09.01.1997

Mission impossible in Peru

Dramatic images from Peru have hit the news over the Christmas period. The seizure of the Japanese ambassador’s residence in Lima by 22 leftwing guerrillas has shocked what the bourgeois media like to term ‘international opinion’. It has also severely dented the ‘tough guy’ image of the regime of Alberto Fujimori - ‘Hang on, weren’t you supposed to have dealt with all this sort of stuff?’. The guerrilla’s named the raid “operation breaking silence”, and you can see why, given the daring and well executed nature of the seizure.

Inevitably, as the occupations drags on there has been a steady haemorrhaging of the number of hostages held captive by the guerrillas. After initially seizing over 400 hostages - Peruvian ministers, foreign diplomats, Japanese businessmen and other dignitaries - the guerrillas are currently left with 74 captives. Even though the Fujimori regime has so far backed away from a military ‘solution’, there is still the fear that he might eventually lose his patience and Lima might end up the site of a bloodbath - he has not hesitated to use terror against opponents during his reign.

The guerrillas belong to the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) - originally the armed wing of the Castroite Peoples Democratic Union - and seen by some as a ‘rival’ to the much larger Maoist Shining Path. Tupac Amaru was the name of an Inca chief who resisted the Spanish conquistadores but was executed in 1572. But the guerrilla group took the name from a later fighter, Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, who used the nom de guerre Tupac Amaru II and was executed in 1781 for leading an unsuccessful revolt against the Spaniards. The MRTA carried out first attacks in 1984, two years after the emergence of the Shining Path. By all accounts its membership has never risen above the 1000 mark, in contrast to the 10000 or more members of the Shining Path. The MRTA’s core consists of students and farmers in Peru’s northern jungle. By the end of the 1980s over 500 MRTA members were in jail. The main demand of the guerrillas is the release of these prisoners, especially their leader, Victor Polay. 

Communists salute the undoubted heroism of the MRTA guerrillas. The leader of the occupation, Nestor Cerpa Cartolini, certainly has a flair for publicity and near theatrical media ‘stunts’. We are not opposed to such actions on principle. They can be effective or useful, but only under certain circumstances - ie, when there is a mass movement behind you. Unfortunate though it may be, the MRTA does not find itself in this situation. It is a very small and isolated organisation, which has no base - or roots - in the masses. In this light, the seizure in Lima takes on more the appearance of a desperate suicide mission than a conscious political action. All the MRTA have done is highlight their fundamental powerlessness.

We sincerely hope the MRTA comrades do not end giving up their lives in vain. The future mass party in Peru will need such comrades.

Paul Greenaway