Worldwide defense effort sets Hugo Blanco free
1989 1989-03Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 12 →
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SOCIALIST ACTION MARCH 1989 13 As we go to press, news has come of an important victory in Peru. On Feb. 24, Hugo Blanco, a revolutionary socialist and Peru's most prominent peasant leader, was released after his kidnapping and arrest by government authorities.
On Feb. 9, Blanco was abducted along with Luis Tuesta de la Torre, the general secretary of the Peruvian Peasant Federation in the department of Ucayali. In a related victory, Tuesta was released on Feb. 11.
Later, the Peruvian Ministry of the Interior admitted that Blanco was being held in the barracks in the town of Pucallpa. Charges of inciting armed rebellion and carrying arms were made against Blanco.
An international campaign was organized for Blanco's release. Delegations were formed to visit Peruvian embassies in Europe and Latin America. In this country, several prominent individuals sent protest letters and telegrams to the Peruvian government.
A letter signed by Kurt Vonnegut, I.F. Stone, Linus Pauling, and Ralph Shoenman pointed out: "The arbitrary imprisonment of Hugo Blanco, a life-long peasant leader, on charges of insurrection has taken place immediately following the murder of several peasant leaders and the assassination of the president of the mineworkers of Peru, who had led a protracted strike."
The peasants of Pucallpa have been on strike since Jan. 25, demanding better prices for their farm produce as well as bank loans at affordable rates. The police attacked the strikers several times, killing at least 28 people. The army is responsible for the "disappearance" of many other peasants in the region; bodies have turned up in clandestine mass graves.
During the week of Feb. 5, over 300 peasants were arrested after a series of mass demonstrations protesting the government's inability to carry out significant land reform.
The protests were led by the Peruvian Peasant Federation, an organization allied with the Unified Mariateguista Party (PUM). Hugo Blanco is the organizational secretary of the federation and a member of the central committee of the PUM.
The fact that Hugo Blanco's life was saved highlights the importance of a rapid and broad-based international defense campaign.