The Hollywood star's bag that shocked a nation

Imagine wandering up to the Wailing Wall with a swastika printed on your handbag. The Hollywood star Cameron Diaz has caused a similar level of offence to the people of Peru by sight-seeing at the ancient city of Machu Picchu wearing a bag emblazoned with the words of Chairman Mao.

The Chinese characters underneath a red star on her green canvas messenger bag say "Serve the People", a slogan imposed during China's Cultural Revolution. Communist chic may be mildly popular among fashionistas in California, where Diaz lives, but it has a terrible resonance in Peru: Mao inspired the terrorist organisation the Shining Path, which sought to overthrow the Peruvian government with a long and bloody campaign of bombings, assassinations and massacres. The insurgency petered out after the capture of the Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison last year, but a few hundred fighters remain hidden in the jungle.

"The terrorist violence was terrible and people are still very scared that it is going to come back," said Charlie Smith, a human rights worker in Peru. Although there was not much Shining Path fighting in Cuzco, where Diaz is staying, it was still "not a good idea" to carry the bag. "Things that are obviously Communist are going to frighten them."

A loud critic of President George Bush, Diaz is one of the eco-friendly stars offering advice on how to live responsibly in a new publication called The Green Book, out in the US this week.