Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Rassmusen Report: 58% Say An Overly Powerful Government Is A Bigger Danger Than A Weak One


58% Say An Overly Powerful Government Is A Bigger Danger Than A Weak One
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001z2ORuweADajaCZb133XhD2fmxJEn-A_eDGEAZktkbEq3wdpYS-K41nvAdvGdq3IGgrtbnfnxPRcLxb2BDtb1hd5rx4p7EJBhJWVXrNcpoOzYyzi-GjR0rwaLb_8BdlN_
Daily Update
A week ago, most voters nationwide wanted the Supreme Court to uphold the Arizona immigration law  and overturn the president's health care law.  The Supreme Court did just the opposite and now the debate returns to the political arena. Read More 
58% Say An Overly Powerful Government Is A Bigger Danger Than A Weak One    
As they have for years, Americans feel a government that is too powerful is a bigger problem than a government that is not powerful enough. Read More  
Special Features
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Coming Soon:

30% Say America Better Off Today Than Four Years Ago   

Americans Agree With the Ideals Set Forth in the Declaration of Independence
 
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Thursday, June 28, 2012

El Partido Comunista USA dice que reelegir a Obama es esencial.


Home » AIM Column » CPUSA Says Re-electing Obama is “Absolutely Essential”

CPUSA Says Re-electing Obama is “Absolutely Essential”


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A writer for the Communist Party USA says that “…re-electing Obama is absolutely essential,” and warns that “divisions among Democrats and a potential wave of bad economic news can combine to threaten President Obama’s reelection.”
Marxist John Case, who writes for various CPUSA publications, has written a piece, “The danger of a Romney election,” for the party publication People’s World, which warns that “Re-electing Obama is not sufficient to bring economic recovery or even relief to our people. Only a different class configuration in political power can do necessary minimum reforms to give us a chance. But re-electing Obama is absolutely essential. Now is not the time for hand washing the complexities and tactics away—or failing to triage the most critical questions from those that are less critical. We cannot win everything at once!”
In reality, the CPUSA’s endorsement of Obama for a second term is not surprising. Various CPUSA officials, including Jarvis Tyner and Joelle Fishman, have openly expressed support for the U.S. President and his agenda.
Since 1988, the CPUSA has not run its own candidates for president and vice-president, preferring instead to work through the Democratic Party. Its support for Obama in 2008 and again this year has been open and outspoken.
The Case article offers a rationale, mostly on economic grounds, for getting Obama re-elected to a second term. He claims that the Republicans intend to do on a national level what Scott Walker has done as governor in Wisconsin—reduce government spending and the power of organized labor. Case refers to the prospect of a national “Walker-like regime.” Case laments the fact that “many private sector workers,” including 25 percent of Wisconsin union members, supported Walker.
In that case, as we have reported, Obama’ progressive allies were soundly defeated by Walker and his conservative backers.
Obama’s support in the CPUSA, a political entity once funded and directed by Moscow, has become an open secret, although the major media treat the subject as something not worthy of serious discussion. This silent treatment extends to the matter of Obama’s mentor, a member of the CPUSA named Frank Marshall Davis. Members of the party have known of Obama’s connection to Davis for many years, which may account for their support of the Democratic Party politician in 2008 and now in 2012. A congressional friend of Obama’s from his Chicago days, Rep. Danny K. Davis, still associates with the CPUSA and even accepted an award from them.
Obama isn’t the only Democrat getting various kinds of communist support.  Workers World Party, an openly Marxist-Leninist party, endorsed Democrat Charles Barron for the U.S. House in the 8th Congressional District in New York City. However, in that primary election, which was held on June 26, Barron lost.
The Workers World Party newspaper referred to Barron, a city council member, as “a former Black Panther who continues to connect with many sectors of the progressive movement. He has marched alongside oppressed activists and Occupy Wall Street in the fight against poverty, budget cuts, foreclosures, racial profiling like stop-and-frisk, police brutality, the prison-industrial complex, and all forms of injustice at home and abroad.” It said Barron had won the endorsement of District Council 37, the city’s largest public employee union, representing 125,000 members and 50,000 retirees, and the black-oriented Amsterdam News.
The Workers World Party was investigated by the House Internal Security Committee for its support of the North Korean regime and Arab terrorist groups. But the House Committee was disbanded by liberals in Congress.
The CPUSA writer John Case has not been without criticism of Obama, saying that the Democratic President made a huge mistake by firing Van Jones as White House Green Jobs czar after his communist background came to light. Case wrote last year that Jones’ “Rebuild the Dream” campaign “contains all the elements that save the Obama presidency that discarded him, and the party that failed to come to his defense.”
There is speculation that Jones was fired because the chain of command that hired him led to the Oval Office, including Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and Obama himself.
Jones remains a major figure in the progressive movement backing Obama, however, and was a featured speaker at the “Take Back the American Dream” conference recently held in Washington, D.C. Participants in the conference included Communist Party activists Jarvis Tyner and Joelle Fishman.

