Communist leader dies in prison

[swing_voter]

Abimael Guzmán, the leader of the brutal Shining Path insurgency in Peru who was captured in 1992, died on Saturday in a military hospital after an illness, the Peruvian government said.

Guzmán, a former philosophy professor, launched an insurgency against the state in 1980 and presided over numerous car bombings and assassinations in the years that followed. Guzmán was captured in 1992 and sentenced in life in prison for terrorism and other crimes.

The Shining Path "murdered thousands of innocents and undermined the peace of the country. We do not forget the horror of that time, and his death will not erase his crimes," Economy Minister Pedro Francke said.

Guzmán preached a messianic vision of a classless Maoist utopia based on pure communism, considering himself the "Fourth Sword of Marxism" after Karl Marx, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Mao Zedong.

Abimael Guzmán, Leader Of Shining Path Insurgency In Peru, Dies At 86

The former philosophy professor launched an insurgency against the Peruvian government in 1980 and presided over numerous car bombings and assassinations in the years that followed.

www.npr.org

Would you kill thousands to bring about a communist utopia?



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[NatMorton]

You had me at the thread title.

 

[Dittohead not!]

Abimael Guzmán, the leader of the brutal Shining Path insurgency in Peru who was captured in 1992, died on Saturday in a military hospital after an illness, the Peruvian government said.

Guzmán, a former philosophy professor, launched an insurgency against the state in 1980 and presided over numerous car bombings and assassinations in the years that followed. Guzmán was captured in 1992 and sentenced in life in prison for terrorism and other crimes.

The Shining Path "murdered thousands of innocents and undermined the peace of the country. We do not forget the horror of that time, and his death will not erase his crimes," Economy Minister Pedro Francke said.

Guzmán preached a messianic vision of a classless Maoist utopia based on pure communism, considering himself the "Fourth Sword of Marxism" after Karl Marx, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Mao Zedong.

Abimael Guzmán, Leader Of Shining Path Insurgency In Peru, Dies At 86

The former philosophy professor launched an insurgency against the Peruvian government in 1980 and presided over numerous car bombings and assassinations in the years that followed.

www.npr.org

Would you kill thousands to bring about a communist utopia?



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I would not, no, nor would I want to die in prison. One less violent kook in this world is a good thing.

 

[aociswundumho]

Would you kill thousands to bring about a communist utopia?

When it comes to imposing communism on a population, those are rookie numbers.

 

[calamity]

Never heard of this guy.

 

[Dittohead not!]

Never heard of this guy.

Me either. He must not have been very important.

 

[joluoto]

Good riddance I guess. Peru has other problems than the Shining Path nowadays, but I have heard some splinter groups are still around, but are mostly just involved in the drug trade (as in they are basically just criminals).

 

[Antiwar]

Would you kill thousands to bring about a communist utopia?

Nice punchline.

 

[swing_voter]

Never heard of this guy.

I've heard of the "Shining Path" but not the guy who died.

Hard to forget "Shining Path" it's like a comic book villain organization.


Leftists are going to left.


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[calamity]

I've heard of the "Shining Path" but not the guy who died.

Hard to forget "Shining Path" it's like a comic book villain organization.


Leftists are going to left.


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TBH, Peru rarely appeared on my political radar, certainly not like Chile or Argentina, not to mention Brazil and all the Narco States

 

[swing_voter]

TBH, Peru rarely appeared on my political radar, certainly not like Chile or Argentina, not to mention Brazil and all the Narco States

Do you know FARC? A long time client of the Soviets?


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