“Steelyard Blues” in Spanish
CIDE (Centro de Investigacion y
Docencia Economicas) of Mexico
City has published NACLA’s
Report on the crisis of the steel in-
dustry (“Steelyard Blues”, Vol.
XIII, No. 1, January-February,
to enable the employers to resist
the workers’ demands through
direct aid to the companies and
military repression of the unions.
But even this is not likely to be
enough. The degree of repression
which the regime had to employ to
break this strike and the wide-
spread support it commanded
show that there will be no easy
“abertura” in Brazil now. As one
young workers in Sao Bernardo do
Campo said, “People are con-
scious of the fact that they are not
just fighting for a raise. It is not on-
ly the factory and the labor courts
that are wrong-it’s the whole
policy of this regime.” New forms
of worker organization which en-
courage participation by many
more than the traditional leaders
will make it difficult to keep the
unions in check for long. The
issues are too clear, and the lines
are too clearly drawn.
-Mimi Keck is a graduate student
at Columbia University and a
free-lance translator.
1979) in Spanish, in the Cuadernos
Semestrales (number 7), the semi-
annual supplement of Estados
Unidos: Perspectiva Latinoameri-
cana. For price information and to
order write to CIDE, Estados
Unidos: Perspectiva Latino-
americana, Apdo. Postal 41-553,
Mexico 10, D.F., Mexico.
Volunteers and Summer Interns
In addition to our hard-working
year-round volunteers-Mimi
Keck, Maisie McAdoo, Peggy
Moberg, Jim Price, Mike Roland,
and Aracelly Santana-NACLA
has also benefitted this summer
from the research and ad-
NACLA Reportupdate * update . update * update
ministrative work of Sam Fried-
man, Ralph Rivera, Danny Simp-
son, Casandra Torrio, Basil Wilson
and Scott Woerner.
We take this opportunity to ex-
press our appreciation for their
valuable contribution to NACLA’s
work, and to once again remind
our readers that NACLA always
welcomes volunteer assistance
both in our research and in the ad-
ministrative tasks carried out by
our small staff. In particular, we
are desperately looking for
volunteers who can help us in our
mailroom, library, promotion work
and with typing. If you have some
free time and can help us, please
call 989-8890.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS
In early May, NACLA attended a
conference in Mexico City on un-
documented Mexican workers in
the United States. It was the first
organized effort bringing together
activists concerned with the un-
documented from both the U.S.
and Mexican sides of the border. The
participants, primarily trade
unionists but also including
representatives of political and
community-based organizations,
passed a “Bill of Rights” of the un-
documented and set up a struc-
ture for continued exchange of in-
formation and working coopera-
tion.
NACLA TOUR TO NICARAGUA
NACLA is planning a joint tour
with Monthly Review Associates to
Nicaragua. The tour, a 10-day visit
during the Christmas season, 1980,
will be led by a NACLA staffer or
associate. The approximate cost
will be $950. If you are interested
or want more information, please
write to NACLA, 151 W. 19th
Street, 9th Fl., New York, NY
10011, Attn. Tours.
NACLA SUSTAINERS
Although this is going to press
too early for us to be able to
evaluate the results of our latest
plea for donations, it is not too ear-
ly to realize that we must have the
most loyal and supportive readers
of any magazine. The sentiment of
many readers is best summed up
in the following letter which we
received from a subscriber in
Ohio: “I don’t usually pay attention
to fund appeals (even desperate
ones) because I’m usually broke
too. But here’s $10 to let you know
how important you are to me.
Don’t give up!” Thanks to all for
your help. We’ll keep you informed
of our progress.
Last May, NACLA had the very
special pleasure of a visit by Celia
Guevara-Argentine resistance
activist and the sister of one of
Latin America’s revolutionary
heroes, Che Guevara.
Ms. Guevara’s trip to New York
was part of a tour of Europe and
North America aimed at heighten-
ing international support for the
human rights struggle in Argen-
tina; a military regime, headed by
President Jorge Rafael Videla, has
ruled there since the overthrow of
President Isabel Martinez de
Per6n on March 24, 1976.
A 400-page report prepared by
the Inter-American Rights Com-
mission of the Organization of
American States (OAS), after its
visit to Argentina in November
1979, documents the military’s
four-year reign of terror: 5,000
people murdered and an addi-
JulylAugust 1980
tional 7-10,000 disappeared, most
after detention by government
security forces. The Carter Admin-
istration, anxious to block im-
proved Argentine-Soviet relations,
has moved to strengthen its ties
with the Videla regime despite the
findings of the Commission and of
the U.S. State Department’s an-
nual investigation. Resumption of
military assistance, now barred to
Argentina because of human
rights violations, has been actively
promoted by certain Administra-
tion officials. Ms. Guevara was,
therefore, particularly heartened
by the recent decision of the
United Nations Human Rights
Commission to establish a five-
member team to investigate the
problem of disappeared persons
around the world.
Our guest also shared with us
the experience of her own family
at the hands of the military. Her
younger brother, Juan Martin,
presently in prison on charges of
“illegal association” and posses-
sion of arms, had been subjected
to one of the regime’s methods of
torture: forbidden light, forbidden
the sound of other human voices
in one’s cell, the prisoner’s ability
to see and to hear deteriorates;
blindness and deafness can
follow.
In listening to and watching Ms.
Guevara, we could not be other
than deeply moved by her enorm-
ous strength in the face of the suf-
fering of both her people and her
family. But most striking was her
warm humor, a humor that affirms
the possibilities of the living and
thus, provides an element indis-
pensable for the continuation of
the struggle-hope.
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