Soldado Umap* 22, 46 años


DEL BLOG GASPAR, EL LUGARENO

(desde el estudio de Viera) Soldado Umap* 22, 46 años

Foto de archivo que muestra el fragmento de una hoja de la prensa oficial cubana,
 en que se alaba la labor de las UMAP. (Imagen tomada de Cubaencuentro,com)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soldado Umap* 22, 46 años

por Félix Luis Viera

Hoy, 18 de junio de 2012, se cumplen 46 años de que nos fuimos, o nos llevaron. Yo entonces tenía 20 años. Pasado mañana se cumplen 46 años de que llegamos allí. Fui el soldado Umap 22, de la “Compañía” 1, del “Batallón” 23, de la Agrupación 6, con sede esta en el central azucarero Senado, del Estado Mayor de las Umap, Unidad Militar 1015, con sede en la ciudad de Camagüey.

Pasado mañana se cumplen 46 años de que conocí al sargento mayor Héctor Hernández Hernández, entonces de 28 años de edad, vecino de Centro Habana, un hombre bueno —siempre habrá al menos un hombre bueno donde fuere—, segundo jefe de la “compañía”, quien dos veces me salvó.

Un recuerdo hoy para él.

Y para aquel Lucas, oficinista de la granja la Libertad (la libertad), de allí, de La Anguila, donde estaba la “compañía” 1. Lucas una vez me regaló 5 pesos.

Para Osvaldo Correa, que tenía una tienda de víveres en el batey del central azucarero Lugareño, y que una mañana me dio café con leche.

Para mi hermano Luis Becerra Prego, soldado Umap 25, que una noche pensó en suicidarse.

Para el negro Al Capone, soldado Umap, de La Habana, que apenas se veía en aquella celda donde lo encerraron y me pidió por piedad que le consiguiera de contrabando algo de comer.

Para el soldado Umap el negro Ángel Zulbiaur, de la Habana Vieja, que una madrugada se fugara con una de las camisas de civil que yo tenía escondida. Ojalá haya llegado a su destino.

Para el soldado Umap Armando Suárez del Villar, que se portó como un hombre en medio de las tantas adversidades que allí le tocaron más que a otros, y quien me enseñó a no ser subjetivo.

Para el soldado Umap Luis Estrada Bello, de Placetas, que cargó con una Cruz, con un surco de yerba, demasiada grande, demasiado largo para sus fuerzas.

Para los soldados Umap los negros Pinchaejubo y Bambán, de Encrucijada, que en medio de todo nos regalaron coraje y alegría.

Para el soldado Umap 28, Soriano, de Cienfuegos, a quien le bastó un solo pulmón para no rendirse en la refriega.

Para el soldado Umap Bernia, de Encrucijada y evangelista, que no se rindió aunque nunca pareció entender lo que pasaba.

Para el soldado Umap Rodriguito, de Santa Clara, que contaba los días y se decía “tres años no es tanto, yo les parto los tres años”.

Para el soldado Umap Medina, de Cienfuegos, por su parodia: La Anguila, paraíso del Edén Perdido,/surge cada 500 años/ y la faz de la Tierra/la acoge con terrible espanto.

Para el soldado Umap Manuel, de la Lisa, La Habana, que aquella tarde compartió el dulce de guayaba.

Para el soldado Umap Pototo, de La Habana, quien nunca más supo de su novia y sollozaba sin lágrimas cuando tarareaba aquella canción no me abandones/ después que tanto te he querido...

Para aquella muchacha de la oficina de la granja La Paz (la paz), en el batey del central azucarero Lugareño, que fue solidaria con El 22, no obstante el uniforme azul y las botas amarillas que este vestía.

