Civilian Resistance During Internal Armed Conflict in Peru
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Between Two Fires: Civilian Resistance during Internal Armed Conflict in Peru Steven T. Zech A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2016 Reading Committee: Jonathan Mercer, Chair Elizabeth Kier José Antonio Lucero Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Department of Political Science ©Copyright 2016 Steven T. Zech University of Washington Abstract Between Two Fires: Civilian Resistance during Internal Armed Conflict in Peru Steven T. Zech Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Jonathan Mercer Department of Political Science Research on internal armed conflict focuses on violence perpetrated by insurgent groups and state security forces, often ignoring other armed civilian actors. However, militias, paramilitary groups, and civilian self-defense forces represent important third parties in most armed conflicts including Mexico, Nigeria, Iraq, and elsewhere. Peruvian civilian self-defense forces played a crucial role in defeating the insurgent threat challenging the state during the 1980s and 1990s. Why did some communities organize self-defense while others facing similar situations did not? I argue that how communities address the tension between their ideas about violence and their own use of violence is key to understanding violent action. Community narratives interpret events and define inter-group relations: narratives that legitimize violence makes violence more likely. The form this resistance takes—whether large-scale mobilization or disorganized i individual acts—depends on a community’s institutional capacity to generate and sustain collective action. I test my argument against realist and rationalist arguments that emphasize power, threat, and opportunism. I use a mixed-methods approach that combines a quantitative analysis of regional violence with historical and contemporary community case studies in the Ayacucho region of Peru. I draw from hundreds of testimonies in the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission archives, as well as nearly two hundred personal interviews with self-defense force members, community leaders, military officials, and civilians. I also accompanied contemporary self-defense forces on patrol in remote mountain and jungle communities to evaluate hypothesized social processes from my argument. This research has important theoretical and policy implications. I demonstrate the power of community narratives and the causal role of ideas and identities. Understanding the processes driving violent action will provide policymakers with additional tools to manage or prevent it. Armed civilians play a crucial role during most armed conflicts. Peruvian civilian self-defense forces varied in their origins, behavior, levels of support they received from the military, and their post-conflict trajectory. The Peruvian case provides a unique opportunity for policymakers to learn from successes and failures when civilians organize to combat security threats. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A dissertation is never a solo project. I would like to thank my committee, friends, and family for their continuous and unwavering support. Jon Mercer, Beth Kier, Tony Lucero, and María Elena García provided exceptional guidance throughout my time at the University of Washington. Jon’s phenomenal mentorship and the entire committee’s direction helped me to become the scholar that I wanted to be. I would like to thank numerous graduate student colleagues. Yoav Duman, Josh Eastin, Javier Crespan, Ben Gonzalez, Emily Gade, Stephan Hamberg, Will Murg, and so many others helped to create a wonderful intellectual environment and made graduate life more enjoyable. I also want to express my gratitude to colleagues at the University of Denver who provided additional feedback on this project, including Ollie Kaplan, Cassy Dorff, Devin Finn, Debbi Avant, Erica Chenoweth, Marie Berry, Jill Schmieder Hereau, and others at the Sie Center. I want to thank my parents, Tom and Marcy, whose unconditional love and encouragement kept me going. And finally, I would like to thank all the people who shared their stories with me in Peru. I will never be able to repay the debt I owe to those who placed their trust in me and I hope I do their experiences justice. I want to give special thanks to Henry Perez without whose assistance this research would have been infinitely more challenging. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to the people of Peru. Despite the unimaginable loss and suffering experienced by so many, I am inspired by those who refuse to forget and stand resolute in their pursuit of truth and justice. