Geographical Dimensions of the Shining Path Insurgency in Peru

Abstract

The Shining Path insurgency began in Peru in 1980. The strategy emphasized rural revolution, establishment of liberated zones, and encirclement of cities. The counterinsurgent campaign in 1983 prevented the creation of a permanent territorial base in the departments of Ayacucho and Apurimac but led to expansion of insurgent operations northward in the central Andes. In the mid-1980s the insurgents advanced into the rain-forest region of the upper Huallaga Valley and onto the altiplano in the southern Andes. Lima and its surrounding shantytowns were included in insurgent activities by the late 1980s. The insurgents displayed an uncanny ability to maintain their struggle over a vast area and in different natural and social environments.