Written by John Quigley
As an army captain in the early 1990s, Ollanta Humala fought the Shining Path guerrillas in the Peruvian jungle to end one of Latin America’s bloodiest civil conflicts.
Now president of the region’s fastest-growing economy, Humala is looking to finish the job, re-equipping the nation’s armed forces and police to capture holdout members of the Maoist-inspired insurgency and deal a blow to the cocaine trade that funds their activities.
The government will boost defense and counter-narcotic spending next year as it taps record tax revenue from copper and gold exports to halt a boom in the coca crop that the United Nations says now rivals Colombia’s as the world’s largest. In Humala’s sights is the valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers, or VRAEM, the last bastion of the Shining Path. The group has stepped up attacks against companies working on a natural gas pipeline crossing the country’s largest coca-growing area, threatening $1.5 billion in annual gas exports and 40 percent of the country’s power supply.
Hi Van! Good Article! We were told at the conference that the activity of the few remaining Shining Path served as an excuse to ramp up the military budget. This article argues otherwise. The last section on Coca mentions Ricardo Soberon who was one of the speakers at the conference. We are so together!!! We look forward to seeing Brenda and Connie tonight. Happy Thanksgiving! Sara
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