Conflict and violence

1
Conflict and violence

• 16.03.2006

2
Readings

• Poole (1994) Peasant Culture and Political
  Violence in the Peruvian Andes Sendero Luminoso
  and the State (in D. Poole Unruly Order. Boulder
  Westview Press)
• Theidon (2001) Terrors Talk Fieldwork and War.
  Dialectical Anthropology 26 19-35.

3
Presentations

• Poole, D. and G. Rénique 1992. Peru Time of
  Fear.
• Strong, S. 1992. Shining Path The Worlds
  Deadliest Force

4
Violence in South America

• Colombia
• the most violent
• 83 murders per 100,000 inhabitants
• La Violencia (1948-58)
• State-imposed violence
• Military dictatorships
• Most countries at certain periods
• Especially Argentina, Chile, Peru
• Bolivia - 189 military coups during its
  independence

5
Violence in South America

• Non-state actors
• Terrorist / guerilla organizations
• Mainly in the Andes
• Generally leftist
• Eg. Sendero luminoso
• Paramilitary groups, vigilante groups
• Counterviolence
• Eg. rondas campesinas

6
Non-state actors

• Uruguay
• Tupamaros
• Revolutionary group of 1960s and 1970s
• Successful bank robberies and kidnappings 1968-72
• Since 1985 a political party
• Chile
• Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR)
• armed wing of the Chilean Communist Party
• Founded in 1983
• 50 to 100 members

7
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

• Colombia
• 1964
• military wing of Colombian Communist Party
• Aims
• Replacing the current government with a Marxist
  regime
• Membership
• 9,000 to 12,000 armed combatants
• Spread
• Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador.
• peace negotiations with the Pastrana
  administration
• granted the group several concessions

8
National Liberation Army (ELN)

• Colombia
• 1965
• formed by urban intellectuals
• inspired by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara
• Aims
• Replacing the current government with a Marxist
  regime
• Membership
• 3,000 to 6,000 armed combatants
• Spread
• Rural and mountainous areas of north, northeast,
• southwest Colombia and Venezuela border regions

9
United Self-Defense Forces (AUC-Autodefensas
Unidas de Colombia)

• Colombia
• autodefensas or paramilitares
• 1997
• Aims
• to protect its sponsors from insurgents
• economic elites, drug traffickers, and local
  communities
• Membership
• 8,000 paramilitary fighters
• former military and insurgent personnel
• Spread
• northern and central Colombia

10
Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)

• Peru
• 1983
• Inspiration from Cuba and Castro
• Aims
• Establishment of a Marxist regime
• expelling imperialist elements from Peru
• primarily U.S. and Japanese influence
• control of the Japanese Embassy in Lima (1997)
• Membership
• less than 100 militants

11
Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path)

• Peru
• Late 1960s
• Abimael Guzmán (President Gonzalo, Fourth
  Sword of Communism)
• Inspiration from Maoism, José Carlos Mariategui
• Aims
• Communist peasant revolutionary regime
• Opposition to any influence by foreign
  governments
• Opposition to other guerrilla groups (especially
  MRTA)
• Current membership
• 100-200 armed militants