HomeNewsBriefPeru Extends State of Emergency in Shining Path Stronghold
BRIEF

Peru Extends State of Emergency in Shining Path Stronghold

PERU / 8 AUG 2012 BY EDWARD FOX EN

The Peruvian government announced that it has extended the long-running state of emergency in the drug-producing VRAE region by 60 days, in an effort to crack down on the Shining Path guerrilla group.

On August 1, the government of Ollanta Humala declared that it would extend the state of emergency in the Apurimac and Ene River Valley (VRAE) by 60 days due to the presence of the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) rebels in the area, reported EFE. The measure will apply to areas in the regions of Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Cusco and Junin and aims to combat drug trafficking and coca growing -- the region is estimated to produce around 80 tons of cocaine annually.

The VRAE has been under a state of emergency since May 2003.

The Shining Path's VRAE-based faction, thought to number 500 fighters, is led by Victor Quispe Palomino, alias "Comrade Jose," and is considered the last remaining branch of the group. In February this year, the Huallaga-based faction in the north of Peru was struck a heavy blow with the arrest of its leader.

InSight Crime Analysis

The VRAE is a lawless, poverty-stricken region where the government has struggled to impose control, relying instead on the continual extension of a state of emergency. In June, the government announced a series of development initiatives that will attempt to pacify the VRAE over the coming four years. However, in an interview with InSight Crime last month, former Peruvian drug czar Ricardo Soberon expressed doubt over whether the government would really break from its militarized strategy in the VRAE, highlighting that those charged with designing the policies for the VRAE were all current or former military personnel.

Lack of infrastructure and endemic rates of poverty have made the VRAE a stronghold of the Shining Path. Comrade Jose's faction has been able to embarrass the government on a number of occasions this year. In April the rebels kidnapped 36 gas workers in the area. Though the workers were eventually freed, military operations to rescue them were widely criticized, with the rebel group ambushing security patrols and killing several members of the security forces. In a sign of the group's control in the area, one of the VRAE faction's leaders even gave an impromptu interview with journalists.

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

BOLIVIA / 29 DEC 2022

The US is losing allies in Latin America just as production of cocaine, fentanyl, and other synthetic drugs is going…

BRAZIL / 25 NOV 2022

Failing prison systems and entrenched corruption mean mega-prisons holding tens of thousands won't solve insecurity in Latin America.

COLOMBIA / 28 JUL 2023

Three cases in recent weeks highlight how Colombian groups continue to dominate loansharking schemes across Central and South America…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…