After spending almost 20 years conducting ethnographic research in the department of Ayacucho, Perú, I find myself listening to the tapes recording of the voices from communities that I have known over the years. Theses tapes were made at the end of 1985 and the first months of 1986 during an investigation of   human rights abuses in diverse regions of the department. I was no present but I was provided with a set of the recordings. I have Waite five years before using the information in any public forum except for the examination of human rights issues. In the short time I have for this presentation, I will concentrate on two regions: the Rio Pampas, where I have worked and the Sa Francisco Valley, north and east of Huanta and San Miguel, which is in the frontier with the selva. In the complete version of the paper, I will also deal with Vilcashuaman. The names of localities will be provided, but no the names of individuals.