B004L2LMEG EBOK Read Online Free PDF Page B

wooden partitions and having two large doors, one opening on the trail to Iquitos and one on the river. The area of the roofed section is 327 meters square and is paved; it consists of two floors, the higher one being only a wooden platform with a railing that leads to a little fire stairway. On this floor the undersigned has installed his command post, private office, files and records. In the lower part—which can be observed at all times from the command post—hammocks for Sinforoso Caiguas and Palomino Rioalto have been hung, and a crudely constructed toilet has been installed. The unroofed part of this site is a large unsurfaced yard that still has some trees in it.
    (b) That a week for the preparation of the site might seem excessive—symptomatic of a lack of discipline or laziness—but the truth is that the location was not in usable condition and was, excusing myself for using the word, filthy, for the reasons stated here: due to the fact that the Army had abandoned it, this depot had come to be used for miscellaneous and illegal practices. Hence it had been taken possession of by some followers of an individual of foreign origin, Brother Francisco, founder of a new religion and a supposed performer of miracles, who travels the Brazilian, Colombian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon region on foot and by raft, erecting crosses in the towns he passes through and having himself crucified, in order to preach in that preposterous pose, in either the Portuguese, Spanish or Indian languages. He is in the habit of announcing catastrophes and he exhorts his devoted followers (who are countless—despite the hostility that the Catholic Church and the Protestants profess toward him—due to the individual’s charisma, which is, without doubt, very great, since his preaching has a great effect not only on simple and uncultured people, but also on educated persons, as has unfortunately taken place, for example, with the undersigned’s own mother) to divest themselves of their material goods and to build wooden crosses and offer sacrifices for the time when the end of the world will come, which he promises will be very soon. Here in Iquitos, where Brother Francisco has spent the past few days, there are numerous “arks” (that is what they call the temples of the sect created by this individual, in whom, if headquarters deems it appropriate, the Intelligence Service should perhaps take an interest), and a group of “brothers” and “sisters,” as they call each other, had converted this depot into an “ark.” They had installed a cross for their unsanitary and cruel ceremonies, which consist of crucifying all sorts of animals in order to have the victims’ blood bathe the addicts kneeling at the foot of the cross. Consequently, the undersigned found countless carcasses of monkeys, dogs, wildcats and even parrots and herons on the premises, as well as grease spots and bloodstains all over and, undoubtedly, swarms of infectious germs. On the day on which the undersigned occupied the premises he had to call in the police in order to dislodge the Brothers of the Ark, just as they were preparing to nail up a lizard, which was confiscated and handed over to the Military Storehouse for Region V.
    (c) That previously, this unlucky site had been used by a sorcerer or witch doctor, Master Poncio, who the “brothers” expelled by force, and who celebrated nighttime ceremonies here by preparing a concoction of ayahuasca stems, which, it seems, cures illnesses and provokes hallucinations, but also, unfortunately, immediate physical disorders, such as an excess of saliva, overflowing of urine and massive diarrhea, excretions that, along with the dead bodies of the animals later sacrificed and the many turkey buzzards and predatory animals attracted here by the leavings and the carcasses, had turned this place into a veritable hell for your eyes and nose. The undersigned had Sinforoso Caiguas and Palomino Rioalto procure shovels,