05/24/2021 4:59 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 05/24/2021 4:59 PM
At least 18 people, including two children,
were shot dead inside two bars in a remote coca-growing valley in Peru
where remnants of the Maoist guerrilla Shining Path operate, the Armed Forces reported Monday.
The massacre, perpetrated Sunday night and
attributed to Sendero by the Joint Command of the Armed Forces,
may heighten the tension in the polarized campaign for the June 6 presidential ballot between leftist candidate Pedro Castillo and right-wing Keiko Fujimori.
The locals were killed in the village of San Miguel del Ene, in the Vizcatán del Ene district (5,000 inhabitants),
which is part of the coca-growing valley formed by the Apurímac
, Ene and Mantaro
rivers
, known by its acronym VRAEM and where remnants of Sendero operate, according to the government.
"In the place
, pamphlets were found
that ordered the population not to participate in the 2021 electoral process," said the Joint Command in a statement, attributing the attack to a senderista column led by Víctor Quispe Palomino ("Comrade José").
The mayor of Vizcatán del Ene, Alejandro Atao, and the justice of the peace, Leonidas Casas, told the police that after being alerted to the events by neighbors at dawn on Monday, they went to the bars located on the banks of a stream,
where they found the 14 bodies,
including that of a woman.
Casas said that "walking through the cashier area [of one of the bars] a smoke was observed verifying that it came from four corpses, including two totally unrecognizable burned children," according to a police report.
Almost all of Sendero's leaders are in prison,
but their remnants, led by Comrade José, still operate in the VRAEM
, Peru's largest coca-growing valley, which has been under military surveillance since 2006.
Peru is, along with Colombia and Bolivia, one of the world's largest producers of coca leaf, a raw material for cocaine, according to the UN.
Keiko's supporters
attempt to link Castillo with Sendero's political wing
, something the leftist candidate denies.
The imprisoned historical leaders of Sendero, such as its founder Abimael Guzmán - sentenced to life since 1992 - assure that this faction does not operate under their command and reject ties with drug trafficking.
The Maoist guerrilla operated from 1980 to 2000 in parallel with the Guevarist MRTA.
Source: AFP
PB
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