No Forgiveness For Shining Path Leader Abimael Guzman

Santiago de Lucanamarca, Peru, Sept 18 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Sep, 2021 ) :Four decades after Shining Path guerillas massacred dozens of their loved ones in the town square, residents of Santiago de Lucanamarca, a remote settlement in the Peruvian Andes, say they cannot forgive the man responsible, Abimael Guzman, who died on Saturday.

In one of the worst atrocities committed by the group in its quest to overthrow the then government, Shining Path rebels armed with machetes, axes, knives and guns mowed down 69 civilians -- including 22 children -- on April 3, 1983.

Some were burnt alive with kerosene, other hacked to death in a warning to other communities not to oppose the Shining Path.

"This wound he left us cannot be healed," said Orfelinda Quincho, a teacher of 64 who lost nine relatives in the massacre, including her mother and a son.

"There is no forgiveness for Abimael. If he is dead, may his body be burnt and thrown into the sea," she told AFP after 86-year-old Guzman's death at a maximum security prison, where he was serving a life sentence.

Heraclides Misaico, 68, lost her husband Alberto Tacas and four children -- Adela, 9, Haydee, 7, Abdon, 5, and Benilda, 4.

She hid at home, and survived the massacre with her three other children.

"Abimael Guzman has done us much harm. To my children and my husband," she said "We don't want to think of that person. He killed innocent people. Many were left orphaned."