two hundred teachers – that should be checked in by our radio, to see if we’re– have any representative – are to participate tomorrow, I believe, in a seminar on diagnostic testing. We should have representative in this. One of the comrades that came through here, Mary Rodgers, is participating, she was such a beautiful woman, as you remember. She told how under white rule, US and British rule here, even her own household, her lighter skin sisters of hers went to one school and brothers, she told of how she was beaten mercilessly with buggy whips by the white oppressor, and yet she was so beautifully sweet to all, white, black, whatever the race, as she worked her way through talking and touching and embracing people, as one of the high board members of the Peoples National Congress, the vanguard of socialism, the ruling party that our Prime Minister Burnham belongs to, and the chairman of it is our good friend, the deputy prime minister, Dr. Ptolemy Reid.
Management is given a mandate over Guyana Broadcasting Network by the government to get out of bureaucracy paper-writing, memorandums, and get involved with the people, cut down cost and involve themselves on the s– equal level with their workers in all of the socialist, nationalized factories, industries and stores. This mandate was uh, issued from the prime minister’s office. As I said, the high court will not stand by and see– in the words of Guyana Broadcasting Network, and see agencies of government line their pockets with money meant for the poor. In Guyana’s solid effort, as Guyana Broadcasting Network said, to bring equality economically to all people in this great country of Guyana.
An adult education associate official in charge of adult education in Guyana was demanded to repay, make restitution, for some 2400 dollars that she had fraudulently misused, and if she does that within a certain few days, she will be given time off, because she has never– she’ll be on probation, she has never been s– previously sentenced. But her name is being held up to what Guyana Broadcasting Network called, public ridicule.
Korean reunification, which is of course contrary to the interest of USA, because USA cruelly divided Korea. All the people prefer the People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea. USA came in to South Korea, imposed one of the worst dictators in history, who has thousands of political prisoners. Many have disappeared, never to be seen again by their families. They had been cruelly tortured by the KCIA, an auxiliary of the dread CIA of US imperialism.
A new meeting was being held and highly broadcast over Guyana Broadcasting Studios in New Amsterdam town hall for 4 pm this afternoon. I do not know whether it’s possible, the radio could check if any of our persons could be possible to be there to make it known that we are there.
The socialist constitution is moving fastly ahead. Different committees are formed under the direct guidance of the prime minister and cabinet ministers to bring about guarantees of the referendum of a purely socialist constitution, said Guyana Broadcasting Studios.
A bill is being introduced to extend the life of Parliament for fifteen months. Even the opposition, PPP, as well as the PNC. This of course would forestall elections for 15 months, which in this climate well could be in the best interest of national unity.
A large delegation of youth, the Guyana National Services, the commander [Lee] who has been very friendly to us, has said in fact that the entire Guyana National Services has modeled many of its efforts after Jonestown. And other youth from various sectors of Guyana are headed for Cuba in a few days for an International Festival of Solidarity of socialist nations, and particular emphasis will be upon solidarity of socialist nations in the Caribbean, which of course would mean only Guyana, Cuba and Jamaica, struggling as they are, under the bondage of the International Monetary Fund. Zambia, though, who has been in the position of having to apply for International Monetary Fund aid, as you know yesterday, made some sharp– (short laugh) very sharp statements about USA. So they’ve not been intimidated. Unfortunately, Jamaica did not have as strong a hold on its means of production and means of distribution, and therefore was much more vulnerable to the manipulations of the monopoly capitalists from Europe and Ame– North America that control the International Monetary Fund. International Monetary Fund has been resisted in Guyana on the basis that that will not allow foreign domination of any productive areas, they will not allow meddling in their banking system, and up till now, have refused all efforts of IMF to devalue their money.
Economic– Economic summit meeting continues in Bonn, West Germany, that prides itself on being the inheritor of Adolf Hitler, the barbarian’s Third Reich. This includes Japan, West Germany, Italy, USA, Canada, England and France. The news of Guyana Broadcasting Studios says that the great seven capitalist [nations] are faced with economic stagnation and mass unemployment, due to the growing protectionism. At this point, it is not determined whether Japan, who has the surplus, the one nation that is prospering more than the rest, selling more than they’re buying, that is, exporting more than they’re importing, whether they’ve agreed to change any of their protectionist policies. Other minor capitalist nations such as Australia are reacting to the European Common Market, who Australia accuses of showing no interest in the welfare of other capitalist nations. So protectionism is growing, and the European Common Market and Japan and USA’s [Jimmy] Carter fears that it will be a reaction– there’ll be a reaction of protectionism which was characteristic of the history prior to World War I in USA. Carter expressed some hope that they will be able to avoid any major breakdown of the capitalist economic system in the next months ahead.
The Arab Nations, the oil league, particularly OPEC, are threatening again to review prices. No commentary on that. No basis was given, but perhaps it’s over the recent developments in Yemen that have not been resisted by USA, and the Arab League, made up of feudalistic monarchies, are very, very concerned over the fact that the Organization for African Unity, made up of 49 leading nations of Africa, the heads of state today, in spite of great pressure from USA, which was getting great pressure from the Arabs to impose sanctions and an indictment of the Cuban freedom fighters that have gone in to Africa, the 49 nations refused in a clear vast majority, they refused to make any resolution condemning Cuba in Africa, and in fact, made a resolution that each and every African state can call on Cuba or any other nation that will assist them, in liberation from oppression whenever and at whatever time they choose. The 49 nations have been meeting in Khartoum, overlooking the beautiful Nile. The foreign ministers. Now, this week, the heads of state of the 49 leading African nations will meet. This vote and decision was a clear setback to USA policy.
Today, being that Zambia so bravely yesterday stood up to US imperialism and defended Cuba’s right in uh, involvement in Africa and uh, defended the African unity forces, that a pan-African force should be set up to help with the liberation of the blacks under the oppressive USA-supported Union of South Africa and Rhodesia.
Where is Zambia? South central Africa. To the northwest is Zaire, where one of the few puppets that are left in Africa prevail, and even he distrusts the white man. Mobuto Sese Seko. To the northwest is Zaire. To the northeast is Tanzania, who blistered USA last week for its oppressive colonialistic policies. To the east is Malawi – M-a-l-a-w-i – southeast is the Marxist, pro-Soviet state of Mozambique. M-o-z-a-m-b-i-q-u-e. To the south, the white racist regime of Ian Smith and Rhodesia, that the black people proudly call Zimbabwe. And also to the south is Botswana, that was considered a safe, little puppet territory of Union of South Africa, but it has given a clear course of independence from that dread regime and has spoke out with increasing demands for liberation of all blacks in South Africa. To the west, the Angolan socialist republic, pro-Soviet country was freed with direct intervention of Cuban forces when it was being oppressed by USA, the CIA was working clandestinely and unfortunately, China, with its horrid foreign policy, was also supporting the capitalist and very biased religious nationalist opposition in Angola.
