Editing Shining Path (section)

=== Establishment ===
[[File:Shining Path electoral boycott poster.jpg|thumb|right|Shining Path poster supporting an [[electoral boycott]]]]

The Shining Path was founded in 1969 by [[Abimael Guzmán]], a former university philosophy professor (his followers referred to him by his [[Pseudonym|nom de guerre]] Presidente Gonzalo), and a group of 11 others.<ref name="Fourth Sword 78">{{Cite book |title=La cuarta espada : la historia de Abimael Guzmán y Sendero Luminoso |last=Roncagliolo |first=Santiago |date=2007 |publisher=Debate |isbn=9789871117468 |edition=5th |location=Buenos Aires |page=78 |trans-title=The Fourth Sword: The History of Abimael Guzman and the Shining Path |chapter=3 – Por el Sendero Luminoso de Mariátegui |trans-chapter=3 – On the Shining Path of Mariategui |oclc=225864678 |quote="Y en su fundación de 1969 sólo eran doce personas." ''"And at the founding in 1969, they were only 12 people."''}}</ref> Guzmán was heavily influenced by a trip to China and admired the teachings of [[Mao Zedong]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|date=27 March 2017|title=Shining Path|url=https://www.insightcrime.org/peru-organized-crime-news/shining-path-profile/|access-date=4 December 2020|website=[[InSight Crime]]|language=en-US}}</ref> His teachings created the foundation of its militant Maoist doctrine. It was an offshoot of the [[Peruvian Communist Party – Red Flag]], which itself split from the original [[Peruvian Communist Party]] founded by [[José Carlos Mariátegui]] in 1928.<ref>{{cite book |title=Final Report - Book II |publisher=Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación [Truth and Reconciliation Commission] |page=16 |url=https://www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/ |access-date=17 August 2024 |chapter-url=http://www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/pdf/TOMO%20II/CAPITULO%201%20-%20Los%20actores%20armados%20del%20conflicto/1.1.%20PCP-SL/CAP%20I%20SL%20ORIGEN.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807133256/http://www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/pdf/TOMO%20II/CAPITULO%201%20-%20Los%20actores%20armados%20del%20conflicto/1.1.%20PCP-SL/CAP%20I%20SL%20ORIGEN.pdf |archive-date=7 August 2024 |chapter=Capítulo 1: Los actores armados |trans-quote="José Carlos Mariátegui, one of the most influential Peruvian intellectuals of the 20th century, is recognised by the different left-wing tendencies as the founder of socialism in the country. After his death in 1930, the organisation he had founded quickly aligned itself with the parties of the Third International, influenced by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and adopted the name of the Peruvian Communist Party (PCP). (...) In the early 1960s, the repercussions of the Sino-Soviet polemic were felt within the Peruvian left and precipitated its split. On one side was the majority of trade union cadres aligned with the positions of the CPSU. On the other, the party's youth, teachers' cadres and peasant work nuclei, flying the Maoist banners. To distinguish them, the other parties began to use the name of their respective newspapers. PCP-Unity for the pro-Soviets. PCP-Red Flag for the pro-Chinese. (...) At the time of the split, Abimael Guzmán, by then a communist leader of the ‘José Carlos Mariátegui’ Regional Committee of Ayacucho, aligned himself with the PCP-Red Flag, led by the lawyer Saturnino Paredes. The unity of the Maoists, however, was short-lived. In 1967, the youth and an important sector of the teachers' work split to form the Communist Party of Peru-Red Fatherland. Although the youth offered him the leadership of this split, Guzmán continued to align himself with Saturnino Paredes, but by then he had long since formed his own ‘red faction’ in Ayacucho." |quote="José Carlos Mariátegui, uno de los más influyentes intelectuales peruanos del S.XX, es reconocido por las diferentes tendencias de izquierda como fundador del socialismo en el país. Luego se su muerte en 1930, la organización que había fundado se alineó rápidamente con los partidos de la III Internacional, influenciados por el Partido Comunista de la Unión Soviética (PCUS), y adoptó el nombre de Partido Comunista Peruano (PCP). (...) A principios de los años 60s, las repercusiones de la polémica chino-soviética se hicieron sentir dentro de la izquierda peruana y precipitaron su división. De un lado quedó la mayoría de cuadros sindicales alineados con las posiciones del PCUS. De otro, la juventud del partido, cuadros magisteriales y núcleos de trabajo campesino, enarbolando las banderas maoístas. Para distinguirlos, el resto de partidos comenzó a usar el nombre de sus respectivos periódicos. PCP-Unidad para los prosoviéticos. PCP-Bandera Roja para los prochinos. (...) En el momento de la ruptura, Abimael Guzmán, ya para entonces dirigente comunista del Comité Regional «José Carlos Mariátegui» de Ayacucho, se alineó con el PCP-Bandera Roja, dirigido por el abogado Saturnino Paredes. La unidad de los maoístas, sin embargo, duró poco. En 1967, la juventud y un sector importante del trabajo magisterial se escindieron para formar el Partido Comunista del Perú-Patria Roja. A pesar de que los jóvenes le ofrecieron encabezar esa escisión, Guzmán siguió alineándose con Saturnino Paredes, pero para entonces hacía ya tiempo que había formado su propia «fracción roja» en Ayacucho." |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Antonio Díaz Martínez]], an agronomist who became a leader of the Shining Path, made several important contributions to the group's ideology. In his books ''Ayacucho, Hambre y Esperanza'' (1969) and ''China, La Revolución Agraria'' (1978), he expressed his own conviction of the necessity that revolutionary activity in Peru follow strictly the teachings of Mao Zedong.<ref>Colin
Harding, “Antonio Díaz Martínez and the Ideology of Sendero Luminoso,” ''Bulletine for Latin American Research'' 7#1 (January 1988) pp 65–73.</ref><ref>Julia Lovell, ''Maoism: A Global History'' (2019) pp 306–346.</ref>

