The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (Spanish: Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru, abbreviated MRTA) was a Peruvian Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group which started in the early 1980s. Their self-declared goal was to demonstrate to leftist groups in Peru that sought change through the current government the viability of radical revolution. The MRTA also aimed to provide an alternative to the more radical militant group, the Shining Path, which placed them in direct competition. The group was led by Víctor Polay Campos until he was sentenced to 32 years' imprisonment in 1992 and by Néstor Cerpa Cartolini ("Comrade Evaristo") until his death in 1997.
The MRTA took its name in homage to Túpac Amaru II, an 18th-century rebel leader who was himself named after his claimed ancestor Túpac Amaru, the last indigenous leader of the Inca people. The MRTA was designated as a terrorist organization by the Peruvian government, the US Department of State, and the European Parliament but was later removed from the United States State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations on 8 October 2001.
At the height of its strength, the movement had several hundred active members. Its stated goals were to establish a socialist state and rid the country of all imperialist elements.
1989May, 31
A group of six members of the Peruvian guerrilla group Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement shoot dead eight transsexuals in Tarapoto.
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Events on 1989
- 15Apr
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China. - 26Apr
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
People's Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests - 27Apr
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The April 27 demonstrations, student-led protests responding to the April 26 Editorial, during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. - 20May
Tiananmen Square massacre
The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre. - 5Jun
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.