The Shining Path
- 9 Nov 07, 02:28 PM
Posted from: Louisiana.
Our journey down here to Louisiana was interesting because there was a load of strikes going on in the area. One was the cocalero strike, which was a strike held by the coca growers because they feel they are unfairly treated and yesterday there was a trade union strike from all the workers of the area.
John the fixer explains the strikes
We’re fortunate to have made it through because often, with these strikes, there are roadblocks which last for hours, days or even weeks. Eventually we picked up Pepe, who is an incredibly interesting larger than life character – he was the previous owner of the hacienda in Louisiana that we visited.
He told us the story of the last time he was there – a very sad and violent story that unfortunately is not an uncommon one for people in this area. Eighteen years ago was the last time he’d been there, which was when The Shining Path ransacked his home whilst his wife hid for her life in the sugar fields. He had to call on friends in the military to help him find his wife, and this was the first time that he and his wife were to be back in the hacienda together.
Aerial shot of the Louisiana area
The impact of The Shining Path here in the eighties and nineties seems to have been terrible and violent, which is at odds with the beautiful, peaceful surroundings of the hacienda here at Louisiana, where we’re spending this morning walking around barefoot on the grass and catching up with administrative tasks.
This blog was transcribed from an audio recording
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