BY ERNIE MAILHOT AND JASON PHELPS
PARIS - "These are interesting books. We need Che
Guevara here in France." This was the response of
Francois, a young French soldier in the Gare du Nord train
station on Christmas day. On his way back to base, he had
just stopped to talk to members of an international team
in France selling the Marxist magazine Nouvelle
Internationale. Francois, like other young French men, was
conscripted into the military and forced to serve a 10-
month tour of duty.
Several French soldiers at the station explained that they supported the recent strikes and mobilizations of workers and students against the government's austerity drive. One soldier, another draftee, explained that as a student he had been part of the fight against the subminimum wage for young people. He opposed sending troops to Yugoslavia and was especially interested in reading the Nouvelle Internationale featuring the article "Opening Guns of World War III: Washington's assault on Iraq." He said, however, that he would probably get in trouble with his sergeant if he took this book to his base.
Michel, a draftee originally from the French colony of Guadeloupe, said that he thought there was no choice but for France to send troops. But, after discussing the recent attacks by the French government against immigrants, he said, "The racism I've seen, including in the military, does make me question what the government is doing in Yugoslavia."
Since December 16, the international team of communist workers and students here has included participants from France, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Greece, New Zealand, and Sweden. The team has sold more than 220 copies of Nouvelle Internationale and several thousand dollars worth of revolutionary literature published and distributed by Pathfinder Press.
Three members of the team went to Marseille, where strikes continue. They sold 15 copies of Nouvelle Internationale and participated in activities with fighters there. Like in Paris, many strikers in Marseille were interested in knowing if workers in the United States and other countries had heard about their fight. "It's good what you're doing," said Jean-Pierre Chasnay, a power plant worker on strike in Marseille, about the sale of Nouvelle Internationale by workers from other countries. "The future of unions is international."
Sales of the Marxist magazine have picked up at tables in front of bookstores. Twenty-five copies of Nouvelle Internationale were sold in front of the Gibert Jeune bookstore. Many of these were to students and immigrant workers.
One person who stopped by the table purchased a subscription to the Spanish-language magazine Perspectiva Mundial, to be sent to his home in Chiapas, Mexico.
More than a dozen young people from Paris have attended classes organized by members of the Young Socialists from Canada and the United States. These classes have discussed the war drive against Yugoslavia, the fight for independence in Quebec, and the Nouvelle Internationale article "Opening Guns of World War III."
Some 15 French workers and students attended a Militant Labor Forum here December 28 on the Cuban revolution.