From Victims to Heroes Peasant Counter-Rebellion and Civil War In
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proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 1 From Victims to Heroes proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 2 proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 3 From Victims to Heroes Peasant counter-rebellion and Civil War in Ayacucho, Peru, 1980-2000 Van slachtoffers naar helden Boerenverzet tegen Lichtend Pad in de Burgeroorlog in Ayacucho, Peru, 1980-2000 (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van Rector Magnificus Prof. Dr W.H. Gispen ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op dinsdag 10 december 2002 des ochtends te 10.30 uur door Mario Antonio Fumerton geboren 15 april 1969 te Manila proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 4 Promotor: Prof. Dr. D. Kruijt Co-promotor: Dr. K. Koonings Fumerton, Mario From Victims to Heroes: Peasant counter-rebellion and civil war in Ayacucho, Peu, 1980-2000 / Mario Fumerton – Amsterdam: Thela Publishers. Also publ. as PhD dissertation Universiteit Utrecht, 2002. – Includes bibliographical references and summary in Dutch. ISBN 90 5170 658 8 NUR 740 1. Peru – politics and government, 1968-2000. 2. Ayacucho (Dept.)—Society— History—Politics and social movements—20th century. 3.Peasantry—Ayacucho (Dept.)—Economic conditions—Responses to War—Resistance—Counter-rebellion— Peasant militias—20th century. 4. Sendero Luminoso/Shining Path (Guerrilla group). 5. War and society—Peru—Insurgency and counterinsurgency—Peruvian Armed Forces—Internal population displacement and refugee returns—20th century. © Mario Fumerton, 2002 Layout: René Hendriks Maps: Rien Rabbers All rights reserved. Save exceptions stated by the law no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system of any nature, or transmitted in any form or by means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, included a complete or partial transcription, without the prior written permission of the publisher, application for which should be addressed to the publisher. Thesis Publishers/Thela Publishers, P.O. Box 14791, 1001 LG, The Netherlands. proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 5 To Jenny and Trystan, and the children of Tambo proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 6 proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 7 Contents Acknowledgements 13 1. Introduction 19 1.1 Significance of the study and its aims 19 1.2 The approach 21 1.3 Methodology 22 1.4 Between rumours and rifles: doing fieldwork in a Peruvian military zone, 1997 24 1.5 Outline of the book 28 1.6 Writing style and presentation 30 2. Shining Path and the Peasantry in the changing context of Ayacucho (1960-1980) 33 2.1 Ayacucho: anachronism and social change 34 2.2 Formation and fragmentation of the Peruvian Maoists and the genesis of Shining Path 37 2.3 The Peruvian peasantry as interpreted by Mariátegui and Guzmán 42 2.4 The revolutionary government of the Armed Forces and its land reform, 48 2.5 Drawing strength from defeat: Shining Path’s political setbacks in the 1970s, 54 2.6 Towards armed struggle, 60 3. Revolutionary war and early counter-rebellion in the department of Ayacucho 73 3.1 Revolutionary war and initial peasant responses to Shining Path: 1980-83 73 3.2 Growing peasant resentment towards Shining Path 77 3.3 Early peasant rebellion against Shining Path in Ayacucho 80 3.4 The army unleashed 85 3.5 “Caught between the wall and the sword”: Tambo district, 1983-1984 88 3.6 Strategic errors and changing patters of political violence 92 3.7 Organisational structure and function of the peasant militias 94 3.8 The creation of Comités de Defensa Civil: consent and resistance 96 3.9 Counterinsurgency advantage lost 98 proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 8 4. The DECAS and the struggle for the Apurímac River Valley (1983-1991) 107 4.1 Migration, colonisation, and class conflict in the Apurímac River Valley 107 4.2 Revolution, repression, and the seeds of counter-rebellion 110 4.3 Guerrilla retreat and the emergence and proliferation of the Montoneras 115 4.4 The role of the Armed Forces in the creation and expansion of the CDCs in the valley 117 4.5 The demographic and economic impact of political violence 118 4.6 Crisis and the counteroffensive of the CDCs 120 4.7 Comandante Huayhuaco 123 4.7.1 Huayhauco’s Strategy and Tactical Innovations 126 4.7.2 Operation Halcón: the initial expedition to the sierra 130 4.7.3 Arms to the Peasantry? 