Interview: Voice of Russia: A look back into Peru's internal conflict

"A Look Back Into Peru's Internal Conflict"
Voice of Russia - American Edition
September 24, 2013
Originally published: http://voiceofrussia.com/us/2013_09_25/A-look-back-into-Perus-internal-conflict-5612/ ( Audio File Available)

History often has a way of haunting the present. In June, families buried the exhumed remains of loved ones from a mass grave was discovered in the Ayacucho region of Peru last year, revealing more evidence of the disappeared. Twenty-one bodies were found, all victims of the Sendero Luminoso, or the Shining Path, guerrilla insurgent group.

There were three main actors in the internal conflict, each fought for control over the same territories. The Shining Path is a paramilitary Maoist group that aimed to form a utopian communist society by creating a peasant uprising. They tried to control the country, region-by-region, killing opposing forces or those who refused to become allies. The Marxist-Leninist Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or the MRTA, was a Marxist guerilla organization less violent than the Shining Path. They often took responsibility for their actions, which involved kidnapping, taking hostages, and directed assassinations. As a response, the military formed a counterinsurgency that was brutal and indiscriminate in its tactics to dismantle both organizations.

Alejandro Sanchez, a researcher with the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington, D.C., was born in Peru at the start of the conflict in 1981. This is Sanchez:

“At the beginning of the conflict, Shining Path and MRTA were regarded as criminals, they were not regarded as terrorist organizations that wanted to overthrow the government. The Shining Path and MRTA were severely underestimated. So at the beginning of the conflict in the first couple of years, it was the police that actually took the brunt of the operations against these insurgent movements. And it was only after ’83, ’84, after the Lucanamarca massacre, that they realized that these groups were actually for real. They really want to overthrow the government, they are killing civilians left and right, they have the car bombs they are utilizing now, so then the military was deployed to support the police. The Peruvian army was not trained to fight this kind of counterinsurgency guerrilla movements, so it took them years and years to figure out how to do it. And unfortunately some human rights abuses were committed by them as well.

At the time, the Shining Path and the MRTA infiltrated most echelons of Peruvian society. They were pressing universities in downtown Lima. They were pressing all over the highlands in the Amazon, so they didn’t know who was an enemy and who was a civilian. Unfortunately, because of this, a lot of human rights violations were committed.”

By the end of the conflict, many of the guerrilla leaders were killed or imprisoned, yet very few military officers were brought to justice. By 2001, the conflict had finally ended, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru was formed to analyze the human rights abuses committed during the conflict. Dr. Salomon Lerner Febres, former director of the Commission, co-authored a report that suggested steps for seeing justice upheld after the conflict. This is Febres:

“We created an anthropological forensic plan that named two to three thousand burial sites where 1 or 2 bodies were hidden, or even up to scores of bodies. When the plan was released, the sites were investigated, and since then, we have learned that there are six or eight thousand sites where victims were buried to cover up evidence, especially by the armed forces.”

Many of the families whose loved ones died in the conflict, may never see justice upheld. The conflict occurred in times of democracy and many of those same political actors or parties are actively involved in Peruvian politics today and do not want to mar their image by assuming responsibility. Some closure was finally brought to survivors when former President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison for having ordered the killings of 25 people by death squad.

This is Febres:

“Peru requires institutional reforms, such as education, which should be accessible across the country. It requires job opportunities, for justice to be accessible to all Peruvians, that all Peruvians can be citizens that fully exercise their rights—those reforms have not been fulfilled, and that is a problem.

A political renovation is needed. There are no serious political frameworks or ideas in my country, so there is a big task ahead for young people.”

The Shining Path maintains about 300 fighters today, divided into two factions in the Peruvian highlands. Mass killings are over, but they still say they fight for their Maoist goals and claim they will control Peru in 2050. However, their meager public support and transition to a narcotrafficking group challenges the validity of those statements.

In addition to drug trafficking, the biggest threat they pose today is delegitimizing other popular movements in Peru. According to Alejandro Sanchez of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, the government perceives no serious threat of a resurgence of a new guerrilla movement. However, they fear movement infiltration by Shining Path militants. Security forces often use this suspicion as a reason to crack down on major protests, despite lacking evidence of infiltration, as seen at the recent protests surrounding Peru’s Independence Day in July.

In another emblematic case in 2009, police fired on a roadblock by indigenous protesters at Bagua, and the ensuing confrontation left 34 dead, with deaths on both sides. The indigenous activists were initially set to face trial in a special terrorist court established to try drug lords and Shining Path militants. Although the terrorism court eventually deferred on hearing the case, 54 activists await possible life sentences, while only one police officer is behind bars.

