Last June 1, as reported by Struggle-La Lucha, President Donald Trump attempted to carry out a coup d’état when his administration ordered U.S. soldiers and National Guard troops to “dominate” Washington, D.C., during mass protests against the police murder of George Floyd.

Trump’s plan was to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 — first enacted to suppress slave rebellions — and dispatch the military to put down Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S.

The scheme collapsed when Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Mark Esper lost their nerve, fearing that rank-and-file soldiers, mostly from the working class and many from Black and Brown communities, would refuse to carry out these orders and join the protesters.

Instead, Trump deployed an illegal secret federal police force, including agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security and the Border Patrol, to Portland, Ore., Seattle and other cities for a smaller-scale attack on protesters. In September, Trump’s stormtroopers carried out the cold-blooded execution of anti-fascist Michael Reinoehl near Portland, Ore.

But Trump and his closest supporters have never given up their desire to use the military to secure their hold on power and crush workers and oppressed communities. Rumblings of possible troop deployments began before the Nov. 3 election. And since Trump has refused to acknowledge his defeat, and continues to try and overturn the vote, the rumblings have grown louder.

Just a week after Election Day, Trump abruptly replaced several high-ranking officials in the Defense Department, the civilian body that oversees the Pentagon, and the National Security Council with ultraright loyalists. Esper, who had balked at the June 1 coup attempt, was replaced as secretary of defense by Chris Miller, previously the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who had only served in that post since August.

Others moved into high posts include both civilians and former military personnel known for public displays of racism and anti-Muslim bigotry, and advocates of war with Iran.

Support for resistance

Since the beginning of the Black Lives uprising this summer, the organization About Face: Veterans Against War (formerly known as Iraq Veterans Against the War) has urged National Guard soldiers to resist deployment to suppress the protests. A letter signed by 700 veterans called on these troops to “Stand Down for Black Lives.”

The group reiterated its appeal in the runup to Election Day: “This election is critical and as vets we know troops are often put in questionable positions and told they have no choice. You have options and we’re here to help.”  About Face publicized ways for National Guard members to report “ethical, legal or safety concerns” and request support.

The National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force also announced it would provide support. “MLTF … shares the concerns of many in the public and the legal community, that U.S. servicemembers may be given illegal orders or face real conflicts with their moral, political or religious beliefs in the context of the 2020 Presidential election and its aftermath. In particular, we are concerned that National Guard members and other military personnel may be used in voter suppression or repression of progressive demonstrations.

“The Task Force is troubled about the lack of effective legal alternatives for servicemembers dealing with possible illegal orders and believes it is essential that members of the military are fully informed about their rights under the law. … For this reason, the Task Force has set up a system for free, confidential telephone consultations with attorneys to discuss possible illegal orders and related issues.”

And a popular appeal to U.S. soldiers was issued by Detroit’s Moratorium Now! Coalition, “Attention! Refuse to Follow Trump’s Illegal Orders to Overturn the Election.” The call is endorsed by the Peoples Power Assembly, the Peoples Alliance-Bay Area, Women in Struggle/Mujeres en Lucha, the Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement and Youth Against War and Racism, among others.

‘You do have a choice’

The call states: “At some point, Trump may declare the 2020 election to be ‘null and void.’ He would then order you, U.S. servicemembers, into cities and towns across the country, to suppress the millions of people who pour into the streets to protest his illegal coup d’état. Are you ready to shoot down civilians, just to keep Trump illegally in power despite the election outcome?

“Union locals and labor councils across the country are already preparing for a national general strike if Trump refuses to recognize the people’s decision and overturns the election. Are you ready to bayonet workers standing up for our democratic rights?

“Some 42 percent of U.S. soldiers are people of color. Are you willing to kill for this racist bigot as he tries to hold his grip of power and unleashes bloody revenge on any who oppose him?”

The call goes on to point out the hypocrisy of Trump and his allies when they attempt to use the troops to circumvent the capitalists’ own highest law, the U.S. Constitution, with which the boss class tries to justify its role as global arbiter of “democracy”:

“You do have a choice. We know that you have been told over and over again that you must follow orders. Trump may be for now the commander-in-chief, but you swore an oath to defend the Constitution, not Donald Trump. Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice dictates that you must follow only lawful orders.

“You know that if Trump seizes power by using the military against the people, that would break the law. And ‘just following orders’ would be no excuse.

“If that day comes and Trump orders you to attack the people, stand down! Tell your commanders that you will not enable Trump to overturn the will of the people. Join with the people in the streets and help uphold all our democratic rights!”

