Shining Path the Peruvian Army. According to the government, there were approximately 7,226 "comités de auto defensa" as of 2005; almost 4,000 are located in the central region of Peru, the stronghold of the Shining Path. The Peruvian government also cracked down on the Shining Path in other ways. Military personnel were dispatched to areas dominated by the Shining Path, especially Ayacucho, to fight the rebels. Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Apurimacwere, and Huanuco were declared emergency zones, allowing for some constitutional rights to be suspended in those areas. Initial government efforts to fight the Shining Path were not very effective or promising. Military units
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba () is the highest office within the Communist Party of Cuba and is ranked first in the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Cuba, which makes the office holder the most powerful person in Cuban government. In Communist states the First or General Secretary of the Communist Party is typically the "de facto" leader of the country and a more powerful position than state offices such as President (head of state) or Prime Minister (head of government), when those