Shining Path attack in Peru kills 16 people before the second round of the elections

This Sunday, 23 May, the terrorist group "Sendero Luminoso" carried out an attack against civilian populations in the region called Valle de los Rios, known as "Vraem", the locality located in the centre of the country. The Peruvian government made a statement about the attack, in a communiqué written by the Armed Forces Command, initially recognising 14 corpses: "Shining Path, led by the criminal Víctor Quispe Palomino, in a genocidal act, assassinated on the night of 23 May 14 people still unidentified, among them two children, who were found burnt and unrecognisable". Later, the Minister of Defence, Nuria Esparch, during a radio programme, was able to confirm that the updated death toll had risen to 16, including two minors.

The President-in-Office of Peru, Francisco Sagasti, made a statement on the attack: "I strongly condemn and repudiate the murder of 14 people in the Vraem. I have ordered the deployment of patrols of the Peruvian Armed Forces and Police in the area, so that this terrorist action does not go unpunished. .... On behalf of the Transitional and Emergency Government, I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims".

The attack comes just two weeks before the second round of the presidential elections between the conservative Keiko Fujimori and the left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo. According to the authorities, pamphlets calling for abstention from the electoral process and classifying anyone who voted for Keiko Fujimori as a "traitor" had been distributed in the area of the murders for several weeks. Candidate Pedro Castillo posted a message on Twitter when he found out: "My solidarity with the families of the 16 victims of the cowardly attack in Pichari, VRAEM. I strongly condemn this terrorist attack and urge the justice system to apply the full weight of the law. We will not tolerate any act of violence. Meanwhile, Fujimori expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a dialogue with several journalists, rejecting the massacre and offering his support to the outgoing government of Francisco Sagasti, the National Police and the military of the Armed Forces.

The text on the leaflets was published by the local media, and the aim was to boycott the current elections, "Peruvian people: Boycott the bourgeois elections, because it is not your way: Don't go to vote! Vote blank, vote null or void! ..... "Whoever votes for Keiko Fujimori is a traitor, a murderer of the VRAEM, a murderer of Peru! Never again Fujimorato. Never again Fujimori. Never again Keiko Fujimori", said the poster. 

Let us remember that the government of Alberto Fujimori (Keiko Fujimori's father), who is imprisoned for corruption and human rights violations, was one of the toughest governments against the Shining Path, including the imprisonment of the leader of the terrorist organisation, Abimael Guzmán. 

On the one hand, Keiko Fujimori has had a strong message against the terrorist and drug-trafficking forces operating in Peruvian territory; she has appropriated the anti-terrorist discourse since the beginning of the electoral campaign. On the other hand, it is difficult to calculate what effect this will have on citizen participation in the area where Sendero Luminoso has an active presence of its militants, as there could be intense intimidation by irregular groups. 

Latin America Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.