Peru's VRAEM Region: The Home of Miss Coca

Peru has become the biggest cocaine producer and exporter in the world. In the main cultivation region, farmers make their living selling coca leaf with no questions asked. Those in…

Peru Halts Forced Coca Eradication Plans in Face of Shining Path Threat

Peru has slashed its coca eradication goal in the country's main coca growing region and backed away from plans for forced eradication, confirming a dramatic policy u-turn it says is…

Drug Trafficking, Terrorism, and Civilian Self-Defense in Peru

Peru is poised to become the focal point of global efforts to combat the production and transportation of illegal narcotics in South America. Between 2006 and 2011, US agencies provided…

False Shining Path Claims Underline Problems Within Peru Media

A an investigative media outlet in Peru has exposed a Peruvian newspaper for publishing false information regarding ties between the Shining Path rebel group and its political wing, Movadef, raising…

Peru Uncovers Extent of Shining Path Involvement in Political Wing

An investigation into the political wing of Peru's Shining Path has revealed the extensive nature of the imprisoned guerrilla commander Abimael Guzman's involvement in directing the group, as recently arrested…

Wave of Shining Path Attacks Sparks Fears of New Offensive in Peru

The Shining Path guerrillas in Peru have broken months of calm with a series of attacks against military targets, in what could be the beginning of a resurgence or alternatively…

Peru to Undermine Shining Path Finances by Attacking Drug Trade

The government of Peru is launching a sustained offensive against the drug trade that finances the last remaining Shining Path stronghold, the VRAEM, seeking to eradicate drug crops and destroy…

Does Arrest Mark the End of the Shining Path in North Peru?

Authorities in Peru have declared the end of the northern faction of the Shining Path guerrillas after arresting the man believed to be its latest leader, a claim they have…

Peru Arrests Reveal Shining Path's Links to the Drug Trade

Drug traffickers arrested in Peru have cast light on how the Shining Path profits from the drug trade, highlighting the difference between the Peruvian guerrilla group and other Latin American…

‘Camarada Olga’ New Military Leader of Peru’s Shining Path

“Camarada Olga” is apparently the new military commander of the Shining Path guerrillas, the first woman to hold the post, amid questions on the military capacity of the last faction…

Peru's Shining Path Leaders Expected Party not Ambush

The Shining Path leaders killed in a Peruvian security force ambush allegedly thought they were meeting a drug trafficker to party and enjoy prostitutes, but the trafficker had become a…

Peru Security Forces Kill Shining Path No. 2

Peru's security forces have inflicted a blow against the country's Shining Path guerrilla insurgency after killing the rebels' second in command during a skirmish in a southern jungle region.