During the latter part of the twentieth century, the Peruvian highlands gave rise to one of the most brutal guerrilla organizations in the world, El Partido Comunista de Peru por el Sendero Luminoso de Mariátegui (PCP-SL), or the Communist Party of Peru on the Shining Path of Mariátegui (Starn, 1992; Pike, 2003). This revolutionary movement, consistent with its Maoist roots, promoted the idea that its insurgency would benefit the Peruvian peasantry, which is composed almost exclusively of indigenous peoples. Its recruitment strategies were particularly appealing to socially alienated urban-mestizo intellectuals (school teachers, university professors, and students) as well as indigenous peasants estranged from their communities. These intellectuals, regardless of ethnicity, were educated in the western tradition and trained to disdain the "backwardness" of indigenous culture (Mancilla, 1999; Portugal, 2008). Members of the Peruvian security forces operated under comparable ethnic biases. Thus, instilled with societal prejudices, members of both military forces readily engaged in the process of dehumanization, which in turn exacerbated interethnic tensions and facilitated high levels of brutality.

Initially, the PCP-SL?s discourse of social justice was highly appealing to the indigenous peasants. This appeal was further supported as Senderistas mimicked community justice by holding "popular trials" and harshly punishing thieves and cattle rustlers, the sworn enemies of the indigenous communities (Theidon, 2000). However, as the movement progressed, many indigenous supporters dramatically altered their opinion of the revolutionary movement as it became evident that the PCP-SL ideology of equality was not intended to achieve ethnocultural equality between mestizos and the indigenous peasantry. Instead, the PCP-SL leaders and foot soldiers came from different socio-cultural