University San Cristóbal de Huamanga, where Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán taught philosophy.
Latin America: Week in Review, Peru

Peru’s Shining Path Kills Three In First Deadly Attack This Year, Police Say

April 29, 2010 By Staff
University San Cristóbal de Huamanga, where Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán taught philosophy.

University San Cristóbal de Huamanga, where Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán taught philosophy.

Today in Latin America

Top Story — The police said that rebels belonging to the Shining Path killed a police officer and two civilians who were eradicating coca crops in central Peru on Tuesday morning, according to The BBC.

The attack was first announced and reported by Spanish wire agency EFE on Tuesday, but police refrained from commenting on the suspected identity of the assailants, saying they could have been drug traffickers or guerrillas.

The victims were attacked by sniper fire coming from the jungle surrounding an illicit coca field.

The Shining Path is a guerrilla group that grew to 10,000 members and helped plunge Peru into a violent conflict that claimed tens of thousands of lives in the 1980s and 1990s. The group has been largely defeated, but some rebel activity continues. This was the first deadly attack this year, according to The BBC.

The news comes about a week after the founder of the group, Abimael Guzmán, lifted a hunger strike that he and his fiancée Elena Yparraguirre had begun to protest bureaucratic obstacles to their marriage.

Peruvian President Alán García supported allowing the two to wed, though the two live in separate jails. Guzmán and Yparraguirre — his second in command — have been sentenced to life in prison for terrorism and human rights violations.

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1 Comment

amylynn says:

I invite everyone to visit http://www.ninosdelaamazonia.org to learn more about everyday indigenous life in the remote Peruvian Amazon. You will see amazing photos, all of them taken by the children who live there. It is a unique, intimate perspective and a true document of their realities. You will also have the opportunity to help educate a youth if you so desire. Thank you.

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