Sendero Luminoso, Shining Path, SL - a terrorist group formed in Peru in the late 1960s as a splinter group from the communist party of Peru; is among the most ruthless guerilla organizations in the world; seeks to destroy Peruvian institutions and replace them with a Maoist peasant regime; is involved in the cocaine trade; "Shining Path has been responsible for 30,000 deaths"

Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Anaru, MRTA, Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement - a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization in Peru; was formed in 1983 to overthrow the Peruvian government and replace it with a Marxist regime; has connections with the ELN in Bolivia

OAS, Organization of American States - an association of countries in the western hemisphere; created in 1948 to promote military and economic and social and cultural cooperation

South American country, South American nation - countries occupying the South American continent

Arequipa - a city in southern Peru founded in 1540 on the site of an ancient Inca city

capital of Peru, Lima - capital and largest city and economic center of Peru; located in western Peru; was capital of the Spanish empire in the New World until the 19th century

El Misti - the world's 2nd largest active volcano; located in the Andes in southern Peru

Huainaputina - an inactive volcano in the Andes in southern Peru; last erupted in 1783

Amazon River, Amazon - a major South American river; flows into the South Atlantic; the world's 2nd longest river (4000 miles)

Andes - a mountain range in South America running 5000 miles along the Pacific coast

Coropuna - a mountain peak in the Andes in Peru (21,083 feet high)

Huascaran - a mountain in the Andes in Peru (22,205 feet high)

South America - a continent in the western hemisphere connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama

Yerupaja - a mountain peak in the Andes in Peru (21,709 feet high)

Peruvian - a native or inhabitant of Peru