Sunday, November 29, 2020 at 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EST

Sunday, 11/29, 5 pm Eastern Time (if you tune in from the West Coast 1 pm)
Free Leonard Peltier and Letter Writing
REGISTER HERE https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QDl1j-S8SjCGRxN9RbHQ6Q

Hear special guest speaker Zola Fish:
Zola Fish, is a member of the Choctaw Nation, San Diego Socialist Unity Party, an Organizer with Leonard Peltier Defense Committee and many coalitions including the Committee Against Police Brutality and San Diego People Power’s Assembly.

Sponsored by: Prisoners Solidarity Committee, Peoples Power Assembly, Struggle-La Lucha

This will be a short powerful 35 minute webinar so don’t join late.

Learn about the case of Leonard Peltier and how you can support him.

Our concrete goal is to commemorate November Indigenous Peoples Month by spreading the word about Leonard Peltier and to write letters to him. So come with your paper and pen and be ready to write your message.

REGISTER HERE https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QDl1j-S8SjCGRxN9RbHQ6Q

As if extrajudicial killings, the worst COVID-19 infection rate in Southeast Asia and a renewed government effort of red-tagging weren’t enough, the Filipino people were struck by three typhoons within the space of three weeks.

• October 25: Typhoon Molave (called Quinto in the Philippines) made landfall at San Miguel Island and tore across Luzon for two days.
• October 31: Super Typhoon Goni (or Rolly) struck the Bicol region, very close to where Molave made landfall.
• November 11: Super Typhoon Vamco (or Ulysses) hit the Quezon region on Nov. 11, just north of where the first two typhoons made landfall.

Following the destruction of these three storms, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports:

• 73 deaths
• 24 injured
• 19 people still missing
• 283,656 people are in evacuation centers
• 82,900 people remain displaced
• 50 villages remain isolated 
• Over $165 million in infrastructure damage across 8 regions
• Only 60 out of 316 municipalities have had power restored

Many of the working and oppressed masses of the Philippines have accepted that help is not coming. Despite the millions of U.S. dollars poured into military and police aid, none of it will be utilized for disaster relief or rescue. 

Some of the most calamitous consequences of the storms were those that were avoidable and unnecessary — those that can be traced back to the actions, or lack thereof, of the Philippines government. 

President Rodrigo Duterte’s persecution and subsequent shutdown of the ABS-CBN news service meant that entire regions, where ABS-CBN was the only news service available, went without any prior warning of the incoming typhoons. 

The budget for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has been dramatically slashed over time, specifically by 4 billion Philippine pesos (or more than 82 million USD) in 2020. Writer JC Punongbayan also comments on the funds allocated for the government’s war on activists: 

“But, at the same time, he said they won’t likely touch the P19.1 billion that will be allocated for the National Task Force to End Communist Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) — an anti-insurgency committee engaged in red-tagging and propaganda. That P19 billion is no joke, and the whole amount will be much better repurposed to augment disaster relief efforts, as well as the COVID-19 response.”

Students strike back

Youth and student groups called for a national academic strike against the criminal negligence of the Duterte administration. Students at University of the Philippines campuses, the Ateneo de Manila University, the University of Santo Tomas and many more submitted pledges to withhold all submissions of enrollment requirements until their demands are met. 

The demands:

• National academic break and semester end
• Urgent calamity aid and pandemic response
• Ouster of the Duterte administration
• Fair wages for university staff and faculty

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque threatened: “Babagsak po kayo,” or, “you will fail.” Duterte threatened to cut off funding to the University of the Philippines, red-tagging the university in the process: “Sure. UP? Fine. Stop studying. I will stop the funding. You don’t do anything except recruit communists. You study, and then you criticize the government. You are so lucky. Don’t threaten me, because I will oblige you.” 

Alongside the student protests, at least 134 faculty members of the University of Philippines-Diliman issued a statement calling for the end of the semester. 

The situation is very fluid. One way to follow developments is to tune into the hashtag #YouthStrikePH on all social media platforms. Whatever happens, this action led by youth and students, bringing together the workers and faculty of the universities and surrounding communities, is a remarkable example of mass action.

According to official records, more than 1,200 refugees have lost their lives trying to reach Europe in 2020. Many more deaths at sea are not reported. All of these deaths are a direct consequence of the criminal exclusion policy of the European Union, which rejects refugees at the continent’s external borders.

The sealing off of the EU from refugees begins in Africa. The EU is exerting massive pressure on North African states, such as Mali, Niger and Algeria, to take action against refugees and migrant workers.

Because of this, migration has been redirected to increasingly more dangerous routes. One of these routes is along the West African coast toward the Canary Islands, which belong to Spain. On Oct. 23, one boat broke apart on this route after its engine exploded, and 140 refugees drowned.

