A Maoist Counterpoint

Abstract

A review of the history of one of the most influential Marxist parties in Peru, the Partido Comunista del Perú—Patria Roja, helps to place the militancy of Sendero Luminoso in context. Patria Roja was a powerful political party throughout the military dictatorship of the 1960s and 1970s and a much more representative example of Peruvian Maoism than the popularly known Sendero. It played a significant role in the student movement and the trade unions and helped to pressure the military government onto the road toward re-democratization. While reaffirming the need for violent revolution, it pushed the date of the revolution into the distant future and adopted as its immediate goal aiding Peru’s transformation from a dependent colonial nation into a free and democratic one.