dictatorship since the Nazi occupation. But now the resistance forces are gathering for a war of liberation. For several months members of one group. the Democratic Resistance Committee (D.E.A.) have been carrying out regular acts of sabotage with high explosives coupled with a simultaneous underground propaganda campaign. Other organisations ready to fight to Democratic Resistance Movement, Democratic Defense, the topple the self-imposed dictatorship the National National Anti-Fascist League (E.A.S.), and the Patriotic Front. Although members of Papandreou's Centre Union Party have pledged themselves to the fight against the regime, only the revolutionary groupings are taking any effective action.
The junta is aware of the immense weight of feeling against them from the majority of the population, and the colonels are running scared. As most of the British press reported at the end of last month (July 23rd, 25th and 26th) the Greek military attaches Paris, Bonn and Vienna have been instructed by the Athens security headquarters to keep a careful watch and report on all the possibly anti-junta forces among emigrant students and workers and their foreign comrades. A translation of the instructions in the Guardian of July 26th(!) refers to the foreigners who are taking advantage as tourists to transport into Greece etc.) for the subversive underground organisations How right they are to be scared of these forces: the solidárity of European comrades with the Greek Liberation armies is strong. Many have pledged themselves to form a new sin for poston of boy Wiling nice o le of many who have helped boost British exports by taki out samples of English light industry: revolvers, automatics, and and sterling sub-machine guns, plus various Black Dwarf Foreign ontacted two Resistance Movement members training abroa or the offensive against the junta. Despite the spies, th arrests, the imprisonments and torture, they have returned.
"It will be a tough war," optimistic about living through it."
This movement has steadily gained strength ever since, and its threat to the future of capitalism was used as a Papadapaulos message on the second anniversary stered to rationalisation for the •.. the pre-existing corruption of moral values, the growing of the communist threat, the appearance of mob rule. We had the support of most of the population in of our leaders, and we had toppled several governments. The colonels are right in belevis revolution was imminent. And their vicious control of the country can do no more than stave it off for a while. We have been fighting fascism for a long time. This time we will win.
As far back as 1936 King Paul was the leader, during the movement, an organisation very similar to the Hitler Youth. of General Metaxas, of the Queen Frederika's relationship with the C.I.A. has been From 1954 to 1963 the National Radical (sic) Union government was lead by Karamanlis. The Communist Party had already been outlawed in 1949 and many of its leaders jailed, although 71 of its ex-members remained as deputies.
This oppression strengthened the discipline and unity of the maintained by use of the Frau greas government funds for the systematic the beginning of the fifties the Marshall Plan investments were showing heavy returns and the U.S. poured in more capital to exploit Greece's resourçes. Esso built two refineries in Salonika and the famous Pesenai aluminium plant was constructed. The gathering concentrations of industrial The Caribbean's Black Ghetto The Caribbean tourist paradise of Curacao was ripped apart by riots last May when the police refused to allow nominally restored by the arrival of 600 Dutch marines, but in reality it was restored by the resignation of the Democratic Government after 14 years in power. That was 14 years too long according to 90% of the population.
The elections have been fixed for Sept. 5th and the Dower has warned that if the the proid are deleted nee newly formed, militant, riots of May will be repeated with even more violence - the damage last time was estimated at between £20 and £40 millions. At the moment Willemstad is quiet and tourists portal pioners wice they can to kept to up to wo 300 hotograph sunshine.
while their cases are investiaged. This has always been the white elite's way of silencing political opponents at election time. spear-head resistance against whatever government was imposed on the Greek people.
The unusually high vote - 63% - in the 1963 elections Despit is atempts to part need by there it omar.
the 2,000 political prisoners and some weak-kneed educational reforms, he was forced to resign in two years demonstrated to demand free elections, Sotiris Petroulas, a 24 year old Athens University student and a member of the Lambrakis Youth, was killed by a police gas grenade. His martyrdom was taken as the symbol for two years of continuous demonstrations.
The Americans found the progress towards revolution increasingly threatening to their economic interests and military presence, so they worked furiously to break up the left organisations. C.I.A. trained spies were continually found attempting to infiltrate our groups.
During the next two years we fought continually and successfully to oppose each of the four attempts to impose Then on April 21st, 1967 we woke up to find the colonels had seized power according to Plan Prometheus, the NATO document taken by Patakos from the Pentagon.
Due to the inefficiency of the Lambrakis Youth and the irresponsibility of the other political leaders they were able to impose censorship and the abolition of personal rights without Immediately they rewrote the constitution, suspending elections, to preserve their own power, and — under American eyes of the world. In September 1968 a plebiscite was finally pressure - to give themselves the appearance of legality in the held on the constitution. Even the thuggery of the junta-paid union leaders and police wasn't able to force the result, impossible result of a 93% vote in favour. In fact the junta has JUDSC nd the figures nad to be faked, giving the obviously the support only of those it has bought, particularly the army officers who had their salaries doubled after the coup d'etat.
But two months later, at the funeral of the last elected Papandreou, the Greek public had opportunity for a mass meeting and a demonstration of their true feelings. Nearly half a million Athenians turned out with "IT'S TODAY WE'RE VOTING", and singing the National Anthem them, and why did slavery oppress them?"
Anyone suspected of leftism is whisked away to the infamous headquarters behind the National Museum. If you refuse to sign a pledge of support for the junta you are Leros, or the women's camp of Alekarnasos in Crete. Many of the latter's 350 inmates have been there without trial since the Much of the popular opposition is centred around the egal progressive democratic parties like the Patriotic Fro d the Democratic Defense Committee. But beyond t overthrow of the dictatorship they have no real political programme which can serve the people, other than a return to the so-called democratic regime of the early sixties.
