Peruvian town whispers in fear of '1,000 eyes"

Since early January, the Peruvian army has been patrolling the streets. There is a strict curfew. Everyday, army bulletins are distributed describing clashes with guerrillas, casualties and prisoners. And assassinations have occurred in broad daylight. In a secluded cafe near the main square a professor from the University of Huamanga whispered: "Don't mention my name or even my department. If you sound as though you know too much in Ayacucho, you become a subversive suspect for the police or a potential stool pigeon for Sendero Luminoso. There are a thousand eyes watching you." Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) is a small Maoist faction that, after two years of rising violence, has brought the army. Its tactics, combining twentieth-century ideology, arcane Inca methods and latent discontent, forced the Government's hand.