How was Zambia created? Part of the empire built by Cecil Rhodes. Northern Rhodesia became a British protectorate in 1924. Cecil Rhodes’ son, by the way, was killed going though Rhodesia recently, he was killed by activists of the Patriotic Front, for still trying to perread– promote white rule and white racism. His only heir, Cecil Rhodes, the great magnate, colonialist, corporate leader, man of wealth, who had the name Rhodesia– the country of Rhodesia was named after that oppressor, Cecil Rhodes. Anyway, Northern Rhodesia became a British protectorate, so-called, a colonial possession, really, in 1924. In 1953, the area was made part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland – N-y-a-s-a-l-a-n-d – but extensive agitation led to its independence, in spite of US and British opposition, on October 24, 1964, at which time Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia. Z-a-m-b-i-a. The people preferred to have their country named after the Zambesi – Z-a-m-b-e-s-i – River, rather than the detested and hated racist colonialist, Cecil Rhodes.
What is the size of our sister nation Zambia in Africa? 290,586 square miles. You can get an idea there, about four times larger than Guyana, but unfortunately, it has many times more – five to six times – larger population. Its population is 4,850,000, and opposed to 800,000 in Guyana, in the rich fertile area with 83,000 square miles here. What are– What is the population bra– breakdown? Mostly African, with the Bantu – B-a-n-t-u – tribes, which are 98.5 percent. European white constitute 1.1 percent, and are treated very well. Other races are only four-tenths of one percent. Mostly animist, people who revere nature in their religion, but with over 15 percent Christian and some Hindus and Muslims, but for the most part, this great people has kept its native religion of animism and has resisted the imposition of racist religious elements of Hinduism, the Muslims, and particularly, white Christianity.
Who rules? President Kenneth Kaunda – K-a-u-n-d-a – been a good friend of Prime Minister Burnham, who elected– who was elected by universal adult democratic vote, universal adult suffrage. The legislative assembly has 105 members, 100 elected by universal suffrage, and five nominated by the president. As you know, Zambia has been put under heavy pressure by US imperialists, as Carter dumped cheaply a surplus that USA had of copper to refill it– reduce the copper prices on the world market, and Kaunda had been unfortunately not diversified enough in its economy, and its entire economy depended upon copper, but amazingly it has survived and still stands up bravely against the imposition of USA and Britain.
Who really rules? Kaunda has rearranged– was uh– has arranged rather for the gradual national takeover of foreign-owned copper mining companies, and foreign oil production companies. Zambia has nationalized billion dollar industries, causing disputes with Britain and USA and other capitalist foreign investors, which often had to be settled by third parties and UN teams, in a determined effort to gain economic independence, in spite of almost being broken by the manipulations of the copper market by US imperialism. Millions of dollars in aid come from– in the past, from USA and particularly Britain, its lackey, and other Western capitalist nations. A 10 million dollar loan from Peking, China, however, is being added to the contributions of Peking. Peking engineers are also helping to build highways and bridges for Zambia. Zambia remains non-aligned, and we are finding here information that shows China is putting assistance into some of these brave African nations. I guess her fear of Soviet domination has caused her to behave rascally on the foreign mar– uh, foreign policy scene in Zaire and uh, Angola and Ethiopia, but we’re seeing more and more Chinese aid coming in. We hope this represents a wind of change.
The first self-governing legislative elections were held in January of 1964. Ninety-five percent of the population in Zambia voted. Some walked as far as 20 miles in the rain to reach the polls. They have a lot more rain than we do then in Zambia. A thumb dipped in red ink prevented people from voting twice. The people voted by symbol, for the parties of their choice, lion, corn cob, or hoe, Kenneth Kaunda’s hoe party was victorious, sand when he became president in October, he was firm. He told a group of labor leaders, this government is strong and here to stay. I do not want to hear any more nonsense from anyone about bringing back colonialism or capitalism.
David Livingstone, the Scottish Christian missionary and explorer, went to Zambia more than a century ago – a century is a hundred years – and was horrified at the slaving he witnessed. Blacks were terrorized, their families broken up, as they were led off by the Arabs, the whites – Muslims, you see, there’s no difference between Muslims and Christians, contrary to what Wallace Deen Muhammad and the Nation of Islam has tried to say in the USA. Arab Muslims were in the primary uh, m– marketing of slaves there. Livingstone, one of those more benevolent Christians, who immediately vowed to end the trade where he could, tried to replace the slave trade with general commerce in Africa. He spent his last days in Zambian country. When no one had heard much from him in about a year, the New York Herald-Dispatch, newspaper that is now gone broke, dispatched a reporter whose assignment was simply to find Livingstone. The reporter, Henry Morton Stanley, succeeded finally, coming upon the missing missionary at Lake Tanganyika – T-a-n-g-a-n-y-i-k-a – where Stanley greeted him with the words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” You’ve no doubt heard it in your school.
He was the last white man to speak with Livingstone, who died at the age of 60 on May 1, 1873, of malaria, following an eight-month trek through disease-infested swamps. His chief bearer, Susi – S-u-s-i – insisted that the doctor be buried in England. His body was dried out for two weeks, then embalmed in brandy and salt. The bearers had the body shipped to Westminster after they had carried it to the sea. The trip to the African coast, which now takes 24 hours on American-built highway, took them nine months in those days, and probably Livingstone didn’t even want to go back to colonial England, that was involved in this marketing of slaves, as well as USA. Of course, USA continued the slave market, even after England. On the one-hundredth anniversary of Livingstone’s death, President Kaunda led 1000 Zambians to Cipundu – C-i-p-u-n-d-u – where Livingstone had died, to pay tribute to the Scotsman. Kaunda said at that time, what dominated Livingstone’s life, though he was a white man, was his sense of mission as a servant of the people of Africa, instead of– instead of the white lord they serve. He did not see himself a leader in any sense at all, but a servant of the black people, and we shall always hold him near and dear to our hearts. That shows the great magnitude of black people able to overcome the pain that was inflicted, one of the wor– worst and cruelest slave trades in history that came out of Zambia.
