The Shining Path Movement in Peru

The Shining Path Movement represented the Communist Party in Peru and reached its peak in the 1980s as a formidable rebel movement, waging a brutal war with the Peruvian state. Its leader was Abimael Guzman, who formed the movement in the 1970s and was inspired by Mao's Cultural Revolution in China.

Dramatic Beginnings
When the Shining Path movement first launched itself in 1980, it burned the ballot boxes the night before the first democratic election in twelve years. Its goal was to replace the existing democracy in Peru which it considered bourgeois with its own “New Democracy”. The Shining Path would arrive at pure communism by instituting a dictatorship of the proletariat and bringing on a cultural revolution followed by a world revolution. The means to this goal was to kill villagers suspected of agreeing with current government policy. The Shining Path movement believed that it was the leader in promoting communism in the world.

Terrorism in Peru
The results of its efforts put large areas of the countryside under its control. It also struck at various areas in the capital city, Lima, consequently concerning many that it would eventually take over the entire country. Nearly 70,000 people died in the rebellion and the war of counter-terrorists it triggered. It was a brutal organization, employing violence against peasants, trade union organizers, and the general civilian population. In 1983, sixty-nine villagers were killed and a van was bombed in Lima that killed about 20 people in July 1992. It is considered a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Canada.

The Fall and Re-Emergance of The Movement
Only when the Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman and six other rebel leaders were apprehended in 1992 did the violence subside. Guzman had a speedy trial by a military court behind closed doors and was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was basically a death knell for the movement. However, in 2003, Guzman’s sentence was overturned when the constitutional court of Peru reversed the laws against terror enacted under former President Alberto Fujimori. This was then followed by a civilian trial and a few years later by a call from Guzman for a peace deal. The civilian trial ended in 2006 with the calling of a life sentence for Guzman. This action caused the membership of the Shining Path movement to decline. A government amnesty program initiated in 1994 enabled about 6,000 terrorists to surrender. A resurgence of the movement was spearheaded by guerrilla leader Oscar Ramirez Durand in the mid-1990s but was backed up only by a few hundred men and confined strictly to jungle regions in eastern Peru. Ramirez himself was captured in 1999 and also underwent a civilian trial. Some terrorist activity occurred after his capture with a car bomb in Lima in 2002 and a kidnapping in 2003.

The Threat is Removed
In September 2004, police arrested seventeen members, further weakening the movement so that it no longer has the power to destabilize the state of Peru. Apart from fairly harrowing stories from Peruvians that experienced the years during the Shining Path movement, tourists planning a trip to Peru will have no contact with the Movement, and there is nothing to worry about.

Author: Gary Sargent - Escaped to Peru / Escaped to Latin America

Peru Culture And History - The Moche Civilization

Around the time of Christ when the northern Peruvian Cupisnique culture was in decline the Moche civilization began to gather pace. These two civilizations merged together over this time period and retained the name of the Moche, after the river of the same name in Northern Peru which flows down into the Pacific Ocean.

The Structure of Moche Society
The important nucleus of the population consisted of the members of the upper classes which included priests, warriors and other influential people who lived near the main temples and ceremonial pyramids. Bordering these central areas were the middle classes who were mostly artisans and around these were the lower classes of the Moche civilization. The working class people were anyone from fishermen and farmers to servants, slaves and beggars. The warriors, priests and other important people belonging to the upper classes were highly respected by the rest of the population and were the decision makers in this society.

Handicrafts of the Moche
Ceramics left over from the Moche civilization provide most of the information that is known about them today. Common subjects painted onto their ceramics included clothing, musical instruments, tools and jewelry. Ceramics also depict some of the complicated weaving techniques that were well developed by the Moche but natural decay and environmental conditions have destroyed most of the textiles that the Moche created. The Moche were also skilled in metalwork and often used gold, silver and copper to make ornaments and jewelry.

The Cradle of Moche Civilization
The northern coast of Peru was chosen as the homeland of the Moche, an area which is a harsh, very dry desert. They settled primarily in the lower valleys of the nearby Andes near to the Moche and Chicama rivers, both of which are dry for much of the year. Eventually the Moche civilization would extend from the Piura River in northern Peru to the Huarmey River much further south with their capital Chan Chan founded in the Moche valley itself. Their livelihood was based around fishing in the Pacific Ocean and farming in the irrigated desert fields, which when flooded in the rainy season would benefit from a deposit of rich silt that yielded tremendous crops.

Moche Religion and Culture
Because the Moche had plenty of free time in their lives they developed an extremely organized religion. This is now known by examining their pottery which shows complicated religious practices, ceremonial sacrifices and also many scenes of warfare. The Moche civilization revered, honored and obeyed their priests and warriors. These people were often very rich as we can see from images on the ceramics, having very fine jewelry and clothing. Located near to the Moche capital, Chan Chan, are two mud brick pyramids with flat tops, the Huaca del Sol or Pyramid of the Sun and the Huaca de la Luna or Pyramid of the Moon which were used for many of their religious rites and ceremonies deemed important to these people.

Decoding the Evolution of Moche Civilization
Examination of pottery design is the principle means by which Moche history has been decoded and historians have be able to divide the development into five phases. The first phase of pottery art is seen as peaceful and simple with some painting of clay mixed with water which is known as slip painting. In the second and third phases the pottery are more complex and detailed with fine-line drawing evolving from the slip painting style. Pottery from the fourth stage shows motifs that are more definite and complicated as the art becomes more sophisticated. The fifth and final stage shows increasingly complex designs with intricate patterns as well as being more ritualistic and war-like, indicating advances and changes in the culture.

We are still uncertain as to the fate of the Moche and do not know what happened to put an end to them, other than the civilization seemed to have collapsed and was succeeded by the very aggressive and dominant Huari culture. Visitors to northern Peru on a vacation package or tour will be able to marvel at some of the treasures left by the Moche and leave with an understanding of an ancient an complex culture that is still, in many ways, shrouded in mystery.

Author: Gary Sargent - Escaped to Peru / Escaped to Latin America