A movement affiliated with Peru's largly extinguished Shining Path rebels, which killed thousands in the 1980s and '90s, said Wednesday it is abandoning efforts to register as a political party after fierce opposition.
"There is a coordinated offensive by the state" against The Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights, or Movadef, that makes the endeavor futile, one of its leaders, Manuel Fajardo, told The Associated Press.
The movement does not advocate violence and seeks the release of all "political prisoners," including Shining Path founder and maximum leader, Abimael Guzman, who was captured in 1992 and is serving a life sentence.