Censorship, Political Violence and Libraries in Peru

This publication is divided into two parts. The first reviews the concept of censorship and its motivations. It identifies as motivations for censorship the defense of absolute truth, the pursuit of ideological and economic hegemony based on exclusions, the defense of state interests through the elaboration of an official history, and national security in armed conflicts. It devotes special attention to the censorship of foundational works of Peruvian culture. The second part addresses the study of political violence in Peru during the 1980s and 1990s and the way it affected libraries. It analyzes the strategies developed both by subversive groups and by the Armed Forces in relation to the level and degree of impact on libraries. The main source used in the study was the Final Report of the Comision de la Verdad y Reconciliacion of 2003. It records testimonies referring to libraries destroyed by PCP Sendero Luminoso and the anti-subversive strategy of the State, which primarily affected the libraries of public universities and private collections that were hidden or destroyed by their owners to avoid being denounced for apologia of terrorism. (Excerpt from the foreword).