Free Morocco's First Year
BROWN, IRVING
Trained technical personnel is desperately needed Free Moroccos First Year By Irving Brown Paris Slightly more than a year ago, the new state of Morocco was born. In November, I was present for...
...However, this has not prevented it from sending delegations to Red China and trying to assume a neutral position between East and West...
...Today, the country is much like a newly-created army which will be able to expand quickly once the necessary "cadre" of noncommissioned officers has been trained...
...3. A special program is needed to help Morocco build up its own technical personnel...
...Most Moroccans feel that the French no longer can (or wish to) maintain their investments...
...In November, I was present for its first birthday...
...Yet, while publicly identifying themselves with Cairo in the conflict with Britain, France and Israel, it is notable that some Istiqlal and UMT leaders privately express grave reservations about the ambitions and dangerous associations of the Egyptian dictator...
...The evident pride of a nation that had recently regained its sovereignty affected even the Europeans who attended the receptions and military parade...
...Yet, in spite of this unity, there are constant stresses and strains among the three foci of power...
...indeed, Government and union officials contend that French technicians are currently carrying on what amounts to a campaign of sabotage, a kind of technological cold war...
...This charge, moreover, I have heard confirmed from some French sources...
...In general, the Moroccan labor leaders' attitude toward recent events in the Middle East can be summarized as follows: 1. If Israel had attacked alone, the Moroccans would not have approved, but, in view of the long record of anti-Israel provocations, they would not have regarded it as aggression against the entire Arab world...
...As matters now stand, a large-scale French withdrawal would strike a blow at the Moroccan economy that it would take years to overcome...
...Recently, however, there have been signs that their attitude is changing...
...The union's membership has reached a total of 600,000, and its Casablanca headquarters rivals those of some of the leading American unions...
...2. An immediate stop-gap program is essential to avoid a sharp rise in unemployment...
...In discussions in late November with Government and union leaders, I was told that a minimum of $71 million was needed to meet state expenses at the end of 1956 and thus fill the gap between the two annual budgets...
...The greatest anxiety of the Government and trade unions is the economic problem which threatens Morocco's future...
...At present, unemployment is only 130,000, which is fairly moderate when one considers that the smaller state of Tunisia has almost half a million jobless...
...They are, of course, interested in securing higher wages and more social insurance, but they clearly recognize that technological progress is the surest road to increased production and a higher standard of living...
...Any program designed to meet the present grave situation in Morocco, it seems to me, should embrace the following major points: 1. The United States must proclaim an independent economic-aid program for Morocco in order to strengthen that fledgling state's democratic institutions...
...In general, the Moroccan unions have shown great restraint in their demands and made constructive proposals...
...4. American trade unions should make every effort to encourage exchange missions—all of them geared to specific objectives and designed to help train new technicians...
...5. The same applies to efforts to help the Moroccan trade-union movement build up the qualified cadres it so desperately needs...
...Up to the middle of November, they had granted only $25 million and were talking of doling the rest out on a strictly month-to-month basis—an obvious device to force Moroccan leaders to toe the line...
...The UMT leadership is dedicated to building a democratic Morocco and is staunchly opposed to cooperation with or tolerance of the Communists...
...The fact that the UMT remains affiliated with the anti-Communist International Confederation of Free Trade Unions is further evidence of its essential solidarity with the free world and rejection of Nasser's overlordship...
...Some in the Istiqlal are beginning to chafe at the all-pervasive influence of the Sultan, while the feudal and conservative groups are becoming restive over the growing strength of the unions...
...In fact, it is true that the trade-union movement in Morocco has achieved tremendous influence...
...There are three chief elements of power in Morocco: the Sultan, the Isliqlal (Independence party), and the Moroccan Workers' Union (UMT...
...Unless this can be obtained, the Government will be forced to close down a number of state enterprises, thus creating unemployment and weakening its whole political position...
...2. If the British and French had attacked immediately after Nasser's seizure of the Suez Canal, the Moroccans would have taken the same attitude...
...The festivities lasted three days, as the populace celebrated not only their first tndependence Day but the return of Sultan Mohammed V from French-imposed exile and the opening of the Moroccan Parliament in the capital city of Rabat...
...On more than one occasion, I heard deputies complain that the latter had taken over undue political power...
...The unions are concerned not only with immediate economic needs but with the long-term problem of investments, technical training and union participation in economic programs...
...Morocco will be in grave danger if something is not done to relieve its economic plight in the next three months...
...If Morocco can train an adequate staff of technicians in the next few years, ample capital, both private and governmental, will be available from abroad...
...Several Moroccans responsible for the atrocities committed in Meknes have been tried and executed...
...In particular, they are determined to train more native technicians and supervisors in order to free the Moroccan economy of dependence on foreign technology...
...3. However, the combined attack is regarded as collusion and an example of big-power aggression, with Israel acting as a tool of aggression not only against Egypt but against the whole Arab world...
...Only a few weeks before, a grave crisis had loomed up after the French ordered a French-piloted Moroccan plane bearing five Algerian rebel leaders to land at Algiers and proceeded to throw the five into a Paris jail on treason charges...
...Whatever one may think of this final conclusion, there is no question that it represents the thinking of the majority of democratic, anti-Communist people in Morocco and perhaps most of North Africa...
...This threatened to destroy everything that had been accomplished to date—indeed, bloody anti-French riots did break out in Meknes—but the Moroccan Government showed its maturity by containing the people's indignation even though it broke off all negotiations with the French...
...The prevailing festive spirit aroused hopes that a new day of European-Moslem friendship might be dawning—particularly after the Sultan delivered a conciliatory and virtually pro-French address...
...The French originally agreed to provide a large part of the country's overall needs, which amount to $114 million...
...The unions also find it essential to remain on friendly terms with their Mow Arabs in the Middle East, which explains their support of Nasser...
...National unity is maintained through the person of the Sultan, while the Istiqlal and UMT operate more or less as a bloc in the National Assembly, where they control 20 deputies out of a total of 72...
...The UMT's General Secretary, Mahjoub Ben Seddik, is Vice President of the National Assembly, while Assistant General Secretary Taieb Bouazza is Chairman of the Social Commission...
...Unless investments are forthcoming from abroad, the entire Moroccan economy faces serious deterioration...
Vol. 40 • February 1957 • No. 5
