Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun

The Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun (Partido Comunista de Ecuador - Sol Rojo, PCE-SR), also known as Puka Inti (Quechua for "Red Sun") is a Marxist–Leninist–Maoist political party and guerrilla group in Ecuador. It was founded on 1 June 1993. From inception, until their death, the group's former leader used the nom de guerre "Comrade Joselo". Joselo died on November 6, 2022 with no announcement of a successor. The PCE-SR consists mostly of former members of the underground leftist group ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! The organization follows the ideas of the Peruvian communist leader Abimael Guzmán, founder and longtime chairman of the Shining Path in Peru. The organization has also become close to Mantaro Red Base Committee, and the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and is also a member of the International Communist League (Maoist).

The group has protested for workers' rights, and against increased bureaucratic policing and government displacement of communities from economic infrastructure such as mining. Taking inspiration from the Shining Path, PCE-SR advocates for the peasant seizure of farmlands, electoral boycotting, and violence against state institutions.

History
PCE-SR was founded in 1993 by Comrade Joselo and initially drew a large membership from the defunct guerrilla organization ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo!. The ideological basis for the PCE-SR originates from the Peruvian Shining Path with the aspiration of implementing the contributions of Gonzalo Thought to the conditions of Ecuador.

In 2007, a documentary titled Alfaro Vive Carajo: Del Sueño al Caos (From Dream to Chaos) was released which gave testimonies by former AVC members. In response, PCE-SR criticized Santiago Kingman for allegedly distorting the guerrilla struggle and capitulating to the government.

In 2010, Puka Inti took involvement in the 2010 political crisis in Ecuador, as well as a mining conflict in the canton of Paquisha, which left five injured and several detained. It also gave critical input into the MOVER movement, women revolutionary movements, and the Arab Spring.

Puka Inti has been accused of being a direct puppet of Shining Path, though it asserts that it is only a supporter of Gonzalo Thought and of the broader international Maoist movement. In November 2011, the PCE-SR gave condolences to the death of Maoist leader Molajula Koteswar Rao, "Kishenji", after he was killed in a false confrontation with authorities in West Bengal. The PCE-SR began calling for electoral boycotts in response to the 2013 presidential elections. That same year, they spoke out against the murder of union leader Milton Enrique Parras in the town of Puerto Guzmán.

In May 2014, the group expressed solidarity to G.N. Saibaba, an Indian scholar who was arrested for supposed connections to the Communist Party of India (Maoist).

In June 2015, PCE-SR condemned the death of New People's Army commander Leoncio Pitao (Ka Parango), after he was killed in a confrontation in Davao City.

In recent years, the group has condemned the 2017 Ecuadorian general elections, U.S Vice President Mike Pence's visit to the country, and the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operation Red Sun
On 3 March 2012, 10 alleged members of the far-left Group of Popular Combatants (the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador) were arrested on charges of subversion and terrorism. The PCE-SR condemned this as an escalation of repression by the Ecuadorian state. The case itself, which became known as the Luluncoto 10, would become controversial over the process of criminalizing political groups as terrorist organizations.