PERSPECTIVES


Page 7

Friday, July 18, 1986

The Michigan Daily

Non-aligned Peruvian rebels fighting for their lives

curred. In fact, as Peruvian slipped quietly into Lima. Such abuse
By Marilyn Wilson President Alan Garcia himself stated, from both rival imperialist blocs un-
some 40 to 60 of the prisoners who derscores the revolutionary integrity
On June 18, the Peruvian military survived the initial barrage and at- of the PCP, which seeks support in its
carried out a savage and pre-planned tempted to surrender were sum- struggle from no source other than
massacre of hundreds of marily shot point-blank by soldiers. the oppressed of Peru and the op-
revolutionary prisoners at three dif- Evidently for Frisancho and for the pressed throughout the world.
ferent jails near Lima. It was a Peruvian rulers, "capturing" these Thus, reactionaries the world over
serious escalation of the effort to revolutionaries was not enough to in- have only one argument against those
crush the revoluition and six-year-old still respect for "democracy" - they who stand up and fight to build a
People's War being led by the Com- had to be exterminated. world free of misery and ex-
munist Party of Peru (PCP), a Garcia fully approved the murders ploitation: firepower. The armed for-
Maoist party known in the press as when he stated: "In the name of the ces used gunboats, helicopters, and
Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). Peruvian people, the government other armaments of war. According
In the wake of this crime, it is all recognizes the decisive actions taken to the New York Times, the prisoners
the more alarming to recall the words by the Armed Forces Joint Command fought with four captured rifles and
with which U-M Engineering student in the loyal dischange of their duties some homemade weapons; after 20
Roberto J. Frisancho concluded his to the Nation and in compliance of the hours at least 250 and perhaps up to
opinion column "Senderos Terrorize constitutional government's orders." 700 of them lay dead in the rubble At
Peru" (Daily 4/9/86). Frisancho Even the stalwarts of the Soviet Lurigancho prison, outside Lima,
wrote: "It must be understood that social-imperialist bloc have attacked where 90 percent have been incar-
these barbarians will not accept the PCP. The Czech Communist Par- cerated without conviction on any
democracy at all, just total power, ty newspaper Rude Pravo accused change, the prisoners tried to defend
and the only way to stop them is to kill the revolutionaries of "provoking the themselves with barricades of brick
or capture them." Now exactly what hard repression"? and just after the and concrete in the exercise yeard,
Frisancho has called for has oc- massacre a Soviet military mission but were met by the Army with an-
titank missiles. A captain quoted in
' l a u asdan AP report described how the
U les abOUi grants soldiers stormed this prison with "the
intention to kill everyone", and in-
deed the Army now claims to have
By Robyn Watts $15 million toas much as $32.4 million killed 126 men there, which was every
from the Pentagon. Now Wilson tells last prisoner in the cellblock holding
The University of Michigan has just the Daily that this amount of Pen- accused guerillas. As of of this
received three major grants from the tagon funding is not significant in writing the government has refused
Department of Defense. These comparison to research funding in- to allow autopsies and has failed to
research contracts are worth at least creases from other federal sources, publish any death list.
15 million and as much as 32.4 million especially the National Science Foun- Further confirmation of
dollars. This money will be used to set dation and the National Institute of premeditated murder comes from a
up Department of Defense centers on Health. She said NSF and NIH rose 25 Peruvian senator who told the press
campus under a new Pentagon percent last year, whereas Depar- that in the period leading up to the
program call the University Research tment research increased 16.7 percent June 18 assault, authorities had cut
Initiaive. Last year, the University of over the 1984-1985 period. But also in-
Michigan performed 7.7 million cluded in that report were the facts
dollars of military research. Vice that Department of State funding
President for Research Linda Wilson decreased by 43.4 percent and Depar-
has said these new projects will in- tment of Education funding decreased
crease Pentagon funding by "some by 44.8 percent.
amount" but that these increases will The Vice President for Research
not be significant compared to sould no longer falsely accuse studen-
research funding increases from ts of not knowing the facts, but rather
other federal sources (Daily 7/11/86). base her own remarks on the facts
On April 15, Linda Wilson stated and not her own "inaccurate assum-
that she knew "of no... University ptions." Moreover, she should stop
commitment to increase" the relative trying to quell dissent by withholding
level of University Department of and misrepresenting the facts. Before
Defense research (Daily 4/15/86). the University received the URI gran-
Most of the proposals for the Univer- ts, Pentagon funding was expected to
sity Research Initiative had been increase at least 8.5 million dollars
submitted in March. These proposals according to Associate Vice President
were worth over $180 million. She for Research Alan Price for fiscal
knew this unprecedented increase in year 1985-1986 (Daily 3/16/86).
proposals to the Department of Of course, with the addition of Pen-
Defense - a 150 percent increase tagon dollars through the University
over last year's proposals. Research Initiative, the increase for
When MSA asked Wilson to address 1985-1986 will at least double. f co
this issue at a meeting, she replies In response to this militarization, on -
that perhaps ten or fifteen percent of June 30, 1986, the Michigan Student - -
the proposals would be accepted. Assembly resolved to firmly oppose
When members stated that even this the University Research Initiative, to \.
amount would increase DoD funding continue to work to halt and reverse
by fifty percent, Wilson responded the militarization of our university
that she would no be surprised if none and to allocate $100 to inform studen-
of the proposals were funded.] ts, faculty, administrators and the
As recently as June 20, Wilson said public concerning this continuing
in an interview with the Daily that militarization of the University of
people concerned about growing Pen- Michigan.
tagon influences should base their con-
cerns on facts, and not on "inaccurate
information." Robyn Watts is the MSA
Now the facts are in - the Univer-
sity of Michigan will receive at least military research advisor.

