Sendero

Throughout the 1980’s, the strength of the Shining Path intensified as support in the Andean popular villages grew since they filled the gap left by the central government. However,the peasants were not happy with the Shining Path because they were too violent. For minor offenses, people would get killed, tortured or abused. The decision to create the Truth andReconciliation Commission was necessary because the PCP- SL was out of control, and the murder rates and insecurity was now a national issue. The government did not think very highly ofthis group when it started to gain force at the beginning of 1980, however when it realized how serious the situation was it tried to stop it with police forces but that was notenough. It soon became the most intense and protracted episode of violence in the history of Peru. The initial cause for the times of turmoil was the Shining Path’s decision to start thestruggle against the Peruvian state, opposed to the majority of the population that indeed supported the democracy that was being restored finally through free elections.
The biggestissue argued in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were human rights. There was an incontrollable abuse of human rights from both parties, torture and rape where common punishmentsapplied. Even though the PCP- SL was the primary responsible( PONER PORCENTAJE) the Popular Guerilla Army carried out massacres through the conflict as well. The Peruvian militarystructured rondas, peasants trained by them, and organized into anti-rebel militias. Even though the ronderos where armed and sponsored by the state, they were weak and could not defeatthe senderistas. The ronderos where responsible of brutal deaths too furthermore the cycle did not end because if the ronderos attacked, the Shining Path senderistas would respond back.