Peru: MRTA/Shining Path

This post is just to flag up two detailed articles in English which I've come across.

The first is from AP and deals with the Japanese embassy hostage raid. It has long been suggested that at least some of the MRTA hostage-takers were summarily executed during the process of freeing the hostages - I, for one, have little doubt that that was the case. As forensic pathologist Clyde Snow pointed out,

in the case of [Eduardo] Cruz, a single bullet entered through the back of his neck, "which I've always said is the hallmark of extra-judicial executioners throughout the world." 

The article gives a good overview of the different points of view in the case and the snail's pace of the investigations.

Peru's famed hostage raid investigated (AP)

Then the BBC looks at the latest developments in the struggle against the Shining Path. The group has experienced a limited resurgence in recent years, linking primarily to drug trafficking in the VRAE. The article quotes two analysts, Ruben Vargas and Carlos Leon Moya.

so far in the VRAE, says Mr Vargas, all good intentions have yet to materialise to persuade farmers to switch from coca, the raw material for making cocaine, to cocoa and other alternative cash crops.
"They [the government] talk about projects as if they were already functioning, whereby in reality there's nothing on the ground."
"They have a plan but they've failed to execute it," concurs Carlos Leon Moya. "They lack the ability to do so." 

 It's certainly not possible to write about the Shining Path completely in the past tense. We're a long way from the threats on the capital city which were possible at certain points in the '80s and '90s, but given the geographical remoteness of the VRAE and the persistence of drug trafficking, rooting out the "remnants" is certainly going to be a difficult, and expensive, job. 

Peru faces rethink in fight against Shining Path rebels (BBC)