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Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru
PO Box 1246, Berkeley, California 94701
415-252-5786 * Fax: 415-252-7414
www.csrp.org

LEAFLET JUNE 1996 (Updated JUNE 1998)

LONG LIVE THE DAY OF HEROISM IN PERU -- JUNE 19, 1986

Dia de la Heroicidad

12 years ago -- on June 19, 1986 -- the Peruvian government committed one of its most cowardly and bloody crimes, and the Peruvian masses displayed some of their greatest heroism and courage.

On that day, the government unleashed a premeditated massacre of hundreds of political prisoners at three Peruvian prisons. Protesting the government's plans to kill them, the prisoners rose up -- in the face of tanks, helicopters, and heavily armed troops -- to defend themselves and their revolutionary cause. Most of the prisoners killed were fighters of the Communist Party of Peru (often called Shining Path by the press) -- poor peasants from the countryside, workers from urban shantytowns, students, and others who had joined the People's War to fight against oppression and foreign domination. Peruvian government troops murdered nearly 300 that day.

At Lurigancho prison, the military used dynamite to blow holes in the prison walls and killed all 135 men -- at least 100 after their capture. Two of the 75 women prisoners at Callao were killed. At El Fronton 169 prisoners, armed with makeshift spears, slings, and rocks, beat back a series of air and sea assaults for two days-- in the end over 135 prisoners were murdered or disappeared.

Why did the Peruvian regime unleash this vicious massacre? In 1986 the People's War was gaining strength throughout Peru. And Peru's revolutionary prisoners had become known the world over for refusing to allow themselves to be degraded or broken in the regime's dungeons. Instead they carried on the struggle and transformed Peru's stark and torturous prisons into "shining trenches of combat:" living examples of revolutionary spirit and organization. Working cooperatively, with food and supplies from families on the outside, the prisoners organized political education, cooking, health care, and the production of clothing and art.

The U.S.-backed government was desperate to wipe out the prisoners' example, and to strike a blow to the People's War. But instead, on June 19, 1986 the prisoners inspired the support of millions with their courageous resistance. Their uncrushable spirit will live forever as the "Day of Heroism."

MASSACRES, TORTURE & ABUSE -- THIS IS HOW THE FUJIMORI REGIME TREATS POLITICAL PRISONERS TODAY

Today the U.S. government and media say that things are getting better in Peru. But the fascist Fujimori regime continues to murder, torture, and brutalize political prisoners. No officials were ever charged for the crimes of June 19, 1986, and in May 1992 the Peruvian military massacred another 40 political prisoners at Canto Grande prison.

There are now over 4,000 political prisoners in Peru. Most have been railroaded by secret military tribunals, complete with hooded judges, and no chance for any justice. Accused revolutionaries are routinely tortured, and denied food, water, blankets, clothing, medical care, and visits from family. Abimael Guzmán, the captured Chairman of the PCP, has been kept in brutal isolation from the outside world for nearly four years. We call upon people around the world to denounce the Fujimori regime's brutal mistreatment of political prisoners!

Today, as we mark the 10th anniversary of the Day of Heroism, the courageous spirit of June 19 lives on. The Communist Party of Peru continues to lead the revolutionary masses in carrying forward the People's War. They are doing so in the face of new dangers and difficulties, not only from continued assaults by the U.S.-backed regime, but also from a line which has emerged from within the ranks of the PCP itself calling for "peace negotiations" that would sacrifice the people's interests and the whole revolution. Their path of continuing the People's War until nationwide victory is righteous-- it is the only way the masses of Peru can throw off the mountains of oppression that weigh so heavily.

So as we celebrate the spirit of June 19th, we pledge to remember the heroes of June 19 and the blood that drips from the hands of the US-backed Peruvian government. We pledge to redouble our support for the People's War and the heroes of today, including many political prisoners, who are carrying the revolution forward.

STOP THE TORTURE AND ABUSE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN PERU!
END THE ISOLATION OF ABIMAEL GUZMÁN!
LONG LIVE THE DAY OF HEROISM, JUNE 19, 1986!
SUPPORT THE PEOPLE'S WAR IN PERU!

LEAFLET, JUNE 1994

STOP US-SPONSORED GENOCIDE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY BASE AREAS OF PERU!

