A May Day of Commitment

The march celebrating International Workers Day begins in Havana with President Raúl Castro on hand

National news staff | informacion@granma.cu
May 1, 2017 08:05:55
                       
Today May 1, a march celebrating International Workers Day is taking place in Havana, with Army General Raúl Castro, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Councils of State and Ministers, on hand.

Fifty thousand youth led the parade of workers in the capital on May Day which was dedicated to them this year, as the present and future of the homeland.

Cubans are motivated to march today by the Revolution's social conquests, its continuity into the future, and the challenges of building a more just, prosperous, and sustainable society.

Many generations of Cubans are coming out to pay tribute to Fidel and to Che, on the 50th anniversary of his death in combat; to defend the country's sovereignty, demanding an end to the U.S. economic, financial, commercial blockade and the return of territory illegally occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base.


Minute by minute: Following Cuba's celebration of International Workers Day

Granma | internet@granma.cu
May 1, 2017 07:05:08
Primero de Mayo en la habana

09:15-.Fidel on May Day, 2000, "Revolution is having a sense of the historic moment; it is changing everything that must be changed; it is full equality and freedom; it is being treated and treating others like human beings; it is emancipating ourselves on our own and through our own efforts; it is challenging powerful dominant forces in and beyond the social and national arena; it is defending the values in which we believe at the price of any sacrifice; it is modesty, selflessness, altruism, solidarity, and heroism; it is fighting with courage, intelligence and realism; it is never lying or violating ethical principles; it is a profound conviction that there is no power on earth that can crush the power of truth and ideas. Revolution is unity; it is independence, it is struggling for our dreams of justice for Cuba and for the world, which is the foundation of our patriotism, our socialism, and our internationalism."
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09:05-.To the rhythm of congas, and carrying hundreds of Cuban flags, Cuban men and women bring up the rear of the 2017 May Day march in Havana.
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08:55-. Fidel on May Day, 1961, "I only want to remind everyone of what this country's situation would have been if imperialism had been able to get its way. What a May Day our workers would have had, if imperialism had gotten its way! That is why, why we think about all we owe those who died; that is why we think that every smile today is a tribute to those who made possible this wonderful, hopeful day. (Applause)"
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08:55-. Fidel on May Day, 1961, "… it must be all the peoples of America who rise up indignant, because the disregard of one Latin American country's sovereignty by yankee imperialism is disregard for all other peoples of Latin America; it is an attack on the sovereignty of all sister peoples of Latin America."
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08:50-.Colorful contingents from the capital's educational institutions joined the May Day march, including the Hermanos Tamayo Vocational Pre-university High School.
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08:50-.Marching are representatives from Minint and FAR medical services, including workers at the Carlos J. Finlay and Naval hospitals;
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08:42-.We defend the Revolution's conquests this May Day with the joy that characterizes Cuban families and workers, insisting, "Unity is our strength!"
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08:40-. Fidel on May Day, 1972, " The Revolution is solid. The Revolution is strong. The Revolution is not the work of a single day, nor of a year. It is work forever, into the future. It is an eternal work, in which the fundamental actors are the people, workers."
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08:38-.Also marching were the people's diplomats at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, and People's Power Assembly members, as well as representatives from the Attorney General's Office.
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08:38-.The public administration sector joined the May Day celebration with their own banners, flags and chants.

08:38-.Workers from the non-state sector, including members of cooperatives and the self-employed, join the May Day march, celebrating the Revolution's conquests.
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08:32-.Marching through the Plaza are workers from the National Bus Company, Cubana Airlines, the mining, forestry and tobacco industries, along with the National Association of Small Framers and the Ministry of Agriculture.
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08:30-.Marching are Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, workers from Radio Taino and the Ministry of Energy and Mines, carrying a giant flag and shouting, "Long live a free Cuba! Long Live Raúl and Fidel!
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08:30-. José Martí International Airport workers join the May Day march.
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08:28-.Contigents from Radio Enciclopedia, celebrating its 55th anniversary and news station Radio Reloj.
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08:25-.Workers from the sugar industry, Etecsa telephone company, Labiofam, the Ministry of Economy and Planning, Lenin Park, and the Egrem music label.
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08:25-.In his 1962 May Day speech, Fidel said, "It was made clear here today that not only the great majority of the people are with the Revolution - if their was any doubt among a few naïve who are happy to deceive themselves or let themselves be deceived - but also, even more importantly, the great majority of the organized people, because coming together today is the organized people. That is why we are even stronger than last year, because the Revolution not only has the majority, but has also organized this majority."
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08:22-.Also joining the May Day march are workers from the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center, the National Botanical Garden and other scientific institutions, as well as more than 30,000 workers from the Citma and BioCubaFarma state enterprises.

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08:20-.Present in Havana's Plaza de La Revolución to express their solidarity are more than 1,630 friends of Cuba, from 86 countries and more than 300 organizations.

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08:20-.Workers from the Ministry of Communications, wearing blue, march carrying images of the Comandante en Jefe and Hugo Chávez.

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08:18-.Workers from the International Neurological Restoration Center, the Pradera Health Center, and the Cira García International Clinic.

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08:15-.Tourism workers in the Plaza, including those from the iconic Hotel Nacional de Cuba, the Tropicana night club, the Gran Caribe, Isla Azul, and Cubanacán hotel chains, as well as the country's Campismo Popular enterprise.

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08:15-.Joining the May Day march is a group from Havana's Water Department, along with workers from enterprises and cooperatives involved in construction, the production of building materials, project managment, and support services in the sector.

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08:12-.Parading through the Plaza de la Revolución is the Construction bloc, led by the Blas Roca contingent, carrying signs saying, "Revolution is building!"
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08:12-.Marching are members of the Cuban Medical Cooperation Unit, the Latin American Medical School for international students, and Havana's University of Medical Sciences.

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08:12-.Posters from healthcare centers around the city abound in the plaza, while workers shout, "Down with the blockade!"

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08:10-.Public health workers advance, representing those who are working around the world, sharing their skills on a daily basis.
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08:10-.It is no accident that educational and health care workers are marching together today; they are two of the Revolution's strongholds.

08:08-. The Education bloc continues to advance toward the plaza, led by teachers committed to the importance of the country's history.
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08:05-.The Education bloc includes teachers from the 1,216 middle schools in the capital.
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08:05-.Students from Eduardo Garcia Delgado Pre-university High School march by the image of working class leader Lázaro Peña, along with those from the Manuel Fajardo Sports University, where the country's future sports legends are training.

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08:00-.This bloc of young members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior carry banners from their student organizations and Cuban Flags. Also participating are youth from the University of Havana and the Institute of International Relations.

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08:00-.Cuban youth carrying the image of our Comandante en Jefe, in a giant photo along with Raúl, while Martí, Che and Camilo witness the march.

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07:55-.The CTC leader concluded with shouts of "Onward, comrades, more united than ever! Long live workers of Cuba and the world! Long live Fidel and Raúl! Long live the Cuban Revolution! Hasta la victoria siempre!"

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07:50-. Guilarte continued, saying that there are every day more reasons to struggle and win. Cuba will not renounce its ideals of independence and social justice, he said, adding that we have won this right with great sacrifice.

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07:45-.The CTC leader reiterated Cuban's demand that the U.S. blockade be eliminated and territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base returned, while reaffirming solidarity with Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution, and with struggles of workers around the world against capitalism.

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07:40-. Guilarte reaffirmed workers' unwavering commitment to continue building a sovereign, prosperous, sustainable nation, emphasizing this year's May Day maxim, "Unity is our strength."

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07:35-.Guilarte noted that joining Cubans in José Martí Plaza de la Revolución are more than 1,630 friends from 86 countries and 349 trade union federations from around the world, expressing their solidarity.

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07:35-.Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, secretary general of the Federation of Cuban Workers, begins his speech recalling that every year the May Day celebration begins with tributes to our undefeated, unforgettable Comandante en Jefe.

07:30-.In Havana, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Minister, arrives to the city's José Martí Plaza de la Revolución.
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07:20-.Santiago's people advance toward Antonio Maceo Grajales Plaza.
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07:15-.María de los Ángeles Tamayo: "We return to this plaza to demonstrate with this massive march that we continue to defend our prosperous, sustainable socialist system."
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07:10-.María de los Ángeles Cordero Tamayo, secretary general of the Cuban Workers Federation in the province, noted that this is the first May Day celebrated without Fidel's presence, but that his concept of Revolution wil always be upheld.

