International

No forgiveness for Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman

AFP

Four decades after Shining Path guerillas massacred dozens of their loved ones in the town square, residents of Santiago de Lucanamarca, a remote settlement in the Peruvian Andes, say they cannot forgive the man responsible, Abimael Guzman, who died on Saturday.

In one of the worst atrocities committed by the group in its quest to overthrow the then government, Shining Path rebels armed with machetes, axes, knives and guns mowed down 69 civilians — including 22 children — on April 3, 1983.

Some were burnt alive with kerosene, other hacked to death in a warning to other communities not to oppose the Shining Path.

“This wound he left us cannot be healed,” said Orfelinda Quincho, a teacher of 64 who lost nine relatives in the massacre, including her mother and a son.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

“There is no forgiveness for Abimael. If he is dead, may his body be burnt and thrown into the sea,” she told AFP after 86-year-old Guzman’s death at a maximum security prison, where he was serving a life sentence.

Heraclides Misaico, 68, lost her husband Alberto Tacas and four children — Adela, 9, Haydee, 7, Abdon, 5, and Benilda, 4.

She hid at home, and survived the massacre with her three other children.

“Abimael Guzman has done us much harm. To my children and my husband,” she said “We don’t want to think of that person. He killed innocent people. Many were left orphaned.”

– Hidden crime –

According to residents, armed Shining Path rebels marched into Lucanamarca on that fateful day, forcing people onto the main town square.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

They selected men and women whom they accused of collaborating with government forces and summarily executed them.

At the time, the town had some 2,600 residents — speakers of the Quecha indigenous language who lived in mud and brick dwellings and dedicated themselves to small-scale farming.

For fear of reprisals, family members only reported the crime in 2001 — 18 years after the fact — in testimony to Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigating crimes committed during the country’s 1980-2000 civil war.

The remains of 64 of the victims were positively identified after being exhumed in 2002 from a mass grave, where they had been secretly deposited by relatives under threat of death from the Shining Path if they told anyone about what happened.

Since 2003, the remains of those killed lie in a white mausoleum in the village cemetery surrounded by pine and eucalyptus trees.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

A pyramid-shaped monument on the Plaza de Armas village square bears the names of the victims, which included 22 children and 14 women.

– ‘We cannot forget’ –

“It is a trauma we cannot forget,” said Rolando Misaico, who at the age of 10 lost his mother and six other family members in the massacre.

His mother, Felicitas Ebanan, was hacked to death with an axe.

Misaico and other villagers hid away for months in caves in nearby hills after the brutal crime.

Epifanio Quispe, 75, said he was among a group of people captured and brought to the central square that day.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

“They sprayed kerosene on us… but a cry from the police allowed us to flee,” he recounted.

His brother, 32-year-old Damian, was not so lucky.

A court in 2006 found Guzman and his wife Elena Iparraguirre were the masterminds behind the Lucanamarca massacre and sentenced them to life in prison.

He had acknowledged responsibility for the crime in an interview in 1988 with El Diario, a Shining Path mouthpiece publication, and was captured in 1992.

The Shining Path spread terror across Peru in the 1980s and 1990s in its war against the state, which left some 70,000 people dead and thousands missing and displaced.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

On Friday, the government of Peru promulgated a law approved by parliament allowing authorities to cremate Guzman’s body.

His also-imprisoned widow had requested that the body be turned over to her for burial, but officials were concerned the gravesite could become a rallying point for his followers.

International

Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione admitted Friday to fatally shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest health insurance group in the United States, during an appearance before a federal judge.

The case shocked the U.S. business community and dates back to December 2024, when Mangione opened fire on Thompson, 50, on a Manhattan street. Prosecutors have described the attack as being motivated by Mangione’s opposition to the U.S. health insurance system.

“On the morning of December 4, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said as he pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge related to his pursuit of the executive.

Mangione, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, and prosecutors have indicated that they will seek a life sentence.

In addition to the federal charges related to stalking Thompson, Mangione also faces a murder case brought by the state of New York.

Following his guilty plea in federal court, Mangione’s defense asked a state court to dismiss the state charges, arguing that prosecuting him again for the same conduct would violate protections against double jeopardy.

“We have just filed our motion in state court to explain why the charges should be dismissed under New York’s protections against double jeopardy,” Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Friday.

Both the federal and state cases could result in a life sentence. Two other federal charges that initially carried the possibility of the death penalty were dismissed by a judge earlier this year.

International

ICE Plan to Equip Agents With Electric Shock Gloves Raises Abuse Concerns

Plans to equip U.S. immigration agents with gloves capable of delivering electric shocks are raising concerns over potential abuses by a law enforcement agency that critics accuse of using excessive force and providing inadequate training to its personnel.

The plan involves the potential purchase of electric-shock gloves for agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency primarily responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost criticized the proposal on X, arguing that the agency has already faced accusations of excessive force during immigration enforcement operations.

“As if assaulting and shooting people in the streets wasn’t enough,” Frost wrote. He also criticized the reported $20 million potential expenditure on the devices and called for greater restrictions on ICE.

The agency has faced growing scrutiny following a series of deadly shootings during immigration enforcement operations. Among the incidents were the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in January who were participating in protests against the agency.

Critics have focused on the tactics used by ICE agents when detaining immigrants, as well as allegations that training standards for newly recruited personnel have been lowered.

According to a procurement plan first reported by the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, could spend between $10 million and $20 million on the devices.

The gloves are described by the agency as tools intended for “distraction and de-escalation,” rather than lethal weapons. The system, known as GLOVE, stands for “Generated Low-Output Voltage Emitter.”

The device is manufactured by Compliant Technologies, a Kentucky-based company that describes its products as advanced non-lethal tools designed to protect and assist law enforcement and other personnel.

The proposal comes amid an intensifying national debate over ICE’s enforcement methods and the use of force during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

International

Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.

The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.

Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.

In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.

The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.

Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.

Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.

The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.