—

PORLG

Uruguay has two faces:
People vs dictatorship

The Republic of Uruguay has lived
under a military dictatorship since June
1973. Despite the destruction of civil
rights, the jailing and exiling of
thousands of its citizens, the struggle for
a return to democracy continues.

Two Uruguayan anti-fascist fighters,
one recently freed from prison, visited
Canada to tell about the struggle of their
people and to campaign. for the release
of several of their companions still in jail
undergoing torture.

Niko Schvarz, a journalist and mem-
ber of the leadership of the Latin Ameri-
can Federation of Journalists (FELAP)
and Daniel Stapff, member of the Uni-
versity Students’ Federation of Uruguay
(FEUU) were interviewed by Tribune as-
sistant editor Tom Morris.

: * * *

“TI am here to speak on behalf of my
comrades still in jail. I want to tell what I
saw and what happened to me,’’ Daniell
Stapff began.

“On Oct. 21, 1975 I was arrested. At
the time I was in my second year at the
Faculty of Medicine at the University of
Uruguay in Montevideo. I was accused
of being an active member of the Frente
Amplio (Broad Front) and the students’
union.

‘I was handcuffed by four men in civi-
lian clothes, my head covered with a
hood in the middle of the street. I was
pushed into a car and beaten for the first
time. One hour later they brought an-
other prisoner who was also being
beaten.

“T could tell by his breathing he was

_ not young. He asked for his glasses and

told the guards, ‘I was recently operated
on for heart disease. If you want me to

die, keep beating me.’ They laughed and
kept beating him.

‘“‘They applied a cattle prod to his
chest. When we arrived at a building they
hung him by his arms, tied behind his
back, until his feet barely touched the
floor. It was like this for many months.

‘After four years of this treatment he
was sentenced to eight years in jail. He is
Alberto Altesor, 68, a well-known rail-
way workers’ union leader, former legis-

~ lator of the Broad front. He is still in jail,

very ill, and requires medical treatment.
One of my main aims here in Canada is to
ask Canadian authorities to petition for
his release so he may come here for
hospitalization.”

Stapff's testimony of his own treat-
ment, which he has carefully recorded in
written form, covers six typewritten
pages. He’s a quiet-spoken 31 year-old
now. His manner belies his strength, a
fact that became more and more obvious
as he described what he endured.

Stapff was beaten repeatedly. He was
given electric shocks. He was sub-
merged in water, strangled with a hood
over his head and tightened around his
neck. He and the others with him were
subjected to. the refined tortures, the
brutalization of fascism.

The prisoners were moved from one
hell to another, each time again undergo-
ing further tortures. ‘In February, 19761
was dragged before a judge and sen-
tenced to from two to eight years im-
prisonment.”’

_ Life in prison was one of silence, isola-
tion, brutality and psychological hell. *‘It
is forbidden to read, study, smoke, have
a radio or any belongings,’ he con-
tinued. ‘‘We saw our loved ones through

a glass and talked to them on a telephone.
The guards took down everything we
said.

“‘Medical attention is meagre. Many
died from maltreatment and lack of med-
ical tredtment.’’ Stapff was released in
1980.

What keeps the prisoners going, how
do they maintain their sanity and any
vestige of hope in this nightmare?
‘‘There are two factors,’’ Stapff ex-
plained.

“‘We know the struggle against the
fascist dictatorship is growing through-
out the country. We know the entire
people are fighting ... this allows the
prisoners hope, permits them to face life

‘without shame, with dignit~.

‘*The other element is solidarity. We
can find it and touch it within the prison
walls. We know of the solidarity of the
world’s people with us. We know the
fascists feel the weight and fury of this
pressure. We know that to be in prison
does not mean to be alone.”’

* * *

Niko Schvars broke in. *‘ The tremen-
dous defeat suffered by the dictatorship
in November, 1980 when they lost the
referendum which would have given
them legal power cannot be over-
emphasized,’ he explained.

‘*They spent millions to sell the ““yes”’
vote. They controlled all the media. But
the unity and democratic feelings of the
people resulted in a resounding ‘‘no’’.
They were so certain of a victory that the
international press was even invited.

‘*The victory for ttie people was pos-
sible because of the widespread unity
against fascism. This unity involved the
traditional forces opposed to the regime
plus new forces who find themselves in-
creasingly hurt by the economic and
political results of the past eight years.”

Schvars explained that a new presi-
dent was appointed on Sept. 1 this year,
an army Lieutenant-General (Ret.), Gre-
gorio Alvarez, who is scheduled to hold
office until 1984.

‘But the struggle for democracy is
growing,’’ he said. ‘‘ The people are now
more than ever conscious of their power
having won a victory last November.
There is greater mobilization — even
some public demonstrations despite
police edicts — which involves all sec-
tors of the people.

‘* The resistance, which never stopped
since 1973, is developing in new, public

newspaper.

torms."’-He explained that the regime has
been unable to build a compliant trade
union centre or a student union. ‘‘ The
National Trade Union centre (CNT),
though illegal in Uruguay, is still recog-
nized by international bodies, including

the United Nations,’’ he said.
Pe Sore

Schvars described the moves by the:

new Reagan administration to pull
Uruguay behind its policies. *‘ The days
of the phoney ‘human rights’ campaign
from Washington are over,”’ he said.

“‘We're now seeing an attempt by
Reagan to bring the countries in the
southern cone into line. We’ve had sev-
eral interesting visitors recently including
the U.S. ambassador to the UN, the U.S.
representative to the Organization of
American States and two high-ranking
military officials.

‘They have obtained an agreement to
send. Uruguayan ‘peacekeeping forces’
to the Sinai in 1982 (along with Colombia
and Fiji) and are pressing our country to
support their activities in El Salvador.

‘*But victory is possible,’’ Schvars
emphasized. ‘‘We are optimistic.
Uruguay has two faces: one the dictator-
ship which we will expose with all our
strength; the other is our people, our
working class which is building a massive
anti-dictatorship movement. We will
prevail.”

on * *

The cost, however, is high. As we
spoke, Stapff and Schvars broke the
news that another fighter for freedom
had died at the hands of the jailers.

Gerardo Cuesta died Sept. 12, 1981 in

Libertad prison from the tortures he

underwent. He was 64, general secretary
of the CNT, a former deputy and a mem-
ber of the leadership of the Communist
Party of Uruguay. Cuesta was arrested in
1976.

One million greet
French CP journal

PARIS — More than a million people participated in this year’s
Humanité Festival, the French Communist Party’s annual
political-cultural event held Sept. 12-13, under the name of its daily

The Communist Party of Canada was present for the first time in
the “International Village”, including representation from the
Communist Party of Quebec. A little city with nearly one hundred
booths and stands inhabited during the festival by representa-
tives of progressive and Communist parties and liberation move-
ments from around the world. The Canadian exhibit included

_ books, papers, pamphlets and works of art. :

Outside the International Village, the “féte de I'Huma” as it is
called by the French, sprawis on for several kilometres in an
incoherent mass of colorful festivities, cultural events, local and §
national political campaigns of the CPF, food booths, chess tour-
naments and thousands of other points of interest. :

Director of Humanité, Roland Leroy addressed a huge crowd at
the event outling the party’s tasks in the aftermath of the recent
French elections. He warned of corporate efforts to destabilize the
economy in the face of impending nationalization of major firms
and banks. He pledged the party’s considerable strength to en-
sure the success of governmental reform and to impose deeper
reforms wherever gains can be made.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCT. 16, 1981—Page 9