Alberto describes his early days of political participation as a student and explains how the National Guard used blacklists as repression intensified.
- Interviewee:
- Alberto
Transcription
[Why did you have to leave Arcatao?]
I was practically forced to leave because the movement was beginning: the UTC for farm workers, FECCAS or the Christian Peasant Federation, and other organizations. At that time, we were still in school. I was in eighth grade. There were a lot of strikes at school. They were called by the organizations, including ANDES 21 de Junio, the teachers’ union. Supposedly demanding improvements, better wages and other things. When we were in school, they would come tell us we were having a sit-in or going on strike, and that we didn’t have to go to school in order to support the organizations. Well, as a youngster sometimes I didn’t want to school. So I liked it and I’d stay there, supporting the strike. After a while, the authorities became tougher, especially against students. They began to make lists of all those who supported the strikes. And they called them communists. I remember the National Guard did that, and we eventually found out through friends. We stayed in school. All of a sudden, the situation became more difficult.