Violent event in the Peruvian Andean town of ANDAHUAYLAS (about 400 km from the capital Lima) where a police station was attacked and captured
Yoram Mizrachi
This article is shared by the science site and the website Colmusant
A violent event that occurred more than two weeks ago in the Peruvian Andean town of ANDAHUAYLAS (about 400 km from the capital Lima) where a police station was attacked and captured was not a "political soap opera show" typical of Latin America, but a sign of the difficulties shaking Peru, which for years has ranged from Democracy to dictatorship and back again.
Peruvians from among the ethnic majority of the "Amuro-Indians" saw the attack, in which about two hundred armed men participated, a calculated message of a colorful nationalist movement "Ethno-Sas'aris'ta Movmento" ETNOCACERISTA influenced by the era of the Inca kingdom. The name of the organization was derived in honor of a political figure from the 19th century, President Andreas Avelino Soceres, who after the "War of the Pacific Ocean" led his country in struggles against Chile and Ecuador, which in the eyes of Peruvian nationalists are still considered "hostile countries that want to swallow Peru".
The Incas - an ancient Indian people, ruled an empire that existed until the Spanish conquest in 1531 and flourished in an area that includes most of the territory (within today's borders) of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and parts of Chile. The Incas believed in the sun god, whose magnificent temple stood in the city of Cusco and excelled in architectural and agricultural ability. The kingdom was completely destroyed in the 16th century. Spain ruled Peru until 1821 and it was home to the viceroy, Natsmig Madrid, whose domain encompassed most of South America. At the end of the war of liberation, the Spaniards were defeated in the battle of Aycocho in 1824, and since then the Peruvian state has been ruled by a presidential system. The new country fought several times (in the 19th and 20th centuries) against its neighbors, mainly Chile and Ecuador, and in these wars it lost territories rich in minerals. Some of the power struggles in the region revolved around control or right of passage to the Pacific Ocean. In the nineties and early years of the twenty-first century, "war events" occurred mainly along the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border. The country's previous president, Alberto Fujimori, a son of Japanese immigrants, led a "strong hand" regime whose elements resembled a dictatorship. After the fall of his government and a period of temporary government rule, Fujimori was declared a "fugitive criminal" on charges of embezzlement of public funds and abuse of emergency regulations, acts that occurred mainly during the years of the war against two left-wing underground groups that sought to establish a People's Republic in Peru. "Hatopek Amaro" and the Maoist underground "Sundro Luminoso" words that mean "the shining path"
About President Toledo: His full name is MANRIQUE ALEJANDRO RTOLEDO, born in 1946 and a graduate of Harvard. Holder of a doctorate in economics was formerly one of the heads of the World Bank. The story of his life as a native of a poverty-stricken area is usually described as "from rags to riches"
The rebels in Andahulias, most of them ex-soldiers and policemen, are led by Major Mill. Antoaro Humala raided the city populated mainly by poor Indians, many of whom identify with the actions of the charismatic officer who vowed to renew the Inca Empire. The action briefly stirred up the country of 28 million inhabitants and led to the renewal of an old and new debate, on the question of its political path at home and the nature of Peru's relations with its neighbors. The rebellion that cost the lives of four policemen, wounding others and holding ten of them hostage, contributed to an atmosphere that could push for the impeachment of President Alejandro Toledo TOLEDO and ALEJNDRO, or lead to his resignation including discrimination in the ballot. The incident, which was eliminated within forty-eight hours, also has an impact on regional stability and the future of the economy of the Andean countries in general.
The Inca movement, which aspires to establish a "new Indian state within the boundaries of the historical empire", chose to operate in a neglected town to prove to the inhabitants of the Andes, most of whom are natives of Indian origin, living in poverty, that the dream of the Inca state can come true if the people strive to renew the glory of the past and answer the call to battle of those who claim to be his representatives. In addition to a nationalist motive, retired military and police personnel also contributed to the tension that led to the attack on the police station, who accuse the government of neglecting them after the decline of the Maoist rebellion and border battles with Ecuador, and among other things, demand an improvement in their economic situation and various benefits.
The short battle in Andahulias resulted in a quick response from the government, which opened negotiations aimed at freeing the hostages and subduing the rebels. The public learned about what was happening in the mountain town a few hours after the attack and the opening of contacts with Major Homola. Very quickly, the rebellion was "elevated" from an accidental raid, typical of a country plagued by terrorism and crime, to an issue with broad, nationalistic and socio-economic aspects. Diplomatic sources in the capital, Lima, said after learning about the confrontation in Andahuales, that the event had severely shaken the status of President Toledo, an economist who graduated from an American university and himself of Indian descent, "resume pieces" that until not long ago contributed to the popular image Toledo was trying to project. The president's political situation has recently been undermined by corruption cases, one after the other, inefficient public administration and an election fraud scandal in which his sister is accused. According to public opinion polls, which were conducted in the major cities close to the uprising and conducted by independent newspapers, it appears that Toledo has lost a high percentage of support in the past year, which damaged the popularity it enjoyed after the Pagomori era. One of the polls showed that President Derder had the support of only 11 percent of the population.
