The name is derived from a maxim of José Carlos Mariátegui, the founder of the original Peruvian Communist Party (from which the rest of communist parties split; now commonly known as the "PCP-Unidad") in the 1920s: "El Marxismo-Leninismo abrirá el sendero luminoso hacia la revolución" ("Marxism–Leninism will open the shining path to revolution"). This maxim was featured on the masthead of the newspaper of a Shining Path front group.
It was an offshoot of the Communist Party of Peru — Bandera Roja (red flag), which in turn split from the original Peruvian Communist Party, a derivation of the Peruvian Socialist Party founded by José Carlos Mariátegui in 1928. Antonio Díaz Martínez was an agronomist who became a leader of the Shining Path.
They were ultimately prevented from participating in the elections. == History == === Origins === The Shining Path was founded in 1969 by Abimael Guzmán, a former university philosophy professor (his followers referred to him by his nom de guerre Presidente Gonzalo), and a group of 11 others.
Between 1973 and 1975, Shining Path members gained control of the student councils at the Universities of Huancayo and La Cantuta, and they also developed a significant presence at the National University of Engineering in Lima and the National University of San Marcos.
Between 1973 and 1975, Shining Path members gained control of the student councils at the Universities of Huancayo and La Cantuta, and they also developed a significant presence at the National University of Engineering in Lima and the National University of San Marcos.
The Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path (Partido Comunista del Perú – Sendero Luminoso, PCP-SL), commonly shortened to the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), is a guerilla insurgency in Peru following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. When it first launched during the internal conflict in Peru in 1980, its goal was to overthrow the state by guerrilla warfare and replace it with a New Democracy.
Beginning on 17 March 1980, the Shining Path held a series of clandestine meetings in Ayacucho, known as the Central Committee's second plenary.
Guzmán did not, and he emerged from the First Military School as the clear leader of the Shining Path. === 1980s: The People's War === By 1980, Shining Path had about 500 members.
When Peru's military government allowed elections for the first time in twelve years in 1980, the Shining Path was one of the few leftist political groups that declined to take part.
On 17 May 1980, on the eve of the presidential elections, it burned ballot boxes in the town of Chuschi.
The elections proceeded without further problems, and the incident received little attention in the Peruvian press. Throughout the 1980s, the Shining Path grew both in terms of the territory it controlled and in the number of militants in its organization, particularly in the Andean highlands.
Additionally, the president, Fernando Belaúnde Terry, who returned to power in 1980, was reluctant to cede authority to the armed forces since his first government had ended in a military coup.
The Commission found in its 2003 Final Report that 69,280 people died or disappeared between 1980 and 2000 as a result of the armed conflict.
In Steve Stern (Ed.), Shining and Other Paths: War and Society in Peru, 1980–1995.
The result was that the peasants in the areas where the Shining Path was active thought the state was either impotent or not interested in their issues. On 29 December 1981, the government declared an "emergency zone" in the three Andean regions of Ayacucho, Huancavelica, and Apurímac and granted the military the power to arbitrarily detain any suspicious person.
According to one woman who was kidnapped by the Shining Path in 1981, a [man's penis was cut into pieces before he was murdered.
The Army was officially created on 3 December 1982.
The rondas would attack the Shining Path guerrillas, with the first such reported attack occurring in January 1983, near Huata.
Ronderos would later kill 13 guerrilla fighters in February 1983, in Sacsamarca.
In March 1983, ronderos brutally killed Olegario Curitomay, one of the commanders of the town of Lucanamarca.
In 1983, it sabotaged several electrical transmission towers, causing a citywide blackout, and set fire and destroyed the Bayer industrial plant.
Escalating its activities in Lima, in June 1985, it blew up electricity transmission towers in Lima, producing a blackout, and detonated car bombs near the government palace and the justice palace.
On 24 April 1985, in the midst of presidential elections, it tried to assassinate Domingo García Rada, the president of the Peruvian National Electoral Council, severely injuring him and mortally wounding his driver.
(1988) El Salvador 1987.
In 1988, Constantin (Gus) Gregory, an American citizen working for the United States Agency for International Development, was assassinated.
According to opinion polls, only 15% of the population considered subversion to be justifiable in June 1988, while only 17% considered it justifiable in 1991.
Between 1989 and 1992, the Shining Path and the MRTA allegedly killed up to 500 "non-heterosexual" people.
Two French aid workers were killed on 4 December that same year. ==== Level of support ==== By 1990, the Shining Path had about 3,000 armed members at its greatest extent.
The Shining Path banned continuous drunkenness, but they did allow the consumption of alcohol. According to multiple sources, the Shining Path received support from Gaddafi's Libya. === 1990s: The Fujimori government === When President Alberto Fujimori took office in 1990, he responded to Shining Path with repressive force.
There is only Presidente Gonzalo and then the party," a Shining Path political officer said at a birthday celebration for Guzmán in Lurigancho prison in December 1990.
According to opinion polls, only 15% of the population considered subversion to be justifiable in June 1988, while only 17% considered it justifiable in 1991.
