WITCH HUNT VOL.1 : THE BANISHED OF BALSAPUERTO - Christo Geoghegan
At the end of 2011, the Peruvian media reported a series of barbaric murders deep in the Peruvian Amazon, in a region called Balsapuerto, home to the indigenous Shawi people. In the space of just ten months, 14 traditional Shawi healers (or "curanderos", as they are known locally) are said to have fallen victim to a wave of brutal murders.
According to local reports, the alleged orchestrator of the murders was the then mayor of Balsapuerto, Alfredo Torres Rucoba. Accused of leading a campaign of witch killings for political ends, he and his brother Augusto earned themselves the local nickname "Los Matabrujos". The Banished of Balsapuerto is an ongoing investigation into these deaths and the theories behind them, using a mixture of on-the-spot interviews, previously unpublished police and court documents, extracts from the local press and original photographs and illustrations.
Winner of the Prix du livre d'auteur Arles 2023.
Published by Rm Editorial, 2022
23.5 cm x 16.5 cm, 424 pages
ISBN: 9788419233264
At the end of 2011, the Peruvian media reported a series of barbaric murders deep in the Peruvian Amazon, in a region called Balsapuerto, home to the indigenous Shawi people. In the space of just ten months, 14 traditional Shawi healers (or "curanderos", as they are known locally) are said to have fallen victim to a wave of brutal murders.
According to local reports, the alleged orchestrator of the murders was the then mayor of Balsapuerto, Alfredo Torres Rucoba. Accused of leading a campaign of witch killings for political ends, he and his brother Augusto earned themselves the local nickname "Los Matabrujos". The Banished of Balsapuerto is an ongoing investigation into these deaths and the theories behind them, using a mixture of on-the-spot interviews, previously unpublished police and court documents, extracts from the local press and original photographs and illustrations.
Winner of the Prix du livre d'auteur Arles 2023.
Published by Rm Editorial, 2022
23.5 cm x 16.5 cm, 424 pages
ISBN: 9788419233264
At the end of 2011, the Peruvian media reported a series of barbaric murders deep in the Peruvian Amazon, in a region called Balsapuerto, home to the indigenous Shawi people. In the space of just ten months, 14 traditional Shawi healers (or "curanderos", as they are known locally) are said to have fallen victim to a wave of brutal murders.
According to local reports, the alleged orchestrator of the murders was the then mayor of Balsapuerto, Alfredo Torres Rucoba. Accused of leading a campaign of witch killings for political ends, he and his brother Augusto earned themselves the local nickname "Los Matabrujos". The Banished of Balsapuerto is an ongoing investigation into these deaths and the theories behind them, using a mixture of on-the-spot interviews, previously unpublished police and court documents, extracts from the local press and original photographs and illustrations.
Winner of the Prix du livre d'auteur Arles 2023.
Published by Rm Editorial, 2022
23.5 cm x 16.5 cm, 424 pages
ISBN: 9788419233264