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07:10-.Leading the parade in Santiago is José Ramón Machado Ventura, second secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba's Central Committee.

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07:05-. Being heard in the city's Antonio Maceo Plaza de la Revolucion is the speech Raúl presented here December 3, 2016, during the commemoration of Fidel's life.

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07:05-.The country's first march of the day begins in Santiago de Cuba.

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07:00-.Cuba's parks and plazas are ready for May Day marches.

Workers Have More Reasons Everyday to Struggle and Win

Full text of speech by Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, member of the Party Central Committee Political Bureau and secretary general of the Cuban Workers Federation, during Havana's May Day commemoration

Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento | internet@granma.cu
May 1, 2017 13:05:16
Photo: Ricardo López Hevia

Speech by Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, member of the Party Central Committee Political Bureau and secretary general of the Cuban Workers Federation, during the commemoration of International Workers Day in José Martí Plaza de la Revolución, May 1, 2017

Compañero Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Councils of State and Ministers;

Distinguished guests;

Working men and women:

As we do every year throughout the country, today we celebrate International Workers Day, with the living memory of our beloved, unforgettable, and undefeated Comandante en Jefe, Fidel Castro Ruz.

It was in this very plaza, on May Day in 2000, packed with men and women who have carried forward and defended the work he began, where Fidel expressed to us his concept of Revolution. Upon signing it after his physical disappearance, Cubans made it a scared oath of loyalty to his legacy and an unwavering commitment to continuing the construction of a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous, and sustainable nation.

Our compact, colorful marches through plazas and avenues, under the maxim of "Unity is our strength," constitute a genuine, resounding popular demonstration of support for the Revolution, the Communist Party of Cuba, and its historic leadership.

This May Day celebration has become an opportunity to honor the value of work, to take advantage the untapped productivity and efficiency in our industrial workforce, which would allow for the generation of greater wealth, the reduction of prices, and gradual increases in income, in addition to favoring the development of productive chains, in a secure, healthy, environment in all of our workplaces.

On this occasion we evoke important events which have dignified our history and traditions of struggle, such as the 56th anniversary of the victory at Playa Girón and the proclamation of the socialist nature of the Revolution; and the 55th of the Young Communist League's founding - firm, honorable followers of those who almost 60 years ago changed the course of the homeland's history.

We also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of our Heroic Guerilla,

Ernesto Che Guevara, promoter of the struggle for industrialization of the country, voluntary work, and the Innovators and Rationalizers Movement, who died upholding the purest internationalist ideals.

Compatriots:

In the current worldwide geopolitical context, it is impossible to forget that we live under an unjust, exclusive international order, in which growing globalization of an economy - facing the impact of capitalist crises and neoliberal policies - has created more challenges and dangers for Latin America and the Caribbean, reaffirming for us that the objective of building the Greater Homeland of which our predecessors dreamed requires, now more than ever, the will and firm conviction to defend regional progress in terms of cooperation, joint political action, and integration, with the mobilization of left political forces.

On this day, we make our own the words of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz during the 5th CELAC Summit, when he referred to relations between Cuba and the United States, saying, we can "cooperate and coexist in a civilized fashion, respecting differences and promoting all that benefits both countries and peoples, but it cannot be expected that, in order to do so, Cuba should make concessions which are key to its sovereignty and independence.

We reiterate once again our legitimate demand for the elimination of the economic, commercial, financial blockade imposed by the United States government, which has caused our country so much damage and depravation, and is the principal obstacle to the economy's development. We likewise demand the return of territory illegally occupied by the United States Naval Base in Guantánamo, against the will of the Government and people of Cuba.

The Federation of Cuban Workers and our trade unions express our unconditional support and solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution; we reject the political maneuvers and diplomatic harassment to which it has been subjected by the discredited Organization of American States (OAS) and other reactionary sectors of the region. We support the civil-military union, led by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, struggling to defend its sovereignty, independence, and the most genuine interests of the nation.

At the same time, we reiterate our solidarity and support to workers around the world confronting the discriminatory policies of capitalism and being repressed for demanding the most elemental social and labor rights.

We are proud to celebrate the world proletariat's holiday with the presence among us this morning of comrades and friends from a variety of trade union organizations, solidarity groups, and social movements. In the name of all Cuban workers, we thank you for your consistent support of our homeland.

Cuban men and women:

There are more reasons everyday for our workers to struggle and win. Cuba will not renounce its ideals of independence and social justice. We have won this sovereign right with great sacrifices and at the cost of greater dangers.

Forward comrades, more united than ever, believing deeply in the certainty of our victory!

Long live the workers of Cuba and the world!

Long live Fidel and Raúl!

Long live the Cuban Revolution!

Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

May Day Around the World

International Workers Day marked by protests across the globe

Author: International news staff | informacion@granma.cu
May 1, 2017 11:05:44

May Day protests in Spain. Photo: Córdoba PCE

This May Day, the police in Istanbul arrested dozens of demonstrators who attempted to challenge a ban on International Workers Day commemorations in the city's emblematic Taksim Square, closed for the third consecutive May 1.

Likewise Greek trade unions observed the date with a 24-hour general strike, as the country's government prepares more cutbacks to comply with demands of international banks.

In the United States, May Day activities were focused on immigrant rights. Tens of thousands of people are expected to commemorate the day in New York and Los Angeles, protesting an increase in deportations by the Trump administration. Organizers have called for strikes by immigrants in some cities to draw attention to the importance of these workers.

Some 40,000 workers gathered in Indonesia's capital for May Day and marched to the Presidential palace shouting, "Long live the workers," denouncing low wages, inadequate healthcare, and insecure contract jobs, as well as government policies.

Workers in South Korea congregated in Seoul to call for improved working conditions.

In Spain, under the banner of "No excuses, into the streets," May Day demonstrations were held in 73 cities to demand stable jobs, fair wages, adequate pensions, more social security, and an end to labor law reforms.

SACP Says Principled Unity Based on a Common Program: May Day Message

1 May 2017

In memory of Chris Hani, pursue the whole truth and push for justice to serve it full course!

Yesterday we concluded the Chris Hani Commemoration Month. As the SACP we strongly believe that the truth has not been fully disclosed. We want to make use of this opportunity to reiterate our call for an official inquest into all the circumstances of his assassination. We remain opposed to parole for Janusz Waluś, the last remaining of Comrade Chris`s two convicted murderers.

On 5 May we will be at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Mangaung in support of the Department of Justice and Correctional Services appeal against parole for the unrepentant murderer. We believe that justice has not served its full course. This is why, as the SACP, we have consistently been in the forefront of the struggle for justice for Hani, his family and the working class and poor! We have never been absent or found wanting on any occasion in seeking a full disclosure of the truth.

Build and reinforce principled unity of common purpose!

We also want to reiterate our view that the current mode of operation of our Alliance is outdated. It does not make sense in revolutionary democratic terms to go all out collectively fighting for democracy, social justice and campaigning for the ANC to win elections only for one Alliance partner or for one leader to make far reaching policy and key deployment decisions alone, or without any meaningful consultation, or without consultation at all. Such a style of work was inexcusable before Polokwane in 2007. It is still inexcusable now and must not be defended in any manner whatsoever. As the SACP we do not accept cover-ups and papering over the cracks.

The executive and legislative prerogatives at all three spheres of government do not privately belong to the individuals we deploy as the movement to positions of responsibility in those branches of the state. They do not belong either to any sections of capital or factions. They belong to our movement and must not be used factionally. As the SACP we remain resolute on the decisions we have made in this regard. We will pursue each one of them to the letter. This includes our shared perspectives with COSATU on the necessity to reconfigure the Alliance and address the crisis of leadership and divisions that our movement is faced with. We must deal both with the symptoms and the root causes.

There is no reason why as Alliance partners we should not work together on the basis of meaningful consultation with one another. There is not reason why we should not follow the principles of collective leadership and individual accountability according to division of work and responsibilities.

There is no reason why as Alliance partners we should not work together to develop common policy perspectives and decide on key deployments to drive implementation. There is no reason why we should not work together to monitor and evaluate policy implementation. The Alliance must be reconfigured to be responsive to these principles effectively and efficiently.

Deepen the struggle to serve the needs of the workers and lift the poor out of poverty!

As President OR Tambo urged us, we must guard against the wedge driver, a divisive element that creeps from one ear to another driving wedges. In order to thrive, the wedge driver seeks to divide organised workers in general and COSATU in particular from the Communist Party. Such can only be an agenda of our class enemy. We must defeat it with outstanding distinction. We must cement principled working class unity based on a common programme to bring an end to economic and political exploitation towards complete liberation and social emancipation.

