The Revolution Behind Bars
Rénique, José Luis
MOST OF THE YEAR LIMA IS GRAY AND SAD. This is particularly striking at the city's edge because the desert landscape is laid bare. On this Sunday in August 1988, around Canto Grande, the site of...
...The rest of the day I am told several times, "How lucky you are to be leaving...
...While we dance, he asks me how I view the development of the popular war...
...They worked closely with the powerful Mineworkers Federation...
...It was funded by the Ford Foundation and U.S.AID...
...He is illiterate, so to participate in the discussions he asks somebody to read the documents over and over so that he can keep every detail in mind...
...First they march from side to side, then backwards and forwards, squatting from time to time as the red flag is unfurled in the center of their perfect circle...
...No," Paconswers: "These pictures, like everything here...
...It will probably be one of the last places to fall because it is the center of bureaucratic and repressive power...
...The next day I tell part of this story to one of the most well-known political analysts in Lima, the director of a prestigious research center on democracy, a man who would call himself a social democrat...
...At one point, we join hands with everyone in the courtyard and we dance, all of us, in one grand circle...
...Sendero library at Lurigancho jail, before the 1986 massacre: Infiltrators are identified by their rhetoric VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 4 (DECEMBER/JANUARY 1990/1991) "Now," a prisoner announces, "the party will offer you a lunch in camaraderie...
...When they stop marching, I approach him...
...P ACO WAS A LEFTIST IN THE 1970S, A POTsmoker in the Woodstock era, a womanizer and the life of the party, a guitar player and jubilant singer, a drunkard famous for his craziness and sense of humor...
...But it's just a simple business transaction...
...But rumor has it that these are carrier-pigeons we use to keep in touch with our compaetleros...
...The paintings are impressive, admirably done, all the more so considering the scarce resources available in a prison...
...I saw him on my way to the second floor, waving his red flag near the entrance...
...They sing of the suffering of the people of the highlands, obliged to leave home and go to strange lands...
...She was said to be the most beautiful girl in town, and to have a terrible temper...
...In order to assure theirautonomy, the inmates demolished the old prison walls and built new ones...
...He answers with absolute assurance, "Puno is already under the control of the party...Cuzco will be taken later in the war...
...He is great, you know," Paco says...
...Jorge and I are not left alone even for a moment...
...Aftera while the conversation becomes more friendly, even intimate...
...That, he maintains, provoked the upheaval of students who want to return to Chairman Mao's way...
...Everyone is marching in place...
...Now we have a more trendy model, with a small pocket," he says...
...If the majority think that Presidente Gonzalo looks too serious or superficial the painting must be changed...
...After the game they examined Peru's defeat through the lens of "Presidente Gonzalo's guidance of thought...
...One of them says "Javier Heraud Sports Club...
...On this Sunday in August 1988, around Canto Grande, the site of Lima's major prison, the cement of the half-constructed houses, the dust, the sandy ground and pale sky, all seem to be of one color...
...Sports and martial arts are part of the daily routine, as is military training...
...So how are your friends at CEDEP, CEPES, IEP...
...She was the daughter of a well-known landowning family from Azangaro, a province of Puno famous for its extensive cattleraising haciendas...
...It was hard to believe that a young student from a "good family" could be involved with what was then perceived to be an irrational group of Indian or nearly-Indian people...
...How is Mario...
...Like the rest of the country, pavilion 4B watched the game on television...
...A kinl of diaspora followed...
...Under a state of siege, they smuggled a deported leader into the country to head a national strike...
...Dialectics is the key 1o understanding the "ultimate meaning of life...
...When the music is over they stand still for more than half an hour, their eyes fixed on the horizon, their fists clenched in the air, chanting slogans in unison: "Long live Presidente Gonzalo, philosopher, leader, and teacher of communists...
...Armandois distrustful and aggressive...
...Inside the building, quotations from Presidente Gonzalo cover almost every wall, The quotes emphasize the importance of a healthy body...
