Ralph Schoenman, the secretary of Russell, together with others, went to Bolivia.
[As the trial of Régis Debray came to a close, Schoenman protested the rigged proceedings and the many flagrant violations of human rights and the Bolivian constitution itself committed by the military court.
[He was at once seized by the political police, held for a few days and then deported to the United States in response to the intervention of the U.S. State Department. Schoenman arrived in New York November 2. The following night he spoke at a memorial meeting for Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
[A week later, he addressed the Militant Labor Forum, telling about the Debray case. After the forum, he granted an interview to Les Evans of The Militant The following is the text of the interview. ]
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Question. How was your commission composed and how did it get to Bolivia; was there any problem getting into the country?
Schoenman: The commission was composed of people who had some knowledge of the Debray case and a particular talent such as a working knowledge of the language or a technical skill such as the skill of Tariq Ali in photography.
Perry Anderson is the editor of the New Left Review and first published Régis in English. Robin Blackburn had been with Régis in Havana just before Régis left for Paris en route to Bolivia and he knew of the arrangement Régis had made with Maspero and Sucesos, the Mexican publication, and therefore he was in a position to give direct evidence.
My own role was really as a representative of the Foundation and of Bertrand Russell. And so on that basis the commission had been composed. We had contacted others, some of them eminent, but as often happens, the eminent are less