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i Acknowledgements iii Dedication iv List of Figures viii List of Tables ix Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Outcomes of “civilian resistance” 3 Internal armed conflict and civilian resistance in Peru 9 Revolutionary violence 11 The state response 14 Civilian resistance 16 Chapter outline 20 Chapter 2. Explaining Civilian Resistance during Internal Armed Conflict 23 Theoretical framework 23 Broader analytical approaches 23 A “narrative turn” in political science 25 Explaining civilian resistance during internal armed conflict 30 Realist and rationalist explanations for civilian resistance 30 Narratives, community capacity, and civilian resistance 35 Data and methods 41 Data 42 Methods 46 v Testing realist and rationalist arguments 48 Testing a narratives and community capacity argument 52 Chapter 3. Armed Conflict and Civilian Resistance in the Ayacucho Region 59 The Ayacucho region 59 Violence in Ayacucho 62 Sendero Luminoso 67 Sendero Luminoso strategy and violence 67 Sendero Luminoso ideology and beliefs 68 The state security forces 72 The civilian population 78 Threat, insecurity, and civilian pragmatism 80 Broader regional narratives: Interpreting events and defining 87 relationships Chapter 4. Armed Conflict in the Central Highlands 110 Uchuraccay 111 Civilian resistance in Uchuraccay 114 Communities near Huanta 137 Civilian resistance in Maynay 142 Civilian resistance in Quinrapa 158 Communities in Iguaín 175 Civilian resistance in Macachacra and Villa Florida 176 Contemporary community self-defense forces 192 Civilian resistance in contemporary Huanta 194 Chapter 5. Armed Conflict and Civilian Resistance in the VRAEM 207 vi Ayacucho: Communities in the VRAEM 207 Anchihuay and Pichiwilca 212 Civilian resistance in Anchihuay and Pichiwilca 213 Santa Rosa 234 Civilian resistance in Santa Rosa 236 Sivia 250 Civilian resistance in Sivia 254 Llochegua and Villa Mejorada 263 Civilian resistance in Llochegua and Villa Mejorada 263 Contemporary community self-defense forces 278 Chapter 6. Conclusion 282 Theoretical contributions 284 Ideas, identities, and a framework for human action 285 Generalizability 288 Portability and policy implications 289 Portability 290 Policy implications 292 Future research 294 In search of a concept: Security institutions 295 Methodological advances 297 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Map of Peru indicating the regional focus of my study 47 Figure 3.1 Number of deaths and disappearances reported to the CVR and 65 number of districts where the events occurred between 1980 and 2000 at the district level in Peru by year Figure 3.2 Number of violent incidents perpetrated by armed civilians, state 81 security forces, and militant actors in Ayacucho by year between 1980 and 2000 Figure 4.1 Map of the mountainous region near Huanta 140 Figure 6.1 Framework to explain action in social situations 286 Figure 6.2 Hypothesized relationship between security institutions and war 296 recurrence viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Narratives, Capacity, and Civilian Resistance 7 Table 2.1 Narratives, Capacity, and Civilian Resistance 40 Table 3.1 Armed civilian, militant, and state security force violence in 83 Ayacucho at the provincial level by year between 1980 and 2000 Table 3.2 Armed civilian, militant, and state security force violence in 84 Ayacucho for select districts in Huanta and La Mar provinces by year between 1980 and 2000 Table 3.3 Percentages of Catholics and evangelical Christians in Ayacucho for 93 select districts in the Huanta and La Mar provinces, 1981 and 1993 Table 4.1 Narratives, community capacity, and civilian resistance outcomes in 115 Uchuraccay 1980-2000 Table 4.2 Narratives, community capacity, and civilian resistance outcomes in 144 Maynay 1980-2000 Table 4.3 Narratives, community capacity, and civilian resistance outcomes in 161 Quinrapa 1980-2000 Table 4.4 Armed civilian, militant, and state security force violence in the Huanta 161 district by year between 1980 and 2000 Table 4.5 Armed civilian, militant, and state security force violence in the Iguaín 179 district by year between 1980 and 2000 Table 4.6 Reported incidents of crime in the Ayacucho region between 2006 and 196 2014 Table 5.1 Narratives, community capacity, and civilian resistance outcomes in 217 Anchihuay and Pichiwilca 1980-2000 Table 5.2 Armed civilian, militant, and state security force violence in the Anco 219 district by year between 1980 and 2000 Table 5.3 Narratives, community capacity, and civilian resistance outcomes in 239 Santa Rosa 1980-2000 Table 5.4 Armed civilian, militant, and state security force violence in the Santa 241 Rosa district by year between 1980 and 2000 ix Table 5.5 Narratives, community capacity, and civilian resistance outcomes in 255 Sivia 1980-2000 Table 5.6 Armed civilian, militant, and state security force violence in the Sivia 256 district by year between 1980 and 2000 Table