Shining Path: An apology of violence

Abstract

Sendero Luminoso has been one of the most violent armed groups in the history of the 20th century in Latin America if one observes, for example, the intensity of the fighting or the number of violent deaths during the twelve years of its fight against the State. The best works and most of the bibliography are found in Peru and in the American and British academic literature. However, the image of the armed group in the Hispano-American world has come, mainly, through the literature of authors such as Vargas Llosa or Rocangliolo. The following pages invite us to reflect on some of the ideological, strategic and operative aspects of the armed struggle that the Shining Path maintained against the Peruvian State three decades ago. Thus, the influence of Maoism, the parallels between prerevolutionary China and Peru, the particular Shining Path leadership, the high symbolic value that the context of Ayacucho entailed for the armed group or the influence of what was called «the revolution of the manuals» or «the critical idea of Peru» will be addressed below.