so he can build a bigger military & buy more tanks, planes, guns with which to genocide more starving (below the poverty line) peruvians with, which btw number 1/2 the population out of a total pop of 28 million.
Come next april's election Fujimori # 2 is sooooooooooooooooooooo out of office by then, if not before!
Mar 22 2010, Kristina Aiello
https://peru-enmovimiento.blogspot.com/
On December 30, Peruvian Defense Minister Rafael Rey stated that theacquisition of military equipment to be used in the Apurimac and EneRiver Valley (VRAE) against the armed group the Shining Path would bethe first priority in 2010 for Peru’s defense budget. Increased militaryspending is part of a governmental effort to strengthen the country’sdomestic security forces, a process that includes plans to purchase newtanks from China and several war planes from Brazil, France, and theNetherlands. Peruvian President Alan Garcia also has budgeted resourcesto improve coordination between police and military forces duringoperations against insurgent targets, as well as the training of specialoperation forces dedicated to that task. Although Peru also receivessubstantial military support from the United States, any equipmentreceived under that agreement is currently authorized to only combatdrug trafficking.
Despite the re-emergence of guerrilla warfare in the VRAE, many rightsgroups fear that Peru’s increased counter-insurgency presence could havefar-reaching consequences beyond the policing of armed groups like theShining Path. Since taking office in 2006, Garcia has initiated anaggressive economic development strategy focused on opening up Peru’snatural resources to international extraction corporations, often in theface of large-scale protests and organized campaigns. Theadministration has responded with efforts designed to criminalize theopposition’s actions via newly enacted legislation, while simultaneouslybeefing up the country’s private security sector and authorizing thewider deployment of Peru’s military forces. The government has coupledthese efforts with an aggressive propaganda campaign that linksprotestors to armed groups as a justification for increasing thenational security presence in regions that are attractive to foreigninvestors.
Garcia’s efforts to construct a legal infrastructure to criminalizelawful protest began on April 28, 2007, when Congress passed Law 29009,delegating legislative authority to the executive branch to regulateorganized criminal activity including drug trafficking, moneylaundering, kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, and gang activity.
The delegation of legislative authority has been a favorite tool forPeru’s party in power. It allows the legislative branch to abdicate itsrole to the presidency in order to facilitate the passage ofcontroversial or politically difficult legislation. Once the power tolegislate in a particular area has been delegated, the executive branchcan then unilaterally act by decree, allowing leaders in Lima to avoidhaving to defend a potentially unpopular policy during an exhaustive andpublic congressional debate. Former President Alberto Fujimori usedthis process to enact several legislative decrees to help the governmentcombat “aggravated terrorism,” decrees that many human rights groupsargued threatened civil liberties.
The Garcia administration has used its authority under Law 29009 toissue several legislative decrees that have severely curtailed the rightto protest. The decrees were enacted after massive strikes rocked thecountry, cutting across several sectors of Peru’s economy.
Legislative Decree 982 expanded the legal definition of extortion toinclude actions broadly associated with public protest. These includedthe obstruction of roads and the disturbance of government functions forany particular reason, both of which became punishable by up to 25years in prison. Public officials became guilty of extortion forparticipating in protests that led to the benefit of third parties. Inaddition, any police or military official acting under official orderswhose actions resulted in lethal harm became immune from prosecution.
Other legislative decrees made it easier for the police to detainindividuals accused of criminal activity. Legislative Decree 989 allowedan individual to be held in custody for 24 hours without a warrant,even if that individual was detained far from the alleged criminal act.Legislative Decree 988 stated that individuals detained with a warrantcould be held incommunicado for up to ten days regardless of the crime.And finally, Legislative Decree 983 permitted preventative detention ofup to 36 months for “complicated cases” while the criminal investigationproceeded.
The Garcia administration has also enacted new legal instruments toexpand the government’s domestic use of the military. In 2008, theadministration used its executive authority to issue Supreme Decree012-2008-DE/CFFAA, which regulates Law 29166, a statute that governs theactivities of Peru’s military forces. Prior to its enactment, theDepartment of Defense could only deploy the military after officiallydeclaring a state of emergency. Now the government can deploy troops insupport of the Peruvian National Police regardless of whether or not astate of emergency has been declared. The decree also expanded thecircumstances under which the military could use deadly force to includethe protection of public and private property.
The purpose behind this effort is clear: It justifies the deployment ofthe country’s security apparatus into resource-rich zones to serve asprotection for corporate interests. Several officials of the Garciaadministration have given interviews to the media in which they linkedindigenous groups protesting the government’s development strategies toarmed groups like the Shining Path. In a January television interview,Garcia referred to these indigenous protestors as members of aparamilitary group.
The communities of Ayabaca province in the northwestern coastaldepartment of Piura provide a strong example of this paradigm. Communitygroups and environmental activists have engaged in a long struggleagainst the granting of mining concessions in the Ayabaca mountainrange, home to a cloud forest that runs along the border between Ecuadorand Peru, that serves as a vital source of water for the entiredepartment. Since the struggle began in 2003, nearly 300 leaders oflocal communities and environmental activists have faced criminalprosecutions and have been linked by government officials and the pressto terrorism or drug trafficking.
The Garcia administration appears intent on ratcheting up the pressureby using those criminal allegations against activists and communitymembers as a pretext to establish a military base in the region, aprospect widely rejected by the surrounding communities. If successful,local activists fear that this would serve as a pilot project forsimilar activities based in other areas facing social conflict overresource extraction activities.
Rights groups have also warned about private security companies. AcrossPeru, extraction firms are privately contracting these forces, and partof the security they provide appears to be the conducting of espionageoperations on groups opposing resource development projects. In theCajamarca department, the Yanacocha gold mining project that is majorityowned by the Newmont Mining Corporation headquartered in Denver,Colorado, the largest gold mining company in the world, hired twoprivate security firms, Forza and Andrick Service, to provide securityfor their gold mining operations. Forza has been linked to the espionageoperation known as “Operación el Diablo,” in which several activistsopposing Yanacocha were video taped and photographed. Andrick Servicehas also been implicated in illegal wire-tapping operations. Both firmsalso have strong ties to Peru’s Navy and are suspected of havingreceived intelligence from the Navy’s intelligence arm.
The Garcia administration is intent on continuing its extraction-baseddevelopment strategy. Government officials recently urged Congress toapprove a bill that would facilitate the removal of whole communities inresource-rich areas when a particular project was deemed fundamental tothe public interest. The passage of this bill will have an impact onhundreds of communities across the country, which will organizethemselves in opposition to the government’s plans to take their homesand harm their environment. The increase in social strife will likely bemet by greater efforts to militarize Peru’s countryside.
Republished from
NACLA,Kristina Aiello is a NACLA Research Associate.