Locumba uprising
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Short description|2000 rebellion in Peru}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Locumba uprising
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| partof = the Internal conflict in Peru
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| date = 29 October 2000
| place = Locumba and the Toquepala mine
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| combatant1 = {{flagicon|Peru|state}} Government of Peru
| combatant2 = 20px Ethnocacerists
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| combatants_header =
| commander1 = Alberto Fujimori
Vladimiro Montesinos
| commander2 = Ollanta Humala
Antauro Humala
| units1 = Peruvian Army
| units2 = Sixth Armored Division
| units3 =
| strength1 = 500+
| strength2 = 51–60
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The Locumba uprising, also called Locumbazo, was a military uprising that took place in Locumba, Peru, and the Toquepala mine on Sunday, 29 October 2000.{{Cite news |date=30 October 2000 |title=Peruvian soldiers seize mining town |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/oct/30/1 |access-date=4 May 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504233826/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/oct/30/1 |url-status=live }}
Background
Encouraged by his wife,{{Cite web |title=*Historia de dos aventureros |url=https://www.detrasdelacortina.com.pe/noticia.html?id=583 |access-date=8 May 2023 |website=www.detrasdelacortina.com.pe |archive-date=8 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508221440/https://www.detrasdelacortina.com.pe/noticia.html?id=583 |url-status=live }} Ollanta Humala, a Lt. Col in the Peruvian military, along with 51, 57 or 60{{Cite news |last=Krauss |first=Clifford |title=Peruvian Army Officer Declares Mutiny, President Urged to Quit |pages=9 |work=The UCSD Guardian |url=https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb56666707/_1.pdf |access-date=4 May 2023 |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504233827/https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb56666707/_1.pdf |url-status=live }} soldiers of the Sixth Armored Division out of the Arica barracks left the barracks under the pretext of a campaign march or patrol in Alto de la Alianza. After his brother, Antauro Humala joined, he revealed his plans to rebel against the government which caused many soldiers to feel tricked or deceived.{{Cite web|date=23 May 2011 |title=Montesinos: "Levantamiento de Locumba facilitó mi fuga del país" {{!}} POLITICA |url=https://diariocorreo.pe/politica/montesinos-levantamiento-de-locumba-facilito-mi-fuga-del-pais-520286/ |access-date=4 May 2023 |website=Correo |language=es |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504233826/https://diariocorreo.pe/politica/montesinos-levantamiento-de-locumba-facilito-mi-fuga-del-pais-520286/ |url-status=live }} Carlos Bardales Angulo, the brigadier general who was head of the Sixth Armored Division confronted the soldiers and was taken hostage. Then the group continued to the Toquepala mine and they captured it the following morning. They remained in control of the mine for seven hours until fleeing to the mountains. Ollanta requested food, vehicle fuel and medicine for men and took four workers hostage (a driver, two security personnel and an electrician).{{Cite news |title=Peruvian army rebels still on run, but general reported rescued |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/peruvian-army-rebels-still-on-run-but-general-reported-rescued-1.1113023 |access-date=4 May 2023 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504233826/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/peruvian-army-rebels-still-on-run-but-general-reported-rescued-1.1113023 |url-status=live }} During his time in the mine, he called RPP radio where he condemned the election as fraudulent and said:
{{Blockquote|text=I will lay down my arms when the chain of command is legitimate and there is a president who has been truly elected by the people to whom I would swear subordination and valor.|source=Either said in a fax to Reuters addressed to Peru, or said in an RPP interview|author=Lt. Col. Ollanta Humala}}
The group then left and started travelling by bus and truck to a military garrison near Puno, although many had abandoned.{{Cite web |title=Renegade army colonel siezes [sic] Peruvian mining town |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/10/30/Renegade-army-colonel-siezes-Peruvian-mining-town/6773972882000/ |access-date=4 May 2023 |website=UPI |language=en}}{{Cite web |first=Jude |last=Webber |date=29 October 2000 |title=Peruvian Soldiers Take Over Mining Town |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=82240&page=1 |access-date=4 May 2023 |website=ABC News |language=en |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504233825/https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=82240&page=1 |url-status=live }} By the end of the day on Monday, only seven or eight mutineers remained at large in the mountains.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Patrice M. |title=Military Unit's Uprising Squelched, Peru Says |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-10-31-0010310260-story.html |access-date=4 May 2023 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=31 October 2000 |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504233825/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-10-31-0010310260-story.html |url-status=live }} The then president, Alberto Fujimori fled the country three weeks after the uprising and a new transitional government was instituted. The brothers turned themselves in on 10 December, after seeing the country had been normalized. They were tried for insubordination but pardoned along with all who participated in the revolt. The uprising marked the beginning of Ollanta's career which later led to his presidency in 2011.{{Cite web |publisher=Canal N |date=30 October 2015 |title=15 años del 'Locumbazo': lo que debes saber del levantamiento en armas de Ollanta Humala |url=https://canaln.pe/actualidad/ollanta-humala-antauro-locumaba-locumbazo-arequipa-n204437 |access-date=4 May 2023 |website=canaln.pe}}
