Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

By any reckoning, the 1980–92 war between the Partido Comunista del Perú-Sendero Luminoso (PCP-SL) and the armed forces marked a radical transformation in the country's political landscape. Set against the transition to an electoral democratic regime after 12 years of military government, the rapid urbanization of the country and rising popular expectations favored the expansion of the left. By the mid-1980s the left-wing coalition of the Izquierda Unida (United Left, IU) was the second largest electoral force. Labor unions, peasant federations, shantytown dwellers' associations, women's collectives, and students' organizations gave life to a powerful and expanding grassroots movement. The parallel escalation of the armed conflict at the same time created the conditions for the normalization and incorporation of counterinsurgency principles and mechanisms into the new governance demanded by the neoliberal reconfiguration of the Peruvian state and society in course during that same decade. A perverse combination of counterinsurgency doctrine, coastal criollo racism, and disdain for human rights characterized the escalating militarization of Peruvian society during this fateful decade. Starting with the administration of Fernando Belaunde de Terry (1980–5) – the first president after 12 years of military government – each of the next democratically elected presidents gave an increasingly ... log in or subscribe to read full text