Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA)
Origins
The MRTA was established on communist principles in 1982 by the Movement of the Revolutionary Left – The Militant (Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria – El Militante) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (Marxist-Leninist) (Partido Socialista Revolucionario - Marxista Leninista) ; but it was not until 1984 that the MRTA took up arms.
Location / Main area of operation
During the 1980's and early 1990's, the MRTA operated throughout the Upper Huallaga river valley of Eastern Peru, including the region of San Martín. However, after 1993, the MRTA’s armed operations have mostly taken place in the Central part of Peru.
Objectives
The MRTA’s objectives are to overthrow the current Peruvian government and to replace it with a Marxist state , as well as to expel the U.S. and other foreign presence from Peru. This armed group follows Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory and identifies with the revolutionary thinking of Ernesto (Che) Guevara.
Number of Members
The MRTA’s strength has considerably declined; from about 400 armed members in 1992, it is currently estimated that the MRTA has fewer than 100 members.
Type : National
The MRTA is a national NSAG since its armed operations have been limited to the territory of Peru.
Conflict Status : Active
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori waged a hard-line campaign against rebels groups operating in Peru that resulted in the capture, death, or surrender of most of the members of the MRTA. Specifically, the surrender of several of its members was facilitated by President’s Fujimori’s amnesty program during 1993 and 1994. Additionally, the information provided for those who surrendered led to the arrest of several other MRTA’s members by the Peruvian authorities. Another factor that contributed to the weakening of the MRTA was the loss of support among the communities where it operated. Moreover, fourteen MRTA members were killed in April 1997 by Peruvian forces during the suppression of a hostage situation perpetuated by this armed group at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru, in which 72 people were held hostages for more than four months. According to the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the MRTA sought, with this armed action, to make an exchange of the hostages taken for the MRTA’s leaders hold in Peruvian prisons at that time.
According to most sources, the MRTA has remained inactive since this failed operation. Recently, however, various sources have reported that there are indications of a reactivation of MRTA through the alleged help of the Coordinadora Continental Bolivariana (CCB), a federation of leftist organizations from South America. Specifically, training by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) to members of the MRTA, and the recent detention of former members of the MRTA on grounds of their alleged participation in thwarted sabotage activities to international summits hold in Peru in 2008 are mentioned in this respect.
Structure of the organization
According to the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, at the top of the MRTA’s structure were the National Executive Committee (Comité Ejecutivo Nacional – CEN) and the Central Committee (Comité Central). The same source adds that during the 1980’s, the MRTA had, in addition to its presence in Lima, three blocs split by region: the Northeast, the East, and the Central. However, by 1991 the East bloc had been almost entirely disbanded.
Leadership
Analysts consider that most of the MRTA’s leaders are in jail or were killed during the April 1997 hostage-taking oepration in Lima. For example, the MRTA’s top leader, Victor Polay Campos, alias "comrade Rolando,” was captured by Peruvian armed forces in June 1992 and is presently in jail serving a life sentence. After Polay’s detention, Néstor Cerpa Cartolini, alias "comrade Evaristo," assumed as the leader of the MRTA until April 1997 , was killed by Peruvian forces at the Japanese Embassy’s incident.
External aid/Third party involvement
According to several experts, the MRTA had links with the other rebels groups operating in Latin America, in particular the FMLN of El Salvador, the Sandinistas of Nicaragua and the extinct M-19 in Colombia. As noted above, several sources have recently reported that the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) have been training members of the MRTA.
External effects of the NSAG's armed activities
There is not information that the actions of this armed group have had direct external effects.
Funding
According to the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the MRTA used kidnappings of businessmen to fund its activities. Certain experts add that the MRTA obtained revenues from alliances with drug traffickers operating in the Huallaga Valley.
Relationship with the international community
The MRTA is currently not included in the list of terrorist organizations of either the U.S. Departent of State or the European Union. A proposal to include this armed group in the list of terrorist organizations of the European Union was rejected by a slim majority of the European parliament in April 2008.
Books
• Stern, Steve J. (ed) (1998), Shining and Other Paths, War and Society in Peru 1980-1995 (Durham: Duke University Press).
• Sweig, Julia E. et al. (2004), Andes 2020: A New Strategy for the Challenges of Colombia and the Region, Report of an Independent Commission (New York: Council on Foreign Relations) available at link
Articles and Chapters
• Garcia C., Ernesto, “High Anxiety in the Andes: Peru’s decade of Living Dangerously," 12.2 Journal of Democracy (2001), at 46-58.
• Kay, Bruce H., “Violent Opportunities: The Rise and Fall of ‘King Coca’ and Shining Path," 41.3 Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (1999), at 97-127.
• McClintock, Cynthia, “The War on Drugs: The Peruvian Case," 30.2/3 Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (1998), at 127-142.
• Panajabi, Ranee K. L., “Terror at the Emperor’s Birthday Party: An Analysis of the Hostage-Taking Incident at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru," 16 Dickson Journal of International Law 1 (1997-1998), at 8.
Reports and resolutions of intergovernmental organizations
• EU Council, Common Position of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, Doc. No. 2001/931/CFSP, Official Journal of the European Communities L 344/93, 28.12.2001.
• EU Council, Common Position 2006/380/CFSP of 29 May 2006, Official Journal of the European Communities L 144/25, 31.5.2006.
Governmental reports
• La Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación (Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission) (2003), Final Report, available at link. See especially Vols. II, VI, VII.
• U.S. Department of State, Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), Fact Sheet
Office of Counterterrorism, Washington, DC, 11 October 2005, available at link
Reports of think tanks and non-governmental organizations
Press Information (in chronological order)
• “Au Pérou: le Sentier lumineux,” Le Monde Diplomatique, available at link.
• Vargas Llosa, Mario, “When governments try to fight fire with fire," The Independent, London, 28 December 1996, available at link
• “Capturan en Perú Siete Terroristas Ligados a las Farc,” El Nuevo Herald, 2 March 2008.
• “El Entremado Continental del Terrorismo” (Rafael Guarin), El Nuevo Herald, 28 March 2008.
• “Intolerance Brews in Garcia, Authorities Launch Campaign Against Human Rights Organization,” Noticias Aliadas/Latinamerica Press, 16 May 2008.
Interviews
Internet resources
• Council on Foreign Relations, Shining Path, Tupac Amaru (Peru, leftists), available at link
• The International Institute for Strategic Studies Armed Conflicts Database, Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA), available at link (hereinafter “IISS Armed Conflict Database”).
• National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, available at link
• Wikipedia, Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, available at link.
Statements of the armed group
Agreements involving armed groups