Vol. 4, No. 39 December 9, 1966
HUGO BLANCO'S CODEFENDANTS ASK DEATH PENALTY, TOO, IF HE IS TO BE SHOT
The seven codefendants, who were given various terms in prison when Hugo Blanco was condemned to a sentence of 25 years in El Frontén, signed a letter on November 5 which they sent to the authorities demanding the honor of having their fate linked with his. If he is to be shot, they asked, let them be permitted to stand at his side and be shot at the same time.
The news of this action was reported in Le Monde of November 26. The Paris daily also reported that political prisoners of all kinds in Peru have gone on a hunger strike to express solidarity with Hugo Blanco. Students in a number of universities have called strikes as a way of showing support for him. According to another source in Paris, the Pentagon is placing pressure on Belatinde to go ahead and execute the popular peasant leader.
New York, N. Y. 10010.
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BEJAR AND GADEA GO ON HUNGER STRIKE IN SUPPORT OF HUGO BLANCO
The November 17 issue of Granma, the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist party of Cuba, reported that two outstanding Peruvian guerrilla leaders, Hector Bejar and Ricardo Gadea, who are being held in prison by the Belatinde regime, went on a hunger strike as a demonstration of solidarity with Hugo Blanco, who has again been threatened with death by one of the regime's military tribunals.
Alfonso Arata and some other guerrilla fighters also went on a hunger strike to show their solidarity with Hugo Blanco, according to Granma.
The Cuban newspaper reported that in two prisons a number of inmates holding similar views had been on a hunger strike for eight days protesting the threat of death against Hugo Blanco. To execute the Peruvian peasant leader, they said, would constitute judicial murder.