Blasts from the past: Alberto Fujimori and the Shinning Path of Peru

Sendero Luminoso (Shinning Path), the Peruvian Maoist guerrilla left for dead almost a decade ago is stirring with new life in Peru. At a time when former president and one time dictator, Alberto Fujimori (who is credited with the demise of the Shinning Path insurgency) is being brought to trial for human rights violations and corruption during his tenure in office, there is fear that Sendero may be in the initial phase of re-kindling its violent campaign against the Peruvian state, aided by profits from the drug trade.

Following Fujimori's unsuccessful bid to capture a seat in Japan's Upper House this past July and after 22 months residing in Chile, that country's Supreme Court ruled in September that he be extradited to Peru to face the charges mentioned above. The first of his trials is scheduled to start on November 26 where he will face charges of murder and kidnapping. If convicted of the charges, which include the 1992 death squad murders of 9 students and a professor at a Peruvian University, the killing of 15 people at a Lima neighborhood and charges that he ordered the kidnapping of a prominent journalist and businessman, Fujimori faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $33 million.

Though he returns to a different Peru than the one he left, Fujimori still has many supporters. Already, this past September, upon his return to Peru over 1,000 of his supporters rallied in the streets of Lima, clamoring for his release. In Peru, it is estimated that up to 20 percent of the population still support him, with 35 percent believing he still has a political future in the country. His daughter, who is currently a member of the Peruvian Congress, claims that the government is trying to prevent his supporters from showing their true strength, and of mistreatment of her father. While the few hundred supporters that showed up at the airport when he returned, seems to contradict her statement that he still has vast support, Fujimoristas remain a powerful force within the country. In fact, current President Alan Garcia and his party have allied themselves with Fujimoristas to obtain a majority government. Despite this however, opponents of Fujimori are substantial. In the last election, Ollanta Humala, who led a coup attempt against Fujimori captured 47 percent of the vote, being narrowly defeated by Alan Garcia.

Although Fujimori's return has caused a lot of turmoil, and will continue to cause it for the foreseeable future, the country seems to be moving forward economically, growing at 7 percent annually, this, in large part thanks to the booming trade in mineral exports. It is also likely to improve further following the U.S. Congress’ approval of Peru's Free Trade Agreement with the United States, which is expected to pass soon. That said, Peru still has many problems, high among which is poverty. The country has an estimated 54 percent of its population below the poverty line. In addition, Peru is also second behind Colombia in the production of cocaine; both of which make for an explosive combination, more so where Sendero Luminoso is involved.

When Peruvian intelligence apprehended its leader, Abimael Guzman aka Presidente Gonzalo given the centralized structure of the movement, not to mention the disappearance of the Soviet Union, Shinning Path was seen in the early 1990s to be a spent force, defeated and in dire need of funds. However, much like their neighboring Marxist brethren in Colombia, Sendero turned to the one place where it could gain access to badly needed funding; the drug trade. Based in the Upper Huallaga Valley, the group has become not only a narco-terrorist organization, but also a criminal syndicate involved in everything from trafficking of drugs, to running a protection racket for peasants worried about the Peruvian government's coca eradication programs.

According to Frank Hyland, though the group is currently believed to have as few as 500 members (down from its high of 10,000 in the 1980's) its cooperation with organized crime in the country makes it a dangerous security threat to the Peruvian state. In fact, Peru’s National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (Devida, Spanish acronym) has already denounced the increase in attacks against coca eradication troops in the center of the country. So far, according to the Special Project for the Control and Reduction of Coca Cultivation in the Huallaga (Corah) there have been 87 attacks, 48 of which were booby traps left in coca fields and which have resulted 13 government eradication troops being injured. Peru’s government blames Sendero, as it argues that coca farmers don’t have the access or expertise to craft such weapons.

Moreover, the Peruvian government during a series of anti-terrorism raids, recently captured 12 members of the group, in addition to 8 people, among them current and former military members of Peru’s military, whom it claimed were involved in providing weapons to the FARC in Colombia. In addition, the raids also resulted in the capture of documents revealing information about Sendero’s strength and capabilities. Some of these documents also detailed how social conflicts in Peru, as well as cocalero dissatisfaction with the government’s eradication program have helped to reinvigorate and swell its ranks. Demonstrating the extent of the problem, the Peruvian government has extended the State of Emergency it declared in six provinces in the northeast of the country, a State of Emergency that dates back to December 2005 when 13 policemen were killed in attacks attributed to Sendero in the Upper Huallaga Valley and the Apurimac river.

Peru’s government is taking the threat posed by Sendero seriously and its main anti-terrorism unit, Dircote is actively engaged in tracking, and capturing its leadership. Currently, it is believed that Sendero’s leader is Camarada Artemio, who is based in the Upper Huallaga Valley, Sendero’s main stronghold. Throughout this year, Dircote has captured and killed some of Sendero’s mid-level operatives leading to a wealth of information on the groups activities, including the real identity of other mid-level operatives in the organization. Despite these successes, however, the threat remains very real.