We must deepen the revolutionary spirit of our bilateral meeting and shared perspectives.The SACP and COSATU held a series of successful bilateral meetings in the recent past, and over the years. We have been consulting each other and exchanging perspectives as the socialist axis of our movement.

These meetings were successful. We paid attention to the conditions of the working class at work, in the community and in the broader struggle. As the SACP, we want to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all the shared programme and campaigns that emerged from our bilateral sessions with COSATU. This includes the following:

A comprehensive social security.

Speedy implementation of the national health insurance, which we must further defend from being captured or distorted by private corporate interests.

A National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) convened second financial sector transformation summit by the end of this year.

A NEDLAC convened national jobs summit by the end of this year to discuss effective job creaction policies to address the persistent crisis of high unemployment.

Our joint national jobs summit in preparation for the NEDLAC convened national jobs summit that we are calling for.

Joint work to continue pushing for the National Development Plan (NDP) to be reviewed in accordance with the genuine concerns raised by the SACP and COSATU regarding its economic and labour policy content. The NDP was not developed as a programme to drive the second radical phase of our democratic transition, including a genuine radical economic transformation.

It is a contradiction to maintain the NDP in its current form without reviewing it in accordance with the Alliance declaration agreed on 1 September 2013, on the one hand while claiming, on the other hand, to be interested in pushing a second radical phase of our democratic transition.

Congratulations, forward to an improved national minimum wage, forward to a living wage!

The SACP wishes to congratulate COSATU on its achievement of the founding of a national minimum wage. Out of a population of approximately 56 million people (55, 900, 000), approximately 30 million people (29, 733, 210) were in 2016 living below the poverty line. This meant that over half (51%) of the people in our country lived on less than R1,036.07 per month in 2016. And, over half of our country`s workers were paid wages below R3, 700 per month. About 4.6 million workers did not even earn R2, 500 per month.

The national minimum wage achieved by COSATU will therefore benefit the millions of workers in all industries who were paid less than R3, 500 per month. Rather than a destination, this minimum wage must be seen as a starting point towards a living wage. The national minimum wage must be progressively improved. At the same time, the struggle for a living wage must be intensified.

This must be seen as part and parcel of our shared struggle to move our national democratic revolution on to a second radical phase. This includes a genuine radical economic transformation as increasingly the main, but by no means the only, defining feature of the second radical phase of our democratic transition.

Let us unite and push the second radical phase of the national democratic revolution!

As the SACP we are calling on the workers and poor of our country to guard against the hijacking of their support by sections of individuals - be they black or white - who are pursuing their selfish interests of amassing wealth on a capitalist private basis. Radial economic transformation is not about replacing one section of exploiters by another. It is about economic emancipation, particularly of the workers and poor who are exploited by the rich who own the means of production and privately appropriate the wealth produced by the workers.

In 1969 the ANC under the sterling Presidency of Comrade OR Tambo warned against a drive of narrow nationalism and chauvinism by elitist groupings from among the oppressed who sought to replace the oppressors in the exploitation of the masses. We must defend this revolutionary democratic legacy of President Tambo against greedy individuals who have developed a vulgarised version of radical economic transformation. What they mean by radical economic transformation is essentially more tenders, more sub-contracting and more ownership for their profit, for the profit of their acquaintances, for the profit of their political and business connections. In summary what they want is radical looting.

President Tambo would have turned 100 years of age this year had he lived. As the SACP we are celebrating the centenary of his birthday. In memory of Comrade OR, let us assert the democratic revolutionary values of our movement. Under President Tambo`s leadership the ANC made it very clear in its first Strategy and Tactics document adopted in 1969 that economic emancipation, the goal for a genuine radical economic transformation, will not happen unless the basic wealth and resources of our country were at the disposal of the people as a whole and were not manipulated by sections of individuals be they black or white.

We do not need to create any more private oligopolies, monopolies, oligarchs and parasites who exploit the masses of our people and manipulate political power, authority and our basic wealth and resources. This is why, as the SACP, we are pushing for principled unity of all democratic revolutionary organisations and people around the following pillars of a common programme.

The second radical phase of our national democratic revolution, including radical economic emancipation, must:

Speed up the pace of land redistribution based on the Freedom Charter!

Eliminate monopoly and oligopoly domination of our economy.

Rollback concentration of wealth in the hands of a few - be they black or white.

Combat the rise of oligarchs, parasites and deal decisively with corruption, rent-seeking and corporate capture.

Systematically reduce, towards eliminating, class, racial and gender inequalities, as well as uneven development between rural and urban areas, and between townships and suburbs.

Decisive policies, including a wealth tax and decent work, to change the patterns of the unjust and inequitable distribution of wealth from production and exchange.

Change the patterns of ownership and control by empowering the masses of the historically oppressed and previously disadvantaged, the direct producers, the workers and poor, as opposed to a few individuals simply because they are black and they often have political and business connections to the powers that be.

Develop collective forms of ownership and democratic control, such as co-operatives and a more effective and efficient state ownership and democratic control in strategic areas. This must be buttressed by decisive efforts to combat corruption, rent-seeking, corporate capture and other forms of manipulation of power, authority, our basic wealth and resources.

Transform the structure of our economy from that which was colonially constructed to rely on exports of raw materials and primary goods and imports of finished products; thus change the terms of our international trade by developing national production through manufacturing expansion and diversification to produce finished goods locally and thereby create productive work and reduce unemployment.

Transform the financial sector to serve the needs of the people, build democratic control of credit by the state and ensure more investment in the productive sector to industrialise our economy and create productive work to bring to an end the problem of unemployment.

Continue to expand education and improve quality and responsiveness towards the needs of our society, and intensify innovation, research and development support and efforts to support radical economic and overall social transformation.

ANC Statement on May Day Rallies Held 1st May 2017

02 May 2017

Yesterday, workers across the world celebrated and commemorated International Workers Day, paying homage to the struggles, sacrifices and achievements of workers.

In South Africa, workers organized under the progressive banner of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) came out in their overwhelming numbers - with their successful mobilization surpassing those in recent years - calling for the creation of decent work, the defense of existing jobs and the expansion of the comprehensive social security net to the working class.

With one voice, workers sought to defend and reclaim their rights; hard won over many years of struggle working together with the Revolutionary Alliance led by the African National Congress.

Throughout the country, the May Day celebrations were observed in a generally peaceful manner, heeding the call for unity and to desist from factional and divisive practices and tendencies.

In the more than 15 rallies organised by COSATU, the message to build and entrench unity of the Alliance and within its components was received in a disciplined and tolerant manner.

Many understood, as generations before us did, that ours is not a paper alliance but rather one built in the trenches of struggle and a necessary precondition for the advancement of the National Democratic Revolution,

It is concerning however that speeches had to be canceled May Day rally in Manguang in the Free State Province.

There were also reported incidences in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo Provinces.

Regrettably the significance of May Day was thus reduced by the unacceptable conduct of those who chose disorder and intolerance.

As result the important issues of workers rights, the advancement of the living wage and decent work were overshadowed by narrow factional interests.

The African National Congress condemns tis behavior in the strongest possible terms.

The strength of the revolutionary movement and our Alliance has always been the management of intra-organizational contradictions and between the Alliance Partners guided by the highest levels of revolutionary discipline.

There is no alternative to unity within the ANC and within the Alliance.

The Africa National Congress will redouble its effort to foster unity within the movement and the Alliance.

Public displays of disunity broker no victors and only serve to weaken the Alliance as a whole.

Issued by the African National Congress

Enquiries
Zizi Kodwa 082 330 4910
National Spokesperson
Khusela Sangoni 072 854 5707
National Communications Manager

South Africa's Zuma Quits May Day Rally After Boos From the Crowd

By Ed Stoddard | JOHANNESBURG
Reuters

South African President Jacob Zuma made a hasty exit from a May Day rally on Monday after the crowd of workers that he was due to address became rowdy, with some booing and chanting slogans against him.

The labor federation Cosatu abruptly canceled Zuma's speech and other addresses at the rally it had organized, as TV footage showed scuffles breaking out in the crowd, apparently between supporters who voiced their backing of Zuma and opponents of the president.

Zuma and his entourage could be seen on live TV leaving the podium and being whisked away from the rally, in the central city of Bloemfontein, in a motorcade.

Cosatu, a key political ally of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), last month called on Zuma to step down after his sacking of the finance minister triggered a sovereign credit rating downgrade to "junk".

