Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement

The Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru; MRTA) is a Peruvian Marxist guerrilla organization founded in 1983. The group took more than 600 people hostage at the Japanese embassy in Lima, Peru, in 1996.

Emerging from the factionalism of the Peruvian left, a small group of Marxists radicals founded the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement with the aim of ridding Peru of foreign “imperialists,” overthrowing the government, and establishing a Marxist regime. The group takes its name from Tupac Amaru II, a member of the Inca royal house who led a vast Indian uprising in Peru in the 1780s. Inspired by the Cuban Revolution, its leaders particularly admired the politics and tactics of Che Guevara, and the group often staged attacks on the anniversaries of his birth and death. Even at its peak, however, the MRTA was estimated to have fewer than 1,000 members, and it was always overshadowed by the much larger and notably more brutal Maoist guerrillas known as Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path.

The MRTA launched its first attack in Lima, the capital, in early 1984, spraying the U.S. embassy with machine gun fire. In its early years, the movement cultivated something of a Robin Hood image—members sometimes hijacked produce trucks and distributed the food to slum dwellers. The group's typical targets were banks and government institutions, and bombings were often timed for the early morning to minimize risk of civilian casualties. The MRTA also sought publicity for its attacks by painting slogans on slum dwellers’ walls and leaving propaganda pamphlets at bombsites.

In 1988 the MRTA moved to expand from its base in the slums of the coastal cities into the countryside. Shining Path depended on the peasant villages of the Andes highlands for its power base. In order to compete, the MRTA likewise had to gain the support of the peasants. The character of the MRTA thus began to change: violent clashes with rival guerrillas and the military became more frequent, and the group became involved in drug trafficking. The MRTA was not able to seriously challenge Shining Path for control of the countryside, however, and its newly violent reputation diminished the organization's standing in the leftist circles of the capital.

In July 1990 the MRTA conducted its most successful operation, tunneling into a newly built maximum-security prison from the outside, freeing its leader, Victor Polay, and 47 others. Polay was recaptured in June 1992, and subsequent arrests and assaults by the military greatly diminished the organization's power and effectiveness. New laws allowing amnesty for former guerrillas further reduced membership.

Lori Berenson, an American notoriously connected with MRTA, was arrested in 1995 in Lima. In early 1996 Berenson was charged with treason and sentenced to 20 years in a Peruvian prison. She was released on parole in 2010, but the government ordered her to spend the remainder of her sentence in Peru.

[Page 588]On December 17, 1996, 14 members of the MRTA invaded the Japanese embassy, blowing a hole through a wall during a reception and taking more than 600 guests hostage, including many prominent Peruvian government leaders and business people, and more than 30 ambassadors. The group demanded the release of 400 of its imprisoned members in exchange for the release of the hostages. While stating his desire for a peaceful resolution, President Alberto Fujimori refused to negotiate with the terrorists. A four-month standoff ensued, during which the MRTA gradually released all but 72 of the hostages. On April 22, 1997, the military stormed the embassy, rescuing all but one of the remaining hostages and killing all 14 MRTA members. These deaths, particularly the death of the MRTA leader Nestor Cerpa in the raid, all but crushed the organization.

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