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tional nature, the duties of all the anti-imperialist organizations of this continent;

14. That the Cuban Revolution, as a symbol of the triumph of the armed revolutionary movement, constitutes the vanguard in the antiimperialist movement of Latin America. Those peoples that carry out armed struggle will also place themselves in the vanguard as they advance along the road of armed struggle;

15. That the peoples directly colonized by European powers-or subjected to the direct colonial domination of the United States-who are now on the road to liberation must maintain, as their immediate and fundamental objective, their struggle for independence and their close ties with the general struggle on this continent, since this is the only way of preventing their being absorbed into the neocolonial system of the United States;

16. That the Second Declaration of Havana, a résumé of the great and glorious revolutionary tradition of the past 150 years of Latin American history, serves as a guiding document for the Latin American Revolution, and has been upheld, widened, enriched and made even more radical by the peoples of this continent during the past five years;

17. That the peoples of Latin America harbor no antagonisms toward any peoples of the world and extend their hand of brotherly friendship to the people of the United States itself, encouraging them to fight on against the oppressive policy of imperialist monopolies;

18. That the struggle in Latin America is strengthening its bonds of solidarity with the peoples of Asia and Africa and the socialist countries, especially with the Negroes of the United States, who suffer from class exploitation, poverty, unemployment, racial discrimination and the denial of the most basic human rights, and who constitute a force of considerable importance within the revolutionary struggle;

19. That the heroic struggle of the people of Vietnam aids all revolutionary peoples fighting against imperialism to an inestimable degree and constitutes an inspiring example for the people of Latin America;

20. That we have approved the Statutes and created a Permanent Committee with its seat in Havana for the Latin American Organization of Solidarity, which constitutes the true representation of the peoples of Latin America.

We, the revolutionaries of our America, the America lying south of the Rio Bravo, successors of those men who won our first independence, armed with an irrevocable will to struggle and a revolutionary scientific orientation and with nothing to lose but the chains which bind us.

ASSERT:

That our struggle constitutes a decisive contribution to the historic struggle of humanity to liberate itself from slavery and exploitation. The Duty of Every Revolutionary is to Make the Revolution!

THE ALGERIAN PROBLEM*

BY THE ALGERIAN DELEGATION IN CAIRO

In colonial wars, a major insurgent goal is the establishment of a national personality even if artificial-which may be claimed to have a prima facie right to self-determination.

Algeria is the case of a country annexed by a colonial power after a military conquest characterised by all aspects of classical imperialism. These aspects can be summed up as a policy of social depersonalization, exploitation and oppression of the Algerian masses for the sole benefit of the colonizing power and European settlers.

Colonialism has attracted the cultural and religious heritage of the Algerian nation, intent on depersonalizing the masses so as to exploit them further and to implement the policy of "assimilation."

The national language of the Algerian people is Arabic. Colonialism has sought to stamp out the Arabic language. The results of this policy are characterised until now by the refusal to allow the teaching of Arabic in Government schools and by the many hindrances to free education. Only in the Higher Institute of Islamic studies, and three Medersas (secondary schools), attended by less than 500 students, are Arabic studies pursued. In the French secondary schools, Arabic is taught as a foreign language. The opening of free primary-schools is openly hampered by the authorities who frequently close them down and arrest their teachers. One teacher (Cheikh Zerrouki) has been condemned to four years imprisonment for teaching Algerian history.

Even education in French is very limited. The percentage of illiteracy is 90 percent and today two million school-age children are deprived of any education. Two Algerian children out of 100 inhabitants go to school, while the proportion for the Europeans in Algeria is 16 students for 100 inhabitants. . . .

The Algerian problem is essentially a colonial one, and so long as the colonial regime continues to exist there can be no permanent solution and no permanent peace in Algeria, for it is in the nature of colonialism that it contains within itself the germs of continual conflicts and constitutes the greatest threat to peace. The Algerian people are deeply peace-loving. If there is any bloodshed in Algeria it is because the French Government have flatly rejected any peaceful solution of the problem.

The movement towards the independence of colonial peoples is gathering momentum and is becoming irresistible. Nevertheless, despite the changes which have occurred in Asia and in parts of Africa, in North Africa and particularly in Algeria, the French have persistently resisted any alteration in the status quo. In November, 1954, Mr. Mitterand, French Minister of the Interior, not only reaffirmed both inside the French Parliament and elsewhere that Algeria is a part of France and *From "What Is Algeria," (Cairo: Algerian Delegation), 1955.

that "no interference by other countries in the Algerian question will be tolerated," but he also stated "for Algeria the only negotiation is war."

