María Elena Moyano facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
María Elena Moyano
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| Born |
María Elena Moyano Delgado
29 November 1958 Santiago de Surco, Lima, Peru
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| Died | 15 February 1992 (aged 33) Villa El Salvador, Lima, Peru
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| Cause of death | Assassination |
| Spouse(s) |
Gustavo Pineki
(m. 1980) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Martha Moyano (sister) |
María Elena Moyano Delgado (born November 29, 1958 – died February 15, 1992) was a brave Afro-Peruvian leader. She worked to help her community and was a strong supporter of women's rights. Sadly, she was killed by a group called the Shining Path.
María Elena grew up in a poor area called Villa El Salvador. She became very active in helping people there. She was elected president of FEPOMUVES, a women's organization, twice. At the time of her death, she was the deputy mayor of her town. About 300,000 people went to her funeral. Her death made many people turn away from supporting the Shining Path. She was given a special award from Peru after she died.
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Her Early Life
María Elena Moyano was born in Santiago de Surco, Lima, Peru, on November 29, 1958. She had six brothers and sisters. When she was 13, her family moved to Villa El Salvador. This was a new settlement, often called a pueblo joven, where many people lived in poverty.
María Elena won a scholarship to study law at a university. But after two years, she decided to stop her studies. She wanted to spend all her time helping her community instead. In 1980, she married Gustavo Pineki, and they had two children together.
Making a Difference: Her Activism
In Villa El Salvador, María Elena worked hard to improve life for everyone. She helped start primary schools, community kitchens (called soup kitchens), and clubs for mothers.
Helping Her Community
In 1983, María Elena helped create the Popular Federation of Women of Villa El Salvador (FEPOMUVES). This group helped women by offering training and starting projects. It also spoke up for women's needs. María Elena was chosen as the president of FEPOMUVES twice.
The federation organized local cafes where people could eat. They also ran the Vaso de Leche program. This program made sure that every child in the settlement received a glass of milk each day. This important program was first started by the Mayor of Lima, Alfonso Barrantes Lingán, and then FEPOMUVES took it over.
By 1991, María Elena Moyano became the deputy mayor of Villa El Salvador. That same year, the Shining Path group bombed a FEPOMUVES building. This building was used to support 90 community cafes.
Standing Up to Violence
María Elena Moyano was not afraid to speak her mind. She criticized both the Peruvian government and the Shining Path. She felt the government was not strong enough in keeping order. She also thought the police were corrupt. The government was also making big economic changes that caused prices to rise very quickly.
Even though she knew it was dangerous, María Elena spoke out against the Shining Path. She said their violent actions were not truly revolutionary. The Shining Path then called her a "revisionist," which meant they thought she had changed her beliefs. They even spread flyers saying she worked for the government and had bombed the distribution center herself. María Elena bravely wrote back to deny these false claims.
Another activist, Juana López León, was killed by the Shining Path in August 1991. After this, María Elena started getting threats to her own life. She left the country for a short time. When she came back, she was given two police bodyguards for protection.
On February 14, 1992, the Shining Path told everyone to stay home and called for a strike. María Elena protested this by leading a peace march instead. She strongly believed in non-violence and worked for social justice and self-governance for her community.
Her Death and Lasting Impact
On February 15, 1992, María Elena Moyano was murdered by members of the Shining Path. This happened in front of her own children at a community event in Villa El Salvador.
About 300,000 people attended María Elena Moyano's funeral. Her death caused a huge wave of anger among the public. This outrage, along with the capture of the Shining Path's leader, Abimael Guzmán, later that year, greatly reduced support for the group.
In 2017, the President of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, gave María Elena Moyano the Peruvian Order of Merit for Distinguished Service. This is a very high honor, and her mother accepted it for her.
Her story has inspired many. A film called Coraje (Courage) was made in 1998, telling a fictional story based on her life. Amnesty International dedicated a report on human rights in Peru to her memory in 1997. In 2017, a special fund called the María Elena Moyano Fellowship Fund was created at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. It helps Spanish-speaking students from Latin America study there.
María Elena's sister, Martha Moyano, also became a congresswoman in Peru.
See also
In Spanish: María Elena Moyano para niños
