Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso (born 3 December 1934), a former professor of philosophy, was the leader of the Maoist insurgency Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso in Spanish) which was active in Peru from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. Wanted on charges of terrorism, Guzmán was captured by the Peruvian government in 1992 and sentenced to life imprisonment. December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Philosophy (from the Greek words philos and sophia meaning love of wisdom) is understood in different ways historically and by different philosophers. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛澤東思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), also called Marxism-Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM), is a variant of communism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ... Shining Paths Flag Sendero Luminoso or Shining Path is a Maoist guerrilla organization in Peru; it calls itself the Communist Party of Peru (Partido Comunista del Perú). ... The Republic of Peru (Spanish: Perú; Quechua, Aymara: Piruw) is a country in western South America, bordering Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the east, south-east and south, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ... Terrorism refers to the use of violence for the purpose of achieving a political, religious, or ideological goal. ... The Republic of Peru (Spanish: Perú; Quechua, Aymara: Piruw) is a country in western South America, bordering Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the east, south-east and south, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Early life

Abimael Guzmán

Guzmán was born in Mollendo, a port town in the province of Islay, in the Peruvian region of Arequipa, about 1000 km south of Lima. He was the illegitimate son of a well-off merchant, the winner of the national lottery who had six children by three different women. Guzmán's mother, Berenice Reynoso, died when her son was only five years old. Arequipa is one of the 24 departments in Peru. ... A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. ...

From 1939 to 1946 Guzmán lived with his mother's family. After 1947 he lived with his father and his father's wife in the city of Arequipa, where he studied at a private Catholic secondary school. At the age of 19 he became a student at the Social Studies department of San Agustín National University, in Arequipa. His classmates at the university later described him as shy, disciplined, obsessive, and ascetic. Increasingly attracted by Marxism, his political thinking was influenced by the book Seven Essays on the Interpretation of the Peruvian Reality of José Carlos Mariátegui, the founder of the Communist Party of Peru. 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... For the cactus species formerly in genus Arequipa, see Oreocereus and Matucana. ... The Roman Catholic Church is the largest religious denomination of Christianity with over one billion members. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... According to Broadleft. ...

At Arequipa, Guzmán completed bachelor degrees in philosophy and law. His dissertations were entitled "The Kantian Theory of Space" and "The Bourgeois Democratic State." In 1962, Guzmán was recruited as a professor of philosophy by the rector of San Cristóbal of Huamanga University in Ayacucho, a city in the central Andes of Peru. The rector was Dr. Efraín Morote Best, an anthropologist who some believe later became the true intellectual leader of the Shining Path movement. Encouraged by Morote, Guzmán studied Quechua, the language spoken by Peru's indigenous population, and became increasingly active in left-wing political circles. He attracted several like-minded young academics committed to bringing about revolution in Peru. He visited the People's Republic of China for the first time in 1965. After serving as the head of personnel for San Cristóbal of Huamanga University, Guzmán left the institution in the mid-1970s and went underground. Law (a loanword from Danish- Norwegian lov), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow... Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a Prussian philosopher, generally regarded as one of Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Ayacucho is the capital of the department of Peru. ... Note that the geology in this article currently reflects views from the first decade of the 20th century. ... Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... Quechua (Standard Quechua, Runasimi Language of People) is an Native American language of South America. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) comprises most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Events and trends Although in the United States and in many other Western societies the 1970s are often seen as a period of transition between the turbulent 1960s and the more conservative 1980s and 1990s, many of the trends that are associated widely with the Sixties, from the Sexual Revolution...