The route to the Canary Islands is the most deadly in the world. According to IOM (International Organization for Migration) estimates, one in 16 refugees does not survive the crossing. The number of unreported cases is extremely high, since boats repeatedly miss the islands and drift out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Statement on migration crisis in Canary Islands

The World Federation of Trade Unions issued the following statement on the migration crisis in the Canary Islands:

“In recent weeks we have seen a steady increase in the arrival of cayucos to the Canary Islands with migrant workers and youth from the African continent. So far this year, 18,300 people have arrived, and in just a few months, 530 people have certainly died.

“The Canary Islands are a small country of barely 7,500 km2 [2,900 square miles], situated 1,000 km [620 miles] from the European coast and 98 km [60 miles] from the African coast. The territory of the archipelago has a population density of 330 h/km [855 people per square mile], which is doubled if we take into account that 42 percent of the island territory is not viable for human settlement due to its natural conditions or being protected land. [Editor: Jacksonville, Florida, for example, has a population density of about 1,100 people per square mile] With a structural unemployment of 20 percent, today, with the pandemic crisis, we can say that 50 percent of its active population is unemployed, or in a situation of temporary unemployment. A country that is becoming a prison for thousands of people fleeing from hunger, misery, political or gender persecution, all of which are products of the plundering of its resources carried out thanks to the colonial past and the neocolonial present of the African continent.

“European immigration laws, the externalization of borders, FRONTEX [European Border and Coast Guard Agency], have moved safer migratory routes and territories with more possibilities of mobility, towards the Canary Islands, which is, as is being demonstrated, a high risk for the lives of migrants, and a permanent source of social conflict in the Canary Islands, fed by the deficient and repressive migration policies, which aim to place migrants coming from their continent as enemies of the Canary Islands people, in order to make the colonial policies, which are also exercised against this Spanish colony on the African coast, invisible to the real enemy.

“The reception conditions for migrants are not only inadequate, they are subhuman, in battered tents, forming camps on the quayside on asphalt or on land, or they are left to their fate in cities like Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, without resources or contacts. We cannot fail to mention the treatment of the so-called MENAS, unaccompanied minors, who are the responsibility of the host community. The Canary Islands are currently home to more than 2,000 minors and, despite the offer of other communities, Extremadura, Castilla and Leon and the Basque Country, to care for some of these young people, the Madrid government has not taken the necessary steps to make this possible. The 20 centers opened in a hurry by the Cabildos and the Autonomous Government are insufficient, poorly equipped, and with no help from European or state funds, which makes it impossible for the supreme good of the guardianship and adequate care of the minor to remain.

“We point out that this new migratory crisis is taking place in two scenarios that are well defined by Moroccan policies: the unilateral extension of Morocco’s territorial waters, thereby stealing what must be the sovereign waters of the Canary Islands, behind which hides the immense business that the tellurium mountains found there can suppose, and the reactivation of the armed conflict between the Polisario Front and the kingdom of Morocco. 

“Faced with such a humanitarian and social catastrophe, the People’s Coordination of the World Federation of Trade Unions express, first of all, our solidarity with the people of the Canary Islands and with the migrants who arrive at the risk of their lives on the coasts of the Archipelago. We are aware that the migration projects of these people do not have the Canary Islands as their final destination, but that it is seen as a bridge to reach the European continent. We therefore demand that they will be allowed and facilitated to move there, in compliance with Article 14 of the Charter of Human Rights, by providing a welcome that respects and dignifies their lives, and we also demand that the necessary mechanisms be activated for the solidarity-based transfer of unaccompanied minors, giving priority, in their final destination, to places where family members or people from their own communities live. 

“We denounce Morocco’s continuous maneuvers to impose its expansionist will in the area without the government of the kingdom of Spain or the European Union taking any action to put a stop to them. We demand that both the lives of migrants and the Canary Islands cease to be the currency of any kind of policy between them.

“We support the freedom of movement of all people, as well as the right to live in their own land, so that both are possible. In Europe and the USA, the big multinationals have to take their bloody hands off the African continent. In this respect we demand respect for the right to free self-determination of peoples, and in this case especially of the last two Spanish colonies on that continent, the Canary Islands and Western Sahara. 

“Finally, as class oriented trade unions of stateless nations, we express our firm will to protect the lives of migrant workers, risking such a dangerous journey. Therefore we demand the repeal of the law on foreigners and the end of the repressive migration policies of the European Union, while announcing that we will give all the support that is in our hands to those who are transferred to our territories.”

#FreeKhitamSaafin #FreePalestinianWomen: Social Media Action 25 November for Khitam Saafin and the Palestinian Women’s Movement

Wednesday, 25 November

10 am Pacific – 1 pm Eastern – 7 pm central Europe – 8 pm Palestine

• Use these sample tweets for your posts: bit.ly/KhitamTweets
• Download materials and more information at freekhitamsaafin.org
• Use the hashtag #FreeKhitamSaafin in all of your posts during the action! 

