The Shining Path Summary

The Shining Path, led by Abimael Guzman, was a communist militant group, comprised of Mao Zedong followers, who were intent on dismantling the political regime in Peru throughout the 1980’s. Understanding the Maoist mentality of the Shining Path is essential in order to comprehend and recognize the reasoning for the Shining Path’s actions. Mao Zedong, a political leader in China in the twentieth century, believed that political revolution should stem from the peasant class. Abimael Guzman, upon seeing this method put into use internationally, thought it would be the most effective way to overthrow the elitist government of Peru at the time. The Shining Path, under the lead of Abimael Guzman, was able to start a national political, economic,

As a young man, he was heavily influenced by a book written by Jose Carlos Mariategui, the Seven Essays on the Interpretation of the Peruvian Reality. Guzman was increasingly adopting a marxist mentality throughout his life, assisted by the fact that Mariategui was the founder of the Communist Party of Peru. He then visited the People’s Republic of China in 1965, which opened him up to the idea of Maoism. Abimael Guzman was appointed as a professor of Philosophy at Huamanga University. Here, he was able to use his position as a professor to preach his revolutionary ideas to his impressionable students. In the study “Teacher Classroom Practices and Student Performance: How Schools Can Make a Difference” conducted by Harold Wenglinsky for the Educational Testing Services: Statistics & Research Division it was concluded that “the effects of classroom practices, when added to those of other teacher characteristics, are comparable in size to those of student background, suggesting that teachers can contribute as much to student learning as the students themselves”. Therefore, if it can accurately that Abimael Guzman had the characteristics of a man who believed in a Maoist revolution, it can be convincingly stated that Guzman was able to instill his revolutionary ideas into the hundreds of students who he was responsible for throughout his time at the university. These students were essential to the rapid growth and spread of the Shining Path throughout the late 20th century. These youths were able to communicate the same ideas the inherited from Guzman in the classroom to their friends and other people their age who did not have access to the University. The vocalness and activeness of the young population of Peru was crucial to the growth of the Shining Path as they were able to act and conduct themselves in way that older individuals may not be able to. The ability of the