In the 1960s, the Peruvian Communist Party splintered over ideological and personal disputes. Guzmán, who had taken a pro-Chinese rather than pro-Soviet line, emerged as the leader of the faction known as the "Shining Path" (Mariátegui's wrote once: "Marxism-Leninism is the shining path of the future"). He adopted the nom de guerre President Gonzalo and began advocating a peasant-led revolution on the Maoist model. His followers declared Guzmán, who cultivated anonymity, to be the "Fourth Sword of Communism" (after Marx, Lenin, and Mao). In his political declarations, Guzmán praised Mao's development of Lenin's theses regarding the role of imperialism in propping up the bourgeois capitalist system. He claimed that imperialism ultimately "creates disruption and is unsuccessful, and it will end up in ruins in the next 50 to 100 years". Guzmán applied this criticism not only to North American imperialism, but also to what he termed the "social imperialism" of the Soviet Union. Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ... Soviet Union - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... A pseudonym or allonym is a name (sometimes legally adopted, sometimes purely fictitious) used by an individual as an alternative to their birth name. ... Karl Marx Karl Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was an influential German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary organizer of the International Workingmens Association. ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) (April 22 (April 10 (O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party, the first Premier of the Soviet Union, and the founder of the ideology of Leninism. ... Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893—September 9, 1976) was the chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1935 until his death. ... Imperialism is the policy of extending the control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics and/or economy of other countries. ... In economics, a capitalist is someone who owns capital, presumably within the economic system of capitalism. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ...

Guerrilla Campaign

The Shining Path movement was at first largely circumscribed to academic circles in Peruvian universities. In the late 1970s, however, the movement developed into a guerrilla group centered around Ayacucho. In May of 1980, the group launched its war against the government of Perú by burning the ballot boxes in Chuschi, a village near Ayacucho, in an effort to disrupt the first democratic elections in the country since 1964. Shining Path eventually grew to control vast rural territories in central and southern Perú and achieved a presence even in the outskirts of Lima, where it staged numerous attacks. The purpose of Shining Path's campaign was to demoralize and undermine the government of Perú in order to create a situation conducive to a violent coup which would put its leaders in power. The Shining Path targeted not only the Peruvian army and police, but also government employees at all levels, other leftist militants such as members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), workers who did not participate in the strikes organized by the group, peasants who cooperated with the government in any way (including by voting in democratic elections), and ordinary middle-class inhabitants of Perú's main cities. The Peruvian Commission of Truth & Reconciliation later estimated that the resulting civil war led to the deaths of some seventy thousand people, approximately half of them at the hands of the Shining Path and a third at the hands of the Peruvian state. [1] (http://peru.com/noticias/idocs/2003/8/29/DetalleDocumento_97139.asp) Events and trends Although in the United States and in many other Western societies the 1970s are often seen as a period of transition between the turbulent 1960s and the more conservative 1980s and 1990s, many of the trends that are associated widely with the Sixties, from the Sexual Revolution... Guerrilla (also called a partisan) is a term borrowed from Spanish (from guerra meaning war) used to describe small combat groups. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about Lima, Peru. ... Not to be confused with an Uruguayan guerrilla group, the Tupamaros The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement or Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (MRTA) is a guerrilla movement in Peru. ... A civil war is a war in which the competing parties are segments of the same country or empire. ...

The movement promoted the writings of Abimael Guzmán as Gonzalo Thought, a new theoretical understanding that built upon Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism. In 1989, Guzmán declared that the Shining Path had progressed from waging a guerrilla war to waging a "war of movements." He further argued that this was a step towards achieving "strategic equilibrium" in the near future. Guzmán claimed that such an equilibrium would manifest itself by ungovernability under the "old order." When that moment arrived, Guzmán believed that the Shining Path would be ready to move on to its "strategic offensive." Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism (a form of Communism); it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛澤東思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), also called Marxism-Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM), is a variant of communism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Capture

