CIA's take on MRTA circa 1991 http://JeremyBigwood.netClick on thumbnails to expand:
Note (JB): This is a fairly even-handed analysis for a US CIA officer. However, there are some cold war bias-produced problems with this analysis. The "Libyan connection" is clearly overplayed, and the connection to the Cubans wasn't limited because the Cubans were backing "the Marxist United Left", but because the Cubans rightly saw the MRTA's struggle as impossible to win in a three-way race against Sendero Luminoso and the US, British, and Israeli-backed government. The Cubans were more interested in maintaining good relations with the government --any government-- than playing the insurgency game. In the ties to other areas, the officer neglected to mention the "solidarity" between Alfaro Vive Carajo (Ecuador) and the MRTA, as well as contacts in Panama etc. The MRTA, more than some kind of Cuban spinoff, was a Bolivarian movement, interested in maintaining Latin American solidarity in the face of US aggression (an aggression that continues). Yes, El Che was the fountain that nourished, but the MRTA was (and is) more than a quickie foquista outfit. From my many long conversations with the Comandancia General in 1992-3, they did believe that the reason for the Gulf War was about western (US) control of middle eastern oil reserves, and the CIA author is correct about this. Given that Sadam Husayn was (and, is) little worse than the monarchies ruling so many of the US-allied middle-eastern states, the Gulf War clearly wasn't about bringing "democracy" to the area. In short, the MRTA's analysis was correct, the war was about oil! Members of the Comandancia General, including Serpa, Miguel Rincón, and Lucero Cumpa were not interested in destroying the US. Such ideas were never on the table. The concept was to protect a little bit of Peruvian and South American culture in the face of the US mass-market, cultural and political hegemony. The concept was also to achieve a greater degree of democracy than is possible with the US neocolonial system presently in place in Peru. It is interesting to note that true US interests (the interests of its citizens) are not protected by the CIA in Peru. Apparently economic interests are far more important (compare the attention given to Kentucky Fried Chicken) and the lack of attention to US citizens such as Lori Berenson. Click on images above to expand: |
