About Book
A Maoist revolution has been raging in Nepal since 1996. In 1999, Li Onesto became the first foreign journalist to travel deep into the guerrilla zones of this Himalayan country. Allowed unprecedented access, she interviewed political and military leaders, guerrilla fighters, villagers in areas under Maoist control, and relatives of those killed by government forces. Dispatches provides invaluable analysis of the roots of an insurgency that is now on the threshold of seizing power. As journal and photo-essay, the book gives a vivid, first-hand look at the social and economic conditions that have fueled this revolution and allows readers to meet some of the key people involved. Peasant farmers talk about how their lifelong suffering has driven them to desperate measures. Women recount how they defied relatives, fled arranged marriages, and broke with social taboos to join the people's army. Guerrilla commanders and fighters fresh from military encounters discuss strategy and tactics. Millions of people now live in areas in Nepal under guerrilla control, where peasants are running grass-roots institutions, exercising what they call new 'people's power'. Dispatches describes these transformations -- the establishment of new governing committees and courts, the confiscation and re-division of land, new cultural and social practices, and the emergence of a new outlook. Increasingly, the UK and US have directly intervened to provide political and military support to the counter-insurgency efforts of the Nepalese regime and Onesto analyzes this developing in the larger international situation and the US 'war on terrorism'.
About Author
As a correspondent for the Revolutionary Worker newspaper, Li Onesto was the first foreign journalist to travel deep into the guerrilla zones of Nepal in 1999. Her interview with Prachanda, the head of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), has been circulated internationally - translated into Nepali, Spanish, Italian, French, Hindi, German, Pashtun (in Afghanistan), and Chinese. Onesto's photography show, "The People's War in Nepal: Faces from a Hidden War" has been on display in several cities in the U.S. and she continues to study, write and lecture about the developing situation in Nepal.