The shining path of Peru: Defeated or alive?

摘要

This study concerns the Shining Path of Peru and its relationship with the emergent democratic government during the presidencies of Belaunde, Garcia and Fujimori. This thesis was to collected pertinent evidence that can help the reader to understand the rise and fall of the Shining Path in Peru, providing the proper facts that support its defeat by the Fujimori presidency. The methodology used in this work relied on a comprehensive account of historical information of the economic, political and social situation in Peru during 1980s-1990s trying to explain how the Shining Path evolved from a regional organization to a highly organized insurgent group bringing Peru's government to the brink of terror and generalized fear. Additionally, the study is based in the analyses of Fujimori's new policies dealing with terrorism and his controversial self-coup of 1992 leading with the capture of Shining Path's leader Abimael Guzman. Fujimori's new approaches for old problems policies successfully defeated the serious terrorist threat that the Shining Path represented for the Peruvian government proving that the Shining Path no longer represents a security concern for the Peruvian government. However, the author recommends the implementation of a consistent national reconciliation plan that will serve as a unifying mechanism to overcome the potential drivers of conflict such as economic exclusion, social injustice and repression against the vast majority of Indigenous people in Peru. Furthermore, the execution of diverse social programs that can mitigate the drivers of conflict must be addressed accordingly by the current administration in order to avoid the development of new reactionary movements in the years to come.