CAMPAIGN FOR HUGO BLANCO TO CONTINUE
Lima, Peru
The hearing before the Supreme Military Court on the appeal of Hugo Blanco [see World Outlook October 27, p. 861], did not have the repercussions in the international press that marked the trial in Tacna (September-October 1966). This was because of the briefness of the hearing as well as the fact that it occurred during the dramatic days in which the death of Ernesto "Che" Guevara preoccupied international public opinion.
The date of the hearing was not announced until a few days in advance and the way in which the court itself convened gave rise to the worst fears as to the intention of the judges.
As is well known, ever since Novenber, 1966, the prosecution had demanded that Blanco be given the death penalty, the sentence handed down by the court at Tacna [against which the Peruvian peasant leader was appealing] being twenty-five years in El] Frontén.
The prosecutor thus became the spokesman of the sectors of the army and the police who thought at the time of the Tacna trial that no attention should be paid to the campaign of solidarity in behalf of Hugo Blanco that had developed in Peru and throughout the world. Under the provisions of the law, if the court decided on capital punishment, no further appeal could be made and the sentence would have been carried out almost immediately.
Despite the shortness of time, the solidarity committees in Peru sounded the alarm and stressed the urgency of again launching an international campaign.
In Lima, the FIR [Frente de Izquierda Revolucionario], the Peruvian Trot-~ skyist organization of which Blanco is chairman, distributed leaflets appealing for solidarity from the public and reproducing the text of a message from the prisoner.
The hearing was set for October 12. The public was admitted to the courtroom; the defendant, however, was denied the right to attend.
The prosecuting attorney repeated his demand for the death penalty, while the auditor [judge advocate at the Tacna trial] himself opposed and asked for confirmation of the Tacna verdict.
The next to be heard was Blanco's courageous attorney Dr. Alfredo Battilana, who played such an able role in the Tacna trial. His vigorous and impassioned plea drew applause from the spectators.
The Military Court then immediately handed down its verdict: twenty-five years in the penitentiary on El Frontén, a small island, one hour by boat from Callao, the port at Lima.
The whole hearing did not last more than a couple of hours.
Since the danger existed that Hugo could be condemned to death, the confirma~ tion of the Tacna verdict was greeted with relief. Nevertheless the sentence is a savage one without any legal justification. In addition, since no provisions exist for further appeal, it must now be concluded that the verdict cannot be overturned.
In a message to the Fourth Interna~ tional, Hugo Blanco said that the worldwide solidarity campaign was decisive in saving him from the firing squad.
It is necessary now to continue this campaign, for we cannot agree to letting the leader of the Cuzco peasants remain in prison for twenty-five years. Moreover, his life is still in danger.
As we have already indicated, cer tain sectors of the army and the police disapproved the "leniency" of the Tacna judges, whom they accuse of having bowed to international pressure. This view is shared, naturally, by the big landowners who see Blanco as their main enemy. Even in prison, he still strikes fear in then. These sectors -- and all the more so if the class struggle sharpens in Peru -are quite capable of organizing an attempt to murder Hugo Blanco.
If it is taken into account that the revolutionary leader is confined on the tiny island of El Frontén which has almost 2,000 prisoners, among whom the politicals constitute only a tiny minority, and where the ordinary criminals engage in fights in which wounds and even killings are not infrequent, it is easy to understand the danger Hugo Blanco is continually exposed to.
This danger threatens to become worse in the near future when his peasant comrades, who are worried about him now, are released.
As for Blanco's material situation, it has without doubt improved in comparison with the harsh isolation inflicted on him in the three years he spent in the Arequipa prison. Visitors are permitted on the days provided in the regulations and he can read the books and magazines sent hin.
However, to get decent food and to help his family -- he has two small children -~ it is necessary for him to work very long hours (among other things he carves small wooden statues and makes hand-colored postcards).
For all these reasons, it is inperative to resume the international solidarity campaign and to consider it a permanent necessity as long as Blanco remains in prison.
The fundamental aims of the campaign should be the following: to obtain a presidential amnesty (this should in-
clude the other political prisoners, from
Tauro to Hector Béjar and Ricardo Gadea),
and to assure Hugo Blanco the material aid
he needs. This aid can be transmitted to
him by his attorney.
All those who have already contrib-
uted should rally again, bearing in mind,
among other things, that it is not pos-
sible to collect a large fund in Peru
itself where members of revolutionary
organizations live in extreme poverty, on
starvation wages or without any wages at
all on account of unemployment or being
blacklisted.
BELAUNDE TERRY IN