138 4.8 Autonomy and order under the DECAS 142 4.9 DECAS and drug traffickers: an alliance of convenience 144 4.10 The fall of Huayhuaco 146 5. From Selva to Sierra: DECAS expansion and the reorganisation of Tambo district , 1991-1994 153 5.1 The Comandos Especiales 153 5.2 Conditions facilitating the expansion and institutionalisation of civil defence organisations in the zone of emergency 155 5.3 First steps towards the institutionalisation of the civil defence movement in Tambo district 160 5.4 The annihilation of Platoon III 166 5.5 The tactics of the Comandos Especiales 172 5.6 On reconnaissance patrol with auxiliary ronderos of Ccarhuapampa 175 5.7 First capitulation of guerrillas to Comandos Especiales in Tambo district 178 5.8 The ambush of ‘Los Halcones’ 185 5.9 Mausers 186 5.10 The guerrilla attack on Qeqra 190 5.11 Creation of a CAD ‘Zona Urbana’ 192 5.12 Militia-Military relations 196 5.13 Ronderos and policemen: tension and antagonism 205 5.14 The departure of the Comandos Especiales from Tambo district and the guerrilla massacre at Huayao 208 5.15 Shining Path into the 1990s: Crisis and Resilience 213 5.16 The fall of Camarada Benjamin 215 proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 9 6. Comités de Desarrollo: reconstruction and development in the twilight of civil war 225 6.1 The critical turning point in the counterinsurgency struggle 225 6.2 Reconstruction in the midst of violent upheaval 228 6.2.1 Forced dsplacement 228 6.2.2 The desplazado’s life: livelihood crisis and adaptation in a climate of violence and fear 231 6.2.3 Cultural continuity and reconfiguration in the midst of violent upheaval 242 6.2.4 Desplazados return 248 6.3 The significance of the CADs in the process of return and reconstruction 258 6.4 Agents and visions of reconstruction and development 260 6.5 CADs in the process of economic development 268 7. Unexpected endings 275 7.1 The presidential elections of 2000 and the fall of the Fujimori regime 275 7.2 “Informal politics” in a post-violence context 281 7.3 The end of an institution? 289 8. Reflections 293 8.1 Rethinking Shining Path through peasant counter-rebellion 294 8.2 Conceptualising peasant responses to political violence 296 8.2.1 The concept of Resistance 296 8.2.2 Why peasants counter-rebelled 298 8.2.3 How Iquichano peasants counter-rebelled: mobilising for collective action 302 8.2.4 Political Terror, Guerrilla Warfare and Peasant Resistance 304 8.3 Counter-rebellion and Counterinsurgency 307 8.3.1 Three stages of counterinsurgency in Peru 309 8.3.2 The significance of counter-rebellion to counterinsurgency 313 8.4 The shifting configurations of militia-military relations 314 8.5 The challenge of democracy: between civil society and armed actors 320 8.5.1 Democratic reconstruction and armed actors 321 8.5.2 Civil and Uncivil society 323 8.6 Legacy of war and the peasant self-defence experience 327 8.6.1 Political violence, changes and renewal 327 8.6.2 From victims to citizen-heroes 330 proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 10 Abbreviations 337 Appendices 339 Bibliography 345 Summary in Dutch (Samenvatting in het Nederlands) 363 Curriculum Vitae 369 List of illustrations 1. Plaza de Armas of Tambo town, with army base on the hill 26 2. A view of Ccarhuapampa, with its fortified inner enclosure on the high ground 90 3. A Patrulla Especial (“Los Condores”) of Tambo District, 1997 165 4. Army officer supervising distribution of shotgun ammunition to ronderos in Tambo 189 5. Illiterate member of Mothers’ Club with placard at the army-sponsored “Marcha por la Paz y el Desarrollo de Ayacucho,” Huamanga, 29 June 1997 204 6. Market day in Tambo 236 7. Civic Action at Usmay, Tambo District, 1997 262 List of maps and diagram Maps 1. Maps of Peru and the Department of Ayacucho, circa 1990 17 2. District of Tambo, circa 1999 18 3. Apurímac River Valley 108 Diagram 4.1 Deaths Attributed to Political Violence, 1984-1988 121 List of tables 2.1 Distribution of landholdings in south-central sierra and the rest of the country (1961) 49 2.2 Total arable land Department of Ayacucho (1981, 1996) 51 2.3 Total number of rural families Department of Ayacucho (1972, 1981) 51 2.4 Impact of Agrarian Reform Department of Ayacucho (1976) and Peru (1979) 52 proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 11 3.1 Percentage comparison of monolingual Quechua-speakers in valley and puna of Huanta, 1979 82 4.1 Reported Instances of Armed Clashes between Military Patrols and Guerrilla Columns, La Mar Province (1984-1988) 121 4.2 Value of Cocaine Paste in Peru, 1980-1993 (US$/Kg) 144 6.1 Duration of Displacement of Return Population 251 6.2 Internal Refugee Returns, Ayacucho Department, by Province and Districts, as of 1997 253 6.3 Level of Education of Returnees Interviewed by INEI 253 6.4 Modes of Return in Ayacucho, Junín, Apurímac, Huancavelica, Huanuco, and Ancash departments 254 6.5 Deaths caused by Political Violence, according to social category (1989-1998) 260 proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 12 proefschrift mario 12/11/02 10:45 Page 13 Acknowledgements This research project was made possible through the generous funding of the University of Utrecht’s Department of Cultural Anthropology, and the CERES research school.