ONE A MONTH

Evening Star, Issue 20983, 23 December 1931, Page 2

ONE A MONTH

REVOLUTIONS IN PERU

' TELEGRAPHIST'S EXPERIENCES

Far-famed as the homo of a succession of revolutions, South America is confirmed in its reputation by tho story told by Mr S. Westwood, who saw five revolts in Peru within five months. Air Westwood arrived in Auckland by tho Ventura last week on his way to Sydney, where ho will spend a furlough of three months before going back to America, where he is in the service of tho International Telephone and Telegraph Company. “Yes,” said Mr Westwood to a 1 Star 1 reporter, “ I was through the five of them, and once I could not get home for two days from where 1 was working on account of tho machine-gun fir-3 and tho tanks in tho street, but apart from that things wore interesting.” In tho first place, he said, tho revolt was duo to Sanchez Cerro, a sergeant in tho army, who, according to Air Westwood, had always been something of a radical, and had had four fingers of one hand shot off by a machine gun in a street raid as long ago as 1908. The first revolution _ started about October of last year, with all the incidentals of a stage play. A “ faked ” message entered into it, a garrison rose, and a humhlo sergeant became President. Tho said sergeant told the soldiers of tho garrison at Arequipa, a town on tho border, that ho had received a message saying that their pay was to be reduced. The garrison promptly rose under the leadership of

the recipient of the “ faked ” message, and 5.000 men marchpd on Lima, the capital city of Peru. _ ( Tho soldiers of the capital joined the insurgents, and tho President, Augusto Legnia, was given twenty-four hours in which to leave the city. The ship of war tho Admiral Gran, an old British vessel, was put at his disposal. “ But,” said Air Westwood, “ before the Admiral Grau could up-anchor another destroyer informed her that if she moved she would open fire. The hid President, well over 60 years, was taken, court-martialled, and imprisoned. The last 1 heard of him was thgt he was dying in prison.” Tho ambitious sergeant proclaimed himself President—it is a habit that successful revolutionaries have—and ho set up Government on military lines. But that caused trouble immediately. The navy did not like the dominance of tho army, so they raised a revolution of their own. The marines marched on Lima, and again the capital city fell.

However, the unexpected happened, a frequent occurrence in South American revolutions, and Sanches’s troops joined with the marines, and a civil Government was formed. Air Westwood dismissed Sanchez Cerro briefly. “ Sancho,” he said, “ got the boot.” Eventually ho wont to France.

Arequipa seemed to be a town where something was always stirring, for tho fourth revolution, the one which overthrew the work of the third and its President, broke put there. It had another leader, Safnaraz Acampo, who, following tho precedent of the others, decided to march on Limn. For tho third time the garrison in-Lima capitulated, and Samnrez was appointed, or perhaps more correctly, appointed himself. President.

One judges the permanence of Governments in Peru by periods <>f months,

it appears, for this-one, of some three months, Mr Westwood described as lasting “a fair while.” And then Federal election time came along, and again the people -were in a state_ of unrest. Sanchez, who had by this time returned from France, thought the opportunity favourable to press his claims once more. He did so, and the fifth revolt ended by the proclamation of him, for a second time, as President. It was this same man, once' a sergeant in the army, and according to Mr Westwood uneducated and .ignorant of all things military, who decorated the Prince of Wales with the Cross of the Ancles when the Prince toured South America.

.Though five revolutions in as many months, with four different Presidents, sounded exciting enough, there was no real danger to the foreigner unless he looked for it, Mr Westwood said. Provided a stranger to the country kept indoors while the fighting was forward, he was not molested.;