SUMMARY
Peru experienced a brutal internal armed conflict between the early 1980s and late 1990s, primarily between the Peruvian government and the Maoist insurgency Sendero Luminoso (“Shining Path”), and to a lesser extent the MRTA (“Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement”). This conflict caused thousands of deaths, with the majority of victims being rural civilians, especially Indigenous people in the Andean highlands. Since the early 2000s, large-scale armed conflict has subsided, but residual insurgent activity, organized crime, and state-led repression continue to shape Peru’s security landscape.
Since 1989, Peru has experienced intrastate, non-state and one-sided organized violence, as categorized by the UCDP.
2024
In 2024, Peru faced deepening internal insecurity driven by the rapid expansion of organized crime, particularly extortion and illegal gold mining. Criminal groups, many with roots in drug trafficking networks, increasingly dominated mining regions like Pataz and Madre de Dios, using violence and coercion to control territory and exploit resources. Extortion surged in both urban and rural areas, affecting businesses, transport sectors, and even schools, while contract killings and threats became common tools of intimidation. Despite curfews and military deployments, state efforts to contain this violence remained largely ineffective. These dynamics unfolded amid growing political fragility. President Dina Boluarte's administration was shaken by a high-profile corruption investigation after revelations about undeclared luxury watches and suspected illicit enrichment. The scandal deepened public mistrust in a government already criticized for its inability to address rising crime and erosion of state authority.
In 2023, following the ousting and arrest of President Pedro Castillo in December of the previous year, the country experienced one of the most significant episodes of unrest in recent history. Widespread protests erupted across the country – particularly in rural and Andean regions historically marginalized from national decision-making – demanding early elections, constitutional reform, and the resignation of President Dina Boluarte. The state’s response was marked by a high degree of repression, including the deployment of military and police forces. At least 60 protesters, primarily in the southern highlands, were killed – many by live ammunition used against unarmed demonstrators. These events have contributed to deep public mistrust, institutional fragility, and continued social mobilization.
Organized violence in Peru
Peru’s internal armed conflict began in 1980, when Sendero Luminoso launched a violent insurgency aimed at overthrowing the state and establishing a Maoist regime. The MRTA, a smaller Marxist-Leninist group, also engaged in armed struggle. The govenment’s counterinsurgency efforts, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s, were brutal and indiscriminate, often targeting civilians under the guise of counter-terrorism.
According to Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR), established by then President Alejandro Toledo in 2001, both insurgents and state forces committed gross human rights violations, including massacres, disappearances, sexual violence, and torture. Sendero Luminoso was responsible for over half the total deaths, while state actors and paramilitaries were responsible for about one-third. The most affected regions were Ayacucho, Huancavelica, and Apurímac, with largely Indigenous and Quechua-speaking populations.
The conflict peaked in the early 1990s, when President Alberto Fujimori launched a heavy-handed crackdown that included death squads (e.g. Grupo Colina) and widespread surveillance. The capture of Sendero Luminoso´s leader Abimael Guzmán in 1992 marked a turning point, and the insurgency rapidly lost strength.
By the early 2000s, armed conflict had largely ended, though remnant Sendero Luminoso factions persisted, particularly in the VRAEM, where they have since become linked to drug trafficking rather than ideology.
Pre-1989 conflicts
Prior to 1980, Peru experienced a series of military coups and authoritarian regimes, but no organized armed conflict comparable in scale to the internal war that would follow. Episodes of social unrest, labor strikes, and Indigenous mobilization were recurrent and often suppressed with state violence, yet these incidents did not escalate into sustained armed confrontation.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the military government, particularly under General Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968–1975), implemented structural reforms, including land redistribution and state-led modernization. While these measures aimed to address long standing inequalities, they fell short of resolving underlying grievances, particularly in rural areas. Disillusionment with both the state and traditional leftist parties contributed to the radicalization of segments of the population, laying the foundation for insurgent movements such as Sendero Luminoso.
A transition to democratic rule began in the late 1970s, culminating in the 1980 general elections. Paradoxically, the restoration of democratic governance coincided with the outbreak of armed conflict, as Sendero Luminoso initiated its insurgency in the Andean highlands. This marked the onset of a two-decade internal armed conflict that resulted in widespread violence between insurgent groups and state forces.
In the late 1980s, a faction within the Peruvian Armed Forces developed a covert strategic document known as Plan Verde (“Green Plan”). Drafted amid the escalation of the internal armed conflict with Sendero Luminoso and a deep economic crisis, the plan outlined a framework for authoritarian state restructuring, proposing the suspension of democratic institutions, increased military involvement in governance, and the implementation of neoliberal economic reforms.
Although Plan Verde was not officially enacted, several of its elements were later reflected in the policies of President Alberto Fujimori following his 1992 self-coup, in which he dissolved Congress and consolidated executive power. The plan also included controversial proposals concerning media control and demographic policies. During the 1990s, state-led sterilization campaigns disproportionately targeting Indigenous and rural women were carried out under the pretext of poverty reduction and national development, raising concerns about continuity with the plan’s recommendations.
While Plan Verde did not itself constitute an episode of organized violence, its content and influence were relevant for understanding the institutional responses to internal armed conflict in Peru and the broader context of state actions during the 1990-2000 period.
In the 1990s, the conflict intersected with the rise of Alberto Fujimori, who was elected president in 1990 and soon consolidated power through an autogolpe (“self-coup”) in 1992. This marked the beginning of a hybrid authoritarian regime that, while formally maintaining electoral processes, suspended constitutional checks and restructured state institutions under executive control. Counterinsurgency efforts intensified (with the help of state-sponsored death squads such as Grupo Colina), accompanied by widespread human rights violations, including forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and Plan Verde’s mass sterilizations primarily targeting Indigenous women.
Following Fujimori’s resignation and exile in 2000 amid corruption scandals and public protest, Peru returned to formal democratic rule. However, in December 2022, President Pedro Castillo attempted a self-coup reminiscent of Fujimori’s, seeking to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. The attempt failed and led to his swift removal, but it underscored the fragility of democratic institutions and the enduring tensions between branches of government in post-conflict Peru.
