I was surprised to learn, while here in Peru, that the number of people "disappeared" in this country during the war between Abimael Guzmán´s "Shining Path" guerilla/terrorist organisation and the state during the 1980s and 1990s eclipses the total number of victims of Chile´s traitor - Pinochet - and the Argentine Dirty War, put together. Around 70,000 people are said by the Peruvian Commission for Truth and Reconciliation to have been killed, with about 15,000 bodies still missing according to EPAF and most of the victims said to be from the Ayacucho region in the Andes (where "Sendero Luminoso" or the Shining Path began). The events of the two decades are still being investigated and of course ex-president Alberto Fujimori is in jail for his part in ordering state organisations to disappear people alleged to be Shining Path members or sympathisers.
Today, disappearances in the Peruvian Andes hit the world news for another reason, when a gang were arrested in the possession of human fat. They have admitted to killing at least 5 people in order to sell the product through Italians to the cosmetics industry. I thought immediately of “Fight Club”, Chuck Palahniuk´s brilliant novel on American masculinity. However, it was claimed that their gang took their name – Los Pishtacos – from an Andean myth about a group of white foreigners who attacked people during the night to make soap and beauty creams from their fat. So, maybe Chuck Palahniuk looked south for his inspiration.
The evidence of the depth of political conflict in Peru abounds. As soon as we crossed the border – even before we had got to the first town, Tacna – I was surprised by “Fujimori innocent” slogans and even more by painted “Fujimori 2011” campaign propaganda. I know very little about Peruvian politics but was aware that six weeks previously ex-president Alberto Fujimori had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for being the intellectual author of “dirty war” killings in the early 1990s. This, after all, was a fantastic victory for human rights given the number of Latin American “strong men” who have escaped justice for their crimes. True, the number of dead or disappeared he was accused of being responsible for was tiny in comparison to the military regimes in Argentina or Chile during the 1970s and 1980s, but – after all – murder is murder.
The campaign material turned out to be for the daughter of murderer Fujimori, Keiko. She has vowed to pardon her father if elected in two years and is currently looking likely to be able to do just that. Perhaps surprisingly, it is the rural “have nots” of the divided country that still support “chino” Fujimori. (Despite his surname being obviously Japanese (second-generation Nihonjins exist in relatively large numbers in Brazil and Peru, though there are twenty times as many in the Portugese-speaking nation), the nickname of the ex-president apparently plays on the idea of thrifty, hard-working chinese restaurant chefs.) This may be because the Shining Path guerilla group that Fujimori´s government went after so violently was more of a threat in the countryside.
It is the jungle where the contemporary murder is happening though. Just a few days before I arrived, President Alan Garcia had ordered the violent repression of an indigenous blockade in the north of the country. Between 50 and 150 people had died as a result, including about 25 policemen. There were reports that the bodies of some Amazonians (protesting Law 1090, which allows the exploitation of their traditional lands without adequate compensation) had been burned or carried away by security forces intent on hiding the extent of the massacre. This DOES sound like the continent in the 1970s.
In Arequipa, hand-written posters adorn the gates and fence of the cathedral. They tell of solidarity with the people of La Selva (the lowland Amazonian regions) and the desire for peace. There is also a clear line in references to Garcia as a thief and a murderer. He had Shining Path blood on his hands in his stint as president before Fujimori, and now has that of Amazonian Awajun and Aguarunas too. His prosecution should not be too far off.
As the president blamed outside forces (read Bolivia and Venezuela), nationwide protests were organised and today I went to the rally in the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa. Thousands turned out to show their support, demanding a new constitution, a new president, and the repeal of 1090, which – to allow more dialogue - was suspended by the Congress for 90 days last night. I spoke to a guy who said he worked in construction but sounded well-educated and even broke into English. He expressed the fear that the suspension was just a lull before the storm whilst also seeming positive that real change could occur.
I am left doubting that this divided society is going to be healed anytime soon. Despite the hopes of the protesters today, Garcia seems likely to see out his term and that could mean the death of more indigenous people as well as the beginning of the loss of their land and rights such as clean air and water. Come 2011, it currently looks less probable that Peru will be part of the socialist-indigenous South American bloc, and more probable that it will be re-visiting past fights.
