The position of the ‘Naya Ganatantrik Gana Morcha’ (New Democratic People's Forum), originally published on September 22, 2021, is reiterated here.
The Death of Peruvian Maoist Leader Comrade Gonzalo
Position of the ‘Naya Ganatantrik Gana Morcha’ (New Democratic People's Forum),
Comrade Gonzalo, the Maoist leader from the Latin American country of Peru, passed away on September 11. He was 86 years old at the time of his death. Following his arrest in 1992, he had been imprisoned in Peru for nearly 29 years. The Peruvian state and ruling class had sentenced him to life imprisonment for the ‘crime’ of organizing a revolution prior to 1992. His life and work can be divided into two main phases. The first phase spans the period up to 1992, marking his emergence as a Maoist communist revolutionary leader and the architect of a great people's war on Peruvian soil. The second phase, beginning in 1993, is characterized by widespread confusion, debate, and division among his followers and within the global Maoist movement regarding his political stance and role.
We outline these points briefly below.
1. After the death of Comrade Mao, revisionists seized power within the Communist Party of China and caused the great socialist China—led by Mao—to degrade into capitalism. This event precipitated a grave crisis in the global communist movement. It was during this period—specifically in the ‘80s decade of the last century(1980s)—that a great people's war was waged in the Latin American nation of Peru under the leadership of the Maoist Communist Party (also known as the Shining Path) and Comrade Gonzalo; this served as a stinging rebuke to revisionists worldwide, including China. At the same time, it represented a monumental step forward in overcoming the crisis within the global communist movement and ushering in a new era of progress.
The People's War, waged for nearly twelve years under the leadership of Comrade Gonzalo, had liberated vast rural areas of Peru and was entering the stage of seizing nationwide power. Through this People's War, the Maoist party of Peru had awakened and organized the country's workers, peasants, and toiling masses, as well as vast numbers of oppressed women. With the aim of seizing power across the nation, it had established bases and instituted people's power in several provinces. From its inception, the Communist Party of Peru was a member of RIM (Revolutionary Internationalist Movement), an organization uniting international Maoists. The People's War in Peru also made a significant contribution to the reconstruction of the revolutionary communist movement in the post-Mao world. The three pillars—Maoism, People's War, and RIM—propelled the leader of the Communist Party of Peru into the role of a great revolutionary figure. It was through RIM that the People's War led by the Communist Party of Peru gained global prominence and garnered immense public support.
Terrified by this people's war, the then-Fujimori government of Peru, along with the state apparatus and the ruling class, unleashed massive repression to crush the movement. Imperialism—particularly US imperialism—played a pivotal role in this. They did not stop at merely imprisoning and killing countless revolutionary leaders and fighters; they also perpetrated massacres in both rural and urban areas. They even slaughtered hundreds of prisoners held in jails. Many villages were burned down, and brutal atrocities were inflicted upon revolutionaries and the people. Despite this, the people's war and the revolutionary struggle continued to advance towards victory.
However, the conspiracies of the enemies of the revolution and the counter-revolutionary war also intensified day by day. It was in this context that Comrade Gonzalo was arrested in Lima, the capital of Peru, on September 12, 1992. A few days after his arrest, the then-Fujimori government confined him in an iron cage and presented him before journalists.
However, Comrade Gonzalo thwarted the government's plot to humiliate him before the global media and the public through its subservient journalists. While confined in the cage, he delivered a heroic speech. This speech was broadcast worldwide; in it, he called for the continuation of the ongoing people's war and upheld Maoism and RIM.
All of the above represents the great historical role played by Gonzalo, the Maoist Party of Peru, and the People's War—a legacy we firmly uphold and from which we recognize the need to learn. We firmly believe that the revolutionary contribution of Gonzalo cannot be upheld without the three pillars of Maoism, People's War, and RIM.
2. However, about a year after delivering the famous ‘cage speech’—made immediately following his arrest—serious confusion and debate arose within the global communist movement, among revolutionaries, and among the public regarding his political stance on ‘people’s war.’ The core issue was a proposal to suspend the people’s war and negotiate with the government to establish peace—a move that came to be known as the ‘compromise line.’
The central leadership of Peru-Party itself became divided over this issue. One faction argued that Gonzalo was the architect of the peace-accord line and, therefore, had to be followed. The other faction contended that this was merely a government conspiracy; Gonzalo could not possibly have proposed such a line. They maintained that the call to persist in the people's war—as articulated in the "speech from the cage"—represented Gonzalo's true line and had to be adhered to. Proponents of both conflicting lines continued to claim Gonzalo as the leader of their respective positions, for—by the reckoning of both sides—he was the *Jefatura*, or the Great Leader, whom one was bound to follow.
Amidst such a confusing situation, Comrade Gonzalo’s own statements were made known directly, and a massive, worldwide mass movement—led by the RIM Committee—was launched to secure his life and freedom. Simultaneously, the RIM Committee took the initiative to investigate the matter, striving to understand the two-line struggle within the Peru Party and establishing the principle that "the line is decisive, not its author."
