Shining Path

The Shining Path (Spanish: Sendero Luminoso), officially the Communist Party of Peru - Shining Path, (Spanish: Partido Comunista del Perú – Sendero Luminoso) is a Peruvian Maoist communist party and a terrorist organization that was founded in the 1960s and, in varying forms, has existed since. Members are called Senderistas, and they attempted a communist revolution (because that always works out so well) by overthrowing the fragile Peruvian government, which was dealing with hyperinflation and recovering from a 12-year dictatorship. It was crushed by the next dictatorial regime on the block, that of Alberto Fujimori. They have had infrequent resurgences since, but never regained their full strength. It is not to be confused with that other(!) Peruvian leftist terrorist group, the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), which was considered the more "moderate" one.In this context, that just means they tried to be more particular with their targets. Yes, there were two — splitters!
==History==
The Shining Path was founded in 1969 by former philosophy professor Abimael Guzmán (referred by the group as Comrade Gonzalo) who was inspired by a visit to the People's Republic of China. They started out as a run-of-the-mill crackpot political party, but became militant as the military regime of Francisco Morales Bermúdez was forced to accept civilian rule. Refusing to recognize the government elected in 1980 as legitimate, "Comrade Gonzalo" declared "The People's War" by burning ballot boxes.Shining Path The Senderistas were able to take over large swaths of territory and even took control over various provincial capitals, and they named these territories the People's Republic of New Democracy, later known as the People's Republic of Peru.
They gained ground in part because the new government mistrusted the military and refused to deploy them even when the problem transcended the ability of police to handle. Recovering from a military dictatorship will do that. In turn, many common citizens felt abandoned, making them receptive to, or at least passively tolerant of, the militants. They also performed brutal acts of "street justice" to endear themselves to locals. Those working for the government were not the only targets — a fair amount of anti-Shining Path leftists, even overt communists, were still seen as enemies. One of the most notorious cases of this was the brutal murder of a feminist and leftist activist who actually worked to better the conditions of the Peruvian people.Maria Elena Moyano. Gariwo. They also attacked the MRTA, who threatened their precious monopoly on Marxist terrorism.
This changed when Fujimori took power. He ran in 1990 as the "tough on crime" guy, and seizing dictatorial power in 1992 certainly made following through on that easier. He captured Guzmán that same year, which killed the momentum of Shining Path, considering what a massive personality cult that they were. When he eventually endorsed peace talks from prison, the group imploded over whether to follow him or not. Only one of these holdouts (the Militarized Communist Party of Peru, or MPCP) is still active today, and it has at least rhetorically distanced itself from the original group.Peru’s Shining Path Plots Unlikely Return to Power
The MPCP got back into the headlines with the San Miguel del Ene massacre during the highly polarized 2021 general election.Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas: Sendero Luminoso asesinó a 14 personas en el Vraem
==Ideology==
Adopting a specialized variant of Maoism called "Marxism–Leninism–Maoism–Gonzalo thought," Guzman and his Senderistas took China's Cultural Revolution, Stalinist Russia and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia as models for their revolutionary program.Britannica: Shining Path Peruvian revolutionary organization As one might guess from their Maoist-derived doctrine, they recruited more among rural areas than cities — this was a contrast with the more urban MRTA. They also denounced the very concept of human rights, claiming they merely served bourgeois interests.On The Two Hills (3) This also led them to support Anti-electoralism, another staple of Maoist movements. Of course, other than "we are violent and use leftist motifs," most of the remnants post-Guzman have long since stopped having any coherent ideology. In fact, the Militarized Communist Party of Peru in the impoverished VRAEM region is pretty much a drug cartel cosplaying as a revolutionary movement.
==Legacy==
Their downfall (along with that of MRTA at around the same time) was critical in allowing Fujimori to consolidate his ill-gotten power. By claiming that he would save Peru from communism, he gained legitimacy as a strongman.CONCLUSIONES GENERALES DEL INFORME FINAL DE LA CVR It also allowed him to attack leftist critics wholly unrelated to the Senderistas. Former president Alan Garcia was chased to Colombia even though Shining Path intended to overthrow him! Indeed, almost all left-wing movements in Peru are demonized as somehow connected to them, no matter how ridiculous the supposed "connection" is.“Terruqueo” and Peru’s Fear of the Left It is ironic, but not unexpected, that they hurt the Peruvian left far more than they helped it (something authoritarians communists excel at).
==See also==
*Muammar Gaddafi — Gonzalo and him were buddies.Gaddafi: a vicious, sinister despot driven out on tidal wave of hatred
*Khmer Rouge another totalitarian Maoist death cult that killed people in an overly brutal manner
*Alberto Fujimori — Far right dictator whose sole feather in his peaked cap covering his rotting brains is that he took down Guzmán
*Mao Zedong and Maoism, their ideological forefathers and founder of Mao Zedong Thought, the precursor of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism
* Revolutionary Communist Party (US), an American Maoist party that adopted support of the Shining Path as a pet cause after Mao died and Deng Xiaoping disappointed them by taking the Chinese economy in a more neoliberal direction. Had some influence in this aim on a punk band known as...
*Rage Against the Machine —Ignorantly supported Guzmán in their song Bombtrack despite the unnameable brutality committed by the Shining Path against men, women, children, and even infants. Thankfully for them, they are privileged enough to live in one of the most developed countries in the world and thus informed only by more toothless authoritarian groups. They later went on to support the Zapatistas, who while still being Latin American revolutionary leftists, most likely would have fought and killed The Shining Path had they ever encountered each other, as the Zapatistas are generally libertarian socialist-aligned and Shining Path was totalitarian Maoist.
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Cold War
Category:Communism
Category:Crimes against humanity
Category:Cults
Category:Drugs
Category:Government incompetence
Category:History
Category:History of communism
Category:Peru
Category:Terrorism
Category:Terrorist organisations
Category:Totalitarianism
Category:War
Category:War crimes