On 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, join Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, the US Palestinian Community Network, the International Women’s Alliance – Europe, Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine, Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization and the Palestinian Youth Movement for a social media storm and Twitter campaign to free Khitam Saafin and Palestinian women political prisoners!

Khitam Saafin, president of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, is jailed without charge or trial by the Israeli occupation under an indefinitely renewable six-month administrative detention order. She is a well-known international advocate for Palestinian women and freedom and justice for the Palestinian people. She has spoken around the world about the struggle of Palestinian women, including at the World Social Forum, and served as chair of the Global Women’s March Palestine.

Administrative detention, a practice first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate, imprisons Palestinians without charge or trial on the basis of a so-called “secret file.” Even the detainee’s lawyer is denied access to any of the contents of this file; instead, it is simply asserted by the Israeli occupation military commander. These detention orders are issued for up to six months at a time and are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians routinely spend years a a time jailed under administrative detention. There are currently approximately 370 Palestinian prisoners held under administrative detention orders, among approximately 4500 Palestinian political prisoners in total.

There are currently 40 Palestinian women prisoners, including student activists like Ruba Assi, Mays Abu Ghosh, Layan Kayed and Elia Abu Hijleh; parliamentarians and advocates like Khalida Jarrar; journalists like Bushra Tawil; and dozens of others. Political imprisonment is one key aspect of the institutional violence against Palestinian women enacted by Israeli occupation and colonization and enabled by U.S., Canadian and European support for Israel’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity targeting the Palestinian people.

Join us for a social media storm on 25 November to demand freedom for Khitam Saafin and her fellow political prisoners and to support Palestinian women on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 

Use these sample tweets for your posts: bit.ly/KhitamTweets

Download materials and more information at freekhitamsaafin.org

Use the hashtag #FreeKhitamSaafin in all of your posts during the action! 

To add a second hashtag, use #FreePalestinianWomen

Check out the pages and social media accounts of the organizations for #FreeKhitamSaafin content and more great information:

On Facebook: @uspcn, @samidounprisonersolidarity, @Pal.Youth.Movement, @AlAwdaPRRC @wolpalestine, @IWA Europe @MovimientoDeMujeresPalestinasAlKarama – Feel free to tag us in your posts and use the hashtag #FreeKhitamSaafin #FreePalestinianWomen

On Twitter: See @USPCN. @SamidounPP, @palyouthmvmt, @AlAwda, @intlwomensalli1, @WOLPalestine @alkarama_mmp

On Instagram: Check out @uspcn @samidounnetwork @palestinianyouthmovement @alawdasouthfl @wolpalestine @iwa_europe for stories, posts and information

Nov. 22 — Another wave of COVID-19 is raging across the U.S. The death count has now reached a quarter-million; Black, Brown and Indigenous communities have suffered the heaviest toll. 

After actively discouraging all recommended methods of slowing the spread of the disease and cutting lockdowns short to try to get capitalist production restarted, the Trump regime has focused for months exclusively on the development of a vaccine.  

In March, in an article about the efforts to develop a vaccine, the New York Times said that “the United States, China and Europe are battling to be the first.” That competition does exist in the major capitalist countries. It is an all-out, cutthroat battle — each country prioritizing their economy, trying to reopen businesses that are shut down. Secrecy abounds and the competition is even between companies in the same country.  But the New York Times was being deceitful to include China in the battle “to be the first.” 

China, Cuba and communists and socialists the world over have led amazingly successful campaigns against the virus and have a different perspective and a different goal than the capitalist countries. They don’t view gaining control of the virus in their own countries as the end of the fight — their goal is to help the rest of the world as well. 

China’s death toll under 5,000

China’s Communist Party prioritized saving lives over keeping their economy going and shut down huge areas where around 100 million people live as soon as COVID-19 was identified. Their economic sacrifices paid off. With no evictions, no job losses, and food distributed as people isolated and quarantined, China limited its death toll to less than many single states and cities in the U.S. — under 5,000. 

While still vigilant to prevent a new wave of the virus with social distancing, contact tracing and other measures, China is now working furiously to share medical equipment and supplies, and developing vaccines to help break the back of the pandemic in the poorest countries in the world. They have joined Covax, an international alliance committed to providing two billion doses of vaccine to poor countries. The U.S. declined to participate and given the current status of their vaccine development efforts, China is likely to be the largest contributor to the effort. 

Following up on the propaganda attacks emanating from the U.S. earlier this year, China’s commitment to try to help the rest of the world has been attacked in the capitalist press as “schemes” to achieve their “foreign policy goals.” 

