In Washington/Peru: We Ain't Winning!, producer David Feingold and director Shari Robertson investigate the situation in Peru in the early 1990s - a case that, according to one U.S. congressman, "defies all description and solution." Internal conflict rages between the government and Shining Path communist guerillas, while the United States military attempts to eradicate coca production in the countryside.
Congressional hearings raise the question of who is winning the "War on Drugs." Accurate measurements of cocaine production are non-existent, and drug traffickers have moved crops into remote areas to avoid interference. Meanwhile, interviews with peasant farmers show that growing coca is their only viable economic option.
Shining Path guerillas provide protection to farmers while trying to gain power in urban areas through frightening acts of violence. President Fujimori depends heavily on a military police force guilty of human rights violations. Congress wonders how exactly the United States should be involved, while Andean peasants suffer persecution and extreme poverty.
Suitable for those with an interest in Latin American Studies, Drugs and Development, U.S. Foreign Policy and War and/or Conflict.