[Zope] int and string comparisons

[Manuel Amador (Rudd-O)]

This is the snippet

   <dtml-in "_.range(1,32,1)">
        <option value="&dtml-sequence-item;"
        <dtml-let item=sequence-item>
        <dtml-if begin_day>
        <dtml-if expr="item == REQUEST.begin_day"> selected </dtml-if>
<dtml-comment>CONVERTIR A INT</dtml-comment>
        </dtml-if>
        </dtml-let>
        >&dtml-sequence-item;</option>
      </dtml-in>

The comparison fails because item is an int and REQUEST.begin_day is a string (i guess).  How can I coerce item into a string, or REQUEST.begin_day into an int?
 I tried python's builtin int() function around REQUEST.begin_day.  Won't work.

Any suggestions?

-- 
Manuel Amador (Rudd-O)