THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN IN THE CONVICTION THAT IT IS POSSIBLE AND NECESSARY TO CONTINUE THE GUERRILLA STRUGGLE FOR NATIONAL SOCIALISM IN SOUTH AMERICA. THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS DESCRIBED ARE BASICALLY A FEUDAL SYSTEM OF EXPLOITATIONS BY RICH LANDOWNERS AND U.S. IMPERIALISTS MONOPOLIZING RESOURCES, INDUSTRIES, AND TRADE. SOCIAL CONDITIONS EXHIBIT THE ILLS OF POPULATION EXPLOSION, MOVEMENT TO THE CITIES, UNEMPLOYMENT, ILLITERACY, MALNUTRITION, INFANT MORTALITY, AND POVERTY OF THE MASSES. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS ARE LINKED TO THE GROWTH OF LEFTIST MOVEMENTS. AN EMERGING PETTY BOURGEOIS CLASS WAS THE CHIEF CONTRIBUTOR TO A STUDENT MOVEMENT AND URBAN MARXIST ORGANIZATIONS. PEASANT UNIONIZATION WAS ACCOMPLISHED IN 1956, AND IT CULMINATED IN A WAVE OF 'INVASIONS' OR VIOLENT LAND SEIZURES IN 1963. FAILURE BY THE LEFTIST ORGANIZATIONS TO ASSUME LEADERSHIP OF THIS POPULAR MOVEMENT IS SEEN AS A CONTRIBUTING CAUSE OF THEIR OWN DEMISE IN 1965. THE DEVELOPMENT OF TWO ORGANIZATIONS, THE ELN (ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION) AND THE MIR (MOVIMIENTO DE IZQUIERDA REVOLUCIONARIA), PRODUCTS OF THE 'NEW LEFT' INSPIRED BY THE CUBAN REVOLUTION, IS ANALYZED. BOTH GROUPS WERE THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE 1965 GUERRILLA WAR. THEY FOUGHT AND SUFFERED DEFEAT IN SEPARATE BATTLES WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN COORDINATED BUT FOR THE THEORETICAL DISPUTES AND LACK OF COOPERATION IN THEIR LEADERSHIP. THE ACTION AT THE AYACUCHO FRONT, WHERE THE AUTHOR TOOK PART, IS SCRUTINIZED IN DETAIL. CONTRIBUTING TO THEIR FAILURE WAS THE SMALL SIZE OF THE GUERRILLA GROUP (13 MEN) AND THEIR URBAN ORIGINS. THEY WERE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE TERRAIN AND THE LANGUAGE AND CUSTOMS OF THE REGION. SINCE THEIR SUPPORTERS WERE WELL KNOWN, THE ARMY FOUND IT EASY TO EXECUTE THEM IN ORDER TO TERRORIZE THE REST OF THE POPULATION. FUTURE EFFORTS SHOULD PROVIDE A TEAM WITH POLITICAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, AND MILITARY ABILITY FORMED IN THE HEAT OF COMBAT RATHER THAN IN THE LIBERALISM OF THE URBAN LEFT. NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. THE APPENDIX CONTAINS A SERIES OF DEMOGRAPHIC TABLES. (MRK)