Marches calling on Zuma to quit have drawn tens of thousands of protestors but the ANC has rejected such calls ahead of two conferences this year, one where it will chart its policy direction, the other where it will pick Zuma's successor to lead the party in 2019 general elections.

The May Day public holiday is an important date in South Africa's political calendar, when party leaders try to woo a working class that has been hard hit by lay-offs in key sectors such as mining.

Zuma has become a focus of mounting public discontent over government missteps, rising unemployment and a stagnant economy.

Cosatu has signaled its preference for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a former trade unionist turned business tycoon who was the ANC's key negotiator in the talks that lead to the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

At a separate Cosatu May Day rally, in rural Hectorspruit in the eastern province of Mpumalanga, Ramaphosa's speech was greeted with loud cheers from the crowd, the South African Government News Agency reported.

Weeks ago, Ramaphosa openly disagreed with Zuma's decision to sack former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, who was widely respected by markets and regarded as a staunch opponent of the corruption that critics say has undermined the ANC's moral authority.

Zuma is widely believed to want his ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a former cabinet member who just finished a term at the helm of the African Union, to succeed him.

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

May Day Strikes Hit Cities Around The Country

Workers all over the country are protesting Trump’s immigration crackdown

By Dave Jamieson
Kate Abbey-Lambertz
Huffington Post

Workers in cities from coast to coast took the day off Monday to hit the streets and protest the Donald Trump administration for what organizers hoped would be the largest May Day demonstration in the U.S. in years.

The mass protest ― coordinated by labor, immigration and other progressive groups ― served as another early test of the grassroots momentum against the new White House and its right-wing policies. It came on the heels of a climate march that drew tens of thousands to Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

Backers of the May 1 protests saw the day as an ideal opportunity to challenge the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown. The president has promised to ramp up deportations of undocumented workers, strip federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities, and build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Zeferina Perez, a 59-year-old who came from Mexico two decades ago, said she wanted to show that American businesses cannot function without immigrant labor. She said it stung to see her community vilified on the national stage when immigrants were working hard for meager wages and often exploited to begin with.

“We need to demonstrate to everyone that immigrants are important to this country,” said Perez, who was passing out protest leaflets in D.C. ahead of Monday. “We’re willing to take any job that they give us. We only want to work and take care of our families.”

Quantina Pringle, a 34-year-old restaurant server, spoke at a workers’ rally in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of D.C. Pringle called for an end to sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, and a raise in the tipped minimum wage. (Servers in D.C. are paid $2.77 per hour before tips.)

“I’m here for the people who have to balance their checkbooks off the attitudes of others,” said Pringle, who is a member of Restaurant Opportunities Center, a worker group that helped organize the May Day rallies.

Pringle was accompanied by her boss, Imar Hutchins, who owns the Florida Avenue Grill. Hutchins’ restaurant is typically closed on Mondays, but he said he had shut it down for the “day without immigrants” in February as a show of solidarity.

“I support my workers,” Hutchins said. “We try to make our restaurant the best place we can for our people.”

Police in Portland, Oregon, canceled a permit for a march there and said the demonstration had become a riot after self-described anarchists allegedly set fires and threw objects at cops, who responded by firing what TV-station KGW called “non-lethal weapons” at demonstrators. A police car was destroyed and windows were smashed. “Numerous people been arrested,” police said on Twitter.

In California, protesters faced off with local law enforcement on Monday while rallying against the immigration crackdown.

Four people in Oakland, California, were arrested after shutting down the entryway of a county government building, according to the Mercury News. Protesters held a “die-in,” chained themselves together and climbed on a low roof of the building.

In San Francisco, people formed a wall at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building to block its entrance.

Los Angeles protesters began gathering before daylight Monday ahead of several marches taking place across the city.

Teachers in Philadelphia took sick days and protested over their lack of a contract, blocking traffic as they marched down North Broad Street. Students joined them, protesting outside a school during a break.

In downtown Denver, a crowd of more than 100 union members, community activists and others spent the morning marching in protest of Trump and to fight for better working conditions for all people, immigrants included.

“Remember, this is just the beginning,” Sharon Bridgeforth, board president of community organizing group Together Colorado, told protesters. “Our families are in jeopardy. Our families are hurting.”

“We’ll be back,” they called out to Bridgeforth.

Eva Martinez, representing Service Employees International Union local chapter 105, told HuffPost in Spanish that she came out to send a “message to Trump that we are together and we are strong and we’re going to fight.”

The crowd took a winding march through the city to deliver a letter to Molson Coors Brewing Co. headquarters. The document called on the beer giant to stop funding Trump, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and politicians “who endanger and attack our communities, including Latino communities, one of Coors’ biggest and fastest growing client bases.”

“You promote hate and fear, we don’t want to drink your beer,” people chanted.

In New York City, workers picketed outside B&H Photo after the company announced earlier this year it would shut down its two warehouses in the city, cutting more than 300 jobs.

Later in the day, New Yorkers rallied at Union Square, including a large showing of immigrants and their children skipping work or school to protest.

Vicky Barrios, a social worker and organizer for immigrant rights group Movimiento Cosecha, said “this country would fall and collapse” without immigrants like her parents.

“I don’t think we should be scared on a daily basis about either being harassed, humiliated, harmed or deported,” Barrios told HuffPost. “I don’t think that’s how we’re suppose to live.”

Victor Toro, 74, has been living illegally in New York since he escaped the dictatorship of Chilean Gen. Augusto Pinochet in the 1980s. He considers himself a “proud undocumented immigrant.”

“For me, Trump isn’t the problem,” said Toro, founder of La Peña, a cultural and political center in the Bronx. “The problem is the capitalist state that’s implanted here in the United States that’s sometimes led by Republicans and other times Democrats. Both are the same thing. The people have to open their eyes. When the Democrats were in power they expelled more than 2 million undocumented immigrants, and no one did anything against Obama. We want to create an autonomous movement.”

In Chicago, a historic union stronghold and sanctuary city, dozens of groups representing interests ranging from labor rights to immigration reform joined a midday protest. Hundreds of people packed into the city’s Union Park, itself a longtime rallying site for the U.S. labor movement.

“When it comes to our rights as workers, it doesn’t matter your racial, ethnic, religious status. These things cut across those lines,” said Abraham Diaz, of Arise Chicago, a group that advocates for labor-friendly local policy like paid sick leave and a living wage. “And they’re under attack in this administration.”

Miguel Mora of AFSCME 2854 said his group’s core message is that government must better serve the community — which includes veterans, disabled people, children and the elderly, as well as middle-class workers. Mora’s union has been fighting for a contract since June 2015. He said rhetoric from politicians like Trump and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) is inconsistent with their anti-labor views.

“[They’re] attacking the working people,” Mora said. “The idea that we make a lot of money or too much money is not true. I’m a father, and I can’t put my kids through college. We can’t make it in this economy.”

Tony Johnston, president of the Cook County College Teachers Union, said his teachers were similarly fighting for a fair contract and were also standing in solidarity with immigrants rights on May Day.

“So many of our students are in that situation and they’re feeling vulnerable,” Johnston said of the new wave of policies in the Trump era.

Several businesses in different cities closed their doors to show their support for the May Day protests and immigrants’ rights.

The May Day holiday has radical roots in the American fight for an eight-hour workday, and it serves as an annual working-class celebration of labor in many foreign countries, including Mexico. The largest May Day demonstration in recent U.S. history occurred in 2006, when hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers went on strike to rally for immigrant rights.

As they laid the groundwork for this May Day, organizers had that massive protest in mind ― echoing other recent, anti-Trump demonstrations, like the massive women’s march that followed Inauguration Day.

“I think May 1 is the start of something, just as Jan. 21, with the women’s march, was the start of something,” said David Huerta, president of United Service Workers West, which is part of the Service Employees International Union. “We have to continue to voice our grievances with this administration and let them know there’s a resistance building. This isn’t just about immigrants or women. It’s about all of us who are being targeted.”

Although large-scale U.S. strikes are at a historic low in modern times, Trump’s election has kindled hopes on the left of a massive general strike to shut things down. February’s “day without immigrants” managed to shut down restaurants and other businesses in certain cities. March’s “day without a woman” brought thousands to Trump’s doors in Washington mid-week, many of them forgoing work for a Wednesday.

Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said it remained to be seen whether the strikes have a legacy.

