Committee for the Defense of Hugo Blanco sponsored a demonstration in front of the Peruvian embassy in Ottawa September 21. The demonstrators carried signs “which read, "Free Peruvian Peasant Leader Hugo Blanco." =| 7
‘The demonstrators wound up by. sending a » delegation into the embassy with a petition addressed to the Peruvian ambassador. The petition was signed by Garry Porter, chairman of the committee. The Ottawa committee was formed shortly after the trial for Hugo Blanco opened in Tacna. Its.purpose is to acquaint the ‘people of Ottawa with the facts about Hugo Blanco's activities during the peasant. uprisings. in Peru and what happened during the trial. in which he was unjustly condemned to 25 years in prison.
The text of the petition addressed to the Peruvian ambassador is as follows:
“For three years a jail cell in Peru has. been occupied by a man who is respected, followed and even loved by the immense major- _ity. of. the people of Peru. This man is Hugo Blanco. Being held incommunicado, particularly in seclusion from the world press, Blanco has been subjected to all forms of. inhuman and degrading torture. This: is callously labeled as ‘interrogation. '
"What is the charge against this man, this hero of the Peruvian people? The officials of the government, adopting an air of honour and justice, accuse Blanco of shooting three Army officers while leading a peasant uprising against low wages and other social inequalities. existing in Peru. (Three percent of the population. « owns almost ninety percent of the arable. dand. )
"It is questionable. whether Blanco committed the '‘crimes' he is accused of; but--if he did, it cannot be disputed that he was defending himself and the people around him from the police who are notorious for their brutality and terror against the peasants.
~ "Hugo Blanco.is not in prison for murder. He is in prison, along with 28 of his colleagues, because of the idea they represent -- an idea of: Social equality, freedom and land reform. Blanco is one of the few men who’ has been able to rally the exploited against the dictatorship and corruption of the Peruvian government.
"We Canadian students and workers identify. ourselves with Hugo Blanco and the gallant struggle of the Peruvian peasants. : against the undemocratic dictatorship of President Belatnde.
"We demand an end to the repression of the peasants movement and the immediate release of Hugo Blanco and his fellow comrades.
"THE WORKER" WAS ONLY