The Maoists announced a ‘People's War’ on February 13, 1996, under the slogan: "Let us march ahead on the path of struggle towards establishing the people's rule by wreaking the reactionary ruling system of state." Maoists strongly believe in the philosophy of Mao Zedong who proclaimed, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." Maoists also draw inspiration from the ‘Revolutionary Internationalist Movement’, Peru's left wing guerrilla movement—the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), and from radical communist parties in different parts of the world.
