Re: Palestine/Ireland: to Lou Paulsen

["Jose G. Perez" <jg_perez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've never even heard of Hartley; I have no position on the negotiating
tactics or stance of the Irish republicans (nor of the Palestinians).

In the case of Cuba, however, I do have an opinion, and my opinion is that
the Cuban leadership has done the right thing in making all sorts of
concessions to the capitalists since 1990 which it did not have to make
before.

José

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Adams" <adamsm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2000 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: Palestine/Ireland: to Lou Paulsen


Jose,

Should Yugoslavia have bowed its head under a thunderstorm of NATO bombs
because the fSU  and the socialist bloc have lost the cold war? Should
the FARC say,  "We can  go no further, the objective situation is not on
our side?

What about Cuba? Nothing would be easier for Cuba than to say, "OK, we
made a mistake, a mistake which seemed credible  in 1969, but we were
wrong, can you let us back into the Washington Gang?"  It isn't  a case
of ignoring reality. the non-Hartley faction in the republican movement
stood in a MUCH stronger position than Cuba stands today in the world
scale, so should Fidel now say "The *objective* situation is different
than it was in 1958, me need to invite the oil barons and playboys
back"?

Does he say "That's it boys  and girls, imperialism won the cold war,
now it's time to invite the U.N. in to sort out all our problems? Should
he?

Mark

> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 09:25:35 -0500
> From: "Jose G. Perez" <jg_perez@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re:
>
> >>The British guns were at Irish republicans' heads since 1969 (and, in
> fact,
> for hundreds of years beforehand).  Those guns weren't any stronger in
1994
> that in 1984 or 1974.  Nor was republicanism any weaker.<<
>
> Yes, this is EXACTLY where we disagree. The relationship of forces was not
> just worse, but qualitatively so, in 1994 than twenty years earlier. To
make
> the case you are making it is necessary to simply ignore reality, pretend
> the socialist bloc still exists and that imperialism did not win the cold
> war. Compare that to the situation in the world with the American
> imperialists in the midst of the Watergate scandal and on the eve of their
> definitive expulsion from Vietnam.
>
> José