The terruqueo is a negative campaigning and often racist method of fearmongering used in Peru that involves describing anti-Fujimorists, left-wing political opponents and those who are against the neoliberal status quo as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers, with the tactic primarily being used by right-wing parties and Fujimorists to create a culture of fear. United Nations experts have condemned the use of the terruqueo, describing it as an intimidation tactic used by the government.
Etymology
The term terruqueo is the verbification of the word terruco which derived from the word terrorista, or "terrorist" in English, a neologism which originated from individuals in Ayacucho describing Shining Path guerrillas during the internal conflict in Peru. Historian Carlos Aguire said that the -uco replaced the ending of the word terrorista by Quechua speakers since they typically terminate words with -uco.
Since the 1980s, the word terruco has been carelessly used by right-wing politicians in Peru to target left-wing, progressive and indigenous groups, with this baseless and often racist attack being called a terruqueo.
History
20th century
Since the 1930s, the political elite of Peru used fear mongering tactics to influence the public by targeting foreign communist movements according to historian Antonio Zapata of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, beginning with Joseph Stalin and later with Fidel Castro. Terruqueos began to appear during the 1980s and would occur throughout Peru's internal conflict. The basis of the terruqueo began during the presidency of Fernando Belaúnde when Legislative Decree 46 broadly defined terrorism as "any form of glorification or defense of the political discourse of subversive organizations".
Fujimori government
Into the 1990s, authoritarian president Alberto Fujimori utilized terruqueos with the help of the National Intelligence Service to discredit those who opposed him, including dissenters from his own government, with political scientist Daniel Encinas saying that this would evolve into conservative politicians using the attack to target those opposed to Fujimori's neoliberal economic policies and that the right-wing used the terruqueo as a "strategy of manipulating the legacy of political violence". Following the 1992 Peruvian self-coup, Fujimori would broaden the definition of terrorism in an effort to criminalize as many actions possible to persecute left-wing political opponents. The Fujimori government threatened activists and critics of the Peruvian Armed Forces with life imprisonment, describing such groups as the "legal arm" of terrorist groups. Ultimately, a culture of fear was created by Fujimori according to Jo-Marie Burt, with individuals fearing that they would be described as a terrorist.
Discussing Fujimori's actions, Fernando Velásquez Villalba states: Thus, using the terruqueo, according to Velásquez Villalba, Fujimori made himself a "permanent hero" and made left-wing ideologies an eternal enemy within Peru.
21st century
The terruqueo would then become so prominent that political discussions in Peru often devolved into the attacks, especially during elections. When Ollanta Humala, who initially espoused a left-wing ideology, was involved in Peruvian politics, opponents used the terruqueo against him, even though he was a soldier in the army who fought directly against the insurgency. The attack evolved into linking left-wing groups with Hugo Chávez and chavismo as the crisis in Venezuela began to unfold in the 2010s.
2020 Peruvian protests
During the 2020 Peruvian protests against Manuel Merino, protesters whose motives were originally praised by the media were described as terrucos when they began to make labor rights demands. Congresswoman Martha Chávez of the Fujimorist Popular Force party described protesters as "vandals and extremists, undoubtedly linked to Shining Path or MRTA". The protests, fueled by younger individuals who were not influenced by conservative governments and the armed forces were not affected by the terruqueo since they did not hold fearful memories from the historical conflict, with demonstrators often chanting "they messed with the wrong generation".
2021 Peruvian elections
The terruqueo attacks became even more frequent during the 2021 Peruvian general election when Daniel Urresti described Verónika Mendoza as "Terrónika" and supporters of Keiko Fujimori, daughter of Alberto Fujimori, attempted to link Pedro Castillo to terrorists. Even center-right political parties such as the Purple Party (Partido Morado) were described as "Moradef", likening the party to MOVADEF.