Peruvian conflict
The Peruvian conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Government of Peru and the Maoist guerilla group Shining Path and its remnants. The conflict began on 17 May 1980, and from 1982 to 1997 the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement waged its own insurgency as a Marxist–Leninist rival to the Shining Path.
| Peruvian conflict | ||||||||
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| Part of the Cold War (1980–1991) and the War on Drugs (1980–present) | ||||||||
Areas where Shining Path was active in Peru | ||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||
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State-affiliated paramilitaries:
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Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path
Militarized Communist Party of Peru Red Mantaro Base Committee Plurinational Association of Tawantinsuyo Reservists Huallaga faction (1999–2012) |
Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (1982–1997) Supported by: 19th of April Movement Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front Sandinista National Liberation Front Cuba (alleged, denied by Cuba) Libya Soviet Union (until 1991) | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
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| Strength | ||||||||
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15,000 militants (peak) ~250–650 (2015) | ~200 militants (peak) | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||
| ~50,000–69,280 killed in total (1980–2002) | ||||||||
| History of Peru |
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| Peru portal |
As fighting intensified in the 1980s, the Peruvian government had one of the worst human rights records in the Western Hemisphere; Peru experienced the most forced disappearances in the world during the period while the Peruvian Armed Forces acted with impunity throughout the conflict, sometimes massacring entire villages. It is estimated that there have been between 50,000 and 70,000 deaths, making it the bloodiest war in Peruvian history, since the European colonization of the country. The high death toll includes many civilian casualties, due to deliberate targeting by many factions. The Indigenous peoples of Peru were specifically targeted by killings, with 75% of those killed speaking Quechua as their native language. Since 2000, the number of deaths has dropped significantly and recently the conflict has become dormant.
There were low-level resurgences of violence in 2002 and 2014 when conflict erupted between the Peruvian Army and guerrilla remnants in the Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro region. The conflict has lasted for over 40 years, making it the second longest internal conflict in the history of Latin America, after the Colombian conflict.