But the attacks on China’s efforts may not be limited to slander. There is even well-founded suspicion around the cancellation of a trial in Brazil of a Chinese pharmaceutical company’s vaccine. President Jair Bolsonaro — a reactionary and a close ally of Trump — pressured their pharmaceutical regulators to cancel Sinovac’s trial after a suicide by a participant. Bolsonaro later gloated to the press that it was “a victory for me.” There has been a huge outcry from medical professionals, virologists and epidemiologists in Brazil because the suicide had nothing to do with the safety of the vaccine.

As four of China’s vaccine candidates have progressed through Phase 3 trials they have inoculated up to one million people at home, including students, front-line workers, workers who travel frequently as part of the Belt and Road Initiative and the People’s Liberation Army — on an emergency basis. As of yet, there are no reports of serious or unexpected side effects. 

U.S. sanctions block progress

China’s achievements in fighting the pandemic have been unparalleled. And even though terrible U.S. sanctions have damaged the economies of some progressive and socialist countries and hindered progress, all evidence shows that socialist and communists in government, from Vietnam to Cuba, from India to China, are still better equipped than even the most developed capitalist countries to deal with this world crisis. If the deadly U.S. sanctions regime were defeated, the world’s population would be far better off in dealing with this pandemic. 

In India, Communist Party Marxist member K.K. Sailaja astounded observers around the world as she swung into action to limit an outbreak in her densely populated home state of Kerala, where she serves as minister of health. The entire state government of Kerala is in the hands of her party. Shailaja was honored by the United Nations because her sensitivity to local traditions won the trust of the population and allowed a vigorous campaign that kept the number of cases as well as the case fatality rate much lower than in the rest of India in January and February. 

Now, due to many people returning to Kerala from abroad and because of many traditional festivals taking place, a second wave has hit. Still, under the leadership of Shailaja Teacher, as she is known, the case fatality rate has been kept down to an incredibly low 0.37 percent. 

Cuba, a world leader against COVID-19

Cuba has also been a world leader in the fight against COVID-19. With a great deal of experience in biologic medicine accumulated during past outbreaks of dengue fever and a host of tropical diseases, their expertise not only helped them keep their own death toll to just 131, but has enabled them to save lives throughout the world. 

Interferon-a2b, a biologic drug, was developed by Cuban scientists in 1986. One clinical study showed that when administered early during the infection, it cuts the case fatality rate from 2.95 percent to 0.92 percent. When they laud the success against COVID-19 in South Korea, the mainstream Western press omits that Cuba’s biologic drug was instrumental in keeping South Korea’s case fatality rate to about 1.65 percent. 

Now Interferon-a2b is being manufactured in China to keep up with demand from all over the world. Ever worsening U.S. sanctions make it impossible for Cuba to manufacture enough to meet the international need. The sanctions are also blocking the progress of Cuba’s own four vaccines currently in Phase 2 trials — early testing on small groups of humans. 

A Mint Press News article notes the effect of sanctions on Cuba’s vaccine production and the potential help to other countries that they might be able to provide otherwise:

“Should any of these efforts ultimately succeed, the Caribbean nation — already a medical powerhouse that has developed a lung cancer vaccine and methods to stop mother-to-baby HIV and syphilis transmission — will likely become an important supplier to other Latin American and developing countries that have been effectively shut out from purchasing COVID vaccines from Western companies, as rich nations have already begun hoarding coronavirus medicines.” (“Cuba Could be on the Brink of a Revolutionary COVID Vaccine, But US Sanctions Are Slowing It Down” MPN, Nov. 16

There is a healthy mistrust of capitalist corporations — including giant pharmaceuticals run by billionaires. If they do come up with a safe and effective vaccine or more than one, it will be due to the research and work of the tens of thousands of scientists employed by them and should be recognized as an important achievement of science. But this pandemic has shown that the drive for profit above all else that is inherent to capitalism is obsolete, and worldwide cooperation — a socialist world — is long overdue.

A coup d’etat could never happen in the “democratic” United States, right? So how did LBJ — Lyndon B. Johnson — become president?

President John F. Kennedy was brutally assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Two days later his accused assassin — Lee Harvey Oswald — was allowed to be killed in the Dallas police department basement.

Perhaps the most important witness in U.S. history, Oswald was silenced forever by the sleazy strip club operator Jack Ruby.

A blue ribbon commission to investigate JFK’s murder was appointed by Johnson and headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. The other panel members included the segregationist senator, Richard Russell, and future Republican president, Gerald Ford.

Its most active member was former CIA Director Allen Dulles, who had been fired by Kennedy. The commission’s job wasn’t to find the truth but rather to conduct a cover-up.

The resulting Warren Report claimed Oswald was the lone assassin but it couldn’t come up with a motive. Oswald has since been labeled a “lone nut,” as if that answered any questions.

As soon as Oswald was murdered on live TV, people around the world thought that John Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy. This was also true in the U.S., where the capitalist media universally supported the “lone gunman” theory.

