A Reading from the Political Capital Framework on the Security Strategy in the VRAE
Illicit drug trafficking, which involves a high demand for illicit coca leaf cultivation, plays an important role in the economic dynamics of the VRAE. In this context, Sendero Luminoso has reoriented its activities toward protecting these activities in order to build political capital in its favor. In response, the State has deployed strategies that emphasize the presence of law enforcement forces, with an imbalance regarding the generation of opportunities for lawful economic development that would allow breaking the bases of the relationship between drug trafficking and terrorism.