Abimael Guzman aka 'Comrade Gonzalo', founder chairman of Peru's Maoist Shining Path movement sent a message to Nepali Maoists from jail in Lima requesting them to follow the path of peace and constitution. Gonzalo also stressed that a people's democracy can only be achieved through peaceful means and not through violence. Gonzalo is currently serving a life sentence since he was captured in 1992 and was an inspiration for Nepal's Maoist leaders. The Shining Path insurgency cost the lives of 70,000 Peruvians in the 1980s. Gonzalo's letter has reportedly become a topic of intense debate within the Maoist Central Committee. Supporters of the Bhattarai and Dahal factions are using Gonzalo to condemn the Mohan Baidya faction and other hardliners in the party who are in favor of armed struggle.