Óscar Ramírez (terrorist)

Ramírez is the son of a retired Peruvian general and the second of seven brothers. Being studious from a young age and enjoying mental challenges such as chess, Ramírez was awarded the medal of academic excellence from the College of Saint Francis of Assisi in Arequipa, Peru. He dropped out of engineering school and joined Shining Path, serving as a military strategist.[1]

Ramírez assumed control of the Shining Path after Abimael Guzmán was captured by the authorities in 1992.[2] He rejected Guzmans plea for the rebels to lay down their arms and continued the conflict.[3] He travelled to Colombia where he worked with members of FARC and under his leadership, Shining Path activities increased in south central region of Peru. Two small town mayors were murdered and recruitment efforts among the rural poor of the region increased.[1]

In 1999, President Alberto Fujimori ordered a military operation in central Peru to capture Ramírez alive and eliminate the last remnants of Shining Path. Over 2,000 Peruvian army troops were deployed to the region where they engaged in sporadic fire fights with Shining Path forces. A female guerrilla, starving due to being cut off from all food and supplies, surrendered and provided information on Ramirez's whereabouts, and with this information, he was captured without incident in July 1999.[4] He was transported to a military base where he was interrogated by Vladimiro Montesinos, the head of SIN.[1]

In August 1999, he was subject to a military trial where he was sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole in a high security prison at a naval base in Lima.[5]

In June 2006, Ramírez was sentenced to 24 years in prison in a civilian trial. He is currently being held at the naval base in Callao and is due for release in June 2023.[6]

His reduced sentence was a result of his collaboration with Peruvian authorities and enmity with Guzmán: in 2003 he described him to the Caretas magazine as a "psychopath" and stated that "He (Guzmán) was always a coward and a traitor". He went as far as declaring, before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission his renewed belief in democracy, his call for remaining subversives to lay down arms, his expectation for new civilian trials and his condolences for the victims of the conflict.[7] Caretas has also published extracts from his conversations with the former head of the Peruvian National Intelligence Service, Vladimiro Montesinos in which family links with the terrorist emerged, both being cousins.[8]

In March 2013, he testified in the trial of the recently imprisoned leader, Comrade Artemio.[9] During the audience, he apologized to the country for the crimes committed by Shining Path.[10]