off all prison visits from relatives. the armed forces drives home that the
These visits have been an important prisoners were actually guilty only of
part of the prisoners' ability to com- refusing to go along meekly into the
municate with the outside ovens.
world-and to warn of impending In Peru today, two percent of the
murder. population owns 60 percent of the
The PCP has been condemned for wealth, and over 50 percent of the
rejecting the offer of "negotiations" people are unemployed or underem-
made by Garcia after his ployed. Under semifeudal conditions,
inauguration last July. There was in rural areas like Ayacucho the life
ample evidence of the content of such expectancy is 45 years, and a third of
"negotiations" last October when the all infants die before their first birth-
Army used flamethrowers to murder day. This is a country of 19 million
34 PCP prisoners at Lurigancho. people with a foreign debt of $14
But if any single act could expose billion and the government still spen-
the essence of what such negotiations ds more than a quarter of its budget
would mean, these recent massacres on the military. Amnesty Inter-
should make things crystal clear. national has issued reports detailing
Garcia, claims that his "Peace hundreds of Army-supervised
Commission" had attempted "to beg, "disappearances" every year and the
to implore the prisoners to avoid discovery of mass graves holding vic-
bloodshed", but in the words of Peru's tims of atrocities by special counter-
Attorney General the prisoners had insurgency units trained in strategic
"invited this bloodbath." (What hamleting by the Green Berets.
sickening hypocracy - blaming the The Committee to Support the
victim). According to the Washington Revolution in Peru, in Berkeley, has
Post, the prisoners in the three called on people to send letters of
prisons had rebelled and issued a list protest and outrage to Peruvian
of demands that included opposition President Alan Garcia and to the
to planned transfers to a new "high Embassy of Peru in Washington, D.C.
security" dungeon at Canto Grande, (Please send copies to CSRP, 2843
demands for expanded visiting Hearst Ave., No. 225, Berkeley CA
privileges by lawyers and families, 94709)
and treatment as prisoners of war
under the terms of the Geneva con-
vention. Garcia's response? The
"Peace Commission" had "urged the
rebels to surrender", and as Garcia Marilyn Wilson is a
declared, "this attempt failed, and spokesperson for the Detroit bran-
the state was forced to impose its ch of the Revolutionary Com-
authority." That even those who had munist Party, U.S.A.
later surrendered were executed by
APSES
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