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Sendero

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speakers blast from the Sendero compound 24/7, "You will believe Mao-Gonzalo thought..."

Sendero

Sendero Luminoso is a name for the Communist Party of Peru, a guerilla organization engaged in narco-trafficking and terrorism in the current day. One of their leaders is a fellow named Gonzalo. Whether Sendero becomes involved in any way with Narcolombia in the Snow Crash era is an open question, though today they profess to oppose the Colombian narco-lords and engage in the traffic to raise money for their cause.

In The Diamond Age, Sendero apparently becomes the dominant socialist-communist phyle, although it seems to draw the negative attention of other phyles due to its excessive noise pollution.

Sendero, along with FARC, is one of the dominant communist movements on university campuses and barrios of South American countries in todays world. Given its inroads into the US and European anti-globalization movement, it is clear that Sendero Luminoso is on its way to becoming a global communist phyle.

Chairman Guzman/Gonzalo
YOU WILL BELIEVE
MAO-GONZALO THOUGHT!!!
Presidente "Shampoo" Guzman
AKA Chairman Gonzalo
exhorts the masses at his trial (NICE shirt!).

Origins

On May 17th, 1980 a small group of young men raided the polling place and burned the ballots in the rural town of Chuschi high in the Peruvian Andes. It was the first national election after 12 years of military rule. The people of Peru had no idea that this small incident would curse the country’s return to democracy for the next decade and a half. The Communist Party of Peru by the Shining Path of Jose Carlos Mariátegui, better known as Sendero Luminoso or the Shining Path, had thus launched its armed fight. Its birth, however, began long before in the classrooms of Abimael Guzmán, a charismatic professor at the Universidad Nacional de San Cristóbal de Huamanga, who was nicknamed "Shampoo" for his ability to convince his students of almost anything.

Former university professor Abimael Guzman formed SL in Peru in the late 1960s, and his teachings created the foundation of SL’s militant Maoist doctrine. Within a few years Sendero Luminoso had shrewdly turned a critical national situation to their advantage by exacerbating class consciousness and social resentment among the indigenous people of the highlands. Although considered a legitimate insurrection by some and a repressive, reactionary movement by others, no one can deny the violence and bloodshed directly and indirectly attributed to the emergence of Sendero Luminoso.

In the 1980s, SL became one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the Western Hemisphere. With the beginning of the urban strategy in the late 1980s and the involvement in the coca trade in the Upper Huallaga Valley soon after, it seemed all of Peru was a war zone. Flagrant human rights abuses by the military and its U.S.-trained counter-guerrilla forces (Sinchis) and the numerous killings of independent grass roots organizers, local politicians and unsympathetic civilians by Sendero Luminoso left the people of Peru caught in the middle. Approximately 30,000 persons have died since Shining Path took up arms in 1980.

The Peruvian Government made dramatic gains against SL during the 1990s, but reports of recent SL involvement in narco-trafficking and kidnapping for ransom indicate it may be developing new sources of support. Its stated goal is to destroy existing Peruvian institutions and replace them with a communist peasant revolutionary regime. It also opposes any influence by foreign governments.

Then on September 12, 1992 Presidente Gonzalo (Guzmán’s nom de guerre) was captured during a raid of a safe house in Lima. Considerably weakened, Sendero has lost much of its role in determining the future of Peru. But although it no longer holds the country captive, it still remains a force to be reckoned with.

Peruvian Courts in 2003 granted approximately 1,900 members the right to request retrials in a civilian court, including the imprisoned top leadership. The trial of Guzman, who was arrested in 1992, was scheduled for November 5, 2004, but was postponed after the first day, when chaos erupted in the courtroom.

Gonzalo's Speech From The Cage

Dr. Abimael Guzmán's (Chairman Gonzalo) "Speech from a Cage" September 24, 1992

The following is the IEC's English translation of the speech Dr. Abimael Guzmán (aka Chairman Gonzalo) gave on September 24, 1992 days after his capture. He made this speech from a cage during a "press conference" orchestrated by the Peruvian regime for over 200 international journalists (photo top-right). Dr. Guzmán defied the regime's attempt to humiliate him and instead delivered a powerful speech which was heard around the planet.

"Comrades of the Communist Party of Peru! Fighters of the People's Guerrilla Army!

People of Peru!

We are living through historic events, each one of us knows this to be the case. Let us not deceive ourselves. At this moment we must ready all our forces in order to face the difficulties and to continue accomplishing our tasks! To win new victories and finally triumph! This must be done.

We are here as the sons and daughters of the people and we are fighting in these trenches, this is also combat, and we do this because we are communist! Because here we defend the people's interest, the principles of the Party, and the People's War! That is what we have been doing, what we are doing, what we will continue to do!

We are here in these circumstances. Some think that this is a great defeat. They are dreaming! We say let them dream on. This is merely a bend in the road. Nothing more! A bend along the road. The road is long and we will travel it to the end. We will reach our goal and we will win! You will see it! You will see it!

We must continue with the tasks laid down in the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee, a glorious event! Let it be known, these resolutions are already being carried out. We will continue to apply the Fourth Plan for Strategic Development of the People's War for the Seizure of Power. We will continue to develop the Sixth Military Plan to Build Towards the Seizure of' Power. That will continue! That is our task! We will carry it out because of who we are! Because of our responsibility to the proletariat and the people!

