Tupac Amarú

Tupac Amarú

Peruvian revolutionary group. Founded in 1983, the group is best known for holding 490 people hostage in the Japanese embassy in Lima (1996) in an effort to gain the release of jailed comrades. After a standoff of several weeks, Peruvian troops stormed the embassy and killed all the guerrillas. Defections have apparently since decreased its membership. The group takes its name from the Indian revolutionary Tupac Amarú II (orig. José Gabriel Condorcanqui, 1742?–81), who in 1780 led Peruvian Indian peasants in the last widespread rebellion against Spain before independence. The Indians identified him with his ancestor Tupac Amarú, the last leader of the Inca, who was executed by the Spaniards in 1572.