Peru- quasi fascist government attacks movadef- Political ideas are terrorism

It would seem logical to assume that political organizations trying to replace the political vacuum left behind as the so called Shining Path guerrillas (actually called the Communist Party of Peru) after they were defeated militarely, would be welcome news.

That’s because it would signal that Maoists are now trying to organize peacefully through the political system. But that is not what is happening in Peru. Their elected president Ollanta Humala seems to have strong fascist tendencies and the US government has encouraged those tendencies. He has relentlessly attacked a group called the Movimiento por Amnistía y Derechos Fundamentales (MOVADEF - The Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights) as if they are a terrorist organizations. The group has been trying to organize as a legal political party, but so far Humala has block that. Last year Humala had more than 30 members of this group arrested on everything from terrorist activity to drug trafficking. The US government has supported these efforts.

Alfredo Crespo Chairman Gonzalo’s (Abimael Guzmán's) lawyer has been arrested once again. He has been arrested before for defending members of the Sendero movement. It appears that defending a client in court is a criminal offense in Peru. That the US is supporting this is no surprise. The US presently assassinates accused leaders of terrorism, without due process or fair trial, through the drone program.

Humala’s government likes to brag that they have defeated the Shining path. But if that is true, why not allow supporters of this group to organize peacefully. That is a logical step after a country has been through a civil war. Humala like to refer to a truth commission appointed by former president Alejandro Toledo blamed the Shining Path for most of the nearly 70,000 deaths the panel ascribed to politically motivated violence during the two decades following the group`s 1980 uprising. It doesn’t take long to see that such a commission could never really be unbaised in such a country as Peru. Peru has been run, as most of South America has been run by a bunch military leaders and dictators. The rule of law has never really followed the ideals of a truly liberal government with actual human rights. The peasants in the country side have suffered mass neglect over the last century and apparently none of that mattered.

According to the Jamestown Foundation website, the government is concerned that young Maoist are actually joining the group. The site said:

“On the ideological front, especially among the young for whom the Shining Path armed struggle is mostly history, MOVADEF’s growing presence on college campuses is rapidly becoming as big a concern as the drug trade.”

In any civilized democracy it would not be illegal to discuss ideas or to work for the release of prisoners whose crimes were politically related.  Peru today is nothing more than a crappy Banana type republic. And we can see that political change against the sacred free market is just not tolerated. 

Also there have been many Maoist groups condemning MOVADEF for a variety of reasons. I think we should hold off and give them a chance before we just condemn them. If the Peruvian government fears them so much, maybe MOVADEF is a good thing.

-សតិវ​អតុ