| The Shining Path Movement represented the | | | | population. In 1983, sixty-nine villagers were killed |
| Communist Party in Peru and reached its peak in | | | | and a van was bombed in Lima that killed about |
| the 1980s as a formidable rebel movement, | | | | 20 people in July 1992. It is considered a terrorist |
| waging a brutal war with the Peruvian state. Its | | | | group by the United States, the European Union |
| leader was Abimael Guzman, who formed the | | | | and Canada. |
| movement in the 1970s and was inspired by | | | | The Fall and Re-Emergance of The Movement |
| Mao's Cultural Revolution in China. | | | | Only when the Shining Path leader Abimael |
| Dramatic Beginnings | | | | Guzman and six other rebel leaders were |
| When the Shining Path movement first launched | | | | apprehended in 1992 did the violence subside. |
| itself in 1980, it burned the ballot boxes the night | | | | Guzman had a speedy trial by a military court |
| before the first democratic election in twelve | | | | behind closed doors and was sentenced to life |
| years. Its goal was to replace the existing | | | | imprisonment, which was basically a death knell |
| democracy in Peru which it considered bourgeois | | | | for the movement. However, in 2003, Guzman's |
| with its own "New Democracy". The Shining Path | | | | sentence was overturned when the constitutional |
| would arrive at pure communism by instituting a | | | | court of Peru reversed the laws against terror |
| dictatorship of the proletariat and bringing on a | | | | enacted under former President Alberto Fujimori. |
| cultural revolution followed by a world revolution. | | | | This was then followed by a civilian trial and a few |
| The means to this goal was to kill villagers | | | | years later by a call from Guzman for a peace |
| suspected of agreeing with current government | | | | deal. The civilian trial ended in 2006 with the calling |
| policy. The Shining Path movement believed that it | | | | of a life sentence for Guzman. This action caused |
| was the leader in promoting communism in the | | | | the membership of the Shining Path movement |
| world. | | | | to decline. A government amnesty program |
| Terrorism in Peru | | | | initiated in 1994 enabled about 6,000 terrorists to |
| The results of its efforts put large areas of the | | | | surrender. A resurgence of the movement was |
| countryside under its control. It also struck at | | | | spearheaded by guerrilla leader Oscar Ramirez |
| various areas in the capital city, Lima, | | | | Durand in the mid-1990s but was backed up only |
| consequently concerning many that it would | | | | by a few hundred men and confined strictly to |
| eventually take over the entire country. Nearly | | | | jungle regions in eastern Peru. Ramirez himself |
| 70,000 people died in the rebellion and the war of | | | | was captured in 1999 and also underwent a civilian |
| counter-terrorists it triggered. It was a brutal | | | | trial. Some terrorist activity occurred after his |
| organization, employing violence against peasants, | | | | capture with a car bomb in Lima in 2002 and a |
| trade union organizers, and the general civilian | | | | kidnapping in 2003. |