From 1970 to 1977, Shining Path built a student organization and regional-committee based party in Lima and the central sierra.<ref name=":2323">{{Cite book |last=Scott Palmer |first=David |title=Mao's Little Red Book: A Global History |date=2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-05722-7 |editor-last=Cook |editor-first=Alexander C. |location=Cambridge |pages= |chapter=The Influence of Maoism in Peru}}</ref>{{Rp|page=137}} The Shining Path first established a foothold at [[San Cristóbal of Huamanga University]], in [[Ayacucho]], where Guzmán taught philosophy. The university had recently reopened after being closed for about half a century.<ref name="History University of Huamanga">{{Cite web |url=http://www.unsch.edu.pe/index.php/resena-historica/ |title=Reseña Histórica |website=UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE SAN CRISTÓBAL DE HUAMANGA |language=es |trans-title=Historical Overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327094821/http://www.unsch.edu.pe/index.php/resena-historica/ |archive-date=27 March 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=27 March 2019 |quote="Con auspicios de la corona española y del Poder Pontificio, el 3 de julio de 1677 el obispo de la Diócesis de Huamanga, don Cristóbal de Castilla y Zamora, fundó la 'Universitas Guamangensis Sancti Christhophosi'{{nbsp}}... Clausurada en 1886 y reabierta 80 años después, reiniciando sus labores académicas el 3 de julio de 1959 como 'Universidad Nacional de San Cristóbal de Huamanga.'" ''"Closed in 1886 and reopened 80 years later, it restarted its academic work 3 July 1959 as the 'National University of Saint Christopher of Huamanga.'"''}}</ref> Between 1973 and 1975, the Shining Path members gained control of the [[student council]]s at the Universities of [[Huancayo]] and [[National University of Education Enrique Guzmán y Valle|La Cantuta]], and they also developed a significant presence at the [[National University of Engineering]] in Lima and the [[National University of San Marcos]]. Sometime later, it lost many student elections in the universities, including Guzmán's San Cristóbal of Huamanga.

