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The Guerillas of Peru
by David R. Huff
The Guerillas of Peru
by David R. Huff
The guerrilla wars of South America have received little attention
from the media until very recently. Most of the guerrilla movements
can be traced to the mid-1960s during the heyday of the Cuban
inspired insurrections lead by Che Guevera. After the death of Che,
the South American guerrilla movements fractionated along two
basic ideological lines. The Maoists and the Marxist-Leninists.
However, they share a common method of financing their efforts,
collection of taxes from the druglords.
In Peru, the primary armed guerrilla forces are, the Shining Path
(Maoists) and the MRTA, a.k.a. the Tupac Amaru (Marxist-
Leninists). A smaller Organization operates on the border of Peru
and Bolivia, the EGKT, a.k.a. Tupac Katari. The Tupac Katari are
the remnants of the original Bolivian Insurgents trained by Che
Guevera. So far the Tupac Katari have confined their operations to
Bolivia.
The Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru can trace their beginnings
to the Communist Party of Peru (PCP), founded in 1930 in Lima,
Peru. Both organizations began armed attacks in Peru in 1984, but
that is where the similarities end. Frequently the Shining Path and
Tupac Amaru have attacked each other in the eastern areas of Peru
known as the Huallaga Valley. Both sides need the continual flow
of "taxes" from the coca druglords.
The militant Maoist Shining Path organization was founded by
Abimael Guzman. Current active membership is 2,000 known.
Guzman was captured by Peruvian Special Forces in Lima in 1993.
Shining Path is the most active and best armed of the Peruvian
Insurgent Organizations. Armed mostly with PRC and DPRK
weaponry, Shining Path Guerrillas have ranged from attacks on
Western Embassies to engaging main forces of the Peruvian Army.
From 1984 to the present Shining Path attacks have accounted for
30,000 of the 35,000 total dead from guerrilla attacks. The Shining
Path Organization regards the smaller Tupac Amaru organization as
a traitor to Communism. This stems from a Tupac Amaru
Conference held in Ecuador in 1994. The Tupac Amaru
Organization made contact with US sympathizers for funding at the
Ecuador Conference. The Shining Path Guerrillas remain a viable,
but weakened force due to 2 factors. The 1990 implementation of
DEA/US Forces in Peru plan to destroy the coca fields and
interdict drug shipments. The Iquitos base of operations was key to
controlling the drug routes. In 1992, a major shift in Peruvian Army
Tactics combined with the Second Term Election of President
Fujimori led to more effective direct attacks on the Shining Path's
Leadership Infrastructure. Direct urban attacks and main force
engagements waned after the loss of key leadership in 1993. It fell
to the Tupac Amaru to conduct a major surprise attack in 1996 on
the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru.
The MRTA/Tupac Amaru movement originated in Peru's Leftist
Labor Organizations, which were controlled by the PCP. The
Tupac Amaru was founded by Victor Polay, the college roommate
of a former President of Peru, in 1972. Polay was an educated
member of the established middle class. The name Tupac Amaru
came from a native Peruvian, who led an uprising against the
Spanish Colonials during the 1700s. One of his tactics was to rob
from wealthy the wealthy Dons and give money to the Indians He
was executed for his efforts. Originally founded on mainly Cuban
Revolutionary Principles, MRTA, remained mostly a Labor Union
Movement until a crackdown in 1984. The home territory for Tupac
Maru is the Upper Huallaga Valley. Nominal active membership is
about 425, at its apex it was 600. The Tupac Maru favored fast
Commando Style attacks, prior to 1992. The most dramatic was the
1990 tunneling into Peru's maximum security prison, Canto
Grande to liberate Polay and 50 Tupac Amaru Rebels. The Raid
was led by the now Commander of the Tupac Amaru, who captured
the Japanese Embassy in 1996. June 1992 the key leadership of
Tupac Amaru was recaptured, Polay and his lieutenant Peter
Cardenas. In November 1996, the organization lost another key
leader, the Second in Command, Miguel Rincon, a.k.a. Francisco.
A new leader with a very different background assumed command
and changed Tupac Amaru's tactics. Nestor Cerpa Cartolini, a.k.a.
Comandante Evaristo, now commands the Guerrilla Force holding
the Japanese Embassy at Lima, Peru.
Comandante Evaristo began his revolutionary career in 1976 as a
union official. His union defied the owners of a bankrupt textile
factory by an armed take over. Four died in the ensuing police
action. Cerpa spent a year in prison, where he met other
revolutionaries. Over the years Cerpa earned a reputation for
eluding capture, 7 times successfully. Cerpa was the Tupac Amaru
representative at the 1994 Ecuador Conference. He met with the
American, Helene Berenson. In 1995 Cerpa barely escaped capture
in Lima, Peru, but Ms. Berenson did not. She is now serving a life
sentence in Peru for Treason. The Cerpa set in motion the most
daring attack in Tupac Maru History, the liberation of the
organization's key leadership.
December 1996, Comandante Evaristo with 20 heavily armed
comrades took the Japanese Embassy. As of this writing they still
hold the Embassy. The Robin Hood Era of the Peruvian MRTA
Guerrillas had come to an end.
Recent major increases in DEA and USAF military presence in
Iquitos, Peru indicate Peru's Fujimori is not inclined to give in to
guerrilla demands. The Shining Path Guerrillas are yet to be heard
from. They may join their brothers in arms, now active in Colombia
and Venezuela. The days of Tupac Amaru are numbered.
All statements herein are opinions. Facts are your own to check
out. If you take the world view we're presenting at face value,
without doing your own fact checking, you deserve whatever
happens to you. We assume no, nada, zilch, zippo liability for any
actions you may take based on what you see here - your're on your
own hook, bucko.
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