This ends the commentary of the news for the day, and a nation that you need to hear about. Also the news coming at the last moment, Yugoslavia is making some trade agreements, it’s a non-aligned Communist nation in Europe, with Guyana, and last week, it gave a 70 million US dollar loan to aid Burma in copper production, and Burma’s efforts to break away from dependence upon Western capitalist imperialism. Perhaps tomorrow we can discuss Yugoslavia.
We must all show great interest in the news. It is important to show great interest in the news. As a matter of fact, I think I shall give Yugoslavia. I don’t think it is that long, and I can give it in the shorter form.
Yugoslavia. Where is it located? It’s in southeastern Europe. Its embassy here’s been very friendly to us, and complimentary of the Jonestown pure communal experiment. In southeastern Europe, Yugoslavia is located, across from Italy. It shares its borders with seven countries, northern Italy on the west, Austria and Hungary on the north, Rumania and Bulgaria on the east, Greece and Alba– Albania on the south. To the southwest is the Adriatic Sea.
How was it created? In the sixth and seventh centuries, several Slavic tribes migrated, some southward and some westward over the Carpathians – C-a-r-p-a-t-h-i-a-n-s – into the area between the Danube – D-a-n-u-b-e – River and the Adriatic Sea – A-d-r-i-a-t-i-c. It was not until 1918 that the various nationalities were allowed to unite to form an independent state, at that time called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats – C-r-o-a-t-s – and Slovenes – S-l-o-v-e-n-e-s. There’s always been a lot of prejudice, particularly from Germany that’s twice tried to dominate the world against southern Europeans. The prejudice exist in USA, too. People from Greece, Italy, Spain, Yugoslavia, and those areas are somehow inferior, like the USA has considered blacks to be.
What is its size? Barely larger than Guyana, 98,766 square miles, roughly the size of Wyoming, with not the fertile uh, potential of this country. Its population– well, you can see there’s no comparison. Guyana has 800,000 in 83,000 square miles, but the population of Yugoslavia is 21 million, nearly– in fact, 22 million. 21,900,000. Of that, Serb are 42.1 percent. Croat – C-r-o-a-t – who are still highly nationalistic, are 23.1 percent. Slovene are 8.6 percent. Macedonian are 5.6 percent. Muslim religion, five two point [5.2] percent, Albanian, 4.9 percent, 16 other groups, 10.5 percent. All races. And there’s a real integration in Yugoslavia of the races.
Forty-two percent of the people are Serbian Orthodox, a religion of Christendom that you are not familiar. One of the many sects that show that there’s no unity in Christianity. Twenty-five percent are Roman Catholic, 10 percent are Muslim. And they have a reasonable religious peace, as we see in Guyana, one of the rare nations that has such.
Who rules? A president, a collective presidency, a premier, a parliament, the Federal Assembly, and a cabinet, the Executive Council. The position of president has been changed due to the problem of President [Josip Broz] Tito’s successor. He’s 86 years, one of the bravest freedom fighters, he fought the Nazis, he’s gone through many, many things, and he is very healthy at 86 years of age, it show young people that socialists can live old and ripe age and still have great adventure in liberation of a people. The policy is to try to create the conditions for collective leadership after Tito’s death. The 1971 Constitution established a 22-person collective presidency, while at the same time reelecting Tito – T-i-t-o – president for five years. Tito of course really is the principal ruler, with the other leaders of the league of Communists as his lieutenants, an– and since successfully leading the partisan forces during World War II, he won his own victory against Hitler. He drove them out single-handedly. He was a powerful guerilla fighter. He has held ultimate power, uh, of course, since that, as head of the party, the government and the Socialist Alliance, the only other legal political party. There are two brands of socialism there, but both agree to the economics of socialism. And there’s a charamatic– charismatic national hero who never– who is never directly criticized but plays the role of critic of the bureaucracy in favor of these people. Allah Mao [phonetic], says this capitalist criticism. Tito has enjoyed a kind of autocratic reign, though it’s benevolent, even the capitalists admit that. Though sharing his power with his comrades at arms, he’s taken no financial advantage of the people, and the people have a high standard of living. The ruling clique of the party, of course, according to the capitalists, are the lieute– lieutenants around him, though no one accus him– accuses him of living much above his people.
Josip Broz – J-o-s-i-p capital B-r-o-z – who became Secretary General of the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1937, rose during World War II from relative obscurity to an international frame– and fame, as Marshal Tito, as he affectionately became called, leader of the aggressive resistance group of partisans. The group, ill-clad and nearly starved, all of them undernourished, fought against tremendous odds against Hitler and fascism that had been imposed by the Trilateral Commission to try to stop communism. Tito himself was wounded many times and narrowly escaped capture on several occasions. At the war’s end, he was both a military hero and leader of the anti-fascist political alliance, the AVNOJ [Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia], with a large enough personal following to withstand the machinations of Soviet rule, which he considered to be hegemony in that day. He tried to have him ousted. Tito emerged as unquestioned leader of his country. He was uh, alienated by [Josef] Stalin. He’s now drawn closer to the Soviet Union, though he’s non-aligned.
At first, Tito worship followed the pattern of Stalin worship in the USSR, but this was toned down, due to the break with Stalin and criticism of the cult of the individual, which really began in Yugoslavia. Even the capitalists admit this. Of course, they’re more kindly to non-aligned Communists than they are uh, the superpower of the Soviet Union, which is their archenemy. In particularly, the cult of the individual, says the commentary, was resisted, as it applied to Stalinism. Still, what ev– wherever he went in public, Tito was greeted with cheers and the chant, Tito is ours, we are Tito’s. His trivial acts have been chronicled in the newspapers and made very significant. Yet in the course of the spectacle of the rule, Tito has played many roles: benevolent father of the people, stern, scolding uncle, critic of bureaucracy, simple man of the soil, world traveler – he’s gone all over the world – comrade in arms of World War II days, dignified head of state – he does have a very nice car, say the capitalists, they chide him for that, a Rolls Royce – and finally, resplendent military leader on his white charger. He often wears a white uniform and rides a horse, even in his 86 years. The supposed absence of class conflict in Yugoslavia is contradicted by capitalists, but they have to admit that there’s rela– relative freedom, because there’s been over 2000 strikes since 1958 for more advanced rights. In fact, the workers have a real uh, hand in government of that state. The number of strikers increasing each year until the last two years in which they have been able to get enough benefits to satisfy the need of the workers, because the Yugoslav people are fiercely independent people. Now the ideologists are besides themselves trying to explain why the workers of that period struck against themselves. And that’s capitalist commentary. Well, they strike to improve, you know, they improve conditions and eliminate bureaucracy. It’s significant in the last two years there’ve been no strikes. Since all these strikes were supposedly illegal, wildcats – but nobody was thrown in jail, capitalists don’t note that contribution, so that shows a great deal of benevolence – and they were there– therefore difficult to control. There has been, of course as I said, recent proposals to have the Communist Party run unions, organize and lead them, and that has been adopted, and labor is really getting more benefits than many nations in the socialist bloc, because it is really a labor class nation. Non-aligned, helpful in peace settlements, helping in bridging the gaps, it’s been critical of Chinese policy in Africa, though it had formerly been somewhat pro-Chinese, it is distinctly against China’s foreign policy and has been very friendly and has met in all recent Soviet Warsaw Pact conferences.
