Contra magazine threatened by Young Communists
Contra magazine has received some thirty threats during the summer 1995. Editors of Contra have been threatened to life and letters have contained obscenities of the worst kind. Including used tampons and envelopes rigged with razor blades. After having contacted the police, the number of letters decreased, and Contra received the last letter in October or November 1995. But in February 1996 a similarly written envelope arrived at the Contra office, this time with very innocent contents. The interesting thing was that the envelope was stamped with “Postage Paid” and the sender, “Ung Vänster”, the youth organization of the Swedish (reformed?) Communist Party, now calling itself the “Left Party”. Obviously the sender had access to the mailing facilities of “Ung Vänster”. During the campaign before the referendum on Swedish membership in the European Union, members of “Ung Vänster” were caught attacking the offices of the pro-European campaign organization, after several dozens of nightly physical attacks against their offices.
On immigration – from an asset to a burden
Immigration, from asset to crisis. During the 50s and 60s immigration to Sweden was a way of attracting badly needed labour. This ceased to be the case in the beginning of the 1970s, when immigration turned into refugee immigration, with a very low percentage participating in the labour market. Sweden lost one million people due to emigration, mainly to the US, durig the period 1845-1925. And has gained more than a million after World War II. Immigration always have been part of political power struggle in Sweden. During the 1930s, immigration that was supposed to forward Social Democratic ideals, was favoured. The Social Democratic and the Swedish Trade Union Congress had close links, through aid organizations, with the foreign office and social authorities. During the 1970s Chilean refugees were very popular, while refugees from Eastern Europe were returned to their respective countries. Today the social democratic government has decided to return 1000 Cuban refugees, because they have nothing to fear in Cuba. In charge of refugee affairs within the Swedish cabinet is Mr Pierre Schori, a friend of the Ortega brothers in Nicaragua, an admirer of pro-Communist former prime minister Olof Palme (killed by a bullet in Stockholm in 1986) and father of the statement that Fidel Castro is “to great for his island, a man resembling a renaissance prince with an encyclopaedic knowledge”
Today immigration is costing approximately 2 billion dollars a year for the Swedish government.
Most refugees are taken to refugee camps and are later spread thinly over the country. Refugee services have turned into a labour-intensive and profitable business in the remote parts of the country with low population density. In fact it may be one of the more important industries in remote villages in Lapland
On environmentalism
On the unrealistic programs of environmentalists. Seen from a local government perspective. Local programs based on the UN “Agenda 21” declaration adopted in Rio de Janeiro have a protectionist bias, advocating, for example, more local foodstuff, in order to avoid the burden on environment created by transporting goods.
Castroites at the University of Stockholm
Cuban democratic activists describe how Castroite lecturers were invited to the University of Stockholm.
Cardinal Mindszenty
The heroes of the Cold War. On Hungarian cardinal József Mindszenty.
Wei Jingsheng and free Tibet
The Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng’s protest letter on Tibet (continued from Contra # 1 1996)
Guest column by Jan Gillberg
The guest columnist. The well-known publisher Jan Gillberg discuss why you should only participate in publications that are “politically correct”. Mr Gillberg breaks this cardinal rule, through this article in Contra.