A Brief History Of The MRTA

The Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) are part of a long tradition of anti-colonial liberation struggles. They see themselves as an organization of the people, and they stress the importance of working together with other organizations such as trade unions, workers' groups, students, and peasants.

The goal of this cooperation is the creation of a popular front movement, on the basis of which a new, socialist society will be created. The MRTA feels that this goal cannot be achieved through parliamentary politics alone, which is why the organization went underground shortly after it was founded and began forming armed units. The economic vision of the MRTA is a mixed economy based on communal planning. This would allow for limited private ownership, but an emphasis would be placed upon communal ownership.

Chronology

1984: The MRTA is founded by organizations from the radical-left, including the MTA and the MIR-IV.

1985: The pirate radio station "November 4" broadcasts MRTA communiques and calls for the people to boycott the elections and support the armed struggle.

February 1987: The MRTA occupies seven radio stations in Lima and reads a communique against the increasing militarization of the society.

July 1988: An MRTA commando kidnaps retired air force general and businessman Garcia.

October 1988: The MRTA commandeers a truck full of chickens and distributes the food to striking miners.

February 1989: Police arrest MRTA leader Victory Polay and imprison him in Canto Grande prison in Lima.

April 28, 1989: The military surrounds a large MRTA unit. After heavy fighting, which included air force bombings, the guerrillas were captured and executed that same day on the orders of the commanding officer. Around 62 people, including 20 civilians, were murdered by the military.

End of the 1980s: The MRTA becomes increasingly active in rural areas. In the San Martin department, a strong popular movement against the central government in Lima has been formed.

January 9, 1990: An MRTA commando shoots former Defense Minister E. Lopez Albujar, the man who ordered the April 28, 1989 execution of MRTA prisoners.

July 1990: Victor Polay and 46 other comrades escape from Canto Grande prison via a 315 meter long tunnel.

April 1992: A leading member of the MRTA, Peter Cardenas Schulte, is arrested.

May 1992: The police raid a computer center of the MRTA and gain important information about the movement's internal structure.

June 10, 1992: Victor Polay is arrested again.

November 30, 1995: After Fujimori has declared victory over terrorism and the death of the MRTA, 30 Tupac Amaristas are arrested after a plot to occupy the Peruvian Congress, holding its members hostage in exchange for jailed MRTA militants, was foiled.

December 17, 1996: An MRTA commando occupies the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, under the slogan "Breaking the silence! The people want them free!", and take all the guests at a reception in honor of Japan's Emperor hostage. Most of the hostages are soon released, but the commando continued to hold 72 people, including the brother of President Alberto Fujimori, several generals and heads of police divisions, Peru's Foreign Minister, Supreme Court judges, Members of Congress from the ruling party, and the Ambassadors from Japan and Bolivia.

April 22, 1997: A raid is launched on the embassy compound by American-trained Peruvian special forces. All 14 members of the MRTA's "Commando Edgar Sanchez", including the group's leader Nestor Cerpa, are executed. Their bodies are never shown to the public or to their families.

Struggle Against Neo-Liberalism!

Neo-liberalism is not a new form of capitalist economics. Neo- liberal policies, which have been brutally practiced for decades by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, are a form of imperialist exploitation. The term "liberal" confuses many people, since it is often associated with progressive politics. But freedom under neo-liberalism is not for people, rather for capital. The function of the state is to be reduced to providing internal and external security. All forms of social policy are to disappear, since they degrade the conditions for capital and create regional disadvantages with respect to the world market. Without regard for the effects on the population, budgets are slashed, cut, and rationalized away.

These days, there is increasing competition between states in the interest of international capital. Even the "welfare states" among the industrialized nations are seeking to secure their competitiveness by slashing social programs. In the so-called Third World, for example in Latin America, these policies, with all their catastrophic consequences, are a continuing form of imperialist exploitation.

Source: Autonome Antifa (M)