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.
“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.
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.
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.
“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.
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
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
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