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Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso)

Elyse Brynen, Meredith B Watkins, Authors

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History

Beginning in the late 1960s the Shining Path is a radical Marxist/leftist group in Peru. The founder and leader was a former university professor named Abimael Guzman Reynoso who founded the group on the principals of the peoples war.  Creating a well organized and educated group of students and teachers who began by committing theatrical acts of rebellions. In May of 1980, during Peru's first free election, they began burning ballot boxes in rural areas. Later that year they hung dead dogs up on lampposts to express their frustration with China's reassertion into the capitalistic global economy. Theatrics aside the group was extremely dangerous. As a reaction a war was waged between the Shining Path and the Peruvian police. This became known as a dirty war due to the violent paths both sides have chosen.  Since the formation of this group they have committed over 4000 incidents of terror.  Committing over 2000 bombing and over 800 assassinations. In 1992, Guzman was capture in Lima and has been imprisoned since. From jail he has called for a ceasefire yet with it's current connections to cocaine trafficking the Shining Path is still and active terror organization.  


Sources:

START Datatbase http://www.start.umd.edu/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=111

Mitchell, W. "Shining path through complementary lenses: history and ethnography." Journal of Latin American and Caribbean anthropology17.1 (2012): 181-185.
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