The first Peruvian political party to adopt
communism as an ideology was the
Peruvian Communist Party (
Partido Comunista Peruano, PCP). It was originally founded as the Peruvian Socialist Party (PSP) in 1928 by a group of nine socialist sympathisers (known as the "Group of Lima"), which included
Marxist philosopher and journalist
José Carlos Mariátegui, and formally changed its name in 1930, following Mariátegui's death and his succession by as party leader. Following a period of outright illegality, the group gradually incorporated itself into the legal political scene during the 1960s, which led to the disappointment with its so-called bureaucratic and collaborationist character, believing that
guerrilla warfare was the only path to the establishment of a
socialist state. In 1962, a faction split and formed the
National Liberation Army (ELN) a year later, which led such a military campaign until its defeat by 1965. Peruvian reception for Marxism was increased by the 1959 victory of the
Cuban revolution and the
Fidel Castro's declaration following Cuba post-
Bay of Pigs invasion declaration that he was a
Marxist-Leninist and always would be.
Fernando Belaúnde Terry's administration was tolerant of the political left, and a variety of Marxist parties expanded during his time in office. In 1963, the ongoing
Sino-Soviet split separated the PCP into two rival factions, one
pro-Soviet and the other
pro-Chinese. The latter subsequently split from the Peruvian Communist Party in January 1964 and adopted the name
Peruvian Communist Party – Red Flag (PCP-BR). The party was originally led by
Saturnino Paredes,
José Sotomayor, and
Abimael Guzmán. Due to internal disagreements among the party's three leaders, the party expelled several of its members in its early history. Two parties subsequently emerged from a 1969 split in the party: the
Communist Party of Peru – Red Fatherland (PCP-PR) and the
Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path (PCP-SL) led by Guzmán. Afterwards, Paredes became the party's sole leader and renamed the party "Peruvian Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist)". In response to the
Sino-Albanian split, the party dropped its commitment to
Maoism and aligned itself with the
Party of Labour of Albania and
Hoxhaism. In 1978, the "PCP-Mayoría" faction split from the PCP to form a more pro-Soviet branch, as it considered that the PCP had adopted
Eurocommunism instead, operating until the 1980s. The
elections of 1980 formally ended the so-called
Revolutionary Government of
Francisco Morales Bermúdez, who had seized power from
Juan Velasco Alvarado through a
military coup in 1975. The previously banned socialist and communist parties participated in the elections, leading to the PCP attaining five seats in the constituent assembly, while left-wing groups as a whole achieved an important presence and united to form the
United Left alliance, which formed one of the country's main political forces during the 1980s. In contrast to the aforementioned legal route of the political left, Guzmán's PCP-SL began its war against the
Peruvian government by
burning ballots in
Chuschi, a town in rural
Ayacucho. Guzmán's faction considered the political left as
revisionists, openly and actively opposing them through its
period of insurgency. The Shining Path's leadership was
captured and arrested by the
Special Intelligence Group in 1992, and entered amnesty talks the following year. Rump factions of the group that opposed the peace talks have since continued a low-intensity insurgency that continues to this day, allying themselves with
narcoterrorist groups in rural parts of the country, notably the
Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro (VRAEM). Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the PCP and other communist parties in Peru have since participated at a much smaller level in the country's politics, mainly through broad left-wing political alliances. == List of parties ==