People's War Actions
During the Election Period
June 8, 2001
The Lima magazine Caretas (#1671 - May 24, 2001) recently quoted extensively from a report release by Peru's Armed Forces, which documents some of the military and political actions led by the Communist Party of Peru during the recent election campaign. According to Caretas, the report says that during the first week of April there were 114 actions though out the countryside carried out by the Maoist revolutionaries calling on the People to boycott the elections.
The report also cites 18 actions in Lima since January. These, according to Caretas, include distribution of leaflets calling for a boycott of the elections at the University of San Marcos, La Cantuta, the Jiron Gamarra in La Victoria, the schools of San Juan de Miraflores and Villa El Salvador, and the districts of San Mart in de Porres and Santa Anita.
Another protest against the elections broke into the mainstream press in Peru just days before the June 3 runoff. On April 28 and 29 two towns were temporarily taken over by the fighters of the People's War in the Andean region of Ayacucho. Press reports said that 40 Maoist fighters called on the people not to vote and that they painted slogans calling for an "armed strike" from June 2 to June 4.
One of the most vivid of recent actions of the PCP was on April 27 when a huge hammer and sickle made of painted rocks appeared on a hillside overlooking the town of Pachacútec in the province of Ventanilla. It was about 25 feet long and 19 feet wide. According to news reports, when the communist symbol appeared during the night, chants of "long live the armed struggle" could be heard.
