The Shining Path: A History of the Millenarian War in Peru

Foreign Affairs; New York; Mar/Apr 1999; Kenneth Maxwell;

First published in Spanish in 1990, Gustavo Gorriti's classic account of

the Sendero Luminoso retains all its immediacy and explanatory power in

this fine translation by Robin Kirk. Gorriti laid bare the brutal

philosophy of the Sendero's mysterious leader, Abimael Guzman, who tried

to implement Mao's Cultural Revolution to propel Peru into chaos. Both

dogmatic sectarianism and horrifying violence converted a backwoods

guerrilla movement into one of the most formidable threats to the

Peruvian state ever. The ruthless Peruvian military reacted to the

challenge just as Guzman had hoped, forcing innocent farmers, community

leaders, police officers, and students to pay an awful price. By 199o,

southern and central Peru was a wasteland, with 30,ooo dead and 6oo,ooo

families homeless. But the Shining Path never seized power, and the

power vacuum that the guerrillas and military had created was filled in

199o by the newly elected Alberto Fujimori. Fujimori's iron rule

successfully crushed the Shining Path once and for all, finally

capturing Guzman and sentencing him to life in an island prison. A fine

introduction to one of Latin America's most gruesome conflicts in recent

years.