Days after the announcement that a book of manuscripts written by Abimael Guzman – the principal architect and strategist of Peru’s Maoist Shining Path guerrilla – would soon be published, Peru filed apology for terrorism charges against Guzman, his lover and Shining Path’s second-in-command Elena Iparraguirre, as well as his editor and lawyer.
“As an editor, I have simply tried to publish someone who has written a book,” said Walter Villanueva Azaña in comments to Canal N.
Azaña, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1995 for taking part in a strike and an attack on various policemen that were guarding Lima’s San Marcos University, was allegedly paid 545 soles, or $181, by by Iparraguirre to edit Guzman’s manuscripts into a book.
Peru Justice Minister Aurelio Pastor said Sunday evening that he was determined to find out how the publication of the 408-page book was financed, as well as how the manuscripts were taken out of Guzman’s cell.
The book, titled “De puño y letra,” includes details about the defense strategy Guzman employed during his 2006 retrial, his correspondence with Iparraguire, and aspects of his childhood, such as his desire to join the military. It is scheduled to be published on Sept. 12 2009, which coincides with the 17th anniversary of the Guzman’s capture.
Guzman, a 74-year old former philosophy professor, was captured by police in a luxurious upper-class Lima residence in 1992, and later exhibited publicly in a cage with a black and white striped uniform. He was then swiftly sentenced to life in prison by hooded military judges under provisions of the anti-terrorism laws that did not allow defense attorneys access to evidence or cross examination. The laws were adopted by jailed former president Alberto Fujimori’s government.
Later, in 2003, more than 5,000 individuals presented an appeal to Peru’s Constitutional Court, requesting that the verdicts against more than 1800 other prisoners convicted of terrorism, including Guzman, be voided. The Court agreed, striking down Fujimori’s anti-terrorism laws as unconstitutional.
In 2006, Guzman and Iparraguirre were again sentenced to life in prison, this time by a civilian court, and were placed in the separate prisons.
According to Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 54 percent of all deaths in Peru’s two decade-long conflict were caused by the Maoist Shining Path insurgency. Peru’s armed forces were blamed for 30 percent, and most of the rest by government-backed peasant militias.
If Peru’s conflict with the Shining Path guerrillas had been largely dormant since the once 10,000-strong Maoist rebel group crumbled in 1992, after the group’s leader and founder was arrested, recent attacks have claimed the lives of more than 20 police and soldiers. This rising death toll is largely attributed to a fresh offensive by the Peruvian military, launched last August by Peru President Alan García.
Crespo has tried to distance Guzman from the recent guerrilla attacks in Peru’s coca-growing regions, arguing that his client has repeatedly called for peace with the Peruvian government and that Shining Path remnants have set their own agenda.
Currently, the only high-profile Shining Path guerrilla leader not imprisoned is known as “Comrade Artemio.” He operates the Proseguir, or “to continue” group’s remaining 200-300 insurgents in Peru’s central jungle region.
