Evening star., 1948-04-12
Breaker
Continued From First Page.)

the street Carrera Septima from
the presidential palace and about
half a mile from the scene OF the
shooting.
Within the minimum time it took
to drag the stripped and faceless
body of the supposed slayer to the
palace, the vanguard of the mob
already had reached the place and
was stoning windows.
A streetcar marked "July Goth
Pennsylvania" eased toward the mob
and was stoned and emptied. 1t
still stands between the palace and
the hotel.
Although a small detachment of
green-uniformed presidential guards
pushed back the rioters from the
palace block, they simply merged
with the rapidly growing throng
before the massive, flag -decked
Capitolio, two blocks away.
1t was there that the Inter-Alner-
ican Conference had opened March
30. 1t was there that Secretary
Marshall and the others had lis
tened to more than dozen speeches
haiung the soul of inter-Ameri-
canisln." . -,
The mob used rocks to sn,ash an
of the windows In the CapitoHo as
well as the new fioodlights trimming
the approach to the building.
Rooms Are Wrecked.
Then, with neither troops nor
police to deter them, they invaded
the building and made a shambles
OF every room they entered.
Only the central chamber, with it's
huge Bolivarian mural, in which
plenary sessions Of the conference
had been held, escaped with rela-
lively little damage.
BY the time a bayonet bearing
contingent of presidential troops
charged through the corridors, the
rioters and looters had fed.
But the city-wide riot and orgy
had just begun.
While the insurgents swiftly seized
the microphone of the national radio
network and shouted encouragement
to the rioters as well as insisting
that the conservative government
had committed its last outrage" ="
the rioters wrecked the conserva-
tive newspaper Ell Siglo and COM
bined wreckage and sabotage of a
political kind with wholly
unorganized hoodlumisn based on
pure mob psychology.
The following is given as a possible
clear physical clue to the nature Of
the turmoil
In the block between the United
States Embassy and the building
housing the United States confer
ence delegation, one man strode
oblivious through the debris caused
by bomb which shattered all glass
on the first two floors.
Marcher Carries Red Flag.
He bore a large red flag with no
marking. but with small black
ribbon tied to the tip of mast.
Other rioters by now had equipped
themselves with brand-new machetes
or axes from gutted hardware stores
to which the captors of the radio
had directed them. Bits Of red were
tied to the weapons.
tRed is the official color of the
Liberal Party led by Gaitan.
Liberal paraders in the past have
carried red flags and many
Gaitan followers have worn red
shirts,
Once the looting really got started
it was apparent that all the worst
elements in human nature had been
unleashed and politics forgotten by
vast majority
Bowed Indian women brought
out blankets and sheets to wrap
up clothing and food stolen from
smashed stores.
Occasionally men showing the
effects Of looted liquor tore the
bundles from their grasp. Others
resisted. even against the threat of
swinging machetes.
Rains Cool Crowds Ardor.
It was not until near dark that
the first helmeted, fully equipped
troops took over. There are two
theories on why the government
failed to act more swiftly. One is
that it feared possible massacre
If troops clashed head on with the