The Truth About Shining Path

For more than sixteen years a small group of individuals, calling themselves the "Partido Comunista del Perú" but better known as Sendero Luminoso, after the slogan that crowned their mouthpiece in the early days: "Por el luminoso sendero de Mariátegui," has unleashed a cruel and bloody war against our homeland, arguing that they are going to build a better one. Thousands of people of all social conditions have died because of it. Millions of soles have been lost to the fires or explosions of their attacks. And this, in and of itself, is something serious in a country as poor as Peru. Neither the peasants, nor the workers, nor working people in general, nor students, nor intellectuals have benefited from it; nor is the proletariat any closer to state power, nor have the bourgeoisie or imperialism weakened in the slightest. On the contrary, all the social strata mentioned first have emerged harmed and weakened from the contest, and the proletariat now finds itself more disorganized, more weakened, and further from state power than ever, while the bourgeoisie and imperialism find themselves stronger than before. (Excerpt from the introduction).