Someone Needs To Tell Peru That Communism Is So Hot Right Now

On a recent tour of Machu Picchu, Cameron Diaz wore a green shoulder bag featuring an emblazoned quote from Chairman Mao. But, apparently, what passes for backpacker cool in the States hits a little too close to home in a country that was brought to its knees in the early 1990’s by communism. The Associated Press explains:

While the bags are marketed as trendy fashion accessories in some world capitals, the phrase has particular resonance in Peru, where the Maoist Shining Path insurgency brought Peru to edge of chaos in the 1980s and early 1990s with a campaign of massacres, assassinations and bombings. Nearly 70,000 people were killed during the insurgency.

If we as Americans are expected to know what the hell is going on in Peruvian politics, then Peruvians should totes be sensitive to what is happening in American fashion. Tit for tat, people.

Diaz’s bag with Maoist slogan raises ire [Yahoo! News]