In June 1991, "the total sample disapproved of the Shining Path by an 83 to 7 percent margin, with 10 percent not answering the question.
Among the poorest, however, only 58% stated disapproval of the Shining Path; 11 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the Shining Path, and some 31 percent would not answer the question." A September 1991 poll found that 21 percent of those polled in Lima believed that the Shining Path did not torture and kill innocent people.
His government issued a law in 1991 that gave the rondas a legal status, and from that time, they were officially called Comités de auto defensa ("Committees of Self-Defense").
The Shining Path is regarded as a terrorist organization by Peru, Japan, the United States, the European Union, and Canada, which consequently prohibit funding and other financial support for the group. Since the captures of Shining Path founder Abimael Guzmán in 1992 and his successor Comrade Artemio in 2012, the Shining Path has declined in activity.
Between 1989 and 1992, the Shining Path and the MRTA allegedly killed up to 500 "non-heterosexual" people.
The Shining Path of Peru (2nd ed 1994) excerpt Rochlin, James F (2003).
One main group, the (MPCP) of about 450 individuals remained in the Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro (VRAEM) region, reportedly obtains revenue from cocaine trafficking and are reportedly led by two brothers since 1999; Víctor and Jorge Quispe Palomino.
When Guzmán called for peace talks with the Peruvian government, the organization fractured into splinter groups, with some Shining Path members in favor of such talks and others opposed. Guzmán's role as the leader of the Shining Path was taken over by Óscar Ramírez, who himself was captured by Peruvian authorities in 1999.
He was also thought to have led an ambush against an army helicopter in 1999 in which five soldiers died. In 2003, the Peruvian National Police broke up several Shining Path training camps and captured many members and leaders.
The two remaining splinter groups were a collective in Huallaga Valley led by Comrade Artemio and the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP) led by the Víctor and Jorge Quispe Palomino brothers. === 2000s: Temporary resurgence === Although the organization's numbers had lessened by 2003, a militant faction of the Shining Path called Proseguir ("Onward") continued to be active.
The group had allegedly made an alliance with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the early 2000s, learning how to use rockets against aircraft. On 20 March 2002, a car bomb exploded outside the US embassy in Lima just before a visit by President George W.
In April 2000, Commander José Arcela Chiroque, called "Ormeño", was captured, followed by another leader, Florentino Cerrón Cardozo, called "Marcelo", in July 2003.
The Commission found in its 2003 Final Report that 69,280 people died or disappeared between 1980 and 2000 as a result of the armed conflict.
David Rapoport), 2001.
The group had allegedly made an alliance with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the early 2000s, learning how to use rockets against aircraft. On 20 March 2002, a car bomb exploded outside the US embassy in Lima just before a visit by President George W.
By late October 2003, there were 96 terrorist incidents in Peru, projecting a 15% decrease from the 134 kidnappings and armed attacks in 2002.
The two remaining splinter groups were a collective in Huallaga Valley led by Comrade Artemio and the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP) led by the Víctor and Jorge Quispe Palomino brothers. === 2000s: Temporary resurgence === Although the organization's numbers had lessened by 2003, a militant faction of the Shining Path called Proseguir ("Onward") continued to be active.
Nine people were killed, and 30 were injured; the attack was suspected to be the work of the Shining Path. On 9 June 2003, a Shining Path group attacked a camp in Ayacucho and took 68 employees of the Argentinian company Techint and three police guards as hostages.
In April 2000, Commander José Arcela Chiroque, called "Ormeño", was captured, followed by another leader, Florentino Cerrón Cardozo, called "Marcelo", in July 2003.
He was also thought to have led an ambush against an army helicopter in 1999 in which five soldiers died. In 2003, the Peruvian National Police broke up several Shining Path training camps and captured many members and leaders.
By late October 2003, there were 96 terrorist incidents in Peru, projecting a 15% decrease from the 134 kidnappings and armed attacks in 2002.
The Commission found in its 2003 Final Report that 69,280 people died or disappeared between 1980 and 2000 as a result of the armed conflict.
Also for the year, eight or nine people were killed by the Shining Path, and 6 senderistas were killed and 209 were captured. In January 2004, a man known as Comrade Artemio and identifying himself as one of the Shining Path's leaders, said in a media interview that the group would resume violent operations unless the Peruvian government granted amnesty to other top Shining Path leaders within 60 days.
According to the government, there were approximately 7,226 comités de auto defensa as of 2005; almost 4,000 are located in the central region of Peru, the stronghold of the Shining Path. The Peruvian government also cracked down on the Shining Path in other ways.
On 22 December 2005, the Shining Path ambushed a police patrol in the Huánuco region, killing eight.
On 19 February 2006, the Peruvian police killed Héctor Aponte, believed to be the commander responsible for the ambush.
In December 2006, Peruvian troops were sent to counter renewed guerrilla activity, and according to high-level government officials, the Shining Path's strength has reached an estimated 300 members.
That same month, Artemio gave his first recorded interview since 2006.
