Family Ties: The Political Genealogy of Shining Path's Comrade Norah

Family was central to the political life of Augusta La Torre (or Comrade Norah), the second‐in‐command of the Peruvian Communist Party‐Shining Path (PCP‐SL). La Torre was the daughter of a Communist Party militant and the granddaughter of a prominent provincial political figure. She was also the wife of Shining Path founder Abimael Guzmán. La Torre's familial history demonstrates the importance of parental and grandparental contributions to Senderistas' political formation, and suggests that parents and children were sometimes united in their support for the Shining Path. La Torre's family ties, however, have also led numerous observers to question her revolutionary credentials.