 Thirteen years have passed since the Shining Path ruthlessly pursued Maoist communism and threatened daily life in Peru. Yet their legacy haunts movements today, as does the government’s free pass to suppress possible “subversive” ideas as they see fit.

FPIF: Peru Confronts Its Past

Peru Confronts its Past
W. Alex Sanchez
Research Fellow, Council on Hemispheric Affairs
Foreign Policy in Focus
Tuesday August 28, 2012
Originally published: http://bit.ly/QPouUp

Nations trying to come to terms with violence from their recent pasts have a difficult road ahead, and the Andean country of Peru is no exception. The country is grappling with a host of issues stemming from its violent struggle against insurgent movements in the 1980s and 1990s. In the short term, such challenges include determining the fate of individuals –– teachers, for example ­­–– who were prosecuted for terrorism charges and have since served their jail sentences. In the long term, questions have emerged about how the country should teach Peruvian youth about this dark period in their country’s history. Finally, in the background, there is a growing debate regarding what limits, if any, should be placed on organizations and individuals that sympathize with these guerrilla movements.

An Age of Insurgency

From the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, the Peruvian government clashed with two insurgent movements, the Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru(Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA) and the Sendero Luminoso(Shining Path). At the height of its power, the MRTA probably had around 500-800 active fighters, while the Shining Path’s combatants numbered around 1,000. But both organizations claimed numerous supporters, sympathizers, and informers who were not necessarily combatants.

The roots of the conflict grew from Lima’s historical neglect of large portions of the country’s underdeveloped periphery, especially the indigenous regions of the Andes and the Amazon. Peru has historically suffered from chronic poverty, with rates reaching up to 60 percent of the population ­­–– sometimes even higher in neglected regions. It is in this context that MRTA and the Shining Path emerged. Their respective leaders, Victor Polay Campos and Abimael Guzman Reynoso, promoted the overthrow of the government in Lima and the installation of a Marxist or Maoist (respectively) new regime. Unsurprisingly, both Polay Campos and Guzman Reynoso saw themselves as the future leaders of the country (Guzman was also known as Presidente Gonzalo).

Due to major military setbacks, including the capture of their leaders in 1992, both groups’ power and areas of control quickly declined during the 1990s. The MRTA’s last major operation was in 1996-1997, when commandos took control of the Japanese embassy in downtown Lima for 126 days, holding captive dozens of high-profile individuals. The Shining Path has two heavily weakened remaining factions, one in the region known as VRAEM (Valley of the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers) and the other in the Huallaga region, which straddles the Andes and the Amazon.

MOVADEF and Patria Roja

The problem for Lima now is not just the continuing existence of the Shining Path, now widely regarded as a narco-terrorist organization due to its heavy involvement in cocaine trafficking, but the existence of organizations deemed sympathetic to it—like the Movimiento por Amnistia y Derechos Fundamentales(Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights, or MOVADEF) and a political group known as Patria Roja.

MOVADEF was created by Alfredo Crespo, who is also Abimael Guzman’s lawyer. The group’s goal is to free Guzman and other individuals accused of terrorism, whom MOVADEF considers to be “political prisoners.” The group has twice attempted to register as a political party, but the Peruvian governmentrejected it each time, leading Crespo to decry the government’s “antidemocratic tendencies.” MOVADEF has gained supporters among young Peruvians who are too young to remember firsthand the group’s war on the state.

A July report in The Guardian quoted Vania Rimarachin, a young MOVADEF member, as saying “the only man in the world who can solve our problems is Abimael Guzman.”

Meanwhile, Patria Roja, a group with suspected ties to the Shining Path, has seen some of its supporters in small political parties elected to some important political offices, such as the presidency of the Puno region. In a recent interview, a Patria Roja leader declared that his group was “at war” with the Shining Path, as numerous PR members have been killed by the insurgent group. The group also seems to have some influence in the powerful Syndicate of the Peruvian Union of Education Workers, or SUTEP, which has been tied to the Shining Path in the past. Some Peruvian analysts have argued that the Shining Path may be using Patria Roja as a way to leverage its influence over SUTEP and other labor union movements.

Other analysts have mused that Patria Roja’s ultimate goal is, like MOVADEF’s, to free Guzman. Although it’s highly unlikely that the relatively marginal group could pose a serious challenge to the powers that be, the mere possibility of Patria Roja gaining more influence and power in Peruvian politics presents an alarming scenario for the government, military, and large sections of society in general.