In 2006, drug cultivation in Peru increased almost 7 percent. This, despite the fact that the eradication of coca crops also increased about 4 percent from the previous year. Demand for cocaine and heroin have increased, specifically due to growing demand in China where a kilo of cocaine can earn up to $150,000. According to this article, the EU has surpassed the U.S. as the main consumer of Peruvian cocaine, however, this is mostly due to the fact that the U.S. main supplier is Colombia via Mexico. More troubling is the fact that these same Mexican cartels (Tijuana, Sinaloa, Juarez and del Golfo) are also responsible for the majority of the cocaine traffic emanating from Peruvian ports to Central America, the E.U., U.S., Asia and Africa. As if this was not enough, Peruvian cartels are also emerging who no longer depend on the Mexican or Colombian cartels for export and distribution of the drugs, further increasing the potential for instability in the country.

Demonstrating the effects of the drug trade on the country, the article also details how bankers, accountants, lawyers and other professionals in Peru are complicit in laundering money from the drug trade. Additionally, it is speculated that up to 16 tons of Peru’s drug production remains in the country for internal consumption leading to a marked increase in the social ills that consumption brings. Recently, following the 15th anniversary of the capture of Presidente Gonzalo, Sendero issued a statement in which it re-stated its commitment to continue with the armed struggle and its goal of replacing the Peruvian government. Hyland noted in September, that Sendero's strength was growing in Peru's Ayacucho region "including armed forays and patrols into more distant locations." This argument, is supported by reports from the Peruvian press, who note that in recent months Sendero has attempted to infiltrate areas outside of its control. So far, people in these areas have resisted, and have asked the Peruvian government to provide them with additional police forces and naval patrols to counter the threat. Tellingly, these incursions are into towns and villages already surrounded by coca and marijuana cultivation fields, further tying Sendero to the drug trade.

Sendero no longer attempts to recruit the population to its cause by using its violent tactics (like in the 1980s) instead choosing to lure them to its side with the economic benefits that accrue it from the drug trade. In doing so, they take advantage of the high poverty rate mentioned above. In short, a cycle has developed where farmers seeking additional revenue begin coca cultivation, seeking out Sendero for protection from the government's eradication efforts. In providing security for these cocaleros, and charging for its services, Sendero is essence becomes a government within a government and only then begins its proselytizing and indoctrination to its cause.

Additionally, according to this article, there is evidence that Sendero not only protects coca fields from government eradication, but is also actively engaged in its cultivation, processing and trafficking.

In May 2006, Peru's national police captured members of Sendero based in the Huallaga Valley. Among these was a lieutenant close to Camarada Artemio, who provided the police with information on Sendero's illicit business activities, including the aforementioned racketeering, safe houses and its role in the execution of rival cartel members. The trove of information from these captured Senderistas almost led to the capture of Camarada Artemio himself, who barely escaped a raid in which part of his security detail was captured. However, though his capture would strike a blow to the organization, it will not leave Sendero as weak and leaderless as the capture of Presidente Gonzalo, since the group has decentralized its leadership structure and divided itself into separate sub-commands that can continue the struggle independently. As such, Sendero will, for the foreseeable future remain a potent threat.

Perhaps more troubling that even Sendero or Fujimori's return is something that has gotten very little press. This is the establishment of what are called "casas de ALBA" literally, "houses of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas" or what is now commonly referred to as Chavismo. According to Diario Correo, these centers have begun appearing throughout Peru, under the guises of centers of Cuban-Peruvian, Cuban-Venezuelan-Peruvian or Venezuelan-Peruvian friendship. Importantly, these houses/centers have been established in areas of Lima (the capital) and in regions throughout the country, that have traditionally been receptive to anti-establishment messages and which during the height of the Sendero insurgency where considered "red zones." So far, there is no evidence of cooperation between these houses/centers and Sendero, in fact they seem to be at odds since they are competing for the same constituency. Still, since Hugo Chavez supported Humala in the last election, the establishment of these houses/centers seems to suggest a strategy for a future presidential contest based on building a grass roots movement for a bolivarian revolution in Peru. While I don't believe that Chavez is strong enough, and that our focus on his antics most of the time aids and feeds his egotism more than anything else, given the state of the Peruvian state, I thought it important to highlight their appearance.

Peru, although seemingly improving economically still has many problems that it needs to address. Poverty being a priority, since it provides fertile ground for Sendero, the drug trade and even Chavismo to grow as threats to the Peruvian state. However, it also remains to be seen what impact, if any Fujimori's return will have on the country. Particularly if Sendero does indeed step up its violent campaign to Lima and other parts of the country, as it did during the 1980's and 90's. Since Fujimori is widely credited with the demise of Sendero, such a move by Sendero could increase support for him, at a time when the government is trying to prosecute him, perhaps giving him the room he needs to not only beat the charges, but also to return to Peru's political life. That said, a lot would need to happen for that to come to pass.