Policy Recommendation

With the violence of Shining Path rebels beginning heavily in the 1980s, there was an immediate government and heavy military response within the country to the group.  The large death toll that followed was not only a result of Shining Path rebels themselves, but the policy response of the Peruvian army to the insurgency.  The policy response was heavily criticized by international organizations, citing human rights abuses in the army’s fight against Shining Path rebels that included torture, rape, and massacres.[1]  Policy response to Shining Path was a priority for Alberto Fujimori when he was elected president in 1990; he suspected the Constitution and instituted military rule to try and eradicate Shining Path.  Those who were suspected guerrillas were tried before military tribunals, with Guzman being captured and sentenced to life in prison in 1992.  After the Peruvian government carried out its policy options in an immediate response to Shining Path the group was essentially eradicated.  However in 2002 a Truth and Reconciliation was set up to address the suspected human rights abuses that took place during the war against Shining Path.  It’s believed roughly 70,000 individuals were murdered during the fighting, with $800 million dollars being paid as compensation for victims.[2]

           Though Shining Path is nowhere near the guerrilla force and threat is was in the 1980s and 1990s, the government is still struggling to deal with what remains of its forces, specifically the active southern faction.  The Peruvian government does not wish to scale back its security forces and operations in the Alto Huallaga region where the Camisea pipeline is located.  They are afraid that scaling back operations would send the message to the remaining fighters, and to the Peruvian people, that the government does not have the ability to contain Shining Path or adequately protect individuals.  The current defense ministry’s strategy is to put in place 10 new security bases in the Apurimac and Ene River Valley region where Shining Path territory is located.[3]  Though there currently is no U.S. government policy response to the narco-terrorism trade Shining Path is partaking in, suggestions have been made to develop a response similar to the programs put in place to fight FARC and the Mexican drug cartels.[4]

[1] UMass Article

[2] ibid

[3] Stratfor

[4] Heritage