Gonzalo in the Middle Kingdom: What Abimael Guzmán Tells Us in His Three Discussions of His Two Trips to China

While thousands of Latin Americans traveled to China during the Mao years (1949-1976) to learn from the experience of the Chinese Revolution, only Abimael Guzmán went on to lead a Maoist people’s war in his home country. Chinese records on Guzmán’s time in China are closed, but Guzmán has on three occasions talked in some detail or written about his experiences in China. This paper closely examines what Guzmán has said and written in order to better understand this pivotal time in the development of one of the most important figures in twentieth century Peruvian history. Mientras que miles de latinoamericanos viajaron a China durante los años de Mao (1949-1976) para aprender de la experiencia de la Revolución China, solo Abimael Guzmán llegó a dirigir una guerra popular maoísta en su país de origen. Los archivos chinos sobre el tiempo de Guzmán en China están cerrados, pero en tres ocasiones Guzmán ha hablado con algún detalle o escrito sobre sus experiencias en China. Este artículo examina de cerca lo que Guzmán ha dicho y escrito para comprender mejor este momento crucial en el desarrollo de una de las figuras más importantes de la historia peruana del siglo XX.