The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.59/No.45           December 4, 1995 
 
 
Paris In Cahoots With Algeria Army  

The governments in France and Algeria hope the November 16 election of former general Liamine Zéroual will provide for a more stable regime to protect capitalist interests in Algeria. The ballot excluded the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which together with other opposition parties called for a boycott. The election, carried out under the watchful eye of tens of thousands of government troops, is unlikely to produce the desired effect, as workers and youth in Algeria continue to fight for their rights.

A civil war has been raging in Algeria over the past four years - in large part due to the foreign policy of the imperialist rulers of France, Algeria's former colonial overlord. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the war, nearly two thirds the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Vietnam.

The Socialist Party government of then-president Francois Mitterrand collaborated with the Algerian military in 1992 to block the FIS's election victory. The French government has been especially generous in securing arms and money for the regime's ongoing war against the FIS. In Paris's eyes the bourgeois FIS is not controllable enough to be counted on.

The current French government of president Jacques Chirac continues to aid the military junta in Algeria and has launched an anti-Arab campaign of harassment and intimidation against the large North African population in France under the so-called Vigipirate plan. This undemocratic series of measures allows large-scale searches and arrests of North Africans, and the deportation of government opponents. The police killing of one Algerian immigrant was broadcast on television

Paris and its junior partner in Algiers justify their repressive measures as necessary to prevent "terrorism" and stop "Islamic fanatics" from taking control in that North African country. But the French capitalists simply want to maintain a trustworthy client and not lose an important market they have in Africa.

The capitalist rulers in Paris are also concerned about the impact of the struggle in Algeria on immigrant workers in France. Immigrants from North Africa and other predominantly Muslim countries make up about 5 percent of the country's population; there are 1 million residents of Algerian descent. They are an important percentage of the industrial working class.

For workers in other parts of the world, the events in Algeria and the treatment of Algerian workers in France are important questions. The French government is cracking down on the rights of immigrants as it increasingly attempts to put the squeeze on the working class across the board.

The anti-Arab campaign has paved the way for wider attacks on workers in France, with selective bans on demonstrations for "public security" and book bannings. The government is keeping its eyes open for other opportunities to expand repressive measures.

Working people around the world need to champion the fight for the rights of immigrants in France as well as the struggles by workers in Algeria against repression and economic austerity.

 
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home