Terrorist Violence and Pacification Alternatives in Present-Day Peru

The terrorist violence initiated in Peru in 1980 has taken many forms and has been carried out by various organizations; however, all known evidence allows us to affirm that at least 90% of acts of terrorism in the country have been carried out by the organization known as the Partido Comunista del Perú - Sendero Luminoso. Other terrorist groups, such as the Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru, not only have substantially lesser relevance but also take on different characteristics and follow a different logic. For this reason, the present document is focused on Sendero Luminoso, although some of the elements examined are applicable to terrorist violence in general. The empirical information available on Sendero Luminoso, as well as the studies on the subject, still fall far short of being complete and fully reliable. (Excerpt from the foreword).