Shining Path: Difference between revisions

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Widely condemned for its brutality, including violence deployed against peasants, multiple acts of mass [[murder]], killing of trade union organizers, elected officials and the general civilian population, the Shining Path is regarded by Peru as a terrorist organization, having committed numerous human rights abuses and [[war crimes]]. Japan, the United States, the European Union, and Canada likewise classify the group as a terrorist organization and prohibit funding and other financial support.

==History==

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. His teachings created the foundation of its militant Maoist doctrine. 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.

The Shining Path first established a foothold at San Cristóbal of Huamanga University, in Ayacucho, where Guzmán taught philosophy. The university had recently reopened after being closed for about half a century, and many students of the newly educated class adopted the Shining Path's radical ideology. 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. Sometime later, it lost many student elections in the universities, including Guzmán's San Cristóbal of Huamanga. It decided to abandon recruiting at the universities and reconsolidate.

Beginning on March 17, 1980, the Shining Path held a series of clandestine meetings in Ayacucho, known as the Central Committee's second plenary. It formed a "Revolutionary Directorate" that was political and military in nature and ordered its militias to transfer to strategic areas in the provinces to start the "armed struggle", despite the revisionism instituted in China by Deng Xiaoping and its economic success since 1978. The group also held its "First Military School", where members were instructed in military tactics and the use of weapons. They also engaged in "Criticism and Self-criticism", a Maoist practice intended to purge bad habits and avoid the repetition of mistakes. During the existence of the First Military School, members of the Central Committee came under heavy criticism. Guzmán did not, and he emerged from the First Military School as the clear leader of the Shining Path. In 1992, Guzmán and other leaders of the Shining Path received life imprisonment sentences for their role in the [[Lucanamarca Massacre]], among other charges.

In 1991, President [[Alberto Fujimori]] issued a law that gave the ''rondas'' a legal status, and from that time they were officially called ''Comités de auto defensa'' ("Committees of Self Defence").They were officially armed, usually with 12-gauge shotguns, and trained by the Peruvian Army. 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.

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[[Category:Latin American Villains]]

[[Category:Political Parties]]

[[Category:~~Communism~~]]

[[Category:Corrupting Influence]]

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 Widely condemned for its brutality, including violence deployed against peasants, multiple acts of mass [[murder]], killing of trade union organizers, elected officials and the general civilian population, the Shining Path is regarded by Peru as a terrorist organization, having committed numerous human rights abuses and [[war crimes]]. Japan, the United States, the European Union, and Canada likewise classify the group as a terrorist organization and prohibit funding and other financial support.
+==History==
+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. His teachings created the foundation of its militant Maoist doctrine. 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.
+The Shining Path first established a foothold at San Cristóbal of Huamanga University, in Ayacucho, where Guzmán taught philosophy. The university had recently reopened after being closed for about half a century, and many students of the newly educated class adopted the Shining Path's radical ideology. 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. Sometime later, it lost many student elections in the universities, including Guzmán's San Cristóbal of Huamanga. It decided to abandon recruiting at the universities and reconsolidate.
+Beginning on March 17, 1980, the Shining Path held a series of clandestine meetings in Ayacucho, known as the Central Committee's second plenary. It formed a "Revolutionary Directorate" that was political and military in nature and ordered its militias to transfer to strategic areas in the provinces to start the "armed struggle", despite the revisionism instituted in China by Deng Xiaoping and its economic success since 1978. The group also held its "First Military School", where members were instructed in military tactics and the use of weapons. They also engaged in "Criticism and Self-criticism", a Maoist practice intended to purge bad habits and avoid the repetition of mistakes. During the existence of the First Military School, members of the Central Committee came under heavy criticism. Guzmán did not, and he emerged from the First Military School as the clear leader of the Shining Path. In 1992, Guzmán and other leaders of the Shining Path received life imprisonment sentences for their role in the [[Lucanamarca Massacre]], among other charges.
 In 1991, President [[Alberto Fujimori]] issued a law that gave the ''rondas'' a legal status, and from that time they were officially called ''Comités de auto defensa'' ("Committees of Self Defence").They were officially armed, usually with 12-gauge shotguns, and trained by the Peruvian Army. 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.
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 [[Category:Latin American Villains]]
 [[Category:Political Parties]]
-[[Category:Communism]]
+[[Category:Corrupting Influence]]