Para El Maestro, soldado Umap cocinero, de Santa Clara, por las veces que nos sirvió un poquito de más.

Para el soldado Umap Jorge Blondín Iparraguirre, del central azucarero Washington, que se empeñó en superar el miedo y lo logró.

Para el soldado Umap Manuel M. Rebollido, de Cienfuegos, que no traicionó a su arte.

Para el cabo Umap Nilson Hung González, de La Habana, un cabo Umap bueno.

Para el soldado Umap Osvaldo de León del Busto, de Sagua la Grande, por su estoicismo.

Para el soldado Umap sanitario Ricardo Martiní, de Sagua la Grande, por su cariño y su ternura para todos sus iguales.

Para el soldado Umap Manolito Valle, de Encrucijada, por su arrojo.

Para el soldado Umap Rigo, que a los 40 años de edad, sonreía.

Para el soldado Umap Guillermo Jiménez, de Ranchuelo, por sus guaguancós.

Para los 13 soldados Umap testigos de Jehová, que resultaron los más valientes.

Y para todos los demás que fueron buenos, cuyos nombres o apodos no recuerdo, pero ahora mismo están pasando sus caras por mi memoria.

Y para aquellas madres que, como la mía, lloraron tres días y tres noches.

A los que aún están, a los descendientes de los que ya no están, llegado el momento, tengamos, con quienes corresponda, la piedad que ellos no tuvieron con nosotros. 

Como si alguien me lo hubiera pedido, prometo seguir escribiendo luego sobre este tema. Ahora no puedo, ahora estoy llorando.

*Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Encuesta Gallup revela que los hispanos dejan de ser democratas mientras mas tiempo viven en los Estados Unidos (Ingles)



 June 27, 2012
Election Matters: Hispanics' Political Preferences and Declining Economic Confidence
Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport and Gallup Senior Editor Lydia Saad reveal that Hispanics become less Democratic the longer they remain in the U.S., and they discuss the political implications of declining economic confidence.
Economy§  Print§  E-mail§  Share

June 26, 2012

U.S. Economic Confidence Continues to Slide

Economic confidence declines to -26, lowest since late January

by Jenny Marlar
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup's Economic Confidence Index was -26 for the week ending June 24, down slightly from -24 the week before. Americans' confidence has now receded for four straight weeks, and is at the lowest point since late January.
Gallup Economic Confidence Index -- Weekly Averages, September 2011-June 2012
U.S. economic confidence last week was hardest hit June 19-21, when it fell to -28, but it bounced back to -25 over the weekend. The midweek slide may have resulted from the anticipated Moody's downgrade of several major banks and one of the worst trading days of the year on Thursday. However, the market rallied back on Friday, which may have led to the weekend improvement in confidence.
Gallup's Economic Confidence Index consists of two measures -- one assessing current economic conditions and the other assessing the nation's economic outlook. Americans' perceptions of current economic conditions worsened to -31, down four from the previous week, with 44% saying the economy is poor and 13% saying it is excellent or good. Attitudes about the economic outlook were down marginally last week, at -21.
Gallup Economic Confidence Sub-Indexes -- Weekly Averages in 2012
Bottom Line
A disappointing May jobs report combined with the tepid economic climate in Europe and downgrading of major U.S. banks appear to have given U.S. consumers cause for concern in June. It will be interesting to see how the last week of June wraps up. There may be reason for optimism, with Gallup's U.S. unemployment rate having reached its lowest number in over two years. In the coming weeks, a decline in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' U.S. unemployment number for June could help improve confidence, as could falling gas prices, which immediately affect the pocketbooks of Americans, if the price declines continue as expected.
Gallup.com reports results from these indexes in daily, weekly, and monthly averages and in Gallup.com stories. Complete trend data are always available to view and export in the following charts:
Daily: Employment, Economic Confidence, Job Creation, Consumer Spending
Weekly: Employment, Economic Confidence, Job Creation, Consumer Spending

Read more about Gallup's economic measures.
View our economic release schedule.
Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking from June 18-24, 2012, with a random sample of 3,323 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, selected using random-digit-dial sampling.
For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.
Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400 cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national adults, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region. Landline telephone numbers are chosen at random among listed telephone numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.
Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, adults in the household, and phone status (cell phone only/landline only/both, cell phone mostly, and having an unlisted landline number). Demographic weighting targets are based on the March 2011 Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized population living in U.S. telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting and sample design.
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
For more details on Gallup's polling methodology, visit www.gallup.com.

