Vol. 72/No. 17      April 28, 2008

“We believe that every person has a right to present their political views,” said SPA president Aram Dagavarian, introducing Calero.

A question-and-answer period followed remarks by the candidate. A member of the SPA asked about the war in Iraq. Calero said that between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan there are close to 200,000 imperialist troops deployed in the region.

“These are the longest U.S. wars abroad except for the Vietnam War,” he said. “The U.S. military has now been in Iraq for five years, and in Afghanistan for six-and-a-half years. The Democratic and Republican parties have jointly backed these wars from the start. We need a different kind of party, one that acts in the interests of working people. A labor party, based on the trade unions, would lead the fight for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of U.S. troops from all the places they’re stationed throughout the world.”

A member of Students for Environmental Action asked about carbon credits, “green” industries, and moving away from the use of oil.

“The problem is not oil, but who controls it,” said Calero. “The capitalists will turn anything, including so-called green industries, into a way to make money, rather than a way to meet human needs. We must nationalize the energy industry and put it under workers’ control.”

Some students stayed more than an hour after the meeting for informal discussion with the candidate. Madison Chibirka questioned whether socialists should run for office since she had heard that “socialism would come from the bottom up.”

Calero said it’s important for socialists to use the platform of the elections as a vehicle to reach more working people and pointed to the example of the Bolshevik Party’s election campaigns.
 
 
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