Shining Path police guards as hostages. They had been working in the Camisea gas pipeline project that would take natural gas from Cusco to Lima. According to sources from Peru's Interior Ministry, the rebels asked for a sizable ransom to free the hostages. Two days later, after a rapid military response, the rebels abandoned the hostages; according to government sources no ransom was paid. However, there were rumors that US$200,000 was paid to the rebels. Government forces have captured three leading Shining Path members. In April 2000, Commander José Arcela Chiroque, called "Ormeño", was captured, followed by another leader, Florentino Cerrón Cardozo,
Communist Party of the Basque Homelands Communist Party of the Basque Homelands The Communist Party of the Basque Homelands (, EHAK; , PCTV) was a communist Basque separatist party in the Basque Country, Spain. The party was outlawed by the Spanish Supreme Court after it was judicially proven to be part of Batasuna and, ultimately, ETA. EHAK was legally registered for the first time in 2002 but had no known activity until 2005, remaining inactive during these years. In this year, within weeks of the regional Basque election EHAK suddenly rose to national prominence when it publicly announced that it would assume the program of the