Ceylon

into the army. Portugal, although a member of NATO has been something of an embarrassment to the other member countri s because of its economic backwardness and its police state regime but Portugal has always been under pressure from these same imperialist allies along with South Africa and Rhodesia tu maintain its military presence in Africa. This is necessary to defend the large international of and mineral investments particularly in Ango a and to protect the racist white settler states of S. Africa and Rhodesia. ;

Of course the domestic problems of Portugal cannot be understood in isolation from the wars which Portugal has been fighting and los.ng against the Liberation forces in the African colonies The colonsal dimension In the 3 African colonies Port tigal has approximately 166000 troops tied up by the guerillas, at least 3,000 troops have been killed and over £800 million has been spent to finance the 13 year old war. In Guinea Bissau % of the territory is now controlled by the African Party for Independence of Guine and Cape Verde Islands (PAIGC) and since an independent republic was proclaimed in 1972 it has been recognised by 93 of the 153 states belonging to UN.

Progress has also been made by the two guerilla groups in Angola, the Angolan National Liberation Front (FNLA) and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA); But it is in Mozambique that the most strikin; advances have been made. The Mozambiaue TGP: SEE es te er See Three years after the crushing of the revolutionary SVP in Ceylon in which hundreds of socialists were massacred and thousands more thrown into concentration camps under the cruellest conditions, some of the leaders of the JVP are being brought to trial.

The Popular Front Government which is responsible for this massive repression is 2 pting attempt of the situation. A prime target in their attempt to impose censorship ‘as been the LSSP(R) — Ceylonese section of the Fourth International many of whose leaders are also leaders of the Ceylonese Trade Union Movement. Nonetheless the LSSP(R) despite continued harassment and intermittent imprisonment of its militants has firmly defended the victims of the Popular Front’s onslaught. Bala Tampoe, who is a prominent The principal conclusion reached by Spinola was that Portugal could not win a military victory in any of its African colonies. Instead he argued that a political solution must be found. Spinola’s policy is not a Portuguese withdrawal from Africa but the establishment of multi-racial puppetftegimes in the colonies within a federation in which all decisive powers would still be held by Lisbon. The Federation would consist of 4 ‘equal’ states - Metropolitan Mario Soares Socialist party leader defence of JVP leaders.

to suppress al] international knowledge their opponents are exposed. heard. returns to huge welcome member of the LSSP(R) and also General Secretary of the Ceylonese Mercantile Union (CMU) has played a leading role in the leading Recently Tampoe was invited to speak at a university in France, at a trade union meeting and a Human Rights Association meeting in Geneva. But with the new trials under way the Ceylonese government has refused him permission to leave the country lest their plans to frame The C.T.U.M. has protested its opposition to the governments manouvre and called a mass public meeting in Colombo, which was attended by several thousand people. But the workers of Ceylon need international solidarity and trade, unionists in Ireland should make their objections succeeded in overthrowing the Government in an aimost bloodless coup. The only resistance met was from the state’s political police.

The coup was met by an enthusiastic response from the local population when it was learned that early decrees by the junta included the lifting of censorship, the freeing of political prisoners and the intention to hold free elections. Mass popular mobilisations have been taking place in the streets with the first opportunity in years for political expression but as slogans taken up by demonstrators become increasingly socialist in content it remains to be seen how long the junta will tolerate the threat of a popular upsurge. It is reported that Caetano handed over power to the military in order that the Government should not fall in the streets. It is unlikely that Spinola and his junta will tolerate the street mobilisations for long but the maximum use of the presént opportunity should be made by all socialists in Portugal to develop the struggle and to put forward the just demands that the junta will increasingly find intolerable. As in the similar situation in Ethiopia widespread strikes for better pay and conditions and against conscription and the African wars should be organised and the mass mobilizations on the streets should be maintained to demand the rights that have been denied for so long.

REVOLUTIONARY MARXIST GROUP ( Irish Section of the!

Fourth International)

38 Clanawly Road, DUBLIN 5 Spinola in African colonies