Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bellawas an Algerian socialist soldier and revolutionary who was the first President of Algeria from 1963 to 1965...
NationalityAlgerian
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth25 December 1918
CountryAlgeria
son cities age
I am the son of poor peasants who came at a very young age to live in Algeria. I only recently saw the place where they were born, near the city of Marrakech.
military struggle leader
Everywhere that the struggle for national freedom has triumphed, once the authorities agreed, there were military coups d'etat that overthrew their leaders. That is the result time and time again.
military islamic optimistic
I'm optimistic because I'm pragmatic: Neither of the two sides, the military government nor the Islamic front, is capable of winning. If they continue to fight, they will both bleed to death.
marxist left
I am not a Marxist, but I place myself resolutely at the left.
fighting america algeria
I can say now: all the combatants who participated in the fight for freedom in South America came to Algeria; it's from there that all those who fought left. We trained them, we arranged for the weapons to reach them, we created networks.
country europe ideas
Colonialism is an idea born in the West that drives Western countries - like France, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain - to occupy countries outside of Europe.
country fighting government
With my government, we engaged in bringing our help to fights for national freedom. At that precise moment, several countries were still colonised or had barely overcome colonisation. This was the case in practically all of Africa. We supported them.
years long algeria
The French colonisation of Algeria lasted a long time: 132 years.
country struggle special
My life has been a bit special, this is true. I participated in the liberation of my country. I was one of the organisers of its struggle for liberation. I likewise actively participated in all the struggles for liberation.
military years two
In two years, there were 22 military coups d'etat, essentially in Africa and the third world. The coup d'etat of Algiers, in 1965, is what opened the path.
army years phases
Colonialism is known in its primitive form, that is to say, by the permanent settling of repressive foreign powers, with an army, services, policies. This phase has known cruel colonial occupations which have lasted 300 years in Indonesia.
development algeria capitalist
Algeria was therefore only the beginning of something that was in development: this is why I say that it's the global capitalist system that finally reacted against us.
break-up algeria
Algeria is not breaking up.
years half prison
I spent 24 and a half years in prison