The Peasant Self-Defense Committees and Democracy in Peru
The peasant communities of the central highlands of Peru were convulsed by the violence unleashed by the subversive group Sendero Luminoso (SL) during the 1980s. As a spontaneous and autonomous response to the threats, the Comités de Autodefensa (CAD) emerged. Initially the armed forces expressed distrust toward them, though they later concluded that they were an effective instrument for defeating SL militarily, always operating within the logic of counter-insurgency models: "winning over the population" to gather intelligence and weaken the armed rebels. Published in 2007.