**Chronicle of terrorist violence in Peru: Two decades of shadows and terror

**Chronicle of terrorist violence in Peru: Two decades of shadows and terror (1980-2000)** In the contemporary history of Peru, Few periods have been as devastating as the two decades of terrorist violence that ravaged the country between 1980 and 2000.. This period, characterized by the emergence and expansion of subversive groups such as Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), left an indelible mark on Peruvian society and caused a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions. It all began on May 17, 1980 in the remote town of Chuschi, in the Ayacucho region, when a group of Shining Path militants, led by Abimael Guzman, decided to start his "armed struggle" against the Peruvian State. The symbolic act of burning the ballot boxes intended for the general elections of that year marked the beginning of an internal war that would last for more than 20 years.. The objective of Shining Path, a radical Maoist group, was to overthrow the government and establish a communist dictatorship in Peru. Their terror strategy was based on the indiscriminate use of violence., particularly in rural areas, where the presence of the State was weak. During the early 1980s, Shining Path violence was concentrated in rural areas of Ayacucho, Huancavelica and Apurimac. Members of this group attacked local authorities, peasants who resisted their influence and anyone they considered an enemy of their cause. Terror tactics included murders, massacres, kidnappings and the destruction of infrastructure. Una de las massacres más conocidas de este periodo fue la de Lucanamarca, occurred on April 3, 1983, where 69 peasants, including women and children, They were brutally murdered by Shining Path in retaliation for the community's resistance.. The response of the Peruvian State was not long in coming., Although it was marked by inefficiency and failure,