We clearly state that today, the democratic road has begun to unfold as a road to liberation, as a road to people's liberation. These are the circumstances in which we are developing. We should examine this with a sense of history. Let us stop closing our eyes. Let us look at the truth. Let us look at the history of Peru. Let us look at the last three centuries in Peru. This is what we should examine, the 18th century, the 19th century, the 20th century, and understand their lessons! Whoever does not understand this history will remain blind. And this blindness cannot serve the country, cannot serve Peru!

We see that the 18th century offers a very clear lesson. Let's examine this. There was one dominator, it was Spain, and that domination sucked our lifeblood. Where did it lead us! To an extremely deep crisis. As a consequence, Peru was divided up. From this came the origins of today's Bolivia. This is not our invention, this is history.

Then, in the last century: British domination. Where did their contention with France lead us! To another great crisis, the '70s of the last century. The result? War with Chile. Let us not forget this! What happened? We lost territory. Our country suffered a great split, in spite of the blood spilled by the heroes and the people. We must draw a lesson!

The 20th century. How are we faring! In this 20th century there is an imperialism dominating us, principally U.S. imperialism. This is something real and everyone knows it. Where has this led us! Except for the 20's, here and now is the worst crisis of the entire history of the Peruvian people. Taking a lesson from the past centuries, what are we to sum up? Once again the nation is in danger, once again the republic is in danger, once again the territory is in danger, it could easily be lost to foreign interest. This is the situation. They have brought us to this point. But we have a new reality, a Peruvian revolution, a People's War, it continues and will continue to advance. How far have we advanced? To Strategic Equilibrium! This we must understand well. lt is a Strategic Equilibrium that is being consolidated in a very critical situation. Twelve years of People's War - IEC has demonstrated what? It has clearly shown to the world, and especially to the Peruvian people, that the Peruvian State, the old Peruvian State, is a paper tiger. It is rotten to the core. This is what has been demonstrated !

This being the case, we should think about the danger that the nation, the country, may be divided. The nation is at risk, they want to tear it to pieces, they want to divide it up. Who wants to do this! Like always, imperialism, those who exploit, those who dominate. What should we do! What is correct today! It is time to make a leap in strengthening the People's Liberation Movement and we must develop this while directing the People's War. Because the people, it has always been the people, who have defended the country, who have defended the nation.

The time to set up the People's Liberation Front has arrived. It is time to constitute and develop a People's Liberation Army starting from the People's Guerrilla Army. This is what is correct today! We will do this! It is what we are doing now! It is what we are going to follow through on! You, sirs, shall be witness.

Finally, listen to this. We see worldwide Maoism is marching relentlessly forward in its task of leading the new wave of the world proletarian revolution. Listen well and understand. Those who have ears, use them. Those who have understanding, and we all have it, use it well. Enough nonsense! Enough confusion! Understand this! What is happening in the world! What do we need! We need Maoism to be a living force, and this is happening. We need Maoism to generate new Communist Parties to direct this next great wave of world proletarian revolution that is upon us.

All that they told us, their empty and stubbornly ignorant chattering about the famous "new stage of peace" -- where has this ended up! What about Yugoslavia! What about other places! It all was politicized, it was a lie. Today there is only one reality. The same contending powers behind the First and Second World Wars are now preparing the Third World War. This we should know, and we as the sons and daughters of an oppressed country are part of the loot. We cannot let this happen! Enough of this imperialist exploitation! We should finish them off! We are part of the Third World, and the Third World is the base for world proletarian revolution, with one condition: that the communist parties develop and direct it. This is what we must do!

Here is what we think: next year will be the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Chairman Mao. We must celebrate the centenary! And we are organizing this with the Communist Parties. We want a new kind of celebration, a celebration that recognizes the conscious understanding of the importance of Chairman Mao in the world revolution. We will start the celebration this year and it will culminate next year. It will be a great program of celebration. I want to take this opportunity to salute the international proletariat, the oppressed nations of the world, and the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement.

Long Live the Communist Party of Peru! The People's War Will Inevitably Be Victorious! We Salute the Future Birth of the People's Republic of Peru! We say: Glory to Marxism-Leninism-Maoism! Finally we say: Honor and Glory to the People of Peru!" end speech...

La Boca del Lobo (The Lion's Den) Fiction inspired by the army's 1983 massacre of 47 men, women and children suspected of terrorism.  The movie portrays the moral and disintegration of the members of a small army contingent sent away to uncover Sendero Luminoso in a remote mountain village.  Peru, 1989.  Directed by Francisco J. Lombardi.  122 minutes.  Spanish with English subtitles.

The People of the Shining Path  A documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation focusing on Sendero Luminoso within Lima and a few villages.  Knowledge of the situation in Peru is necessary prior to viewing this since it denies much of the violence of the guerrillas and its involvement in coca trafficking.  Extensive interviews with Sendero members.  Peru/UK, 1992.  41 minutes.  English.

INTERNET RESOURCES

The following 2 links are resource sites that attempt to organize the hundreds of web sites relating to Latin America. They provide useful indexes and hundreds of links. * Internet Resources for Latin America. * Library of Congress Country Studies/Area Handbooks

ELECTRONIC LISTS

Peruvian culture and other issues.

Latin American list is for subject specialists, librarians, academic staff, postgraduate students and others in the field of Latin American studies. * LATAM-INFO-request@mailbase.ac.uk