The Rise of Shining Path. Ayacucho 1969-1979
This book examines the conditions that made it possible for Sendero Luminoso (SL) to emerge in Ayacucho in the 1960s and 1970s. The book's thesis is that its appearance had a regional specificity. SL could not have been born just anywhere in the highlands, even where similar poverty, backwardness, and landlord oppression existed. But neither can Ayacucho be considered an exotic enclave that gave rise to a phenomenon practically alien to the rest of the country. If that were the case, SL's expansion to other parts of the national territory could not be explained.