Defend the Life of Chairman Gonzalo

After his capture and a secret, summary military trial before faceless judges in 1992, Chairman Gonzalo, leader of the Communist Party of Peru (PCP) and the People’s War in that country, was thrown into an isolation cell in an underground military prison. He and other PCP leaders are still being held there today. He was last seen in public on 24 September 1992. In what was supposed to be a humiliating appearance before the press, he stunned the regime and thrilled the world by issuing a resounding call to continue the revolutionary war. The now defunct and discredited Fujimori regime made an unacceptable attempt to attribute political views to Chairman Gonzalo whilst keeping him cut off from the outside world. The new government of Alejandro Toledo has yet to put a decisive end to this situation. So far it has not met the demands raised both in Peru and internationally that Chairman Gonzalo be allowed contact with family, friends, attorneys and others, and, most importantly to express himself publicly and in person. The International Emergency Committee to Save the Life of Dr Abimael Guzman (Chairman Gonzalo) sent a seventh delegation to Lima in March 2001 to pursue this struggle. It is especially important today, when the Toledo regime is facing increasing political turmoil, and the issue of political prisoners is being debated in various quarters, to continue to demand, “Break the Isolation! Present Chairman Gonzalo live before the world press!”