Support
During the revolt, Humala called on Peruvian "patriots" to join him in the rebellion, and around 300 former soldiers led by his brother Antauro answered his call and were reported to have been in a convoy attempting to join up with Humala. The revolt gained some sympathy from the Peruvian populace with the influential opposition newspaper La República calling him "valiant and decisive, unlike most in Peru". The newspaper also had many letters sent in by readers with accolades to Ollanta and his men.{{Cite news |date=2 November 2000 |title=Bid to end Peru rebellion peacefully |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1003981.stm |work=BBC News|access-date=4 May 2023 |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504235333/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1003981.stm |url-status=live }}
Montesinos' escape
On the day of the uprising, after hiding for months in the country, Peru's de facto leader, Vladimiro Montesinos left Peru at the Port of Callao on his boat Karisma.{{Cite web |title=Peru is still asking where fugitive spymaster is hiding |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2000/12/22/peru-is-still-asking-where-fugitive-spymaster-is-hiding/ |access-date=6 May 2023 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en |archive-date=8 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508120240/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2000/12/22/peru-is-still-asking-where-fugitive-spymaster-is-hiding/ |url-status=live }} While sailing away from Peru, he made four phone calls to Fort Arica, one at 10:52{{nbsp}}am and the other three after 2:00{{nbsp}}pm. On 19 May 2006, an audio tape leaked on which Montesinos says the uprising was a cover for his escape:
{{Blockquote|text=Fue una farsa, fue una operación de engaño y una manipulación. Ollanta Humala Tasso es un falso valor. Ante esto es necesario relatar los hechos acaecidos en Locumba y la relación con mi salida del país en octubre del año 2000.
{{translation|i=yes|It was a farce, it was an operation of deceit and manipulation. Ollanta Humala Tasso is a false value/courage. In view of this, it is necessary to relate the events that took place in Locumba and the relationship with my departure from the country in October 2000.}}
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Later that night at a press conference, Humala accused Montesinos of being in collusion with Alan Garcia's Aprista Party.{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=21 May 2006 |title=Peru Ex-Spy Chief Says Candidate for President Aided His Escape |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/world/americas/21peru.html |access-date=8 May 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=8 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508120240/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/world/americas/21peru.html |url-status=live }}
Others have also claimed the uprising was a cover for the escape. During a congressional hearing, César Mojovich, a retired PNP commander and former Toquepala commissioner, said that Antauro arrived to Fort Arica in a helicopter two days before the uprising and met with Carlos Bardales Angulo as well as the colonel of the PNP, that same night.{{Cite web |title=Andina – Agencia Peruana de Noticias – |url=http://portal.andina.com.pe/edpespeciales/especiales/2005/octubre/elecciones2006/06abr004.html |access-date=11 May 2023 |website=portal.andina.com.pe |archive-date=12 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512135659/http://portal.andina.com.pe/edpespeciales/especiales/2005/octubre/elecciones2006/06abr004.html |url-status=live }}
{{Blockquote|text=El general Bardales, junto a Ollanta y Antauro Humala se reunieron antes del levantamiento. Bardales nunca fue secuestrado, sino que coordinó antes, durante y después del supuesto levantamiento. El secuestrado fue al alcance de los secuestradores.
{{translation|i=yes|General Bardales, together with Ollanta and Antauro Humala met before the uprising. Bardales was never kidnapped, but coordinated before, during and after the alleged uprising. The kidnapped person was within reach of the kidnappers.}}
Mojovich also said that once Bardales was "released", he met in Moquegua with General Abraham Cano, who was in charge of searching for the insurgents.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Internal conflict in Peru}}
{{Americas coup d'état}}
Category:Internal conflict in Peru
Category:2000s coups d'état and coup attempts
Category:Hostage taking in Peru
Category:Protests against results of elections
Category:Electoral violence in Peru
Category:Rebellions in South America
Category:20th-century rebellions