Comrade Artemio
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Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala (better known as Comrade Artemio; born 8 September 1961) is a former leader of the Peruvian
Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...
terrorist group Shining Path. He was captured by a combined force of the Peruvian Army.


Early life

Flores was born on 8 September 1961, in Peru's southern Arequipa province. His family were landless and impoverished and Flores sang on the street in order to help support his family. He attended school in Camana, but dropped out when he was seventeen, later joining the Peruvian Army. He served in the 221 Tank Battalion in Locumba, Tacna from 1979 until December 1980. After his time in the army, he began reading books on
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
and joined Shining Path sometime in the early 1980's. Reportedly he was 18 years old when he joined the guerrilla.


Shining Path

Very little was known about Comrade Artemio. He has appeared on video tapes, but always wearing a ski mask, often with an extra piece of cloth sewed on to hide his eyes. Messages supposed to have been written by him make the claim that he is only the regional commander of the Shining Path for the Huallaga Valley, implying that he is not the leader of the entire movement. On 26 September 2006, a news crew from the television show ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
'' interviewed Artemio in a jungle base established by Shining Path. They also filmed about 50 Shining Path militants, all of whom were masked. Artemio demanded that the Peruvian government grant amnesty to imprisoned Shining Path members and open a peace dialogue with the remaining Shining Path members. Days after the report, the National Police raided the site where Artemio gave the interview. Some Shining Path members were arrested, but Artemio was not. In November 2007, police claimed to have killed Artemio's second-in-command, a guerrilla known as JL. In September 2008, he gave his first recorded interview since 2006. In it he stated that the Shining Path would continue to fight despite escalating military pressure. On 7 December 2011, it was reported that Flores had admitted that the Shining Path were defeated. He is said to have offered 'dialogue' with the government regarding disarmament. The next day, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' released an interview with "Comrade Artemio," identified as Florindo Eleuterio Flores-Hala. Flores admitted "mistakes" in continuing the Shining Path's war effort, and said he was ready to negotiate terms with the Peruvian government.Artemio unmasked: Peru's Shining Path commander comes in from the cold
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Capture in the Operation Crepúsculo, arrest and trial

On 12 February 2012, Flores was captured by a combined force of the Peruvian Army and the
Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
. Doctors removed two bullets from his stomach. The case garnered some attention in Chile as Flores –still-injured– expressed anti-Chilean sentiment during what is though to have been a
panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and Comfort, discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a Tachycardia, rapid, Arrhythmia, irregular Heart rate, heartbeat, Hyperhidrosis, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, s ...
in the military flight that took him to Lima. On 7 June 2013 Flores was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to pay 500 million soles in civil reparations. He was found guilty of terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering. After being convicted, Judge Clotilde Cavero said that it had been proven that he was a member of the central committee of Shining Path and that Flores had "ordered the execution of a number of civilians, police and soldiers."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Artemio, Comrade Living people 1961 births Peruvian communists Peruvian revolutionaries Peruvian criminals Members of the Shining Path