...The day before my visit, the national female volleyball team had been defeated by Brazil in the semi-finals for the world championship in Lima...
...With them is Reynaldo Rodriguez L6pez (The Godfather), Peru's biggest drug trafficker-though no more than a street thief compared to his Colombian counterparts...
...Some years ago, he had been a clerk ina Limathink-tank run by my friend Mario...
...Every person must learn to paint and to play a musical instrument, no matter how clumsy they are...
...They were part of Peru's "New Left," which was extremely critical of the Communist Party and staunchly independent...
...No," says, Paco, "we do not escape...
...Nearby, an area for new arrivals infected with contagious illnesses has been set up...
...Histo- ria de ta Reptiblica Peruana in 17 volumes by Jorge Basadre, the standard bourgeois history of modern Peru...
...When the painting is finished a discussion on how it looks follows...
...A sarvivorof the first massacre in the neighboring jail of Lurigancho, he was originally caught "in action...
...N THE PRISON COURTYARD COTS AND MATtresses have been set up to provide seats where prisoners and visitors can chat comfortably...
...Then came a second arrest and here he is, in the courtyard of a prison, marching like a soldier...
...He was one of Jorge's closest friends...
...The same operation will be repeated once we are inside the building, but to the left arm...
...Armando is about to be released after three years in Canto Grande...
...They must use whatever stamps they can find...
...They praise the "iron militants," and refer to happi- ness, art and love...
...In the shoe-making section Jorge recalls a previous visit...
...What is wrong with you...
...We consider you our friends and today you will be the guests of our party...
...Sometime between 1986 and 1987, he and his compafiera were arrested in Juliaca...
...Iask...
...Since Shining Path is a clandestine organization formed by autonomous organisms yet coordinated by a unified command, dealing with new arrivals presents problems...
...Each pavilion is a fourstorey building containing 80 cells, service areas and a courtyard...
...While marching they sing about the armed struggle...
...He VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 4 (DECEMBER/JANUARY 1990/1991) Historian J'osi Luis Rinique teaches at Lehman College of the City University of New York...
...he answers...
...when visiting hours begin, the line in front of the prison stretches out for nearly three blocks...
...Every visitor is taken to a small room to be scrutinized...
...Of course they are," I tell him, "nothing has changed...
...Polay escaped in July 1990...
...Everybody says we are kind of anti-modern, but let me tell you...
...Behind the bars to ourright several dozen prisoners shout unintelligibly...
...I recall the outrage with which intellectuals and politicians denounced his torture at the hands of the police...
...Our main client is The Godfather," says Paco, who is in charge of finances...
...At the door, a young man who looks like a student opens the gate...
...We shall win...
...In the best style of Maoist iconography, a paternal and wise "Presidente "Gonzalo" is portrayed against the backdrop of a rising sun, accompanied by radiant massesofpeasants and workers...
...In one corner of the courtyard plastic soda containers have been skillfully converted into a pigeon-house...
...They start to make different formations...
...He obviously knows a lot about the research centers...
...That night I show the airport officer my exit tax receipt, the hundred dollars every Peruvian citizen must pay to leave the country...
...This is the revolution my 'friend...
...Shoe laces are forbidden here compadre, but for a small fee...
...It is a martial tune, softened by the fact that it is played on guitars and Andean pipes and drums...
...My life has changed completely since the moment I joined the party...d feel like a different person...
...Paco says...
...He stops checking my documents and a feeling of dread and paranoia comes over me...
...The music is joyful and at the same time sad...
...Witnesses talked about a man who "looks like a foreigner" and who was understandably nicknamed "El Gringo...
...According to some "Azangarinos," she led military assaults and killed people with her own hands...
...Who was wrong, we or the masses...
...Velasco's regime, they played more serious politics...
...If they climbed that high...
...He organized several rock concerts and managed a few groups in Lima, before becoming the editor of a rock magazine...
...He asks our opinion on "the development of the armed struggle...
...The guards go crazy wondering how we did it," It's also a mystery how they painted a series of murals illustrating the phases of the "popularwar...
