Central Highlands - Peru - page 612

Peruvian independence, commemorated by an impressive nearby monument (see the
boxed text, Click here ) .
Ayacucho's first paved road connection with the outside world (to Lima) came only in
1999, which conveys how isolated the city previously was. But it's turned to face the 21st
century and, following Guzmán's capture in 1992, is again a safe place to visit. The popu-
lace doesn't discuss the dark days of the 1980s much and welcomes travelers with good
cheer.
THE SHINING PATH: AN ONGOING CONFLICT
The Sendero Luminoso's (Shining Path's) activities in the 1980s focused on deadly political, economic and social
upheaval. They caused violent disruption, particularly across the Central Highlands and Amazon jungle, which
were almost completely off-limits to travelers at the time (for more on Peru's Internal Conflict Click here ). Th-
ings finally changed when the Sendero Luminoso's founder, Guzmán, a former Ayacucho university professor,
was captured and imprisoned for life in 1992. Guzmán was followed quickly by his top lieutenants. This led to a
lull in activities, as Guzmán had not had time to prepare a direct successor for the cause.
But fragmented groups of Sendero Luminoso revolutionaries carried on in far remoter areas of Peru, albeit
sporadically and with vastly reduced numbers. These groups largely split from the original Maoist philosophy of
Guzmán, and in recent years their most notable activity has been drug trafficking (the US State Department con-
firms the group's links with the drugs trade).
The last major clash in the Ayacucho region was in April 2009, when Shining Path rebels killed 13 army of-
ficers. A high-profile incident in August 2011 saw tourists on a high-end tour to Choquequirao, a major Inca site
in the Cuzco region, politely asked to hand over valuables to help the cause of the revolution.
This sparked media reports of a Sendero Luminoso re-emergence, which proved to be an exaggeration, particu-
larly when its last remaining high-profile leader, Florindo Flores Hala (aka 'Artemio') was captured in February
2012. But, perhaps to make a statement of their continued relevance, the Sendero Luminoso pulled off their most
drastic action in over a decade in April 2012 when they captured and held hostage 40 workers in a remote trans-
Andean gas pipeline. No one was hurt and the hostages were released after several days.
Today the number of remaining Sendero Luminoso members is, according to the Wall Street Journal, only
around 500. Activity is mostly in remote Amazon valleys such as the Upper Huallaga valley north of Tingo María
which, not by coincidence, contain significant cocaine production areas and which are not safe for tourists to visit.
Outside such areas, the threat to tourists remains minor, and all of the listings in this chapter can be visited as
safely as anywhere else in Peru. The overwhelming majority of Peruvians, it should be emphasized, have no alle-
giance to any faction of the Sendero Luminoso, or to the military searching for the remainder of them.