Una exposición recuerda a los miles de desaparecidos de la Albania comunista


Una exposición recuerda a los miles de desaparecidos de la Albania comunista

26/06/2012 17:54
Tirana, 26 jun (EFE).- Un grupo de antiguos presos políticos de la Albania comunista inauguró hoy en el centro de Tirana una muestra fotográfica al aire libre sobre los crímenes cometidos durante el régimen totalitario albanés, uno de los más crueles de la segunda parte del siglo XX en Europa.
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Un grupo de antiguos presos políticos de la Albania comunista inauguró hoy en el centro de Tirana una muestra fotográfica al aire libre sobre los crímenes cometidos durante el régimen totalitario albanés, uno de los más crueles de la segunda parte del siglo XX en Europa. EFE Recibidos x Viena Agencia EFE - Austria a través de efe.es 15:01 (Hace 0 minutos) para mí estimados colegas de Grafcia, aqui dos primeras fotos para una nota sobre una exposición de victimas del comunismo en Albania slds Imagenes: Mimoza Dhima Abren en Tirana, exposición fotográfica para conmemorar a las 4.500 fusilados durante los 45 años de la dictadura comunista (1944-1991), cuyas tumbas están aún desconocidas.

Tirana, 26 jun (EFE).- Un grupo de antiguos presos políticos de la Albania comunista inauguró hoy en el centro de Tirana una muestra fotográfica al aire libre sobre los crímenes cometidos durante el régimen totalitario albanés, uno de los más crueles de la segunda parte del siglo XX en Europa.
La exposición, dedicada a los miles de ejecutados y desaparecidos albaneses entre 1944 y 1991, tiene como objetivo crear más conciencia ciudadana acerca de las injusticias sufridas en esa época en el pequeño país balcánico.
Contiene retratos de cientos de personas, entre ellas sacerdotes católicos, religiosos ortodoxos y musulmanes, fusilados y ahorcados por ser opositores al régimen de Enver Hoxha (1908-1985) y de su sucesor Ramiz Alia (1925-2011).
Ningún político albanés asistió hoy a la inauguración de la muestra, cuyo lema es "Nosotros queremos una tumba".
"La exposición es una denuncia contra nuestros políticos que son unos irresponsables, que han dejado en el olvido a estos héroes que lucharon por la libertad", declaró a Efe Besim Ndregjoni, secretario de la asociación para la integración de los antiguos perseguidos políticos de Albania.
Concretamente, el activista denunció la "indiferencia y falta de la voluntad" hacia los antiguos presos políticos (estimados en unas 34.000 personas) por parte de los políticos albaneses que han gobernado el país desde la caída de comunismo en 1991.
La mayoría de los presos políticos de la Albania comunista fue ejecutada tras ser acusada (sin juicio o en procesos manipulados) de agitación y propaganda contra el régimen o por intentar huir del país, el más aislado del antiguo bloque del Este.
Se estima que en total fueron ejecutadas de esta forma unas 5.000 personas, de las cuales 4.500 no recibieron entierro y siguen desaparecidas hasta hoy.
Uno de estos desaparecidos es Dervish Bejko, fusilado en 1973 a los 27 años por haber izado en una cárcel una bandera albanesa sin la estrella comunista.
"Hemos excavado por nuestra cuenta durante dos meses con la esperanza de encontrar su tumba, pero no hemos encontrado nada", explicó a Efe Izet Shehu, cuñado del desaparecido.
Los últimos fusilados -cuyas fotos también están expuestas en la muestra- eran tres jóvenes de la región norteña de Shkodra que intentaron escapar del país en 1991, dos años después de la caída del Muro de Berlín.
Sus cadáveres fueron arrastrados por las calles de la ciudad del mismo nombre, un conocido bastión del anticomunismo albanés, aunque se desconoce hasta hoy dónde están enterrados.
Durante la dictadura comunista de Albania unas 60.000 personas fueron deportadas a las 23 cárceles y los 48 campos de trabajos forzados que estaban entonces repartidos por todo el país.
Pese a las atrocidades cometidas en esa época, la Albania democrática, que forma parte de la OTAN desde 2009 y que aspira a entrar en la Unión Europea, carece hasta hoy de un museo que homenajee y recuerde a las víctimas del terror comunista.
La pequeña república balcánica, de 3 millones de habitantes, es uno de los países más pobres de Europa y fue el último donde los comunistas perdieron el poder.
A diferencia de los demás países comunistas europeos, en Albania no se han investigado los crímenes del régimen, por lo que la mayoría de las víctimas no ha cobrado indemnizaciones por los años pasados injustamente en la cárcel.

