VIOLENT DEMONSTRATIONS SWEEP BOLIVIA
Rocked by nation-wide unrest, the Paz Estenssoro regime is seeking desperately to hang on and, if’ possible, to convert itself, with Washington's aid and advice, “into a “strong man" government such ‘as Bolivia suffered before the revolution began im 1952, The means by which this aim is sought are the usual ones. The armed forces have been mobilized to shoot down the opposition. A big witeh-hunt has been set into motion, In La Paz alone, _ 700 arrests, _ were reported.
Lit was reported that Vice- President Barrientos intervened to secure the release of women and minors so that the figure was reduced to 200 political opponents who will be put on trial. The move by Barrientos may be part of a clever American maneuvre ta build an image of the vice-president. as a more "popular" figure than Paz Estenssoro, thus readying a "spare tire" in case of need.]
A novel twist in the witch-hunt was the way in which the "Communist" issue was brought in. The government claimed that some of the arms used by the miners "in Colquiri and Huani"™ in defending themselves against government troops were “Made in Czechoslovakia, On announcing this October 30, Foreign Minister Iturraldo Chinél ° claimed that the Czechoslovak diplomatic mission had been interfering in the country's internal politics. A portable broadcasting station had been seized, it was claimed, also made in Czechoslovakia. The government announced it was breaking diplomatic relations, and orderéd the Czechoslovak diplomatic. mission to leave the country: within twenty~four hours.
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' Apparently the government decided to drag in "Czechoslovakia" instead of "Cuba," because it has already broken off diplomatic relations with the ’ Guban government in accordance with the resolution of the Organization of American States passed last July under U.S. pressure,
Among the Bolivian masses, however}; it appeared. that a different country was felt to be the one intervening in Bolivian internal affairs, In Santa Cruz, for instance, "mobs" were reported to have torn’ down an American flag October 27 and to have wrecked the U,5,. Information Service office.
_ Through the blackout on news, it was difficult to piece to-~ gether an accurate picture of developments in the sharp class struggle. Troops were ordered to march on the tin-mining centers where: the working class holds a strategic position, The radio controlled by the miné union at Huanuni said October 29 that troops were shelling the town. At Sora Sora, said the same source, troops blocked a miners! march on Oruro, At least fifty miners were killed by machine-gun fire and many injured in a "massacre." The radio appealed for doctors, nurses, ambulances, Red Cross workers and blood donors.
In La Paz pitched battles were fought at the university where students had set up barricades, The troops overcame the defenses of the poorly armed students. The government was reported to have mobilized 10, 000 members of the peasant militia in its support,
' The miners! union called & general strike. According to one: report, it was to be for twenty-four hours, A different report said it was "unlimited" and that an appeal had been issued for “armed insurrection." More than 26,000 miners responded but the leaders had called it off by November 2,
One of the union demands was that the state of siege proclaimed by the government a month ago be lifted, Continuation of the state of siege (under which constitutional rights are set aside and the government rules as a naked dictatorship) was one of the things that precipitated the current violence,
Ending of the state of siege was one of the main demands of the students in a memorandum which they sent to Paz Estenssoro — October 27, They likewise demanded dissolution of the political police and respect for the trade unions and parliamentary institu- -' tions.
From exile in Montevideo, Uruguay, former president Hernan Siles Suazo cabled the armed forces not to back Paz Estenssoro, He called for the resignation of the president who rigged an unconstitutional election last May in order to stay in power,
All of Bolivia's major towns were marked by violent street
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struggles, with ‘Gasualties in ‘the hundreds, as Johnson, the imper~ jalist benefactor of Paz EstenSsoro-ended his campaign for the White House on a pledge of “peace™ and "freedom around the world,"
- PUERTO RICAN