The late Milton Neidenberg described the skepticism of his co-workers immediately after the assassination. Neidenberg, a socialist labor organizer who died in 2018, was employed at Bethlehem Steel’s Lackawanna works just outside Buffalo, N.Y. 

None of the steelworkers who also were hunters believed that Oswald could have killed Kennedy with the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle that the Warren Commission claimed was the murder weapon. 

According to a 2017 poll, 76 percent of Black adults and 61 percent of all adults in the U.S. believe there was a conspiracy involved. 

The Warren Report fairy tale

Was it even possible for Oswald to have fired the three shots that the Warren Report claimed he did? A paraffin test applied to Oswald’s face after he was arrested came back negative, which could have ruled him out from firing a rifle.

The Warren Report stated that Oswald fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, where he worked. Yet many eyewitnesses reported shots fired from “the grassy knoll” instead. Bystanders and police ran up this knoll, west of the book depository, immediately after Kennedy was shot.

Kennedy was shot from behind according to the Warren Report. Doctors at Parkland Hospital described Kennedy’s throat wound as an entrance wound, indicating a shot from the front.

The famous home movie taken by Abraham Zapruder clearly shows Kennedy being propelled back and to the left. This is consistent with a shot fired from the front, not from the book depository. So does the testimony of witnesses who saw a bullet hole in the windshield of Kennedy’s limousine.

The Zapruder film gave a few seconds for three shots to have been fired. Using the bolt action rifle that was supposedly used, it has been virtually impossible for skilled sharpshooters to repeat the alleged feat.

Television reporter Robert MacNeil and other witnesses heard two shots fired very close together, probably too close to have been fired from the same rifle. 

One shot missed Kennedy completely and hit a curb, causing a small cut on James Tague’s cheek from concrete fragments. Another shot supposedly struck Kennedy’s head.

That left the “magic bullet,” alleged to have hit President Kennedy and then struck Texas Gov. John Connally’s chest, wrist and thigh. Connally, who survived, always denied he was hit by the same bullet.  

Oswald was also accused of killing Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit. Two witnesses, Acquilla Clemons and Frank Wright, saw two shooters.

Police claim that no notes or a tape recording were made from their interrogations of Oswald. When they paraded him briefly before reporters, Oswald denied that he had killed anyone and declared he was just a “patsy.”

Pentagon coup d’etat 

The easiest explanation for these conflicting facts is that at least two shooters were involved in John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Two shooters means there was a conspiracy.

But whose conspiracy was it?

Kennedy was lured to Dallas, which was then a center of the ultraright. JFK’s picture was featured on “wanted for treason” posters that were distributed there.

The usual protections that guard a U.S. president were stripped from Kennedy. There wasn’t even a Secret Service agent riding on the back of Kennedy’s limousine when the president was shot. Half of Kennedy’s cabinet were halfway across the Pacific Ocean.

Then there was the autopsy conducted at the Bethesda Naval Hospital (now the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center).

Dr. David Mantik and Dr. Michael Chesser, who studied the x-rays of Kennedy, called them fraudulent. 

Only the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs had the power to do this, with the assistance of the Dallas power structure. The clean-up work of eliminating witnesses, like Oswald, could be contracted out to organized crime and counterrevolutionary Cuban exiles.

Oswald was very likely an informant for either the FBI, CIA or both. “Everywhere you look with him, there are fingerprints of intelligence,” said former U.S. Sen. Richard Schweiker. 

Oswald’s earlier “defection” to the Soviet Union was phony. His attempt to set up a “Fair Play for Cuba Committee” in New Orleans was like that of a provocateur. These actions were aimed to make Oswald look like a leftist and possible Soviet agent.

Thirteen months before Kennedy was shot down, the Cuban missile crisis terrified the world. The Joint Chiefs wanted to invade Cuba.

A nuclear war with the Soviet Union could have been the result. President Kennedy didn’t want to take a gamble and agreed to end the crisis instead. 

Dallas gave generals like Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay another chance. LeMay despised Kennedy. He later ran as the fascist George Wallace’s running mate in the 1968 presidential election.

The Soviet Union was then facing a U.S. arsenal of 3,400 nuclear bombs and 185 nuclear missiles. The Pentagon wanted to use them to “wipe out communism” forever. 

But this second half of the coup didn’t gel. Much of the ruling class didn’t trust their fallout shelters. Oswald’s survival for 48 hours also dampened things.

LBJ’s consolation prize for the Pentagon was a big escalation of the U.S. war against Vietnam, which had already been going on under both Eisenhower and Kennedy. Within two years after JFK’s murder, U.S forces in Vietnam increased 11 times to reach 184,000 GIs. 

