STUDENTS CLASH WITH BULGARIAN POLICE.
The attempt of Bulgeria's Stalinist regime to put a bureaucratic strait jacket on African ‘youths studying in that country met with the sharp rebuff it deserved.
The Africans asked for the simple right to organize their own All African Students Union. The Bulgarian governnent refused. The pretexts offered for this arbitrary decision avoided stating the real reason: the bureaucracy is not prepared to permit any organization to exist in Bulgaria which it does not control.
On February 12, the students staged a public demonstration against the ban. The Sofia police broke up this perfectly normal reaction with the favorite weapon of police everywhere ~- clubs,
. The Ghana government then decided to withdraw all its studeats from Bulgaria.
This is not the first conflict between Stalinist officialdom ané African students who nowadays are inclined to manifest an independent, fighting spirit, heartened and emboldened as they are by the progress of the colonial revolution.
In 1961, for instanee, African students in the Soviet Union wanted to set up their own student organization. The Moscow bureaucrats wanted them divided into as many separate organizations es there are different African states. A conflict resulted.
Again at the time of the big protest demonstrations which kfrican students staged when Lumumba was murdered, they ran into sharp clashes with Moscow police assigned to protect the Belgian enbassy.
The U.S.State Department, of course, pounced joyfully on the letest incident. "Officials here are eager to capitalize on the situation," said a February 15 dispatch from Washington, D.C., to the International Edition of the New York Times. The State Depart-ment, according to the same report, urged the ritish and Vest German governments to offer money and places in colleges to the stucaentse. One State Department official was quoted as saying:
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"This wea cvleen cpportutity to prove to there rine@ente thei we oye with ther trs svmpet :btit te their cucst for iteaerrcdance:*
He did not: offer:toibringe the Africen: students téithe United: States, however, although rany of them no douht woul! corsider it a golden opportunity to join James i. Meredith in helping to brenk dewm racial discrimination at thi University of Missiz@appi, = 0%!
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A "Committee for Support to Angola and the Peoplesiof the Pay. “cravese Iclonies" has been set up in Paris. (Addresa- 4° avente du Pare de Montsouris, Paris ltée.) it works in close contact witn the CONCF (Conference of Nationalist Organizations of Parturguese Colonies) which from Rabat, Moroeco, co-ordinates the national »< liherstion movement ir all the Portuguese colonies. "
The new Paris conmittee has just publisbed its first hulletis, Arevols Libre, It contuine articles on the ceosgraphy, ethrology oré tistory of Angola, on the cenference of the MPLA (Ci’ormlber : ovemen* of JAberatior of Angele), some inforration on the .VA (brior of Arfolan Populations), the other naticnalist movement of: Arcola whose leader, Roberto Holden, co-operates closely with American imperialism, and some news about the military operations in Angola and in Portuguese Guinea. : iQ
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In Belgium, the Committee for Peace in Algeria has converted itself into the Committee for Struggle Against Colonialism, Neocolonialism and Fascism. It places particular stress on aiding the national liberation movement of the Portuguese committees. -. (Address: M. Jean Godin, 32 avenue Napoleon, Brainew-L'‘Alleud, . << Belgium.) eel : ai 92
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