Political Violence and the Authoritarian State in Peru
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Political Violence and the Authoritarian State in Peru Political Violence and the Authoritarian State in Peru Silencing Civil Society Jo-Marie Burt Palgrave macmillan POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND THE AUTHORITARIAN STATE IN PERU Copyright © Jo-Marie Burt, 2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-0-230-60038-6 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-0-230-62117-6 ISBN 978-1-137-06486-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-06486-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Burt, Jo-Marie. Political violence and the authoritarian state in Peru : silencing civil society / by Jo-Marie Burt. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-22132-4 1. Political violence—Peru. 2. Authoritarianism—Peru. 3. Peru—Politics and government—1980– 4. Civil society—Peru. I. Title. HN350.Z9V513 2007 985.06943—dc22 2007011744 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Transferred to Digital Printing in 2008 To the Lamas-Espejo family Y, sobre todo, a Teresa, César, y Simón CONTENTS List of Figures ix List of Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii List of Acronyms xvii Introduction 1 Part 1 State Formation and State Deformation One The Weak State 25 Two Social Consequences of State Breakdown 41 Three Terror versus Terror 53 Four The Crisis of Organized Politics 69 Part 2 Gray Zones and Guerrillas: Shining Path and the Battle of Lima Five The Iron Belts of Misery 91 Six In the Gray Zones: States of Shining Path 103 Seven The Battle of Villa El Salvador 125 Part 3 State Making against Democracy Eight The Authoritarian Reconstitution of the State 159 Nine Quien Habla es Terrorista: The Politics of Fear 189 Ten The Authoritarian State and the Resurgence of Civil Society 213 Notes 243 Bibliography 261 Index 277 LIST OF FIGURES I.1 Soldiers Patrol Villa El Salvador after 1992 Coup d’état 7 3.1 Terror versus Terror: Soldier and Shining Path Graffiti 65 4.1 Police Repress University Student Protest 84 5.1 Aftermath of a Shining Path Car Bomb in Lima 97 6.1 Soldiers Direct Civic-Action Campaign in Lima Shantytown 120 7.1 María Elena Moyano Leads Protest against Hunger and Violence 126 8.1 The Arrest of Abimael Guzmán 174 9.1 Remembering the Dead of La Cantuta 203 10.1 Students Protest Fraudulent Elections 230 LIST OF TABLES 2.1 Distribution of households according to levels of poverty and lack of basic necessities in Lima, comparison of period between July 1985–July 1986 and June–July 1990 43 2.2 Reported crimes per 1,000 inhabitants, select years 45 3.1 Deaths due to political violence during the Belaúnde administration, 1980–1985 categorized by victims 57 3.2 Number of persons detained and forcibly disappeared by security forces, 1983–1985 57 3.3 Number of deaths and forced disappearances reported to the CVR according to year in which the reported events occurred, 1980–2000 57 3.4 Deaths due to political violence during the García administration, 1986–1990, categorized by victims 64 3.5 Number of persons detained and forcibly disappeared by security forces, 1986–1990 64 3.6 Terrorist attacks, 1980–1991 67 6.1 Popular attitudes toward Shining Path activities in two Lima shantytowns, 1994 109 6.2 Popular attitudes toward Shining Path actions in Lima according to social class, 1992 116 8.1 Macroeconomic Indicators, 1990–1995 164 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Chinese character for the word “person” is made up of two mutually supporting strokes leaning on one another; if one stroke is taken away, the other collapses, symbolizing the interdependence we as human beings share with one another. Nothing more aptly describes the way an author leans on multiple oth- ers in the course of researching and writing a book. Taking credit for sole authorship seems a violation of the myriad kindnesses, collaborations, and friendships that sustained me during this project and were essential to its culmination. Without the many people who assisted me, shared their insights with me, and collaborated in various ways in this project, the book you hold in your hands would simply not exist. My debts are many, because in researching and writing this book I relied not only on the sup- port and encouragement of family, friends, and colleagues, but also on the kindness of strangers, those who without knowing me willingly shared their time and knowledge so that I could better comprehend Peruvian politics. To my joy, many of these strangers are now dear friends. This book is based on field research in Peru that stretches over more than