The Militarized Communist Party of Peru (Spanish: Militarizado Partido Comunista del Perú, MPCP;[note 2] formerly known as SL-Proseguir) is a political party and militant group in Peru that follows Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and participates in the communist insurgency in Peru. It is considered a terrorist organization by the government of Peru. The MPCP operates primarily in the VRAEM area and is involved in the area's coca production.[3]Comrade José has been the leader of the MPCP since its official creation in 2018 after its final split from the declining Shining Path guerilla group.[4]
The MPCP originated in the 1990s as Sendero Luminoso-Proseguir (Shining Path-Onward, SL-Proseguir), forming after the capture of Abimael Guzmán. The party is considered the direct successor to the Shining Path by the government of Peru and other international entities, because most of its members splintered from the Shining Path in 1992. Ideologically, the group brands itself as a Maoist party, although its beliefs differ greatly from those of the Shining Path.[5] The MPCP has maintained contact with Andean ultranationalist groups tied with the ethnocacerist movement.[6] In 2018, the MPCP formed an alliance with the Plurinational Association of Tawantinsuyo Reservists, an ethnocacerist group, called the United Democratic Andean Revolutionary Front of Peru (Spanish: Frente Unido Democrático Andino Revolucionario del Perú).[6] Diverging from other Maoist parties, the MPCP has voiced support for the modern-day Communist Party of China and its leader Xi Jinping.[7][1] The group has distanced itself from the Gonzalo Thought ideology and anti-religious stance of the Shining Path.[4]
The MPCP has stated that it severed its ties with the leader of the Shining Path, Abimael Guzmán, after his capture in 1992 and subsequent call for peace in 1993. However, the MPCP itself has been accused of utilizing similar tactics to those of Guzmán, including slavery of indigenous peoples,[8] recruitment of children for use as child soldiers,[9] and terrorist attacks against civilians and members of the Peruvian government, among other human rights violations. The Peruvian military said that the group was responsible for the San Miguel del Ene attack on 23 May 2021, which resulted in the deaths of 18 people in the Satipo Province of Peru.[10][11]
History
Break with Abimael Guzmán
Following the capture of Abimael Guzmán, the founder and leader of the Shining Path, on 12 September 1992, a ceasefire agreement was reached with the government of then-Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori the subsequent year.[12] After the announcement of the ceasefire agreement, the Shining Path was largely divided into two factions: members who supported Guzmán's ceasefire and those who considered Guzmán a "traitor" to the people's war. The faction opposed to the ceasefire referred to themselves as Sendero Luminoso-Proseguir (Shining Path-Onward) and continued to carry out armed struggle against the Peruvian state. Proseguir operated in two former Shining Path strongholds: the upper basin regions of the Huallaga River and the VRAEM region.[13][14] The Huallaga faction, which remained loyal to Guzmán but opposed the ceasefire,[15] was led by Comrade Artemio until his capture in 2012,[14] while the VRAEM faction was initially led by Comrades Alipio and Gabriel.[16] Following their deaths in 2013, Comrade José became the leader of the VRAEM faction.[17]
In 2017, Diario Correo reported that a Maoist group known as the Militarized Communist Party of Peru had begun advocating for violence on Facebook; the publication stated that the group was likely a faction of Sendero Luminoso-Proseguir.[18] On 9 June 2018, Comrade José officially announced the creation of the Militarized Communist Party of Peru, renouncing all ties to the Shining Path and Abimael Guzmán while additionally denouncing Proseguir members who collaborated with the Peruvian military during the capture of Comrade Feliciano.[4][19] José had reportedly described himself as the successor to Guzmán and the leader of the Shining Path as early as 2008.[20]
Activities and tactics
Areas where the MPCP was active in March 2023
The Militarized Communist Party of Peru (MPCP) regards itself as a communist and Marxist–Leninist–Maoist party, though it explicitly denounces the Gonzalo Thought ideology of the Shining Path.[16][21] The MPCP recruits much of its members from the VRAEM region's population of young people,[18] whom are sometimes described by media sources as child soldiers.[9] The soldiers are paid between 1,800 and 2,000 soles and are trained at the party's "popular army schools".[18]
