I. CASE
BACKGROUND
Emperor Akihito at the Japanese
ambassador's house in Peru. This celebration is a prestigious event
every year for Japanese embassies around the world. The guest list
included Lima's most important political and social figures,
including the foreign and agricultural ministers, the president of
the Supreme Court, six Supreme Court justices, five generals of the
National Police and Fujimori's mother, sister and brother. Also
present was U.S. Ambassador Dennis Jett, who left the party early,
and seven U.S. diplomats, that lingered a little longer. The only
person missing and perhaps the most important one was President
Fujimori. The guests were enjoying the pleasant summer evening sipping champagne and cocktails and eating sushi. But all the festivities came to a dramatic halt at about 8:00 pm. Without warning, an explosion shook the entire house. In less than a minute, 14 masked men and women, some of them teenagers, clambered through the hole they had opened in the garden wall, and slipped behind the trees. Two of the intruders took positions at the front entrance. And then, finally, an announcement was made that left everyone astonished and in fear. "This is the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. Obey and nothing will happen to you. [Schemo, 1997]"
The rebels began shooting in the air, and ordered the guests to hit
the ground. They warned the people not to look at them, though they
concealed their faces behind the movement's trademark red, white
and black bandanas. The police quickly responded to the attack, and
for the next forty
Nestor Cerpa minutes the guests lay on the
ground with gunfire flying over them. Suddenly, the second in
command, whom the rebels called El Arabe, asked for the party's
host, Ambassador Morihisa Aoki. He then ordered him to take a
megaphone, and instruct the police to hold their fire.
As soon as the firing stopped, the rebels announced that they would release all the waiters, women and elderly guests. However, when they opened the door to let them out, the police lobbed tear gas into the house. The rebels had come prepared with gas masks, and were hardly effected by the gas. The guests grabbed handkerchiefs or paper napkins for protection. Aoki took the megaphone and repeated his request for the police to hold their fire. He then turned to El Arabe. "Let these people go,'' he told him. "They've got nothing to do with this. I, alone, am important enough for you to bargain with. [Schemo, 1997]'' Only then did the police hold up and guests begin to file out.
As the elderly and women began to evacuate, Sally Bowen, a
journalist, told a guerrilla standing near her that she wanted to
stay. Her request was denied, but before she was released she was
taken to meet the commander of the operation,
Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru
Public Opinion and the Government's Response
Although public opinion surveys show that most Peruvians do not
sympathize with rebel movements and are vehemently opposed to
terrorist violence, experts who have studied the country's
insurgencies say that Peru will not overcome rebel activity and
related violence until it alleviates the social and economic
problems that draw people into these groups [Sims, 1997]. (For more
see "Arrest of rebel's kin" at Latinolink.) "The guerrillas'
message is still appealing in Peru not only because there is
rampant poverty but also because there are so many people,
especially young people, whose
dreams are deferred,'' says
Cynthia McClintock, a professor of political science who
specializes in Latin America at George Washington University [Sims,
1997]. Close to half of Peru's 24 million people live in poverty,
85 percent of workers do not have full-time jobs, and nearly 17
percent live in extreme poverty, meaning they are not adequately
nourished [Sims, 1997]. Although most of these conditions pre-date
President Alberto Fujimori, the percentage of Peruvians living in
poverty increased last year to 49 percent, from 46.5 percent in
1994, according to Caunto S.A., an economic forecasting firm [Sims,
1997].
Responses from villagers to the recent events have shown some sympathy for the rebels, particulary the younger members. For example, one shopkeeper from the MRTA home base had this to say about the whole ordeal. "I don't see why they had to kill them all. Any person, knowing that they're about to die, would repent, and as long as they're alive, they can change.'' The shopkeeper agreed that Fujimori had the right to order the raid on the compound, saying, "There were innocent people in there, and they had families that were suffering each day they were held.'' (More on hostages.)The same person also stated that something had to be done about the continued use of violence by rebel groups [Schemo, 1997]. "I'm poor, but I have thoughts and feelings, too,'' the shopkeeper repeated several times.
Others make a clear distinction between the MRTA and The Shining Path. When one woman was asked about her feelings toward the MRTA and its leader, Cerpa, she said that they were not in the same class as the Shining Path. "He was not a terrorist,'' she said. "He was a revolutionary.'' Another woman added, speaking low so as not to be overheard, "He fought for us, for the poor. Look at how we live. Look at how we die [Schemo, 1997]." People were most shocked by reports that stated the band of youths in the siege seemed naive, and that one had asked a hostage whether it was possible to walk back to Peru from Cuba, where they had been offered asylum.
