Counternarcotics Cooperation and the Shining Path in Peru: A New Direction for Peru’s Drug Policy in 2014-2015?

• In Event: Cooperation and Drug policies in Latin America: Major Challenges in 2014.

Abstract

Since the inauguration of President Ollanta Humala in 2011, Peru has cooperated closely with the U.S. and regional partners in counternarcotics programs. The Humala government adopted hardline positions in multilateral fora and criticized legalization. In 2013 in Peru, coca eradication reached record levels and even more ambitious targets were set for 2014. Nevertheless, these anti-drug initiatives were problematic. Despite record eradication, Peru remained the world’s largest producer of coca; vast swathes of land are excellent for coca and, as has long been the case, success in one area pushes cultivation into another. Also, the Humala government embraces aggressive counternarcotics policies in part because the cocaine trade funds the remnants of the Shining Path insurgency; but, further government advances into coca-producing areas controlled by the Shining Path, namely the Valley of the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers (VRAEM) were likely to cost many lives and much treasure. In 2014, the controversy about forced eradication in the VRAEM escalated. While Peru’s drug czar, Carmen Masías continued to advocate forced eradication, voices in the opposition rose. Civilian leaders and military officers were especially concerned that forced eradication would strengthen the Shining Path. Consequently, on May 28th 2014, Masías was fired and replaced with former Minister of Defense (2011-2012) Luis Alberto Otárola. Forced eradication in the VRAEM was suspended. This paper examines the nexus between drug policy and the Shining Path in Peru as well as the implications of Peru’s sudden change in strategy in the VRAEM for its overall policy

Authors

• Barnett S Koven, George Washington University

• Cynthia McClintock, George Washington University