The document, “The Massacre”, really embodies the title of this week’s chapter. The description of the massacre that occurred in Peru’s countryside was horrifically violent. I had no idea about Peru’s Civil War and so this week’s video, readings, and documents were all very informative for me. I think that the last paragraph in the document “The Massacre” has a lot of truth to it. I really like the sentence “ It is difficult for people to defend a free press, elections, and representative institutions when their circumstances do not allow them to understand, much less benefit from, the achievements of democracy”. This sentence sums up the issue of representation in democracy. Evidently, if a group of people feel disenfranchised and excluded from democracy, they will not be keen to protect it. This exclusion is what leads to potential violent rebellion such as the one by the Uchuracchay peasants. Consequently, after these violent demonstrations, dictators such as Pinochet and Castro have risen to power under the premise of rebuilding the nation with law and order. I believe that this vicious cycle can only be solved through listening to the groups that feel exclusion from their country’s democracy. Without listening to their grievances, and implementing legislation that addresses these grievances, there will always be social resentment that can turn to a violent movement at any time. Again, this made me think of the current situation in the United States. An angry working class has turned violent and voted for a disgusting candidate because he successfully tapped into their anger. This working class felt excluded from their country’s democracy and so they have resorted to anger and violence.

Fujimori’s 1992 Declaration of the Autogolpe, was clearly focused on gaining the support from Peruvians that have felt excluded by their country’s democracy. There were some phrases that I did not like as they are very authoritarian in my opinion. I really did not like it when he praised the Peruvian peoples’ “self-sacrifice” in restoring the nation. I do not agree with the idea that sacrifice, and suffering is necessary to the advancement of a nation because often it is the working class people that partake in this sacrifice while those governing praise from a position of privilege. It is extremely hypocritical and classist. Fujimori’s Declaration of the Autogolpe seems like an ode to the idea that an iron fist is required to govern a nation efficiently. I’d like to ask whether other students found Fujimori’s praise of self-sacrifice hypocritical?