Guzmán believed that communism required a "popular war" and distanced himself from organizing workers.<ref name=":8" /> The Shining Path opposed large national strikes in 1977 and 1978 because it viewed some of the participants as [[Revisionism (Marxism)|revisionists]] or tools of "socio-imperialism".<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Degregori |first=Carlos Iván |author-link=Carlos Iván Degregori |title=How Difficult It Is to Be God: Shining Path's Politics of War in Peru, 1980-1999 |last2= |first2= |last3= |first3= |last4= |first4= |last5= |first5= |date=2012 |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin Press]] |isbn=978-0-299-28924-9 |series=Critical Human Rights Series |location=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=40}}

From 1977 to 1980, the Shining Path focused on preparing for revolution, including building training camps in Ayacucho, developing a political and military organization, and recruiting more radical members of other Marxist groups.<ref name=":2323" />{{Rp|page=137}} Beginning on 17 March 1980, the Shining Path held a series of clandestine meetings in Ayacucho, known as the Central Committee's second plenary.{{sfn|Gorriti|1999|p=21}} It formed a "Revolutionary Directorate" that was political and military in nature and ordered its militias to transfer to strategic areas in the provinces to start the "armed struggle". The group also held its "First Military School", where members were instructed in military tactics and the use of weapons. They also engaged in [[Self-criticism (Marxism–Leninism)|criticism and self-criticism]], a Maoist practice intended to purge bad habits and avoid the repetition of mistakes. During the existence of the First Military School, members of the Central Committee came under heavy criticism. Guzmán did not, and he emerged from the First Military School as the clear leader of the Shining Path.{{sfn|Gorriti|1999|pp=29–36}} By May 1980, the central committed concluded the party and its military structure had been sufficiently developed to begin revolution.<ref name=":2323" />{{Rp|page=137}}

A timeline of the Peruvian Communist Party (PCP)'s splinter groups is as follows:
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:600 height:100
PlotArea = width:90% height:80 left:10% bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
  id:Unidad value:rgb(0.7,0.7,1) # light blue
  id:BR     value:rgb(1,0.7,0.7) # light red
  id:PR     value:rgb(0.7,1,0.7) # light green
  id:SL     value:rgb(1,1,0.7)   # light yellow
  id:SL-P     value:rgb(1,1,0.9)   # very light yellow
  id:eon    value:rgb(1,0.7,1)   # light blue
  id:black  value:black

Period = from:1926 till:2007
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = increment:10 unit:year start:1930
ScaleMinor = increment:1 unit:year start:1926

PlotData=
  align:center textcolor:black fontsize:7 mark:(line,black)

  bar:1 color:Unidad
  from: 1928 till: 1930 text: _~[[Peruvian Communist Party|P]]~_~[[Peruvian Communist Party|S]]~_~[[Peruvian Communist Party|P]]
  from: 1930 till: 1964 text: ~[[Peruvian Communist Party|P]]
  from: 1964 till: end text: [[Peruvian Communist Party|PCP-Unidad]]

  bar:2 color:Unidad
  from: 1928 till: 1930
  from: 1930 till: 1964 text:~[[Peruvian Communist Party|C]]
  from: 1964 till: end  color:BR text:[[Peruvian Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist)|PCP-BR]]

  bar:3 color:Unidad
  from: 1928 till: 1930
  from: 1930 till: 1964 text:~[[Peruvian Communist Party|P]]
  from: 1964 till: 1969 color:BR text:
  from: 1969 till: end  color:PR text:[[Communist Party of Peru – Red Fatherland|PCP-PR]]

  bar:4 color:Unidad
  from: 1928 till: 1930
  from: 1930 till: 1964 
  from: 1964 till: 1969 color:BR text:
  from: 1969 till: 1992  color:SL text:[[Shining Path|PCP-SL]]
  from: 1992 till: end   color:SL-P
</timeline>