Museo de Nacional

A standard museum. Clay pots, silver pots, silver garments, stones, etc. The very interesting part that really struck us was the Shining Path display. Some of the Peruvians told us they thought America was this super dangerous place where we all carried guns and shot each other for fun (thanks media). But Peru was super safe! Yeah right. For years Peru was caught between drug gangs, pro-communist guerrilla forces, anti-government forces, student protesters, and the government. People were rounded up, sent to isolated prisons, and would never return. The military occupied colleges where protests had been held. In one instance, 3 students were kidnapped by the military and their bodies discovered 3 days later. Later we had dinner maybe 100 feet from the center of a huge truck bomb explosion in the posh area of Miraflores. That explosion ruined hundreds of buildings in the area, and cost a few million dollars in damages. You can see all over the city the lasting legacy of the Shining Path. Everything is behind walls, fences, gates. Locked away. The wealthy you are the better built the wall. You either had a fence or a stone wall capped with glass, barbed wire, or electric barbed wire. The really rich neighborhoods were further walled off with guards and gates. Everywhere is filled with police. I swear the biggest employers are the police, military, private security, or taxis. Basically the whole thing came to the point where the fighting would stop in Peru if you make the cost super high. And you do that be arresting everyone, torturing everyone, and killing everyone. Eventually the Japanese embassy was over run. People became so frustrated with everything. The Shining Path gave up. Fujimori is now on trial for crimes against humanity and fraud. He started the path for an economic boom in the country. People respect him but don't seem to be proud. Apparently the country is starting to relax a little from the high tension years of the Shining Path. Some say if the police presence were to go away that the Shining Path would come back. The government is still fighting them in the jungle in the north. It was really chilling to read all of the stories about people killed by the government and the Shining Path. After that I did not feel the same about Peru.