reflects the bias of the sources (as does most good journalism).

CIA did play an important role in the fight against SL - even as far back as 1986. In the first Alan Garcia administration Peru was getting very little US assistance because of anger with Garcia's economic policies (debt service in particular). We, in Southcom, could do a few things - Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, occasional combined military exercises, and IMET training and education for individuals when Peru was in an open window from Brooke sanctions. CIA was not so limited and was able to build a relationship with the SIN and DIRCOTE (DINCOTE's predecessor) which the article makes clear was maintained after Fujimori became President.

Generally, the article underplays the role of Vidal and overplays that of CIA making no mention of other USG efforts. In short, it was a much more complex situation that the brief article suggests. For example, one of the keys to success was the Peruvian Army decision to support the development of the Rondas Campesinas (peasant militias) in the mountains. Another was the Army effort to go after SL and not the drug traffickers in the coca growing areas of the high jungle - the Upper Huallaga Valley - to the consternation of the US DEA which sabotaged the most effective COIN commander in the region with a major campaign of slander against him. (So the elements of the USG were working at cross purposes - what else is new? )

Cheers

JohnT