a decade. Extended periods of fieldwork in the early and mid- 1990s were possible thanks to the generous support of the Inter- American Foundation, the Institute for the Study of World Politics, the United States Institute of Peace, and The Aspen Institute. Follow-up visits in 1996, 1997, and 1998 were possible thanks to support from the North American Congress on Latin America, where I worked as edi- tor of NACLA Report on the Americas between 1995 and 2000. Fieldwork conducted for a book project on Peru’s human rights movement by my good friend and fellow peruanista, Coletta Youngers, allowed me to observe firsthand the dramatic social protests that emerged in 2000 to contest the fraudulent electoral process mounted by the Fujimori regime to assure its continuance in power. Further research on civil society and its role in the collapse of the Fujimori regime was con- ducted in the summers of 2001 and 2003 with generous funding from the Department of Public and International Affairs and the Office of the Provost at George Mason University. I also conducted research on the causes and consequences of political violence in Villa El Salvador for the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2002, xiv Acknowledgments which permitted me to carry out follow-up interviews of individuals I had interviewed in 1993–1994 as well as conduct new interviews. That any of this even happened is due to the generosity of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, which awarded me an independent study and travel grant in 1986 that launched my life-long fascination with and love for Peru. Nancy Bekavac, who was director of the foundation during my Watson year, was especially supportive of my project and my process. I am especially grateful to Maurizio Vannicelli, my professor at the College of the Holy Cross, for it was his encouragement that motivated me to apply to the Watson, which—as I am certain he foresaw—would prove to be such a formative experience. His vision, compassion, and concern for all of humanity fundamentally shaped my view of intellectual life as part of a broader struggle for social justice. His presence is sorely missed. At Columbia University my advisor, Douglas Chalmers, was a support- ive and judicious guide as well as tough critic. That I am also able to call him friend is a testament to Doug’s grace and goodwill. I am grateful to Lisa Anderson, Margaret Crahan, Robert Kaufman, and Alfred Stepan, also my intellectual mentors, for their invaluable advice and support during different stages of this project. A special mention is due to Paolo Sérgio Pinheiro, who was a Visiting Tinker Professor at Columbia during my second year of graduate work there, and whose groundbreaking scholarship-activism inspired me and a number of my colleagues to pursue scholarly research on the effects of violence and authoritarianism in Latin America. At the Institute of Latin American and Iberian Studies at Columbia University, Ana María Bejarano, Marc Chernick, Katherine Hite, Rayda Márquez, Scott Martin, Kerianne Piester, Monique Segarra, and Melina Selverston, were exceptional colleagues and friends, and their camaraderie and intelligence continue to inspire me. Several people read parts or all of this manuscript at different stages and provided critical feedback and suggestions to improve it, and I am deeply grateful to each of them: Julio Carrión, Margaret Crahan, Nena Delpino, Lesley Gill, Francisco Gutiérrez, Eric Hershberg, Steve Heydemann, Billie Jean Isbell, Robert Kaufman, Charles Kenney, Nelson Manrique, Philip Mauceri, Cynthia McClintock, J. Patrice McSherry, Luis Pásara, Carlos Reyna, Karen Sosnoski, Steve Stern, Charles Tilly, Carlos Vilas, and Coletta Youngers. I am also indebted to Carlos Iván Degregori, whose writings on Shining Path have been prolific and insightful, for his valu- able comments on earlier versions of the chapters on Shining Path, and to Ariel Armony for stimulating my thinking on civil society. Discussions about Peruvian politics with numerous other colleagues and friends over the years have also helped shape my thinking on many issues addressed in this book and deserve special mention: Alberto Adrianzén, Carlos Basombrío, César Bedoya, Maxwell Cameron, Baltazar Caravedo, Pilar Coll, Ernesto de la Jara, Susan Eckstein, Marcial Godoy- Anativia, José Gonzales, Kevin Goonan, Gustavo Gorriti, Jane Henrici, Josefina Huamán, Robin Kirk, Amy Lind, José López Ricci, Enrique Acknowledgments xv Mayer, Enrique Obando, David Scott Palmer, Ponciano del Pino, Guillermo Rochabrún, Isaías Rojas, Fernando Rospigliosi, Jorge Salazar, Francisco Soberón, Orin Starn, Lucía Vásquez, and Robert Weiner.