HomeNewsBriefChildren Rescued From Shining Path in Peru
BRIEF

Children Rescued From Shining Path in Peru

PERU / 31 JUL 2013 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

Security forces have rescued two children from the Shining Path guerrillas in Peru, drawing attention to the recruitment practices that have enabled the rebels to survive despite being severely weakened by years of military pressure.

The children, aged 9 and 11, were rescued thanks to intelligence that helped the army locate them in the province of Tayacaja, in the Huancavelica region of Peru.

The military immediately provided the minors with food and medical aid, as the pair were in found in a terrible physical state, reported local newspaper Correo de Prietto.

InSight Crime Analysis

The two children were discovered on the edge of the region known as the VRAEM -- the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro River Valley. The VRAEM is the heartland of the remaining faction of the Shining Path, which has utilized the zone's lack of state presence and criminal opportunities -- particularly from drug cultivation and trafficking -- to take refuge from the security forces and finance their operations.

Conditions in the VRAEM have been one key to the Shining Path's survival. Another, as illustrated by the case of the two children, has been their recruitment policy and support network.

The guerrillas, who are currently estimated to count on 130 active fighters, have maintained their numbers by recruiting extremely young children -- known as pioneros (pioneers) -- and grooming them for a career in the insurgency. As they are initially recruited at an age where they will be of little use in combat, the children work with and are cared for by the Shining Path's extensive support network, which runs throughout the villages of the VRAEM, where the rebels hold more sway than the state.

This tactic is also being taken up by other guerrilla movements in Latin America, in particular the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Hit hard by years of military actions and desertions, the FARC have taken to focusing their recruitment efforts on minors from families of sympathizers and from regions where they -- not the Colombian state -- are the authorities.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 2 JUN 2022

Illegal gold mining drives the destruction of Peru's Amazon, where fortune seekers strip forests and leave behind poisonous pools of…

ELITES AND CRIME / 8 DEC 2022

Pedro Castillo, Peru's fallen maverick president, faces charges depressingly similar to four of his predecessors.

ECUADOR / 14 FEB 2022

Peru has convicted a gang of shark fin traffickers for the first time in history but more is needed to…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…