The Soccer War; Algeria

Nowadays very few people believe in peace, most are going after power and war. The first chapter of The Soccer War is based on the search for a better country, the civil war at Algeria and the power struggle. During the civil war Ben Bella who had just gotten out of jail, was elected president by the help of Boumedienne. In the beginning of his rule he seemed to be doing pretty well and all of the people seemed to be very happy with him as their ruler. But with great power comes great responsibility. Ben Bella started to over use his power as a ruler and Boumedienne didn’t seem to agree with what he was doing. Boumedienne decides to withdraw the help he had given Bella and abrogate his power. Ben Bella seemed to be a good ruler; he seemed to be dedicated to make Algeria a better country. He wanted to help all the villages become one country and he seemed determined to leave behind the colonial mentality. What happened to Ben Bella is something very common in our world, people get power and in a given point they become autocratic and corrupt. I don’t blame him for what he did because I don’t know how I would react with so much power. Although Ben Bella did some bad moved in his government not all was bad. He brought order to a country emerging from war; he improved the country’s economy, education. He changed the life of thousands of Algerian workers by introducing a program of agricultural reform. He gave Algeria the prestige of becoming a leading country in the Third World, and becoming the bridge between Europe and Africa.