Sendero Luminoso in the New Millennium: Comrades, Cocaine and Counter-Insurgency on the Peruvian Frontier

Abstract

During the 1980s and until the mid-1990s, Peru experienced one of the bloodiest conflicts in contemporary Latin America, initiated by the armed insurrection launched by the Partido Comunista del Perú – Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). Most guerrilla activity, armed confrontations and civilian fatalities occurred in Andean rural districts. The intensity of violence declined following the detention of PCP-SL General Secretary Abimael Guzmán and other leading cadres in 1992–3, which resulted in the dismantling of a substantial component of the organization's military apparatus and support networks. This paper examines how surviving PCP-SL militants attempted to regroup and respond strategically and tactically to such a devastating setback, focusing on its dealings with the civilian population, particularly coca-producing smallholders. Counter-insurgency measures pursued by the Peruvian state are also analysed. The paper concludes with an assessment of the current disposition of guerrilla – rural population – state relations in the main areas of conflict.