Por Mimoza Dhima

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Castro’s Puppet Works for “Progressive Congress”


Castro’s Puppet Works for “Progressive Congress”


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A former AFL-CIO political director, who is now running a project to establish a “progressive Congress,” walked away in disgust last week when I tried to question her about a trip she had made to Castro’s Cuba. The exchange, such as it was, occurred at the “Take Back the American Dream” conference in Washington, D.C., where Karen Ackerman had appeared on a panel about how to elect progressive candidates in the 2012 elections and ensure Democratic Party control of the House and Senate.
“Why do you care?” she responded, as I pursued her with questions about a pro-Castro junket she took to the communist “island paradise.”
The trip to communist Cuba was one of several initially organized by Weather Underground terrorist Bernardine Dohrn and run by the Cuban intelligence service, the DGI. Young people on the trips were indoctrinated in the communist philosophy and given training in terrorism. Dohrn and her husband, fellow communist terrorist Bill Ayers, were associates of Barack Obama when he was launching his political career in Chicago.
In years past, when Congress had internal security committees and subcommittees, travel to Cuba was investigated because of the concern about such trips being used for intelligence purposes against the United States. Most of the travel to Cuba in those years was illegal.
Ignoring this threat, President Obama has expanded travel to Cuba, even though the Castro regime has kidnapped and holds hostage an American foreign aid worker by the name of Alan Gross.
A new book, Castro’s Secrets, by Brian Latell, the CIA’s National Intelligence Officer for Latin America from 1990-1994, adds to the concern about those who traveled to Cuba by describing the case of a Venceremos Brigade veteran who worked or may still work as a university professor in the U.S.
In addition to her “subversive effectiveness in molding her students’ thinking,” she became “a trusted DGI influence and access agent,” he says. By that, he means that she was “a talent scout and proxy recruiter” for Cuban intelligence whose job was to arrange for others, including students, to work for the DGI. He writes that she had intended one of her recruits, a student, to gain employment at the CIA and work there as a Cuban mole. He was put under the control and direction of the professor’s own DGI case officer and was taught how to beat the CIA’s lie detector machine.
Latell says that his information comes from a major defector from Cuban intelligence, Florentino Aspillaga, who defected in 1987. He says Aspillaga did not know the identities of any of the American DGI agents but was acutely aware of how the Venceremos Brigades and travel to Cuba and meetings with DGI officials were used for intelligence purposes.
For his part, Latell says he is not sure if the plan to penetrate the CIA succeeded or not but that he is not aware of any evidence on the public record indicating that anyone meeting Aspillaga’s descriptions was ever prosecuted for being a spy or foreign agent.
Latell does not name the American university professor in his book. He tells me in a follow-up interview, “I did not want to know her name and Aspillaga did not tell me. And even if I knew it, I am sure the legal review of my manuscript would have removed it before publication. I don’t know, therefore, if she is still working for the Cubans.”
Karen Ackerman’s background, of course, is not in the intelligence community, but rather in Congress, the Big Labor movement, and the progressive community.
Before going to the AFL-CIO, she served as Chief of Staff for Democratic Rep. Lydia Velazquez, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Ackerman is today on the board of Progressive Majority, a political action committee “committed to progressive candidates and issues,” and runs an organization called “Progressive Congress Table,” which supports and endorses candidates for office.
But the term “progressive” goes far beyond what many would regard as a liberal Democrat, as an examination of Ackerman’s carefully concealed background demonstrates.
In addition to making a trip to Cuba to be indoctrinated in communist ideology, under the cover of harvesting sugar cane for Castro, the record shows that Ackerman was a member of a communist youth group and traveled to East Berlin during the Cold War for a “youth festival” that featured communist entertainment and propaganda. The slogan of the event was “For anti-imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship.”
We had previously sent several letters to Ackerman personally when she functioned as the AFL-CIO’s political director, asking about her trip to Cuba. We had also asked then-AFL-CIO chief John Sweeney about Ackerman’s work at the giant labor federation and what he thought about her Cuba connection. All the letters were ignored.
