Peru Shining Path leader Comrade Artemio captured

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

12 February 2012 Last updated at 17:03 GMT

Peru Shining Path leader Comrade Artemio captured

The leader of Peru's Shining Path rebel group has been captured, government officials have announced.

The guerrilla leader known as "Comrade Artemio" was found badly wounded after a clash with troops in a remote jungle region, the defence minister said.

The Maoist Shining Path movement posed a major challenge to the Peruvian state in the 1980s and 90s.

But it is now reduced to a small remnant that is heavily involved in the cocaine trade.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17005739

[David__77]

1. His position was unteneble.

He was against armed struggle, wanted a "political solution" to the insurgency, but the government wouldn't give him amnesty.

Shining Path is a good textbook example of what happens with extreme personality cult. Their leader was captured in 1992, and almost the whole movement became about doing whatever it took to get their leader released - all other goals out the window.

Presently, the other faction of Shining Path led by "Comrade Jose" in the VRAE is of more note, and larger. We will hear more about them in the coming few years.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Thanks for your comment on the current faction. Very helpful. n/t

[David__77]

3. Current state of "Shining Path."

Brief synopsis:

Abimael Guzman ("Chairman Gonzalo&quot is the imprisoned historical leader of the Communist Party of Peru ("Shining Path&quot . A year after his arrest, he called for cessation of armed struggle. The majority of the organization outside prison did not immediately comply, and thought it was a hoax. Over time, it was a slow-motion collapse as more and more cadres believed his words were actually his.

After 2000, at some point, "Comrade Jose" led a faction that completely repudiated "Comrade Gonzalo" was alleged errors in renouncing armed struggle and for authoring severe excesses during the war in the 1980s (Lucanamarca massacre, car bombings that killed civilians). "Comrade Artemio" wanted to give up arms, but couldn't because there was no amnesty - he led maybe 200-300 at most holed up in Alto Huallaga.

In 2007, released Shining Path prisoners founded MOVADEF (Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights), which has run candidates for office, but not under its own name. It is openly pro-Abimael Guzman, has a few thousand activists including many young new recruits. It does not want to resume armed activities - at this point, in any case.

"Comrade Jose" leads less than 1,000 fighters in VRAE/Ayacucho region. They are a smaller faction than the MOVADEF, but get more attention because they are armed.

In the event that Guzman dies, I imagine that new leadership could emerge in MOVADEF, which really contains the crypto-Communist Party of Peru, and they could spin off into insurgency again if they sense an opening strategically.

That's my take on the current state of the largely-ignored "Shining Path." It should not be ignored because it represents the only insurgency in Latin America that unequivocally was aimed at destroying the existing state and replacing it with a new one. In the event that neoliberalism isn't overthrown, that model will surely emerge again on a larger scale, and not just in Peru.

[Bacchus4.0]

4. Peru: Leftist rebel leader found badly wounded

http://news.yahoo.com/peru-leftist-rebel-leader-found-badly-wounded-214949273.html;_ylt=AorewHIWexci5Pfg7DRmTD5vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTNkN212Y29kBG1pdAMEcGtnA2Q4MGUzMjYzLTE3ODEtM2EwMy1iYTM3LTQ2NTQ3MmNjMTBmNQRwb3MDNgRzZWMDbG5fTGF0QW1fZ2FsBHZlcgM0ZGY4Y2EzNi01NWZlLTExZTEtYmZlZi00YTI2OTUzZmUxYjI-;_ylv=3

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian troops captured on Sunday the wounded leader of a remnant of the once-powerful Shining Path rebel group, effectively dismantling a well-armed outlaw band that lived off the cocaine trade, President Ollanta Humala said.

Humala, a former army lieutenant colonel, flew to the remote coca-growing Upper Huallaga Valley of central Peru to congratulate the police and soldiers who had snared the 50-year-old rebel, Comrade Artemio, and two of his confederates.

Artemio, whose given name is Florindo "Jose" Flores, was later flown to Lima where doctors at a police hospital were removing two bullets from his stomach, said Raul Sanchez, spokesman for the chief prosecutor's office. Artemio also had shrapnel wounds in both hands, he said.

From a distance, journalists saw Artemio raise his right arm and shout something indiscernible as he was wheeled on a gurney from the a plane after arriving in Lima.

"Mission accomplished," Humala told state TV earlier from the police counter-narcotics base where Artemio was taken. He said that with the capture of Artemio and several of his top lieutenants in recent weeks the Upper Huallaga had been pacified, making agribusiness, cattle ranching and tourism now possible.