Some prominent Peruvians from outside the political realm have also been criticized for suggesting support for the Shining Path. Recently, Peruvian designer Maximo Laura gave an interview to the daily La Republica in which he called the Shining Path “one of the most important movements that we have had, historically speaking, as it was a project that could have changed Peru.” The statement was not well received in official circles, and Peru’s Tourism Commission demanded that the designer explain what he exactly meant. Facing public scrutiny, Laura publicly declared that he is against the Shining Path and any violent group, adding that he considers Abimael Guzman a terrorist.

Educating the Youth

The education of Peruvian youth adds yet another layer of complexity to Lima’s quandary as the government struggles to find the best ways to discuss the issue in its classrooms. In early January, before the beginning of the school year, the Peruvian daily Expreso alleged that textbooks set to be sold to high school students contained pro-insurgent messages. The paper highlighted, for example, the books’ use of the controversial term resistencia campesina (“peasant resistance”) to refer to the insurgency, rather than one of a host of more derogatory terms. There is also a debate regarding how the findings of the Peruvian truth and reconciliation commission should be taught, particularly over how many of the approximately 70,000 deaths that occurred during the war should be attributed to the Shining Path and the MRTA and how many to the government.

Beyond the textbooks, a considerable controversy has also emerged over the teachers who use them, with several officials speaking out against the rehiring of teachers who have served jail sentences for terrorism charges. In July, Peruvian Education Minister Patricia Salas declared that there are as many as 137 individuals who have been accused of terrorism charges currently working in education centers. Other reports put the number at 802. The head of the Peruvian judicial system, Cesar San Martin, declared that he finds it “perfectly reasonable” that teachers sentenced on terrorism charges should not be allowed to teach again, comparing it to prohibiting individuals charged with corruption from becoming public servants. Fernando Rospigliosi, a former minister of the interior and a current member of congress, has declared that, “a person that gets out of jail deserves to work, but not this kind of work, educating children and probably fomenting ideas against democracy.” However, Hector Lama, president of Lima’s Superior Court, disagrees. “There is no judicial or constitutional impediment that prohibits someone who has carried out their sentence for terrorism from regaining their civilian rights,” the judge said.

The charges against these individuals range from being suspected members of the Shining Path to being actual combatants. The debate raises several questions central to the freedom of expression and employment. Is it ethical to prohibit teachers who were arrested on terrorism charges from educating the Peruvian youth again? Does this allow unlawful or excessive limits on their rights, and does it thwart their attempts to successfully reintegrate into Peruvian society?

Other countries that have faced insurgent movements, such as Colombia, have had a historically mixed record reintegrating former combatants. One the one hand, the authorities are often disinclined to admit their former rivals as legitimate political competitors. For example, Carlos Pizarro, leader of the M-19 guerrilla group that demobilized in the late 1980s, was murdered when he ran for political office. But the major challenge for demobilized troops is that they will once again turn to a life of violence due to the lack of employment opportunities as they try to rejoin civilian society. An academic from the NGO Nuevo Arco Iris estimates the rate of demobilized paramilitaries returning to a life of crime at about 20 percent, and the rate for former FARC members at 10 percent. In light of these kinds of difficulties, the Spanish government has created a new policy called reintegracion individualizada (“personalized reintegration”) to deal with members of the Basque separatist group ETA who surrender.

A Complicated Future

The government must educate Peruvian youth that both the Shining Path and the MRTA were violent insurgent movements that were responsible for most of the deaths that occurred during their war on the state, including several massacres (like in Lucanamarca in 1983) and other major human rights violations. Certainly, the Peruvian government and military carried out their share of violations as well (many by dictator Alberto Fujimori’s infamous death squad, the Grupo Colina), and these deserve attention as well. Moreover, the societal origins of the two insurgent movements—namely, the prevalence of extreme poverty and a lack of government interest in Peru’s indigenous regions—must also be taught. Yet in a heavily politicized climate, this is not an easy balance to reach.

The government has proposed a new law that will penalize individuals who either deny or approve acts of terrorism. Lima maintains that this will not violate freedom of speech in the country, but rather aims to protect society from Shining Path propaganda. The proposal comes not only amid MOVADEF’s continuing campaign to become a political party and the ongoing controversy over insurgent-associated teachers, but also as the Shining Path continues its violent operations. Only weeks ago, in mid-August, Shining Path insurgents ambushed an army patrol in the VRAEM, killing five soldiers and injuringanother five. Certainly, the Peruvian government faces years of challenges as they work toward the potentially conflicting goals of protecting personal freedoms, ensuring unbiased public education, and curbing ongoing acts of terrorism.

With four years remaining as president, one can only hope that President Ollanta Humala, himself a veteran of the army’s campaigns against the Shining Path—for which the country’s opposition media outlets have accused him of human rights violations—has learned that beating guerrilla organizations requires both military might as well as initiatives for development and education.