Blood quota

Drawing of Abimael Guzman holding a book whose title reads "Develop the people's war in service of the world revolution"
Abimael Guzman holding a book whose title reads "Develop the people's war in service of the world revolution"

The blood quota (Spanish: cuota de sangre) is a concept developed by Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path, through which a communist militant must sacrifice their life for the world proletarian revolution.[1][2] As part of the blood quota communist militants willfully promoted hatred and violence to attract adherents, instrumentalizing the masses in their favor and tolerating cruelty against their opponents to gain obedience, viewing violence as a necessary element on the path to communism and death as a heroic act.[3]

The implementation of the "Blood Quota" led to widespread atrocities, including targeted assassinations, bombings, massacres, and other acts of terrorism.[4] The Shining Path's campaign of violence resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and widespread suffering across Peru until Guzman's capture in the early 1990s.[5]

Background[edit]

The Shining Path believed in the necessity of a violent revolution to overthrow the Peruvian government and establish a communist state. The concept of the "Blood Quota" was an integral part of Gonzalo thought and reflected the belief that a certain number of people needed to be killed or sacrificed in order to achieve their revolutionary goals. Increasing conflicts and radicalizing oppositions cannot have any other effect than to accelerate history, bringing closer the day of final triumph.[3]

This notion itself is rooted in Maoist ideology, which advocated for the use of violence and protracted people's war as a means of achieving a communist revolution.[6]

The People's War[edit]

Guzmán announced that “the triumph of the revolution will cost a million deaths.”[7] "Paying the quota" meant that the senderista would "cross rivers of blood" for the triumph of the "people's war".[7] The aim was to incite the Peruvian State to carry out acts of violence against the civilian population so that, in this way, the Shining Path could obtain popular support and the capacity for mass mobilization: the violence of the reaction had revolutionary effects by growing hatred and a desire for revenge among those affected, which in turn would lead to an acceleration of the ruin of the old order.[3]

In December 1982 President Fernando Belaúnde declared a state of emergency and ordered that the Peruvian Armed Forces fight the Shining Path, granting them extraordinary powers.[8] Military leadership adopted practices used by Argentina during the Dirty War, committing state terrorism, with entire villages being massacred by the armed forces while civilians endured forced disappearance.[9][8] When the military started organizing peasant militias ("rondas") to fight Senderistas, the Shining Path showed no mercy: during the Lucanamarca massacre, nearly 70 indigenous people were murdered. The youngest victim was six months old, the oldest about seventy.[10] Most were killed by machete and axe hacks; some were shot in the head at close range.[10] Discussing the massacre, Guzman asserted that "the main point was to make them understand that we were a hard nut to crack, and that we were ready for anything, anything (..)".[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "El ocaso de Sendero y la muerte de Guzmán". noticiasser.pe (in Spanish). 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  2. ^ Roncagliolo, Santiago (2007). La cuarta espada: la historia de Abimael Guzmán y Sendero Luminoso. Barcelone: Debate. ISBN 978-84-8306-738-3.
  3. ^ a b c Portocarrero Maisch, Gonzalo (2014). Razones de sangre (2nd ed.). Fondo Editorial de la PUC. pp. 27–35. ISBN 978-612-4146-92-3.
  4. ^ Burt, Jo-Marie (October 2006). "'Quien habla es terrorista': The political use of fear in Fujimori's Peru". Latin American Research Review. 41 (3): 38. doi:10.1353/lar.2006.0036.
  5. ^ Sierra, Jerónimo Ríos (2021-09-16). "Abimael Guzmán, Sendero Luminoso y la cuota de sangre". Latinoamérica 21 (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  6. ^ Priestland, Davis (2009). The Red Flag: A History of Communism. New York: Grove Press. p. 253.
  7. ^ a b "Actors of the armed conflict" (PDF). Truth and reconciliation commission. p. 128.
  8. ^ a b Werlich, David P. (January 1987). "Debt, Democracy and Terrorism in Peru". Current History. 86 (516): 29–32, 36–37. doi:10.1525/curh.1987.86.516.29. S2CID 249689936.
  9. ^ Mauceri, Philip (Winter 1995). "State reform, coalitions, and the neoliberal 'autogolpe' in Peru". Latin American Research Review. 30 (1): 7–37. doi:10.1017/S0023879100017155. S2CID 252749746.
  10. ^ a b Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación. 28 August 2003. "La Masacre de Lucanamarca (1983)". Accessed 10 February 2008. (in Spanish)
  11. ^ "2.6. La masacre de Lucanamarca (1983)" (PDF). Truth and reconciliation commission.
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