The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.17           April 28, 1997 
 
 
Letters  
 Trotsky and Stalin
On Page 9 of the April 7, 1997 issue in your advertisement of the Writings of Leon Trotsky you state that "Joseph Stalin ordered Trotsky's assassination." Since both men were Marxists what benefit would Stalin get from Trotky's murder? Trotsky at that time lived in Mexico far from the Soviet Union. Whatever differences these men might have had (in their plows to further socialism) were voided by geography.

As I understand it, Trotsky believed in world wide revolution to bring in socialism while Stalin wanted to build up Russian so that socialism there could be protected.

A more likely scenario was that agents of U.S. capitalism alarmed at the closeness (Mexico) of so brilliant a revolutionary as Trotsky, murdered him. Please try and address my theory.

Lee Kirsner

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Albanian revolution
The March 27 issue of Workers World newspaper of the "Marxist" Workers World Party, contained an article about the Albanian upheaval titled "People's Councils lead insurrection against capitalist misrule."

Dierdre Griswold, the author, discussed the liberation of Albania from the Nazis and the establishment of a socialist government at the end of W.W.II in Albania.

She then states: "The revolutionary government (in Albania), led by partisan hero Enver Xoxha, nationalized the land and all key industries. It (Albania) was the most egalitarian of the Eastern European socialist countries."

Isn't this a rather far fetched claim? Was not the Enver Xoxha regime one of the most repressive Stalinist regimes in Eastern Europe? Didn't the people rise up to overthrow this regime in the early 90s?

In the same issue of Workers World, there are numerous articles on gay rights, as if Stalinists like Xoxha were great champions of defending democratic rights for gay people.

Does Workers World suffer from a cognitive disorder? Or am I misinformed?

Nicholas Brand

Cambria County, Pennsylvania

Support Safeway strikers
It doesn't rain, it pours in Alberta. Some 10,000 members of UFCW and the BCTW are out on strike against Safeway's. They are demanding more hours of work for part timers and a wage increase equivalent to the concessions they gave the company in 1993. To find out more go to the UFCW Strike site at: http://www.e-view.com/ufcwstrike/

Email letters of support can be sent to: pgarvin@compusmart.ab.ca

The Alberta Federation of Labour and all the unions in Alberta including those not in the AFL (Building trades, United Nurses of Alberta and the Alberta Teachers Association) have endorsed a boycott of Safeway's for the length of the dispute.

Since we have no anti-scab legislation here, Safeway's has been hiring scabs since before the strike.

Pickets are up across the province, and spirits are high as Safeway's stores are virtually empty of customers. The UFCW has been joined on the lines by other union members. My own local (CUPE Local 474) has faxed all our members at their schools and over 30 of us have been on the picket lines.

This Easter weekend is a big shopping time for stores, and Safeway is hurting badly due to this strike.

Please let UFCW members know they are not alone. Call them at their 1-800 number listed on their strike page or Email them.

Eugene Plawiuk

Alberta, Canada

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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