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Peru NATIONAL SECURITY
Armed Forces: In 1992 included army (75,000),
navy
(22,000), and air force (15,000), with total strength of
112,000.
Conscripts (69,000) made up 62 percent of armed forces
(army, 69
percent; navy, 45 percent; air force, 47 percent).
Creation of
Ministry of Defense in 1986 unified armed forces under one
ministry, eliminating separate service ministries. Defense
expenditures in 1991 totaled US$750 million. Defense
budget in
1992 totaled US$656.8 million. A total of 18.5 percent of
1992
national budget earmarked for national security. Services
traditionally provided excellent officer education and
training,
but Peru's deep financial crisis of the 1980s and 1990s
affected
program adversely.
Military Units: Army organized into twelve
divisions
(each consisting of four infantry battalions and artillery
group), including one jungle operations, one cavalry, one
special
forces, one airborne, six motorized infantry, and two
armored
divisions. Army infantry, armored, and engineers forces
organized
into thirty-six battalions and nineteen groups. Army
deployed
into five military regions. Navy organized into Pacific
Naval
Force and Amazon River Force. Air force organized into
some nine
groups and twenty-two squadrons across country's three air
defense zones.
Equipment: Soviet equipment predominated in army
in
1990-92. Ground forces had significant armored capability,
with
Soviet T-54, T-55, and T-62 tanks, as well as French
AMX-13 light
tanks. Latin America's third-largest navy by late 1980s;
navy's
Pacific force had two cruisers, six destroyers, four
missile
frigates, nine submarines (plus one training submarine),
and six
missile attack craft. Latin America's third-largest air
force by
late 1980s; air force had advanced (mostly Soviet)
equipment.
Inventory included Sukhoi Su-22 and Canberra bombers,
Mirage
fighters, and Mi-24 attack helicopters.
Police: National Police, with 84,000 personnel
in 1992,
consisted of military-like General Police (at least
42,500);
Technical Police, a plainclothes investigative and
forensic group
(at least 13,000); and Security Police, border guard and
penitentiary force (at least 21,500)--all under Ministry
of
Interior. General Police organized into fifty-nine
commands
across five police regions--same regions as army's.
Antinarcotics Forces: National Police had
primary
responsibility for antinarcotics efforts, but army has
been
called on to drive insurgents out of coca-growing Upper
Huallaga
Valley. Police emphasized interdiction of cocaine and
cocaine
paste rather than eradication of coca plants. At end of
July
1991, Peru signed two antidrug accords with United States
linking
drug fight with counterinsurgency. National Police in
early 1990s
had serious problems with corruption, repression, and
hostile
relations with army.
Paramilitary Forces: In response to insurgency
challenge, central government encouraged creation of local
community self-defense forces in rural areas, beginning in
mid1980s . Known as Peasant Patrols (rondas
campesinas), these
forces began receiving light arms from the army in 1991.
Rightwing paramilitary squads included the Rodrigo Franco
Command,
formed in 1988 and linked to the Aprista minister of
interior and
APRA during the García government.
Insurgents: Two significant guerrilla
organizations
contested government authority in various parts of
country.
Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), radical Maoist group that
began
operations in 1980, had an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 armed
cadre
in mid-1992. The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement
(Movimiento
Revolucionario Túpac Amaru), which began activity in 1985,
had
between 750 and 1,000 under arms in 1992. Both groups
suffered
serious reverses in last quarter of 1992.
Data as of September 1992
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