Peruvian Terrorists Lose the Initiative
This cable discusses the ramifications of President Belaunde’s decision to place the army in charge of maintaining public order in the Ayacucho emergency zone. The military is called on to strengthen police forces by providing troops for defensive activities as well as offering transportation, communications, logistics and weaponry support. The report states that this strategy has enabled the police to pursue more aggressive patrolling operations, and thereby reintroduced a government presence into many rural areas previously abandoned to Sendero influence.