In November 2007, police said they killed Artemio's second-in-command, a guerrilla known as JL. In September 2008, government forces announced the killing of five rebels in the Vizcatan region.
In November 2007, police said they killed Artemio's second-in-command, a guerrilla known as JL. In September 2008, government forces announced the killing of five rebels in the Vizcatan region.
In October 2008, in Huancavelica Region, the guerrillas engaged a military convoy with explosives and firearms, demonstrating their continued ability to strike and inflict casualties on military targets.
It came one day after a clash in the Vizcatan region, which left five rebels and one soldier dead. In November 2008, the rebels utilized hand grenades and automatic weapons in an assault that claimed the lives of 4 police officers.
It has two main branches; the Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (MOVADEF) and the Front for Unity and Defense of the Peruvian People (FUDEPP). ==== Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (MOVADEF) ==== The Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (MOVADEF) was created on 20 November 2009 when Alfredo Crespo, the defense lawyer of Abimael Guzmán, and fifteen others gathered.
In April 2009, the Shining Path ambushed and killed 13 government soldiers in Ayacucho.
In November 2009, Defense Minister Rafael Rey announced that Shining Path militants had attacked a military outpost in southern Ayacucho province.
One soldier was killed and three others wounded in the assault. === 2010s: Capture of Artemio and continued downfall === On 28 April 2010, Shining Path rebels in Peru ambushed and killed a police officer and two civilians who were destroying coca plantations of Aucayacu, in the central region of Haunuco, Peru.
2009), Rubén (May 2010), Izula (Oct.
The branch filed to become a political party in Peru with the National Jury of Elections (JNE) in 2011, though the application was denied.
The Shining Path is regarded as a terrorist organization by Peru, Japan, the United States, the European Union, and Canada, which consequently prohibit funding and other financial support for the group. Since the captures of Shining Path founder Abimael Guzmán in 1992 and his successor Comrade Artemio in 2012, the Shining Path has declined in activity.
On 3 April 2012, Jaime Arenas Caviedes, a senior leader in the group's remnants in Alto Huallaga Valley who was also regarded to be the leading candidate to succeed Artemio following Diaz's arrest, was captured.
The capture of Artemio effectively ended the war between Shining Path and the Government of Peru. Comrade Artemio was convicted of terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering on 7 June 2013.
On 11 August 2013, Comrade Alipio, the Shining Path's leader in the Ene-Apurímac Valley, was killed in a battle with government forces in Llochegua. On 9 April 2016, on the eve of the country's presidential elections, the Peruvian government blamed remnants of the Shining Path for a guerilla attack that killed eight soldiers and two civilians.
The Peruvian government has accused MOVADEF of advocating terrorism. ==== Front for Unity and Defense of the Peruvian People (FUDEPP) ==== The Front for Unity and Defense of the Peruvian People (FUDEPP) was created in 2015.
According to InSight Crime, Shining Path's stronghold in the VRAEM, headquartered in Vizcatán, is a similar strategy as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia . Following a five-year intelligence operation that began in 2015 and was codenamed Operation Olimpo, 71 alleged members of the Shining Path's United Front and People's Guerrilla Army were arrested on 2 December 2020.
In association with MOVADEF, the group announced that it had 73 provincial committees and allegedly received 400,000 to 500,000 signatures for the JNE to participate in the 2016 Peruvian general election.
On 11 August 2013, Comrade Alipio, the Shining Path's leader in the Ene-Apurímac Valley, was killed in a battle with government forces in Llochegua. On 9 April 2016, on the eve of the country's presidential elections, the Peruvian government blamed remnants of the Shining Path for a guerilla attack that killed eight soldiers and two civilians.
Shining Path snipers killed three police officers in the Ene Apurimac Valley on 18 March 2017. In a document 400 pages in length recovered from a mid-level Shining Path commander and analyzed by the Counter-Terrorism Directorate (DIRCOTE) of the National Police, the Shining Path planned to initiate operations against the Government of Peru that included killings and surprise attacks beginning in 2021, the bicentennial of Peru's independence.
Norton, 2019. Comisión de la verdad y reconciliación (2003).
Objectives were created to first attack public officials, then regain lost territory and then finally overthrow the government. === 2020s: VRAEM stronghold === Into the 2020s, Shining Path has existed in remaining splinter groups.
According to InSight Crime, Shining Path's stronghold in the VRAEM, headquartered in Vizcatán, is a similar strategy as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia . Following a five-year intelligence operation that began in 2015 and was codenamed Operation Olimpo, 71 alleged members of the Shining Path's United Front and People's Guerrilla Army were arrested on 2 December 2020.
Shining Path snipers killed three police officers in the Ene Apurimac Valley on 18 March 2017. In a document 400 pages in length recovered from a mid-level Shining Path commander and analyzed by the Counter-Terrorism Directorate (DIRCOTE) of the National Police, the Shining Path planned to initiate operations against the Government of Peru that included killings and surprise attacks beginning in 2021, the bicentennial of Peru's independence.
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