Shining Path

Not to be confused with Militarized Communist Party of Peru.

Communist Party of Peru
Partido Comunista del Perú
AbbreviationPCP (official)
PCP-SL (unofficial)
Leaders
FounderAbimael Guzmán
Founded1969 (de facto)
Split fromPeruvian Communist Party (Red Flag)
Armed wingPeople's Liberation Army
Ideology
Political positionFar-left
International affiliation
Colors  Red
Slogan¡Viva la Guerra Popular! ¡Guerra Popular hasta el comunismo! ("Long live the People's War! People's War until communism!")
Party flag

The Shining Path (Spanish: Sendero Luminoso), self-named the Communist Party of Peru (Partido Comunista del Perú, abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path (Partido Comunista del Perú – Sendero Luminoso, abbr. PCP-SL) to distinguish it from other communist parties in Peru.

When it first launched its "people's war" in 1980, the Shining Path's goal was to overthrow the government through guerrilla warfare and replace it with a New Democracy. The Shining Path believed that by establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat, inducing a cultural revolution, and eventually sparking a world revolution, they could arrive at full communism. Their representatives stated that the then-existing socialist countries were revisionist, and the Shining Path was the vanguard of the world communist movement. The Shining Path's ideology and tactics have influenced other Maoist insurgent groups such as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and other Revolutionary Internationalist Movement-affiliated organizations.[1]

The Shining Path has been widely condemned for its excessive brutality, including violence deployed against peasants, trade union organizers, competing Marxist groups, elected officials and the general public.[2] The Shining Path is regarded as a terrorist organization by the government of Peru, along with Japan,[3] the United States,[4] the European Union,[5] and Canada,[6] all of whom consequently prohibit funding and other financial support to the group.

Since the captures of Shining Path founder Abimael Guzmán in 1992 and his successors Óscar Ramírez in 1999 and Comrade Artemio in 2012, the Shining Path declined in activity.[7][8] The main remaining faction of the Shining Path, the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP), is active in the Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro (VRAEM) region of Peru, and it has since distanced itself from the Shining Path's legacy in 2018 in order to maintain the support of peasants previously persecuted by the Shining Path.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ Maske, Mahesh. "Maovichar", in Studies in Nepali History and Society, Vol. 7, No. 2 (December 2002), p. 275.
  2. ^ Burt, Jo-Marie (October 2006). "'Quien habla es terrorista': The political use of fear in Fujimori's Peru". Latin American Research Review. 41 (3): 38. doi:10.1353/lar.2006.0036.
  3. ^ "MOFA: Implementation of the Measures including the Freezing of Assets against Terrorists and the Like". Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Country Reports on Terrorism 2020". U.S. Department of State. December 2021. pp. 309–10.
  5. ^ Council Common Position 2005/936/CFSP. Archived 22 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine. 14 March 2005. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
  6. ^ Government of Canada. "Listed Entities" Archived 19 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  7. ^ Rochlin 2003, p. 3.
  8. ^ a b Robbins, Seth (4 September 2020). "Peru in Familiar Stalemate With Shining Path Rebels". InSight Crime. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  9. ^ Stone, Hannah (27 March 2017). "US Indicts Shining Path Rebels as Drug War Focus Shifts to Peru". InSight Crime. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  10. ^ Gorder, Gabrielle (23 September 2019). "Peru's Shining Path Plots Unlikely Return to Power". InSight Crime. Retrieved 4 December 2020.