Thus ends the commentary of the news, and two nations that you can learn about, that are interesting. Much love. Remember to be prepared. There will be a test in Peoples Rally, in which we cannot cheat. It will be representative and in-depth and fair, more fair than other tests, but it will be one in which you will have to know, so be sure you go back and pick up all the knowledge on these nations, ask the librarian [Teresa King] what you missed, or ask Comrade Vernetta Christian, secretary of news.
Thank you, and I love you very much. We’ll announce what will be on television later tonight. (mic clicks off)
(long pause)
Afternoon on this Monday, we need to give you more news. (tape garbled)
Side 2
Like everything else in the universe that we don’t understand, they come in cyc– cycles. Might be interesting to look back on what happened on the 17th of July in previous years. I don’t know whether there’s any significance or cycles that are predictable. I’m not interested in that kind of thought. I am interested in the power of healing and precognition that I have. I’ve seen everything else to be fraudulent. But in 1877, the first nationwide railword– railway strike took place in USA. In 1936 on this same date of the 17th of July, the Spanish Civil War began. The US sent people of all races, social democrats, socialists, communists, to help the people to try to support the Spanish republicans who were really social democrats, leftward leaning in their war against [Francisco] Franco, who was a protégé of Hitler, a real fascist Phalangist Christian. But he had no– Franco had no people support, the superior military force of Hitler’s Germany, and the lack of support given, of course, by USA or any other capitalist nation. The brave people of Spain lost that civil war. Franco has since, you know, been deposed, in death, really, that’s when the government changed and become a sort of benign capitalism, having lots of trouble, the Basque– the Basque uh, region is seeking independence, quite a revolutionary element. 1964 on the 17th of July, a leading civil rights activist, black nationalist to James Powell, was killed in a merciless attack by police in Harlem. However, it was the major uprising of Harlem, the first and most significant major uprising in Harlem of black people.
Now shall we– we shall go on today.
In Cyprus, leaning further to the left, the president [Spyros Kyprianou] has taken his vice president out of the current talks and negotiations with Turkey, which are attempting to bring a peaceful resolution to Cyprus, which has a small sector that is Turkish in population. Cyprus is a predominantly Greek Orthodox Christian community that has gone pro-Marxist and been invited into Comecon [Council for Mutual Economic assistance], the federation of communist nations., the Warsaw Pact nations under the Soviet Union. The Turkish sector has demanded a bicameral legislature, one representing the Greeks and one the Turks, and this has been resisted.
Turkey is in upheaval. News just coming in. It’s in major upheaval. They’re finding, I guess, left infiltration in their secret police, top security members of their secret police have been deposed. I supposed charges are being pending. Also the person in charge of the secret police of security in Istan– Istanbul has also been chopped. There’s a lot of violence in Turkey. News is not too clear, as to who’s winning. Turkey has been a reactionary regime, though it has threatened of late to seek Soviet aid and draw closer to the Soviet Union because of the US ban on military aid that had been imposed because the Turks were using it against minorities. Turkish reactionaries uh, two decades ago murdered two million Armenians, and the Turks had been using their arms against Greece that’s also an ally of USA. So USA made a choice, let arms embargo that’s being now currently discussed in Congress as to whether to be lifted, and I think it has been. You get very little news out of USA when something’s done that is not uh, in the best tradition of democracy. But nonetheless, Turkey’s having its own internal strife at this time. Vicious violence, as the left is struggling for power in Turkey.
Egypt, [Anwar] Sadat has not agreed to the Israeli demands to maintain military forces on Gaza at East Bank. The foreign minister of Egypt [Muhammad Ibrahim Kamel] and uh, Israel, Zionist Israel [Moise Dayan], and USA are meeting in London today, Secretary [Cyrus] Vance, tired and fatigued, had just arrived, because he’s been spread thin trying to discuss disarmament talks in the Soviet Union, which have been unable to get off the ground because of US resolution, the Congress’ resolution that uh, they will not uh, sign any kind of détente to peace arrangements until something’s done about the Soviet treatment of their dissidents. Seems very strange to link the uh, internal policies of any nation with such an important issue as world peace. But that’s the way things are these days. And we give all sides and all facets of the news.
The number of communist nations, the Eurocommunist, which unfortunately and tragically in this nuclear age, may be forming a new bloc (briefly turns head from mic) are being very censorious of the treatment, the heavy penalties being handed down by the Soviets on their dissidents, or what the Soviets call, their traitors. The Soviets say, this is our law, and we will not allow internal meddling. I think the USA, if they wanted to change things, really basically change things for the well-being of the Soviets are doing such a job of uh, putting the public spotli– spotlight on the Soviets, it’d be difficult for them to back off, if they chose from some of their sentences. However, some cus– accused of capital crime have only being given eight years. One sentence does seem to be heavy, I don’t know, the nature of it, we can’t get a thing out of US media, the Soviet Union for some reason does not yet uh, react. If anyone’s picking up Soviet broadcast that do, I cannot pick up any socialist bloc nations that are reacting. ‘Course, the Warsaw Pact nations – you know those – Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany and so forth, are giving staunch support to the Soviet Union in their right of internal rule. (turns head from mic to cough) Excuse me, froggy sound. I had some– something in the throat. The Soviet Union did sentence uh, someone previously to 15 years in the Ukraine who was on the Helsinki Human Rights uh, Commission, the– the Helsinki Accord from Finland, arrived at certain basic human rights considerations, and the– the Soviets are coming under attack, but it seems like the Soviets are so embittered by this uh, public ridicule that US and her lackeys have put upon her that she’s maybe over-reacting.
