[From “The Peruvian Revolution”]

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Khrushchev’s denunciation of Comrade Stalin[…]in 1956 caused chaos in the International Communist Movement. For a few years this issue was ‘played out’ quietly within individual parties and internationally, in bi-partisan meetings

The Communist Party of China (CPC) still seemed to think that the renegades and opportunists could be convinced to return to the revolutionary path[…]
However, by 1960 the Revisionists, ideologically weak as they were long before the death of Comrade Stalin, had gained supremacy in various parties of the world[…]
It became obvious that there was no way that the rift between the revisionists and revolutionary[…]could be healed[…]
Within weeks of the death of Comrade Mao Tse-tung in September 1976, the revisionist and ‘capitalist-roaders’[…]were able to gain control by a vicious coup d’etat[…]
Whereas most Parties worldwide seemed to move around like chickens with their heads cut off, no longer having a society which was attempting to build Socialism on which they could hang their hats. the Communist Party of Peru (Sendero Luminoso) (CPP(SL), on 17th May 1980 declared the beginning of the ‘People’s War’

From small beginnings yet with intelligent, clever and ideologically sound political leadership this struggle against the Peruvian State was able, in the short period of twelve years, to really pose a viable threat to the old order

Then, for reasons which I, at least, don’t understand, the leadership of the CPP(SL) made a series of serious mistakes which effectively destroyed that amazing revolutionary movement in less than a couple of years. There were some who continued (and still continue) to fight on but the momentum was lost[…]
The People’s War had given a great deal of hope not only to the people of Peru but to those who are oppressed and exploited throughout the world. In that sense the failure in Peru didn’t just effect Peruvians