Augusta La Torre

Augusta Deyanira La Torre Carrasco (29 August 1946 – 14 November 1988), also known as Comrade Norah, was a Peruvian Maoist noted as the number two in command of the Shining Path guerrillas. La Torre's influence on her husband, Shining Path founder Abimael Guzmán, is credited with establishing equality for women with regard to participation within the revolutionary organization, and during its militant actions.[1]

Augusta La Torre
Second in Command of the Shining Path
Succeeded byElena Iparraguirre
Personal details
Born(1946-08-29)29 August 1946
Huanta, Ayacucho, Peru
Died14 November 1988(1988-11-14) (aged 42)
Peru
Political partyShining Path
Spouse(s)Abimael Guzmán

Early life and political involvement

Augusta La Torre was born in Huanta in 1946 into a family with a prominent political lineage. The daughter of Communist party leader Carlos La Torre Córdova and Delia Carrasco, "she grew up in a family where political activity, party membership and protest against the Peruvian state were routine, making it unsurprising that she too entered radical politics."[2] She joined the Peruvian Communist Party in 1962 at the age of 17.[2] She met Abimael Guzmán, a professor of philosophy, through her parents. Guzman was a regular guest to their home in Ayacucho, meeting with La Torre's father to discuss politics. In February 1964, she married Guzman.[3] La Torre also encouraged Guzman to establish the Popular Women's Movement in Ayacucho in 1965.[4] She was active within the Maoist political organization, Bandera Roja (Red Flag), and helped found the Socorro Popular del Peru (Popular Succour).[5]

Shining Path

La Torre was instrumental in helping Guzman to create the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso).[4][6] She led the first offensive of the Shining Path on December 24, 1980.[2] She went into hiding with Guzman in 1978 and died in November 1988, although the circumstances of her death remain unclear. [7] She was succeeded as number two of the Shining Path by Guzman's second wife, Elena Iparraguirre.[8][9]

References
  1. Diamond, M.J., Women and Revolution: Global Expressions, Springer, 1998, p309, ISBN 0-7923-5182-7
  2. Heilman, Jaymie Patricia (2010), "Family Ties: The Political Genealogy of Shining Path's Comrade Norah", Bulletin of Latin American Research, 29 (2): 155–169, doi:10.1111/j.1470-9856.2009.00321.x
  3. Bloody Peruvian terrorist also had fuzzy side, Latin American Herald Tribune, 2008, retrieved 06-01-2009
  4. Nathanial C. Nash, "Lima Journal; Shining Path Women: So Many and So Ferocious" New York Times, September 22, 1992
  5. Peru: Information on Augusta La Torre, wife of Abimael Guzmán Archived October 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, PER12684, 1 January 1993
  6. Mahan, Sue and Pamala L. Griset, Terrorism in Perspective, p 253-4.
  7. "Los misterios de Norah", La República online Archived 2009-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, 17 December 2008
  8. Terrorism Today by Christopher C. Harmon, p 216.
  9. "Líder de Sendero Luminoso fue condenado a cadena perpetua," Cooperativa.cl, 13 October 2006
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