The French Communist paper said that uh, great sympathy for the Soviet Union, what it’s done for its people, its domestic achievements, its international policy of uh, helping liberation causes in Africa, but it said these laws need to be changed about disagreement with the government. And so I will post what I hear. Now this is the Voice of Sweden, that may be distorted, BBC backs it up, I can get no uh, communist broadcast discussing it, but they do the direct quote from The Humanity, the uh, organ of the Communist Party, which has indeed become independent, and we have studied it, studied the Italian Communist, particularly the Italian Communist Party, which are obviously revisionist, in that they will even discuss joint efforts with AFL-CIO leader uh, that uh, George Meany, who’d worked uh– and been brought as public record, that he was involved with the CIA, seems hard to defend. Uh, no way you can defend it. But I try to give you all the news. But the major Western Communist parties, that is – they are minorities, of course, in France and Belgium and Netherlands and in Great Britain, England, and in Spain, with exception of Portugal’s Communist Party – have come out against the severity of the trials. Listening to the editorial of the French revisionist, the Euro-Communist Party, which is mo– more and more the European Communist parties are breaking away, except the staunch allies in the Warsaw Pact. With of course (unintelligible word) exceptions like Cyprus and Yemen. And it’s a– it’s a real dangerous era. It’s a really dangerous era. But USA of course is using it, and all its political prisoners, they’re utterly hypocritical, there’re tens of thousands, as Andrew Young admitted himself, thousands of political prisoners in USA. The Soviet Union only have four on trial at the present time. One under sentence of death. I mean, (stumbles over words) unless it’s a– uh, appeal is successfully, but some of the Communist parties are criticizing trial in– by television and in front of the television cameras. The Soviets say this is to show to all the world their objectivity, so the people can see the trials. These people do confess. The uh, French Communist went on to disagree with Soviet policy of putting those who disagree with government into mental institutions. I’m sure, however, it is preferable than being put into the horrible prison conditions of USA, where a prison cell is overcrowded 15 to one. But I’m giving you the Euro-Communist revisionist view. It takes difficulty to think and keep your course.
We’re not here because we are pro-Soviet, we are pro-socialist. We do not believe a socialist solution will work in one nation, uh, that– that has worked successfully in one nation can be imposed upon another nation. We do recognize that power corrupts. The dangerous era of the transition from capitalism can lead to excesses, as under Stalin, for instance, he got so very uh, paranoid about the Western imperialist who had infiltrated clear up in his high command, trying to overthrow the communist re– regime, and he was a very dedicated man in the sense that he lived humbly, modestly, dressed shabbily, and owned no– nothing new, and left not one cent when he passed, he was such a man of Communist practice. But he was a firm practitioner, indeed. Uh– After that unveiling of the German infiltration, the Nazi – and indirectly, US capitalist – infiltration into his high command, he had purges, there’s no question about it.
The French seem to be the only re– the really objective analysis. I wouldn’t even bother to give you the other European Communist analysis, (tape edit for two seconds) but uh, they are a minority, they’re under paid, no doubt, and in some instances they’ve sold out to capitalist interests, and perhaps they fear, as many Communists who became apologists for USA in the McCarthy era, and even sold out, we have it all the time, who broke away from Communism to play it safe. And then there are those who simply have become a part of the petit bourgeoisie, if not the middle class bourgeoisie. They’ve received such high salaries from their trade union activities that they’re more a part of the capitalist system than they are their socialist theory and rhetoric.
We’ve seen that here, we’ve seen that everywhere. We’ve seen that in high officials that our people have dated. They have Marxist theory down clad, but they have unfortunately allowed themselves to be tricked, to become a part of the system, and they’re really schizophrenic. I don’t want to name names. Then you have the bold, kind of socialism– I don’t know, though, I’m not going to comment on the lifestyle of the prime minister, of that I do not know. I know the lifestyle of Dr. Reid is humble, lives in modest circumstances, the chairman of the PNC. But anyway, you have to say that power has not been abused in Guyana. At this stage, a lot of opposition’s tolerated, and the power that is undoubtedly – and we must all see – in the hands of the PNC, is being used to champion socialist measures at this point about the new constitution, and champion liberation in Korea, and in the strongest terms, to speak out against US and British oppression, and obviously, I have not abused power.
