From: MLuftmensch-AT-hubcap.mlnet.com (Michael Luftmensch)
Subject: re-amnesty/peru
Date: 12 Feb 1996 05:52:24 GMT


re-amnesty/peru

What the Amnesty International reports posted to the list make clear is the
extent of government repression in Peru.  The  reports of 1992-1994 provide
testimony about the nature of the dirty war being fought by the authorities
against the Peruvian people. 

Luis Quispe quotes a Mr. Abugattas of Amnesty to the effect that AI has no
choice but to report the accusations of the government against Sendero in
order to reveal the most heinous crimes of the military. This seems a fair
assessment. But for Luis Quispe, Amnesty is actively engaged in waging a
human rights campaign against the Peruvian revolution. 

This is not borne out by the reports. 

As to the nature of the war being fought in Peru by the Shining Path, the
Amnesty reports actually tell us very little. It seems clear that the Shining
Path take no prisoners. Those deemed to be enemies of the people are
executed. 

Accusations of collaboration can become quite slippery. Particularly if you
are caught between  three or four armed organizations. This seems to be the
case in the Andes. When local agriculture was undercut by US agribusiness,
the peasants had no choice but to compete on the world market. No crop can
compete with coca in profitability. Peru supplies the world with coca. 

The US compels Peruvians to grow coca for export and punishes them for it.
The War on Drugs is an attack on the poor, in Peru and in the United States. 

The AI reports make no mention of this. Nor does Luis Quispe. 

Many of the questions posed by Chris cannot be answered out of context. The
execution of collaborators is one example. There can be many different forms
of collaboration and many different degrees of accommodation. 

Generally speaking,  popular justice deteriorates into account-settling when
executions become frequent. It enhances the power of armed combatants at the
expense of the unarmed masses. This plays into the hands of the military.  In
this  light, Luis Quispe's assertion that the people of Peru are not caught
between the army and the Shining Path seems indefensible. 

A few supporters of the Shining Path wrote that the PCP militants have the
courage of their convictions. The same holds true for tens of thousands of
Islamic militants in Algeria. 

Their courage is not in doubt; but their convictions are! 

- luftmensch








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