Trump’s coup against the election

Fifty-seven years after Kennedy was murdered, Trump is trying to stage another coup. The White House is attempting to overturn the election which he lost by over six million votes. To do so he has to throw out the votes of millions of Black, Indigenous and Latinx voters.

Trump is counting on five members of the U.S. Supreme Court to do the job. He appointed three of them: “Justices” Amy Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are just as reactionary.

Twenty years ago, five members of the court stopped the counting of ballots in Florida. They put George W. Bush in the White House despite Bush losing the election by over 500,000 votes.

Trump will order the Pentagon brass to enforce a Supreme Court decision overturning the election. The attempted coup on June 1 — when Trump wanted to use troops to crush the Black Lives Matter movement — was a trial run.

It was the 22 million people who were marching in the streets that stopped the Trump coup. That includes thousands in Dallas. Trump got only a third of the votes in Dallas county. 

Many of the stratum within the ruling class that wanted to get rid of the Kennedys — smaller and newer billionaires — are backing Trump today. While most of the media are attacking Trump, virtually all the Republicans who have done so are either former elected officials or retiring ones.  

Trump may also try to start a new war as an excuse to stay in the White House. In an ominous move, B52 bombers have been flown from North Dakota to Western Asia.

Trump has already convinced millions of his followers that the election was stolen. The vast majority of white cops are Trump supporters, too.

Two days before the Electoral College is to meet, Trump forces are calling for a mass march in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 12. Fascist groups like the Proud Boys will mobilize for it.  

Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, may be clowns. But they are also extremely dangerous.

Only the power of the people can sweep all the Trumps into the sewer.

Nov. 17 — It is a fallacy that this consultation constituted a majority vote and that the people of Puerto Rico “staked their claim to admission as the 51st State of the Union.” (New York Times: Make Puerto Rico a State Now. With a historic vote, its people staked their claim to statehood. Nov. 4, 2020)

First, elections in a colonial regime cannot be a binding expression of a people since the people of Puerto Rico are not free to engage in a democratic process because of 122 years of U.S. military occupation and colonial rule. What takes place in Puerto Rico every four years is of little utility to the people of Puerto Rico. Whomever wins colonial elections merely becomes an administrator of the colony for the interests of the U.S. and Wall Street. Additionally, colonial elections have no real authority, and the elected officials have no real power since all local economic decisions are made by the Financial Supervisory and Management Board created by federal legislation (PROMESA, 2016). This fiscal board was not an elected body by and of the people of Puerto Rico, but is instead authorized and executed by the U.S. Congress, where there is no Puerto Rican voting representation. Furthermore, Congress specifically addressed this so-called plebiscite and stated that it will not be binding.

What is the fuss about this statehood win?

The “yes” or “no” vote for statehood in Puerto Rico on Nov. 3, 2020, is neither a “plebiscite” nor a “referendum”. It constitutes a mere consultation, poll or survey of approximately 50 percent of the registered voters’ opinions. Fewer voters turned out for this election than ever before. A real plebiscite would be supervised by the United Nations and would outline the consequences of the peoples’ decision. Puerto Rico, as a colony of the U.S., is reviewed every year by the United Nations Decolonization Committee and their resolutions have consistently called upon the United States to immediately transfer power to the people of Puerto Rico to enable the free exercise of their self-determination and inalienable right to independence in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV). Since “plebiscites” have often been used to annex a territory or country, another viable alternative is to utilize a people’s constituent assembly for creating a new government and constitution for an independent nation. It would be consistent with how the original 13 U.S. colonies went about their independence against Britain. The indignant question posed to the Puerto Rican people on Nov. 3, 2020, was also not a referendum. So, what is the distinction between a plebiscite and a referendum?

A plebiscite is a direct vote of the qualified voters of a state in regard to some important public question or the vote by which the people of a political unit determine independence or annexation with another country. Originally plebiscites were used by the Roman Empire to incorporate occupied territories and later used by Napoleon Bonaparte to do the same in Europe for France.

In Europe, plebiscites are elections held to decide two paramount types of political issues: government legitimacy and the nationality of territories contested between governments. Following the French Revolution in 1789, the plebiscite was widely popular in France, rooted as it was in the ideas of nationalism and popular sovereignty. In the 20th century, totalitarian regimes have employed plebiscites to legitimize their rule. Plebiscites also have been used as a device for deciding the nationality of territories. For example, after World War I, the League of Nations proposed 11 such plebiscites, the most notable of which was held in 1935 in the Saar, where its inhabitants chose overwhelmingly to return to Germany rather than become a part of France.