That period, however, of the DFP is a dangerous period. One may have to waken someplace in some point in time, that for a long era, you’ll have a choice of two kinds of dictatorships: one communistic, or one fascistic. Because capitalism will go fascistic, there’re too many economic contradictions inside of capitalism today to continue it. It’s falling apart at the seams. And we’re seeing oppressive measures, oppressive laws, laws legalizing experimentation on children, racist laws, the Bakke decision upheld by the Supreme Court, journalists being deprived of their right to maintain their sources, which will uh, stop them from printing any corruption in the government. This is being uh– this is upheld by the Supreme Court. And a new measure that uh, is even more severe restriction. In spite of the fact that the press in USA has been uh, [Aleksandr] Solzhenitsyn, uh, a former defector from the Soviet Union, said uh, corrupt and too powerful, nonetheless, uh, other elements of power in the capitalist ruling class are restricting their power considerably. For the first time, we’ve seen today’s news, New York Times foreign edition, I do not know whether it uh– the comment was, it was in its foreign edition, I doubt very much if it was in its domestic edition. US Time Magazine, Newsweek has foreign edition, which they s– would appear to be– oh they’re progressive and extremely liberal, whereas in USA, they will not print the same stuff, but in the foreign edition of the New York Times, there’s a heavy, heavy indictment on Rose Peterson, who was the consul in the Moscow region from the USA. And we hadn’t heard a thing about her. The US sort of dropped her out of the news. You remember, she was the lady that uh, got on several buses and tried to divert attention, she was supposedly a consul, and not supposed to be involved in spy work. That’s what the US mandate of the constitution and the government requires, that the CIA functions are not to interfere and not to be involved in diplomatic posts, but we’ve seen it over and over again. You know that any time you talk with the consul, (unintelligible word) you may be talking with a member of the CIA. Well, she was. The All-American girl, the New York Times foreign edition said, uh, she looked like she had liberal humanitarian concerns, but they caught her in the act, and the for– the New York Times said it doesn’t make any difference how much the United States denies it, uh, the New York Times foreign edition, which again is hypocritical to print truth in the foreign edition and not print the truth in the domestic editions, but they said she was caught in the act, she had a rock with poison in it, and was placing it under a bridge. She had a secret code which she called out, I’m a foreigner, I’m a foreigner, which stopped whatever uh, treasonous elements, you’d have to say, treasonous element, when you’re talking about poison. That why US news about human rights in the Soviet Union is so slanted. She was actually passing poison and explosives to some anti-Soviet element, but uh, they didn’t come to pick up the rock. She was caught in the act, and even her own consular, her deputy consular did not know – and he was called in about it, the Soviets were shocked and chagrined – and she then showed her true colors under investigation, said New York foreign Times edition, she said that directly to her consular assistant, as some sort of uh, secret police official, she said, shut up, I order you to shut up. And he did, because evidently he– he may have been saying too much. However, USSR, the Soviet Union, respected diplomatic immunity, all people in consuls have diplomatic immunity, and obviously then the Soviet Union must have spying in their consuls, because they did respect diplomatic immunity which granted her the right to go home. She went home, and she’s living, uh, not too easily a lie. She’s still being supported, the New York foreign Times edition, the New York Times foreign edition, could not uh, determine the source, she is alienated, she has very little company except uh, for sexual purposes, and there wasn’t a great elaboration on that, she refuses any comment with news and she lives an excluded life somewhere in the racist South. And they did indict her for her being built up by the press, elements of the press, New York Timescriticized them for building her up as the All-American liberal and uh, (stumbles over words) the All-American beauty queen, uh– Quite a campaign, press cooperation and government. She was built as, you know, kind of nice little girl that would never pass poison, and just a consular of, uh, heralded as a victor for the feminists, that the woman has re– reached an important post, but little did the world know how mu– important the post she did, she was a high-ranking CIA official, and this just happened, as you know, a few days ago. I gave you the news about it. Anyway, uh, she now is dropped from the Foreign Service, and USA is trying to act like they have no connection with it, there– that’s the rewards for spying, nobody really appreciates loyalty. At least she did have loyalty, she cried out to whoever was to pick up the rock uh, gave them the warning so they wouldn’t be arrested, she was loyal, but apparently, she’s being dropped other than to be maintained financially, but it’s a– a life of the uh, withdrawal and unhappiness and exclusion, and quite an attack on her by the New York Times foreign edition.
Maybe the newspaper’s now going to serve uh, uh, the appearance of a free press because of the uh, laws that are coming down, repressing individual and– and collective liberties, and even freedom of the press. Human rights in USA. And you would certainly get more response from the USSR that has come out of the dictatorship of the proletariat period, a strong personality period of Stalin, (stumbles over words) in which he had uh, laws, for instance, forbidding all Soviet citizens to marry foreigners, and uh, Communist agitation, even from US Communists, got Stalin– uh, Stalin’s successors to change those laws. But he became so utterly apprehensive after imperialism had succeeded in infiltrating his own military high command with money, and you wonder how that can happen. Well, people are primitive, we’re very animalistic. And that was the first Communist revolution. And so people have vestiges, holdovers of capitalism, just like here. People got a price they’ll pay. People– Debbie [Layton], the day she went out, sworn in– in emotion and tears that she would never commit treason, she’d never get with the defectors, and maybe that was her intention. But when they put something on her head, got too heavy, the threats, she complied. Grossly unhappy, involved in drug world, even one of our traitors is in worse condition than that, but I will not elaborate for security reasons on that situation.
Nonetheless, uh, this woman, through a conspiracy of press and government, was built up – Rose Peterson – to be (short laugh) a libertol– liberal and was promoted as the All-American girl, and then when she returned, of course, and her hand was caught in the cookie jar, of passing to pass poison to Soviet agitators, you can hardly call anybody a– a dissident (short laugh) who is trying to poison someone. So you really can’t get the news on the human rights situation, and I don’t know that the French have not sold out, but they did praise the Soviet Union for its domestic policies, guaranteed socialized medicine, its housing, its high standard of living, and its international efforts in Africa towards liberation.
So I always give you all sides of the news. And we must admit that power can be abused, but if you have the choice between fascist power– a Hitler who sends people to gas chambers– the Soviet Union just recently, uh, for instance, granted clemency to all members of the– the conspiracy against the Soviet state who were receiving money from foreign sources to overthrow the Soviet government. They granted a– a national clemency. All of them were freed. The Soviet Union does this on certain days uh, commemorating the revolution, and the USA is making a dreadful mistake to hinge all this uh, on uh, the nuclear disarmament talks. Even members of the capitalist world are criticizing the USA for this, that, with so much heat on the Soviet Union, if they had intended to uh, be more humanitarian– and they haven’t given stiff sentences to some of these people, some of these people like [Natan] Sharansky, uh, was accused of– of passing secrets and only got eight years. That’s a mild sentence. The Rosenbergs [Ethel and Julius], who did nothing and were framed, were put in the ga– in the electric chair in Sou– Sing Sing. Well, anyway, I’m– I’m trying to give you as an objective appraisal of the situation, and I’m afraid that the Soviet Union could not be more humanitarian if they wished to be, or benevolent, because it would be an admission to the entire world that their laws are inhumane.
