Vol. 4, No. 28 September 23, 1966
25 YEARS IN EL FRONTON FOR HUGO BLANCO
The Peruvian military authorities, acting as both prosecution and judge, sentenced Hugo Blanco, the Trotskyist peasant leader, to 25 years in £1 Fronton, the grim prison in the harbor of Lima. His comrade and co-defendant Pedro Candela was given 22 years, likewise in El Fronton. Six others in the case were given sentences ranging up’ to five years in prison. Besides the sentences the court levied damages and fines amounting to 160,000 soles [almost US#6 ,000] .
Up to the final moment on September 8, it was feared that the military might carry out the plan they had reportedly envisaged
New York, N. Y. 10010. Ss
ae - -- giving Hugo Blanco the death sentence. Evidently they reconsidered in view of the reaction that was visible even in the small town of Tacna where people lined up for admission into the large hall where the court was held and where the audience clearly favored the prisoners, at times expressing such sympathy that the judge had to clear the court.
Despite the fierce repression in Peru and all the efforts to railroad the trial through in a hurry in the remote town of Tacna, near the border of Chile, it was clearly evident that nationwide sympathy for the prisoners was rapidly building up. Each day of the trial was featured in sensational headlines in the Lima press. Despite the garbled accounts, the heroic stand of the defendants broke through and some of the things they said echoed throughout the country.
In addition, expressions of international sympathy wére mounting. If Hugo Blanco were condemned to death these could rise ‘to a storm of protest. Evidently the military decided that it was better to give him a long sentence in the notorious dungeons of El -Fronté6n. After the first flurry of protest, perhaps the military believes itl can dispose of him in.a quiet way.
. In Peru, where students and unionists were mobilizing ‘support for the defendants, the reaction to the illegal trial and long sentences was immediate.
The Federacién de Estudiantes de la Universidad Agraria placed. an advertisement in the Lima daily. reso September 11 demanding annulment of Hugo Blanco's sentence and petitioning parliament to. throw out the Military Code which is being used to try political prisoners. A similar advertisement appeared two days later in the same paper under the sponsorship of the Federated Center of Law of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos making a similar appeal.
Abroad, meanwhile, it was reported that Bertrand Russell and Jean Paul- Sartre had joined the list of distinguished figures appealing to President Belaunde for an immediate amnesty for Hugo Blanco and his. co-defendants. ;
The final days of the trial,.as gathered from often contradictory newspaper clippings sent to World Outlook, went as follows:
On September 3, as reported last week, the day began with © the reading of depositions allegedly made by the defendants during the investigation conducted by the military tribunal. The court then decided to question eight of the Quechua-speaking prisoners. These were Andrés Gonzalez Tejada, Francisco Cayo Palomino, Octavio Antonio Huancao, Nemesio Bocangel Zavala, Juan Pando Paucar, Basilio Alvarez Sacca, Gregorio Surco Quispe and Emilio Fernandez Ojeda, all of them from Quillabamba and all members of the peasant union organized under the leadership of Hugo Blanco. Three interpreters were brought in so that the judge could cross-examine then.
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ae As’ reported by the Tacna correspondent of the Lima daily La Cronica (September 4), the eight declared:
"Because of the misdeeds conmitted by the . hacendados* of Quillabamba; Hugo Blanco organized the peasant. union and when the guard. Briceno on November 9, 1962, killed a boy 15 years old and shot at two other peasants, Blanco realized he should pay for his misdeeds. It was the killing of the youth, they added, that set off a peasant rebellion.
"We were brought into’ the trial," they also declared, "because the police forced.us to make. declarations under torture and.the military judge [Juez Instructor Militar) threatened us and we did not have any attorneys to defend us.
7 "We joined the peasant union {Sindicatos de Campesinos],' they: added, “in order to’ stand up against the misdeeds of: the. dacendados especially: Romainvilie;° who" paid. us 20 centavos a day. M Faas
They stated: that: they” brought food from Quillabamba to “Hugo Blanco at Ipala.°This was a hideout: where the group led by Hugo: Blanco and Pedro Candela Santillana went after the skirmish at the Pucyura police post where® the guard Hernan Briceno was killed and some arms were seized. On'‘the way to Ipala, Blanco"'s group ambushed pursuing “troops at Mesacancha, killing two soldiers, Anibel Valencia. and “ Americo Carter. ws
These incidents constituted the basis for the formal charge lodged against tthe defendants: of stealing arms and killing three: members of the armed forces.: And: this was the basis, too, for the prosecution denying the political nature of the trial.
During the hearing September 3, the most dramatic moment came when Jests- Fernandez, the "auditor" of the War Council, a kind of consulting judge in the military tribunal, demanded the death penalty for Hugo Blanco. It was an ominous development, for it fit in with the many predictions in the press that while the prosecution would demand a 25- ~year sentence, the judges would. make it death.
On September 4 the defense attorneys filed vigorous protests - against the prosecution’ s use of the term "murderers" in referring to the defendants. Doctora Laura Caller cited the Declaration of Human Rights which calls for respect for human dignity.
