INTERVIEW WITH DR. HERBERT MOROTE ON THE NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CVR REPORT

QUESTIONS. The several questions posed on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the CVR Report begin with this one: This August 28 marks nine years since the Report of the Comisión de la Verdad y la Reconciliación (CVR). How much progress have we made in understanding this tragic period of our recent history? ANSWER: Not only have we made no progress at all, but we have actually gone backward in terms of awareness of the report. Nine years ago it was news, it was a novelty; there were debates, relevant discussions, and perhaps some, like myself, even read all twelve volumes of the Report in full. A larger number read the 477-page abridged version "HATUN WILLAKUY," printed in a run of 20,000 copies, most of which were given away to people in a government that had no intention of distributing it. Once the initial news cycle passed, the country's far-right, joined by Fujimoristas, the military hierarchy, and part of the corrupt church hierarchy headed by Cardinal Cipriani, launched a campaign to discredit the members of the CVR which, having been dissolved, could not defend itself as a body. The critics of the Report rejected, without basis, the estimates of killings carried out by State forces. They would have preferred that nothing be said about those atrocities. The strategy of those opposed to the Report has changed over these nine years. At first, pathetic figures such as Rafael Rey, Minister of Defense under the García government, and the media outlets we all know, were tasked with discrediting the Report by accusing its authors and anyone who dared contradict them of being "caviares" — that is, communists disguised as educated, independent people. This stigma has remained in many people's minds: to defend the Report is, in their eyes, a sign of being left-wing, socialist, communist, or a traitor to the fatherland. That is why, on several occasions when the Report's anniversaries were commemorated, mobs paid by the Fujimoristas attacked attendees with sticks and stones. Former CVR president Dr. Salomón Lerner Febres was subjected to more than one violent affront. The strategy of the denialists has been refined in recent years. Now they do everything possible to prevent the dissemination of the Report. No effort has been made to publish more concise versions that would allow the general public to read it. Nor have governments produced versions for teaching in schools or universities. Silence about the text of the Report is gaining ground.