THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SHANTYTOWNS OF LIMA: THE CASE OF VILLA EL SALVADOR

Report submitted to the Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación del Perú. This report is based on fieldwork conducted in Villa El Salvador during 1992–1995 and 2002. The recent history of the popular district of Villa El Salvador represents one of the important chapters of political violence in Peru during the years 1980 to 2000. A district recognized and celebrated for its level of organization and for the capacity for self-management and participation of its residents in local decision-making, Villa El Salvador became a kind of prize for the armed insurgent groups. Villa El Salvador was a stronghold of Izquierda Unida, whose participation in the democratic system established in 1980 was characterized as "revisionist" by the Partido Comunista del Perú (Sendero Luminoso).