Peruvian police identify "infiltrators and agitators" in protests suggesting Shining Path provocations

A recent report from the intelligence unit of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) suggest well-known “agitators” connected to the Shining Path terrorist group are infiltrating the protests that started Dec. 8 in Lima and the town of Ica. 

Some of the identified subjects are active militants belonging to the militant Maoist organization while others are purportedly being investigated for terrorism.

Two reports from the Police Unit Against Terrorism (Dircote) indicate that marches in the center of the Peruvian capital last week contained several leaders of the Shining Path’s legal arm, Movadef.

Photographs depict several known agitators with pending criminal cases and others accused of terrorism. Javier Melgarejo Mallma, Jorge Chero Herrera, and other leaders of the so-called Aymaraes-de Apurímac Political Front, are some of the names that were reportedly referenced.

One of the documents issued by the Intelligence Directorate last week reported a member of Movadef has been the subject of six pending terrorist investigations since the 1980s. 

That individual, Melgarejo Mallma, was arrested and imprisoned in a high-security prison in 1989 where he remained until 1991 when a judge released him for alleged lack of evidence, according to the newspaper El Comercio.

Another well-known Movadef activist, Jorge Chero Herrera, who has been accused of terrorism since 1995 was photographed coordinating actions with other leaders of the Aymaraes-Apurímac Political Front, during the Dec. 9-10 uprisings.

According to media reports, Chero is the subject of five investigations for alleged acts of terrorism carried out in Lima.

Another subject identified in the marches who was previously prosecuted is María Atoche Vilca, a purported member of the Union of Education Workers of the Callao Region. Atoche, who was a member of the electoral campaign command of Peru Libre has also reportedly been linked to Movadef.

The report even reveals that in February and March of this year, Atoche was received at the Palace by then President Pedro Castillo.

Other women join the list of “agitators and infiltrators.”

In downtown Lima, police also reportedly detected another Conare-Sutep leader, Julia Valdiviezo Cornejo, coordinating with others.

Likewise, Hilda Chulluncuy Madueño, a Sutep Callao teacher and well-known Movadef activist, was identified. Chulluncuy Madueño has purportedly been investigated since August 1989 after being accused of engaging in illegal activity in the Junín based Huancayo wholesale market. On that occasion, the police reportedly arrested her with two revolvers and dynamite fuses.

The Dec. 10 report also references the presence of Omar Barrientos Gómez, who is linked to the July Liberation Movement (ML-19), created to support the release of Abimael Guzmán Reinoso, the late leader of Shining Path.

Several activists connected to Movadef reportedly recently increased their political activity on social networks.

Meanwhile, another security forces memo was issued early Sunday morning about the possible blockade of the Pan Americana Sur highway at kilometer 272 by agitators related to Chinatown. Those agitators are believed to have been seeking cut off the highway linking Lima with Ica.

“A meeting began with 50 people organized by the main instigator of Ica, Juan Gonzales Loayza, alias Terruco, who indicated that they should not recognize the government of the President of the Republic, Dina Boluarte,” says the police report, according to the Peruvian newspaper.