“We may be entering an era of political strikes, in which unions and other groups set a date and an agenda, but in which lots of unaffiliated people join in,” Lichtenstein said. “The question is: Can these strikes be given any sort of institutional backbone, any impact other than a one-time event that needs to be recreated from start each time?”

Unions like Huerta’s played a major role in May Day planning, advising workers on their rights if they wanted to strike and pressuring companies not to retaliate against anyone who takes part. Tech companies like Google and Facebook have agreed not to punish employees who are out for the day, and they’ve encouraged their contractors who employ low-wage janitors and food service workers ― many of them Latino immigrants ― to do the same.

In Washington, a local immigrant rights group called Many Languages One Voice was canvassing the downtown business area asking employers to close for the day. If they were unwilling to do that, the group wanted them to commit to allowing employees to miss work without reprisal. The group handed managers pledge sheets to sign, and doled out information about the protests to workers, telling them not to work or shop on Monday.

“We want folks to see that there’s a group on the ground that’s concerned about retaliation,” said Hannah Kane, an organizer with group. Kane said more than two dozen restaurants, hair salons and other mostly independent businesses had agreed to shutter for the day. Her group planned to accompany workers back to work on Tuesday if they were concerned about being punished.

There have been several short-lived protest strikes since Trump took office, including a temporary work stoppage by taxi drivers at JFK International Airport. That strike was a direct response to an executive order issued by Trump barring refugees from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. The “day without immigrants” in February closed restaurants and some schools in cities like Washington.

Perez said she hoped that May Day would one day become the working-class celebration in the U.S. that it is in her native Mexico.

“May Day is the worker’s day,” she said. “Here they don’t honor the work that immigrants do. We want people to respect us and our rights.”

Dave Jamieson
Labor Reporter, The Huffington Post
Kate Abbey-Lambertz
National Reporter, The Huffington Post

May Day Marked With Defiant Rallies for Worker Rights

AP
Monday 1 May 2017

Workers and activists marked May Day on Monday with defiant rallies and marches for better pay and working conditions. Some countries celebrate International Workers' Day with a public holiday, though others restrict activities, which can lead to confrontations.

Some of the events around the world:

TURKEY:

Police in Istanbul detained more than 70 people who tried to march to iconic Taksim Square in defiance of a ban on holding May Day events there. The square was declared off limits to demonstrations for a third year running and police blocked points of entry, allowing only small groups of labor union representatives to lay wreaths at a monument there.

Taksim holds a symbolic value for Turkey's labor movement. In 1977, shots were fired into a May Day crowd from a nearby building, killing 34 people.

Main trade unions groups have agreed to hold large rallies at government-designated spots in Istanbul and Ankara but small groups were expected to try to reach Taksim.

CAMBODIA:

Riot police watched carefully as more than 1,000 garment workers defied a government ban on marching to deliver a petition to the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, demanding a higher minimum wage and more freedom of assembly.

The marchers, holding a forest of banners, filled a street a short distance from the parliament complex and advanced noisily until they were stopped by a barricade and lines of police, holding batons, shields and guns capable of firing gas canisters. A standoff of several hours was resolved when a representative from the Assembly came out and accepted the petition.

The workers were from the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union. Among their demands was increasing the minimum wage from $153 to $208 per month. The clothing and footwear industry is Cambodia's biggest export earner.

The major Cambodian labor unions traditionally have been loosely allied with opposition parties, posing a potential political threat to longtime authoritarian leader Hun Sen.

GREECE:

Several thousand protesters gathered outside Greece's parliament, and unions braced for more austerity measures imposed by bailout lenders.

Two large union-organized rallies are planned in Athens on the holiday, with employees at many public services nominally on strike.

As the marches began, government officials prepared for more talks at a central Athens hotel with representatives of bailout creditors as the two sides were near an agreement to maintain draconian spending controls beyond the current rescue program.

The talks had been expected to end Sunday. Future spending cuts will include additional pension cuts and tax increases for Greeks, already hit by seven years of harsh cuts.

Greece's largest labor union, the GSEE, has called a general strike for May 17 to protest the latest austerity package.

PHILIPPINES:

A few thousand left-wing activists and laborers marched and held noisy rallies to press for higher wages and an end to temporary contractual jobs that deprive workers of many benefits. In sweltering summer heat, the crowds in Manila also protested alleged extrajudicial killings under President Rodrigo Duterte's drug crackdown.

The activists carried murals of Duterte and President Donald Trump, asking the Philippine leader to stay away from the U.S. president, who has invited Duterte for a U.S. visit. Protest leader Venzer Crisostomo fears an "America First" policy would be disadvantageous to poorer countries like the Philippines. "We would not want Duterte to be in cahoots with Donald Trump in oppressing the country and in implementing policies."

TAIWAN:

In Taipei, thousands of Taiwanese workers hoisted cardboard signs and banners in a march protesting what they said were unfairly low wages and deteriorating work conditions. A number of them staged a fake funeral procession, carrying a coffin with the words "basic annual pension" written on it, while others waved black flags.

Huang Yu-kai, president of the labor union of the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp. and a train conductor, said low wages in Taiwan are "the root of all problems."

"This is why we take part in this march every year," Huang said.

President Tsai Ing-wen said in a post on her Facebook page that improvements are being made even if major changes would take time. "Although reform would not be completed in one step, the progress we have made is not small."

BANGLADESH:

Thousands of garment industry workers in the impoverished South Asian nation gathered to demand better wages and legal protection.

About 4 million people are employed in the country's garment industry, the second largest in the world. The industry, with about 4,000 factories, earns $25 billion a year from exports, mainly to the United States and Europe, but working conditions often are grim.

Lovely Yesmin, president of the Readymade Garments Workers Federation, one of several unions representing factory workers, said just increasing salaries is not enough.

She said workers must be provided better living quarters and health benefits, and factories must make provisions so the children of factory workers can be educated.

"These are our demands on the great May Day of 2017," she said.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/266938.aspx

Greeks Mark May Day With Strike, Demos Against Fresh Cuts

AFP
Monday 1 May 2017

Greek trade unions marked May Day on Monday with a 24-hour nationwide strike and protests against looming new cuts demanded by the country's creditors in return for bailout cash.

Under pressure from its creditors -- the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- the government agreed to adopt another 3.6 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in cuts in 2019 and 2020.

Athens conceded fresh pension and tax break cuts in return for permission to spend an equivalent sum on poverty relief measures.

The measures are to be approved by parliament by mid-May, with the government hoping to reach an overall deal at a May 22 meeting of eurozone finance ministers.

"Bailout government and the creditors have been squeezing the people and workers for seven years," civil servants' union Adedy said ahead of demonstrations planned in Athens and other major cities.

A general strike will be held against the cuts on May 17.

A government source early Monday said Athens and the creditors were inching towards a preliminary agreement.

"There are four dossiers with important issues, and four or five dossiers with lesser issues (remaining)," the official said, according to state agency ANA.

In an interview Sunday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said a May 22 deal was feasible "if the (Greek) government respects all the agreements."

"Greece has made progress, the last figures are positive. But the government has not yet fulfilled all the agreements," he said.

Greece and its creditors agreed a third, 86-billion-euro ($94-billion) bailout deal in July 2015.

But the IMF has so far refused to take part after two prior programmes on the grounds that the targets were unrealistic and Athens' debt mountain unsustainable.

A compromise is required to unblock a tranche of loans Greece needs for debt repayments of seven billion euros in July.

Additional debt relief for Greece has proved a contentious point for many of its European creditors including Germany, where additional concessions are unpopular with a general election looming in September.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/266916.aspx

French Campaign Revs Up With Rival Rallies, May Day Marches

AP
Monday 1 May 2017

With just six days until a French presidential vote that could define Europe's future, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron are holding high-stakes rallies Monday that overlap with nationwide May Day labor marches reminding both candidates that jobs are voters' No. 1 concern.

The tense campaign interrupted the usual calm of the May Day holiday, as supporters of both candidates are taking to the streets, airwaves and social networks to weigh on an election closely watched by global financial markets and France's neighbors as a test of the global populist wave.

Le Pen's efforts to clean up the racism and anti-Semitism that has stained her anti-immigration National Front party's past may be undermined by a parallel Paris event by her father, Jean-Marie, expelled from the party over his extreme views.

Seeking to remind voters of the National Front's dark past, Macron paid homage to a Moroccan man thrown to his death in the Seine River on the sidelines of a far-right march more than two decades ago. Macron joined the man's son and anti-National Front protesters at an annual commemoration near the Louvre Museum.

