11a, Wormwood St, E.C.2. 588 1924.
union ranks, Hugo Blanco looms over the whole South, "This is the straight-truth, without falsification, of what this man, who is prisoner today in Arequipa, means to the peasants.....'We owe him everything,' say the peasants.....'He is our chief,' they say, And in ever;, peasant's home there is an empty bed. It is the one waiting for the leader when he was going around the region organising or when he was passing during the night...fleeing from the police....No other name exercises greater fervour among the men in stripedpanchos who speak the euphonious Quecha, The shadow of Hugo Blanco was present at all the interviews I conducted in the South, "I am not exaggerating: the unity of the agrarian movement that has no limits....which can just as well turn peaceful and co-operative as explode in blood and gunfire, has, nevertheless, a name that unites the people of the mountains and the valleys, of the hacienda and the community - Hugo Blanco,..,.The peasant hasn't forgotten and he is waiting, The persecution, the anaemia and troubles suffered by Hugo Blanco have converted him, perhaps more than his political theories, into a man whom the South will not forget, Hugo Blanco was an agricultural student: at the University of la Plata in Argentine. He gave up a promising career to devote himself to the cause of the workers and peasants of his native Peru, As a worker in a meat packing factory at Beriseso he learned at first hand how the workers lived, He became one the leaders of the Partido Socialista de la Revolucion Nacional, the predecessor of the present Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores,. He was one of the organisers of the demonstrations that greeted Richard Nixon on his ill-fated vice-presidential tour of South America in 1958. He then became deeply involved in the peasant movement in the Cuzco area, Quechua, the languauge spoken by Peruvian peasants since the time of the Incas, was his native tongue. He speaks the language of the peasgnts in more senses than one, The peasants among whom he worked live a miserable existence. Out of 9 million hectares of arable land and natural pastures, 3% of the owners possess 83% of the farm area, and 97% of the owners possess 17% of the remaining area, There was no real progress towards agrarian reform and the peasrmts, organised in wmions, under the inspiration of Hugo Blanco and his group, oppose the tenant system, demanding direct ownership of the land, They live in very bad conditions, with a daily intake of less than 1,200 calories, a diet similar to that of a concentration camp. They face virtually the highest infantile mortality rate in the world, and smallpox, tuberculosis, whooping cough and dysentry are endemic, Three million peasants live on the margin of society with a maximum wage of 8 soles (about 2/d) a day. Becuase he organised these peasants to resist these conditions and to fight for a better life, Hugo Blanco now stands the risk of losing his life, Hugo Blanco is a Trotskyist but this fact does not interest the peasant much, The peasant brushes these things aside, he knows Blanco only as a leader, one who understands that for the peasant there is only "Land or Death," Up to now there has been only death. Thanks to Hug Blancdsefforts to organise the peasants, there is now hope of land. This man must not become the victim of Peruvian reaction, British Labour must raise its powerful voice in his defence. Act now! Save Hugo Blanco! Published by The Week, 8, Roland Gardens, Londen S.W. 7.