workingclasshistory:

On this day 12 January 1919 workers and university students in Lima, Peru, walked out on a mass general strike for a maximum eight-hour working day. Facing mass agitation for the eight-hour day, in November 1918 the president granted it for women and children workers, hoping this would placate the movement. However, this was unsuccessful and the following month around 3,000 workers in Lima’s biggest textile factories walked out on strike demanding an eight-hour day.
Anarchist workers then prepared to launch a general strike in support of the demand. Several leading anarchists were arrested and brutally tortured by the police, including Manuel Cabana, Arturo Sabroso Montoya, José Sandoval Morales, and Aurelio Reyes. But in January the general strike went ahead regardless, and violent street clashes erupted and continued for three days until the government caved in in January 15.
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