Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso (American Spanish: [maˈnwel ruˈβen aβimaˈel ɡusˈman rejˈnoso]; 3 December 1934 − 11 September 2021), also known by his nom de guerre Chairman Gonzalo (Spanish: Presidente Gonzalo), was a Peruvian Maoist terrorist responsible for the death of about 30000 people from 1980 until being life-imprisoned in 1992.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Guzmán was a professor of philosophy active in anti-democratic far-left politics and strongly influenced by Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism. He developed an ideology of armed struggle stressing the empowerment of the indigenous people. He went underground in the mid-1970s to become the leader of the Shining Path, which began the so-called "The Peruvian People's War" or the "Armed Struggle" on 17 May 1980, by burning ballot boxes during the 1980 elections.
