BLANCO'S RELEASE
‘ Rome
Despite the silence of the big daily press, the campaign of | solidarity for Hugo Blanco:and his comrades is developing in Italy and has achieved encouraging results. ;
In: Rome hundreds of signatures were obtained on an appeal demanding that elementary juridical rights be upheld in the case and that the trial conducted by the military tribunal in Tacna be nullified. Some local .sections: of tthe Communist party participated in this action as well as members of the PSIUP [Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity] and, of course, the leaders and members of the Italian section: of the Fourth International. The appeal with the attached signatures was lodged ‘with the Peruvian embassy in Rome.
A special action was undertaken by the provincial leaders of the Communist Youth and the left-wing Socialist Youth in Piacenza, | a town in Emilia. A letter was sent to the Peruvian ambassador | demanding the release of Hugo Blanco and his comrades in the name of a large majority of the youth. and people of Piacenza. "We deny thatthe military tribunal, which is a direct expression of the > Peruvian regime in the service of imperialism," declared the letter, "has any right to try Comrade Blanco." The Piacenza organizations sent their letter and an appeal for the release of Blanco to all the federations:-of the Socialist end Communist youth, ‘asking them to join in the campaign. . 7
- ‘The Piacenza appeal met with a favorable response in Bari, among other places, and signatures were obtained there among Communist party and youth circles. a In Trieste, a document of protest and solidarity was signed by leaders and members of the PSIUP. The left-wing socialist circle around Mondo Nuovo in Cosenza, in the south of Italy, likewise joined in the. campaign as did another left-wing socialist circle in Follonica (Grosseta) in the: center of the country. —
Tn Sicily an appeal was sent to the Peruvian embassy by ‘the. provincial | federation of the left-wing socialist youth of Ragusa: and a campaign is underway thanks to the activities of members of a left- _ wing cultural circle, "“Iuigi Pintor." In Palermo various university - professors, including Giuseppe Montalbano, Idéale del Carpio, «+: Massimo Mineo. and Luciano del Chiara, together with :students and. . trade unionists, including a regional secretary of the CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labor], signed a letter demanding the immediate release. of Hugo. Blanco. -
. Among. other actions, telegrams were’ “sent by local. eroups of the Italian section of the Fourth International, including Venice . and Campobello di Mazara (Trapani).
. Mondo Nuovo, the weekly. organ of the ‘PSIUP, published an article on the. sentencing of Blanco. and his: activities as a leader of revolutionary peasants.
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