Antiwar Groups Set Plans For United Spring Actions

After long months of disorganization and confusion, the radical antiwar movement is making a serious attempt to regroup and reorganize its forces. Plans for the Spring are rapidly becoming definite, while communications and coordination between antiwar groups have noticeably improved within the past few weeks.

The most significant event thus far was the announcement on March 2 that the two leading antiwar coalitions had agreed to co-sponsor the already scheduled April 24 mass demonstration in Washington. That announcement ended months of divisive fighting between the two groups.

The People's Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ), which had been organizing for a week of disruptive civil disobedience in Washington beginning with a militant mass demonstration on May 2, abandoned its scheduled date after receiving a request for unity within the American antiwar movement from Xuan Thuy, head of the North Vietnamese delegation to the Paris peace talks.

"Facing the serious situation now presented, I call upon the progressive American people and all antiwar organizations in the United States to unite closely, to associate all forces and strata of the population,... thus making a wide and strong movement so as to curb in time new military adventures by the U.S. Administration," Thuy's message said.

The National Peace Action Coalition (NPAC), original sponsors of the April 24 demonstrations, are calling for a peaceful, legal, mass protest in Washington and San Francisco, and are demanding the immediate withdrawal of all American forces from SoutheastAsia, and an immediate end to the draft.

More Demands

PCPJ, while agreeing to the April 24 date and to the legal and peaceful nature of the demonstration, is adding two of its own demands to those put forward by NPAC. POPJ is calling for a guaranteed annual income of $5500 for a family of four and the release of all political prisoners.

Whereas NPAC has demanded the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Southeast Asia, PCPJ has put forward the slightly different demand that the Nixon administration publicly announce the date by which the withdrawal is to be completed.

PCPJ is still planning to engage in militant disruptions in Washington during the Spring, but the dates are still uncertain. Tentatively, PCPJ is calling for a week of agitation beginning May 1. "Sustained nonviolent civil disobedience and disruption" has been scheduled for May 3-4. Both PCPJ and NPAC have endorsed a nationwide Moratorium to be held May 5, with demonstrations scheduled for all major cities.

Calendar

The current calendar of Spring activities include:

April 2-4: "Tribute in Action to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Welfare Rights Organization, NPAC and PCPJ, have called for demonstrations in major cities to protest the war, racism, and poverty. In Boston, PCPJ has scheduled a march through the South End demanding the release of all political prisoners, as part of "A Weekend of Domestic Justice."

April 10: PCPJ will sponsor a women's march on Washington.

April 19-23: Vietnam Veterans Against the War will protest in Washington, and conduct a mock war crimes tribunal.

April 24: NPAC and PCPJ will co-sponsor peaceful mass protests in Washington and San Francisco. Both organizations are calling for the immediate withdrawal of all American forces from Southeast Asia, and an immediate end to the draft. In addition, PCPJ demands a guaranteed annual income of $5500 for a family of four, and the freeing of all political prisoners. The demonstration will be both legal and peaceful, with no planned civil disobedience.

May 1-7: Called by PCPJ.

May 1: Youth festival in Washington.

May 2: Religious events.

May 3-4: Sustained nonviolent civil disobedience and disruption in Washington.

May 5: Nationwide Moratorium, cosponsored by PCPJ and NPAC, with demonstrations in major cities.

May 16 (Armed Forces Day): Actions in solidarity with the GI movement.