Massacre in Peru: what does the bloody return of the Shining Path represent? | the Chronicle

In Peru Brilliant trail It was one of the groups that marked the worst years with blood and fire, which seemed to be buried, but no. This week, a column made up of remaining sectors of this murderous organization attacked again after a long time and violently killed 14 people who were in a bar in a town in the central jungle of Peru. In this way, in a pre-electoral context, terror once again conquered the Peruvians.

What was the Shining Path for the neighboring country? Maybe it will be useful to review: officially known as the Communist Party of Peru, it is a terrorist organization whose founder, Abimael Guzmán, is imprisoned in the Callao naval base due to thousands of deaths . that this grouping caused between 1980 and 2000.

The terrorist organization was characterized by a high proportion of women, exactly half of the combatants. An investigation conducted in Peru by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Shining Path murdered in twenty years an estimated number of between 31,331 and 37,840 people. Other sources indicate that this figure is significantly higher, around 48,000,

Peruvian terror

In the memory of the neighboring country, the wound remains open: in 1980, the era of terrorism broke loose, in which the leader took part, Abimael Guzman Reynoso. Under Maoist ideology and tactics such as the Communist Party of the Philippines and organizations affiliated with the International Revolutionary Movement.

Shining Path was characterized by its brutality, which included violence against peasants, union leaders, democratically elected authorities, and ongoing attacks on private property and the country’s infrastructure – among others, high-voltage towers were blown up, explosive destruction of roads, bridges, railways, refineries – but arguably the most common target was the poorest population, police and military personnel in general, and even animals. Wherever they went, they left the blood of their countrymen diluted.

Quick with strategy, in a short time the leaders of the organization managed to control large parts of the country, violently occupying towns such as Jauja, Yurimaguas, Juliaca or Tingo María, in addition to various districts where they imposed a proto-state regime whose main objective was to replace the then national state. They were called the People’s Republic of Peru, the law was not enforced there either, without violence.

For these reasons, many peasants did not support the Senderistas, who promoted the oblivion of the indigenous culture which ended in countless “Popular essays” against those who did not support his ideas and put an end to the mass murders of “enemies of the revolution “by massacre, strangulation, stoning and even the stake.

From 2000, the leaders are arrested and little by little the sources of violence promoted by the Senderistas seem to suffocate, until this week.

Horror Return

The latest act of violence awarded to the Shining Path was recorded in San Miguel del Jan, in the jurisdiction of Vizcatán del Ene, province of Satipo, in the region of the valley of the rivers Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro (Vraem), “led by the criminal Victor Quispe Palomino, in an act of genocide, murdered the night of May 23, 14 people not yet identified, including two children, who were found burned and unrecognizable, ”explained the Joint Command of the Armed Forces in a statement released a few hours after the bloodshed.

In a horror postcard from Peru’s Worst Years, alongside the bodies there were brochures that attribute the fact to the now almost extinct Maoist movement and in which slogans were read that called for “cleaning up Vraem. and Peru the dens of bad life, parasites and corrupt ”.

In addition, through its leaders, the group called for a “boycott” of the June 6 elections, voting blank and denying the right-wing Fuerza Popular candidate. Keiko Fujimori, who will decide the crucial second round against leftist Pedro Castillo.

The public prosecutor announced that the office of the supraprovincial prosecutor specializing in the crimes of terrorism and Lesa Humanidad de Huánuco and Selva Central have opened investigations into the massacre.

President Francisco Sagasti said on Twitter that he had “strongly” condemned the killings and assured that he had ordered “the deployment of armed forces and national police patrols in the region, so that this terrorist action does not remain unpunished “.

Vizcatán is an area marked by the remains of the Shining Path and an area of ​​clashes between the armed forces and narco-terrorist groups.

“The anti-terrorism directorate will conduct the investigations; the victims were cremated, burned ”, revealed the commander, and specified that it was about a group of people who were devoted to the sale of alcoholic drinks.