Territory of the Shining Path

New Democratic Republic Nueva República Democrática (Spanish)
1980–1992
Flag
Areas where the Shining Path were active in Peru
Status	Revolutionary state (de facto control in rural areas)
Capital	Tambo de Mora (de facto)
Official languages	Spanish, Quechua
Government	Maoist one-party socialist totalitarian quasi-state
• Chairman	Abimael Guzmán
History
• Beginning of the People's War	17 May 1980
• Operation Victoria	12 September 1992
Population
• Estimate	Several hundred thousand within controlled areas

The New Democratic Republic (Spanish: Nueva República Democrática),^[1][2] also known as the People's Republic of Peru (República Popular del Perú),^[3][4] was a revolutionary quasi-state declared by the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), a Maoist insurgent group led by Chairman Gonzalo, during its insurgency in Peru. It was established during the peak of the group's control in the 1980s and 1990s in several rural regions of Peru. The New Democratic Republic represented the Shining Path's vision of a Marxist-Leninist state and served as the focal point of their radical attempt to overthrow the Peruvian government and replace it with a communist regime. The Shining Path's declaration of this state was part of their broader goal to create a classless society through violent revolution, dismantling the existing state apparatus, and instituting agrarian reforms. Despite being a violent insurgency with limited territorial control, the group sought to use the New Democratic Republic as a symbol of their revolutionary struggle.