For Peace, Against War, for Liberty and Democracy

[Statement of the Executive Committee of the CUT (Unified Trade Union Federation of Brazil), October 9, 2001]

The CUT, which condemned the terrorist attacks that occurred in the United States on September 11, wants to make public its repudiation of the bombings that have been carried out over the territory of Afghanistan since Sunday, October 6, under the command of the U.S. government with the participation of the United Kingdom and the support of other world powers.

It's always the peoples and the workers who pay the price of wars. Today, the Bush administration -- under the pretext of "legitimate self-defense" -- is unleashing a war which, according to its spokespersons, will be of "long duration."

Who can believe that the famished and long-suffering people of Afghanistan constitute a threat to world peace? Dozens of innocent civilians already have lost their lives in the first days of the aerial attacks upon the cities of Afghanistan, including its capital of Kabul.

Today, it's clear that the deplorable attacks of September 11 are being exploited by U.S. leaders to unleash a war directly against the peoples of countries designated as "accomplices of the terrorists." This is also a social and economic war against the workers of the entire world, including the United States, where hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs, accompanied by restrictions on civil liberties.

In every country, including Brazil -- where President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) is fully collaborating with the war policy of George W. Bush -- the pressures are mounting for the unions to give up their role as defenders of the material and moral interests of the wage earners, thereby relinquishing their demands in the name of "national unity" to face the difficult situation we live in.

In this critical moment, the CUT, at the same time that it repudiates the war, demands an immediate halt to the bombing against the people and the territory of Afghanistan.

The CUT is not favorable toward "unity" around the government of FHC, a government of destruction of the Brazilian nation at the service of the interests of the multinationals and the speculators that control the world economy.

The CUT reaffirms its commitment to help to build a Campaign for Peace, in Defense of Wages, Jobs and Benefits.

No to war! For peace, liberty and democracy! Immediate halt to the bombing of Afghanistan. Defend wages, jobs and social rights and benefits!

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