Abimael Had Told His Followers That It Was Time to Seize Power

The date is unclear, but the event we will recount occurred between the final days of 1991 and the first days of 1992. Abimael Guzmán, "Gonzalo," then clandestine in Lima, had ordered his top commanders to gather in the capital, and so they did. The conclave was unusual for the large number of attendees and due to the presence of his most influential lieutenants in the country's two strategic strongholds: "Feliciano," from Ayacucho, and "Artemio," from the Huallaga. Gathered there, the Shining Path leader announced, without any modesty, that his men — who then numbered in the hundreds — had already achieved the desired "strategic equilibrium" with the security forces and that it was time to seize power. Published on September 13, 2009.