Successive Peruvian regimes have carried out vicious counter- insurgency tactics to put an end to rebel and terrorist violence. Tens of thousands have been massacred, disappeared or executed by government forces. In 1983 and 1984 alone, the Peruvian military slaughtered 8,700 mainly poor peasants in their effort to crush the revolution. Between 1983 and 1992, over four thousand people were "disappeared" and thousands of others killed, including 500 which were slaughtered in 19 separate massacres, by military and police forces [Schemo, 1997]. In 1992, Fujimori, staged a coup to assume dictatorial rule over the country and institute even more sweeping reforms against the rebel movements. A few weeks after his coup, Fujimori carried out a massacre of 40 revolutionary prisoners at Canto Grande prison, today a battle cry for the MRTA [Schemo, 1997]. The number attacks has declined since Fujimori's government captured top rebel leaders in 1992. But a series of well-planned assaults, like the one in December, have raised questions and fears that the groups are resurfacing. The Hostages Freed
The MRTA captors warned that they would start killing captives if Fujimori did not appear for face-to-face talks. The MRTA demand and goal was the release of more than 450 MRTA members being held in Peruvian prisons. But the deadline for the executions came and went and Cerpa backed down. Instead, he announced that there would be no killing, at least not by the Tupac Amaru. Hostages say, Cerpa tried to win them over, engaging them in philosophical conversations about the free market economy and the poor whose lot, he strongly felt, would never improve. He inquired about The MRTA's public standing, and whether Peruvians distinguished between the Tupac Amaru and the more violent Shining Path. At one point Cerpa suggested that the Tupac Amaru could transform itself into a political party.
During the two weeks after the invasion, the rebels released most of the prisoners, including 225 in a "good-will gesture" shortly before Christmas. At the end of four months there were 71 hostages left in the compound. Fujimori and the rebels took part in negotiation talks but those talks only seemed to go in circles. Meanwhile, Fujimori almost immediately began taking steps for a counterattack to rout out the guerrillas. Before Christmas, a team of 140 commandos began training, working out maneuvers on a mockup of the Japanese ambassador's residence.
Ultimately, it was those very same forces that released the hostages in less than an hour without critically hurting any of the hostages. All the rebels were killed and later buried in unmarked graves. The government only disclosed the identity of two of the rebels and refused to permit any funeral services. The closing moments of this episode in Peru's long-standing civil war has brought relief to many and worry to others who fear retaliation is inevitable.
Continent: South America
Region: West South America
Country: Peru
II. Environment
AspectsAct Site Harm Site Example Peru Peru Peru Civl War and Habitat
III. Conflict
Aspects III. Environment and Conflict OverlapHistorically, Lima has always been the seat of government, trade, and industry and has controlled the highland regions where most of the indigenous populations and the argiculture takes place. But as can be seen by the figures below the majority of the population is ruled by the minority.
| Indigenous | 45 - 47% |
| Mestizos | 32 - 37% |
| Europeans | 12 - 15% |
| Blacks and mulattos | 2% |
| Asian (Japanese and Chinese) | about 1% |
Most of the non-indigenous population continue to view the indian populations culturally and racially inferior, and this has led to the continual siezing of community lands. Much of these community lands have been cultivated by the indigenous peoples of Peru for centuries, and a majority of these lands are also of great cultural and religious value to the peoples who inhabit them. Although former presidents, such as General Alvarado, have tried to institute land reforms and grant peasants better land rights, more just agrarian reforms and land rights have been detained by military coups and intervention from land owners and large agricultural companies.
The principle obstacles indigenous communities face when attempting to struggle for better representation are:
NATURAL RESOURCES (LAND) _ | | | v ETHNIC DIFFERENCES + -----------> CONFLICT <------------ + VIOLENCE & IMBALANCE OF POWER
IV. Related
Information and Sources
Poole, Deborah and Gerardo Renique. Peru: Time of Fear, Latin American Bureau, 1992.
Schemo, Diana Jean. New York Times News Service 28 April 1997.
Simpson, John. In the Forests of the Night, New York: Random House, 1993.
Sims, Calvin. New York Times News Service 23 April 1997.
Sims, Calvin. New York Times News Service 5 April 1997.
Tulchin, Joseph and Gary Bland. Peru in Crisis: Dictatorship or Democracy?, London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994.
December, 1997; January, 2001
Although the groups is
most known for its violent attacks, such as the raid on the
ambassador's house, it is known to local populations as a "Robin
Hood" type organization, stealing from the rich to give to the
poor. On several occasions the group has demanded food and clothing
in exchange for hostages, later distributing the food and clothing
in Peru's shantytowns.