...P6rez speaks of Deng as "infected pustule...
...As prisoners we have not lost our position of soldiers in the Popular Army...
...Long live our first congress, historical landmark and the beginning of a new era...
...and of course Mao...
...We dance a Peruvian waltz, then a salsa, and finally a dance from Puno, a sicuri...
...I have never danced with a man before...
...A T 4 P.M...
...and Victor Polay, commander of the other large rebel group, MRTA...
...He listens to me as if I were speaking of a different planet...
...Later Paco would tell us that Perez has spent the most time in prison...
...He was arrested in Puno in 1981 while supposedly doing field research...
...17Rert o4n dth Amrc4a Peru's Shining Path mentions Deng several times, and each time repeats mechanically, "Deng Xiao Ping, infected pustule...
...The officer reaches into a drawer and pulls out a fresh receipt...
...Several prisoners carrying musical instruments move to the center...
...He sells it to his customer for half the price...
...That will be harder...
...I bet this gets taken out the most," he says with an ironic smile...
...And while you eat, a group of compaferos will treat you to song...
...At one end of the courtyard, a quotation from Mao Zedong has been painted at the top of a 10-meter wal: "The strength of iron militants permits them to conquer the highest altitudes," There is no apparent way to climb that high without a ladder...
...An hour later, after checking my identification documents, an officer applies three different stamps to my right arm...
...I mention Cuzco, where Sendero has begun to operate in recent years, and Puno, where the guerrillas have met fierce resistance from peasant organizations affiliated with Izquierda Unida...
...Then he digresses to Deng Xiao Ping's betrayal of Maoist principles...
...I can barely move...
...I would never have imagined I would learn so much here...
...I am proud because my son, an engineer, is moving to Paraguay next month...
...We learn how to discuss, how to explain the party line without making concessions, how to be clear but strong...
...of clear and pure ideas, of strong morals...
...WE FACE THE DISDAIN AND ARROgance of the policemen...
...I walk past him and onto the plane...
...I met Armando there in 1984...
...Walking through the passage between the last checkpoint and the prison commons takes my friend Jorge and I no more than four minutes, but it seems an eternity...
...While we wait for our friend Paco, we are greeted by another member of the welcome committee...
...Unlike other prisoners, they cook their own food after receiving raw ingredients from the prison authorities each morning...
...A tall slinm man in charge of the workshop shows us the different models of straw bags they make...
...On my way home, the taxi driver asks if I am one of the lucky ones leaving the country...
...If not, the new arrival is placed under observation, questioned, and submitted to a period of ideoogical discussion Any cadre can d etermine howinvolved a person is in the party organization by analyzing his method of discussion, his style of argument, and his choice of words...
...Today Jorge lives abroad, dividing his time between historical research and his new passion, the African National Congress...
...Paco, Jorge and a few other friends formed their own group...
...Then Jorge points to an unexpected title: Ghandi and NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 18the Non-Violent Struggle...
...Adi6s Ayacucho," say the lyrics...
...Considered the most secure in the country, the prison is home to two highranking guerrilla leaders: Osmin Morote, said to be secondin-command of Shining Path...
...He holds me around the waist and I find my legs won't carry me...
...I feel confused, even intimidated, as if I were being asked to betray a confidence...
...While I walk toward the gate I try to read the stamps on my arms...
...Pavilion 4B is where the "terrucos" (people jailed for terrorism) are held...
...When I mention Armando he tells me that I must give him a full report on this prisoner...
...Embarrassed, the police let him go...
...Considering the circumstances, everything looks surprisingly clean...
...He is the son of a wealthy Lima family and a cousin of Lima's bishop...
...By coming here," he continues, "you are defying the reactionaries who try to isolate us, who try to apply their black goals of genocide to the prisoners of war of our glorious party...
...This is betting on the winner...
...If they cut the food rations wecan eatthe pigeons," says Paco...
...All of a sudden someone approaches the officer from behind...
