Rondas campesinas
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Rondas campesinas (lit. 'peasant rounds') are autonomous peasant patrols in rural
Origins
The rondas were originally formed as a protection force against theft, especially cattle rustling. They developed further as a response to the Shining Path's violence against their local leaders.[1]
When Shining Path leader
In 1983, one of the first peasant uprisings occurred in Huaycho (a small village in the
Peasants who did not support the Shining Path, therefore, created "rondas campesinas".
Development
Before 1990, there were few legally recognized rondas, and most of those were in locations legally under a state of emergency, and differed in structure to those developed for theft protection.[1] The rondas that legally existed before 1990 were recognized (and sometimes created) by the government to protect areas that were legally declared to be under a state of emergency. A few were locally created, but were still required to obtain legal recognition to function. Later, they evolved into a full-blown private justice system, complete with courts. They often provoked the ire of the Peruvian state.
The reason the rondas were supported by peasants was that the Shining Path, while claiming to work in the best interests of the common people in theory, in practice were forcing unworkable economic strategies and terroristic behaviors on an already downtrodden peasant class. These peasants, who didn't support the government in place but also didn't support the Shining Path's destruction, turned to the rondas for protection and order locally.[1]
Organization
The different levels of violence and the bottom-up production of security resulted in different organizational patterns within the communities. In the north of the country, most communities suffered from cattle rustling and criminal actions, the peasant communities arranged their patrols through peer-to-peer enforcement. In the south and center, terrorism presented an existential threat reducing the villagers' time horizon. The higher risks increased the willingness for the peasantry to allocate authority to the security arrangement. Communities tended to organize vertically.[2]
Legalization and government coordination
It was only in 1982 that the Peruvian government began to take action in earnest. Military rule was established in nine provinces after a state of emergency was declared in December of that year, and the rondas campesinas were employed by the military. The Peruvian military, their auxiliaries the rondas campesinas, and the Sendero Luminoso guerrillas all committed human rights atrocities during the course of the conflict. For two years, the "dirty war" was fought, with all sides killing anyone suspected for any reason of being with whoever "the enemy" was to the killers. The Peruvian Marine Infantry made a policy of clearing the countryside for battle, and relocating people to strategically defended areas. It was in one of these new settlements that the first official civil defense committee was developed by the citizens, based on the military's model of government.[1] Men and women both contributed to the committee, with men patrolling and protecting the community while women cooked and cleaned in support of the men's obligations.[1]
In 1990, President Alberto Fujimori came to power. He, along with Peru's armed forces, armed the rondas campesinas. From 1991 to 1992, the president and the government issued several decrees legalizing and regulating the existing rondas.[3] Specifically, the “Comites de Autodefensa” (Committees of Self-Defense) were to work in tandem with the military and/or the police to provide local defense of their villages. These committees were armed by the government, mostly with 12-gauge shotguns, and trained by the official Peruvian military.[4] A later decree specified that all legally recognized rondas needed to work with and under the guidelines of the Comites de Autodefensa.
Modern-day impact
Even though the internal conflict is now largely confined to the
The communal peasant organization integrated the rondas campesinas. Several former leaders of the rondas campesinas were able to participate successfully in the political process. The previous president of Peru Pedro Castillo claims to be a former rondero.
References
Citations
- ^ .
- S2CID 214440269– via Elsevier Science Direct.
- ^ "@TEN SETTLERS MASSACRED BY CIVIL DEFENCE PATROL ." Amnesty International. November 1993. Accessed 29 October 2017. https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/188000/amr460381993en.pdf .
- ^ Army of Peru (2005). Proyectos y Actividades que Realiza la Sub Dirección de Estudios Especiales.". Retrieved 17 January 2008.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-8223-2321-4.