Debray later wrote in a letter to his parents from the barracks at Camiri where he is being held that, unless he could have a. defense lawyer with whom he could properly prepare his defense, he would prefer to defend himself. He denied rumors spread by an American press agency that he had betrayed some Latin-American leftists and declared that he would reply to these malicious reports in the manner they deserved. "I regard this as a matter of political and personal honor which is much more important to me than the holding of the trial," he wrote.
Francois Maspero, Debray's French publisher, was expelled from Bolivia after being questioned for four hours about alleged connections between Debray and "Che" Guevara. The police pressed Maspero to admit that he knew "Che" was in Bolivia and had instructed Debray to join him. The publisher insisted that he had simply commissioned Debray to write some books on Latin America.
In solidarity with Maspero, two members of the French Defense Committee for Régis Debray, Roger: Lallemand of the League for the Rights of Man and M. Vigneron of the National Teachers Union, left La Paz for Paris. The Defense Committee issued a statement protesting the mistreatment of its representatives and said it confirmed the widespread suspicions regarding Bolivian justice. It urged ‘other organizations to back its demand that French and foreign observers be present during the trial. (The French ambassador has not been allowed to see Debray.) The Bertrand Russell Foundation is planning to send a delegation to investigate the situation.
The British journalist George Andrew Roth, who was arrested with Debray, was suddenly released July 8 and authorized to leave the country after giving depositions that the prosecution intends to use in the trial. Lallemand said at a press interview in Paris July 14 that the absence of so important a witness would deprive the defense of the possibility of verifying the truth of his statements while giving the prosecution every chance to exploit them. This is only one of the many irregularities that have attended this affair from the beginning.
Bolivian President Barrientos, who had cynically declared that Debray is "an adventurer" whose "adventures will end in Bolivia," replied to his defenders by announcing that "any new interference in our affairs can only intensify our determination to defend our sovereignty." He said that outside pressures only complicated the situation and repeated the false accusation that Debray had been captured in the course of an armed action.
Le Monde [July 13] pointed out that this assertion was unconvincing because, according to the Bolivian authorities themselves, Debray, when apprehended, was unarmed, in civilian dress and with two other journalists. It said that the Bolivian military has not yet come up with a single concrete piece of evidence confirming Debray's guilt.
The date of his trial has been postponed, pending further "inquiry" by the army's juridical department. It appears that Barrientos and his "gorillas" are having difficulties in preparing the frame-up.
Since March the army has had little guccess in combating the guerrillas in the Nancahuazi region. One hundred guerrillas entered Samapaita July 5 in buses "requisitioned" on the road to Cochabamba, bought provisions and medical supplies and addressed the inhabitants. One soldier was killed during the fray. According to the mayor and police chief of the town who were captured and then freed by the guerrillas, "Che" led the rebel band. Despite similar rumors, Guevara's presence in Bolivia has not been substantiated.
The expansion of the guerrilla movement has caused the Argentine government to send heavy reinforcements into the border regions and military supplies to its neighbor.
The strike of the Bolivian miners and students against the regime's brutality ended July 10. It was launched June 24 following bloody encounters between the
army and the people in which 21 were killed and 75 wounded.
The agreement concluded between the tin miners strike committee and the
administration at Catavi, where 4,900 miners are employed, prohibited all political activity within the mine in-
-686-
stallations, promised restoration of the
union headquarters occupied by the army,
payment of indemnities to the families of
the victims and rehiring of arrested min-
ers who are found innocent. :
The universities opened their doors
after having been closed for a month.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ENRIQUE AMAYA