No winners out of Lima incident<\/p>\n
The following article is written exclusively for The Jakarta
\nPost by Andre Vltchek, a visiting journalist who is the U.S. and
\nLatin American editor of the most influential newspaper in the
\nCzech Republic Lidove Noviny.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Movemiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA)
\nattacked last Tuesday on Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima
\ntaking around 500 hostages is believed to be the most spectacular
\naction in the 16 years civil war between the Peruvian state and
\nthe leftist guerrillas that so far claimed well over 30,000 human
\nlives.<\/p>\n
Reports from Lima yesterday said that the Marxist rebels
\nfreed another 225 hostages leaving some 140 in the embassy.<\/p>\n
There are some 100,000 people of Japanese descent living
\npresently in Peru (second largest Japanese minority in South
\nAmerica, after Brazil). Japanese foreign aid to Peru amounts to
\nUS$2.5 billion.<\/p>\n
The attack came as a surprise to all analysts of South
\nAmerican affairs. MRTA was believed to be destroyed by Antonio
\nVidal, general and former chief of Peruvian anti terrorist forces
\nin 1992. That year the guerrilla leader, Victor Polay Campos and
\nmost of the members of the Central Committee of MRTA were
\narrested.<\/p>\n
In 1992, the most violent year of the civil war, almost no
\none abroad paid much attention to the pro-Cuban Marxist
\nguerrilla.<\/p>\n
Main focus of attention was on the Maoist group Sendero
\nLuminoso (Shining Path) with some 50,000 fighters and
\ncollaborators. This well armed group controlled large part of the
\ncoca leaf trade.<\/p>\n
As a result of the civil war, Peru in the beginning of 1990s
\nwas a basket case, with the negative economic growth and
\ncollapsing social structure. It became the third poorest country
\nin the Western Hemisphere, after Haiti and Bolivia. This was
\nexactly the goal of the SL. Guzman was often saying that the
\npoverty \"sharpens the revolutionary edge of masses.\"<\/p>\n
In 1990s SL began attacking other leftist groups and
\nindividuals that were not \"revolutionary enough\". In January 1992
\nMaria Elena Mollano, socialist mayor of the shanty town Villa El
\nSalvador (with more than one million inhabitants) was shot and
\nkilled by the members of SL. Her body was later dynamited and
\ndamaged beyond recognition. MRTA was attacked as well. From the
\nvery beginning, there was no co-operation between the two groups.
\nFor SL, MRTA was not dogmatic enough. Its members were more
\ntargets than allies.<\/p>\n
From the very beginning MRTA was less radical, fighting for
\nthe Cuban style state, while SL aimed at the Khmer Rouge model.
\n(Guzman was trained in China). Contrary to SL, MRTA did not use
\nextremely brutal execution tactics. It did not attack
\nindiscriminately; targets were always carefully selected. Money
\ncame mainly from extortion (MRTA was kidnapping rich members of
\nthe business community) and from robbing of the banks.<\/p>\n
In 1992, both MRTA leader Victor Polay and SL leader Abimael
\nGuzman Reynoso. After the trial and sentencing (both received
\nlife in prison), both leaders were thereafter transferred to the
\nunderground bunker on the small island that serves as a Navy
\nbase, not far from Callao, a port city bordering with the capital
\nLima.<\/p>\n
For long it was believed that both SL and MRTA were
\ndestroyed, but in 1995 it was evident that SL is still
\ncontrolling the drug trade in selva (jungle) and is rapidly
\nregrouping, operating again in the urban and rural areas under
\nthe new leadership.<\/p>\n
After the 1992 arrest, \"Comrade Evaristo\" and Miguel Rincon
\ntook command of what was left of the MRTA. Then in 1995 Evaristo
\nbecame the only leader. His real name is Nestor Cerpa Cartolini
\nand he used to be a union leader. He was the one who led the
\nattack on the Japanese ambassador's residence in the middle of
\nthe posh Lima neighborhood, San Isidro.<\/p>\n
The common believe is that the operations of the Peruvian
\nleftist guerrillas will not stop, before the profound social and
\nracial problems of the country will not be solved. Peru, once the
\nrichest place in South America, is now one of the poorest, with
\nthe GDP per capita only $950 (Chile has around $5,000 and
\nArgentina $8,000). Wealth is still in the hands of the very small
\nwhite minority that lives in Lima and Arequipa. \"Indian\" (most
\nPeruvians are of Indian descent or mixed) is a dirty word. Four
\nfifth of the Peruvian workforce is unemployed or underemployed.
\nGap between the rich and poor is one of the greatest in the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
In 1990, Alberto Fujimori, son of Japanese immigrants, won a
\nlandslide victory over the world famous novelist Maria Vargas
\nLlosa, and became the first non-white president of the country.
\nFujimori (called amiably \"El Chino\") introduced tough neo-liberal
\neconomic reforms, known in Peru as \"Fuji shock\". He also pledged
\nto end the civil war. But in 1992 he staged army-backed \"self-
\ncoup\" (\"autogolpe\"), closing courts and Congress, declaring they
\nwere corrupt and he has to rebuilt them from the ground up.
\nSubstantial part of international aid was cut-off as a result.<\/p>\n
The same year, leaders of the Shining Path and MRTA were
\narrested. Later Fujimori rewrote the Constitution. New
\nConstitution gave him previously forbidden ability to run for the
\nre-election in 1995 which he won by landslide again. Peruvian
\neconomy was growing spectacularly, but among the population, the
\ngloomy mood didn't change. Common wisdom was declaring: \"Peru is
\ndoing well, but Peruvians aren't\". Desperate, enormous shanty
\ntowns (pueblos jovenes) built around all major cities are the
\nliving prove of it.<\/p>\n
Peru is historically the center of Indian culture in South
\nAmerica. Inka Empire has its centers in Cuzco and Machu Pichu. So
\ndid the cultures of Ica, Nazca and Paracas. Historically, these
\ncultures were strongly centralized and did not have the money
\nbased economy. Both SL and MRTA used this fact as the major
\nargument justifying their fight.<\/p>\n
Arrests of Guzman and Polay in 1992 didn't solve the
\nproblems of Peru.<\/p>\n
MRTA believed that by the spectacular attack on the Japanese
\nambassador's residence, they may gain sympathy for their cause;
\nin Peru and abroad. So far, reaction was overwhelmingly negative.
\nMost of Peruvians are tired of the uncertainty. They are
\nhorrified by the prospects of continuation of the civil war. At
\nthe present time, MRTA has almost no support of the general
\npublic. Whatever the outcome of the conflict, there will be
\nhardly any winners.<\/p>\n
Window: In 1992, the most violent year of the civil war, almost
\nno one abroad paid much attention to the pro-Cuban Marxist
\nguerrillas.<\/p>",
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