Chuschi the beginning of terror

On Saturday, May 17, 1980, the public burning of the ballot boxes and electoral rolls in the district of Chuschi (Cangallo, Ayacucho), at the hands of militants of the Peruvian Communist Party - Shining Path, was the act with which it declared war on the State and Peruvian society. This was the beginning of the internal armed conflict (CAI) in Peru.

The attack in Chuschi showed that the use of violence would be the central element of the Shining Path proposal, who had decided to initiate and establish a "new order" through the shedding of the blood of "a million people" and the annihilation of the exploiters and the victory of the exploited.

The burning of ballot boxes and electoral rolls, as well as the theft of political propaganda and weapons, were only the beginning of acts of violence that turned into armed attacks on police stations, such as the one in Vilcashuamán, where local authorities were assassinated and the community was attacked Members of mass crimes and public places with the aim of sowing terror in the population. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) estimates that the number of victims of the entire internal armed conflict is very likely at 69,280.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission determined that more than 90 percent of the victims of the CAI died in eight of the poorest regions of the Andes and the Peruvian Amazon, particularly in Ayacucho and Junin, where the conflict began. It is no coincidence that more than 40 percent of the deaths and disappearances in the country are concentrated in the province of Ayacucho, but at the same time, between 1972 and 1981, it has been confirmed that nearly 50 percent of the total population of the province is illiterate 81 percent of the households do not have basic services such as water and electricity.

It should also be noted that an inherent characteristic of the differential impact of all these forms of violence is ethnic and racial discrimination. Racism and the underestimation of indigenous people, peasants - and the poor - as citizens is a powerful reason why the death of thousands of Quechua-speaking Peruvians went unnoticed by national opinion. In fact, one of the most profound manifestations of this deep-rooted ethnic and racial discrimination in our history is that the 1979 political constitution granted the right to vote to those considered illiterate, while in the 1980 elections, they were given the right to vote for the first time.

It is true that since the end of the internal armed conflict, Peru has been able to strengthen its democratic institutions and create a basis for the promotion and respect of human rights. However, it is also true that social and economic inequality still exists, and that the groups most affected by Light Path's violence remain vulnerable. As with all subsequent events that affected our society in such a violent and bloody manner, the original attack in Chuschi must never be forgotten. Our first obligation today is to remember the violations committed, as we defend the memory of those who fought and resisted, because we can only guarantee that if we citizens are committed to equality and justice and examine our history with a critical eye it is not a duplicate.

Reference: 

Adminpucp. (2022, 15 enero). Chuschi, hace 40 años, el inicio del terror - IDEHPUCP. IDEHPUCP. https://idehpucp.pucp.edu.pe/analisis1/chuschi-hace-40-anos-el-inicio-del-terror/