Hot Spots

By Jan Prezzato

The long-awaited Senate Intelligence Committee report on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, released last week, reveals that the CIA and the FBI failed to pursue leads dealing with a possible conspiracy in the 1963 assassination. The report also mentions what amounts to a coverup by U.S. intelligence agencies. No one is certain if the coverup was intentional, it says here, but some Committee members believe that many leads were not pursued due to U.S. attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro in the early '60's.

The report says that at the time of the Warren Commission's investigation senior government officials "wanted the investigation completed promptly and all conspiracy rumors dispelled." A new sub-committee of Senate Intelligence is expected to be appointed to pursue the assassination inquiry further, so we'll see if another year of investigation makes any difference.

The U.S. vetoed Angola's application to the United Nations last week on the grounds that the former Portuguese colony does not meet U.N. charter requirements of being a "peace loving nation", due to the presence of Cuban troops in the country . . . Zaire, uneasy over the political situation in neighboring Angola, is expected to receive nearly $25 million in U.S. military aid. Zaire, in recent years, has received up to $55 million in communications and transportation aid from the U.S., according to the New York Times.

Much of the planned aid will come as an attempt to offset the $300-$500 million in Soviet aid that Angola has allegedly received. Zaire is expected to receive anti-tank guns, helicopters, personnel carriers, and training for its 50,000-person Army. This is in addition to $19 million in military aid already committed to Zaire for this year. . .The U.S., with its scrambled African policy, is desperately trying to fill all the leaks in the African dike. Doctor Strangelove met last week with the world's fastest-growing fascist, South African Prime Minister John Vorster, in West Germany. One imagines them in some Berlin bunker, drinking steins of beer and singing "Deutschland Uber Alles."

Basta con i governi della CIA lavaro subito! The Communist Party of Italy's (CPI) loss by 4 percent to the Christian Democrats in the recent election will now provide Italy with the challenge of putting together a coalition government. The Christian Democrats, who fell ten percent short of a majority, will have a weakened government due to the gains of the CPI and the Socialists.

The CPI received the second largest percentage of voters (35 per cent). Italian voters were faced with the threat of excommunication by the Pope if they voted Communist. Added to that was the hurdle of straining relations with the United States, which could upset the balance of power in NATO.

The U.S., following World War II, poured funds into Italian elections, hoping to offset the spreading popularity of the CPI. According to the Times, the '76 election in Italy may have been the first election in recent years where the U.S. has not tried to channel covert funds into. The U.S. cancelled plans to funnel $6 million in campaign contributions to the Christian Democrats' campaign only after word of it was spread back across the big ocean.

Right-wing repression of Chilean refugees continues in Argentina. On June 9, members of the Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance (AAA) raided refugee camps run by the... continued on page 24