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C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001350 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO FOR PM/WRA (YESCALANTE AND ETRIMAKAS) 
SOUTHCOMM FOR JMATOS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/07/2019 
TAGS: PREL KHDP MOPS PTER SOCI EC PE
SUBJECT: PERU RESUMES HUMANITARIAN DEMINING 
 
REF: 08 LIMA 01732 
 
Classified By: Ambassador P. Michael McKinley for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Overcoming past shortcomings and deserved 
skepticism, Peru recently resumed humanitarian demining (HD) 
operations in parts of its shared border with Ecuador and at 
other sites within its territory. Senior GOP officials 
expressed gratitude for the USG's "crucial" assistance, and 
highlighted HD's continued relevance to the 1998 Brasilia 
Peace Accord and Peru's steadily improving ties with Ecuador. 
MFA officials have told us that demining could become an 
important GOP 'deliverable' at roundtable talks with the 
restive Amazon indigenous whose lands are affected by mines. 
The next challenge is to make Peru's mine action program 
sustainable, so that it can meet its Ottawa Convention 
obligations and make the country mine-free. End Summary. 
 
Mine Threat 
----------- 
¶2. (U) More than 400 persons have been killed or injured in 
Peru by various types of anti-personnel landmines, according 
to local authorities. Mines were first implanted in the 1980s 
to protect high-tension electricity towers and power plants 
from attacks by Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso - SL) and 
Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) guerrillas. In 
1993-96, mines were buried around three maximum security 
prisons to dissuade escapes, and around police anti-narcotic 
bases as a defensive measure.  Sections of Peru's common 
border with Ecuador remain affected by landmines, explosive 
remnants of war and unexploded ordnance as a result of the 
1995 "Cenepa conflict with Ecuador. A new mine threat has 
emerged in the drug-producing Apurimac-Ene River Valley 
(VRAE) as SL regularly employs homemade improvised explosive 
devices and booby traps against the GOP's security forces. 
 
Overcoming the Past 
------------------- 
¶3. (C) Since HD efforts began in 2000, Peru's uneven 
performance caused some donors to question its seriousness 
and commitment to a Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) program. 
GOP officials tended to blame slow progress on the costly 
logistics of operating helicopters in the remote and rugged 
mountain jungle, and on other competing defense needs, such 
as the campaign against SL in the VRAE. USG assistance 
practically ceased in 2006, until the GOP presented the 
Embassy with a formal request for assistance in 2007. PM/WRA 
responded in 2008 with $200k for equipment and a preliminary 
contractor assessment. In 2008, 767 mines were destroyed. In 
2009, almost no mine work was done until two technical 
consultants began to advise the MFA, army and police, while 
USSOUTHCOM provided much-needed training and classroom 
equipment to the Peruvian army (EP) engineers at the demining 
school in Bagua. Results thus far have been auspicious: EP 
engineers destroyed their first mines at Chiqueiza near the 
border on August 26-27 and on September 7, police deminers 
began mine sweeping around Castro Castro maximum security 
prison in Lima. (Note: Approximately 40 pct of the facility's 
roughly 1,240 inmates are SL. End note.) 
 
Political Significance 
---------------------- 
¶4. (C) Humanitarian demining is expected to again top the 
agenda when the presidents and cabinets of Peru and Ecuador 
meet in Piura next October to mark the anniversary of the 
Brasilia Peace Accords that put an end to decades of 
hostilities between the two countries. MFA officials have 
told us that Peru places a premium on cementing its ties with 
Ecuador, particularly since tensions have increased with its 
southern neighbors of Chile and Bolivia. (Comment: On 
September 9, VMOD Jose Antonio Bellina told the DCM that Peru 
was also an important intermediary "hinge" in patching up the 
relations between Ecuador and Colombia. End Comment.) MFA 
officials have also told us that the long overdue demining in 
the remote Amazon basin is a deliverable to the Shuar-Huampis 
indigenous people who were involved in the June 5, 2009 
violence in Bagua that left 24 policemen and 10 natives dead. 
One leader from the indigenous organization AIDESEP, told 
Poloff that many Shuar served as uncompensated scouts for the 
Peruvian military during the 1995 conflict with Ecuador and 
are angry that their territory is still contaminated by 
explosive remnants of war. 
 
Other Benefits Possible 
----------------------- 
¶5. (C) Peru's Mine Action Center (CONTRAMINAS) is 
headquartered at the MFA. Its head, Minister Counselor 
Vitaliano Gallardo recently thanked Emboffs for State 
Department's and SOUTHCOM's assistance. He observed that the 
resumption of humanitarian demining is likely to generate 
good will towards the U.S., improve the security of Peruvians 
and Ecuadorians, reinforce positive Peru-Ecuador bilateral 
relations and enhance regional stability. Another official 
implied that success on demining could have a beneficial 
impact on Peru's participation in future international 
peacekeeping operations (PKO). Gallardo said that the MFA 
intended to showcase Peru's demining progress by soon 
inviting senior foreign diplomats to tour installations and 
possibly visit minefields. 
 
Road Ahead 
---------- 
¶6. (C) Restarting demining operations should help to dispel 
past pessimism and attract future donor support. In the 
meantime, Embassy expects that continued NADR funding will be 
needed for us to remain engaged in Peru's HMA program over 
the next 2-3 years. The priority objective is to strengthen 
CONTRAMINAS' capacity for civilian oversight through 
continued contractor support. Training and logistical support 
for the specialized army (DIGEDEHUME) and (DIVSECOM) police 
units are also needed. The plan is for the police to finish 
its work within one year and then deploy to the border to 
assist the army. Other contemplated areas of cooperation 
include victims' assistance, infrastructure improvements for 
the demining school in Bagua and mine-sniffing dogs. Peru has 
28 minefields that contain an estimated 28,000 anti-personnel 
mines -- not including the politically-sensitive and heavily 
contaminated one km sq. Ecuadorian battle monument of 
Tiwintza, located inside Peruvian territory.  (Note: 
CONTRAMINAS' officials have told us that they are concerned 
that Tiwintza could one day be politically exploited by 
nationalists in the same way as was the case on Peru's 
maritime claim with Chile. End note.) 
 
Comment: 
------- 
¶7. (C) Peru adheres to the Convention on the Prohibition of 
the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of 
Anti-Personnel and on Their Destruction ("The Ottawa 
Convention"). Convention authorities in Geneva have given 
Peru an eight-year extension to rid the country of mines by 
¶2017. Embassy believes that Peru can make or beat this 
deadline by 2-3 years if it continues to stay the course and 
attract further donor support. The resumption of demining is 
good news on many levels, and it could not have been 
accomplished without the commendable dedication of PM/WRA's 
Edmund Trimakas, MAAG's LTC Rene Rodriguez and Ronco 
consultant Stewart "Sandy" Powell.  End Comment. 
MCKINLEY