...First he organized "support bases," then began leading assaults on mining centers and agrarian cooperatives, actions which left several persons dead...
...Food and health are crucial matters in the pavilion organiza- tion...
...When we finish eating, a few Senderistas invite the guests to dance...
...I'm doing my accounts in such a way that if I could put them into a computer tomorrow I would be ready...
...We practice physical and oral belligerence...
...Two weeks later my sandals were one of the models produced and sold here...
...Later, during Gen...
...A T NOON THE COURTYARD IS PACKED WITH groups engaged in lively discussion...
...We have come to see our friend Paco...
...Consulate...
...Mario was always complaining about Armando's laziness and irresponsibility...
...are made collectively...
...I was wearing a fancy pair of sandals a friend of mine brought me from Miami...
...The compafieros organize themselves in military formation...
...I recognize his face...
...There he moved about freely for at least three years before being caught again...
...Paco takes us on a tour of the pavilion...
...We usually receive information about the political background of who is coming," Paco says...
...At 8:30 a.m...
...Once inside, we walk between two lines of yoing fellows waving red flags, clapping and cheering...
...One compa/lero asked if he could borrow them for a while...
...The song has a hammering chorus: "All but power is illusion...
...The arrogance of the barrio versus the arrogance of Lima's posh Miraflores neighborhood...
...We have lunch with Armando and two other fellows while Paco performs with the band...
...the acronyms of several research centers...
...They also have a small library...
...Some identify the enemies, others the tasks which lie ahead: "Get modem weaponry at any cost...
...A few years ago Paco was an entrepreneur...
...I remember his stern stare photographed in a hospital in Puno...
...By painting this Mao phrase up there, we show the reactionaries how small they are...
...When they are ready someone enters carrying a red flag...
...One of them approaches me and takes my hand...
...At the time of his first arrest, he was accused of being a member of the MRTA...
...We must keep track of him and be alert...
...Two and a half hours later, we are at home on the other side of Lima...
...They built a kitchen out of old metal beds after they discovered how to hook up their own electrical connection...
...Heraud was a poet and a member of the National Liberation Army, killed in the jungle in 1962 while trying to slip into the country incognito...
...Seriously Paco, do you really buy all this...
...Are they still working with the Dutch and all the gringos...
...It was as if Peru were returning to the early 1960s, after a period of feeling that the revolution was just around the corner...
...A GITATION, PRODUCTION AND MILITARY " action: These are the basic principles for any member of the Popular Army, and we fulfill every one of them," says Armando solemnly...
...Armando looked reckless and arrogant, which aroused Mario's own arrogance...
...They refused to align themselves,with either "revisionists" or "ultras...
...Any person arrested for terrorism and sent tojail in Canto Grande could ask to be housed in pavilion 4B...
...Today Mario is finishing his doctorate in the United States...
...After a time in Lima, he returned to Puno...
...And then came the triumph of Beladnde...
...They have an electronics workshop that offers services to other prisoners...
...Comrade P6rez is in his late twenties and speaks with a heavy Quechua accent...
...So youhaveanartisthere...
...P6rez then lectures us on Nicaragua, a showcase, according to him, of how revisionists conspire to make revolutions fail...
...Those closer to the bars extend their arms as if trying to touch us...
...The band begins to play...
...This time the officer adds his autograph above the stamps...
...a stronger person...
...As students, they led the seizure of the university administration building and demonstrations against the "reactionary authorities...
...At the end of the line a tall white man is waiting to shake our hands and give us a "warm welcome to Canto Grande's shining trench of combat...
...Then in 1980 the Left broke up into several factions just before the first national elections in 17 years...
...I check the titles: Jose Carlos Mariategui, the founder of Peruvian Marxism...
...they could have escaped...
...He shakes our hands and invites us in...
...On Tuesday I spend four hours arranging my visa at the U.S...
...The question is still lingering in our minds after all these years...
...We recognized each other with amazement...
Vol. 24 • December 1990 • No. 4
