BELLA AS SEEN THROUGH CAPITALIST EYES
. "The main fact now is that Algeria has chosen its camp, the !social~ ist! camp, At this very moment, the collectivization of the land has gone further in Algeria than Yugoslavia. More than 3,000,000 hectares [a hectare equals about two and a half acres], of which 2,700,000 belong to the French colons, have been ‘confiscated! and placed under the authority of management committees,"
That conclusion is not an extract from the thesis of an overly enthus-~ fastic supporter of Ben Belle. It is the pessimistic opening paragraph of an article by Jean-Francois Kahn which appeared in the October 10 issue of the pro-Gaullist deily Paris-presse l'intransigeant. An attempt at a realistic estimate of what is happening in Algeria, the article reflects the foreboding of French imperialism over events 2n t»e former profitable colony. It makes ratner fascinating reading,
"This is the first time in white Africa that a government has broken radically with the principles of liberal economy and attacked with equal violence the petty bourgeoisie as such," continues Kahn.
"The choice is pregnant with consequences. First of all because Nasser'ts socialism, considered up to now to be the model for all the Arab and African leaders has been largely left behind by the Ben Bellist revolu=tion. The Egyptian agrarian reform appears quite superficial beside the one Ben Bella is carrying out,”
Not even religion, in Kahn's gloomy opinion, has served to block this development, "In addition, the Algerian leader has won his bet on making Islam the support and vehicle of his socialism -- and everybody knows that Islam is one of the rare religions constantly growing stronger throughout Black Africa," |
How is this drift toward increasing radicalism to be explained? Kahn, who is quite evidently a knowledgeable writer, makes a stab at an answer:
"The question already posed in regard to Castro arises ~=- how did it happen? Ben Bella is not a theoretician. He knows the Koran a lot better Giep)oe nom he has probably not even read (he has however read Mao and Giap). . . ; ; :
"The Cuban Jeader greatly impressed him when he went to Havana and a Cuban personality even told me, some time ago, that at the meeting with Castro, Ben Bella conducted himself like a student listening to the lessons of a master, However that may be, Ben Bella got caught up in social~ ism much more than he wished to,"
From what he considers to be the subjective side of this process, Kahn turns to objective considerations, “The origin of this was the decree,
Bee ..
to which perhaps insufficient attention was paid, legalizing the institution of management committees in the vacated properties abandoned by the French colons. A nationalized sector thus saw the light of day, but it was particularly vulnerable, Hence it was necessary to extend it, to protect it, then consolidate it. Each measure called forth another,
"at the moment, Ben Bella finds himself facing this situation: a great part of the plants, wholesale trade and agriculture have been taken | over by the state, the local bourgeoisie has been crushed in the egg and the last French colons are preparing to leave. But the means of managing this tsocialist sector! are completely lacking.
"Thus the interested services are putting the finishing touches to a very precise plan that projects the nationalization of the banks, credit,. and foreign trade, then the socialization of the mineral wealth and what remains of industry,
"All this is to be ready by the beginning of 1964 -- but it is like~ wise provided that everything will be liquidated in two weeks if France carries out another nuclear test in the Sahara."
Kahn now comes to what is for him and French imperialism the most important question of all:
"at this point the problem of the oil is posed. The Algerian govern= ment contacted the ENI of the late Matteis some time ago seeking a very advantageous agreement on a 25=75 basis to thus break what it calls the monopoly of the cartel. But the Algerian newspapers have already published articles advocating nationalization pure and simple,"
Can this course be carried to the end? Kahn is not sure3 yet he trembles for the future: "But all this requires a certain organization of the masses, a certain political conception, Here the model is already at hand, that of Castro and Mao Tse-tung: mobilization of the youth who are now accused of falling into that Western degeneration known as the twist, political indoctrination through biased literacy campaigns, creation of voluntary labor projects, accelerated Arabization of everything including the metric system. '‘tAs jong as we don't speak in Arabic,! Ben Bella has said, tour socialism lacks a dimension,'"
Kahn ends his article on a note of bleak despair: “All this is now projected, The Algeria of Ben Bella is preparing to play in North Africa the role which Cuba is playing in the heart of the Americas."
*#Mattei, head of the giant Italian semi~government industrial combine, was killed in an airplane crash last year. There is a persistent rumor that he was a victim of the OAS, the terrorist organization of the French colons.
NEW