BOLIVIA AND THE DEBRAY TRIAL from Russ Stetler (17.9267)
Two features on Bolivia appeared in The Times last week; they pose a grim contrast. A brief news item (September 15) clarified the extent to which M.Georges Debray, the distinguished French lawyer and father of Regis, will be permitted to assist in his son's defence. A week earlier, in a major concession to world public opinion, the Bolivian authorities conceded, in vague terms, Me Debray's right to serve as co-counsel (alongside the placeman of the military). Colonel Reque Teran quickly intervened to prevent M. Debray from conferring with his son more than twice weekly. M.Debray was not only forbidden to visit his son; he was even ordered not to stray near the window of Regis' cell. Stepping a bit too close to that window on September 14, M. Debray provoked a warning shot from a trigger-happy guard, Meanwhile, all the books and papers used by Regis Debray to prepare his defence were confiscated, to prevent their reaching the world press, A more detached view of Bolivia appeared two days earlier, in the form of undisguised advertising. 'The Times Special Survey' carried a long piece by Professor Raymond Carr (of Oxford), A photo of dictator Barrientos occupied the centre of the article, which was flanked on both sides (unconscious of irony) by advertisements for international banks and assurance companies. Blaning the moderate MNR revolution for bringing violence to Bolivia in the 50s, Professor Carr writes, 'Thus, the military coup of November 1964 which gave power to Air Force General Barrientos and his army colleague General Ovando, was greeted with relief.’ One might well ask, ‘By whom?! In the next breath, Professor Carr magically transforms Barrientos into the 'constitutional' president. I am no pedant or legalist, but this is an astonishing suggestion to me. Professor Carr goes on to repeat the contention that all the guerrilla leaders in Bolivia are foreigners. He adds confidently, "Once, with the help of the United States, the army succeeds in training a Ranger Battalion, the guerrillas will be eliminated. If not they will be a growing source of financial and political embarrassment.' Does Professor Carr feel no embarrassment at the elimination of ten thousand jobs in the tin mines, military occupation of the mines, or at military dictatorship in general? Ending on a note of sober optimism, Professor Carr states, 'Since 1965 things have looked brighter for the Bolivian businessman with a little money to invest in his own country.' The futureof the lower classes is, quite naturally, more bleak: ‘modest progress is all that is possible in a country with a small internal market and a small income a head.' It is scandalous that such rot passes for the wisdom of a Latin American ‘expert’ at a leading British wmiversity. We should view such articles as the opening stage of a propaganda offensive. Latin America will seize the spotlight increasingly. The ideologues will turn out in force to analyse events and to mystify and obscure the profound contradictions in Latin American society and politics. The British Labour movement should prepare itself for this ideological onslaught. Two pieces of essential background reading for British socialists appear in the current number of the London Bulletin: Ken Coates on OLAS and Perry Anderson & Robin Blackburn on Bolivia, They merit the widest circulation, An active campaign must be waged at once for the liberation of ‘Regis Debray. This must lead on to a wider campaign in solidarity with the Latin American revolution,
FOOTER