Media against terrorism in the Peruvian Andes

For many decades, Latin American countries were characterized by the presence of authoritarian regimes together with the absence of democracy and national and local development. At the same time, the pressure of foreign debt increased a general crisis in the continent generating social and economic instability. In that context, governments saw that control of the media at the national level was decisive in promoting their policies and persuading people to accept their regimes. But, local media, especially community radio, were important to promoting the development of communities in different countries.

In Peru, the dictatorship was in place for more than 10 years (1968-80). In 1980 democracy returned to the country with the government of Fernando Belaunde. However, the political, economic and social crisis resulted in the beginning of radical movements with terrorist activities during the next three governmental periods: Fernando Belaunde (1980-85), Alan García (1985-90) and Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000).

Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru revolutionary movements

Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) was a terrorist organization based on a Maoist, Marxist and Leninist ideology. It started its activities in 1982 with the idea of destroying the ‘capitalist and bureaucratic Peruvian State’. The leader was Abimael Guzmán Reinoso (Uceda, 2004: 13). Shining Path established its principal base in Ayacucho, one of the poorest provinces in the country. From there, they began a ‘popular war’ against the State. For this movement, poor peasants were the most important source of power for its revolution. It expanded into and imposed its ideology in remote areas trying to persuade communities to support it (Figueroa, 1996: 139).

In the same way, another radical organization called the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) started its terrorist activities in 1984 with sabotages and executions in the country. This group was led by Victor Polay Campos with the aim of destroying and changing the bureaucratic government (Uceda, 2004: 149).

The presence of these two terrorist movements led to a national crisis in Peru. For almost 20 years, Peruvians lived a time of fear when attacks could happen anytime and anywhere. The presence of these movements signified an oppressive and difficult period for improving the process of democracy and development.

Terrorism in the Andes, the case of Ayacucho and Puno

Terrorism in Peru affected the whole country. However, much of the armed conflict was focused in rural areas. Two of the most affected places were Ayacucho in the midst of the Peruvian Andes and Puno in the southern region.

As Ayacucho was the original place in which Shining Path started its actions, this region was one of the most affected by terrorism. Terrorists wanted to control the area in order to form a territorial army with local people. Peasants put up resistance to Shining Path and many were killed. On the other hand, the Peruvian Government through the Military Intelligence Service sent its military forces to Ayacucho to stop Shining Path. In this process, many innocent people were tortured and executed by the military forces on suspicion of terrorism. It was a time in which Shining Path and military forces represented a menace to the people, especially in the local communities. For them, people from these places could be considered as part of the army or the radical movements. In both cases, violence was always present. Lack of interest by the government in offering security and protection to society created a condition of permanent uncertainty.

Another important place where terrorism affected communities tremendously was the south of Peru, in the region of Puno at 4000 metres of altitude. Here, Shining Path established its forces during 1982 in many provinces and villages. These places gave them the possibility of gaining access to important areas of Bolivia, the centre of Peru and the rain forest (Figueroa, 1996: 139). Also they promoted its doctrines and ideas to peasants and young people from the communities offering control of the land with the success of the popular war.

During 1983 to 1986 alone, terrorists made 153 attacks in the region of Puno, most of them on police stations, banks, power stations, local communities, media infrastructure and governmental offices (Figueroa, 1996: 140). Shining Path tried to promote the militarization of communities in the region of Puno in order to fight against the military forces of the government. That is why the government started to increase its presence in this region (Figueroa, 1996: 141).

In that context, even the Catholic Church in the region, the Iglesia del Surandino, suffered many attacks from terrorists and military forces because they identified with the interess of local people. But, for the government, the church was considered an enemy that protected terrorists (Figueroa, 1996: 143). That is why the presence of Catholic and Protestant Church through community radio stations in the middle of the war was decisive in protecting innocent people. But, for the government, the idea of respect for human rights was associated with the protection of terrorists. With that view, military groups from the government attacked the local media in Puno whose main purpose was promoting of the interests of the local people and denouncing the crimes of Shining Path, Tupac Amaru and the Government (Figueroa, 1996: 146).

By 1986 the Shining Path was focusing its attacks on the capital, Lima. That year 502 of 1082 terrorist attacks were carried out in Lima, destroying banks, public administration offices, and residential areas (Uceda, 2004: 149). There were 8103 terrorist attacks during the period 1980-85 and 9438 in 1985-90 throughout the country (Tamariz, 2001: 87).

Role of local media

In that very adverse context, local media were very important to organize people, churches and other civil organizations in order to encourage defence of human rights and respect for life. But, this was not an easy job. By the time terrorism was in place, most national radio and TV stations were commercial and devoted more than one third of their airtime to commercials. In the case of television, two-thirds of all television programming was imported, most of it soap operas from other Latin American countries and shows from the United States.

From this point of view, national radio and television did not represent the alternative that people could rely on to claim their rights. The media of that time were widely regarded as the wrong alternative for national development and considered to be at the service of the urban elite (Stevenson, 1988: 70). In the case of national newspapers, just a few were oriented to the defence of civil society through investigative journalism. The majority of them were concentrated in the hands of a few conglomerates that also exerted influence in economics and politics. That was media scenario in Peru, but it was also happening in many Latin American countries. Many media took a commercial approach and their objective was profit, not service. Their content was only marginally useful to the average citizen (White, 1994: 43).

For that reason, local media had an important role to play in times of terrorism and it was led by community radio stations. They were the only medium in which people could participate with freedom of expression, trying to organize themselves in defence of their interest and rights.
For years, private, commercial, church, university, trade union and indigenous people’s radio stations have combined to make the region’s radio the most dynamic and diverse (Girard, 1992: 8). In Latin America the view of alternative media was oriented by the struggle of these radios against dictatorship governments and military regimes. Community radios struggled against these anti-democratic governments, promoting social justice and becaming ‘alternative media’ that promoted pluralism and democratization (González, 1996: 50).