And I’m certain no system is perfect. It just me– uh, you have to choose whether you want a geno– mass murdering system like fascism under Hitler, a megalomaniac, power-hungry, ruthless, uh, uh, we’ve seen the history we’ve never seen in communism. No experiment in communism, where children have been put in gas chambers, where there’s been mass murder. That has not ever happened in a socialist revolution. We see on the other hand such progress with 50 years of socialism that has brought free medicine, full employment, to all the Soviet Union, even so in China. Tragically, China is uh– remembers her history and is caught up in a bitterness towards white people, and even though she’s doing things like I had to mid– admit today, I will tell you all the news. Assisting Zambia with a ten million dollar aid, and Zambia’s standing up, Zambia’s standing up very s– bravely to USA, and other imperialist practice in Africa. Nonetheless, you have to admit, China, where there was a million dying a day, and now a billion people are all well fed, and are all housed, and we have no starvation, and even the elimination of rodents and flies, that’s a– uh, if there is too much power, and power’s a dangerous thing in the hands of uh, a communist elite, and that could develop. But it’s more dangerous in the hands of a capitalist elite, which now will not even mask itself anymore. Open laws that are fascist are being passed, Senate Bill 1437 will make fascism uh, open. We now have de facto fascism. That means facti– fascism in practice. Apathy, despair, racism, people don’t uh, mind admitting they think blacks ought to be annihilated. Even people in the high governmental layer– levels, uh, head of the chief of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, called for the elimination of blacks, and uh, praised the Ku Klux Klan. So that last stage of capitalism is a dangerous era. It is more menacing, but what we all hope as human beings, that there could be progressive leaders like Jim Jones, who will not allow power to do anything but be used for the people, that he is nothing more than a representative of the people, open to criticism – try me and see – wants to give them the best life and knows that he does not have all the answers, but is the most pure, dedicated leader that he’s ever seen. And I’m sorry to have to admit that. But we’ve seen other exceptions, as I say, in socialism where power has not abused– been abused. We have seen too many, I admit, communist leaders driving Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, and uh, having uh, jewelry, of extensive wealth. I can’t approve of that. I’m afraid of that. But even those who have done those things, I have never seen them uh, put people in jail for 500 years, like the Wilmington 10, the black leaders, the black activists on the East Coast, and the president even refuses to review it. I don’t know whether President Carter is sensitive to it, I’m sure he’s also very aware of selective assassinations that have put the chill on all liberation efforts in USA, or any president that would try to even be a do-gooder. I’m sure that he’s haunted by President [John F.] Kennedy’s death and presidential candidate, President Kennedy’s brother Bob Kennedy, I’m sure he knows well that (unintelligible name under radio), he wasn’t in touch with the will of the ruling Trilateral Commission of monopoly capitalists, who is sort of a– you know, an independent uh, reactionary. Yes, filled with racism, but he had certain errors in which he– areas of his life which he uh, was following his own uh, distorted conscience, and what’d they do, they paralyzed him.
Uh, this is a dreadful hour in capitalism, and whatever Carter’s propensities on one side of him, and maybe everyone’s a Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde, but Jim Jones, sometimes I really wonder. I know my side, my uh, negative side has been subdued, it’ll never emerge, I’ll never be insensitive, I’d put my life secondary to any of you here, even some who’ve been cruel and insensitive and don’t care, and you’d kill me if you had an opportunity, and sell out for a few dollars, but I’d put my life second uh, to yours. I’d always put your welfare above mine. And I don’t believe I’m a mutation. I believe that such evolution can happen to everyone. I came out of poverty, bitterness, (unintelligible word), I could have easily uh, justified capitalism, and seeing the merciless– merciless cruelty of my community, and my dad [James Thurman Jones], but I chose to be sensitive and to live by guilt, which some of you don’t recognize is the greatest protection to humanitarian concern is to take guilt for things you do, and deal with your own mistakes, and feel heavily about them, not be immobilized, but try to compensate for your guilt. In other words, make restitution, like the Guyana government gave the woman the right to do who was a high official in adult education. She paying up the debt of her defrauded.
Well, we’ve all been guilty, we lived and ate in USA, knowing that the money we bought our meat with and food went to cruel purposes in Africa and Vietnam, napalming babies, torturing and exterminating whole villages across the world. Assassination. Yes, uh, USA (clicks tongue) democracy’s been intimidated, and anyone that would be even inclined to social democracy’s been intimidated by – and the protest movement, also – by the final act, the Kent [State University] killings. Now here is the first time in history that we see the mass murder by the army, the Kent State Ohio. Now even in Hitler’s Germany, they have tortures in– the tortures and monuments in uh, fascist– uh, neo-fascist West Germany, where people have been cremated and gassed, they don’t hide it entirely under a bushel. They may not talk about it in the press, but what does USA do at Kent State, when uh, there was a mass movement around the USA to put a memorial at Kent State? No, no, they wouldn’t, they wiped it out, excavated it, and put a gymnasium on top of the place where many, many students were wiped out before the eyes of the nation on television. And of course that went into the minds too, very well, intimidated those who are afraid for their lives. The greatest enemy of socialism, the greatest enemy of liberalism, humanitarianism that would lead to a pure communism, where there would be no force, no armies, no police, uh, a government by peace, because people would see the benefits of it, the greatest enemy of that progress is one thing: people are afraid of losing their lives, or suffering. The world saw – you may have not remembered– but they looked at Kent State and saw that mass execution, and all the protest in hell didn’t do anything about it. No one was ever convicted for it, it was a senseless killing, the students did nothing, they weren’t even throwing anything, they were just shot down in cold blood before the eyes of the nation on evening television. Everyone saw it.
And so, Carter, or whoever else is in the government, Andrew Young, they have their moments, they can’t live, it must be hell– yeah, Andrew Young, black uh, you’ve been a pretty conventional man, he’s played it safe, he’s been in– a religious leader, he didn’t have too much trouble telling the lies that were in the Bible, but it must be something really dirty going on in USA that caused him for a moment at a cocktail party to emerge and say, I am a political prisoner. He– he said, I am, rather than I was. He said then– but there are thousands of political prisoners in the jails. Now, that said to me– does not speak of the high character of Andrew Young, because he sold out on many instances and then backed off from his own commitments. But there’s a side of him every now and then that looks at what he probably sees, the genocide. I remember the foreign minister uh, of this country [Fred Wills] said that Andrew Young wanted to come here, but he was fearful of what it would do to us and him. And Andrew Young has said other things, like the uh– the same time, he said the presence of Cuban assistance in Africa is greatlyexaggerated. Well, uh, that was a damning statement, and now he’s been ordered not to open his mouth. We’ll see if he’s a person of conscience, or is he like the great majority of US citizens that can be intimidated by remembering that Martin Luther King was shot, that Malcolm [X] was murdered, that Medgar Evers was murdered, on, on, on, on. Kennedys were murdered. They murder white and black, they don’t give a damn. The ruling class eliminates, and what’s painful, is that they had to kill so few to stifle liberty in USA. And that’s what’s so hypocritical, and that’s the reason I’m giving this commentary, and I want all of you to listen to this. This will be required testing. You will have to know what I’m now saying, ‘cause it will help you to reason, and that’s the point.
