Portuguese Imperialism

With all that is being written about Laos and Cambodia and all that has been written about Vietnam, I feel your readers' attention should be drawn to the injustices now being committed in Africa by Portugal and in Portugal itself by one class against another. The following facts speak for themselves.

According to authoritative estimates, including those of the Institute of Strategic Studies, London (in The Military Balance—1968/69), the combined total of Portuguese troops in Africa is about 115, 000—55,000 in Angola, 40,000 in Mozambique and 20,000 in Guinea-Bissau. The total strength of the Portuguese armed forces is over 180,000; the total number of reservists amounts to 500,000—out of a population of nine million.

Military expenditure has increased dramatically since the outbreak of guerilla warfare in 1961; currently it absorbs nearly half of the entire Portuguese budget, leaving aside the further allocations from the budgets of the territories concerned. Defence costs take up 6-8% of the GNP—the highest percentage in Europe, excepting the Soviet Union, whose expenditure includes space and atomic programmes.

Only the undemocratic character of Portuguese rule, censorship and secret police, could explain this state of affairs. While the war economy is actually profitable to certain Portuguese businessmen, foreign investors, and higher ranking Army officers, the burden falls upon the average Portuguese youth. The military effort entails conscription of all males at the age of 21, for periods ranging up to four years—with no provision whatsoever for conscientious objection. The bulk of the Portuguese forces is derived from the peasant class, a third of which is illiterate.

Salient censured?

When are you going to do something about censorship of Salient? In an article in Salient (dated 7/4/70), that shall remain unnamed, Dennis O'Brien wrote, and you published, a number of swear words!

This word can be described as a substitute for the word "fornication", and it was printed no less than 19 Times.

How can you sleep at night, knowing you have distributed a potentially corruptive word among the reportedly sexually ignorant students of Victoria University?

Marijuana and students

For years I have watched the activities of students, and have felt many emotions, because of such. Gladness, coldness, surprise, sickness, contempt and anger, as well as pity and yes, compassion, have moved me at times.

You are all very young and your education does not begin in earnest until your university days are over and each one of you must face up to, and make unique decisions, without the help, co-operative or otherwise, of any other person but the first.

How blindly you call into being associations for this or for that, and, despite your learning, how often you overlook the qualities possessed by many who have not even entered any university and yet are most wise on any issue.

Have any of you known the true heartbreak of parents who have watched their son or daughter in hell because of drug addiction?

If any of you do, I am certain that he or she is not sympathetic towards legalising marijuana. And do not try to justify that stuff if you have not experienced the hopelessness of people who have smoked marijuana become addicted to it, and craved stronger drugs as a result.

Are any of you Christians?

If any of you are, you will not be encouraging the downfall of any other person. Are any of you anti-Christ? Any of you who are, will not give a darn about who might have to suffer if marijuana is made legal.

Your reward will be the temporary one of satisfaction in having your own way for no other reason than that because you are young and a university student.

I will add that the argument held by the champions of legalising marijuana that it is not a habit-forming drug, holds no water, against the truth that drugs of any kind have no power over any balanced person, and because of that, balanced people see clearly that they hold the responsibility of abolishing marijuana from the respectability of legality for the sakes of others who are not so balanced, and through no fault of their own, have no protection other than that offered by the strength of balanced people to ward off the temptation, by openly and fearlessly opposing the people who are not concerned with the misery of others, but whom are at liberty to enlist the same help when and if it is ever needed.

Adelaide/Auckland International Film Festival

Last year we held the 1st International Film Festival in Auckland. Several Wellington students complained to me later that the Festival was not publicised in Wellington, since they would have come to Auckland for it, had they known about it.

Since the Festival is a non-profit venture, run on a shoestring budget, we can't afford to buy adverts outside Auckland; we therefore depend upon any publicity we can get from student newspapers and other sympathetic sources. We would be extremely grateful if you (or your film reviewer) could mention the Festival in Salient so that Wellington students will know about it this time. I enclose the provisional list of titles (which includes Fellini, Bresson, etc.). I'd be happy to send you more information if you're interested.

The Festival will be held in Auckland from 17-30 July.