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NewsMine coldwar-imperialism kosovo Viewing Item | Yugoslavia elections { September 27 2000 } Fwd: U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS (fwd)
>U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS-- >Soft Money and Hard Threats > >By Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center >September 27, 2000 > >On Sept. 26 the State Election Commission in Yugoslavia announced the >results of the Sept. 24 elections. The candidate backed by the U.S. >government and the European Union, Vojislav Kostunica, received 48 >percent of the vote to President Slobodan Milosevic’s 40 percent. > >Since neither candidate received more than 50 percent, a run-off election has >been set for Oct. 8. > >Kostunica’s immediate reaction was to reject participation in a run-off >election and demand that Milosevic concede defeat. Bill Clinton, Britain’s >Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and other NATO leaders who bombed >Yugoslavia in 1999 also demanded Milosevic concede. > >The first point for the whole international movement that opposed NATO >war against Yugoslavia to keep in mind is that the Yugoslav elections were >not “free and fair.” Imperialism stole the election through its blatant >pressure, >bribery and interference. > >The elections raise a vital question. Will Yugoslavia be turned over to the >Western banks and corporations? Will the assets of industrial enterprises be >broken up and sold off, as they have been in every other country in Eastern >Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Republics? Will the majority of the >population be relegated to living below the poverty line? > >The Sept. 24 elections involved three layers of voting. Besides the >presidential vote, there were also municipal elections, in which the U.S.- >backed opposition won many cities and towns. > >There was also an election for the Yugoslav Federal Parliament. The coalition >of the United Left, the Socialist Party and the SP’s sister party in >Montenegro won a strong majority of both houses. In Montenegro it was >unopposed, as the pro-Western government abstained from the election. >Under Yugoslav law, Parliament has more rights than the president and >directs the government, electing the prime minister. > >But a setback for Milosevic in the presidential election puts more at risk >than >the future of one individual. He was the main target of the war carried >out by >U.S. and NATO—the imperialist world powers—and because of that he has >come to symbolize Yugoslav resistance. In addition, he was at the center of >the coalition of forces that led Yugoslavia during the 78 days of bombing. > >All the social gains of an independent country that had broken free of >imperialist enslavement and held out during years of encirclement and war >are now endangered. > >WESTERN INTERFERENCE DISTORTED ELECTION > >In this election the U.S. and European Union governments used every >possible dirty trick, corrupt practice and payoff, and then bragged about >them. Threats of bombing, promises to end nine years of sanctions, >intimidation and military maneuvers heightened the tension. > >On election day the Pentagon and Croatia held their largest joint military >exercises ever--a joint landing on an island in the Adriatic near Montenegro, >part of Yugoslavia, to simulate an invasion. Fifteen British war ships have >now moved into the Mediterranean. A U.S. aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea >has moved closer to Montenegro. > >The major media here—the New York Times on Sept. 20 and the Washington >Post on Sept. 19--have described in detail the exact amounts funneled into >the opposition parties, radio and TV stations and newspapers. The U.S. >Congress publicly voted on $77 million in open interference. Then on Sept. >25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to send another $105 >million to aid anti-Milosevic forces in Serbia and Montenegro. > >These articles describe suitcases of cash handed over at the border, endless >supplies of computers, fax machines, cell phones and the trainers to use >them. These goods have been passed to the opposition through front >organizations, NGOs and media outlets. > >Weeks before the election, Western-funded polling organizations announced >that Kostunica would win a sweeping victory. For the West’s media >monopoly beaming into Yugoslavia, there were only two options. Either >Milosevic would lose or there would be massive fraud. > >The U.S. State Department announced that even if Milosevic won by >overwhelming odds, Washington would refuse to accept the results. > >HOW SHOULD MOVEMENT EVALUATE THESE EVENTS? > >Those who opposed NATO bombing in 1999 and all the militant activists >who have taken on the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, >globalization and sweatshops have a stake in what happens next in >Yugoslavia. > >Are they ready to stand in solidarity with whatever steps are necessary to >keep another country from being forced under the boot of the IMF and >World Bank? > >Washington, London, Paris and Berlin have openly intervened and bragged >of it. In the face of these admissions, those in office in Yugoslavia have >every right to void the elections and disqualify the opposition. > >In the United States, France, Britain or Germany, would such an election have >been allowed to continue? In the United States no political organization is >permitted to accept funds from another government for political purposes >unless it publicly registers as an agent of a foreign power. The U.S. ruling >class is determined that only it should control the electoral process. > >Any U.S. politician found accepting contributions, bribes or payments of any >kind from a foreign government is disgraced, attacked and could face criminal >indictment. > >Just the allegation that the Clinton administration accepted a contribution >from an ethnically Chinese businessperson who might have had contact with >China sent every politician running for cover. > >CORRUPTION AND TREASON > >It is important to recognize that the Yugoslav government has the moral right >to nullify this election on the basis of outrageous outside interference. >It has >every right to refuse to proceed with further elections under conditions of >war, sanctions and occupation. > >The Parliament has every right to establish a criminal inquiry into the >funding >sources of the opposition. Government prosecutors have every right to >indict and jail the politicians and publications that have corrupted the >election process. > >The masses have every right to go into the streets and denounce the >opposition parties and publications as agents of a foreign power. > >Kostunica, until now a minor politician considered a Serb nationalist with a >long history of anti-Communism, consistently maintains that he has not >accepted any money from the West. He has even criticized the NATO >bombing and sanctions. No Yugoslav politician could win significant votes if >seen as a NATO stooge. > >It may be true that he personally has not pocketed any money. But >Kostunica has surrounded himself with political parties and organizations >that are toadies to the NATO countries. His whole campaign has been >publicized by radio and television stations and newspapers wholly and >openly financed by grants from Washington and Berlin. > >He is supported by the U.S. and European imperialist powers because his >political program, even if it criticizes NATO, embraces the very policies >that >NATO is demanding. He is the easiest of the politicians to make into a pawn >because he has no personal base. He is the candidate of a bloc of 18 small >feuding political parties that have no common interests or ideology. They are >united only by opposition to the government and their willingness to accept >foreign funds. > >U.S. ENGINEERED COUPS AND COUNTERREVOLUTIONS > >The big U.S. monopolies and banks and Washington itself have never >accepted an election as “free and fair” if it put their class interests in >danger >or brought the masses onto the scene. Since the end of World War II the >U.S. has organized the overthrow of more than 50 governments. > >In Chile in 1973 the CIA organized a military coup to drown the progressive >legally elected government in blood. It did the same in Iran in 1953 and in >Guatemala in 1954. > >In 1990 the U.S. orchestrated the overthrow of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. >Washington had cobbled together a 20-party coalition whose only aim was >to overthrow the government and restore the old propertied class. It >promised to end the “Contra” war and sanctions and provide massive aid if >the popular Sandinistas were defeated. > >In this situation, much like the one today in Yugoslavia, Washington >succeeded in manipulating the election to drive out the Sandinistas. But the >U.S. never came through with the aid, and now some of the lowest-paid >sweatshops in the world operate in the “Free Trade Zones” of Nicaragua. > >‘FREE ELECTIONS’ IN A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE? > >Yugoslavia, like Nicaragua, illustrates the dangers of holding an election in >the midst of an unrelenting war, sanctions and occupation of part of the >country by foreign armies. With their dominance of the world media, the lure >of material goods, the bribes and the threat of further punishment, these >powers were able to reach right into the country. > >President Milosevic was trying to get a mandate by calling a vote when the >opposition seemed divided, weak, discredited. But the imperialists quickly >strengthened them using tactics refined over decades of interventions. > >Yugoslavia, a small, beleaguered country maneuvering to survive, has >allowed dozens of openly pro-imperialist parties to maintain offices, staff, >publish newspapers, organize and to participate in elections. These >concessions have only further emboldened the enemies of the Yugoslav >workers. > >Even though the imperialists complained that they were not allowed to >monitor the elections, hundreds of foreigners did come in as election >observers and certified that they were “free and fair”--that the government >honestly and legally abided by all election procedures. But this shifted >attention from the actual fraud taking place: the massive intervention and >intimidation by imperialism. > >The political opposition was allowed to engage in practically unrestrained >acceptance of foreign assistance, advice and media hype. The whole process >was corrupted by an army of Western advisors and pollsters. > >WILL U.S./NATO FORCES SUCCEED? > >Reports from election observers and even the big-business media show there >is a hard core of working-class support for Milosevic from those who see him >as a defender of the country against NATO. Even among those who naively >voted for Kostunica out of anger against Milosevic, there are many who >want to resist Western imperialism. > >The question facing the Yugoslav masses now is will the Western >multinationals, on the basis of this election distorted by intervention, >be able >to capture the state apparatus and open the door to super-exploitation? > >Will the enemy that failed to break Yugoslavia’s resistance with 78 days of >bombing be able to take over by manipulation of an election--or will the >government be able to resist? > >If the left organizations and patriotic parties in Yugoslavia resist, will >the >progressive and working-class and anti-war movements in the West defend >them against an inevitable propaganda blitz from the West and a possible >new military campaign? > >WHAT CAN BE DONE? > >One contribution to this effort could be a Commission of Inquiry to examine >the corrupting role that the U.S. government, the European Union, their >NATO military arm and their international financial organizations played in >the Yugoslav election. > >This Inquiry could gather and publicize information on these institutions’ >efforts to subvert and overthrow the Yugoslav government. It could also >gather information on the open and secret funding of political parties, >organizations and publications by U.S. government agencies. > >The Inquiry could deepen international understanding of Yugoslavia’s >problem by incorporating testimony and reports on U.S. intervention in the >internal affairs of other governments. This would include the overthrow of >other popular governments in Guatemala, Panama, Chile, Iran and Indonesia >and also intervention in elections in Italy, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guyana and >others. > >Activists in other NATO countries could organize their own Commissions of >Inquiry and public hearings to examine how this latest intervention violated >their laws. Similar information came to light earlier when hearings and >tribunals in many countries put U.S. and NATO leaders on trial for war crimes >against Yugoslavia. > >The importance of international solidarity should never be underestimated. >Yugoslavia must not stand alone. > >International Action Center >39 West 14th Street, Room 206 >New York, NY 10011 >email: iacenter@iacenter.org >web: www.iacenter.org >CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org >phone: 212 633-6646 >fax: 212 633-2889
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