By horseback and on foot, 300 Colombian peasants in ponchos and floppy felt hats trekked through the jungles and coffee fincas to a settlement in the Andean backlands 25 miles outside Bogotá. The men carried leaflets: "Viva the organized masses!" A Red caudillo, Víctor Julio Merchán, delivered a welcoming harangue, and the stubble-bearded troop responded with a clenched-fist salute. From an equally isolated redoubt not far to the east, a second Red band, commanded by Juan de la Cruz Varela, peddled at gunpoint 1 peso coupons bearing Lenin's picture and the appeal:...
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