The safehouse in Lima where Guzmán was captured

In 1992, during the first administration of President Alberto Fujimori, the Peruvian National Directorate Against Terrorism (DINCOTE) began casing several residences in Lima because agents suspected that terrorists were using them as safehouses. One of those residences, in the middle-class neighborhood of Surco, had been operating as a ballet studio. The DINCOTE operatives routinely searched the garbage taken out from the house. The house was supposedly inhabited by only one person, the dance teacher Maritza Garrido Lecca, but it was soon noticed that the household produced more garbage than one person could account for. Furthermore, agents found discarded tubes of cream for the treatment of psoriasis, an ailment that Guzmán was known to have. On 12 September 1992, an elite unit of the DINCOTE raided the Surco residence. On the second floor of the house, they found and arrested Guzmán and eight others, including Laura Zambrano and Elena Iparraguirre, Guzman's female companion. (This episode inspired Nicholas Shakespeare's novel The Dancer Upstairs). Abimael Guzman safehouse Copied from the Peruvian National Police web site: Public Domain - Peru http://www. ... Abimael Guzman safehouse Copied from the Peruvian National Police web site: Public Domain - Peru http://www. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alberto Kenya Fujimori (born July 28, 1938) was President of Peru from July 28, 1990, to November 17, 2000. ... Photograph of an arm covered with plaque psoriasis Psoriasis is a disease whose main symptom is gray or silvery flaky patches on the skin which are red and inflamed underneath when scratched. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

At the time of capture, the police seized Guzmán's computer, in which they found a very detailed register of his armed forces and the weapons each regiment, militia and support base had in each region of the country. Guzmán had registered that, in 1990, the Shining Path had 23,430 members armed with approximately 235 revolvers, 500 rifles and 300 other items of military hardware such as grenades. The government tried to portray Guzmán as a crazed psychopath and common criminal, publicizing photos of him in striped prison garb, and promised that Sendero Luminoso's rank and file who turned themselves in would get lenient treatment. 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The word grenade can mean:- The well-known hand grenade commonly used by soldiers. ...

Trial and Imprisonment

Guzmán as a prisoner

Guzmán was tried by a court of hooded military judges under provisions of the draconian anti-terrorism laws adopted by Fujimori's government. After a three-day trial, Guzmán was sentenced to life imprisonment and incarcerated at the San Lorenzo Island naval base, in Callao, the port of Lima, where he is currently. Subsequently, he is said to have proceeded to negotiate with presidential advisor Vladimiro Montesinos in order to receive some benefits in exchange for helping the Peruvian government put an end to the Shining Path's militant activities. Guzmán appeared several times on Peruvian television and in 1993 he publicly declared "peace" with the Peruvian government. This declaration split the Shining Path and raised questions about the organization's future. Some within the party accepted it as a sign of defeat. Others held that it was either a forgery or an insincere statement made under duress. Abimael Guzman Screenshot TV Screenshot: Public Domain This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Abimael Guzman Screenshot TV Screenshot: Public Domain This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... For other uses, see Callao (disambiguation). ... This article needs cleanup. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003) Events Media:January January 1 - Czechoslovakia divides. ...

Although the vast majority of Peruvians are convinced Guzmán is responsible for the most violent period in modern Peruvian history, more than 5,000 individuals presented an appeal to Peru's Constitutional Court in 2003 asking that the verdicts against Guzmán and more than other 1800 prisoners convicted of terrorism be voided. The court agreed, declaring that the military trials had been unconstitutional and ordering new trials before civilian courts. The new trials began in 2003. Since then, more than 400 prisoners who had been found guilty by military courts have been freed. The majority are still awaiting trial.

Guzmán's re-trial was scheduled to begin on 5 November 2004. After the three judges, Dante Terrel, Carlos Manrique, and José de Vinatea, failed to prevent Guzmán from disrupting the preeliminary hearing by shouting slogans and gesturing defiantly to the spectators, several politicians and members of the press accused them of being too lenient towards Guzmán. Two of the judges subsequently recused themselves. Guzmán's trial will therefore have to begin again for the third time. November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• On the trail of Abimael Guzman (http://www.ukinet.com/media/text/guzman.htm)
• The Sendero File (http://www.gci275.com/peru/sf5.shtml)