In Peru, during the period of Alan García (1985-90), the media were subject to several terrorist attacks in different regions. These attacks were carried out by the government through its military groups with the mission of silencing media that fomented opposition to the government. At the same time, terrorist groups also increased and oriented their attacks on these stations. Despite this situation, many radios continued working and criticizing the oppressive government and the terrorist actions by the two radical groups.

The consequences were terrible, many journalists were killed and radio infrastructures were destroyed by terrorist attacks backed by the government and the radical movements. Throughout this crisis of social, economic and political instability, community radios continued their difficult work. For them the important point was to claim justice and change for the people and the country. After the attacks, many Latin American and national organizations, including the Latin American Association of Radiophonic Schools (ALER) and the National Coordination Committee (CNR), offered solidarity and support.

The last critical period for the media in Peru was during the government of Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). With Fujimori, Peru returned to dictatorship and authoritarianism creating more repression for the local media. Under this authoritarian government, mass media, especially the written press and television, were controlled by a small group of people that negotiated with Fujimori in order to promote his regime. In other words, the big national and commercial media were characterized by the manipulation of information and the absence of objectivity.

However, by 1992, the leader of Shining Path, Abimael Guzmán, had been captured. From this episode onward the radical movements in Peru started to decline (Tamariz, 2001: 95), and with the defeat of Fujimori and the attainment of democracy in 2001 the dictatorship era had its end, and a new democracy process started in Peru.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru

The temporary government of Valentin Paniagua in 2001 set up the Truth Commission. That year, the new elected president Alejandro Toledo ratified this initiative with the name of ‘The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru’ (TRC) aiming to investigate and make known acts of violence from 1980 to 2000, the period in which Peru faced the armed conflict. Some of the most important conclusions in the final report were:

·The internal armed conflict experienced by Peru between 1980 and 2000 constituted the most intense, extensive and prolonged episodes of violence in the entire history of the Republic.

·The most probable figure for victims who died in the violence is 69,280 individuals.This figure is greater than the number of human losses suffered by Peru in all of the foreign and civil wars that have occurred in its 182 years of independence.

·There was a significant relationship between poverty and social exclusion and the probability of becoming a victim of violence. More than 40% of the deaths and disappearances reported to the TRC were concentrated in the Andean department of Ayacucho. The peasant population was the principal victim of the violence.

·The TRC, through the many testimonies gathered, hearings and studies undertaken, confirmed that the Catholic and Protestant churches contributed to protecting the population from crimes and human rights violations during the violence.

·The media played a very important role throughout the internal armed conflict. During those years, investigative journalism efforts were abundant and courageous. The TRC paid homage to the journalists assassinated during the internal armed conflict while carrying out their duties. (See: http://www.cverdad.org.pe/ingles/ifinal/conclusiones.php).

The role of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was very important in knowing and understanding the magnitude of the armed conflicts in Peru. For this commission, the gathering of testimonies, information and details from 20 years of internal war was very difficult and took a lot of time. Despite this, the results of the investigative work were crucial. The final report of the TRC was published 28 August 2003.

Peru at the present time

Peru returned to democracy in 2001, which represented a new opportunity for the nation to achieve development goals. However, presently the country is facing some difficulties that must be solved in order to improve the political, economic and social situation.

Today, one of the main issues is the struggle against ‘centralism’, in which most economic resources fail to reach and are not invested in the rural areas where people’s development has been retarded for decades. To solve this, civil society, local governments and the Peruvian State must think about the integral development of the country, protecting the national interests through consensus and equity in favour of Peruvian society. We also need a multidisciplinary view of development in which the integration of efforts and capabilities should be oriented towards achieving development objectives.

In the case of media, the ever-present challenge is the establishment of a new regulation system in the country aimed at fostering development efforts by the media, but without political influence and outside interests. The main alternative medium that is struggling in a difficult commercial context is community radio with more than 1,000 radio stations (Geertz, 2001:37). These radios represent a channel of communication for the oppressed sector denied access to other media.

According to Jose Ignacio López, radio is the place for ‘intermediation’ where all social actors convey ideas and decisions for local development (López, 2004: 192). In that sense, it is important that civil society and the government consider communication for development as a key tool to promote development in Peru.

References

Figueroa, N., (1996). Onda Azul, Una Voz al Ritmo de los Tiempos. Lima: Scripta Ediciones.

Geertz A. and Van V., (2001). Estudio, Vigencia e Incidencia. Radio Popular 2000. Santo Domingo: Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica ALER.

Girard B., (1992). A Passion for Radio. Montreal: Black Rose Books.

González R., (1996). Media and Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mayenne: UNESCO Publishing.

López J., (2004). Ciudadana Radio. El Poder del Periodismo de Intermediación. Lima: Linea y Punto SAC.

Stevenson R., (1988). Communication, Development and the Third World, The Global Politics of Information. London: Longman Inc.

Tamariz, L., (2001). Presidentes. Los sueños de un País desde 1821. Caretas Dossier. Lima: Quebecor World.

Uceda, R., (2004). Muerte en el Pentagonito. Los Cementerios Secretos del Ejército Peruano. Bogotá: Planeta.

White S., et al., (1994). Participatory Communication, Working for Change and Development. New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Web sites

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru

http://www.cverdad.org.pe/

Luigi Rodríguez Rocha is a Peruvian journalist, and the Founder/Director of the Centre for Social and Media Research (CISC) in Puno, Peru. He works with people from the communities in the southern Andes of the country. Contact: luigirdz@hotmail.com