Fire in the municipality of San Martin de Porres
Fire in the municipality of San Martin de Porres perpetrated by the PCP-Sendero Luminoso in 1980, almost simultaneously with the attack in Chuschi that marked the beginning of the armed struggle. It was one of the first acts of Shining Path violence in Lima.
The burning of the municipality of San Martin de Porres was one of the first acts of violence of the PCP-Sendero Luminoso in Lima, occurring almost parallel to the founding attack in Chuschi, Ayacucho, which marked the beginning of the armed struggle. This act was part of the initial conception of the PCP-SL of a unitary people's war where the countryside was the main scenario and the city the necessary complement. The fire took place in the context of a series of symbolic and intimidating acts that appeared in different districts of the old center of Lima, including hanging dogs insulting 'revisionism', hills illuminated with the hammer and sickle, and the blowing up of electrical towers. These first acts did not attract the attention of the city population or the political class at the time.