London Demonstration for Hugo Blanco

Under the auspices of the newly-formed Committee for Solidarity with the Victims of Repression in Peru, about 100 Londoners took part in a march to the Peruvian Embassy on Sunday, 19th Pebruary. Marchers carried banners demanding the release of Hugo Blanco, imprisoned leader of the Peruvian peasants, now threatened with the death penalty; an amesty for all political prisoners in Peru; and an end to the police and military oppression of the labour movement in that country. The march was preceded by a well-attended meeting at Marble Arch with Bill Molloy, Labour MP for Ealing North, as the main speaker. His fiery Welsh oratory drew a vivid picture of the servile conditions under which the peasants of Peru were living and toiling. He described the achievements of Hugo Blanco and his comrades in organising the peasants and how this won for them the hatred of the feudal ruling class. It was because Hugo Blanco taught the people to fight for themselves that he was now in prison and why the prosecution was demanding the death penalty. The marchers with their banners, attracted a good deal of attention. Casual passers-by wanted to know "Who is Hugo Blanco?" Some joined the march as it proceeded along Park Lane and Knightsbridge to the Embassy in Sloane Street. Signatures were readily obtained for a petition to be handed in to the Ambassador and to be sent to the President of Peru. Bill Molloy and Mrs. Harold Laski led the deputation but there was no-one in the Embassy to. receive it. Bill Molloy, in a short address, explained that,rather than simply push the petition through the letterbox, he would personally arrange a definite meeting with the Ambassador to present it formally.