Peru has been the recent scene of a vicious new escalation of crimes by the US-backed Fujimori regime. In April, Peruvian human-rights groups traveled to towns near the Huallaga River where they interviewed peasants who had fled areas under attack. They found mass graves in the town of Mohena. Peasants testified to aerial bombardment from helicopter gunships, gang-rapes of peasant women, decapitations and torture by government forces. According to eyewitnesses, over 100 peasants were killed by the regime -- men, women, and children who lived and participated in revolutionary base areas organized by the Communist Party of Peru.

"...the army launched a ground and air offensive. First came helicopters machine-gunning everything that moved, everything that was alive. Then came Army patrols to finish off the survivors, burning their homes and raping women." [La Republica, April 24]

The Army used helicopters "which shoot fragmentation rockets capable of causing great damage in populated areas." [Peruvian weekly Caretas]

"...the captain said, 'You are a terrorist' and hit him with his gun until his mouth was bleeding. They did the same with the seven farmers... they started killing them, some with gunfire, others with sharp objects. When my husband refused orders to repent, soldiers knifed him to death and cut his head off." [Reuters, April 21]

"One survivor... told how 15 soldiers raped a young girl before slitting her throat. Another said soldiers tore the fetus from the womb of a nine-month pregnant woman and threw it in the river." [Associated Press, April 21]

These crimes did not make the evening news. No surprise-- the media has consistently covered up US funding, support, and guidance for atrocities in Peru organized under the Pentagon's doctrine of "low intensity warfare." This includes the brutal treatment of revolutionary prisoners and the continued isolation of imprisoned revolutionary leader Abimael Guzmán.

The government in Peru has applied this US counter-insurgency strategy for 14 years, trying desperately to defeat the Maoist People's War. Since 1980, when the revolution began, the Peruvian Army and police-- armed and trained by the US, and in some cases led by US forces-- have relied on a "burn all and kill all" policy. A Peruvian Lieutenant Colonel told Caretas about the April genocide in Huallaga: "There is an open People's Committee in that area. That means everyone collaborates... Some are combatants while others are sympathizers..."

According to retired Army General Luis Cisneros, "They kill 60 people and at most there are three senderistas among them..." The results: over 25,000 (mainly poor peasants) killed in 14 years of revolution, and a government that leads the world in disappearances. But also a result: a people more determined than ever to defeat the repressive regime and US domination.

The April assaults mark an escalation. Plans for the attacks were first announced last October after Fujimori met with President Clinton in New York. Speaking from a new airstrip built to launch air attacks against the revolutionary base areas, Fujimori said: "We are going to have a little Vietnam here." After the Clinton-Fujimori meeting, the US reaffirmed its support for the regime, making Peru the number-one recipient of US aid in Latin America. The US media, silent about Fujimori's calls for a "little Vietnam," has continued to portray him as a "defender of democracy"-- though a bit "heavy-handed."

For those who don't remember what "heavy-handed" meant in Vietnam, they should know it was nothing less than mass murder. Ton after ton of napalm, cluster bombs, phosphorous; 3-1/2 million Indochinese killed; millions crippled and maimed. Despite all this, the US still lost to the heroic revolutionary fighters of Vietnam.

In Peru as well, the US and their puppets are destined for defeat. The government's April offensive failed. An army commander quoted in the Peruvian newspaper Expreso admitted that, "The senderistas that we managed to disperse have regrouped. We are back to square one, we have to start over again." The revolution can withstand these vicious assaults because it is a People's War -- a war that relies not on bombs and sophisticated tanks and airplanes, but on the self-sacrifice and heroism of a people who will no longer tolerate 200 children dying each day of malnutrition (while most of the Peru's abundant fish production goes to US catfood companies), or peasant women being raped at will by landowners, or thousands of poor shanty dwellers dying of cholera because they can't afford to boil contaminated drinking water.

The people can no longer live like this. And the Communist Party of Peru has shown the capacity to overcome tremendous difficulties and lead the struggle to victory. The downtrodden of Peru have shown they can take power into their own hands, defeat US domination, and build a new society. The areas bombed and assaulted in April are part of vast areas where the revolution redistributes land, organizes collective planting and harvesting, establishes a new justice, and forges a new culture, all organized under a new people's power-- a new way of life that inspires millions worldwide. We in the US have a special responsibility to defend those in Peru who are standing up against US domination. We live in the country most responsible for their misery and suffering. We must stand up and demand:

DOWN WITH THE US-BACKED FUJIMORI REGIME!

