International campaign to free Zimbabwean activist, Lovemore Manjonjo

On 16th February 2010 cde Lovemore Manjonjo was travelling in Harare, Zimbabwe, when he was stopped by a policemen who manhandled him, and confiscated the few copies of the Africa Workers Organiser [AWO] (see www.workersinternational.org.za ) that he happened to have on his possession. After several hours he was released on a warning to appear at the same police station on Monday 22 February 2010, to face the ridiculous trumped-up charge of 'assaulting a policemen'.

The real aim of the state is to suppress the views of the working class who are critical of the current Constitutional process and who view it as a fraud. The arrest of cde Manjonjo confirms this. How can any single democratic right be gained through the unity-government-led process for a new Constitution, when dissenting voices are harrassed, arrested, silenced and have their literature confiscated.

The adoption of the US dollar as currency reflects the reality that US imperialism has turned Zimbabwe into its direct colony and that the dictator Mugabe is nothing but its local manager. The violence of the Zimbabwean state as being an extention of US and UK imperialism can also be seen in the fact that the US had direct military relations with Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2001, when its overt support changed. The main Zimbabwean companies, such as Zimplats, Fort concrete, LTA, Bell, Manica, African Distillers, Hunyani forests, Merchant bank of central africa, Delta corp, Stanbic, Barclays, Eagle Insurance, the Cotton company, 80% of the tobacco production, etc, are all controlled by imperialist companies and banks such as JP Morgan Chase etc. The starvation and crushing of the Zimbabwean working class are directly beneficial to imperialism. Many of the Zimbabwe branches of the imperialist companies have Zanu-PF members and their wives as board members.

The brutal exploitation and oppression of the Zimbabwean working class by US imperialism is part of the same policy which has seen a military invasion of Haiti while hundreds of thousands of bodies were trapped under rubble from the past massive earthquake. It is part of the same policy that has led to the Obama coup against the Zelaya regime in Honduras; While the Castrists alliance with US imperialism is seen by their opening their airspace to US troops to pre-empt other imperialist troops from arriving first, in Haiti, in SA, the SACP-ANC alliance with US imperialism is seen by their shielding of US puppet Aristide; it is also seen by the ANC-SACP chauvinist policy of 'proudly South African' when the commanding heights are in the hands of imperialism, in effect allowing the whole of Southern Africam including Zimbabwe, to be turned into a massive slave camp of cheap labour.

Manjonjo is part of the leadership of the ex-ISO Z which recently split from the International Socialist Tendency (IST) and who have decided to join the FLTI (International Leninist Trotskyist Fraction).

The state attack on Manjonjo is an attack on the FLTI and the attempts to build an independent revolutionary fraction in Zimbabwe and in Southern Africa.

We call for immediate mass protests at all US and UK embassies and government buildings against the imperialist policy of suppression of freedom of expression in their semi-colonies, such as Zimbabwe.

Down with the fraudulent Constitutional process in Zimbabwe!
 

Forward to a Congress of delegates of workers, poor peasants and rank and file soldiers to centralise the struggle for the demands of the working class and fellow poor in Zimbabwe!

Expropriate all imperialist assets in Southern Africa, under workers control and without any compensation to the capitalists! Share all the work among all those who can work, without loss of pay!

This is the way to conquer bread, work and shelter!

Forward to freedom of expression for the working class!

Free Manjonjo now!

Stop the supression of the Africa Workers Organiser and the FLTI!

send messages of support to

sociallabour@gmail.com and workersinternational@gmail.com and fltinternational@ymail.com

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Shaheed Mahomed
African Secretariat
International Leninist Trotskyist Fraction.
with the support of the International Co-ordination Secretariat
1st Floor, Community House, 41 Salt River rd. Salt River, South Africa  7925
ph [27] 822020617, fax 0865486048
workersinternational@gmail.com
web www.workersinternational.org.za

affiliated to the International Leninist Trotskyist Fraction integrated by
Liga Trotskista Internacionalista , (LTI) de Bolivia
Fraccion Trotskista , (FT) de Brasil
Partido Obrero Internactionaista- CI (POI-CI) , de Chile
Communist Workers Group (CWG) New Zealand
Liga Obrera Internacionalista- CI (LOI-CI) Argentina
Liga Trotskista Internacionalista- (LTI)Peru
Humanist Workers for Revolutionary Socialism (HWRS) USA
Workers International Vanguard League (WIVL) South Africa
Zimbabwe Revolutionary group (in process of joining the FLTI)