Cables leaked recently by whistle-blowing site Wikileaks have revealed much about the United States and, to a lesser degree, about its allies.
Among the thousands of cables released, one stands out enough to warrant any particular recognition.
Cable 236863, with the date of November 25, 2009, was written by then-ambassador to Peru Michael McKinley.
McKinley is now stationed in Colombia.
McKinley starts the cable off by pointing out that the Peruvian government has become a key ally for the United States and that the two nations see eye to eye regarding the region's biggest threats: "non-state criminal actors" and the rise in "populism," and the "meddling" of President Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela, and his allies in the region.
The cable goes on to summarize Peru's problems in regards to the terrorist enclaves in Alto Huallaga and Valle del Apurimac y Ene (VRAE).
The problems include a possible resurgence of terrorism which can, if left unchecked, sow the seeds of a fresh wave of terrorism in the Andean nation.
Peru fought (and won) its war on terrorism in the 1980s and 1990s.
Nearly 70,000 peopled died, most of them at the hands of the lethal Shining Path terrorist group.
Since that time, Peru's economy has grown at the highest rate in South America and the nation built up a source of funds that made it nearly impervious to the current economic crisis.
Furthermore, Peru has made itself a key ally of Colombia in its own war against drugs and terrorists, thereby making Peru an essential U.
S.
friend and ally.
McKinley, observing all of these facts, goes on to ask the U.
S.
government for funding and, more importantly, for electronic intelligence assistance for the Peruvian State in its battle against terrorists in the two aforementioned enclaves.
That would amount to satellite imagery to allow the Peruvian military to see through the dense rainforest canopy in the two valleys.
Based on what is available in the public record, no such assistance has been given to the Peruvian military.
Furthermore, the situation is more severe than it seems at first glance.
The terrorists hiding in the two aforementioned valleys remain loyal to the original Maoist teachings of Abimael Guzman, the original leader of Shining Path, and they are reaching out to the over 10,000 former terrorists who have been released from prison after serving their sentences.
Furthermore, the Peruvian State is still under pressure to loosen its sentences on other terrorists actors and to provide more leniency.
Thus, the past ten years, which were marked by progress, success, and democracy, may turn out to be a brief lull in an epoch of violence, hatred, and terrorism for Peru.
For now, Peruvian and U.
S.
officials are trying to prevent the Shining Path from doing what the FARC did in Colombia in the 1990s when they created their own liberated zone and basically acted with autonomy while the Colombian State looked on helplessly.
If such a thing would occur, in this new era of international terrorism, such an enclave in Peru would be lethally dangerous not only to Peru but also to the United States.
Shining Path and Colombia's FARC are completely different movements.
Though they both started out with Maoist ideals, Colombia's FARC sold out to the drug lords and became a mere narco-terrorist group without any major principles to speak of.
They remain hell-bent on protecting drug lords in return for money and in return for fighting a Colombian government that has become an enemy out of habit.
Peru's Shining Path remains loyal to its twisted principles and that resentful group of bandits will not be satisfied with being the supporting character in a play for the drug trade.
The drug money, to them, is but a means to an end.
Their ultimate goal remains the removal of the Peruvian State as it exists today and the replacement of it with a hardcore, Maoist state that will make Cuba look downright democratic.
They almost succeeded in the 1980s when they had the Peruvian military and the Peruvian State, woefully led and hopelessly out-of-touch, on the ropes.
Luckily for the Peruvian nation, Peru's national police were able to keep their cool (no easy feat when the nation had seemingly lost its mind and a dictator had taken power to enact emergency measures) and used old-fashioned intelligence work to capture Shining Path's leader, a feat that proved to be the un-doing of the terrorist group.
The MRTA terrorists, a rival group to Shining Path but no less extreme in its Maoist convictions, were slowly captured and arrested and they are now out of existence altogether.
Shining Path would have a much harder time of taking the Peruvian State unawares, now that the first war served as plenty of preparation, but already there are signs and rumors and hushed whisperings coming from the Peruvian countryside, much like in the early 1980s, before Peru's government was able to wrap its collective mind around the major threat it faced.
Furthermore, abetted by the neo-populism of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, no fan of the United States, and his protege in Peru, Ollanta Humala (who is running for president in 2011), the terrorists are hiding behind protests and other public manifestations of discontent and using those events as a shield to hide behind when they kill police officers and soldiers.
In June 2009, a protest in the province of Bagua turned violent and 24 Peruvian police officers were killed.
The Peruvian State has blamed terrorist agents for the violence.
The protest was instigated by Humala and his fellow nationalist supporters.
The Peruvian State is, therefore, seeing what's in the works.
Peru fought well and bravely in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Andean nation defeated one of the most lethal terrorist groups in the world while facing an on-slaught of terrorist attacks that, at their peak, seemed to occur almost daily.
They did this without the necessity of foreign troops and relying, ultimately, on a small police operation.
Peru is among the most loyal of allies to the U.
S.
in the region and in the world.
It is time for the politicians in Washington realize this and to offer the necessary assistance in order to eradicate this evil once and for all.
