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C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001731 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SOCI PE
SUBJECT: MORE SOCIAL CONFLICT IN THE PROVINCES 
 
Classified By: Amb. P Michael McKinley for reasons 1.4b and d. 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: Over the past two weeks, several social 
conflicts in different parts of Peru have erupted, testing 
local security forces, regional governments and new Prime 
Minister Yehude Simon.  In separate incidents in Cusco, 
Moquegua, Tacna, Cajamarca, and San Martin protestors 
demanding (or rejecting) projects and resources have taken to 
the streets and intimidated local security services.  In 
Cusco, Prime Minister Yehude Simon accepted the protestors' 
key demands, suggesting the GOP may now favor concession -- 
rather than enforcement of law and order -- as the most 
appropriate response to rising social tensions in the 
provinces.  None of the current protests is directly linked 
to APEC.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) Over the past two weeks, a series of latent, new and 
simmering social conflicts has erupted in different parts of 
Peru, testing local security forces, regional governments, 
and new Prime Minister Yehude Simon.  In Cusco region, 
protestors for ten days shut down the district of Sicuani, 
which lies on the tourist train route from Cusco city to Lake 
Titicaca, demanding the cessation of a hydroelectric project. 
 On October 24th, protestors attacked several municipal 
buildings and threw rocks at police, who responded with 
teargas.  These clashes reportedly left dozens of police and 
protestors injured.  The Prime Minister initially blamed the 
protests on radical agitators with political motives and 
conditioned formal dialogue on the protestors agreeing to 
stand down and refrain from violence.  He later agreed to 
suspend the development project, accepted a truce, and 
scheduled a dialogue with protest leaders on November 4th. 
Advisors to a Cusco Congresswoman who helped negotiate the 
truce and will attend the dialogue told Poloff that they 
anticipate an agreement will be reached to settle the 
conflict. 
 
¶3.  (U) In the southern region of Moquegua, protestors took 
control on October 28 of a key urban access bridge in the 
latest episode of a conflict that first ignited in June over 
the distribution of mining royalties.  (Protestors took the 
same bridge in June, and then took dozens of police hostages 
when security forces tried to dislodge them.)  This time, 
protestors clashed with police -- leaving 71 injured on both 
sides -- but then agreed to a truce and left the bridge.  The 
next day, Congress approved a bill that would change the way 
canon resources are distributed between Mocegua and 
neighboring Tacna region, responding to most of Moquegua's 
demands.  Tacna responded to the vote with protests of their 
own, in which 2000 people overwhelmed some 300 police and 
burned down two government buildings. 
 
¶4. (U) Two separate social conflicts have disrupted two 
regions of northern Peru.  In Cajabamba province, Cajamarca 
region, protestors demanding paved roads and other local 
projects took fourteen hostages, reportedly including some 
regional government managers.  In Nueva Cajamarca district, 
San Martin region, police fired tear gas at protestors 
seeking to prevent them from dislodging 500 squatters and 
accidentally affected students at a nearby school.  Despite 
efforts by local officials and clergy to calm the situation, 
according to police sources, the protestors responded by 
burning down the local police station and injuring six police 
officers.  Police sources reported the detention of eight 
people and one minor injury. 
 
Comment: Police Losing the Upper Hand 
------------------------------------- 
¶5. (C) The common thread linking these four geographically 
isolated, distinct incidents appears to be the inability of 
local security forces to prevent or contain violent protests. 
 In each case, protestors clashed with police and appear to 
have forced the authorities to back down.  Prime Minister 
Simon's response to the Sicuani protests may suggest that the 
GOP has decided that conceding to protestors' demands -- not 
the enforcement of law and order -- is the most appropriate 
response to rising social tensions in the provinces at this 
time. 
MCKINLEY