---
category: "Extremism & Violent Networks"
tags:
  - Person
summary: "American citizen jailed in Peru on charges of aiding the Shining Path guerrilla group, whose release was secured by Ari Ben-Menashe at the request of the U.S. consul general."
---

[[Cynthia McNamara]] was an [[United States|American]] citizen who was jailed in [[Lima]], [[Peru]], accused of taking part in a [[Shining Path]] attack. She was a former hippie in her early 40s who had visited [[Ecuador]] collecting [[India|Indian]] art pieces before traveling to [[Peru]]. In [[Ayacucho]], she fell in love with a doctor named Enrique and became friends with [[Abimael Guzman Reynoso]], the leader of the [[Shining Path]].[^1]

[[Cynthia McNamara|McNamara]] was rearrested on August 2, 1988, because a judge in [[Cangallo]], a [[Shining Path]]-controlled district, wanted her extradited. The charge against her was involvement in smuggling medical goods to the [[Shining Path]], and she was implicated in an incident where three people were shot dead during a truck inspection. [[Donna Hamilton]], the [[United States|U.S.]] consul general, sought [[Ari Ben-Menashe|Ben-Menashe's]] help in securing her release.[^1]

[[Ari Ben-Menashe]] traveled to [[Cangallo]] and, after a series of events, secured [[Cynthia McNamara|McNamara's]] release from jail. She was released on August 22, 1988, and left [[Peru]] for [[Ireland]] the next day.[^1]

### Footnotes
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.