ASSIGNMENT 11: MODERN

LATIN AMERICA

Death In The Andes (Novel)And

Paloma de Papel  (Film)

By: Amanda Garibay in History 141(31644)

THE 17-YEAR INCUBATION PERIOD

During the 17-year incubation period, Sendero established a network of supporters and guerilla fighters in relatively secluded areas.

Beginning in 1980, the movement launched attacks on areas of agricultural production in the central Andes, the Upper Huallaga Valley (UHV), and the southern department of Puno, in an attempt to sever urban areas from their sustenance in Peru’s periphery. In the process, the group ousted or murdered local government officials and assumed their functions.

This gives you an idea of why Mario Vargas llosa called his novel“Death In The Andes”

THE GUERILLA MOVEMENT

The Guerilla movement seriously challenged the Peruvian government

throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, and which is mentioned in the novel.

Two major competing groups have historically perpetrated most of the threat. In its heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the larger Sendero Luminoso (SL), or “Shining Path,” once possessed a formidable force of roughly 5,000 guerillas.

The Guerilla Movement consisted of:

harassment and terrorizing peasants

car bombings fiestas Drinking And much more

unpleasant activities were involved.

TUPAC AMARU REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT (MRTA)

In sharp contrast, the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) of that era maintained a mere force of 100 to 150 fighters. Owing mostly to desertions and counterterrorist measures by the Peruvian government, the numbers of both have declined drastically over the last 10 years.

The U.S. State Department now estimates the Sendero’s numbers to be around 200, though recent developments have prompted fears of the group’s resurgence.

THE FILM, “PALOMA DE

PAPEL”

“Set in the Peruvian Andes during the chaotic 1980s, this tense drama follows a group of paramilitary guerillas trying to survive in the midst of a bloody civil war. It's the incredible (and incredibly frightening) coming-of-age story of a youngster named Juan (Antonio Callirgos) who struggles to survive poverty, corruption and violence when Shining Path guerrillas sweep through his town and forcibly recruit him into their ranks.”

TERRORISM AND

VIOLENCE

Terrucos: Terrorists

In 1981 terrorism attacks intensified. The government orders the military to restore order. 1982 state of emergency is declared. Army take control of Ayacucho. The military used this power extremely heavy-handedly, arresting scores of innocent people, at times subjecting them to torture and rape. In several massacres, the military wiped out entire villages. Military personnel took to wearing black ski-masks to hide their identity as they committed these crimes.

The Shining Path start wearing civilian clothes to blend in with the rural communities. The Military torture the poor for information. Slaughter and disapperances are widespread in the rural communities with attrocities on both sides, the poor are stuck in the middle. Lima tolerates this brutality from a distance.

RONDAS

Ronderos: Village self-defense group

Faced with a hostile population, the guerrilla war began to falter. In some areas, peasants formed anti-Shining Path patrols, called rondas. They were

generally poorly-equipped despite donations of guns from the armed forces. In March 1983, rondas brutally killed Olegario Curitomay, one of the

commanders of the town of Lucanamarca. They took him to the town square, stoned him, stabbed him, set him on fire, and finally shot him.