The judge submitted four defendants to cross-—- examination. He questioned Fortunato Torres for two hours. Torres, who spoke only Quechua, responded to every question with the same word, "Manan". [no oo.
Defense Attorney Dr. Marcial Chalco asked that Torres be ... given a psychiatric examination, stating that he had suffered a nervous ‘breakdown due to the mistreatment and torture he had been submitted to during the three years he had ‘been held in prison.
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-Moisés Paz Huaca, another of the four, categorically denied any participation whatsoever in the Pucyura skirmish. He said he had known Hugo Blanco only through hearsay and through "the actions he - carried out in the mountains in favor of the rights of the peasants." He said that. when the police tortured him, they broke his collar bone and his leg.
It is not clear from the ‘mewspaper accounts what occurred on September 5 as the case continued.
lage On September 6, the judge questioned Pedro Candela. The defen- ‘dant said that he was with Hugo Blanco for nine months but in the..skirmish in which Briceno was killed, he was posted 800 meters away and only heard the shots.
Hugo. Blanco was then placed on the stand. He was questioned for two hours but very little of what he said concerning his political views and aims in the peasant struggle:appeared ‘in the biased. Peruvian press. Among the reported highlights was his declaration that he was not going to "finger" anyone and that he assumed full ~ personal » responsibility for the deaths of the three civil guards..
He indignantly denied that he had. committed any crime and said that he was guilty only of initiating an agrarian reform. "I am contented with everything I have done :for the peasants and I.can die now tranquilly."
At one point before the packed courtroom, Hugo Blanco leveled an accusing finger at the consulting judge who had demanded the death pénalty. "If the death penalty is going to be applied against me," he said, "then don't let a guard be the one to have. to fire the Shot, but the auditor Fernandez -- with his own hand!"
‘In face: of the tumultuous response of ‘the audience and Hugo Blanco! S shouts of "Tierra 0 muerte!" [land or death], the Judge | suspended the hearing.
On September 7, the hearing opened with crowds at the door and a big police detail. For the prosecution, Comandante Oswaldo Paulinich demanded | 25 years for Hugo Blanco, 22 years for Pedro Candela, various prison sentences for the 39 named in the indictment (of whom 29 were in the courtroom), and damages of 150,000. soles [26.82 soles = US$1]> for the three families of. the civil guards, plus a fine of 15,000 soles.
The prosecutor recommended the release of. two defendants who were not present, Doroteo and Andrés Aguilar, and two in the docket, Fortunato Vargas and Bernardino Quispe. In the latter instance, the prosecutor admitted, it was a case of mistaken identity. It was really “Teodoro Quispe" who was wanted. : “Speaking for the defense, Dr. Alfredo Batillana sought ‘to bring out the humanitarian aims of the defendants-as well.as their
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political views. He also challenged the jurisdiction of the court, stating that the charges should have been brought before a civil court. The military, he said, not only acted as the prosecution but also‘as the judge. If the defendants were found guilty, he said, he would take the case clear to the Supreme court..
The next day, Pedro Candela's attorney, Doctora Laura Caller continued the line of argument advanced by Dr. Batillana. She was followed by Dr. Marcial Chalco who. contended that on the specific charges ‘the majority of the defendants:<were completely innocent and ought to be released. He ended by ‘saying, "If the tribunal does not absolve them, history will absolve: them."
A lawyer appointed by the ‘court for some of ‘those absent, ~.gaid they could not be properly tried in their absence and the charges should be dropped. Lk
After recessing for eight hours, the judge opened the final session of the court. As the. big crowd filtered in, the police . searched them thoroughly, even making them open match boxes. :
The judge said that some of the defendants, although guilty, were "illiterate and semicivilized." Therefore he dismissed the charges against them.
In the cases of Juan Pando, Gregorio Surco, Andrés Gonzales, Francisco Cayo, Octavio [Antonio?] ‘Huantac, Fortunato Torres, Moisés Paz, Crisdlogo Gordillo, Pascual Zarate, Fidel Orue, Bernardino Quispe, Leonidas Carpio, José Pereyra and Tiburcio Bolanos, the judge held that they had already served sufficient time and he ordered their release. -
As for: José Zufiiga, Basilio. Alvarez and Emiliano ‘Fernandez, they. were condemned to serve two -years in the penitentiary. Lucio Bengolea was given four years. Aniceto Mufioz, luis Carpio and Humnberto Carazas each got five years.
Pedro Candela was given 22 years, nis" aeciczeo ceimineting
February 15, 1985. Upon hearing the sentence, Candela shouted, "Viva la revolucién!"
-. Hugo Blanco was sentenced to 25. years, his sentence terminating June 5; 1988. He rose to his feet and said, "Tacna has passed down its sentence. The people will soon hand down. theirs. Tierra: o muerte!"
The other defendants echoed the cry, "Tierra o muerte!" The audience responded with such fervor that the judge ordered the courtroom cleared.
Both Hugo Blanco and Pedro Candela at once stated that they would appeal the: savage sentences passed against then.
LUDWIG HASS