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Shining Path
The Shining Path (Spanish: Sendero Luminoso, SL), officially 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. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by the government of Peru, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Canada. 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) and other Revolutionary Internationalist Movement-affiliated organizations.
The Shining Path has been widely condemned for its excessive brutality, including violence deployed against peasants, such as the Lucanamarca massacre, as well as for its violence towards trade union organizers, competing Marxist groups, elected officials, and the general public. The Shining Path is regarded as a terrorist organization by the government of Peru, along with Japan, the United States, the European Union, and Canada, all of whom consequently prohibit funding and other financial support to the group.
Since the capture of Shining Path founder Abimael Guzmán in 1992 and of his successors Óscar Ramírez ("Comrade Feliciano") in 1999 and Eleuterio Flores ("Comrade Artemio") in 2012, the Shining Path has declined in activity. The main remaining faction of the Shining Path, the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP), is active in the 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. In addition to the MPCP, the Communist Party of Peru – Red Mantaro Base Committee (PCP-CBMR) has been operating in the Mantaro Valley since 2001, while the Communist Party of Peru – Huallaga Regional Committee (PCP-CRH) was active at the Huallaga region from 2004 until Comrade Artemio's capture in 2012.
The group's official name is the Communist Party of Peru (PCP), a name seen in all of its self-produced documents, periodicals, and other materials. The acronym PCP-SL is unofficially used by organizations, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to distinguish the group from other groups who claim the original name and acronym.
The group's common name, Shining Path, distinguishes it from several other Peruvian communist parties with similar names. 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. The followers of this group are generally called senderistas.
The Shining Path's remnants currently operate in the VRAEM region and primarily comprises two groups and their sub-branches; a paramilitary wing and a political wing. It was originally organised using a "concentric construction" model of structure with Communist Party organs as the complete center, followed by the paramilitary wing surrounding it, and lastly the political wing in the outermost circle. This ensured the political party retained control of both its armed and social branches, contrasting itself with the more frequent foquismo model that swept through Latin American insurgencies after the Cuban Revolution.
The capture of Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán in 1992 led to the eventual splintering of the group into several factions, referred to by the Peruvian government as Shining Path remnants (Spanish: remanentes de Sendero Luminoso). Of these, the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP) is considered the group's main successor, founded in 1999 by brothers Víctor and Jorge Quispe Palomino after the collapse of Sendero Rojo, the faction that had rejected Guzmán's peace treaty. Also active is a faction in the Mantaro Valley since 2001. The group's remnants reportedly obtain their revenue from cocaine trafficking, and of these, the MPCP has attempted to recharacterise and distance itself from the original group that had attacked rural communities in the area, describing Guzmán as a "traitor".
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Shining Path
The Shining Path (Spanish: Sendero Luminoso, SL), officially 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. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by the government of Peru, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Canada. 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) and other Revolutionary Internationalist Movement-affiliated organizations.
The Shining Path has been widely condemned for its excessive brutality, including violence deployed against peasants, such as the Lucanamarca massacre, as well as for its violence towards trade union organizers, competing Marxist groups, elected officials, and the general public. The Shining Path is regarded as a terrorist organization by the government of Peru, along with Japan, the United States, the European Union, and Canada, all of whom consequently prohibit funding and other financial support to the group.
Since the capture of Shining Path founder Abimael Guzmán in 1992 and of his successors Óscar Ramírez ("Comrade Feliciano") in 1999 and Eleuterio Flores ("Comrade Artemio") in 2012, the Shining Path has declined in activity. The main remaining faction of the Shining Path, the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP), is active in the 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. In addition to the MPCP, the Communist Party of Peru – Red Mantaro Base Committee (PCP-CBMR) has been operating in the Mantaro Valley since 2001, while the Communist Party of Peru – Huallaga Regional Committee (PCP-CRH) was active at the Huallaga region from 2004 until Comrade Artemio's capture in 2012.
The group's official name is the Communist Party of Peru (PCP), a name seen in all of its self-produced documents, periodicals, and other materials. The acronym PCP-SL is unofficially used by organizations, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to distinguish the group from other groups who claim the original name and acronym.
The group's common name, Shining Path, distinguishes it from several other Peruvian communist parties with similar names. 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. The followers of this group are generally called senderistas.
The Shining Path's remnants currently operate in the VRAEM region and primarily comprises two groups and their sub-branches; a paramilitary wing and a political wing. It was originally organised using a "concentric construction" model of structure with Communist Party organs as the complete center, followed by the paramilitary wing surrounding it, and lastly the political wing in the outermost circle. This ensured the political party retained control of both its armed and social branches, contrasting itself with the more frequent foquismo model that swept through Latin American insurgencies after the Cuban Revolution.
The capture of Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán in 1992 led to the eventual splintering of the group into several factions, referred to by the Peruvian government as Shining Path remnants (Spanish: remanentes de Sendero Luminoso). Of these, the Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP) is considered the group's main successor, founded in 1999 by brothers Víctor and Jorge Quispe Palomino after the collapse of Sendero Rojo, the faction that had rejected Guzmán's peace treaty. Also active is a faction in the Mantaro Valley since 2001. The group's remnants reportedly obtain their revenue from cocaine trafficking, and of these, the MPCP has attempted to recharacterise and distance itself from the original group that had attacked rural communities in the area, describing Guzmán as a "traitor".
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