Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:45:41.852Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Terrorism in Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Dora H. Barrientos Hernandez  and
Adam L. Church
Dora H. Barrientos Hernandez
Affiliation:
Hospital IV 2 De Mayo, Lima, Peru
Adam L. Church*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, North Shore University Hospital Manhasset, NY, USA
*
59 Mill Spring Rd, Manhasset, NY 11030, E-mail: AC@mdPoster.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Two major domestic terrorist groups have plagued Peru over the past 20 years, the Sendero Luminoso or “Shining Path” (SL) and the Revolutionary Movement Túpac Amaru (MRTA). On 28 August 2003, the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission reported that an estimated 69,280 persons were killed in the internal conflict in Peru from 1980 to 2000. Most of the victims were farmers (56%), most attacks occurred in rural settings (79%), and the SL was responsible for mostof the deaths (54%). Aggressive anti-terrorism efforts by police and military during this period, often at the expense of basic human rights, also contributed to this large burden of terrorism on Peru. During the 1990s, terrorist attacks in Peru had spread to its urban areas. On 17 December 1996, 22 members of MRTA took over the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, holding 72 hostages until the grounds were stormed by Peruvian special forces on 23 April 1997.

Until recently, emergency planning and preparedness for terrorism-related events in Peru were largely underdeveloped. In the last five years, Peru has taken two key steps towards developing a mature emergency response system, with the establishment of the country's first emergency medicine residency training program and the construction of the first dedicated trauma center in Lima.

Keywords

bombingdeathemergency medicineemergency responsePerutraumaterrorism
Type
Special Reports
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 18 , Special Issue 2: Terrorism-I: Country Reports , June 2003 , pp. 123 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook. Peru. CIA Web site. Available at: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/pe. Accessed on 09 December 2003.Google Scholar
2. Pan American Health Organization: Health Services System Profile of Peru, Organization and Management of Health Systems and Services. Division of Health Systems and Services Development; Pan American Health Organization, 2nd ed. 03 May 2001.Google Scholar
3. Anonymous: Violent Utopias in Latin America. Analisis Internacional Web site. Available at: www.analisisinternacional.com/analisis/newa2.html. Accessed on 09 December 2003.Google Scholar
4. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru. Final report: Truth and Reconciliation Commission Web site. Available at: www.cverdad.org.pe. Accessed on 09 December 2003.Google Scholar
5. Chauvin, LO: New day in court for Shining Path insurgency in Peru. The Miami Herald 21 April 2003.Google Scholar
6. Anonymous: The Collapse of Armed Revisionism, The “Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru” (M.R.T.A.). NY Transfer Web site. Available at www.blythe.org/peru-pcp/intro/mrta-e.htm. Accessed on 09 December 2003.Google Scholar
7. Amnesty International. Peru: The “anti-terrorism” legislation and its effects – an unfinished business in the transition to democracy. Amnesty International Web site. Available at: http://web.amnesty.org/library/print/ENGAMR460012003. Accessed on 09 December 2003.Google Scholar
8. Ministry of Health of Peru: Estadisticas. Ministry of Health of Peru Web site. Available at: www.minsa.gob.pe/estadisticas. Accessed on 09 December 2003.Google Scholar