Letter from Britain's concentration camp 'Sandinistas tortured me' claim by released socialist

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Somoza's National Guard: Sandinistas Dersist with renession Letter from Carlos Petroni written on his release by the Sandinista Police in Nicaragua.

"After 33 days in prison in Nicaragua, the Sandinista authorities suddenly set me free on 9 November 1979.

My freedom was not a result either of Tomas Borge or of the Government of National Reconstruction's generosity.

It was the international campaign for my freedom which did it. Heading this were the Bolshevik Faction, the LMR of Nicaragua, the • OST of Costa Rica, the Leninist Trotskyist Tendency and the OCRFI.

1 was arrested on October 8, 1979 by one of the Sandinista Popular Army patrols lead by Nestor Moncada.

It had violent characteristics and the determined purpose of eliminating me physically. This is a part of the campaign against the workers' and revolutionary left which the Government of National Reconstruction waging.

At first my life was saved by the confusion and disagreement between FSLN officers but the main reason is the intense campaign waged in my favour.

During nine days I was illtreated, my eyes were covered and my hands were tied. I was constantly threatened -with death during the questioning.

All this occured in Lima de Mistampa in what used to-be the Somocist security headquarters. Now it is used by the Sandinist G2-it is the Chipote jail.

For 12 days I was shut up in a cell three metres by two metres with ten prisoners.

We were condemned hunger, humiliating conditions and tortures which are not acceptable in a regime claiming to be revolutionary.

All this time I was interrogated-especially at night-about my activities in Nicaragua, those of my contacts and friends.

Since I refused to give such information I was treated worse. I always identified myself as a Trotskyisi militant of the Fourth International-for which I was threatened and insulted.

They even got in the point of faking my execution during one of the interrogations.

It is important to stress that. amongst the most energetic questioners were members of the Chilean MIR and Argentine ERP.

When they didn't get their objective they proposed that I declare myself a CIA agent and they even got to the point of proposing a public declaration that would incriminate prominent members of the Fourth International like N. Moreno and Nicaraguan comrades from the LMR as CIA agents.

In exchange for this they promised immediate freedom. I totally refused and explained in two written declarations which the Sandinist security forces have that I defend Trotskyism and the mentioned leaders and I refuse to be converted into an instrument for attacking revolutionary Marxism.

So they sentenced me to 20 years in prison.

Suddenly on 23 October I was taken to a more spacious cell, I was allowed food and cigarettes which Nicaraguan friends had sent. aøainst left I also received medicine for my sores from the torturing I had been subjected to. All of this was a result of the solidarity campaign waged abroad.

On November 8 I was taken to the Augusto Cesar Sandino airport under military custody and expelled to Guatemala without documents and with the firm purpose that I be arrested in Guatemala.

In the Sandinista jails there are not only Somicists. There are also trade union leaders, Sandinist fighters critical of the government, leftist militants, etc.

Amongst them I must mention Carlos Rico and Pablo Herrera: • trade union leader from Jingotega, arrested and tortured during the Somoza regime. Junta of the Government of National Reconstruction.

Carlos Median: Sandinist Southern Front fighter. He is very il. Detained for a minor fault. He has been under arrest for 45 days and no medical attention is given him.

He has lost 20 kilos and like all the inmates of Chipote he sleeps on the floor and is fed in unhygenic places.

Zerda: anti-Somocist fighter from Molimbo. He was imprisoned 40 days ago for criticising the government.

Luis Mariano Montalban: a lawyer arrested on October 4 and tortured for seven days with (picana electrica) before being transferred to Chipote.

A Venezuelan mílitant belonging to a socialist group called Pietro has been in prison for having had a discussion on politics with a group of Argentinians from the ERP.

•A numerous group of militants from Frente Obrero and MAP-around 50-have been detained for the sole reason of not having accepted the FSLN agreements with the bourgeoisie.

A member of the International Red Cross called ATA, president of the Reconstruction Junta of Managua who stood out during the insurrection for having led a Sandinista battery over clandestine radio stations is in prison due to simple intrigues between Sandinists.

Presently he was working as the person responsible to INRA for the rice cultivations in all of A northern front fighter, a Commander, with the war pseudonym of Macondo is accused of treason for developing peasant mobilisations in the region of Jinotega.

He has been in jail since the first days of October. Another man who shared the cell with me was a fighter called Ibarra. His pseudonym is Palomo. He selection of popular militias which controlled the rural sector of the insurrection.

Ibarra was tortured many times, expelled and raped by his own comrades. All this was worsened by the fact that one of his shoulders had been broken when struck with a weapon during the last days of Somozaism.

There are also Trotskyist comrades from the LMR in jail who actively participated in the anti-Somoza struggle.

Leaders of the Coordinadora Intersindical of Granada which has an influence over 5,000 workers belonging to 11 trade union factory branches and 23 peasant trade unions. Among them • are Fernando Lopez, Rodrigo Ibarra, Luis Quintero, Marlo Miranoi, Humberto Gomez. Gomez was the editor of the "Red and Black" magazine from Los Angeles. This magazine defended the Nicaraguan revolution and was oriented by the Sandinists.

During my interrogations I was also told that the lives of Fernando Barcena, general secretary of the LMR and Binifacio Mirandâ, member of the LCR political committee were threatened.

A few days after I had been set free, a member of the permanent commission for human rights of Nicaragua oriented by Jose Esteban was put in jail. Estebans presence in the jail was for the purpose of investigating the inmates situations.

A long list of arrested leftist politicians who not only opposed Somoza in combat are in the Sandinista prison of Chipote. In other cells, away from where I was there were some 80 Sandinista comrades, southern front and internal front fighters. They were there for having criticised the

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nrow out councils' 13% offer!

The political misleadership of the Communist Party, Tribune and Militant supporters on the CPSA Broad Left NEC was exposed by their recent sell SEREAL NEVE out of susp inded civil servants at the Department of National Savings, Glasgow.

Over a period of two weeks 552 CPSA members had been FOR 24084 TANT suspended for blacking work carried out in defiance of the CPSA national bans on overtime and temporary promotion. Terry Adams, CPSA full time officer and a Militant supporter together with Stalinist Peter Coltman, negotiated a back-to work deal with management.

They then put it to the NEC who voted 12 to 10 in favour of the sell-out.

No consultation The deal allowed a return to work on Monday 26 November PHOTO: Laurence Sparbam, IFL Fisher not enough money in the strike Tund to pay suspended members.

It is clear that suspensions could have been fought by all out strike action and financial support from the rest of the union.

It is vital to fight for a new revolutionary leadership in the CPSA and to this end a campaign must be waged to withdraw Broad Left support from Peter Coltman and the other NEC members who voted in favour of the sell-out. Public sector union maximum they could afford