The Sendero Luminoso: C'mon Baby Light My (Revolutionary) Fire
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Peruvian Flag  www.peruembassy-uk.comPeruvian Coat of Arms www.peruembassy-uk.comwww.peruembassy-uk.comibidibid

     GENERAL OVERVIEW

The country of Peru has been locked in civil war known as "the People's War" since 1980 when the Communist Party of Peru (or the PCP as it will be referred to from now on) declared it so.  Specifically, the movement is designed to overthrow the "American backed" regimes of Peru.  The Sendero Luminoso emerged during a series of splits in the Communist Party in the late 60's.  Following the lead of Abimael Guzman, a professor at a regional Peruvian University, they formulated an ideology and have since stuck with it from the advent of the "People's War" all the way to present times (Selbin's Modern Latin American Revolutions)  Their goal was to cause massive insurgency among the peasants of Peru and the destruction of the Democratic form of government in favor of an Indian based socialist system.  During the course of the last 18 years, Guzman has since been captured by current Peruvian President Albert Fujimori and and attempted Guzman peace settlement has divided the Shining Path in two, thereby largely muting the violence associated with it.

LINKS

The Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru Home Page
(People of Peru!  Don't Vote!  Long Live the People's War!)  www.csrp.orgA pro Shining Path with a lot of information on the Shining Path movement as well as other liberation movements around the world. Primarily, however, the focus is on Peru.  This site features Revolutionary artwork, the latest news on "The People's War", as well as information as varied as the crimes of the Fujimori regime and documents of the communist party.  In other sections of the Home Page (not directly linked to) you can order propaganda and even join the campaign to save the life of Abimael Guzman.
 

Peru's Tarnished Path
(The Masses Make History, the Party Leads!)  www.csrp.orgAnother pro Shining path article from the Progressive Labor Party (a Communist Party's web page.  The article begins with a lamentation of sorts on the modern conditions in Peru (many good statistics are available about the Indian population), followed shortly by a history of the Shining Path movement (much more detailed than this web page's). Following shortly are the aims, objectives and strategies of the Sendero Luminoso.  Unfortunately, the very last section of the document the Final Word has not been done so this source is incomplete, but what is contained in it is quite good.

The Terrorism Research Center's Report on the Shining Path
(Long Live the War of the Guerrillas!  Long Live the Communist Party of Peru!)   www.csrp.orgA clearly anti Shining Path source that details a little about how the Shining Path manages to keep itself funded as well as as some of the punishments it's member's have received.  While not clearly pro Fujimori, the source implies that Fujimori's declaration of emergency rule in 1992 was a good and necessary thing.

Interview with Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori
(The Revolution Depends on Communists, of Communist Parties- Pres. Gonzalo (a.k.a. Guzman)) www.csrp.org A five minute interview with President Alberto Fujimori done by CNN on January 8, 1997.  In order to view the interview you must download a VIVO player.  In the interview, Fujimori is asked about what he plans to do to about reform of the Judicial system, thus ending the oppression of his anti terrorist laws (Part 2), if he will use violence to end the standoff with the Sendero Luminoso (Part 1), among other questions.  This source is a little neutral, and while the information it provides is minimal it is a first hand source.

Violations of International Accords perpetrated by the Fujimori Regime
(It is Marxism-Leninism-Maoism that Unites All of the Communists of the World)  www.csrp.orgAn anti Fujimori article detailing the the violations of basic civil liberties by the current Peruvian Regime.  Inside the actual document itself are more specific detailed accounts of the violations, as well as the actual texts of the "emergency declarations" of the Fujimori regime.  Also, the actual accords that the Peruvian government has signed (and broken) are available through links on the page.

Human Rights Violations Perpetrated by the Sendero Luminoso
(Put Maoism in Control of the World) www.csrp.orgA report documenting various human rights violations perpetrated by the Shining Path guerrillas.  This document contains links to the official Amnesty International report on the Human Rights Situation in Peru, which includes the violations of the Fujimori Regime.  Clearly, this site favors neither side due to its stance on human rights and the clear violations by both sides.  As an interesting tidbit, one can read the Shining Path's rebuttal to their documented violations on the CSRP web page.

The Role of Women in the Shining Path Movement
Break the Chains!  Unleash the Fury of Women as a Mighty Force for Revolution)  www.csrp.orgAn article written in Harvard Magazine by M. Elaine Mar detailing the expanded role of women in the Shining Path Movement.  She writes of how the Revolution in Peru is the first Latin American Revolution that women have played such a vital part in the movement, thereby breaking the "boys-only" club "forged in the Che Guevara mold".  It tells a little of journalist Robin Kirk (the translator of the book The Shining Path:  A History of the Millenarian War in Peru) and his interviews with women as to why they would become involved in such a violent Revolution.  More info on this topic from the Shining Path Perspective can be found on their web page and from an interview from a member of the Committee Sol Peru.

The Future of the Shining Path
(Long Live the Invincible People's War!)  www.csrp.orgHeading into the new Millennium, the founder of the Shining Path sits in jail on a tiny island outside Lima.  The cause is divided due to a disagreement over the 1993 negotiated peace.  Everyday the revolution seems to lose steam due to many reports of the destruction the Guerillas caused.  So what lies in store for the future of the Shining Path Movement?  This article by  Peruvian journalist Carlos Reyna Izaguirre probes the possible future of the Movement in this short article that details the beginnings of the Movement, a few things that went wrong with it, and lastly what lies in store for the movement in the next Millennium.
 
 

www.csrp.org
Pro-Communist Artwork from the Movement



                                                                             
 
 
 
 

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