My study on political violence in rural Peru in the 1980s is now available on Amazon as a Kindle book. Rural Development in the Crossfire: The Role of Grassroots Support Organizations in Situations of Political Violence in Peru came out of my 12 year career as a journalist in Peru. The book tells the story of political violence from the perspective of grassroots communities and the development organizations that were trying to lift them out of poverty in the rural Andes. The book is also the first from my new imprint: Peruvian Graffiti Press.
![[ Inca Sun ]](images/sun01.gif){kind=small}
In case you're wondering, the name of this site, g c i 275, is an acronym for the address of my residence when I lived in Lima, Peru — Genaro Castro Iglesias 275, Miraflores. It was the first home that I owned, where my kids grew up, my base of operations where I undertook some challenging endeavors, discovered computers and learned to write. The name represents where I came from and where I am right now and where I'm headed. In other words, coordinates in a unique topology, somewhere between Peru and the Web.
Peru inspires thoughts of exotic realms, contorted politics, and beguiling women, not to mention the standard fare of Machu Picchu, the Andes mountains and the Amazon rainforest. It defies easy labeling for outside observers and more than a few Peruvians. It is also where I lived and worked large share of my adult life and where my wife and children were born. The landscape, the people, the politics, the culture shaped our beings, our dreams. For me, Peru is not just an interesting case study, but a defining issue. I am bringing together some of my writing and also point to some other Web material that make Peru a little more comprehensible. I call this site Peruvian Graffiti because I never envisioned it as a formal portrait of the country and my understanding of it -- rather, it's an impressionistic drawing or message made on a public canvas.
Since I left Peru for the last time in 1996, Peru continued in upheaal, even after President Alberto Fujimori's resignation and the incoming government of Alejandro Toledo. My Peruvian politics resource includes the past of political violence, human rights abuses and Sendero Luminoso guerrillas. And in a stroke of "deja vu all over again," Alan Garica returned to the Casa de Pizarro.
La Lista is my selection of
Peruvian links.
The War of the Fourth Sword: selected chapters from a book on political violence in Peru during the 1980s that I will never write.
Translations of Peruvian poets: Antonio Cisneros, Mirko Lauer, Marco Martos, Blanca Varela, Javier Heraud, Abelardo Sanchez Leon, Julio Ortega.
Confessions of a Stringer: insights into the challenges of reporting on Peru and the people who helped me do it. You can also see my overview of the Peruvian media.
My weblog: La Esquina del Movimiento used to provide updates and additions to the site and news and commentary about Peru, Unfortunately, I no longer have the time to maintain multiple blogs. Besides, my Peruvian experience is turning into history rather than current events. I will be redesigning this site over the coming months. Throughtout this site, you will see the photographs of the Talleres de Fotografia Social (TAFOS) representing as a unique window into Peruvian society and culture. These black and white pictures were taken by grassroots photographers to tell their communities' stories. 
Writing is the process that has defined me and how I relate to the world
around me. News reporting, essays, poetry and translations were how I
started out. Now it's concentrating on the web as the medium. See the writing section for other examples of my
writing. For that matter, look throughout this site.
Résumé
: my life according to the rules of this formula.
My Peruvian Life Story : a free-form approach to the curriculum vitae.
I have another site Prana Journal — it's mainly a weblog about yoga, meditation, spirituality and other matters of the heart/mind/body. It's all about residing in and fulfilling the potential of the moment.