The National Front traditionally holds a march in central Paris on May 1 to honor Joan of Arc, and at the 1995 event, a group of skinheads broke away and pushed 29-year-old Brahim Bourram off a bridge into the Seine, where he drowned. Then-party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen sought to distance himself from the attackers, but the death drew national outrage.

Standing on the bridge, Macron hugged Bourram's son Said, who was 9 when his father was killed.

Said, now a chauffeur who supports Macron, said his father was targeted "because he was a foreigner, an Arab. That is why I am fighting, to say no to racism."

Macron insisted that despite Marine Le Pen's efforts to distance herself from her father's anti-Semitism, "the roots are there, and they are very much alive. ... I will not forget anything and I will fight to the last second not only against her project but against the idea she has of democracy and the nation."

Polls consider Macron the front-runner but the race has been exceptionally unpredictable.

Jean-Marie Le Pen is holding the Joan of Arc event again Monday, a march his daughter wants nothing to do with. Instead, she is holding a rally in an exhibition center north of Paris.

Marine Le Pen said on France-2 television Sunday night that the political rupture with her father "is definitive." She called it a "violent" decision for herself, but said she did it "because the higher interest of the country was at stake."

Her event will be opened by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a conservative candidate from the first-round election who shocked many French by agreeing to be Le Pen's prime minister if she wins the presidency.

Le Pen, speaking Monday on Europe-1 radio, reached out to "all those who are patriots" and who want to restore French borders and currency and "rediscover the voice of labor, defend our identity, fight against Islamic fundamentalism."

Meanwhile, the traditional May 1 union marches across France will be politically charged this year. Some groups want a united front to keep

Le Pen from the presidency, but unions also fear that Macron — a former investment banker — will dismantle worker protections.

Macron, who says his plans to restructure France's complex labor laws would boost job creation, said Sunday night that May 1 "is the face of a globalization that protects workers ... an accomplishment of the great labor fights to defend worker rights. ... Globalization is not only the face of those who oppress."

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/266932.aspx

Egypt's FM Shoukry Heads to Uganda With Message From Sisi on Water-security

Ahram Online
Monday 1 May 2017

Shoukry will deliver a letter from president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to his counterpart Yoweri Museveni dealing with water-security issues and the Nile Basin Initiative

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is heading to Uganda on Monday for a visit aimed at boosting cooperation with Nile Basin countries, according to a ministry statement.

Shoukry will deliver a letter from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to his counterpart Yoweri Museveni dealing with water-security issues and the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).

The visit will also involve discussions on bilateral relations and development cooperation, the statement said.

Last March, Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Ati attended a meeting of the NBI's council of ministers in Uganda's Entebbe.

The minsiters discussed concerns over the Cooperative Framework Agreement, more commonly known as the Entebbe Agreement, which was signed by six Nile Basin countries: Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Egypt and Sudan have declined to sign the agreement, which sets out principles and obligations of member states regarding use of the basin's water resources, citing concerns about its reallocation of Nile water quotas and other provisions.

Historic water-sharing pacts between Egypt and Sudan divide the Nile waters between the two countries.

The NBI has 10 permanent members: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Meanwhile, Eritrea has observer status.

The Grand Ethiopian Dam, which when construction is complete will be Africa's biggest hydroelectric dam, has been a source of concern for Egypt in recent years, with some experts arguing that filling and operating the dam will reduce the water that flows downstream to Egypt.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/266936.aspx

Pope Francis Leaves Egypt, Underlining Calls for Tolerance and Respect for Dignity and Rights

Dina Ezzat
Saturday 29 Apr 2017

Pope Francis's visit was conducted under strict security, with meetings at the presidential palace, Al-Azhar and the Coptic Cathedral all described as historic

At almost 5pm Cairo local time (3pm GMT), Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi showed Pope Francis to the Alitalia plane that would fly him back to the Vatican, bidding him farewell after a 27-hour visit rightly described as historic.

Pope Francis had arrived to Egypt Friday afternoon and was received by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.Pope Francis visited the presidential palace, the headquarters of Al-Azhar, the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral and St Leo’s Patriarchal Seminary in Maadi during the time of his stay.

On each of these stops, as in a gathering with public figures to a luncheon hosted by President El-Sisi, Pope Francis made statements calling for tolerance, peace and an end to violence. He also offered a homily at a mass he led, with joint Coptic and Catholic prayers, at the Air Defence Stadium in Cairo.

The Pope's message was clear: one of love and acceptance of the other, respect of freedoms and human rights, and combating selfishness and all forms of tyranny.

“We should avoid the temptation of being a pharaoh,” Pope Francis said in his address to priests and seminarians who gathered at St Leo’s Patriarchal Seminary in Maadi Saturday afternoon – the last stop for the Pope before he left Egypt.

In a split second, the Pope smiled and laughed, saying jokingly, “But we are in Egypt.”

The Pope was addressing his audience on the things a good priest or seminarian should avoid as they “turn difficulties into opportunities and lead the masses towards the river of love.”

Earlier in the day, Pope Francis, during his homily, had prayed for the “courage of forgiveness and the courage of helping those who fall.”

Beyond his call for love and warning against tyranny, Pope Francis remind audiences at each stop that civilisaiton is the making of those who call for peace, respect the dignity of the human being, pursue development and refrain from acts of injustice, which he said, “are not forgiven by history.”

Pope Francis and President El-Sisi had already held a meeting at the presidential palace following an official reception head of the executive accorded the visiting head of the Vatican Friday afternoon.

The meeting, according to one source close the papal delegation, was “very courteous and very civil, of course".

During his meeting with El-Sisi, Pope Francis expressed his sympathy with the loss of lives of Egyptian Copts during attacks by the Islamic State group and was reassured by the clear language of the Egyptian president on the state’s commitment to protect all its citizens, including Copts, and to secure their freedom of faith and freedom of worship, “despite some issues that President El-Sisi did say still require sensitive treatment.”

An Egyptian government source said that the encounter of the Pope and the president was cordial and very friendly.

The Pope, also did bring up during the visit, according to a source close to the papal delegation the concern and the pain of the family of Guilio Regeni.”Regeni, an Italian researcher, was found dead— "brutally killed" according to his family— in February 2016 a few days after disappearing.

During his statement before the closing session of the international conference on peace at the headquarters of Al-Azhar, Pope Francis underlined the need to respect the religious rights and freedoms of the other and to pursue the call of tolerance in fully awareness that no act of violence can be committed in the name of God.

It was the meeting of Pope Francis with Pope Tawdros, the Coptic patriarch, at the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral that illicited the closest attention of Egyptian Christians. Copts are said to number 8-10 million, and Catholics around a quarter of a million.

The historic signing of an agreement to jointly recognise the baptism of Christians by both churches offered good news to Egyptian Christians who were pleased at the rapprochement between the leading churches.

Following the signing of the agreement, Pope Francis and Pope Tawdros led joint ecumenical prayers at St Peter and St Paul Church, that was subject to an Islamic State group terror attack that killed over 30 people in December.

Both Pope Francis and Pope Tawdros lit candles in memory of the victims.

Pope Francis also paid tribute to the souls of over 50 victims who killed by another Islamic State group attack that hit two Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria during Palm Sunday prayers.

The visit of Pope Francis to Egypt is the first of the head of the Vatican since 2000 when Pope John Paul II visited.

The visit was conducted under very strict security scrutiny, especially in Heliopolis, the venue of the airport and the presidential palace, and Zamalek, the residence of the ambassador of the Vatican, where the Pope stayed during his 27-hour visit.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/266844.aspx

Popes Francis and Tawadros' Baptism Declaration: Positive Step But Not Full Solution

Hadeer El-Mahdawy
Sunday 30 Apr 2017

Roman Catholic Pope Francis and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros signed on Friday a mutual declaration that each of their respective churches will seek to acknowledge baptisms performed in the other church.

The declaration was signed shortly after Pope Francis arrived in Cairo for a two-day visit, the first trip by a Roman Catholic Pope to the country since Pope John Paul II's visit in 2000.

The declaration between Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros states that their respective churches "will sincerely seek not to repeat baptisms administered in either of our churches for any person who wishes to join the other."

A statement by the official Vatican Radio broadcast following the signing said that the declaration finally resolves an issue that has been a consistent source of tension between Copts and Catholics; which is the insistence on a second baptism for Christians who convert from Catholic Church to the Orthodox Church.

Before Pope Francis's visit to Egypt on Friday, controversy erupted among members of the Coptic Orthodox Church – who make up the majority of Egypt's 10 percent Christian population – over an alleged version of the agreement that circulated among the community that unambiguously stated that each church would accept members from the other without a re-baptism.