END THE TORTURE AND KILLING OF POLITICAL PRISONERS! END THE ISOLATION OF CHAIRMAN GONZALO!

VICTORY TO THE PEOPLE'S WAR! YANKEE GO HOME!

PRESS STATEMENT DECEMBER 11, 1995

COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT THE REVOLUTION IN PERU DEMANDS BASIC RIGHTS FOR LORI BERENSON - NY NATIVE CURRENTLY ON TRIAL IN PERU FOR TREASON.

Lori Berenson as a
MIT student in 1989.
Heriberto Ocasio, National Spokesperson for our committee, said of the Lori Berenson case:

"Fujimori and Vladimir Montesinos (Fujimori's right hand man with well known links to the CIA) are notorious for their physical and psychological torture of political prisoners, for their fabrication of evidence and the use of false witnesses, and for their total disregard for all internationally recognized standards for the treatment of political prisoners.

"People should demand that Ms. Berenson's basic rights be respected. People worldwide will recognize the US government and it's puppet Fujimori as directly responsible for any harm or mistreatment that she could receive at the hands of the regime. It is absolutely right for North Americans to stand with the struggle of the Peruvian people against a fascist government that has the 100% backing of the US government."

Lori Berenson was put on trial by the government of Peru. While we don't have direct information about the case, press reports say the Fujimori regime accused her of "treason" because she allegedly associated with Peruvians whom the government says are connected to the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. The regime in Peru...tried her by a tribunal of "faceless" military judges. Ms. Lori Berenson's basic rights must be respected.

Our committee opposes any and all attacks by the Fujimori regime against people who stand with the struggles of the Peruvian people. Our Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru builds political support in the US for the People's War that is led by the Communist Party of Peru (PCP)-- a struggle for the genuine liberation of the people of Peru. We oppose US domination of Peru and all forms of US intervention. We are all too familiar with the criminal and genocidal actions of the US-backed Fujimori regime.

In May 1992, one month after carrying out a military coup, the government of Alberto Fujimori carried out a vicious and premeditated assault on Canto Grande prison, murdering close to 100 political prisoners. He suspended the constituion and the government adopted fascistic measures to counter the 13-year-long revolution led by the PCP that was, according to counterinsurgency experts, on the verge of seizing power. They carried out massive roundups of people in Lima's poor shantytowns. Many were tried by secret panels of military judges.

Despite these measures, and the government's continuing genocide against peasant villages that support the revolution, the Maoists have persevered. Today, the lives of poor Peruvians are more desperate than ever. Each year over 60,000 children die in Peru because of malnutrition and other diseases of poverty.

There are now over 3,000 political prisoners in Peru. The torture of these prisoners by the Peruvian intelligence services is routine. Most are held under barbarous conditions -- deprived of adequate food, protection from the elements, and deprived of basic rights like the right to legal counsel. The case of imprisoned revolutionary leader Abimael Guzmán, his continued isolation, the life imprisonment of his attorney Alfredo Crespo, the denial of any access to Dr. Guzmán by family, lawyers, or friendly visitors is widely known and is being challenged today by a worldwide campaign to defend his life in over 40 countries and on every continent.

Despite all this, the US government continues to uphold the Fujimori regime as "democratic" and Peru today is by far the largest recipient of US aid in South America. In fact, many of the methods of Peru's torturers have been learned at the infamous School of the America's in Ft. Benning, Georgia -- where the US trains death-squad police and military for Latin America. Fujimori's 1992 military coup was tacitly given the blessing of the US, through the presence in Lima at the time of US Undersecretary of State, Bernard Aronson, and the US Justice Department made a 16-million-dollar grant to fund Peru's secret panels of hooded military judges.

Days after this statement was issued Lori Berenson was railroaded by a faceless military tribunal and sentenced to life in a Peruvian prison for "treason." She is currently being held with hundreds of other political prisoners in Peru's Yanamayo prison.
Off-site information on Lori Berenson's current situation

CSRP Home Page The Revolution Page Our Committee Page Materials Available Page IEC-US Home Page

Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru
PO Box 1246, Berkeley, California 94701
415-252-5786 * Fax: 415-252-7414
www.csrp.org