What is the interest of the Betrand Russell Peace Foundation in Latin America and OLAS ? The Betrand Russell Peace Foundation is concerned to mobilise opinion, everywhere, against imperialism, It has become perfectly plain that imperialism and world peace are completely incompatible, and that until the power of the old empires, and particularly that of the United States, is overcome, not. only will the arbitrary repression of the poor peoples of the world increase, but SO will the danger of world-wide nuclear war, Having done everything possible to counter the threat of nuclear war, and having explored the attitudes of all the major world statesmen on this matter, some years ago Bertrand Russell came to the conclusion that the basic threat to the peace of the world arose from the United States, In the meantime the utter barbarism and ruthlessness of the US administration has been made terribly plain in its remorsdess attacks on the people of Vietnam, Now all the signs are that the stimulating lessons of the Revolution in Cuba are being learnt throughout Latin America, in that the forgotten and oppressed poor of that continent are seeking a way out of under-development and privation, and discovering that no such way exists without a fundamental structural political and economic change, Equally, all the signs indicate that the United States Government will do everything in its power to inhibit, block, and reverse any movement to such change, as the recent events in Dominica bear witness, It is our view that the peoples of Latin America have both the need and the right to reorganise their society in such a manner as to eliminate hunger, illiteracy, disease and squalour, Since this requires united action first to roll back the power of imperialism, and then to begin the planned development of the continent's resources, all of us in the Foundation have the highest hopes of the OLAS conference, as the first vitally necessary step towards the achievement of such action, I might add that I am profoundly impressed with the serious work which has gone into the preparation of OLAS, with the extremely exhaustive documentation it has produced, and with the obvious will to unity which it has inspired, Once the continent has gained its independence, it is apparent that it will quickly become a beacon for the whole. world, both in the zeal with which it will tackle and solve its backbreaking economic difficulties, and in the content of the rich culture of freedom which is already heaving latent beneath the surface of oppression, What are the immediate objectives of the Foundation in Latin America ? Both the Foundation and Lord Russell personally receive hundreds of appeals from the victims of repression in Latin America, They present a heart-rending picture of almost random bmtality on the part of the oligarchs who dominate the continent, The first thing we hope to do is to help to co-ordinate a worldwide camvaingnfor the defence of the victims of this oppression, We wish to defend all the political prisoners, to expose and mobilise opinion against all the concentration camps, and to tell the world in detail about every repressive action, Russell himself has suffered imprisonment for his views, and he feels particularly deeply about the ruthless deprivation of elementary political rights which appears to be normal in elmost every part of the continent. We all think that vigorous campaigning for all those who fall victim of repression can serve a valuable dual funcion; it can aid the victims, at the same time as it mobilises — world opinion against their tormentors. We hope to establish a situation in which © all the oligarchs may know that civilised men, all over the world, are watching them, and are angered by their brutality, /cont'a
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We also want to take steps to inform opinion in Europe and North America about conditions in Latin America at large, and in Cuba in particular, For us, Cuba marks out a new milestone in the progress to human freedom, and we want her enormous humane achievements to be generally known and understood throughout the world, We think there is no country in the world which could not learn something valuable from the Cuban experience. What is the relationship between the Russell Foundation and The War Crimes Tribunal 7 Lord Russell set up the Foundation to further his general activities for peace and ¢ against imperialism, It defends the victims of oppression and colonialism all over the . world, and intervenes wherever in the world its services are needed, The war in Vietnam ‘ is at once so crucial a front in the imperialist military design, and so remorseless an attack on a peaceful and creative people, that Russell became convinced that it was urgent to attempt to mobilise the very widest condemnation of the war crimes which are daily being perpetrated by the US Government, For that reason he called into existence the War Crimes Tribunal, to concern itself entirely with that duty, which is imperative for any man who is nota slave at heart, The Tribunal is a completely separate and autonomous body, governed by its judges, although, of course, the members and supporters of the Foundation all participate actively in its work, Indeed, one of the directors of the Foundation, Ralph Sohoenman, has played a crucial role in the development of the Tribunal's work, But, because it is concemmed with the single issue of Vietnam, the Tribunal is wider in its scope than the Foundation, and involves many more people.
What impact has the Tribunal had on Public Opinion ? Perhaps you can best measure this by the response of its enemies, The Tribunal was formally barred from half the countries of Europe, including some in which it had no desire to meet, It was hunted out of Paris at the very last moment, after the US Government had mounted an insistent campaign of pressure against it. It has been proscribed by Harold Wilson, and the threat of deportation has been made against those of its members who visit England, In spite of this, facing a hostile press, the Stockholm session broke through, by the sheer weight of its unanswerable case, to make a significant impact especially on the peoples of the capitalist countries, After all their persecution had failed, even the enemies of the Tribunal had to admit it had succeeded, And, of course, it is not finished, We have every reason to hope that the second session will make an even greater impact than the first, What perspectives does the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation have in the light of this success of the Tribunal ? First we have to carry on and intensify the campaign for Vietnam, As the Tribunal presents + the evidence,so must the mobilisation of people throughout the world, against the war crimes and those who commit them, be augmented, Secondly, Lord Russell has been overwhelmed with requests from other peoples who are defémiing themselves against imperialism, The latest and most serious has come from the Arab peonles who were viciously attacked by imperialism, acting through the State of Israel, The aggression of the Israelis was apparently mounted under a barrage of the same terror weapons which have been brought to perfection in the bombardment of the Vietnamese people, Lord Russell is examining this situation with keen concern, and it will be investigated by a team he is assembling for the purpose. I have already spoken about our plans in Latin America, These different theatres of interest cover a substantial part of the globe, Accordingly, I think that thirdly, we should set ourselves the task of creating on a world scale a current of infermed opinion,which can begin to co-ordinate its response to imperialism on a world scale, As this becomes possible, so our work can be developed to a new level. Russell is already @ very old man: but there is every reason to hope that he will live to see this level gained.
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