Peru, the Unofficial History

Between June 18th and 20th, 1986, the Lima prisons of Lurigancho and the island-prison El Frontón were stormed by Peruvian troops to suppress a riot by prisoners of the terrorist organization Sendero Luminoso. Military authorities admitted at the time that 156 inmates had died as a result of the action, including virtually all Sendero members at Lurigancho. Peruvian political and trade union organizations put the death toll at 400 people. President Alan García confirmed on June 27th that more than 100 extremists had been "executed" after surrendering. A year later, official silence still hung over those events, now recalled by a witness who lived through them at very close range.