(The following is the text of a letter sent to the press by three students who particip~ ated in a bank holdup during the recent election in Peru), Rio de Janeiro, April 21, 1962. To the workers, campesinos, students of our countrys To our dear and unforgettable comrades of the Engineering School: To our friends, parents, brothers and sisters;
Having already accomplished the task which as revolutionary militants we set for ourselves ,completely safe from persecution by the police,since when you receive this we shall already be in Colombia, we want to give you all the reasons for our attitude and for the creation of our ofganisation
Our people are among the most miserable and exploited of the whole world, Maiinut-— rition, tubercuksis, inhuman exploitation, unemployment, and illiteracy accompaiy the Peruvian from the cradle to the grave. The other side of the coin is the foreign and native bankers and businessmen who reap their harvest, winning riches and luxuries on the basis of exploiting our fellow workers.
The July 26 movement in its time gave an example to all the peoples of America of how to rise against a regime that exploited the country, Fidel's uprising was carried out against all the opinion of the traditional left whichheld that it was necessary to wait until the masses rose and took up aarms. Various peoples of America are already following Fidel's footsteps, "replacing the arms of criticism with the criti~ cism of arms," These are Venzuela, Colombia, Guatemala, and Paraguay.
In our country, the traditional left - Communists, Socialists, Trotskyists - with distinct variations, in whose rmks some of us have fought so that we gained close knowledge of their people and their line, continue to hold the same opinions as in Cuba before the defeat of Batista: now is not the time for action,
In order to ‘propose passivity and coexistence in face of the regime, they advancs various pretexts: the FLN (National Liberation Front of Peru) and the Communist Pairs? say that objective conditions do not exist for the revolution.
The Socialists and the Social Progressives have a positive program, But in participating in the current election they bring doubts to mind.All those who utilise revolutionary declarations to win seats in parliament, are they revolutionists or opportunists ’
The FIR (Left Revolutionary Front), the Trotskyists and the various workers par iies even having Trotskyist leaders, make brilliant and revolutionary analyses of the p.'esent regime but believe that you have to wait until the masses go into action by themselves while we, the revolutionbts, stay with them and lead them, When will they realise that the masses of our country at the present time are not ready for struggle, and th; consequently they have to be given an example ?
All these reasons brought to us the conviction that it was necessary to consi:.itte a new organisation which we have called the TUPAC AMARU and whose first manifesht' .:. you already know.
Our next one will be to struggle with the guerrilla fighters of our Colombian and Venezuelan brothers in order to learn in action how to struggle and to die to liberate our dear Peruvian country and its working people But in order not to go with empty hands we have recuperated from the bankers - thieves and swindlers of the public- a bit of what they have stolen from us.»
This money will be utilised to give an impulse to the revolutionary strugg-c of the Latin-American peoples. ’
Fellow patriots, heroic descendants of Tupac Amaru,if we should die in our enter prise, we are sure that we have blazed the trail which other students, workers and campesinos will follow - that of the definitive liberation of all the Peruvians and of our dear country.
Long live Peru ! Long live the Peruvian Revolution ] Death to Imperialism ! Down with the oligarchy, International Petroleum, the Cerro de Pasco Corporation and the bosses !
To the revolutionists, and the exploited of Peru, a fraternal embrace.
(Signed) Jorge Tamayo Flores,Oscar Joel Silva Esp'».
Fernando Lopez Aliago Ledesma.