At last week’s conference, she appeared friendly and talkative, “Call me Karen,” until I started asking questions about Cuba and she noticed my name badge.
The exchange went like this:
Kincaid: “Why haven’t you responded to my letters?”
Ackerman: “What letters?”
Kincaid: “About your trip to Cuba.”
Ackerman: “Oh. Those letters.”
As she walked away, I said, “You don’t want to talk about that?” “No” was the curt response. Later, she said, “Why do you care?”
The answer, quite obviously, is that a major political operative for the Big Labor and progressive movements has a controversial background that has connotations of associating with sworn enemies of the United States. But she doesn’t want to talk about it.
Ackerman has been a columnist for Politico, but her bio on the site of the publication makes no mention of her controversial involvement in communist activities. Politico says the bios are supplied by the commentators themselves.
The bio does say, however, that in 1997 she was appointed AFL-CIO Deputy Political Director and supervised the political program as well as directing the AFL-CIO PAC (Political Action Committee). In 2002, she accepted the position of AFL-CIO political director.
“She became the first woman ever to be appointed Political Director of the AFL-CIO,” Politico said. She may also have been the first open Marxist to have achieved that position—a subject she has tried to avoid for several years as we have tried to question her about it. The Ackerman case is an indication of how far to the left some American labor unions have drifted over the years.
The Pink Sheet on the Left, a publication that served for many years as an authoritative report on left-wing activities, said in 1976 that Ackerman was a member of the Young Workers Liberation League, the youth arm of the Communist Party, and had been an organizer with the communist-dominated Local 1199 of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees.
Her current bio includes the same affiliation, saying that she “has worked in the Labor and Progressive Movements all her adult life” and “began organizing hospital workers in the early 1970’s for Local 1199 in Philadelphia.”
It goes on, “She developed union member political programs to elect progressives (David Dinkins, Mark Green) and became Political Director of Public Employees Federation, SEIU/AFT. Ackerman joined the Sweeney team as AFL-CIO Deputy Political Director and in 2003 became Political Director. In 2008, under Ackerman’s leadership, the AFL-CIO waged its most aggressive union political program ever, reaching 13 million union members and their families, with 250,000 union volunteers.”
After attempting to contact her through letters and emails and failing to obtain a response, we reported Ackerman’s participation in a Venceremos Brigade trip to Cuba in the early 1970s. Another veteran of the brigades was Karen Nussbaum, also an AFL-CIO functionary.
On yet another occasion, according to a report in a communist newspaper, Ackerman attended the Tenth World Festival of Youth and Students in communist East Germany in 1973. Ackerman, identified as then being an organizer for labor union Local 1199 from Philadelphia, was quoted as saying, “What the festival has done for me, and I’m sure for many others, is help us to understand just what imperialism has done to the rest of the world. We tend to get demoralized struggling in the U.S., but when we see what others are struggling against and the victories they have won, it gives us strength.”
Most of the American delegates were Young Workers Liberation League members or anti-Vietnam War activists.
World Magazine, a publication of the Communist Party USA, reported that Ackerman “was particularly impressed” during her visit to the communist police state “with the bilateral meetings of the U.S. with the Vietnamese and Free German Youth of the GDR [German Democratic Republic.]”
At the time, Communist Vietnam was attempting to conquer non-communist South Vietnam through a military invasion and was torturing American POWs. More than 58,000 Americans died trying to keep South Vietnam free.
According to a March 16, 1970, report in the Congressional Record, some of the Venceremos Brigade “cane cutters” in Cuba at that time met with communist Vietnamese officials and greeted them with shouts of “Vietnam will conquer.” The Vietnamese presented the Americans with rings allegedly made of aluminum taken from U.S. aircraft shot down in Vietnam.
A Cuban official told the American members of the Venceremos Brigade that “Cuba, Vietnam, and you shall conquer.”
Ackerman has certainly conquered Big Labor, becoming in the process a prominent figure in the progressive movement that now wants to take control of both houses of Congress. But don’t ask her about her trips to Cuba or East Germany. And don’t expect the major media to take an interest.

About the author
Cliff Kincaid
Cliff Kincaid is the Director of the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org.