Militarized Communist Party of Peru

Militarized Communist Party of Peru
Militarizado Partido Comunista del Perú
Also known as	Remanentes de Sendero Luminoso (Remnants of the Shining Path) Sendero Luminoso en el VRAEM (Shining Path in the VRAEM) Sendero Luminoso-Proseguir (Shining Path-Onward; 1992–2018)
Leader	Comrade José
Dates of operation	1992 (1992)–present (present)[note 1]
Split from	Shining Path
Allegiance	United Democratic Andean Revolutionary Front of Peru (2018–2022)
Active regions	VRAEM
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Anti-capitalism Anti-revisionism Pro-Xi Jinping[1]
Political position	Far-left
Major actions	Involvement in the communist insurgency in Peru through the use of: Drug trafficking Kidnapping Terrorist attacks Mass murders and massacres
Status	Active
Allies	Plurinational Association of Tawantinsuyo Reservists (2018–2022)
Opponents	Peru Shining Path Plurinational Association of Tawantinsuyo Reservists (since 2022)
Battles and wars	Internal conflict in Peru
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The Militarized Communist Party of Peru (Spanish: Militarizado Partido Comunista del Perú, MPCP;^{[note 2]} formerly known as SL-Proseguir) is a political party and militant group in Peru that follows Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and participates in the communist insurgency in Peru. It is considered a terrorist organization by the government of Peru. The MPCP operates primarily in the VRAEM area and is involved in the area's coca production.^[3] Comrade José has been the leader of the MPCP since its official creation in 2018 after its final split from the declining Shining Path guerilla group.^[4]

The MPCP originated in the 1990s as Sendero Luminoso-Proseguir (Shining Path-Onward, SL-Proseguir), forming after the capture of Abimael Guzmán. The party is considered the direct successor to the Shining Path by the government of Peru and other international entities, because most of its members splintered from the Shining Path in 1992. Ideologically, the group brands itself as a Maoist party, although its beliefs differ greatly from those of the Shining Path.^[5] The MPCP has maintained contact with Andean ultranationalist groups tied with the ethnocacerist movement.^[6] In 2018, the MPCP formed an alliance with the Plurinational Association of Tawantinsuyo Reservists, an ethnocacerist group, called the United Democratic Andean Revolutionary Front of Peru (Spanish: Frente Unido Democrático Andino Revolucionario del Perú).^[6] Diverging from other Maoist parties, the MPCP has voiced support for the modern-day Communist Party of China and its leader Xi Jinping.^[7][1] The group has distanced itself from the Gonzalo Thought ideology and anti-religious stance of the Shining Path.^[4]

The MPCP has stated that it severed its ties with the leader of the Shining Path, Abimael Guzmán, after his capture in 1992 and subsequent call for peace in 1993. However, the MPCP itself has been accused of utilizing similar tactics to those of Guzmán, including slavery of indigenous peoples,^[8] recruitment of children for use as child soldiers,^[9] and terrorist attacks against civilians and members of the Peruvian government, among other human rights violations. The Peruvian military said that the group was responsible for the San Miguel del Ene attack on 23 May 2021, which resulted in the deaths of 18 people in the Satipo Province of Peru.^[10][11]

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