Toledo, who ordered the security forces to suppress the rebellion in the Andes without delay, apparently hoped that the elite military force sent to the town would eliminate the rebel leaders, in a quick battle that would prove decisive. The commanders in the field, including those who personally know the leader of the rebels, mainly officers of Andean-Indian origin, did not rush to act and instead of bringing about overwhelming success, they preferred to stay out of the range of the rebels' small arms and leave it to the national police chief, priests and lobbyists to negotiate. The police chief, General Felix Muraa'zo, who knows the leader of the rebellion and others who support him, convinced Humola to turn himself in to the army and promised that his men would not be arrested and would be allowed to leave the town, some, whose arrest seemed "necessary" because of the role they played in the attack on the police station, were promised to be released from their arrest within a short time short. From the capital Lima, it would seem as if President Toledo was able to crush a dangerous rebellion, but most Peruvians, especially among the Indians, interpreted the event in a completely different way and certainly not flattering to the government. From various statements that accompanied the confrontation, it appears that many saw the attack on the police station as a successful and important demonstration of power by the rebels, alongside listening to the rumor mill that "thousands of Incas are waiting to be called to battle at any moment to rally around the flag of liberation." The Peruvian security service, meanwhile, warned that Humola's surrender was only a temporary achievement.
Major Humola, whose surrender has yet to be interviewed by phone, said for example that the movement representing the Inca will not give up "even if it is from the sacred land that was usurped by Tchela" and raised territorial claims against Ecuador as well. Homola also demanded a fair distribution of resources among all Peruvians, in particular among the residents of areas where foreign companies operating in the mining of minerals and the development of fuel sources operate. Several hours later, Rabbi Saran was photographed smiling from ear to ear, surrounded by the soldiers of the anti-terrorist unit. The surrender status was done according to the rebels' demand in front of photographers and TV crews. Then Homola was flown to the Anti-Terrorism Unit prison, which is a separate facility from the police detention center and prison network. According to a Peruvian source, one of the conditions of Humola's surrender was that he be arrested precisely by the soldiers of the elite unit and remain "under its supervision" probably because the elite units have quite a few supporters of the idea of the Inca Empire. Humola is not a new face in the special prison and when he was taken into custody, he smiled and reminded those present "I know the camp inside out". These words followed a similar mutiny event, which took place in 2000, led by the Major's brother, Ollanta Humola. Also following that rebellion, Major Antuaro Humula was arrested and in a short time was released, following pressure from the army and the police. The event from 2000 that was part of the process of overthrowing the regime of dictator Alberto Fujimori, as well as the latest incident in the Andes, did not attract special attention outside of Peru. This time too, the rebellion was "covered" in a limited way, this against the background of the events of the super wave and so it almost did not receive international coverage.
Tracking the development processes of the Inca movement and similar organizations in Latin America. Shows that short rebellions sometimes capture the kind of headlines that elevate their leaders to a broad, usually temporary, level of public popularity. A former American intelligence officer, who was involved in Latin American affairs, estimated in a conversation with the author of the article, that the risk of arrest and even prosecution and apparently heavy punishment for the crime of rebellion "constitutes for charismatic leaders part of the internal political game" A good example is that of the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, who in the late nineties , being a lieutenant colonel and commander of a paratrooper battalion, tried to carry out a military coup, was imprisoned and released under the pressure of the army, founded a populist political movement and... returned to the Venezuelan capital as president.
A diplomatic commentator estimated that the short rebellion led to pointed questions from Chile and Ecuador, against which the people of the Inca movement have territorial claims. Among other things, the Chileans wanted to ensure that the Incas were not planning guerrilla or terrorist actions against Chile, while the Ecuadorians wanted to find out if the Incas had strengthened their ties with their Andean inhabitants. In one of his last speeches, Major Homola accused Toledo of "humiliating the country and selling its economic interests." The accusation came from the government of Toledo forging economic ties with Chile, which invests in Peru huge capital in regional development and trade and common market programs, which in the eyes of the Inca looks like "selling the country to the enemy"
Two weeks after the uprising, Lima is convinced that Major General Homola. will be released soon and one of the observers told a Western diplomat "President Toledo and Humola know very well that the game has rules. If the president wants to remain in office, he must listen, now more than in the past, to the major and his nationalist and social demands" others advised the president to try to make Humola an ally" another source added that news that appeared in the Peruvian media re-emphasized the president's ethnicity, to prove that he is not a man of the oligarchy The Spanish-European, which holds most of the resources and is a leader from among the common people. Following the rebellion, Toledo and his assistants were swept into an internal social debate, connected to an old territorial conflict with Peru's neighbors, a debate that seems to have no way out or compromise and is of the type of political polarity that characterizes quite a few countries.
Observers at the Organization of American States estimated last week that the Andean event has "rings of influence" that agitate natives and intellectuals throughout the region, or as one of the commentators of Voice of America estimated "the actions of the movement demanding the establishment of the Inca Empire appear to the Indians of Latin America as part of a process of social liberation" the commentator Mena One For one, the events of a rebellion, or a civil uprising of natives, starting with the Indians of the province of Haifa in Mexico, who continue to consider all this a "dangerous rope" after an Indian rebellion that took place in the late nineties and ending with Indian peasant movements in Honduras and Bolivia.
The rebellion failed to hide a certain improvement in Peru's economic situation, where growth was recorded in various sectors of the economy, mainly metal mining, energy, textiles and fishing. The improvement is noticeable in the big cities, or in areas where development operations are being carried out, including joint operations with Peru and its neighbors, such as gas drilling and the deployment of leading pipelines. President Toledo promises improvement this year and next year as well, but the achievements that impress the World Bank, the United Nations and international financial institutions have not been able to reduce poverty in the slums and endemic neglect which, more than any other issue, pushes Indian peasant leaders and workers to demand not only a change of government - but Also a new distribution of resources.
