Terrorism is
much less of a problem in Peru these days than
it was in the 1980s and 1990s. You can get up-to-date
information on the situation in each region from
the South American Explorers' Club, Peruvian
Embassies abroad or your embassy in Lima. There
are two main terrorist groups active in Peru -
the Sendero Luminoso (the Shining Path) and
Tupac Amaru (MRTA).
The Sendero Luminoso sprang from rural Quechua
dissidents and educated middle classes
originally operating mainly in the central
highlands and Lima. These days their influence
has waned enormously and, apart from the
occasional car bomb in Lima, their paramilitary
activities are by and large restricted to
certain areas of the jungle and to a lesser
extent the remote areas of the central highland
region. They have a reputation for ruthless and
violent tactics, sweeping away all left-wing and
popular resistance to their aims and methods by
the rule of the gun. When their leader Guzman
was captured in 1992, the movement began to fade
fast, and with the capture of their number two
Feliciano, in 1999, it appears for now that
their activities are limited almost exclusively
to narco-terrorism (cocaine producing and
smuggling) in the Alto Huallaga valley. This
area - basically the region and road between
Tingo Maria and Tarapoto - should still be
avoided at all costs. It's often difficult to
distinguish between drug trafficking and
terrorism in certain places, and much of the
coca-growing area of the eastern Andes and
western Amazon is beyond the law.
The Tupac Amaru , on the other hand, have a
slightly more populist image, focusing on
military or political targets. They rose to
prominence at Christmas 1996 when they took
hostages at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, but
this ended fatally for the terrorists and took
the wind out of their sails quite severely.
Incidents these days are very rare; they might
still stop the odd bus in remote jungle areas,
but they're more likely to ask for a "voluntary"
contribution than execute the passengers on
political grounds. So far, although tourists
have been killed, neither group has resorted to
taking foreigners hostage and tourists are not
considered political targets. Keep to the beaten
track, keep yourself well informed, travel in
the daytime, and you should be safe.
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