Failure to do so will lead to severely negative consequences for both Peru and the United States.
Among the thousands of cables released, one stands out enough to warrant any particular recognition.
Cable 236863, with the date of November 25, 2009, was written by then-ambassador to Peru Michael McKinley.
McKinley is now stationed in Colombia.
McKinley starts the cable off by pointing out that the Peruvian government has become a key ally for the United States and that the two nations see eye to eye regarding the region's biggest threats: "non-state criminal actors" and the rise in "populism," and the "meddling" of President Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela, and his allies in the region.
The cable goes on to summarize Peru's problems in regards to the terrorist enclaves in Alto Huallaga and Valle del Apurimac y Ene (VRAE).
The problems include a possible resurgence of terrorism which can, if left unchecked, sow the seeds of a fresh wave of terrorism in the Andean nation.
Peru fought (and won) its war on terrorism in the 1980s and 1990s.
Nearly 70,000 peopled died, most of them at the hands of the lethal Shining Path terrorist group.
Since that time, Peru's economy has grown at the highest rate in South America and the nation built up a source of funds that made it nearly impervious to the current economic crisis.
Furthermore, Peru has made itself a key ally of Colombia in its own war against drugs and terrorists, thereby making Peru an essential U.
S.
friend and ally.
McKinley, observing all of these facts, goes on to ask the U.
S.
government for funding and, more importantly, for electronic intelligence assistance for the Peruvian State in its battle against terrorists in the two aforementioned enclaves.
That would amount to satellite imagery to allow the Peruvian military to see through the dense rainforest canopy in the two valleys.
Based on what is available in the public record, no such assistance has been given to the Peruvian military.
Furthermore, the situation is more severe than it seems at first glance.
The terrorists hiding in the two aforementioned valleys remain loyal to the original Maoist teachings of Abimael Guzman, the original leader of Shining Path, and they are reaching out to the over 10,000 former terrorists who have been released from prison after serving their sentences.
Furthermore, the Peruvian State is still under pressure to loosen its sentences on other terrorists actors and to provide more leniency.
Thus, the past ten years, which were marked by progress, success, and democracy, may turn out to be a brief lull in an epoch of violence, hatred, and terrorism for Peru.
For now, Peruvian and U.
S.
officials are trying to prevent the Shining Path from doing what the FARC did in Colombia in the 1990s when they created their own liberated zone and basically acted with autonomy while the Colombian State looked on helplessly.
If such a thing would occur, in this new era of international terrorism, such an enclave in Peru would be lethally dangerous not only to Peru but also to the United States.
Shining Path and Colombia's FARC are completely different movements.
Though they both started out with Maoist ideals, Colombia's FARC sold out to the drug lords and became a mere narco-terrorist group without any major principles to speak of.
They remain hell-bent on protecting drug lords in return for money and in return for fighting a Colombian government that has become an enemy out of habit.
Peru's Shining Path remains loyal to its twisted principles and that resentful group of bandits will not be satisfied with being the supporting character in a play for the drug trade.
The drug money, to them, is but a means to an end.
Their ultimate goal remains the removal of the Peruvian State as it exists today and the replacement of it with a hardcore, Maoist state that will make Cuba look downright democratic.
They almost succeeded in the 1980s when they had the Peruvian military and the Peruvian State, woefully led and hopelessly out-of-touch, on the ropes.
Luckily for the Peruvian nation, Peru's national police were able to keep their cool (no easy feat when the nation had seemingly lost its mind and a dictator had taken power to enact emergency measures) and used old-fashioned intelligence work to capture Shining Path's leader, a feat that proved to be the un-doing of the terrorist group.
The MRTA terrorists, a rival group to Shining Path but no less extreme in its Maoist convictions, were slowly captured and arrested and they are now out of existence altogether.
Shining Path would have a much harder time of taking the Peruvian State unawares, now that the first war served as plenty of preparation, but already there are signs and rumors and hushed whisperings coming from the Peruvian countryside, much like in the early 1980s, before Peru's government was able to wrap its collective mind around the major threat it faced.
Furthermore, abetted by the neo-populism of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, no fan of the United States, and his protege in Peru, Ollanta Humala (who is running for president in 2011), the terrorists are hiding behind protests and other public manifestations of discontent and using those events as a shield to hide behind when they kill police officers and soldiers.
In June 2009, a protest in the province of Bagua turned violent and 24 Peruvian police officers were killed.
The Peruvian State has blamed terrorist agents for the violence.
The protest was instigated by Humala and his fellow nationalist supporters.
The Peruvian State is, therefore, seeing what's in the works.
Peru fought well and bravely in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Andean nation defeated one of the most lethal terrorist groups in the world while facing an on-slaught of terrorist attacks that, at their peak, seemed to occur almost daily.
They did this without the necessity of foreign troops and relying, ultimately, on a small police operation.
Peru is among the most loyal of allies to the U.
S.
in the region and in the world.
It is time for the politicians in Washington realize this and to offer the necessary assistance in order to eradicate this evil once and for all.
Failure to do so will lead to severely negative consequences for both Peru and the United States.
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