Pope Tawadros and the Church Holy Council announced in statement shared via Bishop Rafael that despite rumours and “false statements,” the final declaration would include the words "sincerely seek," indicating it would not mandate a blanket acceptance of new members without re-baptism.

Why is it significant?

Bishop Antonios Aziz, the Emeritus of the Giza Coptic Catholic Church, told Ahram Online that the main issue when it comes to converting is marriage, "as Orthodox priests cannot marry a couple unless they are of the same religion, sect and denomination."

Aziz says that it is generally required for Christians that a couple not of the same sect follow the sacraments of only one of their respective sects for their marriage to be recognised.

Rights activist Mina Thabet, a senior researcher at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and ‎Freedoms, told Ahram Online that "this has affected inter-marriage between the two churches, as it is difficult for a Catholic who wants to marry an Orthodox Copt to repeat the sacrament, and for a Catholic this means that his Christianity is not recognised by the other church, as if he is not a true Christian."

Thabet says that he understands why Orthodox Copts oppose recognizing Catholic baptisms.

"It is a result of centuries of sectarian discrimination, from the times of the Roman Empire till today, which has pushed the Coptic community towards being more conservative, closed, and strict in its Orthodox values."

The churches' different positions

The seemingly contradictory statements by the two churches around the declaration possibly reveal differing stances on the issue of re-baptism.

Thabet says that "despite the contradictions, it is clear there was the intention by Pope Tawadros to recognise Catholic baptisms, but this changed because of the pressure exerted by the conservative current in the Coptic Orthodox community."

Thabet added, however, that the statement "sincerely seek not to repeat baptisms" still represents a new and positive step towards unifying the Christian faith and achieving convergence between the two churches, and this is why it has caused this huge controversy.

Bishop Aziz says that "it is clear that there is powerful opposition to seeking unification and acceptance, so I believe that the phrasing of the declaration changed many times, as the word 'sincerely seek' was not [initially] there."

"We all seek unification, but it requires real steps to achieve," added Aziz.

"Current statements lead us to expect various responses from Orthodox churches: some priests will not repeat baptism, some will, as is already happening."

According to Aziz, there are between 250,000 and 300,000 Egyptian Catholics.

Theological differences

There are some theological differences between the Catholic and Orthodox churches dating back to the Ecumenical Councils.

The baptism sacrament, one of the seven sacraments of Christianity, differs between the two churches.

The Catholic Church baptises by pouring holy water on the head of the individual being baptised, while the Orthodox baptism involves complete submersion in holy water.

The Coptic Orthodox Church requires new members joining from the Catholic Church to be re-baptised. However, the Catholic Church does not have the same requirement.

In the 1980s, then-Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda insisted on re-baptism for anyone looking to join or marry into the Coptic Orthodox Church, according to Thabet.

"The sensitivity between the two churches is caused by the fact that Catholics entered Egypt with the French and British occupation, so preserving the Orthodox principals became not only a theological issue, but also one of nationalism," Thabet explained.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/266901.aspx

Israel Says 300 Palestinian Inmates End Hunger Strike, Palestinian Authority Denies

AFP
Sunday 30 Apr 2017

An Israeli minister said Sunday that 300 Palestinians have agreed to end an almost two-week-old hunger strike launched in protest at the conditions of their detention.

However, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian NGO the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said 1,500 inmates were keeping up their fast in Israeli jails.

Three hundred hunger strikers have "agreed to take food without having obtained" any of their demands, Israel's internal security minister, Gilad Erdan, told army radio.

"Negotiations are out of the question," he said, adding that 920 Palestinian prisoners remained on hunger strike.

But the head of the Palestinian NGO, Qadura Fares, said the prison service is trying to negotiate with some of the prisoners and had moved a number of hunger strikers to a jail in northern Israel for that purpose.

"The Israeli prison service is trying to launch negotiations with groups of prisoners who are on hunger strike about their demands, except for (Palestinian leader) Marwan Barghouti," said Fares.

The hunger strike began on April 17, with those taking part ingesting only water and salt. They have issued demands ranging from better medical care to phone access.

Barghouti, who is very popular among Palestinians, is serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Fares said Barghouti was placed in solitary confinement, a claim confirmed by Issa Qaraqe, head of detainees' affairs for the Palestinian Authority, according to Palestinian media.

Erdan also said the prison service planned to set up 400 medical centres inside jails "to avoid as much as possible the transfer of hunger striking detainees to civilian hospitals".

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/266912.aspx

New Hamas Manifesto Accepts Palestinian State Within 1967 Borders, Unties Itself to Muslim Brotherhood 

AP
Tuesday 2 May 2017

The Islamic militant Hamas on Monday unveiled what had been billed as a new, seemingly more pragmatic political program aimed at ending the group's international isolation.

With the new manifesto, Hamas rebrands itself as an Islamic national liberation movement, rather than a branch of the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed by Egypt. It also drops explicit language calling for Israel's destruction, though it retains the goal of eventually "liberating" all of Palestine, which includes what is now Israel.

It's not clear if the changes will be enough to improve relations with Egypt which, along with Israel, has been enforcing a crippling border blockade against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since the group seized the territory in 2007.

Hamas clung to hard-line positions that led to its isolation in the first place. The group reaffirmed that it will not recognize Israel, renounce violence or recognize previous interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals — the West's long-standing conditions for dealing with Hamas.

The five-page program, a result of four years of internal deliberations, was presented at a news conference in Doha, Qatar, by Khaled Mashaal, the outgoing Hamas leader in exile. The group has said Mashaal's replacement is to be named later this month, after the completion of secret leadership elections.

The document reflects a "reasonable Hamas, that is serious about dealing with the reality and the regional and international surroundings, while still representing the cause of its people," said Mashaal.

A copy of the program was distributed to journalists in Gaza who followed the news conference by video link.

The new platform seemed to cement the ideological divide between Hamas and its main political rival, the Fatah movement of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas drove out forces loyal to Abbas in its 2007 takeover of Gaza, a year after defeating Fatah in Palestinian parliament elections. Reconciliation efforts have failed.

The Hamas manifesto was released at a time of escalating tensions between the two sides. In recent weeks, Abbas has threatened to exert financial pressure, including cutting wage payments and aid to Gaza, as a way of forcing Hamas to cede ground.

Leaders of the group have vowed they will not budge.

The war of words with Hamas was seen as an attempt by Abbas to position himself as a leader of all Palestinians ahead of his first meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday. The U.S. president has said he would try to broker Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on a peace deal, despite repeated failures over the past two decades.

In the past, Hamas has sharply criticized Abbas' political program, which rests on setting up a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east occupied Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.

In its founding charter, Hamas called for setting up an Islamic state in Palestine, or the territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, which also includes Israel.

The new program for the first time raises the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state in the 1967 lines, saying it's a "national consensus formula." However, the wording suggests Hamas considers this to be an interim step, not a way of ending the conflict.

The document does not contain an explicit call for Israel's destruction, but says "Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea."

"There shall be no recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity," the document says.

The Palestine Liberation Organization, now led by Abbas, exchanged letters of mutual recognition with Israel in 1993.

The Hamas document said it considers armed resistance against occupation as a strategic choice and that the group "rejects any attempt to undermine the resistance and its arms."

The new document stresses that Hamas bears no enmity toward Jews. It says its fight is with those who occupy Palestinian lands.

Mashaal is to step down as Hamas leader later this month. Two possible contenders for the No. 1 spot are Moussa Abu Marzouk, a former Hamas leader, and Ismail Haniyeh, a former top Hamas official in Gaza.

The story has been edited by Ahram Online

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/266979.aspx

Tunisia Forces Kill Senior Militant Commander Planning Ramadan Attack

By Tarek Amara | TUNIS
Reuters

Tunisian security forces killed a senior commander in an Islamist group who detonated his suicide belt as he was shot during a raid against militants planning attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, officials said on Sunday.

Tunisia's armed forces have been cracking down on militants allied to Islamic State and al Qaeda's North Africa branch, especially since the country suffered four major attacks in the last two years, including two against foreign tourists.

The clashes came on Sunday when national guard special forces raided a house where the group had been under surveillance for weeks, after communications about a possible attack were intercepted, National Guard spokesman Col. Major Khelifa Chibani said.

Another militant was killed and three others arrested in the raid on a house in Sidi Bouzid, a town 200 km (125 miles) southwest of the capital, Tunis.