In contrast, a referendum is the right reserved to the people to approve or reject an act of the legislature, or the right of the people to approve or reject legislation that has been referred to them by the legislature. The referendum power is created by state constitutions and is conferred on the citizens of a state or a local subdivision of the state. Referendums provide the people with a means of expressing their opinion on proposed legislation before it becomes operative as a law. A referendum does not permit the people to invalidate a law that is already operative but rather suspends or annuls a law that has not yet gone into effect. In this sense, a referendum is similar to a governor’s veto power. Also, by referendum, the people may reinstate an act that the legislature has expressly repealed.

It is a fallacy that the statehood option promoted by the Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) which received a 52 percent “yes” vote in the polls represented a “majority” of the Puerto Rican people. It was not a majority when only half of the registered voters participated. Almost half of the participating voters cast a “No” vote to statehood. Therefore, only approximately 26 percent of voters casted a “Yes” vote. That is clearly not a majority. What is significant is that 50 percent of eligible voters essentially boycotted these colonial elections and did not participate in this farce. Historically, Puerto Rico has had a high voter turnout culture. In the 1990s, 93 percent of registered voters participated. Over the last 20 years with the rise of governmental corruption and abuse, the electorate has shown their discontent with corrupt governance and the dysfunction of the colonial two-party system by not voting. Recall the summer of 2019 and the people’s uprising that ousted the pro-statehood governor, Ricardo Roselló, due to corruption, immorality, an economic crisis, poor handling of Hurricane María, allegedly stealing hurricane relief funds, lying about the 4,645 deaths, etc. When looking at the governor’s election results and the “statehood” status consultation, it is evident that the statehood party has received fewer votes than in previous elections. This year the statehood advocates PNP received 35 percent of the votes in the governor’s race due to the insertion of other political parties. The Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP) and Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (MVC) combined obtained almost 30 percent of the votes and Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) the other 33 percent.

The 6 million Puerto Ricans dispersed throughout the U.S. live “statehood” every day and it “isn’t pretty.” The imposed U.S. citizenship of 1917 does not grant Puerto Ricans the same “privileges and immunities” of the U.S. Constitution. We are treated as “second-class citizens” and suffer the same social, economic and racial inequalities that other racial groups are subjected to, like the Black, Mexican and Native American communities. Puerto Ricans go from being an “external colony” to an “internal colony” community in the U.S. A vote for statehood is not progressive; it is the culmination of the immoral colonial objective — the extinction of the Puerto Rican nation and the annihilation of the Puerto Rican nationality.

Finally, the illegality and immorality of making Puerto Rico a state lies exclusively in the hands of the U.S. Congress and not in Puerto Rico. The Senate and the House of Representatives will have to vote to approve on whether it incorporates Puerto Rico into the federal union. That a nation could be incorporated into another nation without negative consequences for the country being absorbed is farfetched. Puerto Rico is a Spanish speaking country and a part of Latin America historically and culturally. Twenty-six percent of Puerto Rican voters may think they want to become a state, but the U.S. Congress has never expressed that interest after 122 years. If asked appropriately, most Puerto Ricans would want to maintain their nation, national identity, island territory and culture. The U.S. prefers to maintain the status quo and keep Puerto Rico a colony.

Professor Ana M. López has been teaching at Hostos Community College for 31 years, Humanities Department—Latin American & Caribbean Studies Unit.

Source: Frente Independentista Boricua

Monday, November 23, 2020 at 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM CST

Online Event

Call County Attorney Mike Freeman
Demand he drop the charges against I94 protesters!
(612) 348-5550

More that 646 people were charged criminally for participating in a massive protest on November 4 to demand that Trump not steal the presidential election, and to continue building the people’s movements against the triple pandemic of racism, economic crisis and COVID-19.

Most of these cases will be prosecuted by the city attorney, but the felony charges and juvenile cases will be handled by Mike Freeman’s office.

They need to hear from you, that the community stands against criminalizing protest!

Sunday, November 22, 2020 at 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST

Union Sq S, New York

Coalizão Negra por Direitos – Brazilian Black Coalition for rights, and the Defend Democracy in Brazil Committee New York, along with #BoicoteInternacionalCarrefour & FIBRA stand in solidarity with the family of João Alberto Silveira de Freitas, a black man, a customer, who was assassinated with extreme brutalization by 2 security guards and with a few others bystanders in #Carrefour facilities in the city of Porto Alegre, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
This was a crime perpetrated by their security guards and filmed live by another customer.

This all happened on Nov 19, the eve of Brazil’s holiday Black Consciousness Day, Nov 20, when Marches were planned for Brazil’s major cities.

Dozens of protests erupted

More information and to sign the petition: coalizaonegrapordireitos.org.br
#joaoalbertosilveirafreitas #justiçaporbeto #vidasnegrasimportam #blacklivesmatter @justiceforgeorgenyc

Protest in #NewYork tomorrow, Sunday, November 22, 1pm, at Union Square
Twitter @Brazildemocracy