State needs to increase presence in isolated regions, Humala says

Peru’s government needs to establish a stronger state presence in isolated regions in the country’s Andean highlands and Amazon basin in order to prevent an increase in social tensions and violence, the head of Peru’s Nationalist Party, Ollanta Humala, told Ideele radio. Humala, who lost narrowly to President Alan Garcia in the 2006 runoff election,  [...]

Defense Minister: New equipment will allow military to defeat drug traffickers in VRAE

Peru’s purchase of modern military equipment will allow the country’s Armed Forces to defeat drug traffickers in the isolated coca growing areas that cover the Apurímac and Ene river valley’s, known as the VRAE, Defense Minister Rafael Rey told state news agency Andina. Rey said that for a long time the armed forces had older [...]

Defense Minister: Peru and Colombia intelligence agencies share information on ties between rebel groups

Peruvian and Colombian intelligence agencies have cooperated closely by sharing information on an alleged relation between Colombia’s leftist FARC rebels and remnants of the Shining Path insurgency in Peru, Defense Minister Rafael Rey said Monday. “We work with Colombia in a very efficient manner and I want to thank them for the services they provide [...]

Peru mental health specialists provide treatment for children of political violence

A team of mental health professionals from the National Institute of Child Health began a campaign Monday to provide support for youth who have experienced trauma originating from Peru’s armed conflict from 1980 – 2000 in the department of Ayacucho, located in the country’s south-central Andes. The health experts will provide counseling to 1,250 children [...]

One soldier killed and another wounded during attack on military base

Peru’s Joint Command of the Armed Forces says one soldier was killed and another wounded when Shining Path guerrillas attacked a military counter-terrorist base Friday morning in the country’s isolated Apurímac and Ene River Valleys, or VRAE. According to Radio Programas Peru, the rebel group used long range weapons to attack the Bajo Somabeni base [...]

Fifteen suspected Shining Path rebels arrested; Peruvian officer killed

Fifteen suspected Shining Path guerrillas were arrested Monday after a confrontation with Peru’s military that killed one officer and left another wounded in the country’s isolated Apurímac and Ene River Valleys, or VRAE.

Peru army and navy continue with war memorial plans

Retired military and their supporters are going ahead with plans to build a monument to the ‘Defenders of Democracy’, in honor of those who fought against Sendero Luminoso and the MRTA rebels during the 20 years of internal war (1980-2000).   The monument is planned to be ‘complementary’ to the Museum of the Memory, according [...]

Peru forensic team finds bodies of 25 children killed in Ayacucho during internal war

A forensic team last week in Ayacucho unearthed the bodies of 25 schoolchildren and five adults, buried 26 years ago in three mass graves in the village of Umasi, nine hours south of the city of Huamanga, Ayacucho. The exhumation was ordered by the Ayacucho sub-provincial criminal court, acting on testimonies from five witnesses who [...]

Lawyer for jailed Shining Path founder charged with “apology for terrorism” over book announcement

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.

Shining Path rebels attack military base in VRAE, two soldiers left wounded

At least two soldiers were wounded Monday in an attack apparently led by Shining Path guerrillas against a counterinsurgency military base in Peru’s isolated Apurímac and Ene River Valleys, or VRAE. According to daily El Comercio, an undetermined number of guerrillas positioned in the surrounding hills opened fired on the military base at approximately 8:00 [...]

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