The fact remains, however, that the Algerian problem exists and can no longer be ignored. The military operations are continuing and the French now talk of an "impasse" and of the necessity of sending more and more reinforcements. French manoeuvres to suppress this problem, to hide it from the outside world are-as in the case of Tunisia and Morocco-doomed to failure. From the legal point of view Tunisia and Morocco are "protectorates" while Algeria is considered "a part of France." In reality the problems of the three countries are the same and the fictions invented by France to confuse the issue have been rudely destroyed by the latest events in Algeria. The political aims of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria are the same; and their peoples look towards the establishment of independent states; their destiny is linked to each other in the future as it was in the past.

Therefore, the basic solution for the North African problem lies firstly in the recognition of the fundamental fact that there is a single problem and that attempts to appease one part of North Africa in order to be able to crush another more effectively are destined to failure.

The French have to realise that the use of military repression against the force of nationalism cannot succeed. Sooner or later the French will have to recognise Algerian aspirations and to come to terms with the nationalists' demands. The continuance of forceful repression in Algeria will only cause increased bloodshed and bitterness between the Algerian and French peoples.

1. Algerian Demands: The political demands of the Algerians today, as since the end of the last World War, remain the establishment of a Sovereign Constituent Algerian Assembly elected by universal direct suffrage without distinction of race or religion. Such an assembly will enable the Algerian people to give expression to their aspirations through a genuinely representative body which will then undertake negotiations with France to define future Franco-Algerian relations. The prior conditions for such elections would be the abolition of the present police state government, the release of all political prisoners, the ending of police and military repression and the restoration of all civil liberties.

The Algerian Nationalists are for the establishment of a Social and Democratic Republic in Algeria.

2. An International Problem: Today the Algerian problem is not the concern of France alone but of the whole world-and particularly of those peoples who stand for abolition of Colonialism everywhere.

The 29 countries meeting at Bandung from April 18th to April 24th [1955] specifically considered the situation in Algeria.

The Conference declared its unanimous support of the right of the Algerian people to self-determination in the following terms:

In view of the unsettled situation in North Africa and of the persisting denial to the peoples of North Africa of the rights to self-determination, the Asian-African

Conference declared its support for the rights of the peoples of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia to self-determination and independence and urged the French government to bring about a peaceful settlement of the issues without delay. (Chapter D, Paragraph 2)

In addition, the Conference recognized that the basic right of the Algerian people to study their own language and culture had been suppressed, and condemned this denial of fundamental rights as an impediment to cultural advancement and to cultural co-operation on the wider international plane.

In a letter dated July 26th, 1955 addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the representatives of the Asian-African countries requested the "Question of Algeria" to be included in the Agenda of the tenth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. They declared...

The right of self-determination occupies a position of decisive importance in the
structure of the United Nations. In the first Article of the Charter itself, it is
specifically enumerated among the Purposes and Principles of the Organization; it
is cited again in Article 55 as the basis of international economic and social
co-operation; and it is affirmed in resolution 637 (VII), adopted by an overwhelming
majority of the General Assembly, as a prerequisite to the full enjoyment of all
other fundamental human rights. The emergence into independence of the peoples
of many nations previously dependent is among the most encouraging features of
the first decade of the United Nations history. On the other hand; the denial of the
right of self-determination to other dependent peoples or undue delay in its
implementation is a potential source of international friction and of concern to the
international community.

It is against this background that the United Nations should consider the de-
teriorating situation in Algeria, which has become a cause for growing concern.
The position in Algeria is the direct result of colonial conquest, and the people of
Algeria cannot be said to have exercised their right to self-determination as
envisaged in the United Nations Charter. Delay in the exercise of this vital right
can only frustrate the legitimate aspirations of the Algerian people, embitter
relations between them and the French authorities and lead, as it is in fact doing,
to the suppression of other fundamental rights, the retardation of cultural de-
velopment and the imposition of order by force alone.

The French Government, for its part, has been quick to appeal to the Atlantic Pact Powers to support its attitudes towards Algeria and has already succeeded in obtaining permission from NATO High Command to withdraw French forces from Western Germany for use in Algeria. France is making every effort to put pressure on her friends and allies in case of the "internationalisation" of the problem.

The Algerian people are today being hard pressed by the forces of repression ranged against them. They know that their struggle for independence has entered a new and critical phase and that the sacrifices demanded of them are very great. They have accepted this and they have pledged themselves to stand united until final victory is achieved throughout North Africa. They know that in this struggle they are not alone, that millions throughout the world are watching their efforts with sympathy.

The Algerian people call upon the democratic forces in the world to take up the cause of Algerian freedom. The Algerians firmly believe that those who have so valiantly championed the cause of freedom in Morocco,

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