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   Vol.64/No.19            May 15, 2000


Sales teams respond to INS assault

BY MAURICE WILLIAMS

Supporters of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial across the United States and elsewhere hit the streets this past week, taking special issues of the socialist press to plant gates, in working-class neighborhoods, and on the job to present a communist voice on the INS assault in Miami.

The Militant was headlined "INS assault in Miami strikes blow to the working class." It featured an editorial titled "In defense of the Cuban Revolution, in defense of the working class" and an article, "Call for federal troops to enforce civil rights: a world apart from Miami INS assault."

Socialist workers were also armed with a special eight-page issue of Perspectiva Mundial carrying those two articles and an editorial calling for protests against Washington's moves in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

As the big-business media, as well as middle-class political forces, fell increasingly in line behind the Clinton administration's INS raid, these political weapons have offered an opportunity to join the issues and bring a clear working-class explanation at a time when clarity is deeply needed.

Reporting from Miami, Rachele Fruit, a member of the International Association of Machinists, said, "In one hour we sold one PM sub and 14 copies of the special edition of Perspectiva Mundial." She added, "The U.S. rulers have really done a job appealing to the Black community for support of the raid. Many people say, 'I have nothing against the government,' and we see a number of U.S. flags flying in the neighborhood."

Mike Italie, a garment worker in Miami who joined with Fruit campaigning with the Militant, said, "I got into a lot of extended discussions. Everybody I talked to supported the raid, even those who bought the paper. They thought I made some good points and wanted to read more about it. They said the kid belonged with his dad and the Miami relatives defied the law. They were caught in this bind — either you support the right-wingers or the INS."

Italie said they sold 11 copies of the Militant, 19 copies of the Perspectiva Mundial special edition, 5 copies of the May issue of PM, and 2 PM subs. They also ordered 30 more copies of the PM special edition.

From southern Minnesota Francisco Picado, a meat packer, said, "One of my co-workers who bought a Militant subscription this week was someone we've been talking to since the subscription campaign began. He knows we support the Cuban revolution, but he also recognized we could see past that based on our discussions on the INS assault. I'm convinced that in his eyes we gained some credibility.

"Another co-worker, who was a farmer in Mexico, initially supported the INS attack when we first started talking about it. He went with me to the rally for the Titan Tire strikers in Des Moines, Iowa. He came back from the action fired up and sold a Perspectiva Mundial sub to a farm worker he knows," said Picado.

"The next day he came by my house where we spent an hour and a half talking about the INS raid and its implications, including the North American military command, the brutal tone of the INS operation, and the strengthening of the immigration cops. He has purchased a number of Pathfinder titles and joined in discussions on the book Capitalism's World Disorder."

Picado said socialist workers in Minnesota sold five Militant subscriptions to participants at the Iowa rally, including one to a striker. Four people bought subs on the bus ride back to Minnesota.

"They were people we met who work at a plant that make cans for Spam. When we brought up the INS operation, at first they justified it, saying 'what else could the government do?'"

Picado said two of the new subscribers were members of the Steelworkers union who were supporters of the 1985-86 Hormel meat packers strike and had gotten arrested with some of the P-9 strikers.

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