SENDERISTA

noun and adjective (Politics) noun: A member of the revolutionary Peruvian guerrilla organization Sendero Luminoso (sometimes abbreviated to Sendero or translated Shining Path). adjective: Of or belonging to Sendero Luminoso or its members. Etymology: A borrowing from Spanish Senderista. The Spanish name is formed by adding the suffix -ista (equivalent to English -ist) to the stem of Sendero 'path'; Sendero Luminoso, which literally means 'shining path', is taken from the writings of an earlier Peruvian ideologist, Jos÷ Carlos MariÁtegui: 'Marxism-Leninism will open the shining path to revolution.' History and Usage: Sendero Luminoso, a neo-Marxist Peruvian revolutionary movement, was founded in 1970 as the Communist Party of Peru, but subsequently became a clandestine guerrilla organization which was active throughout the eighties. The activities of the Senderistas were reported in the newspapers, especially in the US, from about 1982 onwards. Shouting Senderista slogans and songs, the peasants escorted the group to the community meeting hall. New York Times Magazine 31 July 1983, p. 20 Deriving their communist ideology from the teaching of Mao Tse-tung, the Senderistas are led by Abimael Guzman (nom de guerre, Col. Gonzalo), a hermit-like former professor of philosophy at the University of Ayacucho. Maclean's 25 Feb. 1985, p. 44 Unlike other revolutionary movements...Sendero hasn't opened itself to journalists: there have been no clandestine interviews with leaders, no conducted tours of areas under Sendero control. New Yorker 4 Jan 1988, p. 35 The treasury is so empty that the government...certainly cannot pay all the soldiers needed to protect candidates around the country from the fanatical Sendero Luminoso guerillas. Observer 1 Apr. 1990, p. 17