The Shining Path - Leftist Guerrillas in Peru

Socioeconomic changes in many Latin American countries in the later half of the 20th century led to the rise of leftist movements that confronted established governments and caused devastating collateral damage to innocent citizens.

Peru was no exception. In response to a corrupt and ineffective national government, a Maoist guerrilla group, The Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) emerged in the early 1980s with the goal of overthrowing the existing government and creating a Communist state in the model of Maoist China.

Led by Abimael Guzman, the Shining Path waged an internal war with the Peruvian government for 12 years, from 1988 to 2000. The Shining Path used terrorist tactics to try to achieve their goals - kidnapping and murder of innocent civilians, assassinations of key government officials, and complete disruption of civil society.

The impact of the Shining Path on Peruvian society cannot be underestimated. In the course of 12 years, more than 70,000 civilians died, and more than 600,000 were displaced. A vast migration took place within Peru, with entire populations abandoning Andean towns and moving to Lima for safety. This contributed to the creation of the barriadas discussed in an earlier post.

Certainly one of the most horrific acts of violence committed by the Shining Path was the Massacre at Lucamarca, which took place on April 3, 1983. The citizens of this Andean town tried to resist the influence of the Shining Path, and tried to evict them from their village. As a result, a member of the Shining Path group was killed. In retaliation, the Shining Path marched into Lucamarca and rounded up women, children, and the elderly and killed 69 of them - by vicious and atrocious means - including the boiling alive of pregnant women.

The ensuing response to this massacre was very similar to what can be seen in the film "Discovering Dominga." Citizens pressed the Peruvian government for answers regarding these deaths. Forensic anthropologists confirmed that the deaths were executions, and this information was used later on to convict Guzman and nine other leaders of Shining Path of crimes of homicide, terrorism, and damage to the Peruvian State. He is currently imprisoned under a life sentence in a Peruvian prison.