"National Guard special forces killed two terrorists, including a commander of Okba Ibn Nafaa ... " Chibani said by telephone. "They had been in the Sammama mountains, and planned attacks during Ramadan."

He did not give any details on the potential attack, but Tunisia has been on alert since militant gunmen attacked the Sousse beach resort in 2015, killing more than 30 foreigners and badly damaging the vital tourist industry.

Another security source said the commander was an Algerian militant, but did not give his name.

The Okba Ibn Nafaa has mostly been based in remote Chaambi mountain range along the border with Algeria, where the army has been trying to flush them out for several years. Militants have in the past carried out raids on checkpoints and towns nearby.

They have mostly claimed loyalty to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda's North Africa branch still led by veteran Algerian militants hiding over the border in the mountains in eastern Algeria.

But Okba Ibn Nafaa brigade, which takes its name from an 7th century Arab general who led the Muslim conquest of North Africa, has split, with some of its fighters going to Islamic State ranks and hiding in the Sammama mountains, according to Tunisian security sources.

More than 3,000 Tunisians left over the last few years to fight for Islamic State and other militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Libya, and Tunisian authorities are trying to prepare for potential security threat from many of them returning.

Islamic State claimed most of major attacks in Tunisia, including the Sousse hotel attack and the Bardo museum attack, which killed dozens of foreign tourists in 2015, and raids by militants crossing from Libya into Tunisia's Ben Guerdane in 2016.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; writing by Patrick Markey; editing by Larry King)

Tunisia: Ministers of Finance and Education Sacked

Dibie Ike Michael
Africanews
TUNISIA

Tunisia’‘s government of national unity appears to be facing a change of structure as the prime minister Youssef Chahed on Sunday sacked the disputed Ministers of Finance and Education minister.

In a partial reshuffle decided by the prime minister on Sunday, Slim khalbouss was appointed acting minister of Education and Fadhel Abdelkafi acting Minister of Finance.

Abdelkafi is currently serving as Minister of Development, Investment and International Co-operation and Khalbous holds the ministerial portfolio of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

The former Finance minister had come under criticism after she suggested this month Tunisia’s central bank would reduce its interventions so the value of the dinar steadily declines.

Chahed’s spokesman said the premier had replaced Finance Minister Lamia Zribi with Minister of Investment Fadhel Abd Kefi, without giving a reason for the dismissal.

Six years after its uprising ended Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali’s autocratic rule, Tunisia is praised for its progress to democracy. But successive governments failed to push through some of the painful reforms needed to overhaul public spending.

The International Monetary Fund had earlier this month agreed to pay out a delayed $320 million second trench of the North African country’s loan program after talks to agree on reform priorities.

Libya Seizes Oil Tankers After Shootout at Sea

Ukrainian and Congolese-flagged vessels caught loading Libyan oil detained after a fierce, hours-long gun battle.

Libyan authorities have struggled to stem the flow of smuggling in the war-torn country [File: AFP]

Libya's coastguard has seized two foreign flagged tankers and detained their crews for allegedly smuggling oil after an hours-long gun battle off the coast.

The coastguard spotted the vessels on Thursday night about 2km off Sidi Said near Zuwara, a town on the coast west of Tripoli, authorities said.

"The Libyan coastguard boarded the two tankers, one flying the Ukrainian flag, the Ruta, and the other, the Stark, flying the Congolese flag," said General Ayoub Qassem.

"The coastguards had monitored them from afar and waited until Friday morning to act," he told AFP news agency on Sunday.

Qassem said the oil traffickers were heavily armed and were supported by small boats.

They put up fierce resistance, but the tankers were eventually seized by Libyan authorities "after more than three hours of exchange of fire".

On several occasions, boats with armed men returned and opened fire with Kalashnikovs and heavy machineguns, he said.

After they were overpowered, the two tankers and their crews were taken back to the capital, Tripoli, where they will face prosecution.

Among them were 14 Ukrainians from the Ruta and four Turks and two Georgians who were on the Stark, said Qassem.

Another three crew members from the Stark were in Zuwara, he said, without giving their nationalities.

At the time of the seizure, the Ruta had about 3,330 tonnes of oil in its tanks, while the Stark - which can carry 1,236 tonnes - was about to be loaded when the coastguard arrived.

Oil is Libya's main natural resource with reserves estimated at 48 billion barrels, the largest in Africa.

Libya had an output capacity of about 1.6 million barrels per day before the 2011 armed uprising, but production has since slumped as rival forces battle for control of its oil facilities.

Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi, with dozens of armed factions emerging.

That uprising, which was initially unarmed, turned into a full-scale civil war, and NATO intervened on the side of anti-Gaddafi rebels.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) was able to capitalise on the country's instability and establish a foothold. 

An Unstable Libya Wont Stop Migrants Says Austrian Foreign Minister

By Libya Herald reporters
Sebastian Kurz listens to his Libyan counterpart Mohamed Siala (Photo: PC)
Tripoli, 1 May 2017:

Libya can only tackle illegal migration to Europe effectively once it has political and economic stability, Austria’s foreign minister Sebastian Kurz has warned.

“I am well aware of the disastrous political and economic situation of the country” said Kurz today in Tripoli. He was in the capital to meet Presidency Council (PC) head Faiez Serraz, his deputy Ahmed Maetig and Government of National Accord foreign minister Mohamed Siala. He said hoped that his one-day visit would signal the strength of Austria’s support for the PC .

He insisted that Libya was an important partner for the EU, especially when it came to the migrant crisis. He added however that cooperation with the Libyan government was difficult because the country was riven by civil wars and power struggles.

Kurz travelled with a party of Austrian businessmen. Among them was a team from oil firm OMV headed by its CEO Rainer Seele, which headed for a meeting with  National Oil Corporation (NOC) boss Mustafa Sanalla.

OMV has been making it clear that it wants to expand its Libya operations. It has just bought out Occidental Petroleum’s seven percent stake in the Nafoura field. Today was the third meeting this year between Sanalla and Seele. The Austrian executive was in Tripoli  in February and had also met Sanalla the month before in Vienna.

Today the Austrian foreign minister told Serraj that the best way to stem the migrant tide was to secure Libya’s southern borders. Kurz also said he was extremely concerned at the humanitarian crisis in Libya and pledged €1 million in aid.

Oil Falls as U.S. Drillers Boost Rigs, Libya Expands Output

By MARK SHENK AND MAHMOUD HABBOUSH
5/1/2017

NEW YORK and ABU DHABI (Bloomberg) -- Oil declined as rigs targeting crude in the U.S. rose for a 15th week and production in Libya rebounded.

Futures fell as much as 1 percent in New York. The number of oil rigs operating in U.S. fields rose to the highest level in two years, according to Baker Hughes Inc. Libya’s output rose to more than 700,000 bpd as the OPEC member’s biggest oil field and another deposit in its western region resumed pumping after a halt. Money managers reduced wagers that oil futures would rise on both sides of the Atlantic in the week to April 25, reports show.

Oil has fallen the past two weeks amid concern growing U.S. output will offset efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to trim a global glut. American production increased to the most since August 2015, and Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih has acknowledged that OPEC-led curbs failed in the first quarter.

"There’s a sense that we’re still waiting to see any evidence of the market rebalancing," Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts, said by telephone.

West Texas Intermediate for June delivery dropped 37 cents, or 0.8%, to $48.96/bbl at 9:01 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 51% below the 100-day average.

Brent for July settlement fell 40 cents, or 0.8%, to $51.65/bbl on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent for June delivery expired Friday after climbing 0.4% to $51.73. The global benchmark crude traded at a $2.39 premium to July WTI. .

Trading was less active than usual because of the May 1 holiday celebrated in much of the world.

U.S. producers boosted the number of rigs drilling for oil by nine to 697 last week, a Baker Hughes report showed on April 27. Libya’s Sharara field is currently producing 216,400 bopd, while the El Feel, or Elephant, deposit is pumping 26,500 and is expected to boost output further, Jadalla Alaokali, a board member at the National Oil Corp., said Sunday.

“The return of Libyan supply makes the job of OPEC more challenging,” Giovanni Staunovo, a Zurich-based commodities analyst for UBS Group AG, said by email. “However, renewed supply disruption in Libya remains possible.”

Oil-market news. The market needs more time to start draining stockpiles that are on the verge of declining, Harold Hamm, chief executive officer of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources Inc., said at a conference in Dubai. South Korea’s crude imports fell 7.9% to 82.6 million bbl in April from a year earlier, according to the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.