Shining Path defeated, leader says
Remains from a mass grave in Peru’s region of Ayacucho. A truth and reconciliation report said 123 people were massacred and buried in the town of Putis. Victims’ relatives said men, women and children were murdered by the Peruvian Army in December 1984 under false accusations of being sympathetic to the Shining Path.
Peru's Shining Path rebel group has been defeated, according to an interview with one of its leaders.
Once one of the most powerful groups in Latin America, the Shining Path murdered tens of thousands in its quest to found a communist state.
In all, an estimated 70,000 people were killed in the rebellion and the government's resulting anti-insurgency campaign.
The group was seriously diminished after the capture of Abimael Guzman, its leader. Thousands of fighters surrendered.
But a smaller faction kept fighting, even setting off a car bomb in Lima, the capital, several years ago.
Now, though, they seem to have given up. Per the BBC:
Speaking to reporters from his jungle hideout, Comrade Artemio said the Shining Path had been defeated.
"I am not going to deny that," he said.
Artemio said that his group would surrender if the government wanted to end the conflict.
They don't seem to have abandoned their ideology, only their ability to keep up the fight. Still, that's progress for Peru.
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