Against the Current, No. 25, March/April 1990
-
Eastern Europe and Ourselves
— The Editors - Introduction to ATC 25, March-April 1990
-
Panama--After the Coup
— Mike Fischer and Matt Schultz interview Eric Jackson -
Panama, Not for Television
— Eric Jackson -
Whose Declaration of War?
— Donald W. Bray and Marjorie Woodford Bray -
"Protecting American Lives"
— Donald W. Bray and Marjorie Woodford Bray -
The Border, the Law and Peace
— Michel Warshawski -
On Being a Marxist in the Soviet Union
— Boris Kagarlitsky -
Radicalizing Earth Day's Managed Mobilization
— Bill Resnick -
Who Will Save the Forest?
— Alexander Cockburn -
Perspectives in the Twilight of the Cold War
— The Editors -
"the collapse of Stalinism means that capitalism must confront itself"
— Paul Buhle -
“three challenges to peace and disarmament activists in the U.S.”
— Frank Brodhead -
"...that's the opportunity: to engage in a struggle for the power to produce new cultural and political meanings"
— Marcy Darnovsky -
"...international class war will not only continue but increase ... future Invasions may be done by one well-dressed agent with a briefcase"
— Shafik Abu Tahir -
"...the global economic impact of cold war chill-out will put strong pressure on U.S. capital... [and] intensification of competition on a world scale"
— Kim Moody -
"...new openings will bring more rank-and-file activism and create opportunities for socialist-feminists"
— Johanna Brenner -
“… the left [will] see that the major contradiction In a market economy is the collision with the natural world"
— Sandra Baird -
"...there are two sorts of radical demands we should be raising: peace conversion and ecological industrial conversion"
— Howard Hawkins -
"... movements in the West, East and Third World [need] to make deep connections"
— Jill Benderly -
Socialism, Markets and Restoration
— Aleksei K. Zolotov -
Restoration & Revolutionary Transformation
— James Petras -
Nicaragua: from Revolution to Stabilization
— Joseph Ricciardi -
The First Follies of 1990
— R.F. Kampfer -
Fabricating the Past
— Ellen Poteet -
Men and Women of Letters
— Mary McGuire -
The House that Montgomery Built
— Martin Glaberman -
In Memoriam--Hal Draper
— Ernie Haberkern -
Rube Singer Remembered
— Archie Lieberman
Donald W. Bray and Marjorie Woodford Bray
FROM THE FIRST day of the invasion, the mainstream U.S. press has made a point of reminding us that it was General Noriega and the Panamanian National Legislative Assembly, with their “declaration of war” two days before the invasion, who initiated hostilities and consequently precipitated the Bush administration’s response.
But Panama’s declaration was simply a belated recognition of the war that the United States had been waging against Panama for almost two years. To call the recognition of this hostile situation a “declaration of war” was, in the words of an information officer of the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) on the night of the invasion “Infantile.”
The U.S. war commenced in earnest with the 1987, freezing of the National Bank of Panama’s assets in an effort to make it impossible for the Panamanian government to settle international accounts. In the ensuing months, the war accelerated with Washington’s refusal to turn over the Canal tolls or the taxes, including health premiums, collected from Panamanians working for the U.S. government; its insistence that U.S. corporations follow suit or face criminal sanctions; and its declaration that flag-of-convenience ships of Panamanian registry would no longer be allowed to call at U.S. ports.
The combination of these measures delivered a crippling blow to an economy based upon its position as an international financial center; the gross national product subsequently declined 44 percent, reducing living standards to their 1972 level. Half the Panamanian population fell into poverty.
In addition to these economic assaults, the Bush administration dramatically increased U.S. troop strength following the aborted May elections and conducted frequent military maneuvers into Panamanian territory. Both measures demonstrated a flagrant disregard for procedures developed under the 1978 Carter-Torrijos treaty.
Many of these maneuvers blocked streets and challenged personnel at Panamanian military facilities in Panama City and in outlying areas. Accompanied by helicopters and armed personnel carriers, large numbers of GIs threatened women soldiers on guard duty at their barracks in Gamboa.
March-April 1990, ATC 25