DauPens based on Militant raport
The ponular response in Algérie to the far—regching measures racently undertaken by the Ben Bella government is running extremely deep. Ain imorea sive examples of this was the mass turnout on the plateau of Arbattache April 20 when Ben Balla insigurated a national reforestation campaign, In one day 130,000 tress were planted, That is a lot of treas to put in the greund between davm and sunset. “iven more astonishing was the size of the crowl that carried out the task. The estimate was 800,000. These people came ten to twalve miles, some of them starting the previous evening, to plant "their tres" “Special trains, bases and trucks brought many. Tha roads swarmed with cara, motorbikes and bicycles, About one-third walked.
The govarnment delesstion followed datours to avoid bottle-necks and becoming stuck in the crowd. (“hile touring the sountry a few wesks ago, gov= ermment cars wers bent out of shape by pras-ing crowds and the clothing of officials was torn ragsed by people wanting to touch them.) The plan proved futile and Ban Tella had to make his way on foot through the packed masses the final mile and a querter, "Tho plateau end eurrounding hills were black with people," writes Le Pouple; "““omen, children, old psople, youth. TMany youth 3; they came from schools, colleges, universities, 111 the national “sb crganisations wers there, all the administrations, All of the greater Algiers wore present at Arbattache,"
\t the microphone, Gol. Boumedienne recallad, says Le Pouple, that the "first objastive of Our Revolution was the return of the land to the Fellah." "This objsctive," he added, “is being attained today, This Socialist Revolution will succeed if all the people back it," Paraphrasing the speech, Le Peuple continues: "Its enemies exist, They ara those who esse in ™: socialism" only a word which for us has a content. It is a reality as everyone can ses and testify today,"
"Taking up the =pecial role of the army in this inspiring work woich socialian is, Col, Boumedisnne said: “Our army is not end will not be an army of the barracks, an army of members that grow fat, It is a national popular army standing on the side of the people in the work of national recon struction, It is an army of militants who have undertaken to translate into facts the ideal for which our martyrs fell."
Le Feuple reports Ben Bella's speech as follows: "“Yoctorday at Oran, tut cepecially here todey, it can be said that not since independence has such an important event occurred, Mo one here or anywhere in the world, even among those who ars against us, could deny today that our socialist revointion has baon launched, If the problem of srosion and the struggle against. it through rofomstation is the aim of cur maosting today, the spectacle of your presence here atrengthens things in itself,"
“This mass outrouring is a response to the government, to the Political Bursau, to all those in ratponsible posts, that we ere on the right road. It is the reply that we did right in taking the recent socialist decrees and ro-toring to the workers tha properties of the Bengana's and Pourgemud's, The sotialiam of Ben Tella is not a mere slogan, Jen Bolla and all the militants want to remain feithful to the revolutionary program of Tripoli, There is no room in this country for the bourgeoisie,"
Hen Bella described the ignominious profiteers, "thase four or five per cont who found means of amassing fortunes" despite the terrible repression ef the Algerian psople. “hile tha poor lived in misery, in concentration camps or fall under the bombs of the oppressor, the profitsers grew fat. The ¢+ims had now come to settle accounts, to put the the profiteors in a steam bath that will raduce their unhealthy woight. "The steam bath, that's socialian, Never under any circumstances whatever, will we submit to cur widows and orphans sleeping in the strests, to our glorious fighters being reduced to begging. a aro strong. “e will break all obstacles to socoailicn."
Woda ie Ss a a eb Le Be Bae bee 1582 ma note: The Havana newsvaper Revolucion published the following statemant by Premier Fidel Castro on its front page April 16, the day it announced he would visit the Soviet Union, The statement is taken from an interview Castro gave to mambers of The Ghilean Instituto Popular on July 31,1962,
There is bit one Revolution. I+ is like a child who goes tlrough his stages of development until he reaches manhood. It cannot be sesgmanted inte two different revolutions, It has only stages, Ths basic premisos are the conquest of revolutionary power and the creation, of course, of the mili=tary strength to back up that revolution,
The conquest of power is sphemeral if it cannot create the military strength to destroy the ruling classes, That force mist not be at the service of imperialism and of the oligarchy. -tvery revolutionary law is a step forward on the road of the Revolution, The Agrarian Reform Law brought aggressive economic measures from the imperialists; this hastened the taking of new measures against them. The law against the electric and telephone monopolies was followed by new agersisive measures and countermeasures: the suppression of the sugar quota. Imperiaiisn, with the collaboration of tha oligarchy,had recourse to military aggression, which in turn led to the nationalisation. of Yankee end pro-Yankee firms, The increasingly open clash with imperialiam led to the radicalisation of the revolution and to our ideological advances, and linked tha Revolution to the progressive forces of the whole world.
The open ageression of the mercenaries brought on new attacks, and the declaration of the socialist nature of the Revolution was made after the bombing which preceded the invasion, And in this manner the battle which the people fought was already a battle for socialiam.
The Revolution is a dynamic and developing process, Dut it is one revolution, If it is not a revolution, thers is ne revolutionary process, And if it is halted, it is not a revolution, If the proper conditions exist for a revolution, it will contime its vninterrupted march forward. And that is why it goes so far = as only a true revolution can = since it carries within itself the necassary conditions for the development of the revolution, If it is: a revoluticn in the first stages, it will be a revoluticn in the Last stages,
Once political pewer has been conquersd and once the military forces on which tho ruling classes base their power have beon destroyed, the revolution continues its ascendant curve, All other divicions are artificial and the revolution cannot be capriciously divided into stages.
How is power atteined? There are different roads, of courses Let us suppose that power wes attained through peaceful elections, This would not be enough if armed forces uncondtionally supporting the new power were not immediately created, be
Once pewer has been conquered, revolutionary laws have to “‘promilgoted, The reduction of rents ia not a socialist law; nsither is the law authorising the recovery of stolen properties, The nationalisation of bisiness onterprises, the astablishnent of people's farms and cooperatives, the nationalisttion of education, these ere all socialist measures, Nevertheless, there is. en interdepandence between new lawa and those which preceded them, between the first and the last, as there is between 4 and 2.