All was not roses in June for international Communist enterprise. Consider the flaps. 1) Cancelation of Algiers Afro-Asian summit, a direct slap at Red China’s Chou En-lai. … 2) Snafued plans for World Youth Festival which was to have been held in Algiers end of July. Now will be held behind Curtain, probably in Bulgaria (hardly a satellite showcase)…. 3) Sudden veto of Fair Play for Cuba-sponsored junket to Cuba this summer by 100 Canadian students. Invitation was withdrawn suddenly—no reason given—increasing speculation of power struggle in Cuba centered about the little man who isn’t there—Ernesto Che Guevara…. 4) Crackdown in Algiers on Communists by Col. Boumedienne. He booted out Robert Lamotte, correspondent of “L’Humanité, ” French CP paper, and has closed the Communist-edited “Alger Républicain. ” . . . (Ironic sidelight on Algerian coup: one reason Ben Bella’s adherents didn’t move into the streets night of June 18 was that they mistook Boumedienne’s tanks for tanks used in recent filming of The Battle of Algiers ). . . . 5) Inability of Communist-backed Latin American “Congress for Solidarity with Cuba and the Dominican Republic ” to find a meeting site. They’ve been barred from Uruguay and Chile so far. … 6) Refusal of British authorities to give transit visas to U.S. delegates (Norman Rockwell, Willard Uphaus, etc.) to July 10 World Peace Council in Helsinki.
Private Democratic Party poll in New York indicates Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. is most popular among Democratic mayoralty entries; gives only him chance of beating GOP-Liberals’ John Lindsay. . . . Teddy Kennedy, who’ll carry out a number of speaking assignments in support of N.J. Gov. Richard Hughes this summer, plans to stay out of N.Y. contest. . . . Another entry in mayoralty race, according to “Worker,” will be left-wing Jesse Gray, leader of last year ’ s NYC rent strikes. . . . Party-lining National Guardian now devoting approximately 80 per cent of its space to peace—anti-Vietnam war operations—a shift away from concentration on civil rights.
Comments