The World - News from May 23, 1988

Peruvian President Alan Garcia paid a surprise visit to an Andean village where residents say troops killed dozens of people in retaliation for the guerrilla ambush of a military convoy. While an earlier government communique said a ministerial commission denied reports of the killings, Garcia and a later government statement said an investigation would continue. According to the district attorney in the provincial capital of Ayacucho, troops killed at least 20 peasants in Cayara on May 14. A congressional commission said at least 30 were slain; early reports from villagers put the toll at dozens. The area is a stronghold of the Maoist Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) rebels.