So you have a choice at worst, between the power of fascism, and its history is bloody, or too much power (unintelligible word) structure in communism. [George] Orwell said, that’s what we would face. Dictatorship, one or the other. That was his 1984. Well, fortunately, we see a lot of humanity as we approsh– approach the 1980s. So maybe his dire forecast is not totally true. And are obviously not totally true, because we do see people employed, we do pe– see people cared sensitively, we do see how they handle mental problems in the Soviet Union, and in crisis in uh– I don’t have that text just right, it’s uh, Cities without Crisis, by [Mike] Davidow – D-a-v-i-d-o-w – who’s been a supporter of ours. I recommend it, and I’m going to require it for reading and review. Some could give particular passages from it, and save my voice, over the PA system. I want you to read that book. Cities without Crisis. And that’s about the Soviet Union. That humanity cannot be denied. But nothing’s perfect. We’re not, and neither is the Soviet Union.
Well, that’s the commentary. Now I shall see what else is of any (laughs) importance. A tragic happening, the successor uh, potential to [Zbigniew] Brzezinski, uh– of [Leonid] Brezhnev rather. Goodness knows, that was a mistake. Brzezinski is the chief uh, fascist advisor to the Carter Administration. The chief potential uh, successor to Soviet leader Brezhnev was Fyodor Kulakov, and tragically, he died suddenly at the age of 60 years. No in– intimation by the capitalist press, and they would if there was anything clandestine, he just had a massive uh, coronary. He had uh, been noted for his humanitarian concerns and would’ve made a very progressive leader, so this will mean the Soviets will have to look for someone else in the line of succession.
The dissident trials– another one’s being add– added to it, but it’s a– a small number, indeed, when you compare the fact that ninety percent of our jails and prisons are filled with untold tens of thousands of blacks and Indians and Asians. Anybody can see that that is political uh, imprisonment. Disproportionate. Anyone knows that black people suffer. In the press, they’re characterized uh, in bestial terms. Everyone knows that there’s political harassment and imprisonment in USA, when you see the only black Senator [Edward Brooke] charged with perjury, and– to get him out of office. Just because he’s black. No one’s ever been charged with perjury in their domestic uh, proceedings before. No other uh, black– uh, white person’s been charged with 37 felonies, like Congressman [Charles] Diggs, who’s been a humanitarian, the founder of the Black Caucus, the chairman of the uh, uh, House of Representatives uh, Committee on African Affairs. No one else. He faces 175 years in the– in the prison. If USA’d only get on us, then perhaps they’d have some respect in their so-called quest for human rights.
(unintelligible word) Another tragedy, a Ch– the head of the Christian Institute, a brave doctor had to flee South Africa, as he was targeted for death. He made it. He got into Botswana, that has broken away, and he is in safety.
Khartoum, by the way, some have questioned where it is, it is in Sudan. Look it up on your map. Overlooking the beauty of the Nile. That’s where this historic uh, 49 nation African conference in taking place, uh, and the historic decision came down today, in spite of all US imperialist pressure, capitalist pressure, and her allies in NATO, they refused to censure Cuba, and in fact, said that Cuba would be invited whenever any African nation chose to or the whole Pan-African uh, force, (clears throat) and that is historic, because of the 49 nations in Africa, they’re not majority socialist. They just got that much pride to have their own independence, and the right of self-determination. Even Nigeria came out in strongest condemnation and uh, it– it’s been to the right, the oil-rich nation of Nigeria. It has demanded, I mean demanded, worldwide commemoration for the prison– those held in prison in Union of South Africa. He said uh, all black people should have this consciousness, and they have demanded that the first task of the Pan-African force would be to liberate the people of Union of South Africa, and Nigeria is not a socialist democracy, not even a social democracy, though it’s moving uh, leftward after Carter was caught meeting with some rich bankers and oil entrepreneurs, you remember, in the Hilton Hotel there.
Anyway, I don’t know what else. Cambodia, Kampuchea has uh, reached some agreement with Thailand over the border clashes that were threatening the peace there. Kampuchea – but this is a capitalist slant – said that Vietnam is trying to swallow them up. Vietnam of course is a socialist– the socialist South and North reunified, and it’s very pro-Soviet. However, even BBC said, Kampuchea could not answer Cambodia– those are two names, Kampuchea is the revolutionary name, Cambodia’s the old colonial name that the white people put on that nation. But the BBC said that their answers on uh, mass persecution wa– were not satisfactory. They could not uh, whitewash, they couldn’t wash away all the charges.
The (sighs) uh, major industrial uh, countries of capitalism, of course, are still in Bonn trying to hurdle this protectionist wave that’s growing. Uh, each nation looking after its own ass. Nationalism, it’s called. A dangerous element in a nuclear age. Nationalism we’ve seen in the name in of communism, but it’s more fierce, more devastating, it takes more risks in the name of capitalism, because they know, the ruling capitalists of the world know that they would be charged as Hitler’s arch-capitalists were, with war crimes, if they were ever defeated. That’s why nuclear war is very certain.
So if we were not against elements in USA government and ruling circles, if we were not for any other socialist movement in the world, the problems facing us, we were black and poor, Indian, Asian, poor whites that have been eliminated now, as we saw in the miner’s strike. They were eliminated. They were low– allowed to starve, and nobody came to their rescue. The poor white are just as much uh, the disdain of the elite. So those problems would’ve been ours. We woulda still needed to go to this lovely opportunity in Guyana, where we have fertile soil, land, room, no racist elements breathing down us, no threats of genocide, and obviously, our children have prospects of a future. In USA, no one can count on a future. No person of color, because they may be in a concentration camp the next day, and everybody – I don’t care whether they Rockefeller to the poorest – the threat of nuclear war hangs over their head, and anthropologist [Margaret] Mead, remember, said this is the only safe place in the world that would come out relatively untouched.
I’m not happy that we couldn’t put the whole of every little baby in the world, every family, in this bosom, this Shangri-La. But let’s be appreciative of it, and produce it, because if we do, we’ll have a firm base, we’ll be helping Guyana, they’ll see our goodwill, as we’ve seen it in the rescuing of lives this week, we’ve saved three Guyanese (unintelligible word) lives. Obviously.
I think that is the end of the news. I didn’t mean to give so much, but it’s important that you keep up, and I will not be giving long news commentaries in the future, but you must all know this one. Much love, and it’ll be added to the news that I’ve already given, and there’ll be a stronger emphasis upon Guyanese news, because we are Guyana, we are in Guyana. We are members of the Guyanese community, and we are going to help Guyana in its worthy goal of feeding and clothing and housing its people.
Thank you, and much love.