Peru: Officials rescue children kidnapped by Shining Path


At least 150 minors are under the control of the Shining Path, according to the Peruvian government.

By Carmen Alvarado for Infosurhoy.com – 28/08/2012


President Ollanta Humala and Minister of Women Ana Jara embraced one of the 11 children who were freed from the Shining Path during “Operation Shelter” in early July. (Courtesy of the Peruvian Presidency)

LIMA, Peru – Elite agents of the Anti-Terrorist Directorate (DIRCOTE) and the Peruvian Anti-Drug Police (DIRANDRO) were stunned by what they found after raiding a Shining Path camp in San Martín de Pangoa in the Junín region on July 5.

An estimated 30 children between the ages of 2 and 9 were discovered living in the camp, where they were being indoctrinated with Marxist-Leninist ideology and trained to use weapons by the Quispe Palomino Brothers Clan, the narco-trafficking wing of the Shining Path, according to the National Police.

The agents stormed the camp, intent on freeing the children and apprehending their abductors. But as they converged on the site, the youngsters, who had been brainwashed by the Shining Path, became frightened and, along with their captors, sprinted into the dense jungle of the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro rivers valley (VRAEM), the largest coca-growing area in Peru.

Agents corralled 11 of the children and took 11 suspects into custody, making “Operation Shelter” a success, officials said. But for the children, their liberation was the first part in what officials expect could be a lengthy rehabilitation process, considering the group sang the Shining Path’s anthem as agents put them on a plane destined for the nation’s capital of Lima.

The officials also confiscated notebooks displaying terrorist slogans and shotgun replicas made of wood from the camp.

“This is the most successful operation by land that I have seen so far,” said Pedro Yaranga, an expert on drug trafficking who said the operation marked a “political blow” against the Shining Path, which is prevalent in the VRAEM.

The government nicknamed the 11 children the “Little Pioneers” when they arrived in Lima accompanied by President Ollanta Humala and First Lady Nadine Heredia on July 6. At lunch with the Humalas, the children again displayed signs of the trauma they had endured. They looked for a place to wash their plates when they were finished eating – as if they were in the military.

The children had been abducted from their families before they could walk and rotated among Shining Path camps in the VRAEM so they couldn’t be reunited with their families, said Jaime Antezana, a specialist in drug-trafficking issues.


Peruvian officials rescued 11 children from a Shining Path training camp in July. (Courtesy of the Peruvian Presidency)

The children likely were used in the Shining Path’s narco-trafficking operations, considering about 50% of the nation’s cocaine comes from the VRAEM, Antezana said.

Peru was the region’s largest producer of cocaine in 2011, with 716,502 pounds, followed by Bolivia (584,224) and Colombia (429,901), according to the United States’ Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

The government said the 11 children were among at least 150 minors under the control of the Shining Path. The rescued children, who have been placed in the custody of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations until they reach age 18, are living in shelters run by the National Integral Program for Family Welfare (Inabig).

“Some 150 to 200 children are estimated to be living under the control of the Shining Path,” Yaranga said. “They’re separated from their parents at a very early age and live in faraway camps so they can be indoctrinated. They rotate camps and sometimes are completely out of touch with their families.”

Hayde Badajoz Vizarres, known as “Comrade Ila,” who was among the 11 suspects taken into custody during “Operation Shelter,” claimed she’d been kidnapped by the Shining Path and wasn’t part of the terrorist group.

“I was kidnapped when I was 12 and forced to join the Shining Path,” Badajoz, 36, testified to officials. “Some of us have small children, so we don’t know where to go. The ones who wanted to escape were tracked down all the way to the woods and were killed.”

Yaranga said Badajoz’s story has merit.

The Shining Path kills any hostage who tries to flee and “hangs the body from a tree to scare any of its captives who are thinking of trying to escape,” he added.

Badajoz said the conditions in the camp were subhuman, and it was common for children to die from anemia and malnutrition. Women also were frequently raped by their captors, she added.

“Many of them are impregnated and then forced to have abortions,” she said.
Authorities are withholding the location of the rest of the children spotted at the camp, as an operation to liberate them is ongoing.
Source http://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml/en_GB/features/saii/features/main/2012/08/28/feature-01

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