History - Peru - page 1030

INTERNAL CONFLICT

Peru returned to civilian rule in 1980, when President Fernando Belaúnde Terry was elec-
ted to office - the first election in which leftist parties were allowed to participate - includ-
ing APRA, which was now legal. Belaúnde's term was anything but smooth. Agrarian and
other social reforms took a back seat as the president tried desperately to jump-start the
moribund economy.

It was at this time that a radical Maoist group
from the poor region of Ayacucho began its un-
precedented rise. Founded by philosophy pro-
fessor Abimael Guzmán, Sendero Luminoso
(Shining Path) wanted nothing less than an
overthrow of the social order via violent armed
struggle. Over the next two decades, the situ-
ation escalated into a phantasmagoria of violen-
ce, with the group assassinating political leaders
and community activists, carrying out attacks on
police stations and universities and, at one point, stringing up dead dogs all over downtown
Lima. (Its actions earned the group a place on the US State Department's list of foreign ter-
rorist organizations.) At the same time, another leftist guerilla group also sprang into action
- the Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (MRTA), which focused its attacks to the
police and the armed forces.
To quell the violence, the government sent in the military, a heavy-handed outfit that
knew little about handling a guerilla insurgency. There was torture, rape, disappearances
and massacres, none of which did anything to put a stop to Sendero Luminoso. Caught in
the middle were tens of thousands of poor campesinos who bore the brunt of the casualties.
In the midst of this, Alan García was elected to the presidency in 1985. Initially, his as-
cent generated a great deal of hope. He was young, he was a gifted public speaker, he was
popular - and he was the first member of the storied APRA party to win a presidential elec-
tion. But his economic program was catastrophic (his decision to nationalize the banks and
suspend foreign-debt payments led to economic ruin), and, by the late 1980s, Peru faced a
staggering hyperinflation rate of 7500%. Thousands of people were plunged into poverty.
There were food shortages and riots. Throughout all of this, Sendero Luminoso and MRTA
stepped up attacks. The government was forced to declare a state of emergency.
Two years after completing his term, García fled the country after being accused of em-
bezzling millions of dollars. He would return to Peru in 2001, when the statute of limita-
tions on his case finally ran out.

Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin Amer-
ica's Soul is an acclaimed (if dense) political tome
by Economist contributor Michael Reid. Published
in 2009, it examines the continent's strained rela-
tions with the US and Europe, as well as its eco-
nomic and political development in the last three
decades.