From 1980 to 2000, the Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, waged a brutal guerrilla warfare in opposition to the Peruvian state. Each side inflicted excessive violence on civilians, together with massacres, torture, rape, and disappearances, leading to between 50,000 and 70,000 deaths and over 600,000 displacements, largely amongst indigenous Quechua-speaking campesinos.
ANFASEP (the Nationwide Affiliation of Family of the Kidnapped, Detained, and Disappeared of Peru) was based in 1983 by Angélica Mendoza, whose 19-year-old son was disappeared by the navy. Over the next many years, ANFASEP organized marches, petitions, and meals for as much as 500 orphans of the battle. Their work performed a vital function within the creation of Peru’s Fact and Reconciliation Fee, and in 2005 they established the Museo de la Memoria.
As we speak, the museum tells the story of each the battle and ANFASEP’s resilience via private accounts, mementos, pictures, and artwork installations, many introduced by the museum’s personal employees.
