The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-01-19
World Front
: BY HARRY CANNES

wan Streets Cuban Gunman
Sugar Is King
Against Mussolini's Rule
NOL.FULGENCIO BATISTA.
~ head of the Cuban army.
is ace high with Wall Street,
Nor is he taking the slightest
chances of not being No. /
gunman for the surgar trusts
during the present harvest.
Now that all constitutional guar
antees have been suspended for 90
days, Batista is free to shoot down
strikers and peasants without even
the formality Of sealed document
In Cuba sugar is king. The whole
country has been turned into a
sugar factory and the life of the
workers and peasants revolves
around this commodity. Everything
Is regulated to suit the profits of
the American sugar magnates, and
their real estate, railroad, banking
and utility subsidiaries.
At harvest time the class strup-
gle is always sharpest, because then
most battles take place on the price
paid to the colonies (peasants) and
wages paid to agricultural laborers
and central 0grinding factory
workers.
Roosevelt is doing everything he
can to bolster up the rule of Men
dieta and Batista, and the best way
he can think Of is to insure the
profits of the sugar magnates and
their Cuban landlord capitalist
puppets. But this can be done only
at the expense of smashing down
the wages and living standards of
workers and peasants.
THE Cuban workers and peasants
1 did not live through the terrible
reign of the butcher Machado and
forced his overthrow only to be
thrown into worse slavery by
Roosevelt'S tools. They are fight
ing back. And Batista is answer
ing with the slogan: "Zafra o
sangre!" Harvest or blood" In
other words, strikes are to be met
with machine-gun fire.
The whole destiny as well as the
very conditions of life and rights
OF the American workers are closely
linked up with the outcome of the
struggles Of the Cuban workers. A
fascist victory over the Cuban
workers would mean strengthening
OF the power Of our big trusts and
bankers, giving them more strength
to carry on the assault against the
American workers. We cannot
stand by and let the Cuban hired
gunner for Wall Street shoot down
our brothers.
TT is COMMON knowledge that
MusSolini is faced with the great
est economic and financial difficult
ties. 1t was for that reason that
he was forced to come to an agree
ment with French imperialism.
Italian FasciSrn's bitterest enemy.
But what the outside world has not
been apprised of is the growing
symptoms of working and peasant
class resistance to the depredations
OF Fascist rule in Italy. At most
only driblets Of this information gets
through. More recently the items
OF resistance have been coming out
thick and fast. We print only a
few here.
When an attempt was made at
Paganica to seize the property OF
peasants for non-payment of taxes,
men, women and children seized the
trucks loaded with their goods and
drove the armed police out. It was
only when re-inforcements were
brought up that the confiscation
was carried out.
In Snidarscina, near Fiume, the
peasants revolted against higher
taxes. At Karan, % peasants, after
slaughtering their pigs to avoid
paying taxes, prepared to defend
themselves with arms against re-
prisals.
At A meeting of the fascist trade
n union at Ronchi group of
workers, men and women, protested
vigorously against the reduction of
piece work rates and the abuses of
the working hours by the bosses.
Fifty relief workers in Venezia Guila
who were not able to make more
than 5 or 6 Tires on piece work,
struck and beat up the leaders of
the fascist union in order to en-
force the contract which sets the
wages at LIS lire per hour.
In the towns of Gradisca, AurA
sina, Sagrado, the unemployed dens
onstrated in front of the municip<S
buildings, sent delegations to the
Podesta and succeeded in most in
stances in getting relief in cash or
food. Women of CESAR surrounded
a patrol wagon which was trans
porting their relatives in Jail.
At Lanisce, Bovec and Rupa I'M
employed men and women forced
the distribution of flour in Rupa by
invading the town hall.