The students are prepared to start the fight for a socialist revolution. Students have been at the forefront of the struggles since 1963, when they struck to demand the educational proportion of the budget be increased from 50,000 occupied the Universities at Athens and Salonika for a month, and all other schools and colleges closed down in The junta is aware of the danger from both staff and students. Every department now has a permanent official from Papadopoulos has taken under his personal control, the others being Defence, Education and Foreign Affairs. Coordination mentioned in his article, was burned. Stanley maintains that his article was not seditious but that it was misinterpreted in the translation from Papiamento, the local dialect, to Dutch.
believes that the strike was, or needed to be, instigated by one man. It was a spontaneous protest against La Shell sub-contractor which lowered wages and spread to Shell itself, which represents rather more than 90% of the national income. It then escalated into the march on Parliament and flared into violence when the demonstrators were met by armed police.
This paradise to which American tourists crowd all year round is in reality a ghetto. 90% of the population is black and is ruled by a white elite. There are three newspapers: Bleurs, 'La Prensa', and 'Amigoe". Two of them are owned by the white elite, descendants of the former slave owners, and the other by the White Catholic Church.
Back in 1957, Dr. M. F. da Costa Gomez published a book 'Human Rights in the Netherlands Antilles,' because of the behaviour of the Dutch editor-in-chief of 'Bleurs'. He was deported, but the elite again got control of the paper and the present editor in an ex-policeman.
Radio and T.V. are prohibited to all politicians except for the party in power who use both mediums to make to the night before elections. Political well as infiltrating Ene administration of every possible organisation. Papadopoulos had to take control when he found it impossible to get competent Ministers who would co-operate ill-health in June and the Minister of Foreign Affairs quietly Papakostantinos resigned from Education on grounds of left for Switzerland and has not returned.
As the government begins to fall apart so it will increasingly try to maintain control by violence. But as it does so, so also will we find it easier to mobilise armed resistance.
But our main task must be to formulate and have accepted a long-term programme of action that will take the people of Greece into power and prevent the return of any right-wing minority New leaders will be recognised only by what they give to leaders will emerge because of their actions not their rhetoric the struggle. We are not interested in. ex-politicians. Our We are building a solid underground resistance army. The groups training abroad are beginning to return to train others The vanguard is ready and the time is NOW? "Doctors must take advantage of the psychological influence they have over the ill to make propaganda for the regime" Communique from the Army to the Medical Association 1968 Chronology of a Dictatorship 21 April 1967: Proclamation by the Junta: "There is no longer left, right or centre; there are only Christian Greeks". Martial law established, abolition of all civil rights, all organisations banned, with the death penalty for handing out leaflets. Mass sentences on the right and left-wing military and on listeners to foreign radio stations. September '67: First evidence of torture.
October '67: Creation of three prison schools for the children of 7000 politicos exiled from Yaros.
Every functionary must sign a 'declaration of honour' in which participation in the anti-Nazi resistance (1940-44) is qualified November '67: Instructions to school directors to blacklist their pupils according to their political beliefs and those of their parents. First important increase in military credits. Closure of the free student canteens.
Two large trials against Patriotic Front militants. December 67: Reopening of the Nazi camps and prisons counter-coup; enormous but indistinct repression. established 1940-44 Failure King Constantine's to the journalists to publish "nothing unfavourable to the U.S.; in particular concerning the Vietnam January '68: Purge of the army and the administration leaves these powerless. Submission of the Universities to the direct control of the government. Two new concentration camps February 68: Sacking of. 56 University professors. Amnesty International's report on the camps and torture in Greece. March '68: Purge of the Greek church April '68: Military units 'adopt' the schools.
August 68: Arrest of more than 650 political personalities after the attempted assassination of Papadopoulos.
United Fruit and other U.S. trusts set up in Greece. Obligatory vote (under pain of prison and sackings October '68: Rehabilitation of the assassins of the left-wing deputy Lambrakis. The assassins were police officers and other members of the police force. Arrests, sentences, assassinations of the witnesses and magistrates at the trial.
It was revealed that Papadopoulos's brother had created a brigade of marine fusiliers to be sent to Vietnam. An announcement at the Paris negotiations postponed the project 68: A new wave of repression. Panagoulis's trial 500,000 people at Papandreou's funeral. Publication of new December '68: Creation of a new police force out of the army with powers over the civil population; this police force wouid have many of the characteristics of the SS Creation of the 'Commissions of Public Safety' Decree of the Duties and Rights of Students'; any student normal political life until Greeks ar cards with a number enabling the police to immediately fin the dossier and political tendencies of every individual.
erected by the people of Curacao to honour Tula and Kerpat two slaves who revolted and were tortured to death in 179 was pulled down to make way for an American hotel.
In this paradise the native can't swim in the sea becau the beaches are private, he can't drink water from a t because there are no taps. 10,000 of the 140,000 inhabitan can't use a toilet because they haven't got one. Shell has huge sweet water swimming pool but the poor man has to p In Texas-Instruments, an electronic company, the bl girl gets 70 cents an hour while across in Shell the Dutchm gets 10 dollars and more an hour.
Thousands are forced to live in shacks with leaki roofs, no toilets and no water because the governme boycotted the building of council houses for political reaso However, the chances of the Democrats being re-elect are thought to be remote, and Frente Obrero offered considerable threat to the traditional parties. The leade Amador Nita and Stanley Brown, are prominent and popu boycott against White Label Whiskey and Camel cigarett Union militants. Last year they were the leaders of Also running for election are the other two Right wing parti the Nationalist and the Radical, and the Catholic party 'Union de las Reformas Antillanas'. but 'Frente Obrero' is only one to support total independence from Holland
AFFAIR BY The Black Dwarf August 30th 1969 P: