BY ARGIRIS MALAPANIS
The October 4 - 12 target week of sales was the best week of the subscription drive so far. Nearly 200 new readers signed up for Militant and 113 for Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions since the last scoreboard was published. Militant supporters also sold 106 copies of the Marxist magazine New International during the sixth week of the campaign.

"The target week came in handy," said Anita Ostling from Stockholm in a note to the Militant. Members of the Young Socialists and the Communist League in Sweden started the week considerably behind schedule, but ended ahead and number one on this week's chart. After their success, they raised their goals slightly.

"October 4 - 12 coincided with a number of activities commemorating 30 years since Che Guevara's combat in Bolivia," Ostling noted. "Meetings, concerts, and teach-ins related to the anniversary took place around the country. The high point was a demonstration of 700 in Stockholm on October 8, starting from the city center, passing by the Cuban embassy, and ending at the U.S. embassy. Marchers handed a note to U.S. officials protesting Washington's economic war against Cuba.

"A large number of the demonstrators were young people, many of whom knew little about Che and were curious to find out what he stood for. Two of them subscribed to the Militant. One of these new subscribers had gone to the World Festival of Youth and Students in Cuba this summer. YS members in Stockholm who had taken part in the festival were among the main organizers of the march."

The same day, other Militant supporters in Sweden traveled to the town of Vasteras, about 70 miles west of Stockholm, where a similar demonstration and meeting took place. They sold another Militant subscription there and three copies of the New International.

"During the target week we organized carefully a variety of sales," Ostling said. "The YS chapter in Stockholm was very active in this effort. They surpassed the goals they had set for Militant and PM subs in these nine days. Some Militant supporters took off work or school for all-day sales. We spent two days at the university, sold at two high schools, an antinuclear protest, and a concert in memory of Che Guevara, set up literature tables at numerous shopping and communication centers, and went door-to-door at student dorms.

"In addition to 14 Militant and PM subscriptions, we sold 40 Pathfinder books. The best seller was Guevara's Socialism and Man in Cuba in Swedish with 16 copies sold."

Similar results came in from the other end of the globe. "On the afternoon of October 11 we set up two stalls at a rally of 5,000 people to defend Aboriginal land rights," Bob Aiken reported from Sydney, Australia. "We sold nine copies of the Militant, one PM sub, and eight Pathfinder books. The highlight of the weekend was the Che commemoration later that night that drew 500 people. We sold five Militant and three PM subscriptions, three copies of the New International, and 32 Pathfinder books. The top sellers were The Communist Manifesto (3), To Speak the Truth; Why Washington's `Cold War' Against Cuba Doesn't End (3), Che Guevara's Bolivian Diary (2), Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War (2), and Che Guevara Speaks (2)."

In Los Angeles, more than 70 people attended a Militant Labor Forum on "Defending the Legacy of Che Guevara" October 10. "People came partly as a result of increased sales tables and political work to build speaking engagements for Cuban brigadier general Harry Villegas (Pombo) at UCLA and Cal State L.A.," said Carole Lesnick, a member of the United Auto Workers there. "We sold three Militant and three PM subs at the forum and several hundred dollars worth of literature."

Socialists in San Francisco jumped ahead of schedule. In addition to signing up many new subscribers at events marking Che's fall in combat, "we sold one Militant sub on the job to a member of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union and a copy of the New International to an International Association of Machinists member," wrote Larry Lane from San Francisco.

The momentum from the target week can now be used everywhere to make a final effort to meet the goals in full by the October 26 deadline. The biggest challenge is the Militant subscription goal. The Militant needs to receive an average of 207 Militant subscriptions per week for the next two weeks - slightly more than those sold during the target period - to meet the goal.

Reports from several cities where socialist workers and others are still behind schedule indicate that it can be done. In the Twin Cities, for example, YS and SWP members sold 17 Militant subs last week - more than the previous five weeks altogether - including the first subscriptions to co- workers on the job. "We are now confident we'll make our goal," said Michael Pennock from Minneapolis.  
 
 
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