The MPCP maintains an arsenal of arms and anti-aircraft weapons. The party is noted for its use of social media, where it shares propaganda videos – videos that often depict their arsenal of weapons.[18] It controls much of the drug trade in the VRAEM region;[18] it additionally collects "war taxes" from non-affiliated narcotics traffickers.[22]
Flag used by the MPCP following their alliance with the ASPRET
In 2018, the MPCP announced an alliance with the ethnocaceristPlurinational Association of Tawantinsuyo Reservists (ASPRET), called the United Democratic Andean Revolutionary Front of Peru.[6] A video recorded on 22 April 2017, previously showed Eddy Villarroel Medina, the leader of ASPRET, meeting with Comrade José.[23] Following the formation of the alliance, Villarroel Medina became a spokesperson for the MPCP.[6] In 2022, the alliance was terminated over Villarroel Medina's disagreements with the MPCP's alleged ties to Free Peru;[24] Villarroel Medina later claimed that the party had threatened him and his family following the end of the alliance.[24]
On 23 May 2021, the MPCP carried out the San Miguel del Ene attack, leaving behind leaflets that stated the attack was carried out to "clean VRAEM and Peru" of outcasts, "parasites and corrupts" as well as "homosexuals, lesbians, drug addicts" and "thieves".[25] The leaflets additionally called for a boycott of the 6 June election, accusing of treason those who voted for Keiko Fujimori of the right-wing Popular Force party.[26][27]
In March 2022, the MPCP publicly announced their embrace of the Communist Party of China, writing that "the militarized Peruvian communists [have] reorganized ourselves as militants of the glorious and victorious Communist Party of China, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping."[28][7][1] In an audio message recorded by high-ranking party member Comrade Vilma, Vilma called on the party's militants to support China against "the United States and its NATO allies through the unjust fifth super-imperialist world war" and stated that Xi and the Communist Party of China had "never abandoned Maoism."[28] The United States opposes the activities of the MPCP, with the U.S. Department of State offering a reward of US$5 million for information leading to the arrest of party leader Comrade José.[29]
Explanatory notes
^First acknowledged by the Peruvian government as an entity separate from the Shining Path in 2018.
^Until 2018, the MPCP was unofficially referred to as the Remanentes de Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path remnants) or the Sendero Luminoso en el VRAEM (Shining Path in the VRAEM); the Peruvian government continues to refer to the MPCP as the direct successor to the Shining Path.[2]
^Ayala del Río, Arturo (2013). "Un Sendero nada luminoso". Revista Ideele (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2021. A partir de la captura de la cúpula senderista en 1992, han existido varios procesos de ruptura y división en el seno de Sendero Luminoso, siendo la principal la que los dividiría en dos corrientes: "acuerdistas" y "proseguir". Los primeros están estrechamente ligados a su dirección y respaldaron el denominado "Acuerdo de Paz" en el que Abimael Guzmán hacía un llamado a dejar las armas y poner fin a la "Guerra Popular"; el segundo grupo desconoció este acuerdo político con el gobierno de Alberto Fujimori llamando a sus militantes a "proseguir" con las acciones armadas. Ambas fracciones continuarían teniendo divisiones y pugnas internas durante los años siguientes.
^"Shining Path". InSight Crime. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2013. The Huallaga faction, however, is thought to have been drastically weakened since the capture of its leader, Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala, alias "Comrade Artemio," in 2012. He was the last leader in the field who remained loyal to Guzman. Now there is no link between the rebels still in the field and the high commanders in prison.
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United Democratic Andean Revolutionary Front of Peru (2018–2022)
Plurinational Association of Tawantinsuyo Reservists
Peru
Shining Path
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