News From a Socialist America

IMAGINE that a socialist government has just come to power in the United States. Although people are still celebrating in the streets, workers are already beginning to run the factories, neighborhood groups are planning new housing and day-care centers, new schools and hospitals are springing up. The Revolutionary Council begins to turn its attention to foreign affairs.

What would the foreign policy of a Socialist America be like? The question is breathtaking: The United States has threatened world peace and supported reactionary governments for so long that it is hard to contemplate this country as a force for justice. But a Socialist America is possible, and it is healthy to dream once in a while.

The following is an imaginary scenario of the possible:

WASHINGTON--The Revolutionary Council today passed a $30 billion foreign aid bill, ten times what the previous regime had allotted. The money, none of which is in the form of loans, will be sent with no strings attached to progressive Third World governments. Previous U.S. aid was often given with the provision that it be spent on high priced United States products. A Council representative from Ohio explained, "This aid is not a gift or payment for future favors. It is but a tiny part--a first installment--of what we owe the rest of the world, and it is returned in a spirit of brotherhood.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Corps announced that 4000 more people had volunteered for service in other countries. The volunteers--farmers, doctors, teachers, skilled workers--will be entirely under the supervision of Third World Governments.

HANOI, North Vietnam--A united column of American and North Vietnamese troops pushed deep into South Vietnam today, encountering almost no resistance from the crumbling Thieu government. The column, commanded personally by North Vietnamese Defense Minister Vo Nguyen Giap, reported that South Vietnamese troops were deserting in droves and welcoming the liberation forces.

American construction crews continued repairing bridges and roads in North Vietnam. Premier Pham Van Dong spoke today at a brief ceremony marking the completion of the rebuilt Bach Mai Hospital. The joint American Vietnamese construction crew heard Premier Dong say, "The bonds of friendship between the people of Vietnam and the people of America--never severed even during the darkest hours of the past war--are strengthened once again." After the ceremony, the construction workers retired for a game of baseball. "They're great people, but they still can't hit a curve ball as good as a guy from Chicago," explained Joe Zucharelli, one of the workers.

SANTIAGO, Chile--Cuban and American paratroops landed here today, linking up with revolutionary Chileans and toppling the military dictatorship. The Chilean military, crippled by last month's cut-off of American arms, offered little resistance.

The American Revolutionary Council immediately recognized a provisional revolutionary government and announced it would provide aid.

The streets of Santiago were filled with throngs of demonstrators who carried posters of former President Salvador Allende. People greeted each other as companeros, a word that had been outlawed by the military.

CAPETOWN, South Africa--The American Sixth Fleet patrolled menacingly offshore today, while its commanders awaited instructions from Washington. Only 24 hours remain before the Revolutionary Council's ultimatum to the South African government expires.

The ultimatum, issued last week, calls on South Africa to enfranchise blacks, abolish apartheid, and hold a new constitutional convention. There has been no official response, but rebellions have reportedly broken out in several places and the country is in turmoil. U.S. Marines are ready to land. One of them, Rodney Jones of Buffalo, said today, "I'm ready. South Africa's kind of racism has no place in a civilized world, and we are going to end it."

Reports from the Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola, just north of South Africa, indicate that the American aid boycott to Portugal has crippled the colonial forces, and black liberation armies are gaining control over wide swaths of territory.

BRUSSELS, Belgium--American representatives met here today with representatives of six European countries and announced that the United States will immediately turn over its economic interests in Europe if a set of conditions are met by the Europeans. The conditions include workers control in factories and an end to European support for colonial or neo-colonial efforts in the Third World.

FRANKFORT, West Germany--American armies have started massing along what was once known as the Iron Curtain as the Revolutionary Council continued to issue stern warnings to Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe calling for immediate reforms. "You have betrayed socialism," read the latest warning, sent to the Polish government. "Begin taking steps toward economic political democracy or face the consequences." Uprisings were already reported in Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria.

The American forces are spearheaded by the crack Eugene V. Debs and Salvador Allende divisions, fresh from their lightning victory over the Greek dictatorship. One soldier, Buzz Palmer of Gary, Indiana, said today, "Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg would be ashamed if they saw what socialism has come to mean in eastern Europe. We will join with our brothers and sisters and fight for their dream."

Volunteers from places as diverse as Cuba and Thailand are streaming into enlistment posts just behind the Socialist American lines. Jose Garcia, who once was a member of the Tupamaros, the Uruguayan urban guerrilla organization, explained that the dictatorship in his country was withering away.

"Since the American Revolution, the United States has stopped aiding the fascists in my country," Garcia said. "The military--like the right in other Latin American countries--is without money, arms or advice. The left is reappearing and the days of repression are numbered. I have come here because this struggle is more intense. I am a citizen of the world."

MEXICO CITY, Mexico--An international tribunal today heard the opening arguments in the war crimes trials of Henry Kissinger, Robert McNamara and nine other defendents. The 11 are accused of plotting an aggressive war and of violating 18 points of the Geneva and Hague Conventions, including those which prohibit international bombing of civilians and torturing of prisoners.

The Indian special prosecutor said at the outset he would not ask for the death penalty. "We believe these men are guilty of willful and brutal genocide," he told the court. "The blood of one and one-half miilion Vietnamese stains their hands. But to execute them would only be a pale imitation of their own crimes. We only want them locked up to protect the rest of the world."

MONTREAL, Canada--Delegates from 25 countries arrived here today for a provisionary meeting of the new Socialist International. The delegates convened in the newly dedicated Ho Chi Minh Auditorium and immediately ratified a statement pledging support for the principles of socialism and internationalism.

"The struggle is only beginning," the statement read. "After the last reactionary governments have been deposed, the construction of socialism must begin. It will require international cooperation and understanding. The poor countries will still be poor. There will still be children to educate, sick to heal, bonds of friendship and cooperation to be forged. The process will be difficult; it will require the help of every citizen on this planet. But let it begin."