From this position, the ‘Committee’ exposes the line of compromise—supported by an analysis of published documents—and characterizes it as a “Right opportunist line.” However, instead of embracing the two-line struggle and using it to guide Maoists and the masses—both in Peru and globally—the ‘pro-People’s War’ faction of the Peruvian party dismisses it as an enemy ‘plot,’ thereby advancing a “conspiracy theory.” Based on this, it adopts an aggressive stance against the RIM Committee as well.
However, an even more serious matter is that, despite various opportunities during his long twenty-nine-year imprisonment, Comrade Gonzalo failed to clarify his position on this issue—a stance inconsistent with his previously dynamic and creative revolutionary role (such as his 1992 speech from the cage). Consequently, this provided the enemy with an opportunity to hatch conspiracies and sow confusion, while also sparking widespread bewilderment and debate among revolutionaries. As a result, the masses aspiring for revolution—both in Peru and across the globe—became deeply confused, divided, and disillusioned.
This not only led Peru’s people's war and the Maoist party toward destruction but also caused a rift within the global Maoist movement and precipitated a grave crisis. We believe that Comrade Gonzalo’s revolutionary role up to 1992 cannot be equated with his role and stance regarding the ‘line of compromise’ that emerged after 1993. We hold the view that he failed to maintain the continuity of his earlier revolutionary role in the subsequent period.
Without a clear stance on this question, it is impossible to truly comprehend the crisis facing Peru’s people's war and revolution—and by extension, the global Maoist movement—or to chart a path out of it. Merely eulogizing the revolutionary phase of 'Gonzalo' is insufficient to overcome the confusion, division, and crisis—tasks that constitute an urgent duty for Maoists worldwide. Those who neglect this will effectively bypass the concrete issues of the revolution and instead engage in a historiography that merely eulogizes individuals—an approach that cannot make any genuine contribution to the revolution.
3. As previously stated, the Peruvian government, the state apparatus, and their master—global imperialism, particularly US imperialism—had been implementing counter-revolutionary programs and conspiracies to destroy the People's War in Peru from the very beginning. This continued even after the arrest of Gonzalo and the emergence of the "peace accord" line. It was precisely because of Comrade Gonzalo's great revolutionary role in the 1980s that the Peruvian state, the ruling class, and their imperialist masters—especially US imperialism—kept him imprisoned for a long period of 29 years, staged a mockery of a trial and pushed this elderly, ailing leader toward death.
Even after his death, the shameful actions taken by the Peruvian government and the ruling class—backed by imperialism—regarding his remains expose their fascist nature. Through their puppet media outlets worldwide, they are assassinating the character of Peru's revolutionary struggle and its revolutionaries, distorting the history of the revolutionary movement, and concealing their own fascist, barbaric atrocities and acts of genocide.
Regardless of the specific political line Gonzalo pursued in the post-1993 period, he was persecuted by the enemies of world revolution until his dying day. It is our duty to expose the fascist nature of the state apparatus and ruling classes in Third World nations—including Peru—as well as their imperialist masters. We vehemently condemn the reactionary actions and unjust treatment directed at Gonzalo over the past 29 years.
4. What were the reasons behind the disaster and destruction of the victorious people's war mentioned above, and why did the party leading it—along with its principal leadership—lose its way in this manner? Revolutionaries must consider this as well. We believe that while the line and activities of the Peruvian Party and Gonzalo were revolutionary and positive prior to 1992, there were also various problem within their political-ideological line in which at the time a subject of debate within RIM and global maoist movement continued.
There were differences of opinion within the Maoist movement regarding issues such as "Gonzalo Thought"—specifically its characterization as "Maoism, principally," the concept of protracted people's war, and the initiation of the strategic offensive for world revolution. In particular, concepts like *Jefetura* (the theory of "Great Leadership") and "Gonzalo Thought" (the idea that every country must possess its own specific "Thought"—with the doctrine in Peru being "Gonzalo Thought, principally") laid the groundwork for certain erroneous, individualist, and nationalist deviations; these later manifested as major problems under altered circumstances—specifically, following Gonzalo's arrest and during the crisis of the Peruvian revolution.
We believe that without resolving these issues and achieving unity among world Maoists, the lessons drawn from the People's War in Peru will not be precise, and this could steer the revolutionary movement onto various erroneous paths.
In this context, the responsibility of Maoists worldwide is not only to uphold the significance of the Peruvian Party’s People's War in the 1980s and the great role played by Comrade Gonzalo during that period, but also to investigate the reasons behind the setback of the Peruvian revolution and determine the correct course of action.
Failure to do so would make it impossible to advance not only the Peruvian revolution but also the global communist movement and revolutionary struggles. We, the New Democratic People's Forum, as well-wishers of Maoism and the communist movement, deem it necessary to articulate the positions mentioned above.
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