POR COMRADES FREE
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Bolivia
In our last issue, we announced that we had heard that the arrested leaders of the Partido Obrero Revolucionario, Bolivian Section of the Fourth International, were to be exiled; later reports, however, brought the news that protests by workers and university students had caused the government at the last moment to cancel this measure and free the comrades. Their liberty was brief: since then they have been several times arrested and several times freed again. The pretexts have varied, for the Siles government juridically plays by ear, improvising laws as it goes along; but the pose ere be inever for influence has growing dangerously strong in any given situation moats and Vicaor Villegant percisely me pesiod of the case being the arrest of Comrades Fernando congress at Telemayu, to help the Lechinists to face a barrage of criticism. The federation's organization,
83 the conduct of the recent strike, bureaucratization and malversion, passivity at the murder of Miranda, and Lechín's sudden trips abroad at the most critical times — all came in for attack. These criticisms were concretized in resolutions by delegates from Catavi, Siglo XX, Santa Fé, and San José calling for a complete change of leadership.
The POR, which won the majority in the elections for ongress delegates in Santa Fé and San José, and probably vould have done in Catavi and Siglo XX had new elec tion been held, fought hard at Telamayu, but did not quite succeed in forming the alliance needed. Thus, with great. difficulty and a majority of abstentions, Lechin, closing ranks with the supporters of Siles, squeaked by.
For the moment, all our comrades are free again.
For an analysis of the new situation, see on pages 76-78 the resolution of the IXth Plenum of the Central Committee of the POR.
Chile