THE FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY

vol. 2, no. 6, June 2009, $ 1.00

Some young french communists and Daniel Paquet

si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/


NOTA BENE: Tim Pelzer, t.pelzer@shaw.ca edited the bulletin. You will find at the end the link to L'Humanité in English, a selection of the french daily communist newspaper published in Paris. With this issue, we start to publish pictures.

Paris--“With communism waning and Western values suspect, Confucius is making a comeback.” This is the title of an article just published in the European edition of the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune. It is part of the vicious campaign against the French communist party (PCF). The author of this article, Daniel A. Bell, never tells us what are those Confucian values, except to say that they will eventually replace Marxism.

Today it is fashionable to criticize the PCF, from outside or inside the party. Sometimes, the attacks are rooted in the party’s setbacks in recent years, especially in the elections. True, the 200,000 strong party has lost part of its audience. Many intellectuals and petit bourgeois elements have joined the band wagon.

But one must take into account the amelioration of living standards. If you still think that the average Frenchman is wearing his eternal beret with a baguette under his arm, ready to go bowling, you are in the wrong country. Young people here, influenced by the US mass media, are adopting the North-American way of life.

However, working class people I met on various occasions during May Day in Paris demonstrated that the social forces for transformation of the country are still active. More than 1,600,000 people demonstrated in the streets against government policies that favour big business. During a trip I made to a municipality to meet the Communist Mayor, Catherine Margaté, I met five Young Communist League members collecting money to finance their trip to Cuba this summer. They were enthused to hear that Canadian and US Communists are fighting to free the Cuban 5, including my friend Antonio Guerrero.

The economic crisis is visible in this country of Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac and Jules Vallès. Unemployment, AIDS and poverty are a growing problem.

One should not be surprised that progressive elements gathered to form the Front de gauche (the Left Front), with the Gauche Unitaire (ex-trotskyst), Parti de la gauche (former socialist party members), the French communist party and some other movements. The leading figure in Ile de France Region, including Paris, is Patrick Le Hyaric, Director of the communist daily newspaper L’Humanité. This Front, that they are building, could become a permanent feature of French political life after the European elections of June 7th. While the PCF is a member of the Left Front, the party’s membership rejected the idea that the party should be dissolved to be replaced by a nebulous organization within this Front.

The Left Front closely resembles Vancouver’s municipal Committee of Progressive Electors and Québec Solidaire, which consist of diverse political forces.

French communists are still divided on such issues as the role of Stalin in the construction of Soviet Union. In private talks, many will tell you that they feel deeply for the people of the former Soviet Union who have suffered immensely since the return to Capitalism.

On the other hand, few are knowledgeable of other communist party’s policies or programs. For instance, there is a general ignorance about the Communist Party of Canada’s contribution to the national question in relation with French Canadian in Québec, or other topic such as NATO. But there is a willingness to learn, especially among youth. The French Young Communist League is eager to meet young Canadian Communists at an upcoming international meeting of solidarity with Cuban youth this summer. French communists also favour building new links with other communist Parties and organizing joint actions.

While some Canadians and Americans think that the PCF has drifted to the right, they should realize that in France, some people believe that the same thing has happened in North America. They believe that the CPC and CPUSA have withdrawn and become sects. Regular exchanges and discussions are vital to avoid such misunderstandings

Finally, the PCF is very dynamic and its members are involved in various solidarity movements with Algeria, Martinique and Viet Nam. Party members play an important role in French society, especially in the trade union movement. The widely read Communist daily L’Humanité, has English, Russian and Spanish editions. The party even manages to publish the glossy magazine L’Humanité Dimanche.

France is a developed country, wealthy and comparable to Canada and the USA. Like in Canada, the right wing tries to divide workers and the Left. In France, the right strives to weaken and undermine the 200,000 strong PCF and 15,000 strong YCL. As Madeleine and Jean-Jacques, both activist of the party, declared with passion and determination, after a sharp debate during a picnic: “We will never abandon our party, mark our word on it!”

L'Humanité in English

- 30 -